#qtgtw

[mongrel-mage]

So the Iris Project was fantastic and incredibly well-done and everyone should watch it but

We are all familiar with Anti's original voice--that grating, screechy growl--and wild appearance, with the green hair and the gashed throat. Anti's/Alter 114209's voice, at the end of the Iris Project, is comparatively much deeper and smoother, closer to Sean's natural speaking voice, not as high-pitched and jerky.

That, combined with his much tamer mannerisms (less drastic glitching and twitching, such as in QTGTW), more "normal" appearance (no throat slash, undyed hair) as well as his more fluid, graceful movements in The Iris Project, have confirmed one thing to me:

Green-haired Anti was an angsty teen phase and he talked that way because his voice was constantly cracking.

[florenceisfalling]

also shoutout to sean for fucking MORSE CODE BLINKING in qtgtw what the hell was that

[fear-is-nameless]

...

Still watching.

[iamonlyperson]

undefined

ah a lot of people’s favorite video 

[hollenka99]

That video gave me slight QTGTW vibes and I don't like it.

[fiorenovella]

being an anti stan and hearing him say still here I see? in Quit the Game To Win like:

[thewatchau]

Keep The Watch: A Watch AU Story

After about two weeks of drafting, rewriting, shortening, shortening more, finalizing, and then shortening AGAIN, the project I announced in this post is finally complete! There are actually two versions; I’m posting the more detailed one here, but a slightly shorter one can also be found linked on Discord. 

This tale takes place during the events of mid-December 1613 when The Enemy sent that infamous message. “Still here I see. Very good.” 

Many thanks to @viostormcaller for letting me bring Mage Vio into the tale! I’d also like to thank everyone else who gave me permission to use their watchers, even if the length constraints kept me from using them. @starlightxnightmare​, @a-septic-mind, @thelunarmasquerade, @theshapeshifter100, and @shamrockace, thank you so much guys!

Now, without further ado... 

Emily could have sworn it had only been an hour since she lit the first candle, yet here she was, staring at a pile of spent matches and stubs of wax. With the wool plugs in her ears and unfinished map of The Watch’s outposts in Duilintinn before her, time itself seemed intent to take advantage of the distraction.

Time wasn’t the only force working behind her back, the bard remembered with a shudder. Last night, spies of The Enemy had infiltrated King Sean’s castle, playing the eerie tune favored by their foe before vanishing into the night. It was the first time The Enemy had actually made a move in years, and of course, she had been holed up in her room making a map. 

“Stupid, stabby, magic breaking, mind controlling, kingdom destroying bastard,” Emily muttered angrily under her breath. Whether she was more furious with The Enemy’s taunts or her own obliviousness was up for debate, and the bard’s frustration spiked when a particularly forceful stroke snapped the point of her quill. Again.

Now more concerned with berating her own clumsiness than the intangible threat that stalked the kingdom, Emily forced herself to her feet. A walk would do her some good, and Vio will probably have some extra quills and candles somewhere…

*~*~*

The creaks of the wooden eves seemed to echo Vio’s internal screaming as she read the page before her. Every instinct told the mage to run, yet she couldn’t look away. No one could. The entire Watch, ordinarily filled with the ring of clashing steel and the shouts of arriving messengers, was completely silent.

Who could blame them? Vio could hardly breathe deeply enough to think straight; much less break the silence with empty words. The music last night had been one thing, but this… the identical page that had appeared for every member of The Watch; a message from The Enemy who had never before acknowledged their vigil… this was something far worse.

Vio had read the message at least a dozen times in the last few hours, testing spells on the page while frantically writing and discarding theories about its intent. Even the scratch of her quill seemed damning in the horrified silence. Vio didn’t even have to look at the original message anymore, with those phrases burned into her brain.

“You have to stop watching.”

“Otherwise, I’m just going to be here.”

“I’m just going to be here all the time.”

“Staring. Watching. Waiting.”

“Still here I see?”

“Very good.”

She wanted to scream. She wanted to find The Enemy himself and shoot lightning out of her hands until he explained who the fuck he was to think that he could blame The Watch for the destruction and hatred he had razed upon Duilintinn in the past two decades...

But more than anything else, Vio was scared.

So scared in fact, that the sound of the door opening behind her brought her shooting to her feet, face to face with Emily. A starkly normal expression was on the bard’s face, scrunched up in frustration at the broken quill she had clenched in her ink-stained fingers.

“Vio, do you-” The question died on her friend’s lips as everyone in the room turned in shock to face her. Vio watched the young bard’s face shift into an expression of dawning horror.

“Wait,” The bard’s eyes found the mage’s as her voice shook, “What’s happened?”

A deep breath, and Vio began to speak past the lump of fear in constricting her throat.

*~*~*

As Vio showed Emily the letter in her hand and explained the horrible choice The Enemy laid before them, horror threatened to overwhelm the bard as a million panicked thoughts raced through her mind. Yet, when her friend finally finished speaking, she could only grasp upon one thing to say:

“GOD DAMMIT I WAS MAKING ANOTHER MAP!”

The broken quill fell to the floor, forgotten, as Emily grabbed a pile of parchment and sprinted down the hall. The annoyance with herself she had felt earlier was nothing compared to the guilt that squeezed her chest right now. She was the garrison’s bard, the one who was supposed to immortalize and spread the story of The Watch across the kingdom, both to keep everyone informed and to ensure future generations never make the same mistakes… and yet here she was, missing yet another threat because of a stupid map.

“Idiot, idiot, idiot,” Emily repeated to herself as she began frantically drafting her report. She had never grabbed a new quill, she thought ruefully, but a charcoal pencil was good enough. Forgetfulness was the least damning item on her list of faults right now.

Moments later, the page was folded, sealed, and given to the nearest messenger. In the garrison’s courtyard, even the moon seemed to be watching the bard as she sunk to the flagstones. Cold seeped into her bones from the freezing rocks. Emily didn’t care.

*~*~*

Vio peered around the corner just in time to see her friend flop to the ground and hiss out a rare curse. “Hell!”

“Tell me about it,” she responded, settling down on the ground next to the bard. “I’ve never been so uncomfortable in my entire life.”

Silence, and then, “What do we do?”

“I have no idea,” Vio groaned, placing her head in her hands. Frankly, the mage was exhausted. “Seems that, somehow, the attention we- The Watch- give The Enemy is making him stronger. But if we don’t watch, he’s free to do whatever he wishes…”

“Exactly.” Emily rolled over to a seated position, crossing her bare feet under her skirt with a serious expression. “We have no choice, but The Enemy wants us to think that we do. He gave us a choice that doesn’t exist, then gloated about how we sided with him… but he knows that, no matter what we choose, we betray the king.”

As realization dawned on Emily’s face, her tone shifted, from that of a nervous confidant to a general upon the eve of battle. With every word, her voice grew stronger as she continued.

“He forced us into a choice where either way meant that we would be betraying the most wonderful, amazing ruler who brought Duilintinn out of the ashes and gave us hope where none existed. The Enemy forced us to do this. This. Is. Not. Our. Fault. We had no choice.”

Vio cursed loudly, getting the attention of other Watchers passing by, but the bard didn’t take notice. Her eyes were focused somewhere off in the distance, reading between the lines of a message none of the others could see.

“So what are our options, really?” continued the bard, not stopping for an answer. “If we stop watching, King Sean, Duilintinn, and everything we stand for is doomed, but if we keep watching, we still have a chance. The Enemy wants us to think that he will never go away if we keep watching, but that’s because he’s an arrogant fool who truly believes we are helpless.”

“But-”

“But we’re not.” Emily jumped to her feet, gesturing wildly at the walls of the garrison. “The Watch is anything but helpless, and we can prove it to him.”

The crowd of Watchers continued to grow around Vio and Emily, but only the former seemed to notice. A cheer began bubbling up in the mage’s chest as she watched her friend raise her fist.

“We. Will. Watch. We take the choice that he forced us to make; that he believes will help his evil cause, and WE TURN IT AGAINST HIM!”

A whoop sounded in the crowd, dying away as quickly as it came, but Vio could feel the group’s excitement rise as everyone latched onto Emily’s words.

“Eventually, he’s going to make a mistake. Eventually, he’s going to slip up and give us some information that we can use against him. We might never be able to kill him or to get rid of him permanently, but we wouldn’t be doing that if we stopped watching. That would just be giving up. If we stop watching, King Sean and the kingdom he built will vanish from our lives and The Enemy would get what he wants anyway.

“Instead, we are going to continue to WATCH. We are going to continue to stand by our king, look The Enemy in the eye, and say, ‘You can wield the blade that kills him himself if you want to, but you will not turn this Watch into your puppet that destroys this kingdom for you.’ If both choices turn us into the enemy’s puppets, then we might as well be puppets that will stand at King Sean’s side to the bitter end.

“The enemy made a critical mistake today. He showed his hand. We know what he wants now. He wants to destroy everything good that this kingdom has ever worked to create. And maybe by staying, we give him power. But if we leave, we are accomplishing his goal for him.”

For the first time, Emily’s eyes focused in on the crowd in front of her. For a moment, her face wavered, but as Vio met the eyes of her friend, the bard stepped forward and quietly addressed them.

“Now that we know The Enemy’s goal, we, as members of The Watch, have one job. STOP. HIM.” The bard’s body language seemed to punctuate every word as her voice began to rise again.

“Even if The Enemy actually manages to kill the king for good this time, that power-hungry bastard hasn’t won until he’s destroyed everything that’s left of King Sean’s legacy. Hope, community, positivity, the The Watch, Duilintinn, everything. If we stop keeping The Watch, all that dies!”

Breathing heavily, Emily quietly concluded with a single phrase. “As long as we are still carrying on King Sean’s legacy of kindness, positivity, charity, enthusiasm, and community to the bitter end, The Enemy will NEVER win.”

As Vio glanced around at the Watchers standing around them, she knew that Emily was right. The battle was far from over, and the worst was yet to come, but they had a duty. A duty to keep The Watch, even if The Enemy they face tries to use them for his own ends.

Even the darkest of foes can die upon their own blades, especially if that blade has a mind of its own.

Taglist (because why not?):

@theshapeshifter100 @bloodygoldensam @thelunarmasquerade@viostormcaller @mijako98 @shamrockace @septicuniverse@blusilence0 @the-lonely-angel @acuriousquail@honestlyitsjustkenna @illyriashade56 @livingemerald@triplealovely @delphicvoiceaddragh @isa-ghost

[n-anon]

You can't do it can you? You can't just end the video. You have to stay, you have to watch. You have to know what happens. Just in case something is hiding. Just in case you missed something. You can't just let it go.

Sir it's 11:49 at night I did not need this after I just watched a few spooky videos.

[antis-gauge]

Anti's pretty eyes will be the death of us all, and honestly,, I'm more than ok with that.

my thoughts exactly😌😌

[viostormcaller]

Me: has a really cool idea for a meme

The meme: is very complicated to make and requires video software i do not and cannot have

Me: is frustrated that my comedic genius is going to go to waste

[florenceisfalling]

No but imma be annoying for a moment (my brain is nyooming and I apologize xD) and expand on my lil comment, I truly think knowing what we know of IRIS now and looking back at Anti's behavior in QTGTW he's actually genuinely 'proud' of us sitting through his little experiment, a test to see if we could stay, and due to possible exposure to IRIS's Scientists, and being experimented on himself the only way he knows how to behave to get that attention he craves is to lash out, or to praise when we 'do good'

no no nooooo do not apologize i love this so much. i love the idea of anti seeing us in the same way they saw him - like a toy or a tool he can control

[fanaticallyperfect]

Me, watching the ending of the Shiver video and realizing Anti's probably taking over again:

[nyxi-styx]

So now I guess the question is:  Will we finish 2018 with Anti? Or start 2019 with Anti?

I mean Sean was wearing his black plugs in his IG story in the glitchy photo

[fear-is-nameless]

IRIS said before they would be sharing photos of their “earliest prototypes of our company’s greatest inventions”.

With the 1st reveal, I wondered “well, what would be a vast advancement of something like earbu- go deeper, past the ear.

something within the skull.

Like a brain chip?”

I brought it up in Rogue’s/ mine discord a couple days back & this is what we discussed;

There’s been a few references before in the past- even a location;

& QTGTW; “You can’t just move on- otherwise it will always be in there; scratching at your brain. What happened when I clicked off the video, was there more?”

& earlier, back in KJSE, Schneep mentioned something similar; 

“Maybe he has a pet inside his head! Maybe that is the problem.”

As we talked, we got some guidance;

Twitching. We’ve seen that. Anything built can be broken, or fail all together, or wear & tear ov-

...

“Leaking”, huh?

But that ^ was Chase (primarily) who had blood tears- & a long believed/ big idea is him ‘shooting’ himself in the head may have actually happened (maybe later?), & if that’s the case-

We might have even more to worry about for our Sad Dad.

[hollenka99]

*Gets notification from YouTube*

“Huh? Second Jacksepticeye upload? Hmm, well I’ve never been a fan of horror games so I’ll just check the ending to see if there’s anything suspicious...”

*Sees ending*

“Goddamn it, not this shit again.”

[isa-ghost]

Don’t Trust This Game Notes

MAN IT FEELS GOOD TO DO THIS AGAIN.

Okay so for starters, there’s the thumbnail with Anti in it.

The entire first game I was squinting all over the place but personally didn’t find anything noteworthy?

The first transition SEEMS glitchy but I went frame by frame and there’s nothing Anti-esque about it tbh.

“Slit your throat” is part of the game but NOPE.

I didn’t catch anything in the second game either, but it had big KJSE energy for me personally.

17:50 - Okay the entire video I’ve been squinting at his formal ass talking about watching the video but now I’m REALLY squinting. Especially at “Because you made a pact and a promise and if you broke that, then your word means nothing to me.”

@pumpkin-demon​ pointed THIS out, he says the line at 26:55.

36:33 - “[If you didn’t keep your promise, I will never be able to trust you again, and] going forward, things are going to get rough.” This has SERIOUS EveryManHybrid energy to me. It feels like Anti is pulling some trials of Habit type shit and has been ever since QTGTW. That’s a VERY promising sign for what kind of villain Anti will be. =)

I find it cheeky the end screen is the red scene from Sentient. Ah Dark Silence references, you never go away...