[WIP] demons like you and I: a dark horror fantasy romance *updated profiles*

Something is seriously wrong in Little Pickering.

The small wooded town of Little Pickering is nestled in the English countryside, almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. It has beautiful bluebell woodlands, clear streams, wild deer, and also boasts an alarming number of missing people. At night, the residents make sure that their doors are firmly locked, to keep the strange creatures out, and hopefully their own family members in.

You see, there has been a rift in the dimensions for centuries: a portal which connects the human and underworlds together. Little Pickering lies within this rift.

People who stay are usually the ones who have no other option, and thankfully (as Little Pickering is your hometown), that isn’t you – phew.

But years later, like a needle tracing thread, you come back for a school reunion, with your old classmates (the surviving ones anyway, your secondary school was in a cursed rift between dimensions, remember), and you find yourself crossing over to the dark, hellish underworld.

This world is populated by two main races: the grey skinned fae, and humans who have passed over from the rift.

But there is something terrible happening here, too. There is a madness seeping through the land like water. How are you going to get out?


+++FEATURES+++

  • play as female, male, non-binary

  • 5 romance options for all players, gender determined by player choice (in the works)

  • yes you get to romance the fae

  • horror, gore, dark fantasy


World Details

**Romance Options**

LITTLE PICKERING, UK

Jackson/Jamie MacKenzie – one of your childhood best friends. You grew up together in the hazy little summer town of Little Pickering. One summer, years ago, on your sixteenth birthday, they disappeared with their family, and you haven’t heard from them since. They never even said goodbye. This reunion is the first time you’ve seen them in years.

Traits: easy going, friendly, sociable, trustworthy

Likes: family, food, water sports, cycling, travelling, photography

Dislikes: bugs, Little Pickering, rude people, violence

Selene/Sirius Malinao – another one of your childhood best friends. They are bossy and was usually the one getting everybody else out of trouble. You know that despite their complaining and snappy exterior, they have a kind heart, and will always look out for you first, which might be why you’ve been friends this whole time. Their twin brother, Leo, who made up your childhood quartet, disappeared as a young boy, and their family fell apart. Circumstances have it that they’re now the legal owner of Tall Oaks house.

Traits: bossy, kind, thoughtful, stubborn, determined, lonely, hot headed

Likes: you, Jackson/Jasmine, stargazing, nature, walks, the sea, Leo, memories, painting

Dislikes: creepy things, Little Pickering, the dark, closed spaces


AL’THEAS

Io – the last remaining survivor of a scouting mission gone terribly wrong and a generally unpleasant character. They are scarred and bitter and filled with such sorrow beyond their few years, which has twisted and rotted into a blinding anger. Io is the first fae you meet (lucky you). Not often separated from their companion, a ferocious white lioness-like creature named Kalyke.

Traits: cold, angry, brooding, furious, distrustful

Likes: following orders, fae, the forests, Kalyke, roasted malar berries, weapons, fighting

Dislikes: large crowds, humans, you, loud people, when you ask too many questions

Lex of Thalor – a member of Io’s current forest stream-based clan, the Thalor. Favoured among the other fae, Lex is blessed with the countenance of the pantheons, and as Io says: “a pleasant face, but very little sustenance behind it.” You can decide if that’s true or not yourself.

Like most fae, Lex is sheltered from the outside world. Fae don’t tend to interact outside of their kind, and the most they know about humans is through their observations and tales. They have a lot of misconceptions, and Lex can’t imagine anything better than finding out how true those tales are.

Traits: curious, adventurous, full of wonder, flirtatious, brave, loyal, open, naĂŻve, sheltered

Likes: new things, adventure, you, the world, humans, trinkets, their adoring fans, the clan

Dislikes: when Io ruins things, burnt food, not being in control of things


WESTRAY, AL’THEAS

Ari – the only heir of the Quin and Quintess, Ari is in the human city, tracking leads and solving a millennia long mystery.

Traits: street smart, calm, clever, well-read, perceptive, level-headed, sneaky, conniving

Likes: ruins, books, poison, daggers

Dislikes: injustice

Can you trust anyone you meet?

**The World of Al'theas**

This is the world you are transported to.

It has one sun, several moons, and two seasons: Sol, when the days are longer and nights shorter, and Lune, the opposite.

To the west, are the human settlements, with a central walled kingdom: Westray, and to the east, the dark forests that the fae favour. They are a nomadic people, and travel in clans, each worshipping an individual god. The Thalor, the one we are focussing in our story, is a clan of forest streams: which is to say, their deity is believed to have created those streams.

Each fae clan has a Chief, but they are overall governed by their “royalty”, the Quin and Quintess, who live deep within the forest.

*Excerpts from the forest*

The byzantine forests of Al’theas where we dwell are naturally dark, the canopy drinking up much of the sunlight during the day, and the light of our several moons at night. Instead, our plants emit their own glow, fruits of white liquid light and luminescent flowers. The creatures themselves emit a glow, shining entities flashing through the undergrowth.

In the very beginning, it’s said that the fae possessed the power of creation, granted by the Lune itself. From our very fingers sprung life, and we painted the world with our creations, inspired by the natural wonders from our previous world. The most powerful of us became pantheons, living deities, worshipped and revered for their gifts of life. They created the streams and the seas, the forests, and the creatures that lived within it. They were gods to us, and we flocked to them, building our lives around them.


I’ve written the prologue (~12k words), and I plan on updating every month or less. In this demo, I wanted to get critique on the writing, dialogue and choice options, and the texting mechanic. I wanted the phone to go in the stats page, but it’ll live in the startup.txt file for now.

To play the demo, go here: https://dashingdon.com/play/dragonbutts/demons-like-you-and-i/mygame/


But here’s a final message: you need to realise that not everything is as it seems. Even the ones you trust the most may betray you. What happened to the lost civilisations? Are the events of the past going to repeat themselves? Revealing the true nature of the story is going to be difficult. Even with so many people helping you. Trust is difficult to come by, and you should make sure that yours is earnt properly. How will you go home? Everyone is depending on you.

Everyone reading this, if you’re going to play this game, I have a message for you, so please pay attention.
Yes, I’m trying to warn you about something that’s living inside there.
Even if you don’t want to take it seriously, I need you to understand this.
So please, watch out for the signs, and my messages? I’ve tried leaving them everywhere. So, read this again?

348 Likes

I like it! The writing is good, maybe it’s just me or my inner subconscious sounds like a writer at heart lol. It’s not a bad thing, I like the descriptive narrative it’s following! It’s an interesting read even if it’s still a short demo and that’s worth a lot of things! Although I do have a question that I think is going to be a spoiler kind of thing; I have no idea how to blur out stuff but

|| if the residents, especially MC, are aware of what’s happening in Little Picking, why come back at all? ||

I’m guessing we’ll find this out in the next update or later in game, and until then it’s perplexing and a little interesting to think about. Good demo :3

3 Likes

that was a great game! can’t wait to see where it goes :slight_smile:

3 Likes

this is really good! even though it’s just a prologue for now, I really enjoyed it! I’m looking forward for this. I really love the writing style too.

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if you click the gear wheel thingy, theres smth that says blur spoiler

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NOOOOOO, ITS STILL SHORT T-T

I looOove the texting feature!!! It’s super unique ^^

You’re so descriptive too ajsjdjd. Plus, damnnn, I felt unsettled when you were describing what happened to the mom

The tone was just chef’s kiss

6 Likes

YOOOO THAT WAS SO GOOD.

That texting part thoo, it was so smooth and so niiice. Can’t wait for the next update! :heart:

3 Likes

This is awesome so far!!! I’m just- it’s just so NICE. The texting? Oooooh YES.

Your writing style is so descriptive, I’m LOVING it!

Definitely going to keep an eye on this one

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You’re a hero, thank you!

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Oh I really like this start. Looking forward to see where the story goes.

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I really liked this!! Cant wait to see more of it :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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So excited to see where this goes!! I love the text feature and the mystery and suspense right from the beginning :blush:

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Aaaa thank you so much for your first comment! I was worried that the narrative would have too much personality, and people wouldn’t be able to project onto the MC :confused: I tried rewriting it a few times, but I liked how this sounded the best :slight_smile:

And to answer your question (it’s not a great answer, sorry), but I was going to make that a choice for you to decide hahaha - does this even belong in spoiler tags?!

Don’t worry though, there will be more intrigue than this :stuck_out_tongue:

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@Eiriri @bjosh @Bananahead_101
Thank you all so much! I’m excited too! :smiley:

@Avi @SuperTired @feather_light @atmerie
Thank you all!! Damn that feature took me long to code, I’m happy you like it!

1 Like

OH man, you just know the story is going to be good just from half the prologue. Im in love with the atmosphere and I love the texting feature. It really helped add a lot of character to npcs in a very organic way. Weird mails and all! (hmmm also that foreshadowing~)

Personally cant wait to see more, but hey no rush! :wink:

Oh! And Ps: :eye::eye:

10 Likes

Oohh yes I really do like the narrative, it’s just an observation but really it’s quite okay! It sounds like whatever would have gone through someone’s mind thinking about the events prior to coming back for the reunion.
Absolutely would love to see more of this! Best of luck with writing!

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I’m gonna have to hop of the train here and say it’s pretty great thus far. The whole social mechanic is amazing, the writing is engaging, and the character dialogue seems believable.

Only thing is that I can’t see the stats page as it results in an error. Not sure if this is just me though or an actual issue so take this with a grain of salt.

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Thank you for your kind words :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: I’m really glad you like it! And aaaaa you saw it! I was worried it was too cryptic hahaha

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Thank you! I hope you like the rest as well! :slight_smile:

Aaa thank you so much! :laughing: Can’t wait to share more!

1 Like