#that's the appeal of SDV fanfic imho

[not-poignant]

hi hi! i'm so excited for new stain!!!!! i was just wondering whether you think of wind alex and Stain alex as separate characters, or if he's the same guy and just in separate stories (since I've noticed that the way you've characterized his negative self talk and disabilites is pretty similar?), or if wind and stain are like... parallel universes, like when u boot up a new farm. This would be super interesting for me to know your thoughts on. also, has your sebastian given up smoking?

Hiya anon,

Yeah the new chapter goes up in about 7 hours from now! :D

I definitely don't see them as the same guy in different stories because they do have some pretty significant differences imho, alongside their similarities. I guess I see it more like parallel universes, because to me they're different characters.

For a start, I didn't headcanon Alex as Sebastian's bully at all in The Wind that Cuts the Night. Anyone who's read that story can see that like, Sebastian and Alex clearly have a different connection and also a completely different history. They're already very different people. Alex in Wind has a sexual history (not a good one, but he does), and only realises he might be into guys after meeting Elliott.

Like there are some pretty significant differences there.

As to the similarities, they're just 'because I like it.' I like writing characters with abuse backgrounds and I like writing characters who are struggling with something. Like, Alex with a strong abuse background is a headcanon that I enjoy too much to let go of it in likely any version of Alex I write. Alex bullying Sebastian is a headcanon I like for this story but it's just as plausible that Alex never bullied Sebastian and I also have a story for that too. That's the greatest thing about NPCs like this, you have lots of room to actually make pretty huge headcanons about giant chunks of their life, because a lot of the time all you have is 2 or 3 sentences to go off :D

As to Sebastian's smoking habit, he either doesn't do it anymore (since he did initially), or if he does, it's not often enough for Alex to have noticed/realised. But honestly I think Sebastian quit and it's just not really relevant to the story, and if/when it becomes relevant I'll bring it up then. :)

As to the similarities, if I radically changed his self-talk in each story I wrote him in, I might as well just change his character completely and write a different fanfic for a different fandom, y'know? I still want his inner character voice to be consistent, that's like...just good characterisation. :D There has to be enough of him in there to be recognisable as 'Alex.'