Open Thread: Oracle Hotline

[mithen]

--Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

I'd lay good odds I'm never going to write mpreg or A/B/O fic, but I suppose one never knows!

Fun fact: I think I've gotten more writing done in September than I did in August! This is due to a blessed day free of all social engagements in which I sat down and wrote about four thousand words in one long blissful gulp. My sister called, worried about the fact that I had stayed home all day, and said "Are you sure you're okay? You're not feeling isolated? Lonely?" and I fear I may have laughed at her. :) Anyway, it was very nice, and I'm feeling better! I hope your September has been going well so far too!

Comments

[prince0froses]

Oh my god I wouldn't have handled a prying sister on my first Me day in over a month nearly as gracefully as you did.

I'm relieved you have no interest in A/B/O - while I understand the appeal on the surface, I don't like how it inevitably leads to the characters involved behaving in a very OOC fashion. Mpreg is a thing I consider contextual - I'm not a fan of 'suddenly, somehow, this man can have a baby', and I don't like the heteronormative aspect of 'all couples must end in babies' despite the fact that I tend to favor that ending myself. However, there are some cases where it makes sense - a transmale or intersex (*coughLokicough*) character, or if it's explained by universe-appropriate magic or something similar and then done in a respectfully IC fashion I'll let it go. It's all about how well the author pulls it off.

As for whether or not I'd touch either myself, I can't say! While I wouldn't call A/B/O by that name or have the precise rules for it that fanfiction does, there's already something similar in how male dragons (and therefore Dorian to a lesser extent) chose a mate in my universe - it's about dominating and claiming. I haven't alluded to it tons yet, but it's a natural urge Dorian has due to his heritage that he sometimes struggles with and sometimes gives in to. And I haven't fully worked out how shifters mate - something like A/B/O might work because they are actual wolf people. :P As for mpreg, I'm half tempted to make a terrible joke and say the heirs of Dade after Iona didn't get there by themselves, but poor Dade and Mahir are looking at me in horror XD It's not likely, unless trans male character - though Giacomo, the only prominent one introduced thus far, would rather die.

Hm...tropes I'll likely never touch...if we're talking broader literature tropes, it would be far too long of a list. There's also a list of tropes I'm trying, and probably failing, very hard to avoid, specifically problematic stereotype tropes. I'm terrified Heerah edges too close to 'sassy black woman', that Dade is too stereotype gay, and that Dorian is too much of a 'bi slut', for example. There's even more of those I worry about.

If we're talking fanfiction tropes, hm...I can't think of anything I wouldn't do. Again, it's all about context.

[mithen]

Gotta say once you have actual canon werewolves, it isn't THAT much of a stretch to do something with wolf sexual practices... :) And the image of Mahir and Dade looking at you like OMG WHAT NO is making me very happy!

Mmmm, yeah, I can see trying to avoid stereotype tropes is a bit of a challenge and would be stressful sometimes! But definitely with Dade and Dorian, you have other gay and bi characters around, and that definitely helps. It's only when they're the ONLY OPTION that it can be a problem. Following from that, it does make it clear how important it is to have characters of color other than Heerah, hmmm.

[me_ya_ri]

I have written mpreg a couple of times. Never A/B/O but then I don't read it either. Can't see how that one works, honestly. The social aspects of it just... *shakes head* The things that would do to society are so huge that I can't wrap my head around it.

The only trope that I think I'll never write is mind games, where one character messes with the mind of the other for amusement or malicious purposes. That messes with me too badly emotionally for me to be able to write it.

*laughs and hugs you* Well, at least you got writing done! And yeah, no, getting to just focus and write in privacy is way too nice a feeling for being lonely.

I've done really well so far this month. I'm over 11,000 words in the last four days, much to my astonishment. The book I've been working on needs more than I thought. I'm about 2 chapters from the end and I realized that I absolutely have to go back and add about another 10-12 chapters with side characters POV. The main plot is way too thin, sadly.

So of course I haven't gotten to work on that. Instead I started writing an erotica story that's been hovering in the back of my head for ages (years!) That's where all the words have come from. So far it's a blast and I figure I'm 2/3 done with it.

Good luck getting more time to write this month!

[mithen]

The social aspects of it just... *shakes head* The things that would do to society are so huge that I can't wrap my head around it.

I've explained the basics to my husband, who loves to spin out worldbuilding from changes like that, and he just falls apart when he tries it. "That isn't going to work!" :)

The only trope that I think I'll never write is mind games, where one character messes with the mind of the other for amusement or malicious purposes. That messes with me too badly emotionally for me to be able to write it.

Ooooh, I could see that as something that would be no fun at all to write. It's definitely not the kind of relationship I'd find appealing at all...

*laughs and hugs you* Well, at least you got writing done! And yeah, no, getting to just focus and write in privacy is way too nice a feeling for being lonely.

I got a slew done today as well, so am feeling very good again! It's shocking how off-balance it can throw me when I've had no writing time...

I've done really well so far this month. I'm over 11,000 words in the last four days, much to my astonishment.

*chinhands in wonder* That's fantastic! I can't even bring myself to feel badly for you that you need to add more chapters to your book, because I'm betting you've got some side characters who'll be great to expand on!