#dr.g rambles

[drgrlfriend]

For the writer asks:

2. talk about a notable time a narrative or character has looked you dead in the eyes and said “fuck your plan, here’s what we’re actually doing.”

And particularly in regards to Freedom's Reach as it relates to the whole alternate universe deal: 37. when creating characters, what comes first: appearance, backstory, motivation, personality, something else? I absolutely loved the way you translated their canon backstories and personalities into that setting - what came first/how did you get from Point A to Point B?

#2 is interesting especially when you specify Freedom's Reach, because that was probably one of my more planned-out stories, and the characters often *couldn't* do what they wanted because I was constrained by the structure I set up ahead of time (e.g. arranged marriage, 3-month deadline to marry or leave) to a large degree. That said, I do remember my original conceptualization of Bucky was more of an emotionally distant, Mr. Rochester type, and I think he comes across like that for the first few scenes, but to be honest little baby Circus!Clint / Gosh!Clint Barton was just so adorable and kind-hearted and sincere in that fic that you couldn't have Bucky continuing to be distant and kind of cold, it was like watching someone kicking a puppy. So I changed pretty notably to having Bucky at least acknowledge to himself what a mess he was inside and Clint maybe not picking up on all of it. I do think some of the "fights" between characters were spontaneous, though! And I think maybe they were supposed to fool around in that scene where they dance in the kitchen but it went entirely another way? It's all a blur, now! Oh, geez, now that I reread this maybe #2 was not specifically about Freedom's Reach, in which case I'll say that Light the Spark was supposed to have a long period of time in which the Winterhawk boys were enemies and yet they made friends in like five paragraphs, entirely against my will. #37 - So, Freedom's Reach started by me asking some Winterhawk fans on Discord what an underused trope they would like to see in more Winterhawk fic would be, and Arranged Marriage was suggested. I quickly fell in love with idea of the more Western AU / Mail Order Bride trope as the particular variety of arranged marriage; it just seemed like a fun romance novel time period that I hadn't written before. It also allowed me to incorporate some of Bucky's prisoner of war issues from canon into the historical AU without the superhero elements of the story. But, I have a very strong squick for uneven power dynamics in fics if they are not treated sensitively, and yet a very strong affinity for them when they are. So, I had to make sure the implicitly uneven power dynamic of the mail order bride trope was treated in a way I was comfortable with. Jeez, that's a long answer to say I'm not 100% sure how my fics start. At least a few have started with a trope -- for example "fake dating" for Light the Spark and "arranged marriage" for Freedom's Reach. Obviously the Reverse Bangs are inspired by art, and challenge or auction fics were in response to particular challenges (fix remixes or prompts, that kind of thing). The urge to fix-it and deliver the emotional sequelae and recovery from trauma that canon skips out on is probably one of my biggest motivators. I am also a contrary person so sometimes if I've seen one particular trope or reaction in a lot of fics I get stuck in my mind, "But what about if it happened the OTHER way." For example, Quriosity was sparked by reading a lot of fics where James Bond masterfully just grabbed and kissed Q and Q melted, and I was like, "I would smack that man! I want to read about THAT reaction!" and thus a giant fic was born.