#i want to see what a slaughter avatar would be like so bad

[overthinkingtaleblr]

This is the guy who runs Poltertoast, you had a tma taleblr au?! Pls pls tell more

I had a TMA Taleblr AU! I developed a lot of it with a close friend who had recently gotten into TMA at the time, and I still think about it a lot tbh. Basically the idea was ‘Taleblr, but the characters bend to the whim of TMA rules’ and was sometimes an exploration of how far things could go. We had a lot of antagonists as Avatars. And a lot of tragic ends…

Here’s some highlights so I don’t just throw the whole plot into your face all at once—

To begin: a part of TMA includes Jon dropping by the states, so if we want them to interact, it happens here. Maybe if he does his world tour earlier in the story, PIE can come back and get involved with the evolving situation right at the end of season 4.

Since the Avatars and other things done by the Fears are basically paranormal, PIE would start their exploration thinking it’s ghosts and stuff and come into a horrific realization as time goes on. By which I mean, similar to Jon, their search for answers has been turning them into the things they’ve been seeking to understand and maybe destroy.

CBF is a creature of the web, one who left a severe impact on Ghost after he survived it as a child. Probably based on the growing anxiety of how a child sees the world and how they may be tricked into allowing bad things to happen thinking it’s friendly.

Similar to Ghost, Spooker is also touched by the Fears before joining PIE. His dad ran a Desolation-based cult that’s boiled over and led to most of the members and some innocent people dying in a fire. One of the members ascended to being an avatar from it, but it still cut their member count down to two. While being touched by the Desolation, Spooker is eventually consumed by the Spiral, becoming an avatar similar to the Distortion.

The Toasts are a bit depressing. Johnny isn’t introduced to the fears until after joining PIE and even then he doesn’t fully understand what they’re chasing. At one point, he encounters a monster that seems to target twins and assumes that means it would be coming for him next, but the Stranger entity takes Gavin instead and the worst part to Johnny is that he didn’t notice the difference. Toast also starts leaning down a Hunt path that he either gets pulled out of or we get a free werewolf.

Entering this world with the least amount of context for anything, Chris’s reaction is to research as much as possible. Seeing as most of the people on the team are avatar-touched or aware that the avatars are willing to talk to them, Chris struggles not to see them as extensions of humans and can’t bring himself to the hunt-y mindset. He likely goes down the path of the Eye instead, learning and learning until that knowledge eats him. It would be funny if he and Jon met early on, agreed on the safety of their shared methods, and then reconnected after said method ate their humanity.

The Unicorns are inside of a Lightner— A ‘the last unicorn’ paperback that makes the reader consider themself.. One of the unicorns. I’m guessing it’s just Stardust in this situation (the book IS titled the LAST unicorn) but part of his goal would likely be making more. In a destructive manner— the book and the unicorn who possesses it are both aligned with the slaughter. in order for Stardust to stay around, the book has to stay open.

Spooker’s niece, Poppy, lives with her desolation-cult grandpa, friends with several young avatars, and a borderline caretaker of the Last Unicorn Lightner. Her alignment is to the fears themselves, and she thinks it’s funny to mess with PIE’s head. (She does not respect them, and kind of sees other humans as food for entities.) She may not be an active threat, but she is dangerous.

Light Zeron and James Maloney have similar stories, being so afraid of something that when they eventually managed to co-exist with their own fear, it made avatars out of them. Light is aligned with the Dark and Maloney to the Vast (bird-themed!), and they’ve both come to enjoy their new jobs, even as they still harbor the fear that fed their entity.

Maloney used to work with Princeton Quagmire, who (if I remember right) was centered around trying to find a way to destroy the entities. They haven’t consumed or taken to him just yet, but Maloney isn’t the first time he lost an employee. His other accomplices at the moment are Jenny Toast and ‘Officer Starbucks’.

Though it freaks her out a bit, Jenny and Maloney stay friends through his transformation. This likely does not bode well for her own fate…

Maxwell is an avatar of the Hunt, Aimee is aligned with the Lonely, and neither of them realize how deep down the rabbit hole they’ve dug themselves. Maxwell just constantly wants revenge, but his definition keeps changing, and Aimee doesn’t understand why she seems to be on a different path to the rest of the world. They’re friends with Poppy— even if they don’t understand what they’ve become, she supports the change.

I don’t remember considering the Acachallas, but Sally could easily embody the End and Spencer could be an incredibly powerful Buried avatar.

To anyone asking “Why were most of them avatars? Why not just kill them?” I like the trope of someone coming back Wrong, and that happens multiple times if the character is basically hollowed out and replaced by an entity of fear.

I might be missing or misremembering some things ^^; but YEAH— that’s the general vibe of the tma AU. I had a story in my head where Jon’s visit to the states was extended by encountering these mfers— including meeting Poppy Soup herself at one point, her being very coy about knowing something that Jon doesn’t, and him being confused about how someone who feels so human knows so much about what’s going on. His interaction with PIE probably devolves into an argument.

+ my old doodle from when i first announced this au

#taleblr #taleblr headcanons #taleblr Au #taleblr TMA Au #johnny ghost #johnny toast #taleblr pie #fred spooker soup #gavin toast #chris colon ghostie

[thatpodcastkid]

Magnus Archives Relisten 7, MAG 7 The Piper

Thank you for your patience while I worked on these! This is an analysis of Magnus Archives MAG 7, The Piper. One of the best-written episodes in the series. Pure poetry.

Facts: Statement of Seargent Clarence Berry regarding his time serving with Wilfred Owen during World War One. Statement given November 6, 1922.

Statement Notes: "Hey you know Wilfred Owen? The famous poet Wilfred Owen? The guy whose poems you had to read in class Wilfred Owen? Yeah, what if he was possessed? Wouldn't that be fucked?" -Jonny Sims at the Rusty Quill pitch meeting.

In all seriousness, this episode is incredible. The description of the three faces of war is so detailed, yet so brief. I want to take a little time to explore each face and set of arms.

The First Face: "One to play its pipes on scrimshaw bone." This line is apparently where the title "The Piper" comes from. As the story goes on, both Berry and Owen describe hearing strange music. This seems to be the "song of war" that the Piper plays, signaling a truly gruesome battle. This song doesn't necessarily warn off or compel the soldiers, but seems to do a bit of both. A war song doesn't just encourage a soldier to fight, but also warns an enemy. Wilfred Owen believes this being is The War itself, therefore its song should encourage violence from all sides, but also instill a deep fear in every soldier.

To me, this face fits with the hand raised "in a crisp salute." Reminding me of MAG 163, this hand and face prevent a false majesty and honor to war. This face tells the soldiers fighting is good, they will be rewarded, they will be valued. But of course, underneath its muddied green coat, all that the War has is a scarred and bloody body. "Nothing remained but the wounds themselves."

The Second Face: I've chosen to associate the face that "screamed its dying battle cry" with "the arms gripping blades and guns and spears." This face seems to represent the adrenaline violence and war brings, even as it kills you. I've always thought adrenaline not as good or bad, but creating more tangible and real emotions than other things can.

The Third Face: "One that would not open its mouth, for when it did blood and sodden soil flowed out like a waterfall." I associate this face with the hands begging for mercy. Clarence Berry is under 22 when this statement takes place, and (the real) Wilfred Owen would be between 22-24. These are practically children. They are going to die. They are going to die before their time, before it is fair. They are going to beg for mercy. This is the nature of war, and so is the nature of The War.

There is an implication that The War kept Owen alive so he could create poetry that glorifies The War. I wonder if this is out of ego--it wanted to be seen as glorious and beautiful--or simply to drag the battle on longer. If it seems inspirational, it will continue.

Overall I think this episode demonstrates the tentative balance World War One held between being "the writer's war" and "the technological front." The war represented a shift in humanity's ability to be brutal, but also spawned art and innovation. This doesn't justify the violence that occurred, but rather the acts of destruction and creation during the war existed in tandem, like two sides of a coin.

Entity Alignment: This is such a good Slaughter episode. As much as the Slaughter is associated with war, you don't see many battle episodes in the series, so this is a cool intro.

I wonder if "The War" is an avatar of war or if it is specifically the embodiment of World War One. The latter has the horrifying implication that mass events can not only be caused by entities, but feed entities. Even more frightening is that, in spite of the sheer volume of terror and violence, the war wasn't big enough to be the Slaughter's ritual.

Character Notes: Wtf is up with Joseph Rayner. Is he a Maxwell Rayner incarnation? Is he related to Maxwell Rayner? Why is he fighting in the British army? Why is literally never mentioned again?

I know that Jon was speaking through the statement when he was making fun of Owen's poetry, but the idea of Jon being a cannon poetry hater from season 1 is too funny for me to ignore.

#podcasts #audio drama #rusty quill #the magnus archives relisten #tma #tma relisten #jonny sims #jonathan sims #media analysis #analysis #wilfred owen #MAG 7 #The Piper #the slaughter #tma entities #fear entities #entities #the magnus archives memes #magnus archives #Maxwell rayner #horror #horror podcasts #rusty quill network #rq network

[bhaalswn-arch]

You want to go down with spiral with me???????????? ( This will have spoilers mostly towards the durge & the Temple of Bhaal and such so you have been warned. ) But all spoilers will be under read more because one: It's spoilers and it is best for all of them to be under read more, and two: It's going to be a lot. Are you ready? Because I am. ( This will also include images too. Mostly just like narration, etc. )

First of all: Bhaalspawn cannot escape their Father. That is now a sad but heavy fact to know. By attempting to defy Bhaal. Bhaal killed Alkas. Bhaalspawn have no escape whatsoever. But this would be Alkas' canonical choice. As Bhaal's blood still runs through him, and still has a hold on him. He brutally kills him in front of his party members. His life snuffed. Alkas could no longer become what his Father wanted him to be. A murderer. A butcherer; slaughtering those who didn't deserve to be killed.

[ Narrator: *A gift from your god, your Father. An offering of his affection for you, or confirmation that he owns you.* ]

[ Bhaal Avatar: You reject my blood, and so I will reclaim it. ]

Just the words: Or the confirmation that he owns you, makes me go fucking feral. He owned him from the start, from his birth. That divine soul and his blood running through Alkas' veins.

[ Half-Elf ( Orin ): How you screamed as my knife slit your skull. ]

With this, I can confirm Orin's betrayal. She stabbed him in the back of the head. Where the neck and head meets. I kind of want to believe the moment she accomplished that, some connection to Bhaal shattered, like his mind. As Orin dug around and made his mind shattered to the point where he can't remember his past. It wasn't the tadpole at all. ( Which is obvious. ) It was her. His sister. She stole his Blood Birthright to be Bhaal's Chosen. But I could somewhat see his alignment changing there and then.

As most Bhaalists are Lawful Evil, and Alkas had been Lawful Evil. It has changed to Chaotic Neutral. Where he's in the between of Good and Evil. He is quite the bastard still. Sometimes doing things for the sake of money. That sort of thing.

In other words: I can see certain ties being severed the moment Orin had tempted to kill him. His mind shattering into pieces. But Bhaal still owns him 'cos Alkas still nonetheless has Bhaal's blood running through him.

So the Urges remained.

And there's also the Murder Tribunal. For Bhaalists and Bhaalspawns. This will be one of the things I will change in Alkas' backstory. Even though it is part of the Temple of Bhaal. Or an additional thing. The blood baptism is technically a thing. And my personal headcanon remains too. All that is changed is that Alkas was brought there. As Alkas was Bhaal's heir. That was his BECOMING. He became who he was right there. He sank into the blood of what I believe is Bhaal's blood/essence along with the blood of the innocence. As I remember(?) the blood from the Lower City runs deep down into the Temple of Bhaal???????? So yeah-- Alkas sank into the blood. To finalize certain ties.

To become cruel incarnate. To become the son of murder.

They say blood is thicker than water, and they'll be right. But Bhaal's blood is thicker than anything. So thick that it could almost choke Alkas if he ever truly betrays Him.

There is an escape, and that escape is death. ( And if it wasn't for Withers who brought him back, now making him free from the Urges: Which will be very canon for Alkas until I follow through with his bad ending. He would be dead and gone. )

#[ ooc. mun — i need a cuppa tea ] #( JESUS CHRIST THAT TOOK LONG ) #( i will add more to this or do a follow-up post BUT GOD )

[cosmicseapop]

VotS Post Cutscene Ramble/Theories now with screenshots

AoR Spoilers

This feels like Victoria knows that the Jus Divinum are in Swordhaven’s ranks and doesn’t approve and has been trying to minimize their influence with Good. Or she does and Richard doesn’t approve and going to be helping us when that becomes an issue, which I don’t think will be the case. Like he’s acknowledging that there’s spies and pleading with us to hear Victoria out before acting.

Well this isn’t foreboding at all 

Honestly the more I think about this, the worse it get. 

Either its going to be Victoria and Tara having a falling out so bad that they don’t see each other as family anymore (probably due to Victoria not condemning the Jus Divinum and letting the Water Elves slaughter slide) or they fight and not reconcile in time before something happens to one of them (probably involving whatever Iona is doing). 

And the friend referenced is Abel without a doubt, thought I'm a bit stuck on the whole ‘giving up their future’. It's worded like goes with the first part rather than being something separate, so Abel is going to something that'll affect one of them. It could be Abel putting Tara in a situation where she needs to use her powers to influence the Leylines, pissing the OWO off enough to try to silence both of them. Or it could be Abel dragging Victoria down with him with whatever he’s doing to do, probably her trying to get Tara out of harm’s way and getting hurt in the process. It's a bit unclean which of them is going to be in trouble at this point.

All in all, I'm dreading this in particular and hoping I'm not right on any of this.

Unrelated to this, but I'm loving Kathool's role in the story now. Like we finally get to shit talk with someone again which is a welcome break from all the serious stuff as well as them pointing out things for us to focus on, like with being up the 'every threat, lie, and myth must come to an end' line again. I hope them giving their two cents becomes a recurring thing going forward.

Queen Iona is the Envoy of Thunder, I'm calling it now

She's probably the one shooting the lightning at Rhubarb in the last cutscene

So she has an obvious hatred for the Avatars, the Champions, and Greenguard, but a sense of camaraderie with Abel.

Idk how long ago Duncan was king, long enough to be generations but short enough to still have beef with Greenguard, but I think Iona was around for the Champion of Energy getting killed or that the sense of revenge against Greenguard has persisted until present day. Not sure what cause her hatred for the Avatars and Champions, but that’s probably going to be explain in a monologue at some point.

I guess there’s something there that Iona wants back and having Victoria meet her ambassador there is a ruse to steal it back. It's probably something she needs for the RoCT to be powerful enough to do whatever she's planing, or it might be a sentimental item from the dead Champion of Energy. Either way, something to conveniently interrupt the conversation we're going to have with Victoria I'm sure.

I feel like this might be me grasping at straws, but with how much emphasis are being put on the Leylines recently, they going to come into play with RoCT. 

So since I have a theory about RoCT being a two part, I think the part about harnessing power from the swelling Leylines will come into play either at the end of the first part or in the second part. Iona is coming off like she’s manipulate Abel’s hatred for Neso into hatred for the Avatars as a whole, probably to push him to be the one to swing at them first. Something bad enough for the OWO to step in again and try to silence/kill him. Which would cause the Leylines to swell, giving Iona the opportunity to gain more power herself to actually take down the Avatars or launch a full blown invasion on Greenguard. Maybe even force open a gateway to the Plane of Energy and unleash elementals on Greenguard if she is the Envoy of Energy.

I think we’re either going to pocket this incase were fight the OWO again or giving with to Abel or Tara, maybe to buy us the time to convince them to pardon whatever happens if they vote to silence either of them. It’ll probably be a one time item since the OWO will see it as a damnable offense and not take lightly to it a second time.

#why do I feel we’re about to take a bunch of Ls next story saga? #imma going to start adding screenshots to these rants #if only to organize things better #aqw #aqworlds #aor spoilers #aqw spoilers #cosmic's conspiracy theory corner

[on-wednesdays-we-eat-the-rich]

Rating the TMA fears based on how likely they are to Get Me

(because I already did one of these for how much they scare me and I'm getting back into my TMA fixation)

The Web

I'm not a big fan of spiders

I don't think I'd like to be around them for the rest of my life

could get used to it though...

as far as I'm aware I'm not very good at manipulation but I probably could be if I really wanted to

3/10

The Eye

to be honest this one seems more likely

I do quite like Knowing Things

I dunno, I just like learning cool stuff

8/10

The Dark

I am scarily close to being an adult and I'm still scared of the dark

the People's Church of the Divine Host can have their special spooky darkness but I'll stay away from it thanks

1/10

The Slaughter

I make a point of avoiding violence

however, I am often tempted to kick people who are dickheads

so it's probably not that likely but if someone pissed me off enough, the chances may increase

3/10

The Hunt

oh god I hate being hunted

I also hate hunting for people

I would definitely avoid this one

1/10

The Desolation

I'm not big on fire either

I guess it would be cool to not have to wear tons of clothes in winter

but I sleep with a weighted blanket and it gets hot under there even without being a human radiator

3/10

The Lonely

okay listen

there have been several times in my life when I've had no friends

and during those times, the Lonely would have yoinked me and I'd have let it

but I actually have some really great friends now!

so I reckon it's less likely

6/10

The Vast

heights are okay in theory but once I get up there my head's spinning

deep water scares me shitless

my motion sickness is bad enough during car journeys, I doubt I could stomach the Vast

1/10

The Spiral

I'm not saying I want to get yoinked by the Spiral but like... I can't say I'd put up much of a fight

hear me out: I already see colours and fractals everywhere because of my visual snow; I have a shitty sense of direction so every building with corridors is a maze to me; and I am a very good liar (it's a side effect of being an actor)

I think the only downside is that I am quite a paranoid person so that does make the Spiral low-key scary

9/10

The Corruption

mycology is one of my special interests so I have no problem with fungus

I do however have a problem with bugs

I'm just... not keen

3/10

The Buried

I'm not particularly claustrophobic

as I said, I have a weighted blanket

I'm kind of neutral about this one

like it's not terrifying but I still wouldn't really want to get yoinked by it

(why am I using the word yoink so much wtf)

4/10

The Flesh

okay so I'm conflicted about this one

on the one hand: gore, body horror, meat etc definitely have the potential to be gross and scary

on the other hand: I'm not all that sensitive to it? well, blood is okay at least. when you have eczema and repetitive nosebleeds you get used to seeing blood

like sometimes the Flesh is completely fine and sometimes it's OH GOD WHAT THE FUCK

5/10

The End

ugh god, death makes me want to have an existential crisis

I don't know what being an avatar of the End would involve but I wouldn't want to find out

the only way I would become an avatar is like, morbid curiosity

2/10

The Stranger

I'm already uncanny

(it's the autism)

sometimes I feel like I actually am an avatar of the Stranger because I feel like I'm pretending to be a person

skin makes me feel weird though. I don't know why. it just does

7/10

The Extinction

nooo don't get me into that depressing shit

does the Extinction have avatars?

well I'm not going to find out

(this one's basically the same as the End)

1/10

#the magnus archives #tma fears #the web #the eye #the dark #the slaughter #the hunt #the desolation #the lonely #the vast #the spiral #the corruption #the buried #the flesh #the end #the stranger #the extinction #making this post was mostly counting the fears to make sure i'd got all of them

[timeloopbuddy]

How Much Improvement The Entities Need & How I Would Do It

The Buried - Basically nothing, it is incredible, so it’s only problem is a lack of outreach. Breekon & Hope are not enough, we need more of it in general. The Corruption - Bugs are cool, but they need to cash in more on the crappy feelings and ease of spread that comes with common diseases. Not just world ending pandemics, the cold, strep, allergies, and many more. They could really branch out and just play with people’s general feelings of disgust and unhappiness that comes with just the basic sense of sickness. The Dark - Branding/Creativity. It’s only like 2 problems but in this line of work they can be very detrimental if you screw it up. It seems like they are so devoted to the Dark that instead of going out, being cool, and terrorising people, they’re just worshipping it. Improvement 1, more monsters, the reason Callum Brody was so good at his job was because he let creativity do the work. Improvement 2, less church themes, it only makes you the target of ridicule. (See Gertrude Robinson in regards to the “church group”). The Desolation - Similar to the Dark but not as bad. The devotion is still a problem, but it is one easily fixed by simply toning down the church themes. Other than that they just need to keep on burning stuff down and being generally sexy. The End - Good at what it does, and it just keeps on doing it. The End has its niche, sticks to it, and does a damn good job. I can’t really think of any improvements. The Eye - Stop being fucking nerds. Eye avatars can be cool, but they gotta lean into it and stopping the biggest fools/idiots in their universe. I get how the Eye itself can be stupid, it just likes eating knowledge. But the people, how? The coolest Jon was was when he was running around country to country finding answers, reading statements, consuming live statements from random people, and forcing people to answer his questions. They just need to be more active in the community. There is a reason everyone hates Eye avatars. 1. Because they’re annoying. That one isn’t bad, in fact I think they should dial it up to 11. 2. They are cowards. We need more Eye avatars who don’t fuck around with that morality bullshit like Gertrude, but are also dedicated to the cause of being annoying nerds. To summarise, I want the Eye to actually go out and do stuff.  The Flesh - Give Angela more screen time. That’s it. Also maybe open up a few more restaurants. The Hunt - They’re fine.  The Lonely - Just keep vibing my dudes. Although boats would be cool. I just like boats. The Slaughter - More music. I just love the vibe of murdering someone while music plays in the background. The Spiral - Also more music. And questions. I feel like they could get a lot of mileage out of disorienting questions. The Stranger - More dunking on Eye nerds. Imagine being seen during the Unkowing. How embarassing.  The Vast - MORE BLIMPS. There are only 25 blimps on Earth, That is embarrasingly low. More blimps. More air travel. More sea travel. More space travel. TRAVEL AND EXPAND MORE. The Web - Why did it have to be spiders? It’s so cool and everything but spiders are the absolute worst. The Extinction - Be less boring. We’re suffering through an apocalypse right now and it’s just tiring. Come on, do something. Also more avatars. And ominous radio towers.

#the buried #the corruption #the dark #the desolation #the end #the eye #the flesh #the hunt #the lonely #the slaughter #the spiral #the stranger #the vast #the web #the extinction #smirkes 14 #the entities #the magnus archive

[acewithabattlemace]

My Avatar pros and cons list in order of what I think would be the best to worst entity to serve

The Buried - yes (eat dirt!!! Also pressure!!! Claustrophobic :(, Too Close I Cannot Breath :( can’t breath any way though so yolo) The End - yes (everything except the probable insomnia) The Dark - yes (cool cult, see in the dark, nocturnal :(, bad light aversion = no sunning on rocks like lizards) The Lonely - yes (aesthetic, fog, ocean beach sailor core!! Muted feelings and constant dampness :(, also I like my friends) The Eye - yes (knowledge!!!green Eye themed shit!!! Spooky google! But Cursed knowledge, invasion of privacy, facts I don’t wanna know like spider facts :( ) The Spiral - maybe (madness and confusion kinda baller, fast travel, but neon colours :( ) The Desolation - maybe (burn shit! Cool cult! Fire!!! Made of wax :(, run very hot) The Hunt - maybe (cool shit, hunt for good, pointy teeth, but big effort, also cops, ACAB) The Web - maybe (control! Cool aesthetic vibes! But spider ::::( ) The Slaughter - maybe (cool shit, scary vibes!!! cool music!!! but controlled by anger and very bloody :(, plus pointless death and suffering = very bad ) The Vast - maybe (flying!! Space!! Ocean!!! But unlimited openness :( ) The Flesh - no (meat is meat is a banger line plus body mods, but I’d have to eat meat plus raw meat is ew) The Stranger - no (fakeness and circus core, but can dance!!! Plus uncanny valley vibes!!!) The Corruption - no (ew. Only good thing is cool song but not slaughter cool sooo, bug friends would be nice though) The order changes slightly with my mood. I just really want to eat dirt right now :(

#tma podcast #tma #rusty quill #the magnus archives #the magnus institute #fear gods #avatrs #the dark tma #the end tma #the buried tma #the lonely tma #the eye tma #the spiral tma #the hunt tma #the slaughter tma #the stranger tma #the flesh tma #the corruption tma #the vast tma #the desolation tma #the web tma #the 14 fears

[bibatbrat]

TMA Season 4

I did take a hiatus for several months three episodes before the finale for unknown (depressed) reasons 🥲 But nonetheless, I stay silly

Oliver Banks relatable as hell for stealing a dead man’s identity to sneak aboard a scientific research vessel so that he can get some damn sleep

But also him laying out for John what’s happening and why and the choice he needs to make… and then John starting to breathe again…. God

Tim being the first one John asks about when he wakes up. Screaming and crying and throwing up.

And Basira immediately adding Daisy 🥲

He’s The Archivist now huh

I love Melanie so much, queen of having emotions that no one else will fucking acknowledge

Chelicerae and the story-spinner are so good, I’m 100% stealing them for DnD or something

John saying he wishes he could talk to his team and then acknowledging that he’s nostalgic for something that never really happened 🥺

Simon Fairchild is so funny, man just loves being spooky dooky

Civilian Casualties is very good. I don’t normally care that much for the Slaughter statements, but this one was tasty

Performing non-consensual surgery on your unconscious co-worker = hostile work environment?

Martin talking to the tape recorder is so fucking cute

Man, that coffin just fucking loves eating cops huh

John using his powers to track Martin down for a convo…. Gay as hell

Martin telling John that he won’t let him die again…. Gay as hell

The whole concept of “bias of survivorship” is so interesting… I know that John doesn’t want to access that knowledge, but I do

Personally think that the Flesh ritual should have been called “the Munchies” but that’s just me

Helen trapping Jared in a rat maze labyrinth is so funny, I love her

Self-harm in the name of seeking knowledge… yes 😌

Jared’s so funny for being an Avatar and nope-ing out of his Fear’s ritual. He simply did not feel like it.

ngl seems a little disingenuous to leave behind an explanation/apology to your friends for the stupid thing you’re about to do w the rib that you got yanked out of you for some spilled tea (a stupid thing to do)

*uses my evil magic powers to give my friend therapy*

Seriously though, Daisy and John have a… rocky relationship, but it was very nice for them to get some Comfort together in the midst of the Hurt

The Everchase is so good. They got the zoomies

T H E E X T I N C T I O N

Shoutout to the Web and the End for being the baddest bitches around

I do love the “protag works for the bad guys bc they’ve traded their service for the safety of the people they care about” trope

Martin putting a bunch of tapes on the coffin to help John find his way back 🥺

Very funny that the Dark’s ritual was like “what if we had a sun….. of DARKNESS 😈😈😈”

John being disappointed that he can’t watch the cursed Web horror movies… same, bestie

Gertrude saying that she cares for Gerard and doesn’t want to risk losing him stopping the Unknowing… makes me 🥺 but also lowkey makes everything so much worse

Elias telling Martin that his decision about joining the Lonely is “too important to interfere with” is so funny

Smirke’s statement is so interesting… it’s wild that someone who was so instrumental in the academia of the Fears would have a change of heart so close to the end. It’s also wild that he continues to trust Jonah despite it all. At least he got the quick death he prayed for.

The Desolation’s beef with Gertrude after Agnes is so tasty

And the way they create Agnes is so wonderfully fucked up and terrible

Agnes being destroyed by DOUBT. AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SHE MADE THEM HANG HERRRRRRR

John getting hurt when he tries to use his powers to Know what Peter’s plans are is very good

Can’t believe Mikaele Salesa fell for the old “one last job” trap 😔 we hate to see it

Gertrude intimidating Arthur Nolan…. What a fucking girlboss

V much like Arthur’s notion that the entities understand people as little as people understand them

And him talking about how he thinks they fucked up raising Agnes bc they treated her as their messiah and not as a child 🥺

Annabelle 💜

Basira beating the shit out of Elias is very funny

Cul-de-sac is so fucking good

Daisy saving John from Julia and Trevor… Hunter v Hunter shit is AWESOME

Eric’s statement makes me crazy… I love all of the old Institute drama and it’s so fucked up to hear him being so intensely focused on keeping Gerry safe when we know in the present-day that he’s dead

John going to Martin to suggest that they both blind themselves and run away together… Gay

Cost of Living is also fucking bonkers

Melanie ☹️

Peter thinking that it’s funny to jump out and scare Martin is so fucking funny

Adelard concrete-ing an avatar to death(-ish) is badass as hell

But also very funny to imagine him doused in gasoline and about to light the match when he’s like “oh shit!!!” and runs off to write the email real quick lol

Georgie and Melanie… love wins

I love it when John tries to compel another avatar and they get into a stand-off. I think he loses to Helen because he’s acting out of the very human emotions of fear and love. To do it properly, I bet he needs to lose more of his humanity

Peter mentioning Tim and Martin shutting him down… my heart…

Jolias…..

Gertrude challenging Elias to shut the fuck up or actually kill her and him shooting her in the heart before she even finishes the threat is so camp, I love him

Daisy letting the Hunt overtake her so that she can fight Julia and Trevor AGHHHHHHHH

Elias and Peter do have incredibly divorced energies and I love them for it

Peter taunting John in the Lonely while he desperately looks for Martin

Oh god and him coming out with the “you won’t be able to hurt anyone if you stay in here ☺️”

It kills me how readily Peter gives up his statement. Yeah he resists and yeah he’s compelled, but once John gets him started it all comes tumbling out so easily… something something ironic how an avatar of the Lonely jumps so quickly at the chance of being heard and understood, the most human connection of all

Absolutely fascinated by the Lukas family dynamics… need some more statements from those bitches

Gertrude fucking stops his ritual by cancelling him, I’m….

The parallels between John compelling Martin to see him in the Lonely to follow him out versus John compelling Tim to see the truth behind the Unknowing to stop it (by killing himself)

OH IT’S THE FUCKING MEME HERE WE GOOOOO

I love Elias so much, what a fucking bitch

What a fantastic villainous monologue 💜

Oh they are so fucking fucked

#live blogging #j listens to tma #tma

[itchyeye]

(Avatar headcanon anon) I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on the topic too! Especially the detailed categories of fear-alignment! And I actually almost included a note on Melanie's bullet removal in my write-up but then thought I was getting too off-topic, but I 100% agree that the bullet should have just been the catalyst, not the thing keeping up the connection. But didn't Melanie have the bullet before she signed up for the Archives? I agree that this is where it kind of falls apart a little, even though I do like the idea that that's why the Slaughter couldn't have claimed her fully, because then both Daisy andMartin go and contradict that idea, because their pull to the other power was much stronger than the pull from Beholding. But in any case, I generally thought the Slaughter storyline was extremely weak, and I'm saying this as someone who initially liked Melanie. I just think she worked better as a character who dropped in from time to time with an update than part of the Archives crew.

And oh, I think I misunderstood something then, because I thought that the ritual in 160 was not the Watcher's Crown? (I think it was called The Magnus Archives by Word of God. Gerry says Elias is planning the Watcher's Crown, but he would have based that on the information he had before Elias realized all rituals were doomed to fail.) Because yeah, I definitely agree that keeping that a secret and making it a twist was great! I also figured that Jon was getting marked for some purpose, but obviously, I couldn't have guessed that it would be that. I'm still so enamored with it all, "The Chosen one is someone I chose" and that Jon just so perfectly followed the path Elias had laid out for him, and *kicking my feet and twirling my hair*.

Rereading the script for episode 160 though, I see that we do get enough details on the original Watcher's Crown. Still, I wish we could have had a little more. (This is getting on a tangent, but I still wish that after all the letters TO Jonah, we could have had one letter FROM Jonah... but written back then, since well, of course we (or rather Jon haha) very much got our letter from Jonah in that episode. I especially would have liked more details on him founding the Institute, and it's such a wasted opportunity that Jon and Martin were sent to Scotland so they could roadtrip back to London, but they don't pass the original Institute in Edinburgh?)

In any case though, thank you for letting me ramble a bit about my headcanons! I haven't had the opportunity to do that in a while, and I'm enjoying it :D

oh wait you're totally right!! she got shot in india before coming back to the archives because she wanted to give jon another statement (fan behavior) and he was kidnapped at the time, so elias gave her an employment contract you're totally right

so maybe... the bullet was an artefact that was turning her into a monster, but the contract to the institute was powerful enough to slow her transformation because she didn't get really bad until post-s3 finale.

i think this... kind of tracks with daisy? daisy was a fully realized avatar of the hunt when she signed her contract. her status as a hunter didn't change when she was doing elias' dirty work. hold on i just typed that and realized that maybe daisy never had a contract...? wasn't it that elias made basira sign a contract and that was what made daisy connected to/indebted to the institute? because she would do anything to protect basira and basira was now at elias' mercy. and then when she was inside the buried, she couldn't die because avatars can't die. she was just effectively encased in cement. BUT, going into the buried (and probably lots of other illegal cop things daisy has done way before tma-canon) would kill any normal person. she was being kept safe/alive by the hunt. when she started ignoring the hunt, she started withering away.

martin i think is sort of a special case. he was marked by the eye because of his institute contract and his experience in the archives. but then he had one of if not the most powerful avatar of the lonely molding him into his protege. (i still do. not. buy. that martin could have resisted peter's influence the way that he did unless he was a web avatar. i have to type fast because there are men chasing me down this hallway with butterfly nets but listen. listen to me. web!martin is real. web!martin was the plan from the b- [lOUD LOONEY TUNES CRASHING NOISES])

and oh my god no you are totally right!!! the watcher's crown was the name of the old ritual. and yes there is a discord message somewhere where jonny says that the new ritual would be more appropriately termed the magnus archives, since of course, the whole of the podcast is the ritual :.) i forgot about that, i've just been calling the ritual elias invented with jon the watcher's crown this whole time.

ok then i'll pivot and say i would LOVE to know more about the original watcher's crown. we know the gist of it from smirke's letter and from peter's summary but i would have loved a full episode dedicated to it like we got for the dutch unknowing.

kicking my feet and twirling my hair WITH YOU this is SO ROMANTIC <3 literally they made each other gods. the chosen one was just that, someone i chose. i'm writhing on the floor!!!!!!!

and god a letter from jonah back to his correspondents, dreamy sigh. it would make sense that jonah wouldn't have his own letters, of course. and i love love love love that he is a hoarder and keeps all his own correspondence (i've written about why this is another reason he wouldn't be a good archivist) but ooooo i would love an episode of jonah, young jonah in his original body, still discovering the fears, before he'd built his institute, before he'd become an avatar.... (assuming it would be a good episode and jonny would do him justice because this is my dream world and i can set my standards however i want them)

you are so welcome! this has been very interesting, thank you for sharing your head canons with me and for tolerating my ridiculously long responses. :) if you ever feel like telling me more about them, my ask box is always here to welcome you.

#[💌] asks and replies

[chocomd]

ATLA rewatch thoughts, Book 1 (eps 19, 20)

Ahh the Book 1 season finale! The season finales are some of my favorite episodes in the series and they never disappoint.

19) Siege of the North, Part 1: 

Seeing the soot-stained snow and hearing Sokka explain that black snow always came before the raids on the SWT...brrrrr. It’s so foreboding. 

Also, wow Hahn is such a jerk??? 

The way that Aang covers his head and says “But I’m just one kid” is so heartbreaking 😭 He wasn’t there to help his people fight off the FN, and he’s determined to make a difference this time in the NWT. But he’s faced with the hard reality that he is just one person against hundreds, and his sense of inadequacy and futility is CRUSHING him 😔 

The scene where Iroh tells Zuko is like a son to him never fails to make me all emotional 🥺

Also Zuko swimming through the freezing arctic water holes is just plain crazy ok. But Sokka is right - he never gives up 💀

Loving the lore of the moon and the ocean and what they mean for waterbenders and the Water Tribes

20) Siege of the North, Part 2:

The way Katara has tears in her eyes as she worries about Aang and blames herself for losing him to Zuko 🥺

Everything about the spirit world in this ep is so cool!!! Roku, Hei Bai, and of course, Koh 

Zuko: “I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made me strong. It's made me who I am.” Iroh echoes this line in the Book 3 finale, but at that point he’s talking about Zuko needing struggle and suffer in the process of understanding and regaining his honor. Here, Zuko only has a very basic understanding of what his struggles mean - and it’s not to make him strong. His struggles do make him who he is, but not in the way he thinks (right now anyway).

I wonder if this episode is the turning point for Iroh, in terms of his role as the Gaang’s antagonist. Iroh is firmly against harming the moon spirit in any way, but Zhao still goes ahead and slaughters the spirit after pretending to let it go. Is this the last straw for Iroh, who can no longer turn a blind eye to the lengths that the FN will go to in order to conquer the world? I’ll see if Book 2 will confirm my hypothesis, but I seem to remember him acting as less of an antagonist in Book 2.

Wow Zhao is totally the reason why Wan Shi Tong doesn’t want humans to use the library’s knowledge for selfish gain. ZHAO ITS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU BASTARD

Aang unwilling to leave Zuko to die in the blizzard - yes, Aang sees value in all life, but he would have been much less willing to save Zuko if it wasn’t for Zuko saving him first in The Blue Spirit

Yue saying that marrying Hahn is her duty, and later sacrificing her life to save the moon spirit is also her duty. How does this fit into the overarching theme of ATLA about shaping your own destiny? Does she use her duty to the moon and the world to escape her duty to marry Hahn? Or is she an example of someone who has a fixed destiny and the option to take another path simply doesn’t exist? Is she a foil to Katara, whose destiny is intertwined with Aang’s, yet she still retains the agency to shape what that destiny looks like?

Aang merging with the ocean spirit and becoming Koizilla gives me the chills every time. EVERY TIME. He’s just one kid, but he’s a very, very powerful kid. I also love this scene because he goes into the Avatar State because of strong emotions - not an uncontrolled, furious rage, but an ancient and profound rage at the unforgivable harm that killing the moon spirit has caused to the world.

Iroh (to Zuko, tongue-in-cheek): “I'm surprised Prince Zuko, surprised that you are not at this moment trying to capture the Avatar.” Zuko: “I’m tired.” Zuko seems dysphoric in this scene, as if his actions to capture the Avatar at all costs is taking something out of him. And he doesn’t know what, and he doesn’t know why he feels so bad, and he wants it to stop. Cognitive dissonance, perhaps? Maybe he’s even questioning himself: Is this all worth it? But what other choice does he have?

The scene with Aang looking out over the water, and then he realizes Katara is standing behind him, and they exchange a look and hug each other because they both need comfort - THIS IS WHEN I STARTED SHIPPING KATAANG!!! They’ve been through so much, they’re picking up the pieces after the battle, and they just need each other. They’re still just friends, but their bond has become so much deeper here and UGH I LOVE IT

#text post #chocomd rewatches ATLA

[late-to-the-magnus-archives]

And Eat It, Too: Chapter Eight: A Meaty Interruption

In which Jon makes a choice, Jared makes a trade, Daisy asks for help, and Elias shows up for a… "rescue" of some kind...

>>> NOW ON AO3!

Oliver Banks is great.

Martin Blackwood is sad. (I feel that deserves its own warning because I feel badly for doing it.)

Slaughter-typical spookiness.

And warnings for Elias, because... yeah.

(Masterpost including playlist)

*

CHAPTER EIGHT

He is aware of pain. It is distant, but still terrible.

Aware of his dreams—of walking other people’s, staring while they suffer, funneling it all to his patron, though it is not by choice.

Aware that dreams of the Circus and the Spider try to intrude.

And Michael chases them away.

He knows this, but he cannot interact with it. He can barely see it.

It’s like Michael is avoiding him.

That feels so strange, and so bad.

Jon misses the Distortion.

Yet it is there; he knows it is there, and Jon can pull away from them—

And then Michael stops coming, and they get him.

Jon feels an undefined grief.

He returns again and again to the dreams of other people, sees Georgie’s pity. Sees statements he took himself, or read, or listened to.

Re-enters his own dreams, nightmares he now cannot recall how to escape.

And the pain is bad, and he floats, and he misses Michael very much.

A new voice comes to him.

A man’s, gently pushing through—unfamiliar, and yet he knows who it is, though they have never met.

It tells a story. A new story. As it speaks, the dreams Jon walks go quiet, fade, like someone turned the volume down.

The voice has a self-conscious laugh, free of anger, or hate, or cruelty. A gentle voice.

One that would be nice to hear, at the end.

Jon listens to the voice.

“The thing is, Jon, right now you have a choice. You’re not quite human enough to die, but still too human to survive. You’re balanced on an edge where the End can’t touch you, but you can’t escape him. I made a choice. We all made choices. Now you have to, as well.”

The voice fades away.

Wait, thinks Jon, because the nightmare-road begins to come back into focus. It starts right in the middle of someone’s experience, as if the film just kept rolling through the interruption.

A choice.

He’d already made one, hadn’t he?

Many choices, Elias would say, but that wasn’t this.

Even what happened with Mustermann was not this.

Maybe it’s because he’s facing a decision, or maybe the Eye is just being kind, but Jon can suddenly turn away from the nightmare-road and consider the path before him.

If I do this, I truly leave my humanity behind, he thinks.

Do what?

Choose to wake.

He can’t recall why that’s important.

What is humanity? comes back to him, not in words, not even a challenge, just a gentle query because it wants the questions to flow through him.

Jon has no answer.

He finds he no longer thinks monster is the opposite of person.

He misses Michael.

There’s some other reason on the pro side of waking up, but he doesn’t remember what it is. It must not be important.

He looks at his hands, his dream-hands, sees every finger-whorl and scar, every vein and nerve and tendon. Sees everything they’ve touched and done, all throughout his life.

And he could still know more.

It’s time to make his choice.

#

“No, I think you can leave, is what you can do,” says Martin, sounding fearful and fierce, stammering and steel at the same time.

“Sorry,” says Oliver Banks (avatar of the End, the fear of death itself—that’s who woke me, Jon thinks). “Good luck, okay? If he wakes up, just… tell him I said hi.”

Martin makes some kind of sound that neither affirms nor denies, and then comes the gentle sound of the door closing.

“Thanks,” says Georgie.

“Yeah, well. That’s like the fifth weird guy to come by since he’s been home, you know? I just get tired of it, sometimes.”

Fifth? “Who came by?” Jon asks, his voice like a rusty hinge.

“Jon?” says Georgie.

“Shit!” says Martin.

“Who… I…” He’s floating into awareness faster than he likes, as if attached to a balloon and rocking up through deep water. “Ugh…”

His throat hurts. His eyes feel glued.

“Get the nurse. Get the nurse, get the nurse, get the nurse!” Martin shouts, and then he is close, and warm, and touching Jon’s arm, and helping him to sit up, manipulating the bed.

Georgie is gone, door closed.

Jon manages to get his eyes open. Everything is very bright. “Where’s Michael?”

Martin’s expression jumps through a few different emotions before settling on reasonable. “I wouldn’t know, Jon.”

“It’s been here?” says Jon quietly.

“It?” says Martin.

“That’s how it refers to itself, and god forbid I disrespect a monster’s pronouns,” Jon says, and laughs unsteadily.

Martin stares at him.

Jon blinks. “Was that… a weird thing to say?” I could see all his veins if I wanted to, he thinks, but doesn’t, because he’s trying to be polite.

But he could. It’s right there. He could reach for it.

Martin swallows. “Jon, you were shot.”

Oh, Jon thinks, and suddenly realizes why this choice mattered.

Georgie returns with a whole herd of medical professionals, and communication takes a back seat for a while.

They don’t actually tell Jon what happened, these people. But that’s okay. If he listens, listens well, he knows.

It’s in the front of all their minds, after all.

A week. No heartbeat. No indication of life at all—except for wild, constant brain activity, a frightening amount, which no one could explain.

His heart was horrifically damaged.

Now, it isn’t. And that happened very fast.

He’s unnerving everyone just by being alive, but he can’t help feeling so glad that he is.

The Unknowing, he thinks, amazed that while in his coma, he forgot about it, didn’t feel it was important. I can still stop the Unknowing.

“Jon, are… you still you?” says Georgie.

I don’t know, he thinks, but cannot say that to her, cannot watch her face fall more than it already is. “I think so? I don’t even know how we’d establish that, but as far as I know, I am.”

She sighs. “Good. I’m glad.” She doesn’t sound glad.

He could know, could know, so easily, but he won’t do that to her, can’t, can already see that whatever she’s seeing as she looks at him is not a good thing. “Georgie?”

“Good luck, Jon,” she says softly. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

She’s leaving? “Wait,” he says, eyes wide.

She pats Martin on the shoulder and just leaves.

Jon stares after her, mouth open. “Georgie,” he whispers. “What did I do?”

Martin’s lips tighten. He doesn’t answer.

Jon doesn’t have to reach to know this one: people don’t sit in a heartbeat-free coma for a week and then wake up chatty.

Monsters do, though.

Jon goes quiet.

The doctors confer with Martin. They’re taking blood, asking Jon to watch a moving pen, asking him to count their fingers. Taking dozens of vitals and murmuring to each other.

It hurts.

This pain isn’t from a bullet.

Martin finally sits beside him and puts his hand over Jon’s, waiting while the nurses do their thing, while they ask more questions (what’s your name, how old are you, do you know where you are, who’s the prime minister).

It seems forever until they’re done.

Martin stays.

He doesn’t look like he wants to, though.

“I…” Jon swallows. “It was one of the… the anatomy students. Part of the Stranger. He…”

Martin’s eyes widen.

“How did I get back to London?” Jon has a guess, but he wants to seem less… eldritch, just for a moment.

“Michael brought you to the Institute. Just… right into the Archives, and put you on Tim’s desk.”

“It what?”

Martin sighs. “They had a lot of questions. About the only good thing was the blood loss showed you couldn’t possibly have been shot anywhere near us.”

He’s not looking, but he sees the panic, sees Martin calling 999 and shouting, sees Tim yelling at him to stop being stupid and wake the fuck up and don’t you die you son of a bitch.

“So the bear helped,” Martin says suddenly, and laughs. “But it didn't, um. Survive. So. You can get me another one, right?”

“The bear? What—”

“It deflected the bullet just enough,” says Martin. “I mean, it still… it went through your heart. But it would have hit you right… just… it would have killed you. The police said a cardiologist couldn’t have aimed it better. Except… the bear knocked it to the side just a little bit.” He swallows. “It’s why you still had a heart to, um. To heal.”

The bear had not been in his shirt pocket.

Jon breathes quickly, looks down, tries to see if there are webs, but he finds none.

It had to be the Web. There are few other explanations.

But why?

When?

How?

“Um,” says Martin, trying to fill the silence. “I don’t think Georgie will let you stay with her right now.”

“No.” He sighs. “I have a… temporary place. But they need to let me out, first.”

That’s going to take a while. Being shot makes it a criminal matter.

Jon hopes his I don’t recall game is strong today.

#

Jon doesn’t know the actual address of the penthouse.

Well. At first, he doesn’t know.

It gives him a bit of a headache to reach out and know, and he understands why—he hasn’t fed the Eye in a week.

He still gets the address, and insists on getting a cab to go there alone.

He refuses Martin’s offer of his small apartment.

It's tempting. Martin is safe to be around—but things are chasing Jon, and Martin will be decidedly unsafe if Jon says yes.

He doesn’t add, I need to see Michael.

He doesn’t have to. Martin is not stupid.

“I’ll probably come into work tomorrow,” says Jon. “I learned some things. It’s possible to disrupt the Unknowing… but only once it’s started.”

Martin pales. “Are you sure? You should rest. Jon, you were shot.”

“And now I’m fine,” he says, repeating the doctors’ wide-eyed diagnosis.

“Jon…”

“It can’t wait,” he says softly. “But I will rest after the Unknowing is stopped. I promise. Cross my… heart.”

Martin looks at him oddly.

That’s how Jon knows he’s being too chipper again.

He can’t help it. A weird giddiness has replaced his usual cynicism.

“I guess I’ll see you then,” says Martin, visibly unsure how to end this conversation.

Jon certainly doesn’t know. Knowing does not, apparently, get one out of awkward situations. “Thank you,” he says. “For being there. I’m glad you were, when I woke up. And… I’ll replace the bear.”

Martin smiles weakly. “It was a joke, Jon.”

“Not to me.”

Martin takes a cab home, too.

Jon is amazed that his bag made it back to the UK.

His new phone is smashed (possibly on purpose, given what stole him). His wallet was clearly rifled; nothing seems to be missing—he still has Gerry’s page—but of course, that doesn’t mean he has a key.

He has to burn Gerry’s page.

He doesn’t want to.

But Gerry asked it of him. Gerry—who, in half an hour’s time, felt like a friend.

Jon is going to burn his page. He promised.

For now, though, he needs to go home.

He stretches as he leaves the cab, heading for the building’s entry. He should at least be stiff, after being in a coma for a week, after being shot. He’s not. His physical heart doesn’t hurt at all. Even the brand-new scar—tiny and puckered—looks years old, and doesn’t feel like anything.

He’s weak, though.

The Eye gives him a whiff of stories, of people asleep in their beds all around him, tempting him to go and…

Do what? Break into somebody’s flat?

That’s not how this works, he thinks, though he knows, somehow, that the Eye isn’t hearing that.

Or maybe isn’t listening.

He wonders if it’s a convenient eldritch ignorance he’s dealing with.

The penthouse looks dark, at least from the street.

Jon touches the scar on his left arm. Runs his fingertips across it, shudders at the strange feeling of scar-tissue and unnatural healing. Michael, he thinks.

Nothing happens.

It should have.

He knows.

Jon frowns. Is it refusing to come?

Was this intervention the last?

Did they actually… break up?

Maybe. They had not parted on good terms, and dumping him in the archives certainly felt like a final, You handle him.

It’s for the best, isn’t it? He asked it to go away, and it did.

Because he was hurting it.

Jon laughs, and it is an uneasy sound. He can’t even keep a monster near him without it getting hurt.

He wipes some tears, smiles poorly. It’s funny, if he looks at it the right way. Maybe he can look at this thought hard enough so it falls to wet, meaty pieces, too.

Well. There will be no penthouse tonight. He has no way to access it, and doesn’t fancy being arrested for breaking in.

A hotel should be possible—though, without a phone, he’s not sure how he’s going to find one.

Jon suddenly realizes he’s walking without meaning to do so at all.

It makes no sense to walk. It’s late at night, took far too long convincing the doctors to let him go. He’s prone to being kidnapped, assaulted, worse. The street is empty, and—

He stops. Looks down. Squints through the headache.

And for just a moment, fine, glimmering threads appear in the light of the streetlamps.

Jon gasps.

Melancholy gives way to a heady combination of fear and rage.

The Web wants him to walk, does it? Wants him to go wandering down this street, unprotected, without even a working phone? Well, she can go to hell!

It takes effort, but Jon is able to turn around and walk back toward the penthouse, feeling a tug on his will—but it’s like wet fingers, slipping off him.

Ha! he thinks. Ha ha! In the moment, this ability to choose feels worth whatever he traded away.

Jon looks around as if that would bring immediate comeuppance.

Noth-

There’s a sound in the street behind him.

He spins.

Breeze. Distant cars; someone’s laughter, some party with the window cracked open to the cool night.

The sound is not repeated, but that… that’s worse.

Whatever it is, the Web failed to send him to it—so she is sending it to him.

Jon takes off at a run.

He strains as he goes, trying to know where a cab might be, but he has no practice channeling the Beholding while running for his life, and it is not working at all.

Behind him. He hears it, hears…

Steps so heavy and broad, steps from a thing that surely weighs more than a human should, steps that are quicker than his, nimble, and accompanied by a suspicious crack as though it is occasionally breaking pavement.

Jon puts on a burst of speed.

It is not enough.

A hand—human in shape, but far too large, far too strong—gets him right around the neck and his face, gripping his skull like a walnut as it yanks him back and hoists him into the air.

Jon has not met Jared Hopworth before, but he knows without any extra powers that this must be him.

Jared is… large.

Jared would make Breekon and Hope together look like teenagers.

He has a raw, weird beauty—all his muscles too sharp, his jaw too clean, his entire body somehow fake in the way he’s pushed it to whatever he thinks of as perfection.

But his eyes.

They are dark. Cruel. There is less humanity in them than even Michael has ever shown.

Jon dangles from Jared’s hand, peeking out over sausage fingers, gripping his I-beam wrist.

“Shouldn’a run,” says Jared, his voice greasy, low and soggy. “That pissed me off.”

Jon tries to say something. Of course, it’s muffled.

“‘S why I don’t do favors for people,” says Jared, who seems to be considering whether to do something to Jon or fulfill whatever favor he means. “She said you’d come to me, but you didn’t.”

Jon makes a questioning sound, but his stomach is already sinking.

Jared starts to walk, holding Jon out like a book he’s reading.

Jon tries to struggle, but only hurts his neck. Goes still.

“Came to the hospital, you know? Your boyfriend there, he’s funny.” Jared laughs, and it is a wet sound, a meat sound, a sound like he has a wrong esophagus and too many lungs. “Told me off right to my face, though he was pissin’ his pants.”

Michael? thinks Jon for one second before realizing. Martin.

Martin stood up to Jared. For him.

His stomach does an unpleasant flip.

“Don’t matter. I’m done, after this,” says Jared calmly, and plops Jon on top of a dumpster at eye-height like shelving a boring toy.

Jon’s neck is creaking alarmingly, but he ignores it, tries to see, discovers right away that Jared… is not put together like Mustermann was.

The Stranger cobbles pieces together poorly because they’re not supposed to belong, they’re supposed to unnerve, they’re supposed to leave the viewer uneasy and afraid.

Jared Hopworth, the Boneturner, the Flesh’s selfish son, is made of meat, and it is sewn together at an atomic level with powers beyond comprehension.

Jon can’t look him apart.

He’d be too weak to, he thinks, even if fully fed. I am a baby monster, after all, he thinks hysterically. “J… Jared Hopworth?”

“‘S what is says on me license,” says Jared, still studying him as though preparing to pick a cut of steak for tomorrow. “And you’re the Big Deal.”

Jon recoils, scoffs. “Big… deal? I am not a big anything.”

“Yeah, you’re not,” Jared chuckles, looking him up and down.

“Wh… wha… what are you—”

Jared narrows his eyes, and Jon closes his mouth with a click. “Better not,” says Jared unnecessarily. “This’s already been a pain in the ass. Not that you got much of one.” And he laughs at his own joke, a deep and awful sound, a squelching sound.

Jon’s stomach churns. He swallows. “Why did you chase me down?” he whispers, fighting the urge to compel.

“This.” And Jared holds out a square envelope, about the size of a children’s book.

No, thinks Jon. Oh, no, oh, no.

He recoils.

Jared laughs. “You’re scared of this? Really?” He flaps it.

Jon is shaking. “It, ah. I. Don’t suppose I could convince you to… take that far away from me?”

Jared considers him. “A trade? Yeah, maybe. What’re you offering?”

Jon hadn’t expected a yes. “I… I don’t know.” He laughs sharply, unsteadily. “I don’t think anything of mine would fit inside of you very well.”

He was trying to be practical.

Jared leers.

It takes Jon a moment. “Oh—no, no, that is not what I—”

“Annabelle said you were funny,” says Jared.

Cold washes through him. “Annabelle Cane?”

“Tell you what,” says Jared. “I’ll take something you won’t even miss,” and there is a cruel glee in his eyes now, a light that wasn’t there before at all, and it is harsh and uncompromising and eager.

“Wh-what?” Jon whispers.

“Tip of your little finger.”

Now Jon is deeply confused. “What?”

“Won’t even miss it, will you, Big Deal? ‘Cept when you look down at it. ‘Cept when you go to reach for something, and don’t grip it quite right. ‘Cept when you touch anybody, and it just won’t feel the same. Then you’ll remember me, for the rest of your life.”

It is brilliant. Horrifying. A weird, disgusting legacy, written in scars.

But it’s just a finger-tip. If Jared is telling the truth. “Just… this?” He holds up his left hand, pinches the pinky in his right, lets the barest bit show through.

“Yeah. That’ll be enough.”

“And you’ll take the book away?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re not… afraid of angering Annabelle Cane?” Because Jon is. She’s Web. He’s never met her and does not want to. She’s more frightening than anything he can think of right now.

“No.” Jared frowns. “Weird idea, though, innit? Maybe I should just take a rib instead.”

“No, no, that… that’s fine,” blurts Jon, because ribs protect your organs and that seems so much worse. “It sounds… properly horrifying. To me.”

Jared waits. Tilts his head, predatory. Whatever modifications he made to his forehead hide his eyes in this position, placing them in shadow, and he is monstrous.

A fingertip, or Mister Spider. It’s not really a choice. Trembling, Jon cautiously holds out his left hand because he cannot handle the idea of anything else happening to his right.

At least he got to choose which hand.

He doesn’t even ask if it will hurt.

It does.

He knew a lot of nerve endings go through the fingers (and the Eye provides him with a wild view of each one being severed), but this hurts so much more than it should.

Why didn’t I pick the hand with no feeling? he gasps at himself, but it’s too late for that kind of logic.

Jared holds his hand almost tenderly, lightly pinching the tip away as if Jon is made of clay. There’s not even any blood. Jon’s finger seals right over, does what Jared wants, no matter how unnatural it is.

Jon clutches his hand to his chest, pain pulsing; he can’t see through his tears. Half of the distal phalange is gone, from the fingernail up.

Was it as bad as Jude Perry’s burn? He can’t tell. It’s different.

He made it hurt more than it had to, Jon suddenly realizes, and is too busy gasping to ask why.

Jared considers the tiny, brown shape between his fingers, and then it is gone.

Absorbed into him, maybe. Jon has no idea.

“Huh,” says Jared. “That was weird. You got a weird body.”

“I, uh… I wouldn’t know,” Jon gasps, heart and finger still pounding. “It’s the only… one I’ve ever had, so.”

“I could fix that for you,” says Jared, and opens his mouth, Jon’s fingertip rolls from his throat to the tip of his tongue, connects there, wriggles at him.

Jon gags.

Jared’s still laughing as he leaves, envelope in his meaty hand. The moment he’s out of sight, there is a bubbling, fleshy sound, like rendered fat squeezing through a storm drain. Then silence.

Jon can’t get down from the dumpster yet. It hurts too much.

He’s so mean, he thinks, which fits with what he’d read. Jared, like so many before, had been a bully long before being chosen by his god.

Jon frowns. Few avatars were not bullies of some kind before being chosen. It makes sense, in a way—but then what about people like Jon?

Yes, he loves to see, he’s always asking questions, but he never did it to hurt people, never relished fear, never enjoyed causing pain or distress. How in the world was he a good choice for this?

He can’t stay here. Annabelle Cane is involved. He checks himself for webs, is only mildly relieved to find none, and slides down into the alleyway.

Well, these clothes are nasty, streaked from the dumpster, redolent. At least they aren’t his.

“Ugh,” he says. Will they even let him into a hotel? “Thanks a lot,” he mutters, only on second thought hoping Hopworth did not hear.

The headache really feels like nothing so much as some kind of blood sugar crash.

He stumbles on his way out of the alley.

Catches a glimpse of someone watching him.

Annabelle? he thinks, panicked—but it is not.

Daisy. She stands at the end of the street, dead still, like a dog that’s caught a scent. Though her face is mostly shadowed, there is a gleam, like gold, near her eyes.

“Daisy?” he says.

She runs at him.

“Are you serious?” he shouts to the sky as he turns to run, even though he knows it’s stupid (she is Hunt, this is guaranteed to not calm her down).

Stupid! he tells himself, and stops suddenly, hoping to talk his way out.

She slams into him and they both go down.

How he caught her wrist before she plunged her knife into his gut is a mystery for the ages, and he grips it with both hands as she growls like an animal and leans. She’s making snarling noises, is not the same as when she dragged him into the woods to kill him, not the same as when she shot Mike Crew.

There is no reason in her eyes.

“Daisy!” He shouts.

She can’t hear him. Her face is wild, thrilled, utterly focused on taking his life. She’s nearly fully possessed. He can see the Hunt in her, absolutely gleeful, and see the woman pressed underneath—and he suddenly knows she does not want this.

He doesn’t think even she realizes. She’s been marked by the Hunt nearly as long as he’s been marked by the Spider.

“Daisy!” She’s overpowering him, pressing so hard he can’t get out from under. There is no time to be gentle with this: “Where is Basira?”

Her head snaps back as if he popped her in the nose.

There’s a confusing moment of flailing, of blood; then she’s off him, crouching and growling, a wolf in a woman’s body. Her eyes gleam yellow in the streetlight.

Jons heart and head are both pounding as he sits up. He’s scraped all to hell. “Where is she?”

“Help Basira,” she says, rumbling the words, and with a broken whine, she turns and lopes off down the street.

At a distance, trusting he’ll know where she is, Jon follows.

The headache grows worse. He keeps squinting at things, and they do come into focus after a moment, ticker tape trivia included—but those crucial few moments are a heavy concern.

He has no time to feed the Eye right now.

Daisy hunts her way right out of nicer places, transitioning into those areas considered unwise by travel agencies and police. There are plenty of pubs open this late, lots of raucous sound and drunken laughter.

Jon feels like he’s grabbing crumbs from empty plates as he passes, catching whiffs of infidelity and murder attempts and nearly died in that fire.

Can’t stop. He’ll lose her.

Daisy lopes between old buildings and through sloped alleys so narrow even Jon has to turn slightly sideways, and then she ducks into a doorway that has definitely been forced open.

Down a set of decidedly modern stairs.

Then down a set of decidedly not modern stairs.

Dark, so dark, bulbs too far apart to do more than hint at each other’s existence.

At the bottom, far below, is a cold, cement-lined cellar, something (the Eye says) left over from Roman times and rebuilt, over and over, and used as a hiding place for refugees and a cold place to store wines and a secret fight-club with no rules and—

Now, it contains two hospital cots on wheels, and on each of them is a woman.

Melanie’s on one. Basira is on the other.

Both are straining, flailing, trying to pull free of the straps (surely too many) holding them down, and Jon opens his mouth to say What the hell is happening here when his vision blasts wide.

The Slaughter, filling this room, filling these friends, looping between them like some bloodthirsty binding, filling their mouths and their eyes and making their hands like teeth and their teeth like knives.

He stares.

“She got her,” rumbles Daisy, straining to speak clearly. “Didn’t catch it happening, when we pulled Melanie down. Though that’d be it. Figured we’d call you, figure it out from there. But then Basira went… bad.”

“She said someone died,” Jon whispers.

“Yeah. Fix it.”

Jon blinks at her. Daisy is swaying, and he suddenly realizes she looks far worse off than he does. She’s breathing hard, smeared with grease and dirt, only not attacking him now because she caught him and the chase is over.

How the hell is he supposed to fix it?

Nobody gets free of the Slaughter, do they?

Of course, he’s still going to try.

His finger throbs. For some reason, its new shape embarasses him, and he keeps his hand folded tight.

Seeing the power of the Slaughter here doesn’t seem to be doing anything for them. He studies them both, going as close as he dares—for all he knows, awareness of him (living, breathing, filled with blood) will give them both enough strength to break free.

Odd, though. That swirling, tangled mayhem isn’t connected to the same spots.

On Basira, it’s her shoulder; looks like a bite. Melanie got her good before Daisy took her down.

But on Melanie, it’s her calf, which seems like a very strange place to be connected to the embodiment of murder.

Jon inches closer.

There is a deep violet throbbing emanating from her leg, barely visible if seen straight-on, but most definitely there.

Jon needs to see more.

He’s there, sliding up her pant leg, staring at the spot.

“She’s been shot,” he says softly.

“What?” says Daisy, leaning in and… sniffing?

Yes, she’s sniffing. All right, then.

“Right there,” says Jon. “Look at that. It’s horrible.”

Daisy’s more human dislike of him comes through (he should be glad at that, right?). “Sims. It’s a leg. There’s nothing there.”

“Yes, there is.” He has to get it out, has to get it out of her now, doesn’t even know if it would help, but he has to do it now. “I need something sharp. A scalpel. Tools. I need…”

Daisy produces a knife.

Without thinking, he touches it.

Sees how she’s used it. How many people she’s killed, certain she was hunting monsters.

Jon shudders and pulls away.

But not for long.

Grits his teeth. Grabs it. Does not hesitate, because if he does, he won’t go through with this at all.

He’s very dizzy as he slices her leg, but he did it just right, and there is a strange little clink as something invisible falls from it. Then it clinks again and rolls away on the floor—and though it is invisible, it leaves a little trail of blood.

Melanie shrieks.

She’s thrashing so hard that the whole cot is moving, jerking itself catty corner to Basira’s.

Daisy is staring at the tiny blood trail, looking back and forth. “Is that all?”

“I don’t know what else I can do,” says Jon helplessly. “I…” His eyes widen. “It’s weakening. Melanie’s leg, and in Baira’s shoulder. It’s fading." He inhales. “I think they’re going to be okay.” He jumps back as Melanie tries to lunge at him so hard that the entire cot jumps inches. She snaps her teeth at him.

“Both? Basira?” snaps Daisy as if Jon had not been clear enough.

He looks at her. “She hasn’t killed anyone, has she?”

“No. Can you do the same to her?”

He swallows. “What, amateur surgery? There’s nothing in Basira to cut out. It’s going to just… have to take its time.”

“Then you’re no further use. Get out. We won’t be here when you come back,” says Daisy.

Jon blinks at her, vaguely offended. “Surely I can help, at least help you get them up the—”

“Out!” she snarls in his face.

He’s backing for the stairs. “You have my number! My phone is broken! I’ll get another!”

“Get oooout!” And so help him, as he flees up the stairs, her bellow turns into an honest-to-Fears howl.

#

He’s panting at the entrance to the alley, leaning on his knees, head down.

“Anybody else want to have a go at me tonight?” he says to no one, staring at the blood spots on his shoes.

Did that really just happen? It was surreal.

Did it work?

He can’t tell, anymore, now that he can’t see them.

At least they’re alive.

Though someone else isn’t.

He’s glad he didn’t ask who they—

The Eye shows him anyway.

Who knew he still had it in him to run, after all?

He has to put space between them. He can’t think of Melanie doing… that… to a person. Can’t think of Basira’s utter logic decimated by the need to rend and kill.

So, he jogs. Head spinning. Panting like a lion on the veldt (which he is most definitely not). Crying, unaware, until a car pulls up beside him, pacing him, and the window silently rolls down.

“Goodness, Jon,” says Elias, leaning on his elbow and peering at him with the mildest curiosity. “What have you been doing to yourself?”

Jon stops.

Stares at him.

Imagines, vividly, vomiting in his face.

Sighs.

Elias is waiting.

Jon slumps. He says nothing as he walks around and gets in the passenger seat.

He hopes he gets dumpster juice all over the fine leather.

(part nine)

#jonathan sims #martin blackwood #oliver banks #tma au #jared hopworth #daisy tonner #basira hussain #melanie king #tma fic #and eat it too

[lonelyeyesweek]

Lonelyeyes week starts in four days! Time for guest list to be revealed and see if anyone is invited. 👁️⚓

[ID: A cream paper on a light green background. The paper has a thin, navy border along the sides. At the top of the paper, there is a translucent light blue stripe going the width of the paper. In it reads, “Guest List”

Underneath it, in Peter’s blue print, it says, “Why is this list so long? I don’t even know these people…” To which Elias, in green print, has responded, “You are doing your best not to know anyone Peter, that is not an argument”

Thus begins the list. Names have been written in Elias’ green cursive, but each has been crossed out. Next to each name follows a conversation between Peter and Elias in their respective prints.

At the top is “Michael” which has been crossed out by Elias who also wrote, “He never bothered to hand in his resignation properly. Getting consumed by Spiral is not an excuse.” Peter has added, “Ah, I remember him, had to take him and Gertrude to Russia. Poor guy would have been a good lonely avatar.”

Following that is “Oliver Banks” Elias also crossed out this name and wrote, “Something about him just makes me uncomfortable…” Peter put, “Please you are just being paranoid.”

Next is “Jane Prentiss” Elias crossed this off and put, “Actually inviting anyone of Corruption is probably a bad idea.” Peter added, “If I see any worms in our food I’m leaving your Elias >:(“

Then “Hezekiah Wakely” Elias crossed this off and added, “He never responded to my last letter. Also he probably passed away a century ago.” To which Peter responded, “Leave it to the old man to forget which friends are already dead.” Peter has also drawn a little tombstone next to this.

The next name is “Simon Fairchild” which Peter has crossed off this time and wrote, “No” Elias responded “Why? I thought you don’t mind Simon. Is he teasing you about some lost bet or…?” Peter added, “I don’t want to talk about it” Elias then said, “I think I need to have some chat with him now.” Peter’s last part is overlapping with Elias’ last message, he wrote “NO!” very largely over the last word

Next is “Jared Hopworth” which Elias crossed out and added, “Flesh avatars are such an Eyesore” Peter added, “ . . . pun intended?” And Elias has drawn a little eye next to this

Then “Alfred Grifter” Elias crossed his name off and wrote, “I still cannot believe you hired him once to play at our wedding” Peter responded, “I didn’t even know he is an avatar of the Slaughter! I just hired the first person I met, what did you even expect from me?”

“Jude Perry” is next and was crossed off by Elias who also wrote, “She burnt decorations last time” Peter added, “Yes, she missed, I think she aimed at you…” Elias responded to that saying, “She was just upset because Agnes was in the middle of dating that young man and I invited her to the wedding.”

Then “Nikola Orsinov” Elias crossed her off and added, “No, for obvious reasons” Peter responded, “Aww you don’t want our wedding to be a spectacle?” Elias responded to that saying, “Peter, if you want skinned people and blood dripping everywhere, be my guest.” Peter added, “Just teasing you. I don’t like the stranger.” And he also drew the tragedy and comedy masks next to this.

Next is “Maxwell Rayner” both Elias and Peter have crossed him off the list. Elias wrote, “No, for even more obvious reasons! He also keeps flirting with me even when I told him no.” Peter added, “No idea who he is but kick him out.” Elias responded, “You really don’t listen when I complain, do you? Also oh? Is someone jealous?” Peter added, “NO! Let’s move on” and Elias responded to that, italicised, “You do care!” Elias also drew a heart on the right side of the text.

Following that is “Gertrude Robinson'' whom Peter has crossed off and added, “I don’t want there to be any Archivist. Also didn’t you kill her?” Elias added, “Oh true I did” Elias also drew a gun that says, “Bang bang the witch is dead” underneath it.

The name “Jonathan Sims” was crossed off by Peter who wrote, “I said don’t want there ANY Archivist” Elias has added a crying emoticon.

Both Elias and Peter crossed off “Nathaniel Lukas” Peter wrote, “I don’t want there any members of my family” Elias added, “Don’t worry I doubt they would come anyway” Peter added, “Thank god for that, I don’t think I could handle any more disapproving stares.” Elias responded, “Rude, I am delightful!!!”

Lastly is “Annabelle Cane” whom Peter crossed off. Elias wrote, “She asked me not to send her more junk mail which she defines as: ‘questions about Web related statements, attempts at friendly correspondence, articles about spiders and wedding invitations if it is more than once a year’” Peter added, “Wish you listened to me like that when I say I don’t want to answer questions about my crew” and he drew a small ship with a heart next to it. Elias drew a web with a spider on the other side of the text.

At the bottom of the paper, Peter has written, “Why do the list when you scratch out everyone anyway?” To which Elias has responded, “I want to know why exactly I am not inviting them (and you scratched some people away too…)”

There is also a pen laying on the bottom right of the paper. End ID]

#lonelyeyesweek2021 #lonelyeyesweek #tma event #magnus archives #lonelyeyes #lonely eyes #peterelias

[jaeheewillalwaysbemyfav]

so since you're gonna do the avatar!mc au with the entities you think each brother would fear the most (SO excited for that btw, my friend can attest to the fact that i've basically been rambling about tma x om nonstop since the first post you made that put the two together), i'd love to hear your thoughts on which entity each brother would *be* an avatar of, if you're cool with sharing! personally i love the ideas of specifically vast!levi and dark!belphie but i'd love to hear your takes on the concept! <3

So because of how time works, despite receiving this ask on July 12, by the time you see this it’ll be August! So the entire Avatar!MC series should be out by now, which I hope you will/have enjoy/ed. I wholeheartedly agree with the concept of Vast! Levi, which I’ve talked about before (as you know ;) ), but I will happily ramble about it again!

These aren’t gonna be short fics though bc I do Yearn to save that energy for The Longfic, which is still in the planning stages because a) I can’t pick a timeline, and b) trying to match up the timelines of Obey Me and TMA is hard, especially when I tend to have a violent disrespect for actually paying attention to the timing of plot events in both. I already fucked up a part of the plotting because I forgot the order we get pacts with the brothers lmao

Content warnings: Mentions/allusions to tma-typical Spookies, yet another installation of my Cursed Crossover idea, lengthy debates about what makes someone choose to become an avatar of fear, spoilers for Lesson 16+ of Obey Me and S5 of TMA

What Entity Do I Think The Brothers Would Serve? (Cursed TMA x Obey Me Crossover)

Lucifer

So I put him as falling victim to the Eye/Beholding bc of his whole thing about Secrets and Pride being about wanting control over your own image

And he does have a creepy tendency in canon to always know when his brothers are up to some Dumb Shit

BUT! You know what we see in Lucifer’s character that we see in a certain Entity?

A simultaneous manipulation of others and submission to being manipulated by a higher power

That’s right, I think Luci would be a Web avatar

But Winter, Lucifer wouldn’t wanna take marching orders from someone/thing else! He’s too proud for that— You’re right! He doesn’t want to. But he will.

He willingly submitted himself and his family to Diavolo for eternity to get what he wanted (saving Lilith)

And from how much we see him work, it’s safe to say that he’s a pretty damn essential part of running the Devildom

If he really wanted to, he could probably successfully pull a coup on Diavolo

But he doesn’t, because he’s trapped himself by his own honour code

Thus, the sexual tension bromance we all know and love/insist is Deeply Problematic and blacklist (depending on how much you like/hate dialuci lol)

10/10, would fill with spiders again

Mammon

I put Mammon as falling victim to the Buried for pretty obvious reasons

But admittedly picking a fear he’d serve is trickier

I had to get a bit abstract with it, but I think the Hunt might suit him

Not necessarily the primal *cough* and police brutality *cough* parts of the Hunt tho

More like how Basira was considered an avatar of the Hunt in the fearpocalypse because of her mission/promise to Daisy

See, Greed can stem from fear

Fear of losing what you have, of no longer being able to support yourself, of being preyed upon by others

So people become greedy as a defense mechanism, to protect what they have

If they’re on the offensive, they won’t be targeted

Also, if you’re constantly pursuing more more more, there’s no time to think about anything else

Like consequences, or guilt, or Feelings

If Mammon let his little tough guy act go too far for too long, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say he could start heading down the path to avatarhood

After all, people pay big money for hitmen and bounty hunters…

Leviathan

As I said last time, I can see why people would associate Levi with the Lonely first: he’s a shut in, he acts like he wants nothing to do with people/would rather be alone, and I get it

BUT! All of that actually stems from the fact that Levi has terrible self-esteem and thinks he deserves to be this gross shut in loser

While envy can make you want to bring others down to your level, so to speak, Levi tends to just shun “normies”, not actively conspire to sabotage them

He actually does crave understanding and to have people in his life, he just doesn’t know how to go about it

Boy’s got Mega Social Anxiety is what I’m saying (funny how both the Lonely and the Eye can be real bad for that, huh)

But the Vast? Nihilism? Takes all the pressure off

If everyone is a small, insignificant speck in the face of an uncaring, unfathomably large cosmos, who cares what you do? Who cares what people think of you?

Yeah, you’d be kinda weird too if you stared into the infinite abyss of the ocean and realized it was just the maw of a gargantuan sea monster too, Karen, lay off

Plus aesthetically, the great Awful Deep most people fear in the ocean is a comfort to Levi

And again, THE VAST IS MORE THAN JUST THE SKY

I WENT ON A BOAT ONCE

LIKE REAL FAR OUT, SO I COULDN’T SEE LAND FOR DAYS

IT WAS JUST ENDLESS B L U E

AND I WAS ON A CRUISE IN THE CARIBBEAN

I SAW A FRACTION OF THE OCEAN’S S U R F A C E AND IT WAS I M M E N S E

Did you know we’ve only explored like 5% or whatever of our oceans? Think about that! Every Single Thing we know about what’s in there is just the tip of the iceberg!!! GOD KNOWS WHAT’S DOWN THERE!!! PROBABLY FUCKED UP FISH IS WHAT

*ahem* anyway, fishee

Satan

Another tricky boi

I marked him down as fearing the Desolation, as a reflection of what he fears most in himself

I probably could have also gone with Slaughter, but I’d say that’s more baby/early-Satan

Desolation is also about destruction of potential, and Satan has very carefully built himself into a non-rage-monster person

So tearing that all away from him is :)))

But what would Satan give himself over to?

Ceaseless Watcher, I want that twink OBLITERATED—

Satan clings to knowledge and erudition to distance himself from the rage he was born as

“Watch and learn” is literally how he became a person

I find it deeply funny that it could also easily be how he becomes a monster once again

Also if you think the avatar of Wrath wouldn’t have a use for supernatural blackmail you’re just straight up incorrect

Couple that with Satan’s various connections and he’d be a Force to Reckon With

Asmodeus

I put him as a victim of the Corruption bc I found it extremely fitting considering the duality of his romanticized image vs the “dirty” fluid-filled nature of Lust.

Lust can be really nasty, but as licentious as Asmo’s supposed to be, he’s surprisingly coy

(now part of that comes from the fact that Obey Me isn’t strictly 18+/full-on porn, but still)

There’s a lot of Interesting Ideas to unpack there with attitudes towards sex vs sensuality and idealisation vs reality

Now as for an avatar… I debated this for a very long time, tossing around Eye, Stranger, Spiral, even Web for like one second

But I think I’ve got it

Slaughter!

Specifically the musical/random outbursts of violence side (not so much the war side)

Why? Well for one, Biblical Asmodeus is said to “"transport men into fits of madness and desire [...] with the result that they commit sin, and fall into murderous deeds (Testament of Solomon, verse 23).”

But also, Obey Me Asmo’s affair with that portrait chick from the earlier lessons started a whole ass war

Like it or not, the boy is very good at instilling manic violence in people

They don’t call it bloodlust for nothing

Beelzebub

I paired Beel with an End avatar MC bc the boy fears losing his loved ones like he lost Lilith

You could argue that Desolation would fit there too but I liked how it fit Satan better

Now as for a Vibe…

I’m tied between Flesh and Corruption tbh

Though corruption is mostly bc buge :)

So I’ll talk about the Flesh

So uh, mass consumerism, meat is meat, cannibalism… see where I’m going?

Ignoring the Hans because that was super racist, the two Flesh avatars I remember best are Jared Hopworth and The Guy Who Stuck His Arm in a Spooky Meat Grinder To Feed His Buds

I think of Jared in relation to Beel not because of the gym thing, but because his very chill/apathetic attitude towards his patron is similar to how I’d picture Beel’s approach to all this

Like “well, guess I’m here now”

I love Beel as much as everyone else, but he’s not exactly apologetic about his… habits

Not to the degree that he’d actually try and change them anyway

So if he got started on the path to Flesh avatarhood, he’d be pretty fucked

Belphegor

I put Web for him as a fear almost entirely because of the concept of Uno Reverse Card, ngl

It does technically tie into his whole thing about being trapped in the attic, since he’d denied all agency and freedom in there, but… Uno Reverse

Dark!Belphie is an interesting concept, and MAG86 “Tucked In” is iconic, but tbh I don’t really… Get the Dark

Don’t get me wrong, put me in a dark place and I will be scared, I don’t like not seeing things, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around why one would become an avatar of the Dark

It’s not a very “primary” fear imo? Like, I’m scared of the dark bc I can’t see what’s there, ie. a threat could be there and I wouldn’t know, but intellectually I know it’s just the absence of light. That’s not really spooky on its own.

I guess what I’m saying is I can attribute spookier things related to the Dark better to other Entities, so I’m not sure what its draw is specifically

According to the Entity Sexiness Survey I did a while back, there’s apparently some Catholic stuff going on with the Dark so maybe that’s why i don’t get it lmao

Anyway I’d put Belphie down for Spiral

“What lies behind a smile” indeed cowboy

Apparently it’s getting choked

Is it because MC’s entire relationship with him is originally founded on a lie?

Is it because the Spiral deals with distortions in your perception, gaslighting gatekeeping girlbossing, as well as foggy liminal mental spaces like between sleep and consciousness, death and life?

Is it because I think Belphie would absolutely delight in driving someone bananas by fucking with their dreams until it bleeds into their waking life?

Is it because being a person or consistent being at all is too much effort, consistent internal geography is hard, fuck it, just be an endless twisting series of hallways?

Yes :)

#obey me #tma #cursed tma x om crossover #obey me headcanons #tma the entities #lucifer #mammon #leviathan #satan #asmodeus #beelzebub #belphegor

[demonologistfucker]

WIP Angel MC! x Obey Me pt 2

Part Two - The Museum date with Satan. This is just a ruff of what I got so far. I am enjoying this but i Haven’t had a lot of focus for writing. So I just wanna share what I got so far.

Step into the shoes of an intellectual. I know they are uncomfortable, but these are cushioned with a bias outside human prejudice. They have their own prejudices of course, it’s just not As silly as a humans…. Either way, it’s a different way of looking at history. There is no need to keep colonial powers looking refined and noble.

This museum is not full of anything Real. They are all magical replicas of artifacts long burned, brutalized and forgotten. While it could be enlightening to a great deal of humanity. The plaques mainly speak of the demons who worked along with those doing the burning. It left a rather sick feeling in the angel’s stomach. While showing off the great wonder that was ruined. People still boasted about causing the burning. 

Satan did a better job explaining the history. He was detached. Thinking about the matter as a history, and could talk about it easily. Yet when he turned to MC. They had tears in their eyes. Thinking of what it felt like to just be a people, and slaughtered for living. The Angel felt the reality. Both marveling at the people who could create such art and monuments, and the utter despair at how this art came to the Angel’s eyes. So Eventually the Angel started to tune out the world around them, and focused more on their guide. A stranger who was still linked arms with MC. 

“I have a question,” MC looks up into Satan’s eyes. 

“I might have an answer,” The corner of Satan’s mouth pulled into a sharp smile.

“Do you view angels and demons as enemies?” MC watches Satan’s face closely. His eyebrows shot up for only a second. A brief flash of surprise, and then quickly to thought. His gaze drifting upwards as he rolled the matter over in his mind. 

“I think about this a lot, actually,” Satan rubs his chin. “I’m unsure. We are certainly told that we are opposites, but if we looked at the data, I think we’d find something else.” Satan chews on the thought, “There is a whole research of study on whether good even exists, yet there is a realm that claims to obtain All Good. Or define what it is. Which is just ridiculous, and as you can see.” Satan puts a hand on his chest. “Demons are not raging beasts. Sin has its place in reality. Too much of it would be disastrous, true, but not enough would also be a problem.” Satan kept his gaze away from the Angel. Not truly wanting to see them get upset about his stance. 

“Can you give me an example?” MC tilts their head. “No one’s talked about sin like that before.”

“Well… Let’s use wrath. Wrath being deemed a sin which is reasonable at first. Being angry and destructive is not helpful. However, wrath has been brought out to protect children, or to fight for justice. Wrath without thought is bad, but it is not bad in itself.” Satan glances at MC to see their expression. Then stays when he sees that MC is thinking it over. 

“What matters is how it’s used.” MC says softly. To which Satan nods. “There are plenty of supposedly holy people who are really cruel to keep their virtues.” Now both MC and Satan are sharing a smile. “Some of those people really are the worst. They manage to live up to His standards and yet are still-” MC grits their teeth. 

“Bastards? Fuckers?” Satan tries to keep a helpful face, but can’t help the corner of his mouth twitch up. 

“Yes!” MC shakes their head to let out some frustration. “Then they summon me to bring them to the bathhouse.” 

“You have to bring humans to bathhouses?”

“Where ever they want to go. It is their ‘paradise’ after all, and since I’m not a high ranking angel, so I’m basically supposed to care take for whatever human souls are around me.” 

“That sounds… Infuriating.” Satan says politely. He’s overjoyed to see the Angel seething with annoyance, but then something drowns it out. Their face falls and goes back to a placid expression. 

“It’s the duty of an angel.” MC’s voice is dryer than before. 

“Hmm…” Satan realizes he shouldn’t be staring at the Angel and looks back to whatever exhibit they had landed in front of. “Do you like your duties?”

“Do you like yours?” The Angel looks blankly ahead.

“Ours are very different. I simply Am the avatar. I can spend my days reading and be finishing my duty.”

“Really?” MC looks up in surprises. 

“Well, sorta of,” Satan chuckles. “I have RAD duties I can’t get out of, But that’s my choice in the end. I respect Diavolo enough to agree to his leadership, and RAD is his domain, so I do it for him.” Satan shrugs. “They don’t take up too much time for an immortal anyways.”

“That’s… so different from Heaven. I get maybe five hours to myself a day?” MC can’t even give an accurate number. Keeping track just makes it worse. “It’s all preselected work, too. We have no choice it what domains we’re put under.”

“No choice at all?”

“Supposedly it’s from the Divine plan,” MC rolls their eyes. “But I’m unsure of it.”

“No plan is ever perfect, let alone one made from one mind alone.” Even as Satan says this, he is prepared for a fight. His few conversations with angel’s before him had always ended in one. Angels devoted their existences to this divine plan. Critiquing it was a critique of everything they stood for. Instead, MC just nods. Their eyes overwhelmed in sadness. So Satan takes a deep breath and refocuses on the world around them. 

“It is amazing what humans are able to turn rocks into,” Satan looks at the old stone statue with amazement. 

“I’ve tried to do it before, and I can never manage.” MC tapped their chin as they reminisced. “They can make rock smooth, as if they were just pinching clay.”

“I can’t even work clay well.” Satan chuckles. Then there is silence as MC’s mind wanders down a bunny trail.

“Earlier they said that I would be attending school, is that true?” Satan nods. “Weird,” MC begins to laugh. 

“Why do you laugh? I will also be attending.” Satan says this even though he finds the whole school situation fairly fun himself. Still remembers the dinner when Lucifer broke the news that joining RAD also meant having to go through university again. They had completed their courses millennia ago. Satan was honestly a little excited. Brushing up his skills wouldn’t be the worst time. Though, all the other students sounded rather stressful.

“It will be curious. I didn’t expect to be introduced to Hell this way. It’s just… Okay, you’ll understand if I tell you how I imagine this, Exchange, would go in the Celestial realm.” Satan nods and leans back. Ready to listen. “Greeted with trumpets, obviously.” Satan rolls his eyes. “Then a personal conversation with It.” This makes Satan chuckle. “Then guided around the Celestial realm to all its numerous wonders. Shown the polished paradise where you can indulge in Nearly anything.” MC lifts a finger up with a crooked grin. “Though, you Can’t be a sinner, so you must be nice to Everyone you meet. No matter how annoying. If an Issue arises, you have to bring it up at court, and have it processed. It’s worse for angels, but guests wouldn’t see that. It would take months to see the court bit anyway. It would all be Sickly sweet.”

“And here you met a busy prince, told you had to go to school, and left to get eaten.” Satan keeps his head forward, but glances to see the angel’s reaction. 

“I’m enjoying it a lot.” MC smiles. 

“Not worried about your safety?” 

“Not Much,” MC Shrugs. “I don’t think I’ll be totally helpless,” Then MC looks to Satan’s face. Which seems to loudly be saying ‘okay, tell yourself that sweetheart’. “Do you think I should worry?”

“I think it was wise that you asked for a guide,” 

“Me to,” MC smiled, “I like your company.” MC pulls the hand they have clasped with Satan’s closer. For a moment, holding Satan against them. Letting their wing brush against his back. Then MC eases back. Failing to hide a blush that ran across their face. “ Just don’t imagine me helpless.”

“I could never.” Satan smiles softly. “I am the Avatar of wrath after all, and as I can tell.” He looks down at his open hand. Pretending to hold a board. “You have indulged in my sin at least six times.” A humorously low number for Satan. The average human indulged in it at least 50 times by their first birthday. That’s for a remarkably well tempered child, too. 

“That high?” MC winces, but then straightens their spines. Remember Why that had indulged, and feeling proud of that choice. 

“That is very low, and I think it would be good for your health to indulge in it a little more.”

    “Is this how you became friends with Alexander?”

“It’s how I became much more than friends, Dear.” Satan puts a hand on his chest. Looking utterly too proud of himself. MC grimace only deepened as they felt their face heat up. They are saved by an alert on Satan’s D.D.D. “I am afraid I have dinner soon. Your human roommate will be at purgatory hall for dinner, though. I can walk you back if you like?” Satan looks rather annoyed at his phone, but his face relaxes as he looks at MC. 

“That would be nice,” MC smiles and can feel the heat once again rise in their face and chest. “What on your D.D.D made you so upset?”

“Oh, you could see that?” Satan looks rather apologetic. 

“Clear as day, man,” MC has to try and not laugh. 

 “The message came from Lucifer,” Again he says the name with such disgust. MC wants to giggle. “He was reminded I must come to dinner and meet the new human.”

    “The face you just made,” MC has to put a hand over their mouth. Thankfully, they were almost out of the museum. But on the way on they got a couple glares from the Serious Observers. “What about this new human is so upsetting?”

    “Oh it’s not them,” Satan grimaces, but then straightens his spine. 

    “Then what is it?” 

“The process of picking was idiotic. It took four years for them to finally decided on what three humans to pick. The last one was completely random, it turns out.” Satan takes a deep breath. “I left the project after the first human was picked.”

“Who are they?”

“Solomon.” Satan says with a grimace. Left is a gentle way of putting what Satan did when Solomon was picked. The table was thrown through the wall and Satan marched out through the hole. 

“Who?”

“You don’t know? Oh, right… Angel wouldn’t hear about him, I guess.” Satan chews on his lip for a second. “He is an ancient king who managed to get pacts with 72 demons, and accidentally became immortal.” Satan’s has a great number of suspicions about Solomon. There are barely any humans who have One pact with a demon. Yet this human managed to get 72, and immortality. While also maintaining a beloved relationship with a great number of people. To Satan, this reeked of evil in hiding. “He’s also a super powerful wizard and has gone through the university magic program so many times he rewrote a portion of it.”

“So that’s who they picked to show off the magical prowess, huh?”

“It doesn’t even work,” Satan groans. Satan had sat through hours of meetings debating which humans to brings, and how their presence would affect the experience for Other humans in the trip. They fisted wanted a human who had some understanding of the magical to be a grounding force for the other two. Satan had many suggestions of Other magicians who could do a job. Magicians who did have 72 pacts with demons. One of whom being his younger Sibling. “We should have picked a human who could actually use the program. He was a powerful magician before coming to our school. He used it to have fun and meet people.“ 

“So he’s open to fun?” MC bounces slightly as they walk. 

“He can be… but he’s often looking out for himself first.” Since Satan so clearly distrusts Solomon. MC chooses to ignore this, and instead is excited to meet this weird wizard.

“Ah, prioritizing ones own needs. The gift of the ego… that we all have.” MC smirks. Feeling that MC was poking fun at Satan. He bristled and turned a lovely read. 

“It’s not just ego,” Satan huffs. “How could he make so many pacts without being devious?” 

“I don’t know,” MC shrugs. “Have you asked him?”

“No,” Satan looks aghast. “He’s a cunning being, I can’t just ask him.”

“I’ve heard cunning humans can be the most fun,” MC is now starting to walk back to campus with a little more speed. 

“Who would say that?” Satan looks bewildered at the little angel. 

“Simeon,” MC says, unbothered by Satan’s judgement. 

“He enjoys Lucifer’s company, I would not blindly trust Simeon’s taste.” Satan’s lip curls upward when he mentions Lucifer. MC thought on the matter. Simeon had given Lucifer a hug. When it was rather clear that Lucifer was Not a hugger. 

“Do you know if Simeon and Lucifer know each other? I’ve never heard Simeon talk about him, but it’s also frowned upon to talk about him in general.”

“I wouldn’t know, but Lucifer did spend the most time in heaven out of all of us,”

“Ah, who’s Us?”

“Oh my brothers,” Satan sighs, “They might know if Simeon and Lucifer have a history, but I won’t be asking for you.” 

“That’s fair,” MC nods. 

“Do they not talk about the revolution in the celestial realm?”

“Only brief mention. He doesn’t like it being brought up so… most just avoid the topic. I really don’t know much about it.”

“Hmm,” Satan frowns. He didn’t want to strike Lucifer’s ego, but what he did is important history. “I might have some history books you could borrow if you’d like.” It was strange being confronted with the Angel’s reality. Satan couldn’t imagine a life without living in the shadow of that revolution. His exists was born from its grief and agony, and this Angel knew of it only in passing. Did that mean they didn’t know his history at all? 

“Oh, that would be nice, but” The Angel blushes and closes their eyes.” I’m not the best of readers. My eyes get distracted?”

“I have heard of conditions similar to that,” Satan nods, “Well the topic is a heavy one, but if you wanted I could explain our side of the history some time.” They were now walking down the path to Purgatory hall. Satan felt is stomach dip at the thought of leaving. Next would be a dinner of more polite conversation. With the chance, he’d be living with two new assholes now. “If you wanted I could put my contact in your D.D.D. That way we can schedule, and If you need a guide again-” His words faltered as the blush becomes too hot. 

“I would like that very much.” MC Smiles and hands over their D.D.D.

“Oh-” Satan just finished it with a smile, and then takes the D.D.D. With thin fingers he types it all in. “I do have a schedule, so I can’t be your guide always but,” Satan looks into the Angel’s eyes, and feels his heart get stuck in his throat. “Don’t be afraid to ask.”

“I definitely won’t,” MC says, even though their heart was starting to race. MC stumbled as they hit the first steps up into Purgatory hall. “Thank you for taking me around.” MC’s wings flutter slightly, trying to dispel anxiety. “It was really nice getting to know you.”

“It was truly a pleasure,” Satan smiles, and then bows low to the Angel. As he rises, he keeps his eyes steady with MC’s gaze. There is a heartbeat where they are both caught staring at each other. Satan should be going home now, and the Angel should be heading inside. Instead, they both linger. Feeling their hearts surging in their chests, and wondering what they can possibly do about it. “I hope you enjoy your dinner,” Satan regrets the words instantly, but his feet are already moving to walk away. 

“You to!” The Angel blurts, feeling horribly awkward, but also thrilled. The nerves of wanting to make a good impression. As they watched the elegant blond walk away. MC could still feel excitement brewing within them. 

The feeling lingered as MC walked into the main doors of Purgatory Hall. Already they could feel that something was different within the building. A new presence shifted the home's energy. The air now had the smell of a laboratory. MC wandered down the hall till they reached the kitchen. Which is where they found Simeon, Luke, and a stranger gathered around the Oven. The Stranger was tall with bright white hair. The light in his eyes was unmistakably human, but something was off. 

“Are you certain it’s supposed to look like that?” Simeon squinted at the Oven. 

“I have never done this before,” The Strange says easily, but both Simeon and Luke look utterly terrified. 

“What’s going on?” MC asks as they walk behind Luke to get a view of what’s going on. “Why is it...cracked?”

“I believe that’s a part of the baking process,” The stranger smiles warmly and then extend a hand to MC. “My name’s Solomon, I am the human exchange student who will be living with you three.”

“I’m MC,” They take Solomon’s hand. His hand is surprisingly dense and cold. Heavier than the Angel had expected. “I thought there were three humans?”

“Indeed, but the other humans get to live with the brothers.” Solomon sighs. “I still don’t understand why they get to be close to the princes of Hell and not me.” Solomon actually did have a guess why, but he wanted to pout about it.

“Do you want to hear Lucifer and Mammon fighting with each other all the time?” Simeon chuckles.

“That’s a fair point,” Solomon nods. “Not to seem like I’m complaining about being with you three,” MC hadn’t even considered that Solomon might not be happy to be staying with three angels. Now though they had to think about it. A man with 72 pacts with demons might not have the most favorable opinion of angels. MC couldn’t exactly blame him for this, but hoped it wouldn’t get in their way. 

“I think our company is much better than those demons,” Luke tilts up his chin given everyone a good look of his nostrils. 

“Not better,” Simeon tuts, “we our own kind of fun, and will still have plenty of time with the brothers if we choose.” 

“You like them?” Solomon eyes Simeon. 

“Yes,” Simeon smiles genuinely. “I am really happy to see them again.” Solomon nods, and then smiles himself. 

“Me too,”

#wip #angel!mc #obey me #obey me satan #my writing

[phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess]

Thinking about which entities the Apex Legends would serve, or be associated with, in the Magnus Archives universe.

It revolves around a weird little fic in my brain i will probably never write. Technically most of them are a mixture, but I'm in between rounds and I dont have time for a full analysis.

Crypto - The Stranger. Loss of self, of identity, being something other to achieve your goal. To abdicate who you are in pursuit of a goal, smile as you lie to the faces of people who assume you are friends... and plan to fade away once you have what you came for. IS that not the Stranger?

Fuse - The Corruption. If Salvo is to be believed, then things are very apocalyptic wasteland there; imagine the things that he has seen, has done, has experienced. It eats into your soul until abhorrent is merely a practicality... what's an arm between mates, ay?

Bangalore - The End, she seems like the type who wants a definitive start and finish to things. Order over Chaos, at any cost. It might start out as good intentions, but you know how the avatars get twisted. If the world has to end so her squad can make it home together, then so damn be it.

Bloodhound - The Hunt, naturally. Only their unwavering adherence to the code keeps them from falling to the warping feral mindset of the Hunt... for now. For Boon.

Caustic - The Eye, and in the headcanon, an archivist. Because of the way the archivist needs fear to live, to observe things die, to extract every second of fear from the victims so that their every last neuron firing in exquisite agony is transferred to his patron. He watches, for the Eternal watcher. He is not quite human anymore, and it is unsettling for normal people to be close... but he is not the greatest threat out there amongst the fears.

Lifeline - The Stranger. Lifeline woke up to the world she was moving about in, as a living prop for her parents, and severed the ties that held her in place. She shed all the artifice of her former life and took on a role so different that old friends (bar Octane) would likely have trouble understanding. She uses her abilities to help, and to hurt based on her own judgements.

Gibraltar - The Buried. Gibraltar is such a loud, fun guy and yet we know he is utterly buried under the weight of his past. Certainly it is not the metaphorical burial that we would normally expect from this Fear, but it can be almost more effective than dirt. He carries the weight of the earth on his shoulders, and feels a sinking dread in his heart for every grain that slips from his grasp.

Horizon - The Lonely. Trapped in space for decades... away from family, knowing that the person who she trusted most placed her in this situation and now has full access to her son? Of course, there is comfort in the solitude. She feels out of time, out of place, searching for a way to get back and yet torn by the implications of finding a path. Will she burn down the future to see her little boy again? ...of course she will.

Loba - The Web. Loba thrives on collecting information, weaving it together into a complicated tangle of deceptions laid bare, truths hidden, and creates a narrative that she can rign over. The flies who tremble in her webbing mean little to her, only weak beings to be devoured. She can see what is coming, but will she tell the others? Perhaps only Bangalore, so that they may experience the apocalypse as one.

Pathfinder - The Flesh. Pathfinder is obsessed with his origin, with who his 'parents' were, with whom his purpose rests. With being human, like those around him, you could say. He has more sentience than other MRVNs, and wants to experience life as his friends do... does he dream os bones and blood and sinew? Of feeling another's flesh on his own when he gives them a hug? The Flesh would whisper that he could have that... and warp the morality in his code.

Octane - The Vast, endless space to run and be free from mortal tethers. Being the sole focus of the universe, with no one to expect things of you, or question you, or need more, expect MORE. He can be free, without thought or care for anyone else... except maybe Che, and he would let her into his domain, whenever he remembered.

Revenant - The Slaughter. Murder was his thing when he was human, and it never stopped. He feels delight in the conquests, in the bodies he leaves behind. The bloodlust pulses through his circuits; the tears of those he leaves alive sustain him.

Rampart - The Spiral. Rampart is a walking wall of complicated thoughts and contradictory actions, she spirals deep into thought about the most complex machinery... and then tells the friend she's half-listening to a bad joke to make them laugh. Layers upon layers of personality cover her like armour, and everyone has a different idea of who the 'real' Rampart is. They all see a fraction, they follow the path she leaves, and in the middle? Who knows. Not even Rampart. There is a delight in the confusion of others, strange but excellent, and not even deliberately malicious. After all, mates have fun, right?

Wattson - The Eye. This was a child created for Knowing, and she would love the intricacies of chasing down obscure mysteries or finding out how to reroute a potentially world-ending ritual with her scientific mind. She could easily be tempte by the Lonely... but her friends in the legends make certain she is never alone. Wattson can be cruel, but often to be kind... and really, sometimes the Truth Hurts. Does it not?

Wraith - The Buried. What is wraith but a person whose mind and memories are buried away where they cannot be reached? In a sense, she is gone but still breathing. Suffocating under the weight of not knowing who she is, was, should be.

Mirage - The Dark. Fear of being alone, of being forgotten, of being turned away from all you ever knew. The fear of being nothing and no one... is almost as terrifying and all-consuming as the fear of being surrounded by people whose attention is solely on him, watching and waiting for his every word. Baite breaths waiting for him to fall from grace so he can shatter before their cameras, so they can get notoriety. His mind wants, and rejects it. He fears the darkness of being in the shadows of others... and craves it.

Valkyrie - The Vast. She craves the emoty stretch of sky, where the world looks so small and speckled below her. Something she is aware of, but separate from. The tragedy of her father's loss made her seek solitude, and even in the midst of the other heroes, she has a sense of... other, of distance. She is queen of the air, and nothing can burn her wings.

#apex legends #the magnus archives #i dunno ive been dreaming of a weird idea #imagine if the creature from the tunnels got free in the games #seeking the archivist #but its wearing wattson's father's face... #and soeone has to use their eye powers to make it change but shes already devastated #knowing her father was consumed #the cameras explode #and there are so many questions #but now is not the time #the archivist is weakened #having severed the connection with the archives and that is killing him #already threats are arriving to court or taunt the perceived 'next' archivist #and she doesnt know #the others have a story each of experiences they had forgotten #there is little time #the fears are coming

[missed-connections-of-fear]

on avatarhood post-fearpocalypse

Not sure how to write this one down. When I haven't been actively putting it off, I've been starting and deleting this for the past hour or so. I think a place of honesty is the best way I can carry forward. So, uh, four things:

1. This isn't really much of a lost connection. Sorry.

There are some people I encountered that I do, genuinely, want to see and/or hear from again. There are others that, while I don't want to see again, I am morbidly curious to see where they ended up. The only problem is that, well, in some ways I did lose connection! Internet connection. Voluntarily.

After the apocalypse, I just didn't touch the internet for months. It was annoying as hell, but I absolutely had to. For the first month after I got home, I kept most of my electronics in a box. Stayed as far away from social media as possible, and am still trying to. This is because--

2. My domain was... weird.

As in: my domain was my phone. I think.

No, I wasn't (physically) trapped inside of it, or attached to it in a dependent way. Well, I guess in some ways I was trapped in there, right? When I realized that my phone was... I don't know, malevolent? Influencing me? Influencing others? When I realized that, I tried to break it or throw it away a few times, but it'd remain in tact, or just come back like the world's weirdest boomerang.

But even during the apocalypse, it was just a normal phone (aside from not running out of battery). It was my only degree of normalcy, so I started to make diary vlogs. I thought it was really funny how TikTok was still operational, so I decided to post some there for kicks just to see what other people thought. Hell, I just wanted to know if there were other people still out there.

I didn't want to think about the implications. I still don't. Call me a coward if you'd like: I certainly do.

3. I need to find someone else like me.

The main reason I'm writing this here, now, is that I want to know I wasn't the only one who had a domain like this. I hadn't realized how literal some domains were until everyone else in my life started to talk about it, and for--er, reasons--I wanted to keep my mouth shut just in case whatever I said gave someone the wrong idea.

I really need to hear that I'm not the only one whose domain wasn't a place. I really want to hear that there's someone else out there who--I don't know, wasn't confined to a location but was still afraid. Apparently there were some people who just can't feel afraid and weren't affected, and there was this whole thing about Melanie King "severing a connection" or whatever, but... I was neither of those things.

I've always been a little emotionally detached, but that didn't mean I wasn't fucking terrified, y'know? I could see the Change from my apartment window and I thought my family's mental illnesses were finally catching up to me. There are so many things I thoughtlessly recorded that I ended up deleting once everything stopped. I don't even know why I thought it'd be a good idea to keep those, even if it was just to reaffirm to myself that it was, in fact, happening.

Recently I bought a new phone. The dread remains all the same whenever I look it.

4. I think I was an Avatar.

I tried to delay the inevitable as long as I could, but that was probably, deeply, unfair. And this is starting to get away from me very fast, so I think I need to get to the point, like, now.

I don't want to get too deeply into it--"it" being all the warning signs and personal trauma and whatever the fuck entails "becoming an Avatar." I might have even been an Avatar even before the Change; I genuinely don't know, but it doesn't matter much to me anymore.

(My personal opinion is that, in the apocalypse--and if evidence suggests, before it--there was a spectrum with two ends when it came to the entities: the fearful and the feared. One ate, one was eaten, and your point on that spectrum could be shifted at any time. Any time.)

That aside, I genuinely don't know what entity I "served" or whatever. It was part coping and part survival the entire way through for me. Beholding seems like the obvious choice, since I was recording and talking to people, but... I embodied a lot of other things too. I think if I explain it, it'll make more sense:

Sometime into making my vlogs, I started running into other people. They'd always be a little bewildered to see me, but whatever torture they were enduring or inflicting would just... come to a halt. In the beginning, I didn't even realize that the people were going through hell: I was just so relieved to see someone that I'd call out to them, ask them how they were doing, sit with them and just relish the company of a human being for awhile. I didn't even realize the camera was recording some of the time.

And those first few times, I'd practically beg the person (or people) to come with me. They always accepted, even though I was simultaneously super clingy and closed-off. They always put up with me and my stupid phone. But they were never able to stick around.

By the time I stopped remembering faces, I stopped asking.

I had resolved to find somebody important to me in the very beginning, so I was always travelling. But I never stopped trying to talk to anyone I found. I'd always say some shit like, "Care to introduce yourself to the viewers?" and, "So tell us what traumas are going into your cringe compilation," and other influencer lingo just to lighten the mood, but some things--referring to the "viewers" and speaking about myself in the plural--became reflex.

And our conversations always came with the expectation of speaking of some sort of trauma. A tiny part of me always looked forward to it: I always tried to remind myself that people wanted to talk about themselves, their problems, and to be able to talk; that I was just one of many people in a bad situation and that I shouldn't prioritize my own suffering.

But I think... well, if I describe it, there's no damn way I won't be called a sociopath by someone. So just assume that I uncomplicatedly enjoyed their pain and pat yourself on the back for being able to believe you're still morally upright after all this time.

Sorry. It's just... I've been thinking about how people might respond a lot. I've curated a lot of this just to make sure no one tries to witch-hunt me while still trying to keep my story believable.

I think that's a sign to stop digging my own grave.

Apologies for how long it got in the end there, haha. I'm trying to... not really put this all behind me, I don't think any of us can. I've accepted what had become of me--or, well, I'm in the process of it--thus why I'm back on the internet in the first place.

I haven't gotten rid of the old phone yet, because... I've been thinking about uploading some of the videos I've recorded. From the Fearpocalypse. I desperately want to delete all of it, to keep it out of reach (my reach, particularly), but I... I think it needs to be archived somewhere. Anywhere.

You’re not an advice column, but since I’ve already gotten this far… well, I shouldn’t ask more than that. If I upload those videos, and you recognize me or yourself, feel free to reach out. I live in East Texas, but I somehow stumbled across some domains in Britain, Egypt, Japan, the Philippines, etc… (I didn’t learn about the Entities until the late leg of the apocalypse, so I was just trying to find domains that seemed to connect to the fears of the person I was looking for. Lots of Lonely, Slaughter, and End domains.)

(ROSE’S NOTES: damn another long post, I don’t know what to say. I uh. I hope you can find comfort in the internet again. I personally don’t know what i’d do if I had that domain. The internet is a safe place for me and has been for nearly a decade. Damn. Rose getting into stuff she should talk to a therapist about huh? Anyways. I guess to make a post that’s already long longer, I hope this post has made you feel better. I hope you find someone to talk with who understands what you went through. Take care my friend)

#the magnus archives #tma #unreality #unreality tw #missed connections of fear #submission