#ibyfas

[headtripparade]

@dynamicsymmetry I found this in my stash.

[ultimatebethylficlist]

Veteran Author of the Month: November 2021

Our featured November veteran author is one of the most well-known names in the fandom, @dynamicsymmetry ! Their fics have been included in almost all of the rec lists we’ve posted, and it’s easy to see why.

dynamicsymmetry can be found on AO3.

When asked what got them into Bethyl and what the fandom means to them, they said:

I don’t actually remember how I got into the fandom. Some of it was spurred by me playing Daryl in a pan-fandom RPG on Dreamwidth, because he ended up gravitating toward another player’s Beth in a way that made me curious about their potential. But also it’s a pairing that definitely fits a Type for me, as this is a ship vibe I’ve been attracted to before.

What the fandom means and has meant is hard to describe. It’s been amazing and it’s been really difficult. It’s taught me a huge amount about myself as a creator, what I can and can’t do—and it’s vastly expanded the former for me. I think it’s made me a better writer in a host of ways, and it’s showed me what the experience of writing can be at its very best. It’s connected me to some amazing people, and it’s gotten me to think deeply about stories and storytelling in a way I might not have otherwise. I’m not as active as I once was, and I’ve written in other fandoms since then, but I think a huge part of my heart will always be here.

For their personal fic rec list, they recommend:

It’s been a long time since I was a very active reader, but I will say that literally anything by @sail-not-drift​ / Schwoozie, thevampirecat, and Abelina has never ever let me down. In fact, when the Keep Singing podcast was still really active, I often did readings of fics I particularly liked and thought would translate well into audio, so that serves as a very partial rec list in some ways. That’s another project I do intend to pick back up, probably this winter—I haven’t yet finished reading thevampirecat’s Burn, and I really have to do that.

dynamicsymmetry’s Works & Personal Thoughts:

I’ll Be Yours For a Song Summary: In a small town where he doesn't expect to stay long, Daryl Dixon comes upon a girl walking by the side of the road at two in the morning, soaked to the skin. He could offer to drive her home. But he very much wants to not seem like a creep. He also doesn’t want to just leave her there. He has no idea what he's getting into. Thoughts: I’ve been writing professionally for over a decade and for decades in fandom itself, and this is probably one of my favorite things of any kind I’ve written in my entire life. It poured out of me over the course of six incredible months in a kind of euphoric rush. Deciding to end it was like losing a friend—although I knew from almost the beginning that it would have a decisive ending. It literally changed me as a writer and as a person. Oh, and it’s sort of hilarious to me that I don’t write contemporary romance and I don’t read contemporary romance but this thing is 100% contemporary romance.

Everything Where it Belongs  Summary: It's been months since Grady, and Beth is haunted by the spectre of Daryl shot dead right before her eyes - and haunted even more by the conviction that it was all her fault. But he isn't quite as dead as he was supposed to be. And she's not sure which is worse. Thoughts: This one is really IBYFAS’s psychological horror-genre twin in many ways and I love it almost as much. It’s a tough read and it was tough to write but I’m so proud of what I managed to pull off in it. I don’t remember where the idea of Daryl getting shot at Grady instead of Beth came from, but it was a fantastic experience to grab onto it and see where it took me.

Safe Up Here With You Summary: On a return trip to Grady, Daryl and Aaron make a discovery Daryl never would have imagined and never would have wanted to: Beth survived. And doesn't believe she did. Of course Daryl believes he's the only one who can bring her back. And they can't go home until he does. Thoughts: This fic walked so EWIB could run. I’m doing a lot of the same kind of stuff in it, and it’s dark and explosive and cathartic in really similar ways, but it’s also an extremely different approach. In this one I was definitely working out some residual anger at Beth’s death—expressed specifically in Daryl’s suppressed rage—so it was fairly therapeutic.

Howl Summary: A year after the mysterious slaughter of her entire family, Beth Greene is no closer to finding those responsible, and no one will believe her when she insists they weren't human. But when she's saved by - and proceeds to save - a monster of a very different kind, she finds herself drawing close to her goal in ways she never expected. And he might be the most unexpected thing of all. Thoughts: This one just got completely out of hand, although I don’t think in a bad way. I knew I was getting myself into some trouble with how huge and sprawling the universe ended up being and how high the stakes got, but also my God it’s been fun to write. It’s also generated more amazing fanart than I ever could have predicted. It’s been on hiatus for literally years at this point, but I swear it isn’t dead. The time just isn’t right for me to go back to it quite yet. I’ll know when it is.

The Good Stars Summary: The world has gone to hell, the dead are walking, and Daryl Dixon is focused purely on keeping himself and his brother alive—until he performs a possibly foolish act of rescue, which will have consequences far greater and further-reaching than he ever could have imagined. Thoughts: THE big WIP still active at this point, although I’m writing it very slowly. I knew doing a total series rewrite would probably take some time, but it’s been years at this point and we’re heading into season four and no way am I giving up now. It’s also been such an educational experience as a writer, because it’s involved so much deep thinking about what works in the show and what doesn’t, what I can change and what I’m sort of stuck with and what I actually want to keep, and how the trajectory of the story changes or doesn’t change according to the decisions I make. I know where I want to end it and roughly how it has to end, so we just need to get there. Hopefully the fandom will still be active by then, because at this rate it’ll be another few years.

[thevampirecat]

@dynamicsymmetry I do remember when that happened with IBYFAS. In a strange way based on what you have said about IBYFAS in the past, I feel like a similar kind of thing is happening here for me (just at a greatly reduced pace because I don’t write very fast). Basically in many ways it feels like I’m not really in control of this fic and I’m just a person with a computer and the means to get it out there but the actual decision making is almost taking place somewhere else. So even if I want to change it up for whatever reason I like “can’t”. It won’t let me do anything that feels wrong or like it’ll mess up the pace or won’t give other characters room to breathe and work and develop.

So it’s like I’ve had three chapters of plotty shit happening and not much shippy stuff except in thoughts and memories but it just feels like this is how it needs to be and changing it will feel forced and idk, break the story or something.

I am conscious of one of the big things fic does being serving a shipping/romance component and this fic may have started off that way but it evolved into something bigger.

So yeah, that’s a long-winded way of saying “Yes thank you for validating me.”

[headtripparade]

Ask and you shall receive, @dynamicsymmetry

[bucky-boychik-barnes]

HAPPY NEW YEAR, YOU FUCKING NERDS

[writerloverpsycho-pomp]

IBYFaS

Yeah. This fic. Wow. Read it.

“I’ll Be Yours For a Song” by @dynamicsymmetry

Freaking wrecked me. It was so good...

holy crap I have a life to get back to in two and a half hours and I haven’t slept since 5am the night before...

Thank you so much for writing this. It has and still is touching so many lives. I know I’ve found healing within these digital pages. Thank you dynamicsymmetry.

[goodbyeblues-ao3]

I just opened up the first page of I'll Be Yours for a Song, and my eyes must remember reading these perfect words, because they immediately got all teary after one sentence. I fucking love this story, and am so pleased to be back in this world again.

[ceaselesslyinlove]

literally me after reading the IBYFAS update, dynamicsymmetry 

[teamtuttle]

Came home to this beautiful treat today 😍😍😍 Thank you @dynamicsymmetry!!

[bucky-boychik-barnes]

WHERE IS THE SUPPORT GROUP FOR I'LL BE YOURS FOR A SONG

[writerloverpsycho-pomp]

Reading IBYFaS

And I’m making myself stop, so I can actually FOCUS on TRYING to write The Landlord’s Daughter. 

That fic (@dynamicsymmetry) is going to be the death of me in the sweetest of ways.

[hideyourgraces]

lbr I almost cried in front of my mom because of this damn story!!!! *screams*

[unbadgr]

im so excited to see shit hit the fan in IBYFAS im having a hard time reading one sentence after another lmao

[saywhatjenn]

All I want for Mother's Day is IBYFAS smut... What is wrong with me?