#category: statement

[archive-of-fear]

Name: Dissected

Source: Torchwood

Category: Statement

Entity: The Stranger

Description: Statement of Martha Jones, regarding an autopsy on a corpse brought in by a former colleague

While the title and setting would suggest a more End aligned tale, this story is primarily Stranger-coded. The corpse itself is actually a shapeshifting alien, attempting (and nearly succeeding) to mimic a "normal" human corpse, even subtly changing its appearance based on what those around them have said they expect a corpse to look like (e.g. making its hair and fingernails grow longer in response to Gwen repeating the common myth that they continue to grow after death, and then retracting said features once Martha corrects her). Martha hypothesises this could be a tactic to infiltrate and eventually take over UNIT:

"Okay, let's think: you're an intelligent chameleon arriving on this planet; you know we'll detect your ship - use that. Pretend to be human - pretend to be a dead human - get yourself smuggled into an organisation adept at dealing with aliens. First, you take over the experts, and then the organisation, and then the whole system!"

However, before this revelation, a swab from the corpse's mouth registers two sets of DNA, one of them being Gwen's, making Martha become suspicious of her former colleague being a shapeshifting infiltrator. Gwen mirrors these suspicions back at her and the two of them interrogate each other, trying to prove the other is a fake, but end up realising how little they know about the other and how much they've drifted apart.

[archive-of-fear]

Name: 73 Yards

Source: Doctor Who

Category: Statement

Alignment: The Lonely

Description: Statement of Ruby Sunday, regarding the mysterious old woman who follows her everywhere.

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Upon accidentally disturbing a fairy circle, Ruby is suddenly alone, the Doctor instantly disappearing from right beside her. She notices a strange old woman in the distance, but every attempt to get nearer is futile, with the distance between them always remaining 73 yards. Any attempt by another person to approach the woman to try and speak to her, causes them to react in horror and disgust at Ruby, fleeing immediately. Even her own foster mother abandons her after doing this, despite her and Ruby having a strong, loving relationship prior.

Eventually, Ruby settles into her new empty, Lonely life, never being able to get close to people due to the mysterious woman driving them away; either directly by talking to them and turning them against Ruby, or indirectly as they feel that Ruby is constantly distracted and unable to fully connect with them, since she is constantly preoccupied with the woman. Even when Ruby thinks she has fulfilled her purpose in this strange timeline - weaponising the strange woman to make a dangerous PM quit shortly after being elected - the woman remains. It's not until Ruby is on her deathbed when the woman finally closes the semperdistans between them. Ruby seemingly dies (alone of course), but then wakes up on a very familiar clifftop in Wales 61 years prior - she had been the mysterious woman following her younger self for all those years. While older Ruby is able to prevent her younger self and the Doctor from disturbing the fairy circle and starting the loop again, there's no telling how many times this cycle happened before it was broken.

[archive-of-fear]

Name: Lockwood & Co.

Author: Jonathan Stroud

Category: Statement(s)

Alignment: The End

Description: A collection of statements by Lucy Carlyle, regarding her time as a psychical investigation agent at A.J. Lockwood & Co. Investigators.

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“There is an epidemic of ghosts in Britain. Their touch brings death, and only children have the power to fight them.”

Death permeates the alternate British society of the Lockwood and Co. series. Beginning five decades before the events of the first book, the existence of ghosts became undeniable as an epidemic of hauntings began. Dubbed “The Problem”, it has only gotten worse with time, with the number, strength and range of the hauntings continuing to escalate, with no end in sight.

Only children are able to detect these dangerous visitors from the other side, with this psychic Talent fading to nothing as they age, leaving adults next to useless when it comes to avoiding the deadly ghost-touch. As adults hide inside during the night curfew, children as young as 8 are forced to act as Night Watch or as Agents who risk their lives to fight off ghosts. Mortality rates are high and those who do survive often go on to become supervisors of younger Agents, forced into the position of sending children into mortal danger and being powerless to help them. This is a society dealing with basically the aftermath of an End Ritual and/or an End Domain, where death and the fear of death is the major driving force for most people. This fixation on death isn’t just only fear for some; there is also a thriving black market for Sources - objects (usually human remains) that a ghost is tied to and allows them passage into the living world from the Other Side.

MASSIVE spoilers for the final book below. Seriously, don’t look if you plan on reading this series (which you absolutely should and also check out the incredibly well done TV adaptation):

---FINAL SPOILER WARNING---

Turns out that the origin of this ghost epidemic was caused by the actions of the supposed “Hero” of The Problem, Marissa Fittes, who was the first one to figure out and codify (and profit from) most defences against ghosts. Her expeditions to the Other Side caused the dead to stir and make their way to the land of the living. She was obsessed with the potential properties of ectoplasm, the substance that ghosts are made of and what makes them so deadly, including immortality. Her frequent incursions into the Other Side to harvest and utilise ectoplasm, continued to greatly escalate The Problem, which only served to increase her wealth and fame as the head of the prestigious Fittes Agency.

Despite these constant trips to the realm of the dead rapidly ageing her, her experiments with ectoplasm allowed her spirit to possess the body of her granddaughter on her so-called deathbed. Now posing as her granddaughter, she continues her quest for immortality, escalating The Problem even further, which only increases her fame, fortune and power, giving her more resources to exploit both the dead and the living for her personal gain.