What Your Characters Are Hiding?: An Endean Guide to fanfiction writing.
I love Momo. Do you like it too? There is something so profoundly haunting about the way Ende captured the theft of time. I’ve always found the Grey Gentlemen to be some of the most terrifying villains in literature because they don't fight with swords; they fight with the promise of "efficiency."
The Five Essential Questions for Endean Narrative
If you want to move beyond "how does the magic system work" and into "why does this world matter," ask yourself these five questions:
What is the cost of the illusion? (In Ende’s work, the "fantasy" is never free. What part of the character’s reality or soul is being sacrificed to maintain the magic?)
Does the world have its own gravity? (Is the setting a passive backdrop, or is it a living, breathing entity that reacts to the protagonist's moral failures or successes?)
How is the "Nothing" encroaching? (What is the existential threat: the loss of memory, the loss of wonder, the collapse of identity)
Are the icons subverted? (Ende constantly toys with symbols. the AURYN, the Childlike Empress. How are you taking established tropes and giving them weight, rather than just using them as window dressing?)
Is the hero a savior or a witness? (Ende’s protagonists often find that their true journey isn't defeating a villain, but understanding their own role in the creation and destruction of their story.)
How Michael Ende can help you write your fanfiction:
1. Build the Shadow (The World) Don't just write "They entered the magical forest." Write why that forest feels like it's watching them back.
2. The Weight of Symbols (Iconography) Give your characters objects that carry the history of their trauma or growth. A locket isn't just jewelry; it’s an anchor to their past.
3. The Threat of "The Nothing" (Conflict) The villain doesn't always need a sword. Sometimes, the conflict is the slow fading of the world’s color or meaning.
4. The Mirror of the Self (Character) Ende’s characters often confront themselves in strange ways. Use your fantasy setting to externalize your character’s internal contradictions.
5. Wonder as a Weapon (Themes) Who says a fic needs constant action? Sometimes the most powerful moment is the character simply realizing the scale of the world they inhabit.
An example:
Regulus Black stands in the freezing silence of his bedroom, his fingers hovering over the locket [the weight of symbols] as he realizes that the home he once defended is not a fortress, but a crumbling tomb of his own making. He stares into the vanity mirror, not seeing the heir of an ancient house, but a ghost [the mirror of the self] watching as the dark mark on his arm burns with the encroaching, hollow apathy of the Horcrux’s influence [the threat of "The Nothing."] He abandons the certainty of his pureblood heritage for a desperate, quiet act of rebellion, understanding finally that his mission is not to win a war for his family, but to reclaim a sliver of humanity before he is erased entirely [the hero as a witness]. The room feels impossibly large, the shadows stretching toward him, a reminder that the world he once took for granted is a fragile construct built on silence and lies [build the shadow].
The Terry Pratchett Method: The Founders and the "Important" Business
If Terry Pratchett wrote the origin story of the Hogwarts founders, he would immediately point out that they were just four very tired people trying to build a school while dealing with the sheer, unadulterated absurdity of the magical world. Pratchett had no time for "noble legends." He preferred the truth, which is usually found in a leaky roof, a disagreement about the plumbing, and the question of who was supposed to buy the groceries.
Here is how Sir Terry would turn the founding of Hogwarts into something legendary, funny, and surprisingly profound.
The Pratchett Blueprint for Your Fic
1. The Myth of Competence
Pratchett loved showing that "great men and women" are usually just winging it. Godric, Salazar, Rowena, and Helga would not be marble statues. They would be overworked professionals. Godric would be constantly trying to fix things with a sword that was better suited for cutting hedges, and Rowena would be arguing with her own diadem because it kept correcting her grammar in public.
Writer Tip: Make them relatable. They should have meetings that go nowhere, arguments about budget, and the occasional moment of wondering why they didn't just become farmers instead.
2. The Absurdity of Magic
In Pratchett’s world, magic is like a grumpy, overgrown pet. It does not behave. A Hogwarts founded by Pratchett would be a place where the magic is constantly doing things it was never meant to do, like shifting the stairs every time someone tried to get to breakfast. The founders would treat these massive magical anomalies with the same annoyance one feels for a leaky faucet.
Writer Tip: Treat magic like a chore. If a stair moves, it is not a "grand enchantment." It is a nuisance that someone has to fill out paperwork for.
3. The Logic of the Reasonable and the Reasonable-ish
Pratchett’s characters often fall into two camps: the ones who think the world should make sense, and the ones who have accepted that it never will. Rowena would be the one trying to organize the chaos into a syllabus, while Helga would be the one handing out sandwiches to the forest creatures because they looked like they had had a long day.
Writer Tip: Give them conflicting philosophies. Don't make the conflict about "Good vs. Evil." Make it about "The Importance of a Standardized Curriculum" vs. "But the Giant Squid wants to join the choir."
4. The Human Cost of Legend
Pratchett always managed to sneak a bit of heart into the comedy. Behind the jokes, he would show us the real reasons they built the school. Maybe they were just four people who were sick of being chased by angry mobs, or tired of living in caves, and just wanted a place where they could have a cup of tea without someone trying to set them on fire.
Writer Tip: Use humor to highlight the tragedy. If they are joking about their problems, it shows just how difficult their lives actually are.
The TL;DR for Your Next Fic
Focus on the mundane. The real story isn't the founding of the houses. It is the story of how they decided where to put the kitchens and who was responsible for the troll incident of 992.
Keep it human. Even the most legendary figures have to deal with cold feet, bad coffee, and the realization that their friends are annoying.
Use the footnotes. Pratchett’s signature was the extra perspective. Use that style to add world-building details that make the history feel lived-in and slightly ridiculous.
Since Pratchett was great at showing how society is built on a pile of shared absurdities, do you think you would want to write the founders as a group that actually gets along, or as four people who stay together mostly because they are the only ones who understand each other's specific brand of crazy?
If Alice Walker Wrote the Story of Petunia Dursley
If Alice Walker were to pick up the pen to explore the Wizarding World, she would not be interested in the flash of wands or the glory of battles. She would look at the margins. She would look for the voices that are silenced, the women who are broken by patriarchal expectations, and the quiet, heavy work of survival.
For Walker, the best character to anchor this vision is Petunia Dursley. She would take Petunia, a woman defined by her bitterness and her smallness, and peel back the layers to show the deep, painful roots of that anger—a story about a sister left behind, a girl who tried to make herself "normal" because the world told her that was the only way to be safe.
The Walker Blueprint for Your Fic
1. The Power of Voice and Testimony
Walker is a master of the "letter" format—the personal confession that speaks to a history larger than one person. A Petunia-centric story would be told through her memories, her private internal dialogue, and her struggle to reconcile the woman she became with the girl who once stood in a garden, watching her sister fly.
Writer Tip: Write in the first person. Let your character speak directly to the reader. Don't worry about "plot progression" as much as "emotional truth." What is the one thing they have never been able to tell anyone?
2. The Burden of "Respectability"
In Walker’s work, characters often feel forced to adopt a persona of "respectability" or "correctness" to survive in a society that doesn't value them. Petunia’s obsession with cleanliness, her nosy neighbors, and her hatred of "magic" would be reinterpreted as a desperate, terrified shield. She is trying to build a world where nothing unexpected can hurt her.
Writer Tip: Show the labor behind the character. If your character is "mean," show us the anxiety that drives it. Show us the hours spent scrubbing floors just to feel like they have some control over a chaotic universe.
3. Healing the Ancestral Wound
Walker writes about the journey toward self-love and the reclaiming of one's own story. A Petunia story wouldn't be about her becoming a witch; it would be about her finding a way to forgive herself for the resentment she harbored. It would be about her looking at Harry—not as a burden, but as the last piece of the sister she lost.
Writer Tip: Find the point of intersection between your character and the people they despise. What part of "the other" do they actually see in themselves? That is where your story starts.
4. The Beauty in the Ordinary
Walker elevates the domestic—the kitchen, the garden, the chores—to something sacred. She shows that the small, quiet lives of women are where the most important battles are fought. Petunia’s house wouldn't just be a dull place; it would be a fortress of her own making, full of meaning that only she understands.
Writer Tip: Give your "boring" setting dignity. Describe the way the light hits the kitchen table or the specific way your character arranges the tea cups. Make the mundane feel vital.
The TL;DR for Your Next Fic
Write with empathy for the "villain." Every "mean" character has a story about why they decided to close their heart. Find it and tell it with grace.
Focus on the internal journey. The biggest conflict isn't with Voldemort; it's with the character's own shame and regret.
Keep the prose grounded. Use the language of everyday life to explore heavy, deep emotional truths.
Does the idea of writing a "redemption" story for a character most people dislike appeal to you, or do you prefer to keep your focus on the main heroes?
