I think this question must have been asked before but I haven't been on this side of Tumblr since 2024 and just came back in September 💔
But how did you first get the idea of Hollow Town and rewriting Lazari? And how did you first stumble across Lazari and IEPFB? :3
Phew.... okay. This is a good one to mark thanksgiving with.
I don't think I found the original story too differently from anyone else. I was a kid who was really into creepypasta, and somehow through baptismonfire, madame macabre songs, and various comic dubs I wound up finding the story.
I was a kid and pretty aware I was asexual so at first I didn't actually really notice any of the weird stuff. It all kinda flew over my head.
As for Hollowtown.... that... is a very convoluted story.
You could say I got the idea in middle school when I was a fan of the active series. I was also really into undertale at the time. The hyperfixations fused together into an au that only existed in my head. Undertale but with creepypasta characters. Lazari as the protagonist.
The "Hollow Town" Was actually just an abandoned school at first where all the creeps squatted in.
Then that idea and those characters evolved. Soon I realized I was really into creative writing. I used that story to build something else. Something a little more original. Original character, plot, setting, eventually, I wanted it to be about a bunch of characters and their adventures in a city. I even genderswapped some of the original characters I had for... uh... lets call it "Prototown." Yeah, I genderswapped one of the OCs for my Prototown idea in middleschool and made them a lead character. It completely stopped being recognizable as even remotely creepypasta. Heck, the passion for the idea had me so excited and I looked forward to it so much its...
Probably what kept me together in all those years.
I dunno if anyone can relate to having a specific story you want to tell... being the story you need at the time. That story was what I needed.
But uh... then stuff happened.
And I hadn't really thought of that story in a long time.
I thought of more depressing and grimdark ones. Ones where angry creations seek vengeance on their creators or ones where homicidal maniacs wreak havoc on oppressive schools.
I stopped being the person that was so excited to tell that other story.
Eventually I kinda... heartbreakingly lost connection to it.
I was just really jaded n tired.
Weirdly enough though I was really cynical what brought me comfort was... nostalgia. Old movies, things that were cozy, and uh... something else.
You already know Creepypasta had stopped being mainstream for a good long while. I can't exactly explain the unique eerie coziness it had. I kinda began longing for all of that to come back cause... I missed it. You could argue its one of the things that helped me get on this track on my life.
I kept on waiting for something to bring it back. Sonic Exe I thought would do it, buuut then he became his own beast entirely.
heard Iepfb got a reboot but that got disconnected.
God if I had JUST heard of the slenderverse at that point in time...
and I kept waiting and waiting until uh....
I started revisiting all the things that made me feel that connection.
I rewatched Ask Jeff n Jack, Slender playthroughs, comic dubs, and eventually... I eat pasta for breakfast.
Yeah it was NOT as good as I remembered it. I was dissatisfied and... kinda jaded by the fact that this thing I was obsessed with was bad. Made me wonder why I liked any of this stuff to begin with.
It was around then I had begun marble hornets. desperate for something.
While that happened, I was still attempting memory lane and lookin into what I had imagined this story to be.
I eat pasta for breakfast... did I really like it? Or did I just like what I thought it could be.
Which is funny cause I think the same eventually went for all pastas.
I began to revisit my first concept. what my first story looked like before I had turned it into something new.
Back when it was just creepypastas... for old times sake.
I was a better writer than I was now... and I began to play around with it. What if this wasn't just a buncha fun I was having. What if there were themes.
What if I gave characters arcs. What if Lazari was an actual character. what if I made these characters the way I wanted them to be. What if I go all out?
I began imagining everything in my head. School was too small to be an interesting setting for what I wanted this to be. Take some notes from that other story. make it a city. Make it a city that was the embodiment of everything you loved about creepypasta as a kid. set everything up kinda like an alice in wonderland style story. Protag meets character, they foil eachother, yata yata.
But... it was only gonna be a fun thing for myself. Wasn't gonna post nothin. I was still in a conflict of was any of this side of the internet good to begin with. Why did people like this.
Then I finished Marble Hornets. Thats when I understood...
I understood why this was so beloved. Why so many people loved it, and why I wanted to go back to that.
Then I suggested the whole thing to Red, he helped out a little, and we made the first Lazari redesign attempt for this story.
The story just kept on getting bigger and bigger and... for the first time since I turned Prototown into my intended first story, I was really excited to work on this.
This elaborate creepypasta fanfic had become the story I need right now. It helps me. reminds me that despite everything, things can be okay. Even when the world is scary. This was a story that had my heart in it, that I didn't only ever work on to vent. This became a story I wanted others to see. It's... really funny that the story that made me want to get back up again is just like the first one, a story grown from creepypasta roots.
Then I began ask Lazari. And people really liked that one. Which let me know that others wanted to see this again too.
I don't like to brag, it makes me nervous.
Buuuuut im pretty sure my Lazari reboot was one of the first to begin the new era of Lazzies on tumblr.
Like no, there were reboots before this one. Other Lazzies with WAY better art.
But I at least predate Leechi so thats my measuring stick.
This became the story I would tell.
But.... deep down I knew that if I wanted to do that...
I needed to retell Iepfb first.
Ya know the first plan was just to pluck that lazari and continue her unfinished story into my own.
But that would not have worked... for a number of reasons...
and thats where we are now.
I was pretty sure Iepfb hollowtown edition was gonna be a slog but... its been great in my opinion. I think I really enjoyed recreating that story and telling new ones so far.
I have no plans on stopping anytime soon. We're not even IN Hollow City yet.
I should probably stop now. I really should have gone into detail as to how my version of Lazari turned out the way she is but like I already went on long enough. Here's a sneak peek of entry 3 script. It's basically finished.
