#The Demon Lord Only Wants to Follow the Script

[kangturu07]

I'm just thinking they will be a good bro with each other . Look, they even have their own fanfiction with their partner

Meanwhile , the said (horknee) partner :

[incorrect-web-novels]

Fang Li, a fool: I absolutely cannot be with Xie Huai, someone I greatly enjoy being close with, because I can't have a sex with a man. That's the one line I can't cross!

Me, an intellectual:

[web-novel-polls]

Have You Read This Web Novel?

Fang Li transmigrated into the cannon fodder gong demon lord of a dogblood novel. The demon lord’s cultivation was outstanding, his power shaking the heavens. He stirred up wind and rain and rampaged across the cultivation world……. Towards the captivating main character shou, he fell in love at first sight and seized him, contributing many forceful love scenes that made one’s face and ears red. Fang Li: I might not be able to do it. System: …… As soon as he went out the door, Fang Li saw the dark mass of demonic cultivators tightly encircling the faintly distant cultivation sect so that not a drop of water could escape. The head of the Yunjian-que sect disciples stood alone facing the wind, sharp sword pointed in his direction. Fang Li looked at the cold and peerless man, gazed at his white clothes and long sword soaked in blood, and pondered for a minute…… He suddenly felt like it wasn’t impossible. On this day, the cultivation world’s number one son of heaven, Yunjian-que’s Yuyi-jun, for the sake of protecting the disciples behind him, had no choice but to submit to the cruel, cold-blooded demon lord. Just thinking that this unparalleled genius would be tormented and humiliated by that devil in a hundred ways, the whole cultivation world sighed and wrung their hands, sobbing ceaselessly. Fang Li brought the beauty home. Although he didn’t want to force a straight man, just going through the motions wasn’t a problem. While putting on a show of “forcible love,” Fang Li considerately went about creating opportunities for the main character shou’s admirers, helping them develop some romance…… On the day that the Immortal Alliance attacked Fuqiu Mountain, Fang Li completed the plot and successfully escaped with his death. When he was reborn, it was already nine years later. Just when he was about to start living properly in this world with a whole new identity using his experience as a demon lord, he ran into the current number one under the heavens, the main character shou. The cold man grabbed his wrist, a wisp of vague madness in the depth of his eyes, his voice low and hoarse: Where does Your Excellency want to run to this time? Fang Li: …… What on earth is wrong with this script? - Novel Updates

If you’re in the process of reading this web novel, please choose whichever option best fits your situation. You do not have to be completely finished with it to answer “yes.”

[cum-villain]

"The Demon Lord Only Wants to Follow the Script", summarized:

[bellaroles]

Fang Li and Xie Huai from The Demon lord only wants to follow the script. I like this scene where Fang Li was trying to act flirtatiously while making Huai taking the wine from his cup. Little did he know, Xie Huai now knew about his playacting and decided to play along just to spoil his plan. Thus creating a very weird dog food scene for Fu Junling to see.😅

[miyamiwu]

To Be Hero X: Top 10 Heroes’ Chinese Voice Actors

Info is taken from the TBHX Baidu page. For the VAs’ other roles, I’m only listing those I’m familiar with…which is limited to danmei* audio drama adaptations and very few donghua originals and danmei donghua, so uhhh sorry about that. Just check out their other roles by following the links in Baidu.

*Danmei = Chinese BL

Top 10 Heroes

1. Wèi Chāo 魏超 as X

Donghua roles:

Qian Jin in Link Click Season 2

Qing Xiong in Tianbao Fuyao Lu

Shi Xuejin in Da Wang Rao Ming (Spare Me, Great Lord!)

Audio drama roles:

Lan Wangji in Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

Zhao Haochang in Silent Reading

Qi Fengge in Thousand Autumns

Li Feng in Sha Po Lang

My man is in a lot of big name danmei omg

2. Liú Xiàoyú 刘校妤 as Queen

Other animation roles:

young!Du Fu in 30,000 Miles from Chang’an (this is a big movie!)

(Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with her many other animation roles…)

Some audio drama roles:

Empress Ming Rui in Emblem of the Phoenix

Sima E in Offering Salted Fish To Master (not danmei)

Chu Huang in Black Moonlight Holds the BE Script (not danmei)

(I actually don’t know any of these works. I just didn’t want to leave Queen’s section empty…)

3. Chén Zhāng Tàikāng 陈张太康 as Liang Long (Dragon Boy)

Audio drama roles:

Hua Cheng from Heaven Official’s Blessing (omg 👀)

Li Heng in Tianbao Fuyao Lu Season 1

Cheng Yixie in Kaleidoscope of Death

The Male System in Global University Entrance Examination

Zong Jiu in Thriller Trainee (OMGGG 👀👀👀)

Lin Si in Cat’s Rose

Lin Qingyu in Married Thrice to Salted Fish

Su Cheng in Welcome to the Nightmare Live

Xie Qibao in The Daily Life of Being the Campus Idol’s Fake Boyfriend

....and a lot more danmei. I thought X being in many big-name danmei AD was impressive enough, but holy shit LL’s VA is in even more of them.

4. Cháng Wéntāo 常文涛 as Mo Sha (Ghostblade)

Donghua roles:

Liu Fei in Tianbao Fuyao Lu

Audio drama roles:

Zheng Shu in Cat’s Rose

Xiao Cheng in Married Thrice to Salted Fish Season 2

Xi Chengyun in A Contractual Marriage with the Best Leading Actor

Ruan Tanzhu in Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know (OMGGG 👀)

Sun Heguang in Transmigrating Into The Heartthrob’s Cannon Fodder Childhood Friend

蛇女目 (idk how to write this as a name) in The Fallen Merman

Meng-xiansheng (Mr. Dream) in The #1 Pretty Boy of the Immortal Path

Multiple side character roles in Kaleidoscope of Death (too lazy to list them all here)

5. Jǐn Lǐ as Xiao Qiang (Little Johnny)

VA for Da Qiang (Big Johnny) hasn't been announced yet

Other animation roles:

Li Tianchen in Link Click Season 2

Nezha in the Legend of Luo Xiaohei fan animated manhua

Audio drama roles:

Kong Hongjun in Tianbao Fuyao Lu

Jiang Fang in Forces of Temptation

Jiang Xinghong and Feng Yongle in Kaleidoscope of Death

Daoist A (extra) in The Husky and His White Cat Shizun

Ling Ke in The Daily Life of Being the Campus Idol’s Fake Boyfriend

Mo Qiu in Flying Gulls Never Land (HOLY SHIT THIS IS A GOOD ONE)

young!Guan Ye in Turing’s Code

Wu Zu in Pixiu Restaurant, No Way Out

young!Gu Jianshen in Want to Ascend? Then Fall in Love

Shi An in After the Abyss Dragon Awakens

Xiao Jie in Married Thrice to Salted Fish

More of his roles can be found here. (The wrong page is linked in the TBHX Baidu page)

6. Qián Chēn 钱琛 as Loli

Other animation roles:

Yu Xia in Link Click

Su Shu in Those Years I Opened a Zoo

Young! Jin Ling, Wen Yuan, Xue Yang, and Qin Su (she’s voicing all the kids lmao) in Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

Audio drama roles:

Zhang Ting and Guo Fei in Silent Reading

Luo Sixue in The Pheromones Say We Have No Chance

Chen Xi in Hard to Please (aka First Frost)

The blonde maiden in Forces of Temptation

young!Jiang Songyi in When Two Alphas Meet, One’s an Omega

Several side characters in After Getting A Job in the Nether World, I Became Famous (this is a good novel btw, you guys should check it out)

Apparently, she’s also in Summit Dueling (aka Beloved Enemy), but it didn’t list what role she played...

7. Zhào Shuǎng 赵爽 as Lucky Cyan

Other animation roles:

Xu Shanshan in Link Click

Lu Xiaoyu in Da Wang Rao Ming (ohh that’s cute)

The female App voice in Those Years I Opened a Zoo (So that was her, lmaaao)

Zhao Nishang in No Doubt in Us Season 2

Xiaoyao Xinghe in My Dashixiong is a Villain/My Dashixiong has a Hole in His Brain (aka What’s Wrong with my Big Brother?)

Audio drama roles:

young!Chang Geng and young!Gu Yun in Sha Po Lang (lmaaao the main characters have the same voices as kids)

Chen Chen in Silent Reading

Lily in Little Mushroom

Yao Yao in When Two Alphas Meet, One’s an Omega

Chen Jiao in After Getting A Job in the Nether World, I Became Famous

Liu Jiayi in I Became a God Horror Game (HOLY SHIT, THIS IS MY FAVORITE NOVEL!!!! And she plays the Liu Jiayi??? Oh my lord)

8. Zhāng Fúzhēng 张福正 as Ahu

Other animation roles:

Chen Xiao in Link Click

A’Tong and Xue Yang in Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

Shao Wuxing in Those Years I Opened a Zoo

Yang Jian in The Parting of the Orchid and Cang (aka The Farewell of Changlan, Love Between Fairy and Devil) (not danmei)

Audio drama roles:

Several side characters in Sha Po Lang

Xiao Haiyang in Silent Reading

Yu Tang in Your Majesty, Stop Making Trouble (listed as Stop Bothering Me, Emperor in NovelUpdates but I think that’s a mistranslation)

Zhang Guanyao in Breaking Through the Clouds

Pro 4.0 in Turing’s Code (Pro is short for Prometheus and is an AI designed by the side characters. Interesting that Ahu’s VA has done a tech voice..)

Bai Chunian in The Fallen Merman

Lu Changting in Licking Honey off a Knife Edge

Lin Xinlan in Mist

Lu Yizhan in I Became a God in a Horror Game (another GHG character!!!)

Xiao Jue in Rebirth of the Female General (aka Rebirth of the Star General, Legend of the Female General) (not danmei, but this is a popular baihe (Chinese GL))

9. Yáng Kǎiqí 杨凯祺 as Hun Dian (aka E-Soul)

(Not familiar with any of his donghua roles, so I’m not listing them here)

Audio drama roles:

General Xiao Cai and Chen Feiyun in Sha Po Lang

A Researcher in Little Mushroom

Xiao Wu in Silent Reading

Cheng Da Lang in Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect

Wang Lili in After Getting A Job in the Nether World, I Became Famous

Wen Fei in Want to Ascend? Then Fall in Love

Chen Anzhi in After the Global Evolution, I Stand at the Top of the Food Chain

Fang Xue in Pheromones Say You’re Not Innocent

Zhang Shao in Flying Ashes

Jiang Yan in The True Scandal

10. Gǔ Jiāngshān 谷江山 as Nice and Lin Ling

Other animation roles:

Jin Zixuan in Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (OMG 👀)

Jiang Yuanzheng in No Doubt in Us

Liu Xuanyu in Da Wang Rao Ming

Xiao Nanzhu in Chinese Almanac Master

Audio drama roles:

Yuan Yang in Summit Dueling, aka Beloved Enemy (HE PLAYS THE SCUMMY MALE LEAD LMAAAO 😂)

Mo Ran in The Husky and His White Cat Shizun (HELLO??? ANOTHER SCUM GONG FOR MR. “NICE” GUY??? AGSDJHFGSDJHGFJ)

Zhang Donglai in Silent Reading

Josh (aka Josie) in Little Mushroom

Li Yun in Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect

Lao Bai (is this the White Impermanence? I’ve forgotten…) in After Getting A Job in the Nether World, I Became Famous

Fang Xiaojie in Old Fogey Goes Down The Mountain

Pei Qing in There Is Something Wrong with My Capture Target

Eris (厄里斯) in The Fallen Merman

There are many roles I didn’t include and some I wished I had but was too lazy to go back and add them. I think there were more of them in Chinese Almanac Master, True Scandal, and The Fallen Merman, but I just missed it...

But yeah guys, it’s not just the JP cast. All the Chinese VAs are “stacked” as well. They’ve been in lots of big name projects.

If there are any errors in this post, just tell me in the notes or send me an ask. I went through each VA very quickly coz I wanted to get this done in under an hour so I can get back to my readings for class lol

[tcoaal]

Got this ask about Andrew becoming Lord Unknown's servant and... honestly? I think that might be a good contender for a bad ending in Chapter 4 Decay.

I am of the belief neither demon has Andrew's or Ashley's best interest in heart: all their actions have pointed to them wanting to be more useful in what they claim will be a mutually beneficial relationship. It's why I don't really like to call what Lord Unknown does as "Demon Therapy" or anything: it's a forceful probing of Andrew's mind without his consent to "fix" him so he can hatch into an apparently more useful Tar Soul.

I think one of the most poignant scenes in all of 3A was how Andrew reacts to being shown... comfort from someone other than Ashley. I think it's a very important scene.

When I first played this I kind of gasped. The way the music stopped, and the transition from "Fucking Snoop" to "Something Terrifying" to "Something Kind."

Suddenly, you understand why people join cults.

I do not believe the demons have Andrew's or Ashley's best interest in minds, and I think Lord Unknown's personal desire is to sever Ashley and her memory from his life in some capacity. So I think Decay's ultimate bas ending will ultimately be an ending where Andrew lives without Ashley. An ending where Ashley is dead and he just... keeps living on as this thing's puppet.

There's this quote from No Longer Human I think about in regards to this specifically, now I have neither happiness nor unhappiness:

“Now I have neither happiness nor unhappiness. Everything passes. That is the one and only thing that I have thought resembled a truth in the society of human beings where I have dwelled up to now as in a burning hell. Everything passes.”

And that's Andrew with Ashley dead and his emotions hollowed out by this demon. And afterwards, Lord Unknown essentially tasks him with leading the cult,

Freedom from the person he has hated more than anyone else, but also the only person he's ever truly loved in any true capacity. No more of the consequences he has feared: if things get dicey, Lord Unknown will simply move him without effort.

Freedom from choices. Freedom from hatred. Freedom from love. There is no happiness, but there is neither sorrow. There is no hope, yet there is no despair. Simply... a simple existence and orders followed. Full indoctrination into a cultist way of thinking, leaving behind absolutely everything, even the sole thing that was precious to him solely for the sake of "peace."

Peace, and praise: that too is important. You did good. I'm proud of you. Wonderful work, Andrew. You did a good job. Your work is valued.

The complete and absolute obliteration of everything that made him Andrew graves. There is another text comparison I have, the ending of the script of Midsommar relevant to this as Dani fully embraces what happens and accepts being absorbed into a cult once and for all: "A SMILE finally breaks onto Dani’s face. She has surrendered to a joy known only by the insane. She has lost herself completely, and she is finally free. It is horrible and it is beautiful."

I can see Andrew like, in the future, being the cult leader. He's gaining more followers, and more important, actually knowing how the summoning works has gathered more souls and sacrifices for Lord Unknown. Hey, please imagine him talking with some of the new recruits or something-

"O-oh... s-sorry sir, didn't mean-"

"No, please, it's fine- no need to be so formal. Call me Andy."

But not Leyley's Andy. Lord Unknown's Andy. Someone incapable of happiness or sorrow, content to finally have obtained what he once thought he wanted.

... I doubt it'd go this way, but I guess that's how I'd want a Decay bad ending route to go! I've been meaning to talk about this since getting an anon almost a week ago, and I figured might as well finally share!

[katyspersonal]

So I've found an interesting bit of Dark Souls lore on Reddit! Someone deciphered symbols carved on Titanite Demons: ( x )

DS1: The Light, now dying anyway, only brings tragedy. The fire will fade. The Sun’s firstborn will find the stone-like enlightenment of the Ancient Dragons. The Lords will be overtaken by Dark.

DS3: The Light only brings tragedy. The fire will fade. The Sun’s firstborn found his own peace. The Lords will be overtaken by Dark.

So, interestingly enough, they predict the future! This makes sense: basically, they are humouring the "future is set in stone" sentiment this way!

I don't agree with this Redditor's conclusion on why is that, personally, their help is invaluable though. But, I think it might explain why NBD is nameless, or at least give a good hint of it! Whereas localisation used the simpler term "deity", this character IS just one of the Gods the same in Japanese script ( 名も無き鍛治の神 ), so it is certainly not because of lesser status. That makes the only unnamed Gods in the setting be them and Nameless King!

I thought that Titanite Demons having literal broken halos for horns hinted at NBD also having name removed for an unhappy reason.. however, not only it was never stated that he did anything to anger other Gods, but NK also was said to be striped of his status as a God as far as the panteon went!

So... what if NBD removed his name from everywhere just so his power (or what power he believed he had) could never be used against him? Granted, the events predicted on Titanite Demons were unavoidable, so if he believed that he could influence them, it was certainly a delusion. Or maybe he could see the future though "carved in stone" thing, and it was his own future that he didn't want to know or to be defined? After the war ended, he had no need to forge weapons, so instead he started to forge plates with information carved on them, and saw how pointless everything was. Hell, his "passing away" might have been fully intentional! But I suppose nobody would follow his advice to exclude themselves from the stones (which everything was before disparity, mind you!) because the guy just looked superstitious and crazy for them. Like a boomer that outlived his use and could not adapt to the new order of nature and things like time and variability existing.

(At the same time, Titanite Demons appear to instinctively serve Gwyn's associates judging by all their locations except for one, the halo (that is their horns in the game) is a very particularly Way of White symbol, and the predictions sneak fate of NK and the First Flame 🤔 I really question whether he was very close to the royal family, if not related to it. Statue of Gwyn's mother alludes to air element, so maybe NBD was his father, and the earth?)

[gurggggleburgle]

Resisting committing murder because my monster mother almost let the house catch fire and was drunk asleep masterubating and All the bedding is covered in piss including my own because she's a shit dog owner- and this dog is the only reason I'm still here and not in my car because her dementia is bad enough she's started biting people and i can't just leave her and my mon now awake just trying to drunk cook me her shit food even as i scream ive already eaten and to stop touching me Because my laundry 3 runs later still smells of piss andi want to sleep for one fucking night withoutany of this. AND FOR THE SVSSS MUSICAL THAT LIVES IN MY HEAD RENT FREE

Okay so stage time economics and specifically what songs and characters does this play need to overall function. For me the important thing to remember for a real stage play is that your cast can be big but not large. You need to prioritize scenes and emotions by what is relevant for themes which means a shit ton of characters in my opinion need to be cut simply because they just wouldn't have anything to do.

My best example of this is virtually all but 3 peak lords are relevant in any capacity and there's just functionally no point in having all 12. I would also choose to represent the harem with the choir but specifically go out of my way to not mention any particular girl that isn't plot relevant past introduction.

No Shen Jiu outside of a musical flashback. I don't think Shen Jiu having a expaned role means or given svsss anything in a stage. A crucial element for the thematic relevancy of svsss is that Shen Jiu himself really never gets a line. Yes we see a flashback but there's no conversation with him. There's never anything that can pin him morally and in a play you'd carry the same weight with physical character acting and never giving him spoken dialogue. Keep the unreliable narrative through what the play is purposely lacking for the sake of narrative tension.

The biggest problem for song structure is how do you construct a play that effectively has 3 places that would be a mid act climax. This is the part stumping me as I write a script because effectively you can have 3 full acts but I personally think svsss is 2 hr hour 2 act story when you boil it down to its essentials so it doesn't make sense to stretch it to 3 acts. The 3rd act will drag because there isn't enough meat and potatoes to effectively do the third act without things falling apart. Unlike CQL I respect your time and believing in adapting your material to suit the new medium.

So this becomes more what do you cut? I think you cut the skinner demon, obviously. It basically just serves as narrative tutorial and you can essentially get the same thing with the demon tournament. And while I know we love the Liu qingge book intro narratively i dlnt think it flows on a stage. Ao i think we should have basically a line where sqq is like arent you supposed to be dead? And they save each other from demons. It gets the same point acorss while filling in the rough patch. Here we reiterate what's stated in the opening exposition of why the girls are important followed by a fight sequence. Poison happens cut straight to the nightmare. Use the fact that as a transitional scene this is very odd. Meng Mo is a stage effect like a shadow puppet on the wall. Song about demons not being evil. Like a scene right before the alliance conference.

Fall into abyss scene and mobei Jun intro. And this is dramatic it's big and heartbreaking. Then we move to Shen Qingqiu noticing that airplane has been narrating the whole time and we slow down a moment before getting Binghe's in the abyss resolve song. This is done mostly for the sake of the stage hands.

End of act 1.

[atramenting]

begrudgingly posting OC art of my and @silverstar724's little dude

DEMON LORD Aubry Padeira, goofy little creature. A necromancer with a skeleton army at his command, he single-handedly guards an entire third of the border between the country where he was born and its neighbor. Dragged into a position of power as a preteen, his magical prowess has since grown exponentially, and none dare enter his territory for fear of death and subsequent (possibly eternal) enslavement.

In reality, Aubry is a little bit broken from nearly a decade of isolation, living in a fortress by himself with no companions save for the living dead, which usually don't have much personality, considering, well... You know. If he can raise a body soon enough, the remnants of the person's soul can cling to the remains, thus giving him a few companions with some personality; however, this doesn't happen often, considering the bloody nature in which war casualties are brought to his domain, and how unwilling most are to linger in the realm of the living. Out of thousands, only three have retained any semblance of their former selves, and he keeps these three close -- safely out of harm's way.

About one year prior to his introduction to the rest of the cast, he did find a living person in the piles of flesh and bone that his cleaning crew had gathered, and subsequently adopted them as his most trusted and only living companion. This person, Anixa Anatheus, soon became Aubry's good friend, as well as his knight -- the only one sworn to the ALL-POWERFUL DEMON LORD's cause.

Aubry has slowly been falling in love with his knight as the months have passed. His feelings have grown so strong that he will not hesitate to unleash whatever hell he can summon to defend the object of his affections -- though, that might not be necessary, considering the magical armor he has bestowed upon Anixa is pretty much impervious to most forms of damage.

A bit haughty and theatrical, Aubry speaks and acts like a drama club kid who got lost on a deserted island with nothing but a bunch of scripts and all the time in the world to memorize them. He is outwardly confident -- and inwardly, too, at least until his domain is stormed by a small crew capable of dismantling his magics. Anixa finds him endearing, and is also fiercely loyal in return, which sort of shocks the protagonists bc... lol. Who is this shrimpy little guy and why is he yelling so much. Why are you following him around, demon knight person?

Aubry is a cambion-folven, which are considered Old World Folven by those who which to classify such things. (And folven are a race of humanoid creatures with varying degrees of non-human traits, from ears and tails to fangs or legless, snakelike bodies, of which there are hundreds, perhaps even thousands of subspecies. In simpler terms, it is a catch-all term for those who are neither Human nor Dragon.) As such, the magic used by cambions retains a lot of properties not governed by the elemental founts, long before humans first appeared in the world. They have the power to manipulate emotions through both magical and hormonal means, whether they're attempting to charm their way into a discount or strike fear into potential enemies as a defense mechanism.

Aubry's powers of necromancy are defined by his affinity to the chroma element, like all modern folven, though it is greatly enhanced by his ability to control another's "willpower".

Though I did not feel like drawing it up there, Aubry generally keeps his tail covered in a series of ribbons once he begins traveling with the group. To touch a cambion's tail is to fall under their spell, whether they want you to or not. And Aubry definitely does not want these idiots dumbing themselves down any further (or, at least, that's the excuse he uses. In actuality, he's quite embarrassed by it. People say some real embarrassing things when they're charmed - and there is also the matter of Anixa accidentally brushing against it and proclaiming love undying, which, as much as it would thrill him, is not something he wants to hear from someone under the influence of his powers.).

Aubry's wings are fun. They're comically shaped much in the manner you'd imagine a cartoon demon's would be, similar to a bat wing, but much smaller in proportion to his body than, say, an avie-folven. They are pitch black and don't seem to reflect much light, so they appear devoid of detail, despite the fact that there ARE bones in there. He also has the silly little devil tail (drawn disproportionately long here, for the sillies), lending more to the "demon" aspects of his design. Atop his head are two large, almost-heart-shaped bat ears - delightfully fuzzy and adorable, but also appearing almost like horns if you don't look closely enough.

He's short and stocky, coming in at the ballpark of 5'4" (~160cm). He disguises this as best he can by wearing chunky platform boots and heavy robes, preferring to keep himself obscured from those who would pet his head and say "Aw, you're just a little guy, aren't ya?" because then he'd have to get SERIOUS and show them that "I REALLY AM CALLED THE DEMON LORD!! IT'S AN OFFICIAL TITLE!!"

The tacky waist sash was a gift from Anixa, who is very fond of garish, brightly-patterned clothes. It's one of Aubry's few treasures.

[kangturu07]

Farewell

You know, when I read this scene I kinda emotional and facepalm because I didn't expect 'that' to happen. I want to bang this man's head so badly after reading the book

[incorrect-web-novels]

Anyway, I think Fu Junling's POV (as of Chapter 55) would be so funny because. Like. You're the only friend of the rising star of the cultivation world. But, oh no! He gets kidnapped by the demon lord & is rumored to be going through numerous humiliations. Then you see him with his captor… and he seems to actually really like his “captor…?” Okay, well, if bedding the cultivator world’s number one enemy makes him happy, I guess…

And then the demonic and righteous cultivators go to war, and Xie Huai KILLS the demon lord he seems fond of… which is actually in-character for him… but then he spends the next 9 years tormenting himself by staying in the Demon lord's palace and ignoring the entire world…

But then?! He's actually interested in spending time with someone?! Man, this new guy is actually pretty sweet and cute and- oh, wait, he's exactly like the demon lord that broke my best friend's heart, huh?

[sc-intothedarknightofthesoul]

Ezra for the OC bingo?

I got a bingo! Yay!

Probably the few things that separate my Into the Dark Night of the Soul fanfic from the Libra of Soul game mode are the few changes that kinda diverge from the canon plot just as much as it follows it, the fleshed out moments that lead up to the major plot points, and the fact that Ezra Fontaine exists.

Ezra is an OC created specifically for the fanfic adaptation, but sometimes I play the Soul Edge Route as her in Libra of Soul to see how THAT will play out.

To start off, like Kasta, I didn't realize the significance of her name until I looked up her first and last name.

As I mentioned, I created Ezra on a whim while writing my rough draft a few years ago now, and she was named after a catchy tune I played a lot at the time made by Flume.

As for name meanings, Ezra is mostly Hebrew for "help" or "helper," and refers to one who is humble but is no pushover.

Given that Ezra is also a Virgo (putting her on the bracket with the likes of Voldo, Astaroth, and Patroklos)--who are known to not only be the detail-orientated and observant minds of the Zodiac ruled by Mercury, but also serve to uplift others--it's kind of funny in an ironic way. The dark side of Virgos is that in their bid to serve others, they also risk sabotaging themselves in the process and/or have bad faith actors take advantage of their willing acts of service.

Sorry guys, my Astrology slipped.

Her surname Fontaine (yes, she's French) means "fountain" or "spring" and refers to one who is whimsical yet sophisticated and lives near a body of water.

Putting her name together, it'd be "helper of the fountain."

I also like to address the elephant in the room that, yes, she is also one of the Qualifiers, the cult Azwel created after defecting from the Aval Organization and taking some of the members with him, cos I kinda wanted to go in-depth and write exactly HOW I think his cult works.

Not to spoil my fic, but what sets her apart from the likes of Daniel is that she joined after the defection under the naive assumption that the Qualifiers do what they do for the genuine charity of the people. She's kind of like Valtro in a way, as they both got out of bad situations in their lives thanks to Azwel. But what also sets her apart from Valtro is that she still has her head on her shoulders and that she is considered meek and shy.

Gods, I have so many ideas for how the Qualifiers cloud the suspicions of the regular people and get on their good graces while secretly experimenting on people behind closed doors.

There is more to Ezra's story with how she ended up with Azwel and the Qualifiers that I will eventually get into at some point in the fanfic, but I will note that he got her out of a shitty situation.

An idea I have for why Ezra kinda looks at the Aval Organization sideways is because of who's side of the story she heard first, that being Azwel's. And how he told Lord Dumas in Amy's Soul Chronicle (in a chapter that happens during the events of Libra of Soul) of how the Aval Organization betrayed the Lady of the Lake is giving me ideas as to how exactly Azwel was successful at wrapping newcomers of his cult around his fingers.

He could just easily flip the script, go all Lorax-mode to speak for the humans, and tell you "Well actually, the Aval Organization betrayed me, therefore, they betrayed the human race, and you by extension" and even if you knew the whole truth, who are you to call out a guy that, in the public eye, has done nothing but heal the sick, hunt down the demons wrecking havoc on your home, and has done so out of the kindness of his heart on his bullshit?

Anyways, back on track.

She is technically made for a relationship, but not the romantic kind, as I mentioned at some point that Ezra is also a childhood friend of Kasta's, although in the fic she has yet to recognize them as she often stalks observes them from far away to avoid getting caught. When she does recognize them, catches up with them and later finds out they joined forces with the Aval Organization despite being what they call an outsider, that creates new problems for her. What those problems lead to will be revealed in future chapters.

So yeah, she's the worst (endearingly) and the worst (derogatory).

Compared to Kasta, Ezra's easy to write and I enjoy writing her POVs in the fic adaptation and to see what troubles she gets herself into, and like Kasta, I also put a bit of myself in her.

She loves to talk about animals (especially spiders and rabbits) and it's a running gag in my story that she has a habit of referring to them by their scientific names (look, I know scientific names weren't thought of yet, but please let me have this).

She also has a love for playing the violin (she's also inspired by Lindsey Stirling's songs).

But yeah, like I said for my previous post with Kasta in regards to fanart, I don't care if you're an experienced artist or just starting out, as long as it's not made through an AI generator, I keep the fanart made for my OCs to cherish them for the rest of my days.

I have more OCs in the works, but until I actually introduce them into my fanfic adaptation, this is probably it for now. Thank you for the ask and have a wonderful day/night!

[cum-villain]

chapter 67????

[animehouse-moe]

'Tis TIme For Torture, Princess Episode 4: Everything Was Fun

At this point I'll get on my hands and knees and beg for people to watch this show. An incredibly fun and airy vibe that plays into a similar vein as The Sleepy Princess In Demon Castle, it brings an indescribable amount of joy and humor with each episode that Pine Jam adapts. Not convinced? Let me explain some more.

First, this video of Ex being tortured.

There's a pair of things that this sequence builds off of. Firstly, the expectations subversion of Hime being the sole person tortured within the series (though Tortura's session with the Demon Lord prior to this also conveys that). And secondly, it effectively parodies the earliest of Hime's torture sessions, letting the viewer in on the idea that Ex will also come around to the methods used and the characters involved.

It's great fun that takes advantage of the fact that Ex has been a bystander and a straight man for Hime's torturing and chooses to flip the script on it, which then opens the pair up to a conversation about their experiences of being tortured. It's really, really great fun.

And it looks great as well. I loved the effort placed into the details of the closeups within the sequence, and they're expertly sold by the incredible work on composition within the sequence. The perfect amount of 'cinematic' feel is added to really accentuate the excessively humorous nature of the act, and it's near effortlessly perfect.

And continuing on the train of novel and fun, Krall makes a comeback today and not only engages in her own unique form of torture, but appears amongst the recurring cast as another outing happens to her room where they get to play with all her various animals. It's straightforward, but extending her interactions to the rest of the cast (even bringing Tortura in on it) is really great, and is the perfect segue for what follows.

Honestly, I want to share every second of the Demon Lord's daughter playing, but it would absolutely ruin the experience for anyone that hasn't seen it yet. It's sweet, innocent, and plays on the heartstrings of everyone that can see it. It also brings out more of Hime's past to help flesh out her character, and the entire sequence is just animated so incredibly well. I mean, 2D backgrounds? It's just Pine Jam showing off their strongest suits: incredibly well animated incredibly cute things.

I could honestly talk about damn near every sequence in this series, it's so well done. The level of effort and passion placed into each to bring out the most humor or happiness is really great, and the variation in terms of boarding and styling never ceases to amaze. You'd think with something that proclaims itself to have a rather straightforward idea would be sticking closer to it than this does, but 'Tis Time For Torture, Princess doesn't have any rules to play by, and instead chooses to live life to the max and create a completely unforgettable experience for viewers.

So yeah, if you're not watching this already you should 100% be catching up on it.

[fantasyinvader]

Thinking about it some more.

Naming the scene where the cast pledges to follow Edelgard and fight the church "Path of Thorns" is ultimately putting a judgement call on the route. Thorns represent sin, meaning an offense against morality or religion, an action that is reprehensible or an often serious shortcoming. Like hadou, it does not have positive connotations. Path of Thorns, in particular, refers to a verse in the Bible about how such a path is the path of a sluggard, or lazy person, while the path of the righteous is a clear highway.

The path the game wants the player to take is them fighting Edelgard, while the player is also tasked with guiding their students. The options that unlock Safflower goes against this. The first option is the player dropping their duties as a teacher for a week in order to accompany Edelgard to Enbarr at her request. The second is siding with her after the Holy Tomb, where she tasked her soldiers with killing your students if they got in her way. You've put Edelgard above your other students, selecting the options that are presented as changing the story, and as a result lead them into joining her.

You didn't do your job, hence the Path of Thorns. You've committed sin in the eyes of the game. Likewise, you've prevented your students from fighting Edelgard and her hadou. Hadou, where the people are supposed to rise up and overthrow such a leader. Instead, the BE's enable her and are called the true face of the Empire.

But if you think about it, this also puts Byleth on a similar level to the lords and the themes of responsibility.

Edelgard seeks power, but hates the duties and responsibilities that come with it. She wants to get rid of those duties and responsibilities as well as the institution that promotes them, all while increasing her own power. She would hate Spider-man.

Dimitri accepts his duties, but has the wrong idea about what they mean. After he learns to live for himself and the people present rather than the dead, he realizes he doesn't want to do those things because they're expected of him. Performing his duties as a good king to his people is what he actually wants.

Claude, in the Japanese script, is just learning that nobles have duties after moving to Fodlan. This concept is seemingly alien to him, and in Hopes he rejects it and pushes for the absolution of the Church as a result. But in Houses, he learns from Fodlan and brings parts of it's culture back to Almyra to enact change there. outright says he'll put an end to Edelgard hadou/military rule, while the Japanese makes out that while they both are against the Church initially their ideals/goals are not the same. Not to mention in Hopes when he betrays Edelgard after talking to Byleth/Sothis, he points out how the Alliance joined out of duress and as he fights he talks about protecting the Alliance. Even asks Lorenz to look after it if things go wrong for him. Claude may not join the Church or Kingdom, but he becomes the hero in this path only to be defeated for it. He accepts whatever Sothis told him and opposed Edelgard's Agarthan-inspired outlook.

And that's not even going into the fact Edelgard is brandishing a weapon with the Crest of the Beast on it linking her to the devil arcana, uses demonic beasts as war assets, opposes the Goddess and her children for the sake of those living underneath the Earth's surface who are associated with snakes/serpents and have a history of tempting people away from what the Church teaches. Combine this with Claude's arc and his solution to the path of thorns, getting rid of the thorns (Edelgard and Hubert) while joking about wearing boots, and it's pretty clear.

If you have any understanding of Christian symbolism, the game is telling you Edelgard is the villain just like it does if you have understanding of Buddhist symbols.