To Feast on Fear 26k| A Gothic if based on the beast of Gévaudan

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Hi everyone, this is Denny, and I’m finally gathering the courage to share my recent IF, this took me about a month or so, and I originally planned on releasing it on Halloween but I got a little bit excited, this came to me as I was rereading The Bloody Chamber as also while I was bantering with my french boyfriend about which of our birth countries was better, he pulled out the beast of Gévaudan card and we might have ended up watching a lot of documentaries and podcasts about it…

18+ This story includes graphic violence and gore, body horror, sexual content, psychological horror, religious fanaticism, and gaslighting…

The story:

France, 1764.You are the daughter of the Comte d’Apcher (one of the eight barons of Gévaudan), celebrated as the diamond of the season at the court of Versailles. But the glittering ballroom is a world away now, and in the brutal winter of Gévaudan, the only colour that matters is the burgundy of blood on snow.

Your homecoming was meant to be a triumph. Instead, a violent assault in the frozen gardens of court forced you to take a life to save your own. That desperate act awoke a terrible secret sleeping in your blood—an ancient curse that now answers to the full moon, dragging you into an agonizing transformation you cannot remember, leaving you to wake up naked and bloodied as the church bells toll for another victim of La Bête du Gévaudan.

The monster they hunt in the dark wears your face.

As a daughter of the “Seven Kin,” the ancient, inter related bloodline that has ruled these lands for centuries, you are surrounded by family and allies. Yet, you have never been more alone. You must navigate a world of ambitious suitors, while every powerful emotion threatens to unleash the beast inside, and every dawn brings you closer to being discovered.

In a land of monsters, both human and beast, who can you trust when you cannot even trust yourself?

Features
  • Customize your noble lady. Choose her name, appearance and personality. Will you be a pious and gentle soul, a cunning woman hiding your secrets behind a mask, or a rebellious spirit who despises the gilded cage of your station?
  • Shape your curse. Is the Beast within you a mindless, feral animal, or a cunning predator with a will of its own? Will you fight for control, surrender to the bloodthirst, or attempt to walk the razor’s edge between your two halves.
  • Solve a brutal mystery. Hunt for clues to discover the truth behind the killings terrorizing Gévaudan. Is it truly you, acting out a forgotten blood vendetta? Or is there another, far more human monster hiding under the guise of your curse? Trust the wrong person, and you might end up taking the blame for their sins.
  • Forge deep and dangerous relationships. Find comfort, rivalry, or love with four distinct romance options (two are gender selectable F/M). Will you trust your heart to the devoted guardsman who watches you with worried eyes, match wits with the arrogant royal huntsman sent to kill you, seek understanding from the gentle foreign doctor who believes your curse is all in your head, or pursue a tragic, forbidden love affair with the heir to the very family that your own has been grudging over for generations?
  • Survive the hunt. Navigate the treacherous currents of 18th-century French society, where your reputation is as important as your life. Maintain the façade of a perfect lady, manage the suspicions of your own family, will you end your story celebrated as a hero, exposed as a monster, or buried in a forgotten grave?

Demo to play: To Feast on Fear

And the playlist I used to write this

Also English is not my main language so I might get some stuff wrong

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I really, really enjoyed this! It was wonderful being able to play as a proper lady, beautiful, graceful, pious and gentle (until, well :face_with_peeking_eye:). I’m really grateful for having those choices for a female MC, because often heroines tend to “girlboss too close to the sun” and being able to choose a gentle lady with tragic circumstances mostly outside of her control is very rewarding for me. This story ticks all my boxes!

The flashback scene was very well done and I’m glad you didn’t pull your punches. It made me feel exactly how it should, and it endeared the protagonist to me immediately. Well done, it was a brave choice not to shy away from the reality of what happened.

I really wish you see this to the end because it would make me so happy to buy the finished story. I barely follow WIPs, much less comment on them unless they are sequels, so this one was really special.

I wish you the best going forward! Very, very promising! :face_holding_back_tears::pink_heart:

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Contrary to Kirlett, I immediately made someone who’s just awakened to the satisfaction of blood under her nails. Fantastic writing so far! Very excited to see how it goes.

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I love this. Gimme female only stories and you alrrady got me! :heart_eyes:

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Aww, thank you for your sweet words, you’ve made my night :green_heart:, seriously for a moment I thought, that maybe I had gone too far. Also I’m really glad you loved gentle MC, I hope to really meet up you expectations and not only yours of course!

You know, I figured, if I was already exploring such themes, there was not really much for me to left out, but also I didn’t wanted to convey the typical story of such tragedies.

Well Kirlett, I’m quite the stubborn gal, so I really hope to be able to push myself to write it, but also to continue to love it myself, as this came from something that I wanted to see most of and when I didn’t really found anything, I knew, I had to make it myself to play it one day. Also Idk, but I would love to release the game for free one day.

:pleading_face::sparkles::green_heart:

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Also I apologise for my battle against typos, it might never end…my dyslexic brain also can’t take it

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Oh, thank you! I also loved to write that kind of MC, that will eventually let the beast to come out even when there’s no full moon.

Good thing then, I made the right choice. I had questioned myself about not gender locking the MC, but, I figured the setting and the story itself would be more profound and meaningful, not to mention that this would allow me to actually add more depth to the MC and have less complicated branches filled with code.

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Bravo. Brava. And all the other bras loved every page and kept me engaged would love to read when finished

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The vibe in this is amazing! Love how you can really lean into the “oh this is just horrific” especially for the first time because wow the body horror aspect was popping. I will say I saw maybe like 5 typos but they were little and understandable. I can’t wait to see what more you have in the future.

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What an absolutely incredible opening to give us. We were able to witness so many key moments that truly made this piece stand out to me.

I truly enjoyed exploring every part of this IF and have already played through several times. I think it will take a small army to pull any of my MC’s out of Guillaume’s paws, but I also really look forward to meeting the other characters.

For those on the fence about giving this a try before it has a higher word count I suggest you do it because this is the first story I’ve ever read where the Beauty is also the Beast. And that’s brilliant.

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Is there a way to avoid the Mc engaging in sexual activity?

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I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed what’ I’ve written so far :sparkles:

Thanks, I really tried to focus on the horror elements and sometimes, I just got carried away, I’ve been consuming different kinds of material to help me write that. And yeah, I’ve got a lot to do on the prologue😁

Om, my, thank you, for having put a lot of interest in tfof, such sweet words​:green_heart::sparkles:

Yep, I need to fix that, that was only supposed to happen if you and Guillaume are lovers
I promise I’ll look into it

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Just wanted to say it’s awesome you’re making an IF based on the Beast of Gévaudan! I first heard about it when visiting a friend in Clermont-Ferrand some 10 years ago, and it’s stuck with me ever since

all the best with your WIP :slight_smile:

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Thank you! It is quite a fascinating story, with so many wild theories about what really happened back there like was it a trained pack of wolves, a werewolf, witches, a serial killer…
On a side note: omg I love your stories

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Oh wow! Really loved this!! I love that you have chosen to do a female story and aren’t afraid to write it into the reality women live in. Even though it’s fiction it really makes the story relatable and feel real.

On another note - I like to think the moon was watching that night and saw MC and perhaps had a part in gifting/cursing her so no man may ever do that to her again.

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Thank you, really. I really wanted to capture that, I mean had I made it about a man, sure he would have a lot of struggles, but not as many as women on that time did.

Well yess, the moon was always watching her child, I tried to be subtle, not forcing it because I’d love for you to see some stuff that even I didn’t realise I did :rofl:

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Oh my gosh, I’m so excited for the continuation of the story! Great job, I really like it! <3

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Impeccable vibes! Love a good gothic tone, and one with feminine rage? :heart_eyes:

I had the first work-free day in a long time, and decided to try my hand at getting back to reading IF again. This was a lovely, immersive reintroduction :black_heart:

Also, two things that stood out to me:

  • Huge congratulations on having the first actually good use of “orb” for human eyes that I’ve so far read! :laughing:
  • I loved how the wolf’s fur conformed to our hair colour, that was very impactful!
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thank youuuu :sparkles:

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Oh my God thank you, it feel nice to read this, and I see you are a cultured person catching on those lil details.
I’m so touched my story got you into reading IF again :green_heart::sparkles:
btw your story is also delicious to feast on!

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