bandombigbang | Check In #4

Check In #4

This is an optional activity, with no deadlines. Answer now, answer later, or skip it completely.

Hopefully by now everyone has had a chance to at least start thinking about what they want to create in their fanwork, and ideally, many of us have gotten started. If you have gotten started and you're willing to share a little about what you've done so far, please take a look at Check In #3 if you haven't done so already.

This check-in is about characters. Just about every fanwork has at least some focus on characters. Obviously, stories (fic and podfic) are about our beloved bandom characters, art depicts these characters visually, and mixes often communicate one character's thoughts or ideas or are themed around what a certain pairing's relationship might be like.

Tell us about the characters that your big bang focuses on. Are they your favorite characters in bandom? What made you decide to focus on them? If your fanwork is an AU of some kind, what is the background of the characters in your fanwork's universe? If your fanwork has a pairing in it, tell us why you chose that pairing. What is it about that pairing that appeals to you? Share with us your thoughts and feelings about the characters around which your fanwork centers.

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The main pairing in my fanfic is Frerard, and they are most definitely my favourites in bandom! The rest of MCR are also characterised really well in bandom, but Frank and Gee seem to get done the best. Frerard is the only pairing I'm willing to read most of the time, so that's why I decided to write it. My fic is an AU, so take a look at my answer in Check In 3 for context. Gee is a psychic who hangs around in Thailand because he doesn't want to go to university, and Frank is your typical high-school kid who studies the IB (it's an international curriculum). Mikey kinda tags along with Gerard for everything, but I want to explore the deeply hidden compassionate side my version of him has. My fic has waaay too many characters for me to list here, and I'm adamant about not revealing spoilers. Frank and Gerard are probably the most important in my fic so far.
Everyone I am writing about are adorbs and I would mostly definitely adopt them. Even the bad guys XD
This is my first ever work in bandom, and after a long writing hiatus I hope I can write something worth reading! I'm willing to answer questions as well :3

Oooh, I love that yours takes place in Thailand. It sounds really interesting. If you're taking questions, what has drawn the two of them to Thailand of all places and how do they meet?

And how brave to sign up for BBB as your first foray into bandom! :)

The intro takes place in New Jersey, and after a lot of introduction, Frank and Gee meet there (in an airport, and very unromantically) :) Thailand was not really where either of them wanted to be in the first place, but it grows on them eventually. It's for supernatural reasons that both are told to go there. The same character forces both of them to go, actually. Not telling who though.

I was an idiot to sign up so quickly, but with 6000+ words in my first draft I think I'm doing ok so far. We'll just have to see where BBB takes me :D

Edited 2016-04-19 13:27 (UTC)

Characters are where my BBB started. I knew I wanted to work with this pairing and some stuff I've been mulling over personally and then this story emerged.

So in my fic, Patrick and Ray are married with kids and a mortgage and grown up jobs and a white picket fence in the suburbs. Like any marriage there are cracks and things swept under rugs, but they make it work. It’s roughly a revisiting of a Ray/Patrick I’ve written before in a different verse. They were a secondary pairing that never quite got fully explored, but I really loved feel of them together.

In this, Ray has a really strong moral compass and a clear understanding of what’s right and wrong. He’s patient and loving and mature and selfless. He’s a good dad. He’s responsible. He’s straight forward and uncomplicated; he’s much better than Patrick thinks he deserves.

In contrast, Patrick is a bit darker, more nuanced, a bit more flawed. He’s indecisive and evasive and insecure. He tries to keep up appearances, but mostly he hates PTA meetings and ironing shirts and going to bed at a reasonable hour. He hates selling insurance for a living and getting his car serviced and having to basically adult 24/7. This isn’t the life he had envisioned when he was young; he was going to hit the road with Pete and his friends, make music and explore the world and make something of himself.

But things had always been messy with him and Pete. There was the age difference thing, the gay thing, the soulmate thing, the best buy parking lot thing, the dropping out of college and taking ridiculous risks on long shots thing, the nuclear fallout whenever Pete got jealous or upset or they disagreed on something thing. Ultimately when Pete asked him to get serious with him and get in the damn van for good, Patrick froze and said all the wrong things and fucked everything up. They didn’t even really break up. Pete went to California for some time out and Patrick didn’t follow him and that was that.

And then they’ve both been out of each other’s lives for years when Pete unexpectedly comes back into town to deal with a family matter. They can’t really avoid each other, though not for lack of trying on Patrick’s part. Pete’s everything Patrick remembered him to be and a few things he never expected Pete could become. He’s fascinating. He’s dangerous. He’s a mistake Patrick doesn’t think he can stop himself from making. Then there’s a draft background ensemble cast of Gerard/Lindsey, Mikey/Kristin, Frank/Jamia, Joe/Marie and Andy/Travie, with canon kids.

I love this check in! Super excited to see what characters everyone's writing.

Aw dude... Ray's gonna get screwed over again huh? I need to fucking read this.

Haha, not quite in the same way as the last one. They are older now, more settled, more mature, etc. It was actually your comment on YSGWH last month that made me revisit the fic and fall back in love with them. So thanks :)

ZOMG really? AWESOME. I actually have that story permanently saved on my Kindle, my phone, my iPad AND my laptop and I've read it several times (I'm obsessed). I wasn't sure I was gonna say anything because I suck at comments but I think I managed to convey what I meant. Glad you're giving this story a go.

This sounds complex and deep. I can't wait to see what happens.

*cheers you on*

Yes! This, I second this!

Omg. Is this a remaining of the fic that shall not be named that made me bawl and think about my life choices. Ugh, the anxiety I'm feeling now for what the end game is going to be because Peterickkkkk. But I kinda love Ray too but Pete and Patrick in those days were like the best worst idea for a relationship and eek. Either way I'm going to hurt my feelings.

I'm hesitant to comment bc this year's writing round has been the hardest for me when it comes to picking a story idea to work on.

However, I'm really hoping what I'm poking at now is what I finish with.

It's minor Brendon/Frank and Spencer/Gabe with major past-Brendon/Spencer.

I'm very obviously writing an au(it's all I ever write). And, it's kinda set in this weirdly non-specific time in the past that has mild trappings of magic but isn't a full-blown fantasy world.

In this, Brendon, Spencer, and Ryan are rebuilding lives after a mistake the year before. It features; hiding behind his pretensions Ryan, stubborn and hurting Spencer, and pensive Brendon slowly regaining his smile.

I guess it makes sense that I'd come full-circle back around to Brendon/Spencer being the core relationship. It was my first pairing and I continue to enjoy the way they interact in fanon.

So if it's major past Brendon/Spencer how's that going to impact the current relationships everyone's having?

it's complicated? and I'm still working particulars out. I only got the idea way early in the morning sunday after being awake for 20hours and about ready to go to sleep. It's possible I'll end up with a quad relationship, though. Maybe..I don't know.

Complicated is my favorite. You can do it!

I'm not a big Panic! reader but I am easily reading the everloving fuck out of this. I love fic that starts some time after something significant has happened and Brendon/Frnk... how had I never considered this pairing before?

What kind of magic is it? Also, *pom poms* Hope the idea sticks!

I have a thing for people recovering from past events.

Brendon/Frank is actually the pairing I went to after Brendon/Spencer, it's not as easy to find but I enjoy it greatly.

I'd say...understated magic is just there but can be tapped into by people if they open their eyes to it and don't just instantly fear it. I think my general analogy for time frame is around the 1940's..but in an alternate world. IF only I knew how to make fantasy world maps.

I have an outline and soooo many scenes I want to delve into. So I am SOOO hoping this one is THE ONE.

thank you so much for the pom poms I need the cheering.

So I came up with this story idea months ago, and decided to work on it for my BBB. This is my first one and it's going better than I expected in word count. I'm not so sure about character development to be honest.

See this was always going to be Grant Morrison/Frank Iero/Gerard Way, with most of the focus starting off on Grant and Frank. Frank's had a really hard life being a Variant (think genetically engineered space mutant) and he's kind of an asshole because of it. He keeps having resurgences of being an asshole. He'll do nice things too but he's also such a DICK sometime I just wanna punch the little bastard.

...Also I kind of admit I'm emotionally torturing Gerard in this for fun.

Anyway, what's really surprising me is there's two background relationships seen in the story. One is Gabe Saporta/Victoria Asher/Travie McCoy, which I don't get much into. The other is a SERIOUSLY complex relationship with Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz.

There's shared trauma, and I seem to have made Patrick asexual for this fic (I honestly didn't realize it until a friend pointed it out to me) so I think part of the reason their relationship is becoming more prominent is because it's an example of intimacy without sex. And that's something that the lead poly relationship really needs to realize (for reasons I don't wanna get into now because I'm still working on it).

This is going in all sorts of weird directions and hopefully solidifies soon.

it sounds like everything is going in weird but excellently complex directions and I'm totally stoked to see your finished story of awesome.

*waves pom poms*

I see much editing in my future because the story and relationships are changing so fast that it's not really keeping in line with what I already wrote.

Asshole!Frnk makes me so happppy. So does emotionally tortured Gerard, tbh. And Frnk/Gee/Grant is one of my OT3s (I have too many to count). Sounds you have a really exciting story on your hands :)

I've had this bunny in my head for a while about Patrick and Pete being together and Trick being asexual and them finding a way to make it work. Am super excited to read what you do with your asexual!Trick!

Oh man it's fun to write but it's COMPLICATED. But everything's gonna work out in the end.

Yeah that was the thing I totally did NOT mean to do that. But now that I'm writing more about their relationship I'm really glad that Patrick turned out that way. I actually just worked on the scenes where that's explored further at work today.

So I wanted to write a story that focused on a Pete/Patrick relationship somewhere in the veins of BeWentz but instead of Pete being the devil, Patrick is *a* devil. Then, it got weird really fast. I played on the idea of the narrative being omniscient but it didn't feel right because Pete kinda steamrolled me and said I needed to right a pre-band/van-days/canon au fic.

I don't even. It's been hard because there are days where writing Pete comes so easy but the flow of the narrative kinda mixes with the Pete I'm writing's headspace so it's jarring and indulgent and I hate it as much as I love it.

Pete/Patrick was my first pairing in bandom which I got into because I was going through a list of podfics from my favorite reader. Then, I just kind of never left because I found so many of my favorite authors had stories in the fandom and there were also so many great writers solely in this fandom as well.

Patrick is definitely my fandom bicycle. I'm pretty sure I can read him with anyone but Peterick is definitely my all time favorite. I don't know why, I just like him a lot.

Woops, I forgot to log in.

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Check In #4

'Tis my Answer, peeps

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I've got Ray/Patrick, Patrick/Pete and background pan-bandom

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Re: I've got Ray/Patrick, Patrick/Pete and background pan-bandom

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Re: I've got Ray/Patrick, Patrick/Pete and background pan-bandom

No one is going to be surprised

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doctorkilljoy

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