Another difference between BtVS and SPN

[snick_backup]

Plotting is much, much easier in SPN. If you know me, you know that plot has always been my nemesis, even (especially) in original fiction. BtVS is no easier; with so few restrictions on its worldbuilding and no really standard episode structure, there's very little guidance for plotting a story that "feels" like BtVS. At least, that's the trouble I have. When anything goes, it's hard to narrow down "anything" to "something."

Whereas SPN has a basic episode structure and is at least sporadically committed to making its MOW plot interesting in its own right, which simplifies things a lot. I worked up a full episode-style plot, complete with spook, motivation, the Winchesters' emotional arc, a general idea of events, and overarching meta/theme/commentary, in about half an hour this morning. Not that I'll probably ever write it, because I have more than enough projects already and the subject matter was going to take some very sensitive handling, but still. A plot! I came up with a plot!

Comments

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

Ooh, tell! Tell! My SPN plot made up in a half hour is Sam and Dean get stuck in Hotel California, and Dean spends the entire time griping about the Eagles. I got the idea from one of pfeifferpack's fics. But it's totally applicable to SPN as well.

[snickfic]

This is a direct quote from my email to bobthemole this morning:

The boys are investigating a series of deaths in a frat house, all of male students, who were first haunted/harrassed and then castrated and killed. Once Sam and Dean figure out the pattern, they think some female assistance would be nice - useful, after all, to be working with someone who *won't* be targeted - so they call in Jo. Jo ends up mostly taking over the investigation because all Sam and Dean's usual methods - natural and supernatural - keep getting stonewalled. It turns out that long ago a woman was raped and killed in the house, and after coming back and killing her rapist, her spirit hadn't been heard from in years. However, she was reawakened in the present day when another girl was assaulted, and now she's out for vengeance.

So you've got the present-day assault that our team ends up finding out about (no justice required; the guy who did it is already dead); Dean being freaked out by escalating sexual harrassment by a ghost; Dean serving as bait; Jo, Badass Girl Hunter (tm) sorting things out; and also a lot of discussions of why how, however pure their intentions, Sam and Dean's methods of pushing boundaries and violating privacy come across as really threatening and sometimes *just not helpful,* as demonstrated when they try to solve the mystery of the present-day assault and just make things worse.

The main problem is I wouldn't know quite how to end the thing. Well, and also rape is not exactly my signature issue the way it is for some folks, and man, it's a topic you need to tread *really* carefully on. There are a lot of places here why the fic could go horribly awry. So I doubt I would actually ever write this. But could it not be awesome?

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

It could definitely be awesome! Especially when married to the Anya icon!

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

HAHAHA HOTEL CALIFORNIA THE EAGLES OMG I LOVE YOU SO HAAAAAAAAARD.

[snickfic]

Heh. Like I said, I think it's fairly unlikely that I'll actually write it. At the very least, I'd want to ease into the fandom wiht something a bit less ambitious, to get a grasp of voices and so on. But it'd be really cool... *wistful*

[ghostyouknow27.livejournal.com]

You can't end it happily! This is SPN, so the Winchesters still have to gank the ghost. They just wouldn't feel good about it, since they're stopping her from killing bad guys.

If this is adheres to the usual structure, they'd find out about the ghost's vendetta later in the story. Like, they kill the bad ghost and pat themselves on the back. Then, more girls get assaulted. Then, they realize that the ghost was *defending* girls and that they've left these women more vulnerable. Then, they feel bad and question their actions, preferably while drinking beer in the vicinity of the Impala.

/though vomit

SPN does more or less stick to the same story structure. Teaser (often a cold open) -> boys angst and get on the case -> boys angst and the case gets worse -> boys fight something! all hope is lost! -> they win the fight -> they reflect. :D