#murder warning

✧ "I'M FLATTERED. And appalled that apparently there's a look I get." The latex gloves snap as Leonard pulled them over his hands. "Sometimes I get curious to how far you'd go if you didn't have a 'healthier means' to get to your perpetrators."

Otherwise, she wasn't wrong. The average killer, first-timer or otherwise, would perform dismemberment crudely. These cuts weren't a hacksaw job. This was art.

"Amputations at the joints, leaving the proximal joint surfaces intact. Look at the skin." He pointed with his finger. "No bruising or wrinkles. This wasn't done while the victim was alive. I know I just got here but where's the blood, detective?"

TRIGGER WARNING for death, torture, ghosts/malevolent spirits, light SA mention/talk at the very end (it'll be in bold to be easier to notice! It starts after "Based on your thoughts about Heather, the text will take on new meanings yet work").

So, it's rare for writing to scare me. However, for some reason, this did give me a fright. Maybe the way the YouTuber read it, or perhaps the music and ambiance he added, is why I was hyper-vigilant while showering but the concept itself is terrifying when you think about it. 15 people died! You'd think that the kill count would stop, that they would survive for longer, but they don't. Even smart or athletic characters get caught... And for the dumbest reasons. Exactly like teenagers. They all make mistakes yet, somehow, this is barely their fault. They couldn't have planned it. They couldn't have known. The killer is almost omnipotent, it's like they can smell whenever there's an opportunity. They don't seize the simple moments of weakness (like how they didn't keep watch or, at least, only had one person which is exactly how Harold managed to sneak out and get killed), they wait until they can get that perfect chase or opportunity to torture the campers.

I feel like the sheer number of victims is what gets me. It's so easy to assume that they're all competent enough to survive a little longer. What makes it hit harder is that the last footage of those poor teens is the beginning of TTI up to Ezekiel's death. Imagine seeing the beginning of a horror movie composed of your loved ones and not knowing how it ended or, worse, learning that they were a victim, brutally killed, and you can't even have the body back. A whole month. That's how long it took for someone to go help them. Everyone knew. And no one did anything. Fucking Chris McLean ended up doing it. The same man who abandoned them, got them into this mess, and refused to say where the island was located.

Now, some headcanons before I overthink two of the deaths:

The canon serial killer and the one in this AU cohabit in the island. Maybe on good terms too. Our buddy with the hook and the chainsaw is just chilling, maybe helping out a little his mate, but enjoying the show. The chainsaw used for Heather might even be his! What a good pal.

The ghosts see each other as they were before their deaths. Be it that they're imagining it or that they can manifest a not-scary look. Owen and Geoff are forced to stay close but they really don't mind!

They don't really care for Chris's helpers. Sure, they were angry and disliked them, throughoutly tormenting them, but they weren't the target. They likely could have killed them, as the helpers probably accidentally broke some rules, but they were pawns to torment and scare Chris further. At some point, they begin to leave them alone as they realize that the helpers are their age... They're like them. Chris brought two more teenagers on an island with a serial killer, a monster who dismembered Ezekiel, with no experience and no actual weapons. Fuck, they're normal teens. What are they doing here?! This just angered the ghosts even more and cemented their desire to take revenge against Chris.

As long as Chris doesn't realize that he broke some rules, they let it go. Those are only here to scare him and make him squirm. To make him know that they're here at all times, watching, waiting for him to slip, loathing him.

While it's canon that the ghosts are fine with the survivors unless you've slighted them, they won't impose their rules and haunt you. They'll maybe taunt you and be here, reminding you that they died partly because of you, but they won't do much. For example, Trent will simply check in on Gwen. Her guilt is already enough and he doesn't have it in him to cause her more remorse. However, the sound of his voice as he sings into the night, kills her inside. He doesn't mean to but she's being eaten alive at not being able to get him out —even though she would have died with him if she stayed or manager to free him and they both know it. Noah, on the other hand, will glare at Duncan and make snippy remarks whenever he's trying to give out instructions. He'll question his choices and at every hint of annoyance, simply raise an eyebrow and in his classic tone say "really?" which guilts Duncan enough for his taste. He also chirps in when Duncan inevitably realizes that he was right about some of the directions, the bitter realization that they were both wrong and right about some things, that this was a misunderstanding and they were both too stubborn to work it out, that Noah could have survived if he hadn't been a jerk. All Noah had to say was "told you so" and Duncan would dig his nails into his palms at the cruelty he had displayed.

The reason why the ghosts didn't get the killer immediately is because they didn't know the limits to their powers and they were scared. Simple as that.

To add onto that, they used Chris as bait to make sure everyone else got out safe. They made Chris's death longer and more painful than anything they had gone through before immediately killing the murderer. That or they then tormented them until they died, either of natural causes or of fright.

Time for me to overthink two of the deaths!

My choice is Ezekiel and Heather. Ironically, they're the beginning and the end, both pictured as innocent and young.

Quick note for both of them but the ghosts may look like that because that was their last state as living. Yeah, I'm implying that they were dismembered alive.

Ezekiel:

I LOVE the writing for his discovery. It comes across as child-like, even when it comes to his corpse. You could say I love it to bits.

It's easy to forget that he was a sheltered kid after everything that happened in the canon. Here, he's portrayed as sweet and so, so much like a child. Someone who didn't deserve it.

He was an easy target. He might not even have noticed that anything was amiss until it was too late.

It would take time to find every part of his body. Did the crew search for him before setting off? I doubt it. They likely put things together quick and bailed, never finding his every piece.

A small detail that came up was that the hole Katie hid in might have been the one where his arm was. I like to think it was and she had to bite back her scream. The killer could have thought that they didn't need to search for her, she'd abandon her friend and get back to safety or if she didn't, she'd have screamed her head off at finding a rotting arm as she tried to hide.

His rule is the most interesting part to me. Chris will have to search for his body once but then he will simply have to run to them every time afterwards... And that's the last thing you want to do when there's a killer on the loose! It's also very, very fun for a video game. All the rules are! The art not being too scary either would make it very good. Anyhow!

If Chris needs to bring them back together, it's even more horrifying. Would he need to carry them with him in case Ezekiel wants to bother him? Do they go back to their original places and he needs to do everything every time?

Picture his voice. It isn't scary. Yet it would make it so much more eerie and unsettling. While true for every victim, his ghost doesn't even look scary. Again, it's child-like. And with everything else, it makes a wonderful picture.

Heather:

I love EVERYTHING about this one. The reference, the call backs to the canon... The writing!

I'll keep the latter for the end as it will tackle more sensitive content.

God, the way she's the last warning. Threatening. Vengeful. Exactly how she was in canon and how Chris perceived her.

The fact that she was found by the two most important people to her character! Iirc, Gwen found her head which is a shame since it's a reference to when Leshawna (sorry for the spelling guys) stuck her inside of the fridge.

The way she was grabbed by her ponytail! It's the way she wore her hair in latter seasons.

Off with her head for the queen bee. The stereotypical mean, popular girl.

Now for the writing: This was a straight-up call-out to her haters. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way it directly calls Chris, and us, out. She was a kid. She was terrified, begging, small and alone as she was killed. It makes sure we get that. We know her as a mean girl but she was a girl. She didn't deserve it. The way her suffering was highlighted, showing that she was crying like a young kid, compared to the others' was well-written and hit harder than the rest. It can even imply that Heather pretended to be meaner than she was for the show. It's a valid theory for the canon, she was cunning and she knew it made her memorable. But that meant that Chris truly thought she was. Based on your thoughts about Heather, the text will take on new meanings yet work.

Last trigger warning for SA:

"She was pretty". Amazing. Perfect. That, by itself, tells me that the creator is a very good writer and knows how horror works.

Listen. Listen up well. The SA headcanon isn't bad. Is it gross? Yes. The entire AU is. SA is. However, we've grown desensitized to murder and gore. Not SA. It still feels horrible and outrageous. That's why it works and makes for good horror. BUT! The thing is not to overdo it. Not say too much, not use it too much. Especially not as a fetish.

Here, it's done perfectly. Yes, she's a minor. They all are and most got brutally murdered. So a creepy murderer isn't that bad.

The implications that he kept her head because he found her pretty are amazing. It makes her fate so much more tragic. It brings a new level of cruelty and disgusting to her death. We know that he doesn't have pure intentions. Just staring at her frozen head is horrible enough. We know the way he looks at her, how he sees her. It also raises the question why. Why her? Canonically, most of the girls are pretty. Lindsey, in particular, was the most beautiful. Was it because Heather cried and begged? Was it because he had disfigured the others before he could notice their looks? Is it because he found that "submitting her" made her better? (Which is incidentally a real thought process r*p*sts have. Some like to bring some people down a peg by doing those awful things, hating how they felt inferior because their poor victims didn't look at them or at the world "right".)

It's a real question and worry that this simple like brings. It brings a real, scary subject we aren't desensitized to just yet into this and enhances the horror. It doesn't say too much, it isn't insensitive. We won't ever know what the killer would/will do. We just know he's a vile piece of shit on every level.

It's also a huge contrast to how child-like Heather was described as and how it was hammered into our heads. It's said so simply, almost like another child would say. "Oh she's pretty". It isn't said in a gross way! That's very good writing. It keeps the same tone. It's almost eerie with how simple and factual it is.

That headcanon exists (and might be popular, I don't look at the fandom) because the line and implications are there. Horror should make you uncomfortable and that's what this does. Of course, personally, I wouldn't say the killer did anything. But, he might have planned to. He might have after the body was discovered. It wasn't like the campers had the time to bury their friends or would fathom that this monster thought Heather was pretty.

It all depends on the delivery and of course some edgelords will be insensitive and approach it terribly. I think the actual AU did it exactly how it should be done.

"Magi, fetch my blanket."

"Magi, light the candles for me."

"Magi, Magi, Magi-"

The lamp is tired of such constant servitude. Such an ornate and lovingly crafted item does not deserve to be treated as nothing more than a servile pet. It may be a pet, yet, but it is sick and tired of this treatment.

There's disgruntled sounds from the lamp as it carries in a blanket for the prince without being able to see more than half the way there.

Its glass nearly cracks being so close to an open flame to light another one that it will need to avoid. The scorching outside weather is narrowly worse...

It deserves better. It was not meant to serve. It was meant to be appraised and look gorgeous upon a shelf. It is meant to be the one praised for doing so little, to light up the room with its twinkling, lavish gemstones and gorgeous metal. Now, it's constantly on just to keep this... unworthy prince appeased.

It's tired of this. Magi is sick of this treatment.

And yet? What can it do? It's rage builds by the day. Every inconvenience for the prince is a joy to take in, as much as it would have to hear about the complaints. At times, it yearns for the ability to shut him up. Permanently.

...hmm.

The prince snores loudly at night. Not loud enough for the whole palace to hear, but enough for the lamp to be kept up night after night. Not to mention he needs a 'night light'. It's exhausting and infuriating. Ah, and yet, the prince lays on his back all sprawled apart... Head tilted back into his pillow with an exposed neck. The lamp would have figured someone in the family would have advised against such, but... They wanted him dead as much as it did.

The lamp turned off its light, floating itself over Yogurt Cream with a thought on its mind. If it killed, here and now, who would suspect it? With its sharp end hovering the prince's neck, it stared down with its gemstone eyes at the one that's been treating it as an item instead of a pet.

It lifted itself up, getting one last glimpse of the bastard smiling in his sleep, before slamming its sharp tip into the neck of the prince. There was the small sound of choking, but the prince did not awaken. Red stained the top of the lamp, something to be cleaned soon, but... If this man wasn't going to wake up... there'd be no harm in taking out the rest of the suffering its had to endure on him, would it?

How did killing(genociding?)  the entire echidna tribe make you feel?

      her feathers ruffled just from the way the stranger even spoke to her, she knew how those who wouldn’t understand would perceive her. nothing but a monster, she saw herself that way at times, killing those echidna’s wasn’t something she wanted to do, but to keep sonic safe as well as the emerald---she felt as though at the time she had no choice.

      they didn’t want to listen to her.

The cartoon that came out of the machine was pretty as a picture, perfect in almost every detail, and had a bubbly, positive personality. But she was not what Joey had wanted Susie to become. (Set in an AU where Joey gets perfect toons from his freshly killed employees and STILL isn’t happy, the unpleasable bitch…)