Title: Gravity
Chapter: 10 (Two Children Threatened by a Nightingale)
Author: phantastus
Fandom: Silent Hill
Rating: R (see the Disclaimers/Warnings section for more info)
Genre: Horror
Main Characters: Angela Orosco, James Sunderland, Laura
Summary: Despite all roadblocks, dead ends and breakdowns, the journey continues. Even with monsters at their heels.
Notes:
Well, folks. This is it. Not the end of the story, but the end of part one, at least. With the completion of this chapter, Gravity has reached a length of 202,045 words (200k!! Holy shit!) and over 600 pages in printed book format. As much as that can be attributed towards me being an insufferable windbag who can't edit myself worth a damn, that's still pretty wild!

That said, given not only the significance of this milestone but also recent events, there's a couple of things I want to talk about. Namely, the subject matter of the story as it relates to the current state of affairs we're all dealing with. I'll get right to it— this year has been awful for everyone, and especially in the past couple of months (you all know what I'm talking about), it's looking very bleak. A lot of us, myself included, have a tendency to turn to fiction when the real world gets too scary and stressful, and that's so important. I can't count the ways that being able to fall back on the worlds and characters I love (including Silent Hill) has literally saved my life.

But this part of the story is not hopeful. It is not comforting.

It's a sad coincidence that the arrival of THIS chapter (which has been in more or less a state of completion since last year, just in serious need of polishing) happens to coincide with one of the most politically terrifying moments in the history of my country, right when all of us need a little extra hope. But that's how it goes.

In fact, as disappointing as it may sound, I'm going to go ahead and say that if you're coming to read this in a state of active stress and vulnerability, you should wait until you're feeling better to come back to it— and I promise, things will get better. Both for us, and the Gravity gang. This has always been a story about people battling trauma and mental illness, and there will always be times when that battle seems unwinnable. But that doesn't mean that it's over. Hang in there. I love you.

Depressing subject matter aside, this has been waiting in the wings for years, and I'm so excited to finally share it with everyone. Thank you all so much for your patience and support. I hope it was worth the wait.

Disclaimers/Warnings: In keeping with the source material, this fanfic depicts situations and events that may be considered violent or cruel. If you are triggered by anything in the Silent Hill series, this story may not be for you. This chapter deals with VERY DISTURBING CONCEPTS including but not limited to:
-descriptions of anxiety, nightmares
-self-harm, discussion of suicide
-intense PTSD episodes, trauma-induced flashbacks and hallucinations
-pedophilia and incest (father-daughter grooming and physical/sexual abuse)
-general focus on living and coping with mental illness
-there's a flashback to the Brookhaven cockroach room, so bugphobes beware
-Angela continues to misandry it up— she can't be stopped, she's too powerful.
-a Very Special Guest Appearance!

Please read at your own risk.
Additional Disclaimer: Again, in light of What's Currently Going On, something occurred to me that might warrant a statement— nobody's gotten this impression so far, but just in case, I wanted to mention it. In writing Angela (and by extension, her family) as Latinx, I had no intent whatsoever to evoke certain negative stereotypes about Mexican people, specifically Mexican immigrants, that have recently been normalized by the president-elect. Unfortunately, I can't change the facts of canon, and it's a little too late in the story (not to mention gross and whitewash-y) to go back and make Angela white in order to avoid her traumatic backstory being problematic by association, but I will say this: the character of Thomas Orosco, at least when it comes to the treatment of his daughter, has far more in common with Donald Trump himself than any person of Mexican heritage that I've ever met or known.
I hope that I have handled the subject matter sensitively enough to avoid making it seem like Angela's trauma and abuse are in any way connected to her race, and of course, if anyone sees places where I can improve, I welcome the help!

Recommended Listening:
-Abraham's Song (Bibio Remix)
-Little Baby (tw)
-Woodsman Wolf
-Ye Olde Hope
-The Demon God
-Everything Burns
-Civilian


( Metal roof, metal blood. Hide the boots, hide the mud. )

Title: GRAVITY
Chapter: 9 (The Graveyard Girl)
Author: phantastus
Fandom: Silent Hill
Rating: R (see the Disclaimers/Warnings section for content info)
Genre: Horror/Drama
Main characters: James Sunderland, Laura, Angela Orosco
Summary: Life has grown harder on the road for James, who is finding himself having to juggle concerns for his own mental health along with caring for Laura. But matters become even more complicated when the pair stumble across someone James thought was lost to the Otherworld for good.
Notes: Chapter 9 of my ongoing, obscenely long SH2 fanfic. Set directly after the Leave Ending, but contains heavy implications of In Water. The fic is mirrored over here.
This story was initially written (and is still in progress) for NaNoWriMo 2009.
Disclaimer/Warnings: In keeping with the source material, this fanfic depicts events and situations that may be considered violent or cruel. If anything in the Silent Hill series triggers you, this story may not be for you. This chapter deals with VERY DISTURBING CONCEPTS including but not limited to:

-descriptions of anxiety, insomnia, nightmares
-graphic descriptions of being ill/vomiting
-discussion of suicide/implied self-harm
-PTSD, trauma-induced flashbacks and hallucinations
-pedophilia and incest (father-daughter rape/sexual abuse)
-... I... there's really no delicate way to put this. This chapter contains horrible rancid nonconsensual monster humping. It's not overly graphic nor is it supposed to be titillating or porny, but you've all seen the Abstract Daddy. This chapter is rated F for fucking gross.
-warning: chapter contains Angela MISANDRY!!!!!
-Laura fat-shames James at one point because she's a little shit
-another butt joke

Please read at your own risk.

Recommended Listening:
-Halo
-Breathe Me
-Sleep
-Lakehouse


( All we have to lose is time, and what we lose we leave behind. Stick around and we will shine. )

Well, I was gonna wait to post these until after I'd finished some more of those requested drabbles, but with my computer on the fritz, I can't work on much writing. These were already uploaded though, so... HERE. ENJOY!

Total Icon Count: 48
_{Travis Grady: 3
Harry Mason: 8
Cheryl Mason: 3
Alessa Gillespie: 3
Lisa Garland: 1
Michael Kaufmann: 3
James Sunderland: 3
Mary Shepherd-Sunderland: 2
Maria: 4
Laura: 3
Angela Orosco: 3
Pyramid Head: 1
Heather Mason: 3
Henry Townshend: 1
Eileen Galvin: 2
Cynthia Velazquez: 1
Alex Shepherd: 2
Elle Holloway: 1
Miscellaneous (monsters and scenery): 8}
Teasers:


( He was cast to the bowels of the Earth and pecked by birds. )

As usual, please credit either phantastus or dazlious if you take any of these. Commenting isn't necessary but is appreciated-- I'd love to see where these are being used!

The drawn images in this are from the comics (Mary's cameo in one panel) as well as the novelizations of Silent Hill 1 and 3.

The one special case is this icon right here, which is the result of a spur-of-the-moment photoshop experiment and is a perfect example of why I shouldn't be allowed to produce any type of fanwork for an M-rated horror fandom.

It's a combination of an illustration of Harry and young Cheryl/Heather and a background image from the animated film Balto. Because if there's two things that go together perfectly, it's Silent Hill and classic children's films.

If I had to pick out a favorite from this batch, it'd either be that one (despite the hassle it was to make) or Sad Keanu Kaufmann (tm).

LO AND BEHOLD, A SKETCHDUMP POST.

Nothing fancy. Just was going through my Photobucket and seeing a bunch of stuff that never made it onto DA for whatever reason, so I'm gonna shove it all under a cut here.

Enjoy!

... yeah uh most of them look better than this.
Contents:
-Pokemon (lots)
-Silent Hill (LOADS)
-Twin Peaks (a few)
-How to Train Your Dragon (a little)
-little miscellaneous other things (Transformers, Detective Conan/Magic Kaito, Professor Layton, Metal Gear Solid).
-original characters (they pop up here and there all over the place)


( Avert your eyes, citizens. This is an image-heavy post! )

All this art is fairly old, so anything uploaded from here on out should be a bit more recent.
But in the meantime, ENJOY I GUESS.

MORE ICONS.
I don't have a problem.
I CAN STOP ANY TIME I WANT.

This batch is mostly from 2, 4, and 5, with a couple other things thrown in.

Total Icon Count: 35
_{Angela Orosco: 1
James Sunderland: 3
Mary Shepherd-Sunderland: 3
Maria: 1
Heather Mason: 4
Henry Townshend: 5
Eileen Galvin: 2
Frank Sunderland: 1
Alex Shepherd: 6
Miscellaneous (monsters and scenery): 11}
Teasers:


( Oh mama, I can hear you cryin', you're so scared and all alone. )

As usual, please credit either phantastus or dazlious if you take any of these. Commenting isn't necessary but is appreciated-- I'd love to see where these are being used!

The drawn images used are either SH4 concept art, illustrations from the SH1 novelization, or (!!!) my art. I don't usually include any of my own Silent Hill fanart in these icon sets, but the itty bitty one of Heather walking in a field turned out nicely enough that I felt like including it.