[major spoilers] SWEET LIKE CANDY | lost hooks
once again my most favorite time of the finales!!!
p.s. this is a long one!!
the kim brothers were only supposed to be wonpil and seungmin. i didn't know enhypen at the time but i found jake at just the right moment and saw that people say he looks like seungmin, so i was like—ok then! that being said, his character is sort of dispensable BUT i did like the trope i used for him (lowkey a bubbly airhead).
without jake, ryujin was supposed to be in a love triangle with y/n (and hyunjin?). but when jake got created, i loved his character sm and i figured i wanted to pair up a "boyish cool girl" with the "softie boy next door"
jake was supposed to be the other love triangle for y/n. but as i was writing him, he became too much of a "little brother" figure to y/n that i can't see them being involved romantically at all.
lia wasn't supposed to come back after chapter 6. i only made her as a fallout character—i.e. a friendship formed at the start of the school year which doesn't last long once you get to know yourself and other people in college. it happened to me, it happened to everyone. i wanted to portray that event. idk why i kept her around, i like to make characters suffer ig.
my other choice for the "eonnie" character is clc's yeeun, i love her look. i ultimately chose bibi because i love her music + she has the perfect amount of "spunky" look but can still look a bit soft.
something i've always reiterated: the art thieves heist wasn't supposed to happen. there wasn't supposed to be any felix and this was supposed to be just a fluffy enemies to lovers fic.
jisung was supposed to take jake's role of being the "second love interest" because jake became a little brother. but idk, things took a turn for the most complicated lol. i didn't mean to make him a criminal.
seungmin and hyunjin were supposed to have a fallout of friendship (something with misaligned morals) but ultimately, i figured that their friendship is too precious to be broken. (hence why i added ryujin in hyunjin's friend group roster). but even though i didn't follow through this plan, i still wrote in the 2jin friendship because i thought it was an interesting dynamic.
seungmin was supposed to be the bad guy. but i think i liked his character being "morally grey", scummy but not full-on. he passes through the ethical loopholes of morality.
nayeon was supposed to die. 🍕pizza anon stopped me last second in adding more angsty death. i almost didn't add her in the bonus chapters to "insinuate" it or at least, for people to form their own endings in that aspect. but i think with her character, it would be unsatisfying if she just gets yeeted into the void.
hyunjin and his father, i purposefully didn't write any cathartic confrontation between them because that's just life. i thought about it, but ultimately, no. i think with just those few words said between those lines, everything can be explained on it's own. (his father saying he supports hyunjin's decisions no matter what. hyunjin realizing that his father is also hurting, as pointed out by y/n. hyunjin still respecting his father's opinions by telling him he's gonna leave).
hyunjin's family life was supposed to be more complicated. his grandmother was supposedly going to take him out forcibly from school to "take care of him" but they'll force him to go to business school, which hyunjin doesn't want to do, so he'll end up trying to financially support himself and live his own life pursuing art. i scrapped this because hyunjin has had enough suffering. plus it would've stretched out the fic longer and i don't want that.
hyunjin's therapist wasn't supposed to exist. but during that time, i was talking a lot to my sister so i created the character in her likeness + i used it as a way to deliver the story through hyunjin's eyes. we gotta be smart with smau narratives lol.
y/n's foreigner friend was supposed to be seungmin (o.de) and there was supposed to be this whole schtick about having two seungmins but i think jooyeon fits the role of the weirdo friend better. i can't really imagine o.de being such a bro dude like jooyeon.
lia x jae was supposed to happen but the age gap was a bit too iffy. plus it would be contradictory of jae to date someone that young when he made such a big deal out of wonpil and bibi's relationship. bottomline is, i remember by characters' moral codes.
lia wasn't supposed to end up with anyone but i felt bad after making her suffer. hence i gave her "implied" ending in the bonus chapters. didn't feel like committing to it too much.
jooyeon was supposed to be a character to make hyunjin jealous but he became too much of a comedic gag that i just couldn't see any romanticism in him at all. worked out tho ig.
felix was supposed to double cross jisung and betray him. he was going to sell him out to brian in exchange for his own freedom but i think i wanted to put some importance in felix and jisung's bond. jisung grew up alone and was raised to takeover his father's scummy business, it's not unlikely for him to get attached to the first friend he makes. same for felix, kinda.
when felix double crosses jisung, he was supposed to die in the hands of jisung's men (in their company ig) but i didn't want felix to die. i loved his character so much, i gave him his own series spin-off (see you all in happy death day!)
i wanted to make a deeper connection between jooyeon and hyunjin but i just couldn't take his character seriously.
wonpil and bibi was supposed to be in cahoots with the saving-felix situation but i think the kims value loyalty too much. wonpil wouldn't do that. plus, i like the implication of having two lovers still keeping secrets from each other. ultimately, i'll leave it to the readers to imagine what happens when wonpil finds out.
there was supposed to be a cute twix bouquet scene in the airport but i don't think it would've been justified since they were still both in denial about their romantic feelings.
hyunjin and y/n wasn't supposed to end up together but after such a long ride, i figured why not? hence why the ending was a cliffhanger and they don't actually get together until years later (bonus chapters).
i thought about making nayeon a love interest for hyunjin but i valued their friendship to my heart. in hyunjin's shoes, it would've been too messy if i made him fall in love with nayeon when they've took him in like family. she's always been a big sister from the start.
i didn't really plan nayeon x jae from happening. it just did.
the story of hyunjin's parents is something i got from real life (not mine though). so i really wanted to center a lot of the themes around family trials.
y/n was supposed to be in gourmet cooking and hyunjin in digital arts. lmao idk why.
the whole art concept is something inspired from the kdrama "her private life" (one of my faves).
jisung wasn't supposed to reappear until bonus 3 (felix's teaser) but i missed him too much. i wanted to write him an implied redemption arc.
park jinyoung is jyp. sorry not sorry.
never planned seungmin x y/n from the start. everyone just started shipping them. y'all don't get what you want.
seungmin wasn't supposed to leave and become a lawyer. he was supposed to keep staying as a character and become a professional photographer but everyone ended up liking seungmin so much that i had to kick him out (y'all did this to ehaloj seungmin too, istg, y'all never learn).
all in all, this was supposed to be a fluffy high school e2l fic and that hyunjin and y/n's parents are baker rivals. romeo and juliet style but idk. we get what we get.
i probably forgot to mention other stuff but tumblr keeps messing up my typing so meh.
notes reveal: they are v v messy