Liz ([info]amidala_thrace) wrote in [info]jedionpaper,
@ 2008-02-08 18:49:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend  Next Entry
Current mood: busy
Entry tags:anakin/padmé, fanfic100, prompt tables, star wars

Anakin/Padmé @ [info]fanfic100
(My apologies in advance for bombarding with admin-type stuff right away, but I want to get these prompt tables up quickly so it's over with.)

I imagine some of you may be looking at the subject line of this post with disbelief, especially those of you who ship Obidala. "Not LIZ!" you're saying. "Liz, the avowed Obidala shipper, has claimed Anakin/Padmé at [info]fanfic100? How is that possible?" Particularly if you're an Obidala shipper, it must be something like discovering your grandmother is actually a spy for the other side. But let me explain. There is a logical reason, I promise you, and this does not mean I've sworn off writing Obidala forever. Really, it doesn't.

Put simply, I want to see Anakin/Padmé done right. That is why I claimed it.

What exactly do I mean by "right"? Well, when I first got into the fandom, I shipped Anakin/Padmé, and I read a lot of fanfiction. I came to realize that Anakin/Padmé fanfiction falls into two primary categories. The first category is fluffy, trite, sugary, happily ever after stuff. The dialogue tends to be just a notch below Lucas's - which requires talent - and typically consists of phrases such as, "Oh, Anakin, how I love you!" "No, Padmé, I love you more!" "No, Ani, I love you more!" Etc. This kind of fic also focuses heavily on the looks of the couple in question and has them going like bunnies.

Look, I enjoy my smut and fluff as much as the next girl. I seek it out often, and there's some fluff and smut fics I consider to be unmissable. The problem I see is that there is just so much of this in the Anakin/Padmé ship. There is not nearly enough of the second kind of fic, which is the sort that focuses on Anakin and Padmé as people. Two people who are in love, and are married, and who find the separations enforced by the Clone War nearly unendurable. The kind that deals with Anakin's emotions after Padmé's death. The kind that explores Anakin's motivations for falling in love with Padmé, and Padmé's motivations for returning his affections. Do these goals sound too weighty for fanfiction? Well, obviously they're not, because I've read fics that do this very thing, and do it admirably. There is just not enough of them.

I can still "do" Anakin/Padmé, and by most accounts I can do it quite well. (Just ask Wendy and her Anakin!pup at TM. XD) I just don't often choose to. But this is one instance where yes, I will be choosing to, and doing so from a somewhat unique perspective. I love Obi-Wan/Padmé, and I always will. It's the very definition of One True Pairing, for me. But Anakin/Padmé was my first ship, and I still feel a certain amount of attraction to it. There is also a certain challenge for me in writing a pairing that is not the one I like best. I like it, I just don't like it best.

This, therefore, is a writing challenge for me. I want to see if I can write the sort of Anakin/Padmé fics that I as a reader find enjoyable. I want to see what I can do with Anakin, as a character, because he has always been somewhat of an enigma to me. I want to stretch myself as a writer. That's what this is about.



001.Beginnings. 002.Middles. 003.Ends. 004.Insides. 005.Outsides.
006.Hours. 007.Days. 008.Weeks. 009.Months. 010.Years.
011.Red. 012.Orange. 013.Yellow. 014.Green. 015.Blue.
016.Purple. 017.Brown. 018.Black. 019.White. 020.Colourless.
021.Friends. 022.Enemies. 023.Lovers. 024.Family. 025.Strangers.
026.Teammates. 027.Parents. 028.Children. 029.Birth. 030.Death.
031.Sunrise. 032.Sunset. 033.Too Much. 034.Not Enough. 035.Sixth Sense.
036.Smell. 037.Sound. 038.Touch. 039.Taste. 040.Sight.
041.Shapes. 042.Triangle. 043.Square. 044.Circle. 045.Moon.
046.Star. 047.Heart. 048.Diamond. 049.Club. 050.Spade.
051.Water. 052.Fire. 053.Earth. 054.Air. 055.Spirit.
056.Breakfast. 057.Lunch. 058.Dinner. 059.Food. 060.Drink.
061.Winter. 062.Spring. 063.Summer. 064.Fall. 065.Passing.
066.Rain. 067.Snow. 068.Lightening. 069.Thunder. 070.Storm.
071.Broken. 072.Fixed. 073.Light. 074.Dark. 075.Shade.
076.Who? 077.What? 078.Where? 079.When? 080.Why?
081.How? 082.If. 083.And. 084.He. 085.She.
086.Choices. 087.Life. 088.School. 089.Work. 090.Home.
091.Birthday. 092.Christmas. 093.Thanksgiving. 094.Independence. 095.New Year.
096.Writer‘s Choice. 097.Writer‘s Choice. 098.Writer‘s Choice. 099.Writer‘s Choice. 100.Writer‘s Choice.




As with all my claims, this one will be linked in my sidebar, and the fics can be accessed by clicking on the appropriate prompt. Wish me luck! This'll be interesting, if nothing else. XD

(3 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]qtshorty1625
2009-07-25 12:46 am UTC (link)
I was looking through your tables b/c I'm trying to get inspired to finish my AoGG fics, so I was looking at your fanfic100 tables, and noticed your comment about the reason for this claim being that you wanted to see it done right. I know what you mean; that's exactly how I got into fan fiction, and the reason behind every time I start fictioning a new fandom. (It's the reason I started with AoGG and it's the reason I have so many ideas for B&S. . .because frankly if I read one more Kevin/Scotty fic that has them obsessed with sex, I'll claw my eyes out.) I'm getting pretty bad where I'm tempted to go through and find fics I don't like and write almost "response" fics where I find fics I don't like, and then "fix them". I can't figure out. . .is that plagiarism?

But anyway, just thought it was funny that we (at least sometimes) have the same influence for fics :).

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]amidala_thrace
2009-07-25 12:57 am UTC (link)
Yeah, I personally cannot stand schmoop, and Anakin/Padmé is unfortunately exactly the kind of ship that usually lends itself to schmoopy fic. I think that's mainly because of the way it's written in canon, with pickup lines such as "I don't like sand" and some truly wince-worthy sweet talk. My A/P are occasionally sweet, but not in a schmoopy way. They genuinely care for each other but they are not so obsessed that you need like a crowbar to pry them apart. Or at least that's how I write Padmé - with Anakin it's sometimes hard not to stray into the obsession thing because it's a legitimate character trait, but I try to keep it to a minimum. Heh.

As for your fic question ... I wouldn't call it plagiarism exactly, no. Some fandoms have fanfiction challenges to do basically what you're describing - take someone else's fic and tell it from another perspective or another viewpoint. That's generally referred to as "remixing" a fic. These remixes are always done with the original author's permission, though, so if I were you I'd just drop the authors a polite note and ask them if it would be okay to write a remix of their fic. If they say yes, then you're golden, and if they say no, then I guess you're no worse off than right now, right? ;)

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]qtshorty1625
2009-07-27 04:50 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, it's hard when canon leads you in a certain way. But as long as some of us are actually watching canon and not just writing our own character traits and such.

Okay, thanks for the suggestion. I may consider doing that. (although, of course, find a way to make it sound like I'm doing it more for a prompt than for actually want to fix their work. I mean after all, people tend to get offended if you say you want to fix their work, haha! Though, the fact that there are challenges to do remixing might provide me with a "cover story". We'll see.)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

(3 comments) - (Post a new comment)

Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…