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tvmigraine · 1 year ago

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Phantala Syndrome: Prelude

The following is a written piece I wrote for some friends to help give them an idea of the "City of Mist" game I'm running. It's set in a city run by Disney and promoted to be idyllic, hiding a seedy underbelly of conspiracies and supernatural events.

You can read it below! Expect more as I write stuff for my players, or any other story that gets requested.

DISNEY CITY OPENS: WILL IT HAVE A FAIRY-TALE ENDING? Article by Bella-Rae Bellamy

After over ten years of demanding work, Disney Imagineering happily announced the completed development of their experimental community “Storyliving by Disney” towns. Originally unveiled back in 2022 and first accepting applicants back in 2027, Disney began construction in California of a city that would be staffed by Disney employees and cast members, with the goal of making audiences feel closer to their favourite properties than ever. Now, Walter’s Hope is open and has available housing for any members of the public to move. As the project as ends and the general public are finally able to access Walter’s Hope, it has become a haven for people looking for a second chance at life. With over 2,000 households, one Disney employee reveals a majority of their newest families have “been immigrants or veterans, people that need those fresh starts. It has been reassuring to know that they have found a place to just be their truest selves, where imagination can really be harnessed in ways they might have forgotten. Our founder, Walt Disney, always envisioned a world where we would all be able to let our creativity live hand in hand and he’d be overjoyed with the work we’ve done here.” One of the biggest selling points to Walter’s Hope is its hand-in-hand association with Disney, which can be seen obviously just in the sight of its familiar mouse-shaped landscape. It is two signature ears hold two of their main promotional districts themed after popular brands – the “Princess” District to the left and the “Villains” District, both holding a more regal landscape and Vegas-like attitude guaranteed to bring in tourists. Where there is smaller “Marvel” and “Star Wars” residential districts that offer their own pieces of excitements (and experimental exhibits you would expect from Disneyland itself), most people will find themselves living in the “Oswald Park” residential district, named after their long forgotten mascot Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Early settlers in Walter’s Hopehave already given raving reviews, with kids able to enjoy the excitements of an amusement park while parents get the comfort of a normal day-to-day life. One mother commented that other families “should expect to see a lot of kids around the area, riding on bikes and getting into trouble.” Walter’s Hope already made headlines when, early on in the project, the “Storyliving Lottery” was held and allowed five families to move into one of the five main districts. This sparked controversy when the original winner of the lottery was rushed to hospital shortly after moving due to what was officially labelled as a major gas leak. When asked to comment, a Disney reassured us that ��this issue was a one-time situation. Every other house has been thoroughly checked and we can reassure all potential citizens that there is nothing to worry about.” But this may not be as reassuring as it first appears. Already, rumours and urban legends have begun to spread about Walter’s Hope, ranging from the sinister to the supernatural. While the crime rate has remained low in the early months, half a dozen disappearances have been reported in the poorer parts of their residential district, which houses many of the marginalised households. Along with that, reports have been made of Disney’s attempts to cover up underground constructions of alleged tunnel systems beneath Walter’s Hope. Any attempts to receive an official comment from Disney affiliation was ultimately declined. All this raises the question, is Walter’s Hope the picturesque fairy tale city that we have all been led to believe? Or should the public expect to hear more bad news in the future about Disney’s long awaited experiment? For more information, or your own booking, go to storylivingbydisney.com/residency/walters_hope and go from there.

~~~~~~

Fireworks lit up the skies of Walter’s Hope, their grand official opening already going just as planned. For many families they were already settling into their homes, getting themselves to bed or mingling with neighbours as parties were starting to take up the streets. The two leading districts were seeing what’d be the most business they’d come across, as men and women partied, drank, and gambled away their money either on games or knick-knacks that’d be thrown into a bin only a week later.

For many, they were enjoying their second chance.

Simon was enjoying the cool breeze before he’d have his head cut off.

Was it petty that the only ting that upset him was the blood splattering his suit? He’d had it custom made by the finest tailor in the city, hair brushed just perfect to make it clear to everybody who had the power, who was in charge. All of that felt rather meaningless in his current state – his hair, formerly neatly parted and travelling down his back, now had chunks missing out of it where he’d grappled with the thug that’d attacked him. The blood splattered across his chest where his arm had been broken, nearly torn out of its socket before it was instead slashed at with a disc-shaped blade. Funny, he thought to himself, I’d have rather liked getting my hands on that.

At the end of the pier leading to Monstro Lake, Simon Gaskill was on his knees with the biker still standing over him, his knife in hand. Behind him, Simon could see someone walking down. She’d just gotten out of a black car, she must’ve been behind this. Somebody else after the Throne, maybe? She wore a tight blue dress over a plump frame, covering her face from view with a large-brimmed hat. It was hard to make her out, but she had the look of somebody in charge, somebody that’d grown docile from being at the top of the food chain. Simon couldn’t resist smiling, maybe he could tear her apart in a moment. He just needed the right opportunity. Then when he got home, he could eat whatever he hadn’t torn off of her body.

“Step away from him,” she instructed the biker. He dutifully listened. Good, Simon thought, an even better opportunity.

“You’ve been rather a pain, Mr Gaskill,” the blonde woman told the man as he remained kneeling. He couldn’t undo the ropes around his wrists, she found that to be reassuring. In the few short months that Simon Gaskill had been here, he’d made a reputation for himself as a man eater, hardly a cannibal not someone who’d refrain from the taste. “Several of my men have come back in more than one piece and, I can’t help but notice, it’s been happening in some of my district. Care to explain that.”

Gaskill shrugged, smirking playfully as he told her “Maybe they were mistaken.” He had that hunger in his eyes, like a starved animal. The woman sighed in disappointment. “You are well aware of our agreement. Your people remain in your district…” Her hand landed on his shoulder, her thumb digging into the wound the biker had left. “And we remain in ours.”

Simon hissed in pain, her touch was as cold as ice and the wound was chillingly worse for it. He yelled at her, “Then how come your men are trying to come to my area! You say you want to honour our agreement but don’t think I can’t tell what you’re doing. Whoever you are, digging into my territory? There’s trouble coming for you.”

The woman looked at him in confusion. “Your territory?” She asked curiously, shaking her head. “No, no, that can’t be right. That territory belongs to whoever is in charge, truly, of the Villains District and you? Well, you’ve been voted out.”

Gaskill had to hold himself back from shooting to his feet. “Excuse me?”

“It’s very simple. You broke the rules you agreed to, so the rest of your little crime ring simply voted you out.”

“I’m their Caesar, they can’t do that to me!”

“Oh no, they can,” the woman corrected. “It was a rather simple process and while there will be a power vacuum for the time being, no doubt another dirty little snake like yourself will fill that space. You have a talent for that.” She crouched down by Simon, putting on a mocking face of pity. “Oh, I’m sorry, were you not there for that meeting?”

Simon growled in fury. Not like a man who’d just had his life, his empire, snatched away from him, but like a wild animal that’d managed to break into another animal’s enclosure. His face was distorting to reflect that as a muzzle pushed out from his face, his bones cracked and breaking into place. His teeth became jagged as he lunged. With a speed that was unrivalled by many, he sunk his teeth into the woman’s shoulder. He’d aimed for the neck, but her scream of pain showed that he hadn’t focused properly enough to get where he wanted. He pulled his teeth out of her to try and lunge again.

The biker struck first.

With a single upwards slice from the disc-shaped blade, Simon Gaskill was struck dead on the end of the pier. His body tumbled off the end and landed in the waters of the lake, floating motionless as the red spread around him.

The biker moved to the woman, but she just yelled at him, “Get off of me, you idiot!” She held her shoulder for only a moment before feeling ice starting to spread across it sharply. “Damn it, gloves, give me my gloves!” She demanded from the biker, who quickly obliged. She put on the soft velvet and moved to the end of the pier, staring at the lion-faced body.

“So much for ‘Long Live the King’, I suppose,” she openly mused. The biker remained silent to her disappoint, it was more fun when there was someone willing to talk about her plans, especially when one was going so well. She held her shoulder as it bled, this could be dealt with soon. “Now we merely leave the dogs to tear themselves apart,” she openly mused, “and we’ll have the whole of Hope to ourselves. And you’ll be rewarded handsomely, I can promise.”

The biker remained silent, causing her to huff childishly. “It wouldn’t hurt for you to show some admiration,” she grumbled. He merely gestured back to her car, as if to hurry along. The woman nodded and told him, “I will return to my castle. You know your next mission and you will not return to me until you find that boy. This will all be for nothing if somebody gets to him before me, do you understand?”

The biker nodded, placing the ring blade onto his back. She nodded and made it back to her car, while he travelled to his bike. They sped off in opposite directions but both heading towards the same goal.

Simon Gaskill’s remains would go nowhere, except aimlessly floating deeper into Monstro Lake. If he waited long enough (which a corpse was very good at), he might even chance an encounter with the creature itself.

~~~~~~

In one week, the first child would be reported missing.

A few days later, the second child would follow.

The third child would be unique. Unlike the last two that had been snatched when their parents weren’t looking, Max Kingston would get on his bike at midnight and run away from home without saying a word. When his parents went to find him in the morning, they found a single note on his bed as a clue to find him.

#phantala syndrome #city of mist #original writing #disney #my writing

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