Characters ♡ The OTP & Pairing Thread ♡ | Challenge #34 Posted: Sonnets Roulette! (4/17, p. 92, #2282)

I've been ill, so things are a bit delayed. If anyone has any suggestions for discussion, challenges, etc, feel free to PM me and I'll stick them up in the thread.

I'll also get a bit of a voting post together soon.

Thanks everyone !

 

Does this qualify as a suitable entry?

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/the-moon-of-nowhere.50039182/

 

Please excuse any double posting, hoping to keep things somewhat organised!

Challenge #1 VOTING!
The stories have been here for a while, and now it's time to vote!
The voting will be open for 2 weeks, ending on April 1st at 11:59 PM EST. The winner will be announced that weekend!

Please read through the stories and submit a PM to this sock, Captain Rakkaus , with your story. Please take into consideration how well they meet the original prompt.

Those in the running are:
borgrel with The Moons of Nowhere
Briannakin with Abating Hope
Dantana Skywalker with Yellow
Ewok Poet with The Other Moon, Ch. 5 - Strongholds to Conquer
Raissa Baiard with In the Cards, Ch. 5 Pt. 2 - You've Been Thinkin', and I've been Drinkin'


Thank you to everyone who entered. I read some great stories. Good luck to all!!
(A note that I decided it best to include borgrel in the running as I didn't officially end the challenge, but as of this post, no more entries will be accepted.)

 

Discussion #2! - The "Spark"!

A very special thanks to divapilot , who came up with this new discussion.

So, how do you set them apart from everyone else? What quirks do they have that make their relationship unique? What makes them...them?
Answer away!

 

ok, so here is what I have found works when I write a romantic couple vs a platonic relationship. I don't think there has to be a lot of PDA to indicate that there's a spark between these people. The things that make romance are subtle - a lingering glance, a sudden shyness. I like to build that first moment up, where they realize that the other person feels the same way and that there's a connection that runs both ways. Really, isn't that the worst feeling when you're attracted and you don't know if your other one feels the same? are you making a fool of yourself? Will he/she laugh at me? feel sorry for me? Is it worth ruining the friendship if s/he doesn't want me the same way?

Sometimes the attraction is hidden in confused reactions. Han and Leia, for example, hid their mutual attraction in sarcasm and annoyance. But hate and love are still passions, and they can blur for a while until the truth settles out.

 

PDA?

 

Public displays of affection.

 

Ah right. I am very new to this.

I had the initial event that brought my two together as a flashback, and proceeded with a several year-old distance relationship in the present day.

I only did their personal first moments and getting a bit playful, a few short weeks ago.

My two, Yavinelf and a teenage or early twenties Ysanne Isard, as agents for different Republic' agencies, were picked up from the sea after a joint intelligence operation, and taken aboard a ship.
Although assigned different cabins to dry off in, the woman deliberately knocked on the guy's room, and they have essentially had to share the survivor cliché of stripping off sodden clothing and climbing into bed to avoid hypothermia, while the host captain arranges dry clothing, rather than doing it separately.

Yav sleeps or is unconscious for three days, giving Ysanne all that time to look over and examine his form, whilst waiting for him to awake, and when he eventually does, there is some mild flirtation.

Then I have largely moved on with the rest of the story.

 

My OTP are not doing much in public. A couple of hugs may have happened here and there, but that's it. While it's known to most villagers that they are a couple, precautions have to be taken as one of the families involved is not exactly delighted.

The girl's father only barely accepted the fact that his daughter - whom he would gladly have marry a royal someplace else - is attracted to a "lurdo". He is making numerous excuses on top of it. At first, the problem was that the poor guy was "too pretty, almost like a girl"; and after his duel with a wizard of the Night Spirit, the problem in the tentative father-in-law's eyes is that he is too ugly. On top of it, his interests are not considered useful enough.

The guy's parents, however, are so open to their son's girlfriend that they would probably take her in, if necessary. They themselves got together really young, they normally kiss around their children and keep the flame alive and though their firstborn is slightly bashful, he probably took after them.

Either way, these two utilise signals and take different roads to their wooing spot. By wooing, in this stage of their relationship, I refer to holding each other, kissing and whatever is the G-rated equivalent of pillow talk. When they're around others, the signals are pretty much the same in their late teens as they were in their early teens - occasional secret smile, holding hands for a moment, a gaze...

 

I have a question for all you shippy 'shippers who 'ship: what romance tropes, particularly in regards to a couple getting together, would you rather take a rusty spork to the eye than read again? I'm trying to figure out what I need to avoid (or subvert ) in plotting the continuing saga of Raissa and Doran.

 

I adore this topic. The spark - I love reading and/or writing it subtly as others have said, particularly in undertones of what is felt underneath what is said and done. A glance, a preoccupation, deepening fondness, a level of comfort in confiding in the other one's hopes and fears and dreams, and caring very much what the other person thinks and wants, etc.

In L/M's case, this comes across as shyness interacting with snark. I do believe that Luke's persistent bugging! about training was really besides he thought she should, he just wanted a reason to have her around more.

Raissa Baiard - that is a superb question. If well written, even a well-worn trope can come across as fascinating and something worth delving into. The only thing I cannot stand overall is generating more angst just for the sake of it by suddenly making the character(s) who are intelligent and articulate and boldly courageous - totally the opposite. Like having a person who takes on challenges and tries to solve them proactively suddenly high-tails it in the opposite direction. Or someone who always validates their perceptions suddenly becomes a mind-reader and just "knows" what the other person should do or not "for their own good." Huh?!

 

@Raissa Baiard the beauty of the written word (as opposed to movies for example) is that the reader does not need to be a mind reader. It doesn't matter what you make the characters do, as long as the internal tone is correct. If you have a confidant strong protagonist hesitate and falter, then (s)he HAS to mentally berate themselves. If you have a nervous twitchy character get pushed then they need a coping mechanism afterwards, even if it is only an internal mantra, etc. Do whatever you like on the outside ..... love makes fools of everyone ..... as long as you remain true to your characters in their inner monologue, then there's no foul.

 

I started writing a response to Raissa Baiard and then it turned into rambling about both of my OTPs and challenges I'm facing writing them when it comes to romance, sex and various other aspects of their relationships. So, I figured out I'll post it either way.

I have two OTPs, one canon and one OC.

When I write the canon OP, I have Latara and Teebo - two characters who could be stereotyped as a sexy babe and an ugly nerd (if not taking the über-cute first season of the Ewoks cartoon Teebo into consideration and am going for his adult form) and I do my best for this not to happen.

The challenges in writing Teebo:
I need to balance how he is not a pathetic nerd who needs a sexy babe to help him loosen up. He does NOT shy away from physical contact because he's awkward or whatever. He did not start out in the relationship as physically unattractive, it happened along the way. He is not exactly unable to deal with other sentient beings, he is not asocial. He is just weird, in tune with the Living Force and, until a certain point, my OTP challenge entry, not quite physically there in terms of instincts. And that is funny, given his clairvoyance, hunches etc.

The challenges in writing Latara:
Similarly, I have to show that, while yes, she is an Adina Howard in "Freak Like Me" to a certain extent, that there is so, so much more to her than that. Unlike her boyfriend, she is a very sexual being, but she is not insert-a-girlfriend-here. As far as romance goes, she knows what she wants and she is not necessarily going to change from a cheeky flirty type to an obedient wife material just because she is taken.

OC OTP

In the other OTP, I have a similar, but MUCH darker kind of a male character paired with a female who's considered to be about as sexy as a pole on a train station. And there's a ten year difference between them - he's a decade older. In addition to that, he's done about every single thing under the sky, made some extremely unwise choices, while she would have lived an unremarkable life had it not been for one night when she got involved in pretty much everything, everywhere, and this one person who got her involved in it.

The challenges in writing her:
In the non-sexual and non-romantic aspect of their relationship, she is not his manic pixie dream girl. That trope is one of the things I hate more than anything in the world. She cannot chase away his demons overnight and, similarly, she won't end up being somebody who exclusively deals with his demons on daily basis. She doesn't go from being the girl he awkwardly courts to being his shrink, lover, mother and daughter at the same time.

In the sexual and romantic aspect, it's not Judy Blume's Forever, for goat's sake. While the story definitely shows that she doesn't have much experience with men before she meets this one, this should not portray her as somebody who is not a woman before they get intimate. She is not more mature once that happens. She does not suddenly turn into a flirty goddess and changes from plain clothes to ball gowns and sexy lingerie overnight. He did not "liberate" her in any way. She is not "fragile", but she is not the person who needs to assert that she's not fragile, either.

The challenges in writing him:
This man is not going to fight all of his demons because he met a very young woman from a world completely unlike his own. In fact, he might as well gain some new ones. He is, err, not OK, he cannot be OK, he will never be seen as OK and that's OK. But he cannot force somebody to "get" him. It takes time, and it can never be perfect, because that's the kind of a person he is.

Romantically and sexually, this man has done everything with women and perhaps others as well. But that does not necessarily mean he has a realistic experience, that his advances and his behaviour are socially acceptable and that he is a casanova. On the contrary, he's an absolute idiot and somewhat passive - he is used to being courted and inept when it comes to courting. He is surrounded by complete nerf-herders and assumed to be one of them in every single aspect; which may make him self-aware to the point where he'll consider himself creepy for no reason.

...oh my goat, I just can't wait to start posting this story. If only the five current ones could write themselves for this to be possible.
...

borgrel - Falling for somebody does not equal losing one's integrity or strength. There are plots where a person is being pushed around and manipulated, but not all of them are like that. Also, not all POVs involve internal monologues.

 

And I'm back with another recommendation for possible inspiration - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which despite the title is in no way misogynistic, but rather is a show which embraces all the romantic comedy tropes and yet subverts them at the same time.

 

I just remembered that I had a pair of Imperials that were romantically together from a role-playing game, years ago.

Captain Perrinaw, visually represented by Warrick Brown (actor Gary Dourdan), Crime Scene Investigations - the Vegas' series.

Analyst Sidell, visually represented by Sara Sidle (actress Jorja Fox), Crime Scene Investigations.

Both were stationed on the Victory-class Star Destroyer, Wraithis.

I was very into them and their crew, including the Monster Squad that a couple of you met on my Thrawn story.

 

I don't know why, exactly, but lately I've been drawn to the idea of writing about separation, either temporary or permanently. I want to explore the idea of what happens when love is cut short or ends abruptly, or just stops working right. (No, my marriage is fine, thanks for asking. )

I keep getting this plot bunny for writing a Leia story in the TFA era but it hasn't congealed yet.

Sometimes there is more love in the act of being apart than in being together. There is a piercing recognition of that which is no longer there.

 

divapilot - I too have pondered the theme of separation relating to H/L and find it I believe you are one of the authors who would render it IC somehow and very poignant. Being apart could and often does make one realize what one has lost or could lose. It is heartwrenching to think of Leia, who has lost so much, and Han - who deserves a family of the heart - that they could just drift apart.

Eagerly awaiting what transpires in that plot direction and you know someone (present company included) that likes finding rainbows and silver linings will write an AU of that and give them their happy-ever-after.

 

My DDC has separation as its main theme, so...I'm obviously attracted to the whole topic. A lot. Big fan. Huge. Poor Lil records messages to a woman he sees as ideal, and details about their actual past relationship crop up here and there and it appears to be sweeter in history. And he does some pretty strange things. One of my favourite Green Day songs, When I Come Around could be background music for some of his self-doubt and implied-strange-relationship scenes.

And separation and anything that has "wars" in its name just go well together.

Not sure how much of this comes from how the world manipulated me into thinking that romantic relationships are necessary and my own view, where I think it's enough to love somebody, without actually being together with them.

divapilot and WarmNyota_SweetAyesha - I want to read those. Please!

 

I can handle separation in most character relationships that I write...a certain pair of my OC's are separated by death, and the living person's quest to reconnect with the deceased significant other actually leads to a rediscovery of a great universal truth forgotten for centuries (because love works in mysterious ways ).

But I can't do that to Han/Leia for some weird and sentimental reason. The way their relationship was portrayed in TFA is one of the biggest reasons I'm not...*ahem*, fond of that movie. I can still read fics about them being separated, but never this side of hell will I write one. (Again, I'm not a squeamish creamy-gooey romantic type in real life. AT ALL. I'm very, very, very cynical about love, and generally have a hard time writing about romantic matters unless it somehow relates to mysticism. But I think Han/Leia is somehow tiny fragment left over from my childhood that I can't let go of...God, that sucks, doesn't it?).

 

Big fan of Thane/Ciena from Lost Stars!

 

Welcome Thane

Please tell us about them......or you and Ciena [delete as applicable].

 

Hmm. Where do I start? Well read the book Lost Stars. It talks about two children from different classes becoming good friends, imperial cadets, and lovers. Then after the events of ANH one goes off to join the alliance while the other stays with the empire. They see the problems but hope they can change things.
They end up facing off against each other multiple times in battle.

 

So okay here is an idea-for romance based fanfics, mostly legends just I think.

Jacen/Taryn Zel,
Zekk/Tenel Ka
Jag/Trista Zel
Ben/Taryn Zel
Cade Skywalker/Marasiah Fel
Jaina/Ganner
Allana/OC(future obviously)
Jacen/Nelani Dinn
Jacen/Tahiri

Jacen/Jysella

 

Incest. :/

 

Their fourth cousins or more distant-that's legal in the US