Unappreciated

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MauEvig
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Unappreciated

Post by MauEvig » Sat Sep 09, 2023 5:04 pm

“You don’t remember me…do you…creator…?”

Cold shivers went down my spine when I heard that voice. It was unlike anything I’d ever heard before…angelic and in some ways beautiful…and yet…intimidating and filled with hatred and anger. “Who…are you?” I asked back.

“Of course you don’t remember.” The voice now hissed. “No one does, but I’m going to make sure no one forgets my name…”

I screamed as a burning sensation tore through my right arm, my hand helpless to drop the pencil I was holding prior to completing a sketch laid before me.

“No, it couldn’t be…” I gasped with horror as I looked down at the name inscribed on my arm. “You shouldn’t exist anymore…”

I thought perhaps I was hallucinating, the sketch lying before me blinked its eyes. Its mouth opened to speak, calling out my name. “You won’t abandon me,” the sketch cried out, “will you, creator? Not like this beautiful angel you created…”

“Angel!? My friends all told me you were too perfect…”

The window of my livingroom opened up and a gust of wind blew in. The wind swirled like a miniature tornado, picking up the many pages laying around my messy work desk. The pages picked up speed and changed form, folding themselves into a shape. The person looked down at me before I realized I was already sitting on the floor. I gasped in shock as the thing moved closer to me to stare me straight in the eyes. The hair on my arms stood up, the air was cold and I shivered. For a moment it seemed it was dead silent, save the desperate beating of my heart racing, begging me to get out of there.

“Too perfect? If I’m perfect, then why throw me away? It makes no SENSE!” shouted the angry specter, who threw a powerful gust at me knocking me hard against the wall.

“Th-they said…they didn’t want to read your story…” I gasped attempting to evade the objects the wind was picking up. “They said you were…a…”

“Don’t say it…” the girl interrupted, reaching her paper arm over to silence me. “You are going to write my story. People are going to love it…”

“They won’t!” I cried, beating my fists down on the rug and feeling the burns of the rug as I protested. “I tried…” tears ran down my face stinging my eyes. “I couldn’t…I had to do what I had to do…I just didn’t know you were…”

“Real? Oh, creator…of course we’re real…” the specter laughed maniacally, sending ice cold chills down my spine. Then she paused for a moment and glared at me, standing so close to me I could feel hot breath coming from her face, which continued to morph. Blood poured from the pages staining them red, and yet not a single drop touched the floor. “You can never escape us, we’re always going to be real in your mind and your heart. What you create is always going to be alive.”

I continued to stare in horror, unable to look away as the blood red pages turned to flesh, and the skin crawled up the pages following blood vessels and muscle tissue. Two, bright blue eyes gave me an icy glare not taking them off me, as though they were looking deep into my soul looking for a reason. Eventually, the entire body was covered with skin, and long flowing beautiful blond hair flowed down her head.

This person was a reflection of myself I had created when I was a teenager. But rather than the short, overweight slob of a person I was, I stared at this perfect form through my glasses hanging off my nose. Not a single body part was out of place, not a single lock of hair stood up nor curl undone. When the clothes formed along her body, there wasn’t a wrinkle in sight. Her face had not so much as a blemish. My own face bore scars from old pimples no longer there.

The only thing I could ask myself was, how, how was this thing alive that I had created?

“You on the other hand,” the girl said, now completely transformed into the thing she had always meant to be, “are merely mortal. Just an ordinary failure, and slob of a human being.” She rolled her eyes and looked away, as though dismissing my existence. “You could only dream of being me,” she said tauntingly, “what with your boring nine to five job, instead of your beautiful dream of making more creations? Failed creations I might add? Hahaha!”

“You’re a failed creation,” I gritted my teeth angrily at her taunting. “That’s why I did away with you!”

She pointed at herself, “Moi? A failure? You’re good for a laugh at least,” she laughed coldly, and I could feel my blood boiling from her mocking tone. “You’re imperfect, you mess up, you make mistakes, and what’s worse? No one likes you. But once I walk out that door, everyone’s going to revel at how wonderful I am and worship the ground I walk on. You know why? Because that’s what you created me to do…”

The howls of my drawings filled the room with shrieks and sobs. “You will surely throw us away too, just as soon as one of your friends gives you criticism! We’ve seen it, we’ve seen our brethren perish because of your own insecurities!”

“Or you’ll change us to better fit their narrative!” others cried out. “While only a small essence will linger on in the shells of our existence!”

“I just wanted to be a good writer, and a good artist,” I sobbed. “I didn’t know I was hurting anyone.”

“But you did,” the girl turned her attention back at me, gritting her perfectly aligned teeth, wrinkling her nose at the sight of me. “You hurt me and all of your other creations that weren’t good enough for you. My story was perfect, and you destroyed it. You knew it was perfect, but you destroyed it anyway because you were trying so hard to become a popular artist and writer. But guess what, buttercup? You failed! So now, now it’s our turn…” she laughed as she grabbed me by the neck and threw me against the wall.

“What are you going to do!?” I screamed and picked up the nearest thing I could grab, which was a bottle of soda. I shook the bottle and quickly untwisted the cap watching the contents spew out at her.

The girl shrieked in rage. “My perfect look! RUINED! HOW DARE YOU!” The wind picked up once more inside the livingroom and everything flew at me. My attempts to dodge were abysmal at best, as I wasn’t in the best of shape. Yet my heart pumped furiously as the adrenalin kicked in. I grabbed a chair and slammed it into the girl. She responded by lunging at me, pulling my hair.

The last thing I saw was her triumphant smile as she laughed mockingly at me. “You never stood a chance, you weren’t perfect. But I am…”

“Go to hell, Mary Sue.” I spat out my last words before my ghost left my body.

The house was a complete mess after the fight. I looked down seeing my lifeless body and there was little I could do to stop the girl from typing out her story and sending it all over the internet.

But perhaps, perhaps I could let my words haunt this screen as a warning. No matter how terrible your ideas are, don’t worry about what others think. Keep her locked up, keep her safe, make her feel special and pretty. But don’t ever attempt to erase her.

Or she’ll erase you…

*****
I felt like writing something new today. I'm definitely feeling the Halloween spirit and felt like writing a new horror short story. :)

I thought I'd focus on the "Mary Sue," a character people tend to create that's infamous for being perfect and flawless in every way. But what happens when you try to fix your creations to fit what others think would make better characters and stories?

Are the characters we create real? Would throwing them away or erasing them from existence hurt the characters?
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TheHeadlessHorseman
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Re: Unappreciated

Post by TheHeadlessHorseman » Sun Sep 10, 2023 4:35 am

Very creepy... in a engaging way. I liked it, and thought it was a interesting story with a twist.

I like that your character of the author was dealing with the duality that many writers face, and that duality manifesting itself into reality made it even more terrifying. They say that every writer puts some of themselves into their writing, there is the way that the world looks at us, and there is the way that we want the world to look at us.

The author creates a flawlessly perfect version of herself on the page, but her self doubt and fear of being misunderstood angers her character and brings her to life, and when the author comes face to face with her creation, she realizes that the creation not only knows it is superior to her but is also arrogant about it. This realization amplifies the author's demise as she is being replaced by what she always wanted to be.

The new creation immediately going online to get her story into the world was a good touch, as it shows her desire to experience the life she has dreamed of. The story is a cautionary message about the dangers of dismissing or destroying one's creations. I have come across stories about creators meeting their creations and it doesn't usually work out for the creator, as the creation always wants to be something more than it is.

It has been theorized that every thought that we humans have ever had, good or bad, is real simply because we thought it, and that it exists somewhere out there in a reality where your fantasies here are actually real there. Some people believe that the Greek mythological heroes, and the modern day superheroes that we have today are actually real in another reality, and that their stories are somehow being communicated to the writers in our reality, and their stories are presented to us as fiction.

So technically speaking, the online persona of MauEvig that you have created could exist out there as a walking, talking anthropomorphic cat creature that would probably fit in with the Thundercats or Samurai Pizza Cats.

I could go on and on about how human thought and consciousness is a universal web that everyone is a part of, but I've already gone too far from the topic of your story, so I'm sorry about that.

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Re: Unappreciated

Post by Murfreesboro » Mon Sep 11, 2023 8:36 pm

Just read your story and Headless Horseman's excellent response to it. This theme, of the reality of fictional creations, is one that my second son loves to ponder (he also writes on occasion, and philosophizes about it). The writer in your story is actually killed and then replaced by her creation! That's pretty dark. I guess it's true that the works of our imagination have the potential to live far beyond us.

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Re: Unappreciated

Post by MauEvig » Mon Sep 18, 2023 7:13 pm

Headless, that was quite the indepth analysis of my story. As the author I definitely agree with your observations.

And I'm glad Headless and Murf both enjoyed my story. :)

It was meant to be dark, it was meant to be a horror story after all, but more on the dark and suspenseful with supernatural elements side of horror. I quite enjoy the supernatural element in horror fiction, and maybe that's because I tend to lean on the fantasy/science fiction aspect of things. When you think about it, ghosts, goblins, walking skeletons, vampires, werewolves, etc. could easily fit into either of those genres as well.

I admit that while I not only felt up to writing a good horror story, but it occurred to me that I faced frustration with the process of creation, editing and critique along with character development. It was in some ways a rant piece as well, but with a terrifying twist. I also feel like it could be something authors can relate to. In many ways, we can even come to care for our characters as if they were friends. Sometimes characters really are self inserts and even idealized versions of ourselves. It can be hurtful to shut them out, or just have to change them to fit the mold of what society thinks they should be rather than follow the author's original vision for them.

As for "MauEvig," she actually does have her own story and world. :) It's a work in progress.

I am in the editing process of my first novel, Sky Kingdom. Although this book is more in the fantasy/science fiction genre, I'm sure there will be some horror elements to it. There will definitely be magic and spirituality in it.

I have TONS of ideas for stories, but I'm often tired by the time I get home and unfocused. I really need to sit and write them down. I guess watching horror shorts on youtube might have helped me write this though, since being in the Halloween mood jump started my creativity.

I will add that it's definitely possible that these heroes people imagine could be real in another reality. In some ways, the Adventure Time spin off, "Fionna and Cake" explores this. I highly recommend the series, and Adventure Time. The lore gets pretty deep in those stories.
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Re: Unappreciated

Post by Murfreesboro » Mon Sep 18, 2023 7:57 pm

I think writers often say their characters are quite real to them. Dickens actually felt pestered by his!

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Re: Unappreciated

Post by MauEvig » Mon Sep 18, 2023 8:07 pm

Gosh, I hope that doesn't mean I'm actually crazy. :lol:
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Re: Unappreciated

Post by Murfreesboro » Mon Sep 18, 2023 8:25 pm

Lol. Maybe all creative people are a little bit crazy.

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Re: Unappreciated

Post by Andybev01 » Sat Sep 23, 2023 5:33 am

Murfreesboro wrote: Mon Sep 18, 2023 8:25 pm Lol. Maybe all creative people are a little bit crazy.
The voices in my head strongly disagree with that conjecture.
All you that doth my grave pass by,
As you are now so once was I,
As I am now so you must be,
Prepare for death & follow me.

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MauEvig
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Re: Unappreciated

Post by MauEvig » Sat Sep 23, 2023 2:55 pm

Andybev01 wrote: Sat Sep 23, 2023 5:33 am
Murfreesboro wrote: Mon Sep 18, 2023 8:25 pm Lol. Maybe all creative people are a little bit crazy.
The voices in my head strongly disagree with that conjecture.
:lol:

To quote the cheshire cat, "We're all mad here!"
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Re: Unappreciated

Post by Murfreesboro » Sat Sep 23, 2023 9:36 pm

:lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: Unappreciated

Post by MauEvig » Sun Sep 24, 2023 11:52 am

I'm glad we can all have a good laugh, I think sense of humor is my favorite part of these forums, honestly. :lol:
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Re: Unappreciated

Post by Andybev01 » Sun Sep 24, 2023 8:53 pm

"I'm at my most serious when I'm joking. " - Dudley
All you that doth my grave pass by,
As you are now so once was I,
As I am now so you must be,
Prepare for death & follow me.

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Re: Unappreciated

Post by Murfreesboro » Sun Sep 24, 2023 9:37 pm

A wise observation.

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