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I actually think about this a lot and I think you'd need like a few very key features: https://twitter.com/mspowahs/status/1290753188254175232
1. you'd need a collection of characters who can be romantically paired. Which means you'd need
-characters who are sworn enemies
-characters who are competitive but friendly
-characters with a friendly rapport
-characters with inborn resentments
-characters who are codependent
-characters who are sworn enemies
-characters who are competitive but friendly
-characters with a friendly rapport
-characters with inborn resentments
-characters who are codependent
2. you'd need to write everyone as being very ambiguous regarding their sexualities; you'd need to come just close enough to actually calling them queer but never really do it because the fandom needs to NEED to do it themselves
3. you'd need to place the characters in a world that's both expansive and yet somewhat claustrophobic--this can be done by telling the story through limited third person POVs, so there's a narrative reason for not revealing more of the setting/world structure
4. the characters would need to exist in a setting where they are in close contact while also being somewhat removed from the world at large. A school works well for this. Maybe a prison, or a training camp, or a spaceship, or something similar
5. the characters have to have a goal but the narrative regarding accomplishing the goal has to be loose enough to allow for side-quests and special moments and tenuously-related, gratuitous bonding
6. if writing about teens, there should be adults somewhere but NEVER parents. teachers are best, but Fagan-types are ok too
7. it needs to be a series. this is crucial. it NEEDS TO BE A SERIES. preferably with long books filled with details that may drag down the narrative BUT provide fodder for potential romantic trysts
8. there should be a bunch of plot elements that are badly explained or dropped entirely so the fandom can "fix them"
9. there should be attractive, sympathetic villains but never the main villain, the one that will eventually be defeated. the main villain should be unattractive. but they should have a plethora of attractive henchpeople
10. if writing about teens, make them weirdly adult in behavior and decision-making skills; if writing about adults, make them weirdly juvenile in behavior and decision-making skills
Ok now you all owe me a million dollars for telling you my CREATE A FANDOM secrets. You can deposit it in any of the below places. It will go to my cats https://twitter.com/ellle_em/status/1285705136514490370?s=20
