The Orgies Are Fine; It's The Jazz I Can't Stand.

[rionaleonhart]

One thing I find challenging in fanfiction is getting characters together in a convincing way, whether 'getting them together' means making them kiss, getting them to have sex, or getting them into a full-fledged romantic relationship.

I mainly write short one-shots, so there's not much scope for a slow-burn relationship build. In the Visitorverse for Assassin's Creed, by far the longest thing I've ever written, chemistry happened to build over time between Aveline and Shay and, later, between Aveline, Shay and Haytham, so getting them together felt like a natural progression. In most of my fics, though, I need to find some sort of catalyst to throw characters together.

I thought it might be interesting to go through my fanfiction and see the recurring patterns in how I get characters to interact in a sexual/romantic way. Well, it might be interesting for me, at any rate.

For the purposes of this exercise, I'm just looking at my main AO3 account, which houses the fanfiction I've written since 2013. I'm specifically considering fanfiction in which characters kiss, have sex or otherwise have an unambiguously romantic/sexual interaction, rather than just things with shippy vibes. If something fits into multiple categories, I've prioritised the most specific category. I've omitted fics about established relationships, and a couple of fics that include so many ships they'd be a nightmare to categorise.

For readability, I've just included the number of applicable fics under each category, rather than titles/links. If a particular category sounds like your thing, though, feel free to ask me for the list of fics that fall into it!



'Hey, want to kiss/have sex?': eight fics

This is a pretty broad category, so I'm not surprised it's the largest! However, it ties with a much more specific category:

Somehow inheriting relationships from a different version of yourself: eight fics

I hadn't realised I'd written this so often! But, thinking about it, it's not a huge surprise. I'm fascinated by alternate universes or timelines and how feelings might leak across from them, or the complicated experience of interacting with someone who's not quite the person you know.

Kissing/sex for mindgames or other ulterior purposes: seven fics

Oh, this one is fun. I don't imagine anyone's surprised that all my non-gen Death Note fanfiction falls into this category.

A physical fight turns into kissing/sex: six fics

A classic. If one character pins another to the floor during a fight in a fic I've written, you can be pretty sure that they're about to make out.

Natural progression from flirting/actually being mutually attracted to each other, what a concept: six fics

Coming to view someone differently in mutual isolation, either physical or psychological ('nobody else knows what we've been through'): five fics

A favourite of mine! I'm a little surprised this category isn't larger.

Kissing/sex in the face of approaching death or apocalypse: four fics

This is a great setup for extremely unhappy intimacy between characters who might not be intimate otherwise, which is something I always enjoy.

Misreading what someone wants, or enduring unwanted intimacy for someone else's sake: three fics

Kissing someone who isn't expecting it: three fics

I need your help to feel something physical, whether out of desperation or curiosity: three fics

Let's just bang for stress relief: two fics

I thought I'd have written this more often! Huh.

Playing some kind of intimacy chicken: two fics

Walking in on a sexual situation and getting invited in: two fics

Established couple invites someone else in without getting walked in on: two fics

Multiple existing relationships happen to link up into an orgy: two fics

Feelings changing for someone after picking up the possibility that they're attracted to you: two fics

Just kind of happens, let's gloss over the details: two fics

Love confession/'hey, want to be in an actual relationship?': two fics

It seems weird that I pretty much never write love confessions! But I'll be honest: I'm not a big fan of writing about clear, healthy romantic communication. It's just not something that tends to interest me in fiction!


And then there are the categories I've only written one fic each for, ranging from 'a common trope I only happen to have written once' to 'yeah, that's pretty specific':

Sleeping with other people to avoid feelings for a specific person: Closing the Circle (If We Were Villains, Oliver/everyone).

Kissing someone while half-asleep: Wasteland (Final Fantasy VIII, Squall/Zell).

Kissing practice: Education (Final Fantasy XV, Prompto/Gladio).

Hatekissing, but not during a physical fight: Material Evidence (Do Revenge, Drea/Eleanor).

Banging in a shared dream: Close Your Eyes (Danganronpa V3, Shuichi/everyone).

I need to kiss you so we'll both dream about hell tonight: See Where You Belong (The Book of Mormon, Price/McKinley).

Sleeping with someone in a workplace ritual at the instruction of your boss: The Fourth Temper (Severance, Mark/Helly).

Under the influence (of being a werewolf): Burning (The Quarry, Travis/Laura).

Just kind of feels like I should kiss you as I pull this sword out of your chest: Eternity's Edge (Revolutionary Girl Utena, Utena/Anthy).



I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing this kind of fic-by-fic analysis yourself; it's probably more effort than it's worth! But I'd be interested to hear if you've noticed any patterns in how you tend to get characters together in fiction. Do you have any favourite techniques you rely on?

Comments

[rionaleonhart]

I'm impressed by your dedication to Moriarty/Moran! My attention span is dire and I rocket between fandoms non-stop, so I'm a little in awe of anyone who manages to put down roots and write consistently for years (or, in your case, over a decade!) for a particular fandom or pairing.