To Rescue a Villain

Authors Notes

ヾ(▼皿▼ﾒ) ♥ ♥ ♥ ヽ( ￣∀￣)ﾉ

And that's the end...for now. In case some of you haven't read my other stories, our heroes have just entered the country Lindorm where The Runaway Wife takes place. I honestly think Mary was accurate when she said that more exciting things happen there than in Manica. Anyway, enough about that.

Let's talk about the development of To Rescue a Villain.

First: Names.

Mary was named after the first reader I ever had and I thought the name fit my character well. I figured it was time to save the rarer names for side characters and give a more normal one to the MC this time around.

Dark was a bit self-explanatory and I only used the name Derek after I realized that no one in their right minds would name their son Dark (unless someone reading this has named their kid that. You're reading my book so you're obviously in your right mind).

The rest of the names were picked from baby naming websites and I was really pleased with all of them. I felt they fit each person perfectly.

Character development.

All of my characters started on a blank slate this time (meaning they weren't inspired by a lot) so they developed personalities on their own, which I was satisfied with. Jala became a bit of a jerk but that's why Ace is there to level her out with his calm personality.

Speaking of that, what did you guys think about all the couples in this story? I haven't done this much romance since Trzy but I felt fairly satisfied with all three of the ships regardless (I'm satisfied with a lot, apparently). Maddox and Polly didn't work out quite the way I'd hoped but I left it open ended just in case I regret it later. (Which means, yes, there could be a sequel to this. I've been considering combining the TRAV and TRW stories in one big sequel but I'm not sure if and when that will happen. I really want to see the characters from both books interact with each other.)

Plot. (My author's notes are so organized this time)

The plot for TRAV was actually just a story I made up every night to help me go to sleep. I was never planning to make it a real story since romance was never really my forte but when I finished my last book and had to start planning another (I have two ideas that I plan to turn into stories over the next couple of years) I gave this plot priority and wrote it during my Christmas break. The story was completed in a little over a month and edited in another month. Then I started putting it up right away before I lost my enthusiasm.

This is probably the quickest story I've ever written and the only one that I completed before I started to lose my enthusiasm.

I've considered writing a short version of the original Manica stories...well, "original" as I just made them up in my head...but I don't think I will. I wouldn't enjoy it and think that there's enough exposition in the story itself to flesh out the "original" comics.

Oh, that reminds me. Mary was originally going to learn about Manica by playing video games based on them, not by reading comic books. But I figured that people would be able to relate more to books than video games so I changed it and added a cartoon show too. (The comic books are actually meant to be mangas and the show was an anime but some people might be unfamiliar with them so I used American terms.)

Ending.

I originally wrote a different epilogue but wasn't satisfied with it and replaced it with the one you just read. I didn't send them to Lindorm just to bring in another story of mine. I honestly felt that Derek and Mary hadn't had nearly enough adventures and should have entered a new journey instead of settling for a boring happily ever after.

In my original story, Polly actually died and I even considered having Derek die at the end too. But, luckily, that didn't happen. I was too soft and felt that it wouldn't really improve the ending so I scrapped that idea.

The thought of sending Mary back to the real world crossed my mind as well but that would be kind of a letdown so I banished the thought. I did write that one scene in the last chapter where she felt like she was back home in the hopes that it would make readers panic (not sure if it worked).

Response.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started putting chapters up. My last books hadn't gotten much of a response other than The Runaway Wife and it hadn't started getting reads until a year after I published it.

So seeing people vote and comment consistently on every chapter and actually react to the characters and plot made me super excited. I have to be honest: I forget a bit of the plot of after I stop writing a story so sometimes, when you guys commented on it, I'd have no idea what you were talking about. But thank you just the same.

I want to give a special thanks to @KaylinKlein who was here in the beginning and lasted until the very end, commenting on every single chapter. Your comments made me get excited to put up the next chapter every week and I had to hold myself back from breaking my schedule. Thank you so much for joining me on the journey through Manica. It was a blast.

And thank you to everyone whether you came early or late. I've never gotten such a huge response before and...it was great (I've gushed too much but this has never happened to me before!). So thank you for reading, commenting, voting, following, everything. You guys made my horrible first year of university a bit brighter.

Blatant Self-Advertising

To Rescue a Villain may be over but that doesn't mean you need to leave. The world that was mentioned previously, Lindorm, is still full of adventure. I personally believe that The Runaway Wife is just as great as TRAV and, though there's slightly less romance, there are more weird characters, more jokes, and more excitement. I've heard a lot of good things about it and think that, if you enjoyed this story, you'll probably like that one too. (You might not. I don't know your preferences. I'm just guessing. People have complimented it a lot so I figure it can't be that bad).

I also have another story, Trzy, that will start updating with the same schedule that TRAV had (Two updates a week until it's complete). It's got romance, magic, fantasy, and breaks even more clichés (somewhat). If that sounds like your thing and you like reading stories that are constantly updated, feel free to give it a shot.

Now that I've got the blatant advertising and complimenting out of the way.... (I hate complimenting myself but it must be done! They're not perfect stories but they're better than the other ones I've written and I am proud of them...sometimes.)

That was To Rescue a Villain. I loved writing it, I loved hearing you guys read it, and it has made me decide to put romance in every story that I write from now on (I'll try at least).

See you soon and have a good night.

Bye!