superhero_muses | Open Thread: Oracle Hotline

--Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

This question on the list made me laugh and I couldn't resist putting it here, because I have zero interest in being original! But at the same time I don't particularly worry about giving readers what they want? The big advantage of fanfic for me is that I don't have to focus on either of those things, I can write whatever cliched trope I enjoy. For me the challenge is seeing if I can execute a cliche in a way that's fun to write and also fun to read.

And I'm having a lot of fun with vampire fic right now, and also with the nonfiction! The nonfiction is an interesting case because I'm writing up a history of my two favorite wrestlers (and have been for more than a year now) and it's clear that fanfic has really been excellent preparation for it? A lot of the (non-slash, of course) ideas and emotions I explored in fic about them have slipped into the history at some level and made it a lot stronger, I think. I only have one more essay to go in it and I am suffering horrible separation anxiety, I have to confess! It's been such a fun project, my faves have gotten a lot of pleasure from it, and I am not sure what I'm going to do with myself when it's done.