lazarus-harp

[lazarus-harp]

very quick and very babble-y notes i took while rewatching season 3 episode 7 … did them on discord so enjoy the lazy format :

- now watching ep6 of etn and damn are the doll villains and backstory sooo … displaced in the narrative and just deeply unsatisfying. my whole ‘the dollmaker was obsessed with calvin from s1 and tried to emulate his artistic vision’ hc is sexy but also. damn. this is so ass

- colleen trying to have sexy times in the middle of her suicidal grief episode over mat is objectively hilarious. AFJWKDJS

- and also ‘there will be blood on all your hands. the price of being a hero in this town of horrors.’ oh etn you were so GOOD …. it’s about these scenarios making a murderer out of you like you cannot survive and escape without brutally killing another for it …. the idea of it as a ‘punishment’ for attempted heroism too is sooo

- colleen ripping a tinnnny bit of tongue out of a doll only for manny to come over and go ‘wait, colleen, what is this?’ and grabs the clippers to yank the rest out no balls no hesitation like ok!!!

- odd intimacy things in s3 : holding someone’s jacket while they do something for clues. joey did this EARLIER in the episode and then nikita just did it too … and i remember in ep1 jc holding nikita’s jacket so. i do think its fun how that costume aspect is incorporated. etn s3 gang like ‘oh you want to stick your hand into something disgusting or dangerous? lemme hold your jacket babe!’

- SAFKITA MOMENT !!!! YURIIII!! safiya’s dynamics with everyone besides mat and ro are so deeply underrated … nikita doing the test of fear and safiya watching it *inspires* her to step up and do the electric lever thing and bring herself pain … safiya quite literally respects nikita’s game and strengths ( especially since they aren’t the same as her own ) and i love that so bad. one day i’ll make fic about them

- colleen : manny?

manny : yeah?

colleen : we gave to get this bitch to the jail.

etn dialogue on a whole other level sometimes ( we been knew )

- safiya, passionately : we realize the difference between five and three is two. ( LIKE I KNOW ITS TO EXPLAIN TO THE AUIDENCE BUT AFJWKFKAD )

- do find it fun though that they’re like yeah okay lets just start pouring blood into these cups to visualize it. like what an insane human experience

- ro getting blood all over her hands and then thinking, for some reason, in a blind dash of revulsion, that stuffing is something she can wipe her hands with is. well!

- joey be like yeah sure ill do mysterious drug number one for the girlies who didnt vote for me

- joey’s hand being so thick and void with tar and then safiya starts to deftly pick up whatever she could feel from his hand … fun. i love safiya/joey so, so very dearly

- joey : okay manny i think we need to open it

he’s so funny i love that he just decides him and manny shall open the maiden lmfao

- “you have opened the maiden of madness, and regret will surely follow” TRUE

- “i think that you guys are all great, but i don’t think there’s another puzzle solver in this group the same that i can do it, so …” love you safiya this line says so much about you

- “any rift that i’ve caused in this group is because i’m angry that my friends are dying.” SIGH colleen i have many conflicting feelings about you but i do love this line deeply

- colleen’s case pleading is truly so so bad though. everyone’s was really weak despite their strengths but like. it was always gonna be colleen because even if colleen had said something else, joey was never gonna let her blaming him slide … she was simply the easiest target and ro and safiya had defended him in ep5 and then nikita and manny had mostly been neutral so. alas.

- colleen get his ass lmfao. she’s like ok but you were lying and joey’s like well yeah but that was my secret to tell and you forced me and colleen is like but you forced us in this situation so.

- WOOO NIKITA BEING A GOOD LEADER WOOOO! her being like yeah this is tough and we all contributed but also we need to come to one consensus here. like nikita is sooo practical it kills me. she is so able to put her emotions aside to do what’s best for the overall group and i love it so bad. literally a side of her that’s never highlighted in fandom simply because she talks in a certain bitchy and vain party girl way and because she is ‘ruthless’ … but that’s what makes her being a good leader so INTERESTING. ugh. anyway. like its about her knowing that if they all vote for the same person more or less than a.) the surprise will not be as bad and they can all mentally prepare for the outcome better and b.) it reduces the chance of them losing someone they really want or need to keep around …. just. love it

- joey’s hand still stained with tar …. noted

- MANNY WITH THE BEST REASON TO VOTE IK THATS RIGHT!!! manny is also way more practical and fair then he’s given credit for … joey votes colleen for a petty reason and then most vote colleen because they don’t wanna go in / go against the group / it’s just the most simple solution … but not my boy manny oh no no. he actually has a fair reason to vote colleen and it’s because he cannot personally trust her in a game of life or death because of her wishy washy attitude towards joey

- safiya 🤝 manny both keeping their votes private during the colleen vote session …. not making a spectacle of it / not being honest ….. smth about that

- also colleen voting ro here is so fair because even though everyone’s arguments ( besides safiya’s ) were weak ro’s was by far the weakest. i too would’ve voted for her if i was colleen tbh

- though it is hilarious that she would considering how torn up she is about mat because GOD he would have never forgiven her

- SAFKITA MOMENT AGAIN!! them both lingering at the maiden of madness just staring at it for a second before turning to leave …. phew

- aha. the harp of lazarus. safiya and joey be like game theory intro blares in our minds full volume full force etc

anyway what a great episode for people who love safiya and nikita!

[lazarus-harp]

watching s3 ep6 for fic purposes and liveblogging it so <3 might post that here when i’m finished

[lazarus-harp]

challenges in general have never been a fair estimate of whose the better player anyway! even the most unhelpful players can skirt by in challenges based on pure luck alone, like teala in season three or alex in season four. that, or an objectively amazing player can just prove to be a poor challenge tester -- like the detective, who has notoriously won only one challenge out of the three he was in during his main season. challenges are fun for the audience and bring suspense but said challenges and the free for all voting is ‘unfair’ in terms of skillset, if you think about it.

i think in some scenarios it’s valid to vote for a player who hasn’t been in a challenge, even if they’re great in the game, mainly because voting the same person over and over again also starts to seem unfair after a while. and besides, it’s mostly group mentality at that point. the mindset becomes narrow and petty and it morphs into : well i did a challenge, so it’s not fair that one of us gets to skirt by without doing the hardest part of the game! stupid reasoning, yes, but a very human view of things. imo it would be better to get a challenge out of the way early so that this reasoning isn’t brought up against you, and bonus points, you can use it against someome else in the long run and secure your win easier lol.

like truly joey only got away with pulling that card in rosanna in episode nine of season four simply because both colleen and bretman aligned with him. and, like everyone, they wanted to win more than anything -- so joey had given them an easier way to potentially secure that win. it’s much like when people in etn all start voting for the same person in betrayal challenges! it is less about fairness and keeping the best players around, and is more about reducing the chances of yourself being put on the line. when they killed justine and colleen it was never over how they played the game, it was over interpersonal drama that everyone else just believed and hopped on.

anyway both that + the ‘you’ve never done a challenge!’ reasoning is some real stupid shit though. no disagreement there!

in escape the night, i think the dumbest reasoning for voting someone into a challenge is that because they’ve never been into a challenge. like maybe they haven’t been in a challenge bc they pull their weight enough to avoid them, like omg you’re sooooo fucking stupid 😭

[lazarus-harp]

I know I’ve said this 100 times but I am wanting to rewatch soon

[lazarus-harp]

etn fan in the big 2025 what’s up :3

what’s up! etn fan in the big 2025 indeed … and have been one since s4’s release, actually. very excited to see the show return and to see the fandom surge up again, even if for a little while. hopefully i can work on these ancient wips in the meantime.

[lazarus-harp]

since i’m now definitely due for an etn rewatch asap and to finish this fic wip feel free to send asks and the likes <3 lets revive this place rq in preparation

[lazarus-harp]

rumors of manny in the movie? i fear i’m rising from the dead … and that it’s time to finish this damn matny fic lol

[lazarus-harp]

lots of etn anniversaries happening ( s3’s was yesterday ) … is this a sign that i should lock in and finish my etn works ???

[lazarus-harp]

btw i do have a ko-fi if you ever want to support me! obviously it isn’t mandatory but a couple dollars thrown that way can encourage more writing and the likes!

[lazarus-harp]

Aaaahgghhhhhhh

I have seen exactly 2 (two!) posts of yours and I’m already obsessed with you ❤️❤️❤️❤️

oh, this is so sweet! i’m very pleased my silly little etn blog can cause such a thing … to thank you for such an endearing ask, here’s a quick and loose detective for your troubles!

[lazarus-harp]

an old ‘ the record producer ’ moodboard

[lazarus-harp]

please excuse the infodump about to transpire ( which is a mix of pure headcanons + things i’ve noticed ) but this specific etn topic is something i’m deeply passionate about, so! you have opened the floodgates!

personally, i think joey buried everyone by himself. in my eyes, him, eva, and oli traveled down the dirt path until they reached some form of civilization ( be it the police, or someone who would take them to a police station ) only for joey to book it in the midst of being questioned. eva and oli would never return to the house willingly, although we know that joey not only keeps the deed to the estate, but is also declared missing and was last seen ‘walking along a dirt road wearing a full 3 piece suit’ :

meanwhile both eva and oli are well accounted for,and are seen back in their homes during this time. they likely did all the ‘hard’ parts, like going to the police and actually talking to them about what happened ; although i doubt they told the truth whatsoever and most likely fabricated a story, due to the natural human fear of being deemed crazy or getting blamed for the murders. whatever the authorities were told was vague enough to never lead them to the house built without hands at least, because joey wasn’t found during this year whatsoever, and neither was the house or the graveyard he made. at least not while joey was actively living there.

in the video where we see that joey has buried everyone, he also says this :

so, in my eyes, joey was the only one who tried to tell the police ( or anyone who would listen ) the truth — only to be put down and likely accused of being hysterical, or wrecked with guilt, grief, or whatever else. he was not believed, and would likely be the scapegoat for the missing people, especially since eva and oli likely had their own version of events … and so he ran back to the only place he had. alone. to then spend who knows how long burying the victims and making headstones for them too ; all of which are then decorated with items that led to their deaths in one way or another, while joey recounts how they made him feel towards the end of things. it was basically destiny for him to build this graveyard alone … he did, after all, see it in the same dream that brought him the house :

in ep1 you can see, for a brief glimpse, justine’s grave. there are also many other graves shown during this scene, where joey is running from a masked villain we come to know as arthur.

i also like joey burying everyone alone because it shows his humanity at this time. he still cares about the dead and would slave away at giving respect to even people he still hasn’t forgiven, like glozell for instance. it’s a rather lonely experience. it’s even a rather touching, if not slightly morbid, gesture. i cannot imagine how this would’ve changed joey : to have to grab all his friends, to see the decay setting in, to feel his muscles burn as he started to haul them out into the yard — where he’s already toiled for hours and days digging graves and getting headstones made … and then he’s going to just live there. in this evil house that has traumatized him, with his own personal graveyard he created and will now have to face every time he braves the outside … there is so much to analyze there in terms of joey’s psyche and what it all means, but most importantly it shows that joey was hardly an uncaring monster at this point. he did love his friends, despite everything. and as for arthur and his minions ( /beloved ), i doubt joey buried them — he most likely let nature take its course or maybe even burned them on the property somewhere, so he wouldn’t have to look at them or smell their rot. either that or shove them in a room or basement he then swore to never visit … either way, i doubt joey had much care for them as he did his friends. or, given their connection to the house, it’s very likely that by the time he got there, they were just gone, poof, vanished as though they never existed — just like the owners and just like the victims that came before.

what happened to the s3 guests is easy! they simply disappeared. i do not think any of their bodies remained … the town quite literally devoured them, since they were not meant to exist in everlock physically without an everlock ghost — a ghost that would’ve left their bodies when they passed away. but they couldn’t just return to their normal world either, and thus, they faded into obscurity. we even see how none of the dead everlock citizens remain once the town is ‘freed’ : they disappeared like everything and everyone else, and so i think the same thing happened to the s3 gang’s bodies. there was nothing that remained besides the very hollow belly of the town, and whoever clawed their way out of it. i find this particularly devestating … because now these people will be listed as ‘missing’ forever, with no roads every leading to what actually happened to them, and no proper burial sites to mourn over.

and as for s2 … i think the only bodies that weren’t found were the ones that died in other dimensions. so people like destorm, tana, and alex simply vanished as well with no hope of their bodies reappearing. this also explains why tyler, andrea, and joey don’t see destorm’s body just floating around in the pool when he definitely should’ve been there — like, he was still there, just not in their ‘world’ so to speak. everyone else was found where they were killed and with their incredulous wounds to match. so long as some other hungry monster didn’t come and drag them off for some reason. i have no clue if tyler and andrea would’ve buried or covered the bodies ( like eva and oli, and mat and nikita a year later, they were just very eager to leave ), although i do think the police would find everyone that could be accounted for, all except joey, whose coffin would then be mysteriously empty save for the crown perhaps.

of course, these are just how i view the events based on what the show reveals and my own interpretation of things! i haven’t watched the show in a good while ( whoops ) but these are my years old hcs on the matter, all of which i’m deeply attached to at this point haha. obviously, the creators did not think about any of this, and the bodies mostly just stop existing for plot convenience, but it’s very fun for me to make it all still work storywise.

honestly, i feel like people forget the fact joey buried the s1 guests too often. they're the only guests we know that have been canonically buried, and the implication that joey buried them by himself is chilling. not to mention the graves so obviously being planted on the estate joey now owns ... i just find this little fact so interesting. so i'm sharing it here too! lots of food for thought

[lazarus-harp]

scream au where the ghostface killers are mat ( aka the one that calls the victims ) and nikita ( aka the one who actually kills them ) and it’s the most messy killing spree of all time which ends in multiple matkita fights. also manny and ro are final girls because obviously they wouldn’t kill their best friends smh …

[lazarus-harp]

hi ^_^ its been a bit !! i wanted 2 ask how u were doing.. any projects ur working on? or cool stuff idk. speak ur mind abt stuff!!!!!

hello hello!! it’s so nice to see you <3 and this is very sweet of you to ask … i’m doing meh, overall, which is normal for me. but in terms of projects, i do technically have two etn fics ‘in the works’ even if it’s been a while since i’ve worked on either of them!

one of the fics is a matny work that i plan to post either before the etn movie or after -- it’s a rather spiteful oneshot since i’m probably destined to dislike the etn movie more likely than not, and any future installments of the universe as well, so i wanted to do a send off for the ship that got me obsessed with this series initially! i’m not someone who really believes in a happy ending for escape the night ( i think the cycle is doomed to repeat and that everyone, but especially mat, is destined to be miserable forever and unable to move on ) but this fic is … me giving the detective a happy ending for once? it’s no ‘fix-it’ but i do have mat and manny move forward towards a relatively hopeful future together. it’s sweet and rambly and senseless, although i’m rather pleased with the 6k words i wrote of it so far. it feels very final, in a way. also it’s manny pov + post etn canon which is lowkey a good combination of my usual brand and something new!

here’s two snippets :

sleep comes in hazy filters, comes in static fuzzing against tan skin wherever it touches or roams. bags frame his eyes where the pretty boy makeup should be and by the time rumpled view comes to him again, mat’s face is buried in his neck ; cheekbone mushed around a ticking pulse point, fingers skirting along manny’s chest as if he’s searching for the bullets too.

and …

he won’t cry about this, because manny wants to live and nikita’s perfect face would twist into a nasty scowl if he felt bad about surviving, would spit on his heart before stabbing it with her long, white stiletto heel with a strong good riddance thurst into october night. so his eyes stay dry beneath green covers and his fingers don’t fumble when he reaches for his new clothes, slipping them on quickly as if being naked in everlock is another type of death sentence. he doesn’t look at mat and when he’s done, all dolled up in gym wear so retro manny could laugh, he never glances at his reflection -- just stands there awkwardly, suddenly too big for this shrinking, bright space, counting the lines looping around his long socks as he cools his face, steadies his heart, and definitely still doesn’t cry.

my other etn project has been in the works for … about two years or more? god, that makes me cringe. i keep meaning to finish it up and post it every year, and yet that never comes to fruition despite my best efforts. it’s a oneshot that takes place during s3 ep7 ( shocker! ) and also begun as a spite fic in a way … but has now mostly become a love letter to the characters, their turbulent relationships at the time, and everything surrounding their circumstances. it’s a joey pov fic and heavily features manny and nikita, both of whom i love so severely, which just means it’s been very fun to write and that i’ve also put a lot of passion into it! mat and ro are present too, obviously, and they’re similarly delightful … fun fact : i love writing mat from other characters’ perspectives and i don’t actually get to do that often? he is sort of my pov, always, in the vast world of etn … so that just makes these two projects a blast, honestly.

here’s two snippets that i may or may not have posted before, but hopefully they’re enjoyable regardless :

… hands lower to his hips and settle there, absently wishing he kept his jacket on so he could stuff them into comfortable pockets, while breath ( that he doesn’t need ) eases back into decaying lungs, holes filled and expanding around the space in a way that loosens something in his chest. there’s no cards awaiting them at the table for now, and mat lingers on their troublemaker ; manny and rosanna folded around them like always, their shadows, loyal and true, and he knows things will bubble if he doesn’t say anything. one step backward, two sets forward. he can still feel their problem hovering in its own section of their room.

and …

if looks could kill, nikita’s expression is an aftermath of war. “oh my god, would you just fucking listen for once?” sharp words almost garble into a barely concealed scream, raised and hysterically frustrated. “she doesn’t look it, but she’s now one hefty bitch. bodies bloat and gain weight, or whatever.” 

( i’m super proud of the dialogue in this as well as my exploration of joey and the others lol. also getting to write etn’s odd but hilarious comedy is way more fun than i expected it to be, but i digress! )

i also have an unofficial etn wip that hasn’t begun the writing stage yet and is very much on the backburner. it’s a roi/mat shipfic that takes place in a 70s everlock au, where roi gets injured and mat looks after him in the meanwhile … another non-mat pov fic because, apparently, i’m really making up for lost time i guess! ah, i’m actually super enamored by this wip and cannot wait to start it some day -- it’s mostly a light hearted work that’s silly but maintains emotion in my mind, which will hopefully translate well to metaphorical paper haha. i’m not even a diehard roi/mat shipper per se but once this idea hit me years ago i couldn’t let it go! maybe i’ll conform myself and some others on the way …

but that’s all for now, etn wise! none of these projects are active yet will always be worked on when the bug strikes, or when i’m gripped by an imaginary deadline again. i’m currently working on other fandom things, non-related to etn, so there’s that as well! any of those works will always be posted to my ao3 though, so anyone can see them whenever …. but thank you again for this ask! i hope everything’s well with you and that you’re flourishing both emotionally and project-wise! <3 this was fun to ramble about for a spell so i give you all my gratitude, seriously.

[lazarus-harp]

the detective is like if you placed a mouse in a maze and had cheese leading the mouse to the exit, but instead of leaving, the mouse frantically searched for the other mice in the maze. even if they’re corpses, even if they’re not there. he collects the cheese to eat and to give to the others. and he won’t leave it unless you pluck him out at this point.

[lazarus-harp]

5k almost 6k words done for the spite matny oneshot <333 who’s excited

[lazarus-harp]

“i’m not evil. i just wanna go home.” destorm power singlehandedly describing all of etn in one sentence makes me insane btw!