Hiii :3 i just binged your bullseye fic HDIBYBYBM and i love what you're doing with it so far. As writer, i was wondering if you could share ur thought process (w/o spoilers of course) and perhaps your inspirations too?
For thought process, I started knowing I wanted a kidnapping fic and i wanted to prioritize 1) character authenticity, and 2) realism.
While analyzing Dex, it stood out to me that despite his fixation on Julie, he never interfered with her life because that's outside his character. She was a moral compass to look up to with minimal interference. When he spoke to Julie at the bar, it was actually her that approached him and also her that gave him an opening for the dinner invite while bro barely talked.
So then there was the question: What would make him go a step further and kidnap someone? And i estabilished pretty early on in the fic that it was because he became afraid that the next person would end up dead like Julie. So that decision came from a place of trauma/urge to protect.
This ties back into what i said on a previous ask about how we should try to engage with characters and their fears/insecurities so they still feel authentic. That builds a story, that give you not just foundation, but a plot to make more material out of.
Actions are interesting, but the reasons behind people's actions are what make a story more immersive. I think it's very easy to lean onto a trope, but you don't want it so generic that you could easily substitute Dex for any other character without changing the story.
For realism, I will say that as a horror fan, I love when we don't treat our characters and audiences like they're stupid.
The year is 2026. If you're kidnapped and one day the door to your cage is magically unlocked, you know that's a fucking trap. Making a character refuse to walk into that trap feels real and amplifies immersion.
As for inspiration, there has been A LOT of music, plus rewatching s3 dd for character analysis.
The chorus of this song is what sparked the fic idea.
At the start of the fic, reader portrays herself as calm, but internally, it's that screaming over and over of "HOW DO I BREAK YOU BEFORE YOU BREAK ME? AAAAAAA"
Most of the fic was written to the sound of this cover and it will definitely be my number one on spotify this year:
Concrete and Sand was written to the sound of this song:
I spend a ridiculous amount of time thinking about stuff that happens "behind the scenes", in between chapters, that's never gonna written because I don't have time to make a novel out of this. For example, I have a whole playlist just for the hours that Dex & Reader spent driving north:
I will really just be daydreaming about them in the car, sitting in silence.
As for perhaps indirect inspirations, maybe it's relevant to say I'm a huge fan of stuff like Ethel Cain, NBC Hannibal, Sleep Token, Martyrs, Sharp Objects, Skinamarink, The Descent (2005), Annihilation, Chelsea Wolfe, Sofia Isella, Stoker (2013).
I actually used some songs from my Skinamarink playlist to invoke feelings of stillness/capture
I hope that covers what you wanted to know :)
jbbartram-illu
origamiaround
romaincrisis
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