Ben Is So Fuckin Extra

Paolo Sebastian | Autumn/Winter 2016

Favourite ships

7. Noorhelm -  William Magnusson &  Noora Sætre (Skam)

William being 100% Done with Chris

Reylo Fic Rec: Of Penmanship and Discourse by @intp-slytherin97

This incredible fic just crossed 150K words, a monumental achievement, so I wanted to make a little something for it! In case you aren’t reading this fic already, you MUST. Definitely one of my favorite Reylo fics out there.

Read here on AO3

“Not marble nor the gilded monuments Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme, … So, till the Judgement that yourself arise, You live in this, and dwell in lovers’ eyes.”

– William Shakespeare, Sonnet 55

I adore lwaboc, I really admire how well you handled their relationship going from 100% antagonistic to the killer ust and sweet pining. Any advice on how to write slow burns? I hope you're having a great day ♡

Thank you for the kind words, dear, I hope you’re having a great day as well. 🤗

Regarding your question— *clears throat* IT’S MY TIME TO SHINE. Here are a few things I’ve picked up over the years!

First, you have to decide what kind of slow burn you want to write. The most common one that I’ve seen is the physical slow burn wherein the characters realize that they’re attracted to each other but take a while to act on it. Then there’s the emotional slow burn wherein the characters have a physical relationship but don’t realize they love each other because they’re idiots. It can also be a combination of the two! You have to determine what’s best suited to your plot and your characters’ personalities.

No matter which option you go with, it’s important to remember that slow burn is all about building the dynamic. Have your characters get to know each other, squabble over differences in opinions, and ultimately learn to trust and respect each other. This is where you can take a cue from the real world— whenever people are willing to share, I love listening to their stories about how they came to be with their partner and how they eventually had the epiphany that this person was The One. Whirlwind romances do happen in real life, but I think the more common experience is an acquaintance blossoming into a friendship blossoming into something more. It can be really fun, as a writer, to try and track the different ways that can go, and drawing upon those experiences can enhance your story and make it resonate with your readership.

Slow burn is also about never taking the easy way out, lol. Don’t let them snog or confess their feelings at the first opportunity— you want to draw out that tension, stretch it tight until something has just got to snap. Don’t be afraid to throw complications in the way of the ship— hell, go ahead and keep them separated for ages if that’s what the plot requires. It’s an agonizing process but it will make the payoff so much sweeter in the end. But don’t go overboard with this, either. Throw your characters (and your readers and yourself, lbr) a bone from time to time. For physical slow burn: Let the OTP hug or nuzzle or forehead kiss or whatever in a rare unguarded moment, let them Catch A Whiff Of Each Other’s Scent, let them shiver from unexpected touches, let them daydream about how it would feel like to jump Person B. For emotional slow burn: Let each of them gradually come to realizations about the other person, let them amass this mental catalogue of their partner’s quirks that are just So Endearing, let them confess something that’s not quite “I love you” yet but is pretty damn close in a moment of abject vulnerability (”You make me feel safe,” “I miss you,” “You’re, uh, you’re not so bad,” etc.)

Tension is a huge aspect of slow burn and you’re going to want to convey that in exquisite detail during the crucial moments. This includes the characters’ immediate environment— how sound suddenly seems to be coming from a long way off, how the person’s presence seems to eclipse everything else in the room, how the air is charged with static in the space between their bodies. As for the characters themselves— who’s blushing? Who’s biting their lip? Whose hands are balling into fists or clutching that coffee mug a bit too tight? Whose pupils are dilated, who suddenly trailed off in the middle of a sentence because they forgot what they were going to say… and then, once you’ve finished setting the stage, you can either pull the rug out from under them with a cockblock ex machina or have them go at it, depending on where you are in the story.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I hope this helps. Best of luck with your writing!

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) // Tom and Greg: Succession S02 E08 "Dundee" (2019)

Visual motif: The mighty Kylo Ren, kneeling in front of Rey, the girl who came from nowhere.