#tywys

I’d like to! I’m trying to use Ao3 more so if I get it into more than just a chart (even if it’s just a list where they get a paragraph each, rather than anything with a plot) I’ll put it up there and post a link.

Current debates with myself:

Should I write out two pathways for (as many of them as I get ideas for) so that we see the difference between being background characters versus being The Mary Sue Protagonist, or should I try to blend those pathways together? Loads of tragic backstories and amazing powers and getting their fingers in the plot, but canon still ensued?

Because unblended means there’s the Regular Timeline in which they’re background characters, and there’s the Alternate Universe Timeline in which each one either saves the day to alter canon (Potters don’t die, etc), dies tragically (potentially leaving canon intact) but thus aren’t alive anymore for this cracktacular big parentage reveal, or just goes full Evil Empress and takes over Magical Britain and/or the world.

Okay I think I just talked myself into multiple timelines for at least some of them.

The other question is: are the oldest ones (who could be parents by the time of Harry’s adventures) their own Mary Sue Protags? Or does that job go to their kids? How much does it work for both of them to be the Super Special Awesome Amazing Protagonist? Should I come up with multiple timelines for them each, or just like...do one of each? Daughter Protag, Granddaughter Protag, and Both Protag? Hmmm that seems the least stressful.

THANK YOU :D

Suzanne Collins said part of her inspiration was her father and how he changed after coming home from the war, so that was a big part of where I started. I grew up in a small, rural town that got poached by the military after 9/11 -- they'd drive up in their truck, sit in the parking lot, and all the junior gym classes would have to trot through and read the literature and get the spiel, and then I'd watch and see how those kids changed as they went through Basic. ("What makes the grass grow?" "SIR, BLOOD, SIR!") Later, a lot of my friends or friends of friends or spouses of friends came back, hm, and the help they received when they got back was even worse. everything in canon is absolutely on purpose, let me tell you, and so is mine.

I also do a lot of reading accounts of people (both survivors and families of survivors) who were changed by going to war. Couple that with a lot of reading about survivors of abuse in competitive sports programs where the competitors start out young (like gymnastics or figure skating) and other kinds of trauma in general, I managed to work out a pretty good picture. And then obviously I have my own experiences with death and trauma, and I know people in real life who have undergone some pretty awful stuff, and while I'd never actually fictionalize someone's life, it's all part of my mental schema when I think about how these things affect people.

Anyway. I never sit down with the DSM and attach lists of symptoms to characters or work backwards from a diagnosis; I find that's when you tend to get flat/weirdly portrayed characters. I think more about ... how do I think this experience would affect my character? (e.g. if they were trapped underground, how would this manifest later?) But of course it's not always linear and easy to understand. I strongly recommend talking to people if you can, and reading firsthand accounts if you can't. Honestly Reddit is great for this (I don't ever post, I just read) because you will see everything from really toxic to really helpful to touching to hopeful to heartbreaking and it really does encapsulate so many aspects of people's experiences.

NOT REALLY ALAS, I sort of dumped all my brain into the inner ring. but I love reading other people's!

Silver Lime and Unicorn Hair, 13 3/4″, yielding

throws sparkles for added effects

And with this ask, I’ve answered one ask for each oc! /accomplishment apparently lolol Yay! Thanks everyone for the asksss