Nocturna Suppressio Review

"Do Kyungsoo likes to dwell on his dreams. He spends hours dreaming, finding them a better place than reality.

But what Kyungsoo fails to realise is that not all good dreams are what they seem to be."  

- Nocturna Suppressio by purpleskies

Nocturna Suppressio was suggested to me by my dear sister. She told me to read it quite a long time ago. The foreword and (maybe) the first chapter was uploaded to Asianfanfics on the 17th of February 2013. The fanfiction has a total of 16 chapters. The author of 'Nocturna Supressio' is Purpleskies. And yes, Purpleskies is her pen name.

'Nocturna Supressio' is a story about a teenage boy struggling with life and constantly finding himself falling asleep multiple times in a day. In his dreams, he seems to always encounter a certain person and gradually befriends him.


The fanfic: http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/387220/nocturna-suppressio-exo-kai-kyungsoo-kaisoo/18






The story itself starts with Kyungsoo in his dream land. He meets this guy again, a guy (Kai) he almost always sees in his dreams. Kyungsoo falls asleep in such random times of the day, and as time passes by, it becomes even more frequent. After every dream, he finds out more and more about Kai and gradually starts becoming his friend. But the happy place he escapes from reality to changes when dark smoke starts to appear.

I find the story really nice, and creative.

The idea of dreamwalkers is something I rarely (actually never) see in stories, but maybe it's just my lack of knowledge. Kai is a dreamwalker and is stuck in 'dreamland' forever. The only way he can 'wake up' from this nightmare, is to find someone to replace him. Kai chose Kyungsoo.

As time progresses however, Kai realises that Kyungsoo is precious to him and he doesn't want Kyungsoo to suffer the same fate as he did. So in the later chapters, he shows him from up a cliff (in Kyungsoo's dreams of course), millions of lifeless people walking forward. Their faces were emotionless, almost as if their souls had left their bodies. To Kyungsoo's horror, he spots his own body there.

Kai told him he picked Kyungsoo from the bunch of people.

The people there are people who have given up on life and resort to dreams for escape.

Dreamwalkers choose one person, appear in their dreams... and feed on them.





An excerpt:



"Will you tell me now?" Kyungsoo asks, a little anxious at his request. He's hesitant to know yet he wants to. If it will help him sleep at night then he needs to know. 

Luhan nods. "What do you really know about Kai?"

Kyungsoo tries not to let his grip tighten at the edges of the book he's been holding as he answers. "He's a dreamwalker." 

"That's partly true." Luhan says.

"You said he isn't one." 

Luhan gives him a small smile. "Kai refers to himself as a dreamwalker which is sort of true. They walk around people's dreams..."

Kyungsoo looks away as he recalls the amount of times he's walked into his dream.

"And..." The hesitation on Luhan's voice makes Kyungsoo look back at him. "They feed on them."

Kyungsoo stares at Luhan, trying to comprehend what he just said.

"They like the weak." Luhan continues. "They like the ones who give up on life and resort to dreams for an escape."

Me. Kyungsoo starts thinking on all the times he was like this. He is still like this, trying to stay away from reality.

"But a dreamwalker is also known throughout history as an incubus." Luhan takes the book that Kyungsoo has and opens it. Kyungsoo looks at the page he's showing.

"Your nightmare."

The drawing on the page looks like a human. Tall, slender yet well built. But on a closer look, the creature doesn't look human as it stares back at Kyungsoo, grinning with teeth sharp and with eyes blazing red. It's something Kyungsoo is familiar of, something Kyungsoo has heard about but has never once thought is real.

A picture on the bottom of the page shows an incubus hovering over a sleeping person, its long tail curling over the sleeper's neck and its hands stroking the human's cheek.

This... this can't be Kai.

"They try to win you over." Luhan starts, turning another page and Kyungsoo sees an incubus entertaining a human in his dreams. "They show you everything you want to see, take you places you want to go."

Kyungsoo can't breathe as he remembers everything he's been through with Kai,

"They lure you into their world. It's where they have everything. It's where they give you everything."

This isn't true... It can't be.

"These creatures are depicted as demons but they're actually beautiful." Luhan continues. "So beautiful that they seduce you in the end, entice you with their smiles and the way their eyes seem to tempt you in. And when you sleep with them..."

Kyungsoo looks at Luhan.

"They feed on your body."

Kyungsoo laughs nervously. "That... That can't be true. You're making things up. I mean Kai isn't... isn't..."

"Isn't one?" Luhan asks. "Then who or what is he if you don't think he's one?"

Just... Kai. Kyungsoo answers in his head. 

"What... what happens if you meet... a dreamwalker?" Kyungsoo dares to ask, avoiding the real name Kai is branded with.

"Like I said, they show you everything. They show you how dreams are better than reality." Luhan answers as he closes the book. "It's true. Dreams are better than what we live in right now. But living in your dreams is dangerous. Your dreams are a very dangerous place."

Kyungsoo balls his hands into fists, trying not to show Luhan how they're shaking.

"An incubus dwells in the dream world and looks for their prey."

Kai can't be one...

"And when they do, they latch on to them like a leech."

Kai annoying him all the time, staying with him in every dream he has.

"And once they have a hold on you, once they're sure they've managed to convince you of staying forever," Luhan says. "They suck the life out of you."

The bags under his eyes. Kyungsoo losing weight. Kyungsoo's transluscent skin. His eyesight.

"They keep you in the dream world."

No, Kyungsoo chokes on the thick air of denial and truth surrounding him as he stumbles back. "That's not true."

"It is." Luhan says, walking towards him but Kyungsoo backs away, staggering from the weight of Luhan's words. "And it shows in your eyes. I can see it."

No, Kyungsoo thinks.  He refuses to believe any of this.

"I saw it in the library the day we met. Your eyes looked different." Luhan stares at him. "And it's getting worse now, isn't it?"



Luhan is someone who experienced this before. His story is explained in the prequel called 'Nightfall'. http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/817917/nightfall-hunhan



Overall, 'Nocturna Suppressio' is an intriguing, mysterious, and addictive fanfiction that will keep you guessing for hours and make you make the time to read the entire thing.


It's worth a read!


So,


do read it!