Choice In TMP

Choice in TMP

Since it's going on hiatus, I relistened to (nearly) all of Protocol yesterday (still have ep 10 to go). And I was thinking about a lot of people saying things like, "They're Desires now, not Fears!" And I don't think that's quite it. What I noticed is that in nearly every case, there is a voluntary act, a choice, that allows the horrors in. And since actions generally follow from desires, it feels like desire is playing a stronger roll in this show.

I've been prepping to run a Mothership campaign for my friends, and the Warden's Guide talks about the TOMBS system of understanding horror: Transgression, Omens, Manifestation, Banishment, Slumber. In TMA, the Transgression was often just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but in TMP, it seems like there also has to be a choice made, almost an invitation, for the horrors to Manifest. In TMA, a choice was required to become an Avatar, but not just to run into the Fears. Perhaps something about how the Fears entered this world changed this? Maybe Archivist-Jon had enough influence to create some new rules, or Martin's choice that brought them through echoed into the manifestation?

Anyway, I could be entirely wrong, but I'm going to go through the episodes pointing out the Choice (and where it doesn't quite fit).

Episode 1: Arthur's wife reached out to a mysterious company (we don't know why, but it seems likely it was claiming it could put her in contact with her dead husband) Red Canary chose to visit the Magnus Institute Ruins

Episode 2: Daria chose to get the tattoo.

Episode 3: The Doctor chose to follow the smell of jasmine.

Episode 4: The narrator chose to take the violin (but I am less clear on how choice impacted what happened to Oliver Bardwell; that's a bit that doesn't quite fit)

Episode 5: The blogger chose to enter the contest and to attend once he'd "won".

Episode 6: The mugger chose to attack Needles. (And I find myself wondering what Choice Needles made to became as he is)

Episode 7: DMargolis chose to advertise for assistants AND chose to accept the first rather questionable applicant.

Episode 8: Here, the weirdness started before he made the Choice, but he did Choose to enter the elevator to (attempt to) escape. Another that doesn't quite fit, but still has a Choice.

Episode 9: He chose to take the dice (though it does feel like rolling them may be compulsory in certain instances).

Episode 10: There was definitely a Choice made to create Bonzo the character, but I'm not sure we have enough context to figure out more than that yet.

"It makes sense to become a drill."

This phrase showed up in not one, but two dreams last night. No clue why. One dream at least featured the spoon drill from Mythbusters (when they were trying to hollow a tree trunk into a can using period tools). The other involved building a spaceship. So, yeah. :)

this is so mean but sometimes i see published writing and suddenly no longer feel insecure about my own writing ability. like well okay that got published so im guessing i dont have much to worry about

DIG.

I am once again thinking about digging holes

It's so fucked up that digging a bunch of holes works so well at reversing desertification

I hate that so much discourse into fighting climate change is talking about bioenginerring a special kind of seaweed that removes microplastics or whatever other venture-capital-viable startup idea when we have known for forever about shit like digging crescent shaped holes to catch rainwater and turning barren land hospitable

Do Not Touch The Mysterious Orb

Please remain a safe distance from the mysterious orb until park rangers can triangulate your location and arrive to render aid.

While not necessary, uncomprehending and ceaseless screaming will both add to the ambiance and help us find your location faster.

Mothership Movie: Sunshine

Mothership movie: Sunshine

My recommendation for this movie is to go in thinking of the Sun as an eldritch horror that needs to be appeased so that life on Earth can continue. There's a ritual circle to protect the ship (the solar shield), an arcane ritual for appeasing the Sun (the bomb), a wizard who knows how to perform the ritual to give it the best chance of working (Capa, played by Cillian Murphy), and at least one Sun-Cultist (and at least one other who seems to be heading that way).

Yes, the movie is set in a hard-SF setting, with excellent, if speculative, ship-design, but the overall feel? The Sun is absolutely an eldritch horror. Though since it is hard-SF, what about the physics? Well… at first I thought it was nonsense, but a bit of digging around the internet turned up that there is a theoretical particle that could result in the sun dimming, and it might be possible to dislodge it (I think?) with an explosion, but as none of this is actually explained in the movie, you're free to go with "magic ritual to appease the Sun."

Acting & Visual Effects: Excellent.

Writing: Quite good, so long as you're willing to accept the basic premise for the length of a movie.

Editing: Weirdly choppy, particularly in action sequences, which often makes them hard to follow. I think this was done deliberately, but I do not care for it.

Mothership themes: Ghost ship Unknowable eldritch horror Space Madness

Magnus Fears (top 3): The Desolation The Vast The Lonely (could argue for the spiral)