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e17omm · 3 months

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Are you planning to handle Sim Elysia better than canon in Snippets? She had something fun and morally gray going at first but then… :(

I mean, yes? Its easy to say "yeah I'll write her better!" but actually doing it? Cant know until I try.

That being said, she wont be that crucial to Snippets. Yes, Herrscher of Origin is important for what Elysia did in the past with granting future Herrschers humanity, but as for the present, I dont see many uses for it that isnt just arbitrary.

So with that I can say: I dont think I will have ideas for more than 3 Elysian Realm chapters at most. 1 of them will be when Mobius first entered it to look for Elysia (which she walked past while jamming to Gimme Gimme Gimme, if you remember that.), and I am planning to write that chapter at some point.

But for Elysia herself, I plan to make her just, less supernatural. Like even in the Honkai world, she'd be less unnatural.

She was a normal kid with a mother and father. They die, probably to Honkai, not important. Elysia gets sent to the orphanage, but she's the odd one out, but always tries to be friendly to everyone no matter what, even if she fails most of the time, completely misreading what the other children liked. This would be when she becomes the Herrscher of Origin, but its a very very small Eruption. Its still noticed by MOTH, but they cant find the Herrscher.

And this is where I'd make Origin to be a reflection or representation of humanity.

So, Snippets Elysia would be lacking something human. I dont know what exactly, but she wouldn't really be able to understand other humans, like what we mean or imply. But she would always try to be liked by them anyway.

What the Authority of Origin would let her do, is reflect humanity. What she'd become/act like is different depending on the person she's interacting with. She'd always be a good person, or a reflection of people, in other's eyes. So she would stand out in a group, but most would enjoy her company.

Even if it was all a front. A mask. A deception. Because without her Authority of Origin, its back to Elysia just not understanding humans, and with Origin she can pretend to understand.

And thats what eventually leads her to be outed as a Herrscher before they go to fight the Final Herrscher, with most or half of the Flame-Chaser seeing her as a traitor for tricking them for so long. So she gets discovered as a Herrscher, they fight her, its a rather short fight, and at the end Elysia offers her Authority of Origin/Humanity to the future Herrscher Cores.

Or something.

I came up with most if this right now.

But I think I'll have Mobius be one of those that still/did see Elysia as a traitor, so I can make it easy for myself and just use her to point out some of Elysia's faults.

#spitballing ideas at midnight #asks #tw: elysia

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oingomyboingos · 9 months

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*opens long abandoned wip with @throckmortonianfluid *

#crazed spitballing of ideas at midnight when I have to be up at 7 tomorrow #absolute lunacy #oh well #just jill's stuff

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mlichaelm · 4 months

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FIC WRITERS!!!

specifically those who like to write to music!

if you are ever struggling with a plot hole, character arc/motivation, or other writer’s-block-afflicting issue, make a playlist!!

for example:

my upcoming chapter is dealing with a character i struggle to write + have no idea how to carry out their arc. i’ve been agonizing over it ever since the first time i was able to shove that part of the story to the side of my mind. so, i created a character mood playlist.

just at random, picking songs from other playlists that i think fit the vibe of the canon character AND the vibe of where i want their character to be + end up at!

this could be genre, lyrics, vocals, theme, etc! go wild and just add everything that tickles your fancy, you can always curate it later when you narrow down the vibe! initially you’re just throwing shit in to start your creativity pool.

as you’re listening to music and sifting through songs, you may start to form some vague plot line, arc, and motivation ideas. that’ll affect what songs you think to add to your “trial queue” to see if they continue to resonate with how you’re crafting this character/story.

you can be as specific or as vague as you want! if it’s a world you’re building, you could include ambient music or maybe some songs that tell more of a story about the people or cultures inside it. if it’s a character, it could be their hypothetical strut song or a song you just know screams their inner midnight monologue.

basically what you’re doing is spitballing ideas in the form of music! to me it’s kind of adjacent to just typing whatever’s in your brain just to get something down. sure, maybe the playlist you make is incredibly unorganized and hard to explain, but it’s just the first pass!! and nobody has to even see it!! i find it helps me generate some good metaphors and quick character motivations/backstories especially.

this is getting long but i hope this helps at least a few people get inspired again!! and if anyone would like it, i am more than happy to show a few examples of my own playlists i’ve created + curated for characters!

#this is definitely not about the anakin playlist i just started and IT LITERALLY SOLVED MY PROBLEMS???#fic writing #fic writers #writing #fanfiction #fanfiction writer #writing help #writing advice #writing playlist #character playlist

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beantothemax · 9 months

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okay since im very frustrated about how yukiko, kanji, and rise were treated in their midnight channels/dungeons, im going to do a little bit of spitballing for funsies.

yukiko amagi:

is insecure in her own abilities

feels failed by her best friend, chie

this manifests on the midnight channel as a search for "a prince", and in her boss as a bird in a gilded cage. im actually a big fan of the birdcage fight because a) the design is pretty cool and b) mmm cage metaphor. so that's staying. however, her dungeon sucks ass, but i can think of a half-decent alternative: a haunted mansion.

keep the castle aesthetic but run it down a little further. make it nice and dingy. the midnight channel follows yukiko through this mansion, trying to escape but failing in increasingly incompetent ways (this is notably very out of character for her, but does illustrate how she feels about herself). at the end of the midnight channel that you see, she curls up in a corner and begs someone to save her, possibly making reference to someone who failed her before.

kanji tatsumi:

is terrified of rejection

is a closeted bisexual

somehow, this is almost the most reasonable of the three dungeons in terms of the whole sexualization deal; a closeted queer kid would naturally have some crazy thoughts going through their head about their object(s) of attraction. does that justify it? NO. i dont feel comfortable making his narrative less queer because that would suck, but it needs to change for sure.

the midnight channel could easily play into this: kanji is a guest on a talk show, in which multiple faceless men sit around him and compliment him so so much. it could easily be done in a way that makes the intrinsic gayness obvious.

the dungeon would also have to change, but i have just the idea for it. kanji is stated to be very interested in clothcraft, something that he is very insecure about. the dungeon could have walls and doors fashioned from lavish cloth, designed as though they were about to open up onto a talk show (see the previous paragraph).

and finally comes the boss. once again, the design is less egregious than some other elements of his storyline, but kanji's is much worse than yukiko's. the Nice Guy and Tough Guy enemies can stay, as they're the main gimmick of the fight and i'd hate to let them go. they could transform from the hosts of the talk show. as for shadow kanji himself, i feel like it would still make sense to play into the overt masculinity aspect that was included in the canon design (transfers well into take-mikazuchi and kanji's overall physicality, which went largely unmentioned in his storyline). i dont have many other notes because i am Not Good at coming up with boss designs unless i can be all high fantasy about it.

rise kujikawa:

is much smarter than she lets in on

is unsatisfied/angry at showbiz (inferred from actions)

feels conflicted about her split identity as a person and as an idol

now, where could we go with this? maybe not a fucking strip club. maybe not that. nonetheless, there's some very cool material to work with her.

her midnight channel could be a sort of reversal of her actual one that also plays into her intelligence, and elements of misanthropy that i feel could easily sprout in the mind of a young woman put on display for all the world to see. it is once again a talk show/game show type thing, only this time with rise hosting. over and over, new guests are introduced with descriptions of their lives, with their families present, and then have dark secrets of theirs exposed. maybe foreshadow the scan attack that shadow rise uses. this notably a) is the reverse of how rise's life has been so far; instead of putting herself on display, she lays others bare, b) plays into a possible dislike of humanity as a whole, shown through her shadow's callousness towards other's secrets, and c) would be INSANELY scandalous if it got out, just like her actual midnight channel.

no ideas for the dungeon, but i've got a cool one for the boss. first, keep the satellite head. there is one good part about her canon boss design and it is the face. however, not much has been done thus far about her "there is no real me" deal. thus, the boss is vaguely humanoid but has three heads. one is the satellite, representing her intelligence and dislike of humanity. another represents risette the false, and a third, stuffed behind the other two, represents rise as an ordinary person. shadow rise is already the most humanoid of the bosses so far, so why not play into that a little but add some fun body horror?

and thats my little rant thing. hope you liked it.

Iris why could’ve you have directed p4 THESE ARE ALL. GSBBDGSHS !!!!!!!!! I REALLY REALLY LIKE THEM

first of all a haunted mansion just sounds way cooler of a dungeon for yukiko. and the whole way it’s portrayed on the midnight channel showing how yukiko feels about herself… ye

AND RISE’S DUNGEON SOUNDS !!!!! HER LIKE. FLIPPING HER WHOLE IDOL THING AND LAYING OTHER’S SECRETS BARE LIVE ON TV!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!! also it doesn’t sexualize minors so it’s better by default

I really like these!!!!!!

#asks #chaotic-good-mom-friend #chaotic experiences the absolute chaos that is persona 4

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cu7ie · 10 months

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omg i luv ur energy sm (ʃƪ˘⌣˘) i bet the ocean was so pretty, and ik that nap after was SOOO GOOD !! — i luv collecting ocean water n’ shells sm when i go !! but to that miguel fic . . . i’m listening 😼

it just turned midnight for me !! i’m on PST, tho i am a night owl as well — twinsies <333 hope you sleep well tho n’ dream of ur favs pretty 🩷

and tbh, nothing much rlly happened – just cleaned and smoked a bit (๑￫‿￩๑) but rn i’m about to figure out what draft should get edited tn for tm . . . thinking one of my toji ones (♡´艸`)

❤️❤️❤️❤️

But not you telling me to sleep well and my annoying ass still up 💀 like fuck this nigga Miguel yo. He made me make two different drafts for him like ?? He's obsessed with me 😩😩😩 IM EDT (I think) it's like three am here rn !!!

They're both like. Down bad - one has more plot (but horny!) and the other is first-time fluff . I'm equally excited to post both

In other news : 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️ IM TRYING TO GET LIKE YOUUUU there ain't nothing to smoke here 😭 I'm all dry..... I gotta wait til tomorrow ..

And about the Toji fic. Honestly I love editing I love beta-ing, if you need it I got it wrd 2!!!! Writing chats are literally the BEST 😁😁😁 like spitball ideas when 🤨🤔🧐🧐🧐

#💌 L1XXX.wav #☀️ SUNSH1N3.avi

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caricature-of-a-witch · 2 days

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dear uni colleague I understand that you are panicking about this task that is due tomorrow. I am also panicking about this task, or rather, I was, until I mostly finished it and decided that it's too late to panic now. however I still have no idea what the prof actually wants from us at all andam therefore spitballing the entire thing so you understand I cannot actually explain to you What To Do as I also have no idea What To Do. it is midnight, dear uni colleague, please stop frantically texting me, I cannot actually help you and I would honestly like to sleep now

#Ash's ramblings #Ash does uni

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blackbird-brewster · 1 month

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Hm, the urge to write is so strong but the need for sleep so imminent. The worst predicament tbrh.

Feel like my brain is only back to about 75% capacity in my covid recovery, yet I am too impatient to pace myself in any way. 😬

Started spitballing random fic ideas/headcanons earlier today and now that it's nearly midnight, I cannot stop thinking about them and how to flesh them out into proper fic.

#Hyped about the project I'm working on #And can't stop thinking about Scenarios to put the Blorbos into #Yanno?#About me 2k24

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nope-body · 3 months

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Gotta love being denied the rights to Company because a totally different version of the musical is on national tour and coming to the nearest city immediately after your show would close! We’re appealing it, but it’s like a 50/50 shot at this point. Bonus on top of all that, I can’t sleep! As in, it’s 6:37 am and I have been up since like 11:30 am yesterday, and in that time have (mostly) figured out registration for my private reading course (it only took three months), cleared up a misunderstanding from my end and started spitballing ideas for an action plan for company with our intimacy choreographer, cried about having to fill the role of making theater more accessible because sometimes I just want to be able to do theater and not be the trailblazer, drafted an outline for a submission for a USITT award, went to the invited dress rehearsal where I am tech-week ASM, immediately caught the shuttle to my friend’s dorm (who’s directing company, I’m sm) for us to Figure Things Out (appeal or no, and what’s our backup title) because we had a deadline of midnight because that’s when virtual auditions opened, helped write an email to the faculty member helping us get rights who advised us to go with our backup title instead of appealing and we had to say “we fully understand what you’re recommending and why. However, we are stubborn and think we can win the appeal and also company is our baby at this point. Here’s all the reasons why we think we can win the appeal. Here’s our backup title and plan if the appeal is denied. We promise we thought this through and know the risks we’re taking,” then I got to pet two different cats, then I had to borrow my friend’s car to drive back to my dorm because the shuttle had stopped running (it was that late) and then I tried to sleep but couldn’t, so I journaled about everything I did relating to company today (for that private reading) and somehow that took 3 hours (it’s 5:30 am at this point) and tried to sleep again, couldn’t, sent out info to our newly recruited props person, ate a bit of food because I’m starving, and now I’m going to brush my teeth because I need to and what else am I going to do?

I did just figure out why I didn’t sleep at all. I might have maybe accidentally taken my adhd meds instead of my pain meds because it was dark and both are little capsules. So I’ll take my pain meds, nap in the morning, then take my adhd meds and go do all the work I need to do I guess? Who knows. At least I didn’t take that weird sleeping pill I was given at one point because I tried to counteract my adhd meds with it once and I ended up wide awake with a racing mind and unable to move a muscle because my body was so fatigued. It was a horrible night. This has been better, at least.

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penrose42 · 9 months

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I just saw an ad for The Last Voyage of the Demeter and it looks interesting but what really is a selling point for me is that it kinda reminds me of 30 Days of Night, and ultimately I think what's got my interest is the idea of vampires but in places that you wouldn't think vampires would be in. I also remember a post somewhere talking about vampires at the Midnight Zone and honestly? Yes? Why is that not already a thing?

But I digress, I want to push the envelope even further. Let's go fucking crazy cuz why not. Vampires in a rainforest; lots of cloud and canopy cover and exposure would be minimal as long as they play it safe. Hell make it the Pacific Northwest and they'd be fine for the majority of the year. There would be an interesting case if there were ancient ruins and whether that would be kosher for them to live in, but if you ascribe the whole idea of vampires not being able to enter a place of worship as just Christian propaganda and are taking a more naturalistic approach to vampires I see no reason that they couldn't use them. Vampires on the moon; they can survive the vacuum of space and they'd have half the moon to hide at all times. Only problem would be the lack of blood but the stray astronaut would suffice. Hopefully. Also obviously this is fiction so let's just go ahead and colonize/terraform the moon. Vampires in an underground nuclear testing facility? Sure? Make it abandoned but there's some threat or something that requires a trained team to go in and extract data/stop some meltdown/idk whatsit and vampires? idk I'm just spitballing here. Maybe make the vampires mutants? oh god I gotta stop before I start a wholeass screenplay.

#last voyage of the demeter #30 days of night #vampire

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multiplayingorg · 2 years

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In hindsight

| Repost: Originally posted by Steve "Slurms" Lichtsinn on December 21, 2009

Funny how things spark ideas that probably would’ve been great to think of long ago isn’t it? Like, wouldn’t it have been great to keep all those Star Wars figures and Transformers from when I was a kid? Or, wouldn’t it have been a great idea if BioWare made a Mass Effect MMO instead of a Star Wars MMO?

Here’s my thing; I’m a Star Wars geek. I own a lightsaber, I’ve gone to two celebrations down in Indy each before the last two prequels came out, went to each of the midnight showings for the prequels and have dressed my son up as a Star Wars Character for each of the Halloweens that he’s been alive for (last year was Vader and this year was Yoda). My wife was given a Star Wars encyclopedia on our wedding day by our best man. You get the nerdy picture. So I should be ecstatic about Star Wars: The Old Republic right? Well, yeah, I am, but still a bit reserved. But I think I’ve realized another piece to the puzzle as to why I am. It’s fucking with my childhood.

Just like when the prequels were announced, I went sort of apeshit. Something from my childhood was being expanded upon and that was just awesome…until they came out. At each of the midnight showings that I went to, I was quite excited, and to be honest, I walked away mostly happy each time. But it was after watching them a couple more times, and then going back to the originals when I finally realized that something didn’t click. There was something drastically different, and it nearly sullied the high water mark that I kept for Star Wars. It was really as if someone was telling me, “fuck your childhood, we’re working on a new batch of consumer recruits.” But I got over it. I’m now at a point that the prequels seem hardly even a piece of the epic space opera puzzle.

Other forms of media have not really had that effect on me. Some of the Star Wars books I’ve read, and games I’ve played have been quite good and lent themselves nicely to my overall outlook of the series. So maybe The Old Republic will be able to play it safe because it’s not trying to be taken as seriously as the prequels. But I question; would it have been better if BioWare made a Mass Effect MMO rather than a Star Wars MMO? Sure, Mass Effect it doesn’t have the same headline nabbing impact that Star Wars has, but it is an amazing piece of sci-fi that could be expanded upon. Plus, it’s a recent enough series that making a trilogy of single player games followed up with an MMO which lets the player live the rest of the story could be epic. It could either go the way of The Matrix Online or World of Warcraft.

Again, this is all hindsight and spitballing, but I want to know what you think. Would you rather BioWare had left our childhood alone and work on a Mass Effect MMO, do you have enough confidence in them to make the next big MMO, or do you simply have a lack of caring about how it will impact your overall outlook on the Star Wars universe?

#throwback thursday

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feverhalo-irl · 6 years

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Looks like I gotta do that thing where I set an alarm for every hour again to get shit done

and just. draw out of a hat what i do first. i hate having no schedule even if i hated the schedule/if that schedule was garbo and nothing more than ‘you work 4 or 5 of these 7 days at random- because it at least made sure i couldnt NOT exercise and I’d have a feeling of accomplishment.

/head desk

#i keep just kind of walking around my house like 'ok now what'#that overarching drive i had for a bit got resolved by finishing appointments and applying for more jobs and shit #so now im like. cool what now. i mean i know what now but #wheres my exercise routine? wheres my forced social interactions? wheres my people saying 'ok good enough you did a thing'?#because ppl telling me ok hey its a good time to go do x instead #or whatever helps a ton #and also like. kind of just floating in the wind with spitballing ideas and trying to work on them but not getting as far as i like #or doing a lot and realizing ive neglected other shit for 2 hours and that its past midnight #and just. its great. some of my friends are a little more free rn and its awesome! but none of us have any sense of time management #so we go for lunch and hang out til like 2 fuckin am #and im just like pls. pls. i want this but also i want to finish cleaning my room that ive been cleaning for 4 months #and i want to play this game and read this book and exercise #but i settle for mad leg jiggles and spur of the moment sprint offs in walmart #i did really well for a few days where i did the alarm thing. i also totally didnt go online at all for those 4 days tho #cause i had so much organization and errands to do #and thats a uh. an issue since most of what i wanna do now is on my pc #its like art n fic n internet organization #and i lost my to-do list sheets #but i should look for those again #and now i gotta go shower. i just kinda re-read/light edited some shit and uh #sang a bunch? and did random picking up. which is nice but not what i wanted/needed to do #well a little needed. i needed my sweaters from the laundry so i got those #im just procrastinating now. i dont want to have to leave yet

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davidmann95 · 3 years

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What are the posts you've written on here over the years that you'd say you're most proud of or represent the best of this blog as an overall project?

Plenty I'm sure that've been lost to time since they were too minor to put in the Masterposts, but a few favorites of mine:

* My thoughts on Morrison's Action Comics, which was my first piece on here to really take off.

* How Superheroes Won, my first-ever post in Ivory Icon V Marvel of Millennium, the building blocks of successful shared universes, the variances of adaptations long-running characters and what makes a 'good' one, and what makes Marvel Boy the ultimate young superhero were I think some of my best instances of really unpacking the underpinnings of these stories.

* Which Super Saiyan form is the best and the secret true difference between Nolan and comics Batman, on the other hand, did I think much the same unpacking what's on the surface some of the shallowest aspects of these stories.

* My piece on comics’ unique storytelling capabilities as demonstrated via Midnighter shooting a dude in the face was always one of the ones I was proudest of and wished had gotten more attention.

* This piece because I'm totally right.

* Why I think the Donner Superman and Raimi Spider-Man movies are set in the same universe, as a primo opportunity for a purely unhinged rant based on the most absurd anal-retentive bullshit.

* Unless Doc Shaner was following me at that point, I think my piece on why the FF are the best superhero team was the first professional attention I ever received since it was shared by Bendis.

* How Superman stories would be affected by real-life extraterrestrial contact - stuff like that, what a public domain Superman would look like, what comics would look like in the DCU, etc. gave me fun opportunities to spitball.

* My two big pieces on Multiversity. Related, obviously the All-Star annotations.

* Some of my early thoughts on Jon Kent, which I think is a really good example of my pointing towards what had at that point been a relatively underserved concept and going "but for god's sake, look how much is there waiting to be dug up".

* The Lego Superman Movie, one of my better instances of trying to put my money where my mouth was without giving up viable story ideas.

* Me and Sean ranting about Doomsday Clock for two and a half hours.

* What Superman means to me, probably still the most I've just left it all out there on the screen.

* The post that didn't take off that most should have.

#Me #Opinion

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the-wrong-damn-way · 3 years

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When Words Fail

In which the Maitlands notice you are refusing to talk to them as of late

When I tell y’all this is one of my favorite pieces to reread when I need to c r y

MAITLANDS > BEETLEJUICE (sorry not sorry)

Also, if you are Adam or Barbara Maitlands, please contact me. I have some adoption papers for you to sign.

The Maitlands were confused.

When you and your younger sister Lydia Deetz discovered that the house was haunted by two friendly ghosts, you two were ecstatic. It was something your mother would’ve loved to see, and Adam and Barbara Maitland just gave off this warm and friendly vibe that was welcoming and infectious. Whereas Lydia saw them as an opportunity to get the Deetz family back to New York, you saw the Maitlands as they were: a couple who were kind, caring, middle-class, suburban, and white. They were just a regular couple, minus the whole being dead thing.

The Maitlands, in your opinion, were the most suitable people to be parents, and during the whole Beetlejuice incident, your bond with them increased. They kept you safe from the demon’s antics, making sure no harm befell you as his anger festered into rage when your little sister jumped into a portal to the Netherworld. They refused to allow you to offer yourself in Lydia’s place (which concerned you to the extreme, she was your little sister and it was your sole duty to keep her from harm), instead keeping you hidden from his sight.

Over the course of the next few months after the fake marriage and the murder of Beetlejuice, your bond with the Maitlands undeniably grew stronger. On nights you were stressed out, you found yourself creeping into the attic to have calming conversations with the ghosts. On the days you were upset with your father or Delia, sometimes even Lydia, you dismissed yourself from your current activity to join Adam in a game of checkers or Barbara with a classic game of Go Fish. When dinner conversations went haywire, you’d make up an excuse to leave the table and headed to the attic to read a random book with the Maitlands (Adam would read to you and Barbara would let you rest your head on her legs as she ran her fingers soothingly through your hair).

And of course, if you didn’t get enough to eat during dinner, Barbara and Adam would sneak along with you into the kitchen for midnight snacks that would surely stuff you so that you wouldn’t go hungry.

But for the last two weeks, the Maitlands noticed your appearance in their part of the house slowly disappearing. On a scheduled game night, you didn’t show up. You apologized the next morning and kept the chit-chat to a minimum. Not wanting to seem creepy and intrude on your privacy, the deceased couple tried their best to stay out of your business, but always struck up a conversation with you whenever they could. They missed having your normal long talks about whatever came to mind, the subject always switching just to keep the three of you talking.

It took them awhile, but Adam was the first to finally catch on to what you were doing. He suggested the idea of you avoiding them on purpose to Barbara, and her eyes widened. She thought you were comfortable with Adam and herself, that you were just avoiding conversation because you couldn’t seem to hold onto one in the recent days. Barbara never took into consideration that you might’ve been avoiding them purposefully and the thought struck right through her heart.

Just to see if their little theory was true, the Maitlands took their seats at the dinner table one night, after being offered to join the Deetz for a family dinner by Lydia. The deceased couple chatted quietly with the Deetzes, short bursts of laughter and chuckles here and there throughout the whole dinner. The whole time, though, Barbara noticed that your chair remained empty.

“Where’s Y/N?” the blonde ghost asked the living family. Everything went quiet, and Barbara believed she was onto something.

“They haven't been leaving their room recently,” Lydia broke the uncomfortable silence with her answer. She stabbed the spaghetti that was on her plate with her fork, twirling it in her hand mindlessly. “If they didn’t answer their phone when I texted them, I would’ve thought them to be dead.”

“Lydia!” Both Charles and Delia scolded the gothy teenager. She sat up straight and shrugged.

“It’s not like I’m wrong!” Lydia argued, turning to face her father and step-mother.

Before they could witness the argument between the adults and their child, Adam and Barbara quietly excused themselves from the dinner table. They marched silently up the stairs to the attic, shutting the door behind them softly. Immediately, the two began pacing.

So, yes, the Maitlands had never been more confused in their afterlives.

And yes, having a bio-exorcist tormenting them and then making sexual innuendos was something they were still confused about, but the burning question of why you would be avoiding them was top of their list.

“Did we do something wrong?” Adam voiced the idea. Barbara stopped her pacing, looking up to meet her husband’s gaze.

“They would tell us if we did something,” Barbara countered. Slowly, though, the dark thought wormed itself into her head. She took a hesitant step towards Adam. “They would, right?”

Adam closed the distance between them, taking her hands in his. “Of course they would, honey. I’m just spitballing ideas here.” He rubbed his thumbs over the back of Barbara’s hands as a soothing gesture, and the blonde nodded.

“You’re right,” she mumbled. “Maybe they are just-”

A soft thump from the room underneath the attic was heard, and the Maitlands jumped, breaking their hold on each other. Both of their eyes widened as they recalled that your room was under their space, and a dark thought struck them both. After all, if Lydia was suicidal once, who was to say you weren’t. Adam and Barbara scrambled towards the attic door, practically ripping it off of its hinges as they hurried down the stairs.

When they got to your room, they didn’t know what they were expecting to find. They definitely didn’t expect to find you hunched over your desk, a clenched fist on the top of the wooden piece of furniture. You had earbuds in, blasting music to muffle all outside noises, and a tear rolled down your cheek before landing on the piece of sketch paper you were currently drawing on. Your eyes were puffy from crying, and the small trash can near the side of the desk was practically filled to the brim with dirty tissues and crumpled up pieces of paper. Barbara covered her mouth with a hand, suddenly feeling the urge to cry.

Here you were, vulnerable to the world, and the Maitlands never knew.

Before Adam could protest about invading your personal space, Barbara walked over to where you were sitting and knelt beside you. She placed a cold hand on your shoulder and you jumped, moving yourself away from the hand and ripping the earbuds out of your ears. Your eyes were blurry from crying and you wiped away the tears with the back of your hands, trying to stop yourself from letting out muffled hiccups. However, your body didn’t comply, and a new stream of tears were flowing down your cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” you apologized through sobs, wrapping your arms around your torso. Adam entered the room as Barbara walked over to you and embraced you into a loving hug, and you broke down once again. Another ‘I’m sorry’ left your sore throat as you wrapped your arms around Barbara, holding onto the female specter as much as you could. She shushed your apologies, instead rubbing her a hand in gentle circles on your back, hoping to calm you down.

God, you thought. This is embarrassing. You didn’t expect anyone to actually come check up on you, and having the Maitlands do it made you even more emotional. You didn’t remember how long you’ve been avoiding your favorite deceased couple. The only thing you could recall was the one-year anniversary of your mother’s death, and things only seemed to go downhill.

Once your sobs had turned to occasional sniffles, Barbara guided you over to your bed, and the two of you took a seat on the side. Adam sat on the other side of you, placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder, and you leaned into him, resting your head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around your body, leaning his head on top of yours, and Barbara placed her hand overtop of yours.

“I’m sorry,” you mumbled once more.

“What for, kiddo?” Adam asked you.

“For avoiding you guys,” you answered. “I didn’t mean to, I swear. It just sort of happened.” You pulled away from Adam and stared at the floor. “I’ve been trying to come out and talk to you guys, but I guess you just remind me so much of my mother. Her one-year anniversary passed a while ago and I guess I fell into a pit without meaning too. I’m sorry-”

Barbara turned so that she was facing you and placed a finger on your lips. “Slow down, Y/N. You don’t need to tell us anymore if you don’t want to.” She removed her finger and placed her hand on your cheek, rubbing her thumb in a circular motion. “Just know that Adam and I will always be here for you, hun, okay?” You nodded, closing your eyes as the blonde brushed away a few stray tears.

“I, uh, have something for you guys.” You stood up from the bed and grabbed your sketchbook from the desk, flicking through some of the pages until you landed on the one you wanted to present to the Maitlands. You sat back down and both of them leaned over your shoulder with curiosity, and you were greeted with gasps.

You don’t recall when you drew the sketch, but it was your favorite one that was based off of a photo that Lydia had sent you one night. Barbara and Adam sat on both ends of the couch, with you stretched across it in the middle. You were asleep, as was Adam with his reading glasses practically dangling off of his nose, and Barbara was laughing, running her fingers through your hair as Lydia took the picture. Underneath it in cursive you had written a Disney quote that stuck in your mind.

Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind. Or forgotten.

Two pairs of arms wrapped around you tightly, and you jumped from the unexpected contact.

“Y/N,” Barbara cooed, planting a kiss on the top of your head. “That’s absolutely adorable!”

“We definitely are a family, kiddo.” He looked at the sketch once again, and pointed out the glasses on his face. “Also, you’re telling me I looked like that when I sleep?” You and Barbara chuckled, and you nudged him with your shoulder.

“I’m surprised I was able to sleep with how loud you snore,” you teased, and Adam scoffed, pushing you gently into Barbara. The laughter and chuckling eventually died down, and you all laid back on your bed, looking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars you had decorated your ceiling with. There was a comfortable silence, and you smiled.

“Hey guys?” The Maitlands hummed, letting you know that they were listening. “Thank you for being there for me.” Adam grabbed one of your hands, Barbara doing the same, and both of them gave you a gentle squeeze.

“Of course, Y/N.”

“Anything for you, kiddo. You should know this by now.”

“I love you guys,” you murmured quietly. And with the way they each squeezed your hand, you took it that they heard you.

“We love you too, kiddo. We love you too.”

#beetlejuice #adam maitland #lydia deetz #barbara maitland #beetlejuice the musical #the maitlands #beetlejuice fanfic #the maitlands x reader #beetlejuice x reader #beetlejuice broadway #bjtmtmtm #bjtm

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trollex-is-gay · 3 years

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Branch was down visiting Synth even more often than before. Time had passed, it took four months of waiting, but now the eggs were far closer to hatching. It could happen any day now, and the others had stopped visiting the eggs in case they hatched while they were around. The eggs were moved to a nest closer to the surface so that Branch could come over more, it was still rather submerged, but not as deep as it had been. The eggs seemed okay with the move, which was good, because any negative reaction could ruin the babies health severely. The other trolls had given them some gifts to celebrate the eggs, but most had to be stored with Branch since those items weren’t waterproof. Everyone was excited for the hatching, the parents especially. Though it was also rather nerve wracking, there were so many possible bad outcomes, some of them might not hatch….but they tried to ignore that. Branch had trouble with that, he just wants his kids to join Trollstopia, alive and happy. There's just so many things that could go wrong...

The air wasn’t too cold, or too warm, it was almost midnight, but Branch was determined on visiting his children and his lover one last time tonight. He waded into the water, the eggs were completely underwater, but there were some spaces in the cave that were above the water, which meant there wasn’t much need for a helmet unless he wanted to get down with the nest, which he did quite often.

He carried the helmet with him, placing it on a space next to where he sat, then he reached out his hand, creating ripples to let Synth know he was there. Rocks had created some walls to the nest area, so Synth couldn’t see Branch coming. He waited for a moment, wondering if he’d make it clear enough, he patted on the water’s surface to try and get Synth’s attention. The techno troll popped his head out of the water, a big grin on his face.

“You’re gonna need that!”, he chirped with quite the happy expression, pointing to the helmet. Branch wasn’t sure why Synth looked so excited, but then it hit him, and he got that helmet on as quickly as possible.

“The eggs?”, he whispered in awe and excitement. Synth quickly nodded, and immediately dragged him down under the water once he was ready, curling around the nest, his smile not fading.

“Look at them, look~”, he purred, his tail thumped a little bit as he nudged an egg. The egg he’d directed attention to seemed to have a small crack in it, it was also glowing, the shadow of the baby was clear as day. The little guppy was far too big for their egg, and they were ready to break out of the shell. Branch cuddled up to Synth, he put a hand on the crack, and as he did so, the guppy stretched her hand out, breaking a piece of the shell off, and making contact with Branch’s fingertips.

“Look at that glow…”, Synth cooed, he carefully dusted the remaining pieces away from the hole, watching as the baby attempted to break the rest of the egg open.

“They get it from you..”, Branch nudged Synth a little, he felt so happy...it was really happening….the little guppies were alive, and soon, they’d really meet for the first time. Certainly not wasting time, the guppy forced their way out of the hole they’d made, bumping into a couple of their siblings as they came out, which got them beeped at by the other guppies, who’d probably be hatching soon as well. Synth smiled, he lifted up the baby, bringing them closer to his chest, letting the little one snuggled up to him, listening to his heartbeat. He gazed at the child, studying her in silence before speaking,

“Our first child..that’s a little girl alright...oh, look at her...she has your colors, Dubstep….”, he stroked the head of the guppy, she yawned, her face-fins wiggled just slightly, and she opened her eyes. Bright pink, a big contrast from the blue colors of the rest of her body. Branch gently put a hand underneath the guppy’s face, she looked up at him, letting out a quiet beep, a curious one.

“She likes you…”, Synth purred, he shifted the baby over to Branch, it felt so...odd holding the baby for the first time. This little troll is theirs, and they have four more that are about to enter the world as well. Branch let the baby study him, taking in her other parent, she let out a high pitched chirp, not a cry, and excited noise, she was clearly happy to see him. Synth looked over to the other eggs, inspecting them to see if any others were starting to hatch. The eggs were all giving off a soft glow, but one began to glow brighter than the rest. He leaned down, watching intently as the next guppy began to hatch. This one took it far slower, carefully breaking their egg apart, in fact, they’d taken so much time that another was already half-way out by the time they’d hatched. He carefully picked up both of them, gently nudging the second out of the remains of their egg, and held them both close, the theory of them all looking mostly like techno trolls had proved true so far, but there’s still two more eggs to go. Branch was still holding the first one, but he attempted to shift how he held her so that he could get a better look at the other two. The slower hatcher was another little girl, she still had a glow, but her upper body seemed to take after the softer skin of a pop troll, though her tail still carried the smooth scales of a techno troll. The other had full scales all the way, the same beautiful purple as Synth, but with glowing markings of bright blue covering his body.

“I don’t think we have enough arms to hold them all”, Branch joked, when he spoke, his newly hatched son gave some rather good points in the form of lots of furious beeping. Which upset his sister, who started beeping back with quite a bit of fury. Neither had opened their eyes yet, but they could certainly hear each other enough to be mad at each other.

“Oh wow, sibling fights already, and they haven’t even known each other for an hour,” Synth put a hand between them, and rubbed the fins on their faces, which seemed to relax them.

“You grew up with a bunch of siblings, I bet you guys fought”, Branch carefully tickled the nose of his son, who let out another furious beep.

“Well, a little, but back then we didn’t fight much, too afraid that we’d separate because of the fights...things were dangerous when I was growing up”, Synth purred, he watched the new pair open their eyes for the first time, the son with eyes of seafoam green, and their other daughter gave quite the surprise with a pair of golden eyes, but Synth was rather comforted by the sight….his mother had eyes like that. They waited a little after that, Synth was growing worried, the other two eggs hadn’t budged, they hadn't even cracked. The three that hatched were starting to fall asleep already...when both eggs suddenly glowed at once. Synth perked up, making an excited chattering noise towards Branch, almost waking up the guppies. One of the eggs began to crack all over, and the baby inside sent a couple pieces of their shell flying when they burst out, shortly followed by their sibling, who seemed to use a similar method.

“Woah….now would ya’ look at that..”, Synth whispered, he placed the two children he was holding back onto the nest, in a spot cleared of shells, and lifted up one of the pair that just hatched. Branch rested the first-hatched into the same spot, making sure she had enough room. The new baby held the glow, Synth’s colors, but he wasn’t entirely a techno troll in body. He had little fin-like ears, and instead of the type of tail the others had, he had legs, and a little, different kind of tail, with webbing on the top. When the baby stretched his hand out, Synth could see webbing between his fingers. Branch gently picked up the other hatchling, this baby seemed to be a mixture of his and Synth’s colors, the same neon glow as Synth, but with a body shape similar to her brother.

“Well, aren’t you two a couple of rebels?”, Branch chuckled, holding his third daughter up to his face, she let out a peeping noise, snuggling up against him. After holding the two for a few moments, they cleared out the rest of the eggshells, and layed the babies all in one pile. Synth snuggled them close, like he did when they were still eggs, curled around the hatchlings, and Branch laid against Synth, trying not to disrupt.

“Five….that’s a lotta names to come up with…”, the techno troll crooned as he observed the children.

“Yeah, but I’m sure we’ll come up with some good ones...let’s just decide the names before we let the others know the eggs hatched...Poppy would be spitballing ideas like crazy,” Branch laughed, but tried to keep it quiet, he didn’t want to disturb the sleeping babies. It was still so much to take in, these are their kids, and they’re beautiful ones too.

#trolls #trolls au #trollstopia #my au #brynth #trolls fic #my fic #I KNOW I COULDA WAITED OR WROTE MORE BEFORE THE HATCHING #BUT I JUST COULDNT WAIT OKAY #Im just full of fluff #these dorks....best dads #they luv each other and their fishy children #trolls ocs #my ocs

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snaxpo · 3 years

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fuck it bugsnax/s4m au notes

alternate title: i’m at that point in liking something where i have to combine it with everything else i’ve liked previously and today i’m making that everyone else’s problem.

- base premise is a lil different! instead of being a journalist who was invited personally to the island by the expedition leader, you (or FK if you consider them a separate character from the player) are tasked with investigating the habitat, a budding commune on snaktooth island that may or may not be devolving into a cult. there’s just one teeny tiny problem - the commune’s leader and also your main suspect, boris habit, has been missing for weeks by the time you arrive.

- now it’s a matter of gaining the inhabitants’ trust/getting them to come back to the habitat while hunting and subduing the bugsnax, who seem increasingly eager to launch themselves at inhabitants at quite literally dangerous speeds, in a battle of wits to keep your newfound companions fed while documenting the strange creatures. and of course, the question of just what happened to boris habit still lingers in the air. think like... talentless nana where the protag pretends to be all cute and unassuming (complete with flower motifs!) but really they’re there on Super Secret Spy Business. but of course there’s less murder.

- oddly the bugsnax seem to have only become more aggressive after his disappearance. i’m sure it’s nothing.

- yes everyone is still a grumpus

- there isn’t really an interview “mechanic” so much as it is a Lot of cozying up to everybody in pursuit of whatever information you can find on habit/potential group rituals/events that led to his disappearance; you get it by bits and pieces rather than a single structured interview. there is of course a lot more interactions between characters than there is in s4m’s base game bc thats like 60% of the appeal of bugsnax and i would be a fool not to think of it.

- time for ideas for specific characters! kamal is the vice-mayor of the habitat and has been habit’s right-hand grump for as long as any of the inhabitants can remember, despite their relationship becoming increasingly strained ever since their arrival on the island, and especially before habit’s disappearance. i imagine you still find him passed out but instead of collapsing from starvation he’s like "please.... toothpaste... a breath mint.... some pepto bismol. i’ve been able to taste my own breath for weeks." has been trying to divide his time between looking after the habitat and looking for habit himself (and also his best friend wallus) but the dispersal of the habitat has left him a tad Demoralized, to say the least.

- i feel like trencil would play a wambus-adjacent role in the sense that he's the one taking care of the sauce plants and also one of the first townspeople you meet. you convince to come back with you not necessarily bc he'd be able to continue farming in town but bc he would probably have an easier time looking for his daughter if he got some sleep first (but only if you look for her in his stead)

- gillis is like. a wannabe chandlo. makes you capture a bunch of snax that he Says he's gonna use to get stronger but eventually you find out he's been releasing them or keeping them in like lil makeshift pet houses bc he always takes one look at their big googly eyes and turns to mush. but EVERYONE'S eating them so naturally if they find out he's not they're gonna think he's some kinda wuss so he just pretends.

- dallas keeps asking for sweet n colorful bugsnax to give to mirphy to impress her (sweetieflies, instabugs, etc etc.) but by some streak of bad luck they always end up being her least favorite. he tries to see if Maybe he can use them to make some new bugsnak-exclusive pigments, but like in canon they always end up turning into mush before he can get very far. mirphy meanwhile is far more interested in preserving them for a potential display, but similar to dallas, she never gets very far.

- i imagine the kid habiticians are like. a roving band of semi-feral children bc if anyone's gonna keep them in town it's definitely not kamal.

- i wanna do something with wallus SO BAD like you find him somewhere up in frosted peak but i have no idea what he would even DO its fucking killing me

- those are all the ideas i have For Now; s4m has more characters than bugsnax so there’s a lot to be done w/ them lmao. if i think of any more i’ll probably put it in another post or if anybody wants to spitball with me....... 👀

- and now we get to The Big Guns: habit.

- he was fun to work on w/ this au mostly bc despite being the rough equivalent of lizbert he’s a way different type of flawed leader than her; where liz is responsible to the point of martyring herself without a second thought and not thinking to delegate any tasks to the other snaxburg residents, which is what ultimately causes them to fall apart once she disappears, habit's deal is that he wants the position and appearance of an authority figure because it'll keep him safe, but he kind of sucks at taking responsibility for anything he does wrong because he’s spent most of his life acting according to what other people (namely his family) expect of him and being met with a negative reception no matter what, so he doesn’t really believe he has power over anything, including his own actions, despite being such a control freak for most of his own game. so his arc would need something that’s kind of antithetical to what liz had, wouldn’t it?

- so what i got so far is that au habit was tryin to covertly start a bugsnax cult bc he sees being asborbed by the snax as a sort of ascension and was eventually planning to have everyone be absorbed; it’s important to note however that bc information on bugsnax is so obscure he doesn’t actually 100% know how absorption works so tl;dr: habit became the bugsnax monarch willingly and then 5 seconds later he was like "oh no wait this fucking sucks. what have i done. shit. fuck."

- unable to cope with the realization that he was once again forced to act in accordance to someone (or in this case something) else's desires, he shuts down emotionally, becoming an empty husk of a grumpus while the bugsnax above run rampant thanks to the extra fuel and absolutely no restrictions until the Big Climax when habit is finally moved to take back control of the snax and by proxy Take Some Fucking Responsibility for knowingly luring people to cthulhu island. however this does leave the obvious question of if he was such an empty shell for most of the game why didn’t they just. eat him.

- the answer i eventually landed on was that his self-preservation instincts were still kicking on a subconscious level and during the aforementioned climax he eventually realizes that he does not in fact want to die, he just doesn’t want to keep living the way he is now (as part of an ancient hivemind beyond his understanding) or the way he was before (you know.)

- also fun fact: i was thinking about what his monarch body would be based off of bc the snakdragon, while cool as shit, didn’t feel right for him, and then i remembered that blooming onions exist. i imagine he’s in the middle acting as the flower’s “stigma”

- as for endings i’m thinking like. in the neutral ending kamal joins habit but its left ambiguous whether or not they'll ever be able to leave the island or if this is even a permanent solution (call that the paw in unloveable paw ending). in the good ending you bust habit outta his queen body after fending off enough bugsnax together and it’s super gross bc the undersnax as a whole is super gross but hey at least everyone’s leaving alive. i don’t know what a bad ending entails except most if not all of the cast is dead and habit is left alone on the island surrounded by reminders of his spectacular failure.

- hell i can even think of a sequel hook for the good ending like in canon bugsnax; some time after the ending/credits you ask habit just Where did he get the information on bugsnax that led to him being like “you could make a religion out of this” and the screen fades to black before you hear his answer. there.

- its almost midnight.

#text post #bugsnax #smile for me #smile for me game #s4m #bugsnax spoilers #au

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