[ the worst part about this, steve thinks, is that it doesn't look all that different. the hawkins he remembers, the last version of hawkins he'd seen, it had been this version. it had been these woods, rotting and dark and wrong. it had been these roads, broken and crossed with vines. it had been this sky, dark and ominous, with erratic streaks of red lightning and a ground-shaking sort of thunder, promising something much worse on the horizon. steve doesn't remember the smell of rot and ruin being this strong, but then again, it makes sense if he tried to forget it. steve would never go as far as to say he was used to this, but after the lake and then going in after vecna, he at least knew what to do.
don't step on the vines. hide when the shaking starts. if you hear something amid the trees, run, run fast, and hide - it may not have noticed you. maybe.
if you find yourself somewhere out here, do not - whatever you do - linger. because that vision, right off in your peripheral, of a blossoming figure might not always look quite right. one moment, it will seem just as you may or may not have seen it before. but the next, it will look very different, and rather than standing off amongst the trees, it will turn to you and scream. run, before it catches you, because while this death may not be real, it certainly isn't something you want to experience.
if you happen to appear at the drive-through, it will be much of the same - empty cars, a corrupted movie, vines and dust and the prevailing smell of rot. but it's hardly safe, either, because the longer you linger, the more the erratic lightning will expose something much worse hovering right above the treetops. there is also, of course, scoops ahoy too - but this is a place you will most likely end up without meaning to, and it will look very, very different. instead you will find an oddly well-lit, cement room that does not appear to be affected by the vines or dust or rotting smell, with two empty chairs and a table full of 'medical equipment', though every now and then the lights may flicker, and with each flicker a new streak of blood will appear across the floor. if you search for long enough, though, you will find a door to an elevator, which will take you back up into the upside down, if that's really where you want to be. ]
horizon; ota
don't step on the vines. hide when the shaking starts. if you hear something amid the trees, run, run fast, and hide - it may not have noticed you. maybe.
if you find yourself somewhere out here, do not - whatever you do - linger. because that vision, right off in your peripheral, of a blossoming figure might not always look quite right. one moment, it will seem just as you may or may not have seen it before. but the next, it will look very different, and rather than standing off amongst the trees, it will turn to you and scream. run, before it catches you, because while this death may not be real, it certainly isn't something you want to experience.
if you happen to appear at the drive-through, it will be much of the same - empty cars, a corrupted movie, vines and dust and the prevailing smell of rot. but it's hardly safe, either, because the longer you linger, the more the erratic lightning will expose something much worse hovering right above the treetops. there is also, of course, scoops ahoy too - but this is a place you will most likely end up without meaning to, and it will look very, very different. instead you will find an oddly well-lit, cement room that does not appear to be affected by the vines or dust or rotting smell, with two empty chairs and a table full of 'medical equipment', though every now and then the lights may flicker, and with each flicker a new streak of blood will appear across the floor. if you search for long enough, though, you will find a door to an elevator, which will take you back up into the upside down, if that's really where you want to be. ]