Posted 7/7/21
Edited: 7/9/21 - I decided it was probably way too long, and I took out a lot of my about me and one of the other sections I completely removed entirely. It is still a little long, but at least it is outside of the welcome itself and the about me it is all story related. :)
Welcome!!!
Hello my Lovelies, and welcome to my second ever 'published' BTS Fanfiction.
If you are new and did not read Encoded in Our DNA first then welcome, and let me shamelessly plug and suggest that you read that one as well. Oh wait I already did! Feel free to comment here on this paragraph and let me know that you are new also. I'd love to get that kind of feedback!
If you have read Encoded in Our DNA then on my gosh welcome back!!! I'm so excited to see and hear from you all again. I realize that paranormal/supernatural/fantasy themed stories aren't for everyone, but honestly they are the kind of stories I tend to flock to when reading on my own. Let me know you are here by commenting on this paragraph if you like! I'd love to see your familiar names and to know that you are here with me!
I've added a lot of info here so let me just share a sort of table of contents. That way if you don't want to read a certain part you can simply skip over it if you choose. Although I would greatly recommend reading basically everything except the About Me and Why Reverse Harem/Why Choose/OT7 Romance? Section. Also definitely peruse the copyright section since I include some framework for the story as well.
♦ Copyright
♦ About Me
♦ Why Reverse Harem/Why Choose/OT7 Romance?
♦ Chapter Length
♦ Text formats and what they mean (italics, italics with quotation, bold etc)
♦ Use of Photos (it does not just include a disclaimer and will be different from Encoded in Our DNA)
♦ POVs
♦ Everleigh
♦ Alternate Reality Reminder
♦ Inspiration and References
♦ Update Schedule
♦ Bonus Updates
♦ Copyright
Okay so let's get this out of the way.
While I used outside inspiration such as mythology, religion, and folklore as the backbone to this story. The idea is something that literally came to me in either a dream or a lucid insomnia induced moment.
Should there be any stories out there that seem similar to my own then I assure you that is purely coincidental.
Please do not use the framework of my story to write your own. I can't help if the story inspires you to write one, in fact it makes me happy to encourage others to write in general. However, should the story seem too similar to this one then at that point it is essentially stealing and plagiarism.
Please do not post any part of this story on other sites. Unless otherwise indicated by me if you find it elsewhere at all then I didn't post it, and honestly I would appreciate being told about it either via comment, private message, or by posting it on my conversation board.
Outside of the aforementioned inspiration used and resources provided for research I did for the story everything else in this story is fictional and created from my own imagination.
♦ About Me
I'm not going to give you this long spiel about my life story, but I know that still won't stop me from being long winded. I will try to mostly focus on Kpop related things though since this is a Kpop Fanfiction.
First of all, I'm not a teenager. I'm an Army mom in her 40s. (No, you won't be getting my exact age unless I know you on a more one on one basis.) My daughter isn't really into Kpop herself, but she attempts her best to humor me when I am watching YouTube from my television and streaming nonstop music.
I'm happily married, and this coming August will be our twenty year anniversary. I consider my husband to be not only my partner, but also my best friend.
Regarding who I am as an Army. First of all when I first started Encoded in Our DNA I didn't understand what the fandom names meant. I thought you had to be a card toting member and pay out the money for the yearly membership to be able to be called that. After my Foreword in Encoded in Our DNA I was set straight by some very kind Army readers and I no longer think that at all! Although I kept that paragraph in the Foreword so others could see where I started.
♦ Why Reverse Harem/Why Choose/OT7 romance?
My love for the genre stemmed from more innocent reverse harem animes and KDramas. Then it progressed to not so innocent otome (dating sims), and the polar opposite of innocent reverse harem romance novels.
Why I like them though has nothing to do with an outlook about a poly lifestyle in reality. I personally don't agree with the idea of one woman and several men nor the opposite one man and several women. However I also don't begrudge a person their own choices. What I like about them is the characters themselves and actually seeing how different they are with the main character. How each of their relationships evolved. The dynamic of the concept in general.
♦ Chapter Length
When I first started Encoded in Our DNA I tried to keep the words between 2000 to 2500 not only because of my own writing style, but also because it was what wattpad recommended. I also sort of agreed after reading up on that.
Typically people read on their phones or tablets when they have only a handful of minutes to themselves. Either on a work break or just simply taking a moment to themselves to escape the real world. 2000 to 2500 words on average only take at most about 15 minutes to read, which is pretty perfect for those moments.
Hence, why I implemented that in Encoded in Our DNA at first. Then I had a couple of people say that they wish I would write longer chapters. So, I tried to do that instead.
When it comes to this story in particular I'm going to do what fits for the story at that moment. I will always include the date posted at the top of each chapter as well as the number of words, so if for some reason you are on a break and it happens to be a hefty chapter you realize you might not be able to finish it then.
As of right now I have chapters ranging between 2371 on the low end and 4649 words on the higher end with an average of about 3328 words per chapter. Also, the low end chapter at 2371 is currently the only chapter I have that has less than 2600 words in it.
♦ Text formats and what they mean.
Bold
I will only use bold for my author's notes which I will also include a prelude of either "Author's Notes" or "A/N" beforehand.
Italics
○ Most used will be when the character is thinking to themselves.
○Used to point out a specific term or word, or when making a reference to an existing or fictional resource, book or such.
"Italics" (note the quotations)
This is used when the characters are telepathically communicating with one another.
♦ Use of Photos
If you read Encoded in Our DNA you know that I used a lot of visual representation for moments in the story. Well, I have some sad news to share. I won't be doing that in this story. It simply took too much energy out of me to try to find the perfect picture for each moment every week.
That being said, that doesn't mean I will entirely stop using images. See the next section below for more details.
In fact let me also add a disclaimer than any and all images used in this story are not owned by myself. The copyright to those belong to the photographer that took them. Also I want to take a moment to thank a DeviantArt member by the name of BeaPanda for sharing most (if not all of the PNGs that I used in this story). I will be including a link to where you can find her account at.
♦ POVs
This story in particular will be done in multiple first person point of views. Each chapter will not necessarily be dedicated to one point of view and before I switch point of views you will see banners like these below to help visually tell you whose perspective you are currently reading from. (BTW these banners below are listed in alphabetical order of how they are listed on my PC. I'm being lazy.)
♦ Everleigh
Here is a close up image of the model I used for Everleigh, the main character. Her name is pronounced Ever - Lee, and I originally came across the name as Everly. Personally I prefer this spelling of it though.
♦ Alternate Reality reminder
Obviously the boys aren't demons, and while I believe anything is possible I am not sure of the existence of demons. This also means that just because I use the members as inspiration does not mean they will fully retain their personalities. I will try to shine them here and there. But please don't expect it.
♦ Inspiration and Resources
I've pulled several outside inspiration and resources to construct the basis of this story, and then I basically turned the ideas on their head, or perhaps their side, and formed something completely new.
You will see things from Mythology, Folklore, and yes even religion. However! I don't dwell on the religion aspect at all! In fact, I use things like the concepts of the devil or Lucifer in an exceptionally broad sense and it is not my intention to slander anyone's religion or beliefs. It is purely for entertainment purposes.
Regarding the Seven Deadly Sins trope. I don't use this trope as the premise of my story, nor do I use it as an afterthought. It will be a more subtle character trait than anything else. I only say this now so those of you that might be expecting a heavier influence won't be disappointed to get something other than you might have anticipated.
♦ Update Schedule
This will also differ from how I first updated Encoded in Our DNA and how I progressed along the way.
First of all before posting the chapters of this story you should know that I will have at least twenty chapters already written beforehand (or try to at least I am currently working on Chapter 17 as we speak). I will be posting updates every Friday. The only thing potentially keeping me from an update would be personal related, and I will still try to do something to make up for it later on.
If you are upset that I won't be updating twice a week like beforehand then let me give you a little more insight on my reasoning or rather the way my weeks will go when it comes to writing. I have three major writing projects in the works, and I will be focusing on at least two of them at time. Throughout the course of the week I will be working on a single bonus chapter for Encoded in Our DNA, a new chapter for Legion of Dionysus, Proofreading both the bonus chapter and the Friday update for Legion of Dionysus, as well as trying to get up to twenty chapters in my second project that I will also start posting once I get to that point (probably Mondays for that story). That means I will simply have too much on my plate to also take on updating twice a week.
Exceptions to this rule. Mostly see below regarding Bonus Updates but I wanted to also say that I don't consider the Prologue the true first chapter of the story, and therefore I will be posting Chapter 1 on the Monday after.
If you are reading this Foreword before July 9th, 2021 then my first update hasn't happened yet. I decided to go ahead and have this posted as sort of a placekeeper for the story.
♦ Bonus Updates
If you followed along as I posted Encoded in Our DNA then you already know that I included a lot of bonus updates. I updated for the members birthday, for anniversaries, and because I hit certain goals (votes, #1 one rankings, and reads). Hopefully you read above what my writing schedule for each week will look like. This unfortunately means that I won't be updating with bonuses nearly as much as I did with Encoded in Our DNA since that was my only big project at the time.
However! I promise that I plan on posting updates when I hit certain goals. They just won't be to the excess I did with Encoded in Our DNA.
I won't post a bonus chapter for too many milestones when it comes to reads. Perhaps celebrating these milestones in particular.
50,000 reads
100,000 reads
250,000 reads
500,000 reads
Votes are crucial and I will definitely post bonus chapters when I hit these milestones in particular.
100 votes
250 votes
500 votes
750 votes
1000 votes
1500 votes
In regards to rankings. I celebrated every single time I hit #1 or an outstandingly high number when the amount of stories in that tag were over 100,000. This time around I will still celebrate rankings when the tags in question have at least 1,000 stories. When it comes to tags with over 100,000 as long as the ranking is ten or higher I will post a celebratory chapter.
Exceptions to the above guidelines! There are only two exceptions.
The first is if I personally for some reason fall behind in the story. I won't post a bonus chapter unless I am still at least 10 (preferably 15) chapters ahead of the story.
The second is a more positive exception. When I finish a story I grow overly excited, and I honestly can't wait until the reader sees how it ends. Then I will probably first post a bonus chapter to announce that I personally completed it. Then, depending upon how things are going with the second project, I will probably start posting two chapters a week.