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four dozen pickled eggs?!
EPIC ROMANCE: I finally just finished this very long scene, which is mainly politics and exposition and original characters. I think it still needs a lot of work (i.e. paring back me going over the top with 'formal' language), and I still have the lingering uncertainty that contributed to it being difficult to write - that it's not porn, that it's original characters, that it's world- and character-building (of OCs), and that that's not what people enjoy in fanfiction.
But the story is epic! It's a big political setting for a hardcore romance, okay? (And I just keep reminding myself that *I* like epic stories that have solid world-building behind them; it makes the id aspects of it all the more grounded and therefore resonant.)
So, current wordcount: 14,178
Current mood: Gwaine is a sullen little butterfly.
Anyway, ALSO TODAY I made
nixwilliams watch most of the Gwaine episodes of Merlin, which he hadn't seen before. I think that was largely successful :D It was good to watch again, and I did discover that I actually need to watch it with someone else laughing and making off-colour jokes about it, lest I get preoccupied with the fail.
And very amusing to be paying more attention to my fave characters now that I have those fannish goggles on; you can wring so much more nuance out of it. Like these series of looks in "The Eye of the Phoenix":
Arthur: *says/does something brattish*
Merlin: *gives Gwaine "ISN'T ARTHUR JUST THE GREATEST?" eyes*
Gwaine: *gives Merlin "Are you for real?" eyes*
(Which just cements my belief that Gwaine's decree of Arthur being a worthy noble is him just going, "okay, I suppose this noble is tolerable enough that I can stick around for Merlin without having to storm off in a sulk".)
That whole episode is basically just one big delightful romantic misunderstanding romp, where Gwaine is clearly all hearteyes about Merlin, and Merlin is totally oblivious/preoccupied by Arthur. And Arthur is self-absorbed and brattish in general, the usual farce of his ignorance of Merlin's magic dialled up to comedic 11.
(Also, in his first episode Gwaine refers to Arthur as a thoroughbred. This amuses me.)
Anyway, that descended into a bit of a ramble. How was your weekend?
But the story is epic! It's a big political setting for a hardcore romance, okay? (And I just keep reminding myself that *I* like epic stories that have solid world-building behind them; it makes the id aspects of it all the more grounded and therefore resonant.)
So, current wordcount: 14,178
Current mood: Gwaine is a sullen little butterfly.
Anyway, ALSO TODAY I made
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And very amusing to be paying more attention to my fave characters now that I have those fannish goggles on; you can wring so much more nuance out of it. Like these series of looks in "The Eye of the Phoenix":
Arthur: *says/does something brattish*
Merlin: *gives Gwaine "ISN'T ARTHUR JUST THE GREATEST?" eyes*
Gwaine: *gives Merlin "Are you for real?" eyes*
(Which just cements my belief that Gwaine's decree of Arthur being a worthy noble is him just going, "okay, I suppose this noble is tolerable enough that I can stick around for Merlin without having to storm off in a sulk".)
That whole episode is basically just one big delightful romantic misunderstanding romp, where Gwaine is clearly all hearteyes about Merlin, and Merlin is totally oblivious/preoccupied by Arthur. And Arthur is self-absorbed and brattish in general, the usual farce of his ignorance of Merlin's magic dialled up to comedic 11.
(Also, in his first episode Gwaine refers to Arthur as a thoroughbred. This amuses me.)
Anyway, that descended into a bit of a ramble. How was your weekend?
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I think some readers love world building. I do!! If you look at a fic like Arcane Asylum, it has tons of world building and a ton of fans. So don't be too discouraged about what folks want to read in fanfic.
(Plus, and I guess I'm selfish here, I love it when a fic author writes something different. I've been devouring
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Arcane Asylum was great, but it was also focussed very closely throughout on Arthur and Merlin, which is the hook to keep the reader there. Epic Romance is mostly from Gwaine's POV while he's in a diff kingdom from those two *g*
But, I'm probably mostly just paranoid!
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Arthur: *says/does something brattish*
Merlin: *gives Gwaine "ISN'T ARTHUR JUST THE GREATEST?" eyes*
Gwaine: *gives Merlin "Are you for real?" eyes*
DYING NOW.
Good luck to you! Hey, you said your fic had hard-core romance -- that's what readers want, and if it's framed by a complex world, even better! Go you. <3
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Thanks for your reassuring words :)