Hello! I love HDBS and I was wanting to ask for advice on writing Fanfics, I'm writing an alyou one and I feel like I'm terrible at it. I just can't seem to write Al-An well, I keep making him feel way too human
Hello! Thank you for reading ^o^ ough im flattered you would ask, ill try to empart some advice but deffo still feel new to the game! Some of my mutuals have been here longer and are also my main inspirations lol (cough @minecraftgender @searsage @civetfish @vaultbuggo) and might be able to add some more advice, especially for writing al-an.
First thing I can offer is: have fun! Its fanfic, not serious publication. There's no quality standard and people won't throw rocks if its not up to their vision. This was difficult for me personally to take to heart and still feels difficult especially when you see people very opinionated on characters in completely different directions. People are truly drawn to sincerity, so please write something you'd love to read. It helps also for keeping motivation up when you're excited to show your readers whats next. I'm already excited to see what you come up with :y
On a more concrete note when writing Al-An, I don't think its necessarily a bad thing he sounds human. He's written by humans, acted by humans, designed by humans, and is used as a narrative tool for a story about humanity. He chokes up when he sees a dead architect, he feels pity when he sees a worker crushed by ice, he tries to make lame jokes to get along with Robin.
You can definitely get away with making him very inhuman though and doing so adds a lot of interest to his character, and all my mutuals above write him very differently ^^
To me Al-An is a character who's personality thrives in contrast. He's been locked on 4546B for (depending what material you choose to accept as canon) half of his functioning adult life. He's had a lot of time to think about things and a lot of time for unique fears and mantras to manifest. As a result-- I like to make him weird. If he's aware of his strangeness you can have these unique worldviews reveal themselves only when pressed, because he feels otherwise he may be socially isolated. Or maybe he doesn't know his personality has been shaped by 4546B, and this doesn't reveal itself until confronted by his own kind. Maybe this comes in the form of grey morality inspired by Robin, that he doesn't realize has developed until faced with the binary rational of other architects. Vice versa is what happens in SBZ, when his strict rationalism simply does not compute with human emotions.
All those things can apply to humanoid characters too, though. When writing characters I also like to focus heavily on mannerisms-- what do they do when they're thinking? when they're afraid? when they want something? Humans are very predictable in this way, but when writing aliens you can go way out there. Al-An has his biolights sure, but what else could you add? Does he paw at the ground like a horse? get wobbly legged when hes scared? lose control of his arms when hes mad? You can add rational for any behavior you choose, like maybe its a safety feature his vessel provides. Or, maybe its more basal. Like, being too new to his body and being so long out of it that strong emotion to his biolights make him feel itchy. Maybe its a holdover from their pre ascendent bodies- like shaking their horns to communicate frustration. All these things are pretty subtle on their own but in contrast with a human reacting to these odd mannerisms drives home how alien these behaviors might be.
The same can apply with the core beliefs and fears that make up his character. Things hold different weight-- like maybe destroying an old temple means little to him because he thinks other architects would agree that the marginal help it provided in raw materials was worth its destruction. Maybe he won't cross a deep ravine because the risk to his well being is too much, even if its just a short jump. Maybe his vessel is compromised and he doesn't register the danger a large predator might pose, because hes never in his life seen other organisms as threats.
There is a lot to play with, and that's why I love Al-An. Best of luck writing ^3^
