Silk Burns Faster Than Bodies (A dark/comedic Demon Path focusing on companion PoVs)
Yo wazzup! I recently finished a 62k-word, 19-chapter Demon Path fanfic and just started uploading it to AO3.
The premise: The Commander is a cheerful, affectionate, walking natural disaster without a moral compass (I'd phrase it as an Amoral Azata).
Rather than writing a 2-million-word play-by-play of the entire campaign, the story is written as a series of connected vignettes. It jumps through the early acts pretty quickly to focus heavily on the grim reality of the late-game (act 4 and 5).
The twist is that you never actually get the Commander's PoV. The story is told entirely through the eyes of the companions (Seelah, Anevia, Daeran, Wenduag, Nenio, etc.) as they try to survive, use, or fix her. The only look inside the Commander's head you get is through her aggressively oblivious, bubbly, absolutely non-diegetic (as one actually educated beta phrased) diary entries at the start of each chapter.
Igni doesn't want to rule the world. She just wants to have fun, keep her favorite spider-cat close, and set boring people on fire.
But absolute freedom comes with a body count. Daeran realizes his protector is worse than the monster in his own head, Wenduag discovers the terror of a master who refuses to hold her leash, Arueshalae's fragile faith is shattered by a predator who effortlessly rejects the Abyss not out of any principles but because Nocticula killsteals her, and Seelah watches her holy war turn into an abyssal occupation.
The manuscript is 100% complete, I'm posting chapters weekly, currently 6/19. If you like dark fantasy, unintentional comedy (Nenio is always hilarious), character studies, and seeing how the companions react to unhinged KCs, you might enjoy it!
#####Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/93130306
A short excerpt, one of my favourite scenes from the 11th chapter that gave the title to the whole work:
> Diary: Ugh, palace meetings are the WORST. Shamira acts like scheduling is a personality, yapping for like HOURS, and Nocticula kept trying to do that whole 'I'm disappointed in you' mom-stare, even tried to ground me (lol as if). You don't steal a girl's goat >.< > > And then Shamira was being rude, so she went poof too. > > Daerie got all stressed because I melted some ugly curtains. Nobles are so dramatic about interior decorating. -.-" > > Like, babe, it was hideous anyway. You're welcome! <3 > > > > "I must say, my dearest Commander," he said smoothly, "watching you dismantle the local governance is thrilling, but did you have to melt the silk tapestry? Some of us appreciate the decor." > > Igni laughed, looking at him as if he had just asked a remarkably stupid question. > > "Silk burns faster than bodies, Daerie," she said. "You can't vaporize a demon without the curtains catching." > > Daeran’s smile remained precisely where it belonged, it just stopped reaching his eyes. He had cast a probing political line, and she had literally just answered him with thermodynamics. > She had decapitated an ancient empire, and she possessed absolutely zero object permanence regarding any of it.
Not sure if the fanart flair is the best flair, the _Story flair contains different posts.