Yeah, I never really cared for tropes either. I read fanfic because I fell in love with the characters and wanted to know more about them, so having them in character is the most important thing for me. You're right though that you have more options for the characterisation, because your favourite characters appear in canon much less than mine. I can imagine it must be fun to have so much freedom!

Thank you! The challenge is working for me, since I've made some progress with the sheet music books already. Feel free to message me if you're postponing a project out of fear and need someone to kick your are into gear!