OOF ok so im gonna get back to nate sometime tomorrow, ive just been really active on another muse rn that im basically hyperfixating on, catch me there if u want
so something i've been meaning to talk about is what would happen if nathaniel was taken from the park ( taken bc let's be real he'd never willingly leave. )
in terms of manually being removed from the area, nate essentially has a ball and chain tethering him to atlantic island park, he can't stray but he'd never wish to. he's not like his son, he didn't go down screaming, he didn't seethe after it had wrapped him up in it's streamers and blinking lights, he doesn't mourn the loss of an identity, a singularity, there is nowhere else he'd rather be.
now in terms of his actual link, the parasitic symbiotic relationship he has with the land being severed ? that's a whole other monster.
nathaniel died before, and it wasn't how he expected it to be. when nathaniel died, he wanted to throw his head back against the rotting wood floor and laugh. the feeling of losing his ties to the park would be closer to it. it wouldn't feel like much of anything, just an overwhelming numbness, a sense of there being absolutely NOTHING. he wouldn't be able to tell if the park lay silent without it's bogeyman or if it was screaming for him because it's JUST NOT THERE. there was a time where separating the two would've brought clarity, a human state of mind, now it would only bring a horrid nothingness followed by sluggishness, a drugged feeling, and finally death.
" it has always been that wearing white reassures the sick i cannot be touched. "
" IT STAINS THE EASIEST —
— I SHOULD KNOW. "
rewind a couple years, take a look at a winter with a still warm heart getting into a screaming match with a carnie who's name is long forgotten, a screaming match over some stupid accident, about how ' THIS SHIT DOESN'T JUST WASH OUT ' though that's a little bit more on the literal side of things, metaphors are what we're striving for here.
" at least it's pretty, but that's a skin-deep consolation. "
i'll write smth better later but nate never calls the rides ' it ', he refers to them as their own being and will also occasionally refer to himself and the whole park as a ' we '
Supernatural beings often use haunted houses as a front to harvest souls.
Bring a large backpack.
Pack an emergency kit.
Bring cash and a knife.
When driving the bumper cars. Dominate.
If Carl is also driving, get out.
Do not drink any tea prior to entering the Tea Cups or risk being consumed.
The Ferris Wheel is a safe attraction, most of the time.
You can meet the you from parallel universes in the House of Mirrors.
When in the House of Mirrors, knock on the mirrors. If your hand goes through, security is flimsy, or someone is conspiring against you. Take out your knife.
Make sure the real you walks out of the house.
Malicious spirits often flock towards the punching machine. They like to pick a fight. Do not punch too hard.
Fireworks are often lit to keep spirits at bay.
Plushies you can win are sometimes possessed. Examine thoroughly!
There is nothing wrong with cotton candy.
The merry-go-round is not merry in the slightest.
Be careful not to throw a secret combination when doing the basketball shot.
It can be peaceful to sit on a hill and watch the fair from afar at night. Observe the marvelous display of lights and let the storm of noise come to you as faint whispers carried by the wind.
If fireworks are lit when doing 18, chances are you are in the presence of many friendly spirits. Feel free to make conversation.
More guides
Taking the midnight train
How to collect stardust
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ANYWAYS on a much less heavy but still fucked note; nate has no organs ! or muscle. he sure does have blood and bones but nothin' else, do with that what you will
oh winter family hcs / meta ?? winter family hcs / meta !!
*tws for alcoholism, child abuse, child neglect, and domestic abuse under the cut. ( also this is wordy as HELL. )
born march 21st to jacob and caroline winter, nathaniel was the first and only child the couple bore, one who was left to a nanny's care during most of his infantry.
to the outside world, jacob winter had the AMERICAN DREAM family; white picket fence, the sweet smells of greasy bacon and maple syrup, a boy and his dad throwing a football on freshly cut too-green grass. but behind closed doors, away from prying eyes, a mother would keep her head down while her son hid behind the couch and her husband raved, hot breath drenched in booze. mrs. winter learned how to hide everything with heavy makeup and her son was such a frail thing, it was easy to say he just BRUISED EASILY.
nathaniel learned how to be independent early on, learned how to cook basic meals and dress himself and cover marks without any help. he's almost never home post-driving test, whichever parent's wallet he could grab vanishing with him.
on the day he left for university, nathaniel was out the door once again with their money and not a word uttered to his mother slaving over the oven or blacked out father on the couch, save for a mumbled swear aimed at the drunkard as he shuffled out of the door with armfuls of bags. ‘ dumbass. ’
there was only one last encounter with his folks after that, a shitty dinner with his mother who was going by mayfield again, divorced and with a restraining order on the winter patriarch. ' why didn't you do that back then, mom ?'
it was short-lived, contact remained cut after the aging woman flatly stated ‘ you have his mean streak ’ and was met with only a sneer. it's true.
you ask nathaniel and he'll tell you he never relied on mommy and daddy for shit, pop never gave him a damn thing.
you ask nathaniel about the girl he met and he'll tell you elizabeth’s a dream gal, his dream gal. it wouldn't be long until the heiress to the knox family fortune would be known as elizabeth rachel winter.
to the public eye, nathaniel and his wife were lovebirds and the three children that came later were just as happy as can be. true for the most part, though sometimes arguments between husband and wife would drag out concerningly long, nathaniel and his eldest child would butt heads ( turns out madeleine winter was nothing like her papa ), nicholas hung onto his father's pants leg like a lifeline but nate never seemed to properly acknowledge him ( usually a source of the arguments ), and he didn't really spend enough time with caroline ( his mother's name was the first one that came to mind for his baby girl, he had put no thought into it and quickly brushed it off, a brief moment in time he regrets. ) but all in all, it could be worse.
could be, it was a possibility, one that actually happened.
nathaniel's habit of self-isolation grew worse, and after he bought that ‘ useless ‘ farmland he was rarely home, when he was his presence in the household still felt lacking.
arguments between husband and wife get worse, insults and yelling become more frequent. nate's daughters start to ignore him, nicholas on the other hand continues to chase his father's coattails through the winding park while his mother waits in the car, refusing to even go see nathaniel.
old mr. winter might have loved them at some point, but any warmth he could've felt for another human being died in the early 70s, when the deed to the henderson farm fell right into his hands.
it's 1980, the park he obsessed over closed, and any hope of nathaniel coming home — both literally and figuratively — died too, in that parking lot the second he turned his back to elizabeth, coldly told her to go back to boston where nicholas had been born, he just couldn't leave.
imagine being a small nicholas winter, THE ONLY SON IN THE FAMILY. imagine twisting awkwardly against your seatbelt to look back and see the dad who — despite how much you loved him — IGNORED you constantly, imagine seeing him force his way through the gates and scramble up the escalator.
how do you explain to someone, let alone process, that your dad left you to go die alone in an amusement park ?
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