c0zmo-writes

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter two of Flock Together.

Chapter 2- I lie awake and watch it all, it feels like thousand eyes

@possum-quesadilla @raineisinkless @katslitterbox @crawlingcarcass

The chapter title is from “Thousand Eyes” by Of Monsters and Men.

“Shilo grabbed the bag from Beetlejuice and jumped into his arms. Beetlejuice unfurled his wings, leapt up, and took off into the air. They flew over pine trees and under birds.”

Shilo is very comfortable having Beetlejuice fly her around now! He hasn’t dropped her since that one time in chapter five of Birds of a Feather.

“Beetlejuice had never been great in the kitchen, but Shilo did her best to teach him.”

Beetlejuice is only allowed to use certain things in the kitchen under supervision. There are reasons behind that. Perhaps I’ll go into them one day.

“Oh! Let’s do The Exorcist again!”

“Again? Isn’t this, like, the 167th time you’ve seen it?”

Movie reference!

“Shilo found her phone and looked at her surroundings. She was surrounded by piles of rocks.”

Blair Witch Project reference.

“No, that wasn’t it. It felt otherworldly, familiar, infernal.”

I wonder if this means anything.

“While the whole experience had been strange, perhaps the oddest part was the glowing blue figure that popped up in the background of one photo.”

Hm!

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Open tags

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@possum-quesadilla

nothinggg better than torturing an emotionally repressed character until every single trauma they've ever refused to process starts spilling uncontrollably out of the cracks. like a matryoshka doll situation of repressed trauma and baby you better believe i'm going in there with a hammer

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 1 of Flock Together.

Chapter 1- So carry me from these walls, brother of mine.

@possum-quesadilla @crawlingcarcass @raineisinkless @katslitterbox

The chapter title is from “Rule #4- Fish in a Birdcage” by Fish in a Birdcage.

“The woman in the passenger seat— Delia— wrinkled her nose at the fetid stench of death.”

Unlike Delia and Charles, Lydia is very unbothered by the smell of roadkill.

“Maybe there’ll be a psycho hiding out in the woods. Maybe he’ll break into our house, brutally murder us in our sleep. That would be exciting.”

Maybe something to keep in mind…

“...I’m excited to do some birdwatching,”

Poor Charles just wants to watch his birds.

“Delia seemed so distracted by the state of the cabin, that she didn’t even notice when Lydia slipped the millipede into her bright red hair.”

Gotta keep Delia on her toes.

“The stairs in this house were steep, uneven, and seemed just a few pounds of pressure away from breaking, the kind of stairs designed to break your ankle and send you straight into cardiac arrest as you slipped down them.”

The description of these stairs is entirely based off of the stairs in The Conjuring House. Walking up and down the stairs was the scariest part of being there. I was terrified. I hit my head on the ceiling twice.

“The wallpaper was plum purple, strewn with carnations, hyacinths, and dark red roses.”

The wallpaper color is based off of the color of her bedroom walls in the movie, and the flowers on the wallpaper are symbolic. Carnations for love, hyacinths for sorrow, dark red roses for mourning, all representing her feelings for her dead mom.

“There were wooden carvings of cryptids and unicorns and mushrooms on a large dresser.”

I wonder how those got there…

“A scream echoed from downstairs. Looks like Delia found the millipede,”

Delia did, in fact, find the millipede.

“Lydia, if you don’t grab the damn broom and help me dust this hellhole right now, I will go insane, and I will take everyone in this family with me.”

Movie reference!

“Come back up. The landlord specifically said she didn’t want us going into the basement.”

Perhaps there’s a reason for this :)

“Come on, it’s just one song. You loved it too, remember? Shake, shake, shake, Senora—“

Musical reference.

“She huffed and trudged upstairs, gripping the railing so as not to become a victim of gravity.”

She’ll become a victim gravity soon enough.

[c0zmo-writes]

QUESTION FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE MET ALEX BRIGHTMAN AT CONS.

How does the whole process work??? I’m seeing him tomorrow at Rhode Island comic con and I’m very anxious about it. I don’t know what to expect or what to do. I’ve got tickets for a photo op and autograph signing and I’ll be dressed up as Beetlejuice. I haven’t been to a convention before. I originally hoped to give him a letter, bracelet, and art, but I’m not sure if/when I’ll be able to do that.

Please give me advice if you can. I hate not knowing what to expect for things. I need to know what to expect/prepare for. Thank you.

[c0zmo-writes]

reblog if you need a hug

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 14 of Birds of a Feather.

Chapter 14- The End

@possum-quesadilla @crawlingcarcass @raineisinkless @katslitterbox

“Shilo gave Beetlejuice the choice of what they would do with her, and he chose to place her fiery confinement in the lab, shoved in the back of a closet.”

He does not want to deal with her anymore.

“Spring was in full bloom, as was Beetlejuice. The underside of his wings, as well as his thighs, were a bright pink. His hair was tinted a much brighter green, and was now streaked with black and white. The plume of feathers on his chest had changed to a black and white spiral,”

Design change !!

“Shilo used the correct term of breeding plumage, as opposed to Beetlejuice’s more crass (but not inaccurate) term: “get over here and fuck the life out of me feathers”. 

Not really going to go into how his behavior changes in the spring, as this is a sfw fic. You guys can draw your own conclusions.

“The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. They were happy. They were home.”

I’ve been planning on writing those sentences since I started the fic.

That’s the end of Birds of a Feather! I hope everyone has enjoyed the story. I’ll start posting the sequel, Flock Together, pretty soon!

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 13 of Birds of a Feather.

Warning for violence, description of animal injury, animal death, general death, and abuse!!!

Chapter 13- Inferno

@possum-quesadilla @katslitterbox @crawlingcarcass @raineisinkless

“While he had lived through many winters, it didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t born for snow.”

His nest is located in northern Argentina and he didn’t experience snow for centuries. It took him a while to get used to winters, especially New England winters. They can be brutal.

“He came bounding out of some snowy brush, a fawn in his arms and a pissed off doe on his tail.”

I’m aware that bucks are the ones that can be aggressive, but this doe is aggressive for storytelling purposes.

“He was towering over the fawn. It stared at him, a literal deer in the headlights. In the blink of an eye, he pounced. Shilo hesitantly looked back at Beetlejuice, who was using his long tongue to lick deer blood off of his lips and chin. He caught her gaze and gave a barely apologetic smile.”

He’s a bit of a feral creature at heart.

“Shi, you look like a marshmallow.”

She does, in fact, look like a marshmallow.

“She jumped to her feet (and not too gracefully, to Shilo’s delight)”

He managed to stab into her legs.

“One of the scariest parts was how deadly silent they were. Aside from the thumps of their bodies hitting the ground and the crunch of the snow under their feet, they didn’t make much noise, save for the occasional hiss and squawk of pain.”

This is based on harpy eagles, who are pretty quiet creatures.

“Shilo took the rock and cut into Juno’s arms, yellow blood flowing out like warm honey.”

Juno has yellow blood! It used to be a blackish color before she was turned into a phoenix.

“A scream came from Shilo’s mouth. Red flaming tendrils snaked around her limbs.”

They’re not made out of fire, but they burn like they are.

“Juno raised an eyebrow at her. “Did you really think that would work?” “I mean… yeah, kind of,” responded Shilo. That was the wrong answer, apparently, as her face was swiftly dumped in the snow. Now her body was burning from both flaming heat and freezing cold. Fun.”

Maybe don’t sass the person who can murder you and your boyfriend.

“And then they were gone. And Beetlejuice was gone. And Shilo had never felt colder. There was no telling how long she stood in that one spot, waiting for Beetlejuice to come back, but she eventually started looking around the area to locate any things she left behind.”

There’s a bit of a pattern here.

“When she was a good twelve feet in the air, light started emitting from more spots in her flesh, like it was fighting to escape. Finally, she let out one shrill, inhuman screech as she exploded into flame. It was like watching a firework show.”

Inspired by what ender dragons look like when you kill them.

“All that remained was one glowing orange feather and a pile of ashes.”

Juno’s dead!! Sort of. She’s in a limbo of sorts. There are very few things that can permanently kill her.

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My first time drawing Beetlejuice! I was recently introduced to the cartoon. I think it’s safe to say it’s taken over my brain.

[c0zmo-writes]

@possum-quesadilla

Cyrus.

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 12 of Birds of a Feather.

WARNING!! Brief mention of implied suicide, quick mention of animal murder.

Chapter 12- New Plan: You’re All Going to Die

@possum-quesadilla @crawlingcarcass @raineisinkless @katslitterbox

The chapter title is a reference to the musical.

“Well, there’s my dad. The guy’s obsessed with puzzles. Jigsaws, crosswords, cryptograms, you name it. He’s insanely good at solving them too,” Shilo spoke, smiling to herself.”

He’s got an 800 day streak for Wordle. He frames his completed jigsaw puzzles. He’s currently working on a round, solid color, 1000 piece puzzle.

“I really wanted to find you. I didn’t have much interest in anything else, and they didn’t understand that. I feel like they’ve never really understood me.”

I know how that sounds. I KNOW HOW THAT SOUNDS. She is not trying to be angsty. She has never been good in social situations and was shunned by her peers as a kid. She’s also autistic, which doesn’t help.

“Oh great, I was wondering when you’d rear your ugly head again,”

Maybe not a great idea to taunt the thing that can incinerate you with a snap of her fingers.

“He wasn’t allowed to use the microwave anymore after The Grape Incident a couple weeks back,”

The Grape Incident…

“He was gently nibbling on a wooden cylinder (an alternative to biting his nails)”

Shilo’s been trying to find him an alternative to biting his nails after what he did to his hands while he was with Juno. He’s getting better :)

“After dinner, they went to bed and Shilo melted into the silk bed sheets that she definitely didn’t own before.”

Beetlejuice conjured up some silk sheets so Shilo could sleep more comfortably.

“the faint scent of smoke lingering in the air.”

He was setting things on fire.

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 11 of Birds of a Feather.

Warning!! This chapter has descriptions of injuries, mentions of abuse and torture, and some DIY surgery!!

Chapter 11- Getting Better (Trying to, at Least)

@possum-quesadilla @katslitterbox @crawlingcarcass @raineisinkless

“Shilo didn’t think. She just jumped up and wrapped herself around Beetlejuice with enough force to send both of them tumbling to the ground.”

Definitely not a great idea in hindsight.

“Deep, clearly self-inflicted bite marks littered his hands,”

He bit his hands both to muffle the sounds of him crying and to act as a stress reliever. DO NOT HURT YOURSELF TO RELIEVE STRESS!!! IT IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU!!!

“The underside of his usually white feathers were ebony,”

It’s hard to describe what ebony really means. It’s just a bunch of negative emotions, I guess. Hopelessness, agony, depression. Like a melting pot of bad feelings.

“He ran for his bean bag pile and jumped in, immediately regretting his decision after pain flared up all over his body.”

Yet another absolutely awful decision. He really wanted the comfort of his bean bags.

“I guess the plan is just to clean up your wounds, do some DIY suturing, and pray you don't get sepsis,”

Being half demon and half phoenix, he is much more resilient to things like infections, which also means he doesn’t have to worry that much about sepsis. Not that Shilo is fully aware of that. (Also thanks for helping me figure that out, Blue!)

“And by the way, I know how freaked out you are. I can smell the fear radiatin’ offa ya.”

He can literally smell fear! His olfactory system is a bit different compared to that of a human, and he’s able to smell all kinds of pheromones.

“Shilo just sighed, took what she needed out of the first aid kit, and put the gloves on.”

When your boyfriend comes back but brings his attitude with him 😔

“He writhed and yowled in pain the whole time. It was a struggle to keep him still.”

She didn’t have anything to numb the pain. It was a rather torturous experience for both of them (especially Beetlejuice).

“Right now, he was sitting on a table plucking out the feathers around his wrist.”

A nervous stim of his.

“Beetlejuice yawned loudly— was he missing a tooth!?”

Yep. He actually lost many teeth. They grow back for him though!

“Oh, y’know, by strugglin’,”

My Spanish teacher responded to a question with this once and I felt I had to add it.

“Beetlejuice, you don't deserve what happened to you, ok? Juno is a monster. There’s no way to justify her actions. She’s a monster, and she’s hurt you, and that’s not ok, and it’s not your fault. It’s not your fault that your mother couldn’t love you,” said Shilo. She was practically staring into his soul. He squirmed, still not one for feeling huge amounts of emotions.”

Gotta drill that into his brain.

“Just don’t give me a buzz cut or somethin’ stupid like that,”

I am… not a fan of buzz cuts. Apologies to people with buzz cuts.

“Pretty bird. Pretty birdy. I’m a pretty birdy.” He sounded so dopey and happy, it made Shilo melt. 

 “You are a pretty birdy!” Shilo exclaimed as she walked into the bathroom. Beetlejuice squawked in surprise and jumped nearly a foot in the air.

“Oh hey Shi, didn’t see ya there,” he said with a nod, acting like he wasn’t just scared out of his skin.”

Screaming high enough to break glass then acting like absolutely nothing happened… I love him.

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[c0zmo-writes]

Thanks for the tag, Blue. This was fun :)

I tried to incorporate the fact that one of my eyes is bluer than the other but I struggled a bit lmao. Queercoded is… very accurate.

@crawlingcarcass

Consider yourself tagged if you are reading this:

Make this picrew of yourself

Take this uquiz (How Fandom Would See You If You Were A Fictional Character)

Thank you for the tag @machiavellli !

[c0zmo-writes]

Reblog to bonk your mutuals on the head every time they start thinking negatively about themselves

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 10 of Birds of a Feather.

Warning!! This chapter is a bit rough! Includes intrusive thoughts, one mention of throwing up, and disordered eating.

Chapter 10- Mindless Misery

@possum-quesadilla @crawlingcarcass @raineisinkless @katslitterbox

“An’ I’m an impulsive guy, ya know that, but don’tcha think maybe we should just sleep it off?”

You know it’s bad when Beetlejuice is the voice of reason.

“She didn’t stop sprinting until a tree root sent her (and her knife) flying a few feet forwards.”

Just like the beginning scene in chapter 1. Shilo and tree roots do not go together.

“Beetlejuice?” Shilo called out to the air with the little strength she had left. She got no answer but the quiet sway of trees. He was gone.”

Haha she is… not seeing him for a while!

“After a few hours, Shilo picked herself off the ground with great difficulty.”

She laid on the ground for about 2 hours. Her poor back.

“Two weeks passed. Shilo drove for hours. Flipped off more than a few leaf peepers.”

When you’re trying to find your boyfriend but you live in a Vermont forest and it’s peak foliage 😔

“Her house became surrounded by mourning doves and corvids.”

How fitting.

“That night, that cold Halloween night, Shilo considered driving back home to Connecticut. Seeing her parents again. She hadn’t thought about going home since she left all those years ago, but now, she craved company more than anything.”

Shilo does not visit her parents in this one. I’m thinking of writing a part three to this series that’s centered on her going back to Connecticut.

“She couldn’t do it. As lonely as she was, the thought of Beetlejuice coming back to an empty home saddened her more than anything.”

Imagine you fight you fight your way through hell trying to get back home and your girlfriend just. isn’t there.

“The next day, Shilo put on her old ratty lab coat, the same one she used to wear when she was first searching for Beetlejuice.”

Full circle babyyyyy

“She whistled little tunes to the birds and tossed them birdseed.”

She whistles the same tune every time she feeds them. She’s training them to flock to her when she calls.

“Tuscan bean soup”

I had this soup in December of last year when I caught a horrible cold. I had it almost every day for a week. It was so good that I had to pay tribute to it.

“She had a specific whistle that she made every time she went out with food, in hopes they would recognize it and follow her around like some kind of morbid Disney princess.”

It’s a dream I share with her.

“It placed a single packet of Skittles at Shilo’s feet before morphing back into the harpy she knew and loved. He stumbled and winced as he tried taking a step forward. “Howdy, babes. Miss me?”

He’s back!

Sorry that this chapter was more depressing than usual. I wrote this in February when I was incredibly depressed and also getting over a breakup. Gave me great writing inspo though!