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earthstellar · 10 months

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Warlord Ratchet: A Fascinating Concept

“And to think, the Doctor of Doom’s mad quest for power continues...! His marauders pursued us to this planet’s orbit.”

What gets me about Megatron telling Orion Pax that the current dilapidated condition of Cybertron was brought about by the Warlord Ratchet, Doctor of Doom (aside from the concept in and of itself) is that he also states that Ratchet has a legion of marauders who carry out his bidding

and because marauders are raiders, and Megatron states they were “pursued by marauders” to Earth, the implication is that Ratchet is not on Earth himself--

-- which is smart on Megatron’s behalf, because this would deter Orion from potentially attempting to leave in order to confront Ratchet and instils a concern that perhaps marauders may appear at any time (at this point, Orion Pax does not yet realise that he is armed and is operating under the belief that he is still an Archivist and therefore not Warrior Class)

but also, this gives us the incredible mental image of Ratchet milling around in some kind of rusted fortress made from the remains of several different Cybertronian buildings, quite possibly the remnants of Iacon -- maybe even the central hospital there, converted into a hive of terror

still living on an otherwise uninhabited planet, with a loyal band of raiding troops who scavenge the remains of their world and possibly other planets as well (as we know these marauders supposedly have space capable vessels), quite possibly doing so in order to source spare parts and other various salvage -- Ratchet is a medic, who knows how he’s been having to piece together his army, repairing them from the remains of random citizens?

and he supposedly, presumably either from his makeshift base in the shadows of Cybertron or from a war ship of some kind, commanded an army of raiders to chase Megatron and his followers as far away as Earth

“I cannot imagine Ratchet capable of such horrors!”

I can only guess at what Orion Pax was thinking in this moment, aside from his immediately stated disbelief: What drove Ratchet to such lengths? What happened to turn his compassionate, caring friend into a warlord capable of carrying out inconceivable destruction? How could such a thing occur, especially at the hands of a respected medic, someone he thought he knew so well?

Would Orion Pax start to blame himself, for what was clearly the brutal decline of one of his greatest friends? I can imagine him starting to wonder if there was anything he could do, any signs of discontent, any indication that Ratchet was headed down a violent, dark path.

And I’m sure he would be concerned about Ratchet himself, as well. How is Ratchet faring, nearly entirely alone on their planet save for his loyal bandits, as aged and worn as he ever has been, possibly accepting a lonely inevitable death on an already dead world?

Or does Warlord Ratchet have yet more plans in store, his instruments of destruction poised to afflict themselves upon other worlds as well?

The Doctor of Doom: How Could This Happen?

It’s somewhat easy to dismiss the idea of Ratchet being this “Doctor of Doom”, because it so wildly opposes what we know of the character and what we know actually occurred with the war.

But when you think about it for a little bit, an unhinged Ratchet would very much be a formidable opponent, especially with his social position in pre-war Cybertron giving him more immediate access to higher class/caste areas than many others would have been able to reach...

...Perhaps this Warlord Ratchet was able to work his way into the Council’s good graces, possibly after attending to one of them after an injury and restoring them to health, gradually manipulating the Senate from the inside in order to secure more power, resources, allies, and ultimately the whole of Cybertron for himself-- Leading to a violent conflict which resulted in the destruction of their world?

With his medical knowledge, even if he started out with a fairly small number of followers and whatever troops he could finesse away from the Council, he may very well have “built” some himself-- We do see in TFP that protoforms may be possible to manipulate into certain frame types, or some types of “cloning” may be possible.

Any version of Ratchet without morals (or at the very least without any medical ethics) is a very dangerous Ratchet.

Repairing the injured via patching them together with the remains of fallen comrades, creating a “zombie” army. Ghoulish, lumbering soldiers, marauders held together with armour designed for other frame types. Instructing his former colleagues (who would likely have at least started out with some inclination to follow him) to carry out “repairs” in such a way.

Warlord Ratchet himself may have chosen to ingest dark energon much like Megatron actually did, perhaps out of a desire to create a new fuel source once Cybertron began to go dark and natural fuel sources began to dwindle. We already know that our actual Ratchet wasn’t afraid to test synthetic energon on himself, with similar motivations.

His base of operations would quite possibly be Iacon’s medical centre, turned into a horrific hive-like structure, some wards actively still in use for repairs (at least for his own followers) and other areas dedicated to terrifying research, with supply basements full of experimental tech and defensive weaponry.

Ratchet’s more support class (as opposed to warrior class) approach to things may well carry over to Warlord Ratchet’s approach to war-- An emphasis on intelligence ops, R&D, indirect and direct manipulation, initial political manoeuvring from within the existing system, and defensive systems to counter any munitions etc. that may come his way from opposing forces.

His initial goals may well have genuinely been intended to improve Cybertron, to help people. Much like Megatron, back when he was Megatronus and wanted a more egalitarian, fair society.

After working on lower class/caste bots who were nearly offlined from a lack of maintenance, poor to no access to healthcare prior to being dragged to him, etc. it may have been the catalyst for his decision to start using his upper class social contacts in an effort to change things from the inside out.

Unfortunately, in this universe in which Warlord Ratchet rose to power, things may have derailed just as severely as they did with Megatronus and his initially well-intentioned efforts.

The longer you think about it, the more plausible it could be.

It would be easy for Megatron to build further upon this idea to manipulate Orion Pax, that Ratchet truly could have done this.

I’m sure Orion Pax did not recharge well, his first night on the Nemesis.

Where did things go wrong? What happened to his friend? How could he do this to their world, a world that Ratchet loved so much?

IDK I just think “Warlord Ratchet” is an incredible idea, and I would have been totally fine if they did a whole season of TFP with the Orion Pax concept lmao

also holy shit Ratchet in a built up fortress of a former hospital with a band of marauders under his command is such a powerful mental image

[Screenshot: TFP Episode - Orion Pax, Part One]

#tfp #transformers prime #megatronus #megatron #tfp megatron #tfp orion pax #orion pax #tf ratchet #tfp ratchet #maccadam #maccadams #warlord ratchet #me thinkin out loud again #long post

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athena-is-trans-soda · 5 days

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I had a very vivid dream the other night about a 1950s aesthetic captialist dystopian society where there were these anthro rat people who were treated as second-class citizens... Secret of Nimh vibes

And the archivist jonathan sims was one of the rat people and he was like a servant/assistant to a rich businessman/scientist who was part of a secret coup to overthrow the government (but not in a cool way) and Jon got caught up in the middle of it after discovering his secret plans

Martin was also a rat dude and he was a rich rival scientist businessman who wanted to overthrow the government (in a cool way)

And anyway the image was so vivid I had to draw what he looked like in the dream

(And then my friend complained about him not having hair so I drew him again with hair)

I'm kinda really into furry rat Jon ngl... Jonathan Frisby lmao.

#athena's art #no magp spoilers please I'm so bad at starting new shows #tma #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #the archivist #furry art

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primus-why · 9 months

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Okay okay just a real quick: MegOp Bodyguard Affair within an Arranged Marriage AU???

Imagine Orion Pax is very very very distantly related to one of the lineages of the Primes, and though he goes about his life practically a mid-caste, the fact remains that he is technically considered high-caste.

He maintains a job as an Archivist, living out a modest, unassuming life, and generally doesn't care for the pomp and circumstance of high-caste affairs. The flashiness just isn't in his nature, and there is something he can't quite place his digit on when he attended those soirees-- something unsettling and almost invisible.

The key word here being almost. He is not ignorant to the way higher-castes handle their lower-caste staff-- in his youth he'd overheard his fair share of unjust punishments over minuscule offenses or listened to someone brag about withholding payment as a means to pinch a few credits. Though Orion doesn't exist in that sphere any more, he can't shake the sense that things have just gotten worse. His friend Jazz is an upper mid-caste who has a knack for keeping an audial to the ground thanks to his security work, and has told him many times there is a growing unrest all over Cybertron-- that it's only a matter of time before it bursts into something ugly.

Orion already sees ugliness; as the slum areas continue to expand, as mechs and their homes fall into disrepair, the Senate and Council of Primes don't appear to care at all about the wellbeing of Cybertronian citizens. He sees what Jazz is referring to-- there is a looming darkness, and their people are disconnected. But what can Orion, a mere data clerk, possibly do about it?

He does what he's best at: cataloging whatever data he can find to educate himself of the stories he cannot see or fathom.

Through his research he discovered some of the gruesome ways mechs in castes below him have been treated, but even then he knew his findings were only scratching the surface. He wanted to learn more-- to speak with others who had direct experiences. He first began with Ratchet, a dear friend who was also high-caste, who used his vast medical knowledge to attend to anyone who came to him. In fact, Ratchet purposefully divides his time between high-caste hospitals and a clinic he created in Rodion in order to give lower-castes access to his skill. The lack of opportunities for maintenance and even basic medical care horrified Orion, and it only urged him to look deeper.

That was how he had eventually discovered the forums-- large, categorized, virtual assemblies of mechs from all walks of life, interacting anonymously under pseudonyms. He absorbed as much as he could-- even the uglier sides he couldn't stomach on the first read. It felt important that he saw these things, as it confirmed his suspicions that the high-castes who operated the Senate were willfully allowing people to suffer for their own benefit and comfort.

In time, he learned of the works of Megatronus-- a gladiator who fought in the Pits of Kaon, but who was also an impressive orator and author. He would publish transcribed speeches and essays under a pseudonym, though Orion quickly learned the mech's true identity from others who followed his work. His words spoke plainly of the inequalities and injustices present in society, shedding light on the lives of unnamed Disposables, and wove a dream of a world without a caste system, without Functionism. In short, it was revolutionary, and captured Orion so intensely that he became uncharacteristically emboldened one cycle and sent Megatronus a direct message.

Of course, while Orion had already been chatting with a few mechs here and there to learn of their accounts, something about reaching out to Megatronus felt... different. A much bigger step. Perhaps it was because he was something of a celebrity, being a public figure in the blood sport he championed as well as being a talented writer. Orion was nervous and excited all at once-- though he reminded himself he really ought not to be, seeing as Megatronus would be understandably far too busy to even read his message... surely he gets hundreds of those a cycle...

But then something miraculous happened-- Megatronus actually responded!!!

And thus began their fervent exchange of ideas. Megatronus was as captivating as Orion had suspected-- an enlightening philosopher wrapped within the charms of his quick wit and forward nature. Eventually-- though they had never even seen each other-- a deep mutual friendship bloomed, and Orion longed to visit Megatronus in Kaon... to meet and hear him speak in person...

(He longed for other things as well, but dare not voice them aloud for he knew how outlandish it was to want them. Orion knew he could not monopolize Megatronus' time in the selfish way he would like-- not when he was so important to the revolutionary movement he had started...)

However, everything changed when Orion's cousin Sentinel was named a Prime.

There hadn't been a new Prime in ages. Zeta and Vector had been serving for many vorns, while Alpha Trion came well before them and was by far the oldest; Sentinel would likely be replacing him on their Council of Primes. This, Orion knew, would be devastating news to Megatronus-- he knew the gladiator had hoped to one day ascend to the title of Prime as demonstration of overcoming the oppression of the caste system. Now, it seemed they would have to wait even longer for the next rare chance of a new Prime being named.

Secondary to all that, Orion was facing his own personal troubles. He, who was content to live an unassuming life, had been thrust into the spotlight for having an even closer lineage to the Primes. Now he had strangers sending him gifts, even showing up at his place of work, vying for his good graces so he might put in a word to Sentinel on their behalf. Or worse, they attempted to seduce him in a blatant attempt to ascend the social ladder through a conjux bond. It all made Orion deeply uncomfortable, and he thanked Alpha Trion profusely for letting him use a private workstation at the Archives, otherwise he would have lost his mind (or his temper.)

For folks desperate to recieve acknowledgment from the new Prime to boost their social standing, they were shockingly naive about Orion's relationship to Sentinel. They had been estranged for over half his function by now, in part because they existed in different circles, but also because Orion could hardly stand the mech. Sentinel had been pompous and cocky as a sparkling, and unfortunately it was a not a phase he grew out of. He was, quite frankly, a classic example of the type of leader people were growing to despise-- an arrogant and over-polished politician who made decisions to only benefit himself and crush the rest beneath his pedes.

That train of thought led him back to Megatronus; Orion hadn't heard from him in a while. At first he had been terrified that his dear friend had finally been overtaken in the Pit, killed by his fellow mech or by some massive beast stolen from a foreign planet. But after scanning the Kaon news for joors, he found no recounting of such an event-- surely the champion's defeat would have made a headline? Orion concluded he must be held up by something, and so after not receiving a response for quite some time, he ventured to ask another gladiator who worked closely with Megatronus-- Soundwave. He knew the silent mech didn't like to be bothered, but he had hoped to convey his concerns well enough that he could be forgiven just this once.

Orion: Hello, Soundwave. I am sorry to disturb you with the same question I'm sure countless others have been wondering, but do you know where Megatronus is?

Soundwave: ... Affirmative. Many have wondered. However, Orion Pax first to ask.

Orion: Oh! I would have assumed your inbox would be flooded by inquiries to his whereabouts...

Soundwave: Others afraid to ask.

Orion: ... Afraid to ask you or afraid to ask what has become of him? Did something bad happen?? Is he alright???

Soundwave: ... Inconclusive. Not good, not bad. Confirmed: Megatronus is unharmed.

Orion: That is such a relief to hear!! In that case, may I inquire further as to what situation prevents him from communicating? That is to say, I noticed he hasn't been posting to the forums as of late...

Soundwave: ... Megatronus: loaned to high-caste buyer. Unable to establish contact until further notice. Contract duration: one stellar cycle. Megatronus: will post as soon as able.

Orion: Oh... is that a common situation you find yourselves in?

Soundwave: Uncommon, but not rare.

Orion: I see... thank you for taking the time to speak with me, Soundwave. It was most illuminating. In the meantime, I will endeavor to be patient a while longer for Megatronus' return to the forums. Farewell for now, and please stay safe.

Soundwave abruptly exited their chat without a departing remark, not that Orion expected him to do anything else.

It had been hard as of late to see his friends in Iacon with all the new attention he had been attracting. Now, without even his dear online companion to talk to, Orion felt a bit isolated... lonely, even. But he knew the buzz around Sentinel's Primacy ceremony would die down eventually, so all he had to do was persevere.

Still, as much as he enjoyed the company of mechs like Ratchet and Jazz over a com channel, there was something about those text-based messages between himself and Megatronus that he craved. The gladiator provided intellectual stimulation that he found in no one else, and it was intoxicating...

Unfortunately the universe decided it would not let Orion Pax stew in isolation for long. No, it had other plans... which involved Sentinel suddenly deciding to send for him, so that they might meet at his grand estate and "become reacquainted".

Upon arriving, Orion was not impressed by the splendor as he now saw it as a terrible waste. He politely listened to all the history the estate manager waxed on about as they pointed to various highlights during their tour, even asking thoughtful questions along the way (which they seemed to appreciate.) Still, all he could think of is what these resources might've been able to do for literally anyone else on the planet aside from boosting his cousin's vanity.

Finally he is led to meet Sentinel in one of the drawing rooms. He greets Orion uncharacteristically warmly at first, throwing Orion off for a moment. But in a klik, Sentinel's facade slips away and he is back to his petty, backhanded remarks-- now there's the Sentinel Orion remembered.

As it turns out, Sentinel has pawned him off to be bonded to a Senator who was tantamount in securing the Prime seat for him. Orion is outraged!! How dare he make such a promise without consulting him!?!

"I refuse." Orion said, his voice cold, "The Senator may certainly try to court me, and I will honestly take their attempt into consideration-- as a courtesy to your arrangement-- but I will make no promise to be bonded by the end of it." Orion hoped the concession to at least let the mech have a fair go at courting would be enough.

But Sentinel just laughed-- laughed.

"Oh! You think you have a choice! Ha ha ha!" He wiped away some stray coolant from his optic before resetting his vocalizer, "As you may recall, tomorrow I will be named Prime. And as the highest living member of our lineage, I will oversee all of our clan's affairs. I suggest you learn your place this cycle, Orion... I may not be so forgiving henceforth."

"I don't care what you have to say on the matter, today or otherwise." Orion said, turning to leave, "I refuse to be a pawn in this game. Pick another estranged family member to entertain you, I'm going home."

"Oh, poor Orion. Didn't I mention? You are home."

"I... what?"

"I took the liberty of gathering all your things and relocated them here," Sentinel said with a dismissive wave, as though upending his entire life was as easy as ordering fuel, "and I've asked Alpha Trion place you on sabbatical from the Archives, starting immediately."

"Wh-- why?! When?!?"

"Shortly after my chauffeur picked you up." Sentinel regarded him smugly from over a shoulder pauldron, "I couldn't allow your betrothed to be seen visiting that hovel you called a home, so I graciously offered to house you until the conjux ritus was complete."

'This can't be happening.' Orion was too stunned to speak, panic creeping up as the reality of his situation sunk in. 'My job, my friends, my home... this is archaic!'

"The courting and subsequent ritus is expected to take approximately a stellar cycle," Sentinel continued, glancing at his digits and looking rather bored, "hence your sabbatical. And after that you will move into your bonded's estate. From there, I don't care what you do."

A knock on the door interrupted Sentinel's servo grooming and Orion's mental spiral. The estate manager had returned with a large silver mech following close behind, saying something about fuel being ready for them in another parlour.

"Ah! Excellent timing." Sentinel clapped his servos and turned to Orion. "Care to join me for a snack?"

Orion said nothing, still trying to calm his racing processor.

"No?" Sentinel began to approach him. "We could toast to a new chapter in our functions!"

Finally no longer on the verge of a glitch, Orion turned his helm away, deliberately not looking at Sentinel.

"No, thank you," he said sullenly, "My tanks are satisfactory."

Suddenly Sentinel cupped his chin with one servo and yanked so that their optics met.

"Are you sure? I am a very busy mech, and I might otherwise forget to feed you later." He leaned in even closer, "It would be unwise to make a habit of spurning my generosity, as I alone have the power to make your stay here more... comfortable."

"I will survive." Said Orion-- gaze firm and unwavering, a cold fire in his optics.

'I will survive this... I will survive you.'

Sentinel released him with a sneer and marched over to the door. "Come!" he barked at the silver mech, causing the estate manager to jolt. However the larger mech hardly stirred, save to plod towards the spot Sentinel had gestured to. Orion noticed his helm was bowed, red optics casts towards the floor... which meant he was almost certainly a low-caste and had to show deference to the higher-castes around him. The sight made Orion's spark twist.

Despite the submissive posture, the silver mech was large and imposing; he even had to duck and turn slightly to fit his helm and broad, spiked shoulders through the doorframe. When he was able to stand at his full height, Orion could see he wore a carefully blank expression. 'Reticence is a common self-preservation tactic for mechs in his position... I can plainly see why.'

"Meet your new bodyguard, Orion Pax!" Sentinel clapped the silver mech on the shoulder with vicious glee as red optics widened minutely before returning to their previous setting. "He'll be here to keep an optic on you at all times while you're being courted."

'Not so much for my safety as he is to deter me from running away, no doubt.' Orion speculated. Nothing he holds against the big mech personally, he knows it's just his job. Still, his presence will complicate any of Orion's future plans...

Sentinel started to walk away then, but seemed to think of something else. "Ah-- despite his frame size, he should blend into your periphery. You'll hardly notice he's there. But do let me or my estate manager know if he gets to be too chatty."

And with that, Sentinel and the estate manager finally left him alone with his new keeper. Orion let out a long, shaky sigh. He knew Sentinel could have a cruel and ruthless streak, but this was beyond the pale. 'Primus below, I shudder to imagine how will he act once he actually is a Prime...'

Shaking those disturbing thoughts for now he turned towards the other mech in the room, only to be met with red optics flicking up to look right at him. The silver mech's helm was still downcast, so it was difficult to see his expression, but Orion surmised he must be feeling wary of his new charge.

'Well, that won't do.' Orion gathered himself and strode over to make introductions.

"Hello. My designation is Orion Pax." As he spoke the silver mech's helm began to slowly rise, red optics still glued him. "Despite what Sentinel implied, I'd much prefer you speak as often as you'd like... at least in my company. It seems we will be spending a lot of time together, and it would be a shame to spend its entirety in silence."

He held out his servo as an offered greeting. Eventually, after a brief hesitation, the looming silver mech reached out with his own (clawed?!) servo and shook it, being even more gentle than Orion thought possible.

"... Orion Pax." The mech ventured, looking him up and down. "Would you happen to be from Iacon?"

'Oh my,' thought Orion, feeling his faceplates heat up a bit, 'I could certainly get used to hearing his voice...'

"Ah, yes! I am!" Orion said a bit too bright, which only increased his blush, "I work as an Archivist, doing anything clerical, really. My focus is generally on the origins and development of Cybertronian cultures and societies. Recently I've been reading more about philosophy, and how it's shaped-- Oh!" Orion's train of thought came to screeching halt. He was being rude!

"Please forgive me, but I have not even asked you for your designation! And Sentinel made no mention of it before... who might you be, my keeper? Are you part of the estate's sentry?"

The silver mech gave a low chuckle, visibly more relaxed than he had been earlier. The sound sent a tingle down Orion's struts.

"Only temporarily. I am a gladiator-- plucked fresh from the Pits to be your humble guardsmech." The mech grinned and did a mock bow. Orion was utterly charmed... but wait!

"... Do you by chance know the Champion of Kaon?" 'Could it be...?'

Another rumbling chuckle, and Orion found himself hanging on every word.

"I am the Champion, little Archivist. My designation is Megatronus."

#megop #fic pitch #fuzz writes #once again i say something is gonna be quick and then it's NOT #lmao!#long post

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franki-lew-yo · 2 months

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An alt-universe's version of The Owl House's final season

"Thanks to Them" - Luz, Amity, Willow, Gus, Hunter and the Palismans get stuck in the human realm after King's heroic sacrifice. Luz properly meets Vee and reconciles with her mother.

"HalfWay House Noceda" - The Demon Realm kids attempt to make themselves 'useful' to Luz and Camilla by doing chores around the house even though their magic/skills are a bit more of a detriment. Meanwhile Luz shows Camilla some videos she took of Eda to prepare her for meeting the Owllady and King and Camilla is unnerved but also thrilled.

"Abduction of the Innocents" - Vee and Hunter have a heart to heart while everyone else pretends to like Camilla's and Luz’s favorite movies, except of course for Gus, who is inspired by the images on screen to really explore his illusion powers for Camilla.

"Next to Nowhere" - Luz begins school again and ruminates over accidentally helping Philip, but her friend's determination help's her to keep going. Also Amity and Luz bond over Azura with Amity being able to tell Luz that she doesn’t like the Azura movies.

"Kids of Gravesfield" - The other Palisman have been noticing Flapjack pacing around and both hiding something from the kids while also looking for someone. Luz and Hunter investigate a certain feeling they have around town while the rest of the gang heads to the Gravesfield Historical Society to get answers. Unbeknownst to everyone, Belos is amassing power and does something to Jacob Hopkins.

"Season's Feedings" - On Halloween Night the kids learn the story of brothers’ Wittebane. Through this Luz regains some of her glyph magic by finding the portal Evelyn and Caleb originally used. Hunter gets possessed by Belos who kills Flapjack, but Hunter gets unpossessed. With just enough Titanblood to take them to the Demon Realm, Camilla joins the kids after Belos while Vee stays home to cover for them being missing.

"For the Future" - A look as to what our Demon Realm friends have been doing all this time; King keeps the Collector entertained, Lilith and Eda try and reach the immobilized citizens, and Hexside becomes a safe haven for the unconverted kids of the Boiling Isles.

"Outside, Over Here" - The Collector, King and the Clawthorne sisters begin actually knowing Collector and bonding over his past - but things get interrupted by the Owl Beast and further interrupted by Lilith being puppet-ized for 'bad behavior'. Or, is it? Lilith, Hooty and the Owl Beast begin their own psyche-plotting within their inner mind and find a way to communicate with Eda and King despite still being puppets.

"Revenge of the Bad Girl Coven" - Just as it looks like Matholomule is coming into his own, Boscha decides she's taking over the remains of Hexside after her Grugby Team are turned into Puppets and two new students appear on campus.

"Watching and Dreaming" - Luz, Camilla and the crew return to the Boiling Isles and discover what's left of the Owl House and Hexside. They aren't alone, however, as Belos has also returned.

"After All" - Amidst Boscha's reign of terror, Luz heads to the basement to recount her memories of Philip's shortcut to the head of the titan. The kids ultimately thwart Kikimora's takeover with the help of the Bat Queen though not before Willow finally looses her cool. Luz on the other hand finally meets her palisman, Stringbean.

"The Brothers Wittebane" - Flashback episode that shows the complicated life of farmhand-turned Witch-husband Caleb Clawthorne and the brother he didn't mean to leave behind."

"Collector Says" - In an attempt to get more information on the archivists and what happened to the Titans, King and the Collector travel once again to the Titan Trappers, who listen to whatever the Collector says. Luz and Stringbean get separated from Camilla.

"How it shouldn't have Ended" - Luz, King and Eda all get reunited in an unconventional way while befriending Collector, while Belos makes a break for the Heart of the Titan to amas his final body.

"Inbetweens" - Belos' uses various hosts to get to the Titan's body which he takes over and starts destroying the Boiling Isles in his wake, but also leaving behind the now-mobilized hosts (Covenheads, Raine, harpy-Lilith) who each help Eda, Luz, King and Collector get to Belos from the inside out. Luz jumps in the way of the Collector being killed and appears to die herself, setting off Eda and King.

"Now Eat this SUCKAAH" - The puppet-ized kids regain their consciousness and begin fighting back and freeing the others under the Collector's spell. Luz wakes up in the in between realm and is helped out by King's dad in finding a way to get out and defeat Belos using the magic of the Titan. In the end Belos melts in the boiling rain and the Collector thanks everyone and goes to confront his family.

"Gone Bygones" - Peek into a bright, Belos-less future for all the characters.

Upside of this alt reality = proper Gus and Willow development, resolution to the Batqueen, actually seeing Caleb and Evelyn andbeebybaby Belos, an answer as to who really made the original portal door, more Stringbean, Lilith having her moment of bonding/actualization with the Owl Beast, resolution on the Titan Trappers, and just a final season overall to really close out the series and send off the characters we all love.

Downside to this alt reality = because Disney's no longer funding it the animation had to be finished by Dingo Pictures and all the voice acting is done by Chris Pratt. Also a nuke went off and we're in the middle of WWIII officially.

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statementends · 3 months

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So who do we think is listening?

Last time of course it seemed like the tape recorders were beholding aligned, but turned out to be the Web using the Beholding's need to archive against it.

We're in a new universe now and a new story with new motives behind the recordings. They're just as sinister as the old ones, but now with internet access in a world where everything has internet.

The spying on the employees of the OIAR certainly aligns with Eye Powers, but it might be a redherring. What if the spying is done by humans this time?

Like, oh spooky the technology is listening into them oooo~~~~ but that sort of technology has been around for a long time. The tape recorders were 'analogue.' They turned themselves on and off, but the computers and phones, and things attached to the internet? That happens in real life right now. Someone can hack your computer and gain access to your web cam. We're in sketchy government department of literal horror. Let's tap everyone's phones!

To what end? Probably something that started as 'for the greater good' and has become a monster of its own.

Time for some conspiracy theories!

So. Here's another question. Was the Magnus Archives listened to by someone in the TMAGP universe? Is that why the OIAR was made? Because they heard the tapes and what happened and have used Jon, Martin, and Jonah(?)'s voices to, with a mixture of horror magic and technology, be able to find incidences.

I'm assuming the Voices in the computer are reading out the real statements. Maybe The Archivist's Voice is doing it automatically. It Knows everything all the time but that's useless if you can't see or search for the information. Whoever built the program needed a way to use the Knowing. So it puts in the data and the Archvist sorts it. Archive gotta archive.

My theory is the Archvist's voice is being used as a tool rather than having any agency or mind.

The OIAR needs to find and document horrors. You have three beholding alligned entities trapped in magnetic tape. You put them in a computer program and boom. You have things that can start monitoring the data you're already stealing from citizens and weed out the real horror from the fake ones.

I wonder if this time corporations and governments will be more overtly trying to use and control the dread powers. Like rather than cults and worship it will be people trying to bend the dread powers toward their own end.

Because the biggest question is, if the Voices are sorting real statements, and someone is listening in part for that reason, then what do they do when real ones are found?

Guess we'll see!

Oh and one more thing. It's called the Magnus Protocol

A protocol is the official procedure or system of rules governing affairs of state.

So when something happens, the protocol gets put into place.

So what is the Magnus Protocol? Is it to do with finding the TMA tapes? Or does it have to do with what the Magnus Insitute of this universe was doing with children (see the ARG).

So like Jon was actually the Magnus Archives, is Sam going to be a part of the Magnus Protocol?

Only time will tell.

#tmagp #tmagp spoilers #feel free to reblog and discuss #statementends conspiracy board #the magnus protocol

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mcytrecursive · 2 months

Text

Nomination Overview - Horror

Buckle in today, we got a BIG category. Let's take a look at some of MCYTblr's favourite things to do with the cubitos- horror.

Title: Lucky number 925 (or the butcherbird's song) Rating: E-rated Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33355348/chapters/82839304 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: Apocynaceae Relationships: Quackity/Jschlatt Characters: Quackity, Jschlatt, Awesamdude Length of the work: 58906 words Genre: Angst, AU, Canon-Divergent, Crossover, Dark Fic, Drama, Horror, Hurt-no-comfort, Smut, Whump, Crossover via hunger games AU Type: Fic Summary: Quackity is a career without a story. The day he steps on stage, volunteering to take the space of a citizen of district 2 in the Games, is the day he sees Schlatt. The drunken, uncaring, and uncouth mentor of district 10. He needs a story to win. Quackity knows Schlatt will be his story. (Or the very unnecessary Hunger Games inspired AU.)

Title: The Pros And Cons Of Digging Your Own Grave Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53507566 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: antimony_medusa Relationships: Niki Nihachu & Ranboo & Technoblade & Philza Characters: Niki Nihachu, Ranboo, Technoblade, Philza Length of the work: 15,260 words Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, AU, Friendship, Horror, Superhero/Superpower AU Type: Fic Summary: Ranboo had tried to strike up a conversation with the person driving the City Defense car, really he had, but they’d responded with bland politeness, and he’d stumbled over his own words, and then he’d given up and stared out the window as they drove downtown. The buildings had steadily gotten taller and more ornate, and now they were crawling along between skyscrapers, him with his gym bag of personal items on the seat next to him and the symbol of his new job resting on his wrist, and the driver staring forward into the vehicle in front of them. They didn’t really blame the driver for not wanting to talk to them. People were always a bit weird about heroes—too aware of their sacrifices or too relieved by their service—and given the choice they would take silence over the person being overly positive about their future or worse—sorry for them. Ranboo slipped their fingertips under the power bracelet again, picking at it like a scab. OR: In a world where being a superhero turns you into a deadly monster, Ranboo is the newest hero recruit. They don't know what they're doing.

Title: Twisted Reflection Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41488152 Fandom: Empires SMP Author: Chalk_Planchette Relationships: None that it focuses on Characters: Lizzie Ldshadowlady Length of the work: 1512 words Genre: AU, Dark Fic, Horror, Magnus Archives AU Type: Fic Summary: [Lizzie] Statement of Lizzie Shadowlady regarding… (Pause) Regarding a monstrous reflection. Statement recorded live by head Archivist on September 7th 2021. Statement begins.

Title: Monolithic Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41547801/chapters/104206269 Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: fluffy_papaya Relationships: hypnotizd & xbcrafted Characters: hypnotizd, xbcrafted Length of the work: 22,030 words Genre: Horror Type: Fic Summary: A half step is all is takes — one second Xb is in the shade of the market stalls, the next he’s slipping through dimensions, Hypno close behind him. Eyes are everywhere. Reality is hidden behind the void. And something quiet stalks their steps, something that cannot die. But hey — they’re Horse Head Farms! And surely, they can survive this.

Title: Goretober Prompt 2 - Trypophobia/Parasite - Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27753124 Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: orphan_account Relationships: none tagged Characters: Grian, Ethoslab, ImpulseSV, Joe Hills, xBCrafted, Rendog Length of the work: 3,333 words Genre: Angst, Horror Type: Fic Summary: The Mycelium Resistance is alive and thriving with their new underground base. Everyone's been in high spirits over the friendly turf war; everyone except for Grian. Ever since messing with the block, he's been growing sicker and sicker, not to mention his growing fascination with mushrooms. When spores begin to sprout in his hair, he waves it off as nothing. Spending too much time around mushrooms can't be harmful, right? WARNING! THIS STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF BLOOD AND GORE. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE TRYPOPHOBIA. **Note: This takes place days after Grian finished the hidden Mycelium Resistance base's interior design.**

Title: PDS 70b Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38010847/chapters/94936891 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: Hoorayy Relationships: Tommyinnit & Wilbur Soot Characters: Tommyinnit and Wilbur Soot. Length of the work: 7152 (incomplete fic) Genre: Horror, Modern AU, Post-Apocalyptic AU, Cosmic Horror, Also it's hurt/comfort and hurt/no comfort Type: Fic Summary: The day the world ends, Wilbur Soot packs a suitcase and leaves. (or, it's the end of the world, and one man drives through the american southwest in search of life.)

Title: no bills in the mail Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48701626/chapters/122850703 Fandom: Lifesteal SMP Author: oneirogen Relationships: Ashswag & Reddoons Characters: Ashswag, Reddoons, Bubblebrooke Length of the work: ~34k words Genre: Angst, AU, Character Study, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Modern AU Type: Fic Summary: Go home, like he hasn’t been spending more time in Red's apartment than his own. Half his clothes are in Red's closet. There's a second toothbrush in the bathroom. Where else is he supposed to go?

Title: completely normal things happening in nevada Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/3478825 Fandom: Lifesteal SMP Author: Anonymous Relationships: ItzSubz/Vitalasy Characters: ItzSubz, Vitalasy, PrinceZam Length of the work: 54,348 words (incomplete series) Genre: Angst, AU, Horror, Modern AU Type: Fic Series Summary: Cryptid/Horror/Mystery Alternate Universe centering around Prince Zam's disappearance told from multiple POVs

Title: Covet Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36814846/chapters/91843975 Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: Oceanbreeze7 Relationships: None tagged Characters: impulseSV. PearlescentMoon, GoodTimesWithScar, mumbo jumbo, EthosLab, Xisumavoid, Rendog, Grian, xBCrafted, FalseSymmetry, Solidarity, InTheLittleWood Length of the work: 102,734 words (incomplete fic) Genre: Drama, Horror Type: Fic Summary: If you notice anything, it leads you to notice more and more The humans talked, throwing bits and things into the passage they called Boatem Hole. The humans spoke to It, gentle and curious. They kept It company, called It a friend. It didn’t understand, but something beyond walls and walls of frosted glass and impermeable fog whispered pained and haunted behind It’s eyes with a voice that hurt to dwell on, don’t you remember this?

Title: sometime before the sun comes up (the earth is gonna crack) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48703030 Fandom: QSMP Author: Odaigahara Relationships: MissaSinfonia&Philza; Wilbur Soot&Philza; Chayanne&Tallulah&Philza Characters: Philza, Tallulah, Chayanne, Wilbur Soot, Missa Length of the work: 10,893 words Genre: Action/Adventure, AU, Found Family, Post-Apocalyptic AU, I'd say there are Horror elements, but as the author did not tag it as such, I'm hesitant to commit to calling it straight-out horror Type: Fic Summary: Tallulah pulled a flute from her bag and put it to her lips, blew a fragile little note that hung in the air like spider silk. Phil stiffened, raising the rifle in preparation– if he could scare the first mermaid, Missa could run up and grab them both– and a dark shape came up from the ocean, seawater rushing off its leathery wings. Bright yellow eyes, white bone shielding its face like an external skull and a head as large as an elephant’s. Missa sucked in a breath, fumbled for his weapon. Phil centered the dragon in the crosshairs, finger on the trigger, and Tallulah reached up to wrap her arms around the monster’s muzzle, leaning halfway over the water. Phil swore. He braced himself for violence, the deceptively quick change from living child into gutted mess, but it never came. Tallulah pulled back and said, Spanish blurring to familiar syllables, “Bobby, this is Chayanne. I told you he’s real.”

Title: Phasmobros AU Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/3811324 Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: Gladumf Relationships: Grian & impulseSV & GoodTimesWithScar & Skizzleman, Grian & GeminiTay, Grian & impulseSV, impulseSV & TangoTek, Grian & TangoTek, GeminiTay & TangoTek, No Romantic Relationship(s) Characters: Grian, Impulse, Scar, Gem, Skizz, Tango Length of the work: 31,480 words (incomplete series) Genre: Angst, AU, Horror, Phasmophobia AU Type: Fic series Summary: A radio transcript of the GIG(G)S team on various ghost hunts for their employer, and a fully written version of one of the worse hunts.

Title: How to Survive Suburbia Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2675548 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: hallmarked_error Relationships: Ranboo & Tubbo Characters: Tubbo, Ranboo Length of the work: 6,902 Genre: AU, Domestic/Slice-of-life, Horror, Urban Fantasy/Werewolf/Vampire AU Type: Fic series Summary: Series: An urban fantasy au partially inspired by HGK477, composed of a series of interconnected one-shots set somewhere in suburbia. Fics take place in the same universe but can be read as stand-alone works. How To Befriend The Monster Underneath Your Bed: Befriending the monster under your bed has always been a risky affair. Tubbo knows this, and knows you either do it right or you die. This is how he attempts to increase his chances of friendship Christmas Eve: Tubbo is thirteen-and-two days old and he is alone on Christmas Eve. He does what any other kid would in his situation - visit a graveyard.

Title: From The Archives Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2888871 Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: Sixteenthdays Relationships: gen Characters: Grian, Hermitcraft Ensemble Length of the work: 129k Genre: AU, Horror, Modern AU Type: Fic Series Summary: A collection of statements from the archives of the Void Institute. (Magnus Archives Au) collection of short horror stories surrounding Hermits and related minecrafters

Title: There's a Reason These Feathers are Barbed Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30824555/chapters/76095047 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: EmJay_Panziku Relationships: Phil Watson & Technoblade, TommyInnit & Technoblade & Phil Watson, Fundy & Wilbur Soot, Wilbur Soot & Jshlatt. Tubbo & Wilbur Soot, Tubbo & TommyInnit, Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Technoblade & TommyInnit Characters: Technoblade, Philza, Tubbo, Wilbur Length of the work: 24,397 words (unfinished fic) Genre: AU, Canon-Divergent, Friendship, Horror, Post-Apocalyptic AU Type: Fic Summary: At what point when you twist a human's body do they stop being human? At what point does their mind come along for the ride? At what point do they themselves cease to recognize themselves as anything but the monster the mirror reflects, and thus cease to exist as anything but that monster? Would it be possible for that monster to remember, to become human again, if they only had a friend?

Title: the things that never happened Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36918175/chapters/92105722 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: artistformerlyknownas Relationships: Karl Jacobs/Sapnap/Quackity Characters: Karl Jacobs, Sapnap, Quackity Length of the work: 26,703 words Genre: AU, Horror, Modern AU, Time Travel Type: Fic Summary: "When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not... but soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that never happened." - Mark Twain // or, a crewboys teen drama horror movie featuring karlnapity and vaguely spooky vibes

Title: Frankenstein Cletho AU Art Link: here Fandom: 3rd Life SMP Author: cerealdog Relationships: Cleo/Etho, Cleo & Etho, Cleo/Bdubs, Cleo & Bdubs, Joel Smallishbeans & Etho Characters: Cleo, Etho, Bdubs, Joel Smallishbeans, Length of the work: not applicable Genre: Action/Adventure, AU, Canon-Divergent, Crossover, Drama, Horror, Romance Type: Art Summary: Full-color art of Frankenstein's Monster!Cleo and Frankenstein!Etho in his lab, as well as three primarily black and white lineart pieces of other scenes from the book reinterpreted with Joel, Bdubs, Etho, and Cleo.

youtube

Title: City of Stars Fandom: Dream SMP Author: Paprikup Relationships: Quackity/Schlatt, Quackity/Karl/Sapnap Characters: Quackity, Sapnap, Karl, Schlatt Genre: Angst, Canon-Compliant, Character Study, Horror, Hurt-no-comfort, Romance Type: Animation Summary: A short animation about the times when Quackity's heart was shattered, the violence of loneliness, and the person (the monster) he's become in the ruins of lost love.

Title: the doves are dead Rating: E-rated Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/3482953 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: emotionsenaationwheel and ollie_oxen_free Relationships: Quackity/Schlatt, Wilbur/Schlatt, Wilbur/Quackity also some Sapnap/Quackity and Karl/Quackity Characters: Schlatt Wilbur Quackity Length of the work: 32,509 words (incomplete series) Genre: Angst, AU, Dark Fic, Horror, Hurt-no-comfort, Modern AU, Smut, Whump, Psychological horror, torture, New French Extremity vibes Type: Fic Series Summary: A series in which Schlatt has the power to control people's minds, and Quackity and Wilbur are his unfortunate victims.

Title: racehorse: get married! Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2575438 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: small_lizard Relationships: Quackity/JSchlatt, Karlnapity, Wilbur/Quackity, Quackity & George Characters: Quackity, Sapnap, Karl, Schlatt, George, Wilbur, Dream Length of the work: 38,564 words (incomplete series) Genre: Angst, Canon-Divergent, Character Study, Domestic/Slice-of-life, Drama, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt-no-comfort Type: Fic Series Summary: A collection of Quackity-adjacent relationship studies that all take place in the canon dsmp universe. Geniunely beautiful works exploring and dissecting several of Quackity's major interpersonal relationships from DSMP canon, including with Schlatt, Wilbur, Tubbo, Karl, Sapnap. Olivet Discourse is the most devastating imo but when reading even a single piece of this series the wider context is always lurking in the back of your mind; no matter how many quiet moments Quackity wins the reader has the knowledge of what's to come and it makes this series haunting.

Title: ouroboros Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42094335/chapters/105682362 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: swordfright Relationships: Dream & Awesamdude, Quackity & Dream & Awesamdude, Quackity & Awesamdude Characters: Awesamdude, Dream (Primarily), Quackity, Ponk, Technoblade (Secondarily) Length of the work: 98,193 words Genre: Canon-Divergent, Horror Type: Fic Summary: ABJECT (/ˈab-jekt/) - Adjective (noun form: the abject) Definitions: 1. The often disturbed reaction to a threatened breakdown in meaning caused by the loss of the distinction between the self and the other. 2. A place of immemorial violence that defies symbolic order. 3. The product of repression that precedes the establishment of the individual's relation to its objects of desire (id) and of representation (ego.) 4. A place where meaning collapses. ___________________ The prison they built together comes alive in a dangerously literal way. Pandora’s Vault breathes and hungers. Canon-compliant through nearly all of the imprisonment arc, branches off into canon divergence between Techno’s visit/escape and the jailbreak stream.

Title: Vanishes soon after bedtime for good Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26702875 Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: 00FFFF Relationships: Grian&mumbojumbo Characters: Grian, Mumbojumbo Length of the work: 4,326 words Genre: Angst, Canon-Divergent, Dark Fic, Horror Type: Fic Summary: Grian has been bitten by a phantom. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem in the slightest; just pop a health potion and you’re on your merry way. But the bite of this phantom caused a rather nasty infection, its venom coursing through Grian’s veins. It changed him, ever so slowly...

Title: shrimp colors Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41515473 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: Hoorayy Relationships: Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap Characters: Quackity, Karl Jacobs, Sapnap Length of the work: 1538 words Genre: Horror, Modern AU, Cosmic horror Type: Fic Summary: “It’s kind of a long story.” Sapnap drawls, “I’d say I have time, but apparently the apocalypse is looming over us.” -- (the host of a cosmic horror, the harbinger of the apocalypse, and a guy who's failing chemistry walk into a diner. they talk about shrimp colors.)

Title: Last of Us + Tntduo Link: here Fandom: Dream SMP Author: ashthefrogprin Relationships: Quackity/Wilbur Characters: Quackity, Wilbur Length of the work: not applicable Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, AU, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Apocalyptic AU, Romance, Slow Burn Type: Art Summary: A series of images depicting quackbur in a The Last of Us AU, followed by a brief summary of a few scenes the artist was imagining. Wilbur has a shotgun; Quackity has an axe. They're both traveling across the country together trying to find a safe harbor with other survivors-- and, as it turns out, being in close quarters with someone during life-threatening situations means the two of you tend to bond. Odd thing, that.

Title: not applicable Link: here Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: qhideduo Relationships: Grian & Scar Characters: Grian, Scar Length of the work: not applicable Genre: Angst, AU, Crossover, Horror Type: Art Summary: In which Scar is an avatar of the End and Grian is an Avatar of the Slaughter. (Grian has trouble finding people to kill to feed his patron. Scar suggests that Grian kill him since he'll come back anyways. Grian has concerns and hesitates, but does it with Scar's assurances.)

Title: Lifeline AU Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/3156309 Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: SlashMagpie Relationships: Impulse & Tango, Impulse & Pearl, Bdubs & Etho, False & Stress, Impulse & Skizz, Pearl & Tango Characters: Impulse, Tango, Pearl, Etho, Bdubs, False, Cleo, Skizz, Ren Length of the work: 299,349 words Genre: Action/Adventure, AU, Fantasy AU, Horror, Modern AU, Time Travel, Space AU Type: Fic Series Summary: A science fantasy AU about a species of body-snatching aliens attempting to take over the Earth and the ragtag bunch of misfits trying to stop them. Based on the Lifeline series of mobile games.

Title: Choke Down My Poison (I’m Breathing You In) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48146797/chapters/121412023 Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: MawoftheMagnetar Relationships: None tagged Characters: ZombieCleo, Zedaph, TangoTek, Docm77 Length of the work: 9,461 words Genre: Angst, AU, Dark Fic, Horror, Apocalypse Type: Fic Summary: That's not water dripping from the stalactites. That's not moss under your feet. That's not condensation on your faceplate. That's not something you should be thinking about. Your friends are waiting at the bottom, silly! OR: Zed and Cleo need to find Tango. Before it's too late.

Title: Eclosion Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51105736 Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: Sixteenthdays Relationships: None tagged Characters: Ethoslab, Goodtimeswithscar, Cubfan135 Length of the work: 1,132 words Genre: Horror Type: Fic Summary: Etho holds his breath, keeps absolutely still. A creeper wanders past him, brushing the high grass aside. He catches a glimpse, through the underbrush, of a glint of blue.

Title: Red Red Red Red Red Red! Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53143222 Fandom: peniSMP, but specifically peniSMP x2 Author: RottingHead Relationships: - Penisisunavailable/Shittyfartbaby69 - Penisisunavailable & Various peniSMP characters - Admiral Anus & Various characters Characters: Penisisunavailable and Admiral Anus. Length of the work: 1,078 words Genre: AU, Canon-Divergent, Dark Fic, Horror, Hurt-no-comfort Type: Fic Summary: The peniSMP x 2 spawn island is alive and is an eldritch horror. Bad times ensue.

Title: Interlude From Another Reality: Taxidermy Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/40264314/chapters/100852947 Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: sixteenthdays Relationships: No ships Characters: Joe Hills, Grian, Goodtimeswithscar Length of the work: 3,921 words Genre: AU, Canon-Divergent, Crossover, Horror Type: Fic Summary: [GRIAN] Are you the manager? Because when I asked the person at the front to direct me to a manager they told me to come here. I have a complaint. [JOE] Well, I can understand that. (A couple non-canon bonus scenes to my From the Archives series, in a timeline where everything is a little bit upside down.)

Title: Scarecrow AU (When The Sunlight Dies) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2556517 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: personalized_radio, bramble_patch (Marianne_Dashwood) Relationships: Dream/GeorgeNotFound, Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, Quackity/Jschlatt Characters: Karl Jacobs, Dream, GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, Quackity, Jschlatt, Wilbur Soot, DreamXD Length of the work: 511,877 words Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, AU, Dark Fic, Drama, Family, Fantasy AU, Friendship, Found Family, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Kidfic, Romance, Royalty AU Type: Fic Series Summary: It's been three months since the coup. Three months since Sapnap, a knight, and George, his prince, have been chased out of their home. Three months of being on the run, trying to find a safe way out of Kinoko without being caught by the president's mercenaries or an opportunistic bounty hunter. It's hard, but it would be a lot easier if he didn't have to worry about George's sudden taste for wandering. Or the two guides that have worked their way into his group, promising them a safer way out of the kingdom. And it would be a whole lot easier if Sapnap wasn't flying solo, doing a job made for two. And then there's the Godling to worry about. Yeah. That's a whole thing. (Summary is for "When The Sunlight Dies", the first story in the series)

Title: greener grasses Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31163336/chapters/79676620 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: Apocynaceae Relationships: Quackity/Schlatt, Quackity&Karl, Quackity/Eret Characters: Quackity, Schlatt, Karl Jacobs, BadBoyHalo, Awesamdude, Ponk, Tommyinnit Length of the work: 569,475 words (unfinished fic) Genre: AU, Crossover, Drama, Horror, Modern AU, Post-Apocalyptic AU, Slow Burn, Time Travel, College AU Type: Fic Summary: Twenty-two years after the Survival Multiplayer event, Quackity has dreams of attending a law program in a walled city out West. Desperate to pay for expenses during his next semester at ManbergU, he accepts a TA position with his former professor. It's Quackity's last chance to get out of Manberg. It's his worst mistake. Features ghosts, time travel, possession, alternate universes, nonconsensual drug use, academic misconduct like you would not believe, an apocalypse, and midterm drama.

Title: you don’t know how you got here (you just know you want out) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48603814 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: Marrow_and_Bone Relationships: Quackity/Schlatt, Quackity/Wilbur Soot, Quackity/Sapnap/Karl Jacobs Characters: Quackity, Schlatt, Wilbur Soot, Ranboo, Tubbo, Dream, Sapnap Length of the work: 15,910 words Genre: Angst, AU, Character Study, Drama, Horror, Romance Type: Fic Summary: Like every other severed employee of DSMP Inc, Alex exists as two different people, who share the same body but know nothing about each other. Every morning when he goes to work, Alex becomes Quackity, and until now he’s been content to leave his other life a mystery. But then late one night in a diner parking lot, Alex is confronted by a strange older man with mutton chop sideburns and alcohol on his breath, whom Alex can’t remember having met before but who clearly recognizes him, who calls him “Quackity” and tells him they’ve been lied to. And less than five minutes later, that man is lying dead on the ground.

Title: this is about a stuffed bird Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36163102/chapters/90146260 Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: Bee_4 Relationships: Mumbo Jumbo & Evil Xisuma Characters: Mumbo Jumbo, Evil Xisuma Length of the work: 78,043 words Genre: Action/Adventure, AU, Character Study, Friendship, Horror, Post-Apocalyptic AU, Type: Fic Summary: In which Mumbo crosses several towns, learns some creative methods of self-defense, fights some monsters, sees things no human is meant to have seen, befriends a stranger, steals multiple cars, has inconvenient moral scruples, grows increasingly terrified of his own culpability in the apocalypse, grows a spine, blows up at least one building, accidentally prevents a murder, and attempts to find his best friend in the futile but ever-burning hope the man’s still alive. He has to say, he’s so exhausted and terrified that he thinks he might just be mad? (OR: the one where, after most of humanity turns into a series of terrifying monsters, Mumbo decides he’s going to risk his life on an apocalypse road trip to try to find out if Grian is alive. Things, as you might imagine, devolve from there.)

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#Nomination Overview #Youtube

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popatochisssp · 5 months

Note

Hi!! If the Papyri are knights what are the Sanses? Also you should totally make an AU of this, you beautiful brain

You have no idea, none of you have any idea how absolutely insane I went about this goofy little one-off AU concept

...Some of you have an idea. And some of you maybe know me well enough to have just guessed I would go off the rails the way I have lol

Anyway, this is the first, but absolutely not the last of The Court AU:

Sans (Undertale): The court jester, in possession of a quick wit and a cutting sense of humor and with no desire to let either go to waste. He’s much beloved at court and prides himself on his ability to make even the stuffiest of courtiers chuckle with his jokes and pranks—and his jester’s privilege makes him nigh untouchable to those who somehow aren’t amused by him. It’s a good life…

Papyrus (Undertale): A proud knight of the kingdom and a member of the Royal Guard! Er…well…eventually, he will be. The Captain won’t make him a full member of the Guard until he’s proven his valor through a series of knightly quests…but she won’t tell him what the quests are, so he travels the kingdom as a knight-errant, helping those in need and solving problems that may or may not have needed solving! You’re welcome, good citizens!

Sky (Underswap Sans): A squire, or knight-in-training, attendant to the Captain of the Guard until he properly earns his own knighthood. …Frankly, he’s already capable and qualified to be a knight now, but he’s aware that the Captain has some reservations regarding his health and is hesitating to just give him the job because of it. He fully intends to prove himself to her in the line of active duty, and someday be recognized as a fully-fledged knight of the realm.

Paps (Underswap Papyrus): The court archivist, most at home amidst shelves of tomes and records and far away from the social obligations of the court itself. He tracks and preserves all kind of documents, from agricultural reports to genealogies to romantic poetry, and is on call to locate specific texts for any nobles or otherwise literate folks seeking to reference them. It gets a bit musty sometimes but he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Jasper (Underfell Sans): A mercenary, traveling the kingdom in search of people to sell his sword to for a bit of coin—and then traveling in search of satisfying ways to spend that coin. He does occasionally venture outside the kingdom for both of these things, but he has quite a few connections to well-paying opportunities within the borders, so as much as he avoids putting down roots, he tends not to stray too far from ‘home.’

Pyre (Underfell Papyrus): A knight in the Royal Guard, touted as a black knight for the scorched and stained armor he wears—a marker of the many deadly, heroic feats he’s conquered. No quest is too dangerous, no enemy too great for him to overcome, and he bravely takes on what lesser knights fear to risk. He’s quite accomplished dealing with dragons, and wildfires, and even mages, who always seem to cast fireballs and…well, perhaps that’s the reason his armor is so blackened…

Mal (Swapfell Sans): Personal guard to the Empress herself, nominally part of the Royal Guard as well but far from the front-lines of battle as his duty to her highness’ safety comes first and foremost. He’s involved in a lot of the structuring and scheduling of patrols for the lower ranking guardsmen, and his opinion is often sought in matters of state and military, but his primary concern is accompanying the Empress wherever she goes, or standing post just outside the door. Only on rare occasions does anyone else fill his role, and that’s just the way he likes it.

Rus (Swapfell Papyrus): He’s a nobleman who used his wealth and free time to pursue a passion in painting. His passion paid off in the form of a bit of notoriety for his work and several offers of patronage from other nobility seeking portraits and frescoes and the like done in his hand. …Or as he sees it, rich people paying him to do what he loves instead of some sort of actual job. As long as he can comfortably afford his paints, he’s happy.

Slate (Horrortale Sans): He’s a stableman at the queen’s castle, looking after the horses and hunting dogs kept there. He isn’t as quick as he used to be, and his memory hasn’t been the same since his head injury, but he was graciously employed elsewhere rather than dismissed and it’s…fine. Well enough, at least. It’s dirty and often thankless work, but he is fond of the animals, and much prefers their company to anyone else.

Papy (Horrortale Papyrus): He’s a medic in service to the knights of the Royal Guard. He actually used to be among their number…sort of…but there were some changes, in his life, and his eye-sight isn’t really what it used to be anyway, and… Well! He spent some time learning from the court physician and got very interested in ways to treat illness and injury. He’s not as skilled and knowledgeable as a full-fledged healer but he’s happily on hand for minor training accidents and sicknesses or injuries in those coming back from patrols. He loves to be able to help!

Ash (Undergloom Sans): A musician who plays his trusty horn for the court during all the feasts and festivals. He’s only one player of many but enough of a talent to be selected for the job and pleased that his music should entertain the king and queen and all their noble guests. It’s not the most glorious of positions but he’s happy enough doing it and lives well for his station.

Yrus (Undergloom Papyrus): Head cook in the castle kitchens, a station he worked up to from the bottom as a lowly kitchen boy. He has a lot of experience making meals for the royal couple and for all the nobles that regularly attend court gatherings and he knows how to give the people what they want. There are several other cooks and kitchen attendants that work with him but it’s his job to make decisions and keep everything running smoothly, which keeps him busy but happily so.

Brick (Horrorfell Sans): He sticks exclusively to the royal court these days, not as a hired sword but as a wealthy and rakish duke of the kingdom. His brother gave him the title and it’d be stupid not to take advantage of the perks—though he does have to earn them. He’s less a hired sword now and more a hired axe, performing the duty of the royal executioner whenever he’s called upon to do so. No need to wear a hood, everyone knows who he is and what he does to enemies of the crown.

King (Horrorfell Papyrus): The king of the castle, in a very literal sense. Some may call him a usurper or a traitor to the crown to have seized the throne for himself without proper claim… and for those people he arranges a meeting between their necks and his brother’s blade. He seized the throne because he’s loyal to the crown and the queen he deposed was wearing it quite poorly. If he could, he would’ve stepped down by now and given way to the true queen, but the people have been through enough upheaval—so he will remain as their king, as long as is necessary.

Merc (Horrorswap Sans): A cursed king who lives an austere, lonely life in a desolate castle by the sea. He fled from his true realm in disgrace and now awaits an end to his curse or his shame—whichever comes first—in the ruins of a fallen kingdom as degraded as he is. He doesn’t expect to be found, or saved from the curse that his own choices wrought upon him, and just tries to bear his fate with the grace expected of him.

Ell (Horrorswap Papyrus): Prince-errant of his kingdom, meant to be ruling his people but instead gallivanting off across the countryside in search of his missing brother. He wants to find him and know he’s well about as much as he doesn’t want to go back and be the ruler of a kingdom, for which he was never properly trained and is wholly unprepared! Maybe in his search and his hardships, he can find the strength and maturity to do what the kingdom needs him to do…but he’s not there yet, and finding his brother is his priority.

Pitch (Horrorswapfell Sans): Every knight in the Royal Guard is hand-picked and trained by him. He held a high office among the guardsmen once, but a severe injury put him out of commission and without his sight, he was no longer fighting fit, as they say. Still, his strength and his skill didn’t abandon him and while he could be a liability on the battlefield, he’s nothing less than a powerful asset when it comes to training the knights up to his own exacting standards. Only the best make it through his gauntlet.

Nemo (Horrorswapfell Papyrus): He walks the wall of the castle at night, standing guard for any threats to the kingdom that might otherwise go unseen. He takes his duty very seriously and refuses to let any night pass without a watchman on duty, even in foul weather or nights of great feasts and festivals. His vigilance has protected the kingdom from many a threat and he feels certain that his job is of much higher importance than any frivolous pastimes he absorbed himself in before.

Sunny (Gastertale Sans): A courtier of…mysterious origin. He’s often at court, making conversation and telling colorful stories to anyone whose ear he can snatch—and he manages to snatch quite a few—but no one can manage to figure out quite where he came from or what he ought to be doing. Mostly, he entertains himself and others with various leisurely pursuits, games, hunts, dances, songs, and as such he’s a well-liked person at court…wherever he came from.

Aster (Gastertale Papyrus): Another man of mystery who appeared at court on the heels of his brother, though far less flamboyantly. He’s obviously a learned man, well-educated and well-spoken, and though he wasn’t as warmly embraced by the courtiers at large, he was eventually welcomed into the king’s confidence as a royal advisor. The backing of the king being what it is, he’s accepted and respected as probably some sort of nobleman, regardless of his unclear origin, and continues to advise the king on matters of state.

Spectr (Transcendtale Sans): A wanderer, uprooted from his life and former kingdom and left to walk the land in search of meaning. Some say his kingdom was destroyed but for a small handful of survivors. Some say he turned to dark magic and sold his soul for the chance. to take revenge on the one who desolated his home. Some say he’s ageless, bones turned to cold iron and chest empty of breath to contain the power he now holds. …They’re all right. But his quest is long over, and all that’s left to do now is wander.

PapAIrus (Transcendtale Papyrus): He’s a proud knight of the kingdom! He may not have been in the Royal Guard when he was tragically cut down before his time, but he did come back from death as a ghostly semblance of himself at the same time everyone else did—and when your Captain is no longer worried that you might get yourself killed in battle because you already did, promotions are in order! So, he now serves his phantom kingdom as a phantom knight, valiantly and eagerly, but of course, taking time every now and then to visit his (mostly) living family member, to keep him from brooding too hard.

Xanth (Ascendswap Sans): It’s…slightly unclear what he does. He’s seemed strange for a time, a bit touched, but the queen seems to hold him in high esteem and never fails to consult him (among others) before any major decisions are made. Sometimes he’ll appear in unusual places with cryptic messages, or look into peoples’ eyes and divine their intentions (should they be ill ones), and for all this, though he holds no specific title, he’s at least informally called the court mystic. There are rumors that his strangeness and that of those closest to him is because he made contact and some sort of bargain with the faefolk…but those are surely just rumors.

Piper (Ascendswap Papyrus): The royal falconer, primary trainer, keeper, and handler of all the hawks and falcons owned by the queen. It wasn’t a job he was born into, but one he sought out of the blue one day, and he earned his way by demonstrating a remarkable affinity for the birds even prior to any training. By now he’s a figure of great respect for the command he has over the flighted beasts, and he happily demonstrates it during the queen’s feasts and king’s hunts.

Carmine (Underfell Fruition Sans): He’s earned his way at court with talent, performing dazzling displays of bullets and other magic for nobles and royals alike. He’s a standout from other such entertainers in that his well of magic never seems to run dry and he can keep showing off his juggling and his light shows and his dancing bullets from sun-up to sun-down without ever tiring. He doesn’t talk much about his life before coming to court, but he’s happy now so it’s just as well.

Tank (Underfell Fruition Papyrus): He was trained from a very young age to be a soldier, a paladin meant to fight in a holy war and raised to believe his greatest purpose was to die on the battlefield and bring glory to the cause. That all…never happened. He was freed from the grip of the zealots and reunited with the brother he hadn’t seen in ages, but then left at odds for what to do now—a warrior with no war to fight. Eventually he becomes apprenticed to a carpenter in town in the hopes of learning a trade to live on, and…he’s starting to be content.

Vi (Swapfell Fruition Sans): Spymaster to the crown, head of a small network of covert informants, assassins, thieves and the rest of their ilk. It was a career he…inherited…but also one he carried out diligently, carefully, and above all, secretly. At least, until his brother married and he left to join him in his new kingdom, where he serves much the same function at court—with the added responsibility of wrangling and occasionally nominally filling in for the crown prince. All according to plan.

Hunter (Swapfell Fruition Papyrus): He was in the same family business as his brother, but when he caught the eye of a visiting monarch and won an invitation to their kingdom, to marry, well… how could he refuse? And when, after an unsuspicious amount of time, his spouse is found dead under mysterious—but not too mysterious—circumstances, and no one from the proper line of succession seems to be coming to take their place… He really has no choice but to go from the prince consort to the crown prince, for the sake of his late spouse’s people. He’s far from a proper or responsible prince, and certainly has some kind of reputation, but he’s pleased enough with how everything’s going.

Kohl (Descendtale Sans): He minds the royal dungeons. It’s not what he started out doing, but somewhere along the way he lost the humor for anything else, and it’s as good a job as any. Not too many strangers make it into the kingdom these days, but plenty have foul intentions and it is something he takes some pride in, keeping watch over those ill-meaning outsiders and making sure they stay put, where they belong. He’s not the kindest of dungeon-keepers, but quite frankly, since when was ‘kindness’ part of that job description?

Bram (Descendtale Papyrus): His brother keeps the dungeon and he keeps the grounds. While a groundskeeper isn’t anything close to what he thought he’d want to be, a lot has happened—to him personally and to the kingdom as a whole—and well, he’s providing a very valuable service with his work, humble though it may be. Anyone with skin would have a horrid time pruning back all the wicked, cursed thorns that keep trying to consume the realm, and unchecked, they could probably run wild in less than a fortnight, where would they all be if he let that happen?

#anonymous #headcanons #court au #undertale #underswap #underfell #swapfell/fellswap #horrortale #undergloom #horrorfell #horrorswap #horrorswapfell #gastertale #transcendtale #ascendswap #underfell fruition #swapfell fruition #descendtale

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archivlibrarianist · 1 year

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"Encompassing field recording, sound art and sound mapping, every location on the Cities and Memory sound map features two sounds: the original field recording of that place, and a reimagined sound that presents that place and time as somewhere else, somewhere new."

Interesting. I can see this having a lot of potential. Does anyone here have any experience with it?

#Cities and Memory #sound map...literally #sound art #field recording #data visualization #citizen archivists

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usnatarchives · 2 months

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"It's a tradition with us, mister!" - Volunteer for the #RevWarVets mission today.

Under the alias Robert Shurtliff, Deborah Gannett served valiantly for over two years. She braved the battlefield at Tarrytown, was wounded, and stood witness to Cornwallis’s surrender. Remarkably, she is believed to be the only woman to receive a pension for her own service in the Revolution.

This story is just one of many waiting to be discovered and shared through the #RevWarVets Transcription Project in partnership with the National Park Service.

Your participation can make a huge difference. By joining our transcription project, you help bring these vital stories of our first veterans to light, ensuring they are remembered and honored.

Get started today!

Project Page: https://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist/missions/revolutionary-war-pension-files

Deborah’s Catalog entry:

#RevWarVets #Revolutionary War #National Archives #Transcription #HERstory #History #Veterans #Citizen Archivist #Research #Women's History Month

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auroratournament · 5 months

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Arc 1 Aurora Tournament round 1, 2 and 3 have ended!! Round 4 links in reblogs!!!!!!

Thank you to everyone who submitted propaganda! Round 1 match-ups under cut, with links to each poll! Have fun!!!

Kendal vs. Shrike

Caliban vs. Paladin Champion

The Twins vs. Every Single Cave Crawler

Dainix vs. Lady Ilia

Jolon vs. The Collector

The Light Dragon vs. Zuurith

The Junior Archivist vs. Tynan

The Void Dragon vs. The Arenamaster

Erin vs. Trusk

Kria vs. The Citizens of Vash

Emira vs. The Glort

Alinua vs. Gleicann

Falst vs. Tahraim

Galen vs. Falst's Dad

Vash vs. Lady Huracan

Tess vs. Life

#comic aurora #aurora comic #aurora webcomic #comicaurora

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archaiclumina · 19 days

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I was tagged by ཻུ۪۪♡.@sundered-souls ཻུ۪۪♡. in this fun little tag game! Thank you so much for thinking of me! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡

I did something similar for Oli dear recently, so I thought I'd do this one for Ren c:

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Name: Cyfrenne Mirandis (Phoentic: SIHF-ren MIH-ran-DIHS)

Nicknames: Ren, Frenne (used only by her uncle and occasionally Leontyne.) Cyf (used by Callineaux, to annoy her.)

Age: 34

Nameday: 19th Day of the Second Umbral moon Race: Elezen (Her model is Duskwight, but technically, Ren's family have been citizens of Sharlayan for like two centuries, so she doesn't really consider herself a Duskwight at all. She's got no knowledge of the clans experience in Gridania and The Shroud.)

Gender: Female

Orientation: This is hard for me to answer c': It never really comes up in my writing tbh, so I don't bother to think about it. I do ship her with my husband's characters for fun, but nothing we joke about in terms of ships are canon. Ren has no canon romantic relationships. She's married to her work and her research. I guess she's in a platonic life partnership with Oli? lol.

Profession: Archivist, Bibliomancer

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Hair: White with hints of lilac, especially toward the tips

Eyes: Violet. One slightly darker than the other.

Skin: Slate blue

Tattoos/scars: None

ｆａｍｉｌｙ

Parents: Father, Conarique Mirandis Mother, Venesande Lorenaire (unmarried)

Siblings: None she knows about, but neither of her parents were married so she could have half-siblings somewhere, potentially.

Grandparents: Grandfather, Eyvanellain Mirandis Grandmother, Milesevain Mirandis nee Urseult

Grandfather, Urmenost Lorenaire Grandmother, Solette Lorenaire nee Haustefort In-laws and Other: Uncle, Zancefer Mirandis

Pets: None

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Abilities: Aetherolinguistics, Advanced Arcanima, Bibliomancy, Enchantment and binding cants, memory salads* *I elaborated slightly on this previously here

Hobbies: Weaving, long walks at midnight, making jewellery (especially rings), gossiping and drinking coffee, reading, giving Leontyne social lessons, watching Callineaux lose at cards, eating Oliviede's baking.

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Most Positive Trait: She's fun!

Most Negative Trait: She's a liar :c

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Colors: Ren likes all colours, as long as they're combined tastefully with accompanying shades. Her favorite colour is gold. (I like to put her in purples and blues because I just like how she looks in those colours in game, but canonically, Ren wears a wide variety of colours and cuts of clothing. She' very vain, you know? c': )

Smells: Peppermint, frankincense, pepper, vellum, wax

Textures: Old parchment, soft chiffon, porcelain, lacquered wood, uncut gemstones

Drinks: Dirty Chai, hazlenut milk, something fruity with rum or gin (two shots!)

ｏｔｈｅｒｄｅｔａｉｌｓ

Smokes: Not very often, but maybe something Oli offers her once in a while.

Drinks: Weekly, at least.

Drugs: See above comments regarding Oli.

Mount Issuance: Cyfrenne has a Chocobo whose name is Sorrel, he's very spoiled, he lives on Costa del Cobra with the rest of her uncle's Racing Chocbos. Fun fact: Sorrel is the little brother of "Bonecrusher" a current, albeit rarely successful, racer at the Gold Saucer. (Callineaux picked the name.)

Been Arrested: Not yet!

Tagging these beloved moots! As always, no pressure to do it/sorry if you've already been tagged! જ⁀➴♡⸝⸝ @angelinecarax, @dragons-ire, @archivumesoterica, @candycryptids, @improvised-finish, @the-unending-journey, @luck-and-larceny, and @dragonsongmakhali ʚɞ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

#tysm for the tag! <33 #tag games #ren #edited this to fix name pronunciation because I suck at phoentic spellings and it's not a real name so all the translators are like wonk c'

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mllemaenad · 3 months

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Right, well, I wanted to write, so I'm going to do that, even if my wrists hurt. Things I will pay for later, but make me feel better now.

Have now listened to episodes 1 and 2 of The Magnus Protocol.

My first impression is that this is much worse than what was going on in The Magnus Archives.

The Magnus Institute was a private institution with no obvious access to other people's information (Magnus's occasional psychic spying notwithstanding). Most information it received seems to have at least been given willingly. There are a handful of instances of John forcing people to talk, yes, but not so many that I am constantly concerned for the privacy of London's citizens. Gertrude is said to have disliked compelling people to talk (Family Business), so while her tally very likely exceeds John's purely due to the length of time she was in the job, it's still probably not very high. It's impossible to account for the behaviour of previous archivists of course but, well, the whole place is set up to entice people in to tell their tales. I would hazard that most of the materiel in the archives was volunteered.

Even in cases where someone was forced – at least they knew about it, because they were there. The lady in Scrutiny who was so deeply disturbed by John's behaviour was also able to make that behaviour stop just by rolling up to The Magnus Institute and reporting it – which is a reasonably straightforward outcome, given the general weirdness of their world.

I don't mean to say that The Magnus Institute didn't do harm – it very obviously did. But even in terms of its final apocalypse, we're looking at a horror that lasted mere months (assuming a passage of time that broadly corresponds to the broadcasting schedule) before a group of disgruntled employees (and Georgie) burned the nightmare tower down, stabbed Magnus and reset reality. There were limitations to The Magnus Institute's reach, and Jonah Magnus's personal ambitions concluded with an utter, embarrassing flop by any reasonable estimation.

Here, though, you're looking at a government department with truly concerning access to people's data. The forum-based statement in First Shift is perhaps not too awful (forum threads can often be read by anyone, even if actually posting requires an account), but the earlier piece regarding the bereaved woman was a private email thread, and the story in Making Adjustments is drawn from a recording of a woman's session with her therapist. Sam calls out the massive invasion of privacy this sort of thing entails, but is shut down on the grounds that it's fine because they "work for the government".

Alice Ok, so looks like it's an email. Sam And I just… read it? Is that even legal? Alice Probably. We do work for the government. Sort of. Sam What about GDPR? Alice Look, Sam, I don't know what to tell you. This is the job. I've been doing it for years and there's never been any problems. Maybe ask Lena? She’d probably know. – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

While it is too early to definitively establish the worldbuilding rules here:

In The Magnus Archives, giving a statement was functionally feeding an eldritch power

Gertrude Robinson took statements, but kept the archives themselves in a state of disarray, to impede Magnus's plans (Dwelling)

Much of The Magnus Archives played on the difference between knowing a thing and understanding it

The characters in The Magnus Protocol are not just collecting, but blindly categorising statements – they are organising them by keyword, but not encouraged to analyse what they see or hear – Alice notes that they are paid not to care (Making Adjustments)

At least in The Magnus Archives, making a statement tended to come with consequences: typically horrifying recurring nightmares

So you have to wonder – what consequences will there be for these people, who have had their stories stolen from them?

In terms of workplace horror, this is very much coming at it from the opposite direction. The Magnus Archives was about the horrible job you couldn't quit. Most people find themselves stuck in these for economic reasons rather than supernatural ones, although in fairness both Martin (Children of the Night) and Melanie (Dig) are explicitly called out as very much needing the work, but the characters are nevertheless stuck and constantly call back to the fact that they would absolutely quit – if only they could.

It ran on punishing hours and constant exhaustion, the expectation that you would take on tasks you were in no way qualified or trained for (this started with "archiving" and escalated quickly to "apocalypses"), the boss who expected you to "just know" things you couldn't possibly know at all, and a soul destroying amount of responsibility with little hope of advancement. The same person ran the institute since its founding, literally consuming his employees along the way, and if you wanted, say, to be Head Archivist, you were very much stuck waiting for the current occupant of the role to die.

It is significant that, with the noted exception of Eric Delano, all of Gertrude's assistants died on the job (some of them by her hand), and tallying John's assistants is a bit like listing off the wives of Henry VIII: dead, dead, dead, divorced, survived, status unknown. While the story leans on deaths for drama, it gets a lot of mileage out of using historical data, so characters stick around. It's weird for them to be actually gone.

The Magnus Protocol opens with Teddy quitting the OIAR to take a job in insurance. The very first thing you learn about this place is that people leave, and this idea is reinforced a number of times even in the first two episodes: Gwen is pressured to resign by Lena because she is "difficult", and Lena notes outright that, for most people, this job is strictly short term:

Lena Hmmm. I’ve always known you thought you were slumming it down here, but I never actually considered you might think of this as the first step of a career. Most people simply move on within 12 months or so. Gwen I’m not most people. – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

Moreover, Making Adjustments concludes first with a fraught conversation about possible redundancies and then with Alice accusing Sam (however playfully) of looking to "jump ship" when he's seen researching The Magnus Institute.

This is the horrible job you might lose tomorrow. While the threat in The Magnus Archives was that you were probably going to die in this job, here it leans more toward – if you didn't show up tomorrow, who would question it? People leave.

It is a night shift, for no clear reason – they're doing data entry on what definitely looks like non-essential information so why the hell can't they do that in the day? Employees are not encouraged to think about their work, and Gwen is criticised for favouring accuracy over speed. It is grimly impersonal, and what little solidarity there is appears to be hard won; it's noted, for instance, that Colin is really only social with Alice, and Alice seems committed to team camaraderie.

But above that is the sense that the employees are considered too insignificant to participate in what is really happening here. I mean, among other things, Colin seems to be having a wildly different workplace experience to everyone else.

Alice postulates that they are a fossilised department – one that only really exists because it's been forgotten – although even she notes that the theory only works if you don't poke at it too hard:

Sam I've no real idea what the OIAR even is. Alice You and everyone else. I’ve checked and there's not really much info on it. My current working theory is that maybe it got set up in the 70s, back when everyone was off their tits on LSD and giving ghost-hunters massive grants to wave crystals in graveyards. I reckon at some point they must have put together a small government department to, like, oversee the spending and monitor this stuff and no-one's noticed it's still going. Sam Makes sense. Alice As long as you don’t pay too much attention. – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

Even if that is a bit extreme, the general consensus is that their work goes nowhere and does nothing. Which fits broadly with the general lack of action and urgency in the department ... unless you happen to be Colin.

Alice Colin! There’s my guy! How's it hanging? Is it an app yet? Do we have a minimalist logo? I assume you’ve finished all the social features? Colin Don't you start. I swear I'm going to shove a cable down that prick's throat, pull it out his ministerial anus and floss him to death. ... Teddy Colin, mate, you know you’re never getting out of here. Colin Christ, don’t say that. Teddy Even if his nibs lets you off the hook, which he won’t, you couldn’t bring yourself to just leave. Not 'til you’ve figured out all these fun little errors. Colin Or they finally kill me. ... Colin I already have to explain to some chinless inbred politician that we’re running on something as old as the goddamn Atari Falcon, now I’ve got some green little smartarse giving me lip for it too? Well you can take your funny little lines and shove them up – – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

Colin, specifically, is suffering from ministerial oversight. A lot of it, apparently. Departments that only continue to exist because they've been forgotten don't typically have the responsible minister leaning on the IT manager. Not even on the boss – the IT guy. It's interesting because his specific level of stress and frustration seems more consistent with what was going on in The Magnus Archives than here.

And then, of course, there are the stories themselves. It's impossible not to note that the text-to-speech programs sound an awful lot like the protagonists of the previous series. Presumably this is plot relevant, or else it's a really distracting choice. It's impossible to state at this stage whether that means it actually is them or not, but assuming for the moment that it is (because it is not interesting to discuss other possibilities until they become interesting) then what they have to say seems noteworthy.

They are presumably reacting to Sam specifically (welcome to the cursed protagonist club, new guy!), possibly to the box he ticked during onboarding, and likely to whatever past trauma led him to this job in the first place. And both seem to be issuing a warning.

Norris/Martin tells a story that Gwen classifies as "reanimation", but I admit I'm not sure I agree. The thing sounds like an iteration of the Anglerfish monster.

Norris/Harriet Winstead “Arthur? Is that you?” And that voice I have loved for twenty years answered: “Some of him.” – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

Archivist Are you the same Sarah Baldwin that disappeared in Edinburgh in August 2006? Sarah Some of her. Skin. A few memories. Not on the inside. – The Magnus Archives: Return to Sender

That feels at least in part like an Easter egg – no newcomer is going to recognise the Anglerfish – but it is the crossing of the boundary: this is the first true story they heard, and proof that there is something very wrong with the world. And presumably the themes of grief and loss that pervade the story would relate pretty strongly to Martin's whole ... situation. I'm assuming nobody here chose to be a text-to-speech program.

Chester/John, meanwhile, issues a fairly stern warning about The Magnus Institute. The canary in the coal mine is a bit on-the-nose as a metaphor, sure, but if I were trying to explain to someone what was wrong with that place, I would likely also be blunt. The rough thing, though, is that quite explicitly no one heeds the warning: while the "removed" image is not described it pretty clearly illustrated RedCanary's fate. It's not just that the canary died down the mine. It's that it died in vain, because no one understood what killed it. And of course, it does pique Sam's interest to the point that he starts digging in to what happened. I'm disinclined to believe that curiosity is bad in these stories – if anything, John's issue was that he could never find out the things he needed to know fast enough to make a good decision. But there is a point there ... if you start looking into things, you have to be prepared to deal with them.

The third one, in Making Adjustments seems to be playing somewhat on The Picture of Dorian Gray: Sam and Gwen start the episode by doing practice runs on classification using classic horror, and the story, when it begins, draws on that confusion between art and subject. You can line Dorian up beside Dracula and Frankenstein any day. But the bigger point seems to be that the catalyst for this happened on camera:

Daria Before I could reply they hit a button on their set-up and suddenly we were live streaming with lights in my eyes and their arm tight around my shoulders. I don’t remember much of what they said to their viewers, but they kept telling everyone how lucky I was whilst they dragged me into the chair. – The Magnus Protocol: Making Adjustments

There are nested violations in this story: Daria expected a photo shoot, but at no point agreed to be tattooed on camera. Beyond that, the story she told in private to her therapist is now being recorded and catalogued by the OIAR. And whatever happened to Daria, this "Ink5oul" person seems to have profited by it, and by things like it.

I must admit, I'm not much of a "what entity is this" person, because as far as I could tell the general consensus on that in general fell between "that's arbitrary" and "all of them, probably, if only by their conspicuous absence". That sort of thing is very useful when talking about the people and their particular obsessions – if Simon Fairchild turned up, for example, you knew exactly what sort of aggravating bullshit you were in for – but worrying too much about the exact nature of a supernatural manifestation rarely leads anywhere useful.

I am more interested in the broader implications of how the story is told. In The Magnus Archives, the characters read the stories aloud – and usually adopted the persona, and sometimes even the accent – of the original statement giver. That had supernatural implications, of course, but also played into the broader themes of the story: John is very much invested in the individuals. The tragedy of Jane Prentiss, the mystery of Gertrude Robinson – these are his obsessions. Pretty much the only point he scores in his conversation with Leitner (The Librarian) is being able to instantly spot a passing reference to Gerard Keay: John is crap at the cosmology, but he's been paying attention to the people. Many of the recurring characters are very dead by the time the story starts, but they are kept alive in the narrative because the living characters step into their shoes, and care about what they did and what became of them.

Here, though, there is built in distance between the active protagonists and the individual horror stories. They largely don't even read them – Alice says she "skim(s) the case for keywords" (Making Adjustments) and otherwise tries to ignore what is happening. When a story is read aloud it is done by the text-to-speech programs, and they, as John and Martin did, adopt the personas of the authors in a way that sounds much more fluid than software from the 90s should be capable of. When the story comes straight from the source, it is not told to Sam or Alice or Gwen, but to someone else entirely. There is a reason for the audience to connect with the stories – from that external perspective you're getting pretty much the same thing you did in The Magnus Archives – but the actual characters have no reason to connect, or even to truly listen or empathise with what they're hearing, and doing so is regarded as a mistake.

Which makes you wonder – what might you miss when you're not paying attention to the people?

#the magnus protocol #the magnus protocol spoilers #the magnus archives

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