3ème Droite is a French serial horror story written by François Descraques, and published in the form of a Twitter account
. The first thread was posted in September 2017, and was followed by subsequent updates every week (minus the occasional hiatus), with each new thread essentially acting as an individual chapter of the story. Though mostly text-based, it also presents some audiovisual elements, with many threads containing or ending with screenshots, camera pictures, or short video recordings.
The plot revolves around the narrator and in-unverse owner of the account moving in a new apartment, located on the right side of the third floor of a small building. However, the building's landlord, who the narrator names Mr. K, turns out to be particularly suspicious, asking many intrusive and unusual questions, and seeming to accept him as a tenant way too easily. From then on, things get stranger and stranger, slowly descending into horror/conspiracy theory, as the narrator desperately tries to uncover the truth behind the building's mysteries.
According to François Descraques, 3ème Droite was a way for him to write a narrative story without the pressure and experience that would be required for novel. Though the story is purely fictional, François has pointed out that "about 40% of the first thread is true", which served as an inspiration for it.
The 18th and final thread was posted on March 29th of 2018. Though François Descraques confirmed that it was indeed meant to conclude the story, he also evoked the possibility that the 3eme Droite universe might come back in one form or another.
The full thread list can be found here.
3ème Droite provides examples of:
- Audience Participation: At several points in Thread 16, the narrator posted polls to decide on his next course of action, and waited until the said polls were over to resume tweeting. Unsurprisingly, the audience kept pushing him forward.
- Bait-and-Switch: This joke from Mr. K:Mr. K: What's yellow and waits? noteNarrator: Yes, yes, it's...Mr. K: A Chinese person.Narrator: Okay... Err... What is he waiting for though?Mr. K: Death. Like we all do.
- Blatant Lies: Thread 17 is a short apology thread stating that the whole story was simply made up as a joke. From the different formatting, the numerous grammatical errors, and the fact that this was posted on a Tuesday rather than a Monday, it's blatantly obvious that it was not written by the narrator, but by Mr. K instead.
- Captain Obvious: In Thread 7, as the narrator is helping Mr K's daughter move a closet: "He looks at me as if to make sure I'm not naked and banging his daughter. I am not.".
- Catchphrase: Mr. K often uses the phrase "mon plaisir", which is a literal translation of the English phrase "my pleasure" that sounds very awkward in French.
- Duck Season, Rabbit Season: The narrator manages to get Mr K to let him inside his apartment by using this trick. To be fair, Mr. K was under medication then, which made it easier to confuse him.Narrator: Can I come in?Mr. K: I have to go to bed.Narrator: Can I come in?Mr. K: I have to go to bed.Narrator: I have to go to bed.Mr. K: I... what?Narrator: Let me come in.Mr. K: Alright.
- Fiction as Cover-Up: The Superiors made authors write stories about them, so that anyone talking about them would be seen as crazy for believing that these stories are real.
- Freudian Slip: The narrator offers to greet Mia with a dick slap ("biffle") before quickly correcting it to a cheek kiss ("bise").
- Jerkass Has a Point: The protagonist often points out that despite how much of a jerk he can be, Cisco's advice and analysis is usually on the nose. In fact, the protagonist getting irritated that Cisco is actually right happens often enough to become a running gag of sorts.
- Metaphorgotten: The narrator realizes that one of the numerous pieces of advice given to him by his father doesn't quite make sense.Narrator's Father: Women are like flowers, you have to water them. But as time goes by, love withers and you need to replant somewhere else.Narrator: I don't get it. Are flowers women or love?Narrator's Father: Both. I don't know. Piss off. I haven't had my coffee yet.
- Nightmare Face: Thread 16 gives us a lovely shot of Mia's face.
- No Name Given: The narrator never reveals his own name, nor does he use a fake name like he does for the other characters. The final thread reveals it to be "Damien".
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "My father. Is. Thanking me."
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Cisco delivers one to the narrator in Thread 4:Cisco: You find a perfect apartment, and you reproach your landlord for basically being a bored old man. You meet a neighbor who's too pretty for you, and you scare her just to have something to talk about. Not to mention that if she isn't a camgirl, she goes down in your estimation. You're unemployed because no job is good enough for you, even though you frankly have very few actual skills. You're trying to make your life more complicated to make it more interesting, but in the end, you're just a pain in the ass of everyone around you.
- Wham Line: Many threads end with a line that sheds a whole new light on said thread's events.
- In Thread 3, the narrator has an online chat with Sam, the previous tenant of the apartment. As the narrator's thanks him for his time, Sam answers "Mon plaisir", a phrase only used by Mr. K.
- In Thread 6, the narrator hears Mr. K mumbling, but can't fully understand what he's saying. Reading the comments helps him figuring it out: "I don't want to hurt him... not like Sam... and all the others.".
- Axel drops one near the end of Thread 8, when he learns that Mia and the narrator have not slept together.Axel: You didn't sleep with her?Narrator: Err... no. Well. Not yet.Axel: Why... Fuck... Dude... Get outta here!
- Thread 8 ends with this revelation: "The woman on the old photo. It's Mia.".
- At the end of Thread 9, Mr. K tells the narrator "I'm gonna need a new donor.".
- During Thread 12, the narrator, convinced that Aude is now in the basement, receives a video call. "I answer it. And I see Aude's face. She's in a house. She's fine."
- Thread 12 ends with a phone chat between the narrator and a suspicious stranger, in which the narrator threatens to call the police. To which the stranger answers "We are the police, asshole!".
- In Thread 14, right before the narrator goes to warn the new third floor tenant about Mia, he receives a call, which turns out to be a synthetic voice speaking in a foreign language. About an hour later, he posts a recording of it along with the rest of the thread. The message was actually a poorly automated French phrase: "Beware. She does not live one the first floor anymore. She lives on the right side of the third floor.".
- Wham Shot: This is usually how a thread ends when not with a Wham Line.
- Thread 1 ends with a picture of the narrator's arm, with a needle mark on it.
- At the end of Thread 7 is a short video the narrator doesn't remember recording. It shows him opening the wooden squirrel Mr. K gave him, and finding a written message inside: "YOU WILL END UP IN THE BASEMENT".
- Thread 10 ends with the narrator finding a note written by Axel on a candy wrapper. On it is the phrase "[Mia] is not the only one. They are many. They are EVERYWHERE.".
- In Thread 16, the narrator starts recording a video as he starts hearing someone call for help from inside a nearby room, presumably Mr. K. The narrator then goes to check it, revealing that it is actually coming from a voice recorder.
YOU WILL END UP IN THE BASEMENT
