A thousand years ago, the Demon King and his armies marched across the lands, terrorizing the people who crossed their paths. Only one man stood up to the Demon King, and his name…was Richard.
At least, this is the history Vanita grew up with her whole life.
Her story takes place in the present day. But one morning, on her usual jog in the park, she comes across the legendary Demon King himself – heavily beaten and close to exhaustion in the bushes.
And so begins this domestic story of a trans girl trying to make sense of the fabled Demon King passing out on her couch.
The Origins
This concept all started with this sketch.
(In the beginning, the Demon was a Golem, but the more I researched it I went, “Nah. Demon.”) So I started with this sketch and the notion of wanting to make a slice-of-life/romance story. But I made it a fantasy with a demon king because…fantasy is my MO.
(To be honest, if I have an idea for a story but it doesn’t click with me for some reason, I’ll transplant it into a fantasy setting. Then the story clicks. It works 98 percent of the time.)
The Twist
So I started scripting the story as part of the National Novel Writing Month challenge in 2021. I was a rebel that year and drew thumbnails for the script of Vanita and the Demon King.
As I scripted the story, something happened that surprised even me…
Claudia, from The Case of the Wendigo, showed up.
And that’s when I went, “Wait…is this…a spiritual sequel to The Case of the Wendigo? Is this another Charlie & Clow adventure?!”
Yes.
I know! I’m surprised, too. It only took…4 or 5 years from The Case of the Wendigo going to print to the beginning of production for Vanita and the Demon King.
The story is 90 percent scripted with an outline in mind for the very end. I only have roughly 20 pages or so left to thumb.
After That…Will There Be a Crowdfunding Campaign?
Yes!
At first, I thought I would need to pivot because of Journey of the Mystery. But thankfully that project is being handled separately. By doing that, it frees up time to focus on getting Vanita and the Demon King funded before launch.
How?
Well, I’m looking at running a campaign on either KickStarter or Crowdfundr. Both have their pros and cons, which I’ll talk about more tomorrow.
Whichever platform I pick, though, I hope to launch it soon.
The goal is to get certain back-end costs covered. A domain name for a website and website hosting are the two biggest concerns right now. Extra funding after that can help with overhead during production.
If you would like to see more development sketches – or get the first notice when the crowdfunding campaign launches – sign up for my email newsletter.
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I hope you’re excited about Vanita and the Demon King! I know I am.
That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!
You. Are. Awesome.