what is los bichitos?

"Los Bichitos" is the name I've given this story, for whenever it happens to need one. It's an inside joke just for me. :]

As for the story itself, Los Bichitos is about three siblings: Craig, Michael, and Chelsea. While they seem like ordinary kids on the surface, the truth is that they're beasts of demonic origin, originally destined to become apocalyptic monsters. They sidestepped this destiny early on, and so grew up normally, more or less. While they do have to keep their true forms and demonic abilities a secret, they managed to get out of spitting in Satan's eye rather scot-free.

Or so it seemed. One autumn, demons start taking interest in their home, resulting in monster sightings, fear, and general unrest. Not wanting their home to decline, the siblings take it upon themselves to do what they can to drive out the demonic influence. As they fight and study demons, they try to figure out what their angle must be, requiring them to confront their own origins and how they fit into the grand demonic scheme.

There are a handful of themes I want to explore with this story, including (but not limited to) what it means to be human, making mistakes (and how it isn't the end of the world), and the power of love as a powerful force of nature.

the main characters

Craig Knight

Craig is the oldest sibling, and as such is usually the de facto leader. He's the most proactive about demon-hunting, as he's strongly protective of his home and the life he has. He's not keen on the idea of some demon coming in and turning it all upside down without a fight.

His demonic ability is what he calls "beast mode", which allows him to turn into a bigger, scarier version of himself. The problem is that he can't often muster up enough anger to activate it for very long, because he prefers to suppress his stronger emotions as to remain level-headed.

Michael Knight

Michael is the middle sibling, and is similar to the sun in a lot of ways. He's a ball of energy, and likes to give his all for everything he does, but he often risks burning himself out - or accidentally burning someone else. He's the most outgoing of the three, and (seemingly) the most well-adjusted.

His demonic ability is fire-breathing, which he is able to do by way of a demonic flame that burns within him. The flame burns brighter when he gets fired up and dims when he's calm, but if it burns too bright and isn't vented, he risks burning himself from the inside. He allows this to happen a little too often for his own good, as ordinary people don't usually cough out fire.

Chelsea Knight

Chelsea is the youngest sibling - the runt, so to speak. She's usually happy to be out of focus, but it doesn't change the fact that she's lonely. She isn't particularly good at interacting with people outside her family, so she's caught between her fear of being alone and her fear of being with people.

Her demonic ability is incredible healing, allowing her to bounce back faster and from worse than others can. She's come to think that it isn't worth bothering others about her injuries if they'll heal anyway, and this line of thinking tends to bleed into other areas of her life, so she's not very good at asking for help.

Laura Knight

The siblings' mother, who created them in a pact with an unknown demonic power. She broke the pact to protect them from the demon's influence and was cursed as a consequence. Above all else, she wants to do right by her children by any means necessary.

Her curse turned her into something similar in nature to the siblings, giving her a monstrous true form. It isn't too difficult to stay in a human shape, but it isn't easy either.

The Demonic

When I first added a demonic aspect to the story, I wanted to have it be something closer to actual demonology. But I realized quickly that I didn't actually know anything about demonology, and researching something that extensive for a story I was only writing for fun would only serve to make it less fun. I ended up creating my own system to better suit the story, and I'm glad I did so because I'm pretty proud of what I came up with.

The basic idea is that the demons in this story are based on what we mean when we say we're "fighting our demons". A demon can lay claim to something upsetting - guilt, for instance - and that demon then gains power as their newly-claimed domain gains influence in the mortal world.

I do have a few rules for myself when designing demon characters, and one of those is that domains can't be too broad. Things like death are plenty upsetting, but they can also be a lot of things. A demon is more likely to have a specific facet of death as a domain, like the grief it causes. In-universe, this is because demons are competitive creatures, and over the many thousands of years they've been fighting for power, what started out as a few simple domains has fractured into innumerable specific troubles to claim.

Demons can lose control of their domain if they are challenged and defeated, but the repercussions vary slightly depending on the demon. Generally, the less amount of time a demon owns a domain, the less backlash they'll get when they lose it. Conversely, demons who have had their domains for a very long time have a strong chance of being unmade if they lose them. The longer a demon has a domain, the more they come to rely on it to continue existing.

Particularly destructive demons are imprisoned within the demonic world. It's important to note that this is based on the actions and behavior of a demon, not the nature of its domain.