#hbht niffty

There's a few reasons I won't. One has to do with new canon; I was using the 'war bride' theory I'd seen going around when I started HBHT and the fic was supposed to detail some of Nifftys life. She's since been confirmed not to be Japanese and a lot of her backstory and portrayal and her relationship with Alastor depended on that. (Themes of racism and integration)

Another was no matter how I spun it, I didn't feel the punishment fit the crime. I linked her design to aspects of the events that lead to her death that, ultimately, I couldn't fault her for rather than her demon form matching the actual sins she committed. Unlike other portrayals, I've tried to portray the system of Heaven and Hell mostly in good faith. Not based on black and white versions of good vs evil, but rather balancing the severity of action and intent. This is core to my world building.

There is a story of a similar nature that does quite a bit of what I wanted with them anyway. All is Hell that Ends Well by my friend @dogscars achieves a very similar dynamic for these two at around the same time period. Right down to accidentally almost identical dialogue because great minds think alike. Its part of an Alastor whump series, but it tells a story similar to mine. Where Niffty finds Alastor during a vulnerable point in his life and they build a friendship that helps him bounce back. In mine this is simply a struggle for relevance, while Rae's fic is more of a recovery/comfort fic that follows up the first installment of the series which is about Alastor getting in a botched deal with Valentino. Read at your own discretion of course, but I appreciate this dynamic a lot.