i will be dispensing all my research on fanfics concerning salvatore siblings, including but not limited to:
- face claim
- love interest
- personality
- plot or storyline that is given to them
F A C E C L A I M S
when it comes to face claims, it is always encouraged to accurately portray someone that looks like the brothers.
the best way to go is dark, almost black hair and light eyes either blue or green
in some circumstances, go shaggy blonde style kinda like stefan, but he's not completely blonde obviously, you have to pay attention
and in other times, why the hell would you go with a red head to be their sister?
just, why?
please refer to my first 'proper related face claims' to get some ideas for a sibling fc
L O V E I N T E R E S T
let's go into their love interest shall we?
of all the sibling stories that i've read it's a tie between Elijah, Klaus, or Kai
that's it
that's the best you guys can do?
a cliched 'salvatore sister falls for a mikaelson brother' and a sociopath who killed all his siblings?
when it comes to their love interest, it seems as though there is no such thing as familial loyalty. it's like the minute she meets a mikaelson she just wants them and their family, changes her name (or hyphens it) but apparently because she hates elena she just disowns her brothers? like?
other than that when it comes to Kai it's because she went with Bamon to the prison world and met him and eventually fell in love and despite the fact that Kai is fucking evil, she manages to change him and he becomes part of the group, like?? seriously?
ok, if you want to write a Kai Parker fic there are only three ways it should end
1. the love interest eventually accepts his crazy ways and sticks by him but they still lose to the mystic falls gang (or win, who cares)
2. the love interest realizes he's nuts and homicidal (or realizes how fucked up he really is) and joins the mystic falls gang to defeat him
3. the love interest is just as fucked up as he is and fall in literal crazy love only to either win or lose against the mystic falls gang
but Kai Parker does not get a redemption arc, he was written without one, it's the whole point and it's the reason we enjoyed him so much
as for Mikaelson love interests, just, don't do it? they're super cliche and done thousands of times (no im not exaggerating)
now for when it comes to queer love interests, i got no advice, just have fun and do 'em because there are barely any around for me to form an argument around love interests
P E R S O N A L I T Y
how about a salvatore siblings personality? the fact that they're usually one of three factors:
- a mini Damon
- a mini Stefan but funnier
- complete weakling and delicate flower that needs to be protected but has a seriously messed up dark side
- or the classic 'meet Blank Salvatore, they're the perfect mix of Damon and Stefan, but will they survive this crazy world of vampires, werewolves, and witches and find love along the way?'
she's also usually stefan's twin, like it's either stefan's twin or youngest in the three, never the eldest, almost like four damon twins, or sometimes the middle sibling.
now, for the most unforgiving portion of this chapter, the one that if done right, i would excuse every other thing above:
S T O R Y L I N E
when it comes to a salvatore sibling (and usually it's a sister) we already know they end up being a vampire, it's necessary if you want to write them in the present and follow the show's plot
if you went another (and more creative) way where you just wanted to write about their sister during the 1860's and then it turns out she died, like no vamp blood, just death, and it ends with them reminiscing about her or telling Elena or Caroline or Bonnie about her, then yeah, that would be super different, unexpected and almost never done.
(bonus points if you actually keep her dead and she doesn't show up at the last second like PSYCH! IM ALIVE BITCHES. no, no, no. or is resurrected for some reason?? or even rebirth or reincarnation?? or smth, just no.)
just make it a tragedy, let the readers be shocked and sad, that's how you grab their attention, that's what'll set you apart
now, if you went the route where she becomes a vampire like her brothers that's still okay, she can have a great storyline in the present
however, this is where you come across a fork in the woods.
1. she becomes a vampire and her brothers are with her, they know all three of them are alive and it's a regular reunion when they meet again 150 somewhat odd years later
2. she becomes a vampire but she hates her brothers and makes them think she died. (and somehow meets and falls for a mikaelson and marries them and all that)
3. she becomes a vampire but doesn't know her brothers did too (and vice versa) and somehow goes 150 somewhat odd years not running into them?
4. she becomes a vampire and is immediately locked in the tomb, her brothers are surprised she's alive
let me tell you, that if you actually went with number 1 then i applaud you, that's almost never the case, there's always some drama when the sibling comes back like it's a big surprise bc they thought she was dead
but, if you went with number 4, then wow, wow
you went that way huh?
you'd be surprised just how many writers went with shoving this girl in the tomb after just becoming a vampire and then poorly writing her adapting to a 2009 world
let me just tell you some specific pet peeves that i had when reading those
- despite being a vampire for one day and locked in a tomb for 150 something years, she has complete control amongst humans and knows how all her vampire powers work
(and no, the tomb vampires wouldn't have helped her, there were no humans to be around, no one to practice compulsion on, and i doubted they talked about any of that as they desiccated, they most likely hated her due to her status as a salvatore, and even if only one tomb vampire were to talk to her they'd talk about life or death or something instead of vampire powers)
- the damn speech. so, this is a chick from 1864 who just went out into the world 2009, she will not be using words like 'dude' or 'maybe' or any sarcastic comments or responses. instead of 'maybe' use 'perhaps'. instead of 'dude' use 'friend'.
just, rewatch the flashbacks for 1864, or watch any flashbacks of the Mikaelson's past and especially follow Elijah's lines.
the thing is, the Salvatores as a whole are a founding family, that was like royalty in the olden times but a more calmed down version, the Salvatores were raised by an abusive asshole, so i do not expect Damon and Stefan's sister to be a riot grrl or be as outspoken as Caroline or as strong willed as Bonnie, to portray an accurate highborn girl in the 1860's i expect her to be proper and be a lady and whatnot, not because she wants to be but because she has to be. she doesn't have many options, she's expected to be married off and have a dozen babies with some other highborn guy (but you don't have to write it as an arranged marriage, try to follow Bridgerton-style if you will, by that time it was more like ladies got suitors to ask for their hand in marriage rather than an arranged one)
point is, she has to be portrayed as dainty and polite as possible because that's how she stays alive, if she were a tomboy, if she were picking up swords or even talking back to her father she'd be beaten and punished, and if she were 16 already or 18 if you wanna make her older than Stefan, I assume she's had enough experience to know when to keep her mouth shut and when to open it
she can still be fun, she can be funny and delightful if you want her to be happy during that time, or if you want her to be angry (but smart enough to stay obedient, don't hurt your characters) about the world she lives in, she can be too
if you followed some of these ideas or steps, and you wrote her in an accurate 1860 style (as accurate as you can get) then the question is, does her brothers know she's alive or not? is she doing it on purpose or not? or the worst possibility: she's stuck in the tomb.
i personally would like to see her brothers know she's alive, like they all turned at the same time in 1864 and they've been in and out of communication, it removes the 'oh my god she's alive!' drama that isn't necessary, especially because it brings in a lot of drama of having to get to know each other again, and the fact that there's a lot of blame to go around. she probably did it because of the whole katherine thing and didn't want to let them know she was alive, but then turn it around and it's essentially the same thing Lily Salvatore did to her sons, and Damon and Stefan see it as her keeping this huge secret.
let me ask you one thing,
if she were mad at her brothers for fighting (and dying) over a girl (and maybe idk she got hurt by kat too and she's extra mad about it) and she knows they're vampires now, like her, then why would she keep her living a secret? if she's mad at them, she'd yell at them, she'd distance herself from them and tell them why so they feel that guilt rather than give them 150 years to grieve her, i mean come on. when Damon was angry at Stefan for forcing him to turn he promised him an eternity of misery, you don't think sister Salvatore would go down that road too?
these guys are a pack of dramatic little bitches, you know she'd shout it from rooftops
oh what's that? you wanna know about a cis-male Salvatore sibling? sure, why not
there is one thing i can say about the salvatore brother oc's
they have no original personality.
like none.
half the ones i found the brother was a 'perfect mix of damon and stefan, he's sarcastic but he's sensitive too, look out ladies!' or 'look out boys!' or 'look out people!' for those queer fics which there are only about half of the brother ones
when it comes to a Salvatore brother (who's straight in this case) they're just made out to be the weirdest written character there is, either he's like Damon in which he eats people and has one liners and lots of sex, or he's like Stefan in which he thinks eating people is wrong but still has one liners bc they have to make him funny
most of the time, the brother isn't straight and they ship him with a Mikaelson (because that's super different) or with Jeremy Gilbert or something
in the queer fics, there's no changes, he's still described as 'the best mix of stefan and damon' only there are a bunch more one liners about his sexuality
then there are those where the brother dates Bonnie and honestly? not bad. Bonnie and a Salvatore could rule the universe. (unfortunately the one i found was discontinued and it was 4am and i didn't have the energy to search for more)
other than that, my best advice is STOP MAKING THEM PART WITCHES DAMMIT
OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF MYTHICAL CREATURE MIXED WITH VAMPIRE
just, for fucks sake leave them as regular humans and then regular vampires, why must they be this chosen one that wields jean grey's phoenix powers or is a copypaste wanda maximoff scarlet witch or just another random heretic cuz why not
the one good thing that most salvatore sibling fics have is that they stay as regular vampires, there's a surprisingly small number of fics where they're some hybrid combo witch thing with avatar powers and a green lantern ring
i think that's about it
so tell me, did i point everything out?
did i miss anything? please tell me and it'll add it immediately in the next chapter
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- polaroized