Hey, I just recently discovered the Snowblind AU and I wanted to start by saying how awesome I think it is! I only recently finished UT/DR so I'm new to the AU scene, but I really think yours is super neat and I binge read a ton of info about it after XD.
After having finished both games I've also become interested in making my own AU/Fanfic Content based on ideas I had, and seeing yours has inspired me to do so even more. And as a result, I had a few related questions to ask if that's alright.
1. I know you said a lot of your inspo for the Snowblind concept was Dess herself, but was there anything specific that kinda spurned you on to actually put content for it out there? Like something that motivated you to just do it as it were.
2. Having previously said I have been working on my own AU ideas, and doing my best not to fall into the loop of constant idea WIP without doing anything with it, is there any advice you'd give to someone new to the AU sphere and making content for them in general? I've written various things for a long time, but never fancontent like this that I actually wanna put out there for people to read.
Long ask I know sorry, and I'll end it off by saying I hope your days are good!
My two biggest pieces of advice to anybody who wants to write (especially in this age of AI-generated slop) are to consume stories whenever you can so you can properly identify what you like and what you don’t, and once you do write, always ensure that the first fan of it is always yourself. That might seem like a pretty obvious point by itself, duh, of course you should write about what you like, but I don’t think a lot of people really consciously follow it. Without even thinking, you can start to censor your work based on what you think other people might like, or what you think might be a success, or even something as simple as worrying you’ll be called cringe if you actually wrote what you wanted to. It’s good to make things with other people in mind sometimes (helps get the writing started at least), but unless it truly interests you, then that initial boost will fade out, and the project will end up as another WIP.
When I first started focusing on Dess as a character, it was simply because I had seen a few other fan works featuring them, and I wanted to see more. I liked the interplay between the scant canon clues and the sheer breadth of interpretations that the fandom had created. I started thinking about what I thought would be the most interesting backstory, character traits, etc., for her, and things quickly escalated from there. Once I had a character, I started thinking up what I thought would be stories compelling enough that if I was idly scrolling and I caught a sentence, or a comic panel, I would stop my scrolling and stop to read for a while. Telephones under dark rain, bug-catching nets in rivers, giant frozen titans around a pillar of ice. I made all of my stories for me first; it didn’t make them easy exactly (if anybody ever tells you they got advice that will make good writing easy, then they’re either tricking you or themselves), but it made it far smoother, and oftentimes I think it meant that I could see them to the end. Because I had to, I wanted to read them, and if you want to read your own story and you infuse enough of that enthusiasm into your work, then other people will want to read it too.
Obsession can be a dangerous thing, but I find in writing it’s ultimately an essential tool. How else would anybody sit in one place for a long period of time, talking to themselves and writing things down? The only way I know how to write is to find the stories that stick, the ones that whirr in the back of your mind while you’re working a particularly boring or soul-crushing work shift, the ones that get you to read, watch or even listen more to ensure they turn out right. Be wary of perfectionism and all its Faustian bargains, but allow obsession a bit more leeway in your mind than you would normally. If you’re having trouble finding that story, don’t worry! Consume as many stories as you can in as many ways as you can, movies, books, shows, albums, enjoy them of course, but keep an analytical eye open, train it to notice what you like and what you don’t. In the end, that eye is gonna be the thing that’s going to be able to sort the good idea from the chaff, and when you have that idea, love it, obsess over it a little, and do your best to set it out right. Be kind to yourself. It won’t be perfect, nothing ever is, but every one you make improves the next.
All that said, I wish you the very best as well! Keep at it.
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