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We are a fictive plural system, and we write a lot of fanfiction about our source media.
We also have a partner– also a fictive system– who is our writing partner.
When the circumstances are right, writing fanfiction based on our source media with our partner system allows us to write twice as fast, or faster, than we would be able to on our own.
When the circumstances are right.
Here’s the thing.
Imagine that the brain is a computer, and that a complete identity (in this case a fictive) is a single program installed on that computer.
In these terms, our computer has about 30 different programs installed on it that can be used. And our partner system has another 30 completely different programs installed on their computer.
If we’re writing a fanfiction scene that involves one character who is a program installed on our own hardware this is about as easy as breathing.
Opening one of these programs on our computer gives us access to all the memories, emotions, impulses, preferences, desires, reflexes etc of the character that the program belongs to.
Running one program on the hardware requires very little in terms of processing power (and is in fact, mandatory for running the computer at all. If the computer is running, it’s running at least one program just to interact with the world.)
However, let’s say we’re writing a scene that involves two characters– both of whom are installed on our computer, and not on our partner’s computer.
We have two choices.
We can laboriously open and close each program as we need it, so that we’re only running one at a time. This however, depletes the computer’s battery power, tends to throw error messages, and sometimes just fails entirely.
Or we can open both programs and let them run concurrently at the same time. This drains battery power too– but less than opening and closing programs repeatedly However it also uses a lot of processing power. It slows down the computer as the computer has to devote resources to both program’s behavior at the same time.
Every time we need an additional character in our system for the scene, we have to open another program. This uses additional battery power and processing power. It slows every task down even further, and if you open enough programs, the brain ceases to be able to handle it, starts throwing error messages, and might even overheat.
However, if we’re writing a fanfiction scene that involves one character from our system– one program from our computer, and one character from our partner’s system– one program from their computer– then we essentially get to network our computers together and run two programs with no slowdown.
Writing two character scenes where one character is on our system and one character is in their system is ridiculously easy to the point where it feels like magic. And even adding more characters is easier, because splitting four programs over two computers is easier than running four programs at once on one computer.
But of course it becomes logistically frustrating– because the characters we want to write together aren’t always distributed in the most beneficial way between systems..
And that’s why some of our fanfiction takes a long time to write and sometimes it comes out really fucking fast. 😂
It’s also probably worth noting that writing original fiction (or fanfiction based on any media that isn’t our source media) is a completely different process for us than writing about our source media using characters that are in our system.
It’s a lot slower and uses more traditional writing and brainstorming and planning techniques. XD
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