Writing against type

[maeve_of_winter]

I'm writing a fic right now that's somewhat challenging in its characterization, and it got me thinking: how do you tackle characters dealing with emotions or reacting to situations they've never come close to encountering in canon? Or them consciously choosing to change who they are as a person?

For me, my fic is a Riverdale/Archie Comics fic for the FP Jones/Kevin Keller pairing called "Second Time Around." It has FP Jones, a rough and tough gang leader in canon, now trying to step up in his role as a newly single parent, as well as trying act more like a gentleman in order to convince Kevin Keller to stay with him. It can get difficult, because the situation in itself requires FP to change from how he is in canon into someone who's more gentle and caring, so it can very easily stretch the willing suspension of disbelief.

And now I'm curious! How do you, as a writer, believably keep a character as themselves while writing about them acting differently than how they are in canon, or willingly choosing to act unlike themselves?

Comments

[dirty_diana]

I'm working on something like this right now. It's with a character who has as a major trait in canon of being a fish out of water, and I'm working on a fork-in-the-road au where he'd be comfortably in his regular waters. It's weirdly the opposite of your scenario - he's matured a good bit in canon. Basically the main thing I'm trying to do is lean on the recognisable parts of his character that I can still use, and hope that that keeps the link obvious. Sense of humour, etc.

Not sure I have a complete handle on it, though. Good luck to you.

[maeve_of_winter]

Thank you! It's nice to know I'm not the only one out there who experiences a bit of uncertainty when writing.

I'm curious about you're fic, if you'd like to share? Canon divergences always fascinate me.

Basically the main thing I'm trying to do is lean on the recognisable parts of his character that I can still use, and hope that that keeps the link obvious.

All of these are good ideas! I have FP personally fighting down the impulse to make his usual forward remarks, or doing something ill-mannered and then apologizing. You're definitely right in that recognizability really is the key when it comes to character writing.

[dirty_diana]

Yeah my writing process is about 75% uncertainty. I don't know where I'm going just that's somewhere?

My au is a Supergirl CW story. Basically we meet Mon-El on Daxam before his star system became uninhabitable, and he meets Kara. I am fretting a bit about making him too unlikeable since it's a step back from the latter half of the last season, but his pre-series flaws are pretty clearly stated canon? Similar problem happening with Kryptonian Kara tbh so I hope I'm walking the line okay.