#collective human unconscious confirmed

[mbrainspaz]

today in 'experiences that I mistakenly thought were unique and personal' apparently other kids also got an inexplicable high from learning the word 'penultimate' from the Pendragon books in the 2000's.

[seniorpollinationtechnician]

Ethan spent the next three hours in his cluttered office, surrounded by stacks of old files and a mess of digital archives on his computer. Eventually, ISAAC's voice broke the silence. "Ethan, I have located several encrypted documents closely related to your search history. Shall I bring them up?"

After a vocal confirmation, ISAAC remotely accessed Ethan's computer and began displaying a series of decrypted files with some title variation of 'Chrysalis_2023'. Project Chrysalis had been one of his most secretive assignments while working with the government where he had been tasked with engineering a containment and analysis system for biological entities. The government's vague description alluded to 'non-terrestrial biological entities', which Ethan naively interpreted as some advanced biological research.

The digital files were heavily redacted but offered enough information to remind him that he had physical evidence as well. He eventually found a folder containing detailed schematics alongside his own annotations on the nature of the project. One document in particular, an incident report, caught his eye.

Entry Date: 04/12/2023 Subject: NTBE X-23 Humanoid organism measuring 1.8 meters (6 ft.) in height. Bipedal locomotion. Epidermis is a pale yellow tone. Facial structure similar to that of a human being but with eight black eyes arranged in a symmetrical pattern. Indecipherable markings around the eyes. Subject arrived unconscious and has not regained consciousness throughout the observation period. Subject X-23 was transferred from the recovery unit into the primary containment chamber at 1100 hours. Upon entering the containment unit, the subject's vital signs surged. Subject X-23 abruptly regained consciousness and exhibited erratic behavior. Witnesses claimed to have seen something move within the subject's skin. Vocalizations consistent with an unknown language were recorded (see audio log 0134-B1). Linguistic analysis is ongoing. The subject shortly underwent a rapid biological transformation. Epidermal surfaces split open, extruding long, vine-like protrusions tipped with bioluminescent nodules. The cranial structure split open longitudinally, revealing a maw lined with razor-sharp teeth. At 1400 hours, Subject X-23 initiated a violent attack on the containment unit. The material composition used proved insufficient. A containment breach occurred at 1405 hours. Specimen X-23 lunged at Dr. ■■■■, inflicting a fatal laceration to the abdomen. Security personnel were authorized to terminate the threat. Subject X-23 was neutralized at 1410 hours. Residual specimens are being collected for further analysis. The containment unit is undergoing repairs and biohazard decontamination. Further research is on hold pending reevaluation of containment protocols.

[fairy-soireee]

*The Fate of a Bride*

warning: death, mention of human trafficking, dark, abuse, horror

They were young women who had just passed the cusp into adulthood. Raised in a church to be faithful devotees of God. Faithful. Most of them orphans. Most without any other support than the church they held such faith in.

The church held a tradition. A pattern one could say. Every year or so one of the girls would be chosen to be sent somewhere. To some relative they did not know existed sometimes to another church they would say. Somewhere. Never to be seen again. The girl's friends would often ask about her whereabouts. They wondered why their best friend Sofia or Mary or Kimiko, whatever her name, never bothered to call them again after she promised to keep in touch. These queries would soon be silenced with one reason or another and everything would go back to how it was before. As though there was no girl missing.

However any girl that had managed to notice something off could never shake off the feeling of dread. Of something being amiss. The questions that haunted like the ghost of the now gone girl.

Where was she?

Where and to whom had they sent her to?

Why was she sent away?

Will I be next?

Sofia had finally arrived. Her old church had transferred her here. She looked up at the towering building. What was this? Was she in the correct place? This did not look like a church. Was this where she would live? This was the address she had been given. Oh well, she would find out.

She was brought into the mansion by an attractive but intimidating man with glasses and dark hair and the most piercing eyes she had ever seen. She looked at the interior of the mansion. If this was her living arrangement then she would definitely not complain. She felt a sense of awe at her surroundings. She also felt a bit put off at the empty almost haunting feel of the mansion. Something felt off however she shook herself out of it. The man had confirmed she was supposed to be here. He knew her name.

She then entered a living room. Reiji, that was his name. She asked about the other girls that she would live with. She felt a bit nervous about getting to know new people after having lived at one place her whole life. Reiji fixed her with a blank stare and informed her there were no others. He told her about the five other males that lived in the mansion.

She felt shocked. There was something wrong.

Just then she heard a sound, there were five men that had appeared behind her out of no where. These were not good people. Her gut immediately knew they planned to hurt her. She remembered reading about young women being trafficked in the newspaper back home.

She ran.

Cruel laughs and taunts could be heard behind her. They were after her. She had to get away. She reached the gate and found it locked. She ran and tried to find a window or some other door.

She was suddenly pushed and her head hit against a wall. She fell unconscious onto the floor with a thump.

A few weeks later her body was found drained of blood by Kanato. Two of the brothers, maybe Laito and Ayato, had teamed up on her. She didn't look too mauled up. He had definitely seen worse. She actually looked quite pretty he thought. Her skin pale and eyes lifeless. Just like a doll.

A few days later there was another doll standing in the doll room. Her eyes dead of life and yet still sorrowful. Dressed in a bridal gown with blue roses in her hands. A new addition to the doll collection.

[mako-neexu]

and so like a worm, this event nearly killed me talking about hell the same time as im missing gramps.

guda is SO DRENCHED in DEATH their very SOUL permeates it. as is very much confirmed by the curent event. and people werent lying when they say that the perfect servant for them is the Old Man of the Mountain himself. he who has unshakable faith. that the death he bestows will not be meaningless. and this master is the same. a will to survive and resolve unparalleled. that the lives given for the sake of them and the lives they took will not be for naught. the throne of heroes deemed that king hassan is the most compatible servant to be of aid to guda during tiamat. guda, having this ability to just attract world-ending entities must in turn have a Servant to slay them completely. the embodiment- the concept of death itself. an assassin who teeters on the borders of life and death. a human that accomplished so much- a human who got so good at his craft that he was branded as Grand upon death by the collective unconsciousness of mankind. to the countless underworlds and realms theyve been through, and as cliche it is to say it, every person that has ever met and becomes close to guda dies not long after. its no exaggeration that their closest companion from the beginning all the way to the end is death itself

[katsona-the-katsequel]

Assumptions and Headcanons - Pre-Canon Timeline

Consider this the intro before I finish the actual timeline. This section focuses on clarifications and ideas that enrich the Persona Timeline, specifically the Pre-Canon one.

Who created the Sea of Souls? Who lives there?

It's unknown who created the Sea. It either created on its own, or the Great Will had something to do. Every timeline is connected by the Sea, so this is your only chance to realistically crossover with FeMC. There might or not be a whale that lives there, depending on how canon you consider Trinity Soul to be. Its in the deepest part of the Sea where the Seal locking Nyx is located. The guy in charge (or closest thing in charge) is Chronos.

It isn't all that impressive when a higher being claims to come from the Sea. Every soul came from it and will return one day. They're probably taking advantage of the fact that humans don't know of the Sea to sound more important than they are.

This is why I consider PQ to be semi-canon, since otherwise Chronos wouldn't have been okay with the Velvet Assistants holding a dancing competition in the Sea of Souls.

That's right SMT fans, the Sea is the same as the River Styx.

Why couldn't Erebus reach Nyx' psyche before P3?

As mentioned in the timeline, Nyx' psyche was still scattered across the Collective Unconscious. Erebus could try all he wanted, but he would never find enough of her to call her physical body down to Earth. During P3, enough of Nyx' psyche was finally gathered into one single being: the Nyx Avatar (aka Ryoji). This caused Ryoji to be the literal embodiment of Death, since that's their entire purpose. I wonder what would happen if they met Chronos...

So, P3 happens and the Nyx Avatar is sealed by Minato/Minako before they can finish calling down Nyx' physical body. Erebus now knows where to find Nyx' psyche. There's a specific place now. However, the Seal prevents him from ever reaching it. Elizabeth thus comes annually to kick his ass and the Fall never comes.

I like to believe that a part of Ryoji is still fully aware in the Nyx Avatar after everything that happened, so Minato/Minako is not alone while being the Seal.

Neither may speak (one is being a Seal and the other one is being sealed away), but there is an understanding that they will never be truly alone. Just like when Ryoji was Pharos.

Did the rumors that became true during Eternal Punishment stay true after Nyarly's defeat?

I don't think so. The power to rewrite reality using word-of-mouth is really potent, but was only being powered by Nyarly. I believe the moment he was weakened, all rumors that came true dissolved into simple rumors once again. So, Kiyotada Sumaru stayed a fictional figure.

That was a low blow, Nyarly.

Where did the first Velvet Room attendants come from?

We know Igor was a doll, but if you ask me, Nameless, Belladonna, and the Demon Painter used to be human. Their exceptional and otherwordly talents in the arts made them stand out to Philemon to make them the "Muses" of the Velvet Room. Nameless was probably a German pianist (as a reference to a certain composer who also lost one of his senses), Belladonna was an Italian opera singer, and the Demon Painter was a painter from Sumaru City. It seems only Belladonna kept her human name. It also seems like you can leave your post whenever you want. It was confirmed that Nameless and Belladonna were still in the Velvet Room by P5, but no such reference was made for the Demon Painter.

Igor is almost impossible to pin down since his name is really old and dolls have existed everywhere since almost forever. Since he is sometimes referenced as powering the Velvet Room, I just placed the creation of velvet itself as a possible start for the timeframe of his creation. Can't have the Velvet Room without velvet being a thing.

Now, is the Velvet Room the same as the Black Lodge? Nah. But for fun we can imagine that Mark Frost and David Lynch have been to the Velvet Room.

If Tsumi to Batsu isn't canon, what happened to the Red and Black Books?

I believe the fun part lies in their unknown whereabouts, which serves as fuel for fanfics and other stories. For all we know they're in the hands of an unknown Persona User and/or another mysterious organization. Who knows? I mostly included them to fully connect Jung to Philemon and explain why he seems like such an important human to the latter. Igor may have begun to interact with humans under his master's orders and in part to look for the potential owners of the Books, but he ended up growing fond of his guests and attendants.

On a side note, can you imagine Philemon's heart attack when "The Red Book: Liber Novus" was published and mass produced in 2009? Before realizing, "Ah, this is just Jung's diary, not the magic book". Then again, the publisher was called Philemon Foundation, so we might have a case of ghost company in our hands.

Why did Stephen upload the Demon Summoning Program to a single high school instead of sending mass e-mails like in SMT?

I have a few theories: The first one is that there wasn't an urgency to gather Demon Summoners for an upcoming apocalypse. According to semi-canon sources, Thorman and Gotou existed at some point in the Persona Universe, but either due to Kandori's capitalist machinations or as a consequence between Phil and Nyarly's bet, they were never able to truly gain power. Adding this to my second theory, that Stephen used to attend Karukozaka high school, would explain why he tentatively only uploaded it to his old school's servers. Less desperation and more indirect experimentation, one might say. This would also explain why he became more of an offscreen mentor to Tamaki once she gained the program, since Stephen would have more time to continue developing and experimenting with it. One successful user was enough for now.

Personally, I believe he ended up working for the Nanjo Group after P1, who sponsored this and any future projects he had until his death. Considering he is apparently a trascendent entity, this cushy existence would have been a nice break from the other universes.

Wouldn't it be fun if Stephen was the original creator of beta Evokers but set aside the project due to the lack of a "supernatural power source"? And this project ended up in hands of the Kirijo Group after they split from the Nanjo Group? And then Kouetsu Kirijo only had to finish it by adding the Plumes of Dusk?

What was Nyx doing at St. Hermelin, anyway?

This is something I struggled with. In the end, I settled for someone finding a large Plume of Dusk, thinking it was a pretty rock, and getting the Snow Queen Mask made out of it. A Plume of Dusk this big ended up attracting a lot of Nyx' psyche, which made a mess when combined with Drama Club teenage girls as seen in the number of victims. In the end, it evolved into the Snow Queen Curse. For all we know, the Mask was trying to use the girls as puppets to help bring the Fall, but Nyx' psyche always got to them and they committed suicide soon after.

Personally, I would have stopped producing the Snow Queen at my school after the first two deaths, but to each their own.

Which war did Masataka Amano die in?

This is a huge supposition on my part since even the dates are approximates. I have four contenders: the Falklands War, the 1982 Lebanon War, the Second Sudanese Civil War, or the Sri Lankan Civil War. Pick your poison.

The game says that Gekkoukan was founded after the Kirijo Group laboratory exploded around 1999. The school logo says that Gekkoukan was founded in 1982. What is the truth?

The way I made this work was by making the original founding of Gekkoukan in 1982, like in the logo. Maybe it started as an actual learning insitution, where the graduates would have a possible career in the Kirijo Group. After the entire Death ordeal, they decided to hide the old labs by building a better state-of-the-art school building on top and relocating Gekkoukan there.

[lewstherintelescope]

So fun fact, Brandon confirmed yesterday that Zellion is the same Zellion as in Sixth Incarnation of Pandora, an unpublished sci-fi novel which he wrote very early in his career. This novel is first-person, and we happen to have a reading from it, so we’ve seen inside Zell’s ol’ noggin already. And wow, he really does fit the mold y’all crafted for him perfectly:

From the moment the first primeval Neanderthal picked up a sharp rock and used it to eviscerate his prey, man has sought ways to use his surroundings to augment his own abilities. Not that much has changed over the millennia. Peg legs had become prosthetic limbs, and spectacles had been replaced with cyborg optronics. But the main ideas remained constant: displeased with what fate allots us, we bend nature before our will, becoming more than we were intended. Among all of God's creations, only man takes offense at his lowly state.

Along with our drive to change ourselves, there comes with true human paradoxical form the uncomfortable fear that we have gone too far. Through the ages, we have fabricated horrors to match our increasing supremacy over nature. Monsters, golems, mad robots, and horrors haunt our collective technological unconsciousness. Twisted mixes of flesh and metal, obscene misuses of nature and her creations. We push ourselves to be better and better, more in control and dominant. But at the same time, we sweat and worry that this time, we've gone too far.

We finally have. I'm the final step, the ultimate synthesis of what is natural and what is profane. One last grand adulteration. I'm the culmination of our feats, a Frankenstein's monster for the modern 23rd century. I am without parallel in life or imagination. I am Zellion.

Zellion is a living memelord. All hail.

[tinyvesselhearts]

What Fear Does to People (Egon x You)

It's Chapter 8 of my series Thing Is but can be read as a standalone.

Rating: Mature (descriptions of violence) Pairing: Egon Spengler x You (no Y/N) Others: "Platonic" bed-sharing, pre-relationship, gentle touching, hurt/comfort, ghosthunting, Lovecraftian monsters, Ray's recovering from a bust and he's not currently at the station

(also: a reference to GB game. If you know, you know)

It’s roughly 2 a.m. when it starts.

Egon wakes up with a shiver. He’s freezing. A gust of wind runs through his clothes and that in itself is enough to put him on guard. Thing is, all the windows are closed, both of you are covered with quilts and there’s no tangible cause for the cold. No rational excuse, unless…

With mounting suspicion, he takes a look around. It’s pitch black and he can barely make out the edges of Ray’s empty cot. Warmth of the linen seems to hit him all at once, stark contrast to what he’s just felt on his skin. Disconcerting. Eerie, maybe— but he’s calm nonetheless. This is how those entities operate. The Collective: all kinds of eldritch horrors. They’re playing hide- and- seek until their victims can’t keep their wits about them anymore and he— as a devoted scientist and a Ghostbuster (yes, the very same)— is here to teach a lesson.

You’re unabashedly curled up against his side. Safe, unbothered, sound asleep. The attacker must be considering you innocuous enough, likely due to your comparative vulnerability, and is focused on Egon. Perfect. He lays his head back but doesn’t close his eyes— he’s vigilant— alert— ready.

The thing about Collective Unconscious is that despite being aware of its modus operandi, human brain is pretty pathetic in comparison. Its innate susceptibility to fear, specifically. During his years of Psychology, Egon would repeatedly hear that fear and love were the strongest of all human instincts, as they made the whole body receptive and focused in an instant. Later he’d find out that’s true about fear. He has no first- hand data on the latter— he supposes due to the troubled relationship with his parents— but Peter and Ray have done enough stupid things out of affection to confirm the thesis. Since Venkman’s incident with the tank a few years back, Egon hasn’t questioned love or its impact on a subject’s decision- making process. Or common sense. Or mating choices, just to be clear.

With that in mind, Egon knows what to expect. Diminished control of his body. Flinches. Unconditioned reflexes. He is determined to distinguish between real, physical stimuli and paranoia- induced ploys. A moment to cool off, analyze and conclude before acting on impulses. That’s the plan. Right. It’s easy in theory.

A distant bang echoes in the garage. It resembles a metal tool— a wrench, maybe?— but the sound is followed by nothing else, so Egon decides it’s nothing but a figment of imagination. Until—

“What was it?”

He leans back. He can’t see your face properly but enough to notice your eyes are open.

“…Oh. You’ve heard it too?”

“It’s not like… Ray got discharged in the middle of the night and sauntered back here, is it?”

There’s another loud bang. Nobody moves but both of you are very much awake.

Egon finally speaks.

“I’ll check it.”

“Uh, okay, okay”, you whisper. “What do I do?”

“Stay here and try to sleep. I’ll handle it.”

“…what?”

“Don’t argue. There’s no time. I’ll take care of whatever that is. I’m a professional, listen to me and I’ll make sure you’re safe. That’s what I’m here for.”

“Yes, but the Ghostbusters are a team. Now you’re on your own. I’m not leaving you! What if—”

“No time”, he mutters, putting the proton pack on. “Stay here. You were so tired you almost passed out on the couch. Do I need to remind you that you put my shirt on backwards?”

“My mom says it’s good fortune!”

“I’m serious”, he states and switches the backpack on. “Eldritch horrors are different than regular spirits. They harm both physically and emotionally. Lack of proper rest weakens the cognitive functions and you may be a real, tangible danger to yourself— and to me. Especially if you’re not familiar with their strategy.”

Egon slides into a pair of slippers. It’s not the perfect job attire but it’ll have to do— he stupidly left his combat boots in the locker downstairs. Maybe when he slides down to the garage, he’ll manage to change.

He takes the final look at you because you’re awfully quiet. Exhausted and hopeless, he guesses. He’d appreciate some backup but the boys aren’t here and you’re in no position to fill the role now. When you ignored his precaution the last time (while fully capable and well- rested), you ended up wounded in his lab. What you’re facing here can do much, much more damage.

Egon briefly considers escorting you out of the premises altogether—just in case— but then, how could he ensure your safety if the spirit decides to leave after you?

His chest is heavy when he speaks.

“If anything suspicious happens in this room, call me immediately. Shout, if you have to.”

“Okay.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Alright”, he shoots you a look. “Stay here.”

You nod. It’s weak, devoid of conviction and Egon wants to emphasize how crucial it is for you to stay— but another loud bang comes from the reception area and there’s no time to waste.

Egon turns around and scuttles towards the pole. He slides down. Lands with a loud thump, doubled by the flip- flops and takes a slow, cautious look around.

He’s quick to spot the source of the noise: it’s a loose pipe lying on the floor. It might not be currently moving but it sure as heck was just a moment ago— Ray doesn’t leave spare parts scattered around the floor. He has his secret dirty stash for that.

Egon takes a long, wary look around. Nothing’s moving, except for gentle flow of a dirty cloth drying on the heater. He pulls out the PKE meter and glances at the readings. Whatever this thing is, it’s here. It may be invisible but it’s here. Lurking. Leering. Hidden in the shadow, a predator on the hunt. Any moment now.

He doesn’t even manage to slide the device back into the pocket when a slimy tentacle shoots at him.

It’s massive. Heavy and slick. Whatever creature it belongs to, it must be huge and, uh, incredibly unusual. The dissonance is almost incomprehensible: to see a wet, marine limb which acts very much alive here— in the garage of New York’s finest— in a place devoid of water (well, save for a tap).

Egon screams. He drops the PKE meter and reaches for the charged rod. A proton stream lashes outwards with full power but before it catches the giant limb, it’s already gone— slithered into the shadows, shrouded in shade.

A few things to note right away: one, the ghost is huge. Two, it’s unlike any other they’ve seen before. Three, the sheer amount of mucus suggests a healthy dose of Marsh genes. Four, it’s out of sight and apparently good at staying there. Right. All Egon has to do is pretend to be unsuspecting, so that the ghost—

“Yeah, so I’ve done some thinking and I can’t do this.”

He whips his head around. There you are: in his crumpled shirt still inside- out, peeking through the hole in the ceiling. You’re in the middle of putting on your socks.

He can’t with you. He can’t.

“What did I tell you? Don’t come down here!”

“Oops?”

“No”, he yells. “I told you to STAY! Stay! How many times—”

“Sure, and pretend your screaming flows like a nursery rhyme.”

You clutch the pole with both hands, pull yourself close and slide down. Egon curses under his breath. Shite. Shite. Of course you wouldn’t listen. Psychology classes pop up in his mind again— the most powerful instincts— the things people do for fear…

“I’m here now. Poof. Too late”, you say. “Whatever happens is on me.”

He stifles a groan. It’s a lost cause. The stairs are at the opposite end of the garage. Escorting you there would take way too long and expose you to a stealthy attack and— well, he doesn’t suppose forcing you to climb the pole is on the table.

“Alright”, he decides. “Grab the pack.”

You manage to put it on yourself. He helps you to switch it on. You huff, smile and turn to him.

“Which trap?”

“Regular.”

“On it!”

You dash towards Ecto- 1. Just as Egon suspected: the enormous tentacle emerges from the shadow and aims.

Egon shoots. The proton stream reaches the ghost this time. The current wraps around its shape. The ectoplasmic limb wrestles and yanks but he holds it in place: it’s your turn to capture it before it rips the shackle.

“Now!”

You slide the contraption right under the ghost. Set the pedal. Step. Open. Wait.

Intense glow fills the room. Egon navigates the tentacle downwards but for some inexplicable reason the trap doesn’t seem to swallow its prey. It tries— sucks some ectoplasmic residue, hoovers up some of its slime— but the monster doesn’t get pulled in, as if it was… attached to something?

A roar echoes through the garage and everything happens at once: the trap closes, proton stream breaks and the ghost dissipates again.

You’re the first to whisper.

“…Is it…?”

“No”, Egon exhales. “It’s around here somewhere.”

“So… The trap didn’t work? Why?”

“Apparently it’s not just a ghost. It must be a complex being with some sort of material form. We may need to overpower it in a more… traditional sense.”

“Chain? Wires? Chandelier? Forget- me rod? A random hydraulic pipe of oblivion?”

Your flowery language is both a blessing and a curse. That translates into a perfect bait. Keep talking.

“So you’re opting for brute force?” Egon asks and that’s all it takes.

“Uh, I thought you were suggesting. I’d try another approach. If that guy is a marine cephalopod he may have a hard time adjusting to open air. Maybe dragging it out of the drainage will do the trick, right? Instead of streaming it, we could—"

Your mouth is still open when the giant tentacle shoots in your general direction. You let out a loud shriek and manage to evade— albeit barely— and even though Egon assumed using you as a lure would be the practical choice, he, for once, can’t stand the sight of it.

The proton rod won’t help any. Hitting you is a real threat— and it’s way more dangerous for you than the ghost. He’s about to resort to brute force but the monster steps out of the shadows and Egon can’t believe his eyes.

It’s human.

Oh, that makes things significantly easier.

He reaches into his pocket, pulls out a tiny bottle and charges.

A hit from behind may be cheap but it works every time. Egon swings the uncharged proton rod right into the creature’s head. It squeals, unwraps the tentacles protruding from its sleeve, then snarls and shakes its head. Egon has a few seconds to take in the entire picture: three gargantuan ectoplasmic limbs (a developing ghostly sickness?) have taken over the poor guy’s left arm. He seems dazed: his eyes are foggy, droll seeps through his teeth and for a split second Egon wonders if there’s any spiritual cancerous disease he’s failed to discover.

The hybrid lifts its arms and aims at you again, full force. Before you have the chance to scream, Egon slides right in front of you, pushes you aside and splashes some of the bottle’s contents on the monster’s face.

It howls and retracts.

“…What is that?!” You manage.

“An old trick. Handy when possessed individuals fail to be cooperative.”

Egon spots the dirty cloth still hanging on the heater. It should be dry enough. Easy to soak. Perfect.

He dashes for it, grabs it and presses it against the bottle, pouring a decent amount of the liquid on it. Heavy drops of the potent solution spill around. Tiny wet lines trickle down his gloves. He takes a deep breath, holds it and looks at the monster. It snarls. Then charges.

Egon isn’t a great fighter but he dodges just fine. He slides under the tentacles, turns around and hops on the hybrid’s back. It screeches— then stops— wet, throaty sounds stifled by the rug in Egon’s hand. He clutches the monster’s throat, squeezes it with an elbow and turns to you.

“A common tranquilizer. Learnt it during my coroner years”, he grunts, pressing the pad into its face. “You might want to find something to tie him with.”

You’re awfully quiet, staring at him blankly— but you nod. There’s a spare, long chain in Ray’s stash (nobody knows what he uses it for) so you take it and approach the scuffle with apprehension. The hybrid’s movements slow down but it’s still trying to break out of Egon’s unrelenting clutch.

“Thank you”, he says, composed as ever. “You’re doing great.”

It takes a few more seconds. The monster’s muscles eventually give in and it slides down on the floor. Its arms loosen. Eyes close. Its head hits the garage floor.

For a long moment nobody moves.

“Yo”, you whisper. Egon looks at you, then at the limp body beneath him and takes a step back.

“Sedated. Perfect.”

“What now?”

“Let’s tie it up.”

Egon reaches for the chain you’re holding. He wraps the creatures torso (making it extra tight and unnecessarily confusing around the arms— safety first) and you take care of its legs. The constraint turns out pretty solid and, most importantly, impossible to slip through by the tentacles. Once you make sure it’s sealed, each of you grabs a loose end of the chain and proceed to drag the dead weight across the floor.

It’s not exactly Buckingham Palace level of service anyway— not like you owe anybody standards— but when the monster’s back slams against a concrete pillar, you flinch.

“Oh no!— Oh dear, it hurt him—”

“It’s just tried to kill you. You do understand that, right?”

“Sort of”, you groan. “I really wanted it to warm up to us. We’ve sort of killed our chances at cooperation.”

“Don’t worry. It isn’t capable of drawing conclusions in this state.”

Egon pulls the chain and ties the creature around the pillar in an ungallant knot. It’s not his proudest work but a staple of initiative nonetheless. Links are sealed. Hostage is secured. It’s all under control.

He’s still focused on triple- checking the locks when you speak.

“Egon, why did you…?” You rub your hands together. “You… It was dangerous. Reckless. You don’t do reckless, Egon Spengler. Overcomplicated, yes, way too optimized, yes. But this, whatever you were thinking, was almost careless! You… You could’ve—”

He looks upwards. You seem anxious but you’re alive and well. He doesn’t understand.

“I could’ve what?”

“Well, I mean, you stuck your neck out for me. It could’ve been bad”, you gulp. ‘You could’ve been hurt.”

“I wasn’t though, was I?”

Egon’s at a loss. He watches you closely. You’re both okay and that’s all that matters. It’s not the first time he’s done something stupid out of fear— ah, fear, the bypass of rational thought— the Psychology classes again…

You stay silent for a moment, then sigh.

“I’ll call Peter.”

“Yes. No. Wait.” He frowns, takes off his gloves and approaches you. “Check- up first.”

“…This again? Seriously?!” You huff. “It’s, like, the third time this week! If something happened, I’d tell you immediately. I’m fine, Egon! I’m fine, you should be focused on yourself, you’re the one who went berserk for some reason I can’t wrap my head around—"

No bruises, no scratches. He touches your face, looks you in the eyes.

“It’s a precaution. I’ll make it quick. Tell me if anything hurts.”

His fingers skim over your features— cheeks, nose, forehead, temples. Your voice catches. Breath gets shuddered, eyes go frantic and cheeks are still awfully warm but it’s a natural response. Egon’s expected that much. His thumb runs across your lip, even though it looks untouched and there’s no justifiable reason to examine it closely. He just… can’t resist. Nor does he want to, really. There’s still room for excuses which get half- woven in his head but their seams are loose and each sentence falls apart before it leaves his mouth.

Egon knows he lingers too long. Needs to pull back. He doesn’t understand why his body won’t listen.

The tip of his thumb rests at the corner of your lips, then moves on to another gentle caress. Then again. And again, until you sigh. Warm breath tickles his skin. He tries it once more to check if you allow him— and you do— more than that— you melt into the touch, heat radiating from your skin, breathing deep— receptive, indulgent, responsive.

This is… inebriating.

“…You seem okay”, he concludes. “No injuries?”

“No. You?”

“None”, he says, letting his hands hang loose again. “I’ll run a few tests. Call Venkman, tell him we’ve got a subject. He should come immediately.”

“Okay. But tell me what’s going on.”

“…We’ve just caught an anomaly. As I said.”

“Not that. I see you. I notice things”, you say cautiously but he makes sure his face is as blank as ever. “You’re usually so collected. What happened?”

Egon doesn’t think it needs explanation. It’s obvious. Should be, at least. He frowns and says:

“I don’t want my friends to get hurt.”

“…After Ray?”

He nods.

A pair of soft hands brush against his jaw and in a moment— before he’s able to fully process what’s happening— his face dips down, guided by the delicate touch and you gently place your lips near his chin.

It’s a simple gesture. Gentle touch. A shadow of a kiss, lighter than Dana’s, nothing more than a brush of hot skin but— Lord, help him— he shivers— it’s so much more— it’s everything— it’s overwhelming.

“Ray is fine”, you whisper, looking at him again. “You’ll see him tomorrow, remember? It’s almost over.”

“…Again, please.”

“You’ll see him tomorrow...”

“No. Not this, the…”

It takes you a second but you get it and breathe out a laugh. Brush his jaw again, then wrap your hands around his neck and pull him into a tight hug.

Oh. Oh.

His arms tentatively reach for your back and once they’re there— recognize the texture of his shirt (outlining your shape in a way he declines to register)— and he lets down his guard a bit. Tightens his grasp. Sinks into the moment. He lets his hands really feel you for the first time since the both of you’ve started accepting proximity and it frightens him beyond belief— it’s soft, welcoming, disarming and pure— so his eyes close, stiff muscles let go— anxiety abates—  he’s out of breath— but all you do is hold him close, no doubt, no shame. You’re as open and affectionate as ever, a salve for his mind, a missing link. You fit right here. He’s never known a feeling like this, not even with his family.

That’s something new: his fear for your life instigates a soothing response. Highly unusual. He’ll have to write it down for future reference.

“Could we include this into the list of things we do? Under… particular circumstances, of course?”

“Sure. Whenever you need it.”

You stay like that for a moment. It’s quiet and dark. Egon relishes every breath tickling the nape of his neck, every slight fidget against his chest, every movement— and when you finally take a step back, his chest feels almost hollow. As if it’s just tasted peace and had to let go.

“You should also add a point in which you listen to me in case of immediate danger”, he says. “In a bold, red, permanent marker, preferably.”

You smile. It’s playful. Cheeky. Beautiful. Whatever anxiety you’d felt a moment ago, evaporated.

“I did cooperate, doofus! You won’t find a more flexible squire than myself.”

“Flexible tends to mean obedient”, he raises an eyebrow. “When I say you fall back, you do.”

“When you require assistance, I help! That’s literally in my agreement. I signed the paper, you have no say in this, Spengler.”

“Spenglers are a team. And, when faced with danger, have to be unanimous.”

“You’re right!” You give him your finger guns and turn to the reception desk. “See? We’ve just agreed and it’s that easy!”

He smirks.

“Call Venkman.”

“Ai, ai, Sir!”

He watches you pick up the phone and dial Peter’s number. A few beeps later your voice fades into a mumble of funny noises.

When he turns towards the hybrid, he notices another curious thing: the tentacles seem to deflate and seep into a bile of ectoplasmic goo.

He must take a sample immediately. Ray is going to love this.

[embervoices]

I know it's not everyone, and obviously AUs are a whole other thing, but people keep forgetting that the Endless don't only represent humanity.

It IS possible that there is a different, functionally separate facet of Dream for each kind of being - comics canon implies it, at least. But by that reasoning, the King of Cats doesn't care about humans in the slightest (which tracks, given what he tells the Old Siamese Cat).

Yet we keep telling stories about Dream being surprised and overwhelmed by the developments in human communication technology and population explosion of humans, as if he hasn't lived through millennia of technologically advanced societies that far outstrip humanity, as if humans are the only dreamers on earth, much less the universe, or even multiverse.

And then show the human form beloved of cats, the cat form friendly to humans, etc, as though the point is that Morpheus is a human who takes cat form on his days off.

I don't say it to individual writers - they aren't seeking that feedback. And not everyone is steeped in the comics enough for this to be so obvious.

I do accept that Show Canon may not match Comic Canon in every detail, but IIRC Neil has confirmed that things like Overture are broadly true, and we already know the Not Just Humans part is true.

So it irks me to see Dream of the Endless reduced to merely the collective human unconscious. "Dreamer" =/= "Human".

(I have similar irks around "mortal" and "human" being used as synonyms. I less often stumble on "dreamer" and "mortal" conflated directly.

Another similar irk is more silly of me as I know it's just a context cue. "It was afternoon in the Waking." The waking encompasses every time zone on the planet, for a start. It's the afternoon in London.

But that, at least, can just be Dream registering his environment as both "afternoon" and "in the Waking", so ok.)

[mayadoesfandomstuff]

Considering the psychic damage my previous post on the protags' ages are, I've decided to compile ALL persona users' birthdays and list them according to date from earliest or oldest to latest or youngest. Enjoy!

Teddie (P4) - unknown, shadow so could be as old as time, maybe as teddy bears existed in humanity's collective unconscious memory, could be a month before he met the team, could be a week, could be last Thursday idk

Zenkichi Hasegawa (P5S) - unknown, in his 40s, probably late 1960s to mid 1970s

Baofu (P2:EP) - June 13, 1967

Tatsuya Sudou (P2:EP) - 1971

Katsuya Suou (P2:EP) - December 30, 1973

Ulala Serizawa (P2:EP) - November 30, 1974

Maya Amano (P2:IS) - July 4, 1976

Yukino Mayuzumi (P1) - April 9, 1979

Maki Sonomura (P1) - June 4, 1979

Masao Inaba (P1) - July 11, 1979

Reiji Kido (P1) - August 18, 1979

Eriko Kirishima (P1) - September 21, 1979

Kei Nanjo (P1) - October 2, 1979

Naoya Toudou (P1) - December 24, 1979

Hidehiko Uesagi (P1) - January 1, 1980

Yuka Ayase (P1) - March 3, 1980

Tatsuya Suou (P2:IS) - July 27, 1981 (EP), August 21, 1981 (IS)

Jun Kurosu (P2:IS) - February 14, 1982

Lisa Silverman (P2:IS) - May 4, 1982

Eikichi Mishina (P2:IS) - November 15, 1982

Tohru Adachi (P4) - February 1, 1984

Takuto Maruki (P5R) - unknown, possibly in his late 20s to mid 30s, probably mid-1980s to mid-1990s

Strega: Chidori Yoshino, Jin Shirato, Takaya Sakaki (P3) - unknown, late 80s - early 90s

Mitsuru Kirijo (P3) - May 8, 1991

Shinjiro Aragaki (P3) - August 11, 1991

Akihiko Sanada (P3) - September 22, 1991

Minato Arisato/Makoto Yuki (P3); Minako Arisato/Hamuko Arisato/Kotone Shiomi (P3P) - 1992/1993

Yukari Takeba (P3) - October 19, 1992

Fuuka Yamagishi (P3) - December 22, 1992

Junpei Iori (P3) - January 16, 1993

Koromaru (P3) - unknown, likely mid 1990s to early 2000s

Souji Seta/Yu Narukami (P4) - 1994/1995

Sho Minazuki (P4A) - unknown, possibly the same as P4 Protagonist, 1994/1995

Yosuke Hanamura (P4) - June 22, 1994

Chie Satonaka (P4) - July 30, 1994

Yukiko Amagi (P4) - December 8, 1994

Naoto Shirogane (P4) - April 27, 1995

Rise Kujikawa (P4) - June 1, 1995

Kanji Tatsumi (P4) - January 19, 1996

Makoto Nijima (P5) - April 23, 1998

Goro Akechi (P5) - June 2, 1998

Ken Amada (P3) - June 24, 1998

Haru Okumura (P5) - December 5, 1998

Akira Kurusu/Ren Amamiya (P5) - 1999/2000

Labrys (P4A) - April 20, 1999 (activation date)

Ryuji Sakamoto (P5) - July 3, 1999

Ann Takamaki (P5) - November 12, 1999

Yusuke Kitagawa (P5) - January 28, 2000

Aigis (P3) - February 2000 (manufacturing date), September 10, 2000 (activation date), May 1999 (Aigis First Mission),

Futaba Sakura (P5) - February 19, 2001

Sumire Yoshizawa (P5R) - March 25, 2001

Morgana (P5) - unknown, between Persona 4 Dancing All Night and Persona 5, 2010s

To give you some more perspective:

The oldest confirmed Persona user (Boafu) is 33 years and 9 months older than the youngest (Sumi).

Tohru Adachi is just two years the Persona 2: Innocent Sin cast's junior.

Katsuya Suou is turning 50 next year (2023).

The only confirmed S.E.E.S. members that are not yet in their 30s (this 2022) is Junpei, Ken, and maybe Koromaru [if he's still around which I hope so].

Sojiro Sakura might be the same generation as the Persona 2: Eternal Punishment cast.

Ryotaro Dojima (1970) is the same generation as the P2:EP cast and is three years younger than Boafu, and three years older than Katsuya.

Reiji Kido's child is probably the same age as Ken Amada and the Phantom Thieves.

Please send in any additions or corrections! I'll edit this the list if necessary.

[calyxthenerd]

Can I req a Nimona fic?

A mermaid Ballister au either modern or canon divergence or Little mermaid au (disney or HCA)

It’ll be my pleasure, friend!

Context: this is sort of a mix of Luca and the little mermaid, and in this Bal was raised by his grandpa, who he still lives with because mermaid practicality

Ambrosius was honestly sick of the routine, it was always wake up, get ready, go to the lab, pick up the equipment, go down to the beach, pick up samples, head back to the lab, analyze them until he couldn’t keep his eyes open and go home to pass out in his bed, he thought being a marine biologist would be exciting!

Anyways, he was at the beach to pick up some more water samples, when he spotted something by the rocks, which was weird, because it was nowhere near the turtles’ egg laying season, and most birds were already heading south this time of year, so he obviously went to check it out, as the curious scientist he was, and what he saw had him passing out in shock

———————

Ballister was doing his usual daily routine: help Baba with food, say hi to the cute fish that swam near their cave in the mornings, eat, collect the human trash that kept showing up, and then head out to go look at that pretty human who always stop by the nearest beach, he always told Baba he was only going to observe the human town from afar, but in reality, he was watching him, but today was different, today he was going to let himself be seen, today was the day he would be noticed

So he put his plan in motion, and laid in a rock that would put him in display just enough to be noticed by the human, but now he had an unconscious human and a boatload of trouble

———————

As Ambrosius recovered from his shock, the first thing he saw were two beautiful big brown eyes, in a gorgeous tan face hovering over him, staring at him, filled with concern, so he went to look at the rest of whoever it was, and as he did, he remembered why he fainted in the first place, and he stammered out “but- how- why- impossi- you shouldn’t exist!”

To which the unnamed mermaid responded “first of all, that’s very hurtful, second of all, did no one teach you any manners?” He huffed

“I’m sorry if I briefly forgot my manners when faced by a mythological creature that disproves hundreds of years of scientific research!” Ambrosius retorted

“We are very much real, and I guess I have to be the one with the manners right now” he stretched out his hand “I’m Ballister”

“Ambrosius” he let out, now that the shock wore off, he was getting lost in the mermaid’s eyes, so he wasn’t exactly at his most verbal

“Oi!” Ballister snapped his fingers on the blonde’s face

“Marry me” he mumbled before snapping out of it

“I’m sorry, what?” Ballister said, having heard it, just wanting to confirm it was actually what was said

“I’m sorry, you just have very pretty eyes, and it’s my weakness, hehe” the scientist responded, blushing and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly

“Okay, but what did you say?”

“I asked you to marry me…” he repeated, looking down as his blush darkened

“Okay”

“Okay?”

“Okay, as in, let’s get married” Ballister said, much to his companion’s confusion

“I’m sorry, WHAT?!”

“Let’s get married, hitched, tie the knot, I don’t know any other ways to say it, you in?”

“You know what, sure”

———————

And so they did, Ballister went to tell everything to his Baba, who reluctantly agreed to it, and Ambrosius talked to his one friend at the university, a young pink haired engineer who called herself Nimona, she built a floating altar so the mermaid side wouldn’t have any issues moving, it was a beautiful thing, just the officiant, the young couple, Ballister was swimmed down the altar by his Baba, like he always dreamed, and Nimona cheered on them from the singular chair she grabbed and dragged to the beach for herself

After that, they either met up at the beach whenever Ambrosius had a break from work and Ballister was back from hunting or cleaning his sector of the ocean, Ballister and Nimona got along like a house on fire, and she started leaving the university more often to visit the beach, and slowly opened up about how she didn’t have a family, or anyone really, until they showed up in her life, Ambrosius and Nimona were there for Ballister when his Baba died and he had to take over caring for their sector of the ocean, they celebrated each other’s achievements and held each other through bad times, it wasn’t perfect, but it was their little life, their little spot on the beach

[synthient]

Hey, so fun fact re: suit lining, because that's a thing I Know for some godforsaken reason (that reason is hyperfixation). All the first generation Agents have the same golden inner lining, but interestingly, so does Neo when he has to wear a suit to Metacortex. (You can see it during the cubicle peekaboo sequence.) I have no idea if it means anything, but the Neo-Agents parallel runs through the whole movie, so it might for all I know. Anyway, now know it too! :)

yeah that's fascinating. I'm guessing that "some weird quirk of the costuming department" (maybe it was for some kind of special effects purpose? maybe it was supposed to add visual interest to the fight scenes, but then they walked it back/decided it looked too flashy by the sequels? maybe those are just the suits they had on hand for some reason?) is more likely than any deeper thematic reason...

but that's not gonna stop me from putting on the Deep Thematic Reasons hat. my first shot was "a piece of flamboyance/self-expression that Smith keeps under wraps from the other agents, but still allows himself when the audience is a human he's about to kill anyway (much like revealing his emotions to Morpheus)" - but that is kind of undercut by the fact that it's a collective costume design thing.

There's his gold sunglasses in resurrections, and the gold lighting he's bathed in at the start of the warehouse fight. which, if nothing else, could be a retroactive tie in with/assigning of meaning to his trilogy costume.

Also, I was digging around the waybacked version of whatisthematrix dot com, and I actually found this bill pope (cinematographer) quote:

"To distinguish the Matrix from 'reality', from the Nebuchadnezzar and the pods, 'reality' was given a cooler look, a bluer, more normal, less sickly look. The future in the film is cold, the sun is blotted out, there is no real warmth unless it is artificial heat, so that is whey they went for the cool side. Whereas the Matrix, created by the computers, is a decadent, decaying world, so it has a green hue. These are the two different colors - green and blue. The Matrix should make you feel sick, and in 'reality' you should feel a little more at home, but never comfortable. If you make it gold and warm you know that it is home, a safe haven. The other day I started using warm lights, I did this unconsciously for the first time in Neo's bedroom. It just felt right that it should be slightly warm. As harsh as that bunk is, it is the only home he has got."

Which more or less Hashtag Confirms my theories about the color symbolism in resurrections. Not that the gold suit linings particularly fit with that read or were intended as part of it

[douglysium]

What would Avatars of the Extinction be like?: A TMA Speculation

Intro

Extreme spoilers for the Magnus Archives. If you haven’t heard it and want to hear it, it’s a horror podcast that can be listened to on Youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdiUHYacaRI&list=PLSbuB1AyaJk-GJV4d3AdvBMJHYiXUEDfI&ab_channel=RustyQuillPodcasts). If you want to read this article in the form of a google docs you can do so here(​What would Avatars of the Extinction be like?: A TMA Speculation).

I’m going to be honest. I’m a little late to the Magnus Archives party, and I’m about to be even later because of how long it usually takes for me to write these articles. However, I desperately need more people to talk with in regards to my thoughts and speculations about TMA and none of my friends listen to the podcast, so this is the closest thing to a healthy outlet I’m going to get for that. It also just so happens that the Magnus Protocol was announced for next year during the writing of this article. 

Anyways, One topic that has basically every TMA fan’s brain gears turning is the titular “entities” or the “dread powers.” Especially, when it comes to the emerging of a new entity known as the Extinction, or Great Change. Part of the reason it sticks so deep into every TMA fan’s subconscious is because the audience sees so little of it due to the fact that it never fully emerged by the time the podcast ended, and even then it’s still questionable how much of it we actually saw. We know very little about it and it’s possible that it didn’t yet have enough power to create any avatars or monsters that could hint at, or potentially explain(well explain as much as you can with entities beyond human comprehension born from our collective conscious and unconscious fears) any aspects of its nature. However, we do see a domain aligned with the Extinction in the post-apocalyptic fear hellscape that was created after the Great Change. Which confirms that it at the very least existed in some capacity. But we still don’t know for sure if it was on the same level as the other fears or would even have gotten there if given enough time. As we all know, these domains are meant to feed their respective fears, so this domain does give us some insight into the Extinction(even if it’s not very much). This leaves a lot of how the Extinction could manifest up to the imagination of the viewers, something that has inspired me to make this article. So in this article, I will theorize about what the Extinction’s avatars and monsters might look and act like if it ever fully emerged and talk about some of the symbology and traits I think might be associated with it. But first, we need to get a couple of things out of the way.

Defining the Extinction

Like with all the dread powers, there’s not really a way for me to create a definition that cleanly defines everything said entity embodies. All the fears have so much overlap and endless amounts of nuances and tangents regarding the fear they embody. However, there is still a rough idea for each fear, what they relate to, and some commonly recurring themes in what they embody. Plus, I kind of NEED to define the Extinction or else everyone is going to be asking stuff like “Um, this sounds like it would just be under the domain of the End” or something. Which, don’t get me wrong, it’s a good question. I just need to make sure I address it, or else this article isn’t going to go anywhere. 

So what does the Extinction probably feed on and embody? Well, it's kind of on the tin for the most part. The fear of going extinct. Google defines an extinction as ”(of a species, family, or other group of animals or plants) having no living members; no longer in existence, and the process of a particular thing ceasing to exist.” I’ve seen some people argue that this sounds like it would just be an aspect of the End, which is a reasonable point but I have several thoughts on that matter. First, as Gerard Keay pointed out in statement 111, the fears are like colors in the sense that sometimes they are divided somewhat arbitrarily due to the fact that the human mind and our respective fears and emotions can also be arbitrary. We treat light red as pink but if something is sky blue or baby blue we just refer to it as some form of blue instead. Even though we probably should refer to pink as “baby red” or “light red” or something more often. Still, this isn’t the most satisfactory answer for a lot of people, so here are some other perspectives. Sure dying is one thing but I would argue the fear of extinction is a distinct enough fear. It’s one thing if you die, or even 100 people die, but imagine all of humanity goes extinct. Imagine honey bees going extinct or apples being wiped off the face of the Earth. One could argue that since it still involves dying it should fall under the purview of the End. However, this applies to a lot of the fears and it is even stated that none of fears can be completely separated from each other because they are inextricably linked to each other, and also blend together a lot. Couldn’t the fear of what’s in the Dark often just be grouped in with the fear of the unknown with the Stranger? The Eye is stated to feed off the fear of being followed but doesn’t the very act of being hunted and chased typically involve the fear of being followed even if it’s supposed to feed the Hunt? Doesn’t the pain, destruction, and suffering caused by the Desolation almost completely overlap with the pain, violence, and suffering the Slaughter feeds on. Meanwhile, the Web and Buried both have themes of being trapped. Yes, the Buried tends to revolve around being trapped physically and the Web also revolves around manipulation but both entities also have themes of being metaphorically trapped. Not to mention so many of the powers threaten to kill you as a form of creating fear anyway. For example, being bloodily murdered could easily embody the Slaughter, Desolation, Hunt, Flesh, and End all at the same time while the fear of being crushed to death could sustain the Buried and the End, the fear of catching a fatal disease could feed both the Corruption and End, the fear of falling to your death could be attributed to both the Vast and the End, the fear of war could feed the Slaughter, Desolation and End, and so on and so forth. I mean the Flesh is literally feeding off the fear of being slaughtered and consumed, and not just body horror and dysphoria, but I haven’t seen anyone argue that because it involves killing it shouldn’t be its own entity. It is even pointed out by Jurgen Leitner in MAG 80 that it's not usually about what imagery, action, or object specifically is being used by an entity to gather fear but rather how it’s being used. Don’t get caught up in the what but the why. If supernatural bones are being used it could be to remind you of your death and mortality and/OR your flesh being harvested and devoured. Sure, maybe the entities use death a lot as a way to create fear but it's important to look out at how they use it. A bloody violent death is probably attempting to feed the Slaughter, while someone threatening to maim and devour you is probably trying to feed the Flesh. In this regard, I would argue that the Extinction is potentially distinct enough, while also having enough of a widespread fear in its own right to have an argument made for standing on its own. And simply overlapping with other existing fears doesn’t discount its credibility or concept immediately. Trying to think of the fears as completely and utterly distinct and separate beings that have little to no overlap is a losing battle and will only warp what little understanding we as the audience may have of them. It is also possible for certain kinds of human fears to feed both the End and the Extinction. The idea that every human on Earth might be wiped out in a devastating nuclear catastrophe could easily be right up the alley of the End, Extinction, and Slaughter.

But before we go on, what are some of the other fears the Extinction may embody? I mean yeah the Flesh feeds off the fear of being killed for meat but also body dysphoria and body horror. The Eye is the fear of being watched but also being followed, etc. We already defined one fear as “(of a species, family, or other group of animals or plants) having no living members” but I think there are a couple of other kinds of fears that could contribute to the Extinction. One is the fear of just things in general no longer existing. Maybe that old technology you were so attached to is all destroyed or thrown out, maybe a technique your family spent years perfecting is forgotten, or maybe that language with deep roots to your history and land is in danger of being forgotten forever or wiped out. Here we can see potential fears relating to the Extinction that don’t just involve the death of an entire species or the fear of global warming killing all of humanity. These kinds of fears also more clearly set it apart from the other entities, such as the End. Another potential fear that could theoretically feed the Extinction can be interpreted from one of its other names, “The Terrible Change.” This could just refer to extinctions themselves being massive changes but also points to a potential connection to a fear of(an often catastrophic) change. Something that actually goes pretty well with some of my previous examples of things falling out of fashion, becoming obsolete, replaced, or going extinct. This theme of change is actually pretty explicit in TMA itself. First, the Extinction has a couple other names, those being “The Future Without Us,” and “The World Is Always Ending” which further reinforce its themes of negative change. Where the End tends to focus on just dying or y’know the end of a life, the Extinction has more of a focus on what comes after something has been removed or added to the picture and what the future may look like because of that. The world will still be around but will be fucked up or be worse off, maybe even irreparably so. In MAG 134, “Time of Revelation,” Adelard Dekker says this in regards to his theory about the power “But now the fear is not of a rapture or a revelation. It is of catastrophic change. Mankind will warp the world so much it kills us all, and leaves only a thousand years of plastic behind. Technology will strip us of what it means to be human, and leave us something alien and cold. We will press a button that in a moment will destroy everything we have ever been. Animals are witnessing the end of their entire species within a single generation.” This makes it pretty clear to me that similar to say the Flesh, Slaughter, and Desolation, the Extinction has more aspects to it than just death or dying. Another of the more obvious Extinction themes is the end of the world or an apocalypse of some sort. This can be seen in MAG 144 where the strange numbers Gary Boylan receives on his phone can apparently be deciphered using a Polybius square to mean “THE WORLD IS ALWAYS ENDING.”

Thinking about Some of the Similarities and Differences Between the Other Entities

As mentioned earlier, I’ve seen a lot of people just assume the Extinction has to fall under one of the other dread powers. It is also important that I draw attention to some of the noticeable similarities and differences from the types of fear and symbolism the Extinction might feed on and use in order to better understand how a theoretical Extinction avatar, artifact, or creature might work.

The Buried, The Dark, The Eye, The Hunt, The Flesh, The Spiral, and The Web-  These are all in the same category because, honestly, I can’t think of that many massive similarities they did or could have outside of very specific types of world-ending or extinction event apocalypse imagery. I guess in fairness to the Hunt there have been plenty of creatures that have been hunted to extinction and since the Flesh is the fear of being butchered and/or consumed it could also overlap with a similar theme of being eaten or hunted to extinction, and maybe there’s an argument for overlap in being trapped or destined for a seemingly unavoidable and terrible future/fate that cannot be avoided with the Buried or even the Web. If you want to lean into the Extinction’s theme of change you could also focus on many different dystopias. For example, the Extinction and the Eye may overlap in imagery regarding a dystopian future society/world where people are under constant surveillance or uncover some sort of cursed/forbidden knowledge.

The Corruption-  This is one of the entities that had its influence directly compared to that of the Extinction and was held up as an explanation for possible Extinction related events that may have actually just been the Corruption. I think things like plagues, rotting corpses, and zombies are all well-known apocalyptic scenarios that could probably fall pretty evenly in the imagery of both entities given the Corruption’s connection to rot and disease. As for differences, the Corruption is basically the fear of things we find disgusting and would probably lean more into that aspect(i.e. rot, decay, pandemics, diseases, parasites, etc.) while the Extinction could lean more into the raw destructive aspects of the things that harm or destroy various species or the entire world. Such as how pollution and disease can destroy or permanently alter the environment. how they can change people and things into something else(like zombies or mutants) or focus more on killing people on a mass scale. In essence, it could focus more on the raw destruction or paradigm shift brought about by those things. It would also probably usually lack the whole “toxic love” and unhealthy relationships the Corruption often has, and have less focus on just being disgusting. On top of that, disease and rot are not the only things that can cause extinctions or massive change and thus the Extinction could probably also manifest as other less traditionally disgusting things, and would honestly probably do so more often. I would argue that the Corruption’s overlap simply comes down to specific forms of extinctions or apocalyptic events overall. The Extinction also tends to have more technology-based imagery than the more organic(such as disease and worms) imagery the Corruption is more prone to use. This makes sense when you consider the fact that things like diseases, bacteria, and parasites are all alive as well as the fact that if something is rotting things like bacteria and mold(which are living things) often accompany it.

The Desolation-  I feel like the Extinction and Desolation would have a lot of overlapping imagery because things like being driven to extinction or the world ending often go hand and hand with destruction, loss, and pain. Think of things like nuclear wars, super volcano eruptions, or maybe even meteorites destroying the lives and well-being of everyone on the planet. The Desolation seems to often influence things in the form of heat and sometimes fire, as it is even described as being like "blackened earth, the destructive agonizing heat of burning flesh and land scoured of life, the light with the comfort of fire stripped from it, leaving nothing but the terror of its approach." by Jude Perry in MAG 89. I think the main difference would be that the Extinction is going to more often be focused on the idea of things being completely wiped out or rendered redundant or unneeded and that doesn’t always need to manifest as raw destruction. It could simply be something going out of fashion or being lost to time. As I said, Extinction could potentially also have themes of change and replacement or becoming obsolete since it isn’t necessarily just about destruction.

The End- I don’t think the similarities here need much explanation since the End and the Extinction are compared by fans all the time and are directly compared to each other in the podcast itself, and it goes without saying that in order for living things to go extinct they usually need to all die. It is even speculated within TMA by Adelard Dekker that the Extinction may have been an aspect of the End and/or Corruption originally but split off when enough people generated the corresponding fears for the Extinction. This ties in with how we know that the dread powers are known to split off or emerge from other entities when the fear of something reaches a certain level or becomes distinct enough. Which in turn ties into the fact that all the entities are sort of connected and are actually just parts of a much bigger entity. While both the End and Extinction probably overlap heavily and often with themes and imagery regarding death, the Extinction has more of what comes after something dies and a more technological and artificial component to it. Something that makes sense when you consider that while death can and does often occur artificially it is ultimately a natural force that can never really be truly avoided. Even if someone isn’t shot or drowned they will still eventually die. When it comes to the End, the fear is more on just dying or the inevitability of death and the end of your life, but the Extinction focuses on the death of an entire species and often what comes after the fact on top of that. You’re not just dying, all of humanity is going to die or maybe even get replaced by something. Even if humanity is driven extinct the world continues to turn. As mentioned earlier the Extinction could also have more fear and imagery regarding change and replacement in general and not just death. So the extinction could easily extend more so to non-living things than the End tends to. Also, the Extinction tends to use symbols of the end of the world or the apocalypse with things like Apophis and Jörmungandr while the End tends to use things like the grim reaper, and psychopomps(the spiritual guide of a living person's soul) and it has a habit of granting people forms of immortality so they can continue to fear death for as long as possible, and I feel like the Extinction is less likely to do that. Interesting note, Apophis would later have an asteroid named after it(asteroid 99942 Apophis). This is because said asteroid is a near-Earth asteroid that could really fuck things up if it ever manages to hit our planet. However, there is no need to start bringing in the newest dread power into full fruition just yet because that asteroid still has an extraordinarily low chance of hitting anything and I’m not an avatar of the Extinction who gains sustenance from giving people heart attacks. Well… not yet anyway. I could also maybe see an overlap in the emphasis on bones with the End and the Flesh due to an association with fossils, bones, death, and extinct creatures. I think in the Extinction’s case it would probably tend to be more fossil-based as a way to remind you of long bygone eras.

The Lonely- I think this is another one of those fears that has an obvious connection because of the imagery the Extinction likes to use. A good way to show something going extinct is by showing places where that thing is no longer around to inhabit or hang out in. So if you are a human being touched by the Extinction and you get pulled into a place where the rest of humanity has apparently ceased to exist then it would give off the vibe of being completely and utterly alone. However, I imagine the Extinction would use way less fog, rain, and mist imagery than the Lonely unless it was tied to some sort of apocalypse or great change. The Extinction would probably have more smog, and pollution just to remind us how badly humanity managed to fuck both itself and an entire planet over. The dread power would probably still make use of more monsters or creatures being present than the Lonely typically does since there are plenty of apocalypses or extinction events that have weird mutants, robots, animals. aliens, etc. Plus, it would probably tend to have way more dead bodies lying around than the Lonely, as the Lonely doesn’t use as much death imagery as the End, Slaughter, or Desolation unless it wants to let you know you’re probably going to die alone.

The Slaughter- I ended up giving the Slaughter here its own section because I feel like a massive bloody conflict or war is a common enough form of apocalyptic imagery to warrant at least mentioning some of the potential overlap here in its own section. Outside of how violence, pain, and war may signify the end of the world or an extinction level conflict I really don’t see a lot of overlap outside of that. Nuclear weapons could easily work as imagery for both the Extinction and Slaughter. Since it is a weapon that was first used during a World War to inflict violence on a previously unimaginable scale, many fear the power of nukes as something that could easily end the world or wipe out humanity.

The Stranger- The Stranger is another one of the entities that has been directly compared to the Extinction. Specifically with how both powers often use man made or artificial imagery and themes of being replaced and/or changed(as mentioned in “MAG 149: Concrete Jungle”). I think there are some key differences even with this major overlap. The Stranger deals specifically with the fear of the unknown. So when something aligned with the Stranger larps as your grandpa by wearing his skin the fear more so comes from not only the fact that this person has been replaced but you have no idea who the new person is or what they want. The Stranger also has a strong connection to artificial objects and creations due to the fact that it also embodies the fear of the uncanny valley(which according to google is “a phenomenon whereby a computer-generated figure or humanoid robot bearing a near-identical resemblance to a human being arouses a sense of unease or revulsion in the person viewing it”). Which I assume relates to the idea that you can’t quite tell if something is human or not and that uncertainty leads into the unknown, i.e. your brain does not know what it’s looking at. In this regard I feel like the Extinction could be somewhat differentiated due to the fear being more focused on the act of changing itself or the end of something in particular. So you might be more likely to recognize whatever has been changed or replaced by the Extinction or at least the fear created would be more related to your time/era coming to an end and the like. The Extinction would also of course have more apocalyptic imagery and probably rely less on the uncanny valley.

The Vast- I feel like the Vast is actually one of the entities that could have a more “positive” or symbiotic relationship with Extinction, kind of like how the Lonely and the Eye or the Lonely and the Vast can often supplement each other because according to John in “MAG 159: The Last”- “The Lonely and the Eye aren’t too far apart, are they? Not really. What good’s being alone if you don’t know how alone you truly are?”. In regards to the second example, Peter Lukas points out that it is easier to feel utterly alone in a large place. Where does the connection between the Vast and Extinction come in? Well, the Vast ultimately embodies the fear of insignificance or really big things. This can be literal in the form of great heights or massive entities beyond human comprehension but it can also be metaphorical. The idea that you mean nothing and having your entire species or group wiped off the Earth could be even less than a fucking speck on the cosmic scale could definitely feed into that insignificance. Simon Fairchild, an avatar of the Vast, doesn’t seem that concerned with what the Extinction will or won’t do precisely because he views everything as insignificant anyway. To him, whether or not humanity lives or dies is ultimately a meaningless blip in the grand scheme of things that changes very little. I think the Vast would still lean way more into the imagery of falling, massive oceans, and the sky a lot more than the Extinction would though.

Abilities, Powers and Attributes

With some of the differences between the other fear entities narrowed down we can begin to discuss some of the powers, abilities, attributes, symbols, etc. that the Extinction either has manifested as or could manifest as. Before I continue it’s important to remember that when it comes to symbols and powers all the entities can really manifest as just about anything as long as it helps produce the fear they feed on. Now the entities tend to rely on certain symbols more than others to get the job done(like the Desolation with fire and heat and the Web with strings, addiction, and spiders) but no entity has a monopoly on any given symbol. Thinking of the End as “the bone one” and the Vast as “the sky one” misunderstands how the entities work and limits one’s understanding of their true horror and scope. When it comes to avatars and monsters, while each Avatar can have any number of abilities and powers based on all kinds of factors their powers usually symbolically connect to their entity. For example, if one is an avatar of the Eye/Beholding their abilities will typically revolve around eyes, espionage, knowing things, forcing other people to know things, or having ways of gaining information and/or knowledge. Meanwhile, the powers of say the Dark will often revolve around… well darkness, shadows and things that may lurk within them. So we can at least get a general sense for what kind of abilities being aligned with the Extinction may grant even if two avatars for even the same dread power can have wildly different powers. I’m making a list to give a general vibe of a hypothetical Extinction aligned creature or person’s abilities and not some hard rule like “These are exactly the only 15 different powers an Extinction avatar could have.” Also, there’s going to be an obvious limitation in that I really doubt that even an Avatar of the Extinction could single handedly end the world with nothing but their own powers without some sort of weird ritual or the most insane teamwork known to man.

We haven’t seen much of the Extinction but we do know based on what we have seen of it that it tended to manifest as man made objects, typically things like pollution, debris, trash and other things that can remind humans of the damage we are dealing to the planet, creatures we are wiping out, and the potential doom we may face in a future where we don’t exist. Out of all the powers the Extinction seemed to use technology symbolism the most as it has manifested as numbers being sent from a strange signal. The entity was also seen manifesting as mutants in a postapocalyptic domain after the change. It also tends to use any imagery that can be used to get across the destruction or wiping out of humanity or the destruction/breakdown of nature and the natural order. It has also manifested with imagery relating to world ending creatures from mythology(such as Apophis and Jörmungandr from Egyptian and Scandinavian mythology respectively). I think this imagery could theoretically extend to things like metamorphosis and shed skin. While yes there are the previously mentioned world ending snakes one of the most notable features of snakes is their ability to shed their skin. Shedding skin can and has been used as imagery for change or growth which I feel could work really well with the Extinction. Metamorphosis also fulfills a similar role and could rope in imagery like that of butterflies and moths.

As for even more hypothetical or fan-theory based ways I personally think the Extinction might have manifested if it was a fully fledged entity is through clocks and ticking/tocking noises. Now this may seem like a weird and confusing hypothesis but let me introduce you to the concept of the Doomsday Clock. What is the Doomsday Clock? Well as the wikipedia article states “The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe, in the opinion of the members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Maintained since 1947, the clock is a metaphor for threats to humanity from unchecked scientific and technological advances. A hypothetical global catastrophe is represented by midnight on the clock, with the Bulletin's opinion on how close the world is to one represented by a certain number of minutes or seconds to midnight, assessed in January of each year. The main factors influencing the clock are nuclear risk and climate change.” If that doesn’t scream potential Extinction imagery I don’t know what does. I think the clock also ties in very well with the Extinction’s theme of change and being the “The Terrible Change.” What better way is there to remind people of an incoming change than something that measures the passage of time? It could also be used to represent the inevitable end of humanity approaching. I’m sure everyone can relate to the anxiety of an upcoming event and just watching the clock in anticipation and fear.

I would also argue that for a similar reason this symbolism would extend to hour-glasses. Also, apparently an hour glass is also used as a symbol to represent the threat of a mass extinction event caused by humanity. So there is definitely a lot of potential time imagery there.

With those symbols nailed down we can use them to guess what kind of broad categories the abilities the Extinction grants would usually fall under.

The first is abilities regarding various forms of technology. I imagine this would often take the form of being able to incorporate technology into their bodies in various ways to lean into the Extinction’s themes of change and replacing humanity both metaphorically and/or literally. This could also extend to even being able to understand and maybe even potentially control various forms of technology to a degree. It is also not out of the question that some might even be able to change one or more parts of their body into machinery. Imagine cutting someone open only to find that their “weak and outdated fleshy organs” were being replaced with new strange technology. I feel like these ideas could apply to any technology to a degree but would probably most often relate to aspects of weapons of mass destruction(think of radiation from nuclear bombs or a nuclear holocaust). It would be unsurprising to see avatars of the Extinction who have become more machine or metal than human, or what was once human anyway. Replacing limbs with things like metal cables, eyes with camera, and skin with leather. You could also lean into a Mad Max style vibe if you really wanted to as a way to really hammer in the apocalypse energy.

The second hypothetical ability relates to mutations and change or being replaced. I imagine that when these abilities relate to organic things they often have to do with mutations. Either inflicting some sort of mutation on the user or a victim that causes the affected to undergo monstrous physical changes that are usually supposed to “improve” or change them in horrific ways. These mutations would usually cause the person with them to become less and less human and more like a monster straight out of a post apocalyptic story. Some avatars could probably return to a form that resembles their human selves in order to hide in plain sight, even if a lot of them probably could have a lot of off putting inhuman features even when in human form. I could also see some sort of mutation-esque ability revolving around extinct lifeforms in some way. For example, maybe trapping someone in the body of an extinct lifeform being killed or just unleashing the “wrath and fear” of creatures that are about to go extinct or have gone extinct(such as a wooly mammoth or dinosaur). I can also see weird change or mutation abilities relating to technology. I already pitched being able to do things like incorporate technology into one’s body but maybe there exist avatars who could impart pieces of themselves onto certain forms of technology in order to either control the technology or transform it into something else entirely. Maybe sometimes it would be an odd assortment of flesh and metal and at other times it would transform into a piece of technology that seemingly shouldn’t exist. I could also see some having the ability to simply treat technology like it's alive. As if they can talk to it and occasionally one could see things like computers thrashing about in an attempt to come to life or phones calling out with distorted voices reading out numbers and messages. This also ties into the fear a lot of people have about being replaced by technology. Whether that be the more fantastical robot uprising or the more grounded idea of automation rendering your job unnecessary or obsolete.

As alluded to earlier with the whole clock and hour-glass theme, I could also see a sort of passage of time theme. Now since the Extinction is all about things changing I really doubt it could say rewind time, time travel back through time, or anything of the sort but I could see it accelerating how time flows around specific targets to make things age and wither away as they become obsolete in seconds. It could even have ways to slow down time in order to force someone to experience the world changing and moving on without them as they and their knowledge becomes obsolete. Or maybe they are just forced to watch the world they know and love die in various ways around them. I could also potentially see this extending to some sort of ability to speed up time to make things erode or age to rubble and/or dust in order to show the inevitability of change and how time continues to march on. Likewise, I think there would also be cases where the Extinction or one of its avatars/monsters can mess with one’s perception of time by either slowing it down and/or speeding it up to mess with how they experience change. A neat aesthetic for this could be the tick tocking of a supposed doomsday clock that fills some with dread and/or a feeling of inevitability and maybe even simply drives them mad as they are constantly reminded of each second passing. Imagine a book/Leitner that as you read it time around you seems to move faster and faster until before you know it the entire world around you has completely and utterly changed into something alien and scary.

I think fossils are also associated with extinction heavily enough for there to be an argument for abilities and symbology regarding fossils to be present in the Extinction’s influences. There might be books that once read slowly reduce you to a fossilized husk or Avatars with the ability to turn organic material into fossils within seconds via touch. Imagine creatures composed of fossilized remains of all the bones of each species humanity had a hand in driving to extinction.

Finally, another more obvious ability the Extinction could bestow are those revolving around common factors that cause extinction events. I did a tiny bit of research(so feel free to add to this list) and some of the most common ones are overharvesting of natural resources, pollution, habitat destruction, the introduction of invasive species, overhunting, etc. I feel like messing around with themes of invasive species and overhunting can get really interesting when you involve humans. I mean think about what kind of weird fucked up shit an invasive species would need to be to threaten driving humans to extinction. Such beings could easily seem alien or maybe even godlike. The pollution could manifest as living globs of oil, sludge, smog and other things deadly to almost every lifeform and one could see avatars that leak disgusting cancerous oil from the pores of their body or cry polluted water that is more potent and destructive than any sort of acid rain. Overharvesting could be represented via a form of endless hunger. Like an avatar who feels the burning desire to devour almost any resource they come across or with the ability to constantly absorb things into their body as a way of feeding themselves. Imagine that weird friend crashing at your house who seems normal at first but begins to not only eat all your food with a never ending hunger but all your pet’s food, your air conditioner, and maybe even your neighbor's stuff. Like are you really about to try to tell him to leave? Representing habitat destruction is kind of difficult without coming off as being almost exactly like the Desolation. I guess you could lean away from fire and heat and more towards specifically man-made disasters like acid rain that eats away at everything or radiation slowly killing all the organic life.

What would Avatars of Extinction be like?

Now, this symbolism and power set theming is cool and all but we can go even deeper and ask another interesting question. What would Avatars of the Extinction tend to be like? This is an odd question but it's important to remember that certain entities tend to attract, or reach out to, certain kinds of people. We also know that to one degree or another it is possible to have a potential affinity for certain entities(like how Annabelle pointed out Martin had an affinity for the Web). Plus, we know that certain personality traits tend to be encouraged or attracted to the idea of becoming Avatars for certain entities. Avatars of the Web tend to be good at manipulating others, Avatars of the Eye tend to be those who are obsessed with seeking out knowledge and observing people, Avatars of the Buried often loved cramped and claustrophobic spaces, Avatars of the Lonely often prefer to be… well alone, etc. So what kind of people could we expect to see among Avatars of the Extinction? As always this isn’t supposed to be a hard definitive list and I imagine that like with all people who serve the powers there can be plenty of exceptions and most people would probably fall under multiple categories.

The Eco-terrorists- The first category isn’t just eco-terrorists but a broader category of people who basically despise humanity because they see humanity as either unnatural or a parasite/blight on the earth. Thus, they see all the terrible things humans do and believe that they should be wiped off the Earth, and potentially replaced with something that could do better than humanity. This can possibly be seen with Garland Hillier in TMA and his essay titled L'Avenir("The Future") that was detailed a speculation about the human race’s end in a future where a corrupt humanity was completely wiped out by a new category of beings he called "Les héritiers" I imagine a noticeable amount of people within this category would see the Extinction as a manifestation of Earth’s wrath or nature’s vengeance and the like.

Doomsday Preppers- Another one that’s simple to explain. This category is basically for doomsday prepper-style folk and those who revel in preparing for the end of the world or the apocalypse. Probably often hoping to have some sort of power fantasy in an apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic world. I imagine doomsday preppers fall into a very weird category because I feel like a lot of them are actually really afraid of the world ending, hence the preparing, and thus may actually be very common targets for the Extinction and its ilk but at the same time I think there are plenty of doomsday preppers who sort of look forward to the end of the world as a way to feel validated in their preparation or live out a fantasy. Some may even see it as a chance to give humanity a clean slate.

Apocalypticism- My apocalypticism category is what it says on the tin. It refers to those who have a religious belief that the world will end at some point in their lifetime, usually accompanied by the fall of civilization and the like. Imagine an Extinction avatar awaiting something like rapture. I would also say this category of people who associate themselves with the Extinction has already been seen in The Magnus Archives series itself with Garland Hillier, who(along with the Millerite Movement) believed that the world would end on October 22, 1844. Of course, the apocalypse did not occur but they are still a good example of what I mean. I imagine many would see the Extinction as some sort of god or divine will. People seeing the entities as gods has already happened in TMA with people like Peter Lukas referring to their respective entities as some sort of god.

Ascension- This is a category I made for people who believe in the world ending but more in the sense that it’s changing. Think of a rapture-style situation where the world ends and the worthy ascend to something higher while the unworthy die or are sent somewhere else, or maybe a being comes bearing enlightenment or truth that changes everything. The Extinction has themes of change and replacement so from the perspective of avatars in this category if they prove themselves they might be seen as worthy enough to become one of these “new” or “future” beings and live in the Extinction’s new world. Similar to the previous category, I imagine many in this category might see the Extinction as some sort of god or divine entity.

Acceptance- Not really much to say about this category. This is just for people who see Extinction as an inevitable part of the universe and that there is often little point in fighting against it. They may see humans as doomed or fuck ups that are beyond saving so see no point in struggling against the end of humanity or other creatures.

Power Hungry- A type of person we see serving all the entities are those that turn to them in order to obtain power or to extend their life with the supernatural abilities the dread powers grant. There is not much to say beyond that because what the entities offer these people is very basic and self-explanatory. Jonah Magnus himself is a good example as he turned to the eye in an attempt to prolong his life and potentially make himself immortal by fully bringing into the physical world.

As mentioned earlier, I’m sure there would be plenty of exceptions but here’s the majority of the types of people I think the Extinction would attract. 

But what are some of the common side-effects being influenced by the Extinction may cause? It is well documented that the dread powers are known to have some sort of influence on those who serve them and may exaggerate or emphasize certain aspects of people and/or their personality. For example, the Slaughter made Melanie King more rageful by playing up her existing frustrations and rage at her situation and the Hunt can make you more animalistic or obsessed with chasing and catching others in general. I think a lot of the side-effects can probably be guessed based on the type of people the Extinction would attract to serve it in the first place. Such as starting to find humans disgusting, parasitic, inherently corrupt or evil, becoming obsessed with changing the world in some sort of weird and often apocalyptic way, being obsessed with the future, or seeing Extinction as inevitable in the same way that an Avatar of the End could see death as inevitable or an avatar of the Vast may see life as insignificant.

Designing Avatars

Okay, I have basically finished the core meat and potatoes of this speculation. So here comes the fun part. Designing and writing concepts for one or more Extinction avatars in order to help get my points across.

After scouring some of the statements given to me I came across one by the name of Drogo Apotha. Odd name I must say. But what’s interesting is how he first appears in these records in 1864. Apparently, a boat somehow became trapped beneath the waters of Cuyahoga River in Ohio the day before the river caught on fire from the almost inhuman amount of pollution that had built up in the body of water. The boat didn’t sink into the water and oil though and some claim the captain had rocks in the place of teeth and a tongue made of mud. But Buried aside, someone traveling along the river about 1 year and two months ago saw what they thought was a dead body. In a panic the police were called and the body was taken for testing. I had to pull a lot of strings and all kinds of favors to get the autopsy report but most agree that there was some sort of error. The body was severely burnt. The official documentation doesn’t know what caused this and assume it was some sort of murder or failed attempt to discard the body before throwing it into the river. But I believe these burns may be connected to the fire of the Cuyahoga River. Tears constantly leaked from the eyes of… Drago? I will call him “Drago” for now. But it could easily be something that took his place or body. Anyway, these tears were incredibly acidic. With a ph low enough to burn through some of the gloves worn by the people operating on the body. They were immediately taken for proper treatment. As the body was cut open the insides seemed… fresh? Despite the age and burning of the outside of the body, all the internal fluids of the body had been replaced with oil, as in the fossil fuel. And the heart seemed to be beating, albeit really slowly. Baffled by this and not knowing what to do, the body was simply preserved and stored. However, one of the people who had been burned by Drago’s acid came to me asking to perform an investigation and/or exorcism(whichever could make the problem go away). After they had been burned by the acid the pain caused by it never faded. Also, whenever they dreamed they would have the same dream every night since they got the wound. A disgusting polluted river that was more garbage than water up in flames. The river would slowly rise as a loudspeaker played a bunch of numbers… 59375630583928464749162830165049564846474827. I don’t know their meaning but they remind me of the numbers played in a statement #0090310 that Dekker had provided me. The body of Drago has since gone missing and with its disappearance there have been reports of a rancid smell on some parts of the Cuyahoga River along with the appearance of drowning victims. All bodies found have been afflicted with acid damage and have had several of their organs replaced with nearby trash. They also had signs of being force fed oil. The authorities believe it to be a serial killer but that doesn’t completely add up to me. Personally, I believe our mysterious “Drago” is the culprit and he may have even become the first avatar of this “Future without Us.”

To be frank, I’m not 100% sure where I should even begin with this one. These recordings are supposed to be a short compilation of evidence and signs regarding the Extinction for Dekker as opposed to full length statements. Despite the fact that this case isn’t even finished there is so much for me to say, but I will save most of that for its respective statement. Anyway, I have received reports from yet another client. I was hesitant to believe them at first but if the sound in my hearing aids and the activation of some of those tapes I snagged from the Usher Foundation is to be any indication then they are probably telling the truth. Which could mean we now have the existence of the first Extinction avatar on our hands. The description of their appearance by each client seemed different each time(so I originally believed each report to be a separate incident). However, there were some key features they always had. They always wore a hat, sunglasses and a face mask of a certain design and made to obscure their face. The weird thing was of course, when they sweated they smelled like gasoline and whenever they spoke it sounded like it was coming from a radio filled with static. The few times they were seen without a mask dark gray vehicle exhaust poured out of their mouth. Several clients have made complaints about them, potentially stalking and assaulting themselves or other people. Each person who was assaulted harbored strange wounds. Limbs that had been mutated into something hairy or reptilian. Some victims refused to leave their house due to how horrid they found their mutated appearance and others attempted to chop their mutated body parts off. That is not even the weirdest part… There have been at least several reports of this assailant being killed, but they continue to show up. The first death account involved the, being found burned alive in their own home after it had caught fire. According to the autopsy report this person was identified as a woman. But this very same autopsy report is strange because it keeps mentioning how she embraced the “Terrible Change”. At first, I assumed this might just be the work of the Illusion, or the Spiral as Dekker called it, attempting to confuse me again. Upon further evidence and reflection however, I ended up coming to the conclusion that the attacker might be connected to the Extinction. Me and Nancy even decided to perform a stake out to gather some more information on this person. We ended up bringing Bridget just in case we had to “exorcize” something by force. I even pulled that old Eye-aligned camera out of storage just in case. The artifact is surprisingly agreeable as long as you are okay with being recorded while you are using it. Tame as far as artifacts go but it should still be handled with caution. It is extremely useful for recording the truly supernatural, I have even caught invisible things on camera by using it. But, anything that doesn’t have to do with a person who doesn’t want to be recorded or the supernatural will be deleted after about 24 hours. Outside of that the camera seems to have an infinite amount of memory space. During our escapade the camera managed to catch something… unexpected. We witnessed our target walk into the street without flinching and get hit by a car. The person who hit them of course freaked out and began to panic. When they got too close to the body the target reached out and grabbed them, causing the driver to scream and panic as they hit the target and backed away. I could not get a good glimpse of it but it appeared that there was a patch of fur on the victim’s arm. In utter shock they ran down the street screaming and crying while our target simply stood up and straightened her clothes. Something appeared to be wriggling. At first I thought it was something under her clothes but I realized it was something bulging and whirring from under her skin. As it did all the bleeding coming from her body stopped. They looked like a completely different person. This time a tan teenage boy of some sort. He eventually walked for several miles towards a different street. Getting purposefully hit once again, sending him flying several feet through the air. This time he got back up immediately. No broken bones, no blood, no nothing. The driver looked horrified of course but drove away. Probably to avoid being accused of a crime. Our target would wander the streets and come across someone burning a pile of leaves and branches. Much to their horror he walked onto their property and into the burning pile only to come out unscathed. He then began talking about promises of evolution and change as the person ran away. It is this obsession with change and evolution that seems to be unlike the other dread powers and forces me to acknowledge that the Extinction may be at play. I speculate that the power of this specific person revolves around some sort of idea of accelerated evolution. If they would die they simply evolve into something else and they can force other people to evolve, but more research is needed.

I have received several reports in regards to medical malpractice performed by a doctor who went by the name Dr. Dagny. Of course, when people call me it’s either because no one else will listen or something supernatural is happening. This one happens to be the latter. Their clothes were stained with black oil in every report. Not perfume oil mind you, but the fossil fuel. An obvious biohazard in any medical facility worth its salt. However, Dagny seemed to prey on those who were extremely desperate emotionally or monetarily. Dagny would offer potential patients “true and everlasting change” and would promise to permanently fix all kinds of problems by making them “cyborgs” or showing them the “future of medical technology.” I’m not really sure what many of these listed fixes were supposed to do. One time she replaced someone’s entire nervous system with copper wiring, another time she replaced someone’s eyes with camera lenses. I even had one report of a person having their lower half replaced with that of some disgusting mutant or monster so that they could apparently walk again. By some ungodly miracle it worked but the pain was too unbearable for the patient. That’s another thing, while some of these procedures work about as well as you would expect, some of the procedures sort of actually worked. Well, if you consider being in either terrible agony or being described by all friends and family as coming back inhuman or robotic in their mannerisms while not displaying an ounce of emotion as “working.” One Jane Doe states that when her father returned he would move from place to place like a program. Not even acknowledging anyone or anything as he did so. He would just wake up, move downstairs to eat breakfast at exactly 7:15, go to work at 9:05, etc. on the dot daily without missing a beat. I managed to put together some of the reports by clients and statements from the archives to compile a description of Dr. Dagny and track them down. Their face and head did not actually move all that much and mostly just hung limply to the side. When the doctor spoke the sound was electronic and clearly did not originate from their mouth and/or vocal cords. They wore sunglasses that obscured their eyes no matter how dark the room was. Taking these glasses off only revealed lifeless eyes that remained stuck open as black oil stained near their tear ducts. Almost, as if they had been crying. Some clients even caught glimpses of a bright electronic light, like that of a computer screen, flashing from underneath the doctor’s clothes. Some, what I guess you could describe as unlucky souls, managed to see what was under those clothes. It was a computer embedded into their stomach. While Dagny’s head seemed almost dead, the faces on this screen more clearly displayed their emotional state. Flashing horrifically distorted pictures of whatever emotion they were feeling. Whenever they talked this face’s mouth would just rhythmically open and close in a poor mockery of speech. Of course, the computer itself seemed like a fusion of flesh and technology. Some parts of its screen seemed like glass while others seemed like some sort of translucent flesh. Countless wires emerged from the screen and violently connected the machine with the rest of the body. I suspect this doctor may yet be another person aligned with the Extinction. I admit that I am well aware that this might simply be the work of the Stranger given the presence of the uncanny valley. But I also cannot rule out the possibility that this may yet be another person or entity aligned with Extinction. The obsession with change and technology is quite out of the ordinary for the likes of the Strange and its ilk in my humble opinion. But only time will tell. If only Mr. Dekker was still here to look over my findings… but alas.

This case is most interesting. A police officer themselves came to me asking for aid in regards to a murder. It was a case involving the murder of one Darwin Herslac. A murder that occurred several times within the past month, one involved a car crash, another a knife stabbing, another a gun, etc. There have been several confessions to the murder and several bystanders claiming he had died in each murder. There are even medical records confirming it, but Darwin himself claims to have no memory of these murders occurring. I suppose it's not impossible that this person is simply one of the luckiest people I have seen in my life but more recent information I have gathered points to one or more of the dread powers at work. After some searching I have found ominous piles of skin and hair that were shed like a snake. However, the skin and hair of these sheddings were definitely human. These piles of skin were also all relatively close to the scene of all the murders that were reported. Other than that my investigations brought me dead end after dead end. Eventually, I was forced to take matters into my own hands and ran an experiment. With the help of my glass eye I was able to confirm without a shadow of a doubt that something was going on with Darwin and I had Bridget light their house on fire. Darwin made no attempt to put out the fire or even run from it and just stared at it as it consumed his body and the entire house. Upon returning to the scene I saw nothing but a blackened charred corpse where he had been. After a few minutes I heard what I thought was a car exhaust from the body before it transitioned to gasps of air. Then, like a caterpillar emerging from a chrysalis, Darwin crawled out of his own charred remains wet but fully formed, leaving nothing but a pile of shed skin behind. He had a wide grin on their face and started explaining to me that change was inevitable and I would have to turn to serve the “Terrible Change” if I wanted to survive the new era that was to come. Bridget managed to restrain Darwin for the time being. There is not a lot of information to work with here but thanks to my glass eye I have concluded 2 things. 1. It appears that whenever Darwin dies they are revived with no unseen adaptations rendering them all but immune to what killed them previously. 2. The Terrible Change probably refers to the Extinction or something adjacent to it. I believe the Extinction to be tied strongly to themes of change and I cannot find any matches with a name like “the Terrible Change” and any other of the dread powers. I can’t say for sure if Darwin is a fully fledged avatar of the Extinction or if that is even possible but something is definitely afoot, especially as the Extinction continues to emerge. Which I suppose could play a factor but I don’t know enough of the specifics. More research is needed…

Designing Creatures

Similar to the avatars I figured I would design and write a few concepts for Extinction aligned monsters.

Simply known as “The Smog” by most who have encountered it, it is a monster that is most definitely aligned to the newly emerged Extinction Adelard Dekker was so adamant in warning me about. In appearance it takes the form of a thick smog. However, upon walking into it any victims will quickly realize the acidic nature of the cloud as it burns away at their flesh, lungs, and eyes. Blinding them and leaving them screaming and flailing through the cloud as factory soot pelts them. No matter how many people they entered the cloud with, no one would respond to their pleas and wails. Eventually, after what seems like an eternity, the burning subsides and the victim will be left to gaze upon their neighborhood or city. But it will be empty and desolate. Every person gone and every house worn away by an unholy cacophony of radiation and acid from centuries ago. Every person I’ve talked to in regards to this “creature” says that years passed as they wandered the wastelands. While I might have found this preposterous upon seeing what one of my clients looked like just two days ago when compared to now… well let’s just say it speaks for itself. Some people mention, and even have tape recordings, of strange mutated creatures wandering the waste. About 1/4th of the people that came to me mentioned something about there being other actual living people in these lands. However, they either take the form of bleached skeletons from days long gone or marauders and doomsday enthusiasts, of which have seemingly gone mad or just embraced the new world they have found themselves in. Despite many of the smog’s more supernatural elements hunger still persists when in it. Forcing those trapped within the smog to scrounge for oddly placed rations and cans of expired food or resorting to feasting upon the flesh of whatever they can find. Whether that be the “animals” or… humans… All victims who have survived the smog are covered in chemical burns and various DNA tests clearly show that they have all aged one year or more. Some are left blind by the acid. I shudder to think about this Smog as the survivors I have encountered are probably the minority. So who knows the amount of people that either died to the acid, died to the hellish landscape, or still wander those wastes. I have set about attempting to track the smog as best as I can. There has been very little success as it does not move as one cloud but instead dissipates into mere vapor and pollutants before forming somewhere else. It has the ability to change its color to match the surrounding and tends to show up in cities that are victims of pollution. Most of the statements that the Magnus Archives have provided me mention Hong Kong as an area it often appears in.

As the Extinction continues to swell and emerge I have gotten more and more clients coming to me with strange reports. Well… stranger than usual anyway. There have been people and events that fail to show any signs of the presence of any other powers despite their supernatural nature. Which leads me to conclude that they might be in fact tied to the Extinction. Someone who will remain anonymous came in reporting about a strange cloud hanging over their house. It was a sickly yellowish gray and held the exact same shape without ever moving with the wind. It completely blocked off sunlight from reaching the area around the house, leading to the death of all the plants in their carefully tended garden. Whenever it rained the cloud would “mimic” the rain around it by pouring acid rain onto the area below. I managed to get a sample of some of the water and soil in the area and took it to a lab. The ph was frighteningly low and acidic. Whenever the cloud “rained” any attempt to use wi-fi, tv, radios, or phone calls would just lead to a constant stream of “the world is always ending” accompanied by the ticking sound of a clock to play from the device in question at fall blast with no way to turn it off. When it wasn’t raining all the tvs and radios would become stuck on a news channel that only talked about global warming, pollution, and man-made natural disasters, nothing else. The voices of the news anchors were robotic and parts of their body were replaced with plastic(but they did not seem to notice or react). Each time the client saw them more and more of their bodies would be replaced with plastic and/or trash but this did not seem to affect their ability to speak. The client was forced to leave after the constant barrages of acid rain rendered the structure of their house unstable. The final night they slept in their own home they were awoken by the sound of a loud vacuum sucking up water. They looked out their window and saw hundreds of tubes all surrounding the house and lapping up the water and biomass from around their home. When they left that day their yard was now a completely blank square of sickly dirt. None of the neighbors seem to recall any sort of strange cloud, only that it rained slightly more than usual. Like the smog mentioned in my previous interview it would appear that this cloud can also dissipate and reappear but more research is needed.

This report baffles me and has me pondering the reach of the dread powers. It is yet another… artifact???... entity??? And seems to parallel some of the theories about the Extinction provided by Adelard Dekker. I have received a couple of cases from clients talking about a red star. In all these cases the clients were either stargazing or looking up at the sky only to notice what appeared to be a red star. Said star in question did not appear in any sort of records. Whenever they tried to tell someone else about it the star would seemingly wink out and nobody else in the area except for a select handful of people and… things that I can only assume were once people seem to recall seeing such a body in the sky. Interestingly, all these witnesses had been targeted or aligned with either the Eye, the Vast, or a third entity that I believe to be the Extinction because these people were definitely aligned with A power of some sort. But one that did not match any of the other entities. All those who witness this “star” first assume it to be a planet, such as Mars, only to find that sometimes it actively moves through the sky like an airplane. But it never blinks like one nor makes any sort of sound. One client found radio signals coming from the star. All the signals did was play a bunch of news reports from all across the world in all different kinds of languages. The one thing they all had in common though is they all talked about the end of the world, pollution, climate change, or a doomsday clock. I went to go check up on those who had seen this star only to find that almost all of them had either gone mad or become unhealthily obsessed with space travel and/or the future. Attempting to build rockets or freeze themselves so that they could escape our supposedly doomed Earth. Ironically, their attempts created a lot of the pollution and destruction they claimed to be so afraid of around their residence or operation. As for my speculation… well, my current hypothesis is that the thing in the sky is not in fact a planet or star but a satellite or space station. Perhaps akin to that of the Daedalus put together the Rayner along with the Fairchilds and Lukas families. Heck, it might even be the Daedalus itself considering how hard it is to find information on the space station. But there are some contradictions with this theory and I have yet to find a reason why these people would want to ally or accelerate the emergence of the Extinction. Doing so sounds like it would only further complicate the power plays between all the dread powers. It could always be a separate satellite altogether though. Only time will tell I suppose.

I believe these 4 creatures might be connected. So while it may come off as disorganized to mention them all in the same case file there is a method to my madness. Each of these creatures appears to take inspiration from the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse that the Bible says will arrive to herald the end of days. Thusly, I have referred to them as “Pestilence,” “War,” “Death” and “Famine,”I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I didn’t immediately realize the connection. There are plenty of cults or groups that worship or follow each of the powers but in hindsight all these cults seem to have formed relatively recently and surprisingly close to each other. While I originally assumed three of these “horsemen” to belong to the Corruption, Slaughter, and the End respectively, the appearance of Famine has me suspect that all of these creatures might actually be connected to the Extinction. Furthermore, Pestilence, War and Death show that the Extinction might be trying to metaphorically piggyback off of the following of other dread powers to further its own agenda. Which is not completely unheard of, especially with regards to the Web and its ilk. 

Pestilence had followers of the Corruption worshiping it as some sort of god or herald of a new age. What remained of the creature after Bridget Gudet was hired to deal with it resembled a horse. But it was rotting like a corpse despite being freshly dead. Its entire body had not a single muscle despite the fact that it could apparently move. It looked beyond stick thin with the exception of its stomach. Which was bloated in a manner that resembled pregnancy. However, while the embryo appeared organic everything was shaped like a machine. It almost resembled a computer or radio and I don’t want to imagine what its purpose may have been. But the members of the cult that worshiped this thing seemed convinced that it was to be the first “new human.” However, I consider them very… shall we say biased though, to say the least. Accounts detailing this creature mention that all those who touched it or even breathed while too close to it turned into zombie-like creatures straight out of a horror film. When in the presence of others they had a pretty convincing imitation of their former selves. But the smell of human blood would cause them to fly into a frenzy and attempt to infect the source of the smell. They also smelled rancid despite their appearance. I managed to come across one of these remaining zombies and, at least the one I came across, didn’t seem to feel pain. If someone was bitten by one of these “zombies” they would turn into one of them. Then, after a period of about 25 hours they would make their way towards Pestilence before physically fusing with the creature. I believe this biomass is what the embryo was composed of. Like the other 3 horsemen cults, this one seemed obsessed with some form of apocalypse. In this case they were fanatics about zombie apocalypses and fantasized about starting one so they could live out some odd idealized dream.

“War” doesn’t seem to actually be alive. It is composed purely of what looked like scrap and shrapnel that had been fused together by some sort of superheated blast to resemble a horse. A cult formed around it composed of followers of the Slaughter. However, this cult seemed obsessed with a nuclear war leading to the end of civilization. I found evidence that they were trying, and horribly failing, to get their hands on nuclear weapons. War rarely moved, often sitting around like a statue. I even saw some unfortunate bystanders mistaking it for some sort of art piece. But when it did it would launch shrapnel and bullets in every direction, making it very dangerous. Anybody who managed to survive being hit by this debris would begin to dream of a nuclear holocaust ending the world every time they slept. Supposedly they could feel the slow agonizing death of every irradiated creature. They also began to sweat profusely and become more and more aggressive and violent, attempting to start fights or harm people. Most concerning however, is that some of them would begin to produce some amount of radiation. First, it is virtually unnoticeable but it eventually reaches dangerous levels. Despite this the one afflicted with the condition doesn’t die from the radiation like one would think. They continue to function until randomly collapsing into a pile of irradiated cancerous and mutated mush. This is an obvious biohazard and local officials chalked it up to some sort of leak in a nearby power plant or something. Which sent the city into a panic. Unfortunately, Neither me or Bridget have been able to catch or kill this creature due to how dangerous it is. But rest assured we are keeping our eyes on it.

The horseman of Death was worshiped by a cult that followed the End. They would kidnap anyone they saw as potential initiates, or enemies, to this creature and force them to gaze upon it. When they did one of two things would happen. Most of the time the person would simply fall over dead. However, occasionally someone would be found “worthy” and would find themselves plagued by dreams of all the life on our planet being snuffed out in some way. Whether it be through food shortage, asteroids, war, so on and so forth. They also found themselves obsessed with extinct species and sought desperately to harvest DNA and body parts from remains of mammoths, dodo birds, dinosaurs, etc. Somehow, they were able to… mutate themselves. I saw one with a disgusting disproportionate jaw full of teeth that were as big as their own hand. After Bridget managed to “nab” a tooth I did some research and took it to a local museum. It appears to be a fossil of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. One of my clients managed to get a picture of the horseman before dying and it appears to look like a bunch of human corpses forced into the shape of a horse. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a way to trap or kill but I have my eye on it. Adelard Dekker has responded to the few inquiries that made it to him. Currently the solution I am cooking up for both War and Famine involves a lot of concrete. Unfortunately, I am going to need to rent a cement truck.

Finally there is Famine. This “horsemen” is what finally made me realize that these creatures may not be what they seem. Well, besides being manifestations of entities that are born from and feed off human fear. Famine doesn’t seem to relate to any of the other powers. Leading me to presume that while there are arguments for the other horsemen belonging to different powers, this one must be aligned with the emerging Extinction. It resembles a bone thin human that has been twisted into the shape of a horse. It seems mostly organic except its neck is made up of plastic pipes and oil slowly drips from its nostrils and it has misshapen horseshoes on. The creature has a supernatural appetite. It can eat seemingly anything and I even caught it eating bricks from buildings and tree trunks until the plants fell over. It can also drink literal gallons of water. However, once it is completely full and bloated it will vomit them up as a disgusting downpour of rancid smoke, plastic, and pollution. Its followers would often feed it and then attempt to consume this byproduct. I was made privy to its existence when I was called to investigate what was assumed to be an illegal lumber operation that was leading to the deforestation of the land. However, I found no equipment. Only disgusting amounts of trash, plastic, and this thing eating a tree. I have heard stories in the area of a haunted lumber machine and I may have to look into those for a possible connection. Most frighteningly, I have received a couple testimonies and witnesses saying that they saw a horse that matches this description seemingly communicating with the other horsemen. It didn’t neigh but let out a strange static radio noise whenever it came across one of the others. Furthermore, they refuse to attack each other and their cults never came into conflict even when they came into contact with each other. Despite supposedly serving different entities. Leading me to believe that they could all even be the same creature or manifestations of the Extinction given that they all seem to connect to apocalypses and the end times.

Leitners

Today someone submitted a book to me from the library for exorcism. It is a copy of “Man After Man” by Philip Hood but the cover is almost completely eroded except for the title and the author credit is typed out in binary. I interviewed my client about the book and they said their child read the book and they fell in love with some of the speculative creatures in the book and would pretend to be them. However, overtime the child began to go through physical… changes and the client refused to elaborate any further. After locating some tapes I found that the original book contains numerous hypothetical evolutionary paths for humanity in a possible future. But all the victims of the book I was able to find gained traits that resemble the creatures in the book. Supposedly, “evolving” them into one of humanity's future forms. I suspect this to be a Leitner having to do with the Extinction given its themes of the future and mutation but more research is required. 

This book has piqued my curiosity even more than usual as it was given to my client by a strange librarian with webs in her hair. While I was expecting a Web related Leitner this book appears to have nothing to do with the Web. In fact it has more in common with the creatures, and avatars of the Extinction. What the Web and its ilk seek to do with this dread power is beyond me. But it’s not the first time that the Web, and all the other dread powers for that matter, have sought to manipulate, ally or just take advantage of each other. Some powers seem to usually get along as well as fire and water, see my last report on the Buried and Vast in the respective section. However, some dread powers seem to almost supplement each other, like the Vast and the Lonely and maybe even the Web and the Eye. The feeling of manipulation and being watched or having information about yourself being revealed often go hand in hand. The Eye cares only about gathering information and fear and the more information you have on someone the easier it becomes to manipulate them. But I will save further speculation between the Web and the Eye or Extinction for another time. Most likely, this is a one off coincidence or situation. It could also be that this particular person just so happened to care about the Extinction. However, the book they are in possession of is an odd one. The cover art implies that it has to do with pollution and global warming but it is so faded that I cannot make out any other details. It was most likely a textbook. I managed to find a report of someone reading it from the Usher Foundation’s more recent records. According to that record and my client reading it does odd things to one’s perception of time. Both victims report that as they began to read it time seemed to flow around them faster and faster, even though they aged normally. It wasn’t obvious at first but they began to notice the world moving like a blur out of the corner of their eye. This process would not stop until they finished reading the book in its entirety. After they closed the book they were forced to reckon with the fact that about 20 years had passed and virtually everything and everyone they had known or loved was gone. Understandably, a lot of their knowledge seemed out of date but I’m not sure 100% if that was because of the leitner or not, because the book itself was reported to seem several decades out of date in terms of information. According to all the reports from the era these people who I suspect to have read the book simply vanished and were presumed dead. I managed to find the “librarian” and was able to find out that if the book is read within buildings built by Robert Smirke it allows one to control their own perception of time and/or that of others. Which is interesting since I wonder if Smirke’s architecture was built with the Extinction in mind. This investigation has yet to come to a full close so any new information I find will be reported immediately.

I have come across yet another leitner that I postulate is connected to the Extinction, considering its themes of evolution and the fact that it seems to be related to the fear of change. I suppose it is not impossible that it is related to the Stranger but I must remain extra vigilant and wary of this Extinction entity. The book I came across seems to be a copy of “On the Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin. According to the clients I’ve interviewed, there is a date on the first page of the book that is supposed to mark when it was written. Strangely this date is always a future date. Once someone reads the book this date will be set about a year in the future and will remain so for said person even if the date changes for others. It would appear that as the respective date draws closer and closer the reader will slowly begin to mutate into… something. On the date they see the transformation will be complete. What that thing is seems to vary depending on various factors but seems to help them overcome, or beat, their biggest fear(s) at the cost of becoming something monstrous and inhuman. Some are completely organic while others have had machinery merged with their form. Most will also lash out at anyone who knew them before their transformation. According to the statements I managed to gather before each client’s untimely transformation the book alternates between pictures and typed pages. With each writing corresponding to a picture of a species that has gone extinct or a speculative path of evolution for various currently existing species. I have yet to hear any mention of entries regarding lifeforms that currently exist but this book has only recently cropped up and more information is of course needed…

Upon further reflection, I have to wonder where one can precisely draws the line between what is and isn’t leitner. I mean books are an obvious but if there was some weird supernatural writing on a brick would that count? I am getting off topic, the stress must be getting to me. There has been another leitner discovered but in the form of a worn out newspaper. I have only managed to gather one statement from a single client in regards to it. The newspaper is made from a sort of yellowish paper that signifies it as something printed long ago. It is discolored by some sort of water damage but the words on the newspapers are perfectly legible despite some of the ink being smudged. The newspaper showed up on this client’s front porch and they mistakenly assumed it was that day's newspaper. They are old fashioned and in their 97s so they much prefer to read the newspaper over watching the news channels. However, it was quickly made apparent that the newspaper they received was several decades out of date. The headline had mention of the fire of Cuyahoga River in Ohio that was caused by the sheer amount of pollution in the river on June 22, 1969(Something that the client had apparently witnessed first hand) as well as the creation of the doomsday clock on another page. After reading it they also quickly realized that the newspaper had been delivered on the wrong day to begin with. They eventually threw it away but it appears the damage had already been done. Whenever someone turned on a radio or tv this client would suffer a piercing headache accompanied by the sound of static and what sounded like a radio beaming straight into their brain. It seemed no one else around them could hear it but it would always continue to play reports and announcements having to do with pollution, global warming, the doomsday clock, and the possible extinction of mankind. Overtime they even began to hear this broadcast in their dreams. This has obviously taken a toll on their mental state and they eventually came to me for an exorcism. Unfortunately, I am afraid fixing the problem isn’t that simple. Especially, since some would argue that the Extinction doesn’t even exist.

Other Artifacts

Yet another cursed object was brought to me for exorcism. But this one is of great interest to me because I believe it may be aligned with the Extinction. It is a big and old grandfather clock with rotten wood that should have crumpled to pieces under its weight centuries ago. I would advise wearing earbuds when dealing with this artifact as the clients I managed to find report that upon hearing the clocks ticking they would enter a panic, realizing that the clock was apparently counting down to the end of humanity. Likewise, the clock’s hands do not correspond to any particular time zone but rather the doomsday clock used to gauge how close the world is to a man-made global ecological disaster, with the clocks ticking getting louder and louder the closer it gets to midnight(and it has been very loud lately). Those who have heard the clock are plagued with dreams of skies choked with smoke and oceans of oil and plastic. However, more research will be needed if I wish to determine any other side effects and potential transformations/physical alterations to any of the inflicted. I have offered to act as an exorcist for several of the victims in order to keep a close eye on them.

My observations show that the Extinction seems to have an affinity for more modern and advanced technology than the other powers. That is not to say the other powers don’t often take advantage of the new worries and fears created by advancing technology, just a half week ago I dealt with a computer camera aligned with the Beholding. However, the Extinction seems to take this to another level. I imagine because it is related so closely to fears having to do with the future and artificial disasters that have been created and cultivated by mankind. In my eyes this is further reinforced by the most recent of those cursed artifacts I have come across. An odd computer given to me by a client for exorcism. Upon physically opening up the computer it quickly became apparent that there was something “living” within it. A disgusting burnt mound of flesh strewn about and fused with the computer’s innards. This fits with their report mentioning how the computer smelled burnt whenever it was turned on, and sometimes smoke would leak out of it. But of course, as you can guess traditional repairmen couldn’t seem to find the source of the issue. When this client attempted to use the computer it would bombard them with strange ads not belonging to any existing company or scam that I could find. These ads would detail global warming, pollution, and the extinction of man. It also constantly showed videos relating to all the things that could destroy Earth and/or the life that resided on it. Supernovas, asteroids, etc. The computer itself seems extraordinarily out of date and my client bought it because it was hilariously cheap. The client also reported that the computer would turn itself on at night and play distressing sounds. I found out that these sounds were numbers and binary that when properly translated detail extinct species and man-made disasters as well as the position of the hands of the doomsday clock. The client also began to have gruesome dreams in which the computer merged with his body. A fear that wasn’t helped by the bugs, animals, and plants in and near his house seeming to have had bits of machinery shoved into them by someone. Most of the animals were dead but some seemed to live in a painful existence. At one point while using the computer the client received a mysterious call from an unknown source despite not having Skype or Discord. Then, despite not having accepted the call, someone or something attempted to talk to him. The client of course refused to answer and attempted to destroy the computer but, considering he gave it to me, I can only imagine how that went.

Closing

Well there you have it, I hope you enjoyed my TMA speculations/predictions/hypothesis/fanfiction. Do you think the Extinction will show up in the Magnus Protocol, and if so how do you think it will usually manifest? If you have any ideas for any sort of Extinction avatar, creature, or artifact feel free to comment below.

[hellzyeahwebwielingessays]

@poke-maniac

I am making this post because it was too frustrating replying in the comments section of the original post.

“ I said that money was a mean to make his company more successful as he himself admits, not just for power's sake.”

Yes, but I wonder what making his company more successful would do to the amount of power he wields. Could it be that it would generate MORE power for him??????????????

“Which is more or less confirmed in sinister war, but since you ignore everything that happens after post OMD as if nothing was canon anymore, I guess you don't see it as a valid argument.”

It’s more than just that I discount it for being post-OMD. From what you have described of Sinister War I do not see how this goes against anything I have said. Norman wanted to money to make his company more successful. But in doing this he makes himself more powerful.

The priority is ALWAYS power. In fact, few people who are rich assholes as you put it are in it for the sake of money alone, but predominantly for the POWER that money grants them.

But even if we argue that there those who really are JUST in it for the money, Norman isn’t one of them as he literally told us that in ASM #40:

Oh look, Norman EXPLICTELY saying that he needed to become wealthy because that was the only way he could become POWERFUL!

“We shouldn't apply real life psychology to fictional people,”

This is, simply put, one of the most astronomically bad takes I have ever had the misfortune of reading.

There is so much to unpack with this, but let’s just get down to the basics. If we aren’t going to apply real life psychology to fictional people what the fuck does the term ‘believable character’ even mean. How are they believable if not in terms of who they are, what they think, what they feel, how they act is psychologically realistic. Because that is what psychology boils down to ‘what is happening inside of a human being to make them behave the way they behave’.

Second of all, there is a GIGANTIC overlap between the mental muscles and psychologists and good writers flex for the very obvious reason that both jobs entail getting inside people’s heads. Its just that for writers those people happen to be fictional.

The proof in the pudding of this is Carl Jung, perhaps the second most famous psychologist behind Freud himself, and indeed was at a time viewed by Freud as his heir in the field of psychology. Jung’s works are massive and complicated to explain but one of the things he often brought up was the connection between psychology and  mythology/fairy tales/folklore.

“Like Freud, the psychologist Carl Jung also took myths seriously. Jung believed that myths and dreams were expressions of the collective unconscious, in that they express core ideas that are part of the human species as a whole. In other words, myths express wisdom that has been encoded in all humans, perhaps by means of evolution or through some spiritual process. For Jungians, this common origin in the collective unconscious explains why myths from societies at the opposite ends of the earth can be strikingly similar. ”-

This school of thought is eventually what led literature professor Joseph Campbell to study myths from various cultures and write his landmark book ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’. Here is a wikipedia excerpt about the book:

“The book includes a discussion of "the hero's journey" by using the Freudian concepts popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Campbell's theory incorporates a mixture of Jungian archetypes, unconscious forces, and Arnold van Gennep's structuring of rites of passage rituals to provide some illumination.[4] ”-

So psychology and storytelling are inherently intertwined and ALWAYS have been.

Third of all, there is no end of examples of critically acclaimed works of fiction that DO apply real life psychology to fictional people. Breaking Bad is one seasons long epic exploring the realistic psychological change of Walter White into a drug kingpin.

The Sopranos stemmed from creator David Chase’s psychological struggles with his mother and the therapy he went through to try and deal with it. Not only was it applying psychological realism to these fictional gangsters (and their families) but it went so far as to have a psychologist as a main character and make her sessions with Tony Soprano integral to the plot/character exploration of Tony himself.

And, just in case you were trying to say ‘fictional comic book people’, Batman’s villains are regarded as the best villains in mainstream comic book history in large part because because of their psychological complexities. There is literally a podcast hosted by a real life psychologist where they review and apply psychological realism to every episode of Batman the Animated Series:

The fact that she was able to do that at all speaks to how clearly the writers WERE applying real life psychology when writing Batman the Animated Series, the most transparent example being ‘Mad Love’, the origin of Harley Quinn. not only was Harley a psychologist herself, but her origin story stemmed directly fro co-creator Paul Dini's experiences with therapy and includes one of your so called 'Freuduan excuses' for why Harley is the way she is:

"Paul Dini: I’m no stranger to therapy. I was spending some time in therapy and was in my head a lot around that time. Bruce and I were discussing her origin one day over lunch, because I had been approached by DC to do a special issue of the comic, and we were talking about what if there was some sort of surprise to her origin? What if she’s not just a hench girl? We came up with the idea that she had been a doctor at Arkham Asylum and the Joker had gotten into her head and worked her into being his follower. … Then we thought, what if Harley’s in the role of the long-suffering girlfriend?

There was also an element of the fans who write to a prisoner who committed a terrible crime and say, “I understand you… I see the good in you,” and sometimes develop a relationship."

Bill Mantlo literally name dropped a psychological term during one of his 1980s Spider-Man stories. They got the term wrong, but the desire to use it at all when it wasn’t necessary ever so slightly hints that comic book writers frequently DO try to apply psychological realism to these fictional people.

Iconic Iron Man writer/prolific Spider-Man writer/co-creator of Venom and Carnage David Michelinie featured a psychologist character in at least two of his Spider-Man stories and used his insights as a way for Spider-Man to defeat both Doc Ock and Venom.

Bruce Banner/the Hulk is a character who hinges upon psychological realism. The entire premise of the character is that he has disassociative identity disorder and that the famous green savage Hulk everyone knows is an expression of his traumatised inner child throwing a gamma fuelled temper tantrum.

Peter David, who has written MANY Spider-Man stories including the iconic ‘Death of Jean DeWolff’, literally wrote an issue that took place inside Bruce Banner’s mind and where his fragmented identity (Bruce banner, Green Hulk, Grey Hulk) is made whole; an issue outright called 'Honey I Shrunk the Hulk' (as in head shrink).

(Oh look, an abusive father who hit Bruce. Guess the Hulk's origin doesn't make sense and is shit now too).

PAD’s Hulk yarn wasn’t the only Marvel story in the 1990s that literally dives into the head of a fictional person (i.e. the most blatant example of trying to apply psychological realism to them). There was also two stories that did exactly that with symbiotic serial killer Carnage:

One of those characters was Dr Ashley Kafka, a psychologist supporting character introduced for Spider-Man stories.

Hmmm…why would Spider-Man comics introduce a psychologist as a supporting character? Well, there could be various uses for a character like that but perhaps one of them might be to offer realistic psychological insights into these fictional people. Fictional people like Venom.

Or Vermin.

Or the Chameleon.

Hey, who created Ashley Kafka anyway?

It was prolific comic book writer J.M. DeMatteis. I wonder why he was so prolific, I mean what sort of stories has he done over at DC?

Oh…a story that acts as a psychological exploration of the Joker and his relationship to Batman. Fun fact, this story was originally rejects by DC because it was too similar to the Killing Joke…because it was also a psychological exploration of the Joker and his relationship to Batman.

Over at Marvel though, other than creating Ashley Kafka, what did J.M. DeMatteis write?

Oh, that’s right….

And...

And...

And...

He wrote many of the stories we’ve been talking about this whole time. He was the guy who retconned the origin of Norman and Harry Osborn and explored Norman’s childhood in the first place.

Now it is a sad reality that there isn’t a single direct quote from DeMatteis proving he did in fact try to apply psychological realism when writing fictional people…

"We write about the things that obsess us. The themes in a writer’s work are the themes of a writer’s life. The Big Theme that has always obsessed me is the search for meaning, for personal, and cosmic, identity. Who are we? Why are we here? What’s the meaning of it all? Exploring those ideas, from both a psychological and spiritual perspective, is the driving force behind many of my stories, whether they’re more personal projects like Moonshadow or more popular ones like Spider-Man."

"I enjoy reading books about psychology and spirituality, books that explore the shadowed caverns of our psyches and the luminous castles of our souls."  

"All the clever plotting in the world won’t help if it’s not grounded in psychologically real, relatable, characters."

"Peter Parker is one of the most psychologically and emotionally real characters in the history of comics"

"Harry and Peter are both very complex people, which meant that while the superhero action played out there was lots of room for psychological and emotional exploration."

…there are MULTIPLE direct quotes proving exactly that.

So YES we categorically should apply real life psychology to fictional people!

“ especially that nothing suggests in canon that his [Norman Osborn’s] dad was beating him to "feel powe[rful]”

I’ve said before and I will say it again, that is EXACTLY what is suggested by Spec Annual 1994 and Revenge of the Green Goblin.

Norman's Dad loses the business and lashes at his son but this had NOTHING to do with him feeling powerless?

What do you think it means when someone feels powerless?

What do you think it means when someone of the old school tries to reaffirm that they are still 'a man'?

It is about power!

“All that's textually said is that he was lashing out on his family, in rage like many people irl when they lose everything.”

Yes but why would someone IRL lash out when they lose everything.

*gasp!*

You don’t possibly think they do that because losing everything makes them feel powerless and bullying someone else in turn makes them feel powerful, do you????????????? Feeling powerful couldn’t possibly be the root cause of why anyone bullies anyone else ever could it????????????????????????????????????????

Its almost like in textually saying he was lashing out because he lost everything it made him feel powerful or something?

Oh and by the way, ever so slightly undermined your own argument there. “We shouldn't apply real life psychology to fictional people,” vs. “…was lashing out on his family, in rage like many people irl when they lose everything.”

Which is it?

(not to mention if we aren’t supposed to apply real life psychology to fictional people why were you doing exactly that with your avatar examples?)

“Yeah the amnesia part never made any sense to begin with. It's said that the formula made him worse yet it doesn't seem to affect "amnesic" Norman all that much.  Maybe it does? Because we don't see him all that much during his amnesia periods.”

We see PLENTY of Norman when he has amnesia.

So no the formula does not affect norman when he has amnesia.

But an idea slightly suggested in ASM #40 and then eventually confirmed in Revenge of the Green goblin was that the formula made norman worse because in giving him powers it acted as proof he was superior to everyone else, in other words it sent him on a huge ego trip.

You know what would be interesting? If this Norman Osborn guy who is on a big ego/power trip formed a rivalry with a superhero who began his career on a big ego trip before being humbled. Especially if that hero’s defining philosophy was ‘with great power there must also come great responsibility…

“It honestly looks like a cheap excuse to keep him from telling the truth more than anything”

And as originally written by Stan, it was exactly that. It was taboo for a villain to know the hero’s identity back in the 1960s, or at least for them to go on living with that knowledge. Later stories however addressed this.

“But anyway, it just makes weird that his amnesia would make him a completely different guy if he was the same ashole during this specific time period he remembers (before Harry high school years).”

You haven’t been listening to me at all. You have never once addressed what I have said on this subject.

But I will repeat it again:

WE ARE THE PRODUCT OF OUR MEMORIES! IF YOU CHANGE THE MEMORIES YOU CHANGE THE PERSON!

You want a quick fictional example of this? The Arnie movie Total Recall.

In other words, the ONLY logical explanation for Norman becoming nice is because he DIDN’T just forget his memories after he became the Goblin. He forgot MORE than just that. Which is what happens with real life amnesia. You don’t just forget a set time period.

Yes the narrative has Spider-Man claim it is just everything after the accident that turned him into the Goblin, but how the fuck does Spider-Man know that for sure?

What we have is an objective flashback showing us exactly what Norman was like before the accident, we have objective on the page evidence of what he was like after the accident and we have objective on the page evidence of what he was like post amnesia. Post-accident is basically a bigger jerk of who he was pre-accident. Post-amensia is at odds with both versions.

The ONLY explanation that makes sense is that he didn’t simply forget the last few years, he forgot more than that. he forgot whatever life experiences shaped him into a bad person, or at least he couldn’t remember them clearly. Perhaps he could remember events but not the feelings associated with them.

This syncs up with how IRL amnesia works and reconciles everything, whether you look at the stories in the 1960s on their own or look beyond that decade.

“One could argue that he gradually became more and more neglectful. If Harry is just in denial as he can't see faults in his dad's parenting why did he spot a difference then? If his dad was acting the same as he always did, why would he be only in denial over how his dad acted prior to accident?”

Yeah MAYBE he did become more and more neglectful, but there is nothing on page suggesting that. We just know he WAS neglectful.

But alright, the idea that from Harry’s POV there was a time when things were better but got way worse before the accident, that could fit with the original story.

You know what else could fit just as well? That Harry is in denial. Because he wants/needs to believe at some point he and his Dad had a positive relationship when they actually never did.

Denial doesn’t work on the basis that it is 100% consistent all of the time. Norman was MUCH worse after the accident and Harry was also older and less impressionable and that change occurred within the last few years of his life circa ASM #39. All those factors combined make it entirely possible that he found it harder to deny that his Dad had changed. He’d gone from neglecting him and palming him off to almost entirely isolating himself and become more outspokenly verbally abusive and belittling.

Both were bad situations, but one was much worse.

Oh and be careful, because you almost sound like you are trying to apply real life psychology to counter my points. I thought we weren’t supposed to do that with fictional people?

“Why only complain about his dad's recent outbursts? It's clear that his dad is acting differently towards him. They had some good time together (despite his dad's obssesion over work) before the accident then his behavior towards Harry changed.”

No they didn’t. That’s the point of the story. They DIDN’T have good times together, but by the end of ASM #40 they now hopefully can have good times together.

The ASM #40 flashbacks are the deal breaker on all this. These aren’t simply flashbacks from Norman or Harry’s POV, these are from the omniscient POV as what they are depicting is not in line with what Norman is claiming. And they are not in line with what Harry was claiming in ASm #39 either.

Harry was NOT having a good time ever in those flashbacks and Norman was NOT being a good father.

Thing simply got WORSE after the accident.

Why is it so hard for you to buy into the idea that Harry is in denial?

Your approach is ‘Harry made this claim in a piece of dialogue therefore it MUST be completely true’. Even though the very next issue disproves it. Norman even says ‘I tried to be a pal to Harry’, he uses that exact word ‘pal’. And we see from those flashbacks that, no, he was not being a pal to Harry. He was being a shitty father. He was neglecting him, not talking to him, not engaging him or spending time with him.

So Norman is in denial and that was the point of the scene. BUT Harry, who has his DNA, couldn’t POSSIBLY be in denial also? There simply MUST be these magical phantom scenes we coincidentally never got to see where in fact they were BFFs?

Why is that more believable than ‘both father and son are mentally messed up’.

“Also bad person =/= bad father.”

That lacks nuance. You can be a good parent but in other ways a bad person, that is true.

But if you are a bad parent (specifically abusive, neglectful, putting yourself ahead of your child) you are as a matter of fact a bad person. There is nothing more important than raising a child.

“I'm just arguing about his parenting, not his morality,”

In this situation they are one and the same thing.

The things that make Norman a bad person are in turn what led to him being a bad father. He doesn’t have the ability to be a good father because he is a bad person.

During the Stan run, Norman pre-accident was also a bad parent and a bad person but to a lesser degree. That’s all there is to it. he railroaded his partner. He stole his innovations. He was after money and power. He neglected his son and priotised his pursuit of power ahead of his son’s wellbeing.

That is a BAD person, it just isn’t a total fucking monster which is what the retcons developed him into.

“we don't see much of him during his amnesia period to conclude that he was an all around a good person, just that he was a better dad.”

*pinches bridge of nose*

During his amnesia period (and excluding the period where he was in the process of remembering he was the Goblin) was Norman neglecting his son? No. Was he railroading his business partners? No. Was he stealing their inventions? No.

Oh, he WASN’T doing the things we saw him doing in the pre-flashbacks. But you know what he WAS doing? Being nice to his son. Spending time with his son. Making his son happy.

Hmmmm…its almost as if the things ASM #40 showed us about how pre-accident Norman was a bad person were either absent or directly the opposite with amnesiac Norman.

“But yeah, you're right, this amnesia plot device makes no sense no matter how you look at it but to me it looks like the implications is that his personality was reset before his accident. But to each their own, I guess .”

A story can imply one thing but show another or contradict itself. What is actually happening is more important than implications.

“I agree that Norman abusive background explains why he treats Harry so horribly as it was textually explained, as well as why he's so comfortable with his own darkness, his toxic masculinity but it doesn't explain as well why he became so obsessed with restoring his family's name, wealth, having social power.”

BECAUSE HIS DAD LOST THAT!

Do I actually need to explain that children are heavily influenced by their parents? That they subconsciously look to their parents as role models, that they seek their approval, that how their parents treats them shapes who they grow up to be?

If Norman’s Dad LOST the family’s prestige and was obviously upset about it and that in turn led to him hurting Norman OF COURSE Norman would want to restore it. He would have learned that prestige was important.  Thus in restoring on some subcionsious level he’d:

Be making his father proud

Proving himself BETTER than the man who was his physical superior

Avoiding becoming like his father who he saw broken down and rendered weak by losing the company

Making himself powerful and therefore not weak, not like his father who was rendered weak/the helpless weak little boy his father bullied

“It's not about real life psychology, it's all about WRITING.”

THOSE AMOUNT TO THE SAME THING!

You can’t BE a good character writing without applying real life psychology! Because to be a good character writer you NEED to make your characters psychologically convincing, otherwise nobody would buy into them.

See above when I disproved your bullshit about not applying psychology to fiction.

You don’t NEED to have a psychology degree to write good characters but you do NEED to be able to get inside a fictional person’s head and render them as believable. And that would entail making them psychologically realistic.

William Shakespeare never studied psychology. He literally couldn’t have. But he was nevertheless able to write psychologically convincing characters that we CAN successfully apply real life psychology to.

Because writers and psychologists have this gigantic overlap in their respective fields, namely, getting inside people’s heads!

“Writing a proper Freudian excuse that doesn't require ton of meta analysis, real life psychology, conjecture.”

THERE IS NO CONJECTURE! The narrative SPELLS this all out explictely!

“And I'm not denying that it might be one of the factors, but it unlike his abuse of his own son, it's not used explain why he became so fixated on restoring his family's name,”

If Norman’s Dad abused him because the family business was fucked there would obviously be an inherent link between restoring the family business and the abuse he suffered.

This isn’t a Freudian excuse, it is basic bitch literary analysis. High schoolers could grasp this.

Norman didn’t want to be weak as he was when his dad hurt him. Norman didn’t want to be weak as his father was upon losing the business. His dad hurt him because he was upset about losing the business.

Therefore, in hitting Norman, in abusing him, it acted as a powerful motivator later in life to restore the family business.

It. Is. All. There.

“obtaining social power (not just physical) expanding the Osborn legacy”

You need to understand this, not just for the sake of this argument nor for your future reading of fiction, but just plain old navigating through life itself.

Power is power.

If you are made to feel physically powerless you 100% could go on to seek social power.

If a boss makes someone feel powerless at work they could leave work and make themselves feel sexually powerful by having sex with a hooker who they ask to call them ‘boss’ in the bedroom.

If your business is failing and your money is running out so you feel financially powerless and are losing social power there is a strong possibility that you’d hit your own child to feel powerful! Just as Norman’s Dad did.

You keep belligerently REJECTING the idea that there can be a link between social power and physical power but that is the truth of the matter. Not only have I known this for years through, you know, common sense, not only have I read up about this, but just to make 100% certain I am not wrong on this I asked someone I know personally who is a professional psychologist. She confirmed exactly what I’ve been saying.

Norman’s situation is entirely realistic. Which again, is no surprise, since it was written by a DeMatteis who was heavily into psychology and was himself friends with a professional psychologist who he based Ashley Kafka upon.

Oh, but I forgot, we don’t apply IRL psychology to fictional people right? But…if we aren’t doing that…why are YOU insisting that there can be no link between social and physical power??????????????????????????

And furthermore, expanding the Osborn legacy? Yeah, powerful people have wanted to insure they have a legacy to live on after they die since time began. That hasn’t even got anything to do with abuse or psychology. That is just how most animals are wired. We want our offspring to survive us and thrive. For Norman that meant his son and company would be strong

“, why he's a psychopath who loves killing people when we he doesn't get any benefit from it (like this guard's wife) .”

*groans*

He likes killing people because it is an exercise of his power. He is a power addict. He wants more and more power and wants to use it. No one takes power and DOESN’T use it.

Killing people makes him feel powerful.

He wants to feel that way because as a child he was made to feel powerless and saw his dad lose his power.

It is as simple as that.

And you seem to be ASKING for a psychological explanation there? I thought we don’t apply that to fictional people?

Why are you asking why someone is a PSYCHOpath but reject the PSYCHOlogical explanations I’ve been providing for it?

“It doesn't automatically explain IT ALL.”

It literally does. You are just being blind to that reality.

“It's not expanded on.”

There were 3 stories exploring it across nearly 10 years.

That expands upon it pretty well.

“It's not used to explain HOW it shaped his view on power, how it shaped his ruthless and psychopathic, personality (well unless you claim it's unborn ).”

I’m so exhausted at this point. It HAS been used to explain it. It explained it blindingly obviously. I have repeated it multiple times in this post let alone all the other ones I have made during this argument.

I have to ask now if you are trolling or if you are honestly just this blind?

And, again….asking for HOW something shaped someone’s view on power, HOW it shaped their personality? Gosh…that sounds like you are asking for a psychological  explanation…but one where we cannot apply real life psychology apparently.

“I just wished that this backstory was more expanded on to show HOW it shaped him”

You literally admitted you haven’t read all the stories I mentioned so how can you possibly complain about all that.

You are complaining that something wasn’t explained when

It was explained IN Revenge of the Green Goblin

RotGG itself was an expansion of Spec Annual 1994, which you said you hadn’t read

“Like, there's so much things going on with him and the authors did the minimum they could,”

They wrote THREE stories exploring Norman and Harry’s childhoods and how those shaped them!

Roger Stern.

J.M. DeMatteis.

Paul Jenkins

Howard Mackie.

FOUR people between 1993-2000 wrote THREE different stories exploring this subject and this is the ‘minimum they could’?

Fucking Hell, what more do you want?

“as if we as readers are automatically supposed to connect all dots just from the knowledge alone that his dad beat him up and that it made him feel weak, so viewed toxic masculinity as "strength" and that it made him accept his own darkness.”

The. Story. Literally. Spells. This. Out!

Go. Read. The. Above. Pages!

But also, I, as a TEN YEAR OLD, understood this from Revenge of the Green Goblin alone. I didn’t even need the Child Within or Spec Annual 1994 to GET it!

It was REALLY obvious.

I’m not saying it should have been subtle…but also it was absolutely NEVER subtle.

To say readers are supposed to automatically connect the dots is saying ‘I have REALLY limited reading comprehension skills and need to be spoon-fed info.’

“Just how are we supposed to expand it to explain his psychopathy, his obsession with restoring his family's legacy which is primary motivation for most of what he does that's not connected to Peter (like the Gathering of five).”

See above. I’ve explained how it is all connected. Better yet read the stories. Though I doubt in this case it will make much difference.

“ This is made even more confusing with Sinister war”

A post-OMD story making things confusing? The shock I have. Its almost as if there was a reason I cut off with 2007

“Not to mention, that most of his much more prevalent roles happen post OMD compared to pre OMD which you entirely reject.”

No they don’t.

His most prevalent roles are his roles as a Spider-Man villain. Most of his appearances as a Spider-Man villain are PRE-OMD to my knowledge.

“Is his backstory still supposed to explain why he acts the way he does post OMD even though you said it made him a different character,”

It is irrelevant to this argument because I was never talking from a post-OMD POV to begin with.

But frankly, if post-OMD Spider-Man was well written (which it isn’t) yes his backstory SHOULD explain whatever he does. Or, more accurately, whatever he does should be written to be consistent with his established backstory in the first place.

The major reason I reject post-OMD is precisely because whether it is Norman, Harry, Venom, Doc Ock, Black Cat, J. Jonah Jameson, Aunt May, Mary Jane or Peter Parker himself, the stories are rarely consistent with their pre-OMD characterisations, whether that’s their backstories or simply older stories they appeared in. Peter doesn’t act like Peter. Mary Jane doesn’t act like Mary Jane. Harry doesn’t act like Harry. And Norman doesn’t act like Norman.

Peter wouldn’t become a paparazzi photographer.

Mary Jane would never break up with him because aunt anna’s life was endangered.

Jameson would never accept Peter upon learning he is Spider-Man.

Black Cat would never want Peter to be her fuck buddy and nothing more.

Doc Ock would never try to rape mary jane.

Harry would never be blasé about not remembering his own son Normie.

Aunt may would never blame peter for abandoning her the night uncle ben died.

These are merely one example for the above characters but you get my point.

If the characters aren’t behaving the way they should be in the context of the situation they functionally are not the characters anymore. And since the characters are the entire point of why we read Spider-Man in the first place, why the fuck should you, me, or anyone factor them into our analysis of those characters? Especially since, last I checked, OMD established that we are literally in a different timeline altogether, one where Peter and MJ never got married, where MJ was never pregnant but somehow, magically, despite this making 0 sense, every 1987-2007 Spider-Man story happened exactly the same way.

“even though it gave another explanation that I won't spoil you (read Sinister war) ?”

In other words Sinister War is bullshit. The new story is obliged to fit with the older one. In other words, if Sinister war has contradicted the origin and the origin doesn’t explain what he does in sinister war, it means sinister war is at fault not the other way around.

Norman in Sinister War SHOULD have been written in sync with his established origin.

“Also Otto was evil even before his ex fiancee died,”

Yes he was, but he WASN’T evil before they broke up. They broke up, he later became Doc Ock and later still she died. I never said otherwise. I said his MOTHER died.

“it only solidified his rivalry with Spider man as he wanted to prove that he's superior foe than Green Goblin.”

Not as originally written he wasn’t. His ex-fiance’s death was originally just AIDs, the idea that Norman infected her with AIDs was a retcon made 20 years later. As originally conceived Norman and Otto had never met face to face before Norman returned in 1996.

But that’s a big tangent that has nothing to do with my point, which was that in one issue it was established that Doc Ock became a villain due to MULTIPLE factors shaping him, not just one thing.

You never addressed my point.

“(Freudian excuse is basically a backstory that's supposed to explain how it shaped a villainous character. Don't know if it's an academic term but It's the term used by tv tropes)”

Then I am complete confusion.

You want an explanation for why Norman is the way he is…but ANY explanation by definition would be a Freudian excuse which is bad????????

But also we cannot use real life psychology?

The only thing I can conclude is you want a reason for Norman being evil that doesn’t involve his Dad hitting him even though in this specific case HOW that shaped him to be evil and twisted his world view is very clearly laid out.

It is just YOU who can’t see it.

But I am not surprised by this if you are also so insistent that we shouldn’t apply real life psychology to fictional characters. Frankly, that alone is a fucking joke of a take

"Norman hating spider man for his amnesia was never expanded on before or after this one throwaway line , that's what I'm saying. His hatred in other comics is never tied to it, directly or indirectly"

That.

Doesn't.

MATTER!

Him saying it ONCE is enough for us to confirm that it IS one of the reasons he hates Spider-Man. And it wasn't even a throwaway line either!

It was him explaining WHY he hates Spider-Man? In a story that was planned to be important, though no one knew HOW important it would go on to become. That is NOT a throwaway line. YOU think it is a throaway line but it is not actually a throwaway line.

You know what line was also only uttered ONCE for over 15 years worth of Spider-Man comic books?

"With Great Power there must also come Great Responsibility"

The most famous line of piece of writing in Spider-Man history, the line that is the defining philosophy of Spider-Man and his universe, was mentioned ONCE at the end of his first appearance in 1962 and was never repeated again until the late 1970s.

So, was THAT just a throwaway line?

Should we discount that as a motivation for Peter Parker?

Why does a line need to be REPEATED or EXPANDED upon to be relevant?

If it was said the once and so long as it doesn't contradict anything else, then it COUNTS. Deal with it.

[missingmywing]

So as per usual for me and fics, this will be long. Ryomina is fun and has a lot to play with. (Ao3 link)

Day 1: First Meeting/Childhood Friends

I’m playing fast and loose with canon and the actual lore behind Nyx, because as much as I like FFVII I don’t want to just write Jenova 2.0. So my lore is that she is a being of the collective unconscious like the other “gods” in Persona, she’s just much, much more powerful because death is an inescapable, tangible thing that happens rather than an intangible concept.

Also Erebus isn’t… a thing. I understand and respect what the team was going for with how they did Nyx and Erebus with The Answer, but it makes things more convoluted than necessary for my preferences. Humanity’s despair and wish for death doesn’t need a tangible form - Nyx can sense it directly and her radar lights up red when she’s called for directly (thanks Kandori, thanks Kirijo) and that’s what makes her active. Minato’s seal acts like a buffer or a muffler - an interference so she can’t hear herself being called (unless it’s particularly direct). Because you can’t kill death - and even if you could you shouldn’t because unconditional immortality is a very bad idea- and I’m getting off track. Point is I’m making P3 consistent with the lore of the rest of the series rather than “it was aliens, actually”. P2 subverted that, P3 can’t just turn around and play it straight while hiding it under a mountain of conditional lore.

Also exploring Minato as a freshly traumatized child is a fascinating exercise. Newly nihilistic six year old has not realized he’s nihilistic yet because everyone is still assuming the apathy towards everything is a normal trauma response. He and Death have such an interesting dynamic as they both learn.

FINDING OUT HALFWAY THROUGH THIS THAT IT WAS APPARENTLY RECENTLY CONFIRMED THAT TATSUMI PORT ISLAND IS SUPPOSED TO BE BASICALLY ODAIBA WAS INFURIATING. What do you MEAN Gekkoukan is in Tokyo, no it is not I’ve had the hc that Minato spent his junior high years in Tokyo for YEARS do not do this to me Persona. Anyway, I moved it so that I can keep my hcs the same, it’s still in the same general area it’s just outside of Tokyo Bay rather than inside it now. I was so tempted to keep the long-standing guess the fandom has had and put Tatsumi Island in Kobe you have NO IDEA. Fucking Odaiba man. Maruki says hello Nyx.

~ ᙙᙖ ~

In one world, they wouldn’t have met or known each other until Minato was sixteen. Minato would have been not-so-blissfully ignorant of the truth of the events that happened that night of the explosion. Nothing but vague memories of a bright light and broken cars and fire all around.

But in another, Minato remembered.

Unbuckling his seatbelt to look at the ocean far below, the explosion that threw him out of the car, his mother’s teary pleading for him to live, the collision of a robot and monster on the bridge that threw everything else back, the flashes of a chaotic fight, the guilt and devastation in the robot girl’s eyes as she pressed the blue fire containing the monster to his chest and apologized for turning him into its seal-

That was technically the first time he met Death.

But it wasn’t until a month later that they met properly, face to face, and Minato could acknowledge him directly.

It had been… a rough month. The aftermath of the accident had destroyed and consumed his life - left him thrown about from hospital to police station to a different and more elaborate and creepy hospital where he stayed for nearly two weeks while people in lab coats ran tests and poked at the new giant scar on his chest and men in suits tried to get in contact with a family member they could force to willing to take him, and then he was given to his aunt and uncle who weren’t expecting to suddenly have a child to take care of and were upset and scrambling to adjust. And they weren’t cruel or dismissive but he knew they weren’t happy to have him here suddenly and his aunt was devastated about her sister’s death and their smiles were so fake and he couldn’t even cry which made them uneasy and more upset and-

Minato had heard the words “trauma reaction” and “emotional suppression” more in the past month than his entire short life beforehand and he wished he could understand what that even meant but it felt like everything was a blur and just floating past his head.

He knew there was something wrong with him, though. That had been obvious at his parent’s funeral where he didn’t even feel anything and couldn’t bring himself to react or say anything to the parade of people coming over to talk to him.

The doctors who they kept trying to make him talk to acted like it was normal. His aunt and uncle acted like he was broken. Everyone else acted like he was a ghost.

He was pretty sure the ghost comparison was the one that was closest. He had a monster inside of him now, after all. The same monster who was probably responsible for his parents dying and midnight turning weird.

But maybe he was a little broken too because of it. Because he didn’t hate that monster even knowing all that. He didn’t really even miss his parents even though he’d always loved them so much before. He didn’t… care. About anything.

And he wasn’t scared, on the full moon a month after the accident, when the midnight hour hit and there was a sharp, tearing pain in his chest, and the monster appeared in a blaze of blue fire. It hovered over his bed like the evil creature from every scary bedtime story and stared down at him with its chain and torn brown cloak and a sword in its hand.

It looked evil but it didn’t feel evil. He’d always been good at telling what people around him felt - a gentle soul with an empathetic heart his mother had called him - and the monster felt… empty. Empty like he always felt now. There wasn’t any anger or hate like he’d expected from a monster.

He sat up and looked at it blankly, waiting for it to do something. Try to kill him like it had been trying to kill the robot, maybe. When it didn’t do anything he tilted his head and asked, “What’s your name?”

Might as well know what monster he was supposed to be “sealing”.

The creature stared down at him for a moment of silence, then spoke in a raspy, echoing voice - like two pieces of metal screeching against each other in the undertones. “I am Death.”

“Oh. Okay. I guess that’s why you killed people.” He frowned. “If you’re trapped inside of me then are people going to stop dying then?”

“No,” the monster said. “I embody the concept but I am not its entirety. I am merely the harbinger for she who calls the end.”

“What do you mean? What’s a harbinger?”

“An omen. I am a sign that the end has come - that humanity has forsaken its will to live and wishes for the world to end. I am the call to the goddess of death, Nyx, to bring death to all.”

“But that’s… not true. Most people don’t want to die. You can’t say that humans don’t want to live when most people do,” Minato tilted his head to the side. “I don’t know anyone who really wants to die. It’s usually an accident, or because someone else did it on purpose.”

“My very existence is proof that humanity has succumbed to despair and wishes for death. Your sole experiences are meaningless.”

Minato stared at him for a long moment then shrugged. “You’re wrong, but okay. Are you going to kill me, then? I think the robot girl made it so you can’t leave, that’s why she sealed you inside me.”

Death was silent for a moment, then said “My very essence has been sealed within you, bound and entwined to your soul. Your death would mean an end to my existence as well, vanishing into the Sea of Souls alongside you, unable to accomplish my goal.”

“So… no?”

“No. So long as the seal is intact I am incapable of killing you.”

“Okay, so you can’t leave and you can’t kill me. I’m going to sleep then.” Minato fell back and tugged the covers back up, rolling onto his side so his back was turned to the mon- to Death. “Night.”

The Shadow stared incredulously at him for several long minutes until his breath evened out and it became apparent that he truly was asleep.

It seemed the Anti-Shadow Unit had indeed known what she was doing to best undermine him. He was truly and solidly trapped.

… time would tell how this would play out, he supposed. After all, time came for all in the end and death was the most patient of mistresses. Nyx would wait.

~ ᙙᙖ ~

Minato quickly got used to Death showing up. First once a month on the full moon, then as time went on he began showing up in his dreams, and then speaking into his head while conscious outside the extra midnight hour.

It was almost surprising how quickly Minato got used to him - by the time a year had passed Death had become a normal presence in his life. Not a comforting presence, perhaps, but normal. The Shadow, as Minato now knew he was, still disbelieved Minato when he said that humanity really didn’t seem to be calling to Nyx. He remained adamant that it was simply Minato’s small range of existence that hid the truth.

And maybe that was true - maybe the small city he lived in didn’t show how many people were wish for the end. But if there were actually that many surely he would have met at least a few here.

Death did slowly become more curious about the day to day lives of people as time passed though, asking questions first during meetings in his dreams and then directly in his head once he’d figured out how to break through the seal enough to do so.

Minato probably should have been more worried that he was doing that, but most emotions were muted and distant these days so he just learned to ignored the burn and stinging pain in his chest that indicated Death taking an active interest in something going on. Sometimes it was a history lesson or science assignment, sometimes it was a conversation with a classmate or an overheard argument between adults.

He gained an active presence in Minato’s head just in time for the christmas season, actually, so Minato got very used to tuning out the pain of it very quickly because Death seemed fascinated and bewildered by… just about everything about the holiday. Things Minato had taken for granted were now subject to question and he had to ask about quite a few of them himself.

Granted he and Death both realized pretty quickly that the adults around them were simplifying explanations to make him understand it, because Death asked a lot more complicated and confusing questions about humans and traditions and… something about transferral of religion? Things Minato didn’t understand and couldn’t figure out how to ask about because he wasn’t sure what Death was actually asking.

What did someone dying for everyone else a long time ago have to do with christmas trees?

Once Minato asked Death that question in return the Shadow seemed to realize that Minato didn’t understand a lot about what he was trying to figure out and returned to asking more simplified questions.

Some of them still went over Minato’s head - why did it matter about the weird necklace the student helping at the shrine was wearing? The shrines never decorated for christmas, everyone knew that - but at least he could answer why the teenage boy was sneaking the bracelet he’d bought into his pocket so the girl with him wouldn’t see it.

The true shift in their relationship happened around the year mark of the accident.

Death could still only manifest physically on the full moon, but he did so each month without fail. Perhaps to ensure that he still could. But this time was… different.

Because when he did Minato felt something like satisfaction or triumph flicker through his chest as the Shadow appeared - and the fire vanished to reveal a boy the same age as Minato. He looked similar, but had darker and shorter hair, and his eyes were a bright blue. He was also wearing a striped prisoner outfit like out of a movie, but that was obvious enough why.

He looked down, examining himself, and nodded in satisfaction. “It worked.”

Minato tilted his head at him. “You were trying to turn yourself into a human?”

“I’m still not actually human, I’m merely taking this form. But yes. I thought it might better help me understand humans if I could imitate their form. So I tried to copy yours. It’s not exact, but I suppose that’s the influence of my inherent nature.” He hopped up onto the bed beside Minato. “If nothing else, it should be less disorienting to speak with me during this hour in this form.”

He wasn’t disorienting to talk to in his other form either, but he seemed unusually pleased with himself about this so Minato didn’t see a reason to contradict him. “I won’t have to look up at you anymore, I guess.”

“Exactly. I still know that humanity is calling out for the end, but it is strange how much attachment to life the people around you have in general.” The Shadow turned cocked his head with a thoughtful look. “If I imitate and understand humans, perhaps I can understand why that is.”

Minato really didn’t see what was hard to understand about people generally not wanting to die, but he supposed it was a fault of Death being a Shadow. And, well, Death.

“If you want,” he shrugged. “I don’t see what’s so hard to understand about it, but if it’ll help you understand then I think it’s fine.” Death still hadn’t shown any indication that he was about to break out of the seal, after all, so he couldn’t muster any real worry about it.

Not that he’d probably be able to stop him if he did, but… well, the robot girl had entrusted Death to him when she failed so the least he could do was make the attempt.

~ ᙙᙖ ~

He wasn’t quite sure when he’d crossed the line in the minds of adults around him from “recovering from the accident” to “creepy”. But he began noticing it over time as one year crept towards two towards three and his aunt and uncle - rather than adjusting and becoming comfortable in his presence - went from uncertain to uneasy around him.

At first they’d looked at him like they weren’t sure what to do with him, like he was one wrong word from breaking down crying. But now they looked at him like they thought something was wrong with him - like they didn’t want to figure out what to do with him.

He blamed Death, honestly. The Shadow was rubbing off on him as much as he was on the Shadow.

The whispers behind his back that they thought he wasn’t listening to - unnatural, too quiet, emotionless, never cries, never throws a tantrum, never gets happy or upset, doesn’t have friends, looks right through you - definitely made it sound like there was something wrong with him.

He didn’t really feel wrong. He just didn’t feel strong emotions - was more tired than anything a lot of the time.

But maybe that was the proof that something was wrong, because he remembered feeling more strongly about things, remembered feeling excited or scared or sad or happy so strongly he thought it’d overwhelm him. His parents had gently chastised him more than once about an excessive reaction to something.

So maybe they were right and there was something wrong with him. That “something wrong” just happened to be the personification of Death sealed in his chest, and there was nothing he could do about that.

Not… that he really minded. He liked having Death in his mind, asking questions and making him wonder about the world around him in ways he wouldn’t have otherwise. He liked being able to guess what the people around him were thinking and feeling based on their expressions and body language. And it came in handy on tests when he couldn’t remember the answer to something and Death was willing to remind him.

It just meant that Death stayed his only friend because everyone around him found his presence off-putting and unnerving. Even his teachers didn’t really like him if they spent any time outside of class with him. And his aunt and uncle only became more distant and unnerved as the years passed and he didn’t become more open or how he had been before the accident.

So it wasn’t really a surprise when he turned ten and they told him that he’d be moving in with a cousin. Their excuse was that they were trying for a child, and didn’t want to divide their attention between two children who both needed it so he’d be sent to someone who could continue to devote attention to him.

It would have been a lot more convincing if they had been devoting attention to him rather than avoiding him or becoming very strained when they did interact with him.

Minato… didn’t really care, he’d been expecting it, but there was a keen edge of resentment from Death at both the lie and the disregard.

(There was something else there in the undertones that Minato couldn’t quite read. A bitter, sharp edge of emotion that Death tried to hide from him, and Minato didn’t ask. If Death wanted him to know then he would tell him.)

There had been no expectations on Minato’s behalf on his way to Inagawa in Hyōgo - it was a relatively small town comparatively, fairly rural, and he knew nothing about the cousin taking him in. He wondered how they’d been convinced.

The town was… nice enough. Surrounded by mountainous area, forest on all sides, lakes and rice patties in the distance…

Altogether different than the cities he’d grown up in.

His cousin, as it turned out, was a middle-aged no-nonsense man clearly far more focused on whatever his career was than any sort of familial relationship. Given how quickly the man had gruffly brushed through introductions and a tour of the apartment - relatively small and sparsely decorated, the man clearly spent almost no time here - and essentially told him he was on his own and to stay out of trouble, Minato assumed he’d been promised that Minato was low-effort and he’d be able to effectively ignore him.

Which wasn’t inaccurate so he couldn’t complain too much.

(Death seemed to take it the wrong way and got very annoyed, though, which was almost funny.)

It did mean that he had to learn to cook. He got an allowance, enough to cover any food he needed, but unless he wanted to live off of prepackaged food he did need to learn the basics at least.

… although after his terrible start of burned rice and an uneven omelette the man did at least teach him those basics, so he clearly wasn’t entirely uncaring. Or he just didn’t want to risk a fire.

Death was relieved about that, though he did seem to derive some amusement from Minato’s inept attempts at learning to cook. Not that he was any help. Any number of historical or philosophical questions he’d be more than happy to lecture about, but anything practical and he was useless.

It wasn’t a bad two years. Just as lonely, but not bad. Less side-eyes and unease at least.

His cousin was very rarely home, and when he was he was usually working on either paperwork or a laptop. The man didn’t seem to care about friends or social circles, or at least not enough to invite anyone over, and he and Minato largely ignored each other when they were home at the same time. He didn’t ask about Minato’s grades or social interactions either, which his aunt and uncle had still done, which made it harder to really care about them either.

Minato continued to be off-putting to everyone around him, it seemed, but he still wasn’t sure what exactly he was doing to drive them away and make the kids call him scary and the teachers murmur that he was unnerving. It wasn’t just lack of emotional reactions, he didn’t think, because there were a couple of other kids that were like that and they were called “cool” and “admirable”.

But something about him made people shy away and refuse to meet his eyes.

Maybe it was the same thing that made animals nervous around him.

The same thing that made the other Shadows leave him alone during the midnight hour, even though they would attack anyone else able to move around. That ability didn’t seem to happen here, at least - he never encountered anyone else out the few times he wandered around town in the green light.

Which was more than he could say of the city he had lived in - after the first time he’d been out and encountered both a person and the Shadows around, and his presence had whipped the Shadows into a frenzy and made them more aggressive than usual towards any one else around, he’d avoided going out during that hour.

Death made them more dangerous, and Minato didn’t want to be responsible for anyone dying.

But it wasn’t a problem here, and there was something fascinating about walking around an empty town covered in blood and coffins beneath a green moon. It was eerie.

It made him feel the most alive that he had been since the accident.

Still, it was just one more thing that set him apart from everyone around him and he continued to spend most of his time alone. Often with a book. And while animals were more nervous around him than other people they did warm up to him relatively quickly once assured he wouldn’t hurt them. Once he realized that it wasn’t quite as lonely, and he became a friendly face to several of the strays around.

And Death was always there. He never really left anymore, and the pain of his presence had long since vanished. Minato chose not to think about what that meant for the seal. He was a friend, always at Minato’s side, and the years passed had made his comments about being the harbinger existing only to usher in humanity’s death fade into only the occasional thoughtful consideration about one situation or another. His absolute certainty that humanity at large wished for death had diminished significantly in the face of so much constant drive forward from everyone around Minato. Instead, he seemed to be searching for what humans did want - what it was that drove each one forwards to the future, each person chasing after their own goals in life.

Minato certainly didn’t have the answer, and people didn’t like him enough to be willing to tell him, so they contented themselves watching and listening and speculating.

So the two years he spent in Inagawa were peaceful enough, with various animals and Death (both in his mind and in child form) keeping him company.

~ ᙙᙖ ~

And then that peace was summarily shattered when his cousin announced that he was getting engaged and moving in with his fiancee to Osaka, and Minato would be moving in with another relative, a different cousin, in Tokyo.

When it happened Minato felt nothing more than a twinge of disappointment. He’d hoped to keep this peace for a while longer before his presence became a nuisance again.

Death was significantly more displeased, irritated that Minato’s cousin was displacing him rather than adapting around him, concerned about being sent to Tokyo - and there was that something more to that thought that Minato was sensing from him more and more often these days - and handed off to another relative they knew nothing about, a frustration on Minato’s behalf that they’d long since acknowledged he probably couldn’t feel. But there was nothing they could do about it, so Minato packed his few belongings again and was gone.

Had they known what was waiting for them - had he realized the abrupt downward spiral his life was about to take - perhaps he would have mustered the care to ask to stay.

But they had no way to know.

The first sign that something was… off… was on the way to the address he’d been given. Shinjuku had residential areas, of course - nice ones, even. But the address didn’t lead him to a nice one. It was a ragged, run-down area, with dirty alleyways and narrowed glances sent out covered windows.

The fact that it was just outside Kabukicho didn’t help.

It set him on-edge despite himself, and for the first time in years Death pushed against the seal hard enough for it to burn.

“It’s not the midnight hour, not for a couple more hours,” he thought to the Shadow, watching a group of shady looking men muttering in an alleyway from the corner of his eye. “Even if you broke through the seal you couldn’t manifest.”

“It’s possible that I could,” the Shadow shot back. “We’ve never attempted it.”

“We’ve never seen any Shadows out in the daylight, only during the midnight hour,” Minato pointed out, taking a step to the side as a ragged cat hissed at him from under a dumpster.

“I’m not a normal Shadow.”

Minato didn’t respond.

They didn’t know what would happen if Death broke fully through the seal, but it probably wouldn’t be anything good. So Minato would just have to try and avoid being put into a position where it was necessary.

Easier said than done as he quickly found out. His… aunt? cousin? he wasn’t quite sure and she didn’t clarify so whatever- apparently worked in Kabukicho as supposedly a hostess, and had only agreed to take him in because she was hoping he would be a second source of income. Which, given the kinds of places in this area that would be willing to hire a junior high student, did not bode well for his likelihood for staying out of danger.

Death was irritated on his behalf, but it wasn’t as though they could really do anything about it. Any authority figures would just turn a blind eye - that became apparent the moment he arrived at school and met his homeroom teacher, and then the rest of the teachers were no better - and she hadn’t done anything to him yet so he couldn’t use anything against her.

She’d just made it clear that if he wanted to eat he’d bring home enough money to make it worth feeding him.

So he quietly asked around. Several of the other students in his class also had jobs, though whether it was for a similar reason he didn’t know and didn’t bother asking, so he had a few options. Not many, and none of them particularly appealing, but unless he wanted to either starve to death or learn to steal he’d just have to accept it.

Minato settled on the job that seemed like the least effort and one of the ones less likely to be directly tied to any potential host club scams or yakuza operations.

Washing dishes at the back of a host club wasn’t exactly fun, but it avoided the risk of being caught by any police or getting caught up in any drug trafficking. And the midnight hour meant he could grab an hour long nap in the middle so… it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. His sleep and grades both suffered for it, but no one was expecting him to have good grades anyway and none of the teachers cared to check why it was happening, so… he supposed it was convenient.

It was… fine.

It was fine. It was tolerable, no matter how frustrated Death got, and he could deal with the constant smell of cigarettes and alcohol all around him, could wrinkle his nose and turn away to his book or homework when she came back smelling of alcohol and sex, could tune out the chatter and flirtations from the room over at the club, could ignore the rumbled clothes and bruises peeking out on skin from the hosts and hostesses around the area.

Minato kept his head down, didn’t talk to anyone unless he had to, and no one really approached him. People in Tokyo - or at least this district of it - didn’t seem as bothered by whatever off-putting aura that had always scared everyone else, but they weren’t really inclined to bother with him either. Which suited him just fine.

Months passed easily enough, his cousin (as he eventually did find out) was satisfied for a while with the money that he did bring home and seemed happy enough that he wasn’t going to bother her or get in her way that she didn’t really bug him either unless she wanted one chore or another done while she was out.

She did kick him out a few nights a month to bring men home - though whether they were clients or boyfriends he didn’t know or care - but those were passed studying or doing homework in a cafe nearby that didn’t mind some kids in his situation hanging around all night provided they bought something every now and then. It wasn’t uncommon to see a few others around, sometimes he even studied with a couple of classmates or helped an elementary schooler out with their homework (except one who rebuffed him with a flash of red eyes and a snap that he could handle it himself), but largely he remained in his corner and tried to ignore the rest of the world as Death muttered and complained in his head.

He was equally pouty in his child form on those nights he joined Minato during the midnight hour, perching on the edge of his futon and casting annoyed glances across the room at his cousin on the other futon. Minato rolled his eyes and ignored him, until he flopped backwards and sprawled across Minato in a way that clearly demanded attention and Minato just patted his head and let him keep complaining about the people and world around them.

Minato hadn’t been expecting a christmas gift from her, but she seemed to be in a particularly good mood around that time so he didn’t question it. He supposed she’d caught the eye of a particularly affluent client or something because she suddenly had new clothes and jewelry. Plus decent takeout rather than Big Bang Burger or some other fast food chain.

But on christmas morning she cheerfully handed him a wrapped box with a comment that he’d earned something for his efforts this past year, and when he opened it with a quiet thank you he found an mp3 player and pair of headphones inside. It was the first present he’d gotten in years and quickly turned into the best he’d ever gotten.

It was something to drown out the tedium of the world, to filter out all the static and noise of the world around him into a steady, predictable, stable beat. Whenever it got too much he could simply put the headphones on and turn on the mp3 player and everything would fade away. A lifeline.

A necessary one, because things rapidly got worse after that. The giddiness that had clung to her throughout December began fading rapidly throughout February and into March. She got defensive and quiet, snappish, almost always on her phone, scrolling away as though looking for something. Biting her lip until it nearly bled - an unusual habit for someone so careful with her appearance.

It all came to a head around mid-April, just after the new school year had started, in the afternoon before Minato left for work. He was sitting at the low table, working on homework, when she suddenly made a snarling sound and started a phone call.

He quickly put on his headphones and turned on his music, tuning out whatever angry argument she was picking over the phone. It wasn’t his business, it wasn’t his problem.

It quickly became something near his problem when a bottle shattered against the wall dividing the kitchenette less than a meter away from his head and his gaze snapped up to find her glaring in his direction with eyes blazing and lips pulled into a snarl. Minato froze, unmoving even as Death reared up protectively in his soul and the seal burned beneath the weight of his presence. But a few moments passed of her glaring, chest heaving, before her mouth began moving again as she yelled something and he took note of her glassy eyes and distant gaze and he relaxed as she jerked her gaze away from him to continue shouting. She hadn’t been looking at him or aiming at him, he’d just been in an unfortunate direction. Death reluctantly faded back, but didn’t pull away entirely just yet.

He watched her shake her head desperately and fall to her knees on the floor as tears began streaming down her face and her other hand reached up to clutch at the desk of empty beer bottles she hadn’t gotten around to throwing out yet.

Or just throwing yet, apparently.

With a soft sigh Minato closed his workbook and leaned over to begin picking up the glass shards before one of them stepped on them. The bottle had at least been empty, so they wouldn’t have to deal with stains on the wood floor. The star of Sapporo sat wholly intact, almost mockingly, as he collected the glass in his hand.

By the time he’d finished picking up the glass and throwing it away, it seemed the call had ended and she was staring unseeing at the wall as tears streamed down her face. Minato stared at her for a moment before going back into the kitchen to fill a glass with water and pick up a cloth.

He knelt to set the water down in front of her and held out the cloth.

It took her a few moments to reach for it, but she did. She buried her face in it and sobbed.

Minato shrugged and returned to his spot at the table to continue his homework.

Things did not improve from there.

She became… unstable, switching between listless and desperate in the span of hours. If she was home without a client she was either drunk or drugged, and she either ignored him entirely or demanded he help out more. He quickly became the only one doing chores - if only to avoid being yelled at or risk having something thrown again - and after several months of her unable to bring home as much money as was satisfying to her he became the target of her ire for how little he was also bring back.

Comparatively, anyway.

He ignored it for several months hoping she’d get over whatever rich guy had gotten bored of her and leave him alone again, but it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t likely. It was only a matter of time before she began making threats again, and at Death’s urging Minato began considering his options.

A second part time job wasn’t particularly feasible given how much time the one he already had was taking. He could avoid being at the apartment as much as possible, but he still had to sleep sometime and the last thing he wanted was for her to decide she needed to hunt him down. He could use the midnight hour to shoplift, but that wouldn’t necessarily satisfy her if she wanted actual yen to use.

Well, he could try to start breaking into registers he supposed, but he didn’t know if he wanted to start dealing with the risks of that. Just because there weren’t people or camera didn’t mean there wouldn’t be evidence and just because Kabukicho had an underbelly didn’t mean it was actually illegal. He didn’t need the police to track him down using dna evidence or something. Besides, he had to set the standard somewhere.

He could take a different risk and get a more lucrative job elsewhere he supposed (Death didn’t like that option). He refused to work at the front-facing side of a club, but one of his classmates had talked about a package sorting job that paid well and was looking for a couple more people.

Minato had avoided it before - like most of his classmates did - because he didn’t really want to deal with drug smuggling. But it was a significantly higher pay, and his classmate had assured him that he’d been working there for three years and it really was just organizing packages into the correct address delivery bins. It really was just an ordinary job.

(So long as he didn’t open anything went unspoken.)

So with a heavy sigh and Death stewing angrily in the back of his soul, Minato followed his classmate to get recommended for the job. He was hired instantly, given a brief tour of the small warehouse, given an overview of how to organize the packages properly, warned not to open any of the packages for any reason, and then pointed at a stack that needed to go out the next morning.

The job wasn’t as bad as they’d both been concerned about. It really did seem like a normal sorting job. And it paid well.

None of which put Death at ease as he hovered almost painfully close to the seal constantly these days. It was getting to the point that Minato could almost feel the seal slowly dissolving as the nigh-painful tingling of it rapidly faded and Death came closer and closer to the forefront of his mind as the weeks passed.

Minato didn’t bother fighting him on it - the Shadow would worry regardless and if he did manage to break through the seal and manifest at least Minato wouldn’t have to deal with a fight himself.

(When had the worry of the consequences of the seal breaking faded? He could barely remember the robot girl who had sealed the Shadow inside him now, even if the guilt and grief in her eyes still haunted his dreams anytime he inhaled a lungful of smoke from somewhere. What did he care about the world? If Death broke free and destroyed it - well it wouldn’t be his problem for long.)

The uptick in money satisfied his cousin for the time being at least, so she went back to mostly ignoring him in favor of whatever poison she’d chosen for the day. He spent more time in the cafe than the apartment just for the smell alone, even when she hadn’t brought someone back.

The world faded more and more into the grey of exhausted numbness from there. An endless routine - get up, silently get ready for school, go to school, try not to sleep through his classes, leave for work, work until the daily quota was filled, go to the cafe to study until the midnight hour, leave once the hour was up and the cafe closed, return to the apartment and sleep, then get up again.

It was easy to lose track of the days when he didn’t talk to anyone and spent most of his time drowning out the world with his music. The date on the board and subjects of the lessons were really the only ties to reality that he had between the monochromatic repetition of everything else. The sudden uptick of pressure in the middle of the year to study hard and improve their grades in order to do well on high school entrance exams and get into a good school was a sudden shock to them all, and it did a little to break things up.

But even that quickly dulled back into routine - it was all just memorizing dates and facts and kanji and equations, and with Death in his head to help he wasn’t likely to do badly even if he didn’t bother trying.

Though even if he got accepted there was no guarantee he’d be able to attend. Given his cousin’s increasingly empty eyes and unstable attitude and inability to maintain her grip on money he highly doubted she’d be willing or able to pay for him to attend. Which was one more thing for Death to become angry over, but Minato didn’t really care much.

Even if he did attend, what then? It was just a continued routine. How likely was it that he’d make it to graduation and find somewhere decent to work?

Really, what was the point of it all?

Not that Death let him get away with that. As Minato had less and less motivation or will to bother even trying with anything, Death pushed harder and harder to make him. Pushing him to study, to do well on tests, to remember to eat lunch or dinner even if he continued to skip breakfast. Nudging him to stop by and try that restaurant, or get that soda from the machine with a weird name.

He was less enthused by Minato’s willingness to accept the can of Asahi beer from some of his classmates during one of their study sessions on the roof, but the taste alone meant that Minato wasn’t in any hurry to try it again. Not to mention the way it made the numb disassociation from the world even worse.

The sensation of a near-complete break from reality didn’t quite scare Minato, but it did unnerve him and the alarm it raised from Death only made it worse. So that wouldn’t be any sort of habit he would fall into.

Unlike some people he had to clean up after.

The high school issue was resolved when he got within the top ten marks in the school and was offered a scholarship to the closest high school. It was not what everyone had meant when they talked about a “good” high school, but anything was better than nothing so with a bit of prodding from Death he accepted.

Not that it really changed anything - other than the location, it was simply exchanging one routine for another and he quickly sank back into the grey numbness.

Nothing really broke through it for a while. He was distantly aware of his cousin getting paler and thinner, the desperation towards something rising, until a bit before summer she stumbled into the apartment and cornered him against the wall.

“I need you to get money,” she said, gripping his arm tightly.

Minato tilted his head, feeling Death rearing up close to the seal warily. “How much?”

“A million yen.”

“A million yen?” Death repeated incredulously.

Minato sent her a blank look. “That’s impossible.” How in the world could she possibly expect him to be able to get that much?

“What?” she asked dangerously, leaning close. “Do you even realize the situation we’re in?!”

“No. You never told me.”

Her face twisted into an expression of such frustration he thought she was about to start screaming. She didn’t, instead snapping, “That damn club is demanding a million yen from me for ‘services rendered’ - which is bullshit they’re a shitty club anyway - but now I have to pay it or my reputation and ability to get clients is ruined!”

That club? Had she- “How does a hostess fall for a host club scam?”

“I did not get scammed!” She shoved him against the wall and spun around to storm towards the desk against the opposite wall. “Just get the money.”

He considered for a moment. “No.”

Everything froze, before she slowly turned to stare at him with a darkness brewing in her eyes. “What?”

Minato stared at her blankly. “No. I told you that’s impossible. You got scammed, deal with it yourself. It’s not my problem.” He wasn’t going to get any homework done here. Picking up his bag, he turned to leave.

“Now wait just a damn minute you brat-”

He turned to look at her as she lunged for him and felt the seal burn, stretched so thin it was on the verge of snapping as Death lunged back with his presence, and she stumbled to a stop as the blood drained from her face. Minato waited for a moment before leaving.

He’d have to hope she wouldn’t retaliate.

Apparently Death had scared her enough in that moment to avoid him entirely, because she would barely even look at him other than the occasional glare if they happened to be home at the same time. So he tuned her out as well, putting his headphones on and ignoring her.

Trying to ignore the fact that she was looking more sick and exhausted by the month. It wasn’t like he could do anything about her irresponsibility - he was already giving her the money he was making, and unless he wanted to get actively involved with the yakuza he wasn’t going magically get a job that payed more.

Maybe if she stopped spending her money on ways to forget the problem she’d be able to deal with the issue. Minato had already caved and started shoplifting food during the midnight hour when she stopped bringing groceries home.

Death was getting more worried and frustrated as time passed, and was curling up next to Minato in human form nearly every night for the midnight hour. Sometimes they talked, but most of the time they just leaned against each other to derive what comfort they could. Death clung to him like he was afraid he was going to disappear, which was funny given that of the two of them Death was the one only tangible for an hour.

Death and the mp3 player were really Minato’s only lifelines by this point.

He probably should have been paying more attention. Should have accounted for human vulnerability and desperation and realized what she would end up turning to. Though he really didn’t know what he could have done about it even if he had known - she wouldn’t have listened to him if he told her not to anyway.

December was cold.

It always was, but it somehow felt colder standing in the back alleys a few blocks from Kabukicho’s streets under a flickering street light with a dozen men from a local street gang staring down Minato and his cousin. That explained why she’d rushed in and grabbed him, told him to come with her and hurry and be quiet.

What had she expected to happen if she ran from her debt after borrowing money?

At least it wasn’t the yakuza, he guessed, but this wasn’t really much better. She was shaking with terror next to him, tears welling in her eyes.

“P-Please-” she stuttered, “Give me a little more time! I’m working on it, I promise, we both are, so-”

“It’s been over six months, the hell much more time do ya need?” The man in front snapped, pulling his jacket back to rest his hand on his gun. “I don’t appreciate games, girlie, we got our own expenses. You said you’d have it paid back by now, and I’m holdin’ ya to your word.”

“I-I’m trying,” she protested, hugging herself. “I swear I am, I thought I’d have it by now but the club across the street keeps bribing people to help them steal our business! I’m doing everything I can, if I can get another couple of months-”

“That’s what you said three months ago!” Another one snarled, pulling out his own gun to aim at them. “We’re not gonna keep buying into the lies of a drug-addicted whore!”

“N-No, please-”

What was Minato supposed to do here? There were a dozen of them with guns, and even with Death straining as hard as he could against the seal - to the point where Minato could barely stand from the pain and was very sure that it was about to shatter completely - there wasn’t anything he could do outside the midnight hour. An aura of death didn’t do much good when the men were both used to death and very much armed.

Could he buy time? Even if he did, there wouldn’t be anywhere for them to run. He didn’t think he could defuse the situation when they were this angry over broken promises. He wasn’t going to make stupid promises he couldn’t keep either.

Minato didn’t really care about dying. If he died here… it was fine. He didn’t care. But Death did, and Death was one of the only things that Minato could bring himself to care about anymore, so he should at least put some effort into not dying. And he didn’t really want her to die either. She wasn’t exactly good, he didn’t really like her and she’d made too many mistakes, but that didn’t mean she deserved to die for it.

Not that deserving it had ever saved anyone.

Minato sighed. “Is killing us really going to solve anything?”

The man in front narrowed his eyes at him. “I don’t like being lied to, brat.”

“Not saying you should. But she is still paying you back, even if it’s not as quickly as she promised.” He shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. “If you kill us you can’t get any money from us. I’m not defending her, just pointing it out.”

“You offering to take her place?” One of the men in the back sneered.

Minato sent them a flat look. “I’m already giving her all the money I make, so I kind of already have.”

There were snorts and scoffs from several of them and the man in front smirked. “Sounds like you’re not in the right business then, boy. How about I cut you a deal - I’ll get you a job that you can pay us back in no time, and we’ll let you both walk away from this alive. Do a good enough job and we’ll even let you keep the extra.”

Well that wasn’t an obvious hook or anything. It was probably some sort of smuggling, and they needed someone as unsuspicious as possible to the police. He wasn’t really interested in getting dragged into that because people who got involved rarely left, but they didn’t really have many options either.

“Stall them until midnight and we’ll have plenty of options,” Death growled, clawing at the seal. “I hoped I’d be able to break out before then, but it’s more difficult than I anticipated.”

Ah. Killing them during the midnight hour was probably the easiest solution to the problem, yeah. Almost everyone turned into coffins, so letting Death break through the seal and then dealing with them one by one would be simple enough.

So Minato tilted his head at them. “What kind of job? I need details before I promise anything.”

“Do you really have room to negotiate here?” the man asked, pulling his own gun out and flipping the safety. Minato’s cousin gasped, stepping behind him and grabbing his arm.

Minato shrugged. “Not negotiating. Just making sure I can actually keep my promise before I make it.” He flicked a glance down at his mp3 player - ten minutes to midnight. He could keep them talking for ten minutes.

“Well I guess you’re smarter than that girl hiding behind you then. You don’t really get much of a choice in this if you want to live, though.”

That was assuming quite a bit that he cared about living, but whatever. “So? What do you want me to do?”

The man scoffed. “Well you’ve got spine and an attitude, I’ll give you that. It’s simple - we get packages goin’ to and comin’ from all sorts of places around Tokyo. You’ll be our little delivery boy. Nice, simple, and easy, yeah?”

Minato didn’t bother reacting. “Drugs or weapons? That will change how it needs to be handled.”

A nasty grin broke out across his face. “Oho, got ourself a bold one here, huh? Not even a flinch. Keep that attitude and you might do just fine. Bit o’ column A, bit o’ column B. Depends on the day, and our buyer or seller.”

Helpful. “That’s not much to go off of if you want me to start planning how to get them past the police. I didn’t grow up in Tokyo so I’m not as familiar with it’s blind spots as a native would be.” He wasn’t going to look at his mp3 player, he wasn’t going to try to count the minutes passing. Midnight would get here when it got here.

“Heh, I applaud the initiative but we won’t just leave ya flailin’ around blindly. We’ll pair you off with a couple of our other runners to start, let them teach you the ropes. We ain’t heartless, kid, just don’t like bein’ lied to.”

“Not heartless, merely willing to blackmail teenagers into smuggling illegal items for you,” Death hissed. “Be ready, Minato. It’s going to hurt when I break through the seal.”

“It always does. I’ll be fine; I’m used to it,” Minato thought back, watching the gang mutter amongst themselves. “So you say. I suppose if I get caught I’ll be left to fend for myself?”

The man shrugged lightly. “We gotta take care of ourselves first. Consider it motivation not to get caught, yeah?”

He’d figured.

“No. No, not again, not like this.” The smallest whisper came from behind him, and he had a moment of confusion followed by an unexpected bolt of dread as his cousin suddenly straightened with teary eyes and stepped out from behind him.

“Don’t-” he began- but she didn’t listen.

Why? Why did she choose now to grow a conscience?

“Enough! He’s got nothing to do with this - I’ll clear the debt myself, I promise! There’s no reason to drag him into this even more and I won’t let you-!”

A shot rang out. It echoed around the empty alleyway and rang loudly in his ears. Pain burned burned burned more fiercely than it ever had before in his chest and he was frozen, eyes wide as his breath struggled to come. He almost expected to feel blood on his chest, wished that he could feel blood on his chest, but it wasn’t him who’d been shot.

She let out a shuddering little choked gasp, and Minato turned to see her reaching up to clutch at the wound with wide, horrified eyes. He couldn’t- he couldn’t breathe as she staggered and fell- blood pooling around her as the light above them flickered-

-fire flickered and flashed off the metal, shimmering in the pooling blood, and he saw his mother burned and broken as she smiled hopelessly at him and begged him to live as she and his father and his twin sister wouldn’t and- he couldn’t move- couldn’t help- he was completely helpless-

The men jeering and bickering lightly was distant in his ears as the world faded into a distant grey and the pain burned and the world suddenly shuddered and shifted around them as the moon flashed green-

-and the men’s laughter turned into something startled and alarmed but he could barely hear them and he wasn’t listening-

-and a scream of pain suddenly echoed and bounced off the alleyway as the ground rose up to meet him and his knees hit the blood-covered pavement and his chest felt like it tore itself open and another more monstrous scream joined his own and he distant heard the gang’s voices rise as well-

The blood on his chest and staining his shirt was his own from where the seal had been torn open and Death emerged. The blood on his hands and on his knees were hers. Hers where she was lying on her front surrounded by the pool of her own blood, and he struggled to balance as he leaned forward and rolled her over onto her back. She was still just barely breathing, eyes glazed and distant through her tears.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, staring up at the green-tinged moon. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for everything. I’m sorry Minoru-kun, I messed up again. I didn’t mean to, I didn’t want this. Please forgive me, please I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to, I wanted to live and go see Paris and New York and London like we promised we would-” she choked and coughed, blood streaking her lips as her hand shakingly reached up. Minato reached out and took it, holding it between his as she struggled to breathe. “Please help me. Please don’t let me die, I have so many more things I want to do.” Tears streaked down her face to mix with the blood. “Please, Minoru-kun I’m not ready to follow you yet…”

Minato just distantly watched her and held her hand as she slowly went still and cold and even the echoing screams of the gang members eventually stopped. Everything felt distant and painful and he couldn’t bring himself to move even once Death returned to his side with bloody swords.

He wondered if he was supposed to cry here. If he was supposed to feel grief and loss the way everyone had said he should for his parents and sister. If he was supposed to feel anything beyond the disconnected exhaustion and pain of the shattered seal.

“What am I supposed to do?” he wondered aloud, staring down at his cousin’s body blankly.

A soft sigh came from above him, and suddenly Death had discarded his swords and knelt down to wrap his arms around Minato. “I think we both know that normal rules do not apply to you.” A pause, and his grip tightened. “I am sorry for that. It is my presence that has stolen pieces of your humanity and suppressed your emotions.”

Well they hadn’t talked about it, but it made sense.

Minato let go of her hand and twisted around to lean against Death. “Maybe. I don’t blame you for it though.”

“… I know. Perhaps it would be easier if you did.”

“I doubt it. I waste enough energy on just staying alive. Hating you or the robot on top of it just sounds exhausting.”

Death let out a noise somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. “I would say that I don’t understand you, but I unfortunately do after spending nearly ten years in your soul.”

Minato hummed tiredly, closing his eyes and trying to tune out the pain still stinging his chest and blood still seeping through his shirt. “Whatever consequences it may have,” he said quietly, “I’m glad you did. I wouldn’t have wanted to go through this without you.” His lifeline. One of the two things that kept him sane and grounded in the static haze of this life.

The Shadow let out a shuddering breath and hugged him tighter. “I am glad that my presence has brought you something other than pain, at least.”

“Death, you’ve been my best friend for most of my life now. I’ve been with you longer than I’ve been without you.” He reached up rest a hand on his shoulder. “You should know by now that you’ve given me plenty more than pain.”

Death went still for a long, long moment, and Minato waited for him to process and accept that before responding. When he did, he caught Minato off-guard. “I suppose I can’t deny that. But… Death is not accurate for who I am anymore. For whatever I may have given you, you’ve given me far, far more.” Minato blinked his eyes opened and craned his neck to look up at him. “I am Thanatos - and you have given me so much of yourself, shared so much of your soul with me even beyond the nature of the seal, that I have become a Persona.”

“A Persona?” There was psychology terminology in the back of his mind that he couldn’t quite remember through the exhaustion of the night’s events.

“An aspect or manifestation of your soul. It’s-” he paused, amending, “-likely a bit too complex to explain in your current state. In normal cases a Shadow is the parts of yourself you deny, a Persona is the part of yourself you accept and project unto yourself. I’m a special case, for obvious reasons. Consider me an extension of your soul who wants to protect you, for now.”

“That’s what you’ve been for years,” Minato muttered, closing his eyes again. “So even thought the seal is broken now, you’re staying?”

“Yes. I’m not leaving you alone. I’ll remain at your side for as long as I can.”

“Saying it like that makes it sound like you’ll leave eventually.”

Dea-Thanatos was silent for a moment, and Minato felt his bone chin brush his head. “… eventually I may have no choice, and I’m sorry for that. If I had my way I would remain by your side forever.”

“But?”

“But I have a feeling the events from nine years ago are going to come back and haunt us soon. Death was separated into many parts that were scattered, and I was sealed within you. If those parts are rejoined, Death will come again and usher in Nyx. I will have no choice.”

“We can’t just prevent the pieces from being rejoined?”

“I doubt it. Nyx, even incomplete, is the source of the midnight hour and the Shadows. So long as we exist, so to will they and so too will the Shadows. I suspect things will come to a head very soon.”

“And we’ll be in the center of it,” Minato sighed, tipping his head against him. “Okay. I still want you to stay with me. As long as you can.” He wasn’t sure what his life would be like without Thanatos, but given how much the Shadow had been a constant companion and push forward he doubted it would be better.

“I will. You should sleep - my breaking through the seal exhausted you thoroughly. I’ll keep watch and prevent any Shadows from coming near until the hour is over. From there, though…”

“Someone will see the bodies and call the police,” Minato murmured as he finally began giving in to sleep. “Since I’m injured too I probably won’t get in trouble.” Hopefully. Whatever Thanatos had done to the gang members, it definitely wasn’t something he could be blamed for.

“Then rest - you’ll need it.”

~ ᙙᙖ ~

Minato woke up in the hospital a week later.

It was incredibly disorienting to experience - the neutral tones of the room, the beeping of the monitor, the IV in his arm, the fuzziness in his head - but Death- Thanatos- rose up to press against the back of his mind with a familiar reassuring coolness that helped chase away the worst of the confusion.

As long as he was still here, it was fine.

It took several long minutes of just thinking and reorienting himself to remember what had happened. While he didn’t feel the grief or pain everyone seemed to expect from these things, there was at least a twinge of regret that things had turned out as they had.

But what was done was done - there was nothing he could do about it. No one could change the past. Time moved forward regardless of wishes.

So he move forward with it. When the police questioned him what had happened he was mostly honest - until the events of the midnight hour happened when he feigned confusion. His cousin had been shot by the gang, and yeah he looked like he’d been stabbed but he was pretty sure it had been from behind, and he had no idea what happened to the gang because he’d passed out after being stabbed with a knife.

He was pretty sure the police came to the conclusion that his cousin had been involved with a yakuza or something, but she clearly hadn’t told him anything about her job so he somehow wasn’t held responsible for any of her actions and was simply handed off to his uncle - a high ranking and very wealthy businessman also in Tokyo - although in the Shimbashi district instead of Shinjuku.

Sure. Whatever.

His uncle was… distant, at best. Much like his other cousin had been, the man was busy with his work and wasn’t interested in interacting with him beyond the necessities. That was more than fine with Minato - it was nice to be invisible and self-sufficient without expectation again. He even got an allowance without needing to get a job again. It was a minor relief he hadn’t expected to feel, but it was there.

He still went to the same high school for the final three months but his uncle explained that he’d be leaving for an overseas business trip around March so Minato would be transferring to a different high school with dorms for the next year.

Minato was incredulous for… several reasons. The fact that his uncle was going out of his way to ensure he’d be… safe? successful? not left completely alone? for the year was surprising enough. The fact that it was an incredibly expensive private high school was even more so.

At least until he was told the name.

Iwatodai High School, on Tatsumi Port Island just outside Tokyo Bay.

It sent Thanatos on immediate high alert, and Minato understood a few moments later. The Moonlight Bridge leading to the island was where his parents had died and Death had been sealed inside him.

The the island itself was where everything began.

Thanatos had been right - the events of nine, nearly ten, years past were coming back to haunt them.

He didn’t show any of the realizations on his face, but he had a feeling that this wasn’t a coincidence. The man gained custody of him and immediately went on a business trip oversees and sent him to the island where this had all begun nearly ten years ago?

Especially now that Thanatos had broken through the seal.

His uncle may not know anything about what had happened, but someone did and this was no coincidence.

And so, come April, Minato left Tokyo proper and got on the train heading to Tatsumi Port Island for the year. Even with his headphones on and music blaring in his ears it couldn’t quite drown out the world around him this time. The buzzing beneath his skin from Thanatos was agitating, stirring up his own feelings of apprehension.

Whatever was waiting for them - scientists and laboratories and Shadows and Personas and at the end of it all the personification of death itself, and maybe, just maybe, a robot girl who had looked at him with such sorrow ten years past - most of it probably wouldn’t be good.

He probably wouldn’t even survive it.

But at the very least, he thought as he stepped from the station and into the coffin-strewn street to the dorms, he wouldn’t be alone through it. Thanatos would stay with him.

Although getting to the dorms and finding him smiling cheerfully behind the check-in desk with a quip that he was here awfully late made him suspect that the Shadow- Persona, would likely be stepping up his obnoxiousness and pushiness towards socializing and trying things.

… the contract was unexpected, but Thanatos likely had his reasons - even if he was pointedly keeping them to himself for the moment - so Minato just sighed and signed the book. As he handed it over he asked, “Are you planning to tell me what that’s about?”

Thanatos just smiled enigmatically at him, folding the contract close to his chest as though it was something precious. “All in due time, my dear Minato. All questions will be answered and all secrets revealed soon enough.” He closed his eyes thoughtfully for a moment. “No one can escape time. It delivers all equally to the same end.” He focused back on Minato and the fold vanished with a twist of his wrist. “You can’t plug your ears or cover your eyes to escape.”

The lights of the dorm began fading around them, shadows creeping up the walls and across the floor, and Thanatos smiled and reached out to Minato as they wrapped around him.

“And so it begins.”

And then he was gone, returning back to Minato’s soul with something mischievous about him that Minato didn’t feel like figuring out, and Minato was left standing along in the dark entranceway.

No one could escape the end. He’d known that.

They both knew that whatever happened in this place, during this year, would be an ending of sorts. It was just a matter of what kind of end. He placed a hand on his chest, where the scar from the seal still lay. But whatever it was - they couldn’t escape it. They knew that.

So they would just have to take what happened as it was, no matter what it brought.

He was at the beginning of the end.

“Who’s there?!”

~ ᙙᙖ ~

This was fun! It was also twice as long as it was supposed to be, but such is my curse with writing these days. The Ryomina was more implied than explicitly stated, admittedly, but I got caught up in the childhood friends part of it.

Also blink and you miss it Akechi cameo lol

[the-mercurial-star-o-vesper]

I AM THE SHADOW, THE TRUE SELF - Gravity Falls and the Collective Unconsciousness

Time to make some observations, based on in-show material, for Gravity Falls.

The Portal supposedly opened to the Multiverse, but more specifically, it was meant for Bill and his cronies to walk through. Which means it opened to the Nightmare Realm.

Which, according to this, is something that is directly connected to the mindscape.

So the Nightmare Realm is conceptual space, directly connected to the collective unconsciousness, that seemingly lies between "dimensions".

( Hello Wonderland. )

In such sense, we can make the assumption that places that directly connect to the Nightmare Realm, that do not in fact have a world shattering portal, are actually less physically real. The most direct, "safe" connection is through the mindscape.

Its not meant to be a physical space, that's why its so dangerous when it touches physical space.

In fact, the idea of a nightmare realm-mindscape connection seems to correlate to the Jungian Shadow, and the fact that its inhabitants simply want to do whatever they desire when they desire it, suggests the idea of the "Id".

( The Id is part of a Freudian psychoanalytical theory, and because its Sigmund Freud, that means its popular enough to inspire art pieces akin to Gravity Falls. So I will be using it, and Jungian theory, for this.)

The Id deals in emotional instincts, desires and cravings. It is considered part of the dark aspect of one's mind. This partners with the Ego, the aspect of the self that interacts with reality and rationality, and the Super Ego, the aspect of self that internalizes social rules and ideals.

In Jungian theory, the idea of the Shadow is the unconscious aspect of the mind that is found to be distasteful, it is repression of aspects of one's self that they find undesirable, pushed to the subconsciousness. This partners with the ideas of Persona, the aspects of one's self shown to the world depending on the situation and environment.

So.

If there is a collective space for minds to inhabit, the Mindscape and its various micro-scapes, which are environments where conscious willpower can shift the world, and enviroments which are manifest of a person's conscious and subconscious being...

... What kind of Shadow does such a collective unconsciousness have?

That Shadow is the Nightmare Realm. Its inhabitants manifestations of a collective unconscious series of Id's, who not only seek to embibe in all their desires, but also seek to destroy the equivalencies of the Ego and Super Ego in such realms--the mindscape and physical reality.

ADDNEDUM 1: FORD

From evidence in show... what if Ford wasn't traveling the Multiverse? Its implied in show (and "confirmed" in Journal 3 published) that he outright entered the Nightmare Realm.

He supposedly traveled to dimensions easily without fears of portal activity destabilizing them...

... probably because those weren't Real.

He was a physical, real entity with individual mindscape and consciousness, lost in the representation of a collective unconsciouness's shadow. All worlds he visited weren't merely dimensions, but simply dreams of a multiverse. Which is how he ran into such strange places like an M dimension, which in physical reality, isn't possible.

Alice in Wonderland, for 30 years.

He was effective visiting different kinds of collective mindscapes, only just real enough to be tangible. Real enough to have artifacts and real enough to be dangerous, but not so real as to not have a direct connection to nightmares.

( Ford, running through the collective human unconsciousness. He probably popped up in dreams at times. )

ADDENDUM 2: Weirdness

The reason weird shit kept coming through inspite of no portal, is similar to how the Shadow works in theory.

Things that are repressed, then to get expressed through other things.

The shadow of the collective unconsciousness of the world, slips through in minor ways as weirdness. Gravity Falls is just one of those major slips.

( In fact, given how Time tends to get treated, Gravity Falls probably retroactively became one of those slips thanks to Weirdmaggedon. Good ol'e Gravity Falls basically homestucked it. )

ADDENDUM 3: The Dimensions of Reality and You

There are 10 theorized dimensions of Spacetime.

Dimension 1 is the Line. This is the X-axis, and Only the X-Axis. There is only one object in reality that is one dimensional, and that is the Rainbow. Light is one dimensional.

Dimension 2 is Shape. X-Y axises. A 2D plane.

DImension 3 is where we live. X-Y-X axises, with length, width, depth and volume.

Dimension 4 is where we hit Time. More specifically, Events that corrospond one event at a time, going forward. We of 3D perceive 4D ( and probably 5D).

5D and 6D is where we get tricky. Dimension 5 is Time Travel, going back and forth in time, and Dimension 6 is how we somehow go up and down in time (No idea how that works.)

7D is where conditions shift. Rather than having a set of conditions to follow by, as per the last dimensions, this is where new conditions are set instead.

8D is where Possibility comes into play. If 7D is new conditions, 8D is all possible condition branches.

9D is where the very laws of physics starts changing.

10D, the final, is All Possibility at Once. You could almost say that 10D circles to 0D, the Point, where 1D starts, and we begin again.

In terms of Gravity Falls, if we take the book Flatland into consideration (As per a AMA Reddit Bill Cipher posting), there is life or a kind of life, on all level of spacetime dimensions.

2D has flat life. 3D and 4D has us. 5D has Time Giants (like Time Baby) and so on. The collective unconsciousness shadow realm, the Nightmare Realm, supposedly has access to everything beyond 6D (except by the show's own nature, it doesn't actually--it has access to dream possibilities that become semi (and probably temporarily) real through Ford's interaction with them, as a physical being).

One could be lead to thinking that this children's cartoon show indirectly says that dimensions only really exist based on perception mixing with reality, and you as an individual being are indirection connect to all life through unconscious perception of self and the world.

... but that might be over thinking it.

Hell though, its a fun overthinking.

LAST ADDENDUM:

Small bits of consideration.

It wasn't just one, one-off dream reality that got destroyed--but the entire Second Dimension is just Gone. A fundamental piece of reality has been burnt to nearly nothing, if not fragmented into pieces. That would explain why bits of the collective unconscious shadow realm and all sorts of weirdness keeps coming through to 3D Earth (and definitely beyond)--there's a gap underneath 3-Dimensional Space. Oh its obvious that the collective unconscious reality dreamed up other 2D spaces, but a bandaid doesn't staunch a missing limb.

Bill Cipher had been physically real at one point (if 2D and Flat), but now he isn't. Good chance that by trying to bring 2D to 3D, he did burn himself up in the process as well... but he was the only one who survived it.

If the Nightmare Realm is the "Space between Dimensions", how come Cipher could only see 3D space from 2D space and not the nightmare realm first? Its because the nightmare realm only exists in the mind of the universe as the collective unconsciousness darkness. What exists between dimensions is the Mind perceiving those dimensions. Meaning Bill Cipher's Mind was the Only Thing that survived the destruction of his realm of reality. Not even his physical body survived. And he was like that, for trillions of years.

Ford had been the only physically real entity in the Nightmare Realm, when he got lost through the portal. If he had died on the other side, good chance he would've ended up as Bill--surviving only as a mind-soul entity, and probably, would've gone insane (and mad with power) as well.

The Nightmare Realm being the embodiment of the collective unconsciousness, as a shadow realm of minds across possibility, also explains how come 30 years can pass in it in conjunction to Earth. Earth is one of the projectors of that shadow realm, it has to align or it wouldn't be apart of the collective unconsciousness.

[randomthefox]

HURRAY DEFEATING THE FINAL BOSS FIXED EVERYTHING DON'T YOU LOVE WHEN THAT HAPPENS?

What's funny is we find out that killing Devimon DID NOT remove all the Black Gears from the world though. So like. It kind of doesn't make sense that File Island recombined after he's defeated x3 oh well whatever. Wonderland logic.

"Man this is bullshit I thought after we killed the bad guy we'd just automatically get whisked back home or something."

Oh well, just keep fighting bad Digimon until you stop being trapped in digiworld I guess!

oh god here we go x3

imagine Obi-Wan Kenobi showing up for Luke AFTER he blows up the Death Star lol. The kids literally only meet the wise trickster mentor dude AFTER defeating their first antagonist.

Yeah that's all we ever get on Gennai. He is literally never given further explanation, aside from seeing a flashback in 02 which doesn't provide any real new information or insight aside from confirming he was involved in the creation and shepherding of the Digivices and Partner Digimon. Which I find preferable, personally. It's better to leave stuff like that to the imagination. Is he an avatar of Yggdrasil? A digital memory of the person who created the Digital World? An amalgamation of the collective human unconsciousness of ancient wisdom? All of the above? Never get an answer.

Would have been cool if it was Jijimon. But I kinda like that he's just some weird old dude who is beyond comprehension. Gives him this sense of being Above both the digital AND real worlds.

AND YOU NEVER WILL!

seriously it's NEVER explained in the scope of the original Adventure or 02. WHO chose the children? Fucking Yggdrasil? WHO KNOWS! And frankly, who cares!

It's like you can feel the writers laughing at us x3

conservation of detail, people! It isn't important to the story, so it doesn't need to be included in the story. The kids are chosen and prophesied to save the digital world! Now get out there and defeat some evil digimon!

A Digimon in-training =o will Digivolve to Rookie =D And Digivolve to Champion and Ultimate too ^^ I'm gonna save the Digital world for me =D I'm gonna save the Digital world for you ^-^

An incredibly reasonable response x3 "let's debrief first"

I love the way the arcs progress in this show. Even if the arc that they're about to get into is probably the worst in the show.