purplesafarilion

[hayatheauthor]

Creating Fear in Your Characters: A Writers Guide

Creating authentic emotions is vital for immersive storytelling, which is why I decided to make this series on how to write different emotions. After exploring rage, and sadness it's now time to delve into fear!

Fear is a powerful emotion that can manifest in various ways, from subtle apprehension to paralyzing terror. Here's a guide on how to write fear effectively, covering different aspects of your characters' behavior and reactions.

Facial Expressions

Fear often manifests first in facial expressions, conveying the initial shock or unease. Describe these expressions to immerse readers in your character's emotional state:

Widened Eyes and Dilated Pupils: Show the eyes widening in response to a sudden threat, with dilated pupils indicating heightened alertness.

Tense Jaw and Clenched Teeth: Mention the clenching of jaw muscles or teeth, signaling internalized stress or anxiety.

Furrowed Brow and Raised Eyebrows: Describe the furrowing of the forehead and raised eyebrows, revealing worry or confusion.

Quivering Lips or Lip Biting: Note subtle lip movements like quivering or biting, reflecting nervousness or fear.

Frozen or Stiff Facial Muscles: Highlight moments of fear-induced immobility, where facial muscles become tense and rigid.

Body Language and Gestures

Fear can also be expressed through body language and gestures, showcasing your character's instinctual responses to danger or threat:

Backing Away or Recoiling: Describe your character instinctively moving backward or recoiling from the source of fear, signaling a desire to retreat.

Raised Shoulders and Tensed Posture: Show how fear causes the shoulders to rise and the body to tense up, indicating readiness for fight or flight.

Trembling Hands or Shaking Limbs: Mention the trembling of hands or shaking of limbs, reflecting nervousness or anxiety.

Covering Vulnerable Areas: Describe your character instinctively covering vulnerable areas like their neck or torso, symbolizing a protective gesture.

Fidgeting or Restlessness: Note any fidgeting or restlessness, such as tapping feet or wringing hands, as signs of inner turmoil and fear.

Vocal Cues and Dialogue

Fear can alter vocal cues and dialogue, affecting how your character speaks and communicates their emotions:

Quavering Voice or Shaky Speech: Describe the voice quivering or becoming shaky, indicating nervousness or fear.

Rapid Breathing and Gasping: Mention rapid breathing or gasping for air, showcasing the physical impact of fear on the respiratory system.

Stammering or Hesitant Speech: Note any stammering or hesitant speech patterns, reflecting the character's struggle to articulate their thoughts coherently.

Sudden Silence or Lack of Verbal Response: Show moments of sudden silence or the inability to respond verbally, highlighting the overwhelming nature of fear.

Repetitive Phrases or Vocalizations: Describe repetitive phrases or vocalizations, such as muttering prayers or chanting reassurances, as coping mechanisms in fearful situations.

Reactions and Physical Responses

Fear triggers various physical responses in your characters, showcasing the body's instinctual reactions to perceived threats:

Increased Heart Rate and Sweating: Mention the character's heart rate increasing and sweating profusely, reflecting heightened physiological arousal.

Dilated Pupils and Heightened Senses: Describe dilated pupils and heightened sensory perception, as the character's senses become more attuned to potential dangers.

Muscle Tension and Rigidity: Note muscle tension and rigidity, as the body prepares for action or defense in response to fear.

Nausea or Stomach Churning: Show how fear can lead to feelings of nausea or stomach churning, as the body's stress response impacts digestive functions.

Fight, Flight, or Freeze Response: Highlight the character's instinctual response to fear, whether it's a readiness to fight, a desire to flee, or a state of frozen immobility.

Types of Fear and Emotional Depth

Different types of fear can evoke varying emotional responses in your characters, adding depth to their portrayal and the narrative:

Startle Fear: Describe the sudden, reflexive fear triggered by unexpected events or loud noises, leading to a quick, intense reaction.

Apprehensive Fear: Show the lingering sense of unease or dread that accompanies anticipated threats or impending danger, heightening tension over time.

Terror: Depict the overwhelming, paralyzing fear that arises from extreme danger or horrifying experiences, impacting the character's ability to think or act rationally.

Phobias: Explore specific phobias that trigger irrational and intense fear responses, shaping how your character navigates their environment and interactions.

Trauma-Induced Fear: Address fear resulting from past traumas or experiences, influencing the character's behavior and emotional resilience in present situations.

Verbs and Adjectives for Writing Fear

Here's a list of verbs and adjectives to help you convey fear effectively in your writing:

Verbs: tremble, cower, gasp, quiver, shrink, freeze, recoil, sweat, pant, gulp, shudder

Adjectives: terrified, anxious, alarmed, horrified, shaken, jittery, panicked, petrified

[glow-in-the-dark-death]

Survive the Dorms

~

Danny can now easily say that college sucks.

He's getting less sleep than when he first started being a hero back home.

His roommate was straight out from the horror stories you would hear about roommates. He was hoping to switching rooms after the year was over, but that was still so far away.

Danny was falling asleep whenever and wherever he could.

His lack of sleep mixed in with his stress about school started to show some of his ghostly side while he was out of it.

Sleepwalking would be normal for anyone, but Danny was far from normal, he would go invisible and intangible, some people even managed to get video of it, if a very distorted version no mater how hard they tried.

Sleep talking as well, which would scare the hairs off anyone who would listen. Humans weren't meant to hear ghost speak after all.

Somehow people never could figure out it was Danny,

And Danny,

Danny had no clue he was the reason people thought that the dorms and school were haunted.

~

Danny getting the best sleep he has had in weeks: *yawn* "I need to do that more often"

The Dorm: "Salt I need more saLT!!"

TD: "I'm still alive!"

~

TD: "I was so freaked out last night! Did you see how it moved?"

Danny oblivious thinking their talking about a new horror movie

~

Danny's Roommate holding a cross he got from the Dollar General

Danny floating in the air above his bed, sleep talking about his homework in Ghost Speak

DR: "Fuck this, I'm dropping out!"

~

Danny looking at his classmates being Stressed TM: " Ah yes normal collage things!"

TD every night:

~

Just an Idea

[blackkatdraws]

A world where humans are considered similar to Analogue Horror creatures

It's just an idea that popped into my head when I was having another binge watch of analogue horrors. It can work with a normal story, the Isekai (other world) genre, or with Humans Fuck Yeah! stories, or maybe more.

Aw man, imagining an alien freaking out and recording a human in a analogue horror-esque style would both be so cool and extremely funny.

[If you see a Human in your vicinity, run away and hide.]

This is so ridiculous but it's an interesting idea, no?

[horrortember]

Calling all lovers of darkfic, grimdarks, creepypastas, and scary stories! I had yet to see a monthly writing event themed around horror, so I made one! The event will occur in September, so you have plenty of time to get ready.

If you feel like participating, tag your fills with #horrortember2024, and I'll reblog as many as I can! Fanfic is strongly encouraged, but original fiction is accepted as well. And, depending on how many people join, I'll post a list of completionists or participants at the end of the month!

A written list of prompts is under the cut:

1. AND THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN WHAT I DESERVE, FOR MY TEETH TO JUST FALL OUT: body horror, parasite, gore

2. BUT THEY SAW SOMETHING THAT’S REAL: pretending to be human, identical, visceral

3. WHO’S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD WOLF: vampires, zombies, werewolves

4. IT’S ALWAYS BEST WHEN THE LIGHTS ARE OFF: music, silence, echoes

5. BURIED ABOVE THE GROUND: dust, overgrown, forgotten

6. WHAT HAVE I DONE: losing memories, possession, cursed

7. DREAMLESS SLEEP: sick, survivor, injury

8. NOW ONLY DOGS WILL FOLLOW ME: cannibalism, eaten alive, maggots

9. HAVE YOU HEARD THE STORY OF THE RABBIT IN THE MOON: meta, cosmic horror, forbidden knowledge

10. WE DIDN’T GO IN THERE ALONE: hunted, solitary, darkness

11. YOU CAN’T RUN FROM ME FOREVER: obsession, yandere, overpowering emotions

12. I WEEP AND SAY GOODNIGHT, LOVE, AS MY ORGANS PACK IT IN: doomsday, apocalypse, certain death

13. WHAT DO YOU KNOW: nightmare, prophecy, inevitable

14. I CAN MAKE THE WORLD SEEM SLOW: polaroid, motel, record player

15. DON’T KNOW WHO I AM ANYMORE: doll, reflection, facet

16. NEVER SHALL WE DIE: immortality, decay, cyclical

17. WHAT DID YOU BURY BEFORE THOSE HANDS PULLED ME FROM THE EARTH: oops, self-made monster, playing god

18. SHE’LL SAY SHE LOVES YOU, EVEN THOUGH SHE ONLY WANTS TO STEAL YOUR SOUL: haunting the narrative, inseparable, devotion

19. ARE YOU ALIVE, AM I AWAKE: chills, hallucinations, paranoia

20. IN THE RED, YOU’RE BETTER OFF DEAD: hunger, craving, unconventional needs

21. HOW DO I BREAK YOU BEFORE YOU BREAK ME: unreliable narrator, serial killer, manipulation

22. THERE IS NO END: help isn’t coming, final girl, trauma

23. LIFE CAN BE LIKE A DREAM: gone wrong, descent into madness, distrust

24. HEAR THEM LAUGHING UNDERNEATH: hollow, below the surface, remnants

25. I’LL SAY GOODBYE SOON: timeloop, lesson learned, consequence

26. NO CURE IS COMING NEAR: animals, rabies, primal fears

27. WHY DON’T YOU LET ME BE FREE: hanahaki, soulmates, trope inversion

28. AND THEN HE STARTED LAUGHING UNTIL HE CRACKED HIS JAW: butterflies, roses, sunshine

29. WHERE LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL ALL THE TIME: man-made, perfection, out of place

30. YOU ARE CALLED TO THE TREES: climb, descend, mass migration

[forwhump]

a/n; two in one day ?! sorry ;-; more straight whump but it’s because i love silas so much i want to beat him constantly & mercilessly, you dig ?

tw/cw caning, skinning, gore, grievous bodily harm, psychological torture, general cruelty, vomiting, misgendering, implied transphobia, the vaguest possible references to implied noncon, major character death (but not really because he dies all the time & always just comes back to life)

“Oh, no,” Point coos, sickeningly sweet. “Would you look at that? I think the girl might have a soft spot for you.”

Silas is kneeling at his feet in a pool of his own blood and the chunks of flesh that had been stripped off him. He gurgles in pain.

Point has the cane leaned over his shoulder, casual, almost jovial. The end of it is barbed and razor sharp, pieces of skin and chunks of flesh caked to the blades. “Is it the same as the soft spot she has for me?” He asks. “Do you get to touch the same soft spots of hers?”

Silas grunts. He’s so fuckin’ cold, but he grinds his teeth to keep them from chattering, so hard they all creak in protest.

It isn’t even about him this time. It isn’t something he’d done, it isn’t a scheduled field test.

Wren is being punished.

A different soldier, a man they call Blue, he’s holding Wren up with a hand on his neck and holding him still still a hand low on his waist.

Silas isn’t entirely sure what he’d even done — something they didn’t like, bitten or scratched or fought. He’d pissed them off, but there weren’t a lot of ways to hurt Wren in which they weren’t already hurting him. To get him where it really hurts, they have to get through Silas.

Wren is screaming and it rings in Silas’ ears like white noise. His face shimmers in the fluorescent light, wet with tears. Silas’ blood shimmers around him just the same.

Silas doesn’t blame him. He isn’t angry with him. This is nothing — this is Silas’ every day. There’s no getting used to a pain like this, but he’d come to expect it. He just wishes Wren didn’t have to be here to see it.

Point swings again, and the barbed end of his cane hooks the sensitive flesh beneath Silas’ chin. Fresh pain crackles through him like lightning and he groans, wet, from somewhere low in his chest.

Fuck, it hurts.

Point wrenches the razor blades free and slices open Silas’ throat.

His hands are shackled behind his back so he can’t even slow the bleeding. He chokes, his mouth full of blood, hot and acrid.

Wren screams, something that sounds like his name.

Through the growing crowd of black spots, Silas can see Point grin. He swings the cane back over his shoulder as he turns on his heel to look at Wren.

The way he looks him up and down makes Silas’ stomach turn. He gags and vomits blood onto the concrete, onto himself.

“Do you see what happens when you misbehave?” He asks, taunting. “All you had to do was be a good girl.”

“I’m sorry,” Wren sobs frantically, “I’m so sorry. Please. I’m sorry.”

“It’s too late for sorry,” Point says, and Wren makes the most broken sound Silas has ever heard. “I tried to warn you. You’re the one that decided to gamble with your little boyfriend’s life.”

“Please,” he sobs again, desperate.

Without warning, Point turns. Swings. Strips most of the rest of the skin off Silas’ chest. Tears all the tissue from the bone of his clavicle and it shimmers, sickening white plating peering out from under the gore.

It hurts so much, so hot, so desperately that Silas couldn’t scream even if his lungs weren’t full of blood. He gasps, soft and wet, and vomits again on the concrete, on himself.

“Silas!” Wren screams, but it sounds like he’s screaming it from somewhere really far away, somewhere Silas can’t get to.

He takes a wet breath that makes his chest rattle and heaves his chin off his chest.

It’s kind of surreal, the way everything comes into focus for a second. Silas lifts his head, and the world tilts, it spins quickly around him, and then Wren comes into focus and everything stills.

Silas has always thought that there’s something kind of sparkly about Wren, and he sees it in him now. His hair shimmers in the fluorescence and his cheeks, his mouth, his eyelashes glow with tears. There’s something so beautiful about Wren, something very pure, something almost holy, and it’s never made sense to Silas, how someone like that could end up in a place like this. How someone like Wren could be subjected to this.

It hurts almost the same as being skinned.

And then Point swings again, and he peels the muscle off the bone over the left side of his chest and his ribcage.

It knocks the wind out of him. He gasps for air and inhales more blood.

“I’m sorry!” Wren screams. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Stop!”, and Point swings, and one of the razor sharp barbs on the end of his cane sinks into the exposed bone of Silas’ ribcage.

It hurts like nothing else he’s ever experienced. It hurts in every nerve ending and artery.

His vision clouds, and he vomits again.

Silas is going to die.

That’s the thing. His party trick. He says that he can’t die, but that’s a lie. He dies all the time. He just doesn’t stay dead. He can’t.

He’s going to die this time, and Wren has to see it. It isn’t Silas’ fault, not this time, but he still feels guilty. Wren shouldn’t have to watch him die, he shouldn’t have to live with that because he bit or scratched or fought, because he was in pain or because he was scared. How is that fair? How is any of this?

He coughs, chokes, vomits again. He’s starting to get really dizzy.

“Please,” Wren screams, sobs, a horrible mix of the two, “stop, please! I’m sorry, please,” and he sobs again, and it's even more horrible. “Please. I’m so sorry. Don’t hurt him anymore. Please.”

Point crouches in front of Silas to grin at him properly. “She’s really pretty when she begs, isn’t she?”

Silas taps into the very last of his adrenaline and leans into it as hard as he can. He hauls his chin off his chest. He squares his shoulders. He grins right back, blood on his teeth, mocking. “You’ll regret this,” he promises.

“Who’s gonna make me?” Point asks with a snort. “You?”

He swings the cane again. He tears a big chunk of meat off Silas’ bicep.

Silas vomits, blood and bile.

“Please!” Wren begs. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Point barely spares him a glance. “I warned you this would happen,” he says. “You should’ve been a good girl.”

Silas doesn’t realize he’s started shivering until the cuffs of the shackles start to bite into his wrists and blood starts to pool in the palms of his hands.

What a miserable way to die. Even for someone like Silas.

“I’m sorry,” Wren sobs, “Silas, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” and it isn’t okay, not by a long shot, but Silas wants to tell Wren it will be. Silas is in pain, in agony, but what’s agony to a machine? What was Wren done to deserve this?

“Wren,” he says.

Point swings again. The blades slide through the thin flesh of his stomach with ease and sink into the sensitive organ tissue beneath. They hook and bite and tear and hurt, a hurt worse beyond Silas’ realm of description.

Point has to brace a boot against Silas’ chest to pry it free, and it’s over.

Silas dies, and the way Wren screams for him follows him into the dark.

[just-a-few-prompts]

Your characters decide to go to some abandoned house on the edge of town. It’s a popular hangout spot during the day time, but people tend to leave before dark. Your characters want to find out why.

[phlebaswrites]

Turning the Pages (Leaves in the Wind)

Summary:

Every book tells a story.

(It's just whose story.)

Rating: Teen And Up Fandom: Naruto Relationship: Hoshigaki Kisame & Uchiha Itachi Word Count: 290 (Complete)

Entry for KisaWeen 2024 (@kisames-corner)

Day 2 - October 27: Wereshark | Book of the Dead | Scary Stories to Tell in the Mist

Kisame steps out into the autumn air, pleasantly cool after the warmth of the ofuro. "Your turn, Itachi-san."

"Ah. One moment." Red eyes flick over him quickly, a trained assessment of danger that has long since become instinct, even as a ringed hand moves to tuck something into his partner's cloak.

"Interesting reading material you have there." Kisame grabs the thin wrist before it completes its mission, and he plucks the book out of unresisting fingers before flicking through it. "You still keep your old mission reports?"

"Not mine." Itachi-san's voice is quiet, devoid of emotion, almost indifferent, but the way his gaze remains fixed on the papers gives the lie away. "My family's."

Read the rest on AO3.

[rj-orion]

"Found You." A short story by me!!

"I found you!!" I screeched at my sister as she emerged from her not so amazing hiding spot, "I always finding you! You suck at this game!"

My sister scoffed and rolled her eyes, momma says she'll see her brain one of these days, "You only find me because I let you!" Not a chance, she's just bad at hide and seek. Even if she's older than me.

"Nu-uh! Prove it! Hide really *really* good a-and I'll still find you!" She agrees to my terms and I start counting.

"60 seconds!" She tells over her shoulder as she runs away.

That's all it took. Just 60 seconds for my sister to disappear. I remember that day like it just happened, even after 20 years. I closed my little eyes and started counting, I wasn't that good at numbers yet, but I am now. I had visited our old house as soon as I got my investigation licence. Our parents still lived there, so it was nice to see them, but I was on the job.

I searched her old room, and mine. Mom and dad refused to change them at all. There was a thicker layer of dust on her stuff then there was on mine. I read her notebooks, her journals, her old computer still worked too so I searched that. Nothing all that useful though.

Siera wasn't very secretive, she told me everything, and told our parents even more. She couldn't lie if her life depended on it. That was fact.

I searched the house more than once, twice, even three times before deciding to move outside. Looking at the backyard made me feel way too big; this yard used to feel like a jungle when I was 7.

I started walking around the graveyard of painful bittersweet memories, grimacing with a sad smile at the place I had found her last. I had always felt guilty for telling her to hide again. She didn't have to listen to me, but she did. 'That's what big sisters do', she said.

I tried to think how she would think; where would I go, as an 12 year old, to hide from a 7 year old.

My first thought was the treeline, but police and dogs and even helicopters had gone over this forest maybe a hundred times so I decided to rule that option out.

The next thought was the cliffs. We lived in the mountains, no 7 year old would go to the cliffs...

So that's where I went.

The woods were thicker out here, like they didn't want to be walked into. Strangely enough; it got thinner as quick as it had gotten thicker, and the woods were normal again, albeit a little quiet.

It's about midday when I realise I'd been walking for a while. I didn't know the woods were so vast back here; I thought I'd surely have reached the mountains by now.

I paused to take note of my surroundings; trees, weird rock, more trees, a small puddle from the recent rain storm, more trees.. it felt like it was going on forever. I checked my watch to see how much longer I could be out here and–

"What the hell.." I muttered, confused. My watch said 8:45, the exact same time I had walked into the woods back at the house, "Goddamn smart watch.. I probably don't have good connection.." I sighed heavily and shook my head, figuring that I'd just need to judge it based on the sun.

I was about to keep walking when I heard what sounded like a woman's voice far out to my left; against my better judgement and my knowledge I yelled out a simple 'Hello?', only to get silence in return. I shrugged and kept walking, it was most likely a bird.

I kept hearing that woman, she sounded like she was getting closer the more I walked and she sounded like she needed help. 'Shes on my path, why not check it out..' I found myself thinking. And then I found myself walking a little faster; an uneasy feeling started to settle under my skin. Like the unhinged and more deranged cousin of goosebumps.

Then I was running. I wasn't sure what started it; the birds started getting really loud, a heard something big run through the forest–probably a bear–and then, all of a sudden, everything went still.

No more birds. I stopped running, almost tripping. The only sound was 2 pairs of ragged breathing. Mine, and...

A felt a gust of hot air on my back and the smell of rancid, rotting meat fill my nose. I quickly turned around to see—

There she stood; 15 feet tall. Her hair was the only thing that distinguished her. Long and deep, deep red. Her other features were...long gone. Her skin was replaced and stretched over a lengthy, bony body, and it had blackened to the colour of obsidian.

She didn't have a face anymore. In it's place was a long, uneven and cracked, pale white skull. Branch like antlers shot out from either side of her head. This wasn't my Siera anymore, but still...

"I found you, again.."

[writerbeemedina]

Writing Prompt #54

"What does it feel like to die?" the child asked.

"I can show you, if you'd like," said ghost child.

[unicyclehippo]

Playing dolls, playing house, for Laudna?

‘i’m sorry pate died today,’ imogen says, with a warm and gentle hand over hers.

‘why ever would you be sorry? he’ll be fine.’

laudna gently dislodges her so she can pull hair from her scalp; it stings in the way memory does sometimes, because she thinks it’s supposed to. in her other hand is a needle about two inches long, bone, incredibly light and strong, wonderful material. she threads it with her hair and sets to work.

imogen is quiet for some time. laudna darts a nervous look over—has she been grasped by a vision? a migraine? does she need something? how dreadful she is to spend time on pate when imogen needs—

‘i can almost hear you when you think so loud,’ she teases, eyes soft, lips soft. laudna knows that because she can kiss her now. so she does. imogen makes a little noise that laudna has heard before, only every time they settled in a new home; it recalls imogen arranging their drapes just so, the teapot just so. it is the sound of satisfaction, having found the perfect place for something, according to her, and laudna recoils, memory-stung.

‘i’m sorry,’ she gasps.

‘did i- are you okay?’

‘i shouldn’t - i shouldn’t have- ‘

‘you can always kiss me. whenever you want,’ imogen assures her, which is nice and kind and sweet and it’s all very lovely except doesn’t she know that laudna’s not right, she’s not all right, she’s all wrong haha? which was to say that she’s a thing all in pieces and one of them is more dead than usual.

‘what a horrid little creature you are,’ laudna says down to her lap, to pate, his grotesque splay of limb and wing and tail. the tender curl of it she curled herself. her little knight, skull-helm, indecorous immortal fealty. ‘making imogen worry about you while you take a nap. very rude.’ the black hair thread shows stark against the white of his skull, which she attaches more firmly to his neck, herringbone stitch perhaps? letting him move but not knock his dome off his shoulders, yes, that would work just fine.

[gun-roswell]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types, Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: ARC-77 | Fordo, Original Clone Trooper Character(s) (Star Wars), Contra (OC), Squeaky (OC), Alto (OC), Notes (OC), Cello (OC), Bass (OC), Lorne (OC) Additional Tags: FordoWeek2024, Spooktober, ghost story, Humour, Mission Fic Series: Part 1 of Fordo Week 2024, Part 1 of Spooktober Summary: The Captain and his squad are investigating mysterious disappearances in an allegedly cursed and haunted lab.

Part of Fordo Week 2024 and Spooktober series

[ruvviks]

bones please spare some isaac facts...tell me about the vibes and lore and everything you want. also what's his fave blood type to drink if he has one perhaps..(i'm taking notes)

HEHEHE THANK YOU SM i have so much to say about this man. but also he hasn't existed for very long in my brain yet so there's still many things missing from his lore currently. but here is a start for you :^)

isaac is a couple centuries old by now and from a (currently unnamed) bloodline that's a bit different from other bloodlines. all vampires have double fangs, their puncture fangs which are the regular ones they use to draw blood with, and their venomous fangs, which only come out when they want to change someone. for isaac's bloodline, the venomous fangs are a lot smaller which makes them less painful to extend and the process is quicker; but at the same time, even the smallest mistake in dosage could kill a victim rather than change them. this is why his bloodline is very small in comparison to others and changing a human into a vampire is always done in a big ritual rather than on impulse, to make sure they get the right dosage. this is how isaac was turned into a vampire :(

his bloodline is also more likely to have their feral sense (uncontrollable mode in which they hunt for blood until they're no longer feral) activated which is why they have to feed regularly and CANNOT miss any meals unlike other bloodlines who can usually miss a meal or two. their feral sense can sneak up on them without a warning and it will cause them to go feral until either their hunger or their "urge" (something vamps get sometimes when they want to change other humans. it's like a vampire ovulation) is sated. this is why many vampires of isaac's bloodline are pretty rich or important people who have other vampires working for them to provide them with enough blood so they'll never go feral by accident

isaac is VERY different from his bloodline though. he grew up in a modest family somewhere in the east of the united states and after he was turned he hid himself away in an old abandoned chapel for many many years, feeding on wildlife and the occasional unfortunate soul who wandered too far into the woods. he ended up hunted down by heavenly, my other oc for this story, who is a vampire hunter but at that point was still very young and on his first ever vampire hunt without his father; heavenly was unable to kill isaac and let him go, after which isaac moved to jericho :]

jericho is a big city on the west coast of the united states and it's essentially a vampire hub, in the sense that the government knows about the existence of vampires but isn't telling the general public but the general public tends to also know about the existence of vampires but it's also not uncommon to come across people who've never heard of them. but at the same time it's also not a huge shock to find out that vampires exist. and in jericho there's many of them and it's like a safe haven for them. am i making sense here

anyway isaac runs a church in jericho now! it's less used as an actual church and more just a homeless shelter and general shelter and community center and food bank AND blood bank all in one, for humans and vampires alike, and he's a very important member of the community he lives in :^) he really wants to help people and improve lives despite the reputation of his bloodline

it's at the same time pretty dangerous for him to be in such a lively place because if he misses a meal even once he could go on a murderous rampage. but it's a risk he's willing to take, knowing he's making a difference and not wanting people to lose their stability in life because he decides to leave or something like that

i don't have much for the story yet but the idea is that heavenly shows up in jericho give or take 2-3 decades after first meeting isaac and they reunite :^) heavenly ends up helping isaac with the blood shortage crisis and also ends up as his personal blood bag because he's a freak and a weirdo who likes getting his blood sucked by vampires. and also he's gay for isaac. and i get him. me too

[waywardsalt]

small little thing abt botw/totk and the future of zelda games considering it seems likely that future zelda games might be in the same style as those two and how i feel like botw/totk don't actually feel like zelda games (kind of messy i just typed this out in a kind of informal or whatever way) (this post is long af btw so uhhhh yeah)

im part of the group that claims that botw/totk aren't 'real' zelda games but... i guess they are technically 'real' zelda games, but... they sure as fuck don't feel like it, and because of that, i'm not at all excited with the idea of future loz games being in the same style, especially with the pitfalls these last two games have fallen into having been things that past zelda games did especially well, it feels like things have been sort of flipped on their heads in terms of what's being valued or whatever

like... the best parts of older zelda games were things like the story and the characters and the puzzles and the dungeons and stuff like that... the best parts of botw/totk right now are just the gameplay. people enjoy these new characters, but they dont have the narrative backing that older games do, they don't have the same impactful arcs or roles allowed by a more linear story

the point i want to get at though is how botw/totk honestly don't feel like direct evolutions or steps up from past zelda games but rather just... entirely different game styles (open world games) with the zelda flavoring and worldbuilding and story styling slapped on top.

i mean... i feel like a half-decent example of some other well-known franchises that have jumped on this (honestly kind of thoughtless) open-world bandwagon are mario (mario odyssey) pokemon (sword/shield and scarlet/violet) fire emblem (kind of. with some free-walking segments in 3 houses and engage) and the soulsborne type games (elden ring), these are all other well known and storied game series' that have somewhat made the move to open world, and i think that switch was a bit smoother, kept the core and integrity of the games that came before much better than botw/totk did

elden ring is the easiest to explain- the gameplay loop and core mechanics are the same and build upon past games' you just have more room to run around and get killed in with some little open-world flourishes like material gathering.

fire emblem is... a bit less flexible in terms of changing up the core gameplay, and the addition of open-world segments are added to add bonuses to the strategy gameplay and allow for more support-building oppourtunities and little minigames, and its more or less evolution from echoes' dungeon-crawling bits and the customizable castle in fates. the core gameplay still effectively works the exact same, just with some little class or mechanic tweaks and additions.

mario odyssey, though each world was pretty massive, still had your typical 3d mario platforming, and the new hat stuff fit in pretty well with olderpowerups and gimmicks, and the boss battles feel and work pretty similarly to the way they used it- odyssey does feel like an evolution from past mario games (ps. playing two-player with one person as cappy snaps the game in half. its the secret easy mode lol)

the new pokemon games are pretty much just the same as past pokemon games, theyre just open world and buggy as fuck rip have extra little open-world flourishes that build on what past games set up. the battling works the same as ever and the progression is the same with a number of powerful trainers you have to battle to continue forward.

with botw/totk... the progression is dramatically different in terms of power-scaling, world presentation, item-gathering, puzzle-solving... pretty much everything in the established zelda format. i get that it was pretty much the aim with botw to have a fresh start and throw out a lot of the old standards but it just makes them feel so dramatically alien to past zelda games; theyre completely different experiences in pretty much every single way, and as such they dont feel like what we've (well, people who have started with and spent a lot of time with other loz games) learned to associate with the zelda titles.

with open world games in general it's a bit harder to have a truly impactful narrative akin to those in past zelda games, anyways. i will admit that botw was a good execution of trying out something entirely new, and the narrative and gameplay and world actually complement each other very well, so despite what i've said in the past I can't really fault it's narrative too much since it's a less traditional sort of narrative and effectively does what it aims to do very well.

totk, on the other hand, proves that this style of game does not mesh with the old style of storytelling at ALL. linear games can have proper narratives with coherent stakes, developing characters, twists and reveals and building emotion and mood- and all of that is thrown out the window with totk when they decided to try and have both a more linear story with actual reveals and development and emotion, while also letting you literally spoil it for yourself out the gate.

you can't really have a well-executed story when players are capable of doing things drastically out of order and of jumping into story beats without the prior buildup and straight-up ruining what could be otherwise emotional reveals, and players being capable of doing this is hard-baked in how the game fundamentally works. I honestly feel bad for people who found the fifth sage by accident before anything else.

you can't effectively have a linear story with character growth and plot developments and impactful moments while also allowing it to be experienced out of order and with massive time gaps in between; with this kind of stuff, you can't really have your cake and eat it too. say what you will about the linearity of past zelda games, but i bet you that midna wouldn't be as beloved as a character as she is if it weren't for the linear order of the story and its events. certain parts of storytelling may demand for a linear manner of telling that story.

botw's story works because none of the memories reveal anything groundbreaking taht you don't already know; they are optional and merely give you more information about these characters from link's past and simply inform you about the girl keeping ganon at bay. if you find a late memory first, that's fine- it technically doesnt reveal anything too important to you, it just fills in some gaps for you and your player character. it makes sense within the story itself for the world to be so open and for you to be able to do what you can; the story is not the focus, nor is it even needed to beat the game. the story was made with the gameplay and what you are allowed to do in mind, and as such doesn't include things such as in-depth character development or important plot-twists.

on the other hand, you can easily spoil totk's biggest plot twist in a handful of different ways completely by accident, just by getting curious about the world around you. this can shatter a lot of the mystery or tension in the plot and this can happen completely by accident to someone playing the game organically and blindly. the story itself doesn't take this into account, it reads more like a linear story that would be more suited to a linear style of play, coming across things in order to ramp up the stakes and let things be revealed at the best possible time. (tbh totk's story doesnt seem to take the player into account in general, if the game forcing you to watch basically the same long cutscene four fucking times says anything, jesus christ)

narrative pitfalls aside, botw/totk put heavy emphasis on gameplay, but not in the same way older zelda games did, and as such trade away the unique items and gimmick-y game-specific mechanics for a small toolset handed to you out the gate. what botw/totk do- giving you everything you need from the start and having very little true varation in the gameplay from then on out- make sense and works just fine for an open world game. there is, however, a lack of actual depth to that gameplay that other open world games do have (off the top of my head, the ability to unlock and upgrade abilities and have general character upgrades in fenyx rising as well as the impressive depths of elden ring's combat and character customization system). the most depth botw/totk has to the actual gameplay is just the fourish different weapon types and the ways you use your fourish abilities (saying fourish bc for real ultrahand and fuse are fundamentally the exact same thing). there is also just raising the little defense numbers on your armor and getting more stamina and health, but that does absolutely nothing to the actual gameplay but make link more durable.

i mean, sure, health in past loz games just makes link more durable, too, but thats how health upgrades in any other game work.

the gameplay switch makes sense, considering the switch from a linear puzzle-adventure concentric game to a more sandbox-esque open-world game, but it does not mesh with the former loz formula at all, so while the shift in style makes sense, it makes me think that you can't have a previous-style loz experience in an open-world sandboxish sort of game. especially with how in totk you can very easily bypass most of the fire temple just using the mechanics handed to you at the start. you can't have the same type of zelda dungeons in a game where you are allowed to do it 'wrong' and the game itself does not allow for the same kinds of puzzles.

i am of the opinion that so long as future zelda games work the same way botw/totk did, we will not get old-school zelda-style dungeons again.

the loss of a variety of items used for specific puzzles and environment switches is the loss of a varied dungeon experience and the loss of the same kind of world and character progression as past zelda games.

you are handed everything you'll ever need at the start of botw/totk. the only thing that will meaningfully change is how much damage you do. there are no alternate strategies opened up by new items that can double as weapons, no new traversal options or routes opened up by things such as grappling hooks or clawshots or whips or specific wands. even the battle system is drastically different, instead of being enemies that take specific amounts of hits to die while you can obtain progressively stronger swords, enemies are just damage sponges and you can get all kind of weapons that just do different numerical amounts of damage.

the bosses themselves- big staples and draws of zelda games- also work extremely differently. instead of having to leverage specific items to expose weak spots or having to fight in a specific manner to do damage, you are just asked to... do damage. even in totk's bosses, where sage abilities are most certainly helpful, the only boss i found to truly require a sage ability was the lighting temple's boss; the others i either hardly used the sage at all (i didn't use yunobo at all in the second phase of the fire temple boss and hardly had a need for tulin with the wind temple boss [esp considering i was using a 3-shot lynel bow to make the poor fucker a cakewalk]) or found that alternative solutions felt better, like resorting to splash fruit on repeat water temple fights instead of wrestling with having to activate and use sidon's ability. the sages are honestly fairly poor replacements for dungeon specific items.

this kind of causes botw/totk to play more like a poor man's dark souls or just like any other open world rpgish game. i don't play botw/totk for the experience of a zelda game, i play it because it's an open world game that i can walk around in for five minute before switching to something else because i liked something in that other game better.

the combat in botw/totk isnt designed in such a way that makes it feel good. mineru's mech is fucking dismal, but since it's just either shooting with a bow or attacking with one of three types of melee weapon with some timing for a dodge, it can get stale fast. it doesn't necessarily even feel good, since there's not enough variety for it to get really engaging. (this is def an uneven comparison, but elden ring's combat feels considerable better with the different dodges you can do and the amount of attack options you have with just one weapon, not to mention the amount of control you have over your general fighting style.) combat in botw/totk at hour 1 is the exact same as combat in botw/totk at hour 100, the only different being the amount of damage you do or how much of a beating you can take.

it just... the styles of botw/totk can't allow them to feel the same as older zelda games. the shift in style was clearly a good move to draw in series newbies and shake things up, but it comes at the caveat of making them feel distant from their predecessors and uncomfortably similar to other games like them. it's hard to avoid comparisons with elden ring when on the surface they are very similar games, one just feels more true to its core identity

this all is said without mentioning the way in which botw/totk lore feels almost dismissive of past series staples and seems intent on not looking back while also taking every fucking attempt to nudge you and say 'hey, remember that zelda game' and honestly all that shit does is make me want to play a different zelda game.

botw/totk seem altogether very desperate to distance themselves from past zelda games while also being unable to really tear itself from what came before and it just culminates in me spotting linebeck island on the map and going 'damn i miss linebeck' and turning the fucking game off to play phantom hourglass instead. say what you will about phantom hourglass, but it certainly handles its story progression and character development infinitely better than the game that lets you accidentally shatter the impact of the story by deciding to check out that cool temple in the distance of the depths

[limestarredskyes]

Inktober Day 25

Nothing spooky for this time, although out of scarecrows I've seen my favorite is the one from scary stories to tell in the dark. Also I'm going to stick with picking up the prompts that'd be more enjoyable for myself.

[searsage]

Pov: its a Zombie apocalypse and the fuckers are all runners.

You: have been bitten and one hundred percent are doomed to become a resilient as hell infected.

You preceed to infect and terrorize family and loved ones and friemds.

You dont give two shits because you know they will fight tooth and nail, kill and be killed to outlive infection, to honor the fall you took for them..

You know they would fall fighting long before the infection takes root.

You know if you don't infect them now they will die, before they see the truth.

Evolution has graced those infected with Its likes immunity, symboisis that does not compromise its vessel but urges communion, and guarantees the survival that comes.

Your job is to ensure those you care about and love undergo this glorious metamorphosis at your side.

But you are robbed of all words of reason.

How do you convert them..?

[just-a-few-prompts]

To say their expression was blank was… inaccurate. No, it seemed more a vacant face. It wasn’t vacant as if all emotion had stopped, but more like emotion had never been truly possible for them in the first place.