Introduction Post!
Hi to anyone who wound up here! I know this is like, four layers deep in the niche crossover territory, but I appreciate anyone who decided to check it out!
What is the Amazing Digital Castle?
-The Amazing Digital Castle is, at its core, a crossover between the Evilious Chronicles and the Amazing Digital Circus. There are also lots of elements from other Vocaloid stuff.
For those who don't know, the Evilious Chronicles is the work that the songs Daughter of Evil and Servant of Evil belong to. This story is mainly centered around the arc those songs are part of: the Pride Arc.
What's the premise?
-Same as general TADC- only instead of Caine, Riliane/Rin is the main AI in charge of the place, and for some reason yet unrevealed, everything is inspired by Vocaloid songs. Rin goes by Princess instead of Ringmaster, but still, they put on a headset and wound up here. I'll also reveal a bit of lore and say that the fundamental AI behind Rin is the same one that's behind Caine- the red dot. As for why it chose to adopt this identity instead of Caine's? That's something I'll keep secret for now, but expect to see refrences to dentures constantly in Rin's art because fundamentally her AI and Caine's AI are the same AI making different choices. The motivation is still the same.
Who are the cast of characters?
-It's the people from the Evilious Pride arc- but due to the nature of the Castle, everyone forgets their names. Rin assigns people named based on Vocaloids.
-As for the Roleswaps-
Caine - Rin/Riliane
Kinger - Allen/Len
Pomni- Chartette/Kasane Teto
Ragatha- Mikina/SF-A2 Miki
Zooble- Michaela/Miku and Germaine/Meiko
Jax- Both Marlon siblings take this role. Ney/Neru and Kyle/Kaito
Gangle- Clarith/Haku
Bubble - Shall Remain Bubble. As Bubble often does.
I will say, it's entirely possible to read this as a Vocaloid fic divorced from the context of Evilious for a large part, especially since the characters can't remember their 'human' names, but there will be sequences that do actually use their Evilious names, and their characterization will be based on their Evilious characterization partly. Or at least how I interpret their Evilious characterizations.
Is this gonna be a rewrite of The Amazing Digital Circus with just some different characters?
-Well, partly. We are following TADC's canon, but I am trying my hardest to make this unique. There are lots of elements in here that TADC didn't have, and entire plot points and plot twists that TADC doesn't. I love the Amazing Digital Circus, but I do want to make my work stand out more than simply being a roleswap. I don't wanna explain everything on a blog when Episode 1 is finished on Ao3, and you can see for yourself.
What is this blog for?
-Mainly for any questions anyone has about the story or if anyone just wants to come chat. Also to share my art of it. It's my first time actually running a blog specifically for an AU, but it seems like a fun way to engage with people! I might also have occasional ask sessions/takeovers where I RP Rin and the others.
Why are you writing this?
-Self-indulgence, really. Honestly, this isn't something most AU makers put out there, but this AU is so out there and down four separate rabbit holes that I do think it's worth explaining why I'm doing this instead of writing anything with the regular TADC cast? A couple of years back, I got that passing interest in the Daughter of Evil story, but found canon to be a complete mess; I didn't even know how to approach it. However, when I was looking through Ao3 for any redemption fics for Riliane, I came across this absolute gem- The Story of Redemption by Animehaircolours (I recommend checking it out! A certified banger of a story). It was exactly what I needed at the time for my hyperfixation and more, and I wound up collaborating with the author to write some stuff for the SoR reaction fic and just generally talking about Evilious. All of it really helped elevate the Pride Arc Characters from a passing hyperfixation of mine to characters I actually cherished. Which is part of the reason I care so much about these niche characters that I'm writing this whole story that's probably gonna wind up being 30,000 + words long.
Fast-forward to now, Caine is my current hyperfixation, but then I realized Caine actually had a fair bit in common with Riliane's character. Both displayed at varying levels a lack of empathy, selfishness, ego, petulance, and had some crashouts that did serious damage to the characters around them. (Understatement of the century). Though most interesting to me, Caine is, funnily enough, the LESS extreme of the two. Caine is a mess of contradictory character traits who does have a capacity for kindness. Before episode 8, he's more of a flawed person than necessarily a bad one. Riliane, on the other hand- oh boy...a real piece of work that makes Caine look like a saint. Yet she is also the only sinner in all of Evilious to try to work towards redemption, learn the empathy she lacked, and feel genuine remorse for her sins. Whereas in canon, Caine is the one who winds up dead. It's kinda interesting to me for this comparison and roleswap that the character who deserved to live more wound up dead, while this tyrant who everyone wanted dead wound up living and earning her atonement. Especially since canonically, the cast didn't necessarily want Caine dead, but everyone in the Lucifenian Revolution was unapologetically gunning for Riliane's head. It's the mother of all coincidences, but neat how their narratives kinda parallel each other like that. Some other similarities! They're also both victims of their circumstances who never really had a chance to do better; Caine is bound by his limits as an AI, and Riliane was an amnesiac child who had a demon implanted in her with no realistic means to fight off its influence. Something they both have in common is that I often feel the fandom doesn't pay much attention to their naunces due to how they both wound up hurting fan favourite characters and were the villains of their respective stories.
The biggest difference between the two is that Caine is focused on trying to make others happy for approval, whereas Riliane is solely focused on herself. Caine's ego is a more of a defensive tool he uses to cope, whereas Riliane deadass believes she deserves the world. In many ways...Caine felt like a more scaled-down version of Riliane...more like a child. Which is what he's been compared to multiple times.
And that gave me an idea. Via this roleswap, I can sort of explore the person that Riliane was as a child before she got possessed by the Demon of Pride. Because children can be very contradictory and operate on their own internal logic, capable of being really sweet and really selfish. It's a very unique opportunity to explore how that more innocent and childlike version of Riliane could still wind up hurting people if in the worst circumstances possible.
I've rambled enough, haven't I? Just know this project's something I've put a lot of thought behind. I hope you enjoy it for what it's worth!
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The Amazing Digital Castle! (9543 words) by Shadeyver_409092 Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Evillious Chronicles, The Amazing Digital Circus (Web Series), Vocaloid Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Characters: Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche, Allen Avadonia, Clarith (Evillious Chronicles), Michaela (Evillious Chronicles), Ney Phutapie, Kyle Marlon, Mikina Freezis, Germaine Avadonia, Kagamine Rin, Kagamine Len, Yowane Haku, Hatsune Miku, Akita Neru, Kaito (Vocaloid), SF-A2 Miki (Vocaloid), Meiko (Vocaloid), KAFU (CeVIO), flower (Vocaloid), Bubble (The Amazing Digital Circus), Ming (The Amazing Digital Circus), Disappearing Guy (The Amazing Digital Circus), Gloink Queen (The Amazing Digital Circus), Gloinks (The Amazing Digital Circus), Chartette, Kasane Teto Additional Tags: Other Additional Tags to Be Added, mainly other characters, granted most of them will probably be cameos for an adventure, Angst, Comedy, Attempt at Humor, Action/Adventure, Romance, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Dark Comedy, Bullying, Misogyny, Past Character Death, via Abstraction, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Roleswap, Torture, Psychological Horror, Canon-Typical Violence, mainly the tadc flavor, Everyone is traumatized and not coping well, Especially when you're forced to adopt a vocaloid identity by some insane princess in an old computer, Song: Aku no Musume | The Daughter of Evil, Song: Aku no Meshitsukai | The Servant of Evil, Song: Regret Message (Evillious Chronicles), Vocaloid References, Other Vocaloid songs will also feature prominently, Character Study, Canonical Character Death, Introspection, SOMA Theory | The Amazing Digital Circus Ensemble are Digital Copies Series: Part 2 of The Amazing Digital Castle! Summary: She always knew she tended to make dumb decisions, but this one really takes the cake. An abandoned office building. An old headset. Maybe it was the curiosity of what VR project was left running for so long. Maybe it was the fact that she didn't want to think about how her life sucked. She just wanted a break. Except now she's stuck in some surreal hell where nothing has meaning, and they all dance to the whims of an AI Princess. It's a new kind of horror show every day, and she's clawing at the walls and her mind for a way out. Kasane Teto's the name she was given, and she's really just trying to get by. Is it even possible to be happy in a world where nothing matters? She doesn't think so, but she marches on- if only not to wind up a dark, decrepit basement all alone and forgotten. - Welcome to the Amazing Digital Castle! A Kingdom hidden in code, a party that never ends, and a host that can bring you some of the most jaw-dropping, heart-stopping, mind-bending paraphernalia you've ever laid your eyes upon! We hope you enjoy your stay!
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Anyway, if any of this sounds interesting, please go check out the story I've written! It's a work in progress now, but Episode 1 of the Amazing Digital Circus has been covered already! Any interaction means the world.
Also, have some art! A thank you gift for making it to the end of the post! Ordered from least recent to most recent in terms of when I made them!
Rin's outfit changes a lot because while her model is more limited than Caine, her wardorbe sure ain't.
Anyway, thank you for reading!
-Shadey