This House is Now my Hell (Draft 1, Unreviewed)[]
I was scouring through my old hard drive, finding things to transfer over to my computer, when I found an old folder. Its contents were that of a Minecraft world, so I thought I’d check it out.
Pulling up Minecraft, I was shocked. This was my first EVER survival world! This decade-old world was the playing grounds for my first ever Minecraft playthrough, with a house, full diamond gear, and the ender dragon killed.
Loading the world took a hot minute, since it had been a long time since I played, but once I loaded in, there it was, the world I made nearly 10 years ago. Exactl ẻ̷̮͍̫͊x̵̳̎a̴̢̭͇̙̒͊͘c̴̭̅̎̆̅̊t̵͕͖͛́l̵̡̞͚͆͋́̀̚ẏ̷̧̜͉̮̓̍
-how I remembered. This world had my heart and soul put into it, I remember working on the house, and thinking it was the best thing ever. Looking at it now, it was quite pathetic in comparison. A wooden blob, with glass blocks at eye-level for windows. Entering the house wasn’t much better, there was no floor, the storage was scattered everywhere, the roof was 2 blocks tall, it was extremely boxy, and there was no bed to be seen. I was slightly disappointed, but I remembered, this was my first Minecraft world.
To the left, there was a separate building with a second story. I went up, and it turns out, I did have a bed. It was the only thing in the room. Kind of a utilitarian look, but I mean hey, my stupid 7-year-old self didn’t know design at all.
I went downstairs and besides the second story, I also had... a basement. I don’t remember what I put in there. Did I even have a basement? I mentally debated whether I should go down there or not, before I internally said, “screw it” and went down there.
The answer was nothing. It was just a dark empty wooden room. Guess I didn’t put anything down there in my basement. I went back up to f̵͍̝̭̯̍̀ḯ̶̳̰̔͜ņ̷̩̍͂̋̕͝d̵͙͉̎̃... the door that leads to the stairway that leads...
I entered the stairway, and it was massive. About as tall as your modern-day mountain. Honestly, I don’t really remember this part of the house that much, but I climbed. And climbed. And climbed. ä̸̳́͆ñ̷̢̨̼̩͈̃d̷̲̓̉̀ ̶̙̈́̾̓͘ć̸͔͖͌ͅl̸̻̗͉̾̃ͅi̵̘̰̍͋͌̒̀m̸͙̜̀b̴̟͈̈ē̸̫̳͉̰͖ḓ̷̺͍̌̋̕.
At the top of the stairway, appeared to be another blank room that I didn’t remember building. I was starting to get creeped out, but I continued into the room. The room had glass walls, but what was beyond them was... me. It was sort of like a mirror of sorts, these clones of me copied everything I did. The mirrors showed infinitely reflected clones, each one of them a perfect replica of me.
I don’t know why I did it, maybe I was tired, maybe it was “all a dream” or whatever, but... I b̴̛̹̾̄̓̄͜ŗ̴̧̯͙̏̋̇̕͝o̵̤̩̥͆̃̈́̽̕k̸̯͍̯͒͆́ẽ̶̢̲̳̻̱ ̴̬͖̗͈͒t̸̟͍̹̬͍̂h̸̝̲̺͐̅̈́ĕ̶͖̙̐̈́͒ ̸̧̡̻͎̟̌m̴̡̩̮̰̖̃̎̈́̈́̉i̸͔̪͋͆r̷̘͎͆̓̒̐̈́r̶̝̤͇͇͑ò̷̞͍͍͙͖́̈́r̵̯͉̒͊̕ ̧̡̻͎̟̌m̴̡̩̮̰̖̃̎̈́̈́̉i̸͔̪͋͆r̷̘͎͆̓̒̐̈́r̶̝̤͇͇͑ò̷̞͍͍͙͖́̈́r̵̯͉̒͊̕ ̧̡̻͎̟̌m̴̡̩̮̰̖̃̎̈́̈́̉i̸͔̪͋͆r̷̘͎͆̓̒̐̈́r̶̝̤͇͇͑ò̷̞͍͍͙͖́̈́r̵̯͉̒͊̕ ̧̡̻͎̟̌m̴̡̩̮̰̖̃̎̈́̈́̉i̸͔̪͋͆r̷̘͎͆̓̒̐̈́r̶̝̤͇͇͑ò̷̞͍͍͙͖́̈́r̵̯͉̒͊̕
w̴h̴e̸n̷ ̸I̶ ̷b̴r̸o̴k̷e̸ ̸i̸t̸,̴ ̵t̸h̴e̶r̸e̶ ̸w̶a̵s̷ ̶a̶n̴ ̷i̵m̸a̶g̷e̸ ̸t̷h̸a̴t̴ ̴f̷l̸i̵c̷k̵e̷r̴e̸d̵ ̷o̷n̷ ̴s̸c̴r̶e̸e̶n̴.̸ ̵I̷t̷ ̶w̶a̵s̴ ̴t̷h̵e̸ ̶a̸r̵e̷a̴ ̶b̸e̵y̸o̸n̴d̶ ̷t̸h̶e̶ ̵m̵i̶r̴r̵o̷r̵.̴ ̷B̷u̵r̶n̶i̷n̴g̴.̶
Back down the burning stairway I went, almost falling down the holes in it. Maybe lightning had struck the house, and I didn’t hear it? Looking down one of the holes, I saw a great abyss. Even turning my render distance and brightness to max didn’t reveal what was down there.
Down to the left at the bottom of the staircase was ņ̵̛ó̸̢̫̤̊t̶̡̖͉͊h̵̡͂̐i̴̟̮͇͆̎͘n̴̢̯̩̈́̂g̶̢̜̅͑ another door. This one lead to a hallway full of signs. Every single one of them had the same message. “Tommorow will be a good day.” I also didn’t remember building this area, or writing the signs.
Looking at the signs that told me y̴̨̞̐e̵̮͕̒̀s̴̯̳̿ẗ̴̨̗̯́e̵͉͆ṙ̵̤ḍ̸͕̘͝a̴̧̓͛y̷̨͒̋́ will be a good day, I started to get even more unsteady. All the memories, the dreams, I’ve associated with this place, have been distorted. This was my home. But at the same time, t̸h̶i̵s̷ ̴i̴s̴n̸t̸ ̷m̸y̵ ̶h̶o̶m̷e̸.̴.
I don’t know where I am.
At the end of the hallway was another door that lead to t̷h̷e̸ ̷l̷i̷b̸r̴a̶r̴y̸. There were three books in lecterns in the area, with an endlessly tall spiraling staircase in the center. I decided to look at the books; the first one was a story of someone returning to their childhood home. The second book was of him looking through the house, and finding a basement with nothing in it. The third one however, was a lot more different.
It was in lowercase only, and I don’t remember entirely what it said, but here’s a snippet I remember. “i began to feel my skin melt like the walls slowly sliding off revealing another layer underneath and soon that layer was gone and all I could feel was the flames my home is now my hell my home is now my hell”
After climbing the endless spiraling, dizzy staircase, rattled by the contents of that third book, I ascended into t̴h̷e̴ ̶o̶b̴s̴e̷r̸v̵a̴t̵o̷r̶y̷. The observatory overlooked the house. I don’t remember building that either.
I didn’t know what I would see through the windows, so I checked my inventory to see if I had anything. All that was in my inventory was some bones, a skeleton skull, and a spyglass.
Looking through the first window, I found... myself. It was a mirrored copy of the observatory, and I saw myself, staring back. In the second window, I saw the front of my house, beautiful as ever. In the third window, I was shocked. I saw the house b̴u̵r̸n̴i̴n̴g̷ b̴u̵r̸n̴i̴n̴g̷ b̴u̵r̸n̴i̴n̴g̷ b̴u̵r̸n̴i̴n̴g̷. Looking in the distance, I saw some weird black figure in the burning ruins of my house. I didn’t know w̴h̸a̸t̷ ̵t̸o̵ ̷d̴o̷
Going back down the spiraling staircase was trickier than going up it, with the fear of falling off combined with the flames burning making it likely I would fall off due to a slab burning out from underneath me. The walls of the library, all of these books, were burnt away to reveal nothing but the abyss. It was me, the flames, and this spiral staircase. As I was urgently running down, I f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂ f̷̡̊͌̔ě̵͓̊l̴͙̹̪̀̽̔l̴̪̣͂
I left the bedroom, confused as to what had happened. Down the stairs, I found the blank wall I was used to seeing, and then I turned around to look at the basement.
The basement did have something in it.
I couldn’t remember what it was at first, but the house had been trying to remind me.
It was another mirror. In it, amongst the flames, I could see myself.
b̴u̵t̵ ̸i̵t̷ ̸w̶a̷s̷n̷t̸ ̶m̸y̴s̸e̴l̶f̴
I didn’t know who that was in the mirror anymore.
I stared. The flames got closer to the mirror. I stared. The flames got closer to the mirror. I stared. The flames got closer to the mirror.
I was shook back to reality when I realized that the mirrored version of me’s skin was melting, to reveal a charred skull underneath.
I had forgotten.
Loading the world took a hot minute, since it had been a long time since I played, but once I loaded in, there it was, the world I made nearly 10 years ago. The world I have never left. I have never left. I̶ ̷h̴a̷v̷e̷ ̶n̸e̴v̸e̶r̸ ̵l̴e̵f̷t̴. I̶ ̷h̴a̷v̷e̷ ̶n̸e̴v̸e̶r̸ ̵l̴e̵f̷t̴. I̶ ̷h̴a̷v̷e̷ ̶n̸e̴v̸e̶r̸ ̵l̴e̵f̷t̴.
I have never...
Walking towards the burned ruins of my house, I was depressed. All of these years of work, gone in a flash. I stumbled throughout the house, trying to remember the good times. I then decided to check if the basement was intact, and in there I found a mirror, surrounded by flames. In it, I could see myself. But it wasn’t myself. This version was in an intact version of the house, with the old textures of all the blocks in it. As I stared, I noticed the walls of my house burning away, to reveal a void.
This house was now my hell.
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Squidmanescape (talk) 04:42, 15 October 2023 (UTC)[]
Keep in mind that I don't know exactly why the story was deleted. However, I think the main problem is that the story is confusing, raising questions which are never answered. Maybe we're supposed to understand something after the fact, but...
My best guess is that the Minecraft world trapped them inside of it ten years ago, and the idea that they are playing a game in the beginning is just a dissociative episode that is happening because they have been trapped in the game for so long, which is kind of an interesting idea but still raises multiple questions. I can elaborate on them later if you want, but I don't want to because the main issue for me is that the story doesn't really explain what's happening very well, so I have no idea what's actually going on. Really, I can probably come up with 10 other theories of what's actually happening here if I really want to, and all of them will probably be equally wrong.
I think part of the problem is the Zalgo text, where you use a bunch of diacritics over the word that makes it hard to read. You are also doing an interesting thing where you create a diagonal slash across the word, which is honestly a step up from the Zalgo text except for the fact that I still have no idea what it's supposed to represent. At first I thought it was supposed to be stuff that's not actually happening, but that doesn't actually make sense because it's on words like "broke the mirror" and "the library". Is it supposed to be on strange things? If the text effect is supposed to represent something, I think you look up how to convey that in writing, because according to Wikipedia, Zalgo text seems to mainly be used in surreal memes and I don't know what the other thing is called, but it looks like a strikethrough like this (but yours is way easier to notice in Fandom's text, and that's really useful). The problem with using a strikethrough is that it represents things you're not supposed to see as really happening - see my problem earlier.
Basically, because you're not conveying what's happening through words, and using surreal meme text effects instead, it's hard for people to understand what's happening in the story.
A lot of weird unexplained things happen in this story, which is fine in a vacuum. Weird unexplained things can happen in the reality of many of the stories here. However, the main issue here is the same issue as most lost media stories: the main character isn't in any real danger by what we define as danger, and the point where they are in real danger is never actually clarified or expanded upon.
So what if the Minecraft world operates on dream logic? The main character isn't in the Minecraft world, they're playing the Minecraft world from the comfort of their home.
The other issue is that the main character doesn't even understand that what is happening is strange. I don't think this is an inherently bad choice, but I feel like (just like how I said above) this works the best when the situations are dangerous, because then you want the main character to get out of danger. Here, it just makes the story feel confusing. I feel like you need to tell us what we're supposed to be afraid of, or at least have the main character understand that something is going wrong.
Legitimate question: is this based on some other lost media? Is there some context I didn't read? That's my only idea for why you wrote this story as if the Minecraft world shifting around and the main character not noticing is supposed to be scary in and of itself. For me, it just made me think the main character was having a psychotic episode.
By the end of the story, I still didn't know if the main character is supposed to be having a psychotic episode, because what's happening in the end is extremely confusingly explained. For better or for worse, I completely stop understanding the story's viewpoint around the part where it says "I was shook back to reality".
For starters, I don't know whether the character's reality is the Minecraft world or the real world where they're playing a game. The second problem is that I don't know when the shift in perspective to the "This house is now my hell" moment happens - where he's actually trapped in the game.
In fact, scratch all of that. Even at that point, it's still entirely possible that the main character is just playing Minecraft and having some weird mental breakdown.
(I feel like that might sound like a joke. It's not. I legitimately don't know whether or not the main character is just playing Minecraft at the end.)
I feel like all of these problems could be explained by having the main character actually react to the weird things happening. That way, the main character could explain what's happening, and why it's actually scary, and what parts are scary, so the readers aren't left to puzzle that out for themselves. The main character would be capable of explaining whatever is happening in the story.
That said, I think people might not like the story if it's about being trapped in a game. It's possible there are / were too many stories about people being trapped in games and it got boring. It's also possible that the idea of being trapped in a game, on its own, isn't that scary, because it doesn't really make that much sense to be trapped in a game and I'd argue it's less scary than not being trapped in a game, considering you can respawn in a game.
So, if you've read this far, my apologies if I've gotten basic aspects of the story wrong, but I feel like you can probably explain those parts of the story more clearly by using more words to describe the situations in the story.
Summary: This story, while admittedly being very mysterious, doesn't answer any of its mysteries. Therefore, it comes off as extremely confusing. I'd like if the main character reacted to the events because it would make the story less confusing, since the confusing events can't actually harm him in any way due to him playing a video game, and so if they at least disturbed him, it would not only cause some amount of discomfort, but would also explain what is actually happening. If that's not possible (and that's perfectly fine), at the very least, please replace the weird text distortion with some other kind of indicator of whatever is actually happening, and at least explain the ending more so that it's clearer what is even happening.
I'm sorry if this wasn't helpful.