Trouble Diagnosing the Four Domains for my Fanfic

Hi everyone, I’m new here, so this’ll be really basic and I apologise for that. For the record, I did look into what these four Classes can look like, I just have trouble seeing them in my fanfic specifically and I’d really appreciate some perspective.

From what I know, a diagnosis should consider what the source of the trouble is for each perspective, rather than what is “present”. Because in a complete story they all show up, and they are intertwined anyway.

The story itself is an alternate timeline where after Lucifer rebelled against the heavenly order, one angel suggested he can stay in Heaven as long as one member of the Morningstar family carries out a genocide against sinners in Hell. The distance between Heaven and Hell is massive, thus Lucifer has to leave Charlie (his daughter) alone for long periods of time, causing a separation.

For reference, here is the full fanfic outline for anyone interested: link

This is where things gets complicated. The “Source.”

OS:

The thing that involves everyone in the story is clearly the exterminations.

The source of the exterminations is multiple things: The Thrones, the leading authorities enforce this to happen, and the exorcists, including Lucifer, carry this out. If Lucifer just decided to not kill, he would be exiled from Heaven and be seperated from his daughter. The Thrones and all the other exorcists (except Lucifer) have this belief that “sinners are sinners, they deserve it” but that’s not being challanged really.

However… since it is “an ongoing external process forced to be carried out by a higher authority that is unchanging” I’m not sure where it lands as a domain.

MC:

Charlie. Her problem stems from the separation between her and daddy. Even if she did nothing, she’d be unhappy. However, i doubt that conflict is “the character is unfulfilled”. The thing that’s actually forcing her throughline forward is the fact that she acts: she tries to follow daddy to work in secret and ends up in Hell by the end, where sinners kindap her and attempt to inflict pain. (to which Lucifer shoots them across the face)

IC:

Alastor. Not sure what could be a source of conflict for him because things go extremely smooth. He helps Charlie learn to fly so she can follow daddy to Hell. But first, he has to teach her how to interpret what she will witness in Hell. So he tells her multiple tales where the moral is basically “the best course of actions is that bad people should be killed if you want to prevent even worse consequences from happening.”

Since he isn’t really dealing with any problem other than (literally) trying to manipulate Charlie, could it be I am interpreting the IC throughline all wrong? What if it isn’t “He has a problem”? Then what is going on as “source of conflict” for an impact character? Charlie’s manipulation isn’t as smooth as it could be — she sometimes applies morals wrong and needs correction. But overall, he faces no real roadblock.

RS:

Again, things are smooth. Charlie has this unchanging bias about Alastor that he is a mysterious friend who simply wants to help her. Alastor thinks of Charlie is a naive girl who can be shaped into a genocidal leader who will grow up to take her Dad’s position. (and succeeds in that, but this is rather implied)


So from how I observed, there are really only 8 type of stories judging by Class-Throughline combinations.

To give an example if the OS is a state, the MC will be process, and vice versa. However, I don’t just want to assign based on rules — I wanna be able to see the rules for myself if that makes sense.

Welcome! :hugs:

Your story sounds pretty solid, especially with the OS and MC Throughlines. With the IC and RS, you want to think of them a little differently. Take a look at this:

Each of those Domains represents one of your Four Throughlines.

Your OS is clearly in Physics (exterminations). Your MC is clearly in Universe (daughter of Lucifer). You can always think of it this way:

  • if Charlie wasn’t the daughter of Lucifer would she have personal conflict? likely no (good candidate for Universe)
  • if they stopped exterminations for everyone would there be conflict for all? likely no (good candidate for Physics)

Now, by definition the IC will be opposite diagonally the MC, and vice versa for OS and RS, so that would mean given your story: the IC would be in Mind, and the RS in Psychology.

From there, you’ll want to look further into what it means to be an IC, and what the Relationship Story Throughline is all about. The IC is not about the Influence Character personally (that would make them a Main Character), but rather how they impact and influence others. And the RS is about the growth of a relationship not about the individuals in the relationship (what kind of a relationship do they have? is it growing or dissolving, etc.).

That should get you headed in the right direction, and thanks again for dropping in!

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Thank you! :grin:

I was beginning to think I had no storyform at all or that a Throughline was missing, so this assured me a lot.

I was happy to drop in! and boy do i love a good reply. It’s actually crazy how i kept going down a justification spiral when trying to diagnose. But the way you put it made it so simple… thanks again.

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