THE WRITER’S OTP CHALLENGE!: in which I squeal like an insane grandma about my precious children

GOOD MORNING, CYBERSPACE!

If you couldn’t tell by now, I’m a sucker for writing challenges and tags. There’s just something simple and easy about answering questions, and when you’re in a tight pinch for a blog post, they are quite literally a heaven-sent.

So when I saw a writerly challenge over on Faith’s blog (which you should totally check out if you haven’t already!!!!) I just knew I had to participate.

Now, I THINK this was supposed to be done in the month of February (it was created by the fairy godmothers of Fairy Tale Central as a February Instagram challenge, and was later posted to the blogosphere for us peeps who aren’t as acclimated with Insta), but I digress. It is March, and we are doing it anyway. #tinyrebellions

Also! You might have noticed that this is a writer’s OTP challenge. This means I’m going to be talking about the romantic ships locked within my own story pages. This, as you can probably tell, is going to be exceedingly awkward for me.

Please ignore everything I am about to say, because–as I have mentioned multiple times on this blog and literally everywhere else–I DON’T WRITE ROMANCE.

Let’s continue onwards, shall we?

THE WRITER’S OTP CHALLENGE!

i. THE FIRST OTP YOU WROTE

Wow! Right off the bat and I’m already getting targeted. why did I decide to do a tag that focused on romance, again? help?

I think the first ever OTP that I wrote–and mind you, I DON’T DO ROMANCE!!!!!–was in my first completed book, The Dragon Elements. In this story I had an elf girl named Leia, and a dragon boy named Puck, and they were . . . okay, okay, I’ll admit, they were kind of adorable. Like, there was really nothing at all on the page to even suggest that they were a ship, but holy guacamole were they adorable in my head. . .!

(clearly I know how to do romance. someone sign me for a contemporary rom-com already)

ii. YOUR CLICHE OTP FROM AN EARLY WORK THAT YOU STILL LOVE

Oooh, this would have to go to Kaida and Leif from my uncompleted YA Dystopian, RESET. (sometimes I wonder if I should go back and revisit this novel. then I remember just how bad of a trainwreck it was, and I laugh casually before going back to my scheduled programming.) This book was obviously written during a time when I thought the only possible romantic relationship was “brooding bad boy” meets “tough, kick-butt heroine who don’t need no man”, so naturally I was writing the next Divergent.

Now, I don’t know if I can say that I STILL love this OTP. To be honest, I’m just struggling to find a cliche OTP that I’ve written in my early years. But of all the characters from my earlier works, Leif and Kaida are probably my favorite. (I mean, Leif had green hair, so??? Can’t get much better than that.)

iii. A HATE-TO-LOVE OTP YOU’VE WRITTEN (or your favorite, if you’ve written several)

Aha . . . hahaha . . . ha. So this is probably the very first question that I can wholly, 100% answer with the complete confidence that I will love these two till the end of time.

(and also this is going to make Ruby squeal for all eternity, but here goes. . .)

My favorite hate-to-love OTP that I’ve ever written in all my years as a writer is . . . Thao and Adaline.

NO. NO QUESTIONS. I DON’T DO ROMANCE!!!!!!!!!!!

iv. YOUR OTP WITH THE CRAZIEST RELATIONSHIP

This one has to go to to Iniko and Petunia! I can’t go into too much detail on these two, since this is from a work I haven’t exactly started yet, but basically Iniko is a hunched little Scottish wizard, and Petunia is a powerful enchantress who was cursed into the body of a flower.

It’s a very fun little ship, and I honestly cannot wait to write it. (NaNo 2020, here I come!)

v. YOUR BEST-DRESSED OTP

I . . . don’t know that I have an answer for this. I don’t do a lot of fancy-dressed people in my books. Mostly it’s peasants and discredited warlocks and the occasional psychopath, so . . . not a whole lot of fine garments here. Oops?

vi. STAR-CROSSED LOVE: YOUR FORBIDDEN LOVE OTP

Ohhhhhhhhhh!!! This one HAS to go to Arial Dupris and Finnagin Flint. (do those names sound familiar to anyone? Hmm? HMMM???) I still haven’t exactly plotted this story out, and even if/when I DO write it, I’m not sure it’s one I’ll share (sometimes a girl just needs to write a book for herself, you know?) but these two . . . they are precious.

I won’t go into the details of WHY their love is forbidden–if you remember who these characters are and what they’re from, you might be able to deduce that for yourself–but just know that they found themselves in a very sticky situation. Pursuing a relationship would entail massive betrayal on both sides, and that, my dearest beans, is going to be a very fun thing to write. *rubs hands together maliciously*

vii. YOUR FUNNIEST OTP

Oh goodness. Who to pick for this one. . .

I’m gonna have to go with two characters from my current WIP–SK. They shall, however, go nameless, because I don’t want any spoilers about this story getting out right now.

Just know that they have secretly been in love with each other for years, but neither of them is willing to admit it to the other. Instead, they insist on insulting each other and pretending like they’re totally oblivious to the fact that they’re totally pining.

Now if I could only determine whether to let this ship sail on the page. . .

viii. YOUR OTP WITH THE HEALTHIEST RELATIONSHIP

HA. HAHAHA. HA. What on earth is a healthy relationship? Have you been reading any of this post? I KNOW NOT HOW TO WRITE A HEALTHY OTP, OKAY? My characters are insane and oblivious and don’t understand they love someone until it’s far too late and someone’s dead.

ix. YOUR SWEETEST, MOST ADORABLE OTP

I think this one has to go to Peter and Bella from everlost. I mean . . . not that they’re a ship or anything. Because I doN’T WRITE–okay, you guys get it.

Honestly, I’m not sure if this OTP counts as “sweet”, or just plain annoying. It took a lot of work (and brainstorming with my lovely alpha reader) to get Peter’s POV from being the most annoying monologue on the history of the planet, so even now I’m not sure if I actually did this ship justice. Hopefully my beta readers can help me with this. . .

x. THE OTP WHO SNUCK UP ON YOU–THE ONE YOU DIDN’T EXPECT TO LOVE

Oh goodness. I’m not sure on this one! I mean, MOST of my OTP’s happen by accident–I really don’t set out trying to write romantic entanglements among my precious children–so basically ALL of them are unexpected.

But I think the most unexpected one was Thao and Adaline. I tried really, really, really hard to fight that one.

. . .it’s not really working.

xi. YOUR MOODIEST OTP

This one has to be Iniko and Petunia again. These two are the moodiest lovebirds I’ve ever come across. They have a really bittersweet relationship, though, which I think matches their ship.

(FUN FACT: they even have a SONG!! If you’re interested in listening to it, you can find it on YouTube here)

xii. A CLASS-CROSSED OTP YOU’VE WRITTEN

I . . . have not written a class-crossed OTP as of yet. Most of my characters are equally matched, which I’m just now realizing is severely lame.

I guess now I need to write a book about some royal who falls in love with a sea-witch?

. . .

. . .

I’ll have to get back with you on that one.

xiii. AN OTP YOU WROTE THAT MOST PEOPLE DON’T SHIP

PETER AND BELLA. I mean. . .??? Maybe people will ship them? But goodness knows they annoyed the living daylights out of me there for a while. . .

Pro Tip for smol writers out there: if your character is annoying–and your reader SAYS, “Hey. I think this character might be a little annoying”–L I S T E N  T O  T H E M!!!! Trust me. It may be difficult to chop out your protagonist’s intense inner monologues, but for goodness’ sake and all that is wonderful, you must try.

ivx. YOUR VERY FAVORITE OTP YOU’LL LOVE FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS

Thao and Adaline. I can’t help it. Truly I can’t.

And also Iniko and Petunia, because they have this super bittersweet moment that just breaks my heart into a million tiny little pieces every single time I think about it. So. Gotta love those two forever and ever.

But yeah, Thao and Adaline are–forever and always–my one true pairing. Their relationship makes my heart squish with giddiness, even if I don’t write romance.

TAG! YOU’RE IT!

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to tag people for this or not (and judging by the fact that it was supposed to be a February instagram challenge, I’m doubly not sure if I should tag people or not. XD) But because I am the Great and Powerful Kenzie and cannot be contained, I SHALL TAG SOME PEEPS!

• Ruby << because she has the best OTPs of ever
• Ally << because she loves romance as much as I do
• Phoebe << because Saeunn and Lir are #goals

and

• Jethan << because her stories are the best, but I’m currently unaware of any OTP’s within them, and I NEED ALL OF THE SHIPS FROM HER.

And, of course, to anyone else who reads this and wants to try their hand at the OTP Challenge, PLEASE go right ahead and steal it like the precious pillaging pirate you are! Just make sure to pop your link down in the comments below, because I want to read all of your answers. XD

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TALK TO ME, PEASANTS!

So! What kind of ships do YOU have in your manuscripts? Are you a romance writer, or do you–like me–try your very best NOT to write romance? (I really do try. Sometimes I think my characters have minds of their own…) What is the worst ship you’ve ever written? What is your FAVORITE ship you’ve ever written? and most importantly of all. . .

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE OTP TROPE?

Personally I prefer enemies-to-lovers. . . (thanks, Jane Austen. you’ve ruined me.)

As always, let us talk about ALL OF THE THINGS in the comments below! And until next time. . .

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Featured Photo by Photo by Kristina Litvjak on Unsplash