#woodwork asks

[woodworkzz]

Not sure if there's any chance of us getting more Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, but if we do, is there anything in particular you'd want to see in Season 2 of the TV show, from character cameos from the webseries to possible lessons? Right now, the only thing I can fully admit to wanting is a voiced cameo of Sketchbook/Paige and, to a lesser extent, Shrignold.

Omg hiiiii, it's been a while!

I also don't think there's a chance of S2, but if I'd allow myself to dream, I'd also love to hear from the older teachers, Sketchbook specifically. I just think a throwback to the very first teacher would be nice...

I'd love some expansion on what the teachers are. Are they fully manufactured? Are they people like Lesley? Are they conscious or do they just do as they're told? Also, what's up with Roy??? It's like Lesley took his role in the TV show, but he still appears every now and then...

I think that's all. I doubt DHMIS will ever tie up its loose threads in a neat bow, but some things clearly were going somewhere and then they didn't.

[woodworkzz]

It's been just over a decade since the second episode of DHMIS premiered on YouTube, meaning it's also been about a decade since the ship of our murderous blorbos was created.

Oh yeah, it was Tony's birthday a few days ago. That's around 10 years of our terrible guys killing and kissing each other! Congrats to the worst couple ever!

[woodworkzz]

You can't convince me that Paige wouldn't absolutely love Halloween? The decorations, the costumes, the creative ways you can make things like food themed to the holiday? She would be all over that and be in full "Halloween mode" as soon as it hits midnight on October 1st. Tony meanwhile is just trying to insist that the holiday isn't until the end of the month and it's just silly to be getting this excited so far ahead of time.

Paige knows how to replicate pretty much every body part in candy, and they've been eating nothing but pumpkin flavored things since day one. Paige has a list of costumes she'd like to make for this year, most of which are very elaborate and definitely win some prizes around town in costume contests, and another list for Tony's costumes. You know. Just in case.

Tony's pretty sure he's got fake cobwebs in unimaginable places and is over all not having a good time. But he'll still begrudgingly eat the pumpkin pie because it's actually really good. He always says he won't be convinced, threatened or intimidated into it this year, but he always gives in and lets Paige make him a costume for them to go out. His is considerably more discreet, but Paige takes it seriously. Even if it's just some horns and a tail, she makes it as detailed and personalized as possible. He makes a half decent model, she has to take that opportunity, you know?

Tony won't ever say it, but most of the costumes actually look amazing for him. Paige matches colors with his skin tone, his hair, his arrows... most years, she'll even make a themed sheath for his sword. He sees it as an alternative version of himself that comes around once a year. For a very short moment, he understands Halloween magic.

Also, it's the only time of the year where they can walk around in blood soaked clothes and nobody will ask questions. Very convenient.

[woodworkzz]

I feel like Paige could probably cause art block/writers block or etc (anything that needs creativity) on anyone out of spite

Oh, definitely! Both Tony and Paige are pretty spiteful and love some petty revenge, so whenever she feels someone was being too mean or looking at her weird, for the next week they can't figure out how to write an email and can barely draw a smiley face.

I like to think there are rumors about her and Tony being supernatural creatures of some kind, because they're... Like That. The rumors are true, obviously, but it's not like the general population knows that.

Some local artists have jokingly given her "offerings" in exchange for a well-written essay or a flawless painting, and she happily complies, feeding the rumors further. Tony isn't as receptive with his "worshippers" at first, because he feels like he's being made fun of. Once he made someone who had been particularly disrespectful feel like they've waited for their food for days when it's only been 15 minutes just to prove a point, and that's how he gained a following of people who, every other day, have an extra hour to spare for no apparent reason.

[woodworkzz]

This might be a hot take, but I never really get fanworks that have Paige and Tony killing/torturing the Students for no reason? Paige never actually physically hurt them at all in the short she featured in, and even the mental stuff was hard to tell how much she had control over it and how much was them just going wild. And Tony also didn't actually do anything to the Students outside of being a bit of a jerk until near the end when they basically tried to tell him that the thing he represents doesn't exist and thus made him angry. Honestly, out of all the Teachers in the shorts, they probably do the least actual harm to the Students.

Oh yeah, I think they were the two least physically aggressive teachers from the web series. But we didn't know what was coming back in 2014, so...

Anyways, yeah, these two being aggressive and constantly out to get the trio always seemed a bit out of character, even though it's pretty fun to read. Maybe the IceHell revivers can make this change.

I feel like they'd still bother the trio in a way, just... Less aggressiveness, more inconvenience. Maybe Tony talking their ear off because they don't wake up early enough by his standards, or Paige using one of their favorite mugs to clean her paintbrushes. Of course, that's beside them fighting to the death once a day and leaving blood everywhere, and a body that's hidden somewhere in the house.

Also, and this is my headcanon, they could behave weirder. My personal favorite is one of them ominously staring at one of the students from a dark corner, not to be intimidating but out of genuine curiosity. They're both marvelled by things like elevators or television, since humans have no magic. They're probably terrified of some mundane animal because they don't know exactly what an animal is. Paige was on top of the fridge in her webseries episode, so I feel like she'd be the one who'd end up perched on highly unlikely places. Although Tony did stand on the edge of the bathtub in his episode, so maybe standing on unstable surfaces is a Concept thing.

[woodworkzz]

Some people think Tony is in trouble with Paige when she kills him more often than normal. In actually, the real way Tony knows when he's in trouble is when she goes longer than usual without killing (or at least trying to kill) him.

Killing is their own form of play, to be honest, so Paige constantly going after Tony means she likes spending time with him and being close to him. It's like play fighting, except there's lots of blood involved.

If she avoids him, ignores his teasing or kills him very quickly and ignores him once he's back, that's how he knows he messed up. He'll still try to push her to fight him, but she'll either refuse or avoid him until he gets the hint.

Once it came to a point where Tony had his sword to her neck and she simply ducked under it and kept walking. (He forgot their anniversary.)

Similarly, if Tony is mad at her, he'll ignore her or kill her quickly without bothering to move the body.

They both don't know how to apologize, so they make up in different ways. Usually it's either gifts, food, or staring at the other with very big and very sad eyes until they understand that they're sorry. If they wake up to the sound of someone trying to break into their room, they know it worked.

[woodworkzz]

Thinking about Padlock as parents and just remember this scene from one of the Addams Family movies where Wednesday comes out with a knife and when she confirms she's going to use it on her brother, Morticia takes it and gives her a bigger one. Change "brother" to "friend" or something similar, and I can see that happening with Paige and June.

June has a strange affinity with human children that her parents don't quite understand. Perhaps it's because they're all around the same age, or because June was born surrounded by humans. When she asks if her little friends could come over... Why not?

Of course, there's one fatal flaw to the operation: Concept play is very different from human play, mostly due to the fact that one species is capable of rising from the dead, while the other isn't.

Paige and Tony seem to leave that as an afterthought, and little June barely understands how her and her parents can die and come back, but her friends somehow can't. So, of course, she invites them to "play swords" with her, leaving them unaware that they're talking about real, child-sized blades her father gave her.

Or maybe play house, which sounds fairly normal until she starts to play-duel her friend, or play-poisons their food because "that's what mommies do! Now pretend your hands are shaking, that's what happens first when you get poisoned."

(Pause for Paige to have her proud mother moment.)

Of course, many kids in the neighborhood think June is like, the coolest kid ever. Her dad gives her real swords for her birthday! She knows everything about fighting and poison! She has a real heart in a jar in her room!

Some boys might even have a little crush on her, but they'll never say that out loud, because June's dad is really scary when the grown ups aren't looking. In fact, most children who went to June's house have seen Tony and Paige's concept forms as soon as their parents turned their backs. But what parent is gonna believe it when their kid comes home saying little June's parents are immortal and can shapeshift?

"Mom, I'm serious! Her hair is super colorful and moves out of nowhere, like she's Medusa!"

"You know that scar June's dad has on his face? It moves, I saw it! It was pointing down and then it went up, like a clock when an hour passes!"

It's not like they make a big deal out of hiding it, but adults usually don't believe in magic.

[woodworkzz]

There’s a few google searches on the trio’s computer; “Can “My love” be used as an insult?” And “Does expired coffee taste like poison, or was I poisoned?” Like even genuine, friendly smiles from the object demons are suspicious. Poor guys.

999 doesn't even answer their calls anymore, even so because it's hard to explain that the bloodstained sketchbook on the ground eviscerated two people. It's even harder to explain how it turned into a person right in front of the officers. Paige explains nothing and leaves the room. Their house is definitely in some sort of watchlist, but the dead bodies rise again in a half hour, and nobody really knows what to do about that.

They rarely ever have neighbors because Paige and Tony already terrorized the whole neighborhood. When the occasional uni student rents the house next to them, they can only pity that poor soul. They've tried to secretly move away too, but as it turns out, Tony and Paige aren't bound to the house and can track them down... Somehow. (Paige says it's their scent. Tony says it's their bank account. It could be both.)