H/C Bingo card

I'm aware that there's been some negative talk about various prompts for hc_bingo, mostly on the matter of people actually going through some of the prompts in real life, and writers not doing the issue justice or treating it as anything more than a minor inconvenience to be swept aside for a few cuddles.

I therefore found it rather interesting that on the card I was given, I could almost get a straight line just from the things I myself have gone through in life. I can at least say with certainty that if I pick any of those prompts to write for, I will do the issues as much justice as I can, based on my own experiences and the experiences of those around me.

I will not, however, brush aside something as serious as, oh, say, serial killers just so that two characters can snuggle a little. Downplaying a serious issue, to me, doesn't make for a good fic. It takes me out of the story and puts me in a place where I think that either the author has no idea what they're talking about, or that they just threw in something random for the sake of a little hurt/comfort. Usually both. It's not fun for me to read, and it wouldn't be fun for me to write that way.

I will do my level best not to belittle a situation or issue, and where I'm unsure of something, I probably won't write it. I have never been in a plane crash, for example. I hope to never be. I can imagine the kind of terror people would feel in such a situation, but even if I imagine it correctly (which I doubt I can do properly anyway), I doubt any words I could write could convey the situation.

I have never broken a bone, nor experienced serious head trauma. I do, however, know that these things don't go away with hugs and kisses and a positive outlook. Sure, those things can make a situation more bearable, but they don't fix the problem, and I wouldn't write anything insinuating that they do. When I badly sprained my ankle and couldn't walk properly for a year without limping at best and being in pain at worst, a hug might have made me feel a little better at the time but it wouldn't do anything to take away the pain nor fix the injury. Much like sympathetic attitudes can't make my lungs work properly, nor can a cookie take away the shame of having a bad bout of barking in public because my Tourette's syndrome decided it wanted to come out to play.

I'll do my best to be respectful. That's all I can promise. That promise won't be enough for some, but I hope it can at least put to rest fears that I'll just be another enforcer of false stereotypes for the sake of a little squeeful fiction.

coma	brainwashing / deprogramming	stalkers / serial killers	broken bones	major illness
cuddling for warmth / snowed in	loss of limbs / limb function	detached retina	plane crash	strippers
fear of heights	self-harm	WILD CARD	vampires: fresh bite / first transformation	alcoholism
agoraphobia	head trauma	earth blowing up, escaping to space	body dysmorphic disorder	poltergeist
fear of clowns	ostracised from society	pandemics and epidemics	forced marriage	undercover: having to participate in illegal / hurtful activity

On the bright side, however, I am unbelievably happy that I got vampires on this card. Me and my obsessions, you know, I just can't be rid of them so easily.

The major downside to this is that I'm seeing these prompts and more original fiction is coming to mind than fanfiction. Really, there needs to be a bingo-type challenge for original fiction somewhere. Or if there is already, would somebody care to point me to it? Some things I can work around, in a sense, like transplanting some OCs into established worlds (Valdemar's ridiculously easy to do this with), but in a sense that feels a little like cheating. I've read too many fanfics that are basically original fics just barely masquerading as fanfiction because of one or two well-placed phrases. Take away those phrases and they could be standalone short stories in any number of settings or universes. Those kinds of stories, when presented as fanfiction, often feel dull to me. When I read fanfiction, I want to be immersed in a particular world, not just lightly brush my fingertip across it.

I'll figure something out. I have a lot of writing challenges to get to, and I'm hoping for some fun with them even if I can't run amok and write origfic the whole time!