Fannish 50 - On Building Out Characters

[cmk418]

One of my favorite things to do, particularly in HBO's OZ fandom is to take a minor or barely seen character from the ensemble series and flesh them out. Take the details found in canon and then create a backstory from those details. I did this to great extent in my (still unfinished) fic series "Great Risks", where I took Dino Ortolani, a character featured in just the pilot, in which he's the star, until he *spoiler alert* gets killed at the end of the episode, and envisioned a whole backstory connecting him to Ryan O'Reily. There are also the families and significant others of the characters who can interact in therapy sessions, regular visitation, or conjugal visits. And don't get me started on the staff who are never seen outside the prison walls (yet I have a very vivid image of Sean Murphy's place in my mind.)

I think it's one of the gifts that we have as fanfic writers that we can breathe life into characters who might have been a throwaway line or passing through in just a couple of scenes. It brings more to the table and even have people looking at a character or a relationship in a new way.

All this to say, I wrote a thing for the Public Works Bingo - By Proxy - which involves Mavis Woodson (aka Jefferson Keane's bride). Check it out.

Comments

[cornerofmadness]

That is an interesting take, really

[cmk418]

And in my own original stuff, I hate putting in too much but I'm most than willing to fill in the blanks when it comes to fandom.

[9cbffs]

A Dino Ortolani backstory fic sounds very interesting, I've often wondered about his history with Ryan. Also, I totally agree, this is one of my favorite aspects of fanfic writing too :) fleshing out one-off / background characters and creating extensive lore within a canon universe is a wonderful midpoint between fannish and original creation.

[cmk418]

Well, it's a bit of a romantic backstory, so maybe not the canon that Fontana intended, but it does wrap back around into canon. It's not quite done and I basically abandoned it 15 years ago. The Great Risks tag will take you to it, but the links brought me back to LJ when I looked at it today.

You're doing great work with that lore. I'm loving your drabbles at HT100.

[9cbffs]

Fontana be damned, it's our show now! :p Jokes aside, I think a romantic backstory is just as interesting as not - there's still so much to explore even when the focus is on a potential relationship. Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely check it out!

Also, thank you so much :3 I'm having fun writing them ~

[asphaltcowgrrl]

I used to do this a lot with a show called Common Law. There were two homicide detectives put into couples therapy by their captain. The therapy group was full of interesting characters, but you don't know much about any of them. It certainly is fun though.

[cmk418]

Exactly. It's keeping big-picture canon to a certain extent but going crazy with the details.

[asphaltcowgrrl]

Absolutely. You can go crazy around the fringes while keeping the center sane. LOL

[cmk418]

Completely unrelated, but I group texted a couple of my gay friends in Chicago about "Heated Rivalry" to see if they'd seen it yet and one of them texted back "I'm going to the cabin." Love it.

Trust me, if you don't get it now, you will in a chapter or two.

[asphaltcowgrrl]

I absolutely get it! I cried at that part in the book, the scene in the show might break me when I get there.

Totally related: did you hear she's writing one last book?

[cmk418]

OMG! I saw that earlier today and I was going to tell you. Definitely on the list for reading this year.

That scene is absolutely ridiculous. I nearly had a heart attack during it because the editing is great and the tension is so high. It comes at the end of episode 5 in the series. So great.

[asphaltcowgrrl]

Agreed! I just need to get through books 3-6 first. :D

I'm looking forward to it!