Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context NightmareFuel / ADifferentLesson

Go To

1How much horror could there be in a FanFic based off of a kid-friendly product like ''Franchise/KungFuPanda''? Plenty, it turns out.
2
3Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies to all "Moments" pages, so '''all spoilers are unmarked.''' Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!
4
5----
6* The BodySnatcher [[DemonicPossession possession]] of Vachir by Heian Chao. Not only does the reader get a front-row seat to it happening, from Vachir's perspective, but comparisons are drawn to the way the Shadowen take over people in the ''Literature/TheHeritageOfShannara'', and at one point the reader gets to see Chao literally draw out and torture Vachir's soul. The fact this all leads into his body then going on a mad murder spree, with Vachir trapped inside unable to stop it, only to scream and beg for [[ICannotSelfTerminate a death he can't have]], is just the icing on the cake.
7* The murdered goat. While other deaths which follow this are bloody and graphic, this is the first one to be described in explicit detail, and both it and the reactions to it are where the story first really hits the DarkerAndEdgier line.
8* Monkey's RoomFullOfCrazy: "I like dead bananas." That the trope appears at all is disturbing enough, but the nature of it (numerous drawings of Po, Shifu, and the Five being done away with in messy ways, obsessive rants against Tai Lung, "DIE DIE DIE" being written everywhere) and whose room it is are what push it over the edge. It even scares Po and Jia.
9* Qinghe, in the NothingIsScarier sense. A totally empty, abandoned town, where everyone has fled for an unknown reason into the desert, leaving behind toys, clothes, food, weapons, everything they would need to survive...eye-like windows and open doors everywhere, no one manning the ferry, the fields filled with only the whisper of the wind...and every grave in the town cemetery open, the bodies all taken with them.
10* The Changs’ basement and what Zhuang finds there: the two elephants left suspended from grappling hooks from the ceiling, slowly and agonizingly bleeding to death, with Chao [[EmotionEater living off of and growing powerful from their fear, horror, and pain]], while being [[ForcedToWatch forced to look at]] their dead son, until he finally allowed them to die. Oh, and Chang had suffered EyeScream.
11* Chao corrupting the Sacred Pool. The fact the author explicitly identified the scene as a ShoutOut to [[WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}} Chernabog's "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence]] should be enough all by itself, and the idea of the pool becoming a thing of evil and horror would be disturbing too, but there's also the fact that the profaned waters actually kill all life around them as they flow down the mountainside. That this is all just the precursor to the whole Valley becoming PeoplePuppets only makes it worse.
12* Shifu’s premonition. In general the scene is practically a re-enactment in vision form of Chao corrupting the Sacred Pool and a {{Foreshadowing}} of the upcoming PeoplePuppets. Add in the sense that doom is coming for Tai Lung, and the whole Valley...
13* The trial, with everyone as PeoplePuppets. It's bad enough it's a KangarooCourt out for blood, but when a bit of aid from Oogway's staff lets Shifu see what is really going on...well, wouldn't you be rather chilled and terrified to see everyone around you as a shadow-cloaked, [[RedEyesTakeWarning red-eyed]], demonic figure?
14* Chao's OneWingedAngel moment. The description has definite shades of [[WesternAnimation/Fantasia2000 the Firebird]].
15* Jia aging. As if the concept itself wasn't bad enough, the description has a number of things in common with the [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade death of Donovan]] and it was fairly clear if he hadn't been stopped, Chao would have [[RapidAging aged her to her death]].
16* The gigantic demon which the yaoguai [[FusionDance join to form]]. It's storyboarded in ''Art of Kung Fu Panda'' and looks rather terrifying there. Its appearance in this story lives up to the imagery.
17* Chao's death. Not just ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice, but [[HolyBurnsEvil roasted by holy fire]], with a melt-and-dissolve worthy of ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill and then]] he explodes.
18

Top