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asklordofthelost · 2 years

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Death’s Story

Hello, everyone! Since it has been some time since an ask has been answered, and I haven’t made any posts regarding the canon surrounding its timeline plus Death himself, I figured I should put out a more in-depth written timeline so people don’t have to comb through the blog to understand all of it (especially since it was more on the random and silly side at the start, though there is no actual ongoing storyline to this blog).

This can also be considered a retcon of sorts for information revolving around Death’s past, whether it be from headcanon-based posts or asks.

As a note, this is all based on my own interpretation of the series and while I’m completely okay with people making fan art based on it, I’d rather not have my ideas used for anyone’s interpretations. Basic things like a character’s personality are fine, as it’s based on what’s seen in the series, but events I’ve made up for Death’s story (and a certain pair of twins down the line) are things I’m very proud to have put together myself, so I’d ask to please use your own imaginations for your own versions of the characters!

That being said, the full summarized story is below the Read More. It’s fairly long, so it’s suggested to be in a good place to read before checking it out (that or it can always be read a little at a time)! I’ve even separated it into sections to make it a little easier to navigate.

Trigger warning: There are vague mentions of suicide and clear mentions of child abuse and neglect in certain areas.

Unfortunately, I could not avoid these as they are essential to the story. If these are triggering for you, I’d advise doing what’s best for your mental health and avoiding this post if need be.

Beginnings

Death is an entity who came into being from the forgotten skull of a deceased person from ancient times. This is in connection to Midnight Horror School, where forgotten objects and the like become sentient and alive – although instead of being brought to life inside the school where the series takes place, his revival, plus many others, was a phenomenon which the school was founded on.

While young, Death was taught by Mr. Salaman in order to hone his skills, or his “wonder” in communing with the dead and guiding them. This was highly necessary for him to learn, as souls from reality were ending up in the alternate dimension where they resided at a more rapid pace, since society was shifting towards a more work-centric lifestyle where stress was more common.

Mr. Salaman was the one who gifted Death’s cap. Sweden’s flag was not quite established at the time, but its previous iteration, which was for naval and war purposes, had been. Why his teacher chose this nation is unknown, but it could be assumed it was because Death’s skull originated from that general area. (Iwata’s reasoning behind Death’s design cannot be applied in canon – The Seventh Seal came out in 1957, and his graduation was far before then).

During graduation, Death’s scythe materialized before him as he realized his true power to sever souls’ ties to reality. Once this was accomplished, he was set out to find where he was to go and what he was to do – which eventually led him to discovering the entrance to the Lost World high in the sky. There were already many souls in need of his ability to pass on in peace, so he started work right away.

Rise of Gregory House

Although busy, Death was pretty content with his job and its natural flow until everything suddenly changed. Not as many souls were appearing, which left gaps in time where he was left wondering why this was happening. Out of curiosity, he left the Lost World to find a hotel had been established far below the gate to his little pocket dimension. One which, curiously, drew in quite a few of the souls he was supposed to save.

He took it upon himself to go over and find out what was going on. Inside, he met Gregory, who gave him the impression he was merely helping the souls relax before passing, while those who had lost their way from reality were to stay until they were ready to go back. At first glance, it really seemed like he was telling the truth… and maybe he was, at the start.

Suspicions only rose higher and higher as the number of souls who arrived to the Lost World dwindled. Given the ample opportunities he had to go visit Gregory House, he made some disturbing discoveries: Monster people were popping up out of nowhere, and very few souls were actually roaming the halls.

Stumbling into Gregory Mama’s room was the final straw for him. So many souls were contained in glass bottles, lining up the shelves. She was in the middle of consuming one of them when he barged in, which elicited a confrontation. Death demanded the souls to be let go, only to be redirected to Gregory who he tried to reason with to stop her… but there was reluctance. Death wanted to settle things peacefully, without having to take drastic action, yet he was given no choice.

Unfortunately, he was no match for Gregory Mama’s powerful magic, and a curse was placed on him to cause him pain every time he tried to enter the hotel. This did not stop him from snooping, however, as his powers developed enough to let him open dimensional windows to peer through. When he finally learned that the monsters living there were originally humans from reality, he attempted to save a young boy from this fate, only to be stopped by Gregory Mama. The hex placed on him was strengthened, and he was rendered unable to enter the building at any capacity, lest he collapse on himself.

Since there was not much he could do, Death ventured to reality to see if there was anything he could do in order to stop this madness. But try as he might to reason with people, to assure them life was worth it, he scared them far too much. So, he returned home, and began calculating potential plans to foil the rat family’s schemes.

The Last Train

When he returned to his own dimension, it would appear that humans were not the only ones struggling. Gregory had gone missing from the looks of things, and in order to find him, he followed a curious James to a train station he did not recall existing in the first place. On the train itself, Gregory had been riding it with no destination in mind, seeking to escape from his own work. In truth, he was stuck on an endless journey, with plenty of lost souls joining for the ride.

Sticking to the shadows, Death watched and waited for the right opportunity to approach. It was clear Gregory was having second thoughts, and the compassion he had for others had not been snuffed out. He could see it through his willingness to aid several, even if his own selfish actions caused the untimely demises of a few – or so the train wanted him to believe. It made Death wonder if it was trying to teach Gregory something, and it might have been.

The train’s blackout was his chance to set things straight, especially since the vehicle was fueled on the power of souls. He made his appearance in the engine room, and attempted to plant the seed required for Gregory to understand that souls were not just a source of energy to be exploited, and had feelings of their own. To keep the Lost World’s location safe, he lied about knowing where it was and how to bring the souls of the train to it, hoping Gregory would find out through sheer determination alone.

But it was not enough. Gregory had failed, given up, and shifted his resolve elsewhere, towards what he had always known. In doing so, the train was brought to Gregory House instead, dooming the souls aboard and becoming a toy replica in the process. All of the visions of guests he had met on his trip would eventually become a part of the hotel’s ever-expanding list of permanent residents, which Gregory adapted to in his own way.

The First Guest

This result and the subsequent losses he had to witness from afar left Death embittered for a time. His voice had become sullen and grave, as opposed to his calmer and friendlier tone, and he forced himself to focus on his work until another arrival to the hotel caught his eye. A businessman endeavoring to escape his life of endless work and familial expectations had become Gregory’s next target. He was far more ordinary compared to the others he had seen wind up in this place, and yet, he somehow had the guts to try and find a way back to reality.

At the end of the man’s journey, Death tested his resolve to return home as Gregory’s ghastly true form tailed him from behind, asking if he truly wanted to return to a boring life full of repetitive daily routines. Much to Death’s surprise, he said yes, and while he was not entirely sure if he was telling the truth, Death did sever his bond with the ghost and let him go, only to be met with disappointment not long after. As he should have expected, Stephen Haniwa returned to the hotel and became a permanent guest.

Gregory Gallery Tour

Amazingly, Haniwa’s relevance did not end there. Not long after shifting form, he was dragged off by Gregory to a new attraction connected to the hotel, the Gregory Gallery. While this did catch Death’s attention, he found it pretty irrelevant up until Gregory had somehow fed a soul to the portrait of Gregory Mama, which had dangerous implications. What made matters worse was that a portrait of himself was on display, with a replica of his scythe seated in front of it.

Rage began to boil as Gregory began to weave lies about who Death was as an entity, painting him to be malevolent one. Furious, his voice boomed throughout the museum, and he reminded Haniwa of what had become of him. Bestowing his power onto the duplicate scythe, Death encouraged the businessman to swing at an encroaching Gregory, who had taken his horrific ethereal form once more.

Although the blade missed its mark and slammed into the floor, the power imbued within it caused the entire gallery to come crumbling down. This set Haniwa’s soul free, allowing him to find a new life at a desert city, while Gregory had to recover from the loss. Death was given some time to breathe before the next exceptional guest was to arrive. In that time, he calmed considerably enough to sound like his usual self again.

The Second Guest

While taking care of his usual rounds, Death was caught off-guard by one particular soul belonging to a lady who was supposed to be alive, separated from her own body. These incidents had been growing in frequency, but what was notable about this particular one was that the body was about to be sacrificed by Mono-Eye Wizard and his followers – all to summon him, much to his chagrin. Although he addressed the problem with humor, deep down he was pretty suspicious about the whole ordeal, and as soon as she went back, he watched and understood why something was off.

For the first time, he witnessed a guest who was so fed up with her misfortunes that she retaliated, and quite violently, at that. This gave Gregory more than enough reason to be rid of her quickly, to be gifted to his mother as always. Despite these attempts, this woman came close to escaping, but was distracted by a raging inferno caused by resident Neko Zombie, who was spurred to act by her own compassion towards him. She was urged to sacrifice herself to the flames, so that the hotel may fall for good, but she was too frozen in fear to act.

It burnt down, yet Gregory and his family persisted in the form of living cadavers. And, much to Death’s dismay, the first person to have ever fought back so persistently had become one of them. The hotel reconstructed itself in an instant, and it was as if nothing ever happened, with the exception of a new permanent guest living within the old building.

Much was learned that day. Everyone living within Gregory House, plus the house itself, were immortal. If Gregory and his mother were ever to be thwarted, someone would have to be willing to do what Gregory’s new sister could not, for the hotel itself was likely tied to the existence of one’s fears and doubts. Given the nature of this dimension, Death had to wonder if making a self-sacrifice would even physically harm the person. Was it perhaps much like how his scythe’s blade separated one’s soul from reality?

An Ally

In the coming years, the questions built as Death kept an eye on the hotel and inspected it from afar. Due to his curse, he was hesitant to come near the place to do any investigating of his own. Day in, day out, all he could do was watch between his rounds. Nothing seemed to change until an oddity occurred unprompted.

Right before his very eyes, the tormented cat who gave Gregory the most trouble appeared out of thin air, floating in the space he called home. It was a perplexing ordeal for the both of them, but after conversing for a time, they discovered Neko Zombie had fallen asleep, a rarity for him, and was somehow projected to the Lost World in his dreams. Why? He was the only resident who remembered his past life, and was the only one who had been an animal, no less. While he had grown more aggressive due to his cruel treatment, his soul remained uncorrupted and pure.

Neither had spoken before, but they could both tell they had the same goal. If Gregory House was to fall, they would have to work together – one being an outsider who could make a path to reality, and the other being an insider with knowledge on the hotel and its guests. Thus, the two discussed a potential plan for the future.

Soul Collector

Death and Neko Zombie’s plan came into effect on a fateful night where a pair of extraordinary humans arrived at Gregory House. They were twins, a boy and a girl, by the names of Hiroshi and Hiroko. Not long after they had been given a room, Neko Zombie yowled for their attention and let them in on the details once they unlocked his cell and entered.

Both were in disbelief of what the mangled cat told them to do: to collect lost souls from the monstrous-looking guests and bring them to Death himself. In truth, they were originally meant to steal from Gregory Mama, but an accident of James’s doing sent many souls out into the halls, which were caught by multiple residents who would be much easier to deal with. Neko Zombie did not tell them anything about the true boss and omitted anything related to her from his explanation, for their sakes.

None of this made sense to the twins, and they thought they were just having a vivid nightmare. Regardless, they followed his instructions to go to bed and it soon became clear that they were not dreaming.

To their horror and amazement, the grim reaper himself did appear to them in their dreams. Sporting a rather goofy voice and personality, so as not to frighten them, Death explained that while the front door used to be kept unlocked, it had been latched in recent days to prevent complications with newer human guests. If they were to escape, they needed the power of the souls they would gather to force it open. Death detested the idea of putting two kids in danger, but they were already doomed the moment they stepped through those double doors.

Over the past several days the two had stayed at the hotel, Death learned about them more and more each time they visited him. Hiroshi was the quieter, more self-conscious of the two, and was more suited to tasks which required sneaking and gathering intel. Hiroko was far more energetic and reckless, which made her the designated risk-taker and runner. Of the two, the latter was the one who was injured the most by the guests, and needed Death to heal her frequently. Luckily, the souls they gave him could do just that.

Although Hiroshi and Hiroko had to trick the guests in order to secure the souls, they were actually good kids and did not deserve to be placed here, much like many others in the past. Whenever they spoke, the two were nothing but respectful and thankful to Death (although Hiroko was much more informal). It was a strange and new feeling for the reaper, to be able to speak with people so frequently and be seen as a friend. Their smiles were something he found himself wanting to protect, even more so when they eventually opened up to him about their past.

The reason they had ended up in this hellish limbo was due to the abuse and neglect of their parents, which they told Death about towards the end of their journey. It broke his heart to learn of this, and brought him great concern regarding their futures. He had to ask himself, “What would become of them, once they return to reality?”

Death constantly worried and fretted over this on the final day. No matter the outcome, he was afraid they would never be happy. Either their souls would be consumed, or they would go back to living a life where they were unwanted. He sincerely wished there was another option, perhaps even to care for them himself, but that was impossible. Being what he was, and living where he was, they would not survive.

Matters only worsened when it became apparent his and Neko Zombie’s plan had been found out. Not long after the souls were set loose to open the front doors, the entrance was immediately locked by none other than Gregory Mama herself, who awaited the kids’ arrival. They were captured and imprisoned downstairs, which spurred Neko Zombie to act and free them. The last thing he could do was give some final words of encouragement before they went out to face the wicked witch.

A boss battle was not what they were expecting to end things off with in the slightest, although Hiroko was pretty jazzed about it. Together, they outsmarted Gregory Mama into busting the doors open and made their escape. Gregory, in a last-ditch effort, shed his usual form and chased after them, attempting to coax them back by reminding them of the lives they ran away from.

They refused to listen, and met Death at the gateway to reality, which he opened for them. Heartfelt goodbyes were shared, and the reaper was pulled into a hug from them both, catching him off-guard. It hurt, knowing he had to let them go. Was this how friends usually felt, when they had to say farewell?

Two last things were bestowed upon him before the twins were to leave. As a parting gift, they gave him two handkerchiefs: one blue and striped, like the shirt Hiroshi wore, and one pink with a flower pattern on it, much like the design on Hiroko’s shirt. They thanked Death for everything he had done, and told him to thank Neko Zombie as well.

And thus, Hiroshi and Hiroko went on home, hoping that, together, they could tackle reality with the confidence they had gained over the course of their stay at Gregory House. Death, too, had held this hope in his very own soul…

Reality

Death really wanted it to end differently, for once. For a human guest or two to return home and never look back. Those kids were tough, he assured himself, and as the days passed, his fear dwindled.

But it was not to be. His hopes were betrayed the moment they stepped through those doors again.

He could not bear it, watching history repeat itself. An overwhelming agony overtook him, as, not long after they entered, their shapes shifted. They became a pair of what were infamously known as Trap Mice to the residents of the hotel, which were robotic mice programmed to attack whatever drew near to them – including their own kind.

In an act of unintentional mercy, it did not come to that. They were immediately shut down and stowed away in the hotel’s basement, where they would gather dust forever. To Gregory and his family, it was a fitting punishment for a “no-good pair of troublemakers,” who had caused them the most grief out of any human guest.

The fate of Hiroshi and Hiroko left a deep scar in Death’s psyche. It happened so quickly, yet it still haunts him to this day. Forcing himself to carry on, he takes care of his work and strives to save as many souls as he can without being hindered, though there are times when he cannot help but sit there, brooding over the closest friends he ever had.

They were gone, just like that. And he feels could have done something to stop it.

#gregory horror show #ghs #Death #Hiroshi #Hiroko #Headcanon Timeline #suicide mention #abuse tw #neglect tw

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therealtsk · 1 year

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A Review of Redfall, by an Old Arkane Fan

Alright, introductions: Hi! I’ve played through Redfall twice- finished the main campaign both co-op and solo, and I’ve done a fair majority of the side missions. As a long time fan of Arkane’s games (Dishonored mega fan, replayed the entire series more times then I can count), I thought it might be fun to write up my general thoughts on Redfall. I want to start with some things I enjoyed, list some things I didn’t, and then detail some hopes for the possible future of the game. For the short and quick of it, I had a good time both playthroughs of the game! In it’s current state, I think it’s somewhere around a six outta ten for me. It has a lot- a lot of flaws, but if you’re with a buddy or if you’re just in the mood for a funky action-horror looter shooter, it’ll entertain you well enough.

For the purposes of clarity, this is a review both aimed at the general consumer and at the developers, so if y’all could boost this, I’d really appreciate it!

To begin with, the positives: Characters

I’ve only gotten to enjoy half of the main cast (I played Jacob, my friend played Layla) but I’m already in love with them. The VA’s did a great job with what they got, Jacob’s in particular. I’m used to these kinds of looter-shooters (and honestly Arkane games in general, no offense) to being a bit light on character interaction, and while I did hear a few voice lines more times then I would have liked, there’s some genuine charm in here. Jacob’s surrogate big brother vibes and general background gave some real emotional heft to parts of the main campaign, particularly to one mission where you recover a young girl’s toy bear. His speech at the end was enough to get me properly invested in taking down the boss of the first half of the game, and a few of his interactions with Layla showed a very sweet dynamic starting to grow— I’ll talk about this more at the end, but I earnestly hope that they add more lines to the game fostering the adoptive family energy I was getting. From what I’ve seen of Devinder and Remi, it looks like they got the main cast right. As for the side characters, they’re not as fully realized as I would want them to be, but they’re generally likable enough that you want to do their respective missions. My only regret is that once you do a mission that hooks Bob up to the radios in the safehouses, his voice starts to get more than a little grating, especially towards the end of the game— but you can turn the radios off, so it’s not that big of a deal.

Core Gameplay

Putting the wonkiness of the AI aside, the movement and gunplay of this game provides a solid foundation for the experience. Not having a movement penalty when reloading after so many games implementing that is a breath of fresh air, sliding is fast and practical in combat, three out of four characters provide movement-based abilities that offer a ton of dynamic approaches to combat— great stuff! The guns themselves all feel generally fun and satisfying to use, with one exception. Particular shout out to the reloads of shotguns and sniper rifles for having appropriately crunching sound design.

Environmental Storytelling

While I have some…Thoughts on the main narrative, you can really feel Arkane’s touch when it comes to the subtler elements of the story in the world itself. Particularly in solo play, the game’s environments have this wonderful ability to balance the kind of bombastic, make-with-the-chaos style dialogue with some genuine suspense and horror. I don’t want to spoil the experience for anyone so I’ll be vague, but there’s one Underboss in the first half of the game which had such excellent build up that I ended up getting legitimately unnerved exploring his area. There’s a few other side quests in the game that also feature a fantastic combination of both written notes and visual/auditorial details to make the breath catch in your lungs as you put the pieces together.

Out of the entire game, this is the part where I could hear the echo of previous entries in Arkane’s repository, singing out of the past.

Now, onto a few issues I have with the game. I want to keep the tone generally positive, so I'm going to list a few suggestions for potential fixes to these issues when I bring them up. That said, let’s get into it.

Enemy Difficulty and Variety

So, you all knew this one was coming. I’m gonna break this up into subcategories per enemy type since each one has problems, but to start, the enemies in this game are just not smart enough and not plentiful enough, especially in co-op, where my friend and I both clearly felt as if there were remarkably less enemies when we played together versus when we played solo. There needs to be more enemies throughout the entire campaign and throughout every area. As for enemy intelligence, cultists remained an almost non-threat for the entire game with how slow they are to respond to you, and Bellwether soldiers were only even a mild danger when they brought turrets and I didn’t have a sniper rifle on me to deal with them. Even the vampires seemed to be a bit unaware in general, although they’re definitely better balanced with regards to threat level and variety than the other enemies in the game.

Okay, now for specific enemy type issues/potential changes:

Cultists either need to be reduced in quantity or given more distinction— perhaps berserker-type enemies that become tankier/faster upon ingesting blood but become melee focused, or members that try and sneak up behind you to deal massive damage (these could be very thematically relevant in Miss Whisper’s faction, using her fog to their advantage.) Maybe give them different weapons in general? Like bows or throwing knives that can do bleed damage over time. In areas they control, perhaps have old fashioned traps disguised in the trees, snares that limit mobility, hidden bear traps. Something to flavor them differently from Bellwether, because as of right now, they fight fundamentally the same.

For Bellwether, adding perhaps mini-gun wielding enemies with bullet-resistant armor could encourage the usage of more environmental hazards or esoteric weapons, like the Flare Gun to blind them, or using the Stake Launcher to damage the weapon itself. Another potential mini-boss-esque enemy type could be Electrucitioners, Bellewether ops who’re using Devinder-inspired tech to create zones of electric discharge to hamper the player’s superior mobility— they throw stakes as their only ranged attack, and otherwise try to get in close and zap you. For Vampires, I’d almost say that on top of just increasing the spawn locations and rates in general, there needs to be some kind of invisible system in place where the longer you’re out in the open, especially if you’re making noise, the more vampires descend upon you. Even during solo play, the districts feel too empty— the town is being occupied by these monsters, and I think adding something like that would really increase the sense of player tension where you don’t wanna be outside of designated safe zones for too long, or more and more will descend upon you, whittling down your resources until you trigger a Rook with little ammo to spare. I think there’s enough subtypes of Vampires for now (although I think siphons could afford to look a little more visually distinct from the regular ones), but I wouldn’t say no to something similar to a less tanky Rook or a stalker type enemy that can follow you across the map, ambushing you when you’re not expecting it.

In summation and at bare minimum, the AI needs to be patched to just be more aware and responsive overall, and far more vampires need to be placed throughout the entire campaign— if possible, adding more variations to the human enemies would make encounters focused on them feel less dull and repetitive.

Weapon Drops

This one is another problem of variety and quantity. While I don’t personally believe I’ve seen every possible weapon drop in the game, the fact is that by the time I was halfway through the main campaign, after done every side mission, Safehouse quests, and Rook encounter I could get my hands on, I didn’t find a properly new weapon until near the last mission. As far as I can tell, there are six assault rifles, maybe seven shotguns, five handguns, two UV-beams, five sniper rifles, four stake launchers, and maybe four flare guns. Oh, and out of those categories, only rifles, shotguns, pistols get non-character specific uniques— and chances are you’ll have seen multiple copies of all of them before you even get to the second half of the main mission. For a game that marketed itself as something of a looter-shooter, this is far too small of a pool. It loses the ability to get you excited about what you might get from killing a tough enemy or completing a mission far too early. Once I hit the mid to late game missions, I think I kept the same weapons the entire time, only switching out when I ran into a copy that had slightly higher stats because I simply hadn’t found anything I hadn’t already tried before.

Short of it is, more weapons need to be added to the roster, ideally variations on preexisting weapons that change up the usual way you use them, especially with regards to legendaries (and frankly, the legendaries themselves could use buffs in general). As a final note, flare guns. Throughout my entire two run throughs, I could not find a situation in which a flare gun would be a better pick than any other weapon type. I’d love to hear feedback from other people on this one because maybe I missed something.

Main Campaign Narrative

So, sadly, this can’t really be patched, which is why I’m going to spend the least amount of time on it because…the main story is just kind of not…great. It’s not bad, but it’s at once too short and also way too meandering. Anticlimactic, would be the way I’d put it. Aside from the opening segment, there’s no proper cutscenes, which I’m actually fine with— except for the fact that after you eliminate every penultimate boss, there’s this big speech by your character about how they’ve “played right into the Black Sun’s hands, and now it’s Extra Dangerous Outside” but there’s no cutscene or any ensuing gameplay event to show that, leaving me with an an acute feeling of “um, what?”

In that specific case, I think maybe some kind of section after all of the Gods have been taken out, having a moment where you emerge from the Nest only for the sky to turn red, and maybe a rook drops on you and you can’t fast travel, and then there’s this very haunting, intense run back to a safe zone with the Black Sun gloating at you about how now she can take all of Redfall for herself, with loads more enemies. Maybe have a general threat increase in the overworld if there’s still side missions left for the player to do, or perhaps a chance to return to the first map and see that new Underbosses have cropped up in different locations.

Then there’s the bit with The Carnival, which again just feels very sudden and anticlimactic. You meet the new NPC, you go into three nests in what feel like random locations that are weirdly lacking in enemies, collect three things and then…final boss time? Really? Nothing more to do with this fairly pivotal character?

It’s just kind of a shame, really— given how much legitimately good narrative stuff there is in smaller, more environmental parts of the game, the main campaign’s narrative is ultimately the writing equivalent of a plain piece of toast. It’s not bad, but there’s just not a whole lot there, and after eating it for a bit, you wish that there was more flavor and substance on it.

Hopes for the Future

So, to avoid ending this on a downer note, I wanna talk about some hopes I have for this game's future.

First of that being: communication from the dev team! As far as I know, it’s been pretty much radio silence. Devs, y’all gotta talk to us! Let us know what’s going on, even if it’s not great news. Good communication is a cornerstone for the longevity of any game like this.

Secondly: I dearly do hope that more patches are on the way, because I honestly think this game could go from being a 6/10 all the way up to an 8/10 with some general fixes. Ultimately, every major problem I think exists aside from the story is very fixable, and with the right tweaks/additions, I think would get general consensus of the game turned around. If someone like me can have fun with the game in a not great place, I think lots more can have fun with it once it’s been given a little love and attention

Thirdly: With regards to the DLC, I think that releasing them is still the right move, and could even be used to help shore up the game’s admittedly short run time depending on what they had in mind. I definitely think there’s room here to add more to do in general.

In one big summation: I had fun with the game both co-op and solo, even in it’s current state! I think the characters, core gameplay, and environmental storytelling are great. The enemies and loot system could use some work, and the main campaign story is nothing to write home about. I hope to hear more from the dev team, see more patches, and look forwards to what the DLC could do for the game. That’s all. Have a good one!

#redfall #arkane #bethesda #gaming #review #tsk talks #minor spoilers

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nettlestingsoup · 2 years

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Hi morgan <33333 hope you're doing well :D

1,2,5,6,8,9,17,18,30,31,38,44,49 for the fanfic writer asks <333

hi evy! i'm doing ok! looking forward to getting some rest over christmas!

1 and 8: answered here for honey!

2: answered here for fien!

5: i’ve been writing stories in general since i was about six? my sister started writing stories, and obviously i had to copy her, and then i just... never stopped. i started writing fic in 2018 sometime when i met my stay friends at uni! it was a nice way to bond with them while we were still getting to know each other, and they’re now some of the few people i trust to show my writing to when it’s unfinished and imperfect.

6: writing has done a lot of good work for my mental health, i think! it encourages me to look inwards and consider why i’m writing the themes i am or just gives me an outlet for bad emotions rather than turning them inwards. it’s done wonders for my confidence over the years, too; i think it’s something that even i can’t deny that i’m fairly good at, and it’s good to have that when my brain tries to tell me that i’m mediocre at everything.

9: i’m terrible with writing to deadlines, so not really. i might set deadlines for editing, but my writing is often so unpredictably long that i couldn’t write to a deadline if i tried (the thing i tried to write in time for my friend’s birthday? it might be done by her next birthday. in october 2023. maybe.)

17: i love fantasy AUs as a whole really, but i’m always drawn to vampire AUs! the only reason i haven’t written one of my own is because i think there are far too many good ones, and i worry that i wouldn’t be able to come up with something unique enough to match up.

18: i really love writing seungchan? i think it’s partially that they’re my favourite members to write, and partially that they’re the members who can often come across as most serious (although they’ve both been silly in interviews lately) and so i feel like i can put them in slightly darker stories. seungbin and jeongchan are creeping up the list though.

30: the hardest part of writing happens once i’m about 80% of the way through a story; i’ve done most of the fun worldbuilding by that point, and most of the very emotional scenes have to give way to Actual Plot before i can write an emotional ending. it’s the point in a fic where i’m most likely to get bored and have to drag myself through the writing process.

31: big descriptive scenes! i love sitting and describing things, it’s a wonderful exercise in creativity and it allows me to set a scene really well. i love the experience of choosing which words to use to set the tone of a story; i’d describe the same forest using very different wording in a faerie fantasy au to a horror fantasy au for example, and it comes very naturally to me to just sit and set the scene before any pesky characters or dialogue get involved.

38: all the time! occasionally i get nostalgic for my own concepts, or reminded of them by friends or ao3 comments, and i’ll reread sections or whole fics then. it sounds a little arrogant, but sometimes my own fics are the only ones that scratch the itch for very specific content in my brain. it makes sense, i suppose. i wrote them exactly to my own taste, after all.

44: i tend to write linear these days! i’ll definitely plan future scenes (with the orchid, for example, i’d been waiting for weeks to get to the scene where minho admits he’d deactivate his own emotional processor if seungmin got hurt) but i tend to leave them hanging there as incentive to write the scenes leading up to them.

49: i guess the writing advice i’d give is to not be afraid of being a little bit weird? just genuinely write how you want to write, not in a way you think is good or that people will like. i find writing a lot more fun and fulfilling when i let myself use the bizarre metaphors and odd descriptors that i actually want to, rather than worrying that people won’t like or understand it.

thank you for asking these! they were a lot of fun; this ask game actually has a lot of really good ones. <3

#asks #evyfm #one day i might write a proper vampire au #it's just about finding something unique to write #i have a draft one but i needs a lot of editing in terms of worldbuilding #there was also a minchan concept i had but the base concept wasn't angsty enough #i need to make it more painful for everyone involved and then it might work #writing #ao3 author #fanfic

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esonetwork · 1 year

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Sherrilyn Kenyon loves Dragon Con just as much as you do

New Post has been published on http://esonetwork.com/sherrilyn-kenyon-loves-dragon-con-just-as-much-as-you-do/

Sherrilyn Kenyon loves Dragon Con just as much as you do

by Jen “Lil’ Bit” Schleusner

I had the pleasure of chatting a bit with Sherrilyn Kenyon while at this year’s Dragon Con. A beloved staple guest, she also began attending con as many of us do – as an attendee and then later, a track volunteer.

Q: I was wondering if you could speak to how you feel about how there’s just such this great big love for you here at Dragon Con and the stories that you tell.

A: Oh, because I grew here in Georgia, near the airport, and I attended Dragon Con many, many times. Because I grew up here, I never thought, I mean – I was what, I think I was number one on the New York Times – but they’re like, you should apply to be a guest. I was like, oh yeah, cuz I volunteered and I’ve done all kinds of stuff with Dragon Con until then. So I’m like, yeah, that’d be nice to have that badge. I think it shocked them, even though I grew up down in Riverdale with Titan Comics and I used to go in there all the time as a 14, 15 year old kid. And yeah, it, it’s been amazing to watch it grow and to be on this side of the table was so weird.

Q: You said you used to volunteer – what departments did you volunteer in?

A: Oh with Nancy Knight, I’ve known her since the 80s, so when she started doing writer’s track, when Storm Constantine was doing the horror track – whatever they needed, I’d be happy to do.

Q: I know you obviously enjoy horror and vampires, Greek mythology, all that. What were some of your favorite stories, either from the past or favorite movies, favorite properties?

A: Oh god, There’s so many…

Q: Or do you have any new favorites?

A:Oh, my new, okay. My shameful thing, Cocaine Bear. Oh my God, I’ve not laughed so hard in a movie. I wish my mother was still alive because she would so love Cocaine Bear. Oh, the Pope’s Exorcist was actually pretty good.

Q: I just watched that a few months ago. I was surprised how good it was.

A: Yeah, I was not expecting it. So yeah, that was a really good one too. And I just found a new one that was recommended to me on a panel that I’ve got to see – Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. Yeah, cuz I made a joke: “I want to write a really slasher Winnie the Pooh book” and they said “oh, it’s been done.” I’m like, what? Okay, well I won’t do it, but I’ll go watch it.

Q: Remember the very first time you were on the New York Best with your book? That feeling that you had then, do you still get that one over your books?

A: Oh yeah. When they first come out it’s like, “oh, my book!” – Yeah, no, that has not, thankfully, ever gone away. But interestingly enough, I was coming from here going home. I lived in Tennessee when I hit the New York Times and I got the call from my editor and we were at a gas station, and so we got out of the car and we were dancing around. Everybody’s looking at us! I still do my ugly spooky dance. And my son’s funny because like “I can’t believe you’re still like, look, it’s a real book!”

Q: What do you think about the technology side of the writing now?

A: I love it and I hate it like everything else. Interestingly enough, I was the first New York published author to do an ebook back in the nineties, and I remember having discussions with my publisher where he’s like“eBooks will never, it’s not going to be a thing”. And I worked IT at the time – I’m telling you buddy, watch out. They’re going to take us over now two years later he’s like, “God, they’re like 80% of sales.” Remember the discussion we had.

Q: I’ve read a lot of books – whether they’re written by men or women where they’ll describe a sex scene. But usually I’m just like, this doesn’t seem realistic or this doesn’t speak to me and I just want to gloss over those scenes. I don’t find it believable. But the way that you write intimate scenes to me, the details – It makes sense for those characters and it’s believable and I don’t want to skip over those scenes.

A: Well, and to me, not all of them have scenes in them. So it really depends on the book. It depends on the couple. And yeah, like you said, it’s not like part A goes into part B. To me, it needs to come from the characters and each one has their own rhythm that they do. It just depends.

Q: It’s honest. They’re honest scenes and it’s really easy to tell when it’s not written, honestly.

A: Well, everything when I’m writing is from the character, so if it doesn’t feel natural for the character, it’s on the cutting room floor. I want y’all to love the characters – I don’t even care if my name’s on the book. Just love the Characters..

Q: Archeron, Julian, Grace, Simi, love them all. So well-written that you can see each character that you’ve written.

A: The funny thing is, I really don’t describe the characters that much. One to me was the biggest compliment I got was, “your characters are ethnically invisible.” I’m like, but I do that because I want whoever’s reading the book

Q: To be identified.

A: Yeah, you put what you want. And if it’s important, like Ash’s eyes, I will explain that. But the rest of it, I may say it once, if you pick it up good and if you don’t – because I would rather the reader be able to insert, what to me, it’s such a great relationship with readers because their imagination, it’s the greatest tool. And so I give ’em just enough to let them fill in a lot of the details.

Q: Well, and there’s so many times where if somebody puts too many details, then you’re just like, okay, yep, there’s okay 20 pages telling me what the forest looks like or what somebody’s outfit looks like and now I’m no longer invested.

A: A good example of that’s Bride or Brida, but everybody calls her Bride, so I do too. She’s a heavy character. I have a lot of characters who are heavy women, like Elena, Sunshine, Grace – is not small, but they don’t harp on it. Someone like me, I’m like, oh my God, I’m so big -I slipped on a copperhead and I shocked it. I know the Copperhead went back and said, “lemme tell you, I was minding my own business. I was comfortable in this house. A big old woman came and stepped on my head.”

Q: With the character Asher, was that based on somebody you knew personally from the past?

A: No, I mean the characters, there are pieces of me in every character because that would be completely disingenuous to say, “no, they’re not.” We write what we know. But no, I really tend not to do that. The only character that really resembles somebody is Bubba, an homage to my older brother who passed. But yeah, normally the characters are just the characters.

Q: Do you like writing about the holiday season?

A: I do and I want to do more. We’ve got “Hebrew For the Holidays” coming out, which is some of my old stories being republished. Ironically, I was talking to my editor today about doing a Nick Christmas book, so we’re hoping to do that. And I want to do a semi Christmas with Simi.

Q: I could see her just bouncing around and harassing Santa.

A: So Much fun , handing out barbecue and oven mitts to everybody.

Q: Going by and lighting Christmas trees on fire.

A: There you go, “I was trying to help it”

Find out more information about Sherrilyn and her career at: https://www.sherrilynkenyon.com

#Author #Chronicles of Nick #Dark Hunters #Dragon Con #dragon con 2023 #ESO #ESO Network #interview #Lil' Bit #Sherrilyn Kenyon #Urban Fantasy #writer

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oysteringofclamelot · 3 years

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A Lesser-Spotted DinLuke Rec List

Hi!

I’ve noticed a lot of requests for fic recs lately (I know I’ve been wanting some!), but it seems like it’s always the same few getting recommended, and while I agree with those being good, I’ve already read those, and it feels like others have too.

So I set out on a little foraging quest with a few parameters laid down, in order to make a rec list that didn’t feature any stories that I’ve seen recommended before.

Those rules were:

1. Completed fics only – this was for my sake as I didn’t want to be left wanting as I read these.

2. None of these were written by my friends, nor by me. I purposefully chose authors with whom I’ve never interacted, or at the very least, people whose Ao3 names I do not know. This list is based purely on the fic itself.

3. No toxicity. No dark!character, no “possessive” behaviour, no SA, no rape, none of that. None. I don’t tolerate it.

4. This is not an absolute list – and I urge you to take a deep dive into the tag. Want to avoid the Nasty Stuff? Here’s the link to the search I used, with the exclusions I used.

5. Sorry, I didn’t rec fics that just aren’t for me and my preferences, again though, I urge you to take a look! There’s lots of treasures to be found!

6. THIS IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST IN ANY WAY! Go explore! Give some love to lesser-known fanfiction authors!

(Authors, if you don’t want to be on this list, please let me know, and I’ll remove you)

And now, my findings (under the cut):

5k and Under

Consultation – Jestana, G, 320 words, Pre-relationship, canon-divergence, discussions of the Force, short, sweet.

Devise – Rivulet027, T, 1k, pre-relationship, pining, crushes, discussions of being a Jedi, soft

Sunrise – Eccentric_Grace, G, 1k, fluffy, small hurt lots of comfort, Luke has PTSD, Din helps, very soft, very gentle, well written

Pink like the sun going down, maybe – SunshineAndaLittleFlour, T, 1.5k, Modern-AU, humour, slice of life, short but sweet

Organ Chords and Lightening – this_is_too_fyucking_much, T, 1k, Canon-divergence, sexual tension, competency is sexy, sparring, UST

bowie in the morning sun – bespokebones, T, 4k, Modern-AU, campy horror, mark Din down as scared and horny

the body was made soft to keep us from loneliness – torrents, G, 5k, Character study, canon-divergence, absolutely beautifully written

6 – 10k

My Pain Fits in the Palm of Your Freezing Hand (Taking Mine) – Acespacedweller, G, 6k, Angsty, tbobf ep 6 feelings, Grogu’s choice, and whether he really has to make one.

Imposter Syndrome – motherofcorgis, G, 6k, Pre-relationship, crushes, self-doubt, what it means to be Luke Skywalker

winning love by daylight – sinkburrito, T, 9k, Sailor-Moon-esque AU, a delightful read, very fun, a little angst, action

Over 10k

I have made this place around you – HeadOn_HelmetOff, T, 25k, Falling in Love, a little angst, pining, meet-cute, soft

The Way – 1am1ronman, M, 33k, Canon-divergence, Lightsaber training, beautifully developed relationship, Din Djarin Keeps the Helmet, (This is absolutely wonderful, a true gem)

As stated above, this is in no way an exhaustive list, but I hope it provides a starting point for those who want to find more DinLuke, but are wary of where to look, or simply are overwhelmed by all the possible choices.

If you’re concerned about coming across works that are consistently untagged, incorrectly tagged, or cover subjects you dislike, I’ll direct you here to a post about how to block things on Ao3 using site skins.

#dinluke #din x luke #skydalorian #dinluke fic recs #oysterspeaks #oyster read a lot #not a complete list #please share this if you're looking for fics #Me: Do you ever wonder if you're in too deep?#Also me: Yeah but that's not stopped me yet #fanfiction recommendations

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the-kaedageist · 3 years

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If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably seen that I began writing the sequel to “More Things in Heaven and Earth” (aka Tusk Love) a few weeks ago, and it has transformed from the projected 10k word one-shot to another novel-length beast (I currently have 56k words and counting). Here are some snips if you want to see what I’ve been working on!

In honor of the fact that I’ve been teasing my Twitter followers with this fic for the entire month of February so far, I wanted to post an excerpt from the first chapter. I hope you enjoy! This takes place about a month after the events of my previous fic.

Please note: this excerpt will NOT make sense unless you’ve read More Things in Heaven and Earth, and it contains heavy spoilers for that story!

More Things in Heaven & Earth 2, aka 2 Tusk 2 Love

Bren started with Thelyss, as Widogast had suggested.

Thelyss’s towers in Rosohna were easy enough to sneak into with scourger training; Bren teleported in and disabled several magical traps, waiting in his study for the man himself to return. It was approaching early evening, not that anyone could tell in that ridiculous ever-night of a city. Bren poked around Thelyss’s bookshelves, discovered a tome about parallel universes written in Sylvan that caught his eye, and slipped it from the shelf, scanning through the contents and then the index to see if it covered any topics related to his most unusual adventures.

He hadn’t seen Thelyss since Caleb Widogast had dropped into his life. He presumed that he was busy in Rosohna with his duties and such. He’d messaged Bren once, in the middle of a dunamancy lesson from his alternate self, and Bren had frozen and let the sending fall away without a response. He hadn’t said a word to his own version of Thelyss about what had transpired during those strange few days, and now he arrived there to find that he already had a book on the very topic?

The book was titled “A Treatise on Parallel Realities”, and it was old and cracked down the spine. Bren carefully opened it to the chapter on ‘forms of alternate worlds’ and was greeted with heavy Sylvan prose – was this book pre-Calamity? – outlining various theories of how parallel worlds could operate. He was particularly fascinated by the concept that an infinite multiverse would contain endless possibilities, and he traced the graceful handwriting with his finger on the page, thinking about doppelgangers and dead parents and a world with more horror than he could imagine.

“What are you doing here?” an accented voice snapped, startling Bren from his reading. He looked up and found Thelyss lurking in the doorway, his spine as straight and his expression as imperious as it always was until Bren took him apart a few times first. “And why are you going through my things?”

Bren licked his lips. After not seeing Thelyss for a month, he looked good - those cheekbones, the soft curl of hair down one side of his face, his ears decked out with all manner of silver jewelry and cuffs. Bren wondered for a moment if Widogast’s version of Thelyss was as much of a peacock; he’d been in the body of a half-orc at the time, which had made it much harder to tell. But Bren also felt a strange sort of echo when he looked at Thelyss, like he was stretching across existence to connect with two other, very different, versions of themselves.

“I need to speak with you,” Bren said, feeling his cheeks flush as he drew himself to standing. “About something that happened last month.”

Thelyss walked like a predator, all long lines and angles. He approached with his eyes narrowed, not bothering to hide the way he was looking Bren up and down despite his annoyance. He moved until he was standing very close, so close that Bren could feel the heat of him. “Then speak,” he murmured.

Bren leaned into him, surprising both of them with his eagerness as he tried to lean down for a kiss. Thelyss stepped back, pressing the palm of his hand against Bren’s mouth to block him, not losing his cool at all. “I thought you came here to talk,” he said pointedly.

Bren rolled his eyes. Thelyss was so dramatic all the time. “If you do not wish to hear about my experience with a version of myself from another reality, I can leave,” he said snidely.

Thelyss froze, his beautiful eyes wide. “Another reality?” he repeated, his gaze flicking to the book that rested beneath Bren’s palm. His expression turned into a glower. “You’re lying.”

“I never lie to you, Thelyss,” Bren said, and it was meant to be a jest – of course they were both lying, all the time, to everyone around them – but something in it was a little too true for his liking. The words hung in the air between them.

Thelyss stepped away and moved to the other side of the small table, seating himself and facing Bren squarely. “Speak,” he said.

So Bren swallowed and spoke. He told Thelyss about the mysterious visitors, the letter written in his own hand that had appeared at Astrid’s tower (he’d gaped at it, insisting it had to be fake while Astrid and Wulf scried on the little bard who had delivered it). He told him about Widogast, how he was all sad eyes and horrifying silences, how he’d distrusted him from the start, (resenting the fact that he was chained to the Assembly while Widogast was free to roam Wildemount with his mercenaries). He opened his mouth to tell him about ‘Oskar’, actually Thelyss’s own double, and then the words caught in his throat. He hadn’t considered how much he actually wanted to share.

“So Widogast taught us dunamancy to send him home,” he concluded, leaving quite a bit out, “but before he left, he told me something.” Bren glanced down at the book in front of him, running his fingers over the page with centuries-old knowledge on parallel worlds. “He told me to collect his eight friends, that the nine of us would save each other more than we’d ever know.” Finally, he focused on Thelyss’s face; he listened passively, showing no expression and wearing his court face. “And one of them was you.”

Thelyss was clearly not expecting that. He blinked, puzzled, and then said the word, “friends?” in such a befuddled tone that Bren wondered if he even socialized with anyone other than himself.

“Yes, Thelyss,” Bren said. “Friends? Companions? People you can trust and rely on? Surely you have such things in the Dynasty as well.”

Thelyss rolled his eyes. “Yes, we have friends here,” he said scathingly.

“Then why did you say ‘friends’ like it was some sort of foreign word?” Bren asked, peering up at him. “Do you have any friends, Thelyss?”

“I know many people,” said Thelyss, which was not an answer. He was utterly hopeless. Bren honestly didn’t know why he liked him so much.

“Well, I will be your friend,” said Bren, and Thelyss gave him the most withering look he’d earned yet.

“You are an enemy agent and we are…dallying,” he said. “You’re not my friend.”

Bren thought about Widogast and his own Thelyss, the way they’d supported each other, the clear love that shone between them in every interaction. How almost disgustingly sappy they’d been together, but also how Thelyss had been deeply protective and fiercely loyal. He wanted that, he realized as he stared across the table at a foreign version of the same man. He loved Astrid and Wulf, and that hadn’t changed, but he also wanted…this.

Thelyss wasn’t going to be easy to win over. He was like a cat – proud, utterly autonomous, and always needing everything to be his own idea. Bren would have to coax him, similar to how he’d befriended the stray cats that ran the streets of the Candles until they’d been willing to eat out of his hand and let him hold them.

“Fine,” said Bren. “We are not friends. You are right. Do you want to help me find these strangers?”

Thelyss gave him a flat look, and Bren knew immediately that he was going to turn him down. Panic welled up in him – how was he ever going to find these people and convince them to travel with him, to befriend him, if he couldn’t even succeed with Thelyss?

“You want me to…what, leave my post as the Shadowhand to follow an enemy agent on a wild goose chase?” Thelyss asked. “What exactly are you asking, Ermendrud?”

Bren studied him. What exactly was he asking? “Could you not take a leave of absence?” he asked. “Sabbatical?”

Thelyss rolled his eyes. “As a member of the Bright Queen’s court, I have commitments,” he said. “I cannot just go scurrying off on some sort of…” he waved his hand in the air, irritated, “adventure because I became bored one day.”

Bren leaned forward, trying to catch Thelyss’s eye; he refused to make eye contact with him. “But you are bored,” he said. “They ignore your talents, squander your brilliance. Nobody here respects you the way you’re meant to be respected, and they’re fools for it.”

Thelyss’s mouth was pressed into a thin line, clearly upset. “And how is that different from what you propose, Ermendrud?” he asked. “What can you give me that the Dynasty cannot? Do you happen to have a beacon in your back pocket?”

“I could get you one,” said Bren, and it must have come out too plaintive, too yearning, because Thelyss’s eyes widened and he finally, finally made eye contact once again. He really was beautiful; sometimes Bren just wanted to look at him.

“You could get me a beacon,” Thelyss repeated, his surprise very quickly shifting to skepticism.

Bren waved his hand flippantly. “Why does Da’leth need two? I bet with these new friends of ours, we could acquire one.”

“Do you even know that these people exist, in this universe?” Thelyss asked. “Or are we just going to go knocking on doors in the Empire until we stumble across the right ones?” Bren registered the ‘we’ in that statement and barely contained his grin. He had him.

“I attempted to scry on them,” he said. “But I only have their names so it was not very successful. However, Widogast provided their locations, so it should not be too difficult to find them.” Thelyss looked less than impressed, but that was his normal expression, so Bren didn’t take it too personally.

“So we have no idea where to start,” Thelyss said flatly. “We have to track down eight strangers because some alternate version of yourself said so, strangers who we have never met, who you cannot even scry on, who could be located Luxon knows where—” He cut himself off and massaged his temples as though all of this had given him an incredible headache. “You realize this sounds as though you have completely lost your mind.”

“Come on, Thelyss,” Bren said with an overdramatic eyeroll. “You know that both of us are miserable here. Why else would we have started,” he rolled his eyes again, “dallying?”

Thelyss gave him a flat look. “You think I only spend time with you because court bores me?”

“I knew court bored you,” said Bren triumphantly.

“That is—I am not—” Thelyss sputtered.

“Why don’t you tell the Bright Queen that you have a lead on one of the beacons and wish to pursue it yourself?” Bren suggested. “Surely she would spare you for such a task, and that would ensure that your position is here when you return.”

Thelyss studied him with pursed lips. “You are quite determined, I see,” he said at last. “I suppose I could manufacture a beacon-related excuse to do field work; that would be the easiest to cover. The problem is, what happens when I am scried upon and the Lens agents see me with you?”

Bren had anticipated this question. He dug into the bag of holding that was slung over his chair, pulling out a small box. “A good question. That is what this is for,” he said, handing it over; the box contained an identical Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location to the one that hung around his own neck, under his shirt and right against his heart.

Thelyss took the box across the table and opened it. He stared at the item inside, his expression unreadable.

“So,” said Bren conversationally. “When would you be ready to leave?”

#shadowgast #critical role #essek thelyss #caleb widogast #bren aldric ermendrud #my wips #my fics #tusk love: the behemoth #oh god I can't believe I'm using that tag again #snippets

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neonacity · 3 years

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LUCID | NCT DREAM ‘00 LINE X READER | CH.6

LUCID DREAMS - A TYPE OF DREAM WHEREIN THE PERSON IS AWARE THAT THEY ARE CAUGHT IN A DREAM WORLD.

Summary: It was supposed to be a harmless, professional transaction. You were to tutor a group of boys, get your pay at the end of the day, and go home to your loving fiance. Kids aren’t supposed to be dangerous, right? So why, then, are you caught up in a web of madness that slowly makes you feel like you’re in a living nightmare?

NOTE:This is a yandere plot featuring NCT Dream ‘00 line which means there will be mature themes in the story as well as obsessive, toxic behavior. If you’re a minor, please refrain from interacting. If this isn’t your thing, then just scroll and skip. In no way am I condoning anything written here— this is not love, this is obsession—nor do I think that any of the people mentioned here will act any way like in this story. This is purely a work of fiction.

Genre: yandere, horror, suspense

TW: abuse, obsessive behavior, toxic relationships, suggestive scenes, stalking, possible kidnapping, mental health. Age gap–though nothing dramatic. Everyone is of legal age, drugs, slight smut for this chapter but nothing graphic, questionable consent (?) I guess? Creepy, creepy, creepy! This will be updated as the story goes along.

CHAPTER 1 | CHAPTER 2 | CHAPTER 3 | CHAPTER 4 | CHAPTER 5

“EVERYONE HAS A DARKER NATURE. EVERYONE. GOOD MEN FEAR IT, AND EVIL MEN EMBRACE IT.” - JAMES ISLINGTON

The silent hum of the air conditioning filled the space like a foreboding chant. Nothing else but the sound of the hospital machinery and random noises outside pierced the stillness of the room as you stared, unseeing, at the green and orange numbers that blinked on the monitor above the bed.

You barely have any recollection of how you managed to find yourself in the hospital, but you do remember brief memories of Taeyong picking you up from the floor you found yourself crumpled on after you got the call. You remember seeing Jaehyun's parents at a brightly lit corridor and his mother pulling you into a hug as she broke down and his father telling you how his son hasn't woken up since he was brought to the emergency room.

You remember your heart breaking in shock, mind too numb from the godforsaken pills you have been taking and your own injury. So many times you wondered to yourself if you were still caught in one of your nightmares, but every time you tried to break free from it, you're slapped back with the reality of how all of this is real.

Your fingers gently tightened on Jaehyun's hands now as your gaze landed on his face. He looked so peaceful, like he's just sleeping, that you almost wanted to bend over and try to kiss him awake. You don't even have any idea what time and day it is already, but you have barely left his side since you were brought to him. The nightmares and sleeplessness? They're barely a problem for you anymore because right now, you're entirely not resting at all unless your body forces you to crash from physical exhaustion. Even then, you usually only sleep for about two to three hours at best to make sure that you never miss a moment with your fiance.

"Severe traumatic head injury. He was lucky enough that the airbag shielded him from the worst of the impact."

The words of his attending doctor echoed in your head again like a faraway voice. You could only remember bits and pieces of what he said to his parents back then as he reported his findings, but you caught enough context for you to draw a picture of the situation. You remember Jaehyun's mother asking the chances of her son waking up again, her voice barely holding up from her emotions.

"I cannot promise anything, Ma'm. I'd say he has a 60 percent chance. He's fighting."

And he is. You know Jaehyun inside out. He might be unconscious now, but there is no way he is giving up. Not from something like this.

"Keep fighting baby…" you whispered in the stillness of the room as you lifted his hand gently to your lips to kiss. "I'll wait for you. We still have a wedding to do."

The slight creaking of the door barely made you look away from his sleeping face. You only did at the gentle sound of a throat clearing, your eyes slightly widening as you recognized the man who just walked inside the room. Taeil had the same mildly shocked look on him as he stopped on the other side of the bed across from you.

"You…"

"Are you a relative of the patient?" He asked now as he tucked his clipboard under his arm. You simply nodded, watching him quickly glance at the numbers on the monitor before his eyes settled on you again.

"I'm his fiancee."

That made him raise his brows slightly. He pulled a pen now from the pocket of his coat to quickly write something on his file. "What a coincidence. Not a good one obviously. I'm sorry to hear about him. Mr. Jung, right?"

You swallowed. You didn't want to acknowledge anything that he just said so you tried to divert the conversation instead.

"You're not his doctor. Why are you…"

"Oh. He was turned over to me today. I am one of the resident neurologists here but he had to be moved to me because his first doctor has too much in his plate already. Don't worry, I was briefed properly about his case."

Your gaze followed Taeil as he bent over to check Jaehyun's oxygen level as well as the other wires attached to him. You don't know what to feel about him taking over, but at least you already know him previously.

"Are there any changes? Positive ones?" You asked in a frail voice that Taeil definitely didn't miss. You told yourself to not act silly and ask questions that probably do not have answers yet, but you couldn't help yourself now. The man seemed to think over his words first, noticing your state, before calmly giving his reply.

"No particular ones, but the fact that there are no negative developments is… something. I will have to request for some tests to be done on him again tomorrow so we can see if there are positive changes in his brain."

Neutral. Not good, but at least it's not bad either.

"How are you? I was about to check on you again. Is your head okay?"

You were still thinking over his words that you barely caught his question. Looking up, you tried to scramble for an answer to give. To be honest, you haven't given proper attention to your own injury since this happened. You would even only remember to take your medications on your clearest, less anxious moments, which, honestly, isn’t a lot.

"I'm uh… the wound has closed. But the headaches. They're still there."

He simply nodded. "Any other side effects?"

You didn't immediately answer. You didn't want to sound whiny, but it's not like you're going to lose anything by telling him the uglier parts of your recovery. You swallowed to try and dislodge the slight blockage in your throat.

"Nightmares…" you said now, voice soft. You briefly remembered the last one you had back in the manor before you woke up to the bad news and you felt your stomach turn again. "Lots of them. Hallucinations sometimes…"

The doctor watched you carefully and you know he is trying to compute things in his mind despite his face remaining calm.

"Have you been keeping to your schedule with your medications? Are you taking too much?"

You firmly shook your head no to his last question.

"No, I haven't been overdosing. But… I've been skipping my pills the last few days because of...because of this."

"How have you been feeling since you started missing your dosages then? Do you remember?"

That made you actually stop and think about it for a moment. Now that you are paying attention, you did notice how the nightmares have calmed down slightly. Even the hallucinations are almost gone. You frowned slightly to yourself.

"A bit… better actually."

Taeil took his time to observe you a bit more before writing something on a new page of his clipboard.

"You must have had severe reactions to the mixture of pills I gave you. I'm going to prescribe you new ones and ask the nurses to pick them up and bring them to you here. Can you promise that you'll try and take them though? You really need them to fully heal."

You nodded and gave him a slightly sheepish look.

"I will, thank you very much."

Taeil dug his hands into the pockets of his coat and gave you a gentle smile.

"Well, that's it for today. I'll come back tomorrow to give you updates about Mr. Jung." He had already turned and started walking away when he suddenly stopped to look at you again.

"Oh, and another thing. Please try and get some sleep. Recover… and then focus on helping your fiance."

******* You didn't really know what woke you up. Stirring from your sleep, the first thing that registered to you was the sound of distant traffic mixed with the gentle chirping of the morning birds from outside the window. A warm feeling radiated on your cheek and made the back of your eyelids glow red.

You flickered your eyes open and immediately rolled away to escape the ray of sunshine that slipped from the open curtains and shone directly at your face. You easily evaded it as you moved over to the other side of the bed which was empty and cold from the night before.

That was when you finally remembered that you were back in your home, in the same bedroom you share with Jaehyun. The day before, his mother offered to take the responsibility of watching over him so there was a sudden change of plans that finally gave you the reason to check back into your apartment after so long. If it were you, you would have preferred not leaving your boyfriend’s side until he wakes up, but you also knew that your future mother-in-law wanted to spend time with him so you relented.

Of course you weren't thrilled to be home alone, especially with Jaehyun not being there, but the comfort that a real mattress provided—over the small couch you used to sleep in back at the hospital—is definitely a welcome change for your body. You even tried to take your medicine properly, the new ones that Taeil had provided, in the hopes of getting knocked down fast. Your adrenaline and anxiety had been fueling you in the past days, but you know from the way your heart thumped and your hands shook that you need a solid rest.

And you got it. You still feel a little groggy now but your body is definitely lighter and your head clearer. The nightmares didn't even come, and while they were replaced by total darkness or dreams in white that still made you anxious, you are willing to take those anytime over the graphic ones that you used to have.

You gently sat back against the headrest of the bed now and reached out for your phone to check the time. It's barely 7AM but as expected, Jaehyun's mom has already provided you with updates from the hospital. He’ll have some tests taken today as Taeil advised and then they’ll hear more about his progress. From the looks of it, she seems still set on watching over her son, which means you still have at least today free to yourself.

You quickly typed a reply to her and sighed. You’re thankful that even though you weren’t related by blood, his parents have always treated you as if you were their own. Having a family is not something you’ve really experienced in your childhood, so that’s something you’ve always appreciated about them. That is also the reason why you wish for the best out of this situation, because you also couldn’t bear seeing your fiance’s mother and father heartbroken. He’s their only son, after all.

A quick look around your room left you feeling empty. The last week has been so hard that it felt longer and now you’re struggling to find your normal pace again. In an effort to bring yourself to focus, you decided to pick up your phone once more and started flipping through your calendar to check your schedule. It didn’t take long for you to frown when you realized the upcoming dates there. You’ve plotted important academic schedules in advance and one quick look at it told you how much you’ve obviously missed in the past week. You’ve been so lost in the mess of everything that has happened that you’ve entirely forgotten about your job at the manor. You realized that they didn’t even call you once to ask about your absence, probably because they also know about the situation, but even that is not enough excuse for you to entirely fall off the radar.

Biting your lip, you quickly scrolled through your contacts now to look for the number you need. Your thumb hovered over the call button momentarily, but you eventually pressed it anyway. Your eyes wandered towards the clock on the wall, hoping silently to yourself that it wasn’t too early for you to call.

“Rosewood Manor, how can I help you?”

You straightened on your seat.

“Hey, Taeyong. It’s me. Sorry if I called so early.”

The other boy seemed to have been taken slightly by surprise by the way he fell silent at the other end of the line. You tapped your finger against your knee, waiting for him to speak again.

“Hi. No, it’s fine. Work started for me about an hour ago. Are you okay? How’s things on your end?”

You nibbled guiltily on your lower lip and finally got off your bed to walk over to the window. You pushed the curtains open and stared at the slight snowfall that had started falling on the ground. You’ve missed so many days of reporting to them but the first thing he does is to check if you’re fine.

“I um—things are still the same. My boyfriend’s still at the hospital.”

“Oh… I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“Look, I want to apologize. I haven’t really reported to work and I didn’t even call about it. It’s just that—things have been so crazy lately, but still that isn’t an excuse for me to just not show up.”

Taeyong, however, was understanding as always. You were about to go off for another round of apologies when he gently cut you off.

“Hey, it’s fine. We know you’ve been dealing with a lot lately so we also weren't expecting anything. Don’t worry too much about it.”

“But, the boys’ examinations and portfolio review is happening in three days and I haven’t really checked in with them. How are they doing now?”

“Oh...that. Well, we actually tried looking for a temporary tutor to help out but I...uh… I think he isn't really cutting it. Maybe because he isn’t the one who started the program with them. But he’s a big help still.”

“Oh god, I’m so sorry about that. I should have at least—look, I can drop by today and just try to fix things.”

“Are you sure? You really don’t have to. Don’t you need to be at the hospital?”

You started going around your room now, trying to gather the scattered papers and files that you’ll need. It’s a good thing you woke up early so you still have time to prepare for work. “My boyfriend’s mother is the one watching over him today so I have the day off.”

“And your injury? How is it?”

Your eyes landed on the new bottles of medicine sitting on your bedside table.

“Better. I’m feeling so much better.”

You heard Taeyong sigh in relief over the phone. “Thank god. We were so worried about that. Well, you really don’t need to go, but if you have time, I guess doing it today won’t hurt. It will help us a lot.”

A small smile tugged at your lips now and you switched the phone over to your other ear as you started arranging your bag. “Thank you so much for being understanding. I need a distraction anyway. I’d rather work than stay home alone… Thanks for not firing me.”

That made him laugh a little. “I’ll tell the boys that you’re coming over. Oh, and be careful on your drive here. The roads are a little bit slippery today because of the snow.”

“I will, thank you. I’ll be there by 9.”

******* “Noona!”

You have barely finished arranging your materials on your desk when the door to the room burst open and ushered an anxious-looking Jisung inside. You looked up quickly at him, only barely catching Chenle wobbling with his crutch before your vision of the entrance was blocked by Jisung’s tall frame. His hair looked swept up as if he ran and there was a slight flush staining his cheeks. He stopped right in front of you, stopping just in time for him not to topple you over.

“Hey, Jisung how are—” You tried to give him a smile but he was quick enough to grab your hands between his.

“Are you back? Are you really back for real?” He pressed now, eyes wide as he tried to bend over to look closely at you. He looked like a puppy, the only missing thing being a wagging tail to complete the look. You couldn’t help the brief laugh that passed over you as you tried to calm him down.

“I am. For the day, yes. Sorry I missed so many of your sessions.”

“We thought you left us,” Jisung continued, his lower lip protruding just a bit. Just then, Chenle had finally reached the two of you, a slightly embarrassed look on his face. This is actually the first time you saw him again since the day the two of you had your accident and you’re glad to see him healthy despite his broken leg.

“Hi, Chenle. How are you?”

The boy scratched the back of his head and looked away slightly. “Fine… I’m sorry, noona. I wasn’t able to visit you when you stayed with us. I’m really really sorry about what happened in the forest.”

You tried to give him a reassuring smile and freed one of your hands from Jisung’s hold to ruffle his hair. The action seemed to have calmed him down a little because he finally looked at you again, a small apologetic smile on his own lips.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault. But be careful next time, okay?”

“Are you going to be our tutor again, noona?” Jisung pressed once more and you turned your attention back to him. To be honest, you’re still not sure how your schedule will turn out after this, but you couldn’t really bear to break the poor boy’s heart at the moment.

“Yes… I’m here to teach your big brothers today for their tests though. We’ll have to schedule you and Chenle’s lessons again. Is that alright?”

A brief look of disappointment flashed on his face but he was quick enough to pick it up. Jisung smiled and gave your hand a squeeze.

“Okay. We can wait. It’s good you are back, Jaemin-hyung was so—”

“Yah, don’t hog her by yourself. You’ll scare her away.”

A new voice made the three of you look back to the doorway. Haechan smiled at your little group as he strolled casually into the room followed by Jeno and Jaemin. The three of them joined your crowd and you felt Jisung finally let go of your hand as he stepped away to go over to his brothers’ side.

“Hi. Sorry, I only returned now. Taeyong told me that you—”

You weren’t able to finish what you wanted to say as Haechan gently stopped you mid-sentence. He leaned his head to the side, eyes briefly scanning you from head to toe. Unlike Jisung, he looked calm and only barely excited.

“It’s fine. We knew you’ll come back. How are you?”

“Oh… I’m good. My head is better. I haven’t had the chance to thank all of you for taking care of me when I was here.”

“How about your boyfriend?” It was Jeno who asked this time and you quickly turned to him to address his question. Your eyes briefly slipped to Jaemin who was standing behind him before you could even speak though, and for a moment you had the impression that Jeno was shielding him—or blocking him from you. You blinked a little bit in confusion, wondering if it was just your imagination that was making you think that way.

“He’s still… still unconscious,” your smile dropped a little but you tried your best to keep your voice casual. “We’re getting more tests for him. His doctor said that he isn’t showing bad signs at least.”

“I’m so sorry to hear about him,” Haechan said with compassion and you gave him a grateful look. Your gaze settled on Jaemin again, however, who for some reason had barely looked at you since he came into the room. You know that he can be quiet and reserved at times, but there is something in the air around him that makes you slightly worried. He’s so still, but the way he carries himself makes it seem like he’s so strung up at the same time. It also doesn’t help that Jeno seems to be almost pushing him back from view.

“Hi Jaemin… How are you?” You tried to gently ask him to make sure that he is okay. He didn’t look at you at first, but when he finally did, you felt yourself freeze a little. His eyes looked dark and almost emotionless when he met yours and there were shadows under them as if he hadn't slept properly for days. He didn’t even answer and just simply stared, his gaze blank and accusing at the same time.

Haechan casually glanced over his brother and chuckled. “Our Jaeminie here has been sick for the past couple of days so he’s a little out of it. But he’s going to be fine now,” he put a hand over the other’s shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze as if to calm him down. “Right, Jaemin? We’ll try our best to go to class today since noona is finally back, hmm?”

Jaemin, however, didn’t even seem to hear him. He continued staring at you the same way that kept you pinned on your spot.

“Are you leaving again?” he finally asked and you almost felt goosebumps rise on your skin. It didn’t sound like a question… but more of a threat. You swallowed.

“I’m going to have to arrange my schedule till things get better…” you answered carefully, as if you’re navigating dark waters. That didn’t seem to cut it for him, unfortunately.

“So you’re not leaving. Forever?”

You blinked. To be honest, you’ve been thinking of quitting and just finishing the rest of the month if things didn’t improve, but you don’t think that’s the right answer to give at the moment.

“No… not for now,” you finally managed to say. You watched as Jaemin seemed to visibly relax, his stiff shoulders loosening under Haechan’s grip. He didn’t say anything after that, but he at least looked away, seemingly more satisfied with your words.

“Great. I think we should get to work,” Haechan broke the silence and looked around the room as if the tension you were feeling was just something only you could feel. He nodded towards Chenle and Jisung then. “You guys go back to your own classes. You’ll have your share of noona once it’s your turn.” He then glanced at you, smile still in place. “Should we start then?”

You nodded. “Is Renjun still not back?”

“Not yet. He’s going to be here tomorrow though,” Jeno answered as he took his seat on one of the desks.

“I see…”

Haechan also found his spot, but not before you’ve noticed him urging Jaemin to do the same. Playfully, he took the pencil you’ve arranged on the desk and started tapping it against the wood of the table.

“Don’t worry. We’ll tell him you’re back. I’m sure he can’t wait to have his lessons again~”

******* You looked over the window for the third time in the last fifteen minutes and sighed. The day had been busy with you trying to catch up on the boys’ lessons that you barely even noticed the state of the weather outside. When you finally did, it took you by surprise when you saw how much of the ground was covered by snow—one look at it told you that it is at least a feet deep by now. Your first instinct was to try and maneuver your car out of the lot before your tires get entirely buried in it, but then you remembered that you promised to wait for Taeyong to come back before leaving the manor. The butler requested for you to temporarily watch over the manor while he tries to do some last minute errands back in the city, but it’s been two hours since he originally promised to come back. You eyes glanced at your watch now, then back at the quickly darkening view outside.

“...severe snowstorm has blocked some of the main roads in the city at the moment. Expect heavy traffic and don’t forget to drive safely.”

You turned to the television now to catch the last of the rambling dialogue of the reporter about the weather. You’ve been debating on whether to call Taeyong or not to check on him, but you didn’t want to seem impatient to go home when you only really wanted to make sure if he’s safe. From the looks of it, he’s stuck somewhere because of the hale, too.

You were on your way to get your phone from your bag to at least try to shoot him a message when you suddenly heard it ring. Getting it just in time, you almost sighed in relief when you saw his number there. You quickly took it and went over to the window to answer it to make sure you get some proper signal.

“Hello? Taeyong?”

“Hey. Finally. I’ve been trying to call you for the last hour, thank god it finally connected.”

“Oh, sorry, my phone’s in my bag. I think the signal’s getting bad because of the snowstorm. Where are you? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, about that, I’m still stuck in town. The traffic’s so bad here because a section of the main road is blocked. Road maintenance is supposed to come thirty minutes ago but I think there’s a delay because there are other roads they are working on.”

Your gaze drifted back to the television where scenes of the same blocked avenues were being flashed. “Yeah… the news says the same. Are you safe though?”

“I am. I’m really sorry for making you wait. I’d tell you to drive back and not wait for me anymore but I don’t think you’ll also make it home in time with all this traffic going on. I don’t think it’s going to be safe. Do you mind waiting for a little bit more? I’ll tell you once the roads are better.”

You thought it over quickly, a frown settling on your face. You really want to go home, but he’s right. There’s no point in trying to drive back if you’ll only find yourself stuck in the roads for hours. Not being a big fan of night driving yourself, you can already imagine the stress waiting for you if you add a snowstorm to the mix. As much as you wanted to leave, you’re left with no choice, at least for the moment.

“I can… I’ll just wait for you, I guess. Do you want me to do anything here while you’re gone? Dinner for the boys?”

“Oh no, no, you don’t need to do that, that’s not part of your job,” Taeyong sounded abashed when he said that. You stepped away from the window then and took a seat by the fireplace that Jeno started earlier. Half of your concentration was on the news which has now shifted to a different set of reports also caused by the snowstorm. “They’ll know when to go down and eat. Don’t worry about them. Where are they right now?”

“Ah, I think they went back to their rooms? I did tell them earlier that I’ll try to wait for you.”

“I see. Yes, I think that’s better. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you updated. If things don’t get better, I think I’ll have no other choice but find a hostel here and wait for the weather to calm down. You can stay there and just ask for help from any of them. You can stay in the same room just in case.”

You didn’t quickly react to the offer. Instead, your eyes flickered to the doorway of the room before refocusing your attention back to the conversation. It’s not like you have anything against spending the night again at the manor—you’ve done it before, after all—but it’s honestly not really something you’re comfortable to do again. Maybe it’s because you’ve never really been okay with overstaying at strangers’ houses but your gut feel is also telling you right now that it shouldn’t be your top option regardless of the situation you are in.

Still, you didn’t want to come off rude to Taeyong, not when he is only being kind to offer you temporary shelter while being stuck in the middle of nowhere himself. So instead, you went against your initial doubts and offered him your thanks in return. It’s just Plan B that he’s proposing after all.

“I will. Keep me updated though if you need anything you think I can help with.”

“Thank you and I will. I have to go now though. Please make yourself at home. I’ll try to call again after an hour.”

“Okay. Take care.”

You put your phone down now with a worried frown as you heard the line drop. You couldn’t believe this is happening the first day you got back to work but it’s not like you can really blame anyone for it. The only good thing is that you’re sure Jaehyun is being taken care of right now so that is at least one thing off your shoulders. You didn’t really need to rush anywhere, not especially to a vacant home. Leaning back against your seat, you tried your best to relax as your gaze travelled around the room once again. You deliberated on sending a text to your mother-in-law to tell her about your situation but decided against it, not wanting to worry her more. You sighed. For now, you guess you didn’t have any other choice but to wait.

You did try to distract yourself by watching the news for a few more minutes before finally giving up on it. With resignation, you picked yourself up from your seat again and turned the television off. For a moment you simply stood in the middle of the room, trying to figure out what to do with your time when your gaze settled on the door again. Everyone retreated to their own rooms after they finished with their lessons so it means the house is pretty much yours for exploring if you wanted to. You toyed with the idea for a little bit, before finally resigning yourself to it. It’s not like there really is anything else left for you to do, and Taeyong did say you can make yourself feel at home if you wanted to. With a sigh, you finally turned on your heels to leave the room and peered silently into the hallway. It was deserted as expected, but still your eyes travelled left and right to check if there’s anyone out and about at this hour. It was only after you made sure that you were alone when you finally allowed yourself to step into the corridor.

Of course, you have a plan. You’re pretty much sure that checking out the rooms on the first floor is acceptable since it’s where you’ve been rotating your classes so you’re going to stick to those areas. You remember finding a library there once and you focused on finding your way to it to maybe check out some of the books in the collection.

It did take you about five minutes to finally find the place you were looking for. For some reason, the sections in the manor always confuse you no matter how many times you try to memorize each one, probably because of how big and similar-looking they are on the outside. You’ve already tried four doors when you were finally welcomed by the familiar-looking bookshelves at the fifth one. You sighed and gave one quick look around the room before slipping yourself inside after making sure that you’re alone.

There will probably never be a time when you won’t find yourself fascinated by anything in this grand home. If the architecture of the mansion is not enough to convince anyone how rich the family is, their book collection is enough to assure that at the very least. You’ve only ever taken a quick glimpse of it once during one of your lessons with the boys, but one look of the titles in their shelves is enough to make any literature major excited. You looked at the floor to ceiling collection now, your fingers gently running over the spines of the books you could reach with a small smile on your face.

You were about to check out the rest of the collection on the other side of the wall when something in the middle of the room caught your attention. You didn’t really catch it at first because of the shadows that concealed it when you first came in, but you could pretty much discern the outline of a blanket covered standee now from where you stood. You frowned. Taking careful steps, you closed the distance towards it to try and figure out what exactly it is that you’re seeing.

A closer look revealed it to be an easel covered with white cloth. You could see the outline of the canvas where the blanket falls over it while shadows of colors peeked out into the thin fabric from the surface it was covering. How odd… you knew that Renjun had a different art room for his paintings so to see this now here in the middle of the library seems uncanny.

You didn’t know how long you remained standing in front of it, too. You know you should have walked away—after all, the white cloth hiding it away from plain view means whatever is on that canvas is not meant for everyone’s eyes to see, but you simply couldn’t tear yourself away from it. It’s as if there was a silent force asking you to pull that cloth to reveal what’s underneath, the inclination so strong that you could almost hear its voice breathing down next to your ear, unrelenting until you do what it says.

The next thing you know, you had your hand attached to one end of the fabric. You stared at it now, wondering last minute if you should go ahead or not. You swallowed and glanced around one last time around the room. If you’re alone… it wouldn’t hurt if you could take a peek, right? Nobody will know. You just have to see, then cover it back again. Before you could even think about it too much, your arm was finally moving on its own as it gently tugged at the covering. You watched as it fell gently on the floor, like a bodiless ghost melting into the shadows on the ground.

Your eyes couldn’t make out what you were seeing at first. The dim lighting of the room wasn’t helping at all, but you were sure that it was a woman’s silhouette that was staring back at you from the canvas. Colors swirled around her, like some unknown mass trying to drag her back into unknown depths. Shapes and tones jumped from the picture, but her form stood out from the rest, gracefully twisted as if she was in the middle of trying to fight and succumb to it at the same time. You frowned. Taking a step closer towards it, you tried to study its details under what little illumination the lamps above afforded you.

That’s when it all happened simultaneously. Your heart stopped beating the same time your eyes widened as they finally focused on what’s in front of them. It’s as if the ground suddenly vanished from underneath your feet and you were falling, falling, deep into the abyss despite your body being frozen in fear and shock.

You know this painting. You’ve seen it before. It was the same one by Renjun, the one that you saw on your first day working in the manor.

But it was different now. Instead of the unfinished state that caught your attention before, everything about the picture now is in sharp focus. The lines on the woman’s nude body, the hands—which you thought were simply dark swirls dragging her back—and her face twisted beautifully in pleasure and madness stared back at you like a nightmare.

But it was not those which truly shook you to your core. It’s the realization that it was your own face in the portrait that was staring back at you, silently screaming for you to run away.

You stumbled back in shock. Your chest felt tight as you tried to grasp for air while your hands fumbled to find something to hold on to keep you from crashing on the ground. Before you could even take another step, however, something hard hit your back and you felt strong arms wrap around your waist like a vice. You have barely realized what was happening when you felt someone lean over your shoulder, lips pressing against the shell of your ear.

“Isn’t it beautiful? You’re the perfect muse, don’t you think?” Renjun asked softly as he pressed a gentle kiss to your temple.

******* You didn’t know how long you stayed frozen in his embrace. For a brief moment you thought you were dreaming again until you felt his arms slowly tighten around your waist. As if a jolt of electricity shocked you, you immediately turned to push him away as you scrambled to put some distance between the two of you.

Renjun didn’t seem the least bothered when your eyes finally focused on him. He remained on his spot, his gaze on you unwavering. You, meanwhile, were shaking from head to toe, the vision of the painting still branded vividly in your head.

“Renjun—what’s this?” you managed to stutter as you pointed at the artwork in the middle of the room. You couldn’t even spare to look at it again while he merely gave it a casual glance.

“It’s you. I’ve been working on it for a long time. I was about to show it to you but it seems like you couldn’t wait for it yourself.”

You felt nauseous. A part of your rational mind was slowly losing it as you tried to process his answer. Something's not right. Something is so terribly wrong.

“Why—why did you do this?”

Renjun simply stared at you and leaned his head a little bit to the side as if he was only mildly curious of your reaction. Your stomach turned even before hearing his answer.

“You said it’s beautiful.”

“This is not right—!”

“I came home because they said you were leaving for good,” he continued speaking softly, effectively cutting you from what you were about to say. The hairs on the back of your neck stood on end and you took another step back as you watched him get close to his artwork. You watched in horror as his thin fingers lovingly ran over the corners of the canvas. “Jaemin almost lost it… It’s a good thing I got here on time.”

And just like that, everything seemed to have clicked into place. The glances, the touches, the words that seemed to have a different undercurrent under them… they weren’t just fragments of your imagination. Every little thing that has gnawed at you from the inside came into crystal clear focus and you felt your knees go weak from the weight of it all. It took every fiber of your being to try and keep yourself steady now, your legs moving on their own as they took small backward steps away from the boy staring at you now with dead eyes. You couldn’t breathe, but it was the last words he told you that finally snapped you to run.

“I don’t think you’ve realized it yet. But no, you cannot leave. Ever.”

You didn’t know where you got the energy for it but in seconds you were flying out of that room and running blindly down the darkened corridors. Your blood pumped noisily in your ears and your chest felt like it was going to split from the sudden exertion you put on it, but you didn’t stop, not even looking back as you tried to put as much distance between you and the library. You didn’t even know where you were going. All you’re focused on is to find the exit and leave the house as soon as possible.

A loud bang that sounded off to your right startled you and you screamed, the force of your shock making you whip around and almost lose your balance. Before you could even hit the floor, however, a pair of hands caught you and you immediately turned, grasping at the chest of your rescuer.

You froze. Haechan smiled down at you as he tried to steady you on your feet.

“Haechan,” you gasped as you took fistfuls of his shirt and tried to shake him in your panic. “Renjun—he’s—please, help me. He’s after me—” you gasped out, almost out of your wits. You’re on the verge of a total breakdown that it almost escaped you, the way he simply smiled down on your shaking form. It was only when you felt one of his hands gently caress the top of your head that reality slapped you in the face again. You suddenly stopped struggling in his hold, pupils shaking as you watched him study your features lovingly.

“Shh… it’s fine. I got you,” he whispered and you could swear ice pricked you from the inside. A slight movement to the right made you turn your head and you saw Jaemin lean casually against the banister of the stairs, his face serene. He gave you one quick look before a gentle smile finally lit up his features.

“Has it started?” he asked and you felt Haechan’s hold on you tighten.

“It has.”

You didn’t struggle. It was as if any trace of fight you had left you in that moment and you let your hands fall limply on your sides. Haechan also loosened his grip on you and you stared at the two boys blankly, your chest heaving as if fighting for air. They didn’t move from their spots and simply followed you with their eyes as if relishing the fear and realization flashing in your face.

Trapped.

You’re trapped.

You’ve always been.

You didn’t even realize that your legs had started moving again on their own as the pieces of the puzzle started to fall together in your mind. You were only shaken from it when your back finally hit the front door, the cold metal of the knob pressing against your spine. Jaemin and Haechan remained on their spots still, even as you blindly reached out for it from behind.

You were expecting it to be locked, so you were a little bit surprised when you felt it give way under your hand when you tried to turn it open. Just before you could even entertain the idea of escaping, however, any trace of hope you had quickly died as you turned and came face to face with Jeno standing right in front of the entrance. He didn’t look the least surprised seeing you there, as if he was waiting for you in the first place.

You eyes took in his calm countenance before slowly moving to stare downwards at what he was holding by his side. Your gaze locked on it in fear, and that’s when the flight response in you flared up again.

Jeno’s hunting rifle shone dully in the light of the entryway, his pale fingers wrapped on its handle.

“There’s really only one place you can run, noona, but I won’t advise it,” he said evenly and you felt your blood freeze in your veins.

“After all, no matter where you hide, I’ll still find you in that forest.”

It happened all at once. You broke into a run, your body screaming at you to go faster as you heard gunshots pierce the air.

---

CHAPTER 7

A/N: Good lord, I wasn’t expecting I’d finish this today but I got one large iced coffee and well... things happened. Anyway, enjoy! Let’s hope the format won’t mess up this time. T.T Finally, all hell broke loose~ <3

Tag list!

@negincho, @jhornytrash, @jaeminhyuckiii, @jungwoosswhore, @jsturkey, @aj-7, @pukupukupawpau, @tomiesgirlfren, @vsszn, @those-winternights, @xsnelly, @lihyuck, @laheyspizza, @miyeux27, @haoshitt, @mindofthescattered, @huangberryyy, @d1nne, @choppedupcactus, @neokat, @yutasnabi

#nct dream yandere au #nct dream yandere #nct dream yandere fic #jaemin x reader #jeno x reader #renjun x reader #haechan x reader #nct dream 00 line fic #nct dream 00 line x reader #nct horror au #nct dream yandere imagines #jaehyun x reader #yandere!nct dream #yandere!jaemin #yandere!jeno #yandere!renjun #yandere!haechan #nct-writers #yandere!nct dream 00 line

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maxwell-grant · 3 years

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Having asked your thoughts on designing Frankenstein's daemon, might I now ask your thoughts on bringing Count Dracula from the written word into illustration? (I'm definitely in favour of the 'Hairy Old Mountain Man of Horror pretending he's people' look from the original novel; one of the small tests too many Draculas fail to pass is an absolutely tragic lack of the Evil Beard and/or Wicked Moustache explicitly described by Mr Stoker).

Unlike with Frankenstein, where I think the design needs to be painstakingly thought out in order to achieve the best balance of the creature's traits for horror and tragedy alike, I think with Dracula you can actually just take an approach of "whatever works". Because as I mentioned before, I think much of the appeal and longevity of Dracula is how the character's both a layered villain as well as a shapeshifting narrative force that can be tailored to whatever you want to do with. Granted, there are bad or dissappointing Dracula designs, of course there are, but in regards to the leeway you get for reinterpretation, you get a lot more of it with Dracula than with other literary icons.

Like with Frankenstein, I'm gonna bring up how I'd tackle a less grim, more comedy-centric Dracula first, one that's less a force of horror and more of a charismatic villain, and I think to that end I definitely agree that people are sleeping a lot on the hairy old man barely-passing-off-as-humanoid of the original story. Despite very much loving these performers, I'm actually not a fan of takes that mold Dracula too closely to people who've portrayed him, like Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee, partially because I think it's a waste of an opportunity to create your own Dracula design. Since I can't draw (yet), I'll do what I usually do and make a board of images to try and convey some of my thoughts on one way I'd design Dracula.

(Pictured: Kiwi's design for Dracula, Hotel Transylvania concept art, Nandor, Castlevania Dracula, Charles Dance in Dracula Untold, Vladislav, a Transylvanian rug)

I used the images in my other Dracula post and I’ll post it here again because I absolutely adore @kiwibyrd's designs for Dracula and it's main heroes, in particular I love the way it strikes a good balance at making sure Dracula looks distinctly separate from the humans, but not too much that he couldn't conceivably operate in society as just a harmless old man. I also adore the mustache and bushy eyebrows and pointy ears and I think these three are wonderful features to keep on any Dracula design. I'm also very partial to the Hotel Transylvania concept art, even if it makes me incredibly depressed to look at all the great designs they had for Dracula that they threw in the trash because they somehow decided making him look like Adam Sandler was the idea to go with.

I deeply adore What We Do In The Shadows, both the movie and the show, and Jemaine Clement's Vladislav is one of my favorite (maybe even my actual favorite) on-screen Draculas. But I also enjoy Nandor just as much, and I think it's really great that as a character he's completely different from Vlad while also being ostensibly a take on Dracula, and in particular I bring up his Jersey look because "Dracula in common clothing" is a criminally underrated concept for a joke.

As a character, I'm very partial to comedy takes on Dracula that play him up as a decadent aristocratic supervillain, the kind that can get away with talking in third person. I also have this idea for a version of Dracula who dresses ostentatiously in finely-broidered Romanian or Transylvanian patterns, maybe even wearing a rug as a cape, claiming that he's carrying the legacy of his people on his back. And of course he's lying, he's not Vlad Tepes and he's not even Romanian, he is just a parasite pretending to have a history to be proud of, but good luck getting him to admit that. And finally, I'd like this version to be played by Charles Dance, and I consider it a tremendous crime against humanity that he has yet to play Dracula proper even despite being in a film with the character's name on the title.

So that's kinda how I would design a take on Dracula for something more comedic or more based around him as this guest character and personality on-set. Now, if we're talking a more serious version, I think the possibilities increase, and I won't be getting into all of them because I may prefer to keep them to myself, but I'll elaborate a few ideas.

For example, the edition of Dracula I personally own comes with these really scratchy, really creepy B&W illustrations related to the story, that I can't find scanned online so I'm uploading them here so you can look at. They don't necessarily depict the scenes but rather some of the story's moments, like Van Helsing staking Lucy, Renfield in a straightjacket, Dracula as a coachman, and they are more focused on conveying the horror of the concepts at play.

Dracula never looks the same way in any of the illustrations, in fact you kinda have to piece him out of them by trying to find teeth or capes or eyes or bat-features to see where he's hiding this time. In the first, it's the half-man half-bat, in the 2nd, he's the shrieking bat silhouette next to Renfield, and in the latter, he's the gaping jaws and eerily humanoid eyes in the wolf. The effect to me almost feels like if you were to look at a bunch of tv static and then see a humanoid shape form for a split second before everything went back to normal, something like you'd get from Slender Man or other modern creepypastas, and I’ve argued before that Dracula’s form of horror is a very modern one.

In terms of illustrations of Dracula that keep up the original traits while still pulling off horror, I definitely have to hand it to the one at the left of the image above, drawn by regourso on Deviantart (account deleted at present). Going back to Castlevania’s many takes on Dracula, two in particular that stick out to me would be Castlevania: Judgment’s armored dress Dracula, who’s got this great twisted heart/rose motif going on in his outfit, and Dracula’s final form in SOTN where he just sits in his throne and his cape twists into all these monsters, particularly how it’s depicted by witnesstheabsurd’s depiction.

I’m not particularly a fan of how Dracula’s “final form” in these games is usually just some big demon, and part of what I like about his final form in SOTN instead is that, while it’s not a particularly challenging final boss, I do find it interesting the idea of us never actually getting to see what Dracula’s true final form looks like, only an ever-shifting pitch-black torrent of teeth and claws and bloody veins pouring out because that’s ultimately what Dracula is and brings to the world.

On the flip-side of the rotten old monster, we have the charming seductor Dracula, and while I’m really not a fan of how various adaptations have convinced people that “the point” of Dracula is that he’s a seductive force and an allegory for Victorian xenophobia and I’m reeeally even less of a fan of adaptations that make Dracula some misunderstood tragic hero (and I think I’ve made rather violently clear my feelings on interpretations that play up a romance between him and Mina), that the seductive force part exists is impossible to deny, so conversely, while on one hand we can have Dracula as the gargantuan whirlwind of predatory violence, we can also go for Dracula as the tantalizing lover.

I’ve seen a lot of opinions proclaiming Frank Langella as the best Dracula because he was the best at actually being seductive while still playing Dracula, although I haven’t yet seen his performances. If I had to point at one picture I look at and do buy for a second the idea of Dracula as a romantic character, it would be that particular still of Raul Julia in the left of the above image. And it’s strange for me to think of Raul Julia as attractive because I mainly associate him with his brilliant comedy performance of M.Bison (I know it’s far from the highlight of his career but, look, I grew up with Street Fighter, I can’t help it) but those eyes are definitely looking pretty convincing to me, if nothing else.

And I’ve included this still of Sebastian Stan in the right because, during a conversation between me, @krinsbez and @jcogginsa about who could be a good fit for Dracula, jcog suggested Sebastian Stan, partially because he’s Romanian, and I’ve learned recently that Stan was actually interested in playing the character in Blumhouse’s upcoming remake. And you’d think I’d hate this idea considering how much I don’t care for tragic anti-hero Draculas, but who says that’s what he’d have to play?

Do you have any idea how much actors, who are traditionally known for heroic or supporting roles, usually LOVE it when you give them a chance to cut loose as the main villain?

I’d want Sebastian Stan to put all of his charm, all of his talent, all of his good looks and etc, into playing the absolute most vicious, bloodthirsty and irredeemable Dracula put on screen. Someone who is exceedingly, eerily good at being a lovable protagonist, who’s all smiles and charming eyes and politeness mannerisms and maybe even a funny accent, and then it isn't as funny when he's flying through your window intent on kidnapping babies to feed to his brides, except he may take a moment or two to do so because he's feeling pretty hungry himself right now.

Now, admittedly this is kind of a lot to juggle in regards to a single character, which is why my answer for questions like these inevitably has to be “depends on what I’m going for”. That being said, if I was going to try and cast someone who I think could both look the part of Dracula, as well as respectively, play “cartoon aristocrat” Dracula, “mercurial embodiment of evil” Dracula, as well as realistically be an attractive, even seductive performer who can charm viewers even as the character descends into horrible villainy, and juggle these performances even?

I think I’d have to go with Mads Mikkelsen. Not specifically because of Hannibal (I actually haven’t watched it yet), although it’s definitely a factor, the thing that actually made me pick him specifically is, other than his looks, his voice, his reputation for playing sinister characters, the fact that he loves the role and wants to play it, or how many people are deeply in love with this man, or that people already joke that he looks like a vampire, was watching him in Another Round, and specifically that glorious final scene where he’s just dancing to his heart’s content and just, moving with such spring in his step and such joyful vitality even though he’s past his mid-fifties, and that was the moment where, in regards to how much you all love this man, I went

And now I am going to add “casting Mads Mikkelsen as a dancing Dracula” to The List of Reasons Why I Became a Filmmaker.

#replies tag #dracula #horror tag #bram stoker #charles dance #sebastian stan #mads mikkelsen #castlevania #raul julia #wwdits #what we do in the shadows #vladislav #nandor

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