Puri's Creepy Crossing - Episode 1 - Aika
Feb. 28th, 2014 01:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shamanicshayminWelcome to Puri's Creepy Crossing. In each episode, I visit disturbing and/or strange towns via Dream Addresses shared in "Animal Crossing: New Leaf." Today, we'll start with the most infamous town of all... so infamous, that its creator was featured and interviewed in the Japanese equivalent of Nintendo Power. Attend the tale of Aika.
Her skin was pale and her eyes were odd.
As long as I am dressed like Princess Nehema, nothing in this village can harm me! For nothing's scarier than an eldritch abomination. None.
Because I was an amateur creepy town tourist, I stupidly neglected to take shots of myself waking up. It's important 'cause I woke up surrounded by static and there was a gift bag with a dolly in it right beside the bed. 'Cause I'm Genre Savvy and I don't trust anywhere in this town to be safe, I got the essentials from Lloid: axe, bug net, and watering can. You never know, some supernatural forces reeeeeeeally don't like water. See: Shyamalan aliens.
I was surprised to see the town looked so pretty, since I was expecting a desolate wasteland from the start. Carnations are practically everywhere. Same with the fountains. Here, I stand in front of one out of many Jacob's ladders. I even stick it in my hair.
The mayors are all the same... a girl in a red dress named Aika. I didn't know what they said until I looked up the translation online; basically, the first Aika says, "I love my mommy." The village is set up so you have to visit the houses in order. In this first one, in the main room, we get what looks like the perfect family (Aika's, likely) having the perfect birthday. Even now, you can tell something's wrong because the back room is blocked by the watchful eyes of a fancy doll. Hypno K.K. plays in almost all of the mayor's houses and rooms you go to.
Yeah, this room's fake innocence isn't fooling me at all. Look at those drawings! Ten bucks says it's of the family downstairs.
For a second, I read that as "feed on you."
Here's some of the pretty carnations I was talking about earlier. There was something buried here, but I forgot what it was, because I'm an idiot and didn't cap it.
The hedge maze! Kind of reminds me a bit of the one from "The Shining." It's also the most annoying part of town, because you're constantly stepping into pitfalls. There's also lots of candy, desserts, and coffee lying around, and I couldn't help myself to a taste. Yum. Then seeing how much was left over, I figured that I should stop in case it was all poisoned. Horror towns take the fun out of everything. :(
Oh shit. There's brainwashing and possession going on here, isn't there? BEN better not be waiting for me in one of the houses. D:
Agnes! I liked her after meeting her here, so when someone on tumblr offered her, I let her move into my town in the waking world. I figured she could use a safer place to stay, anyway.
Too late. :( Also, notice how the villager houses all have a red dolly of their own? I can't remember if Octavian had one, but I think it's likely.
There's a megaphone in front of Retail. Apparently Aika's mom runs the place. Or used to. Or maybe Aika liked her that much and made her a symbol of the town?
This is what I mean about the pitfalls. Gaaaaah! I found purple and red heart-shaped balloons in the maze. I hope they're not meant to represent someone's buried organs. D:
Someone has anger issues, hates bees, and/or has trypophobia. Dear god, don't look up "fear of holes" on Google, which I just did for you to fetch the name of this phobia. You're welcome.
Wow, I'm shocked that this town has a grave-digger.
Don't worry, I'm not a zombie. I'll only disturb the dead for a little while, ma'am.
They're all doghouses. Every single one of them. It should be noted that if you interact with a doghouse inside someone's house, you hear nasty barking and a pair of red eyes stare at you from inside the doghouse. Evil spirits in this town, maybe? It's better than the alternative, which is either the death of Aika's dog and her puppies or the genocide of the dog villagers. D:
We meet the second Aika, who still loves her Mom, but it's distorted, like "I lOvE mY mOmMy."
Instead of Hypno K.K. or silence, we get this song called K.K. Synth. Kind of sad, but peaceful.
This room's a puzzle! Mainly involving shifting around in stools to find an invisible path to the back room.
All the toys are shunning me. D:
Oh. Ohhhhhh. Kinda Yume Nikki-esque, if you ask me. Or Ib.
Go figure, Nehema would find it amusing.
Look ma, Christian symbolism! Unpictured, but the snake sproinged at me.
"Aw, it's so nice of you to invite me to your dinner party!"
Someone compared this room to The Last Supper, which I found interesting.
Especially because of this. Way to ruin the party, Red Riding Hood.
Blowing the last of my childhood innocence to the winds of time! Now we've entered the land of dead trees, rotten turnips, stumps, and WEEDS WEEDS EVERYWHERE that I've been expecting. The third Aika is faring much worse, saying something like "I love Mommymymymymymy." Or since it involves a play on words and languages with the Japanese word "dai," (meaning "like" or "love" or similar) so Aika could be saying, "I love Mommy, DIE DIE DIE DIE."
The shit hits the fan, folks.
I wander the maze and foolishly neglect to take pictures, namely of goodies I've found like another beehive and a drawing of what looks like Aika and her mom. I think both of them were looking upset or the mom was pulling Aika's hair, I can't be certain. I found this room full of eggs and a piano I don't understand, but I play a mad melody to take a break from the outside craziness.
Upstairs, the family art reigns supreme.
"Man... TV nowadays sucks!"
Wow, really? You had to murder someone? Really?
All work and no play makes Aika a dull girl.
Then Puri was never found again.
Nehema just loves this barren landscape. Needs more eyeballs, she says, then we're golden. Note the intestine-colored balloon.
The perfect little dollhouse we saw at the beginning of our journey is a complete wreck. The final Aika talks in gibberish. But look, the back room isn't blocked anymore!
Ohhhh dear. This is not good.
Curse you, whoever had done this! CURSE YOOOOOOOUUU!
Now my night is ruined.
I told you something wasn't right about that room. I TOLD U DAWG
Though I'm curious about why the Mom is scribbled out in the first picture, but not the second. What's going on here?
I found red shoes on the beach, which brought to mind a certain Hans Christian Andersen story and one of the deaths that can happen to you in "The Witch's House." I didn't dare wear those fuckers.
Trivia: Shoes on the beach are linked with suicides in Japan.
There's a gravestone on an unreachable part of the beach that can only be accessed with a wet suit. Lucky for me, I went back to the maze and found one buried! Alongside the candy and roses, I found a time capsule buried at the grave site. Then there's these unfortunate discoveries...
"Ha ha ha! Fuck you! Ha ha ha! I AM THE DEVIL!Now go play some Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyyyyyyyyde!"
Okay, that's not what actually happened. But now would be a good time to share some theories regarding Aika:
#1: The Evil Doll
A. Let's get the easiest one out of the way first; the doll is alive and it's evil. The doll was meant to be a birthday present for the little girl, so "Aika" could be the name of either of them. But the doll was a jealous little bitch who wanted her new "mommy" all to herself, so she gave her family the axe. When that left the girl traumatized, that wasn't enough. Nope. The doll wants to be with the girl forever and ever, even after death.
B. The doll was given to the girl, but the doll wandered what it would be like to be human and have her own family. The doll decides to take drastic measures and possess the girl in hopes of swapping bodies. There's a chance the girl's other toys warned her against doing this, hence why they have their backs turned to her in two of the rooms. In the end, it goes just about as well as you expect.
#2: My Beloved Smother
Aika's mom is actually verbally and emotionally abusive to Aika, demanding her to be the perfect daughter with the perfect life. To Aika's mom, her daughter is nothing more than a doll for her to dress up and play with to suit to her needs. That could be what the isolated piano room with all the eggs was about, with Aika not allowed to leave until she had finished her lessons. Eventually, it became too much for Aika to bear, so she either A. Lashed out at her mom and murdered her, then felt guilty about it and killed herself. B. Killed herself for being unable to live up to her mother's standards, and the final house is basically her mother grieving in what's left of her home, her dreams of a "perfect" life completely shattered.
Aika's dad curiously isn't mentioned much in the latter houses, if at all. Which got me thinking...
#3: The Dad Did It!
It's the dad who was the abusive perfectionist douchebag to Aika, not the mom. Aika's made it clear that she adores her Mom, and possibly looks up to her as her protector. That's why Mommy gets all the love and drawings, not Daddy. But in the end, Mommy was helpless to help her little girl, and was possibly murdered or committed suicide. If "The Shining" was anything to go by, he was haunted by the ghosts of the town (see: the dead dogs and bee's nests, though the latter would be a reference to the hornet's nests in the book) and either became possessed by the evil in the town or went insane himself. He may have even have chased Aika into the hedge maze and killed her there, and put her (or his wife's) shoes by the beach to cover up the murders. The "creepy skeleton" may actually be the mom's body, and the "dolly" is actually Aika's body.
Whatever had happened, I must have done something right, because the town bell rang and changed from the doleful 4 AM theme to the much more peaceful 5 AM music.
I had dug up the dolly and planted red carnations in its place. I even planted the Jacob's Ladder I was wearing above the grave.
I came into Aika almost blind, so I hadn't come across other Aika theories yet (like Overbearing Mom) and or cooked up my Evil Dad theory, so at the time I went with the Evil Doll scenario and gleefully put the dollies in the trash and set them on fire. Take that, you selfish little brats!
I watered the flowers I planted at the grave and left things I thought maybe Aika had been looking for, like the balloons and bubble wands I was carrying, and a pair of mittens that had been separated from another. I laid the red shoes at her feet before paying my respects.
As I wake up, I feel glad, knowing Aika can finally rest in peace.
Next Episode: Hitokui.
Her skin was pale and her eyes were odd.
As long as I am dressed like Princess Nehema, nothing in this village can harm me! For nothing's scarier than an eldritch abomination. None.
Because I was an amateur creepy town tourist, I stupidly neglected to take shots of myself waking up. It's important 'cause I woke up surrounded by static and there was a gift bag with a dolly in it right beside the bed. 'Cause I'm Genre Savvy and I don't trust anywhere in this town to be safe, I got the essentials from Lloid: axe, bug net, and watering can. You never know, some supernatural forces reeeeeeeally don't like water. See: Shyamalan aliens.
I was surprised to see the town looked so pretty, since I was expecting a desolate wasteland from the start. Carnations are practically everywhere. Same with the fountains. Here, I stand in front of one out of many Jacob's ladders. I even stick it in my hair.
The mayors are all the same... a girl in a red dress named Aika. I didn't know what they said until I looked up the translation online; basically, the first Aika says, "I love my mommy." The village is set up so you have to visit the houses in order. In this first one, in the main room, we get what looks like the perfect family (Aika's, likely) having the perfect birthday. Even now, you can tell something's wrong because the back room is blocked by the watchful eyes of a fancy doll. Hypno K.K. plays in almost all of the mayor's houses and rooms you go to.
Yeah, this room's fake innocence isn't fooling me at all. Look at those drawings! Ten bucks says it's of the family downstairs.
For a second, I read that as "feed on you."
Here's some of the pretty carnations I was talking about earlier. There was something buried here, but I forgot what it was, because I'm an idiot and didn't cap it.
The hedge maze! Kind of reminds me a bit of the one from "The Shining." It's also the most annoying part of town, because you're constantly stepping into pitfalls. There's also lots of candy, desserts, and coffee lying around, and I couldn't help myself to a taste. Yum. Then seeing how much was left over, I figured that I should stop in case it was all poisoned. Horror towns take the fun out of everything. :(
Oh shit. There's brainwashing and possession going on here, isn't there? BEN better not be waiting for me in one of the houses. D:
Agnes! I liked her after meeting her here, so when someone on tumblr offered her, I let her move into my town in the waking world. I figured she could use a safer place to stay, anyway.
Too late. :( Also, notice how the villager houses all have a red dolly of their own? I can't remember if Octavian had one, but I think it's likely.
There's a megaphone in front of Retail. Apparently Aika's mom runs the place. Or used to. Or maybe Aika liked her that much and made her a symbol of the town?
This is what I mean about the pitfalls. Gaaaaah! I found purple and red heart-shaped balloons in the maze. I hope they're not meant to represent someone's buried organs. D:
Someone has anger issues, hates bees, and/or has trypophobia. Dear god, don't look up "fear of holes" on Google, which I just did for you to fetch the name of this phobia. You're welcome.
Wow, I'm shocked that this town has a grave-digger.
Don't worry, I'm not a zombie. I'll only disturb the dead for a little while, ma'am.
They're all doghouses. Every single one of them. It should be noted that if you interact with a doghouse inside someone's house, you hear nasty barking and a pair of red eyes stare at you from inside the doghouse. Evil spirits in this town, maybe? It's better than the alternative, which is either the death of Aika's dog and her puppies or the genocide of the dog villagers. D:
We meet the second Aika, who still loves her Mom, but it's distorted, like "I lOvE mY mOmMy."
Instead of Hypno K.K. or silence, we get this song called K.K. Synth. Kind of sad, but peaceful.
This room's a puzzle! Mainly involving shifting around in stools to find an invisible path to the back room.
All the toys are shunning me. D:
Oh. Ohhhhhh. Kinda Yume Nikki-esque, if you ask me. Or Ib.
Go figure, Nehema would find it amusing.
Look ma, Christian symbolism! Unpictured, but the snake sproinged at me.
"Aw, it's so nice of you to invite me to your dinner party!"
Someone compared this room to The Last Supper, which I found interesting.
Especially because of this. Way to ruin the party, Red Riding Hood.
Blowing the last of my childhood innocence to the winds of time! Now we've entered the land of dead trees, rotten turnips, stumps, and WEEDS WEEDS EVERYWHERE that I've been expecting. The third Aika is faring much worse, saying something like "I love Mommymymymymymy." Or since it involves a play on words and languages with the Japanese word "dai," (meaning "like" or "love" or similar) so Aika could be saying, "I love Mommy, DIE DIE DIE DIE."
The shit hits the fan, folks.
I wander the maze and foolishly neglect to take pictures, namely of goodies I've found like another beehive and a drawing of what looks like Aika and her mom. I think both of them were looking upset or the mom was pulling Aika's hair, I can't be certain. I found this room full of eggs and a piano I don't understand, but I play a mad melody to take a break from the outside craziness.
Upstairs, the family art reigns supreme.
"Man... TV nowadays sucks!"
Wow, really? You had to murder someone? Really?
All work and no play makes Aika a dull girl.
Then Puri was never found again.
Nehema just loves this barren landscape. Needs more eyeballs, she says, then we're golden. Note the intestine-colored balloon.
The perfect little dollhouse we saw at the beginning of our journey is a complete wreck. The final Aika talks in gibberish. But look, the back room isn't blocked anymore!
Ohhhh dear. This is not good.
Curse you, whoever had done this! CURSE YOOOOOOOUUU!
Now my night is ruined.
I told you something wasn't right about that room. I TOLD U DAWG
Though I'm curious about why the Mom is scribbled out in the first picture, but not the second. What's going on here?
I found red shoes on the beach, which brought to mind a certain Hans Christian Andersen story and one of the deaths that can happen to you in "The Witch's House." I didn't dare wear those fuckers.
Trivia: Shoes on the beach are linked with suicides in Japan.
There's a gravestone on an unreachable part of the beach that can only be accessed with a wet suit. Lucky for me, I went back to the maze and found one buried! Alongside the candy and roses, I found a time capsule buried at the grave site. Then there's these unfortunate discoveries...
"Ha ha ha! Fuck you! Ha ha ha! I AM THE DEVIL!
Okay, that's not what actually happened. But now would be a good time to share some theories regarding Aika:
#1: The Evil Doll
A. Let's get the easiest one out of the way first; the doll is alive and it's evil. The doll was meant to be a birthday present for the little girl, so "Aika" could be the name of either of them. But the doll was a jealous little bitch who wanted her new "mommy" all to herself, so she gave her family the axe. When that left the girl traumatized, that wasn't enough. Nope. The doll wants to be with the girl forever and ever, even after death.
B. The doll was given to the girl, but the doll wandered what it would be like to be human and have her own family. The doll decides to take drastic measures and possess the girl in hopes of swapping bodies. There's a chance the girl's other toys warned her against doing this, hence why they have their backs turned to her in two of the rooms. In the end, it goes just about as well as you expect.
#2: My Beloved Smother
Aika's mom is actually verbally and emotionally abusive to Aika, demanding her to be the perfect daughter with the perfect life. To Aika's mom, her daughter is nothing more than a doll for her to dress up and play with to suit to her needs. That could be what the isolated piano room with all the eggs was about, with Aika not allowed to leave until she had finished her lessons. Eventually, it became too much for Aika to bear, so she either A. Lashed out at her mom and murdered her, then felt guilty about it and killed herself. B. Killed herself for being unable to live up to her mother's standards, and the final house is basically her mother grieving in what's left of her home, her dreams of a "perfect" life completely shattered.
Aika's dad curiously isn't mentioned much in the latter houses, if at all. Which got me thinking...
#3: The Dad Did It!
It's the dad who was the abusive perfectionist douchebag to Aika, not the mom. Aika's made it clear that she adores her Mom, and possibly looks up to her as her protector. That's why Mommy gets all the love and drawings, not Daddy. But in the end, Mommy was helpless to help her little girl, and was possibly murdered or committed suicide. If "The Shining" was anything to go by, he was haunted by the ghosts of the town (see: the dead dogs and bee's nests, though the latter would be a reference to the hornet's nests in the book) and either became possessed by the evil in the town or went insane himself. He may have even have chased Aika into the hedge maze and killed her there, and put her (or his wife's) shoes by the beach to cover up the murders. The "creepy skeleton" may actually be the mom's body, and the "dolly" is actually Aika's body.
Whatever had happened, I must have done something right, because the town bell rang and changed from the doleful 4 AM theme to the much more peaceful 5 AM music.
I had dug up the dolly and planted red carnations in its place. I even planted the Jacob's Ladder I was wearing above the grave.
I came into Aika almost blind, so I hadn't come across other Aika theories yet (like Overbearing Mom) and or cooked up my Evil Dad theory, so at the time I went with the Evil Doll scenario and gleefully put the dollies in the trash and set them on fire. Take that, you selfish little brats!
I watered the flowers I planted at the grave and left things I thought maybe Aika had been looking for, like the balloons and bubble wands I was carrying, and a pair of mittens that had been separated from another. I laid the red shoes at her feet before paying my respects.
As I wake up, I feel glad, knowing Aika can finally rest in peace.
Next Episode: Hitokui.
