#your heart explodes

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Some Heartexplodes

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Alright, here's my neurodivergence horror movie cast! (I also have some other characters sketched out, but let's leave them as secrets.)

From left to right: Ash, Chloe, Emmett, Sunny, Manuel

Some basic details, I'll update later:

Ash- 32, they/them, Physical Augmentation system is defective, Physiological Needs. (possibly problematic character #1)

Bio: Ash is roommates with Chloe, and tries to push Chloe to be more confident while Chloe helps out driving Ash to places and helping with mobility when they need it. Ash has some anger issues, but generally keeps it cool when they didn't just see a person twist up into a techno-mushroom tree. They're passionate about social issues and try to be supportive and empathetic towards others, even on the bad days.

Augmentations & Defect: Ash has inbuilt hydraulics that don't help them that much, and a furnace in their gut that can build up in pressure to painful degrees. They had some kind of misalignment in their side years ago, and the nanobots built on it instead of fixing it, now they live with chronic pain that gets in the way of mobility, and a literal limited battery.

Chloe- 27, she/her, Focus & Coordination system is defective, Security Needs.

Bio: Chloe has had anxiety her whole life- lack of support from parents who expected her to be "more competent", having augmentations, and belittling her for her failures. She's constantly apologizing and worrying. She makes just enough mistakes that she can't usually hold a job, and was couch surfing until she moved in with Ash. The threat of eviction is a Sword of Damocles over her head at all times.

Augmentation & Defect: Chloe has developed branching arms she can grow more of over time- faux-wood arms that are clumsy and often break off- meant to juggle the complexities of life, but they just leave her scrambling to clean up the messes. Chloe struggles with focus and memory, often forgetting or missing things that are simple or obvious to others.

Emmett- 34, he/him, Networking & Communication system is defective, Social & Belonging Needs.

Bio: Emmett's social struggles have him desperate for human connection. He has friends, but he doesn't see them very often these days, life happens, and the isolation hits him hard. His doctor has ordered a Connector device that's like a GBA link cable; it can connect the heads and Cores of multiple people and bypass language barriers, conveying raw thoughts and feelings. At this point he'd desperately try to get his Connector even in a dangerous apocalyptic wasteland.

Augmentations & Defect: Emmett has an altered physiology, a boxy robotic frame propelled by gearworks. He's like Ash- existing social issues were exaggerated by his nanobot systems, until the system crashed and burned out. When he's struggling to find the right words or pick the right moment to speak, gears inside him audibly and painfully grind against each other, and his sentences come out out of order, unless he's with close friends. He can't use cyborg networking features like local P2P networking or inserting his phone into his head.

Sunny- 29, she/her, Cognitive Enhancement system is defective, Esteem Needs. (possibly problematic character #2, doing more research on the subject)

Bio: Sunny loves metal music and colorful art. She lives in supported housing with an assistant and help from relatives. With her cognitive issues, she struggles to be taken seriously and treated as an adult, and the colorful clothing and loud music are an escape and protection. She doesn't have any problems with her disability, she just wants to be treated normally. She likes to use her augmentation for vocal stims, echolalia & palilalia.

Augmentation & Defect: I would keep it a spoiler but it's right there in the sketches. Sunny's buzzing vocal tics are made by speakers on her body, which can also play music. She has decent physical enhancements and is stronger than she looks, no slouch in a fight. Cognitive Enhancements tend to shut down if there's any sign of problems- where someone like Ash could theoretically (in the mind of a corporation running these things) get by if their nanobot systems enhance a body issue, disabilities in some parts of the brain being enhanced incorrectly could be lethal. So Sunny doesn't get a boost that might otherwise help her get by.

Manuel- 30, he/him, Special Augmentations system is defective, Self-Actualization Needs. Main character.

Bio: Manuel dreamed of superheroics, adventure, and rebellion as a kid, but his Defect and his executive dysfunction got in the way. You need to work on yourself to develop Augmentations, and how do you find motivation for self-discipline if you have No Motivation Disorder? So now he's a tired, cynical person, and kind of an asshole. He does food deliveries (oh shit it should be Instacart), keeps on the move, and tries to find precious little to enjoy in life.

Augmentation & Defect: Manuel tried to develop rocket skates and a motorcycle centaur transformation, suffice to say that didn't work out. When he tries to push himself in ways that his Defect won't allow, motors in his body churn and sputter. His augmentations are mundane but useful- his feet can turn into decent rollerblades, and while it's no motorcycle, the shopping cart that grows out of his chest is useful in everyday life, and could maybe serve as an undignified, impromptu wheelchair if there's no other options. He can't develop new robotic augmentations, transformations, etc. so he has to take care of what he has left.

I can maybe edit in more details later. Or you can DM me and read the current script draft because fuck it. Basically these are cyborgs with cyborg versions of neurodivergence and chronic pain/illness in one case, caught in a grisly forest of fungus, flesh, and machinery that overtook the neighborhood where they were having a doctor's appointment, they have some very flawed superpowers, they gotta survive but surprise, not everyone survives a horror movie!

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(guy doing overwhelming research and revisions voice)

Yeah I think you could do a sequel to Your Heart Explodes about capitalism and workplace burnout called something like Your Skin Erodes or maybe Your Brain Implodes. And like it could take place at one of the tech companies mentioned in YHE, and now the burned out Core systems stem from different types of work burnout, while the Maslow's pyramid on the Core now doubles as a sign of company status.

You would flip the main character's spot on the pyramid, so the protagonist is someone doing manual labor with their Physical Enhancements burned out from workplace strain or injury, then a ground-floor manager with their Focus & Coordination System burned out from overwork & understaffing, a social media intern with their Networking & Communication system out from overwork, an exhausted office drone accountant or something with their Cognitive Enhancements out, and a high-level businessperson in a soulless position with their Special Augmentations out.

I don't have a main horror premise though. I think this would only really work if it was done by a writer who had an idea for the core conflict that was just as personal to them as the whole disability burnout/depression thing is to me.

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Manuel Transmission

(or "the difference between a high schooler doodling in class and a Professional doing serious character design at the workplace is adding design notes)

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Nobody at the office today, did some sketchy of Chloe and Sunny to pass the time

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Happy Halloween.

Have a screenplay that's STILL 30-50 pages too long!

It's an animated horror movie about burnt-out cyborgs, a nightmarish forest of fungus, flesh, and machine, and the Infinite Potential of The Rot.

Character art below the cut:

Left to right: Ash, Chloe, Emmett, Sunny, and Manuel

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...I could post the script as-is on Halloween maybe? I started a rewrite but it's basically the same thing but trying to polish the language, and I'm only 6 pages in.

...I don't know how people do any of this

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I was thinking maybe making a big post w/ my movie script on Friday for my birthday since I haven't made progress on revising/rewriting it (although I think I've maybe had enough time away to give it a more neutral look? But I'm not feeling the motivation and it's still an overwhelming project)

Is there anywhere better to post it than Google Docs if I want people to read it? I think AO3 doesn't host PDFs.