#come to think of it. i think simon fairchild would probably be the sort of person to wear parachute pants and a propellor cap.

[podcast-hemocytoblast]

My theory, based off the fact that Jane Prentiss could be fought off with fire extinguishers, is that Avatars of each Fear have weaknesses specific to their patrons, like pokémon types. My guesses are:

Corruption - CO2

Dark - flashlight/torch

Buried - keep a tiny shovel on you at all times so if you get buried alive you can dig your way out. (like one of those little shovels for making sand castles maybe?)

Lonely - get a tomodachi so that you will never be alone

Vast - parachute pants + propeller cap to slow your descent while falling

Eye - they have like. a fucktillion eyes. you could probably pepper spray them and they would cry so hard forever

Web - blow on the spiders/Web Avatar like a birthday candles. Spiders are sensitive to air vibrations so i think they probably would not like this

Desolation - if it rains or you hit them with a super soaker they can’t do jack shit. or if you don’t have a super soaker, maybe just try chasing them with a hose

Hunt - tell them to come back with a warrant.

Flesh - you may be meat, but they are meat too. bite them first to assert your dominance

Slaughter - politely remind them that they cannot murder you, because that is illegal

Spiral - figure out what direction the Spiral twists in and turn in the opposite direction to cancel out the centripetal force. If you are in the northern hemisphere, The Spiral goes down the drain counterclockwise, so you should turn clockwise. If you are in the southern hemisphere, The Spiral goes down the drain clockwise, so you should turn counterclockwise

End - play dead. what’re they gonna do. kill you twice? sure they could try calling your bluff, but if they’re wrong that would be like, super embarrassing for them

Stranger - honestly Stranger Avatars all seem like they’d have a little bit of prosopagnosia so if you just put on a little face paint and a clown costume, you could probably convince them that you’re one of them

Anyways I’m open to feedback, so if anyone wants to add on your own theories pls do :)

[rowanraven08]

So I just need to fucking rant about my boys being stuck in the ‘puters. CAUSE MAN DO I HAVE THOUGHTS. Have probably said some of this before, but not all.

So I’m thoroughly convinced that they’ve been properly coded in, Sergey Ushanka style, and also based off that statement, there’s no doubt in my mind that it hurts for them. I know this is a different universe, but unless computer folks are a common thing here, why would the plot give them anything less than more trauma? But I’m actually kinda concerned about how they’ll be once/if they get out?? Like aside from the trauma of it even, Tessa Winters said you can’t code people in the way people really are, and I’m kinda worried that through the whole thing that they might be different, or have lost a little bit of themself, the way that if you put something through google translate to many times it comes out all messed up, mostly with the same meaning, but words have still changed.

Other than that even, how the hell is Jon gonna cope/currently coping with not being omniscient?? I imagine going from knowing almost everything to having to seek out the information yourself again would be a huge hurdle. Even if now he has the equivalent of what Elias could do, seeing out of any eye, but instead just seeing out of any camera, that would be so disorienting. Never mind the fact they’re in an alternate universe.

The whole thing just makes me so sad, they can’t communicate clearly, are clearly trying tooth and nail to help and to get the OIAR gang to understand, stuck in this nonexistence that is probably excruciating, and no one except probably Colin and Celia even knows they exist. (I’m operating under the assumption Celia knows what’s up, she’s a smart girl she knows this isn’t a coincidence) But Colin clearly fucking hates them, Sam is only just starting to realize the computers are listening, and Celia doesn’t actually seem to be trying to help them, the only thing we know about her research is that she was looking into alternate universes and time travel sort of stuff, and that now she’s looking into alchemy. My boys are SCREAMING to be heard and no one will listen.

Like what will they even do? Worst case scenario, they’re stuck like that forever. Best case scenario, they get out, and somehow manage to get home (unlikely in my opinion) only to be met with a world still rebuilding, where everyone hates them. Last scene in TMA? Literally Melanie, Georgie, and Basira talking about how it’s better off they can’t find Jon, and they’re right,

“I mean, I just don’t think people would exactly be understanding. You remember what happened when they found Simon Fairchild?”

“And he’s not just some powerless left-behind avatar, you know? We’re talking about ‘The Archivist’.”

People would absolutely kill Jon if he came back, and they knew who he was, and I think being able to fly under the radar isn’t an option seeing as he literally haunted people’s dreams for a while. Who’s to say he could even stay alive in a world without the fears? Death might finally catch up to him, the exhaustion, everything. I don’t think going back is an option for them.

Maybe for Celia, if it’s even possible. But I think at this point she’d be happier in Protocol universe than Archives. She couldn’t even remember her original name in late s5, and didn’t remember Martin, she seemed to have lost at least a good portion of her memory if not all. If that didn’t come back after the apocalypse, she has more actual connection to Protocol, the cult being her only real connection to Archives. Maybe she’s trying to get back just because of principle, she’s not considering if that’s really what she wants because it’s the clear next step. But I don’t think she’d be able to leave Jack behind. I don’t even think she really is his proper mother, I’m guessing she somehow took other Celia’s (Lynne’s) identity, and just took over caring for Jack. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love him.

I really do hope Jon and Martin get out of the computer, it’ll be so hard for them to deal with everything, but maybe if they stayed in Protocol they could still build a life together.

Some other random stuff:

So I went through, and found (I think) all the times we hear the jmj. error.

Ep 3 we get an error, which actually starts working when Colin threatens it, and it starts up with a statement from our buddy Norris, and I actually find it kinda amusing to imagine Martin being scared into reading the statement by the frustrated IT guy.

We also get an error in ep 5, after Gwen asks about the German IT guy before Colin. Which a.) why is she asking about him, b.) if I’m right about the errors being an attempt at communication, why do they think the guy’s important? C.) I had thought before that the German bit of code could be Jonah or something since he may have known German? But pretty sure that was too speculative, it makes more sense for it to have just been the German IT guy. D.) he’s mentioned as having a bunch of tattoos, which so far has not meant good things.

Ep 17 which I talked about in a different post, where the error lasted long enough for Gwen and Alice to nearly talk about stuff, only starting up again once they end that bit of the conversation without actually talking about it

And then ofc in 19 when Alice won’t listen to Sam about the computers listening.

I don’t think I missed any, but I might have? So if anyone notices one I missed lemme know please

Also only just realized a few days ago that jmj. isn’t an ACTUAL error, I know Colin says ep 3 it doesn’t mean anything, but I had actually taken that as Colin just being frustrated, and hadn’t read into. Jmj doesn’t even fucking exist, my guess is that it stands for Jon Martin Jonah?

Also what’s everyone’s thoughts on Teddy? Because that man is getting kinda suspicious. Why does he keep showing up? He works into this somehow. Also why doesn’t he actually want to talk to Alice? She’s high energy and not very serious, but it sounds like the guy properly ghosted her, keeps lying about how they’ll hang out more, or how he’ll text her back, could just be him being a bit of a dick, or maybe she did something to kinda deserve it, but it’s could be he’s trying to keep her at a distance to keep her safe? Especially if he is already wrapped up in this crap.

[skell3]

So I wrote something for RP.

TMA Multiverse stuff. Jan is Jan Fairchild, avatar of the Vast... And yet Gertrude still manages to get her hands on him to stop the Buried ritual.

TW: sick/getting sick, brief mention of dismemberment

MAG 97 Spoilers

To The Pit

“I need your assistance with something.”

The coffee shop buzzed around the two of them seated in a corner spot, where one Gertrude Robinson had her back to the wall and eyes to the nearest window. Jan Kilbride– Fairchild sat across from her and contemplated his drink nervously. This woman makes him nervous, had made him nervous from the moment she set eyes on him. Maybe that was a sign he shouldn’t have agreed to meet with her.

“...something?” Jan ventures, peeking up again. Today his eyes were deep and a little gray, as the sky was covered in clouds and- fortunately for him- it wasn’t raining. Yet. He would like it to not rain at all, to not deal with that and his hearing aids, but this was London and he had to go without them or stay inside more often than not.

“Yes, well… something important. I believe someone has told you about rituals?” Gertrude was being cryptic, and Jan half wanted to back out already. But she also seemed… how to put it? He sort-of wanted to help her out, just a little bit. The fact that he let out a soft breath when she made a noise of approval at his nodding was a big indicator of something. She was scary, and he did not want to be on her bad side.

“Mm… yeah. Mike mentioned them once- I think. And then Simon and I were discussing them, and that’s why we had the, uh. Meeting,” Jan explained. The meeting that went on among all of the so-called ‘heads’ of each of the fears currently experiencing difficulty with the Stranger and all its children. Never-mind the ‘time shift’ that everyone was experiencing, and the need to gather more information on that. “Is there a… ritual going on now? Or about to? Is that what you need help with?”

Jan tapped his fingertips against the side of his tea mug and waited, watching the old woman look out the window. When she turned her gaze on him, he couldn’t help but reach up to fix his beanie to attempt to look a tiny bit more presentable. His messy blond hair tucked under that would just have to remain hidden for that to be anywhere close to truth. Then Gertrude smiled, to herself, and he gave a nervous smile in return.

“The Buried are up to something, and I need one of the Vast to come assist me in shutting it down.” She made it sound so simple. One of the Vast- that’s definitely him. And a Buried ritual could be… well. Bad. Especially bad for the Vast, if it succeeded. He gets downright dizzy if he even tries to go down to one of the tube stations of the London Underground, so if the world went Buried…

“What would you have me do?” Jan asks, hopefully helpfully. He doesn’t ask the ‘Why me?’ question he has on the tip of his tongue, because it probably doesn’t matter, does it? If she just needs one of the Vast, any of them will do, and honestly he’s probably the least busy at the moment. Gertrude smiles at him again, and this time he smiles more comfortably back. He wants to help. Going to the meeting with Simon had proven his eagerness to be useful to the others, and now that he was part of the Fairchilds… Well, he would want to protect his family, right?

“Come to America with me. We’ll investigate the ritual site, then interrupt them with your presence.” Gertrude sets her cup down and turns it on its saucer briefly. “I’ve already got tickets and a car booked. Would take us… I don’t know, two days? Three, max.” She really does make it sound so simple, and she seems pleased as Jan seems more interested in the idea. He has been wanting to see how he fares with flying, and… to America?

“Should I- um. Do I have time to pack anything?” Jan’s only a tiny bit nervous that she had said she already has tickets, and his smile fades when she shakes her head.

“No, we’ve got about two hours to get to the airport. But we can pick some things up for you after we head out.” Her hand reaches over the table to pat at his arm, and she knows he’ll agree to come, at this point. “Don’t fret, Jan. I’ve got everything taken care of.”

Jan isn’t entirely sure what he got himself into, here. Gertrude was a cranky traveler at best, and while the flight was alright, he felt too… confined. It gave him a headache and he was sick by the time they landed in the US. It took them about an hour to get the rental car, and so far, they haven’t picked anything up for him to change into. The flight had provided a toothbrush and all but his mouth was still tasting a bit sour and he wished he had a chance to clean up.

“Now, you’ll be able to roll down your window here, but try not to do it too much, alright?” The car wasn’t particularly large, and Jan knows he’s going to feel like he’s being packed into a sardine tin riding in that thing. But he was too tired and already too unwell to really argue, so he nodded and loaded into the passenger side. The seat slid back and tipped back to give him as much space as he could manage, and it was that way he was able to get a tiny bit of rest.

It was dark by the time Jan came around again, and they were definitely still driving. Sitting his seat up, he groaned a bit at the motion sickness that came with it and immediately rolled down the window. The stink of farmlands hit him then, but at least he could get some air on his face to not get sick again. “Where are we? Weren’t we going to hit a hotel?” Details were… sketchy, to say the least.

“We’ll hit one once we get there. We’re short on time.” Gertrude has her window cracked, a cigarette between her lips as she drives a fair amount above the speed limit.

“I thought you had this… planned out? Timed?” Jan ventures to ask, then wishes he didn’t for the look he got. Making a quiet, anxious noise, he opted to look out his window and try to get some fresher air. He had agreed to help, so he was here to help, but he couldn’t help but feel like something wasn’t right. Maybe the ritual was happening sooner than she had anticipated?

Fortunately for him, they have to stop for gas and Jan gets the chance to stretch his legs and feel less confined. It does wonders for him, though he’s still jet-lagged and jet-sick and carsick and all the kinds of things one meant for the vastness of the universe would experience being tucked away in essentially differently-sized boxes. They ate dinner at a diner in town and headed out again, and Jan opted to try and sleep some more. Conserve his energy since he’s not entirely sure Gertrude would let him go ‘feed’ on some poor unsuspecting souls who have a fear of drifting into the unknown.

It took the better part of the evening for the duo to make it to their destination. Bucoda, Washington… Not someplace Jan had ever heard of, but the scenery was lovely and he was getting some clearer air than he’d ever had in the city. The sky had a small smattering of clouds, the sunrise had been beautiful to watch. Scenic and enjoyable if he weren’t still riding in the car wishing he didn’t feel the urge to retch every couple hours. The last one was only half an hour ago, and Gertrude had grudgingly stopped to let him do so before handing him a bottle of water to sip from. It helped, but only a little.

The car slowed as they pulled into the sleepy little town, and then off to the side so that Gertrude could consult her map. Jan wanted to ask if he could get out and stretch, but she seemed… on edge. Was he imagining things, or did she keep glancing up and over at him as if she expected him to disappear. He wasn’t too sure, so he stayed put and kept glancing out his open window, checking the place out.

“You’ll do just about anything to help your… family, won’t you?” Her words drew Jan out of a daze, and he looked back to Gertrude with furrowed brows.

“Well… yes? Simon’s helped me out considerably… Even helped me achieve my dream. So I think I would probably do just about anything to repay him and the family for taking me in. He doesn’t like her short ‘hmm’ of a response, and he checks his phone. While he had mentioned going out of town for a bit to Simon, Manuela and Mike… he hadn’t been entirely sure of where, and hadn’t had any time to get a new sim card for it to work abroad. So here he is without the ability to ask anyone anything, and he feels so incredibly daft that he hadn’t done so beforehand.

“You won’t get much out here as far as signal goes, even if you did swap that over,” Gertrude confirms Jan’s thoughts and he sighs and tucks it away. “You can use mine when we’re done here.”

“Can’t I use it before? Just to update everyone? I forgot to when we landed.” He was too sick to even think about it, and he would’ve never have guessed that maybe she anticipated that.

“Can’t. I need to take it to the store to get it swapped. But we’re close, and it shouldn’t take too long. We need to get this done first.” Gertrude’s voice was stern, and Jan winced but nodded. She did say they were short on time, so… maybe it really was happening soon. He didn’t feel too different where they were now.

“Should I… be able to tell where it is?” Being Vast and all, sometimes he gets bad vibes from some people and he half suspects they might be Buried or otherwise.

“You might, but… I think I've got it.” The map gets closed up and the car pulls forward as they continue on their trip. Jan goes from feeling just carsick to worse. Much worse. Gertrude seems to notice but she doesn't slow down or pull over for him, she just keeps on going. “Get used to it, kid,” she digs out a fresh cigarette as they wait at a traffic light. “We're not quite there yet so it's going to get worse. This is the hard part.”

The hard part? Jan swallows hard and tries laying back in the seat again, but it only seems to make him feel worse. He doesn't even see the pit until they pull up to it, and by then he wasn't sure it was safe for him to move. With tears in his eyes and his hand clasped around a pendant at his throat, he feels a tiny bit worried he's not going to be able to handle this. That he won't be able to help at all. The feeling of that trinket in his hand helps soothe him, reminds him of Manuela and has felt like her being there with him the whole time, but it does not ease him out of the sickness.

They arrive at the Pit relatively early in the day, sun shining bright and the whole town nothing but quiet. Jan swears he heard a car go by but he doesn't recall it, stuck in the passenger seat because if he moves he is going to throw up. Gertrude got out of the car a little while ago, looking down and out over the thing with equal measures of distaste and cigarette smoke. What a situation this was, and she didn't think she had anything to do the job with until she spotted a large shovel nearby. That will have to do.

“Jan, I need you to come out of the car now.” Gertrude's voice has shifted to something smoother and more coaxing. “You can throw up wherever, I don't think anyone here will mind.” If there was anyone left. Jan made a noise in his throat but didn't move immediately. When he did, it was first to wipe tears from his face, and then it was to slowly open the car door. Each movement was difficult, as if he was somehow moving through soil. It takes him a moment realize his connection to the Vast is muted here.

“I d-don’t… I don't know if I can do this, Ms. Robinson.” It was a statement that Jan knew was a little too late given that they were here now, and they were short on time. The ground seemed to shake beneath him once he finally got out of the car, and for a long few moments he thought it wasn't just him. When he realized it was just his own legs, he stumbled away and landed on hands and knees to be sick in the dirt. Fortunately for him, he didn't see what was in that pit, nor would he ever. The town was quiet for a reason.

“Unfortunately, we don't have time to deal with that right now.” Gertrude has the shovel now and she tests it's weight in her hands. Looking over, she knows that if she doesn't do this now, she may never get the chance. So we without much feelings to it, she went over behind where Jan was getting sick and struck him with the shovel to the back of his head. He goes down quickly, and she sighs.

*I'm sorry, Jan, but you just being here won't be enough. I had hoped but now I need to do what I came here to do. Thank you for your help.”

It took a lot longer than anticipated to get Jan’s body hacked into enough pieces for it all to fit into the hole at the base of the pit. Gertrude was covered in blood and dirt before she even managed to stuff him down in there. She had noticed a pendant when she beheaded him and had made a mental note to find it when she was done, but as she stuffed the last of him in there, the earth heaved and the Buried complained and she had to get out of there. In the car, out of town… just out of there.

By the time she made it to her hotel, she was exhausted and frustrated that it had to go that way, because she knew that she wasn't going to be welcomed by some when she made it back to London. But Gertrude did what she had to do, and made her observations as best as she could first before making her decisions after. The Sunken Sky would not come to them all, and they should be relieved of that. But something was nagging at her about the whole thing, and she couldn't quite place the apprehension she had when she flew back home and tucked back into her apartment.

It was only then that she remembered the pendant, but it was much too late. Bucoda, Washington was now a pile of dirt on the map after an earthquake struck it, and that pendant was likely long gone now.

[ceaseless-rambler]

thinking about Mike Crew

wanna write about Mike Crew

sadly there’s no ideas to write with him :(

I think one of my first posts on this account was "avatar of the Vast? Call that Lightning McCrew" if that helps. TMA cars au

If that doesn't help (a scenario I can't imagine occurring), all that's really coming to mind is maybe a Fear swap au where he's a different avatar? I don't really know how that would focus on him but he's certainly experimented with enough Fears.

OH he was Marked by the Spiral, Corruption, Flesh, Vast, and potentially the Eye (a Leitner that tried to "read him back") which means there are sort of grounds for a Mike Crew Archivist au but you'd have to mess with canon a lot because he's definitely not Eye enough for Jonah to want him. Maybe like, Simon Fairchild finds Jonah's plans and says no I want to end the world first and uses Mike? That would go insanely long though probably so if you want something short that is not going to work

Maybe more detail about him running from the Spiral? He gave enough information in his statement that you have a structure but not so much that you don't have creative freedom

[human-adjacent]

episode 21 - freefall

- originally i assumed in this episode that the fairchild’s were basically preying on robert and his fear because that’s what they do but the more i think about that the more i think it doesn’t rlly make sense. because robert was never scared of the sky before this, in fact he seemed to actually enjoy it, so why would the fairchilds target him and not somebody else with actual fear? so now i have 2 possible theories

- 1. the fairchilds just wanted to MAKE him afraid bc they thought it would be a fun challenge to traumatize a guy who seemingly had no fear at all

- or 2. (this is the one i find more plausible) the fairchilds were considering adding robert to their cult and they wanted to test him to see if he was worthy. i think harriet probably created this sky diving company to feed the vast with people’s fear, but then she noticed her coworker’s dedication to skydiving and saw potential in him as a vast avatar. so she brought simon and had robert undergo a “test” of sorts, although in the end he failed because instead of worshipping and adoring the sky, he just became afraid. i think he probably got “eaten” at the end either to silence him or because he was full of so much intense fear that now he’d be more valuable as a victim than a servant to the vast

- i also think it’s possible that his failure at the “test” wasn’t even anything he did, but rather the vast just didn’t approve of him. maybe the vast is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to who joins the fairchilds and the vast just didn’t want robert

- anyway i like this episode the vast is cool. jon yelling “MARTIN” at the end was fr a jumpscare

[the-lonely-crow]

Ok so I have many thoughts about what the not somewhere else world would look like that I feel like I gotta share before tma2 comes out

Ok so first of all I don't think that after the eyepocalypse the world would just go back to normal. Actually I think that "everyone was separated into personalized hells based on their greatest fears" sounds a lot like the set up for a dystopia novel

I think both religion and have all but completely fallen apart

I think society is basically split up into three groups. The biggest being people literally trying to live. The next group is people trying to help out and do what they can. The third is people taking advantage of the chaos. Problem is the third group is loud and angry and have sort of set up mob rule

I think that based on the "you remember what they did to Simon Fairchild" line there is probably some kind of witch hunt type mob shit hunting former avatars. Like aggressively interviewing random people trying to find one to about their experience in the hells and if they find one they were avatars, willing or otherwise, they get arrested

Literally full Salem witch trials stuff. Very dramatic

I think that because space wasn't really a real thing, when the domains collapsed people were just kinda dropped all over the place at random. This leads to a lot of people having no idea where their family members are or if they are actually alive.

As for our beloved characters:

Georgie and Melanie start a new podcast where they try and explain what the hell just happened and anonymously interview people, including former avatars, about their experiences. They are very vocally against the treatment of former avatars and the general mob rule.

Aarun and the rest of the more devout tunnel cult people have started being very vocal about their "prophets" and with a whole lot of people needing answers and something to cling onto while they try and find their footing, the cult has actually started gaining popularity. Much to the girls dismay.

Basira is doing her best. She has totally thrown herself into volunteering in as many programs as she can, primarily one dedicated to getting people back in touch with their families and loved ones. She also works with an underground railroad type organization that helps the more unwilling avatars not get ✨publicly execute✨

So this all came from a fic I wanted to write about Basira and Callum Brody, but honestly I'm not a good enough writer to pull something this grand scale off. I still like the concept though so I thought I would share it here

[p1nkwitch]

Just wanted to drop this cause im tired.

Enjoy some lonelyeyes reincarnation au in a coffee shop.

Peter works.

Its not something that particularly bothers him much. His sister laughs and jokes around with him, while moving around serving her orders.

Their cafe is small and cozy but also sort of lonely, they have the oddest shifts imaginable, mostly working the graveyard shift.

Peter cooks the pastries while Judith and Aaron take the orders and serve the food. Clara has her music show on fridays and Lydia works at the art gallery but spends most of her time helping around as well.

The five of them are happy.

Simon was happy to help them pay for the Tundra Cafe. He hums under his breath while Judy sings along, there weren't that many people so they could do it without shame.

He is content.

…

At least he thinks he is. And honestly why shouldn't he? He has a good job, he has a good relationship with all his siblings, his adoptive dad loved them unconditionally.

By all means he should be nothing but happy.

And yet.

He feels… as if something was missing.

It was like an itch that he could not get over with.

It probably started back when he got a crush in one of his college professors that he realized-

That he really was missing something important.

Mister Wright was older than him sure, but he was handsome and Peter wasn't one to care much about age. However, the few times they spoke it was-

It was like there was something not right, it soured him somehow, but perhaps it was for the best, the man was married and he just had a stupid silly crush. It still did not take away the fact that he felt as if there was something off with him too.

He thinks his eyes should be a clearer grey than they were.

The next time he realized something was off was when he met Elias Bouchard.

Again it was embarrassing how quickly he seemed to get a crush on him, he just saw him a few times and his mind got stuck on his face. He was handsome and this time he was around his age. They had a few classes together so despite his anxiety he actually spoke with him.

And it was….

Dull.

He was dull as a wall. It did not lead up to anything else, beyond a few greetings later on, but it stayed on his mind.

Any other attempt at dating or going out turned out badly for him and its not as if he didn't try! It just was never… right.

Clara said that if he kept looking for the perfect person he would die alone and miserable. Lydia hits her and tells him that its ok, sometimes people don't click, he just needs to find someone who gets him.

He tries, but between his social anxiety, personality and perhaps his lack of interest in sex during the best of times, people are more or less put off with him. His sisters and brother are all offended on his behalf but Peter has resigned himself to not think too much about it.

Maybe he is like Lydia and he is better off alone.

That makes all of them look at him with tight faces and he blinks confusedly at them.

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing, just, you have us and dad Peter you're not alone” Judy holds his hand and Aaron nods.

“I- i know, i just meant like relationship wise, maybe i just have to be alone. I know I have all of you. We live in the same building block. I don't think we could be alone if we wanted” That makes them all sort of laugh and the tension breaks.

His siblings talk and joke and he ponders.

He wonders why sometimes they all act weird with him when he speaks about being alone. Why his adoptive dad always made sure to let them know he loved them. Simon was fun and took care of them, but it always felt as if he wasn't saying something.

However he sees his family be happy around him and he ignores that feeling of wrong that always permeates around him. He won't dampen their happiness with his own pessimistic thoughts and paranoia.

So yes, Peter bakes, makes models of ships on his free time, takes pictures a lot-

He found out he enjoyed keeping pictures of things he liked, plus taking odd ones of his siblings. It was just… harmless fun, more often than not he went to the port to take pictures of the ships. He wondered how it would feel to have his own.

Still that's a dream for someone else.

Peter Fairchild is happy with the quaint little life he has.

It stands to reason that his life would be upturned on a Tuesday, Peter has a personal hate towards that day of the week and it makes sense that this happened then.

Aaron was running late, he had to help a friend move out and it took longer than expected, the cafe opened earlier than usual and there were a lot of people. Judith could not take all the orders on her own, and their sisters would not be able to help at least for another hour. So with a sigh and discomfort he goes to take orders.

They work faster like that at least.

Its when he asks about the order of some guy working on his laptop that he gets hit with something familiar.

“One black coffee and a chocolate croissant” The order rings alarm bells on his head so he looks to the face of the owner.

A man with curly auburn hair, red glasses and freckles gives him a practiced strained smile that he sees in more clients, but what actually makes him almost drop the paper he was writing on was the eyes, they were such a cool shade of grey.

He flounders and the man raises an eyebrow impatiently, so he writes quickly and goes back to get order. She gives him a puzzled look since she is usually the one taking them to the customers, but Peter shakes his head and works.

His hands move on autopilot to make the coffee, and even if he says black he puts just the right amount of milk and sugar that his mind provides.

Picking up one of the freshly made croissants and after hesitating a chocolate chip cookie he goes and gives it to the man quietly and without a word. That done and his sweaty palms and his heart going faster he goes to hide in the kitchen, expecting to get yelled at for messing up the order-

But nothing happens.

Judith comes to check on him, but Peter was at that point just cleaning up a little bit and waves her away. Nodding she hesitates and hugs him a little bit before going out. He lets out a breath and sighs.

Lydia and Clara come 10 minutes later and he can stay cooped out in the kitchen in peace. Still he can't help but to be nervous about the customer he gave the coffee and cookie.

Why did he change his order? It was insignificant but it just sounded right. Fretting a little he finishes cleaning the plates. Nothing else comes about and by the time they close the man is gone.

The feeling of loss becomes stronger.

He doesn't see him again for at least another 3 weeks, in fact the only reason he realizes is because Clara says there is a sour red head giving her and Judith the stink eye every time they try to get his order. His lips twitch upwards and he suggests sending Aaron, she rolls her eyes but asks the younger boy to go.

Its not five minutes later that he comes back just as perplexed.

“Is he trying to just get the wifi for free? I'm going to kick him off” Peter dries his hands and quietly prepares the order. Once he is done he sneaks out and delivers it to him, the man gives him a critical look that sends shivers down his spine. Both in disgust and familiarity.

“I didn't order yet”

“... Well you didn't let anyone take your order anyways” His lips purse in thought and he picks up the drink taking a sip. He puts the rest of his things down and goes to turn around to leave, when he asks how did he know how he takes his coffee.

Peter doesn't have a clue.

“You just looked like you needed something less bitter” He sees his mouth fall open slightly and Peter goes while feeling his ears burn, oh god why did he say that?

Once back in the safety of the kitchen, Judy gives him a look but pats his shoulder and goes out.

Ok, ok, he is fine.

The man keeps coming and refuses to let any of his siblings pick out his orders. So Peter is the one in charge to talk with him. Albeit that is an understatement. They merely snark a little, he gives him his order and goes. Whoever is working that day is supposed to charge him, Peter is only obligated to present the food. However the interesting thing is, that just as their cafe opens at weird hours of the day, the man appears there just as well, its kind of eerie how well he seems to know when it's open considering they have the oddest schedules.

Its in fact in one of those times they work at night that he sees him again. Usually he is very put together, but this time he looked… well messy. His hair looked as he had run his hands through it several times, his eyes were red and puffy and he honestly looked miserable.

Peter was completely baffled, the worst part is he wasn't sure what to do, or if he should say something.

The place was almost empty, his sister was keeping watch, so he just stands there and asks what he wanted that night.

He looks up to him and Peter has that feeling that this man should not be looking like this, he should be smug or sure of himself not… whatever this was. He also wanted to pull him towards him and that thought made his cheeks heat up.

“Just- heh, just surprise me i guess. Its been… its been one of those days” He is not sure what he means, but he nods and goes to make him something. Most of the names of the drinks and desserts were Lydia's ideas, the rest of his siblings alongside him were terrible at picking names. He is surprised they even let him pick the one of the cafe, but considering the other options, it was the least weird one.

Still they do have some that they chose for the orders.

Case in point.

The chocolate tower cake lovingly named the panopticon and his special coffee the watcher. It was named like that when it was proven that it had so much caffeine that it made you unable to sleep. He is sure he saw a guy stop blinking for like five minutes after insisting on drinking it, despite the warnings.

So once he grabs it, he takes it to the table and warns him.

“We are not responsible for the repercussions of drinking the watcher” The man looks at him and for the first time since he started to come he sees him smile, soon it turns into laughter. Peter watches while clutching the tray and feeling butterflies in his stomach.

He has a lovely laugh.

“What- what is so funny?”

“You- i- it doesn't matter. I get the name now I suppose. The cake?” The small chocolate tower had several fillings and it was very spongy and full of chocolate.

“Mm the panopticon is the best cake we have, surprised you didn't try it before little man” The slip up comes and he freezes expecting the man to say something or get annoyed, but all he does is sigh and smile more sadly at him.

“Thank you” Its weird and he is unsure what happened but he smiles back awkwardly.

He doesn't come back for 2 weeks.

Its raining when he sees him again.

It was Lydia and him and the place only had two clients sitting around drinking and talking amicably. He doesn't pay attention to the little whistle that lets them know someone entered, Simon thought it would be more fun than a bell.

Still his older sisters comes inside looking-

Frazzled?

Lydia is the most calm out of all of them so he immediately goes to see if she is fine, instead she shakes her head and points inside the cafe.

When he looks he sees the man, but he also realizes he has an awful bruise on his eye and chin as if someone had punched him. His heart sort of seizes and his sister goes out with him.

“Are you-”

“I want another watcher and panopticon” He doesn't let him finish, he is sitting close to the register. The man looks even more tired and wiped out.

“... I will get it?” Lydia elbows him. “Do you- do you want some ice for your face?” He can feel his sister disappointment and need to hit her forehead, but he honestly doesn't know what to say. The man, and he really needs to get a name, nods, so Peter prepares the order and gets some ice wrapped up for him.

“Thank you”

“You are welcome um..-?” He drifts and the man looks at him with one eye squinting due to the swelling.

“Jonah. In Jonah Magnus” He seems to be expecting something, yet Peter just nods.

“Peter Fairchild pleasure to meet you?” Lydia is giving him looks. Jonah seems to deflate, but smiles a little, albeit is tainted by the grimace of pain.

“Now that we have names can i eat?” He scowls but nods and lets him be. Still he checks on him from time to time and everytime he peeks from the kitchen window he sees him staring back at him. Peter blushes and works.

He leaves and he is left with questions.

Lydia acts very oddly and concerned about him and the man, but he waves her off.

Jonah comes back, still with the bruises but he looks more calm.

“I wanted to apologize for the scare, I had an altercation with… a friend. That went poorly as you can see” Peter nods and gives him his cookies.

“So- um.. I was wondering if perhaps as a… you know, treat for being so nice, you would like to go out to eat? Or well i was going to suggest getting some coffee but i think you might already be tired of it by now” It takes him a few seconds to realize he is asking him out. When he does he chokes on air and after thinking it a little he nods.

He sees Jonah smile become more real and realizes he was concerned he would say no. He also sees his cheeks start to slowly become more pink the more he stares. So he looks elsewhere and says they can pick a date later. Jonah nods, grabs the writing pad from his hands brushing their fingers and puts up a number.

“So we can arrange it more easily” Peter nods and laughs nervously while walking away. He feels them tingle pleasantly.

“YOU HAVE A DATE!!”

“With the weirdo Ju, i'm sure Peter can do better than him-”

“Cla don't be mean, plus he said yes so he is interested-!”

“That he is interested doesnt mean its good for him Aaron!”

“Don't be so sour-”

Lydia sits with him and they just watch TV calmly while the others talk in the kitchen making dinner. It was Saturday so they were having it in her apartment.

“Do you think it will make you happy?” The question is too particular, but his sister is always like that so he nods.

“It feels… right, more real than anything i suppose, i know its weird but i just…” He just sometimes feels as if he is sort of existing in some sort of empty space and that everything is his imagination.

Life is good. He has siblings that love him, a dad that cares for all of them instead of their original family that was terrible.

Peter has a job-

Life is perfect.

And yet-

This man is more real than anything else.

Like a splash of color in his grayscale world, he is infuriating with his answers when they have small talks at the cafe, but the banter is familiar, it gives him an ache that doesn't understand.

The same ache he thinks he got when he met James and Elias, only this time its because its right. Jonah is right. He is put out of his musings by a hand on his arm.

“I get it Peter… i really do. As long as you are happy its fine. Just… just know that we love you ok? Don't forget it” He tilts his head and sighs before giving her sister a side hug, the top of her head is a little below his collarbone, so he kisses it and says that he could never.

They meet up to actually have lunch.

Its… its nice.

Jonah is a little bastard and they spend time judging and betting on the people around. He also learns more about him.

He is working mostly in management, which he thinks suits him way too well, he seems bossy enough.

“Rude!” He grins at him and feels…

At ease.

The man likewise seems far more calmer and happy, it makes him oddly happy to see him like that.

They keep going out, sometimes for lunch, sometimes they get coffee somewhere else. But they do and the more he gets to hear him talk, the more he feels as if he had always know him, but just could not remember it. Sometimes Jonah seems that he knows him too and its sort of perplexing. Clara would say he stalked him, but its- there are such small things that its not possible for him to know, even if he had.

Its at their 6 date that he asks him to eat at his place. He looks surprised but nods.

When he opens the door and sees him, he almost stammers a holy fuck, he barely manages to get a hold of himself. Jonah looked-

Handsome, so so handsome. It sort of fried his brain a little bit.

So he lets him and tries to finish cooking to distract himself from saying something stupid or embarassing like-

Marry me.

No, no he is not that stupid.

Still Jonah offers to help and they work in tandem and it is such a familiar feeling he is left breathless.

They move as if they both already were used to having the other in their space, its… nerve wracking. Peter wants to know why.

The dinner is delicious and they end up curling on the couch watching tv, Jonah is using him as a giant pillow and Peter can't complain, the weight on top of him actually makes him feel comforted and also sleepy…

He sees the man yawn and before thinking it better asks if he wants to crash here since its late and they are both tired. Jonah blinks at him and he sees him hesitate, so he assures him he won't take it bad if he says no, it was merely a suggestions and-

He laughs and nods before hiding his face on the crook of his neck. He lets out a breath almost as if punched and feels his cheeks warm up while grinning like an idiot.

Once they change and he offers the man a shirt that hangs a little bit too loosely around his frame they get in bed and Peter sort of… stares, Jonah does the same.

“Hey” His lips twitch.

“Hey yourself” It's not clear which one of them moves first, but the next thing he knows they were kissing. It wasn't rushed or anything merely a press of their lips that sets him aflame inside. God he loves him doesn't he?

He loves-

He-

…

Oh.

Son of a bitch.

He bites his lip lightly making the man complain and then he pulls back.

“You sneaky bastard” He sees him frown and then light up with realization.

“Oh”

“Hello Elias” He frowns.

“Jonah if you don't mind” Peter mulls it over, thinking of James and Elias. It wasn't the body that he wanted.

It was the smug bastard that was piloting it that he loved.

“Jonah” The man shivers “I died” He sees him lock his jaw and close his eyes. How peculiar, he would not have hidden away before or shown… shame for what he can see on his face, he wonders what changed in this life.

Peter sees him swallow.

“You did” Nodding he thinks. He died, there were fear gods, he was a Lukas once upon a time, but now he was a Fairchild even if by adoption.

He grew alone, he grew with his siblings.

He was lonely, he was loved.

Peter sees a small tear escape Jonah along with his body being tightly coiled, as if waiting to sprint out.

The punches make sense now, if someone else remembered...

Letting out a breath and pulling at his hair in thought, Peter closes his eyes too and lets it all go over him. That was a life ago, and now? Now he is here and he was… content, but not happy.

Not until he found him again. Or more like Jonah found him.

Its easy honestly, the answer to what he wants to do with him and this chance.

Peter in his first life had only cared about two things, his god and Elias. One is gone, the other.. changed, but was still the same. The same man he had fallen in love with so many times, and in different ways through the years of their marriages and divorces.

The only one that had some form of hold over his heart.

“Come here my little siren” Jonah’s eyes flash open and he blinks a few more tears away before scrambling to his open arms. Its raining outside and the sound its what they hear beyond their breathing and the beating of their hearst. The lights of the room are dimmed and Peter finally feels right, he pulls the covers up and tangles their bodies together, fitting perfectly together.

Without forsaken he can admit it freely, that he loves this, loves the feeling of Jonah pressed against him, a different body, but also always the same.

He just needs to get used to it again, slowly playing with his hair he speaks.

“You are quite a bastard, but so am i and… as nice as this life is… i think its much better with you in it” Jonah shivers.

“What i'm trying to say is i missed you, even if i didn't remember you before. It was always like there was something amiss. A hole in my perfect little life”

“I-” He smiles tiredly.

“You didn't, i know, but its ok. I know you” Jonah shakes his head.

“I did- i just didn't know it either, i thought it was Barnabas at first, then the others, but… it was you. I missed you Peter, I really did…. Even- even in the apocalypse I still did, I would look into the lonely often. Useless sure, but i did” His plan had worked, but at the same time that was no longer their issue.

“Well I guess we are at an impasse. What do you want to do?”

“... I want- i want to stay, please” He thinks of his apartment, big enough for two.

“You will have to deal with my siblings and Simon, this time we stayed close” He snorts.

“If they don't kick me out, i was… an ass with them” Kissing his forehead Peter laughs.

“You were, but… they are happy for me”

“... then yes i would like to stay”

“Good, Jonah?” He looks up to him again, and Peter sees the eyes are the same, that this time they are right, leaning down he kisses him. They fumble in bed for a long while and when they are both sated and more used to each other's bodies, Peter lets the smaller man hug him from the back to cuddle and finally fall asleep.

“You know one would think you would enjoy the opposite of this-”

“I do, but i missed you, so hush and just sleep” He stays quiet for a little bit.

“Night Peter”

“Night, I love you”

“.... i love you too” He smiles.

In the morning they will make breakfast, Jonah goes to his place and he prepares to work. Once he sees him come in later on during the day he presents to him his order and gets a smile.

They will try to make this life count.

He wonders how long till he moves in with him.

On his way to buy groceries he sees a box with a familiar kitten left to the side of a building and he sighs. Better take his cat to the vet now, food can wait.

His sisters will be ecstatic.

Aaron not so much since he is allergic, but well.

It is his cat.

Life truly is good now.

He got his husband, his cat, family and job.

Humming along with the kitten pawing at his arms softly he feels the most happy as he has ever been.

[magnusmysteries]

Part 26: Captivating Literature

The Magnus Archives was a horror podcast. It is now completed. Many of the show’s mysteries were never explained on the show. I intend to explain them. Spoilers for the show, but also spoilers if you wanna solve these mysteries yourself. This is based on episodes Pageturner, Literary Heights and The Coming Storm.

Once when Dominic Swain and Michael Crew are children, Dominic insists they keep playing outside and as a result Crew is hit by lightning and gets a Lichtenberg scar. The Lichtenberg scar draws the attention of a monster of the Spiral that begins tormenting Crew. As an adult, Crew buys the book Ex Altiora from Herbert Knox. Crew uses the book to become an avatar of the Vast. He says he binds the monster to the book. Years later Dominic finds Ex Altiora in a charity shop and buys it. Later while wandering the streets Dominic ends up at Pinhole Books and meets Mary Keay. Later Mary’s son Gerard visits Dominic, buys Ex Altiora and burns it.

When Herbert describes the book, it has no Lichtenberg figure and it does not smell of ozone. Herbert says that when Crew was in his shop, there would be a smell of ozone, but the smell wouldn't come from Crew. Also the lights in the shop would get brighter. That’s the monster following Crew that is messing with the lights and the smell.

When Dominic has the book, a Lichtenberg figure appears in it and it causes the smell of ozone. He brings the book to a play and thinks there is a problem with the lights. That’s the monster in the book causing the figure, the smell and lights problem.

Originally Ex Altiora is supposed to make people dizzy and make them fall. Herbert falls out of a chair twice. The previous owner died from falling down the stairs. Dominic falls down some stairs and twists his ankle. After the spiral monster is trapped in it I think the book can also mess with the senses and memories of people.

A couple of quotes from when Dominic buys the book: “At first I assumed it was some sort of faux-leather special edition and I was sure whoever put it out for sale must have done the same, because the price on it was only four pounds. There was something about it that made me take another look, though, and picking it up I felt the binding and realized it might well have been bound in real leather, probably calf, given how soft it was.”

“...it was then that I noticed the time. I had somehow managed to spend an hour in that shop...”

I think the spiral monster spent almost an hour manipulating Dominic into buying the book. It made several attempts, and then deleted the memories of the failed attempts.

I think Crew somehow deliberately made Dominic buy Ex Altiora as revenge for Dominic causing Crew to get hit by lightning. Maybe Crew made a deal with the monster in the book, that Crew would release the book if the book hurts Dominic.

When Dominic goes for a walk and ends up at Pinhole Book, it’s the spiral monster messing with his mind. At one point Dominic almost walks into a man, so he is confused. Why does the spiral monster send Dominic there? It wants the book to be burned so it can be freed. Maybe the monster knows of Gerard’s habit of burning dangerous books. Or maybe it thinks Mary will destroy the book, as she is now an avatar of the End and the End and the Vast are opposites (see Part 3). Whatever the plan, the book is burned and the monster freed.

I think the monster is the Distortion. Crew mentions how his scar is a fractal. The Distortion loves fractals. The monster creates an impossible door for Crew. The Distortion makes doors.

Here’s how Crew described the monster ”In the dark it would stand beneath my bedroom window, the light flaring, flashing the awful brightness of sheet lightning across my room. I could never look directly at it. The bright, arcing glow of its insides almost blinded me when I tried. It was almost a man, but I could never be sure. Its strobing, flashing Lichtenberg organs changed and flickered too fast.”

Crew also says: “The thing that chased me, you see, it was an arcing branch of the Twisting Deceit, taken shape to follow me. But the shape it had taken more rightly belonged to the sky.”

Here’s how Herbert describes the monster: “It was hard to make out, as it only seemed to appear for those momentary flashes, but it seemed tall, thin, its limbs angular and branching. Like Mike’s scar.”

Here’s Sasha describing the Distortion “It looked too tall, the limbs and body were very thin and almost wavy, like they didn’t have any structure or bones in them.”

Here’s Helen Richardson describing the Distortion: “Its body was thin and limp, and when it moved, it shifted, like I was watching it through rippling water. Its hands were swollen, and bits of them jutted out at annoying angles.”

I think the Distortion, when tormenting Crew took the form of lightning, since Crew was afraid of lightning. But it still had some of its old form: tall and thin with arms that branches out.

I think this is The Distortion before it became Michael. It is not quite human, and does not have Michael’s Shelley’s Laugh.

In Left Hanging, Simon Fairchild jumps out of a cable car. More weird stuff happens, and the driver starts walking towards the door. I think he is about to jump out and fall forever, like Simon wants. Then this happens:

“There was a thump from above, the sound of something heavy landing on the roof of the car, and the driver froze, arms still outstretched. His eyes widened in sudden realization, but before he could pull back from the edge, an arm, long, grey, and completely inhuman, reached down from above with terrible speed. It grabbed his wrist, just for a moment, and then he was gone, his own scream vanishing into the abyss beyond the door. (...) Then came three bangs, one after another on the roof of the car. Knock. Knock. Knock. Then a laugh. A terrible whistling sound, like the howling of a gale.”

I think that’s Michal on the roof. The weird arm and the laughter points to Michael. And three knocks, like when Helen knocks on the door in Taking Stock.

I think Michael is stealing victims from the Vast as revenge for being trapped in the Vast book. The driver gets taken by Michael instead of falling. And the mother of the statement giver doesn't remember anything. Michael has changed her memories. That way the statement giver fears he or she for her sanity instead of fearing heights like Simon wanted.

Some might object that the dates don’t add up. The monster gets trapped in the book in 1998 and released in 2012. The Distortion tormented Paul McKenzie in 2003, and so it seems the Distortion could not have been trapped in a book then. But I think the Distortion is a time traveler. More on that in the next post.

[1quastion-isitgrank]

okay time for Thoughts on 184 that no one asked for

i’ve seen 2 or 3 posts at this point going “oh no what if jonah can do the thing jon can do and he uses it against jon/martin/both of them when they reach the panopticon”

and look--i don’t 100% disagree. if that was something that happened i don’t think i’d necessarily be SURPRISED

but... if i had to guess, i don’t think he’ll be able to. thinking about how all the avatars have been treating jon and talking about him as he and martin passed through their domains, thinking about how simon fairchild called jon “the closest thing to an important person,” thinking about how none of the avatars have really talked about jonah as though he’s someone significant... like there have been references to the eye, ceaseless watcher, etc etc-- but i’m getting the very strong sense that jonah... doesn’t matter? not to mention that if he really is this all-powerful watcher now, and has similar abilities to jon-- why would he not have killed jon and/or martin already? if he can see them moving through the domains, moving closer to him with the intent to kill him-- why hasn’t he made any attempt to stop them?

don’t get me wrong i think in the categories of “watcher” and “watched” he’s definitely gonna fall under “watcher”-- but i think he accidentally made jon more powerful than him. think about it-- everything is under the eye’s auspices of course, but all the powers have come through now. jonah’s connected to the eye, yes, which will likely give him some power-- but through his manipulation he made it so that jon has connections to ALL the entities...

i’m just thinking in a dream-logic sort of way that when they finally reach jonah it’s gonna become clear that jon is more powerful than him now. i get the sense that he won’t be hard to kill. i don’t think it’ll fix anything (see ”killing me will not save your world” “i don’t care” and “killing me ain’t gonna do you no good, ashes” “oh, but it’ll make me feel so much better”), i think there’s much more story beyond jonah’s death-- so ultimately i don’t think it’ll be that difficult. i think the hardest part won’t be powers this new world has given him, but the fact that he is such a horrible manipulative little man that he’ll probably attempt to manipulate jon into not killing him in some way. i doubt it’ll work, especially with martin there to back jon up, but i think that’ll be his angle-- rather than threatening to use whatever powers he might have on them. 

[literatehiss]

Trust Fall - Blood & Family

cw: Physical Violence & Injury The Lukas’s are upset with Peter over the failure of his ritual, Simon and Elias are displeased with their reaction. Read on AO3 here That fucking Archivist.

Peter coughed, wincing at the pain in his ribs and the blood that bubbled up between his lips.

Damn Eye bastards could never leave well enough alone could they? His ritual could have worked, it should have worked. All it took was one bitter old woman to ruin it.

It had cost so much money.

It was by no means enough to really disrupt the families finances, but it was enough for them to notice, to be irritated. If he bothered to do the maths it would have only really been a few years worth of his allowance. It didn’t matter. He had wasted all that money and they were angry.

He was always a disappointment, they had hoped he would be a good choice for the head of the family when he was young, the powers of their patron had come so naturally to him, but he just wasn’t quite good enough. A few scattered friendships, his relationship with James or Elias as he was now calling himself, a too cheery disposition. It all weighed on him as proof that he was useless, just like his uncle had said, over and over again as the men he had hired took their time making sure he was ‘properly regretful’ for what had happened.

Peter was lucky really. They didn’t really care. He had received his punishment and everyone would be back to ignoring him as per usual by the end of the week. If he lasted that long. Well, ok, now he knew he was being morbid, he had survived worse after all.

He was aware that he was leaving smears of blood on the walls of the apartment hallway as he stumbled and dragged himself to the flat he sometimes shared with Elias. His on-again off-again husband wouldn’t be at home, it was the middle of the work day after all and Peter had dragged the fog of the Lonely around himself like a thick blanket, enough to keep himself from Elias’s ever present gaze. His fingers were numb with cold and blood loss as he fumbled with his keys.

The apartment was cold, sterile. It wasn’t due to any real aesthetic reason, they were both simply not at home enough to both making any personal touches. A spark of hot pain lanced up his side and he fell into the wall, his teeth gritting as he dragged himself pitifully to the large black sofa that sat in the living room.

He had never been so glad Elias had convinced him not to go with the white sofa, they would never have got the blood stains out of it.

He slumped onto the leather with a huff as the impact winded him. Peter closed his eyes to block out the sunlight streaming in through the huge windows that took up the entirety of the eastern wall of the apartment. Exhaustion hit him quickly after that and he drifted off to sleep, arm still clutched around his chest protectively, unaware of the being stood at the window.

Half-way across London, Elias Bouchard received a phone call.

“Why is Peter lying half dead in your apartment Elias?” He couldn’t be sure whether it was the words or the fact that Simon Fairchild sounded so serious, that made his blood chill.

“What?!”

“Oh so it wasn’t you. Thank goodness, I was thinking of having to do something quite unfortunate.” The phone clicked off abruptly.

“Wait. What?”

Simon really wished he had bothered to get a key for Peter’s new flat, he had always had one for all his other places, just made it easier, and these weren’t the sort of windows you could just keep cracked open ‘just in case’. But Elias ‘liked his privacy’ which was the funniest joke the other man had ever made as far as Simon was concerned. Multiple lifetimes with varying interests had lead him to have at least a passing knowledge of how to break open locks but it still took him far to long to get the door open. He could barely see Peter through the fog the other man had summoned around himself, but he could see the blood pooling on the couch and dripping slowly onto the floor. The bright red a shock against the monochrome of the apartment.

Simon waded through the mist, placing a nervous pair of fingers to Peter's pulse. Alive, if weak. His presence probably wasn't helping matters, the Forsaken could heal Peter far faster than any vague attempt on his part to give him medical attention could ever provide. He couldn't just leave him though. Couldn’t just abandon the young man he had seen grow from a scared little child to a depressed and irritable teenager to a proud and confident adult that had enough power to be able to attempt his own ritual, even if it had been disrupted and failed so spectacularly.

Simon had always been so very proud of him.

He levered Peter up to slip his coat off him, throwing it in the sink with water and salt, might as well try and stop the blood staining the thing, god knows how fond Peter was of that coat. Blood had clotted and dried into his shirt and jumper and Simon ended up rummaging through the practically unused kitchen for scissors to cut them off him. Peter winced and shifted as he tried to gently pull the fabric away from his wounds.

Wiping away the blood proved to be a trial all of its own, immediately flowing again each time he managed to wash it away. A palm to his lad’s forehead proved him to be burning up, by which he was starting to reach the same warmth as someone who hadn’t accepted the Forsaken into their heart, which was a startling difference in temperature. He kept the floor to ceiling windows open and made a stiff breeze flow into the room. Far too cold for the average person but it should keep Peter at just the right level of corpse-like cold. He felt the skin under his fingers suddenly shift as Peter’s ribs snapped back into place. A disconcerting sensation but one that Simon was thankful for, knowing it meant that Peter was healing. The fog was starting to fade, the most life-threatening of the injuries having fixed themselves.

He knew the Lukas’s would be upset with Peter but this was a bit much surely? He had never wished so fervently that he had tried to persuade Peter over to the beautiful Vast when he was younger, before it became too late. He couldn’t imagine hurting any of his own protege’s, not like this, not even if they had truly disappointed him. He was just about to consider dragging Peter into a cold bath when the front door of the apartment violently slammed open, crashing against the wall with an almighty bang. A panting and sweating Elias stood in the doorway, suit jacket hung over his arm, eyes wide in alarm.

“What happened?”

Elias was panicking. He really wasn’t expecting to get a call from Simon on a Wednesday afternoon accusing him of attacking Peter. Apart from the mild hilarity of the thought of him being able to take down a man double his size and weight, he was also alarmed that he hadn’t noticed anything. He rushed out of his office, flying down the steps towards the lobby of the Institute. A body slammed into his own, the form of his Archivist standing in front of him, faux concern and sharp interest glittering in her eyes as she stopped him.

“Elias you seem to be in quite the hurry. Is there a problem?”

He pushed forward and grabbed her shirt

“Gertrude if I find this was you I will kill you myself. I didn’t do anything about you destroying his ritual but this is just unnecessary.” She frowned and he immediately was shown that she wasn’t the cause of Peter’s injuries. He pushed her to the side, her own surprise the only reason he was capable of doing such a thing. Elias stormed past, ignoring the calls of Gertrude and Rosie behind him.

London was a miserable place to travel through if you were trying to get anywhere in a hurry. He had a car but the thought of using it to get home in any sort of reasonable time at this hour was laughable in this traffic so he pushed his way to the nearest tube station, something he normally only did when his car broke down or he was particularly hungry. There was nothing like being packed in with so many people for sucking up all their trauma.

Right now all the people were getting on his very last nerve.

His jacket got caught on the door of the tube as he ran out and rather than stop he just pulled and pulled until the fabric ripped. Slinging it over his arm, he ran towards his rarely used flat, finding the door already unlocked he slammed it open.

Fog curled around his feet, emanating from the figuring lying on the couch and staining it with his blood. Simon was sat next to him, a handful of fabric pressed against a wound on Peter’s side.

“How is he? What happened?”

“I have no idea to be honest Elias. I thought it might be Gertrude but we both know he wouldn’t be alive if it was her”

“No it wasn’t her. I think it was the Lukas’s, probably Nathaniel organised it.”

“Oh dear. Yes I thought as much.” Simon said with an exasperated sigh that said a lot for how long he had been allied with the Lukas’s.

Elias reached for the Eye to tell him how Peter was doing but it just pushed back against him, angry of him using his powers to help someone rather than just watching, observing.

It took two days for Peter to wake up. the Forsaken protesting against their intrusive presence. Elias took time off work for the first time in a decade to watch over him. When his cold blue eyes eventually pried themselves open, it was to see Simon sat on the floor next to him, playing with something on his phone while he could hear Elias complaining down a phone to some poor employee.

“S’mon?” he mumbled, the fog of the Lonely already trying to whisk him away, misty tendrils wrapping around him.

“I’m here lad, don’t worry.”

“Hurts”

“I bet. Nathaniel? Conrad?” A shrug.

“Th’ watched. All of ‘em. Hired people.”

“Didn’t even have the balls to it themselves I see.” This was spat angrily from over his shoulder by Elias. A familiar ringed hand came over the back of the sofa and stroked fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes and rested in the company of his two favourite people. Not that he would ever tell Elias that, the man’s ego didn’t need the boost, he would get simply unbearable. He listened to their hushed talking before slipping back to sleep.

The Lukas’s never knew that anyone found out what they did to Peter. They never linked the sinking of so many of their ships or the dropping of so many of their investments to that day. When a cousin that was brought before Court suddenly found a rush of evidence against him, well he should have been more careful. It wasn’t as if their longest allies would turn on them like that. They weren’t the type to keep in contact so if the hired men they had used went missing? Well that was none of their business. What happened to those men? Well Elias and Simon would never say, but the only one who was ever found was curled up crying at the top of Everest with his eyes clawed out. Peter stood at the stern of the Tundra, smiling as he watched one of the Fairchild’s ships pass his own as he pressed a kiss to his newest wedding ring.

[hypnostouched]

It was a painting of an eye. Very detailed, and at first I almost would have said almost photorealistic, but the more I looked at it, the more I saw the patterns and symmetries that formed into a single image, until I was so focused on them that I started to have difficulty seeing the eye itself. Written below it were three lines, in fine green calligraphy: “Grant us the sight that we may not know. Grant us the scent that we may not catch. Grant us the sound that we may not call.”

MAG 4, Page Turner. 

I’m relistening to TMA and this bit really caught my attention purely because of the word symmetries. Symmetry and balance is always associated with Smirke, and MAG 4 is our first glimpse of a Leitner as well as Mary Keay. Smirke, Leitner and Mary are all the same in that they never ‘specialised’ in an entity while still interacting with them all, as we all know. Gerry painted it, and he is Eye touched but he was still raised with Mary’s teaching. And honestly they were right in the end weren’t they? The true power of the Entities comes from them together, not separate. However these three seemed to focus more on avoiding full connection with any one entity because they didn’t want to tie themselves to something - not because of the overall truth. 

What catches my interest is the Eye. And the symmetry creating an eye. Gerry is actually akin to Jonah in the sense that he was supposed to be a neutral figure but became aligned with Beholding instead. Gertrude is interestingly the converse of this - despite being The Archivist and technically aligned with the Eye, she remained remarkably neutral. And I know the Eye is the main Entity from our point of view purely because our protagonist is an Eye Avatar working within an Eye aligned institute and the tangible overarching antagonist is another Eye Avatar. But its so interesting to me that the Eye again and again seems like the ‘true’ Entity. Gerry absolutely knows the works of Smirke and to paint an eye with what could be very likely be designs inspired by Smirke... It could just be that Gerry likes the motif, that he considered it a sort of protection like his tattoos, that thats just how he painted it for no deeper but... In the end, maybe the Eye is the balance Smirke sought. It makes me think of Millbank prison as well. Smirke designed rituals for all the entities (though some are unused and we know Peter said he designed his own and Simon Fairchild made his own as well so there are probably multiple ways to actually attempt a ritual) but The Watcher’s Crown is the only one he actually helped with. And it is the only ritual we have seen with any measure of success prior to Jon’s. Yes it ultimately failed but Jonah came out of it stronger. And the final ritual itself might not technically be an Eye ritual but it was devised by an Eye Avatar and brought into fruition by The Archivist. It could not be completed without the Archivist.

I’ve mentioned before that almost all entities are reliant on knowledge to be feared, which makes the Eye stronger than them like how Jon was able to overpower Peter. Jonah Magnus, Gerard Keay, Millbank prison -- Balance and neutrality turned Beholding. Smirke was killed by the Eye, so was Mary (in a sense; her final death was at the hands of Gertrude and overall her demise was due to her own frenzied need for knowledge and power), so Leitner. Maybe Jonah didn’t turn to the Eye in spite of Balance, but because of it. Maybe the Eye is the next step in Balance. Leading then to the final ritual, the perfect Balance of the entities at the whim of the Eye.

[tanoraqui]

alright, next episode title - SPOILERS: “Concrete Jungle” - hints enough at Extinction that I’m going to start taking bets on who’s coming to (gasp) actually explain something to Martin. What we know (from ep144):

MARTIN: So what’s our next step?

...

PETER: I have my own explorations I need to attend to. And a, um, meeting. To arrange. For you.

MARTIN: For me?

PETER: I’m absolutely delighted with your progress, and I believe you deserve some straight answers.

MARTIN: ...But not from you.

PETER: Oh, no. That sort of conversation makes me very uncomfortable; no, I’m owed a favor by a friend of mine. I’ve asked him to stop by, once he’s back in the country.

Decent odds:

Adulard Dekker (the one to suspect Extinction in the first place, definitely travels)

Simon Fairchild (known ally of Lonely, travels)

Mikaele Salesa (known...at least associate of Peter. Alleged dead, but obviously it’s not real until we see a body)

Long odds:

Elias (prison probably not outside England, but the level of assholishness required for this whole charade is in-character)

another Lukas (would Peter have said “friend”?)

make your own guess!

Reblog and say in the tags who you think it’ll be! Maybe I’ll make a pie chart of the results.

[bytheangell]

This is the Coda that Never Ends... Part 9

(read on AO3) (read from the start) 

Ringing the small metal bell on the desk at the gallery where Clary’s exhibit was held the night before, Magnus waits patiently for someone to emerge from a back room after a slight clunking noise and a call of “sorry, I’ll be right there!”. He looks around, taking the time to glance at the flyers for future shows, events around the city, and art hanging up on the walls or placed strategically around the large, open space in the front reception area. There’s no shortage of talent in this world, he marvels. Even mundanes, taking the most average daily events, can create something truly breathtaking. He’s always tried not to allow his view of art - and artists - to be too heavily influenced by the legendary greats he had the fortune (and occasionally misfortune) of meeting throughout his years. After all, who is to say that the abstract cell phone re-imagining in the corner won’t be the next Van Gough? 

“Sir? Sorry for the wait, is there something I can help you with?” A slightly frazzled voice shakes him from his thoughts, drawing his attention away from the painting and back towards the desk. 

Magnus spins around to see a young lady with short black hair spiked up very similarly to his own, and they share a small smile. “Yes, I called earlier and spoke with someone over the phone about purchasing all of Clary Fairchild’s artwork from the exhibition last night.”

The young girl looks surprised. “Oh! Yes, that was me, I just--” she shakes her head a little. “Sorry, I kinda wrote you off as a prank call. Not that Clary’s work isn’t wonderful , but we almost never sell more than a piece or two from each person at those shows.” 

“It’s fine, no need to apologize Miss...” Magnus trails off, waiting expectantly. 

“Sullivan,” the girl provides. 

“Miss Sullivan. They are all for sale, correct?” 

The girl nods again. “Yep! Oh man, Clary’s going to be thrilled when I tell her later. She’s always going on about how they’re all so important to her, but she can’t explain why, and she never thought anyone else would connect with them. But it never stopped her, which I always really admired.” 

“She has a remarkable talent. And you can tell her that she’s wrong about that fear - there are plenty of people who connect with her work.” Magnus knows he shouldn’t be saying anything but he can’t help it. The idea of Clary feeling isolated in the memories fighting to come through, when there were so many people who love her and miss her and would do anything for her… 

“Would you like to leave her a message? We can leave the purchase anonymous, or she can know who you are - sometimes people want to meet up later, and discuss the work? It’s up to you.” The girl shuffles some papers around, turning to the computer as she speaks to pull up a few files, type a few things, and start to print something off while she talks to him. 

“Anonymous.” Magnus tells her, perhaps a bit too quickly because she looks up at him with a questioning glance. She doesn’t ask why, and whether that’s because she doesn’t want to or knows she isn’t allowed to, he’s thankful for it just the same. “I would like to leave a message, also anonymously, if that’s alright?” He adds. 

“Sure,” the girl agrees, grabbing the paper from the printer. “Alright, so here’s the total, I can do cash or card, but we’ve bounced enough checks that those aren’t accepted anymore.” 

Magnus reaches into the pocket of his jacket and pulls out a rectangular plastic card, handing it over without hesitation before even looking at the price on the sheet. The girl also pushes over a notepad before turning back to the computer system. “You can write your note while this processes. Will you be picking up the pieces yourself, or do you want them delivered?” 

“I can pick them up.” Magnus reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cell phone, pulling up a number he’s affectionately saved as ‘Samson’ because he knows how much it annoys Simon. 

M: Are you and your van free? I’ve just acquired us some very valuable art S: ...I don’t think we really have time for redecorating right now, Magnus. Magnus shakes his head, rolling his eyes. 

M: It’s Clary’s, Simon. I just bought everything from her exhibition. I need help getting it back to the Institute, as I can’t exactly portal it out of here.  S: Oh. Yeah, sure, I’ll be there in 20. 

Mangus pockets the phone again and turns back to the paper on the desk in front of him. He considers it at great length, putting the pen down to the pad, starting to write a word or two, and then ripping that page off and starting again. He goes through three sheets before he’s satisfied, just as the young woman returns with his card. 

“Here’s the note for Clary. Again, I would appreciate it if she didn’t know who purchased any of this.” He knows he’s only drawing more attention to it by mentioning it again, but he’d rather the woman think he’s shady than have her go off telling Clary anyway, especially since it sounds like the two of them are friends. 

The girl takes the paper, reads the note, and smiles. 

It says, in beautifully looping script, “Clary - You possess remarkable talent. Never doubt your vision.” 

---

Simon arrives 20 minutes later, as promised, with his van which is currently spraypainted entirely black. This, somehow, looks even more questionable than when it held the name and images of his latest band. 

“In-between band names again?” Magnus questions, thinking that this is exactly the sort of van the police would pull over just to make sure the back isn’t full of puppies and candy to lure small children away. That, or surveillance tech. 

“Yeah, something like that.” Simon doesn’t have the heart to admit that he tried to hire another artist to do some work on it, but the end result felt so wrong to see there in place of Clary’s usual designs that he painted over it the next day. “Izzy said she doesn’t want them at the Institute, though. Too many prying eyes there. But if you can keep them at the Loft and just make sure the wards will let us in to look at them when you’re back in Alicante, she’d owe you one.” 

Magnus sighs. Adjusting the wards wouldn’t be an issue but he was hoping to keep himself a little more removed from all of this. Certainly more removed than keeping some of the biggest evidence of Clary’s memories returning within the walls of his own home. 

“Fine,” he agrees reluctantly. There is security at the Institute, and it’d be unlikely more than a trip or two to the room they’d stash these in wouldn’t set off a dozen red flags, especially if he  and Alec remain involved. They load up the van as carefully as they can, and Magnus opens a portal from the inside of the van to the Loft to save them the hassle of stairs. 

While Simon props up the paintings and sculptures around the living room Magnus goes about adjusting the wards, reaching his magic out to allow for certain energy signatures to come and go at will. Alexander’s, of course, was already there, as was Isabelle’s. He adds Simon and Jace before closing the connection again. 

“The wards are all set,” Magnus announces. “This is the last of the art,” Simon declares a moment later, propping a painting up against a wall. “Will you still be here later?” 

Magnus wants to be, but a part of him knows that he’s already too close to this as it is. Alexander wanted them to hold as much plausible deniability as possible, and here he was purchasing Clary’s artwork and hoarding it in his apartment like stolen goods, away from prying eyes. 

“Probably not, unless you need me for something. I have some work to tend to in Alicante.” At least he isn’t lying. There’s never a shortage of things for him to do there, in the world still adjusting to the acceptance of Warlocks and Downworlders within its borders. Dispelling centuries of misconceptions and prejudices isn’t an easy task, after all. 

“We’ll call if we do,” Simon promises before heading back out to his van. 

Magnus figures he has about 30 minutes to himself before he needs to be back and before he runs the risk of Simon getting back to the others and one of them deciding they want to come have a look immediately. He takes the time to go over each piece once, taking photos to show Alec as he does. 

He recognizes almost all of them - Edom, the Seelie Realm, objects that very closely resemble Shadowhunter weapons like steles and Clary’s old dual kindjals, figures along a lake that could only be Lake Lyn... there are only a handful of paintings he can’t place - one that has a lot of white, for instance, and one that seems to have a rowboat as a primary focus - but Magnus has the sinking suspicion that even those are related to her missing memories, just the ones he isn’t privy to. 

This is so much worse than he thought when it was just seeing through a single glamour and remembering Jace by sight. That much, at least, Magnus can chalk up to a shoddy glamour applied by the Shadowhunter. But how long had Clary been painting these? Just a few weeks? A few months? The whole year? What more did she remember? 

His phone buzzes and it’s Alec, asking when he’ll be back and if he learned anything new. 

M: On my way now. I have plenty of updates, but I’m not sure you’re going to like them.  

---

Underhill is left temporarily in charge while Isabelle and Jace ran off to look at art or something. Honestly, he’s doing his best to keep his name clear of the worst of whatever sneaking around they’re doing - it’s bad enough he knows about Clary remembering Jace, and that on top of his usual surveillance he’s supposed to be tapping into cameras to keep an eye on her. Not that he isn’t willing to help, and he’ll keep his mouth shut even though not telling Lorenzo is killing him inside, but he knows how badly this could all backfire, and he has his own job and integrity to think of when it comes to covering himself if it does. The more plausible deniability he has, the better. 

Except it doesn’t look like he’ll have to switch from Institute surveillance to Clary surveillance tonight, he realizes, dread welling like a pit in his stomach. Standing outside of the Institute, just beyond the glamour, is a very familiar redhead staring up at a building Underhill prays to the Angel she can’t truly see.

[yszarin]

see below for thoughts on Threshold

- Marcus MacKenzie! At last! We have been waiting since Episode 27 for this, and I am very excited - A Sturdy Lock is one of my favourites (I have a lot of them), and it’s one of the ones that actually got to me, which may or may not have been because I first heard it at around 3am in my very vocal uni house when my housemates were away for the weekend, with my bedroom door unlocked. But it still brings up all this nostalgia for my first listen-through all the way back in 2017, S2 still airing and not yet any [EXTENDED SOUNDS OF BRUTAL PIPE MURDER] and I’d given up any attempt at saving any of the podcast for travelling in favour of listening to all of it immediately. Good times.

- ... I hate to break it to you, Marcus, but. your dad has a door too, and also they probably will end up being your undoing.  

- oh dear, kids losing their favourite toys is always a very D: sort of thing

- ah, empty corridors - these are Spiral doors, then. and these are getting progressively worse, I love it.

- no need to apologise, Marcus! the Archives are hungry, after all.

- why are we deciding to look into Hill Top Road now, Jon? usually he just sort of skips over the Web stuff, has to have it pointed out to him by other people, so this is a thing. 

- those were good days! we had a Sasha! we had an apparently happy Tim!

- like I’m in any position to mourn the suffering of the innocent - ouch, but also, sympathy and regret are not something that you don’t get to have just because you’ve done bad things? like, they don’t excuse any of the shit you do but not having them isn’t going to help you not be a monster. honestly I much prefer Jon feeling bad for the statement-givers and what they went through, makes me think there’s still hope (for the moment, at least).

- Helen! :D

- ... should she have? she wouldn’t know to mention it, the Distortion’s eaten a lot of people, she probably doesn’t put out a monstrous newsletter for all of them. but also ooof for Jon at hearing Helen talk so calmly about eating people when she was so uncomfortable with it at first, given that he knew her before she was a monster.

- yes, Jon, of course they can make other avatars do things, just like you can make other monsters tell you things, but, if you’re noticing it, I’m afraid it’s all you, and it’s going to be your responsibility to stop doing it. It’s not going to be as simple as just squashing a spider and it all goes away. but I do appreciate the confirmation that he still doesn’t really want to be full Archivist monster.

- ooooh, Helen laughing! and I suppose she’s getting nothing at all from Jon doubting himself and that. it’s not that I think she doesn’t mean to help him, exactly - though, she does seem to want to help him be more Archivist - more that she is literally a manifestation of lies and chaos, and while I don’t think she’s explicitly lied to Jon, well, confusion is in her interest.

- everyone! :D hello! Melanie, it’s been so long!

- oh - well, good on Martin for trying to keep them in the loop? keeping that to himself would not have been great.

- four? what the fuck, Jon? wait, FIVE? well that’s. severely not okay.

- I do love the little statement bits though, they all sound horrible :D

- well, that’s interesting - the tapes do tend to turn themselves on when a thing is happening, so I wonder what it is about Jon’s free range statements that it doesn’t think we should hear? maybe if they’re just for Beholding and Beholding isn’t the tapes.

- Basira, it’s really really not that different, Jon may understand what he’s doing but what he’s doing is not murdering people, which was probably bad all along, so I figure it evens out. And then, Basira has been encouraging some ability-use? She’s not to blame for Jon going and snacking, of course she isn’t, that is on Jon, but... the useful bits of the monster are still bits of the monster.

- oh, the Web wants to meet, then? and ye gods Basira that is a terrible, terrible idea - thanks Melanie, yes.

- ... Mel. I mean, I was already shipping Daisy/Melanie and this. is not going to stop me. 

- looks like we’re off to Hill Top Road, then? I feel like if they go, they’re not all going to come back, and if we’re going to lose someone, I feel like it’ll probably end up being Daisy - Melanie seems like she has an arc ahead with that therapist, since we heard that bit of their session, Basira is the main point of contact with Elias and also might be getting a Beholding thing, and Daisy is currently mostly recovering and trying not to go monster. It feels like losing her would make the Archives’ situation a whole lot worse, too. Maybe Jon? Yeeting him through into an alternate reality would be a big thing, though, and while I would trust Jonny to pull it off (though I tend not to like AU stories in canon), it’s still. big. possibly we could lose Martin while they’re gone (please be Simon Fairchild, my Vast trash heart needs this), but I feel like the Extinction storyline still has some way to go, and he’s our main link to that at the moment.    

- I am interested to see how we’re going to try to stop Jon snacking in future - if they’re going to try and lock him up like a full-moon werewolf or just have someone with him. possibly he could subsist on just Gertrude’s statements, but I feel like that would be quite a step back for him, and a lot to make, especially when if he just uses his powers, he can do good things like saving the world. either way, no easy times ahead for him. 

[centaurianthropology]

The Magnus Archives ‘Left Hanging’ (S04E04) Analysis

An episode about the open sky, an Archivist at loose ends, and the return of everyone’s favorite wacky old wizard.  Definitely less happening this week, but still quite a bit to think about.  Come on in to hear my thoughts about ‘Left Hanging’.

One of the interesting things about the opening of the statement is the emphasis of a theme of this show: there is nothing special about the people who get targeted by the powers, usually.  They haven’t often done something to draw attention; they aren’t some Chosen One.  They’re people at the wrong place in the wrong time. I think that feeds into the heart of the cosmic horror of the show: people are small.  Who they are and what they’ve done don’t matter to the powers. They were the nearest person to hand when ineffability strikes, and they therefore experience something horrific. Horror, therefore, is not a retributive force in TMA, nor is it an allegory for something about that person. It is random, hitting good people, bad people, and all the people in between without discrimination.  If the powers do indeed ‘make decisions’ the way that we perceive, those decisions are beyond our understanding.

So we have statements like this, of a guy why just happened to be on the wrong cable car in Austria. A cable car with everyone’s favorite wacky wizard, Simon Fairchild.  As soon as I heard ‘gentle amusement’ and using his walking stick only when he remembered to do so, combined with a cable car suspended miles above the ground? Yeah, I was certain that Simon was going to put in an appearance.

Again, they are above nothingness, and a mist appears, and Simon steps out into nothingness.  Big old wink, and then gone.  Does this mean that Simon is gone, or did he simply go somewhere temporary?  Did he finally find the Vast beings he was looking for?  After that, the rest of them shot up through the nothingness, so it’s possible that Simon actually set them up for their ride, and he was stepping off to let them enjoy themselves.  That seems more his modus operandi.

Especially since a long, spindly creature with a laugh like Mike Crews’ took the cable car driver. It makes me think that this was just another adventure that Simon engineered for hapless people he just happens to be around.  And Simon, much like the powers, will ‘gift’ these experiences to people.

Jon states that Simon is ‘evil’ and likes to torment people to feed the power that sustains him, but that seems less than clear from Simon’s actions.  I do genuinely wonder if Simon might think that he’s giving these people the experience of their lifetimes.  That this is a good thing, not a cruel thing.  That letting them experience the void will be as joyous for them as it is for him.  It’s hard to say, but he never seems … malicious in his glee.  He seems like he’s sharing a joke that everyone he harms just haven’t quite understood.

Or that could just be me, the massive Simon Fairchild fangirl that I am, reading something into the situation that isn’t there.  But I think Jon needs to believe that there is that clear distinction.  That Simon is malicious and evil, and therefore knows that he’s harming people.  Because if he doesn’t know, or even if he thinks it’s doing his victims a favor, then mightn’t Jon do the same?  After all, they’re both Avatars of their powers.  Jon knows that taking statements drags at least some part of his own victims into the nightmare realm of the Beholding.  But he keeps doing it.  At least he doesn’t think he’s helping the people he’s gathering statements from; at least not yet.

But of course, his objection to Compelling Basira was that he didn’t want to burn a bridge, not that it would be the wrong thing to do or hurt a friend, so that’s less than encouraging.

The ending with Martin also really fit into the title of this particular one.  Whatever is happening with Martin, he either won’t or can’t tell Jon about it.  He sounds so distant, barely more engaged with Jon than Basira was.  And for someone weeping in the trailer before making his decision, that’s worrisome.

It’s interesting that Martin implied strongly that he wasn’t working for Peter Lukas (although calling him ‘Peter’ probably didn’t do anything to help Jon’s jealousy).  There’s clearly something going on.  Martin’s been so busy that he has no time to write poetry, or to stop and really talk with Jon.  Maybe he’s afraid.  Maybe he’s been forbidden from really talking to Jon.

I definitely think that what’s happening with Martin and what Basira is up to are going to be ongoing themes, perhaps even the main plot points of the first half of the season. It’s frustrating, because they all know that Peter works for the Lonely, and therefore is trying to isolate everyone in the Institute.  And yet none of them, even those who seem to not be locked into some secret agreement, are going out of their way to stay in touch.  Maybe Basira and Melanie have been sticking together, but from the way that Basira talked about Melanie, that seems less likely.  Unless, of course, she doesn’t trust Jon enough to let him know what she and Melanie are up to.

But it leaves Jon exactly where the Lonely wants him.  He’s isolated, reading statements and doing little else.  With the threat of other powers trying to make a move against the newly-awakened Archivist, I doubt he’s leaving much either.  Martin would be the ideal person for him to turn to, given their history, but Martin has somehow been removed from the equation while still being there.

And interestingly, Jon didn’t compel him.  Of all the times when compelling a friend might be both justified and useful to all parties, this might be it, but Jon is handling his friends with kid gloves. Likely, Melanie’s state and her open hostility have taken him aback, and he doesn’t want to make things any worse with Martin or Basira.  So they’re all in a holding pattern (without the holding).

I want to know why Basira no longer trusts Jon at all.  Is it simply thinking he couldn’t have come back right after six months?  Is it blaming him for Daisy?  Is she just too troubled by whatever’s really going on with her to look too far outside herself?

Conclusions

The emotional situation in the Archives never seems to be anything better than tenuous, and as I said often enough through the past few seasons, this current state can’t stay for long.  There are too many threads about to snap.  Basira feels like the calm before the storm.  Melanie is going to explode in one direction or another, it’s just a question of what’s in her way when she does.  And Martin is keeping secrets.  A lot of secrets, likely because he believes it’s the only way to help Jon and the others.  And if he’s not working for Peter Lukas, I have to wonder what it is he’s doing.  It’s clearly with Peter, but perhaps it’s more of a loan or secondment?  A pledge of time in Peter’s service in exchange for the protection that the archives is now afforded?  Or is Martin more active than we realize?  Does he have a plan of his own?

We’ve been with Jon while he was plotting and planning throughout the show, so it’s interesting to see Jon on the other side of this impenetrable wall that six months of trauma has produced.  He can’t even pick up the pieces, because the pieces are nowhere near where he left them. Everyone has radically changed toward him.

As big a dick as Elias was, I may hate the Lonely more.  With Elias, we knew what he was about.  He wanted Jon to be the ultimate Archivist, and he wanted the Watcher’s Crown to proceed as planned.  But the Lonely’s motives are inscrutable, and without more information, Jon’s stuck. He needs to dig into the Archives, to try and find stories about the Lukases or their patrons and how he might oust the Lonely from the Institute.  

He already sounds defeated. He’s not interested in looking into this current story beyond a cursory glance.  He’s not interested in putting all the pieces together, which to my mind is the ultimate point of the Archivist.  He just reads and feeds his god by rote, without anything more.

Maybe that’s Peter’s plan. Immobilize Jon, remove all his supports and sink him so far into depression that he reads the statements and doesn’t try to research his way out of the problem.  That sort of inert feeding of the Beholding might actually be the most effective way to prevent the Watcher’s Crown, at least for a time.

But like I said, the situation is tenuous.  Something, sooner or later, is going to give.

[bytheanchorarchived]

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING SO PEOPLE KNOW HOW SHIPPING WORKS ON YOUR BLOG.

WHAT’S YOUR OTP FOR YOUR MUSE?: I’ll answer this for my most active muses. For Alec it’s Alec&Magnus and Alec&Jace. For Jace it’s Jace&Clary and Jace&Alec. I don’t have a current one for Izzy. For Sebastian it’s Sebastian&Hunter for Glee and Sebastian&Magnus for everything else.

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE?: The thing about age gaps is that it depends on how the plot is developed. If there’s a consistent reason, that makes sense, for the gap, I’m usually okay with it. It also depends on the actual ages in themselves, like, if the younger muse is too young, aka underage etc, then I’ll likely say no, or if the older muse is much much older then as well. Tl;dr Let’s say like, if the age difference is up until an uncle / aunt I’d say that’s okay. If it’s on the range of a grandfather/mother then... No.

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING?: Very little? I think that’s because I’m very selective about who I follow in the first place. When I look at a blog I’m already looking for if we’d be a good match, if our muses would interact well etc. I think on it usually for a few days even. So except for a few cases where I just don’t ship the thing, if I have followed you back 99,99% it’s because I do ship the thing, or at least one of the things, if you are also a multi. 

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY’RE CONSIDERED NSFW?: I’d say clothes off are what I’d consider such. I’m selective about doing it on the dash, but I’ve got no issues rping adult content with other adults in discord etc, and I am also very open minded when it comes to sexual relationships, so there’s no need for awkwardness if we have a ship and you’d like to write that.

WHO ARE OTHER MUSES YOU SHIP YOUR MUSE WITH?: Many. I ship Alec with all sorts of cute boys, as well as Isabelle, I also ship Isabelle with girls. I think the characters I’m most selective with when shipping are Jace and Sebastian, Jace because it takes a certain kind of person for him to fall in love with, Sebastian because my ships with him need to be extremely slow burn and not many people are up to that. As examples, I have shipped Alec with OCs, Matthew Fairchild, Jonathan Morgenstern (AU only), and others. I have shipped Isabelle with Clary, Lydia Branwell, Matthew, Sebastian Verlac, Jonathan (AU only) and Jace (mostly AU). I’m always open to exploring other relationships with them, specially Isabelle since it’s so hard to find romantic options for her, and there’s so much to explore when it comes to her in that area. 

ANY NOTPS?: I’d rather say, ships I will not do here, and they are Simon&Isabelle, Simon&Jace, Jace&Maia, or anything that doesn’t fall in the right sexualities. 

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU?: Not really? Your best shot is to just send me memes, if I don’t see our muses interacting that way I’ll probably either not answer or answer in another way. Either that or natural plot/thread progression. But if you want to ask, go ahead! I’ll answer, no problem, just understand that if I say no, it’s no. I’ve tried to force myself in the past and ended up frustrated and partner-less. 

HOW OFTEN DO YOU LIKE TO SHIP?: I do it pretty often, I’m a sucker for a good love story. I think the biggest problem is the imbalance in the interest in my muses, like everyone always wants to have sibling/friendship interactions with Isabelle but the opposite with my other muses. I’ve had a few very strong friendship ships before and they really make verses and portrayals stronger, as long as they are well done, and invested into. 

ARE YOU MULTISHIP?: Yep.

ARE YOU SHIP-OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS?: See above. Basically I’d like to ship more with Izzy and have more other interactions with my other muses.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM?: All my OTPs mentioned are my favorite. 

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU?: Mostly just do the thing above or come plot with me. And basically if you’ve seen me ship the thing before, I’ll most likely ship it with you. 

TAGGED BY: @idumean TAGGING: @magnusbanedfromperu / @aestheticdriven , @argentelectrum, @lilithblooded , @ofdemonicmagic , @snakedhand