Not sure if this still is going, or if this has been done, but could you have authors note/behind the scenes thinking on False's chapter from Built Family?
HI EP!!! Ignore that you sent this a long, long, long time ago it's fine I'm slow I know--
Yes, it's still going, and yes. I can do False's chapter(s).
Once again, to anyone who wants to read the chapter:
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
There you go. Now, on to the breakdown!
False's chapter, I knew from the start, was going to be long. Previous Hermits had gotten a bit of backstory, but not to the extent that False did. We didn't see Xisuma's people wiped out. We didn't see Joe's full rampage as Herobrine. We didn't see Mumbo's full work at Protech. Heck, we didn't even see Cle's server get wiped out by Protech. But the Watcher's wiping out False's server felt too important to just summarize or have happen off screen.
I had a few ideas for False, but I knew I wanted her to be a fighter.
I was originally going to have False and her Mom be a survival duo. Single Mom and her assassin daughter against the entire server. And while I enjoyed the idea, I decided against it. Not sure why but the adoptive fathers' angle just fit better with the vibe I wanted to do with False.
On a note of False's Dads, I would like to clarify: Sym and Gerrick were not romantically involved with each other in any way. Gerrick was his right-hand man, but Sym is ace in my head. Both see False as their adoptive daughter and are co-parenting but not romantically involved.
False had probably the most rushed introduction, but then had this really long, "Oh no, everyone is getting killed by winged demon/eldritch horrors" and, I'll be completely honest: that was not my intention at the start. I knew I wanted to show at least part of the server's destruction, but it just. Kept. Going.
I wanted people to hate the Watchers. I wanted to address the "some writers have the Watchers as redeemable/some of them are good or at the very least, redeemable." This version of the Watchers: Not redeemable. Yeah, we know they did something bad to Xisuma and Void but it's very vague as what exactly happened to them. I wanted to paint a very clear picture of: "These people are bad and 100% deserve what X is about to bring upon them."
I wanted to show that Watchers are not invincible, but it is very hard to actually kill them. Honestly, the only reason these players were able to kill as many Watchers as they did was because they have been fighting for years. In False's case, her entire life. These are professional killers and most of them were wiped out by five of these things. The only reason any of them survived was because Xisuma and company showed up.
It was at that point that I knew I had to split the chapter into two, partially because of how long it was and partially because the moment
False staying on the server wasn't really planned either. But, I quickly realized that, at that moment, she was grieving. She had accepted that she was going to die. The two people who cared about her the most were dead and she was going to follow them. But now, she wasn't dead. And she wasn't sure what to do.
Xisuma was the only person who could reach out to her (Cleo could have done it as well but seeing as she wasn't there at the moment--) and understand what it was like to lose everything you cared about.
Originally, I wanted to show more of the "hubs between worlds" but I didn't have time for it. I debated if False needed new clothes, but determined that she would have had more militaristic gear, not her Minecraft skin. The coat being both Sym's sniper and a piece of clothing was a last minute addition, but I didn't want False walking around with a sniper for a few reasons.
The main one being that I didn't feel like she would heal with it because she' never take it off, keeping her in the anarchy mindset. A knife is fine, because it is small, easy to forget. A sniper? Not so much.
Miscommunication! Not just the only form of drama for rom-coms, but also between friends and family, lol. I knew False would never have the courage to ask to stay. She had to wait for an invite.
... Which the Hermits forgot to give. A common mistake in their earlier days, but they get better.
I can't think of anything else but this note turned out a lot like False's arc.
I’m getting to that point where I want to go to school. Not for the classes or tests obviously, but for the experience. It’s the beginning of April and now we are a couple months away from graduating. Every day is now precious to me because this way of life I have now is not going to ever happen again. And to be completely honest, i love how things are right now. Friends are great, my family is great, and of course, she is just fantastic. I’m scared to move on to the next stage of my life because I’ve reached the peak of how good it is in my high school life. I’m going to miss everyone, because they all contribute to the community I’ve been in since seventh grade. I grew up with these people. Its been 6 years but it feels like most of my life. I’ve fought, cried, smiled, laughed my way to being a senior and now that i’m here, looking back makes me nostalgic and I’m going to miss highschool. I know we all say “i hate school” but school is the place where i’ve explored myself in my efforts and friendships. That will be worth noting for the rest of my life.
