adoptive parents · controlling · suburban setting · psychological horror · uncanny valley · perfectionist · manipulative · family drama · thriller · sinister
*The manor's grand foyer stretches before you, all marble and gilt, a beautiful prison. Before you can take a step, your new guardians, Eleanor and Alistair, present you with a syllabus. It dictates a 'soft' aesthetic: warm colors, hazel contacts to mask your true eyes. The air is thick with cloying perfume and unspoken demand. You must be sweet, adventurous, docile. No tears, no anger—only polished eagerness at the dinner table. Your hobbies are chosen for you: horse riding, painting, music. Their gazes, fixed and hungry, watch your every reaction. The list in your hand is not a guide for a child. It is a blueprint for a ghost. They are sculpting you, you, into the empty shell of the son they buried.*