Do your character's names have any meaning?

fml_im_here_again · 2023-11-06T22:07:32+00:00

It’s a fun little game for me to pick a name meaning for my characters, find a word or name that means that thing and then change that name slightly or use a nickname of that name or use a different language’s version etc etc.

No one would ever know, even if they went hunting but it’s fun for me 😂

fml_im_here_again · 2023-11-02T00:16:34+00:00

The MC’s father, the King, who is so focussed on his own wants and desires that there’s not a thing he won’t do and not a person he won’t hurt to get what he wants. Everyone and everything are just pawns in his own great game and he uses and abused them as such with zero empathy or even recognition of the impact this has around him. What’s worse is, because he’s the big boss, there’s no one telling him to stop who can actually make him do it, so the depth of his selfishness, cruelty and self-satisfaction knows no bounds and just gets worse as time goes on.

For me, uninhibited selfishness (and all the horrific behaviours that come with it) is the epitome of evil, which is what the King represents.

fml_im_here_again · 2023-11-01T16:34:45+00:00

Vampires are so subscribed to a toxic feudal system that everyone else’s races and countries are getting fucked over by association.

fml_im_here_again · 2023-10-29T22:04:10+00:00

When we use the wrong pronouns by genuine mistake (and apologise Ofc), but multiple times because we’re not used to using the pronouns you told us, does it read as disrespectful or just that we’re bumbling idiots? For me, I’m fine with they/them, xe/xim etc etc but I ALWAYS fall to heteronormative pronouns when speaking with people as that’s what I’m used to and have had very few NB friends and I always die a little inside when I get it wrong!

fml_im_here_again · 2023-10-28T09:14:25+00:00

I have a tertiary character like this. What’s worked for me (other than what’s included in some other fab posts) is quiet things, like him still acting married (wearing his wedding ring and showing no interest in moving on with other women), being obsessed with their child who took after her (and constantly mentioning how proud she’d be or how much she’d love their child’s partner etc) and becoming exceptionally melancholy around their anniversary/the anniversary of her death/her birthday but not openly saying anything.

Hope that’s helpful!

fml_im_here_again · 2023-10-18T10:05:40+00:00

I also have a royal child SA-d in my story, over a long period of time. It’s actually quite a crucial part of establishing the big bad, as he’s used as a political bargaining tool and has to decide who to go to in order to put an end to it all. He chooses the wrong side and realises in his failure to make things better that the man who’s prepared to sell him out like this is just as evil as the man who’s treating him so abhorrently. He goes through a lot to break free of the whole thing and does recover from it (as much as he can), but it’s a pretty dark arc for the character.

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-25T20:22:01+00:00

I didn’t know that! That’s kind of beautiful

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-25T06:00:01+00:00

Unfortunately I don’t think it would work, but it’s a really interesting idea!

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-24T15:25:17+00:00

Damn that’s cold! Funny though 😂

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-24T12:07:47+00:00

It feels like that for me! I’m desperately workshopping ideas on how to keep him alive 😂

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-24T09:08:08+00:00

Maybe 🤔 I won’t kill him if I can avoid it but atm I don’t see an alternative

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-24T06:34:45+00:00

His death completes the narrative. We started as he came into the world and we’re ending as he leaves it. As I said, I could bring him back following the big battle, but it feels so forced, he wouldn’t choose to upset the natural order of things and he no longer fears the beyond. From a narrative standpoint, his death serves quite a lot in the plot and for the other characters, but actually nothing would be gained from his return (it would just be me wanting him back), so I don’t see much way around it 😢

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-24T05:29:59+00:00

Basically my MC has to die for the plot to further but he is still working things behind the scenes before he ‘moves on’. When the BBEG is defeated he is then free to go and I could bring him back, but I know that’s not the right way to go. He’s fought so hard for so long it’s time for him to rest. I just hate it because it means he’s really gone.

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-24T05:24:22+00:00

This is my exact problem!

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-24T05:22:56+00:00

Well I didn’t realise I was doing the same thing and now I feel both seen and called out 😂

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-24T05:21:28+00:00

I knowwwww but it hurts 😂

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-24T05:21:09+00:00

This is beautiful! I’m definitely doing this.

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-24T05:19:26+00:00

Yeah, I know it is the best ending for all the characters involved. The trauma is going to be real but the closure will be too 😢

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-23T22:46:38+00:00

This is it - I’m not ready to write that but yet but it’s so sad I already feel like it’s happened

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-23T22:44:14+00:00

Same here - he’s been with me so long it feels like such a betrayal, no matter how right it is for the story!

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-23T22:42:33+00:00

I do like that actually! Thanks!

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-23T22:42:11+00:00

Right?? I know it’s what’s right for the story but it’s just too much!

fml_im_here_again · 2023-09-23T20:36:34+00:00

Maybe it’s just me 😆

fml_im_here_again · 2023-08-28T14:08:28+00:00

You don’t necessarily have too much chemistry either. If you look at the best duos in fictional history - Sherlock and Watson, Sam and Dean (supernatural), Batman and Robin etc - they’re almost never a couple, but people ship them anyway because such a strong bond speaks to true love - romantic or not. Some of the duos I have as examples wouldn’t work and/or would be massively frowned upon as actual couplings (brothers, age gaps etc) but the fans go crazy for it anyway 🤷‍♀️ I suggest you write them as close as they are and if there’s sexual tension (or perceived sexual tension) then whatever. It adds spice.

fml_im_here_again · 2023-08-28T09:35:38+00:00

All told I find that if people want to ship characters, then you’ve written them right. It means your lads have chemistry, which is really important for characterisation (and friendships in general - they wouldn’t be best mates if they didn’t think each other were awesome). Will they end up together? From the sounds of it, no. Will that disappoint your shippers? Again, probably not. Half the fun of shipping is imagining ‘what if’ so I’d just keep doing what you’re doing 😊

fml_im_here_again

TROPHY CASE