Hooray for Tackling Plot Bunnies of Doom!

[kriadydragon]

I finally, finally tackled a plot I've been working on for ages. And, really, why was it so hard? I'm agonizing over this thing for months, finally figure it out then get it done in one day. Although I think half the problem was A: trying to make it poignant when all it wanted to be was a fun little caper and B: wrestling with the POV. I wanted to use Neal's POV, the story wanted Peter's.

I'm also starting to suspect that when it comes to writing White Collar I'm more drawn to the fun capers than the angsty whump. Don't get me wrong, I love me some angsty whump, but I seem more motivated to write more light hearted fic where White Collar is concerned.

Which has gotten me to think a lot about how different fandoms affect my writing desires. I may have touched on this before, but I can never bring myself to whump Neal as badly as I whumped Sheppard. which, I believe, is what drew me into writing fanfic for Merlin, because for some reason I can whump Merlin like I whumped Sheppard. And it makes me wonder what about one character makes them so easy to whump and what about another character makes it so difficult.

Although with Neal I think that, for me, it's a matter of not wanting to put him through anything that would change him. It's probably just how I view them but to me Sheppard is a lot more resilient than Neal. That is, if Neal were put through horrible torture, it wouldn't necessarily turn him into a blubbering mess or anything, but I think it would definitely inspire him to rethink his life. Where as with Sheppard, it would probably motivate him even more to protect his people.

I don't know. All I do know is that I have limits when it comes to whumping Neal that I didn't used to have.

Comments

[florastuart.livejournal.com]

*pokes head in shyly and waves*

with Neal I think that, for me, it's a matter of not wanting to put him through anything that would change him

This is interesting to think about - I'd never thought of it this way before, but with Neal I am definitely more into writing the emotional whump than the physical, and my plot bunnies tend to be more drawn toward examining the effects of the emotional whump he gets in canon - there's *so much* to work with there! - than creating new angst.

(I think I have about six different Point Blank tags half started on my computer, which basically consist of various different characters giving Neal lots and lots of hugs. No, really.)

And now that I think about it ... I'm thinking that's because the (mostly emotional) whump Neal gets in canon really does *change* him. He's not the same person in early S2 as he is in S1; he's not the same person in late S2 as in early S2, and he's very different by the end of S3. And so if I'm thinking about inflicting something seriously traumatic on him in fic, it's with the understanding that this *is* going to seriously change him. He's not someone who shrugs these things off, like some characters do. For all Neal has spent a lot of time around violence, he doesn't seem to be someone who's ever going to get used to it. (How many times per episode does someone point a gun at him? And yet he never stops reacting badly every time.)

And a lot of times I don't want to change him that much.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

*Waves back happily* Hi!

He's not the same person in early S2 as he is in S1; he's not the same person in late S2 as in early S2, and he's very different by the end of S3. And so if I'm thinking about inflicting something seriously traumatic on him in fic, it's with the understanding that this *is* going to seriously change him.

Yes! Very true, and I think that's why I'm so wary about doing anything major to Neal, because we have seen what trauma does to him even if it's been mostly emotional whump rather than physical. I normally love dealing with traumatic aftermath fic but I know that with Neal - depending on how bad the trauma is - it's going to take more story length and effort than I'm willing to put into it :/