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#fanfic writer friday
narastories · 1 month
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Hi! For Fanfic Writer Friday, I'd like to ask you about the order you write your fics in. Do you write the scenes chronologically, or do you write what comes first? Does it depend on the length and complexity of the fic, or do you always operate the same way?
I'm curious because I'm wondering about that aspect of the craft these days, as you know from the discord. And I'm interested in your experience with that <3
Hii! For me the answer really depends.
Interestingly, nowadays I write more chronologically than I used to. I remember I used to jump around a lot more than I do now. But I think it all depends on my motivation/vision for the fic and also the length.
If I have a short fic with just a few scenes, and I have a strong vision for it, I will usually write the scenes in order. However, if I have a long multichapter fic, then I will definitely jump around because I usually know what I want to put in the first third of the fic, then I have a couple of scenes I have a good vision for in the second third and usually have an idea about the ending. So I would write those and then fill out the gaps. (And move scenes around. If a fic approaches the 50k mark then my writing process becomes exponentially more chaotic lmao Which is why I don't post long fics as I go anymore)
You have to have a good balance, I think. If I try to force myself to write scenes chronologically then I can get stuck. But also if I just jump straight to the scenes I want, then sometimes I have nothing to look forward to anymore with a longer project and lose motivation ^^"
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leemacher · 1 month
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Hi! For Fanfic Writer Friday, I'd like to ask you: are you a long or a short fic writer? Do you outline your fics or not, and does that depend on how long you think they will be? What's a hurdle you come across often in your writing, and how do you solve the problem? Also, what are you working on at the moment, and how's that going?
Thank you for playing!
Hey!
For the most part, I am a long fic writer. I really like exploring different aspects of characters and developing characters and they're relationships, and its really hard for me to show everything I want to with characters in short fics. That being said, I have started playing with the idea of making a few short fics just to get some random ideas out of my head.
I do outline my fics, and I actually have a really specific template I use to keep track of everything. Not everything gets an outline, though, and it mostly just depends on how much I like the idea. The more thoughts and ideas I have about a fic, the more likely it is to get a full outline.
The biggest problem I think I have is just retaining motivation for a fic. There are so many ideas going through my head constantly that committing to one or two at a time and actually finishing them is really difficult. My little work around is that I try and cycle through fics, as opposed to just moving on. That way I keep coming back to older fics instead of getting caught up with newer ones all the time. I also just had to learn when I no longer cared about a fic and need to move on and when to fight for it.
I have a few fics I am working on at the moment, but the main one (which I just started writing for like a week ago) is a twilight fanfic. Specifically I started a fic for the Volturi Kings and an original character, which I basically got the idea for and haven't stopped working on it since lol. It's going pretty good so far, and I'm just hoping that my motivation for it sticks around once my college classes start back up.
Thanks for the questions!
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jaynovz · 1 year
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for the fanfic ask game: what work of yours do you feel is the most underappreciated/do you wish got more attention? could we have a small sample of a bit you like?
Okay I thought about this for a long time, cuz I WANTED to say the FlintMadi series or maybe hanahaki or petplay ot4. honorable mentions lol.
But I think the True answer is the John Silver backstory aka a stained glass variation of the truth.
I knew when writing it that like maybe a handful of ppl were EVER gonna engage with this for multiple stacking reasons: the dark subject matter, the underage archive warning, the huge amount of OCs, the Silver/OMC. Lotta death knells for readership lol
but guys I'm SO fucking proud of it and I've read basically every other Silver backstory and mine sort of stands alone in being the most extensive and focused example, by which I mean it doesn't venture into canon events, it tells its own story and is a true prequel (perhaps another death knell lmao) but yeah I'm just really proudddddddddddddd of that okay, I did SO MUCH historical research and historical WRITING isn't my strong suit but I killed it
oh also just to like, clarify, I subscribe to the "all and none" Silver backstory mindset. Meaning that, anything we can dream up could be correct and also there's no answer, these facts exist in my mind simultaneously. What they did in the show, leaving it up to the viewer, leaving it implicit? Yeah that was some fucking MASTERCRAFT and I don't mean to say that one *needs* a Silver backstory per se.
So yeah me writing it wasn't some be-all-end-all statement, but it Was an intensive character study exercise for why I thought he might turn out the way he did.
Anyway, I do not expect this answer to get literally anyone who hasn't already read it to check it out but there it is! thank you for asking <3
and yes here's your excerpt--
The voice John knew well raged inside--venomous, accusing.
Weak. He had to rescue you because you are weak. And now he’s dead. Just like everyone else.
Belatedly, John realized Solomon had been his friend. He had cared about John beyond his usefulness or their alliance. For as skilled as he was at reading people, sussing out their wants, their needs, their tells like the hidden flesh in a mollusc… John had utterly misread Solomon. In the moment, it had seemed so clear-cut, but in retrospect...
He remembered months spent joking warmly, sharing the toil, taking meals together, playing cards, privately mocking the worst of the crew, and telling lie after extravagant lie to one-up each other. They’d been set apart from the other boys, both too clever by half, opportunists who understood each other almost too well. Solomon was always teaching John--how to scale the rigging, the nautical knots, the best hiding places on a ship. He remembered the easy affection the older boy had expressed and the wedge it had driven between them, that John had put there. The recollection pained him and he slapped the side of the ship in anger. As usual, John was too late to recognize and appreciate anything good.
No. A rational voice pushed back. Solomon was a fool.
A mistake. It was a mistake to care about him, it was a mistake to care about anyone but yourself. Solomon had cared about John and what had been his reward? To die, to be forgotten, to be filled up with water and subsumed into the abyss.
In the end, boys like John, like Solomon, mattered to no one. Not to the crew of this ship, nor to the ferocious, unknowable sea, nor to the machinations and fates of the larger world. Boys like them had to make their own safety--carve a spot for themselves by whatever means necessary, be it force or duplicity. He'd learned, many times over, that caring too much for the well-being of other people was wholly incompatible with this goal.
I won't make their mistakes.
The next day it was business as usual for the crew of the Bridgewater; the storm had calmed and they weighed anchor. The drunken man who'd attacked John went unpunished. Indeed the entire event went unremarked upon, as none of the other crew asked after the missing cabin boy.
John had a surreal sense of deja vu; again, it was as if it hadn’t happened at all.
And isn’t that easier? To let it fade into irrelevance?
The other boys eyed the empty spot next to John, but said nothing. They were meek shadows, poor beaten things, colorless compared to all that had been his friend. Numbly, he completed his daily chores, all too aware of the heaviness of the workload. That which used to be split, yoked over two sets of shoulders to lessen the burden, was now his responsibility alone.
Tom. Scrap. Ollie. Lizzie. Mary.
Solomon.
Despite his best efforts, it was yet another name he would try and fail to forget.
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hms-tardimpala · 1 month
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Hi! For the Fanfic Writer Friday: I noticed some fun colors on your latest discord screenshot :) So I wanted to ask: do you ever change the page/font color when writing? What about the fonts: do you use any of the pretty fonts you get for binding when writing? And also: some people swear that Comic Sans makes writing easier... Opinions on that? :D
Oooh, little do you know, that screenshot was edited for y'all's convenience and the sake of your eyes. This is what my current setup, actually looks like:
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I'm sure some think it's a visual nightmare, but I like it. When I do manage to write, it generally happens late at night when I should be sleeping, so I eliminated as much white as possible to rest my eyes. Maybe these colors are more encouraging than black on white, but if so, the difference is too slight to be notable.
For the font, I stick to black - with white accentuations - because it's easier to see. I've tried several fonts and found out that serif fonts do not work for me, so the pretty ones I use for bookbinding are out, sadly. Since I'm constantly rereading what I just wrote, I need a font that's very easy on the eyes. I use Arial Nova.
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Isn't it comfy? It's squarey and plain.
As for Comic sans MS, I have tried it, but it did nothing for me because I'm almost allergic to that font ^^
I think setup is important because you want to make things as easy as possible for yourself. You can't write sitting on nails, and you can't write on a doc that hurts your eyes or that has off vibes.
Thank you so much for asking!
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itsmoonpeaches · 3 months
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FELIX FIC FOR FFWF
Tell me anything you’ve been just dying to talk about for that fic
(Or if you can’t think of anything, then for one of your other wips or finished fics)
Why hello there
Blood pooled on the floor, like the crimson veil of a strangled maiden trailing after her lost lover. And so, when Felix came to himself, his grip tightening over the pommel of his sword, the drip, drip, drip did not faze him. What gave him pause were the eyes that stared back. Violently glowing and poisoned green. A breath on her lips only because there was no other choice. Her hand held onto what was left of her.
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Text
Fanfic Writer Friday
Trying to get some writing done tonight since I had an unexpected early finish at work :D (reminder: I gotta write 100 words per ask haha)
Ask box is open! As always, all fanfic questions will be returned
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lifeofkaze · 1 year
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Happy FFWF!
How have the holidays been, writing wise?
[ellie-e-marcovitz ☺️]
Happy FFWF, even though it's late (sorry!) Hope the end of 2022 treated you well!
I did a veritable writing marathon in November, so for all of December, I took it very slowly, and basically only edited (tbf, like a maniac but I only do extremes now, it seems). I was mostly done with all my editing by Christmas so for these few days, I did a very sweet and well-deserved NOTHING.
And it was fantastic.
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thebakingqueen5 · 2 years
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happy ffwf! what's one fic you have that you may-or-may-not be planning on writing in the near future? 👀
happy ffwf!
I have Way Too Many planned fics/WIPs but the one I'm currently working on outlining is a soulmate AU
Inspired by this percabeth fanfic I read a while back, the premise is essentially a modern AU where everyone has a tattoo on the bottom of their foot cause solemates I'm so sorry I will be leaving now with their soulmate's response to "I love you."
Katara is invited to give a presentation to the world leader council and Aang seems rather... enthusiastic when he slips up a little speaking to her afterward and it goes from there 😈😈
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superherotiger · 2 years
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Hey everyone! I’m hoping to start participating in Fanfic Writer Friday again, but since it’s been so long since I last did it I realised that I have no idea who is still wanting to receive FFWF asks haha. So if you do want to receive them from me, please let me know and I’ll try my best to be consistent again lol!
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danses-with-dogmeat · 2 years
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What made you decide to get into character reacts?
OH, this is a really good one!
So, it was roughly one year ago, and I wasn't even on Tumblr at all yet when I decided I wanted to start writing for them. I don't know how it even really came about, but I started playing Fallout 4 for the 1st time, and got really into it, and I kept seeing screen shots and such of different fallout fics and reacts on Pinterest, of all places, and one in particular caught my eye. It was this fic from one of my absolute favorite fic writers, who sadly is no longer on Tumblr (but this is their AO3, if y'all are interested, I HIGHLY recommend.)
And I LOVED it. After that, I hopped on Tumblr without even having a proper account and just bummed around reading all sorts of Fallout fics, (lots from @nuka-after-dark, @fallout-drabbles-n-stuff and @fo4companionsreact, and so many others, ahh) but every once in awhile I'd come across one that I thought I would have personally written differently, and so I began writing those alternative sort of blurbs and reacts just in the notes app on my phone, until I finally got the courage to make an account and post a few, and then from there it just kept going! 😁
I will say too, a big factor was coming up with the name, Danses-with-Dogmeat. If I hadn't done that, and liked it so much lol, I'm not sure if I would've made the account in quite the same way I did 😅😅
I'm glad you asked this though, this was a nice walk down memory lane for me 😊
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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 2 years
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aurie! :] i want to know about your takeuchi mars red headcanons (if you have any)! also, i know about the "This is my brother and I need a shovel to love him" inspiration for This is No Cultivated Heaven, but do you have any other fics where there was some specific noteworthy literary influence (a poem that had the same vibes, a book that inspired you, etc.) ?
Fanfic Writer Friday
!! Sparrow!! Yes!! Love this ask! It's gonna be hella long!
Takeuchi headcanons:
He has a favorite lab coat that he embroidered flowers onto. This is because he seems like the type of guy to have at least tried crochet/macrame/embroidery/knitting on account of being functionally immortal. Like, poisonous flowers, because he thinks they're cool and has tried infusing them into blood candy to see if it improves the taste.
He has, on occasion, wondered if there's a way to generate immortality in humans without making them vampires. Just wait till he finds out about telomeres.
Speaking of modern science inventions, he absolutely keeps abreast of them by subscribing to every scientific publication he can get his grubby hands on. He does miss his government funding, though.
You know how he wears yellow socks in the anime? He's got one of every primary color and switches them out depending on his mood.
He wears Birkenstocks when he's not in the lab (no open toed shoes in the lab space!! It's a lab safety violation that got him vampire-d and he's not about to risk it again!!)
In that vein, if Takeuchi ever taught a high school class, he has mandated goggle wear on pain of getting kicked out of the class. They all think he's a little strange for avoiding sunlight but his sunscreen means he's been able to beat the vampire allegations. For now. (I want to write this fic btw)
He can't drive. By which I mean he can drive, but he insists on modding his cars until they're probably illegal and make weird noises. He did get his Chevy to fly for a bit, though.
He enjoys splashing around in shallow ponds. They're never deep enough that he'll drown, but splooshing shallow water is fun.
Every year, on the anniversary of the Great Tokyo Earthquake, he visits Yamagami's military grave and the makeshift one for Maeda that the surviving members of Code Zero made with his kids.
Even though Code Zero is scattered throughout the world now, they keep in touch via postcards.
Okay, short answer is I don't have any fics that are as heavily influenced as "This is No Cultivated Heaven" was. I had intense Cain and Abel brainrot that day and I think I went a little nuts. But! There are definitely some others.
For example, "No Longer a Puppet." The title is a terrible No Longer Human reference and it's a fic about humanity, achieving it when one finds themselves feeling inhuman, and doubles as a commentary on the faults and foibles of people in general. It's heavily inspired by the concept of feeling inhuman (thanks Dazai), the concept of commenting on humanity as an outsider (thanks Natsume, re: I Am a Cat), and it also was kinda influenced by "Thou Shalt Not Die" (thanks, Yosano) because it's also a fic about war, and wanting so badly to prevent your loved ones from going off to the battlefield. It's a very BSD-colored fic in that I was really thinking about those three while writing it, despite being about a Genshin character. It's one of my favorite fics.
There's also "The Wind Rises," my Genshin longfic that I have a very love-hate relationship with. I stole the title off of the Ghibli movie by the same name and I feel like it took on the tone of the movie, and maybe even the main message, as I was writing it. Which is, in and of itself, a reference to the poem "The Graveyard by the Sea," as its opening lines are:
Le vent se lève! Il faut tenter de vivre. / The wind is rising! We must try to live.
It's a movie (and poem) about grief (war too, for the movie), and the idea that life gets really difficult and overwhelming but it's necessary for us to keep trying to live. Genshin, I feel like, is a game that's heavily colored by old grief that was never processed. I know you haven't played it but many, if not all, significant plot points draw on the fact that the people of the present have lost things irrevocably--people, homelands, lives, etc.
And my fic is this pre-canon rewrite of some characters' backstories in an attempt to make them happier, and less colored by grief--but there's an unavoidable sense of loss that creeps in whenever I write about Genshin characters anyway. So it's also about them learning to live when the world disappoints them.
Plus, you know, heavy references to the wind because it's Mondstadt-centric, and that's the city that houses the god of the wind. And the idea that Genshin is fundamentally about a world that is recovering from a war, and yet there's still a shadow war going on at the same time...Genshin's not an inherently sad game, but it is so viscerally about grief that you can't help but touch on it when you write in that world.
Some of the chapters also feature literary references, too. Chapter 14 is heavily inspired by, to the point of including, the Jewish story of the Golem (very good read, and Jacob Geller has a super intriguing youtube video about it). At least one chapter features FMA references, one is a promare reference, one is a reference to Snow White with the Red Hair (my favorite shoujo), references to Mo Dao Zu Shi...oh, and it quotes Dazai's The Setting Sun at one point.
As a last thing, I'll say that "Eat the Apple," my horror FyoGol fic, was inspired by a couple Naruto fics! The writing braincell will latch onto absolutely anything, literary or otherwise.
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narastories · 4 months
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Hi Nara, I hope you had a good day!
For Fanfic Writer Friday, do you want to tell me what you're working on (if you are on something currently)?
And if you've got time, I'd love to hear your opinion about the use of the past or present tense in fanfic, because it always gives me so much trouble. I don't really have a logic for using one or the other, so I'd like to know yours.
Thank you <3
Hi! Yes, thank you, I had a great day <3
Ooh, these are two very interesting questions.
1.
I'm sort of working on something... By working, I mean writing notes in my notebook and trying to figure out how to tackle this idea ^^" I really want to write a Dresden Files/FPA crossover! (Let's see if by announcing it publicly I can successfully shame me into going through with it... I doubt it, but we'll try it...)
I've never actually written a crossover, so that's already a bit daunting. Having to juggle twice as many characters/ships as I would normally is also a challenge... Currently, I'm trying to decide what POV/s to use, and how not to make this too long. But I think it would be fun to draw some parallels between the characters, and it would also be fun to bring two of the fandoms I like together like this.
Another, perhaps silly consideration is that I now have 99 fics on AO3... To make the 100th one a little bit special would be cool. (Okay, that might not happen because I have already uploaded my Yuletide fic, and I'm not actually sure where AO3 will put it in the order of fics once the authors are revealed on Jan 1st...)
Anyway, wish me luck, I can tell you that Philes would very much be on the menu ;) 2.
You're asking me this because of the tags on my last fic, right? xD
Oh dear, where do I even start? I actually wouldn't say I have a well-developed opinion on this. And I think maybe it's better if we split it into two categories: what I think of past/present tense, and how I would decide what to use.
Just from vibes alone, I would say past tense is very comfy. It sort of "disappears" because we're so used to it. No one will be turned off by you using the past tense. You can do anything with it.
Present tense, on the other hand, feels a bit more intimate to me. It can work well for a more poetic tone. It has an urgency to it like you don't know what's going to happen. But it will also very much turn some people off ^^"
I will also add that if I'm talking about multiple layers of past events, the English past tenses can give me a bit of a hard time, so using the present tense can gloriously simplify that lol
I do like reading either btw, but how do I decide what to use when writing?
I use past tense 99% of the time. (I mean, literally. I think I have 98 fics written in the past tense, wrote one in present, and I'm pretty sure the next one will be in the past tense as well lol) So I’m no expert here, although I do have some WIPs where I also used present tense and I would totally consider experimenting with it more.
To be honest, there is only one scenario where I would opt for the present tense always, and it’s the 2nd person "you" fics... Dare I say: *whispers* reader-insert. Which is a whole different can of worms altogether that we are now opening.
Personally, in my opinion, if you think old forum role playing was cool but you think self-insert fic is cringe, that’s a *skill issue*. Luckily, I have mastered my destiny and overcame feelings of cringe lmao (I'm joking, you only read what you want, of course.)
What I mean is, I find it very charming how self-insert or reader-insert fic specifically about RPG games kind of circles back around to the roots of the “role-playing” in RPG. I might not read certain types of reader-insert fics, but I think they have their rightful place in fandom.
Now, getting back to the topic of present tense lol To me, sometimes certain things will just fit better for a fic. For example, when I started writing my first Dresden Files fic, I started writing it in 3rd person, because 1st person felt intimidating. But the canon is in 1st person, and something in me knew that it just had to be done that way for the right tone, you know? (It doesn’t mean you have to stick to the way canon is written, of course. It’s more about what fits better with the mood you are going for and what effect you want to achieve.)
Same thing with my last fic: the fandom I wrote it for uses present tense and uses 2nd person for the main character. Yeah, sure you can write an OC and write 3rd person, but the right vibe I was going for was begging me to use the present tense. So yeah, in a sense it was me wanting to stick more with the canon vibe, even if that challenged me. Which is interesting because usually it’s the other way around, no?
That is a really long way of saying I tend to stick to what is closes to canon. But I think you should always listen to your gut and just write how you like it better.
Thank you for the thought-provoking questions and sorry for the long ramble.
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bowl-of-shortness · 1 year
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Heyyy Morgan
How do you pick names for your OC's? Is it based on meaning etc.
For rwby it’s based on color tbh.
That and sometimes familial/connection stuff (Ozpin’s name starts with O, Qrow’s starts with Q, almost all of the schnee’s start with W, etc.)
As for original story characters? I base it on meaning, what would be something that could hint at something else later?
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jaynovz · 9 months
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What are you working on now that you're really excited about?
I am working on something that I had in concept doc for two years but finally feel like I have confidence to write--an alt canon action-adventure story, which starts to diverge after 2.9 Black Sails when, instead of Vane and his lumberjacks, Silver goes to Charles Town to rescue Flint.
I have been doing a fair amount of research for this including looking at maps of historical Charles Town, reading about the history of prisons, devouring action adventure plots/books, building a playlist lol.
I'm setting myself SEVERAL challenges with this--
Less words!
More communicated through action and dialogue! Less in the characters' heads!
More external pressures! Drama, tension, action-adventure, as stated.
The genre/style of this is a pretty different approach compared to most of the other things I've done, with the exception of The Silver backstory. It will be most similar to that, and fans of that story WILL see certain easter eggs. But yes, an attempt at a historical fiction type novel, but still fanfiction, still Silverflint, lmao. So basically, a lot of original events/plot, but within the bounds of canonverse this time instead of starting almost fully from scratch like Break Up AU.
There are surprises galore waiting within this one, I think it's gonna be a pretty crackerjack tale if I can pull it off.
Hope yall like it~ Thanks for the question~~
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bradshawsbaby · 2 years
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FFWF question <3 What's your process to get into writing? Do you need to be in a certain mood or get into a writing headspace?
I love this question! Thanks for asking! ❤️
I definitely have to be in a certain mood/headspace to write. Some of that involves just having the time to actually sit down and write. Some of it involves having the right inspiration. Sometimes I’ll have an idea for a story, but it takes me a little bit of time to have the oomph to actually write it. Other times, I’ll get an idea or a request and I can write it right away. It all depends.
I also have a tendency to plot things out in my head ahead of time, so that when I do sit down to write, it all kind of flows out in one sitting. That’s why I need to have time to do it—I’ll often sit and bang a story out in a few hours instead of writing it in sections for short periods of time, if that makes sense.
Fanfic Writer Friday
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itsmoonpeaches · 1 year
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Happy FFWF!
What's your current favorite ship to write about and why do you love writing them?
Oh my friend...is this a loaded question? You know the answer to this how dare you 🗡
As you've probably noticed I have started writing Fire Emblem: Three Houses fanfic recently. My current favorite ship to write about is Dimileth which is Dimitri X Byleth. I could write whole essays about them which is why...I'm writing fic.
I think I love writing for them because it is a very different ship than the ones I'm used to writing. These characters start older and are already young adults in the game. Their entire world is built on war and political conflicts. There is a lot or established world building and complicated fantasy behind the scenes.
Byleth is generally a blank slate until she's not. She grows with the game and with the things she chooses. Dimitri is...well. Uh. Let's just say he's one of the most complicated characters I've liked and also one of the most complicated to write for which is why I love writing him.
The game basically lets you choose how it will end, but Dimileth is strong even without your choice. It basically makes you think..."How could they not end up together?" Byleth finds Dimitri and both literally and figuratively pulls him out of the darkness. He's a guy who is very plagued by his past, and not like Zuko is (for those of you out there who might think this because he's also a similarly complex character). Dimitri is more complex. It's like writing for a person that has 3 different books and character arcs in one person.
Then you add in Byleth who comes in knowing nothing but still is determined to keep him afloat all the while trying to understand what the heck is going on with her too. It's just such a juicy ship, and I love it.
The way Dimitri is also the only one who checks up on her after a certain life changing event in the game, and how he uses his own experiences to really connect with her because especially at the beginning everyone finds her disconcerting...just so strong.
Their aesthetic is literally dark into light and accepting someone's help. HOLDING HANDS. BEING THERE. TAKING THE HAND OFFERED TO YOU.
I need help.
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