#ie the eye the web the spiral

[neim-batteries-not-included]

jonathan jarchivist sims when i fucking catch you

[zebracakesarecopingmechanisms]

Assigning each ASOUE book a TMA entity (+why)

*Also taking the Netflix show’s portrayal/atmosphere into account.

The Bad Beginning: Web 🕸️

The Baudelaires are beginning to realize that things have been going on behind the scenes that they can’t understand; they are almost completely trapped in Olaf’s scheme til Klaus finds a loophole.

The Reptile Room: Hunt 🦷

The Incredibly Deadly Viper is initially percieved as a threat, if short-lived, and the Baudelaires are surrounded by dangerous creatures. Simultaneously, this is the book in which they truly realize Olaf is determined to keep chasing them.

The Wide Window: Lonely ☁️

Imagery of a large, empty house in a grey, foggy lake setting combined with the theme of grief. They are also without their guardian for a while after she faked suicide and was temporarily presumed dead.

The Miserable Mill: Dark 🌑

The Baudelaires do not know what happened with their parents here; information is being hidden from them. Klaus’ vision is literally impaired at several points in the story due to his glasses being damaged, in addition to the mandatory nightly “lights out” immediately after dinner.

The Austere Academy: Slaughter🔪

Vice Principal Nero’s fixation on the violin provides frenzied music, a common theme of the slaughter. The children are collectively cruel to the Baudelaires via Carmelita’s leadership. They demonstrate moblike behavior at the pep rallies.

The Ersatz Elevator: Spiral 🌀

The penthouse has hundreds of rooms and corridors in which one can easily be lost; there are repeating patterns on walls and furniture as well as the children’s clothing. Proportions seem exaggerated, ie the scale of the house, the limo, Esmé’s hat and fur coat, etc. The elevator is a false door that acts as a deception. Esmé is the first character to convincingly lie to the Baudelaires, and the contradictory rules of the In/Out system are nonsensical and confusing. And, of course, there is literally a Red Herring at the auction.

The Vile Village: Buried ⚰️

The Baudelaires are, in a literal sense, in a dry and dusty desert village full of sand. In addition to this, Duncan and Isadora are trapped together in the cramped, dark space of the fountain for the bulk of the story. In a more figurative sense, the Baudelaires are also buried under extensive suffocating and restrictive laws.

The Hostile Hospital: Eye 👁️

Heimlich Hospital contained files of information on nearly every conceivable subject; a massive gathering of knowledge by a man who ironically has poor vision. Olaf keeps a constant watch through the security cameras, and when Klaus is being forced to operate on his sister, an entire theater is seeing him.

The Carnivorous Carnival: Flesh 🥩

While the “carnival freaks” are of course not actually examples of body horror and are just people with deformities, they are still viewed as such by audiences within the narrative. Additionally, Madame Lulu is literally eaten alive by lions.

The Slippery Slope: Vast 🌊

In this case, the Vast mainly refers to the sky and heights, though the ocean is incorporated at the very end leading into the Grim Grotto. Falling off the mountain is a constant background fear; Sunny’s cage is thrown off the edge, and we see Kit do her little falling-and-flying trick with the dragonfly wings.

The Grim Grotto: Corruption 🪰

I was tempted to put the Vast here, but honestly the ocean itself was more of a unusual setting than a legitimate source of fear. The major conflict of the story was the infection/contamination of the Medusoid Mycelium.

The Penultimate Peril: Stranger 🎭

The Baudelaires do not know whether they anyone are speaking with is trustworthy, especially Ernest vs. Dewey.

The End: Extinction 🏭

The island is partially covered in garbage and debris, and everyone there is poisoned by the Medusoid Mycelium and will presumably be wiped out.

*Honorable mentions to the Desolation (fire, suffering) the Lonely (very few believe or help) and the Hunt (Count Olaf’s constant pursuit) as overtones of the entire series.

[a-passing-storm]

(13 of) The 15 Fears As Lemon Demon Songs

In order of confidence/how well the songs fit/also just preferred fears.

The Eye - Touch Tone Telephone

The Extinction - Cabinet Man

The Lonely - Amnesia Was Her Name

The Spiral - Sundial

The Web - Spiral of Ants

The Stranger - Nightmare Fuel

The Buried - I Earn My Life

The Flesh - Modify

The Dark - Ancient Aliens(?)

The Hunt - Jaws(?)

The Slaughter - Knife Fight(?)

The Vast - The Ocean(?)

The Desolation - Action Movie Hero Boy(?)

I literally could not find any that fit The End or The Corruption. Explanations and some rambling beneath the cut.

I wanted to do this because I had ideas for a few of them, mainly The Extinction, Eye, Lonely, Spiral, Stranger, and Web. Then I kind of struggled to do the rest. I also typically only listen to Spirit Phone and View Monster, so I was mainly drawing from those two.

The Eye

Touch Tone Telephone - I don't have a good reason for this one. It fits John better than it fits The Eye, but I think you can argue that it fits the need for knowledge and loss of self in that search.

The Extinction

Cabinet Man - I don't think I need to explain this one! Cabinet Man is so similar to Binary, when that guy ate his computer.

Samuel and Rosella - I think this one is a sub-flavor of The Extinction. It's like... ah yes, these old people are convinced that the world is ending. Because of Kids These Days. Not climate change...

Fine - Speaking of climate change! This one is climate change denial, but I think it still fits The Extinction.

The Lonely

I had so many ideas for this one. Not all of them will make it here.

Amnesia Was Her Name - It reminded me a lot of Martin getting stuck in The Lonely in Season 5 and forgetting his name. It's got that sense of disconnection from other people.

It Can Get Lonely In My Mansion - This one fits pretty straightforwardly, because it is... about a guy who is in a huge empty space and feels lonely. The reason I didn't put it as my Final Choice was that it is more Capitalism Horror than Lonely Horror, in my opinion. I do think it fits The Lonely Making You Think That You Are Superior To Others And You Not Hanging Out With Them (I think that came up in Peter Lukas' statement?).

Soft Fuzzy Man - Again, being very literal with this one, it fits well. Some of the ocean vibes in the lyrics (ie. "cold and windy / dark and stormy") remind me of The Lonely's fogginess and Peter Lukas' sailor thing. I'm just going to start listing off lyircs: "can't you see me? / why can't you see me?" "I need to feel like I exist / so please, baby, please, baby, step into the mist." Going off of the lyrics, it fits well, but it just seemed a little too literal.

You're At the Party - I really wanted to use this for The Lonely, but then I decided it fit The Stranger better, but then I found other things that fit The Stranger. This song reminds me of when you are in a very busy/crowded place but feel completely invisible, out of place, and separate from everyone.

A Mask of My Own Face - This is another Lonely/Stranger one to me. You can take it as being around other people but still separating yourself from them, again in the Peter Lukas way.

Stuck - Doesn't really fit, but there is a line about forgetting your name and not having a clear personality.

The Spiral

Sundial - It's a silly nonsense song! The Spiral is the silly nonsense fear (ish). Sundial is a personal favorite Lemon Demon song, so I suppose I also wanted to assign it to a fan-favorite fear.

Eighth Wonder - Honestly, this one might fit better than Sundial, because it is an entity that is actually dangerous that comes off as very silly and playful, much like certain door people.

The Web

Spiral of Ants - I feel like someone is going to kill me for putting this here and not The Corruption or The Spiral, but it is... it is not really Bugs Gross nor is it about going crazy (that much). I think it fits The Web, because it discusses a loss of control over your own life, a lack of awareness over that loss of control, and the sense that you are just acting as a part of a collective as opposed to an individual with free will.

Redesign Your Logo - This was what I initially had for The Web. Going off of the literal words, it does have the repeating "everything's connected," which is pretty Web-y. I also think the general idea of manipulating and controlling people via advertising fits that pretty well.

Stuck - I feel that realizing that you are a character with no free will is pretty Web-related.

The Stranger

Nightmare Fuel - Once again, I feel that I don't need to explain this one. We have creepy clowns, puppets with human hands, mannequins that move, robots with human eyes, monsters made of clay, and a direct mention of the uncanny valley.

You're At The Party - This one is very Something Is Off But You Don't Know What to me and is personally very strongly associated with derealizing, which basically gives everything an uncanny valley feeling.

A Mask of My Own Face - I think this only works if you go by the imagery of someone wearing a mask made of human skin.

The Buried

I Earn My Life - I was initially going to use this for The Web, but then one of the Q&As mentioned that tax offices would totally be places of The Buried, and I figured this fit. Obviously, it fits more with the metaphorical sense of being stuck and having a lot of pressure on you than it does with literally being buried.

The Flesh

All of these seemed like slight stretches, so I had a hard time deciding between them.

Modify - This just felt like the most Body Horror song that I could find, even though it dealt less with the Ew Squishy Meat element of body horror than it did the Meat That Can Be Damaged element of body horror.

Lifetime Achievement Award - This was my initial choice for The Flesh, mainly because of the "even as we speak we're synthesizing blood and organs" in the chorus. It really doesn't fit that well, but that line tends to hit me with the sudden awareness that I am just a bunch of cells making more cells and such. Fleshy.

Nothing Worth Loving Isn't Askew - This one fits because of the "you are muscle, flesh, and bone," at the beginning and the themes of dysmorphia and insecurity about one's body. I just didn't find it particularly horrifying, I suppose. I kind of found it wholesome.

The Dark

We are now getting to fears where I feel that my song choices really didn't fit.

Ancient Aliens - I thought it fit mostly because of the sense of not knowing and the fear of the unknown. Also, the mention of darkness. Also, the mention of eye damage, I guess. Weirdly, a lot of Lemon Demon songs mention eye damage or specifically gouging out your eyes.

The Hunt

Jaws - Look. Spooky shark hunts people. People hunt shark. Shark hunts and eats people. People hunt shark more. Shark is dead. Hurrah!

The Slaughter

Knife Fight - Senseless violence! We'll ignore the tickle fight at the end.

The Vast

The Ocean - I did just pick a song that mentioned the ocean. In my defense, it also mentions not being able to see the horizon and watching the stars, which has been associated with The Vast a bit. By the way, there is another song called Deep In The Ocean, which also doesn't fit that well, though I suppose you could interpret it as being about how insignificant humans are in the grand scheme of things (time-wise).

The Desolation

Action Movie Hero Boy - I think you could argue this for The Slaughter, because both feature senseless violence, but this one touched a bit more on the romanticization of violence/destruction, in my opinion. Fire and explosives. Desolation. Woo.

Angry People - I think this one might fit better with The Slaughter or even The Extinction thematically, but it reminded me of baby Agnes. That was the main reason I picked it. Plus, I feel like The Desolation's people tend to be very passionate about things, and the mention of having sex angrily and eating angrily kind of had that vibe to me.

Others

When He Died - This really fits a good amount of them. I'm getting Stranger, because of the random skulls, Laughing Record, and clown; Lonely, because nobody mourned him and his wife's "voice began to fade to nothing;" Desolation, because of the house fire; and End, because of the foreseen death thing. There is also an apocalypse mention, so... Extinction + The Watcher's Crown.

Man-Made Object - It may or may not have reminded me a little bit of Jonah Magnus.

Pizza Heroes - This has got to be the Breekon and Hope theme song. They always deliver. :)

No Eyed Girl - This one! Thinking about this one in the context of The Magnus Archives actually made me cry. Like. Okay. Hear me out. Let me just straight up post the lyrics, actually. I will ramble and then I will straight up post the lyrics. I am not a huge fan of JohnMartin, however... Like. This song. This song in the context of Episode 200. Especially since the song is about someone falling in love with like... an unknowable being. In the song, the no-eyed girl and the unknowable being are two separate people, but like... this song if Martin was the no-eyed person and John was the being.

Oh, knowing what we know, knowing what we don't know  This is gonna change our world  Feeling how I feel, I'll accept the unreal  If you'd be my no-eyed girl From nowhere mankind can go  There's too much light, blinding white  Your matter tells mine to scatter  It's alright, it's alright From the moment that we met  I've been awake like I've never been awake in all my life  If I spoke your language, I could tell you how I feel  But your language isn't real In every myth, there's a little bit of truth  But I cannot say a thing  I cannot say a thing  Without proof, oh, no Knowing what we know, knowing what we do not know  This is gonna change our world  I might go insane if I learn your full name  If you'd be my no-eyed girl From nowhere mankind can go  There's too much light, blinding white  Emotions, human implosions  It's alright, it's alright Right before the kiss, I noticed something in the air  Molecules existed when there should have been none there  Chemical reactions with the surface of your skin  Some will say my actions let the no-eyed people in And I'd do it all again  And I'd do it all again  And I'd do it all again

I'm still rambling about this song. Like. Hello???

"Knowing what we know, knowing what we don't know. / This is gonna change our world." Like... HELLO? Knowing what they know about the Fears and the Archive and everything about alternate worlds? Not knowing exactly what would happen if they died or attempted to fix the world? But knowing pretty damn well that it sure would change?

Even the idea of being blinded by knowing too much... Jonah Magnus much? Everything going wrong as they kiss? Also just... how sad the last verse sounds...

Help!

[gelukart]

I’m very bored tma + good omens avatar hc

Thinking about Magnus archives while listening to the good omens audio book 😭

I had the wiki open for reference idk if that helps with anything

The four horse men of the apocalypse

Death: The End

Goes with out saying lmao, I mean they pretty much are one in the same less that death is an avatar of The end and more they just are The End

Pollution: The Extinction

I was debating on also going with the slaughter maybe because of like pestilence, and also how they kind of throw other people under bus when messing with the oil rig and other organizations it made me connect it to the “unmotivated violence” idk rather just make it simple so the extinction

Could also see an argument for the corruption but I feel that’s more individual where the extinction is more all encompassing soooo

Famine: The Flesh

A lot of the imagery associated with him is pretty body horror-ie also a lot of manipulation of food

War: The Desolation

Honestly I feel like this one was the only one for the four horsemen where the war choice just doesn’t fit in my mind, like her being an avatar of the slaughter… nahhhh. The way she acts and tries to corrupt and start infighting on a individual level… like the whole scene in the show where she stop the peace treaty by just being there was very cult of the lightless flame of her… also she has red hair and fire imagery soooo (jk)

Humans

Agnes Nutter (also maybe just the entire device blood line tbh): The Web

Girl controls all of the device family via her predictions and knows how everything that’s gonna go down could maybe say the eye but the eye doesn’t predict the future also Agnes and Anathema are cunty enough to chill with Annabella I think

The them: The spiral??

Idk Adam has the ability to make reality bend the way he wants it and the rest of them are kids exploring their imagination maybe there’s something’s there about illusions also in the book ley lines start to spiral and converge in Tadfeild so boom whatever

Shadwell: The hunt

Bros been witch hunting his enitre life like

Nina: The Corruption

Unhealthy relationship whomp whomp

Maggie: The Burried

Idk maybe smth about feeling trapped with a record shop no one comes to and not enough money to find anywhere else to be that’s doesn’t really make sense tho cause she love the records shop and love Nina so I mean idk help

Demons

Crowley: The Eye

Honestly this was the post that inspired this while i do agree like woe is Crowley sad lonely demon, MF is so curious! Alway asking damned fool questions he just wants to know stuff so bad to the point of his own damnation like….

Hastur: The corruption

Bug (could also be avatar of the hunt)

Beelzebub: The corruption

Bug (that one’s lazy ik okay) I can see arguments for the slaughter (wanting for their to be a war or just in general being the over seer of torture) or the stranger( for like 2.5 second in season 2) but I will not be one to make those arguments (even though that’s whole point of this blog post)

Dagon: The desolation

Very bitey give me very big manipulator vibes waiting for mfs down fall (could also see them as an avatar of the hunt for the same reasons!!)

Shax (and furfur tbh): The Hunt

She got that dawg in her climbing the corporate ladder praying on bitches down fall very girlboss

Angels

Aziraphale: The lonely

Unironically the hardest one for me like idk I could maybe see the eye because of the bookshop but I think it’s less of like desire for information and more about the actually act of collecting and the enjoyment of reading for him like yes he still has a curiosity about and seeks information but idk it’s more restrained (then like Crowley) and limited to whatever humans got going on I think

Idk this is the one I’m the most wishy-washy about some one else could probably find smth better but I decided to go with the lonely cause he very much enjoys his solitude with his books, but then it’s also like no he has and loves Crowley! But At the same time tho there’s that whole mention in the book where he like hints at Crowley when to get the fuck out of the bookshop so he can go back to reading. Idk out of all the fears this is the only I think he would most likely to be an avatar to (also gotta keep up the lonely + the eye parings right lmaoo)

Metatron: The stranger

Bro is so secretive about everything and literally changes his mannerism when trying to get Aziraphale back to heaven, definitely could also see the web since he is “the voice of god” but I feel like that’s just another face he puts on and he has not been actually able to speak to good since like job or smth. I think he just has a general outline of how things are supposed to happen but what god actually has planned is well ineffable so

Gabriel (Honestly also applies to the other Archangels tbh): The Desolation

They want war, they want to end the world before it has the ability to see its full potential

Jim: The spiral

Because…

Muriel: The lonely

:(

(idk I need to seem some mentorship and Muriel becoming her own person in season 3 Kay bye)

Thanks for reading my ramblings if you got this far please feel feed to add your own opinions and ideas to this lmao

[missed-connections-of-fear]

All I can say is that I've had a feeling something was coming for a while now. I've... I've done that for a while. After the first fearpocalypse I thought that maybe I had been webbed in my childhood, but I can't remember any real experiences with the web at all. No trauma related to spiders here... I mean... There was that one friend I had who seemed to always get away with everything, but...

I'm hoping it's nothing, but the last time I felt this way, the apocalypse happened. Maybe I did get Webbed.

All I know is that it's not the Eye, because the Spiral and the eye are natural opposites (my term for those fears that directly oppose each other, ie the Desolation and the Web)

Yeah that makes sense. I mean. Some Avatars might be frustrated and trying to do solo rituals again. But who knows? Not me.

- Darcy

[shadowsandstarlight]

So here’s my post about the links and oppositions of The Dread Powers.

Okay, so oppositions, indicated here by complimentary background colours: Eye/Stranger, Web/Spiral, Hunt/Slaughter, Flesh/Corruption, Desolation/Dark, Buried/Vast, End/Lonely.

Analogous colours indicate alliances, such as yellow-orange+yellow+yellow-green (Stranger+Spiral+Slaughter).

Some of the links and oppositions are easy connections to make, or are mentioned in-podcast, like Vast/Buried, Vast+Lonely+Eye, Web/Spiral, or Hunt+Flesh. Some take some more thought, like Slaughter/Hunt and Flesh/Corruption. On the surface you’d probably see those pairings more as alliances than oppositions- Slaughter and Hunt are both about killing, Flesh and Corruption are both being consumed. But Hunt is killing with intent and reason where Slaughter is specifically mindless violence for the sake of violence. Flesh is being consumed via eating, where Corruption is disease and rot which by definition oppose being eaten. Corruption is also a more moral form of consumption (ie toxic relationships, literal moral corruption, consuming passion) while Flesh is far more literal about eating. Some really don’t make sense at a glance- Lonely/End, for example. What makes more loneliness than death? But Lonely is about isolation, and a lot of the fear is based on avoidable loss of what you have due to your own mistakes, versus the End, which induces fear in its inevitability, less about your own isolation and more about those you’re leaving behind- the opposite of Lonely. Even the clearer opposites have some really interesting reasonings when you look at the more metaphorical manifestations of the Fears. The Vast is cosmic insignificance, while Buried is the crushing weight of regrets and the significance of every decision you make. The Desolation is fire, but is specified as a Lightless Flame- none of the positive brightness- which means opposition with the Dark makes less sense. But, the Desolation is all about losing what you have, knowing what there is to lose, what you will lose. The Dark is about not knowing, about what could be out there, about what harm could come to you and that which you love. Certainty vs potential. These things exist between every single fear, in the alliances as much as the oppositions. I have taken as much as possible into account, with every single Fear, everything that falls into every category. And man, did it seem like they hated me sometimes. Especially when I was setting colours. They really are like colours, but if colours hated you.

[swishyclang]

okay so I couldn't stop thinking merlin-tma Thoughts based on this post, and:

au where the entities are the source of magic. the rulers of Albion's kingdoms are all aligned to various entities on an individual level (though alignment often runs in families). the Old Religion is worship of the Dark and Hunt, primal fears.

young!Uther is aligned with the Hunt. he and Ygraine want children so they turn to Nimueh to help. canon happens but with added entity shenanigans (ie: Arthur is born, Ygraine dies, Uther blames it on the Old Religion, outlaws magic).

because Uther is Hunt-aligned initially, he rejects the Hunt and aligns himself with the Desolation during the purges (though the entities are the source of magic in this au, being aligned with an entity isn't automatically "sorcery" since there's a distinctly political element to alignment at noble levels). magic is outlawed, but entity worship is fine - unless you're Hunt or Dark, in which case Uther has it out for you.

so Merlin shows up in Camelot as per canon, having spent his whole life strongly tied to both the Eye and the Dark, and with the innate ability to see entity connections in the people he meets.

(Gaius spends the entirety of s1 trying to reconcile Merlin's weird contradictory alignment. "you can't be tied to the Dark and the Eye, that's just not possible!" "they cancel each other out, how are you even alive?!").

so Merlin encounters:

- Gaius, who's shifty as fuck and refuses to admit to his obvious history with the Vast

- Gwen, who seems completely oblivious to the fact she's absolutely dripping with Web

- Morgana, whose natural Hunt alignment has been so warped by years of "medical treatment" that Merlin can see the Spiral lurking in her shadow, waiting to claim her

- Uther, who burns with the fervent desperation of the Desolation

- Arthur, who seems to think he's destined to follow in his father's footsteps but is so trapped under the weight of Uther's expectations that most of Merlin's time is spent rescuing Arthur from enclosed spaces that think he's a delicious meal for the Buried

- the sidhe, who are agents of the Stranger that only Merlin seems to be able to see through fully

- Kilgarrah, the last of his kind, born directly of the magical union of Hunt and Dark

- Nimueh, who's so steeped in the Dark that Merlin has to reach for a control over the Eye that he didn't even know he had to defeat her ("Ceaseless Watcher, turn your gaze... etc etc")

and also:

- Lancelot, who has strange ties to the End that he seems completely unaware of

- Morgause, who claims to be Hunt-aligned but whose obsessive disdain for Uther and love for Morgana clearly mark her out as Corruption

- many creatures of the Flesh that are oddly drawn to Camelot (the griffin, the questing beast, the lamia, etc)

- Gwaine, whose rage against injustice has warped into a Slaughter alignment that he likes to think he has full control of

- Freya, who was bound against her will to the Hunt and gratefully becomes a full Avatar of the End to escape it

- Mordred, isolated even among his own kind, desperate for belonging, and so powerfully gripped by the Lonely that Merlin can see fog drifting in his wake from the moment they meet

this post probably doesnt have a target audience, but i wanted to combine some of the fears from the magnus archives with merlin characters, because i thought it would be cool

these are based on season 4 and 5!! (of merlin)

explanations on why i chose each one under the cut

Merlin: the eye (paranoia, fear of secrets being revealed, being watched) i feel like this is self explanatory, merlin is afraid of his magic being revealed and in s5 he becomes more and more paranoid because of the whole destiny thing

Mordred: the lonely (isolation, disconnection) Yeah so i feel like mordred led a very isolated life until being knighted, but once he belongs, the whole thing gets taken away and he is lonely once again, with Morgana being the only option to turn to

Morgana: the spiral (madness, hallucination) Over the course of the show, we see Morgana descending into madness and in a servant of two masters it's even revealed that she has hallucinations and doesn't trust her own mind.

Arthur: The desolation (pain, loss, burning) now arthur was a hard one. i chose the desolation because of arthur's unwillingness to step into uther's footsteps, uther, who basically brought about everything the desolation stands for, to camelot

Gwen: the web (manipulation, being trapped, spiders) hear me out, gwen got kidnapped, enchanted and manipulated SO MANY TIMES. The web was the only one i could think of that fits her.

idk if these are truly accurate, so if you disagree feel free to tell me!

[heartofspells]

Hello my love! 17, 22 and 26 for the WIP ask game, please, if you wouldn't mind ❤️❤️❤️

Hiya, darling!

17. what do you do to motivate yourself to write?

God, I feel like I keep repeating myself and you'll all eventually get tired of hearing the same answers, but I listen to music. If the motivation wanes, I find a playlist I've made, close my eyes, and let my mind drift to wherever it wants to land. Things typically spark after that.

If the motivation drops really badly, and music isn't doing the trick, I'll go back through comments on other works, look at messages from friends, read their kind words, or the things people have said in excitement, and that's usually more than enough to amp me up again.

22. when do you know you’re really in a writing frenzy?

When I feel the need to explain to mostly strangers that yes, I actually do have an incredibly busy life outside of writing because I'm posting so much. Ha!

Or when the sleeping gets so bad that it's non-existent, because my mind won't hush up and rest. It's constant ideas and strings of dialogue and words that just have to be put down in that instant or something terrible will happen, or so it feels.

It's waking up after twenty minutes, wired and thrumming, veins vibrating, fingers itching. It's being trapped at work and sneaking into a secluded corner and typing away furiously on my phone because nothing relents.

26. is there a wip you’d like to see recreated in a new medium (ie. movie, audio drama podcast, web series, animation, musical)?

Of course there is, and of course it's At the Healing Edge of Broken. I still live in that universe, can't shake it away. And it's technically still a WIP because there's more coming, it's never-ending. I'd love to see it in any other form, honestly, just because it's stuck in my head and I see it all. I want others to see everything I do, how it spirals and branches out, so many lives and things that can never possibly be written, and so encompassing.

(i might be a little manic about it, but i try not to judge myself or focus on it)

[ariadnesweb]

That Your Fave Is An Avatar blog got me seriously overthinking the topic of Mettaton (or rather some far-removed human AU version, there aren't any sentient robots running around London) in the setting. It assigns him the Extinction and though I guess I can kinda see it (there's a certain delightfully twisted aspect of the man that loved humanity and wanted them to adore him coming to serve the entity that represents their annihilation) I was wondering what your thoughts on the matter were

I am flattered you chose this small, unknown scholar of the TMA fear entities to muse on Mettaton's possible fear patron.

Fortunately, I have thoughts on what the Undertale cast's possible fear patronage would entail.

And the tl:dr of this question is: I believe Mettaton would be an avatar of the Vast.

While the longer, more focused version of that, considering all the entities, is: yep, still vast.

Entity list, as a reminder: Dark, Vast, Buried, Hunt, Spiral, Lonely, Corruption, Desolation, Stranger, Slaughter, Eye, End, Web, Flesh, Extinction.

Mettaton's a pretty hands-on, direct guy, so I would rule out any of the slower, more methodical entities (ie. the lonely, the corruption, the end, etc.). This cuts out the extinction as a possible fear patron, simply because it works only on the societal scale - societies aren't known for simplicity and physicality, and Mettaton would really rather just get things done his own way.

This leaves as possible patrons: the vast, the buried, the hunt, the stranger, the desolation, the slaughter, and the flesh. All entities which have their avatars go out and terrorize people directly and mostly by themselves, with less waiting around.

Given a shorter list, we can look to Mettaton's own motivations/methodology for terrorizing a small child, and work from there.

It's not out of bloodlust - MTT specifically denies a sense of sadism for his actions. The hunt, the desolation, and the slaughter all rely on that, so MTT is unlikely to become a fear avatar for them, specifically.

While Mettaton's desire for the right body was a Huge Motivator in his decision to become a star...

Acquiring the perfect body is a largely positive moment for Mettaton, where he feels happy with himself, and beyond that, this self-confidence inspires others to be themselves:

Kinda the opposite of what avatars for the Flesh and the Stranger would do, right?

Leaving only the Buried and the Vast as possibilities...

Well, Mettaton's a wild guy, hectic as the storm, always moving on to the next big thing, quick and impulsive as can be when you're determined to meet the stars;

And with the nonchalance befitting only a vast avatar,

[the-z-part]

A Personal List of Lietners, or Book Recs for Each TMA Entity

These are not all horror novels (although some of them are), but I think they speak to themes that will resonate if you’re particularly into one fear or another.

Feel free to add your own recs! I’m obviously limited by what I’ve read (ie I suspect that Wilder Girls is a good corruption book, but I haven’t read it yet). 

Books with canon queer characters are marked with an asterix! 

The Eye

- The Children’s Hour* by Lillian Hellman. An accusation made by one of the students brings scrutiny and heartbreak to a girls’ school. OG queer tragedy. (CW: suicide)

The Spiral

- Finna* by Nino Cipri. Two exes working at fantasy!IKEA must find a lost customer by travelling through even-more-fantasy!IKEAs.

- “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman. Imprisoned by a husband who thinks he’s helping her, a woman sees a figure in the ugly wallpaper of her room. You read it for English class, but read it again.

- Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman. Caden’s a normal teen whose friends and family are starting to notice that his mental health is not quite ideal. Caden is on a ship heading for the Marianas Trench, torn between loyalty to the captain and the allure of the deep. (You know that song Ship in a Bottle?) (CW: forced institutionalization)

The End

- They Both Die at the End* by Adam Silvera. Two teen boys get a call that they’re going to die (this is normal in the world). They meet, and decide to spend the day really living.

- Scythe by Neal Shusterman. In a utopia that has moved past natural death, two teenagers learn to kill for the greater good.

The Stranger

- The Murders of Molly Southborne by Tade Thompson. Every time Molly bleeds, her blood creates a perfect clone of her that wants to kill her. This is inconvenient to say the least.

- The Call by Peader Ó Guilín. In a fantasy future Ireland, teenagers train for the day they’ll be transported to the fairy realm, where they’ll be hunted for sport.

- Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Coraline finds a secret passage to a house just like hers, but full of delightful, magical things--and another mother who wants to keep her forever.

The Lonely

- Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. The food Tita cooks make those who eat it feel her emotions--it’s the closest anyone comes to understanding her.

The Desolation

- The Fifth Season* by N K Jemisin. Geology-magic causes an apocalypse, but it might also keep a grieving mother alive.

The Slaughter

- The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion* by Margaret Killjoy. A spirit summoned to protect a commune starts killing people. Queer and punk rock af

- The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley. “They said the war would turn us into light.”

The Vast

- To Be Taught, If Fortunate* by Becky Chambers. A group of astronauts jump from planet to planet, cataloguing the life they find. But then their updates from home stop arriving...

- Into the Drowning Deep* by Mira Grant. Killer mermaids, hard science, and genuinely every kind of rep you can think of! (also has some Stranger stuff going on in it)

The Buried

- The Unfortunates by Kim Liggett. Teens are trapped in a cave while hiking, and something is hunting them through the dark. (Ok, I couldn’t actually think of a book for this fear, but I asked the inimitable @acesaru and she recommended it. She hasn’t steered me wrong yet!) 

The Dark

- The City in the Middle of the Night* by Charlie Jane Anders. Humanity struggles to survive on a tidally-locked planet: one side is pitch dark, the other blazing with light. Sophie, a student, is exiled into the darkness.

- The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. Ember is the one bright spot in the darkness, but blackouts are becoming more frequent as the city falls apart, and only Lina and Doon seem to be paying attention.

The Corruption

- The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. Ebola!  It’s the only nonfiction on the list but Oh Boy. (CW for graphic depictions of illness)

- Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney. Can you get smallpox from a book? Mitty isn’t sure, but these terrorists seem to think so...

The Web

- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. “No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within” (It really does have themes about, like, manipulation, but also join me in mixing Hill House and Hilltop Road up 100% of the time)

- Jane, Unlimited* by Kristin Cashore. An orphaned artist goes to a spooky house. She has to make a choice, and we see every possible consequence for that choice. Genre-bending and bi!

- Middlegame by Seanan McGuire. Psychically-linked twins, Rodger and Dodger, are manipulated by the alchemist who created them and controlled (almost) every aspect of their lives. Weird timeline shit!

The Flesh

- The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton. Girls with the power to mold bodies and make people beautiful vie to become the Queen’s favorite in the beautiful, dangerous court of Orleans.

- Unwind by Neil Shusterman. Three teens scheduled to be “unwound” and have all their organs sold to other people flee their fate. Some really gnarly body horor.

The Hunt

- Vicious by V. E. Schwab. Victor and Eli used to be best friends, but after years in prison, Victor will stop at nothing to get his revenge on Eli. Also, they both have superpowers. 

- “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Cornell. A long short story about. the hunter becoming the hunted. Spoiler: the most dangerous game IS man. 

The Extinction

- Borne by Jeff Vandermeer. The Company destroyed the world, and then a giant bear destroyed the Company. Only a few survivors remain, including Rachel, a scavenger, who finds a creature called Borne and decides to care for it, even as it grows increasingly stronger and more terrifying. 

- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. A girl who literally feels others’ pain quietly develops a religion while America crumbles around her. (CW: sexual relationship with a really big age gap)

- All the Birds in the Sky* by Charlie Jane Anders. A witch and a mad scientist fall in love at the end of the world. The most real-feeling apocalypse I’ve ever, ever read. (Not really a CW but if reading things that remind you of Current Events makes you uncomfy, beware, because Charlie Jane really nailed it) 

[fakecrfan]

Most underrated fear?

Okay this is hard because it’s hard for me to call something underrated when I am not sure how highly the fan reaction rates them. I am vaguely aware that the Vast, the Eye, and the Spiral seem to be well loved, but I don’t know about fan reactions to the Entities outside of that.

So, given that, I am going to instead go by how the Entities are treated in canon. IE, how much the plot is related to them, whether they get a villain-of-the-season or even villain-of-the-week, how many avatars or statements they have, etc. And based on this, I am going to pick.....

The Buried.

The buried is super fucking frightening and interesting. Being buried alive or walled into a basement alive is utterly bone-chilling. It definitely was one of my bigger fears as a child specifically because you have to be alive for a significant period of time, feeling it.

The buried also has some good potential philosophical overtones (? is that the right word for it?) The buried is very physical, but it has the potential to be abstracted (the way the fear of spiders and webs gets abstracted into the fear of loss of control and violation of free will.) The Buried, being buried alive, is an image that perfectly captures the feeling of complete despair. Of having all your options get smaller and smaller until you realize you’re completely trapped. Not controlled, but genuinely with no options left to you. The coffin episode was excellent for this.

All that potential, and we get no avatars, no villains-of-the-week, and hardly any statements, and no big arc :(

[snappysprinkledog]

archivist!martin crack theory which actually kind of credible now I've looked into it??

so here's my new crack (or is it?) theory about martin getting marked to count as an archivist cause the lads got so many fears vibing around him

so my evidence~ for this

okay so martin has been involved with like, alot

the eye- obvious

the lonely- obvious

the corruption- jane trapped him in his house and then attacked the archives later

the spiral- him and tim went for a trip through the hallways while not!sasha was attacking jon

the flesh- look its unclear how involved martin was but the flesh attacked the institute and martin has a deal about peter protecting the institute from more attacks so I'm going to say martin probably wasn't uninvolved in that and can be marked consequentially, arguably, also jared says ‘the weak one legged it’ then refers to basira and melanie separately from that so I'm assuming that's martin

the web- something is happening there, man just walked off with Annabelle and they've been ‘come to the dark side we have cookies’-ing him all season so idk web?

the desolation- flimsiest by far, but martin does not like fire, and yes i too a human would rather not go into a burning building but ignoring that :p, tbh arguably martin could be marked by that domain like he is not having a good time but i will admit this is flimsy (i mean this is a cracky theory so does it matter yknow)

the stranger- not!sasha, his friend literally died in the unknowing and his crush went into a 6 month long coma, probs some trauma involving all that

the hunt- trevor takes martin hostage when they’re in the hunt domain an threatens to kill martin, being saved by basira shooting him

the fears i couldn't really find/think anything for was the vast, the slaughter, the slaughter, the buried, and the end unless we’re counting the trauma of JON WAKING UP FOR OLIVER AND NOT HIM  but also, additional stuff jonalias was very easy on martin until the end of season 3 when martin burns statements, easier then he is on anyone else, and given some markings this may have been due to martin being a potential backup archivist, as jon was also missing a few through that time also, jonalias was the one who put martin in the archive in the first place, martin didn't ask to, and as an jon didn’t even know of martin at the time or ask for more people. Jonah made sure martin was placed within the archives, again maybe as a backup or to get more marks on him, i mean jon did send him to things which consequently got a mark ie; prentis 

so yeah! here's the theory i made a joke about last night and then researched it and there is actually some credibility to it. so basically, crack theory! or is it?

[wurmbabe]

ENTITY ALIGNMENTS OF NON-TMA MUSES

Avatar = actively serves the fear entity. [ie: agnes & the desolation] Aligned = could become an avatar if conditions are right, but ultimately just embodies certain traits associated with the fear. [ie: basira & the eye] Touched = has a major life event / trauma associated with that fear, marking them with that entities distinctive ‘signature’. [ie: sasha & the spiral (via micheal)]

PODCASTS.

DANA CARDINAL. eye-aligned, spiral / stranger touched.

‘MARCIE’ WALKER. she knows better!!!!

PETER NUREYEV. web avatar.

VESPA ILKAY. slaughter-aligned.

TELEVISION.

15TH DOCTOR. spiral-aligned, eye touched.

DAMIEN MOREAU. web avatar.

DUŠAN VUCIC. eye touched.

EZEKIEL JONES. vast avatar.

GARCIA FLYNN. hunt avatar.

LILA ARCHER. eye touched. lonely touched.

MAGGIE COLLINS. she knows better!!!!

MR QUINN. slaughter-touched.

SPENCER REID. eye-aligned, but it’s complicated....

WESLEY CRUSHER. vast touched.

LITERATURE.

JAMES MORIARTY. web-aligned. eye touched.

ZAPHOD BEEBLEBROX. spiral avatar.

LANCELOT DU LAC. slaughter-aligned. lonely / corruption touched.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.

GORGUG THISTLESPRING. slaughter-aligned.

GARTHY O’BRIEN. they know better!!!

NEVI / ERIC. end touched.

ORIGINAL MUSES.

CAL ESFAHANI-JONES. extinction avatar.

DUSTY MCPHEE. vast / buried touched.

[creativitycache]

Is Martin going to be mentioned again in ToT? Or is that little snippet in the buried going to be all Jon remembers?

Below is Spoilers, including details breakdown of the story’s meta. Bewarned! This is long & convoluted as all get out. It basically can be summed up like this:

Martin and other future people (not just events) have actually been mentioned more than that, and to answer your question right off of the bat, yes Jon will continue to remember.

As I was originally answering this, it kind of spiraled out of control as I dove into a detailed breakdown of some things so I decided to just go for the whole hog and put everything down here in one place. I’ve got a similar breakdown in another document, but that’s really just for keeping tabs on how many days have passed and not the meta analysis.

TL;DR on meta: Jon is leveling up at a ridiculous speed, but he already was high level to start out with so he’s really just lagging behind his adult self. The more he feeds the more he grows. In the Eyepocalypse, we’ve heard Jon lament that trying to access his powers within his body is like trying to “drink the ocean through a straw”, and it’s only gotten more difficult as his body has shrunk.

Another note on timing: in the original story, Jon had gained multiple marks in back to back horrible days. In my own small way, the pacing of these later chapters is repayment for Jon’s hell week.

Entity Touched events will be in bold. Jon’s powers being activated will be italicized. Remembering a specific person/statement/future event will be noted with (parenthesis). Please note that while I will put a specific name in the parenthesis Jon often does not consciously remember the name nor the full scope of the event/person/statement. I will keep a running total of how many days since the last notable entity touched event at the top.

Ch 1

Jon goes through the Spiral’s Doors. His body merges, and he fluctuates between seeing and Seeing. Eventually, his eyes settle upon Watching constantly. He struggles to remember Section 31 (Daisy and Basira “they were both strangers and enemies and friends“). He Knows Detective Davies exact schedule, and the train schedule. He attempts to Feed via Compelling, unsuccessfully. He Sees Detective Davies schedule change. He Senses stories nearby.

Ch 2

Day 3 post-emerging:

After reading a Story: he Knows the difference between true and fake statements, as well as Mr. Magnus’s true name and that he stole the name Elias. He can See farther than what his eyes should be able to, and is able to Watch Elias. He Compels Elias but does not stay long enough to feed off his answers. He remembers (Barnabas Bennett). He remembers (the feeling of his own rib.) He remembers (going into the Lonely to save someone). When pressed, he remembers (the Unknowing exploding into fire) and losing “them” (his Assistants). This causes him to vomit and creates a void within him that must be filled.

Ch 3

Day 3 post-emerging, less than one hour after reading a Story:

Jon summons tape recorders to listen to stories. He listens to dozens of Stories at the same time. Jon remembers (the layout of the Institute). Jon gives a Statement.

Ch 4

Day 3 post-emerging, hours after consuming dozens of Stories:

Jon remembers (the Dark Sun, and Looking directly at the Entities). Jon remembers (Michael stabbing him for Compelling).

Ch 5

One day after consuming dozens of Stories:

Jon reads a bedtime Story. This reveals to Elias that Jon is able to comprehend all languages.

Ch 6

Jon consumes multiple Stories per day, far exceeding the normal Archivist rate of consumption. He remembers (Elias unable to See him in Orsinov’s Circus) He is unable to lie. He walks through the Archivist nightmares and the nightmares of the Eyepocalpyse, but these future events are unable to be perceived by Elias. During these nightmares, he remembers (being hurt by several “monsters”.)

Post this chapter, assume Jon has read at least one bedtime Story and multiple Stories throughout the day for months.

Ch 7

Jon now Knows all answers to fact-based questions his teachers ask. He begins drawing Eyes that have some will of their own- refusing to be paired. Jon now speaks directly to the Eye. It is confirmed his eyes have now physically changed to be reminiscent of other Avatars of the Eye- ie Elias. Jon Sees all marks left on people by the Entities. He remembers (how the Entities make Avatars), (Simon Fairchild) and (that he did something very bad unwillingly). He can sense when Elias is trying to See into his head.

Ch 8

Jon Feeds off of Emma, and forces her to Know her victim’s pain. Everyone is unable to move or interrupt him. He forces the web of the Mother of Puppets to be Shown. He remembers (where the tunnels are and what they do).

Ch 9

One day after Feeding off of Emma

Jon grows bigger. Jon Knows the (true nature of the Entities, and their effects on the world) and tries to articulate them. His explanation is different than Gertrude’s. He remembers (Tim’s jokes, Martin’s love of fuzzy tarantulas, the fight with Peter, and Michael-as-the-Distortion’s Statement, being friends with his Assistants and that things went wrong when his Assistants were no longer his friends). He thinks, but is not sure, he remembers who the man in the tunnels is (Lietner) and that he can track him down. He can See everyone’s marks and make them visible to others. When attempting to consciously access Knowledge of Michael’s future, he faints and blood comes out of his nose.

Jon consumes a Story. Jon remembers (how to Quit). Jon fights with the Eye’s geas against speaking of escape and wins.

Jon remembers (the Eyepocalypse) and Knows why he can survive on only old stories and statements from Avatars. Reaching for this knowledge is even more difficult than just Michael’s future, and causes him to black out for a significant amount of time with a severe memory wipe. Despite this memory wipe, he remembers (Gertrude does not treat her Assistants well, and the location of Fiona & Joshua Gillespie’s statement).

Ch 10

Jon Knows how to get to the Coffin purely thanks to the Eye, and realizes the Knowledge is external because his sense of direction was previously so poor. He is now able to consciously communicate directly in a back and forth conversation with the Eye, although the Eye is currently only Answering Jon’s Questions and Jon is giving his opinion. Being near the Coffin causes Jon to remember (he was in the Coffin for 3 days).

Being in the Coffin causes Jon to remember (that he got stuck with someone else last time, that he had an anchor, and that it might be M-m-mar- ), then he gets out in a day and a half. This is half the time of the first round, despite Fiona being deeper in than Daisy had been.

Jon Feeds off of John the Buried Avatar.

Ch 11

Day 1 post-Coffin & Feeding off of John

Jon feeds off of Dr. Girard the pediatrician.

Jon still comprehends all languages, but now he can articulate something is strange despite still not realizing he’s not hearing English. Jon grows after feeding. Jon Knows when Fiona is in trouble. His eyesight is noticeably excellent. Jon remembers (Gertrude’s war against the rituals is “stupid”, and that Jonah stole Elias’s body and why. He remembers statements about Agnes, and how Agnes and Gertrude are bound, and what various members of the Cult of the Lightless Flame look like. He also remembers going out for Martin’s birthday and eating ice cream, which is how he knows where the nearest ice cream parlor is.)

This is the last time Jon takes out the crayon drawing of the Eye.

Ch 12

Day 2 post-Coffin & Feeding off of John, Day 1 post Feeding off of Dr. Girard

Jon remembers (you should never hold an Avatar of the Desolation barehanded, and that the tunnels go for miles and miles, and that Smirke realized his architectural theories were wrong.)

Jon Knows he loves tea but hasn’t found one that tastes right. (He’s thinking of Martin’s tea, but he doesn’t realize it.) It’s also revealed that Jon is crying alone sometimes in his room when he thinks no one will notice, but he doesn’t Remember why. When asked, he remembers (he was Made and not Born), and Knows that the Eyepocalypse/”his destiny” is preventable, but he had to lay down before remembering/realizing any further.

He remembered the (statement about Agnes’s childhood, and the Distortion’s Avatars, despite the fact the Distortion would not merge like that until post-ritual, and that Gertrude liked to blow things up/use fire to disrupt rituals.)

The Eye now is giving Jon specific suggestions, ie origami frogs, when he Asked for ideas.

Ch 13

Day 3 post-Coffin & Feeding off of John, Day 2 post Feeding off of Dr. Girard

When asked, he knows there’s no such thing as time where the Eye is, but vomits from trying to Know something directly about where the Fears currently are. Jon remains nauseous but does not faint, have blood loss, or memory loss. Then, when a Story is read to him from Van Closen, he remembers (the contents of a different statement entirely- Fanshaw’s letter.) He struggles to grasp something else the Eye is telling him.

Ch 14

Day 4 post-Coffin & Feeding off of John, Day 3 post Feeding off of Dr. Girard.

Jon remembers (being a manager.) Elias and Fiona do not realize Jon is using terms no one has used around him before- nor do they recognize like Michael did earlier that Jon’s specific grasp of corporate language is far outside the normal range of what children usually have picked up.

Fiona, newly awakened, uses her powers on Jon. He then, when in close proximity to her, is reminded of what information he hadn’t been able to grasp earlier (ie, Eric and Gerry).

Jon enters a battlefield surrounded by Entity-touched deathtraps being sprung. He remembers (wandering untouched in the Eyepocalypse, Mary binding herself to the book.)

Ch 15

Day 4 post-Coffin & Feeding off of John, Day 3 post Feeding off of Dr. Girard.

Jon (remembers “interrupting drinks” and that they always taste better when in a mug- ie, Martin’s tea. He remembers the Dark was “for babies”.)

When awoken, he is able to articulate that he did remember Gerry and Eric.

Jon summons Eric. The Archive speaks. Jon Knows how to edit the Book as Mary Keay did in the original timeline, and does so.

[raeofsunshin]

Rae tells you what the enties are having no actual idea what they are and guessing based on second hand fandom knowledge:

Vast: This ones the ‘open spaces’ one. Sky, ocean, North Dakota. Falling is a theme, like not being able to hold on to anything. Think the lightning boy is here.

Buried: Dirt. Surrounded on all sides and being unable to move. Feel like darkness is involved? But that’s another one??

Corruption: bug mushroom. That one Sid the science kid video on decay I was terrified of as a child. Also probs emotional corruption, like money making rich people assholes. There’s a worm lady

Eye: this is the one everyone said I was. It’s the one that likes the archives special boy. You like people watching? Knowing things? This entity is for you. Lyf’s an eye avatar

Web: your every move is being controlled. Uh- spiders

Spiral: uwu would you like some mwentwol iwness uwu. long fingers I can’t tell if they’re canon or fanon. Hallway and the yellow door? Alice and wonderland vibes- seems to want to make you unsure of reality itself

Stranger: 🎶mask of my own face🎶 uh- they’re “not” you. There’s a circus and clowns but that’s just for aesthetic it’s irrelevant. This ones got TS in it. Unsure of reality but like- the people not the world

Lonely: Fog machine but spooky. Elias’s ‘ex’ husband (???) is from here and wants to yoink Martin. It’s being isolated, whether literally or figuratively (ie. Wilderness or disassociation)

Flesh: I don’t like it. Idk a lot but what I’ve heard I don’t like. There’s a meat man and I hate the name

Hunt: getting chased baybee. It’s not about the main event (your death) it’s about the journey

Slaughter: it’s about the main event. And very much so

Desolation: Fire and women (ha) honestly idk a lot so ima guess. It’s about destroying everything. Could be locations, could be people (literally or emotionally)

End: just plain death. The inevitable March of time. Insignificance

Dark: get a night light boys and girls. Crushing amounts of darkness- like a cave idk

Extinction: DINOSAUR

[iwillsithereandtrytocontribute]

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger (But We All Die Eventually)

Pairings: JonMartin, background wtgfs

Warnings: Major character death, pretty much all warnings associated with the fears, canon-typical worms, manipulation, blood and injury, falling, contemplating death, body horror, being buried alive

Spoilers up until season 5

Masterlist Ao3 

Jonah lies dead on his throne and the world will return to normal. Once the Archive is empty.

Jon hadn’t Known what would happen when he tried to reverse the ritual. Even the Eye in its element, in all its glory, couldn’t see the future. He’d only known that attempting as such would be painful. But he knew pain and cruelty intimately now. He wasn’t afraid to hurt if it meant undoing what he had done. So he had marched on to London.

Martin had known something was wrong. Jon had never lied to him, but enough half-truths will lead the same way. Martin’s nervous glances and soft words did nothing to dissuade him here at the end and beginning of it all.

Jon felt the webs first. Silk-thin strings tied to each of his limbs, pulling taut for the first time since he’d held A Guest for Mr. Spider in his hands. The Web had not controlled his movements, had not puppeted his limbs with its fine thread, but it had always been there. It had always Watched him. There was irony in that somewhere. It was the first of the marks he had borne upon his person. 

He gasped as the hundreds of small scars scattered across his body from a hundred silvery worms opened, staining his already dirty clothes with splotches of red. He could feel the ghost of them under his skin as they moved to overtake him, just as they had tried so long ago.

Colors exploded in his vision as the walls shifted and floors turned. Spirals of all shapes and colors formed around and through him. The stab wound deep within his arm throbbed somehow both in tune and completely out of sync with the shifting swirling mass around him. Shutting his eyes did nothing to ease the splitting headache now assailing him.

A burst of pain blooms from his shoulder where someone touches him and Jon is suddenly aware of the screaming, his screaming. Looking behind him, the colors receded just enough for him to see the leering mask standing there, limbs and frame alike grotesquely out of proportion. Jon flinched violently away, following to the floor. The jarring impact only aggravated his open wounds. 

“Jo-on,” came the sing-song voice from behind the mask. “You didn’t think you could get away from me that easily, did you now Jon?” 

“No. No,” Jon panted. “I killed you.” 

“You did try.” The thing behind the mask laughed, a loud cruel sound. The false smile on the mask grew and split the mask in half with a loud crack. And behind the mask… was Martin.

“Jon?” His brow was furrowed, his eyes darting around them looking for any threat. 

“M-Martin?”

“Are you alright?”

Jon nodded, knowing he wasn’t. Martin returned the nod, unconvinced. Martin offered his hand. Jon took it, unthinkingly. Pain erupted in fiery tendrils around his hand. His skin melted and reshaped itself again. He recoiled, falling to the floor again.

The floor wasn’t there when he reached it.

He was falling.

Falling.

And there was no ending to it.

There was no sky anymore, the Eye had taken it for its own, but Jon fell through whatever was left of it. More wounds opened. He clutched his non-injured hand to his slashed neck, wincing as the stab wound on his shoulder trickled warm blood down his sleeve. He’d known it was coming by now, but they hurt no less than they had the first time, stinking of copper and betrayal.

His choice, made so long ago in the hospital bed had been made a second time. There was no running from his fate. 

No running from the Terminus.

The Coming End That Waits For All And Cannot Be Ignored.

There was a deep ache in his gut. The sounds of snapping and cracking bone, of shifting meat and flesh. Jon’s breathing, already low and shallow came again in quick bursts, in shouts of pain. 

He hit the ground suddenly with a smack. He lay there, panting for but a moment before he began to slip.

The ground beneath him became as though liquid, shifting and moving beneath him. The cobblestones and concrete underneath him became sand falling into the eager gullet of the Too Close I Cannot Breathe. It was fast at first, then slow as the earth piled around him. 

The sounds and colors still floating around him slowly dulled as the earth piled on top of him. Every breath he took brought more dirt into his mouth and throat. He took one shuddering breath after another, feeling the blood from his wounds soak into the ground around him. 

He couldn’t See anything anymore. His connection was cut off by more than the darkness around him. For the first time in years Jon was free of his shackles wrought on him by powers beyond his control, and what’s more, beyond his understanding. 

He took one free breath.

And Jonathan Sims dies alone, the Archive exhausted at last.

Exhausted, but free.

Martin Blackwood lands on his knees on the floor of what used to be the Magnus Institute. He gathers Jon into his arms, tears filling his eyes and falling, but never quite reaching the floor as they dissipate into the fog that has begun to gather around them.

When the survivors finally work up the courage to enter the Panopticon, the one part of the nightmarish world not to return in some form or another to its old state, they find only a pair of glasses surrounded by a pool of blood and upturned earth.

Georgie and Melanie keep them on a shelf in their flat. On the bad days Georgie will describe the glasses to Melanie as she holds them and they will share stories. 

It’s comforting to do something you know.

The world may forget Jonathan Sims, the Archive, or Martin Blackwood, but Georgie and Melanie refuse to. They will afford them that small kindness.

To be remembered.

I tried to go through the Entities in the order that Jon received his mark from them, but a couple meshed together (ie. The Dark, Buried, and Lonely at the end there). Is it bad that I had a lot of fun writing this? All well. If you’d like to be tagged in my other writing or have questions about my work, my inbox is open! Stay safe :)