#archivist responds

[which-item-poll-archive]

I know you're doing this all manually, and this is just a recommendation, but for the posts that don't have names of what they are that give away what site they're on it's going to be impossible to find what site to find the items on without a tag for the shop. Cuz once the original blog is deleted there's no way to check the original tags, where the shop name usually was found

This wouldn't apply to indie shops at least because they used links to the shop directly in post it just applies to things from Amazon or Shein or what have you

My auto tagger wasn't working and I found out way too late in the process. But it's gotta be fixed because you're right. Literally had to spend a few hours thinking of what to do about it.

Updated my pinned as well to say this but I've fixed the auto tagger so I've had to clear the queue and drafts. I'll just have to start again. In the meantime I'm gonna edit the already re-blogged posts to have the tags because I don't want to delete and repost them (I don't want to explode OP's notifications any more than I'm already going to)

Thank you for saying something and for your suggestion. (Imagine if I hadn't noticed the autotagger broke..... Imagine it for me because I don't want to imagine)

[which-item-poll-archive]

Thank you for the extra time and the boost!

I've got some stuff going on IRL but I'm still gonna try and get it all done ASAP and I'll let you know when I'm done with my archive!

💖

I will be keeping this blog up a few weeks longer just to give people time to archive it. (Like @which-item-poll-archive)

[caspens-world-of-awesomeness]

what if you threw up? I'd tie your hair back of course! Hmm....now that i think about it- I wonder if s4 Jon had anyone to tie his hair up for him...haha....

[royalarchivist]

My favorite part of running Royal Archivist is definitely reading the tags people put in their reblogs. I really love seeing people react to goofy bits or wild lore, it's just fun seeing people crack jokes or roast their streamer or have the same reaction I did while watching stream.

This blog (and the VOD Timestamp Archive) take up a lot of time and energy I don't really have, but seeing everyone's tags and seeing the kind messages I get every once in a while thanking me for my work make me so :'))))) I know MCYT fandoms tend to have a bad rap, but everyone who interacts with Royal Archivist has genuinely so kind and funny (with one or two exceptions) and it's really nice to see. I love seeing the love people have for QSMP.

[the-archivistslendlr]

pov tma

The Archivist Does Not Know What You Are Saying.

,Sincerely The Archivist

[ask-thearchivists]

yeah but those were our own children. we didn't just go around slaughtering the children of other species all willy-nilly. that's impolite. and also, wasteful. what's the point if you're not even going to EAT them?! sigh......

The Charmer: Oh, you didn't see everything then. My followers ate all the Titans they killed. They believed it was important to honor their kills by not wasting a scrap. It did cause odd effects on them though. Their aging slowed quite a lot for instance. Sometimes I wonder if any of the originals still live.

[entities-of-posts]

hi, spider guy here, follow up to the last statement: i do take them outside gently with a cup and a piece of paper, but ive been feeling progressively worse and worse about it because its so very hot and rainy outside and its nice and air conditioned in my house. and they probably want a nice place to live too ::::( they also freak out in the cup and ive tried gently speaking to them to calm them down (and sometimes it works weirdly enough?) but i always feel so so guilty for scaring them or destroying their cobwebs because they worked soooo hard on them and they’re very pretty ::::((((

i don’t think i’d mind all that much being aligned with the mother of puppets too bad either if i could just keep the house sanitary. spiders are nice and i’ve never felt that in control anyways. i’d just rather belong to the beholding because i like researching things and categorizing and organizing until i can barely think anymore (it’s a compulsion at this point.)

Oh you are giving me very unpleasant déjà-vu. No matter how comforting it may seem to let go, let her take control, it will not go well for you. Sooner or later you’ll be more useful as food. Or perhaps, like me, you’ll end up finding something other than her you want to live for, and she will not like that.

But I suppose it’s your funeral.

The spiders are probably better off outside though; inside, they’re likely to have no other prey than each other. Which they don’t mind, of course, but if you want them not to be eaten by their siblings, putting them out is better. And they remake their webs several times a day anyway, I promise it’s not a big deal to disturb them.

[sixty-silver-wishes]

so I just woke up to an email from irina shostakovich. so that’s how my life is going

[itstimeforstarwars]

My diary when I was a teenager: I am so angry and this is where I put my rage about how the world is ending and how mad I am about it and how much I hate politicians and the school board

My diary now: here is a recounting of what I did today as well as how I feel about some of the news from today, so that in twenty years when everyone is lying about how the 2020s went I have proof that I'm not insane.

[a-lost-archivist]

Peliper mail!

An encyclopedia of the plants of Hisui

Oh ah- thank you. This'll give me something to look over while I recover (once I finish helping Cyllene that is)

[brandyschillace]

The Forgotten History of the World’s First Transgender Clinic

I finished the first round of edits on my nonfiction history of trans rights today. It will publish with Norton in 2025, but I decided, because I feel so much of my community is here, to provide a bit of the introduction.

[begin sample]

The Institute for Sexual Sciences had offered safe haven to homosexuals and those we today consider transgender for nearly two decades. It had been built on scientific and humanitarian principles established at the end of the 19th century and which blossomed into the sexology of the early 20th. Founded by Magnus Hirschfeld, a Jewish homosexual, the Institute supported tolerance, feminism, diversity, and science. As a result, it became a chief target for Nazi destruction: “It is our pride,” they declared, to strike a blow against the Institute. As for Magnus Hirschfeld, Hitler would label him the “most dangerous Jew in Germany.”6 It was his face Hitler put on his antisemitic propaganda; his likeness that became a target; his bust committed to the flames on the Opernplatz. You have seen the images. You have watched the towering inferno that roared into the night. The burning of Hirschfeld’s library has been immortalized on film reels and in photographs, representative of the Nazi imperative, symbolic of all they would destroy. Yet few remember what they were burning—or why.

Magnus Hirschfeld had built his Institute on powerful ideas, yet in their infancy: that sex and gender characteristics existed upon a vast spectrum, that people could be born this way, and that, as with any other diversity of nature, these identities should be accepted. He would call them Intermediaries.

Intermediaries carried no stigma and no shame; these sexual and Gender nonconformists had a right to live, a right to thrive. They also had a right to joy. Science would lead the way, but this history unfolds as an interwar thriller—patients and physicians risking their lives to be seen and heard even as Hitler began his rise to power. Many weren’t famous; their lives haven’t been celebrated in fiction or film. Born into a late-nineteenth-century world steeped in the “deep anxieties of men about the shifting work, social roles, and power of men over women,” they came into her own just as sexual science entered the crosshairs of prejudice and hate. The Institute’s own community faced abuse, blackmail, and political machinations; they responded with secret publishing campaigns, leaflet drops, pro-homosexual propaganda, and alignments with rebel factions of Berlin’s literati. They also developed groundbreaking gender affirmation surgeries and the first hormone cocktail for supportive gender therapy.

Nothing like the Institute for Sexual Sciences had ever existed before it opened its doors—and despite a hundred years of progress, there has been nothing like it since. Retrieving this tale has been an exercise in pursuing history at its edges and fringes, in ephemera and letters, in medal texts, in translations. Understanding why it became such a target for hatred tells us everything about our present moment, about a world that has not made peace with difference, that still refuses the light of scientific evidence most especially as it concerns sexual and reproductive rights.

[end sample]

I wanted to add a note here: so many people have come together to make this possible. Like Ralf Dose of the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft (Magnus Hirschfeld Archive), Berlin, and Erin Reed, American journalist and transgender rights activist—Katie Sutton, Heike Bauer. I am also deeply indebted to historian, filmmaker and formative theorist Susan Stryker for her feedback, scholarship, and encouragement all along the way. And Laura Helmuth, editor of Scientific American, whose enthusiasm for a short article helped bring the book into being. So many LGBTQ+ historians, archivists, librarians, and activists made the work possible, that its publication testifies to the power of the queer community and its dedication to preserving and celebrating history. But I ALSO want to mention you, folks here on tumblr who have watched and encouraged and supported over the 18 months it took to write it (among other books and projects). @neil-gaiman has been especially wonderful, and @always-coffee too: thank you.

The support of this community has been important as I’ve faced backlash in other quarters. Thank you, all.

NOTE: they are attempting to rebuild the lost library, and you can help: https://magnus-hirschfeld.de/archivzentrum/archive-center/

[thaoworra]

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association recently released the poems that made it to the finalist stage for consideration for the 2024 Rhysling Awards for Short and Long Speculative Poems of the year. Congratulations to all of the nominees! This will be the 46th year these awards have been conferred!

Short Poems (50 finalists)

Attn: Prime Real Estate Opportunity!, Emily Ruth Verona, Under Her Eye: A Women in Horror Poetry Collection Volume II

The Beauty of Monsters, Angela Liu, Small Wonders 1

The Blight of Kezia, Patricia Gomes, HWA Poetry Showcase X

The Day We All Died, A Little, Lisa Timpf, Radon 5

Deadweight, Jack Cooper, Propel 7

Dear Mars, Susan L. Lin, The Sprawl Mag 1.2

Dispatches from the Dragon's Den, Mary Soon Lee, Star*Line 46.2

Dr. Jekyll, West Ambrose, Thin Veil Press December

First Eclipse: Chang-O and the Jade Hare, Emily Jiang, Uncanny 53

Five of Cups Considers Forgiveness, Ali Trotta, The Deadlands 31

Gods of the Garden, Steven Withrow, Spectral Realms 19

The Goth Girls' Gun Gang, Marisca Pichette, The Dread Machine 3.2

Guiding Star, Tim Jones, Remains to be Told: Dark Tales of Aotearoa, ed. Lee Murray (Clan Destine Press)

Hallucinations Gifted to Me by Heatstroke, Morgan L. Ventura, Banshee 15

hemiplegic migraine as willing human sacrifice, Ennis Rook Bashe, Eternal Haunted Summer Winter Solstice

Hi! I am your Cortical Update!, Mahaila Smith, Star*Line 46.3

How to Make the Animal Perfect?, Linda D. Addison, Weird Tales 100

I Dreamt They Cast a Trans Girl to Give Birth to the Demon, Jennessa Hester, HAD October

Invasive, Marcie Lynn Tentchoff, Polar Starlight 9

kan-da-ka, Nadaa Hussein, Apparition Lit 23

Language as a Form of Breath, Angel Leal, Apparition Lit October

The Lantern of September, Scott Couturier, Spectral Realms 19

Let Us Dream, Myna Chang, Small Wonders 3

The Magician's Foundling, Angel Leal, Heartlines Spec 2

The Man with the Stone Flute, Joshua St. Claire, Abyss & Apex 87

Mass-Market Affair, Casey Aimer, Star*Line 46.4

Mom's Surprise, Francis W. Alexander, Tales from the Moonlit Path June

A Murder of Crows, Alicia Hilton, Ice Queen 11

No One Now Remembers, Geoffrey Landis, Fantasy and Science Fiction Nov./Dec.

orion conquers the sky, Maria Zoccula, On Spec 33.2

Pines in the Wind, Karen Greenbaum-Maya, The Beautiful Leaves (Bamboo Dart Press)

The Poet Responds to an Invitation from the AI on the Moon, T.D. Walker, Radon Journal 5

A Prayer for the Surviving, Marisca Pichette, Haven Speculative 9

Pre-Nuptial, F. J. Bergmann, The Vampiricon (Mind's Eye Publications)

The Problem of Pain, Anna Cates, Eye on the Telescope 49

The Return of the Sauceress, F. J. Bergmann, The Flying Saucer Poetry Review February

Sea Change, David C. Kopaska-Merkel and Ann K. Schwader, Scifaikuest May

Seed of Power, Linda D. Addison, The Book of Witches ed. Jonathan Strahan (Harper Collins)

Sleeping Beauties, Carina Bissett, HWA Poetry Showcase X

Solar Punks, J. D. Harlock, The Dread Machine 3.1

Song of the Last Hour, Samuel A. Betiku, The Deadlands 22

Sphinx, Mary Soon Lee, Asimov's September/October

Storm Watchers (a drabbun), Terrie Leigh Relf, Space & Time

Sunflower Astronaut, Charlie Espinosa, Strange Horizons July

Three Hearts as One, G. O. Clark, Asimov's May/June

Troy, Carolyn Clink, Polar Starlight 12

Twenty-Fifth Wedding Anniversary, John Grey, Medusa's Kitchen September

Under World, Jacqueline West, Carmina Magazine September

Walking in the Starry World, John Philip Johnson, Orion's Belt May

Whispers in Ink, Angela Yuriko Smith, Whispers from Beyond (Crystal Lake Publishing)

Long Poems (25 finalists)

Archivist of a Lost World, Gerri Leen, Eccentric Orbits 4

As the witch burns, Marisca Pichette, Fantasy 87

Brigid the Poet, Adele Gardner, Eternal Haunted Summer Summer Solstice

Coding a Demi-griot (An Olivian Measure), Armoni “Monihymn” Boone, Fiyah 26

Cradling Fish, Laura Ma, Strange Horizons May

Dream Visions, Melissa Ridley Elmes, Eccentric Orbits 4

Eight Dwarfs on Planet X, Avra Margariti, Radon Journal 3

The Giants of Kandahar, Anna Cates, Abyss & Apex 88

How to Haunt a Northern Lake, Lora Gray, Uncanny 55

Impostor Syndrome, Robert Borski, Dreams and Nightmares 124

The Incessant Rain, Rhiannon Owens, Evermore 3

Interrogation About A Monster During Sleep Paralysis, Angela Liu, Strange Horizons November

Little Brown Changeling, Lauren Scharhag, Aphelion 283

A Mere Million Miles from Earth, John C. Mannone, Altered Reality April

Pilot, Akua Lezli Hope, Black Joy Unbound eds. Stephanie Andrea Allen & Lauren Cherelle (BLF Press)

Protocol, Jamie Simpher, Small Wonders 5

Sleep Dragon, Herb Kauderer, The Book of Sleep (Written Image Press)

Slow Dreaming, Herb Kauderer, The Book of Sleep (Written Image Press)

St. Sebastian Goes To Confession, West Ambrose, Mouthfeel 1

Value Measure, Joseph Halden and Rhonda Parrish, Dreams and Nightmares 125

A Weather of My Own Making, Nnadi Samuel, Silver Blade 56

Welcoming the New Girl, Beth Cato, Penumbric October

What You Find at the Center, Elizabeth R McClellan, Haven Spec Magazine 12

The Witch Makes Her To-Do List, Theodora Goss, Uncanny 50

The Year It Changed, David C. Kopaska-Merkel, Star*Line 46.4

Voting for the Rhysling Award begins July 1; a link to the ballot will be sent with the Rhysling Anthology, as well as with the July issue of Star*Line. More information on the Rhysling Award can be found here.

[theendorisit]

apropos of nothing, I made Tape-E

Who is Tape-E?

During one of the TMA livestreams (trying to remember which one), a fan question was asked ‘Is there a mascot (for the Archives or the show itself not sure)?’ One of the team suggested ‘Tape-y?’, to which everyone else responded with ‘Oh no!!’. So I thought, oh yes! So yeah, this is your fault 😘

What is Tape-E?

As Mr Bonzo is a parody of Mr Blobby, Tape-E is a parody of Clippy (these last two names rhyme).

Who is Clippy?

Clippy was a microsoft office assistant, introduced in 1997. He was a little virtual paperclip (officially called Clippit, but that name never caught on) who sat on the bottom right corner of the page, and was programmed to give advice in popup speech bubbles when certain actions were taken. For example, if you wrote out an address and ‘Dear’, Clippy would say ‘Looks like you’re writing a letter. Would you like help?’. The name Tape-E in the livestream seemed to be referring to Clippy, as there are many similarities in the behaviour of Clippy, and the actual tapes/ tape recorders in-universe:

always on by default

appears at inconvenient times

provides help you do not want

hated by (mostly) everyone

watching you with cold dead eyes

enjoyed by nostalgia and retro seekers

Why make Tape-E?

As I am of the same generation as some of the RQ peeps, I unironically loved Clippy and Mr Blobby as a child, and it gives me great joy to imagine, in the TMP universe, Sam getting a little pop up: ‘Looks like you’re trying to code a case file! Would you like some help with that?’ In our world this would be impossible - Windows NT (as the official name) was dropped in 1996, one year before Clippy was born, BUT there is voice recording on TMP’s ancient computers, so it’s not totally impossible! 😅😁

What are cassette tapes?

Just a little recap for those who didn’t grow up with tapes: Cassette Tapes contain information embedded in magnetic tape, wrapped around one spool and attached to a second spool. When played, the spools are turned by the machine and the magnetic tape is wound onto the other spool, the information read out through speakers as the magnetic tape moves through sensors. As the magnetic tape can contain different information depending on the direction of tape movement, you can flip the cassette tape over in the machine, and play the tape again, hearing another load of information. This concept is never utilised in the show, but it does mean that cassette tapes have A-sides, and B-sides (as Vinyl records do). Here, of course, this stands for Archivist-side, and Brutalpipemurder-side. On occasion, the magnetic tapes would become damaged, or bent, and could be pushed out of the cassette, causing a horrible noise, and terror to small children who were only trying to listen to their Just William tapes. When this happened, a pencil (or in my case, my little finger) could be jammed into the spiky spool ‘teeth’, to rewind the magnetic tape back into the cassette. Maybe that’s why the eyes are red? 🩸 I am very glad that the TMA tapes are magic, and record endlessly, never need flipping, and never get chewed up by the hungry machine.

Why is the name Tape-E?

Canon answer: the name stands for Tape-Eyes. Possibly Tape-Entity? Undecided.

Actual answer: Tape-y, Tapey and Tapie spellings look weird to me. I think Tape-E looks best.

Why a tape and not a tape recorder?

if you can crochet a tape recorder, you’re a genius and I love you.

What gender is Tape-E?

I might refer to Tape-E as male sometimes because that’s how people often referred to Clippy. But Tape-E is whatever gender Tape-E feels like being.

Why now?

Why not? also now is a good time because TMP episode 15 is an excellent episode

What’s going to happen to Tape-E?

I’m going to gift it to Jonny sometime, if we get more liveshows or book signings. It’s his fault this exists after all. Plus you can write whatever you like in the speech bubbles! Hopefully I can give it calmly? But maybe Tape-E will be yeeted in his general direction in a fit of ADHD-fuelled social anxiety. Only time will tell.

Tape-E is a pattern and design created entirely by myself. The inspiration and world building from whence it came, is entirely the genius of @jonnywaistcoat Jonny Sims, Rusty Quill @rqbossman and The Magnus Archives, which is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill and licensed under a creative commons attribution, non-commercial share alike 4.0 international license.

Clippy was invented by Microsoft and Kevan Atteberry, who now illustrates children’s books.

Mr Blobby is an adorable abomination, created from a fevered mind.

[the-archivistslendlr]

sorry i'm a bit confused on how we send information lol?

If You Have Not Received An Ask With The List Of Questions, The Pinned Post Has Them Listed.

You May Send Information In On A Slendlr (Or Adjacent) Character By Reblogging The Pinned Post With The Questions You Are Comfortable Answering Or Have Answers To Similiar To How The Asks Of the Questions Have Been Answered. (If You Are Familiar With @/slendermatchmaker Similiar To How They Took Participants For Matchmaking)

You May Also Send In An Ask Or Submission Listing The Answers To The Questions (If done This Way It Is Preferred The Questions And Character(s) Are Listed For Clarity) Or You May Request An Ask Of The Questions Be Sent To You Directly. You Can Do So By Sending An Ask, Reblog Or Comment A Requesting Saying As Much If That Is More Convenient.

The Archivist Will Add, If You Wish To Add Additional Information On A Character (Or Varient) And Have Formerly Answered An Ask You May Do Any Of The Above Requesting They Be Added.

If It's A Change Or Additional Information It would Be Prefered It Be Sent In An Ask Or Submission Listing The Character And What Information Needs To Be Changed.

If It's An Addition It Is Additionally Preferred If It's Listed As Either General Information, LORE, Or Fun Facts And Additional Information Should It Apply To Neither.

If This Is Still Unclear The Archivist Will Try To Clarify Differently To Be More Clear.

,Sincerely The Archivist

[ask-thearchivists]

Charmer you are such an autism kingqueen

The Charmer: What is an "autism"?

[ladysisyphus]

For the past eight or so years, I've been off and on doing research on a particular group of (mostly) gay men from the '80s. The going has been slow, in part because in all this time, I've never once been working at a job that paid me for my research product. But whatever, you know, we're academics, it's what we do, so I'm knuckling down this summer and getting some work done.

Even though most of the people involved in this group, you will not be surprised to learn, have been dead for decades now, after spending this long with these materials, I feel almost like I know these guys. I recognize their names when they pop up in newsletters and editorials. I even know what some of their voices sound like, thanks to dedicated preservationists and digital archivists. That's part of what keeps me going with it, you know? It feels less like work and like I'm doing a favor for some friends.

Most everybody I'm focusing on, I know a fair bit about them, including where they were born and when they died. But there's still some people on the periphery of the story where I know their names from their interactions with the group, but I don't know much about them otherwise. After reading about a particular event yesterday, I decided to ask Google about one of those men, expecting the search to turn up maybe some newspaper articles and an obituary.

The first hit was a Facebook page. Well, sure, his name's pretty uncommon, but not completely rare, so this could be... No, there were too many very specific clues about his identity to be a coincidence. This man that I 1000% had assumed was dead? Retired and living comfortably several states away, with a Facebook he'd updated five hours ago.

And the thought that burst fully formed from my head like Athena herself was:

OMG IT'S BLORBO FROM MY RESEARCH!!!!!!

So I sent him messages on Facebook and Instagram, and he responded, and now I'm corresponding with Blorbo from my Research to set up a time where I can interview him. And maybe put him in Situations? No, see, I think he put himself in Situations forty years ago, and that's why I've come calling. Anyway, the punchline to this story is that I am not a functioning adult with a doctorate, I am 30-50 feral memes in a trenchcoat.