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shortyisweird9 · 4 years

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'Lonely ghost serie'

"Babysitting is hard when you ,yourself, are a gremlin, baby"-part V

Tw⚠️: swearing, angsty vibes ( I think)

Your body moved in distress, turning the sheets all over as you left out a gasp of terror, your face clenching in pain. You have a nightmare, a usual occurrence that happens when you are stressed. Having such a big imagination, your dreams/ nightmares came vividly, with excruciating details. You could see them in colour however the images were blurry, hazy almost.

This nightmare was about Fatima, the sketch artist from up top. She was a senior here and usually the person in this block turned for guidance, relief and peace. She was from the South part of Sudan, fact that she lets it known by her traditional style fashion, her food and her drinks and the occasionally loud conversations she has with her folks back home. A peaceful artist with beautiful brown skin with yellow undertones, an oval face with a big smile plastered on it and shinning black orbs. An angel in disguise that you often seek when the world proved too much for you. Fatima never really showed her own worries and fears but you were one of the privileged few who did see her at her lowest, an experience that motivated you , scared you and hurt you. The amount of times your heart clenched those times matched with how many tears left her orbs.

You were ejected vertically on your bottom as your mouth left a silent scream, tears dropping from your eyes but you didn't have time to think it over since loud noises came from upstairs,Fatima's room. In your paranoid state you didn't question the musicality of the sounds ,chosing to ran out the door ,slapping it shut and jumping two steps each time till you reached her door.

Fatima was enjoying her second favourite types of music, Afro-Latina songs when a storms of pounds hit her door. Confused and terrified, she grabbed the nearby mop before she opened the door. It was just you.

You stood there in black shorts made from former leggings to long for your short legs, white ripped shirt stained with old paint from when you helped her renovate and messy long hair and tear filled puffy eyes.

"Y/n! My girl ,what happened?"

There she was, with a long white fit dress that ended in a curve at the start of her feet and silver grey hijab wrapped around her head. She look energised despite being 5 in the mornina Most importantly she was Most importantly, she was safe, unharmed and happy.

Your noise picked up the aroma of her handmade mix of tea that filled the textile of her dressing where now your head rest as your body convulse in a breakdown again. Shocked and confused, she wasn't stopped however from showing you the comfort your soul may need.

She caressed your long hair and rubbed your back as you two sat on the white tiles of the entrance. The door long close by her other roommate, Catherine Blank - a 26 years old from Dublin.

On Fatima's commends, the red haired freckled woman brought you a knitted blanket and a cup of water. Her hands found their way on your cheeks when you finally calmed down,rubbing them on your wet skin as you drank the water. Your eyes fell down in shame for disturbing them.

You didn't know why it happened. Just two hours ago you finished talking with Corpse and went over your notes one last time.

You seemed fine, too busy for any bad thoughts to bug you or anything such as. Yet here you are.

"Jesus ,girl. You scared us." Came the heavy accent voice of Catherine.

You looked at her standing in black leggings and a black top, skinny hands on round hips and a scowl of worry on her square face. Green eyes softening when they met yours.

"I..um..."

"You don't have to tell us right now, sweet girl. Come, let's enjoy each other with some select songs."

You all three burst in laughter at the ridiculous pompous tonality Fatima chose to express herself with.

You followed, grasping the extended hand of Catherine as Fatima rearrange the blanket around your tattoos covered body.

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It was morning when you finally return back into your apartment. The door closed itself with a heavy thud that resonated within the insides of your shaky lungs. You calmed down significantly since that explosive outburst of fears and terrors.

You cleaned your eyes as the light of the morning painted you in a sick look: eyes blood shot, red nose, puffy face and pale skin. You looked like you died and came back alive, well maybe a fragment of your sanity died tonight who knows? Your shredded sigh echoed in the empty apartment ,the others already gone to work/university. Essentially you were alone. Again.

You cleaned your eyes as the light of the morning painted you in a sick look: eyes blood shot, red nose, puffy face and pale skin.

You looked like you died and came back alive, well maybe a fragment of your sanity died tonight who knows? Your shredded sigh echoed in the empty apartment ,the others already gone to work/university. Essentially you were alone. Again.

Your soul long desired the touch of another: to be grasp tightly and lovely by their hands, to be enveloped in their smell as they whisper sweet nothings into your ears, to have their warmth dry your tears, to bring comfort to your pain. You resigned years ago that you were never meant to experience this sessions, merely observed them. But your heart craved them and craving it did, as you watched in fake disgust the romantic displays in Ace's romances.

Right now, after crying your eyes out, your burns needed that comfort, needed that care and love but again you were denied of them, you can only thank yourself for that.

The cup was slapped in foolish fury as you tossed some hot water in it. The tea bag falling towards the end of the cup.

Three knocks were heard at the door and you curiously turned, cup left forgotten.

Opening the door, Omar was standing there with a little albino boy with clear big blue eyes and curly locks. He was wearing a red blue and white checkered shirt with beige church pants. He smelled nice ,his cologne hitting your your long narrow nose immediately after opening the door.

You raised a brow as he sheepishly smiled.

"Nice kid."

"Thanks."

Then silence.

You continued drinking your tea,staring at the man who finally realised that you didn't know the motive of his visit.

"Alma didn't tell you?"

"What?"

"She said you agreed to watch over Tj today."

Wait.

Your panicked grew was your eyes turned to the calendar to the right of you. There in bold yellow numbers the day of 5th November was left clear with the exception of being circled over with a gold marker.

"Shit ,it was today? I mean ...fuck. Sorry, Omar. It totally slip my mind."

The man laughed ,his brown eyes were warm and forgiving, no offense taken by your skip of mind.

"It's fine,Y/n. So it's alright if I leave this little guy with you for a bit?"

"Y-Yeah. But I don't have-"

As Omar entered the hallway, a grey bag you previously not seen was by the door , you picked it up before going to the living room.

He sat the kid dressed in a sailor white and navy blue stripped t-shirt and light grey sweatpants on one of the sit of your 1970s floral printed sectional sofa.

The kid was making sounds and hand gestures ,wanting to be picked up again by his father who was busy speaking with the 159cm tall woman.

"Tj here is a big of a love bug, get him to like you and you can't go anywhere anymore. Just like his mother I suppose. "

"Does he have any..um..food preference I should know about?"

"Um...Wait, Alma left you a notebook, ah well not you but me. Here ,it should have anything you will need. Again,thank you so much for doing this Y/n."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about it." You said ,flipped the pages of the hard back notebook. Luckily Alma had a neat writing.

"Well, I need to go now. Be nice, little guy. "

Omar bent down to kiss his son's forehead, a sign of goodbye. The child stared at his father with a confuse look as he bubbled nonsense. His tiny hand reaching for the leaving figure.

Omar left soon after ,waving bye-bye to his son and almost kissing your forehead as a habit he picked up since he got together with Alma, their form of goodbye.

You stood there, staring at each other as the kid started to laugh and throw his toy at you. You caught it, he will throw it again and so forth.

You were tired however and knew the boy with too much energy will not be easily manipulated into sleeping. Opening the TV to the kid's cartoon channel , you settled on the opposite couch ,eyes falling victim to tiredness.

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You must have been asleep 2 hours and so begore the loud crys woke you up.

Crys? Shittt! The kid.

Shooting out of your crouched position, you ignore the stirring pain of your sudden movement. Your legs' thud brought the attention of the crying mop of hair.

A wrenches smell filled your nostrils as your dread grew when you realised where its source came from. Looks like it's time to change a diaper. Oh ,man!

With a mask over your nose, hair tied behind your back and gloves you started changing the boy in the bathroom, you cleaned and washed him and brought him back on the layed blanket on the couch. Your disgust grew as you cleaned the sink and disinfect it.

You groaned as you threw your equipment in the bin, a bing didn't let your stomach cringe at the memory of the smell. It was a message from Corpse.

'Hey :)'

You smiled, quickly texting him back.

'Hey!"

'Up to play something today?'

'A new stream? You just finished one tomorrow, I don't want you to burn yourself out.'

'<3 But no, I mean to play together in private, just the two of us.'

You wanted to text him back, teasing him with the proposition of a date but the sounds of broking glass was heard from the living room.

With a scream , you quickly typed out :' Cant baby in troble.!'

The kid was fine thankfully , grinning and laughing at your panicked state. What was not fine was the white porcelain vase with blue florals Sabrina brought for her collection. She wouldn't be mad per say but she wouldn't be happy either.

The kid ,now standing to ran around the room ,using the coffee table to his advantage, your legs screaming from the workout. Luckily the broken vase was behind you away from the child.

Unfortunately, your phone started to ring. Who the fuck would call me now? Oh! It's Corpse. Wait..Corpse!

"H-hey Corpse ! What are you - come here you little block of swiss cheese."

The man laughed as the phone's speaker vibrated on your right ear where you lodged it.

Tj laughed innocently as you grabbed him and hold him to your left hip. Your hair,nerves and mood all a mess.

"A-Are you okay?" Corpse asked after recovering from the fit of laughter.

"Me? Oh ,sure. I have a gremlin here who's more trouble than his worth. Hey! Stop that!"

The happy face of Tj turned in a cringy crying one as he wailed. Apparently you wanting to stop him chewing on your white banda, tightly nicely on the top of your head ,was too much.

"Sounds like trouble. By the way, you called me?"

"I did?"

Your eyebrows clenched as you look at your calls history,you did actually. The icon of the call must have been press on accident or that it was a sign from the universe that you are in dire need of assistance.

"Y-yeah. Look, Corpse l-I gotta go. I will call you-"

And you stopped, your breath becoming more fast as your nose flared.

"Um ghost? Are you...Are you there?"

"Stay on the line,Corpse. This kid just pissed on me."

With that another wave of laughter hit the man as he thrown himself into the chair.

----------------------------------------------

Finally, you changed the damn brat after cleaning him again and taking a shower yourself. You left a breath as you watched the chil playing with his blue rocket toy.

"Babysitting is much harder than the films makes it out to be." You grumbled, pouting as you listened to Corpse's chuckles.

They managed to calm you enough to turn the intimidating glare you had plastered all over your face into a more stern one.

Your body dressed in a clean pair of white jeans short, black tank top and blue checkered shirt over, leaned on the frame of the door. You were waiting for the milk to heat up, luckily the boy was only a month away from being an year old so you could give him cow milk without worrying.

"Babysitting is hard when you ,yourself, are a gremlin, baby." He said ,his voice making you visibly tingle.

You sighed, placing the phone near the wooden bread box and grabbing a cup. By now the milk should have warmed up.

"Um...goofball?"

"Yes,Corpse?"

"You...you are not wearing your voice changer. I..I am sorry, I should have told you from the start but I like the s-sound of it ,I didn't want it to stop."

You could hear the beads of his bracelets as he played with them, nervously waiting for your response.

"I-It's okay, Corpse. You don't need to be sorry."

You swallowed, this day really came for your neck. Your eyes stung as you fight them off, no reason to make Corpse's day shittier by being pathetic.

"You are not fine ,are you goofball?"

The kind and worried tone of this wonderful individual you became to take a liking of was enough to cause everything in you to break loose.

"N-No ,it's not. Everything been so fucking stressful and I-I don't know what to do Corpse. I try my might to fight these thoughts but everytime they resurface stronger and more disturbing. I can't keep them in control, Corpse. I just CAN'T. A-And I keep worrying about losing all: my friends, my belongings and my family. I feel like I will drive them away especially if I can't bring my share to the table. I don't even know why I tell you these to be honest, I don't want to scare you away but in the same time I ... FUCK!"

Your fists hit the table you been resting on hard , scaring the child in the living room. His cries only angered you more.

"Ghost. Ghost! Ghost! Gho-"

"WHAT?"

You instantly regretted shouting at him,stopping from your pacing too.

"Calm down,buttercup. I know how you feel and going down a warpath or an abyss of sorrows ain't the answer. Come, let me help. "

"You still want to?" Your voice came out timidly and shying away in fear, shielding your eyes in shame despite him having no possible way of seeing your face.

"Of course, you goof. Now let's see what we do with that kid."

You swiped a tear out of your right eyes ,smiling and nodding before remembering he couldn't see, just hear you. That made you more anxious now that you realised that he knows a close guarded information.

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A smile ran down your face as you watched the child all wrapped up in his dark blue blanket struggle to jeep his bright eyes opened as his ears and energy were captured by Corpse's singing. It's was a lullaby about moon and love, being in Spanish you only understood unfortunately the words close to your mother language.

You almost lost yourself to the gentle hums , stringing of a guitar and over all wholesome cozy atmosphere when loud voices and thumbs came from the apartment near Fatima's.

An idiot called Tudor who plays the bass part in Sergiu's band lived there, he and his boyfriend Micah. Two assholes who had a bone to pick with everyone, well more like Tudor had ,Micah was a follower.

The sense of protection enveloped you as you caressed the child's hair and kiss his right temple, letting him with Corpse to fall asleep.

Your grey flippers cracked against the stone stairs harshly and quickly. Your glare being as cold as the staircase room.

You knocked furiously on the door, hurting your hands by the metal indentations carved into the door. Your ears picked up footsteps approaching the door in a lazy manner, the two making jokes about what kind of bitch could be bothering them.

The smirk on his long face vanished when his pale blue eyes meet your fiery dark ones. He puffed a lock of dirty blond hair , saluting you in a cocky but intimidated manner :

"I wonder why the Red Riding Hood is paying us a visit? What do you think ,Micah?"

He leaned back to let his dark skinned boyfriend take a look at you. His eyes showed fear but he continued the masquerade in order to please his scumbag of a lover.

"I don't know, babe. Maybe she wants a threesome."

Tudor laughed like then pig he is, Micah lipped an apology to you, his black gems cowering in shame.

Micah wasn't a bad man , he was just naive and a people's pleaser, with no sense of stern morals but even awareness to know he is the wrong. You never understood why he wasted his breath by staying at the side of this buffoon of a dude. You ignored his half-cocked insults, knowing they didn't really had a backbone to them.

"I will appreciate if you could tone it down a little. No one needs to know you two are making a sex tape."

This seemed to anger the taller white as mayonnaise man who dismissed his boyfriend with a wave of his painted hand and moved forward to you. The red door of his apartment shutting up with an echo.

You two glared at each other, not one of the other backing down. Your breath was forcefully calmed down by your anger , last thing you needed is for him to know he was affecting you by coming too close. Your hands shook in their tight grip and you were pleased you cut your nails earlier.

"Just because Sergiu lets you come with us when we play, doesn't mean you and I are friends. Got it, girly?"

His rough tone only displeased you.

"And just because you can string two cords and not sound like a dying cat doesn't mean you are a great singer either, buddy."

"Fuck you." He said that to you in a clasped breath, his teeth biting on his lower lip as his face appeared more furious.

If this motherfucker puts his hands on me ,I swear I will...

"Y/N? Y/N!"

It was Sergiu.

The man in a punk style leather jacket ran quickly up the stairs, his armored black boots clicking away.

His face was twisted into a fearing expression before turning into a more pissed off one. He knew of Tudor's dislike towards you and knew that the both of you won't hold back if this turns physical. He needed to be smart about this.

"Man, come on. Leave her alone."

He moved to come between you ,Tudor's movement of hand stopped him.

"Nah,man. This bitch thinks she come here like she owns the fucking place and tell me what to do? I am sorry, princess, but you got another thing going. "

"TUDOR ISAAC POPESCU!"

A female voice caused his blood to ran cold and you to smirk.

Behind Sergiu, a petite woman in her mid fifties glared at him. Her greying hair caught in a bun,her olive wrinkled face was in a madden frown as her blue eyes shield by fuchsia framed glasses stared at him. The madame in green suit pants and white and black blouse was his mother.

His mother, a teacher at your University, was a lioness of a woman, never detour from the right path of doing things and more importantly never afraid to tear down anyone if they being dickish. Not even her loved son.

Sergiu grabbed gently you without a word as you two left the mother and son quarrel in peace, a part of you already starting to feel bad. You hate when you argued with someone but your anger sometimes got the better of you. Today truly has been an exhausting day.

————————————————————

You are in your room,Corpse still on the phone with you. You already explained what happened and know you enjoyed just talking with him about everything and nothing at the same time,trying to not fall asleep for how calming his voice was.

"You sure you don't want me to end the call. You must be tired from all the noises. "

You stirred, cleaning the droll of your left wnd of your lips. Your head ache as you saw that night has befallen.

"Wh-What?"

"Goofball,I was talking if you wanted me to let you rest but you already beat me to it."

"T-Tj?"

"Your friends said they will take care of them. They were so surprised to find me singing to him, though."

"Ah,shit. Sorry Corpse."

"Nothing to be sorry about, pumpkin. "

"Pumpkin, seriously?" You asked ,snuggling back into the comforter.

"Yeah, why not? The fall season is still up for a month or so."

"Hmm, I prefer goofball better."

"If you say so, princess. You *yawn* you sure you don't want me to let you sleep?"

A panick arised into your soul as you quickly told him no.

"P-Please stay."

"A-Alright."

He began to continue the story one of his subscribers send him as your eyes shut. A smile on your lips at last.

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Hey,guys!💖

Hope you enjoyed the fifth part of the serie. It was a roller coaster to write.

Anyway, stay safe!💗

Tagged💖:@moolujk @magenta-skyline @yikesyikesyikes95 @simonsbluee @cherry-piee @yoyoanaria @gaysludge @mythicalamphitrite

#corpse husband x reader #fanfic #hopefully not cringy #lonely ghost serie

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novilistinspirations · 4 years

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Trust Your Instincts

Gregory Mason finished his final sketch around 11pm on Thursday evening. He set the ruler aside and stared at his project. It was an elementary school designed for a small town nearby. Gregory leaned back in his chair, and it creaked under the added stress. He narrowed his eyes, wondering if he had included too many windows (or not enough), before finally turning off the drawing table light, deciding he'd done enough for one day.

He was the last one in the office, as he had wanted to finish the project by the end of the week, and was cutting close to his deadline.

He glanced at his watch, though he already knew from the black sky outside that it was well past the point his wife, Ellen, would have liked him to be home. She doesn't like having to put their daughter to bed without him. He knew he may be in for another lecture on how important the first five years of a child's development are. It would be less than a year until Kara turned five.

He rubbed his eyes, already feeling too tired for the half hour drive back to his house. Frequently, Kara would stay up and wait for him to get home if he wasn't there in time to tuck her in.

It was that thought that motivated him to get up from his chair and start getting ready to leave. He pulled on his jacket and threw away his half-empty coffee cup that had long since gone cold.

He left his office, shutting the door behind him, and began making his way down the hall toward the stairwell. Half way down the hall he realized he forgot his keycard, and turned to go back and retrieve it. Then he stopped.

At the back of the building, where the cubicles are located, the lights were on. The lights are automatic, so this meant the motion censor must have been triggered.

Gregory had thought that he was alone in the building, but he assumed someone had simply forgotten something, and returned briefly to get it from their workstation while he had been too involved in his project to notice. He walked back to his office, retrieving the keycard from the top drawer of his desk.

Then he heard something.

Shuffling, as though someone were dragging their feet across the carpet.

Gregory is a logical man. He knew that it was likely just an intern, and that there was no reason for him to feel unnerved. Despite his reasoning, he felt the hair standing up on his neck, and his heartrate increased, as though his body was instinctively reacting to a danger he couldn't consciously perceive.

He brushed off the thought, blaming it on the long workday and lack of sleep. Despite this, as he left his office he shut the door as quietly as possible. He mentally scolded himself, thinking it was ridiculous for him to be hiding from an imaginary predator. He decided he would go and check the back room, just to prove to himself that there was nothing wrong.

He turned left down the hall, toward the cubicles. By the time he had walked to the end of the hallway, he had convinced himself there would be nothing of interest for him to find. However, when he reached the room, his heart leapt into his throat.

There, standing near the opposite wall, was a man. His back was turned to Gregory, and although it wasn't possible to be sure, as there were several cubicles between them, he appeared to be unclothed. His hair was dark and ragged, and his skin was very pale. He had spots of dirt caked onto him, as though he had been sleeping in the mud. He was shaking, and seemed very unstable, as if he might fall over at any moment.

Gregory's initial instinct was to run, as he had already been slightly paranoid before seeing the man, however, he did not act on it. He remained calm, telling himself to be rational. He assumed the man was troubled, perhaps homeless, or mentally ill. Gregory thought he should talk to the man, and then decide if it would be necessary to call the police.

"Excuse me," Gregory said, but did not finish his sentence.

As the man turned to face him, his head lolled to the side, as though his neck couldn't properly support the weight of it. His movements were slow, and lacking control. He kicked his legs out before taking each step to turn, dragging his feet across the floor to bring them close enough to support his body. This brought the image of a puppet on strings to Gregory's mind, and he felt a sudden jolt of fear through his chest.

When the man turned around fully, Gregory could see his face perfectly under the fluorescent light, and his fear turned to panic.

The man's skin was practically grey, and what had seemed to be mud now appeared closer to rot. The man's jaw hung open, in his mouth a strange black liquid swirled around rapidly. His eyelids had been removed, and the sockets were rimmed with blood. His eyes did not sit inside the sockets, but behind them, as though they couldn't quite fit. They were bright orange, with thin black pupils slitted vertically down the center.

For a moment Gregory felt frozen. He couldn't process what he was seeing, and so he couldn't react. He just stood and stared, ice cold dread filling his chest and closing his throat (not that it would have helped him to scream). It wasn't until the creature took a step toward him, once again producing that long dragging sound across the carpet, that Gregory was able to force his legs to move.

He turned and fled down the hall, attempting to look both in front of him and behind him at once. For how much difficulty the creature seemed to have with movement, by the time Gregory reached the other end of the hall it had already maneuvered it's way through the cubicles, and was chasing him with jerky, lopsided steps. It's feet twisted around as it flailed toward him, and Gregory wondered if the creature even had bones to support it's limbs. This didn't seem to hinder it, as it dropped to the ground and launched itself down the hallway on all fours.

Gregory's breath came in short gasps, each one producing a small panicked shout. He could hear his heart pound in his ears as the creature somehow managed to gain speed, the black liquid audibly whirling in it's throat.

When he finally reached the door to the stairwell, Gregory twisted the knob and slammed into the door so forcefully he fell forward onto the landing. He turned onto his back, seeing the creature sprinting at him, it's eyes moving erratically behind the bloodied eyesockets, the black liquid swishing and whirling in and out of it's mouth. Gregory kicked at the door. He missed twice, then hit it on the third time. It slammed shut, the lock setting automatically. He heard a loud thump as the creature failed to stop in time. Gregory scrambled to his feet, grabbing onto the stair railing for support. He started down, but when he reached the second landing he heard a sound like running water, and looked back up the stairs.

Thick black liquid was flooding out from under the door, and began pouring down the stairs toward him. Gregory dashed down the second flight, leaping over the last three steps and just barely managing to get his footing as he landed. He crashed through the exit door and into the parking lot, sprinting for his car. He cursed himself for parking so far back, no longer daring to look behind him.

He didn't slow his pace until he reached the car, fumbling to get his keyfob out and unlock it. The moment he was sat down inside he jammed the key into the ignition, slamming his foot on the accelerator before he'd even gotten it in gear.

Within seconds he was out of the parking lot and making his way toward the freeway, not bothering to consider the speed limit.

It wasn't until he was half way home that his heart rate finally started to slow. His eyes darted repeatedly to the rearview mirror, although he didn't know how the creature could possibly follow him going ninety down the highway. He told himself he needed to calm down. He didn't want to tell his wife what had happened. Even if he had wanted to, he didn't think he could.

By the time he reached his house he had managed to get himself into the frame of mind to feign normalcy. He parked in the driveway, and tried not to appear too jumpy as he scanned the yard on his way to the front door, but he couldn't help looking over his shoulder. When he got inside, Ellen was on the couch in the living room. She stood as soon as she heard him enter.

"Oh, Greg, thank god you're alright." She wrapped her arms around his neck, embracing him tightly, before taking a step back and slapping his shoulder, "what kept you?" She demanded.

"What do you mean?" He asked, hoping she couldn't see how shaken he was, "You know I was at work."

"Didn't you see the news?" She asked, her eyes were wide.

"No. Why, what happened?" He asked, sitting down on the sofa.

She sat next to him, twisting her hands anxiously, "A man was murdered, right by your office. Greg, it's absolutely horrible, the person that did it must have been completely deranged." She said.

Gregory felt cold, and balled his hands into fists to keep them from shaking, "by my office?" He asked.

"Yes, and it was so awful." She covered her mouth with her hand, "his whole body- everything had been pulled out."

"Pulled out? What do you mean pulled out?" Gregory could feel the fear pricking in his chest again.

"Pulled out of his skin, and they don't know where it is. They found his insides just- just strewn around behind one of the buildings in town, less than a block away from where you were working." Her voice became very strained, "And because they couldn't find his- his skin, they can't identify him yet, and you were so late getting home, and I couldn't help but think-" She stiffled a sob.

"Elle, I'm right here, I'm fine." Gregory pulled her to his chest, hiding his fear behind the attempt to comfort her. His mind raced with the thought of how very close he was to being that man. How it could have been his skin that creature had been wearing next. He suppressed a shudder.

After several long moments, Ellen had calmed down, and decided to go to bed. Gregory assured her he'd be there in a moment, and went down the hall to their daughter's room. Her door was cracked so that just enough light could stream in from the hallway. She was asleep, as he expected, with a worn stuffed rabbit clutched in her arms.

Gregory sat down gently on her bed, and as he listened to the steadiness of her breathing he finally began to feel a sense of relief. He would not be going back to the office the next day. He'd never go back, if he could help it. He made the decision to put in a transfer request in the morning. Perhaps he'd even look for a new job entirely.

Feeling slightly better after seeing his daughter sleeping soundly and having a plan sorted, he left Kara's room. Being sure to leave the door cracked the way she liked it, he went to check that the house doors were locked before turning in.

He checked the front door first, than the garage, and finally went to the sliding glass door at the back. He pulled the curtain aside, and seeing that the lock was set, he began pulling the curtain back into place when something caught his attention, and his blood ran cold.

Just outside their backyard fence, he could have sworn he saw a pair of orange eyes.

#short stories #writers #horror #horror stories #horror short #horror short story #horror short stories #writings #writing

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theonyxpath · 5 years

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Today’s blog is going to be a bit different. It’s one of the rare Mondays we aren’t holding our weekly meeting, in that it’s the Labor Day holiday here in the US and a bunch of us are all over the place taking care of everything from finishing up conventions to driving a kid back to college.

So, while we still have our updates and all that, I don’t have a meeting’s worth of notes to share with you in some mutated form. Instead, I thought I’d selfishly take the opportunity to talk about one of my processes; specifically, the process I go through to design the look of one of our game line’s cover treatments.

In this case, I’m talking about the cover for Trinity Continuum: Aberrant.

To do that, we need to go back to when I was designing the overall look of the entire Trinity Continuum line. Sitting down and considering what direction to go with it, I made the a call to make sure the covers let folks know that they were part of a series, rather than the direction of the original editions where I wanted each core book to reflect the genre the game was designed to emulate.

I’m talking about the funky and unique plastic binding of Trinity (Aeon), the graphic novel look of the Aberrant cover, and the pseudo-distressed look of an old pulp magazine for Adventure!.

I think we did a pretty nice job on them way back when, but now that we are emphasizing the fact that these game lines exist in a Trinity Continuum, I was looking for a way that the cover treatments would also relay that information.

A timeline sort of feel – something that could be read as moments along the Continuum – was what I was looking for, but my first idea, a single illustration that we’d cut sections out of for each main book, just wouldn’t work as intended. After all, we expect to add all sorts of new time periods and genres, so how could those be worked into a single illustration before we even could know which ones we were doing?

Instead, what if each point on the timeline that represented a new slice of the Continuum was represented by a vertical illustration that collaged together the high points of that setting? I could picture them springing up all along the timeline, with maybe the “tent pole” game settings of the Trinity Continuum: Core, TC: Adventure!, TC: Aberrant, and TC: Aeon, getting the largest and most involved images for their covers, and other books having treatments that were as involved as the books warranted.

Something like this:

That would give us an underlying structure that tied into the Continuum concept – and it is always a good thing to try and put new concepts into some sort of visual design that reinforces and even explains that new concept – yet not have a design that would constrict our ideas and cover visuals.

Here’s what the TC: Core and TC: Aeon covers look like:

Now for TC: Aberrant, I was able to start with continuing the structure set up with the previous covers, and I had the original edition’s collage cover by the awesome Tom Fleming to draw imagery from to give us the quite accurate sense of a connection between the two editions. So things like a cityscape at the bottom, and making sure we got a T2M logo somewhere in it, were natural choices for imagery.

Which scenes, which head-shots, and which full figures to be featured were a different matter entirely. A lot depended on just what we wanted this edition to have as themes, or basically, what kind of moments and characters best show off the setting folks will find past the cover?

For the biggest, focal-point full-body figures: we’d talked about the changes to The Fireman’s story, so I knew he was still an inspirational figure – maybe even moreso in this edition. I even played around with having the central image be his statue, but decided on keeping the focus on the living hero.

Divas Mal, of course, needed to be in a position of prominence, and I wanted the swirl of his cloak to talk about one of our most iconic characters also being a comic book character. Around him, the leading figures in his movement, since Mal was still a messianic figure that movements coalesced around in this edition.

Some rough sketches along the way to the cover design.

Then between them, another iconic and powerful character, Antaeus – even before we knew the lead-in webcomic would feature him. Smaller figures would run the gamut of the various kinds of Novas – mercenary Elites, celebs in the public eye, T2M members, etc. I also wanted a wide range of physical types.

Some head-shot characters as a call back to the first edition cover, and to break up the figures on a visual level. I knew Matthew and Eddy were anxiously awaiting a chance to pitch a supplement detailing the Nova wrestlers that featured way to prominently in first edition (IMHO), so Lance Stryker reprises his head-shot, along with the iconic Cestus Pax to reassure long-time fans that the hero you love to hate was still in there. (Especially since Ian Watson had already made some strong changes to the character).

Just like on the previous two book covers, the three characters above the cityscape are new ones, but again, I was pushing to hit some archetypes and expand some physical types. Plus, we had discussed a long time back that “inventor” type characters would be able to go all Tony Stark, so a powered-suit character needed to be on there to suggest that change in this edition.

For iconic scenes, I started with the Galatea explosion, and the attack on the Lincoln Memorial by Geryon. Both of those have also been moments from which a lot of the further events of the setting sprung. Then a few more, like a T2M rescue just to get the team into the cover a tad bit more, as even tweaked, I know they were still a great entry point for lots of folks coming to TC: Aberrant already aware of the idea of superhero teams.

Because, even with all that pre-planning, there were still tweaks to be made. The biggest came late in the actual illustrating when I was reminded that in this edition’s continuity Slider isn’t murdered. I’d designed the cover before the writing was done, and forgotten I’d included the Slider assassination as one of the cover moments. Whoops! We had to get that fixed even later than Mirthful Mike’s cover mock-up for the Kickstarter.

And please, lest you think this whole blog is me suggesting the covers are all a RichT production of a RichT idea, directed by and starring RichT, let me be clear that most of my efforts end by handing off my sketches to Mirthful Mike Chaney, who not only art directs the cover illustrations based on the sketches, but follows up on the illustrator’s versions and my notes on them, and then makes the illustrations sing by how he has done the graphic design for the covers.

Fantastic artist Shen Fei, who has illustrated the covers for all three books so far, has so far blown away and improved my ideas by a quantum level – and I expect that TC: Adventure! will also be for more beautiful than I imagined as I sketched it out! (And I can imagine a fair bit of beautiful.)

So, that’s pretty much it for this week. Just a little peak behind the scenes on how we do the voodoo that we do so well in order to illuminate our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Keep an eye out in this space as well as on our social media for the Deviant: The Renegades Kickstarter that will be launching later this month!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features recordings from GenCon! Go to https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/ or to your favorite podcast venue!

The Onyx Path News show went out live today, with talk of Vampire, Werewolf, Chronicles of Darkness, They Came From Beneath the Sea!, Dystopia Rising: Evolution, and all kinds of other games, along with lots of meandering nonsense from Matthew! https://youtu.be/ZVmX1n_54Fc

Our Twitch channel has a bumper crop of content coming up this week, with almost every day populated with a show! There’s Scion, Scarred Lands, Vampire, and more! Check us out and give us a follow on www.twitch.tv/theonyxpath

Here’s a special treat for fans of Mage: The Awakening! Occultists Anonymous have four new episodes for you right here as follows:

Episode 37: Forging Futures With Atratus still within her soul and tensions running a little high, Wyrd and Songbird split the party. Plans are made for the future of the cabal and the individual mages. https://youtu.be/ay54wbYhs7Y

Episode 38: In the Wings Wyrd the Seer and Songbird work to restore a wounded Hallow. Atratus experiments with the new strength of her Matter Arcana. https://youtu.be/ZsMa26FER4g

Episode 39: Lady of the Lake Wyrd the Seer delves into her Oneiros to confront the conflicts within her own soul. Songbird prepares for his UFC fight. Atratus speaks with her dead brother. https://youtu.be/AD2UTOzWSq8

Episode 40: He’s Back Acanthis, the fighter formerly known as Songbird, returns to a UFC fight, then the cabal goes to Jimmy “Smalls” Patinko’s place for a party. Enjoying the nightlife in New York City… https://youtu.be/yULxjFKo-iE

The Story Told Podcast continue their excellent Dragon-Blooded actual play. As the Dragon-Blooded set out again on the road to Daric, Kai discovers evidence of a small band of travelers attempting to hid their presence. The Dragon-Blooded decide to investigate. https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/

Our Scion: Athens, Ohio actual play is now on our YouTube channel right here https://youtu.be/gQv3599lczo along with promo videos here https://youtu.be/drNIV5G8Vys and here https://youtu.be/9_1X8l1RXaQ Expect more to come in the coming weeks!

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

As always, you can find most of Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, Night Horrors: Shunned By the Moon for Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd will be available in PDF and physical book PoD versions on DTRPG!

Conventions!

Save Against Fear: October 12th – 14th GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd PAX Unplugged: December 6th – 8th 2020: Midwinter: January 9th – 12th

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Redlines

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Second Draft

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Development

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Manuscript Approval

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

W20 Art Book (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Post-Approval Development

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

V5 Chicago Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Editing

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Post-Editing Development

Memento Mori (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e Companion)

DR:E Jumpstart (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Indexing

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars – Contracted. Sketches rolling in.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties – Contracted.

Deviant (KS) – Contracted. Putting together KS graphics.

Trinity RMCs – Contracted.

Cults of the Blood God (KS) – Sending out art notes.

Chicago Folio – Art notes going out this week.

Mummy 2 (KS) – Got Matthew’s notes.

Memento Mori – Small book, throwing it to Drew and Luis.

In Layout

They Came from Beneath the Sea!

Dark Eras 2 – Files with Aileen

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

VtR Spilled Blood – With Josh. Everything is in, so he should be cruising.

Aeon Aexpansion – Need to do cover.

Proofing

C20 Cup of Dreams

Signs of Sorcery – Inputting errata.

M20 Book of the Fallen

DR: E – Back to Eddy for XXs.

DR:E Jumpstart

CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel

At Press

Dragon Blooded – Shipping wrapping up.

Dragon-Blooded Cloth Map – Shipping wrapping up.

Dragon-Blooded Screen – Shipping wrapping up.

Trinity Core Screen – At Studio2.

TC Aeon Screen – At Studio2.

Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs coming.

Trinity Core – Printing. PoD proofs ordered.

Trinity Aeon – Printing. PoD proofs ordered.

V5: Chicago – Prepping files for press.

You Are Not Alone (TC: Aberrant Comic) – PoD proof ordered.

Shunned By the Moon – PDF and PoD physical book versions available this Wed. at DTRPG!

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Thanks to Impish Ian Watson for posting this: “50 years ago today, two computers at UCLA were connected via a 4.5-meter cable, giving birth to what we call the Internet. Happy birthday, Internet.” Because without the internet, Onyx Path would just not work – we need the connections around the world to do what we do!

#Onyx Path Publishing

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genie-of-the-4th-wall · 6 years

Text

Found

@hatofulshipweek Day Seven: Home

AO3 Link

This one’s a little late, but I’m usually terrible when it comes to consistently writing and posting, so I feel I’ve done a pretty good job this week. Speaking of which, participating in this Ship Week was a blast! It was really fun, and I feel like I’ve improved just over the course of the week. So thank you to @hatofulshipweek for hosting this event, thank you to all of the other participants for your amazing works, and thank you to the people who read and enjoyed my stuff! Enough rambling, here’s the story.

Nageki was used to Hiyoko frequenting the library, especially since she found out he physically couldn’t leave the area. She wasn’t very good at staying quiet (much to the dove’s chagrin), but he appreciated her company nonetheless. She had even taken to checking out the books he recommended so they could discuss them. Nageki had to admit it: Hiyoko was his best friend. So it didn’t surprise him too much when the hunter-gatherer girl snuck into the library after school hours, toting a sleeping bag and a full backpack.

“What is all that?” Nageki asked.

“We’re having a sleepover! The staff is all gone for the weekend, I already checked,” Hiyoko answered with a grin.

“A... sleepover?”

“Yeah, a sleepover! I figured it must get lonely spending your nights in the library, so I thought I’d stay over tonight. Have you ever had a sleepover before, Nageki?”

“Maybe. If I have, I don’t remember.”

“Well, I’ll make sure you have a blast tonight!”

Nageki learned that you didn’t really do much sleeping at sleepovers. You played boardgames, and watched movies, and just talked a lot. It was different from his quiet norm, but it was an enjoyable experience. As Hiyoko finally settled down to sleep, she gave Nageki her signature sunny smile.

“I’m gonna help you experience all of the great things in life, Nageki. It’s a promise,” she said.

A couple days later, she told him that the detention she got from stealing the janitor’s keys was completely worth it.

Ryouta didn’t often come into the library on his own. Sometimes Hiyoko would drag him in there to hang out, but Nageki could always sense a strange awkwardness Ryouta had around him. Nageki wasn’t the most socially adept bird in the world, so he couldn’t really do much about it. Thus, he wasn’t quite sure what to do when Ryouta approached him in the library, alone.

“H-hello, Nageki,” Ryouta stammered.

“Hello,” Nageki responded, pretending to be engrossed in his book. Okay, maybe it wasn’t the most polite of responses, but Nageki didn’t know how else to proceed.

“Um, what are you reading?”

“‘Destined to Find You’. It’s a romance novel about a world with predetermined soulmates. Romance novels aren’t usually my favorite, and I’ve already read it. However, it has some very interesting themes of destiny and the importance of both platonic and romantic relationships. I find that I can appreciate it more upon rereading it.” That was probably the most words Nageki had ever said to Ryouta directly, but he couldn’t help but ramble when it came to discussing literature.

“Oh. Sounds really interesting, actually. Does the library have another copy?”

“I don’t think so. Here.” Nageki gave the book to Ryouta.

“Uh, weren’t you reading this? I wouldn’t want to take it away from you while you’re busy with it...”

“It’s okay. Like I said, I’ve read it before.”

“Well then, thank you! I’ll let you know what I think of it when I’m done!” Ryouta accepted the book, giving Nageki a warm smile. As he left the library, Nageki smiled too. The tension was broken, and Ryouta definitely seemed like the kind of bird anybody could be friends with.

Nageki usually didn’t mind being confined to the library. A place full of books was probably one of the better places to be trapped, especially if you enjoyed reading as much as he did. And with the recent discovery that he could move vertically, he could go to the roof for a breathe of the outdoors. However, he found himself wanting to leave the library more and more lately. Maybe it was his brief freedom of movement on the Holiday Star, or maybe it was Hiyoko’s determination to help him experience as much as he could. Regardless of the reason, there were days when Nageki desperately wished to escape the confines of the library.

Today was one of those days. Most of the students had shuffled out for the day, but Nageki could hear the faint noise of somebody playing the piano. It was a beautiful sound, and it sparked Nageki’s curiosity. Who was playing? What song was it? If only he could find out... Nageki found himself drawn to the door of the library, straining to hear the music better. He leaned closer and closer to the boundary that kept him trapped within the room... and stumbled into the hallway. Nageki blinked, unable to believe his eyes.

“What...?”

Nageki wasn’t sure how he had managed to leave the library, but he knew what the first thing he wanted to do was. He followed the sound of the piano, leading him to what he could only assume was the school’s music room. A fantail pigeon that Nageki recognized as one of Hiyoko’s friends was playing the piece. Hiyoko and Ryouta were also present, watching him perform. Hiyoko, ever alert, noticed Nageki enter the room. She stared at him, eyes wide.

“Nageki?!” she exclaimed.

That got Ryouta’s attention, whose mouth dropped open at the mourning dove’s presence. The fantail (Sakuya, he believed?) stopped playing and looked them, annoyed.

“Who is this, and why do you find the need to interrupt the flow of the music?” he grumbled.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you. It sounded so beautiful, and I wanted to hear it bett-“ Nageki was interrupted by Hiyoko grasping him in a bear hug, spinning around in excitement.

“YOU’RE OUTSIDE OF THE LIBRARY! HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?!” she squealed.

“Er, Hiyoko? I think you’re making him dizzy,” Ryouta commented. Nageki was greatful, considering Ryouta was right. Hiyoko stopping spinning him and loosened her grip, but she didn’t let go.

“Hehe, sorry. I’m just really happy for you, Nageki. How did this happen, anyway?” Hiyoko said, smiling.

“I’m not really sure myself. I really wanted to listen to the piano music, and when I went to the entrance of the library to hear it better I found I was no longer trapped,” Nageki explained.

“Weird. Well, I don’t really care how. I’m just glad you’re here,” she said.

“Will somebody please tell me what is going on?!” Sakuya interjected.

Hiyoko introduced Sakuya to Nageki and gave a basic explanation of his backstory as the library ghost.

“But wait, I thought you couldn’t see Nageki, Sakuya. At least, you couldn’t when we all went to watch the eclipse. Oh! Is it because you’re no longer a classist jerk?” Hiyoko mused.

“What?!” Sakuya sputtered in indignation.

“Um, I was wondering, what song were you playing?” Nageki asked, changing the subject before things could get out of hand. Sakuya noticeably relaxed when the conversation was brought back to music.

“The piece is called Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy. Would you like to hear it in full?” Sakuya asked, giving Hiyoko a sharp glare.

“That would be lovely,” Nageki said.

Sakuya started the piece again. Nageki thought it sounded even more beautiful up close.

“Coo, coo!”

Nageki sat on the bleachers, watching an energetic dove run laps around the track. Since the piano incident, Nageki found he could now go as far as the school grounds. After that, he hit an invisible wall much like he had before in the library. Hiyoko was disappointed he couldn’t leave the school, but Nageki was content with any improvement. It certainly made it easier to hang out with his friends, given that they tended to cause a bit of a ruckus in the library. Case in point, Okosan. The dove always managed to make a mess or anger the librarian whenever he stopped by, so he was overjoyed to hear Nageki could meet him outside instead. Despite his oddities, Nageki thought Okosan made for pleasant company. Okosan paused after finishing his latest lap, flying up next to Nageki’s spot in the bleachers.

“Coo coo? (Is Nageki enjoying watching Okosan run?)” Okosan asked.

“Yes. Your speed is quite impressive, Oko,” Nageki replied.

“Coo coo! (Of course! Okosan is the fasted member of the track team!)” Okosan puffed out his chest proudly. He noticed Nageki staring beyond the track.

“Coo? (Is something bothering Nageki?)”

“Not much. It’s just... weird, being out here. I was trapped in the library for so long, and now I suddenly have the whole school. Will I be able to go even farther? I wonder...”

“Coo coo. (Okosan thinks it’s just like running.”

“Hm?”

“Coo coo, coo! Coo coo! (Like, Okosan started out only able to run a few laps at a time. But Okosan trained and trained, and now Okosan can run many many more! It’s the same for Nageki. Nageki’s spirit needs to get stronger and stronger, so he can run farther! The stronger you get, the farther you can run!)”

Nageki thought about it. He did feel stronger than he did before. Bonding with Hiyoko, and making actual friends... he had certainly grown a lot from when he had first awoken as a ghost.

“Heh... maybe you’re right, Oko.”

“Coo coo! (Okosan is always right!)

“Estelle, I must implore you to take this cursed painting from my possession!” Anghel said, thrusting a piece of paper in Nageki’s direction. He seemed flustered.

Nageki examined the the paper. It contained sketches of Nageki and all of their friends, but it was different from Anghel’s usual fare. Instead of the fantasy style he drew his manga in, the drawings were much more realistic. He vaguely remembered Anghel busily sketching the last time everybody hung out together as a group. He must have drawn everybody then.

“What’s this, Anghel?”

“The other day, I came across the Golden-Winged Messanger on my way out of these cursed halls. As I made haste so as to not waste my crimson blood on him once more, the Tome of Epics was nearly lost. The Golden-Winged Messenger retrieved it, and remarked that indulging in a study of the profane would allow me to better harness my abilities. However, now that the training is complete, I can no longer hold onto this page, lest it infect me with the despair of the unenlightened,” Anghel explained.

“I... see,” Nageki said slowly, “Why are you giving it to me?”

“I thought... you would appreciate an illustration of those you have formed the pact of blood with,” Anghel muttered, embarrassed.

“Pact of blood?” Nageki echoed.

“Yes, a pact of blood! The spiritual entwinement of souls, interlocking fates!”

Nageki stared at Anghel, confused. He had gotten used to interpreting Anghel’s... Anghelisms, but he couldn’t possibly mean what it sounded like he meant. Anghel sighed in frustration.

“Family, as the unenlightened would put it,” Anghel grumbled, clearly unhappy with having to use normal language.

Nageki stared at the paper. Family, huh...? Nageki remembered having a family. It was blurry amd distant, but he did have one at some point. But now...? He thought about Hiyoko’s bright encouragement, Ryouta’s gentle conversations, Sakuya’s strong presence, and Okosan’s exuberant advice. And of course, Anghel’s strange brand of affection. Nageki smiled brightly, tears pricking his eyes. Yes, he supposed he did have a family now.

#hatofulshipweek #hatoful boyfriend #Nageki Fujishiro #hiyoko tosaka #ryouta kawara #sakuya le bel shirogane #okosan #Anghel Higure

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kingaid1-blog · 5 years

Text

Gameplay Prototyping - Tuesday 19/02/19

To start this blog I want to make my direction clearer than a few pages of wild sketches. I had touched on mechanics last week and after re-reading the coursework guidelines today, I should be focusing on them initially and building around that.

I am actually on track with this, as in my last blog I spoke of the methods of re-using this water to create different obstacles for the player. I was getting myself confused at exactly what I was wanting when I started putting some of this stuff in to Unity, but I was just unclear at what my initial goal really was.

The past week I have tried to re-create a level based on a sketch-up level design I created in the intent of prototyping my idea of utilizing the ‘re-use of water’. Also I have not spoke of this yet as I hadn’t quite documented the idea, but my plan is to have some sort of gadget which allows the player to defend themselves against certain falling water sources..

After iterating some ideas this week, you will see in the sketch further below I speak about the player using their “Umbrella”, which will allow them to not die from the acidic water, but instead allow this water to be used in a non-hostile manner by activating the Umbrella early enough when mid-flight

My progress as of the end of today - Tuesday the 19th of February - is that I have created a basic representation of my sketch in Unity in terms of platforms and area.

My aim is to use this level to test my mechanics on how the water sources change after falling and hitting these ‘drains’ placed around the level, while testing this Umbrella I speak. This will allow me to see if this will work as I see it on paper and in my head, while allowing me to tweak timings as spoke of in last weeks blog, for the likes of the water drips that the player will have to avoid.

While this is the main goal, I felt it would be good to get my ladder script sorted out that I had been working on here and there to no avail. After some help in the labs today, the ladder is now working perfectly.

Now the ladder is working, I can get in these water obstacles and get right to testing them with my player being able to move around the level.

Below is my sketch of the level idea I had drawn up, followed by the Unity scene as it currently stands:

As you can see they are quite similar with a few less platforms at the moment and a slightly different shape. I also have not yet added in any of the ‘Grates’ or ‘Drains’ you may see in the sketch (bottom-center platform, middle-center platform).

What I aim to do with these is from at the very top of the screen there will be a water source, which will act as a waterfall (marked as “water source” at top-center sketch). This will act as both an obstacle and a route of passage for the player, by utilizing the “Umbrella” mechanic at the correct time. This water source will fall down and hit the platform in the center platform of the level (landing to the left of the spikes), where there will be one of these drains implemented. When the water hits the drain, it will convert into another water type which in this case is drops of water. From below the center platform, every ‘x’ seconds water drops will fall. This will be the lowest obstacle in the room and will be the first the player will come to out of them said. After this, I plan to create a second grate as shown on the sketch which will pass these rain drops in to a sort of sewer system. These sewer systems will be home to hostile creatures, currently what I can only picture or describe as Rat-Snakes. The only important thing ATM is that these critters will jump out horizontally at the player from a wall connected to a sewer grate (bottom-left of sketch, marked as ‘A’)

I do plan to iterate/add/change these if any new or better ideas come along, but the main thing is to get them tested in Unity ASAP.

Moving forward to my other main mechanic, the idea for the Umbrella is that it can only be used when the player is NOT grounded. Using the built in function to Unity that has already been used used for the basic character movement - ‘isGrounded’ - I believe testing this will be easier than it sounds.

When the player presses ‘E’ while in mid air, they will use their Umbrella ability. What this does is allows the player to negate the effect water falling would normally have and sometimes can be used to the player’s further advantage. In the above sketched level design, when the player jumps off the top-right platform (extended by pressing a switch at other part of level) - if they do not reach the waterfall, the will reach the spikes. If the player presses ‘E’ before hitting the waterfall though, they will be transported to where the water source lands and the player will then roll to safety.

As the umbrella will only be used in mid-air, it will allow for the obstacle the player will approach with the water-drops to be a little more challenging, rather than them just pressing E and getting on with it.

To add to this I may look at whether it be appropriate for the Umbrella to slow the player’s fall speed and possibly create further levels or obstacles in the future which can utilize this, but this is a stretch goal as it may interfere with other obstacles by making them too easy - such as avoiding the spikes.

In order to test these my first thoughts are to make use of the debug log, to make different checks as the player hits the water with and without this ‘Umbrella’. At the same time, I will be using the old enemy scripts and implementing them in to my project to get these ankle-biting rats jumping out from the low walls. I will look at at a simple transform of position when the player enters the area around them, then tweak the timings to allow the player to have a chance to not die.

To finish off here, as I got carried away with my brainstorming I was trying to picture how this may look. I was thinking “acidic water” and “dark clouds” and “vertical levels”. I had already done some thought on a plot that would fit my idea, but I ended up going further and creating some initial thoughts on aesthetics.

Another messy one, but I pretty much went in to some thought about what environment would suit this ‘acidic water, gaining altitude’ kind of setting. At the bottom-left of sketch I also went in to some more detail about my “Rat-Snakes-to-be”, with a simple diagram giving some idea about the height of the player vs these enemies and their location.

More on the aesthetic side of things, at the right half of the page I gave some thought to how the background and foreground will be looking and went in to further detail on how these platforms could look and feel.

Although this part isn’t my main goal at the moment, I felt it was relevant and had to get this stuff out of my head and on to paper, for my sanity if nothing else. I am glad I did as I feel like I have made good progress these past few weeks and if I now feel committed to making a quality game.

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