Hello! I recently found your fic on AO3 after being in a very “meh why not” mood about Heisenberg and now I fear I’ve become obsessed with your portrayal of him ffsfs
Another thing that really made me binge the whole thing in a couple of days is the world building you did which is fantastic. The game does that already sure, but you’ve put so much thought and care into it and I can tell you’ve done ample research on top of being a really good author. That is much appreciated <333
I have a bit more of a personal question, and it’s how exactly do you get yourself to start and post something? I’ve been lurking on AO3 for over 20 years now and I’ve never once felt the itch to write something until now, but now I’m scared I might be going far beyond what I’m capable of + not to mention diverting too much from canon but not enough to be an au if it makes sense. Sorry if this is long and you’re not obliged to respond, but I will be tuning in to everything you write!
Hello 💖 Thank you so much for reading my story. It makes me so happy that you want to write, as well!💞
I'm also a longtime fanfiction lurker. I've been reading and dabbling in writing since about 2002 or so. (EDIT: I also read a lot, not just fanfiction) More in Turn is Due is the first story I've posted to AO3, as well as the longest and most "original."
How did I get started? In this case, Karl Heisenberg as a character just grabbed me out of the blue. I played RE8 for the 2nd time, and for some reason, during that playthrough I got really frustrated that Capcom gave this interesting character absolutely no time and no payoff.
(I think it was the little hand flick that did me in: When Heisenberg chucks a knife at each of the Lords' photos and then looks at Ethan like "You feel me??" and emphasizes with that little hand twist because of course Ethan doesn't get the vision, he has tunnel vision for his daughter and here's Karl stabbing his siblings on his vision board. I realized that Karl was trying his best to articulate his point but was kind of terrible at it, and reader, I married him.)
...So, I turned to reading fanfiction! And being the huge sap that I am, I browsed for romantic stories.
I read for a while, but I didn't want to write until suddenly I binged all of Embryology by Cantique. I became obsessed with how messy Heisenberg xf!Reader's relationship was - this tantalizing dynamic of accidentally, quietly falling in love amidst oppression and cruelty from all sides, including from Heisenberg himself. It struck me as not so different from my personal favorite tale, Beauty and the Beast, so my brain just latched on to these 2 concepts and said do something with this! As soon as I finished Embryology, I wanted to write something of my own. I just felt that spark.
So I dug in, and just started. Right with chapter 1. I let the story just unfold in front of me. It was a very basic, bare bones draft - like chapter 4 didn't exist at all; my beta reader made scene suggestions leading to that one.
But I kept writing, and kept writing, for over 1 year.
What's kept me going was that honestly the story is not finished yet(!!), I want to know what happens next, I have a lot of notes in my phone to get to, and I have this habit of ending chapters on cliffhangers. I like to introduce mysteries, subplots, surprises. It keeps me interested. (And I hope to God I don't lose track of any of them!)
For whatever reason, I am still playing around with this entire idea. And I really want to finish it, because I've never written a story this long and original before.
Why/how did I post it? I just got tired of keeping this to myself. After writing for myself and my friend/beta reader for over 1 year, I re-joined Tumblr, and found loads of people still interested in Karl Heisenberg. I thought people might like my story. (And I'd frankly been working on it for long enough that I just wanted my effort to start mattering!)
I was also inspired by Chrysalis by plumcoloredyarn. This author was candid about her journey in writing her story, and I happened to find it in time to see the final chapter posted. Watching someone reach and celebrate the end of a writing journey made me think I could try, too.
Part of me wishes I'd waited until More in Turn is Due is complete before posting it, because now I feel pressure to post chapters consistently, and what if readers don't like upcoming content?, but... I just have to keep going, now!
I see your point that you're nervous about your idea being a little different. Honestly, the biggest changes and plot twists in my story are still yet to come! The entire story up to now has been mostly playing it safe with established RE8 lore. My original ideas are coming up, and maybe that will be too much for some readers. I don't know. I'm nervous about that. But this train has left the station, so I just have to keep going at this point.
And that's what you could do, if an idea has grabbed you and told you to write. If you feel this weird obsession you didn't ask for, a desperate need to let this thing out - I completely understand! I'm right there with you. And you should go for it!
Just start off writing for yourself. Write what you want. Most importantly: Let yourself have fun. Don't force anything, just write what you want, when you want. This is a hobby! It's your quality time with yourself and with the characters.
And you don't have to share it, don't pressure yourself to if you're not comfortable. I wasn't comfortable until about a year later. But if you do, I promise there is an audience for it because the realm of fanfiction is a very big place. And please be sure to let me know. :)
I finally started sharing some of my writing to some of my friends and oh my gosh, I get why ao3 authors always ask for comments, this stuff is awesome!!!!!!
I spent 4 hours meticulously making sure my oc got maximum damage with no comfort, only for me to think it's mediocre, but then here comes my friends all freaking and horrified by the energy I created in the studio. I'm over here cackling like a mad scientist as the comments go from "Oh this is cool!" to "Oh gosh! Oh no... Whyy would you do this?!?!? Stooooop!! Nooooo!!!!"
Reading all the questions I'm not going answer and all the theories that I'd never even considered being viable has also been really fun! I swore up and down that I spoiled an entire plot twist with a piece of my world building, only for them to put the blame on an npc I made strictly to be a tour guide and die. Like uuhhh I'm glad you think they're cool enough to have an important role, but don't get too attached... It's for your own good.
I've honestly never felt so proud of myself. I'm just over here like, "You like my skrunkly...? My pathetic wet cat? My gachaverse princess of a character??? I put them into situations and you cheer for me?? What do you mean you like it so far???"
