#tma misc

[shinyhappygoth]

A field guide to weird quasi-human beings in The Magnus Archives and The Magnus Protocol

Because I've seen plenty of people going "This statement/case prominently features weird people, must be the Stranger!" It is not that simple, my friends!

The Stranger specializes in people who aren't just odd, they approach the Uncanny Valley from either side. Either they are almost but manifestly not quite human, or are clearly not human but are human-shaped enough to produce that same human-but-wrong reaction. Mannequins, dolls, automata, people like Breekon and Hope who actively seem fake and feel wrong when you touch them. They definitely exist, and although not human, they are still people, with distinct personalities. (Please note that just having a clown theme does not guarantee that one belongs to the Stranger! I would be inclined to say that Mr. Bonzo is too inhuman to qualify for this one, besides the fact that we've already seen him to have aspects of the Slaughter and the Buried, depending on whose experience you're looking at.)

The Lonely frequently features unpeople. They may look entirely human, or they may just be cloaked figures with Greek drama masks, but their distinguishing feature is that they are not anyone. They have no inner life or personality, and if you break their surface they may turn out to be physically empty. They sometimes speak pseudo-linguistic babble, particularly if there's a crowd of them; individuals may speak intelligibly, but tend to repeat sentences robotically.

The Spiral features people who seem human, at least at first (they may or may not stay this way), but who mess with your sense of reality in some way. We all know the Distortion, but we've also seen Father Burroughs' encounters with Father Singh and the altar server, both of whom looked human but acted wrong and led him through unreal scenarios. In MAGP 7, "Give and Take", the volunteers individually seemed normal enough, perhaps a bit oddball, but they multiplied exponentially and made things increasingly surreal and there was no proof they were ever there...

The other powers have their avatars and assorted weirdos, of course, but they can largely be judged on their actions. The three above are the big ones.

[fiuworks]

some misc tma s2-s3 doodles from the last couple of days

[captainkirkk]

✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes. Please look at tags and warnings on ao3 before reading.

The Magnus Archives/ What We Do In the Shadows (Crossover)

gaslight gatekeep girlboss by thepolysyndetonaddictsupportgroup

"Look, believe it or not, I had no intention of killing the Vampiric Council when I came here,” declares Nadja, sitting alone on the couch. “But Guillermo and I arrived at the first council meeting and did the whole, you know, the whole thing, the first day thing. Introductions and all that, yes hello wonderful to meet you, yes this is my bodyguard, yes he has slaughtered a tremendous number of our kind”--she flaps her hand absently--“normal first day things, you know? It was fine.” She pauses. “It got really fucking weird on the second day."

Or: Nadja and Guillermo seize control of vampiric politics, puppeteer world powers, and have the hottest of hot girl summers.

Unfortunately, they also really miss the stupid assholes they're in love with. With no way left to find them, they have no choice but to consult an Archivist.

DC/Danny Phantom Crossover

Teenage Hero Burnout #56: Interview With A Ghost. by STOVE

Red Robin, (aka Tim Drake) decides to host a YouTube series called "Teenage Hero Burnout'' after he makes a video by the same name talking about his own experiences. He interviews current and past heroes who started their careers as teens and discuss how it shaped their outlook on heroing & life in general.

(This fic is a one-shot. Teenage Hero Burnout is a hypothetical series that I will not be writing, but others are welcome to write their own episodes.)

All For the Game

One More Time (With Feeling) by elesary

Andrew Minyard went to sleep next to Neil Josten in their bed in Denver six years after graduation. He woke up on plane to Tucson between Wymack and Kevin, on their way to recruit Neil Josten, striker sub.

boyfriend privileges by mostly_maudlin

Andrew knows he treats Neil different. So why is it so bothersome that everyone else seems to know it, too?

Five times Neil gets boyfriend privileges, and one time it doesn't piss Andrew off.

SVSSS

The Peace Between Divine Pec- ah-hm sorry - uh…Peaks by AceOfDivineChlorophyll

Well, being kidnapped and tied up had to be the worst part of Shen Qingqiu's day right? Surely it couldn't get worse even if he was being presented to some new and upcoming demonic warlord as tribute after all it would all be mote when Luo Binghe escaped the Endless Abyss right? Well... unless the demonic warlord in question WAS Luo Binghe.

Thankfully... it might not end up going at all how he, or the demons, thought it was going to.

invasive blindfold removal surgery by postcardorigami

Part 1 of side effects may include indefinite photosensitivity

Oh, he thought absently, dizzily. Oh. I love him. I really, really love him.

That wasn’t a new thought—Shen Qingqiu had always known that he loved Luo Binghe. Thinking otherwise wasn’t a concept that had occurred to him. He’d loved him as a fictional character, as a sticky and eager-to-please disciple, as a troubled young man. He loved Luo Binghe the same way he loved the world around him: easily, wordlessly, endlessly, and in full acceptance of all faults and flaws.

But this- this felt like-

I think, Shen Qingqiu thought, for the first time in this life or the one he’d left, I think I’m in love with him.

And- and then-

I want to tell him where I come from.

or Shen Qingqiu, in order: hits the ground, pulls himself back up, and comes out. About several things.

Dreaming of Gardens in the Desert Sand by TGP

Huan Hua Palace master Luo Binghe never thought there'd be any reason to worry about the master that threw him away all those years ago. Surely, he was safe and cared for by the martial siblings he'd so thoroughly enamored.

Luo Binghe was wrong.

(Or, the one where the Jinlan City event doesn't happen and Luo Binghe's plan to slowly show he can be a righteous cultivator actually goes as he expected, with consequences he did not)

starry-eyed by shoutowo

"Shi-Shizun,” Luo Binghe says, going cross-eyed in an effort to see what Shen Qingqiu just placed on his forehead. “What is this?”

“A star,” Shen Qingqiu explains, while not explaining at all.

or, Shen Qingqiu has a sticker sheet.

Clone Wars

(you were) meant to save them by cjwritesfanficnow

The building was only five stories. With the gravity on Melida/Daan, it should’ve been over in seconds... but he—

just—

kept—

falling—

And then there was nothing around him, but he was still falling, down down down, infinitely, through space, stretched thin, twisted and pulled and the Force curled so tightly around him that he couldn’t tell where he ended and it began, and then—

And then he was falling straight out of a clear sky and down down down—

Onto another battlefield.

-

In which Obi-Wan is abruptly transported from the civil war on Melida/Daan to the Clone Wars.

(Alternately, in which I noticed how few clones there are in all my other fics, and this wouldn't leave me alone.)

Tactical Engagements by elwenyere

Even before he managed to open his eyes, Obi-Wan felt the tug against the base of his neck, the snarled thread of energy that only ever meant one thing: something had gone very, very wrong.

-----

Or, Cody, Obi-Wan, and the 212th are sent to Ringo Vinda with Anakin and the 501st, and it changes the field of engagement.

[shinyhappygoth]

That's one of the most amazing things about TMA, literally the only non-diegetic element in the whole thing is the spooky music! Everything else that you would think is just that way 'cause it makes for a better listening experience, like him doing the voices or the statement-givers all being suspiciously eloquent, well, it does make for a better listening experience, but also it's not only an actual thing that's happening in-universe but it turns out to be a major plot point!

(Also, there's evidence that he's not doing it on purpose as early as S1! Listen to him gasp when he finishes reading Jane Prentiss's statement. She is NOT a comfortable persona to be channeling…)

My thought process listening to TMA

Season one: haha why does this cynical rude man voice act when reading the statements I don’t think putting on a voice was part of the job description

Season five: oh dear god that’s why

[spaceagebachelorstan]

we need more wife guys for monsters/monster adjacent women. like gomez addams type men whose morticia is a horror beyond human comprehension. man who marries shadow demon unscrews all his lightbulbs. man who marries flesh-eating hellbeast gets a job at the morgue to feed his love. man courts woman made of writhing squirming things and lets the things crawl over him. i want them to be completely unbothered by their monstrosity as a minimum and have it be the reason for their love at maximum.

[1978-combo-organ]

how thefuck do you make online friends. too autistic for this shit

[frogdotpng]

barking dogs don't bite,

[shinyhappygoth]

Nikola Orsinov has to be stop-motion. Breekon and Hope are CGI.

My one and only fancast is Amaury Guichon as Sergey Ushanka.

If TMA were to ever get a tv show adaptation, my ONE requirement is that even though everything else is live action, Michael Distortion is entirely animated, and is animted by a completely different person in every shot, in a completely different art style and even different mediums.

Helen, on the other hand, must be done by different people too, however each artist must do their absolute best to match each others styles, so that the chages are so subtle you can almost imagine they arent really there

[agerefandom]

10 Favourite Regression Dynamics

I’ve made lists of some characters I headcanon as regressors, and characters I headcanon as caregivers: and I love a good ‘character and reader’ dynamic, but here are some canon dynamics that I LOVE to add age regression to! 

Important note: these aren’t necessarily romantic ‘ships’ and they might not be healthy age regression dynamics but they’re dynamics I find it rewarding to write about! 

1. regressor!Will and caregiver!Hannibal (NBC Hannibal) 

Starting strong with a regression dynamic that is not healthy but it is such an interesting thing to add to their existing codependence! Will gives me such agere vibes and Hannibal’s existing trauma around his big brother history make this such an interesting dynamic to explore. It definitely tilts the power balance faaaar in the direction of someone who will take the opportunity to do terrible things with it, but that’s basically what you’re signing up for with any story about Hannibal Lecter. 

2. regressor!Jack and caregiver!Bitty (Check Please!) 

No one exudes stronger caregiver vibes than Bitty: I’m definitely a supporter of this as a double-flip pairing (with both regressing and caregiving) but I want the sad hockey man to get cuddles, goshdarnit, and you know that Bitty would just be the sweetest most thoughtful caregiver and I just gah they’re already such a good pairing with such canonically developed communication as a couple and I would love to see that skill applied to something as vulnerable as regression 

 3. regressor!Harry and caregiver!Sirius (Harry Potter) 

If anyone deserves a chance at a second childhood, it’s Harry Potter. And I think that when he connected with Sirius as a young teen, he really saw that possibility. I think it would be so sweet to see Sirius actually able to give Harry that full parenting: both at the age he is now, and all the ages that he missed. I just strongly feel like Harry is a regressor, and as much as I like writing him with peers supporting him, I feel like he deserves a real parent figure who can support him in that role in and out of regression, especially in his teen years. 

4. regressor!Jon and caregiver!avatars (Magnus Archives) 

Okay, this is more of a whump thing than a good dynamic, but I just want to see little!Jon dealing with avatars when they’re being nice to him, and it’s like 90% manipulation but it’s also a bunch of monsters being sweet and you can kind of read it as genuine if you squint. I’ve got a vision and it includes literally any of the not-quite-human characters of the Magnus Archives, ranging from the mostly-sweet (End!Gerry) to the completely-terrifying (Bouchard). 

5. regressor!Tony, caregiver!Pepper (Marvel) 

This is the first pairing that ever made me run to write regression fanfiction, and I do believe that I would not be an agere writer without them. Ironically, I’ve never finished and published any of my fics about them, but they have my whole heart. Taking Tony’s earlier unthinking dependence on Pepper and bringing it back in a healthy way, with limits and negotiation and emotional vulnerability, showing how much they’ve grown as a couple? Yes please!! 

6. regressor!Cullens, caregivers!Carlisle and Esme (Twilight)

I am such! a! sucker! for immortal beings finding a way to reclaim the concept of time and childhood. Carlisle and Esme canonically find a lot of value in being parents, and considering that they’re such a range of ages, I think that regression is a neat way to create that dynamic, and I just like big groups of regressors in a family and it scratches all of those interests in one!! 

7. regressor!Morty, flip!Rick (Rick and Morty) 

It’s the toxicity for me!!! I make no claims that this would be a good thing, but also I enjoy writing about the things that trigger Rick’s ‘oh shit I have feelings’ mode and you can’t tell me that regression would not key into that, both in his own experiences as a flip and then having to face it as part of Morty’s trauma. And Morty simultaneously trying to get away into independence but getting drawn back by Rick’s kindness in this single circumstance ties into all of the terrible themes of the show. 

8. regressor/caregiver flips Dean and Sam (Supernatural) 

Speaking of codependence, I cannot choose which of these boys is more symbolically resonant to have as a regressor, and both of them certainly have enough trauma to make it a viable coping mechanism. I think they have the art of balancing each other down to an art: especially in the early seasons, you can really see that process in the way they take turns being the Angry one. Writing about that balance in the context of regression is an interesting concept, and then the way that Dean relates to caregiving versus needing care, and Sam’s desperation to be the reliable one... it’s just a lot of tasty angst to play with alongside the sweet opportunity for a childhood without the war they were raised to fight. 

9. regressor!Erik, caregiver!Christine (Phantom of the Opera) 

Okay, this one is like ninety percent for the aesthetics, because you do need to do some handwaving over canon to make it fluffy. But Erik needs reparenting, and flipping the relationship from the original dynamic with Erik as a kind of father-figure is a nice way to reclaim the story from the original gothic maiden themes. 

10. regressor!Dave, caregiver!Roxy (Homestuck)

All hail my Ride Or Die regression dynamic!!! It’s basically canon and I stand by that! Dave called her mom and said that it feels nice to think of her as a mom because he had such a mixed experience with his own parental figure. And she’s got her own complicated feelings about parenthood and guardianship, but says that she likes it when Dave calls her mom, and it all just makes me very happy.  

This has been my TEDtalk on my favourite regression dynamics!! Thank you for coming!! 

[valeovalairs]

Right so I only have ten episodes of tma left and my friend is at like 107. So I’m not going to listen to any new episodes until she’s caught up so we can listen to it together because I’m scared.

[vonclosen]

earnestly does piss me off that we are TOLD in MAG12 that gerard is one of two "severe burn victims" and that gerry has second degree burns over almost all of his body (save for his head and joints), and yet people never draw him with any scarring or contraction. though gerry's joints are intact, skin can shrink after bad burns, and i think it's reasonable to say he might have some chronic pain

also annoying to me that in this same episode gerry is described to be "in his mid 30s" in 2012, and while i get that people like to draw current fashions or what they think is cool, the fashion style of a goth in 2012 and his age are rarely depicted well

i know that people love a young hot eboy, but that's just not what gerry is

[shinyhappygoth]

You can combine them into a single program! (This will let you launch them together and only have one icon in the tray, although unfortunately it doesn't seem to let them generate instances of each other, only of themselves. Granted, it'd be a bit odd for them to clone as each other, but it'd be cute if they could pull each other up. Ah well.) What you do is:

Rename Martin's img/Shimeji folder to "Martin".

Move Martin's conf folder into img/Martin.

Move the newly renamed img/Martin folder into Jon's img folder.

Launch the Jon Shimeji.

Right-click on the tray icon and select Settings > Choose Shimeji...

Check the Martin which will now be there, and uncheck Jon (which is named Shimeji). Use Selected.

Rename Jon's img/Shimeji folder to "Jon".

Optional step: copy the main conf folder into img/Jon. (This won't actually affect anything right now, but it'll guarantee he has his own set of conf files if you do any more moving things around or anything, I guess.)

Go back to Settings > Choose Shimeji... and check Jon.

Ta-da! You now have a combined JonMartin Shimeji launcher, and you can add more characters in the same way if you like!

I PUT THEM INTO A COMPUTER

A few months ago I started making these shimeji because I didnt find any already existing ones on the internet. Then I forgot about them for a while. BUT after listening to TMP I decided that it would be funny to finally finish them so BEHOLD. THEY ARE IN A PUTER NOW >:D

If you wanna try them you can download here on google drive

(If you don’t know how to use them, there is a small tutorial in comments)

[fate-defiant]

There is a Duckling,, LOOSE in the archives

[jarchivism]

I just got to no.7 of SCP: Find Us Alive, and I can't help but notice that Dr. Harley is pretty similar to me. And I just kinfirmed him. I guess it can't be helped.

[dudaddd]

I WON YALL I GOT MY FRIEND TO READ SIX OF CROWS

ANDDD THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES

I WON

now just to get them to listen to the mechanisms