#tagging this dialogue game so i can cheat my way out of updating masterlist

[marvelous-harry]

omg do a piece h/flo/reader where reader dyes her hair lmao

*this is not inspired by real events happening rn. nope*

"You're touching yourself, touching yourself. Touching your, touching yourself," I sang as loud as I could while boogying my way to the master bathroom while carrying one of our portable speakers, my bleach, and hair dye.

"I've got Buffalo 66 on DVD... why is it 66? It would be so easy to go for 69?" I mused as I dumped everything into the sink. "Hi, Siri," I said loudly and looked at my phone. "Is there a DVD called Buffalo 66?"

"Buffalo 66 was released on DVD in 1998. Would you like to hear what it's about?" Siri spoke in her true robotic tone.

"Yes, please," I replied as I grabbed the phone before skipping back downstairs.

"Buffalo 66 stars Vincent Gallo and Christina Ricci. Summary: A man just released from prison returns home to Buffalo, where he kidnaps a young woman who must pretend to be his wife to convince his parents he wasn't really in prison," I listened intently while grabbing two bottles of wine and the full glass I already had poured myself.

"Siri, add Buffalo 66 on DVD to cart," I said before taking a sip. "Sounds horrible and amazing," I mused as I went back upstairs. Taking a huge sip of wine, I grinned happily at the delicious taste and put the bottles and wine glass on the bathroom counter. Leaning on the edge of it, I stared myself in the eyes. "You're amazing. This is going to be amazing. Stunning. Art," I said seriously while nodding.

"Cheers!" I finished off my little speech and took yet another big sip of wine.

"Siri, play Wet Dreams by Wet Leg," I said as I opened the cupboard and started searching for the hair scissors. "Put on repeat," Grabbing the scissors, I grinned victoriously and gave them a little test chop in the air to make sure they worked.

Staring in the mirror, I bobbed my head as I just grabbed some hair and started chopping away.

"And you're licking the windscreen, I've never seen anything so obscene! It's enough to make a girl blush, it's enough," I shouted as I threw the scissors into the sink and shook my head to fluff my hair. Taking no time to think more about it I started mixing the bleach together.

"Here we go, here we go, here we go," I continued shouting slash singing as I started squirting the bleach at my ends. "Oh fuck," I mumbled as I searched the box for the gloves before putting them on it in a rush so I could smooth out the bleach.

"3, 2, 1. Let's begin, here we go," I mumbled as I emptied the bottle. "Ahhh, it stings. And the smell! Fuck!" I gasped as I rushed over to the window and opened it before searching for a towel and wiping at my skin where I'd spilled the bleach.

Grinning as I looked myself in the mirror, I blew myself a kiss before grabbing the wine glass and chugging the rest of its content. "Fuck, I love wine," I mumbled as I opened a new bottle and poured myself another full glass.

"Siri, put a timer for 45 minutes," I said before finally taking off the gloves and throwing them into the sink. "I was in your wet dream. Saw you at the side of the road. There's no one else around," I closed my eyes as I danced around the bathroom, spilling wine a bit here and there while singing at the top of my voice.

I kept my eyes closed while I danced, sang and drank.

"Hey! What the hell? Turn it down!" Harry said as he opened the door and walked in. "Woah," he mumbled as he took everything in.

"Harry!" I squealed. "I'm doing my hair! Also, note. This song is so fucking good. Can't believe I've gone my whole life without hearing it before you sang it," I said and gulped back some wine.

Harry stared at me for a few seconds before turning around. "Florence!! I need you!" he shouted before turning back. "I think that's enough wine," he said gently as he took my glass and put it on the counter.

"You're licking the windscreen, I've never seen anything so obscene," I sang as I started spinning around. "Harry, dance with me!" I said and grabbed for him.

Florence walked into the bathroom and took in everything. "Well.... Someone is having fun," she said gently and gave me a little smile.

"Flosssieeeeeee, hi! You guys came back early. Very sneaky. supposed to be a surprise," I chuckled and tried to grab the wine glass.

"Oh, we're plenty surprised," Harry replied and pushed the wine glass back further.

"Darling, how long has the bleach been in your hair?" Florence asked as she looked at me.

"Siri! How long till timer runs out?" I practically shouted.

"Timer ends in 32 minutes," Siri said back over the speaker.

Florence turned to Harry. "Right, battle plan. You help her shower and wash the bleach out when the timer runs out. I'll get water and some food. And cleaning products," she sighed spotting all the little bleach spots.

"And what do we do until the timer runs out?" Harry asked as he watched me dance and sing along.

Florence grabbed the wine glass and took a sip. "We are going to finish this wine and make sure she doesn't fall on her face," she replied and held the glass out to Harry.

"Good plan," he replied and took a big sip of the wine.

[pens-swords-stuff]

Happy STS! Can I ask you as a famous fanfiction writer, how do you go about capturing characters you like and want to write but can't seem to capture right on the page?

Oh my gosh, me, a famous fanfiction writer? I’m really not, but I’m super flattered that you think I am!

I’m actually not too great at writing existing canonical characters — I mostly write OC fanfiction for purely self-indulgent purposes, and avoid writing canon characters as much as possible.

That being said, now that I’m writing a fanfiction with no OCs in sight, I have a few strategies to help me when I’m struggling!

This definitely turned into more of an advice post than a Storyteller Saturday ask, whoops!

Re-engage in the source material

Obviously, one of the easiest ways to get a refresher on the character is to re-engage in the source material. Rewatch that TV show/movie, reread the book, replay that game, etc.

I find that it’s helpful to actively engage in the source material, rather than passively. Instead of just enjoying it, engage in it in Writer Mode. Really look at the character and how they interact with their surroundings and the people around them. Take note of their habits, their speech patterns, and how they move. How do they act around people they like, around people they don’t like, around stranger? Examine the important points in their character development arc, and dissect it. What worked? What didn’t work? Why did it have such a large impact on that character? Try to figure them out as if they were your own original character, back when you were still piecing them together.

Make a character cheat sheet

Some larger fandoms have really great resources, like massive, detailed wikia pages with every single detail about everything that’s ever happened. Other fandoms are smaller, or are just not as wikia-oriented as some others so information online might be sparse.

Regardless of the availability of information is available in that fandom, I find it really helpful to make my own personal cheat sheet full of information that is important to me.

Here are some things that I include in my cheat sheets:

A general timeline of their life, with quotes and page numbers/time stamps when appropriate

An inventory of general items that they carry around that has been mentioned in the source material

A list of physical character traits that have been mentioned/shown in the source material, including common articles of clothing

Quotes from the character that they say a lot, or I feel really captures the way they speak, or who they are

Excerpts of scenes that I feel are really important to look back on

Other details from the source material that I think are important

Practice writing them in the source material

When I say this, I mean actually go through the source material, pick a scene with that character and write it out in your own words.

If it’s a TV show, movie, video game, or some other visual medium, transcribe that scene into words. Write it out like you would in a novel; add their inner monologue, describe their quirks, add dialogue tags to whatever they say. 

It’s a little bit trickier if the source material is a book since the prose is already there. When the source material is a book, I swap perspectives. If the perspective in the original story is from the character you’re practicing with, I write the scene from another character’s perspective. If the perspective is from someone else, I rewrite that scene from the perspective of the character I’m practicing with.

This is a really good way to practice getting the canonical character in your own words, because you’re using actual canon to practice — they literally cannot be out of character here.

Read other fanfictions with that character

Everyone has a different interpretation of existing canonical characters, and that’s really cool! It’s totally okay to have your own version too.

If you’re feeling stuck on how to write a character, try reading some other fanfictions for that fandom and see how other writers portray that character. Their character interpretation might be different from yours, but it can definitely help open you up to new possibilities! At best, it might make a light bulb go off in your head. At worst, it can help diversify your idea of that character, and maybe make your idea of them a little bit more flexible.

Also I find reading other fanfictions in that fandom can really inspire me in general, so bonus points for that.

Practice, practice, practice!

Write drabbles about them, even if it might not end up in your fanfiction! Put them in a completely different AU. Have them interact with your own original characters. Find some prompts you like and write them with that character. Explore them like you would explore your own original character! The more you write them, the more you’ll be able to make them your own. Sometimes, all it takes it a lot of practice until they ‘click’.

Good luck!

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