the vampire diaries fanfic writing tips

✧ betrayl fanfics

so in a lot of fanfics i see them use betrayal to some extent.

and sometimes it's fine, most of the time, it's so so unrealistic.

for example (this is how i most commonly see it)

oc is a love interest of a villain, usually a mikaelson.

oc is supposedly best friends with the mystic falls crew.

but they decide to kidnap and hurt them just to get the mikaelsons to come from them.

why is this unrealistic?

if the oc isn't as close to the group as they think they are then yes i think it's possible.

but the problem is the story will try to sell the idea that they're all best friends and love each other and they're as close as let's say bonnie and elena.

if they're supposed to be as close as caroline elena and bonnie then it's probably not realistic.

because they didn't do that to one another, so why would they do it to the oc?

klaus liked caroline, but the group didn't kidnap caroline to get him to come?

if you're trying to sell the idea that the friendship is genuine then this doesn't work because it was never done. the characters that were friends never did stuff like this to each other.

now if the oc isn't as close to them as they think they are then yes this does make sense.

but if they really are best friends, i don't see this happening.

elena literally died to save matt, agreed to go with elijah and then went with klaus to save her friends.

bonnie died several times for them.

even stefan saved matt over elena because he knew she'd never forgive him or herself if he didn't,

the only one i could maybe see this working for is damon if doing so would mean saving elena's life or even stefan's if they were in danger. i don't really want to use him saving bonnie over elena as an example because we all know that nina wanted to leave the show so he obviously couldn't.

people do betray each other. people who love each other betray each other, but you have to remember that betrayal isn't always the same and it's different for every person.

i don't mean to say that none of the characters are capable of betraying each other because they probably are but not in the way i see it constantly happening.

the more likely possibility is then going behind the oc's back and making a plan to hurt their love interest. i think they'd try to keep the oc as distant from the situation as possible.

so here's the thing about betrayal.

it happens. i think everyone is capable of it to some degree and you can always be betrayed.

but you have to understand that betrayal doesn't look the same for everyone. some people may betray some of their loved ones and not others, some may betray but to a much lesser degree, some may only do if if they feel justified, it differs for everyone.

the chances are pretty slim that caroline, elena, bonnie, matt, tyler, damon, and stefan all agree to the same exact plan against one of their friends.

now we saw them all work together to go after the mikaelsons, but no one they loved was going to be hurt in the process.

if one of their best friends was going to be hurt? well, they're probably going to stop and think. at least one of them.

there's also a massive assumption that none of them have come to accept the oc and a mikaelson or whoever together when they've usually been together for quite some time. so you should also make sure to make their opinions on the relationship clear and whether or not they've tried to accept it and where they're at in doing so.

especially if the oc is related to one of them.

i don't see these as frequent but sometimes they also have the characters torture the oc. for no reason. they just do it so whoever it is they're after will come but all they do is call them and say "we have oc" so it serves no purpose. and i'm not sure what in the show told some of you that they would torture someone who is supposed to be their best friend.

also a big reason this fanfic is so unrealistic is because the basis of the plan is to get the mikaelson to come to them.

that's not how they operate. that leaves way too many variables. whose coming? will it just be klaus? kol? rebekah? all of them?

way way way too many variables.

when they went after finn they isolated him from the others. when they daggered Kol they isolated him. they're not stupid enough to bring all the mikaelsons to them at once.

but circumstance is also very important.

for example, in the case where damon turned bonnie's mom to save elena.

stefan was going to do it too.

i'm not sure if damon's would count as a betrayal since i don't think damon and bonnie were friends at that point.

but they were willing to turn one person to save another.

now in my opinion, they felt they were justified. it was either elena's life or bonnie's mom being a vampire. if it involved bonnie's mom's life then maybe it would've been different. if bonnie was the one they needed to turn it probably would've been much different. they didn't really know bonnie's mom so she wasn't really a priority to them.

is it betrayal? yeah. was it for no reason? no. was it for a valid reason? i suppose that's up to you. i think they did what they had to do to save elena's life. it's unfortunate, but it was a life or death situation, they both love her more obviously, and she's the main character so it's not like the writers even had a choice but plot armour is another conversation.

so when you're having characters betray others you need to think about some things.

1. what are the stakes? if they don't commit this act of betrayal will something bad happen?

2. who will the betrayal hurt?

3. how badly will it hurt them? is it worth what they might lose if they don't commit the act?

4. who is committing the act of betrayal? is it realistic to their character?

5. what's the justification, if any, for it?

6. are there no other solutions? if so, why aren't they taking them? certain characters would definitely take other options even if they were harder.

7. is it really realistic that the character would betray someone? to what degree are they capable of betrayal?