(MAG001 Sasha the Archivist AU: I play with switching around some characters and edited the transcript to be more Sasha (however it's still based on the official script). It's just for fun, a little intro if you will
This post has more context )
[CLICK]
ARCHIVIST
Hello? Test… uh. 1, 2, 3… Right, so.
[DEEP BREATH]
I’m Sasha James. I work for the Magnus Institute, London, an organisation dedicated to academic research into the paranormal. The head of the Institute, Gertrude Robinson, has employed me to replace the previous Head Archivist, Elias Bouchard, who recently quit the position.
I have been working in academia for a decade now, and am familiar with most of the artefacts and research. Some investigations are, admittedly, dead ends, but some appear to be genuine cases; however, when an investigation has gone as far as it can, it is transferred to the Archives. That’s us, me.
So, the Institute was founded in 1818, and The Archive contains close to 200 years of case files. The Institute may have placed a higher emphasis on maintaining a pristine academic image rather than delving into the task of managing statements or recent experiences. We have a beautiful library but a mess of an archive. This isn’t necessarily a problem – I, or we, can deal with that. Digitalising and modern filling is easy, but, Elias Bouchard seemed to not prioritize that.
It is going to take me a while to organise this mess; however, I am not alone. I’ve two- or well, three, researchers to assist me. I’ve worked with them in research and have no doubts with their credentials. Alongside me are Jonathan Sims, Martin Blackwood and, well, also, Timothy Stoker — they will do some supplementary research on details that may be missing.
I want to digitise the files as much as possible and record audio versions, but I think it will be on a tape recorder for now. I tried to record on my laptop and, it ended up… Distorted.
[SIGH]
Thousands of files and loose papers clutter this space, with most notes appearing incoherent and unmarked boxes. It appears that some items are dated, but all the marking and organisation have been done manually, and, of course, without any digital or audio versions. I think my laptop might be the first computer here. It appears that little of the actual investigations have been stored in the Archives, so most of the files are the statements themselves.
I’ll try to present these as clear as I can at the end of each statement, but I can not, unfortunately, promise an order with the dates, or theme of the statements. I’m sorry to any researcher attempting to use these files for their own investigations.
I think that covers the new managements, and excuses the state of this place. Furthermore, I’ll try my best, but I don’t think it can get much worse. We have to begin somewhere, right?
Statement of Nathan Watts, regarding an encounter on Old Fishmarket Close, Edinburgh. Original statement given April 22nd 2012. Audio recording by Sasha James, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.
Statement begins.
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As a reminder that good exists out there, a coworker recently confessed to me that he found out his child is questioning their identity (kid's gender redacted for this post). The kid is keeping it from him, so he can't say anything to them or show that he knows, but he's doing his best to get mentally prepared and educated so that he'll be ready whenever his kid does feel comfortable enough come to him.
For context, this guy is a big, bulky middle aged dude who loves sports and typical outdoor "manly" activities. As his coworker and friend, I know he's a kind and sweet teddy bear of a person, but his kid probably views him as a stern, authoritarian figure, the way most teenagers view their parents. His family lives in a conservative area, so I'm sure between that, their dad's looks and interests, and the fact that their dad is a Figure of Authority, the kid is worried that they won't be accepted.
But you know what? When he found out about his kid, the first thing he did was reach out to his closest queer friend and ask for resources for parents of questioning children. His biggest fears are that his kid will be bullied or discriminated against and won't feel comfortable enough to be themself. His second action was to find himself a mentor in another parent who went the same situation (kid coming out in a conservative town). The other person is preparing him for some of the struggles his kid may face and the fights he may need to take on as a parent to make sure his kid is safe and treated well.
Something I want to emphasize for people focused on language as the primary method of allyship is that when we spoke, he used some outdated terms and thoughts about gender and sexuality. That does not make him bad. These were the terms and thinking used about questioning teenagers when he was growing up and he never needed to learn more current ones. But now that he does have that need, he's throwing himself in head first because that's his kid and he's darn well going to make sure that his kid feels welcomed and has a safe place to be themselves even if they never come out to him.
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