April Caouette (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tempingainteasy) wrote2021-03-26 12:41 pm
tempingainteasy) wrote2021-03-26 12:41 pm
Entry tags:
Magnus Archives Spoilers
I am caught up to the entire series! However, I try to play April ambiguously in a late season 3-season 4 range, depending on what fits the prompt, because I feel like that offers a flexible scenario for people familiar and unfamiliar with the series.
But, as for where April specifically is and what they specifically know, season-to-season:
Season 5: BIG SPOILER STUFF
-April would definitely stop existing if the fear was pulled out of the world. She'd be reduced to a picture that didn't develop well, and that's that.
-As for what should happen to the world... Well, fuck, she dies either way, right? For what it's worth, though, if you could give her a chance to take a swing at some of her personal grudges on the way out, though, she'd be happy to help with whatever you're doing.
-Personally though, kind of wants to march up to the tower and complain about the working conditions. Not that it did anything before, but what's there to lose now?
-Not that she's focusing on blaming anyone here but she's not one to miss an opportunity to blame her ex-boss for the strife in her life.
-Oh, boo-hoo, Jon, you read the statement that ended the world, get over it.
April's Domain:
April is an Avatar and has a domain. It is an office building, but the entire ground floor is a photography gallery. This represents the sort of split between April's origin as a monster from images, and their attempt to adapt to a modern world and a new occupation. The gallery has pictures of people's lives, of lost or distant relatives, and preys on your disconnect with your past self, or reliance on images as a record of people no longer in your life, and the inaccuracies between the evidence and the person. The idealism of memories but only a single picture to hold onto them with - or the ugliness of memories, and the whitewashing of a pretty picture. Of an image of yourself in the past that you can't live up to...
And, like, pictures that are the only surviving evidence of people you love, but distorted and messed up so you don't even have that anymore, because sometimes the feeling of Strangeness is subtle and sometimes it's been a long day and we take a shortcut.
April has her own wing in the photo gallery, of the oldest photos she took and appeared in. April as the ruler of this domain exists in these images, moving from overexposed face to blurred head, but also can be condensed to a single, small picture. If, you know, you wanted to get her out of here.
That's only half of April's existence - The other half is up above, the admin assistant to an office of fake personalities. This preys on people's loss of identity at work, your 'customer service persona' that you put on, and the weird rituals you do with your coworkers, bonding even though you're not really friends. The pressure to act like you know this person, or like them, regardless of if you do or care, and the fear of what happens if you don't keep the facade up. Promotions are promised but never given. Corporate talks like it's your friend, offers jobs like you're buddies and this is a great opportunity, but it's all just a big show as the cogs grind on. April both exists as management, but also just someone everyone is extremely nervous about, because they should know her, but they don't want to cause a scene by admitting they don't. It's great feeding, and April hates it here.
Office-April slips into her other half's gallery for a break now and then, though that's not fun either. They're not immune to their own loss of self, as it happens. No one has fun in the eyepocalypse.
If you meet April in their domain, they're probably going to avoid face-to-face contact, especially if they didn't mind working with you. They'll talk from around a corner, or something, at least as long as their break goes. If you offer them a way out... Maybe they'll take it.
Season 4:
-"Elias" definitely is the old institute head. There have been more than one instance of an avatar stealing bodies, after all, and not just within the Strangers. Whether or not April knows he's Jonah depends on the player, lol.
-Listen, she just has conspiracy theories based on her experience as an avatar, knowledge of other certain big names like Maxwell Rayner, quirks she remembers from the early photography days, and most of all, based on how damn stagnant the workplace culture has been for the last 20 years.Also her weed dealer suddenly went clean, so like-
-In any case, April never says it outright. Partly being undercover, partly being able to read what she says as an exaggeration when she calls Elias ancient, partly because by habit she switches over to the new name and identity, and talks about what he does in other bodies as if he did it in this one. Listen, when everyone from your fear category changes identities like clothes, that just isn't the part that sticks out to you.
-Really thought she would be enjoying Elias going to jail more than she is. The workplace is boring without that tension of whether or not Elias knows what she is (and if she's ever getting hired permanently, for FUCK'S sake)
-Peter's fine, she guesses. He gives her the privacy she wants and never communicates by phone, which she can at least appreciate.
-A little tired after the failed Stranger ritual, just some ripple effect of your fear entity being supercharged and then deflated. Also just... Job burnout, now that her (one-sided) grudge against Elias has been unceremoniously ended by him going to jail.
Season 3:
-OK, coming clean, yeah, she's a stranger, and she was sent in here to mess with the organization of the archives. Gertrude already had that down and also have you seen Gertrude? She's terrifying. No thank you. April keeps their head down and worked up until now.
-Not to mention... Look, April didn't get an invite to participate in the Unknowing, and that's FINE, not every stranger is a clown, a dancer, a ventriloquist or whatever, it's FINE, April isn't bitter, and they're NOT envious about the doll/machine aesthetic either, it's fine, April doesn't have that and they're FINE. Besides, April thought the idea for this Unknowing was outdated, anyway, so like, whatever.
-Yes, April knows about the Unknowing plans and has opinions. Ask her about it and you'll probably get useful information about the where and how, but you have to sit through a rant about cliches, whether clowns are out of date or not, and the overlooked potential of modernizing the unknowing ritual yadda yadda. And Nikola! Don't get April started, talk about blatant nepotism--
-(not that April would ever say this to Nikola directly, or indeed act on any of these opinions, just, y'know, you get a lot of thinking time while entering data)
-If Tim and April have ever met before enough for him to remember her name, then she's deffo avoiding him now because WHOOF, talk about awkward when he finds out she's a Stranger avatar.
-Though that said, if comedy allows it, may be doing smaller errands to help prepare for the Unknowing, like, say, picking up lotion.
Season 2:
-Knows Not-Sasha is not Sasha. April isn't a snitch though.
-That said, kind of awkward around Not-Sasha, since April kind of didn't mind Original-Sasha, and it's just awkward to be in the same territory as another Stranger.
-Also Not-Sasha is definitely more up-to-date on current events and plans of the Stranger than April is. April must not be on the mailing list, hmm.
-In any case, their goals are sort of the same and sort of different, so April just tries to deal with this by staying out of it. If Not-Sasha is here to mess with the archives in a more direct way than disorganization, then hey, good luck to you. They won't help unless Not-Sasha asks directly.
-Also April isn't touching that table. Not-Them got themselves into that mess, they can get themselves out of it.
-Would April help untangle the Unknowing? Well, depends on how the scene goes. April isn't inclined to directly interfere with the Unknowing, but also she won't stop anyone who is.
Season 1:
-Uhhhh what's even spoilers in season 1
-Well, I guess if you don't know anything about avatars or beings, then April is just a temp worker in the background you don't remember
-Spends the Jane attack standing on a shelf in artifact storage dual-wielding bugspray and hoping her body tastes more like old development chemicals than flesh.
-Also, Fuck Micheal. 'A “who” requires a degree of identity I can’t ever retain.' It's so pretentious. Shut up, you're an avatar.
But, as for where April specifically is and what they specifically know, season-to-season:
Season 5: BIG SPOILER STUFF
-April would definitely stop existing if the fear was pulled out of the world. She'd be reduced to a picture that didn't develop well, and that's that.
-As for what should happen to the world... Well, fuck, she dies either way, right? For what it's worth, though, if you could give her a chance to take a swing at some of her personal grudges on the way out, though, she'd be happy to help with whatever you're doing.
-Personally though, kind of wants to march up to the tower and complain about the working conditions. Not that it did anything before, but what's there to lose now?
-Not that she's focusing on blaming anyone here but she's not one to miss an opportunity to blame her ex-boss for the strife in her life.
-Oh, boo-hoo, Jon, you read the statement that ended the world, get over it.
April's Domain:
April is an Avatar and has a domain. It is an office building, but the entire ground floor is a photography gallery. This represents the sort of split between April's origin as a monster from images, and their attempt to adapt to a modern world and a new occupation. The gallery has pictures of people's lives, of lost or distant relatives, and preys on your disconnect with your past self, or reliance on images as a record of people no longer in your life, and the inaccuracies between the evidence and the person. The idealism of memories but only a single picture to hold onto them with - or the ugliness of memories, and the whitewashing of a pretty picture. Of an image of yourself in the past that you can't live up to...
And, like, pictures that are the only surviving evidence of people you love, but distorted and messed up so you don't even have that anymore, because sometimes the feeling of Strangeness is subtle and sometimes it's been a long day and we take a shortcut.
April has her own wing in the photo gallery, of the oldest photos she took and appeared in. April as the ruler of this domain exists in these images, moving from overexposed face to blurred head, but also can be condensed to a single, small picture. If, you know, you wanted to get her out of here.
That's only half of April's existence - The other half is up above, the admin assistant to an office of fake personalities. This preys on people's loss of identity at work, your 'customer service persona' that you put on, and the weird rituals you do with your coworkers, bonding even though you're not really friends. The pressure to act like you know this person, or like them, regardless of if you do or care, and the fear of what happens if you don't keep the facade up. Promotions are promised but never given. Corporate talks like it's your friend, offers jobs like you're buddies and this is a great opportunity, but it's all just a big show as the cogs grind on. April both exists as management, but also just someone everyone is extremely nervous about, because they should know her, but they don't want to cause a scene by admitting they don't. It's great feeding, and April hates it here.
Office-April slips into her other half's gallery for a break now and then, though that's not fun either. They're not immune to their own loss of self, as it happens. No one has fun in the eyepocalypse.
If you meet April in their domain, they're probably going to avoid face-to-face contact, especially if they didn't mind working with you. They'll talk from around a corner, or something, at least as long as their break goes. If you offer them a way out... Maybe they'll take it.
Season 4:
-"Elias" definitely is the old institute head. There have been more than one instance of an avatar stealing bodies, after all, and not just within the Strangers. Whether or not April knows he's Jonah depends on the player, lol.
-Listen, she just has conspiracy theories based on her experience as an avatar, knowledge of other certain big names like Maxwell Rayner, quirks she remembers from the early photography days, and most of all, based on how damn stagnant the workplace culture has been for the last 20 years.
-In any case, April never says it outright. Partly being undercover, partly being able to read what she says as an exaggeration when she calls Elias ancient, partly because by habit she switches over to the new name and identity, and talks about what he does in other bodies as if he did it in this one. Listen, when everyone from your fear category changes identities like clothes, that just isn't the part that sticks out to you.
-Really thought she would be enjoying Elias going to jail more than she is. The workplace is boring without that tension of whether or not Elias knows what she is (and if she's ever getting hired permanently, for FUCK'S sake)
-Peter's fine, she guesses. He gives her the privacy she wants and never communicates by phone, which she can at least appreciate.
-A little tired after the failed Stranger ritual, just some ripple effect of your fear entity being supercharged and then deflated. Also just... Job burnout, now that her (one-sided) grudge against Elias has been unceremoniously ended by him going to jail.
Season 3:
-OK, coming clean, yeah, she's a stranger, and she was sent in here to mess with the organization of the archives. Gertrude already had that down and also have you seen Gertrude? She's terrifying. No thank you. April keeps their head down and worked up until now.
-Not to mention... Look, April didn't get an invite to participate in the Unknowing, and that's FINE, not every stranger is a clown, a dancer, a ventriloquist or whatever, it's FINE, April isn't bitter, and they're NOT envious about the doll/machine aesthetic either, it's fine, April doesn't have that and they're FINE. Besides, April thought the idea for this Unknowing was outdated, anyway, so like, whatever.
-Yes, April knows about the Unknowing plans and has opinions. Ask her about it and you'll probably get useful information about the where and how, but you have to sit through a rant about cliches, whether clowns are out of date or not, and the overlooked potential of modernizing the unknowing ritual yadda yadda. And Nikola! Don't get April started, talk about blatant nepotism--
-(not that April would ever say this to Nikola directly, or indeed act on any of these opinions, just, y'know, you get a lot of thinking time while entering data)
-If Tim and April have ever met before enough for him to remember her name, then she's deffo avoiding him now because WHOOF, talk about awkward when he finds out she's a Stranger avatar.
-Though that said, if comedy allows it, may be doing smaller errands to help prepare for the Unknowing, like, say, picking up lotion.
Season 2:
-Knows Not-Sasha is not Sasha. April isn't a snitch though.
-That said, kind of awkward around Not-Sasha, since April kind of didn't mind Original-Sasha, and it's just awkward to be in the same territory as another Stranger.
-Also Not-Sasha is definitely more up-to-date on current events and plans of the Stranger than April is. April must not be on the mailing list, hmm.
-In any case, their goals are sort of the same and sort of different, so April just tries to deal with this by staying out of it. If Not-Sasha is here to mess with the archives in a more direct way than disorganization, then hey, good luck to you. They won't help unless Not-Sasha asks directly.
-Also April isn't touching that table. Not-Them got themselves into that mess, they can get themselves out of it.
-Would April help untangle the Unknowing? Well, depends on how the scene goes. April isn't inclined to directly interfere with the Unknowing, but also she won't stop anyone who is.
Season 1:
-Uhhhh what's even spoilers in season 1
-Well, I guess if you don't know anything about avatars or beings, then April is just a temp worker in the background you don't remember
-Spends the Jane attack standing on a shelf in artifact storage dual-wielding bugspray and hoping her body tastes more like old development chemicals than flesh.
-Also, Fuck Micheal. 'A “who” requires a degree of identity I can’t ever retain.' It's so pretentious. Shut up, you're an avatar.