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msfcatlover · 22 days

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@fandomwandererer

im still like mid s3 in tma but im practically spoiled all the way to somewhere else, tell me more about the archivist tim story. is the not them even relevant if tim is already marked by the stranger? if it is who end up a not!them? tim would need a spider mark right? wonder what that is

*vibrating in place* ARCHIVIST!TIM STOKER, MY BELOVED!

You have no idea how much I love this AU. You have no idea how long I could talk about it. No, really. It took so many edits to keep this response reasonable.

(This is from my notes document on this AU, and does not include the lengthy conversation that originally spawned it. My adoration of Archivist!Tim cannot be overstated.)

Okay, okay. A couple things to establish. First: I cannot take full credit for this AU. @daydreamingofdragons & I came up with it together while bouncing ideas off eachother, and it spiraled (ha) out of control. This is just as much their monster as it is mine.

Second: Tim Stoker’s trauma is not defined by being from the Stranger. His tie to the Stranger hugely shapes his character, but not the Stranger itself. Tim’s trauma is defined by the feeling that he had multiple chances to save his brother and didn’t; that Tim watched Danny die, too close not to feel like Tim should’ve done something, and even though Tim consciously tries to argue with himself that there was nothing he could’ve done, Tim can never silence the part of him which says Tim’s actions (or lack thereof) indirectly killed his little brother. You don’t need the Stranger for that.

(a few post-s3 spoilers below cut, as well as other answers.)

Third: The purpose of the Archivist is to collect “marks” (scars/traumas) from each of the Entities. The Archivist is chosen for their potential to collect those marks, and how easy they seem like they’ll make it (translation: how much work Elias has to put in himself.) To make a viable Archivist candidate, you need to ask what mark/s they already have when they first arrive at the Institute, how Elias might manipulate them, and how much manipulation it would take for them to start putting “finding answers” above “personal safety.” (So Jon Sims is an exceptionally good candidate because he’s driven by a desperate need to understand, he has trouble trusting others, his self-worth was already garbage by the time he got to the Magnus Institute, a consequence of both being a tendency to do absolutely everything himself, and he walked in already marked by arguably the hardest Entity to manipulate into doing anything.)

While the Web would be needed eventually, it's not needed as a foundation. Any mark will do, though if anyone at the Institute is still marked by the Web, you need to give your chosen Archivist a mark just as (if not more) rare & dangerous to make them the more tempting prospect.

.

So, Tim is not marked by the Stranger; we actually had him marked by the End (full statement outlined,) and to compensate for how not Eye-aligned Tim is (canon!Tim wants answers about what happened to Danny, but beyond that curiosity is very much not one of Tim's defining character traits; he's not driven for want of knowledge the way Jon & Sasha are, he's driven by love for those closest to him & a need to find a guilty party who can be blamed & punished for any suffering they endure) we had each one of his assistants be marked by a different Entity. After all, if Tim doesn't care about answers or mysteries that don't affect people he cares about, the answer is to tie those mysteries to the personal struggles of those people he cares about.

Jon kept his Web mark (still Mr. Spider, and Jon was definitely the backup in case anything happened to Tim, but the End was always going to be the biggest risk to get a mark from, which makes it just too tempting even with Tim's temper & disposition taken into account.)

Sasha was marked by the Dark (the first time Tim uses his powers is to protect her from it, eventually leading Tim to directly help Basira & co with the lowercase-r ritual the People's Church performed in s2.)

Martin was marked by the Stranger (and also is the only assistant Tim didn't choose; Martin was Gertrude's last assistant, while Jon & Sasha were on a list of "pre-approved" potential assistants Elias gave Tim.)

(and yes, we fully figured out how Sasha & Martin were both impacted, and how it would tie into the plot & their respective arcs. Especially Martin & Jon's tragic enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story in this version.)

That gives Tim 4 different rabbits to chase down. By the time he's started to clear up even one of them, chances are other avatars would start to poke their noses into the archives' business. And then Tim's temper, need to protect those he deems to be his own, and need for retribution on any who would harm them would keep Tim locked solidly into the Archivist's role. He's not going to try to leave as long as they're still at risk, and he's always going to jump in front of that bus rather than throw any of his people under it. And once Tim figures out what's happening, he's far more likely to try to get ahead of things by taking the fight to the other avatars rather than try to slide beneath their notice the way Jon mostly did.

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The NotThem isn't actually that relevant, though we did play a bit with the idea of NotBasira. Instead, @daydreamingofdragons came up with a new creature who does the opposite: it steals identities by rendering people unrecognizable. Not like it replaces them or completely changes their appearance, but it's the cross-section of the fear of mistaking a stranger for someone you care about & the fear of being rejected by loved ones. This person claiming to be your brother is obviously not your brother---sure, at a distance you might mistake them for your brother, maybe they could even fool someone who doesn't know your brother that well, but you can very clearly see all the little differences that show this cannot possibly be your brother. Especially if you have a picture to compare. It's not your brother, you know it's not your brother, why is this complete stranger insisting that they're your brother? Why do they know so many things about your brother, why are they wearing his clothes, how did they get the lucky charm he never takes off? What did they DO to him?!?

(It is, in fact, your brother. He knows why you're acting like this, he can't recognize himself in the mirror, but it doesn't make your complete rejection of his identity hurt any less.)

I can't remember if we actually discussed this, but I've been calling it the "Innominate." Which is an adjective meaning "something anonymous or unnamed," but sounds like a word that could easily be a verb meaning "to un-name something, to render anonymous," and also works as a proper noun just fine.

It goes after Jon in mid-to-late s2. This leads to everyone needing to figure out whether or not they still trust Jon ("trust & love as an active choice," you're such a good theme and I love you so, so much,) Georgie joining the Institute to investigate Jon's "disappearance" (they reconnected after Jon did the follow-up on Melanie's statement in s1,) and Tim needing to save Jon from Daisy after they find Gertrude's body (s2 finale, rather than s1; but once the police are there, there is one person in this verse who is obviously skittish, out of place, and doesn't want to show identification to the cops, and it's not the Archivist. Tim's being nothing but coolly polite & helpful, because he's worried about his people and wants to get these cops out of his archives as soon as humanly possible.)

The antagonist for s1 is the Spiral rather than the Corruption, and after Michael (& co) invades the Archives, Tim ends up going to Hill Top Road for a guiding thread so he can rescue his friends. He hates it, but Tim recognizes the pattern, has no pre-existing hangups about the Web, and there's an original statement in there about a woman getting lost in the tunnels and following a thread of spider silk all the way to the trap door in the archives. With the help of the thread anchored in Tim's chest, he's able to trick a different Spiral ally into the heart of the Distortion and safely recover Sasha, Martin, & Jon from the chaotic, twisting halls. With the changed heart (and the loss of Michael's obsession) the Distortion retreats for a while.

#tma #the magnus archives #tma au #archivist swap au #archivist tim stoker #archivist!tim stoker #archivist timothy stoker #archivist!timothy stoker #tim stoker #timothy stoker #daydreamingofdragons #fandomwanderer #my writing #mine #my life

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birdifulhuman · 6 months

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My character designs for my Tim is the Archivist AU. Yes, this is a self-indulgent AU, and yes everyone lives.

I have a whole note doc with everything that happens within the five seasons. Hopefully, I get to writing something at least.

These designs are aimed to be near season 2, as Martin hasn't fully spiraled yet, but has the taste of the spiral within him.

#tma #the magnus archives #tim stoker #sasha james #martin blackwood #jon sims #tim is the archivist au #fear swap #jon is desolation #sasha is the lonely #and martin is the spiral #an everyone lives #but are all fucked up au #the mag pod #tma art #tma fanart #jonathan sims

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therainbowtea · 9 months

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Day 1 of @tmaappreciationweek: Role Swap!

"The Lonely's really got you, hasn't it?"

Sadly I was not able to complete all of them fully due to my hand acting up, so I instead will be posting the sketches and THEN later down the line posting the final drawings :)

Prompt list

#tmaappreciationweek #tma #the magnus archives #magnus pod #jon sims #martin blackwood #archivist martin #lonely jon #role swap au #tma season four #jmart #jonmartin #teaholding #my art #not going to lie I love this idea so much #will 100% write something based on it down the line

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ian0key · 7 months

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Day 4: Roleswap

@emerald-emerlad

In the end I couldn't decide which one to draw, and I ended up making 2 drawings for day 4.

Archivist!Sasha and Desolation!Tim, Like Jon and Martin in MAG159

and

Lonely!Jon and Archivist!Martin trading places.

#the magnus archives #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #sasha james #tim stoker #timsasha #timothy stoker #jonmartin #swap au #the magnus archives au #mag 159 #desolation tim #the archivist #sketch #inktober2023 #inktober #magtober #tmatober #tma fanart

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epicaandk0 · 3 months

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The god of knowledge, the god of war.

#epic's art #2023 #cult of the lamb #cotl #narinder #the archivist #crown swap #crown swap Narinder #cotl au #I thought giving him a war scythe as a weapon would be funny #silk cradle

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itisonlyeyes · 8 months

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idea for writing or drawing: swap!jonmartin (lonely archivist martin and eye-touched jon)?

I don't know if this counts. However, I'm obsessed with aus where Jon ends up in the lonely.

Martin's freckles turn into eyes <3

#the magnus archives #tma #tma fanart #tma au #jon sims #jonmartin #jonathan sims #jonmartin au #martin k blackwood #martin blackwood #archivist martin #lonely!jon #archivist!martin #tma swap au

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localgrem1in · 7 months

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Magtober Day 4 - Roleswap

I freaking LOVE archivist Sasha aus <3

My goal for Magtober is to do a sketch every day according to the prompt. I've been suffering from that headspace where every peice needs to be a finished piece, so I'm tryin to break that.

Prompt list by @emerald-emerlad for tmatober 2023!

Previous | Next

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raidoesthings · 10 months

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They were once the priest of Leshy before the Trapper and the Trader, but later exiled for their abuse of power.

Given that they learned how to block a crown bearer’s power, trouble was only inevitable.

The Mycologists venture in the dark, untouched corners of the land with their five subordinates.

Four clones and one fallen pupil, they call themselves the uberbots.

Purposed to follow every command of the scientists, lest they want to be punished greatly…

#cult of the lamb #cult of the lamb au #inscryption #inscryption au #scryptic swap au #the mycologists #inscryption mycologists #g0lly #inscryption g0lly #the archivist #inscryption archivist #the photographer #inscryption photographer #unfinished boss #inscryption unfinished boss #plasma jimmy #inscryption plasma jimmy

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edenstwiilight · 4 months

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workin on a lil idea and was thinking about this:

a swap au where sasha got the promotion. she’s the new head archivist

where tim is her connection to the world. her reason to keep going

where martin was taken in s1 and replaced with a not!martin

where jon loses himself without martin, and sacrifices his life for sasha at the end of s3.

where elias was the previous archivist and gertrude is the one who killed him.

hm. maybe this is something i should look in to more.

(any and all posts in this universe are gonna be tagged ‘magnus swap au ‘!!)

#the magnus archives #magnus swap au #timothy stoker #sasha james #martin blackwood #jonathan sims #gertrude robinson #tma spoilers #tma podcast

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spookysspoons · 16 days

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ARCHIVIST!SASHA AU

TMA SPOILERS!! AVERT YOUR EYES!!

. . .

I've seen the AU of "what if Sasha became head archivist instead of Jon" floating around and honestly i am living for it.

Would this mean that Martin would fall in love with Sasha or would he still be in love with Jon? Would Jon even get hired? Would TIM still be in love with SASHA or would he be in love with Jon?? How much do they swap places exactly???

Not to mention the most important bit (in my opinion), would Jon get replaced by the Not!Them?? Would his dark and tired look and sarcastic personality be the character played by the Not!Them or would he be replaced by a Jon that we (the fandom) are not familiar with??

Would this change the outcome of the end of the world?

SO MANY THOUGHTS.

#tma #tma spoilers #archivist sasha au #archivist!sasha #jonathan sims #sasha james #martin blackwood #tim stoker #alternate universe #the magnus archives #hhhhhhhh

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kora-kat · 18 days

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Tma/tmap swap au. Gwen is the new Archivist. The rest of the OIAR are her assistants.

#magnus protocol au #tma #magpod

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msfcatlover · 6 months

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Hi, I am once again desperately wanting to try to write the Archivist!Tim Stoker AU my friend & I brainstormed together. It’s a fucking beast, and it’s so niche that for all my love of it, I don’t know if I’d get any feedback which. Y’know. Lack of validation kills the writing drive.

(But Archivist!Tim Stoker makes brain go brrrrrrrr)

#Tma #the magnus archives #magnus archives #tim stoker #timothy stoker #the archivist #archivist tim #Archivist!tim #Archivist Tim Stoker #Archivist Timothy Stoker #Archivist!Tim Stoker #Archivist!Timothy Stoker #Archivist swap AU #my life #my writing #mine

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birdifulhuman · 5 months

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Someone asked for more desolation Jon, and who am I to deny a simple request.

#tma #the magnus archives #jon sims #fear swap #desolation!jon #tim is the archivist au #tarchivist #art #fanart tma #tma art #tma AU #I love his hair but it took so god damn long #my art

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witchofthesouls · 4 months

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So is that pretend marriage Cyber au in space, does that mean Smokescreen is the normal one while Optimus and June is that weird couple that vibes on a different level?

If this is the Do As the Romans Had Done idea, then yeah. Optimus is just that buff need that's really quiet and serious, yet unintentional feral and/or terrifying. And June, while able to blend into mundane societies, has a really broken scale of a Danger sense.

I'm definitely keeping it as Other!Au, but now I'm leaning that June comes from a long line of magic-users: alchemists, sorcerers, enchanters, and what not. Think of them between deep in the mystical many-kinds-of-arts and unhinged field work scientists.

And that's why June isn't too freaked out about everything because this species-swap with an impromptu space adventure isn't the weirdest shit that happened in the family.

Smokescreen is the normal guy from a civilization that fell to an inconceivable scale of planet-wide infighting, but he attributes any weirdness from the others as "Oh, they used to humans, so it's a learning curve" and "Primes doing Prime-things."

Meanwhile, Optimus is climbing extreme cliffs to reach a stray goat without a by-your-leave or safety rigging and more than capable of fishing with his bare hands off a waterfall to use it as a teaching moment for vocabulary and anatomy structures for the kids.

June, while is more affable and likes chit-chat over recipes and the weather, is also the person that made a deal with a fae that's an Archivist in a forgotten library beneath a massive cave system to hunt down extremely rare specimens that were once predominant in textile spellcraft for protection and health. That deal ended with Jack, by the way, so he's still a spooky fae-child.

Smokescreen is deeply engrossed by Optimus in a bar: really terrible at small talk but more than able to consume fuel that's used for stripping rust infections from a tank without a grimace and starts a fist fight when someone tries to drug another person's drink without them knowing.

June is in a shadowy corner doing a secret handshake with an indescribable stranger because she recognizes their cloak's stitching and scented tobacco from her (several greats) grandmother's fellowship. Now she's back to doing odd jobs or quests.

Smokescreen rationalizes it that June was a medical professional for humans, so it isn't too out of the realm why she's interested into toxins because he's more distracted by Optimus dropping bombs that he consumed hallucinogens as a sparkling and managed to survive to make to Iacon.

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vieramars · 4 months

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Y'ALL. HOLD ON. Archives swap au where gertrude and her initial team are the successors to Jon and his team. By the end of his time as the Archivist Jon was almost ready to invoke the watcher's crown but found out before Elias could use it and tried to destroy the archives with the help of his remaining team (similar to their strategy in mag 200). The official report is that there was a fire in the archives and they're presumed dead, but no bodies were found. When Gertrude takes over, the archives are an absolute mess because Jon destroyed as many statements as possible and the rest were left in complete disarray. Then the lightless flame starts attacking the archives, hoping to do some damage while they're vulnerable. And things go on from there.

#the magnus archives #tma #tma au #gertrude robinson #jonathan sims #archives swap #magnus archives spoilers

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epicaandk0 · 1 year

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The Archivist

#epic's art #cotl #cotl au #cult of the lamb #narinder #2023 #digital art #spider #spider webs #library #archive #crown swap #the archivist

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