Word of God has said that the plot of the game could never happen the way it does if Reese and Avery had met prior to the events of the game. In this story, they do, and it doesn't. In a careless moment, Dr. Kelly leaves a certain patient briefly unattended in her clinic, and what they discover there will reshape the lives of many, if not all, of the residents of Scarlet Hollow. Will post weekly until I catch up with myself.
Chapters: 1/?
Fandom: Scarlet Hollow (Video Game)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Avery Belle/Reese Kelly
Characters: Reese Kelly, Avery Belle, Julius Tremaine, Joan Kelly (Scarlet Hollow)
Additional Tags: Spoilers through episode 5, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Medical Abuse, Background Transphobia, Background Social Horror, Implied/Referenced Medical Gatekeeping, Child Abuse, Attempted Murder, Gaslighting, comedy of manners, the unstoppable force of Reese and Avery's social chemistry, Chronic Illness, Caretaker Romance, rescue romance, Poisoning,
Once upon a time, there was a village on the edge of a forest, where many of the villagers were very poor.Ā And so the village priest had taken it upon himself to go around to the poorest households with baskets of food each week.
āHow fortunate we are,ā the villagers would say, āto have such a kind priest.ā
And the priest would hear this and smile.
There was an old man, who lived at the very edge of town, who made a meager living chopping wood in the forest.Ā It was hard work, but paid little, and so the priest visited him often, but even with this help, the old woodcutter struggled to make ends meet.
The old man had a young child, the joy of his life, but even though he gave the child everything he could, the child had very little, not even shoes, and as the winter was coming, the child had no coat to keep warm.
So one day, when the cool crisp of autumn was in the air, the priest came to the woodcutterās hut with a fine coat of red wool for the child.
āPut it on, put it on!ā he urged.
The child looked to the old woodcutter, who nodded, so the child put on the red wool coat.
The priest smiled.Ā āSee, how fine you look in your new coat!ā he said.
As soon as the priest had gone, the child cast off the coat and would not wear it any more, though chill nipped in the air.
The next evening when the woodcutter returned from gathering wood in the forest, he noticed that the child was quiet and unhappy.
āWhat troubles you?ā he asked.
āThere is a wolf,ā the child said, āhiding behind the trees at the edge of the forest.ā
The old woodcutter frowned in confusion.Ā āBut,ā he said, āthere are no wolves.ā
All fall, the child refused to wear the red coat.Ā News spread through the village that it had been a gift from the priest, and so when the villagers saw the child shivering in thin, worn shirts, they would ask, āWhy arenāt you wearing your nice red coat?ā
āThe wolf watches when I wear it,ā the child would say.
Then the villagers would shake their heads and look sadly at the child and say, āThere are no wolves.ā
Winter came, with its frosty breath that crept into every corner.Ā The ground froze, and snow fell, and at last the woodcutterās child gave in and wore the red wool coat.Ā The woodcutter worked long, hard hours, gathering wood in the forest and splitting it to sell to the villagers so they could burn it in their cast-iron stoves for warmth.Ā He barely had a moment to spend with his child, so early did he rise and so late did he work.Ā It pained him dearly, even though the money that came in was enough that he could buy his child thick warm boots.
One day, when the priest had come around with his weekly baskets while the old woodcutter was away at his work, the woodcutterās child went knocking to a neighborās door.
The neighbor lady opened the door.Ā āWhat is it, my dear?ā she asked the child
āJust now,ā said the child, āa wolf came to my window, and said that he would kill the woodcutter.ā
The neighbor lady pursed her lips and waved the child away.Ā āThere are no wolves,ā she said, and shut the door.
The next evening, the woodcutter did not come home from the forest.Ā Nor the evening after.Ā The men of the village gathered together and went to go search for him in the woods.Ā They were not searching for long before they found him, lying dead with a gash in his throat, and his blood spilled red across the snow.
āIt must have been an accident,ā the men from the village said.Ā āHe was getting old, his hand must have slipped on the axe.Ā It is sad, but such things happen.ā
When they returned to the village with the news, and the old woodcutterās body wrapped in a heavy blanket, his child broke down sobbing.
āIt was the wolf!Ā The wolf killed him!ā
āNow, now,ā tutted the nice lady from the church who had come to help, āthere are no wolves.ā
The village was sorry to lose their woodcutter, but surely another of the poorest villagers would come to replace him.Ā And they were worried for the fate of the child, but all breathed a sigh of relief when the priest said he would take the child in.
āHow fortunate we are,ā the villagers said, āto have such a kind priest.ā
And the priest heard this and smiled.
The next day, he went to the old woodcutterās hut to collect the child.Ā He opened the door and walked inside.
āHello, little one,ā he addressed the child.
āGo away, wolf!ā the child cried.
āBut I have come to bring you to your new home,ā said the priest, and he stepped closer.Ā āWho will care for you, if not me?ā
The child then said nothing.
āCome, now,ā said the priest, and he stepped closer.Ā āWonāt you bring your lovely red coat?Ā You look so fine in it!ā
The priest smiled, and his teeth were long and sharp.
The child turned to where the red coat lay folded on the chair beside the wood stove.Ā But beneath the coat was concealed the woodcutterās axe.Ā Whirling around, the child swung the axe straight at the priest.Ā As the blade sank into his shoulder, thick fur burst out all over his body, and he collapsed onto all fours.Ā Again and again, the child brought the axe down, hacking away at the beast until all that remained was the dead body of a wolf.
The child skinned the wolf and made a new coat of its fur, and from that day on would always wear the coat.Ā For none who saw it could ever say, āThere are no wolves.ā
*aborted baby voice* you can abort me by pressing "z" on your keyboard. Try it now! You can manage your abortions on the "My Abortions" tab. Open the shop to get more abortion pills. You can also spend 5 gems to speed up your abortion
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
So if youāve seen that post about fluff with unexamined elements functioning as horror, this is that executed with joyful spite.
Daniel is pregnant with Mariusā baby!Ā Iām sure nothing could possibly go wrong!
You don't like my domestic au? But I lobotomized the characters just for you :( isn't it so nice now that everyone's happy? They all talk and forgive each other š they're getting married, you know. They're pregnant, you know. Time skip soon! Two beautiful kids. After they have them they will put aside all their passions. Maybe they will never go back to the coffee shop š¤or university š. Maybe they will stay at home with their children. I made this world just for you. Isn't it domestic? Isn't it perfect? Look at how everyone smiles! I am smiling :) are you?
thereās no variation on this trope that isnāt absolutely peak. āim unlovable but i desire that connection so ill let myself be used insteadā? peak. āim unlovable so ill drive everyone awayā is automatically peak however you play it. āi am an unlovable thing so i will become a new person who isnātā? peak beyond belief!!! i love characters š„°
thereās nothing more romantic than someone choosing to learn you. flipping the pages in your soul delicately and digesting your chapters with an open mind no matter how difficult or uncomfortable some of your moments read, treating each bookmark with no judgment, but pure love.
Man, have I been slow about linking this anywhere.Ā Got behind too, out of practice w/ posting habits.
In this chapter, things happen!Ā Maybe someone even dies!
... and also thereās a lot here that lays out what Armand and Evelynās relationship actually is, and start to see how her presence impacts the other characters.
Also the house is introduced.Ā The house is why the architecture porn tag is there.
kianamaiart
stormborns
origamiaround
jacobvanloon
izzy806
