#hence why I have ended up writing a ridiculously long fix it fic lol

[theyluvlyss]

/ᐠ-˕-マ~ my personal guide !

𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞... !

...this is a guide that I have made that will help you decipher all of my little fanfic, edit, and shifting terms. keep in mind that while some of these are useful across other profiles/platforms/websites, some of the terms and their meanings may differ elsewhere rather than on my account (hence why I use words "my" and "personal").

so, without further ado, continue reading to see what everything means and how I use it in my works. it's long, but worth it, trust🤞🏽.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ...𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞

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/ᐠ-˕-マ~ each list is in alphabetical order :) !

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜 -

《 ♡ 》 adjective!character : this can get used by either myself or requesters to specify certain traits for a character to have. also includes reader(s), because remember, you are (technically) a character in the story, too :). there can also be as many adjectives as one wants. for example, it could look something like:ㅤpopular!social!reader x loner!quiet!billy batson.

《 ♡ 》 angst : super melodramatic, lot's of drama stemming from problems either caused by outside forces, and/or the reader/characters themselves. can have either bad, unresolved endings, or good "fix-it" type endings. not to be confused with hurt/comfort, which is implied in the name that it's naturally supposed to be a story/fic that hurts you with angst, and then comforts you with fluff at the end. these are my personal fave to write, besides crackfics ♡.

《 ♡ 》 au : this stands for alternate universe. let's say I write a fanfic for, I dunno, henry danger, right? as you know, henry danger is already set in a specific universe. well, as a writer, I have the creative liberty to literally change the entire setting. I can make henry danger take place during the fifties or in space or whatever requested lol🤷🏽‍♀️.

《 ♡ 》 crackfic : (be warned, I stole this definition from a website 'cuz I couldn't gather the proper words to explain it myself lmao) named after the drug to imply that it can only be the product of a deranged mind, crack fic is identified by its absurd, surprising, or ridiculous premise. the plotline might be twisted into a knot, the fic might be a thick parody, or the fic might feature an unlikely or rare pairing ("crack pairing"). sometimes random, nonsensical, or stream-of-thought fics are termed crack, but other crack fics proceed logically, in character, and with internal consistency from their bizarre starting points. the former is generally derided by fandom as badfic while the latter is often praised. generally, these are humor pieces.

《 ♡ 》 crossover : this means/implies that two (or more) separate stories/fics, universes, and/or fandoms will be blended or written together as one. fair warning, I've never actually done this before (yesIhaveI'mjusttooembarrassedtoeverlookbackonit), but I'd be happy to do it now :). on the actual fanfic somewhere on the page, it would look like this, for example:ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤmaze runner x hunger games (crossover/au).

《 ♡ 》 fluff : this means that the story/fic will be super soft with light elements and no dark/angsty themes. it's pure comfort with no ill will/intent, nothing dangerous, very safe and fun :). good vibes only, supa' good vibes only/ᐠ♡˕♡マ✨️.

《 ♡ 》 headcanon : these are a list of assorted, non-ordered thoughts on the character(s) that I have. if requested, there can be a specific theme or topic to base these headcannons upon, but as I stated, they're basically just lose thoughts I come up with on the fly (and edit, ofc, I edit all my works to the best of my ability before posting). with context, you'll know whether or not the headcannons are specific, but for example, a title or something could look like this:ㅤdarby harper x clairvoyant!reader (headcannons).

《 ♡ 》 hurt/comfort : it's basically where the fic I write will have plot points/themes/elements that will "hurt" its reader, whether the bad vibes are happening to the character, the reader, or just bad vibes in general. it'll give you all the feels, very depressing and/or dark, but don't worry. you will not end this fic without being comforted and lifted back up in some ways, shape, and/or form.

《 ♡ 》 hurt/comfort/revenge : this one I'm pretty sure I made up, but it's the overall same vibes as hurt/comfort, except also, reader get their revenge >:). I rarely ever see stuff like this get written into fics, so I have to enter my Thanos era and do it myself, apparently. this goes out to all my petty readers out there who still wanna be softly loved: I gotchu, bae, we gon' fuck the person that hurt you up, don't worry🤞🏽.

《 ♡ 》 imagine : these are longer fics with fleshed out plot/themes/thoughts (and probably some of my best works, if you're on the hunt for quality💀). they can range between something short, sweet, and simple, or long ass stories that can even have multiple parts ! as long as there's no one around to stop me, my self control pretty much determines the length of an imagine lmao.

《 ♡ 》 masterlist : a masterlist is a complete list of all my works pertaining to one specific fandom and/or character. in my case, each fandom has its own masterlist filled with all of the characters names, with a complete set of all of the works/content done for them underneath.

《 ♡ 》 oc : this stands for "own character" and would typically be something others request me to do. I, personally, don't really have any oc's that aren't apart of my original works, so...yeah lol. if requested, it might look something like this:ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤpeter parker x ocㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤand then their oc would be described to me so I can write it :).

《 ♡ 》 oneshot : typically my shorter writings, intended to be written off of the top of my head with either very quick closure at the end, or maybe even no closure at all. basically, if you want a glorified cliffhanger (that may or may not ever get finished or a second part), this is what you want, and it'll be specified somewhere on the page of my work.

ooc : this stands for "out of character." this implies that a certain character may behave in a way that differs from what is originally presented in the media they're in. this is usually spoken as a prior warning/apology to some less than high quality writing, but of course, you are always free to request a character to be ooc :).

《 ♡ 》 original work : anything that I write that isn't fanfiction is an original work of mine. it will be specified on the page, so it's not really something that needs to be worried about :).

《 ♡ 》 pov : this stands for "point of view", which is basically something that tells you what/who's perspective you're seeing/reading things from. I rarely do anything that switches between pov's, but that doesn't mean I can't or won't. it's just not my favorite way to write, that's all lol.

《 ♡ 》 prompt : this is a short summary/info-dump on the story. it helps you (reader) to get a feel for what the impending work is about.

《 ♡ 》 scenarios : the way I write them is kind of like a staggered mix of short writings/oneshots and listed thoughts/headcannons. again, these are kind of meant to be written off of the top of my head, no real order, but definitely a little bit more detailed. these are also some of my faves to write ♡.

《 ♡ 》 ship/shipping : it's a play on words from the saying, "that ship has sailed." a ship refers to two characters whom of which you want to get/be/stay together. you root for them, love them, or can even ship a character with yourself (which is the whole point of the fanfic work I do💀). the act of shipping yourself with a character can be what guides you and others into writing "x reader" work.

《 ♡ 》 smut/nsfw : it's word p*rn, guys. that's all it is, it's just written smexxy times between you and your (aged up/of age🫵🏽...) faves. others might be more familiar with the citrus chart (a.k.a. lime, lemons, grapefruit, etc.). I don't do that because I've stated before, I'm probably not going to do anything super heavy/k!nky. nsfw stands for "not safe/suitable for work", and I typically use that acronym as a warning before you start reading anything in an...*coughs*ㅤㅤㅤo p e n environment🥴...

《 ♡ 》 timeline : this informs you (the reader) of the specific time the events in the story/fic transpire. when I write, I personally base the timeline/setting off of, again, ✨️vibes✨️ and what makes most sense. but as always, you are free to request a specific time/order of events for me to write.

《 ♡ 》 tw/content : this will let you know of any possible triggers and what overall content is in the/any content I make. tw stands for "trigger warning".

《 ♡ 》 + reader : in my works/descriptions, the "+" sign in "+ reader" indicates that the relationship between you and whatever character(s) written is sibling-like and/or completely platonic. no romantic feelings whatsoever (unless it's like an unrequited love or something else of the sort type of deal/plot). for example:ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤdamian wayne + reader.

《 ♡ 》 x reader : in this instance, the "x" in the term "x reader" implies that the relationship between two characters is romantic. again, I'm sure that there can be certain exceptions, but for the most part, it's what I said it is. for example:ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤgray fullbuster x reader.

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𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥/𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 -

《 ♡ 》 (e/c) : (eye/color)

《 ♡ 》 (h/c) : (hair/color)

《 ♡ 》 (h/l) : (hair/length)

《 ♡ 》 (n/n) : (nickname)

《 ♡ 》 (p/n) : (petname)

《 ♡ 》 (s/c) : (skin/color)

《 ♡ 》 (s/t) : (skin/tone)

《 ♡ 》 (u/o) : (usual/outfit)

《 ♡ 》 (y/n) : (your/name)

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𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨 -

《 ♡ 》 (f/b) : (favorite/beverage)

《 ♡ 》 (f/c) : (favorite/color)

《 ♡ 》 (f/d) : (favorite/dessert)

《 ♡ 》 (f/f) : (favorite/food)

《 ♡ 》 (f/m/s) : (favorite/movie and/or show)

《 ♡ 》 (f/s) : (favorite/song)

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𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 -

《 ♡ 》 (bsf/n) : (best friend/name)

《 ♡ 》 (bf/n) : (boyfriend/name)

《 ♡ 》 (gf/n) : (girlfriend/name)

《 ♡ 》 (m/n) : (mom/name)

《 ♡ 》 (d/n) : (dad/name)

《 ♡ 》 (b/n) : (brother/name)

《 ♡ 》 (s/n) : (sister/name)

《 ♡ 》 (s/o/n) : (significant other/name)

《 ♡ 》 (c/n) : (cousin/name)

《 ♡ 》 (a/n) : (aunt/name)

《 ♡ 》 (u/n) : (uncle/name)

《 ♡ 》 (gm/n) : (grandma/name)

《 ♡ 》 (gp/n) : (grandpa/name)

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𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬 -

《 ♡ 》 app : I mean, obviously you know what an app is. but I just mean like, I would let you know what app I used to make a certain edit.

《 ♡ 》 collage : an assortment of pictures edited together to create one (aesthetically pleasing) picture.

《 ♡ 》 duration : the amount of time a video/edit takes to end/how long an edit is.

《 ♡ 》 moodboard : kind of like a collage, it's an assortment of pictured edited together to make one. the difference is that the pictures used focus more on the vibe/aesthetic of the character rather than the character themselves.

《 ♡ 》 pfp : stands for "profile picture."

《 ♡ 》 scenepack : it's a video that holds any and all clips of a certain character or characters that can be used to make edits or for whatever other reasons. in other words, a pack of scenes lol.

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𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬 -

《 ♡ 》 cr : current reality. the reality you are currently in at this exact moment in time.

《 ♡ 》 dr : desired reality. the reality you are going to shift your consciousness to.

《 ♡ 》 wr : waiting room/reality. a reality you can shift to where the concept is basically like waiting in a lobby/room to decide where to shift to from there.

《 ♡ 》 subconscious : of or concerning the part of the mind of which one is not fully aware but which influences one's actions and feelings.

《 ♡ 》 consciousness : the fact of awareness by the mind of itself and the world.

《 ♡ 》 script/scripting : it's basically exactly what it implies. a script (no matter how detailed, short, or long, because you really don't even need to have one) that allows/helps you to focus on exactly what reality you intend to shift to. keep in mind that you do not make/create a "new" reality. you can not create what already exists. you're simply just becoming aware of a reality, and a script can help you do/focus on that.

《 ♡ 》 script/scripting : it's basically exactly what it implies. a script (no matter how detailed, short, or long, because you really don't even need to have one) that allows/helps you to focus on exactly what reality you intend to shift to. keep in mind that you do not make/create a "new" reality. you can not create what already exists. you're simply just becoming aware of a reality, and a script can help you do/focus on that.

《 ♡ 》 shifting : I wish I had the proper words to explain this, so here's a link to a video explanation and another link to some documents instead :)...

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐭...

...(as if this list wasn't long as hell lmao💀). but hopefully, regardless of length, it was helpful and you found all of the advice/help you needed :). if there's anything you think I should add, though, you can always tell me and I'll be sure to do so.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ/ᐠ-˕-マฅ ~ 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐚 !

[ragnarokhound]

2, 7, 8, & 29 for the fic writer ask game pls?

Sure!

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Oh gosh. There's so many good ones out there, and my favorite kind of trope use involves mashing a bunch of them together into a tasty stew - Only One Bed is a personal fave that I haven't really done yet lol, but OH. A groundhog day/timeloop fic. Gotta be one of my favorite kinds of character study/fix-it/whump all rolled into one. And the whole batfam in general are already the type of people to play events in their heads over and over trying to figure out what the Right thing would have been to do, how could they have been better...oh yeah. Highly effective psychological torture for them. Especially if there is no Right Answer to breaking the loop 8)

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“The elements connect us,” Helaine says as she lays his hand on the surface of the pool. The ice-cold water is always a shock to him at first, and he is careful not to break the surface tension. “The fire warms us; the earth sustains us; the water,” here, her hand joins his on the water’s surface, “flows through us. Feel the blood in your veins, the beat of your pulse in your ears. It is the water of your life, and it has seen all you have seen, and more besides. Much more.” She drags her hand back toward her body at the edge of the pool, and Feldar, sitting opposite, mirrors her. As their fingers drag across the water, the ripples that form spread and merge and create ripples of their own. The water wavers and changes, and Feldar hears it, like a steady drum of war— his own pulse in his ears. He feels it down his arm and in the tips of each finger where they sit on the water, and watches as Gallant’s hooves thunder down a distant road, one he had never seen before, dark under the canopies of ancient trees filled with the webs of spiders. Then Gallant’s hooves pound in the distance, and he sits up from the dirt of the road and sees the knight on the black horse with no device on his shiny steel shield, and a ridiculous straw hat on his head. He is so hungry, and he may be trod underfoot and left to die in the dust, but he has seen no one else on the road for two days, and he is so hungry.

This snippet is from "like the ashes of ash (i saw eyes in the heat)" which is the second in a four part fanfic series I did for Sorcerer's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein. I had to invent the fandom tag for this book series, so check that one off the Ao3 bucket list! :')

I really enjoyed coming up with a structure for how the Seer magic worked; in the book it was left pretty opaque (on purpose lol) and sometimes would have more to do with intuition than anything resembling 'magic', which seemed sensible to me.

I wanted to paste more of this passage in because I'm really proud of the way this scene builds on itself, but it would have been way too long lol - the next four or five paragraphs all start with variations on "Then Gallant's hooves [action]" to indicate a new piece of the past and the future that Feldar is seeing in the pool, and it ends with Helaine explaining how using water to scry changes what and how you see. (Helaine is always shown using water to scry with in the book; I thought it would be more appropriate for his character that Feldar would scry with fire :) hence the naming schema for the series!)

Also, I love indulging in a stream of consciousness writing style, and the ethereal, out-of-body feeling of this scene was the perfect opportunity to make use of it lol

I have a big ol' soft spot for my Sorcerer's Son fics lol - they are for a fantasy book series I'm pretty sure only a handful of people have read - it is...okay! The books are okay. :) I read the first one a year or two ago and fell in love with the protagonists best friend, Feldar Sepwin, who becomes apprenticed to a seer, and promptly adopted him. I wrote the series both as a character study of him, and as a way to give him the boyfriend he deserves ;O;

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

uh. okay, the dialogue i'm Most proud of is actually from a WIP rn, and at a very spoilery moment fjdslafjsal so I will talk about the next runner up instead lol:

“Catch.” Babs’ hand flashes out to snatch the pill bottle out of the air with a short rattle, reflexes still Batwoman-sharp.  It makes him angry in a low, burning sort of way, that constant thrum of rage at the Joker and everything he’s ever done flaring up with a vengeance. She still kicks ass, and she'd kill him if he ever implied otherwise, but— she shouldn’t be in that chair, just like how Jason shouldn’t have died. And the Joker shouldn’t be alive. But she is, and he did. And he still is.  She squints at the label on the bottle, then turns her chair to face Jason with a smirk. “You know I have my own allergy meds, right?” Jason shrugs. “Never hurts to be prepared.” Even as he says it, her attention zeroes in on the dog keeping stride with him, and she leans down to hold out the back of her hand for a sniff. “Hey, there,” she says, voice pitching up the way people do when they want babies and animals to like them. Barf. The dog darts up to her, tongue hanging out, and lets her pet it. Its whippy tail wags back and forth as it whuffs excitedly in short, ecstatic barks, and Jason watches incredulously. This is nothing like how his first meeting with the dog went. Where’s the growling and the bared teeth, huh? He makes a face. “He sure warmed up to you quick.” “Jealous?” She asks him, smug. He scoffs. “No.” Yes. “You have the thing?” He asks impatiently. She grins, and pauses scritching the dog behind the ears to snag a USB off her desk. “Catch.” He makes it disappear, grunting his thanks. “I’ll be back later. Have fun with your new BFF.” Babs laughs at him, but then she says, "Hey."  He stops where he'd been turning around, and the smile Babs shoots him is a little rye. "Thanks for doing all this. I know you have other shit going on that's important. I appreciate it." It settles his ruffled feathers a little, even if he won't admit it. He grunts. "Yeah, well. It's worth the blackmail material this’ll net me when the replacement's finally back. I'm gonna hold this over his head forever." She raises her eyebrows, amused. "He'll hate that." He grins toothily at her, a little mean. "That's what I'm counting on."  When he leaves, he goes out through the roof.

Sit, Stay, Speak was full of little agonies for me as I worked on it lol, and one of those little agonies was Barbara. She was involved largely so that Jason had a reason to be in Tim's apartment and then be made to stay, and as someone for him to bounce off when he needed to talk about what he'd found. She gave him another viewpoint on Tim that he needed to fully grasp the enormity of what he was seeing.

But all that being said, I have gotten most of my understanding of the characters via other people's fic. Turns out, reading primarily JayTim does not afford a lot of opportunities to get to know Babs! Who knew!! So she was a fun challenge.

I like this exchange a lot because it was my opportunity to think about how and why Jason and Babs would be friends. I'm a really big fan of that for them - in my mind, Babs is similar to Tim in that she's more willing to bend some of Batman's rules. She's willing to work with people on the Big Picture, and that includes Jason even when he's not "playing nice". I think they both have that acerbic wit to fall back on, which would make their dish sessions absolutely SAVAGE lmao

This whole fic was an accident in a lot of ways, but more so than anything else, my secondary treatise on Jason & Barbara's friendship was the biggest accident of all! I had no idea we'd get here, and while it's not very long, I think this scene is kind of a microcosm of that exploration.

(Also one of my absolute favorite dialogue/narrative jokes is a direct contradiction from the narration of something a character just says. "No." Yes. Comedy gold.)

29. If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

OH MAN OKAY there are so many talented folks out there dsalfjaj some fics that I love I would never WANT to write a sequel/prequel for if only because they already said what needed to be said lol and I always feel strange about piggybacking off of another author's ideas fjdslajf

but oh boy, this one fic I came across a couple weeks ago - Caves & Tunnels by Skalidra.

This fic is so delightful to me; just the rich magical world they imply with Jason and the tunnels under Gotham and Alfred and Bruce and the manor...there's a lot of unexplained supernatural elements, and it's never really touched on whether Bruce performs a similar role to Batman or not. Also Tim and Jason haven't kissed by the end of the story and I'm a romantic who yearns

So I think if I were to write something in this verse, it would be a sequel, and it would explore the beginning of Tim and Jason's relationship alongside Tim's first forays into the world of knowing about the supernatural. Skalidra gets away with a lot of scant explanations due to the nature of ending this fic right at the revelation point, haha - so it would be a lot of work! But it would be So Good OwO

Thanks for the questions! <33

[arianaderalte]

Hello, I love your work "How a Romance Novel Saved the Galaxy" and I was wondering how you know so much about mandalore? Like through Star wars movies, etc.

Glad you're enjoying it:)

It's a bit of a combo of sources. I've of course seen the films, but I got my background years ago reading all the mainstays of legends SWs canon like Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy (Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry still remains one of the best SWs books imo), and the Jedi Apprentice series which I use as the basis of Qui-gon's characterization along with the Bandomeer plot.

Like many fic authors, I use wookiepedia a lot, and I really appreciate that it separates out legends and disney canon since I pull from both. Since I started writing about Mandalorians, I tracked down the Jango Fett comic, Open Seasons, which has a lot of what we know about Mandalorians during the pre-prequel era, though of course, parts of it have been retconned or changed (which can be a good thing - I personally think the first meeting between Dooku and Jango which happened in the video game (SW: Bounty Hunter) makes more sense than the comic). I also reread the first few Jedi Apprentice novels and discovered they really did portray Qui-gon as awfully as I remembered lol

My brother, who has played most SWs video games (whereas I have only played podracer), hunted down all the Mandalorian cut scenes for me in KOTOR and associated media, and is my fact checker for the plot of the romance novel in my fic.

Once I realized I needed to write the New Mandalorians, I went to Clone Wars and watched every ep that features them (which was a slog since those are not the best eps), and I have watched bits and pieces of other arcs when I needed to. I'm still watching my way through Rebels atm, but I did skip ahead to see some of the Mandalorian stuff. And of course I've seen The Mandalorian.

I also read whichever comic issue it was featuring Mace Windu as a padawan and parts of the Shatterpoint novel (though I don't really like how Mace is written in it). I also read most of Dooku Jedi Lost which is not very well written, but was necessary for research.

So I've been pulling from pretty much everywhere. I try to see if there is something in canon that fits what I need before I make up a whole planet or people whenever possible, and I stick to what I saw in canon for Mandalorians unless we just don't know or canon is contradictory (then I pick the most logical version or explanation I can or if there is none, I pick the one that works for my story (case in point, we have no canonical age for Fay, just that she is several centuries old, so I picked making her over 1000 so she could tease Yoda lol)).

[contrariancy]

liner notes for ‘reach’.

So, uh. When I write, whatever I write, I always keep a separate “notes” file with things like general plot points, timelines, stuff I’m debating putting in, cut things, and deleted/rewritten bits. And needless to say, the notes for reach got a little, well, long.

Some of the cut stuff I’m actually repurposing for an upcoming series (tentatively titled ‘iƒ’, based on branching points in ‘reach’), but even when I remove that, it’s a lot. So I figured I’d just dump them here and hopefully someone will find them interesting or what have you.

➤  this fic was how I coped with chapter 295; chapter 1 was written almost in its entirety before 296 came out. I acted cool on tumblr and twitter, but I was absolutely sweating bullets and fully prepared to write bizarre fix-it fic because I wanted it. After 296, I lost some steam, but I had a couple friends tell me they really liked the first chapter and thought it was a good concept. I’ve done enough "lost scene" fics that I wanted to try a new challenge and see if I could create an engaging AU fanfic.

Here is exactly what spawned this:

➤   there were a few rules I created for myself before I got started. The first one was that I couldn’t post anything until the fic was mostly done and once I started posting, that was a commitment to finish it. The second was minimal to no OCs — I had to bend this later with Bathin, but I compromised by making his power fear-based and having him take other forms.

The third rule was that any character introduced had to have some sort of role to play; they couldn’t be there just to "be there" and exist to boost up other characters. Zeal was the only character in it out of necessity, as Guila would have been written entirely differently if she didn’t have her brother with her. Even then, I tried to give him something that wasn’t "[X] in distress." I think the character that came closest to being that was Hendrickson, honestly.

➤ originally, Hendrickson was going to have a phone that he talked to and would have run into Dreyfus while exploring the city. I opted against this because I didn’t want to write any OCs in this and a phone counts. Also, it would be ten times more interesting to have him bounce off of Dreyfus instead of some phone that the reader does not care about. It was also important to me that Dreyfus get introduced as soon as possible, especially in a fic like this where the reader is being asked to accept something different from the top.

➤   Jericho and Howzer were not in the initial draft notes. Then I came up with the pair concept early on (after realizing there was a pattern with Guila-Zeal and Hendrickson-Dreyfus and I could play with that for the eventual Merlin reveal). Fraudrin was an actual character briefly before I decided that Fraudrin as a villain was kind of a tired thing; if I was going to write for him at this point, I would want to explore more of the shades of gray with his character, and this fic would not give me the time or leeway for that. So Howzer became Gil’s paired partner instead, also because I just wanted to write Howzer. Jericho offered the most opportunity for writing things, and I wanted to play her off of Hendrickson and Dreyfus.

➤   Merlin was always going to be the deus ex machina. Merlin was always a factor and always the only Sin I was going to put in. The only thing that changed is she went from sweeping in and completely taking out Bathin and Fixing Everything Ever to coming in for the assist at the end with her OP skills.

➤   Helbram is only in it because he was the first dead character I thought of as a potential partner for Zaratras. I wrote the first half of interlude 1 before anything else and I loved the odd couple pairing, so he stayed and became kind of essential. He’s also very fun to write for and I thought he would be an interesting contrast to the others.

➤   Bathin was going to originally be a straight up Fraudrin clone and just the entity Bathin using Fraudrin’s guise as a persona or whatever. Again, I decided Fraudrin as a villain was a tired thing at this point and having the villain just be Fraudrin again was a bit of a cop out, even if I really didn’t want to write any type of OC. Bathin is like Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist, later complete with Velvet Crowe from Berseria’s arm (which is. also Meliodas and Derieri and I went "oops oh well"). I liked the mental image of Margaret beating everyone up too, so that’s why that happened. It’s also because they’re the two figures in Hendrickson’s life that get possessed and Bathin poses as both of them.

Bathin was meant to be cruel but fun, like an animal that plays with its food. His downfall is his hubris! He thinks he’s on top — and it’s his world, why wouldn’t he think that? — so he doesn’t see anyone as a real threat. The unknown terrifies him though, and that’s why he was tearing his hair out over the 'interloper.' 

➤   ftr, Bathin is one of the many demons referenced in the Lesser Key of Solomon. I’d originally considered something else and even looked into a lot of Arthurian lore, but since Nakaba mines those for canon and I didn’t want to risk any overlap, I swerved in a different direction all together. 

➤   epilogue 1.0 is hot garbage, I started writing this before 296 came out and it was built on assumptions that thankfully turned out not to be true. I trashed it quickly and I like 2.0 much, much better. It’s embarrassingly bad though and this is why you edit, okay. Also, it focused solely on Hendrickson and Dreyfus when the fic did become an ensemble piece and therefore, the other characters deserved to get closure. Some of the sentence structure and imagery got cannibalized for the very last part of the new epilogue, though.

➤   most of the chapter titles stayed the same from the beginning; only chapter 5’s changed. It was originally "in which a good boy questions a demon’s fashion choices" which was a reference to Howzer switching sides and Bathin-as-Fraudrin stuff. Bathin shifted to chapter 6 entirely though, so it became less relevant. The placeholder title was 'in which lightning strikes twice’’ which is a reference to Gilthunder and Zaratras, but since Zaratras doesn’t actually fight in that one, it didn’t make sense.

Everything from here on is from my notes in my project file; the only things I’ve done are rearranged the order for clarity and expanded on shorthand, though there are a couple of italicized notes in parenthesis that I added in later. Some of it is pretty disjointed tbqh! I have a bad habit of not writing in order.

Like I said before, I do a notes file for pretty much anything I write, as it’s where I dump ideas so I don’t forget or move cut text to in case I decide I like the older version better later on (it’s happened). This one just got ridiculously large, so hopefully someone besides me gets a kick out of it.

General notes

Hendrickson wakes up in an apartment, everything is taken care of, wtf

maybe Zaratras has been there for a bit and they're like ARE WE DEAD?? and he's just all HA HA you better not be.

Zaratras is the guy who has just been there!! Forever!! He runs a bar.

Gil is from just before the Kingdom Infiltration arc, so he is just sad and tired all the time.

Howzer is from early and a good boy but also devoted to Dreyfraudrin so it’s like. ??? When he sees those two. He will bond with Hendrickson and this time it will be Hendy’s turn to be like hey. Come. It’s fine.

The ultimate goal with Gil and Howzer is basically attempting to make people whisper "who hurt you."

Merlin shows up in the end like hmm you were all pulled into a pocket dimension but don’t worry, you should be expelled right back into the timeline where you left. No big deal. Bye.

Helbram and Hendrickson kind of. They’re not OKAY but they realize they are both shitty people who were in an impossible situation. Helbram is the petty type, so he’s not really going to forgive him, but Hendrickson doesn’t need his forgiveness either. The two of them work together though because it’s the only way out

Helbram just dunks on Hendrickson constantly because of course he does

Guila is from the same period as Hendrickson and Dreyfus, but she has been there for months by the time they arrive. Zeal is there too because otherwise she’d destroy everyone and everything.

They come in pairs, from similar points in time?

Guila and Zeal are just before the holy war, around chapter 252. Team smartass gen z

Hendrickson and Dreyfus are post 266 / 285 or whatever. Team old man

Zaratras and Helbram are team post death. Team DEAD

Gil and super early bro Howzer who work for Dreyfraudrin. Team dumb boys

Jericho and Merlin. Merlin just lurks for ages, there should be hints about her from chapter 2 on then she’s like lol hi. Post 197 for Jericho, Merlin plays coy because who cares. After 197, Merlin senses Bathin and is like gimme. Team Jericho Broke Nothing

Bathin notes

It’s powered by a crystal that preys on their fears?? Hence Dreyfraudrin existing. Zaratras kind of knows what’s up because he can sense it, since the energy sort of started when he got there, the dude gained a form when Gil showed up, then power when Guila arrived and later Jericho, and now Hendy and Dreyfus sort of complete the collection. It’s their fears all manifested. Merlin has no impact on it though and actually weakened it because ha ha ha you think she has fears, that’s cute. (this shifted to Bathin’s true form being a crystal — I was trying to stick to my "no OC" rule.)

Beleth or Bathin, a fragment of the sangréal? <— too complicated, stick with Ars Goetia lore interpreted for nnt-land. (I think my plan here was some ancient artifact?? Like the sacred treasures. It got really complicated really fast which is no good.) Belialuin Bathinal

Bathin is a demon, its true form is the crystal, it feeds on fears and created the pocket dimension to try and regain a more viable physical form, the weakened state is why its legions are so weak.

But also Bathin feeds on fears and craves Hendrickson and the others’ fears of Fraudrin and everything, and when Bathin finally gets Hendy and is like aren’t you afraid?? He’s just. Yes. I am absolutely terrified. But because Dreyfus took the time to punch him in the heart repeatedly he’s not going to roll over, he has to keep going. Helbram also yells at him like HOW DARE YOU. YOU CAN’T. (This shifted to Jericho in chapter 5 so it could become a more solid arc in the end with the confrontation in 6. Helbram got his moment with Hendrickson and Guila instead and, later, his goodbye.)

Bathin appears like Dreyfraudrin and Margaret, so when they strike Fraudrin down and are like ok?? We good?? Margaret turns and cuts them?? You have until chapter 6 to decide. (it’s pretty obvious what I decided.)

Outline

Hendrickson is the perspective character. Only the interlude, which is Dreyfus-centric, isn’t. (The other two interludes were added as I was writing later on.)

Chapter 1: Hendrickson and Dreyfus and general scene setting. Chapter 2: They actually go around town, Guila and Jericho are super introduced, we get glimpses of Gil and Howzer and they kind of talk to the latter. Kind of. Chapter 3: They get to the bar where there’s a bartender that dresses like a mysterious knight, spooky scary etc etc. It’s Zaratras. Helbram is there, too. More on Gil, Howzer should be questioning. Hendrickson leaves Dreyfus at the bar, runs into Howzer on the way out. Interlude 1: Dreyfus figures out Hendrickson’s plan re: Ludociel. Interlude 2: Jericho and Guila on Helbram. Interlude 3: Howzer and Gilthunder. Chapter 4: The confrontation between Dreyfus and Hendrickson. Howzer crashes their place because of course he does. Chapter 5: The Dreyfraudrin chapter. Vs Gilthunder. Zeal will guide them; alluded to in chapter 3. Chapter 6: The source, Bathin, is revealed, Merlin shows herself. Epilogue: The end. "I’m going to make you see how wrong you are." —> this promise HAS to be fulfilled.

TIMELINE:

Five+ months — Zaratras and Helbram

Five months — Gilthunder and Howzer

Three months — Guila and Zeal

A week — Jericho and Merlin

~Days — Hendrickson and Dreyfus

Setting

Eighteenth Plaza — Bathin is the 18th Goetia. Based on Shibuya 109 on the outside.

Pub’s name — Wandering Knight, Silver Helm

Possible Combos - Shot Purge (Guila-Hendrickson) —> Holy Shot?

Flats are like a venus fly trap, lulling them into a false sense of security and complacency so Bathin can keep feeding off their fear?? Maybe it was and then Merlin showed up like lol hi.  (I dumped this because it overcomplicated things a lot; it just became very subtly and only partially implied in chapter 5 but ultimately not very important.)

Cut lines

Chapter Two: What the four of them manage to put together quickly — really, Guila and Hendrickson exchanging theories and ideas while Jericho and Dreyfus watch from across the booth in silent wonder, occasionally exchanging glances as if to say what is wrong with these two — is this: (I wish I could have kept the Jericho and Dreyfus bit, but it didn’t work. This was when they were in the booth, exchanging information.)

“Now hold on a minute, Gilthunder!” Dreyfus turns back to face him, squaring his shoulders. “This— this isn’t what you think! If it’s about M—”

It’s Hendrickson’s turn to yank Dreyfus back, hissing in his ear. “Don’t.” (I didn’t want to complicate it with Margaret. This was before I’d decided to have Bathin use Margaret as a guise as well, but I’d still cut it even if I knew.)

Chapter Five: “You should be.” Hendrickson counters, resting his hands on the back of the couch, leaning forward to look down at Helbram. “Because he brought you and Zaratras here before anyone else. It’s likely that he preys on the souls of the dead.” He pauses at that, glancing over at Guila who nods in agreement, before shifting his attention back to the fairy. “Even if we ‘get out,’ you can’t just live here. Bathin will continue to eat away at your very spirit.” (there are several logical flaws in this that got cleaned up in the final version, which reads very similarly.)

“That should be plenty of time.” Guila pats at Zeal’s shoulder lightly. “Some of us won’t even need that much time, certainly.” (The scene was dragging on for too long and this was ultimately unnecessary. I tend to be really wordy and not know when to stop a scene, so I cut a lot for the sake of flow later on or rework things.)

“Especially since this isn’t Dreyfus’s field of expertise.” (This was cut from the conversation Hendrickson had with Zaratras -- about strategy -- because frankly, it isn’t true and even if it was, Hendrickson wouldn’t say something like that. I cut a lot of stuff like this where it works for the plot but doesn’t track with the character. editing good!!)

The screech of tires can be heard in the distance.

“Ah, I believe they’ve managed to find a vehicle!” (god I really wanted to put Zaratras commenting on grand theft auto in this, even if it made no narrative sense.)

Chapter Six: “Huh?” Jericho gives her a confused look before looking back over her shoulder, where Bathin and Gilthunder were battling it out hand-to-sword. “Yeah, I just— this place is starting to fall apart.”

“Yes, it is, which is why we need to be careful. If you could provide a distraction—”

“Oh!” She snaps her fingers in response. “Yeah, okay, I can do that!” (Jericho was a bit too passive here and it was difficult to transition to the next beat. I reworked it in the final version.)

“Be careful. He’s using his weight as a weapon.” (This was somewhere in phase two of the Bathin fight. I was trying to set the character apart from other demons that they’ve fought, but this was too expository. Hopefully, the sentiment got across in description and whatnot and if not, uh. Oops.)

As he pulls away, flying off towards solid ground, the ice begins to audibly crack. Hendrickson stares up at it, almost resigned in a way. “So this is it,” he murmurs to himself, watching the cracks spider-web their way along the platform (I removed this and tweaked the final paragraph because it didn’t quite line up with Hendrickson’s character in this, especially given the turning point that comes only a paragraph or two later. That one line doesn’t line up with the rest of his arc in the entire fic; I was trying to make it obvious that the ice was cracking and wasn’t going to hold, but uh. This was not the way to do it.)

As an amicable silence falls between them — a far cry from the silence that lingered the last time he took this elevator up — (The transition in the elevator was hard.)

Gilthunder clenches a fist. “That’s exactly why I can’t forget. If I—” He swallows hard. (A lot of stuff gets cut because I start typing and can’t figure out where to go with it. It just didn’t work in the sequence and was too emotional for Gilthunder’s canon point.)

“By the way, have you seen Helbram?” (Zaratras was going to ask about Helbram as well, but that would have dragged the pacing down. Besides, I’d like to think that after their time together, Zaratras ‘gets’ Helbram on some level and knows he’d want to head out on his own terms.)

The orange hue fades into the black of the night, growing brighter and brighter with every passing moment, much like the world around them. And then, it reaches a point where it becomes blindingly bright, like a warmth washing over all of them at once. And then—

And then—  (Did you know that this was basically the same format I used to end the pentultimate section of another fic because I sure didn’t until I just so happened to reread it before posting this one. god. damnit.)

Epilogue:

“I’m getting better, right?”

Jericho looks over her shoulder at Hendrickson, then gestures at a small patch of ice in front of her. The druid glances between her and the patch, looking mildly uncertain. “It’s progress,” he admits after a moment.

“You should have seen it the other day, though!” She stomps her foot. “Sir Dreyfus told me I had a lot of potential. (This was originally how Jericho’s epilogue was going to start. It didn’t seem right for her though, especially given the ‘reset’ tone, so I cut it and started from scratch. This would potentially work if it was Dreyfus, but not Hendrickson.)

Detailed chapter breakdowns

Chapter 3: Helbram is disguised, Zaratras is in his armor, it’s a pub and they’re INCOGNITO ok. Helbram spills a drink on Hendrickson like an asshole before the reveal. They figure out that the bartender and server aren’t on the same “script” as the NPCs.

CHAPTER 4 ends with them meeting up with Guila and Jericho, Guila is like this is Bathin, the Eighteenth Duke of the Demon Realm.

CHAPTER 5 is the big planning chapter + infiltrating and fighting Gilthunder. At the end, Bathin’s legions converge on Eighteenth Plaza and Dreyfus stays behind to stop them. Zaratras helps, brothers!! They can have a sad scene with Hendy.

CHAPTER 6 will have a big fight scene in it, this needs to be carefully blocked and mapped out. (narrator voice: it was not carefully blocked and mapped out.)

THE PLAYERS

Bathin — via Dreyfraudrin and Margaret. A lot of darkness, demon powers, fear manipulation. Teleportation? Dreyfraudrin has strength, Margaret has Velvet Crowe-esque hand bs? Dark tendrils, like a cat’s tail.

Hendrickson — Purge, Acid. Purge can weaken Bathin’s power. Dreyfus — Break, Full Size. Full Size might be too much for the building. Dreyfus and Zaratras could hold off Bathin’s legions? Guila — Explosion. Combo with Hendrickson at one point. Jericho — Ice Fang. Someone can get thrown out the elevator at some point and Jericho uses ice to extend a platform and keep them from falling. Eventually uses ice to root Bathin in place so she can PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE!!! Howzer — Tempest. Gilthunder — Thunderbolt. Short circuits the electronics? Helbram — plays his part disguised as Gil to get everyone in, fucks off partway through. Returns to yell at idiots. (This plan was too complicated; what I settled on works better character-wise and narratively speaking.) Zaratras — Great Thunder. Works with Dreyfus to hold off Bathin’s THIRTY DEMON LEGIONS so the others can take him.

Merlin — Infinity. She needs Bathin to be weakened and have his guard down to strike, which is why she slinks in the background and waits. Probably steps in after they’ve done that but Bathin is like YOU FOOLS!! Etc etc. Uses infinity to keep the Holy Shot effect goin’ (see above notes about Merlin)

THE SETTING

Top floor of Eighteenth Plaza. There’s the massive office, the long hallway, and the elevator. This is the main area for Bathin.

In the lobby, Zaratras and Dreyfus will take on Bathin’s legions of demons after freeing Gilthunder from his influence.

Guila and Hendrickson get thrown out the glass elevator window, Jericho creates an ice shelf that they cling to, Howzer and Gil work on keeping Bathin busy while Helbram flies out and grabs Guila at Hendrickson’s urging. Hendrickson falls.

Small brief flashback to super young Hendy and Jenna? A call back to being shown how wrong he is. Jenna’s just like LOOK YOU’LL BE FINE, YOU NEVER LIKED IT HERE ANYWAY!! Gosh you’re such a dour kid sometimes, geez, but don’t worry, someone’ll show you how wrong you are someday.

Full Size Dreyfus catches him because gratuitous yes.

Bathin is unfair but so is Merlin.

. . . and that’s it! Hopefully that was interesting to someone and if not, uh. I’m very sorry. Thank you for reading!  🙏