#bc caroline showed flaws that could have been worked w and that she could have grown from right from the get go

[raysofcrosby]

If you don’t mind me asking how did you come up with the character of Caroline in WLTAY? Like was there anyone who inspired/drew inspiration from to create the character/take character traits from or was it your own thoughts/ideas of how you would like to have seen a character?

Personally she is my favorite character out of all your pieces of work because you really see her develop and transition throughout the story from being a young teenager to being an adult. While keeping very true to how that journey goes in the real world of not really knowing what you are doing in life and just trying to find your way through the best way you can and not every decision you make is the best or right one but you have to deal with the choices you have made and navigate them as best you can.

honestly, it's been so long since i started planning the story i don't really remember if there was a certain inspiration!!

the fic in general is v much inspired by the movie forever my girl [i haven't read the book yet and i believe there's differences between the two] and was going to be a baseball fic, but got more inspired once i started writing more on tumblr and it just transferred!!

in terms of caroline, i think it was a good mix of pulling traits from different characters in books i've read, along w traits from myself and my friends or own family and then along the way adding things that i would/could picture her doing/saying/thinking, etc!!

like the sibling dynamic between her and andrew is drawn from my own friends and their siblings, a lot of ethan's personality is drawn from my experiences of being around friends relatives/kids of the same age and then the small stuff of shows she likes [greys, glee and 20/20] are really just my favs 💀

that really means a lot that she's your favorite character, bc i can understand just how frustrating she and her choices throughout the story regarding matt and their past can be!! but i really was focused on trying not to just let her cave once matt comes back around and didn't want to immediately brush her choices under the rug and act like they never happened. i really wanted the consequences to come around even after things have been "concluded" yk?? all in all, she wasn't a perfect person and i think she's one of my fav characters i've ever written just bc she is flawed on that aspect!!

also i'm sorry for replying to this late, i like to hold onto messages sometimes esp when it comes to ones about fics bc i like to read them over and over bc it feels so validating that someone enjoyed the fic so much they send detailed messages 🥺🥰

[britneyshakespeare]

friend: i don't know if i could watch the vampire diaries from what you tell me. it just seems like caroline forbes is too perfect of a character and that sounds kinda boring.

me, a bisexual woman who came to the vampire diaries for the men and stayed for the women, who loves caroline forbes w all her heart, who has never, and would never, speak an ill word of Caroline Elizabeth Forbes-Salvatore in her entire pathetic life, who mainly sat through 8 seasons of a show she felt overall lukewarm towards–too many conflicting feelings as the seasons progressed–for Candice Rene King née Accola's performance as one of my favorite fictional characters of all time: [scoffs] now what could i possibly have said that would give you the impression that she's fucking perfect??