#how do archivists do it. someone tell me their secrets.

[reineyday]

why does being an artist so often mean accumulating stuff 🙃

[shizucheese]

Okay okay okay, I need everyone to listen to me about this.

I know I kinda talked about this before in a reblog to someone else's post, but the idea has been rotating in my brain ever since and I feel like it needs to be further explored. A lot of people have been talking about the differences between TMA and TMP, and memeing about how people can actually quit the OIAR (which btw, I'll believe when I actually see it, by which I mean if we're able to get through the entire series without Teddy either coming back or turning up dead or otherwise facing "You can quit but you can never leave" levels of repercussions) but like nobody, from what I've seen, has been talking about what imo is the pretty glaringly obvious element at play here. So let's talk about the spider in the room, shall we? What do we know about the Magnus Institute in TMA?

People came there to give statements regarding their spooky experiences, including people who had doubts about doing so (because they weren't sure if the Institute was reputable, because they weren't sure if they believed what they had experienced, because they served a different entity so what reason would they have to do something for The Eye, etc).

The head archivist would ultimately become the Archivist, an Avatar of the Eye.

The Archivist's abilities included enabling statement givers to give their statements without going off track or leaving out details (we even see what happens when it's not the Archivist taking the statement), and being able to compel people to tell them things against their will, from statements to their darkest secrets.

You couldn't quit, at least not without gouging your eyes out.

The Magnus Institute was a part of the Eye.

Or was it? Because the other thing we know about the Magnus Institute is that the Web was using it as part of its plan to break free from the TMA world and gain access to the other worlds out there. How much of the compulsion aspects of the Institute-- people being drawn to the Institute to give statements, the Archivist's ability to draw statements and secrets out of people, people's inability to quit the Institute--was actually because of the Web? Where does the Eye's "compulsion to seek out knowledge even if it could be bad/ harmful" end and the Web's "not being in control of your own actions" begin? Was the Archivist--at least in the form Gertrude and John took--really purely an Avatar of the Eye? Or were they an Avatar of a mix between The Eye and the Web, much like how Martin, if he were to ever become a full fledged Avatar, likely would have been a mix of the Eye and the Lonely, just like his domain in S5 was? After all, Jonah was an Eye Avatar, was he not? And as far as we saw, he never needed to compel information out of people. He just Knew it (and used it to torment people).

One of the themes I've been playing around with in my TMA fanfictions since I first finished the podcast for the first time last winter is how the course of history would be different in the alternate worlds, where the Web wasn't interfering--at least not on the same scale, or for the same reasons--since it had already gotten what it wanted at the end of TMA. And I think that's exactly what we're seeing a version of in Protocol. I think the OIAR is what it looks like when it's entirely the Eye at play, with 0 interference from the Web. The Eye is all about having your secrets exposed, being watched, being followed. The tape recorders--something that would need to be turned off and on (controlled) in order to record something--were a tool of the Web. Now we're "witnessing" the events of the podcast through the audio from security cameras and other things that are constantly running; constantly seeing and listening without needing to be turned on and off. The statements aren't being given by people who somehow found their way to the institute and were on some level or another compelled to tell their tales. They're journal entries detailing a person's private thoughts. They're letters meant only for the eyes of the recipient, sharing secrets not meant for anyone else. They're recorded therapy sessions.

And the statements that are related to the Eye? The ones read in John's voice? They're forum and blog posts, which not only makes them the only ones whose sources didn't have the same expectation of privacy as the others, also ties them to the Web, since computers and websites were previously established as being associated with it.

[princesstarfire1234]

TLDR: I fucking despise ship art and fanfics that infantilize Orion Pax / Optimus Prime

Okay so I just wanna put my thoughts out here right now because I've not seen many people talk about it and it honestly bothers me a lot...

So, it's no secret that I ship MegOp and stuff right? I like and have reblogged a bunch of art of them before and I will keep doing so, but something about how this place (or more certain parts of the fandom) portray the ship gives me major icks and I fucking hate it so much

Detailed thoughts under cut ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Case in point, a massive part of the TFP fanbase likes to ship Orion and Megatronus and I get that, I get why people like shipping those two but it's the WAY they do it. A lot, not all, but most of the fanart surrounding Orion Pax and Megatronus is him being like the smaller and more submissive one of the relationship which fine, whatever, but most people just end up drawing him REALLY small like ik he's shorter than Megs who was a gladiator and all that and he was an archivist but jesus christ... Aside the size which is weird and all but it's really all about the rampant infantilization of the guy. When they remove all agency from the character and act like Orion is gonna fucking combust the moment someone confronts him or tries to fight him like no... I've not read Exodus but I don't think Orion being a nerdy book guy is gonna make him THAT soft, this is still the same mech who became PRIME like cmon

I don't know the exact words for it other than "infantilization" but like y'know what I mean right?? I'm not gonna name blogs but there's this one AU on here where Orion is blind and it has this cutesy artstyle which is fine but I vividly remember reading a comic on that AU where some thugs confront Orion and he's all like sobbing and shit and has to be saved by someone and it's... so you made him disabled and also a crybaby and absolutely incapable of anything??? Does that NOT give you an ick of sorts or seem weird??? God I don't even know anymore because I've seen many people seem to like that so I'm just scared I'm the weird one and wrong for this lmfao... Maybe there's smthn im not getting, you tell me

Anyways this post is getting real long, but this kind of "infantilization" also applies to certain fanarts of TFA MegOp, I always thought the ship was bordering on kind of strange (since TFA Optimus is like the equivalent of some 20-something college dropout and Megatron is implied to have been doing the war stuff way way way back like Ratchet's time) but I won't get into that, I just don't ship that certain brand of the characters myself, but it's fine, do what you want with it. Just know that I have seen art of those two where they treat TFA Optimus as this sort of incapable cutesy uwu boy (aaaghh)

So yeah.... hahahaha stop infantilizing characters and taking a ship where they're both grown ass big men and like straight up turning the other one into some weird ass incapable version of the character that lacks any and all agency and honestly bordering on being really icky as fuck, thank you, idc if you make Optimus the bottom or whatever, that's not what I mean, cya ✌️

[brettanomycroft]

Signals from Somewhere Else

After episode 22 of Protocol, there’s one thing (okay, maybe two things) that everyone is going to be talking about. But I don’t want to talk about that thing (yet. Okay, I lied, it might come up). Instead, I want to dive into some of the implications of this week’s case and how they might relate FR3-D1 [Error], and even Isaac Newton.

Spoilers for TMAGP episodes 21 and 22 below the cut. CW: we’re gonna talk about the brain stuff; probably overuse of the words “fleshy” and “wet” by I blame AJN for that.

Our case in this episode, graciously recounted by Peepaw Augustus, focuses on real-life German psychiatrist and neurologist Hans Berger, whose work led to the invention of the EEG and furthered our understanding of how brainwaves work. The experiment described in the case mirrors actual experiments that Berger completed while working at the University of Jena, including experimentation on a subject with a deformity that allowed easy access to the brain and the placement of silver wires under the scalp to measure electrical activity. Even Berger’s disappointing initial results seem to be in line with history.

Like in real life, the cosmic horrors of this case begin when Berger takes a little depression nap.

The description of “an ocean, deep and unforgiving… full of dark secrets” creates a striking image to be sure, but what’s more interesting to me here is what he recalls next: the “radio signals, invisible and unknowable.” Berger laments that it’s a “shame these two things would never meet,” and then proceeds to enable such a thing to happen, whether he realizes it or not.

He wakes up and is immediately “inspired” to alter the setup he is using to record Herr Schmidt’s brain activity. While Berger is unable to explain how he came up with the idea (we could tell him: it was The Horrors, bud), he transforms his recording device (an early version of an EEG) into a two-way wireless telegraph, using poor Herr Schmidt’s brain as the receiver for the very radio waves that, perhaps, were never meant to make contact with the world below. Berger sent a politely phrased request into the void, and the void screamed back.

Who or what was on the other side can only be guessed at. Was it John/Martin/Jonah, individually or Frankensteined into some horrid chimerical conscience (please read this great post and have your heart broken like me)? Was it The Fears of the Archives-verse, recombined and tossed about like naughty pears in a pear wiggler? Or was it something or someone else entirely? I’m leaning towards JMJ, in parts or as a whole, specifically because I suspect that Hans Berger’s strange (and wetly explosive, thanks Alexander J. Newell) discovery provides a clue to how [Error] and possibly FR3-D1 operate.

Let’s start with [Error]. Here’s what we know about them so far:

They were locked up in tunnels or a basement space under the Archivist’s office at the Manchester Magnus Institute

Something about them causes people, dead and alive, to recount their fears or horrible things that have happened to them (I am not using the word compel here, even though it is used in the transcript for episode 21, and that is on purpose)

They seem very invested in getting the entire story out (this is, admittedly, speculation, as it’s unclear as to whether “THERE IS MORE” is in reference to more victims or more of Gwen’s story)

They have some really weird dogs

I’ve seen a lot of folks speculate that [Error] is or was the Head Archivist in the Protocol universe, and I’ve also seen a lot of folks speculate that [Error] is or was John (and therefore also The Archivist). I think either of these could be true, but more than anything, I think [Error] is a high-powered antenna with the ability to turn the people around them into speakers. Or maybe Speakers? I do love a good capitalization.

What if the “esteemed brethren” of The Magnus Institute were all too aware of the unusual results of Berger’s experimentation, and hoped to tap into the unusual consciousness(es) floating around in the radio waves and ether of the universe by creating their own version? Perhaps they thought they could create a direct conduit (think almost like a psychic medium) through a person, someone who might be able to communicate with whatever is out there and be able to relay its/their esoteric knowledge to help further the Institute’s goals of “Universal Transmutation.” We know already that the Institute was interested in doppelgangers and perhaps alternate universes and that they had a lot of irons in the fire (the Millenium Dome, the gifted child programme, Welling’s Mutare Materia research program, the various outreach centres), so it would hardly be surprising if they were also experimenting in communicating with “the beyond” to try and gain more knowledge.

And maybe it worked. Maybe they were able to create or transmute someone into an antenna, capable of receiving these strange signals, except these mixed signals were too powerful and ultimately took over. Perhaps [Error] is the natural consequence of who or whatever was speaking to Berger finally getting “OUT.” And if who or whatever was speaking to Berger happened to include the fractured consciousness of a hungry Archivist, well then, we have an interesting case for [Error]. [Error], whether or not they were an/The Archivist in this universe, could now be directed by the desires of The Archivist, channeling The Archivist’s thoughts and abilities but with a power greater than that we ever saw in John (or, perhaps, the same power but completely unrestrained by his remaining humanity). Or [Error] could be channeling The Fears themselves, bringing parts of them through not unlike they were brought through in The Magnus Archives.

Either way, I doubt that creating a connection between whatever was out there and the physical world led to the results the Institute was hoping for.

[Error] is receiving the signal to feed, but the signal coming through is so loud and so powerful that instead of politely asking to snack on some horror stories, coming into contact with them instead allows them to pick up on a person’s horrible experience and forces them to broadcast it to the world. It’s possible that, upon creating [Error] or losing control of [Error], those at The Magnus Institute locked them up and cut them off from the dangerous signal they were receiving… Sam accidentally poking a big hole in the floor (and the alchemical signals inscribed in it) could have reestablished the connection between [Error] and the force guiding them.

Now let’s talk about FR3-D1. We know that FR3-D1so far is that it

Is a “bespoke” internet software developed sometime in the mid-90s, apparently designed to search the internet for spooky stuff

Has German source code

Crashes, constantly, much to Colin’s dismay (? Or maybe he’s helping those crashes along to stop it from listening in… but that’s a theory for another time)

Has, within the last year or so of Sam joining the O.I.A.R., started running a text-to-speech program that reads certain cases out in one of three voices, two of which are familiar to anyone who has listened to The Magnus Archives

Occasionally has some unusual .JMJ errors

Seems to be “targeting” Sam with specific cases related to The Magnus Institute

Is believed to be “listening in” by Colin, Alice, and Sam (which is supported by what we know as the audience)

Has been working “better” since Colin has been on mandatory mental health leave

May have some connection to the Stasi, the secret police force of Communist East Germany before the fall of the USSR

Is assumed (by us as the audience) to have some kind of sentience

There are some other items (notably the spreadsheets found in the ARG that appear to be from or connected to FR3-D1and the emails Sam and Gwen have received) that could be connected to FR3-D1 but have not yet been confirmed. Yet aspects of FR3-D1 do seem to share some commonality with [Error], namely a level of sentience and the ability to locate the stories of people who have had horrifying supernatural encounters.

My speculation here is that FR3-D1 and [Error] were both constructed using the same premise or with the same goal in mind: to receive and channel the signals of entities or consciousnesses existing in or coming from “Somewhere Else”: FR3-D1 through a supernaturally or alchemically conceived software program, and [Error] through a supernaturally or alchemically conceived transmutation on a living human.

If this proves to be the case, then the results seem… distinct, albeit with the potential to be equally dangerous. FR3-D1 is more “controllable” and could potentially be better able to separate out the signals being received, manifesting as “Augustus,” “Chester,” and “Norris.” Now these “three” could still be part of homunculus-esque JohnMartinJonah consciousness, but perhaps the computer program is a little more stable and delineated than the fleshy wet mess of the human brain, and therefore what remains of each individual consciousness is able to act more distinctly and independently. In contrast, [Error] (and their fleshy wet mess of human brain) is receiving the signals all mixed and jumbled together, with no failsafes to keep them from “overloading” or being entirely taken over by The Horrors or JMJ or The JMJ Horrors. Given their spectral descriptions, it’s possible that fleshy human brain and body couldn’t take it anymore and, pun intended, gave up the ghost.  

[Error] could be, in some ways, a bodiless, mindless soul acting on a confused mess of instinct and hunger; FR3-D1 is then, perhaps, the elevated mind, in (more) control but disconnected from a body and perhaps from a soul. Given the heavy influence of alchemy in The Magnus Protocol and the importance in alchemy of the number three, the Tria Prima, and the balance of mind, body, and soul, there may be a third entity we have yet to meet who, like FR3-D1 and [Error], are tuned into these signals from beyond and is eager to reunite with the rest… or perhaps FR3-D1 and [Error] are looking for a body of their own to inhabit and find balance (Sam, anyone?).

I feel like I myself am beginning to mix the signals I started with, but before I attempt to wrap this up, I do briefly want to throw one more piece of spaghetti on the wall, because I think it’ll wind up being something: the mention, specifically, of the silver wire the Berger used in his experiment.

It was Dr. Caton who recommended that Berger use the silver wire, as silver is known for being an effective conductor of electricity. Silver also holds importance as one of the seven metals of alchemy and as a possible base metal in the creation of a Philosopher’s Stone. Perhaps equally important here is that the Diana’s Tree, also known as the Arbor Philosophorum, is created using a solution including silver (or more accurately, silver nitrate) and mercury (one of the elements in the Tria Prima)… yep, the (sort of) same spooky tree created by Newton in TMAGP 19, where Newton gave his dog an existential crisis and Robert Hooke was like “burn it all down.” The conclusion we could draw here is that silver is used in both TMAGP 19 and TMAGP 22 to connect organic life to the unseeable Knowledge of some other plane… with potentially disastrous effects.

Whether it ends up being the case that FR3-D1 and [Error] are big antennas wirelessly receiving The Horrors or I’m totally off base, it seems pretty clear that Hans Berger “tuned in” to an unusual—and dangerous—signal, and what’s more, enabled that signal to connect with the Protocol world in a way that likely never should have happened.

[pillowspace]

Do you have any tma fic recs?

I am kissing your hand, thank you so much for asking. Let me go take a look through my AO3 bookmarks and see what I still remember reading

Here's some The Magnus Archives fics I like! Some Jonmartin fics, regular fics, and a little Gerrymichael section because I like that

Okay, so first of all, this is my favourite The Magnus Archives fic of all time. I cannot recommend it enough. It has entirely rewired my brain, I have not been the same since I read this. I cried multiple times:

Resigned, Though Not to Fate by inkfingers_mcgee

Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist

“You’re really suggesting this,” Martin says, voice pulled thin.

“Yes.” No hesitation.

“You would- actually do it?”

“I would.”

“With me.”

“Yes, Martin.”

“Why?” Because love is blind, says something cliché and cruel in the pit of his gut. Christ, he never was much of a poet, was he?

Or,

When Jon asks Martin to Quit the Archives with him, Martin says yes. Things don't go as planned. In the Scottish Highlands, they hurt, and they heal.

(Re-written as of 22-12-27; see chapter 9 for more info.)

T | Words: 145,746 | Chapters: 9/9

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And there's also these good ones I've enjoyed:

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a deeply annoying child by ajkal2

No Archive Warnings Apply, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Tim Stoker, blink-and-you-miss-it Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims, BUT NO SLASH WHILE ANYONE IS A CHILD

Jon is hiding under the desk.

----

There's a child in the Archives, who shouldn't be there.

G | Words: 9,631 | Chapters: 1/1

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rituals by doomcountry

No Archive Warnings Apply, Martin Blackwood/The Archivist, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims

Martin is the first person to knock on the Archivist's door since it arrived, fully, into its little waiting temple. The Archivist saw him coming from down the hall, but decides to feign interest when the knob turns, and Martin—still a little bit smaller, a little more translucent than before—stands uncertainly just outside the room.

T | Words: 8,492 | Chapters: 1/1

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Head in the Lion's Mouth by renwhit

Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Danny Stoker & Tim Stoker, Danny Stoker & Jonathan Sims, Basira Hussain & Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Martin Blackwood & Tim Stoker, Martin Blackwood & Danny Stoker, Jonathan Sims & Tim Stoker, Past Tim Stoker/Sasha James, Danny Stoker & Helen Richardson, Danny Stoker & Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Danny Stoker & Melanie King, Basira Hussain & Tim Stoker, Basira Hussain & Danny Stoker

He fell into a deep bow, smiling the whole while. “I’m the ringmaster, of course.”

“Is that skin— Is it yours?” Old wood groaned as the Archivist shifted his weight. “Originally.”

“It is!” the ringmaster said as he swooped back upright. “Nikola decided I wore it well, so she let me keep it. Why do you ask?”

The Archivist gave him another once-over. “You just… you look familiar. Like someone I know.”

On relearning, reconnecting, and redefining.

M | Words: 157,240 | Chapters: 17/17

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Reflection by LazuliQuetzal

No Archive Warnings Apply, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims, Sasha James/Emma (The Magnus Archives)

Jonathan Sims, researcher at the Magnus Institute, is seeing a ghost. Of himself.

Of course, it’s not really him, no matter what secrets it knows, or how many arguments it brings up. So if it tells him to do something?

Obviously, he’ll be doing the exact opposite.

(AKA: Jon is an idiot, past and future, but somewhere along the way it all cancels out.)

(Expect general spoilers for S4 and specifically, MAG 158.)

T | Words: 51,527 | Chapters: 10/10

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Out There, Somewhere by Artyphex

No Archive Warnings Apply, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist

"I'm sorry, you were found alone."

Jon survived the apocalypse and now will go to the end of this new, unfamiliar world to find Martin again.

T | Words: 54,080 | Chapters: 8/8

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Clutching Daffodils by Gemi

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims

Martin has always liked the idea of love at first sight.

It’s such a romantic idea, the whole thing of it. Seeing someone and instantly feeling that strange, twisting feeling deep inside that every single media likes to obsess over. Of knowing you are in love within the day, petals falling from your mouth and warmth filling your chest as love burrows deep, vines twisting through your lungs.

He always liked the idea of it.

And then Jonathan Sims starts working at the Magnus Institute.

NR | Words: 7,624 | Chapters: 1/1

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Beastly Behaviour by Prim_the_Amazing

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims

“You need to learn a lesson,” she says, and there’s blood speckling her lips now. She’s overstraining herself. He needs to stop her, calm her down. “And until you learn it you will suffer, just like you’ve made me suffer.”

“Mum, I think you need to--”

It turns out that when his father had called his mother a witch, he had meant more than Martin realized.

NR | Words: 73,226 | Chapters: 28/28

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dustsceawung by callmearcturus

No Archive Warnings Apply, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist

Martin had always been favored by the summer courts, and moving up north to the little village of Lacuna is a difficult adjustment. It's rainy and lonely and everyone seems to have a strange, distant relationship with the local faerie court.

However: there is a strange man in a cloak who walks past Martin's remote little cottage every few days.

However: there is a moth that keeps getting stuck in Martin's house during the rain.

These events are not as disconnected as they first appear.

M | Words: 38,269 | Chapters: 8/8

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Gerrymichael fics I like:

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Break Me Like A Pattern by TheLibraryBat

Graphic Depictions Of Violence,,Gerard Keay & Michael Shelley, Gerard Keay/Michael Shelley, Gerard Keay & Gertrude Robinson, Gertrude Robinson & Michael Shelley

The year is 2011. Michael Shelley is living his life in circles, blissfully unaware of the betrayal that awaits him in the summer. Gertrude Robinson has plans to enact and plans to destroy. Emma Harvey is hiding a book in the dark place at the back of a cupboard.

When Gerard Keay walks into the Magnus Institute - two years sooner than he was meant to - everything changes.

This is an (eventual) Archivist Michael AU, exploring how certain events might have played out, had one key player been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

M | Words: 215,291 | Chapters: 40/40

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This entire series is so good, all 4 works in it:

As One Door Closes by dramatispersonae

Words: 64,859 | Works: 4

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Choke Chain by dramatispersonae

Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Gerard Keay/Michael, Gerard Keay/The Distortion

Things Gertrude Robinson possesses: decades of experience killing, containing, and otherwise thwarting supernatural beings, an uncompromising drive to destroy the Rituals and the people who would see them completed, Gerry's loyalty. Things Gertrude Robinson apparently also possesses: a monster on a magic leash.

NR | Words: 14,814 | Chapters: 1/1

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Echo Chamber by orphan_account

Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Gerard Keay/Michael, Gerard Keay/Michael Shelley

“Look, if you’re another, uh, avatar of a horrible eldritch demon god come to assassinate me in a spooky manner, could you get it over with quickly? I haven’t eaten all morning and I’m starving.”

The thing that calls itself Michael stares.

“And this sandwich cost most of my weekly salary,” Gerry adds after a belated moment.

T | Words: 21,439 | Chapters: 1/1

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Please Don’t Eat the Flowers by Sloane

Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Gerard Keay/Michael Shelley, Gerard Keay/Michael | The Distortion, Razor/Wendy, Minor or Background Relationship(s)

Instead of retiring to open a book shop, Gerry ends up working at a flower shop run by American lesbians in London. This leads to a brush with the Distortion, who just wants to buy some lilies, the Magnus Institute finding out he’s still alive, and... well, a normal life was never really in the cards for the likes of Gerard Keay, was it?

Oh, and those lesbians who run the flower shop? There’s more to them than meets the eye—bad Beholding pun intended.

(No knowledge of Maniac Mansion required; I take lots of liberties to slot it into TMA’s universe. UNDER MAJOR REVISIONS. Please see last chapter if you’re a new/returning reader for details..)

M | Words: 77,314 | Chapters: 33/?

[the-one-and-only-duckduckgo]

As I see the word around me turning pink (or, in some cases, purple), I've decided that it's time to make a sequel to that tma post. Yes, I'm at episode 20. No, I'm not okay (I promise). Perhaps, I need therapy. Anyways, enjoy:

The Magnus Archives but I've met the fandom (and am even more confused)

There's an Archivist (you have to use the capital letter if you want to survive), his name is Jon,sometimes Jonathan and sometimes Jalapeño.

He is also somehow the author of the podcast, and the guy speaking. I don't know how. Nothing feels real anymore.

Apparently, he brings the romantic side of the podcast. I'm glad. He should think about bringing the "makes sense" side too.

#JusticeForMartin2024

Get. Sasha. And. Tim. Some. Fucking. Representation.

There's Gerard Keay, who doesn't have anything to do with Gerard Way (I checked), and I love him.

He's also very dead. My point still stands.

WHERE IS THAT FUCKING HOMOPHOBIC VASE WHY DON'T YOU WANT ME TO UNDERSTAND YOUR INSIDE JOKE, WHY?

There's a guy named Evan Lukas, whose name reminds me of another guy. Was it James Lukas? Peter Lukas? George Lukas? Not a single idea.

Five people told me to be scared of the Mikes.

Who are they?

Is that a sect? A typo? A secret level you unlock once you understand what that vase joke refers to?

There's a secret link between everything.

Is it that every one of the stories involves being scared of something, and being alone?

Wait. Nevermind. That's a horror podcast, people are usually scared in these. I'm trying to be logical here.

I miss Gerard Keay.

OH WAIT WAIT SORRY I DIDN'T TELL Y'ALL THAT JALAPENO CAME OUT OF HIS RECORDING CLOSET TO TALK TO A MADAM. THAT REALLY DISTURBED HIM AND HE HAD TO LOCK HIMSELF AGAIN TO RECOVER, BUT I'M PROUD OF THE PROGRESS HE MADE

Michael is not okay. Do they need help?

I don't know their pronouns, and people answered with really disturbing and unhelpful things. Could someone help?

I kinda like Michael. Even if they're blonde.

Unless they're part of the Mikes. I have a bad feeling about the Mikes.

Uhh lots of blood, spiders, worms, death, spooky nights, people being alone, eyes everywhere, insanity, blood sacrifices, the Unknown, and evil books.

Oh, and drugs. Very important, the drugs

Leaving you with that, hope I didn't miss a very important point. May the stars shine in your direction, or whatever.

[jackdaw-kraai]

New Patreon Post? New Patreon Post.

It was probably high time I told y'all about the fact that I have a patreon again and attempt to do so in a way that's not completely gauche, SO. Let me tell you about about what it is, does, and after all that, why you should at least look at it even if you would sooner gargle orange juice after brushing your teeth than give me money.

Patreon, as you probably know, or maybe not, is a site that kind of works on the old idea of patronage. AKA, artists get paid money to do what they love so they don't, y'know, starve. Except instead of one rich fuck, it's funded by many far-less-rich people, because fuck capitalism. In practice, you subscribe to an artist, pay them however much a month you want, and the amount determines which tier subscription you have and what rewards you get access to. As you've probably guessed, I have such a system in place.

So *slaps roof of patreon* lemme tell you what this bad boy can fit in it. It can fit LORE for one, like, all of it. This is where I post 4K long essays on the specific kind of fungus that grows only in the driest place on a fictional planet, digests rock in order to get nutrients, and feeds an underground ecosystem through the mycelium that bore through the rock and into the networks of underground rivers that exist there and thus is a keystone species for an entire biome. I also post fictional transcripts of drunk history videos with a delightfully crude historical archivist, that tell stories about how a fictional train network got created by a trainwreck of a human being that involves a contest, a technically legal museum heist, the mob, a trained cat, and a disastrously gay aristocrat. And then another about that guy's mob enforcer sister who once killed a man by putting him in a headlock and flexing her bicep and also her absolutely pathetic wimp of a husband who loves his built-like-a-semi-truck wife very much.

That's not even mentioning the extensive articles on my own conlang, including IPA annotations, detailed character descriptions, redacted reports from amoral scientists who are about to greatly regret everything they ever did, and excerpts from an essay on forbidden magic by a scholar from outside the community.

Mind you, almost all of those are in the lower tiers of the patreon, the tiers that you can get for only a handful of dollars a month, yes, a literal handful. I haven't even gotten to the high-tier stuff. Higher-tier rewards include: ability to vote in polls that make me answer spoiler questions, access to secret lore like how the magic in this world works and what occult elements are at play in the story, and even creating a character together with me if you really decide to be insane with the money you throw at me. I've already done this once and it was great fun to create Sol with someone, an absolute unit of a black lesbian fighter pilot with the soul of a gentle giant.

With all levels though, you also do this: you support my ability to write, and keep writing, as I begin to plan out my own original fiction ideas and further career steps into becoming a published writer. You support my ability to experiment with my writing style, my interests, and help me keep my head above water in a world that's increasingly hostile to artists and writers. You support my ability to live a small, comfortable life that lets me create wonder and magic in a world that desperately needs some of that.

And, as I promised above, even if you don't want to, or simply can't give anything (Gods know that everyone is struggling to get by these days) then it's still worth looking at the public-facing page, because instead of boring-ass tier descriptions, I gave each tier a little blurb of text that is a part of a larger, fragmentary story of Keshiro, Storm Wraith's, last great adventure before he left the Desert. It's a story that currently only exists in said blurbs, but is planned to be written out in full, and when it is, it will, of course, be posted for free on Ao3, no caveats or strings attached. Until then... give it a read. Tell me what you think. I'll see you there.

The link to my patreon page, see what you think.

[entities-of-posts]

*They are all quiet for a few moments, thinking, before one speaks up.*

Yes, we know now that some books... smell different, and that those are the ones that lead to things like this, and to stay away from them lest we fall victim to more of these clairvoyant states of horror.

So what, pray tell, Archivist, are we to do to be 'useful' to this Watcher? Your kind are easily able to dispatch of us, but to stay in the shadows is to be overlooked and never noticed.

How do we navigate this expansive world we have been made to unwillingly understand and forced to marinate in the intoxicating stupor of clarity of it just the same... How do we avoid the Madness?

Leaning into the Beholding’s interest in you might grant you the clarity of sight to avoid the unraveling of your minds; the weight of too much knowledge is often a strain… I would, myself, probably be hardly coherent if my Patron didn’t help me store a surplus of memory my brain couldn’t hold on its own. Besides, my brain is mostly occipital lobe, at this point. That would not correctly keep me alive either, without some help.

To Feed it, you need to recreate in others a similar fear you feel. Finding a niche is very personal. Think of how you might want to evoke the fear of Seeing and being Seen. I can make suggestions, though… if I were you, I think I would try sniffing out someone with a dark secret, and letting them see your eyes in the dark, messing with things around their house to remind them of that transgression; perhaps finding their secret lover’s notes and sliding one under the door every day, disturbing the dirt over a surreptitiously buried body, digging out every empty bottle of gin from their trash and piling them on the front yard… let them grow paranoid. Let their understanding of the world dissolve, let them realize they are being stalked by too-clever beasts as if a god were punishing them. I think that would be fun:)

In addition to that, if you can… convince what whispers to you to start whispering to them, too. Once the prey is scared enough, starting to come undone, they should be able to hear it.

[raven-foul]

mag160 is truly so intriguing to me as the potential turning point of jon and elias’ relationship where the power dynamic totally shifts so that jon is more externally powerful and the power of the ceaseless watcher flows through him etc but at the same time elias has finally revealed the extent of his manipulation of him as well as the truth of how much jon was susceptible to it from the beginning. and I mean like how jon was so curious about what elias had to say that he would end the world for it. “I wouldn’t try too hard to stop reading, there’s every likelihood you’ll just hurt yourself” — it’s so gentle. it’s a sweet admonishment. elias up until this point has done a lot of manipulation but has never really directly forced someone to do something (that’s more the web’s vibe anyways) so I really don’t buy that “elias forced jon to read the statement” like cmon. he literally locked himself up for a season because he was concerned that just BEING NEAR jon might reveal all his secrets. the truth is jon wanted to read that statement and the beholding wanted it too and all it took was a little push from elias to trap him.

and also! I may be delusional but I so believe the affection elias has for jon, telling him that it’s OUR victory and that he’ll get used to it in the world that WE have made. this is the guy that spent the entire podcast treating so many people like disposable playthings but he tells his dear archivist that he couldn’t have done it without him and that he hopes he enjoys it tee hee <3 it’s such a wonderful twisted up final stage of their relationship and it’s SUCH a shame that s5 seemed completely uninterested in showing any of that!!

[envihellbender]

Hunt!Sebastian paying John a visit

Characters: Sebastian Moran, John Sims

Verse: The Magnus Archives, TMA AU of Sebastian Moran / Moriarty (MorMor)

[CLICK]

THE ARCHIVIST

[HE SOUNDS A LITTLE SHAKEN, AS IF HE IS PACING UP AND DOWN AS HE IS TALKING.]

I found a tape on my desk. I have checked and double checked with security and with the CCTV coming into the building and everyone coming in or out of the building is accounted for. Was it posted here? It wasn’t in an envelope or anything. Maybe Ma- someone thought they were being helpful. But he- they wouldn’t open my mail, would they? Anyway. Here it is. Statement of Sebastian Moran. Regarding how he met James Moriarty.

[CLICK]

SEBASTIAN MORAN

I found one of your little tape recorders, Archivist, so thought I’d give you something to listen to. You know me. Basher Moran. Moriarty’s Tiger. The most feared sniper in Europe. Prince of London’s Underworld. That one is weird I think, if Moriarty’s the king, that would make me his son? Anyway. Yeah. It’s me, and I hear you’ve been tracking down me and Jimmy, listening to all our victim’s statements and all that. So I thought I’d give you something straight from the tiger’s mouth. There have been quite a few stories about how I met my Jimmy. Urban legends really. Is this one of them or is this a lie just to get under your skin? Only you’ll be able to tell, right Archivist?

Let’s quickly skip through the really boring stuff. Yeah, yeah, son of Augustus Moran and a servant he knocked up in his house in India. He actually had quite a few bastards you know, for some reason he took a shine to me and that’s not the compliment you think it is. He was a faggot, pretended not to be, and whether I killed the fat cunt or not is a little secret you already know the answer to, Archivist. Anyway, I’m the best shot you’ll ever find. Spent most of my teens at a shooting range and didn’t get sped through the army ranks cause of my surname. When your as brown as me and your dad dun’t wanna talk about you a name as common as Moran don’t help. So. I get quietly discharged cause if a nasty event that don’t have anything to do with this story, but you need to picture me as being out Army in my twenties and making a comfortable living selling my services. With a gun, by the way, not my dick sucking lips.

The thing about sniping, is it’s mostly waiting. You set yourself up somewhere high up and out of sight, if you’re good at it you can be low down and no one will find you. Sometimes it’s just you, snacks, drinks, your headphones, and that spare empty bottle you brought to piss in. Audiobooks are great for that. I got through all Chuck Palahniuk’s stories that way. Anyway. Got distracted. So. Most people assume Jimmy hired me, and nah, course he didn’t. He doesn’t do anything like a normal person. First, it was messages in my phone. A text message from a number that didn’t exist and any time I tried to call it instead all I got was a loud screeching noise. The text itself was just a set of coordinates and a time. I decided to ignore it, and five minutes after the deadline, I got left a voicemail without my phone ever had been rung. Weirdest thing about that? It was my voice.

Yeah. Apparently I had rang myself and left a message threatening me about what I would do to my eyeballs if I didn’t pay attention to the next text message. So that was fucking weird. But message received. The next time I got some coordinates I went straight there. First ones led me to a tube station. And when I looked at the train times screen, there was a message for me instead. No one else seemed to see it. But I swear to God it said “Moran. Go to the payphone I’ve marked.” Which is fucking annoying. God damn treasure trail without the treasure. Anyway, so I found it, and clever fuck had written “hi” with a heart drawn on it. Fucking fag. So when I got to it, it started ringing. I answered it and this soft lilting voice was in the other end.

He gave me a job. A good job. With a lot of money. And I said yeah, even though I asked why he didn’t just tell me instead that of playing some stupid game. He giggled and said it was fun. Now I get it. That’s just how he works. When you’re running around anxious and confused he’s feeding off you. That’s just a small way he gets a quick snack. So we went on like this for a while, giving me job after job. I got a bit sick of it, and whilst yeah the Web is really fucking powerful. But. Well, I’m the Hunt. And finding shit is what I do.

So I laid low for a while and between and during jobs I started tracking down my Jimmy. He knew, kept making jokes about how close I was. Maybe he thought I wouldn’t make it to him, maybe he wanted me to, or maybe he didn’t care. Honestly, Jimmy might not even know. Maybe he didn’t think about it. But. Eventually I found myself just outside of this big fancy flat building. One of the types in zone one where the front is fancy as fuck and the back is meeting the quota for affordable housing. I don’t care, if they live in the shithole they can’t pay me. I took the lift up to the top floor. The huge, massive, modern screen door greeted me when I got out. He has a penthouse you see, and the dramatic fuck has a spider web pattern all over it.

I was planning on being subtle, but the moment I got to the top floor, I heard a lilting giggle. I looked up to see a camera pointed directly at me. He didn’t say a word, just ended up with a click to show the door was open. I walked in. His house is pretty great but I’m not gonna tell you shit that might lead you to him. You know what’s funny? I hate spiders. I hate them. I hate them so much of course I noticed their was a lot hanging around my flat since this started. But I didn’t think they had anything to do with Jimmy. His penthouse though? Let’s just say he’s gone all out on the theme.

Anyway. I mostly came here to kill time because gotta shoot one of your librarians. Just some dickhead who stuck his nose where he shouldn’t. By the time you hear this, you might wanna make sure someone goes up to clean up. I knew this would be a great way to distract you. Once the statement started you wouldn’t be able to put it down. Hope you enjoyed my story, mate. There’s plenty more where that came from. My Jimmy? He’ll be in touch.

THE ARCHIVIST

[CLICK. HE SIGHS.]

Statement ends. Carson Throw was found with a very clean gunshot wound through his temples. The bullet was found lodged into a book about spider webs. Hardly subtle. There wasn’t much of a mess. Carson was very wrapped up in jobs for James Moriarty, nothing special just owed him a lot of money from card games and he was slowly trying to work off. It seems Carson tried to get out before his debt had been paid. As for what Moran and Moriarty want with me… Only time will tell.

[CLICK.]

[a-mag-a-day]

MAG 89 - folding laundry

Oh yeah, prickly Jon is back! I love how he talks to Jude here right at the start of the episode.

What kind of jacket/coat do you think Jon was wearing - go! (I have a black and white, kitty-themed lolita style winter coat, with paws, a bell and cat ears! I like to imagine it's something like this! I think Georgie totally would wear a kitty coat!)

JUDE "Suppose it’s not really me, is it? Would you rather be a really stupid piece of firewood?" - First the lamb at the Butcher shop metaphor, now this. Jude is openly telling Jon she intends to hurt/possibly kill him. (And Jon's not having it xD)

This annoyed-teen voice really fits the character! But I hate it when people talk like that ^^''

JON "I’m sure the Forestry Commission were mortified. Why?" JUDE "… Stop that! And it was because Nikola Orsinov asked us to." - With Daisy in MAG 61 it was easy to miss but now it is very clearly visible Jon's doing something to people when he asks them…

JON "I have a god too, right?" JUDE "Is that another joke?" JON "N-No, I… I’m new to this. Everyone keeps calling me ‘Archivist”, like I’m special, and that… that I serve the Eye. Trying to kill me for it." - Oh god, I know, Jon has no one to ask about this stuff, but Jude really is not a good person for that job… He's like the new kid in a school and accidentally runs into one of the bullies and it will just end in Jon being shoved into his locker… (oh no, wait, that would be Breekon & Hope's thing xD Ok, let's say he gets his lunch money beat out of him by Jude?)

JUDE "Oh please, your god is nothing! The Eye, Beholding, Ceaseless Watcher, whatever you call it, that’s all it does, it watches and knows, sitting bulbous and comfortable in the ignorance of infinite knowledge." - I think it's satisfying that in the end the Eye gets to rule the apocalypse. Just you wait, Jude, and you'll see what "just watching" can do to you.

Uh, another of the Smirke'ian names gets revealed.

When talking about Elias killing Gertrude and doing everyone a favor with this and Elias clearly wanting Jon alive I think about how funny it is, that all the avatars act like they're this cool kids club, even if in different gangs, some closer, some not so much.

JON "So… so tell me the story of why you wanted Gertrude – AH – AAH!" [SOUND OF SIZZLING] JUDE "Try to compel me again, and I’ll burn it out your mouth." - Now she even openly says that Jon somehow compels her.

JON "Fine. Fine! Keep your damn secrets." - OMG, isn't there that Frodo-keep-your-secrets-meme of this episode somewhere??

JON "Recorded direct from subject, April 24th, 2017." - It's been more than 2 months since Leitner's death!

JUDE "But as I touched her face, she remained still, and instead my hand sank into it like softened candle wax." / "I probably don’t need to describe how much it hurt. It would be a long time before I was able to use the hand again." - Basically what awaits Jon in about 10 minutes.

You know what I also don't like about Jude (and this is, like the tone in her voice, just personal preference)? I HATE when people talk like that about god or gods or whatever! I mentioned this before, that I don't like cult structures in stories and rambling almost deliriously about their fascination. Reminded me very much of The Silt Verses here. (This is also probably the reason, why I can't get into TSV…)

JUDE "And so I ended it. For all the agony and pain on Gretchen’s face, she didn’t seem surprised when I doused myself in kerosene and set it alight." - Crossing over into full avatar-hood, choosing literal death.

JUDE "You have your god, as I have mine. Feed it, fearlessly and without hesitation, or it will feed on you." - This was actually a very helpful and practical information.

Lol, I love when stories can makes jokes about themselves XD Michael, which one??

Yay, I remembered to turn the volume down at the end. I remember listen to this putting away laundry and suddenly Jon screams into my ear…

As someone who thinks Jon deserves all of the cat-themed clothing I love picturing him in a coat like that.

For all Jude’s… horribleness she did give him some very useful advice, yeah.

I always have to turn the volume down at the end of this episode too, it’s so loud!

[showfallmediaarchivist]

(Warning. This transcript contains graphic mentions and depictions of eye-related horror, and other types of gore. Read at your own risk!!!!)

[ Video Transcript begins.]

[The camera angle appears to be from someone’s waistcoat pocket, said waistcoat moving as they traverse. The individual appears to be walking down a flight of dark stairs, a flickering light ahead being the only thing to brighten the path. It hums as the person descends, the repetitive noise and their clanging footsteps on the metal being the only ambience. This continues for 10 minutes, before at last the end of the staircase is visible to the camera. A sign glows above a doorframe, glowing a neon green. It reads, “Archives”. They sigh as they finish the last step, their hands going above the lens, presumably to their hair.]

?: Right. I need to..just get in and deal with xer to buy them all some time.

[Voice Identified: Will Keane.]

W: Just..do it. Just go in.

[Will stays outside the door for a few more seconds, before shakily opening the door and stepping inside the Archives. The Hallways are dim, dusty and seemingly empty, with the only sound being a constant - drip, drip drip - of a leaking pipe somewhere within. It walks through, often checking around the corners of bookshelves. It's unknown what he is checking for, but it seems extremely cautious. After approximately 15 minutes, He comes to a wall half-full of filing cabinets, all labelled. Some cabinets appear to be opened and their contents strewn across the floor. Some appear to be older than others, and more stained with rot and mildew. A short laugh comes from Will.]

W: I'm.. glad to know that it worked. Don't have to properly destroy them, just gotta make them..unusable.

[It kneels onto the ground, reaching for a cabinet that appears to be locked, but stops and falters.]

W: Hm. That's..not ideal. Well! Good I have the knife.

[As it says this, he pulls out a small-ish knife, and moves back towards the cabinet. It places the blade gently into the lock, and begins trying to twist it open. After 3 minutes, Will stops.]

W: This. Is not going to work. At all.

[It stops, taking the blade out and turning the handle towards the lock. Will begins to hit the lock with the handle, loud clanging filling the empty space. After 5 minutes, the cabinet drawer falls open with a large bang on the stone floor. Will begins to rifle through the cabinet, taking out documents seemingly at random, and placing them in a pile.]

W: Right, this..should be enough!

[He turns away from the cabinet, focusing on the files in front of it. The darkness of the room makes the files illegible to the lens on his chest. It brings his arms near them, and picks up the top one, ripping it instantly to shreds. Will places the scraps to the side, and picks up the next file. Before, however, he can make the first rip, a cracking static overtakes the audio input.]

?: A Childish act. To get me to arrive.

[Voice(?) Identified: V.1.R.U.S PROTOCOL.]

W: Worked though, didn't it?

V: I was already coming. You couldn't hide them forever.

W: …I don't know what you mean.

V: Liar. We are the same, the same brain. I know what you know.

[Will stops, simply staring at the pile of files.]

V: Tell me, how long did you think those rats could keep it a secret for? That, Mari didn't keep their deal, hm?

W: I..don't know what you mean, really.

[The Camera lurches forward as a force pushes Will from behind, making him hit the floor.]

V: How long it would take for me to keep my end of the deal.

[Will moves, turning towards the source of the voice. A shadowy figure is only just picked out by the camera lens, standing directly in front of The Archivist. He looks over to where the knife is discarded, put a shadow-like hand moves his head back into position.]

V: Look at me when I'm speaking to you, bitch. Clearly those rats did more damage to my work than I believed.

W: F-fuck you. Get off me-

[The figure cuts him off, sharply hitting him alongside the temple.]

V: Do not. Talk to me like that, dog. Now. I'm going to give you five minutes to explain why you kept me away from your “friends”. Or….Well, I'll have to find out for myself.

W: You-you fucking know why.

V: Of course I do! I just want to get you to say it! For you to admit, you'd hurt them. You'd let me control you without any resistance- [Will attempts to interject at this moment, but is quickly cut off by a stamp to his ribs.] - ah, ah ah, little Archivist, the adult is speaking. You would fail at trying to stop me, and would have to watch as those little rats got remasked, killed and made useful again, wouldn't you? So this is your plan. Run away, like a coward. Came back to your little cave to curl up and die, hm?

[The Archivist is quite for a moment, before Muttering something.]

V: Hm? Speak up, Archivist.

W: No. I came for..something else.

V: Pray tell, you coward?

[Will steels himself, the camera shaking less, as it stares at the figure in front of him.]

W: You can see through my eyes. Can't you. That's how..thats how you knew. That's how you've been..controlling me.

[The figure pauses, considering.]

V:..if you know this, why ask.

[A small chuckle comes from Will.]

W: The others are getting out as we speak. You saw Sarah, so taking over me and reporting it was your plan. Am I right so far?

V:...Possibly. What is your point.

W: And I'm away from them. And I know your weakness - the thing that makes you powerful.

[The figure seems shocked, taking a step backwards.]

V: What..

[Will snatches up the nearby knife, grasping it as the Camera notices his hair near the lens.]

W: Consider this my retirement, bitch.

[William plunges the knife just above the lense, as the figure lets out a blood curdling scream. It mingles with Will's cry, as crimson covers the screen. The knife is heard clattering to the floor, and some blood clears as Will seemingly falls to the floor, knocking over the pile as it does so. The camera follows, falling into a position where Will is seen hunched on the floor, blood pouring from what was previously his eye socket. Blood mixes with water as it cries, the floor and files now soaking them up. ]

W: O-ow, o-oh gods, i-it- AH-

[It drops to the floor, his breathing hitching in pain, as blood begins to pool around him.]

W: M-mari..E-edgar..R-rose..anyone..please it-..please..

[His voice drifts off, as Will slips into unconsciousness. In the distance, yelling and footsteps can be heard.]

[Transcript Ends.]

[allthatisleftinthedark]

Does it ever bother you that you just left without saying anything at all? Do you even care that we waited twenty years to see if you would ever come back? Don't you know how much it hurts that you left and didn't tell us that you were okay? That you're still alive?

Do you think that we don't care about your wellbeing? That we cannot feel your absence, gnawing at our very soul? We miss you, and we just want you to come home, or *speak* to us at all!

Why did you leave me behind?

pretend to be someone my muse knows ! on anon, send a message from someone my muse knows. could be a family member, a lover, a friend, an enemy … or, you could even send a secret message from your own muse ! - accpt @offrozenmemoirs

In the Between, time naught exists, unlike the implied margins. The abstract truth of limitlessness fills the expanse between different worlds, planes, and pockets. Life is not a question in the material world but an experiment in the immaterial space. The question arises: what happens to permanence in places that are constantly changing? And what if there is no place at all?

The domain of abstraction is relentless on the concrete. Many names for this place are shaped by bruised lips. Suspension, limbo, unknown. To her, it's Lacuna—it is a gap and not location, according to her rational reasoning. 

In common tongues, it is known as dreams.  

Yet, for her, sleep does not usher in these sojourns. It is the relinquishment of autonomy, a surrender to the rift, that brings her here repeatedly. Conscious within this unconscious realm, she is deprived of imaginative euphoria, merely a chimeric dream. 

A deep, dark red soaked her sights, mimicking a black night's licks. Everbleeding is her still-open cuts from a barbed lashing. Consciousness clusters at the edge of reality and possibility; to awaken once is miraculous, but perpetual wakefulness is a curse.

In the rifts, she can still hear them. Once more, the nostalgia returns of thorns hooking into flesh, piercing through the sinew, and peeling away to reveal the beauty of life's bodily structure of viscera, muscle, and bone. 

"Does it ever bother you that you left without saying anything at all?" The less said, the better. Enough precious time was wasted on pretty words that cost the safety and sometimes the lives of others. "Do you even care that we waited twenty years to see if you would ever come back?" Twenty years are but specks in the hourglass of time, overshadowed by four decades of fidelity and sacrifice. "Don't you know how much it hurts that you left and didn't tell us that you were okay?" The hurt ebbs with time. Doing what must be done meant there is now the chance to reflect and mourn, to continue and exist without knowing what could've been. "That you're still alive?" Still in servitude is the proper answer. 

"Do you think we don't care about your well-being?" Care and love would never be denied, but things must be done. Is the life of one worth more than the lives of the village? No. "That we cannot feel your absence, gnawing at our very soul?" It heals with time. "We miss you, and we just want you to come home or *speak* to us at all!" The affliction will soon heal. No paths lead home.

"Why did you leave me behind?" Because in leaving, I saved everything I could from being consumed, including the essence of who I am.

Inside, something stirs.

A bright light floods her vision. A sigh breaks the silence, a release from the invisible shackles of solitude.

Gradually, the archivist feels the cold wood beneath her palm, gripping the intricate carvings of the table for balance. The room's gravity anchors her, her knees weakening as she leans forward.

"Blasted--" she murmurs, steadying herself. Her forearms rest on the table for support, causing ripples across its glass-like surface.

Gazing into the scrying pool, she beholds the cosmos' reflection and her own visage – short, purple hair with pink highlights interspersed with incongruous black and white strands. Beside her reflection is the skeletal form with cobalt bones peering into the water.

Once again, she is in her body and in the company the other resides within, beside her -- the commensal, if you will. 

A skeletal finger uncurls, dark eye sockets focusing on her. As its jaw opened, a guttural whisper invaded her thoughts."██████, you're losing your graces."

"Living up to your title of discovering the obvious, are we?" The woman retorts through nearly gritted teeth, the red bags under her eyes betraying her fatigue.

"No matter how often sleep may find you, you are remarkably restless," the skeleton observes, curling its finger back. "My keen deduction suggests it only exacerbates your irritability." 

She runs her fingers under her golden left eye, a frown forming. No words follow, just a brief glance at the skeletal figure.

"Stripped bare to your core like an apple, and all that remains are those cyanided seeds," it muses, pressing its digits together. A loud, satisfying crack echoes through the space.

A lump forms in her throat. "Discoverer, it's louder than ever," she confesses softly.

"And it will fade as quickly as it came," the cobalt cadaver chuckles lowly.

[queenlua]

oh i guess i can also throw out a bitchy video game review: sam barlow’s Immortality

to get the good stuff out of the way: this was obviously made with extremely high production values & attention to quality.  i am not a Film Person TM, at all, but i can sense there's a lot of pastiche and loving homages to various works of cinema woven through the three fake films in this game, and i trust they are executing extremely well on that sort of thing.  the acting is all solid-to-excellent.  and the ideas that are being played with—The Archivist's Gaze TM, the unreliability of memory *even when the record seems clear*, the strange experience of exploring stuff in the nonlinear grabby-hands way that fans of a thing often do—that was all cool.  there were a few moments where what i was witnessing was so uncomfortable i was wincing, and it was a huge relief to hear "cut!" shouted at the end of scene—which, of course, led to the constant back-and-forth wondering of "is this real or is this fake," which carried ever-greater weight as the game went on

but, and unfortunately this is a HUGE "but", while the method of presentation is novel, its version of totally-radical-nonlinearity means it's possible to have game experiences that just don't "click," and don't add up to much.  in particular, i managed to get to "the ending" without getting... any of the *other* hidden scenes that give context/grounding/etc for that ending?  which, sure, *might* be the point; if you hit an unlucky path maybe you're just supposed to go back and replay stuff until that ending makes sense.  (i would argue that's an awful lot of patience to demand from someone who's already sat through ~4-6hours of often-somewhat-tedious footage, but eh, i did also play the entire Chronopolis sequence in Chrono Cross so whatever, i sucked it up.)  but due to how the interface works, if you did miss something, there's no way to tell what you missed, what you might even be looking for, where the "blank spaces" are, etc, so you just.... are reduced to random clicking, for several hours, trying to unlock the new thingy.

it doesn't help that the quality of the writing, imo, drops off sharply once we're dealing with said secret scenes.  prior to that, the film clips are all full of rich/interesting context and nuance that's genuinely a pleasure to decipher, and... then it just turns into long monologues about immortal beings, which is normally My Shit TM, but it's precisely the kind of My Shit TM that is godawful in this format.  lil bit too on-the-nose and schlocky compared to what came before.

the game's also strangely buggy, which meant it took ages to figure out how to even *unlock* hidden scenes in the first place, and even then it was kind of a struggle.  (and then when i googled wtf i was missing, it was like "why aren't you playing with a controller, that's the right way to do it" well bitch keyboard is a supported interface so i thought it'd be ok???)

i'd be less annoyed if this thing hadn't gotten unanimous uncaveated adulation from The Sorts Of Interactive Ficiton People i tend to follow, and whose judgment i usually vibe a lot with, which gives me a kind of emperor-has-no-clothes feel.  like is everyone just afraid of saying anything mean about Sam Barlow or something.  every single one of you can't be film nerds right.  like it's COOL and i definitely see how it could be someone's kind of thing, but the execution is definitely wobbly!

[thearchivistsjournal]

Day 323,

Morning thought: If the blanket fails as an anchor, there’s always the hunting rhythm.  I have a whole different set of fears about resorting to that though.

*******

Another day of uncomfortable conversations.

I didn’t have much time to speak to Maiko before heading out this morning and she wasn’t up for making the walk to the Village with me today, but I did linger long enough to bring up the idea of introducing her to Pat.  I said that he can be trusted to not tell anyone else she’s back until she’s ready and he was the one that helped me get settled when I first arrived.  If she ever does decide to be more public with her existence and presence, he’d be a good first step to ease into that.  Not to mention the fact that Pat is generally good to talk to about any personal issues.  And of course, the rest of us will always be there for her whenever she needs us.

She said she’d think about it.

The more uncomfortable conversation was with Cass.  From the look she gave me and the way she tensed up when I said I wanted to talk to her after the students had all left for the day, it was obvious she knew where I was going with this.

We had agreed that the next time I had another breakdown in front of her or otherwise exposed her to something that either of us thought she shouldn’t be, or that either of us thought her parents would take issue with, the apprenticeship would end there.  Honestly, we’ve probably passed that point more than once now, particularly with that last clause, but with the events of the last few days I can’t ignore that anymore.

She disagreed of course.  Said that it was nothing she couldn’t handle.  Nothing she didn’t want to handle.

I repeated what I said months ago that it wasn’t about her not being able to “handle it” it was that she shouldn’t have to.  I reiterated my fears about being unhealthy and damaging to be around.  Traumatizing even.

I told her she was the first friend I made here and she always will be, apprentice or no.  And I won’t deny that I couldn’t have done my job half as well without her, especially the teaching.  And all that is the reason I think the apprenticeship should come to an end, or at least suspended for an indefinite time.

She asked who’s going to be the new archivist when I’m gone then.

I said I wasn’t planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

She asked how deep I’d gone in the nightmare.

I should have seen that question coming, but it caught me off guard all the same.

She asked again, the concern (fear?) showing despite her strained attempt to hide it.

I admitted the last mist night brought me to the so-called “bone pit.”  I then hastily added that I already had two anchors, maybe three, so I should be fine.  It’ll probably be hard, sure, but I’ll be able to pull myself out.  And maybe when I do I’ll be better to be around.

All that was only mostly a lie.

She asked me what the anchors were.

The first was the blanket, of course.  The second was that marble I’d shown her the other day.  The third… I hesitated and told her it was a secret.  A spell of sorts that might not work if I reveal it too soon.

She seemed caught between skepticism and wonder at the mention of this “spell.”

I said it was a secret the nature sprite taught me, only to be used in emergencies.  I meant the rhythm, of course, but she need not know that.  Nor my fears of it driving me to a different sort of blissful madness.

This seemed to reassure her enough that I was able to bring the conversation back to the topic at hand.  Out of respect for her (and perhaps guilt over stretching the truth about my confidence regarding the Catacomb Depths), I agreed to negotiate more than I originally intended.  In the end we agreed that she’d start looking for other apprenticeship options, most likely starting with Lin.  Once she found someone willing to take her on or classes ended for the season (whichever came second) she’d step down from her position as assistant archivist (her phrasing).  And, of course, I’d still continue to invite her on any further expeditions and include her in the planning, the same way I’d invite and include Lin, Maiko, and Vernon.  That last part had been my intent from the start.

And if the nightmares do drive me to throw myself into a bottomless pit or to the shades, I’ll leave it in writing that I want her to have dibs on being the next archivist, even if that means apprenticing to Pat for a time.

But that probably won’t happen.

Right?

<==Previous          Next==>

[archivyrep]

Two "keepers of secrets" in fiction

In their glossary of tropes, #ArchivesInFiction talks about a "popular trope in which the Archivist is portrayed as an unapproachable curmudgeon who views the archives as their own personal fiefdom and is therefore protective of their records and their knowledge" which they call "keeper of secrets." In this post I'd like to highlight some of those people, as I know them, in series I've seen up to this point. Even tough the second example isn't a curmudgeon, he still is protective over records in his care but for a different reason.

Reprinted from my Wading Through the Cultural Stacks WordPress blog. Originally published on Jun. 24, 2021.

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

This is the quintessential example of this trope and it was the subject of one my first posts on this blog. Putting aside the archives-library confusion in this film, which I, of course, wrote a whole post about, Madame Jocasta Nu, seemingly the Jedi Archives lone arranger, first asks Obi-Wan if he needs help, but then declares the archives are totally immutable, thinking there is no way that anyone could tamper with the records. Don't they have records management tools or something to check the records? Why do they blindly trust that no one tampered with the records? After finding that Kamino DOES exist, was there any consequences for her? I sure hope so. There is no doubt that she, and the archives, were of little help to Obi-Wan, who was faulted for chasing something that didn't exist.

I have to disagree with what then-SAA President Randall Jimmerson said about the film: "George Lucas presents a more confident view of archives." How in the world can that be the case? Isn't this view of an archives very cynical? I mean, I'm taking away from this that archives shouldn't be totally trusted. And also the fact that if items do not appear in archival records, they do exist.

However, I can agree with him that this vision definitely "shows the limits of archival control" and the illusion of the power of the archivist, who has a powerful and crucial role.

Other than this, in that post, Samantha Cross is right to call Nu a person of experience and age, and says that her confidence and complacency are worrisome,and argues there "a distinct lack of scrutiny and curiosity in Jocasta that’s endemic throughout the Republic." In that post I also noted that she served as Archives Director for over 30 years, formerly on the Jedi Council for 10 years, and that she was reliant on data of the Jedi Archives. This also makes clear the impression, for archivists, that everything in their collections is, as I noted in that post, all there is, that they have everything, that records could not be tampered with, which is absurd, to say the least.

Nu sort of reminds me of Filis in Tri-Squad VoiceDrama, who is also a lone arranger. Currently, there are almost 300 fics which feature Nu on Archive of Our Own. However, only ONE fic specifically mentions her as an archivist, and even that fic doesn't seem that positive to me, when it comes to archives, from what I can tell. [1] I did like this one (even though it slightly confuses libraries and archives) where she wonders what is hidden from them:

... Two hours later, having returned the youngling - Charzi, of Pod Kwinn - to her teachers, Jocasta was staring at the blank space on what should have been a top of the line star map of the entire known galaxy. It was the best known star map of the galaxy, being updated daily as new information came in from the exploratory corps and other private enterprises. And yet, she was staring at clear proof that someone had sabotaged her archives. No, not her archives. Pride and possessiveness were traits unbefitting a Master of her years and discipline. Still, this was a problem that needed to be rectified immediately. ... Jocasta’s eyebrows went up, but the scouting and exploring of a newly discovered system and interacting with the locals respectfully were long accepted parts of the Trials for those who chose the archival path. ... She was going to need to audit the entire library. Top to bottom just to see what else they’d missed. It was going to take years, even if the entire Education Corps and Archivists worked on it. Which they would be. ... Jocasta stared at the archives, gaze scanning over the shelves and shelves of books, scrolls, datapads. What else was being hidden from them?

I think one fic writer put it well, that after the Kamino incident, she "made a whole whack of archive backups and stashed them in increasingly unlikely places, which allowed at least some to survive long enough for Rey to get to them," adding that you don't get to be "Head Archivist by being casual about data integrity and backups, especially once you've been shown a problem!"

The same issues with Nu also are somewhat reflected in the animated series, although you could argue the series is a bit more fair.

The Joker

Carl, the records clerk, first shown. Look at those Hollinger boxes in the background! The records are being stored correctly in this scene. Did they consult any archivists when making this film? I sure hope so.

The archivist, er actually records custodian/clerk named Carl (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) is not a curmudgeon but he really wants to stick to the rules. As I noted in the post, Arthur Fleck wants to get records about his mother,but the records clerk lugs in a heavy storage box and does some digging for Fleck. He ultimately, however, says he can't give the file to Fleck without the right forms, saying he needs his mom to sign a "patient disclosure form." Fleck won't stand for this, and he ultimately grabs the file and runs away.

Apart from the metal gate itself symbolizing, as I noted in the post, the division between those who can access records and those who can't, there are other takeaways from this. For one, in this film, the records center is literally part of the system which is oppressing people. Secondly, the clerks are prevented by bureaucracy from providing patrons with access to records in a fair, equitable, and efficient way. Thirdly,is the division between those who can access the records and those who can't access the records. I wish more series and fiction would discuss this, but sadly, they do not.

© 2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] This expands when you only use the term "archives," with some only mentioning it in passing as "Jedi Archives," (same here, here, here, here, here, and here), another which confused libraries and archives sadly, along with those about flirting in the archives, one more specifically about her, missing records, various archivists, interactions between Nu and Jedi, surprise in the archives, finding a stray Padawan in the archives, vastness of information there, Anakin meeting Nu, and her dying during Order 66.