History Fanfic / TantabusMarkII

** And also Franchise/{{Discworld}}, with variations on "effortlessly pronounced a row of dashes", as said in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minced_oaths_in_media Wikipedia on Minced Oaths, "effortlessly pronouncing a row of dashes."]]
** To ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'''s sparkly vampires, in ''How the Tantabus Parses Sleep'': "Source Incantations: Unit Testing":
--> “I, I’m sorry, can we go back a step?” said Moondog, making a flicking gesture. “Something about me ''not having a reflection''? I’m not a vampire, you know! Not at the moment, anyway. I’m too…” She looked at her starry leg. “…sparkly.”

* TuxedoAndMartini: Lyra's dream is the climax of one of these sorts of stories.
* ATwinkleInTheSky: How Sombra leaves Rainbow's dream.

* BrickJoke: Tantabus briefly muses about Fancy Pants' name, as he doesn't wear pants, so a better name would be Fancy Jacket. [[spoiler:At the end of the story, Coranto is approached by a smooth dreamboat named Fancy Jacket]].

* ItCanThink: Playerd straight, then inverted with one of the antagonists. Despite being eloquent and genuinely threatening, [[spoiler:the alternate Tantabus]] turns out to not be truly sapient.

* PaintingTheMedium: Bits of computer code, offset from the main text and in a different font, are sprinkled throughout ''How the Tantabus Parses Sleep'', indicating the Tantabus' mental processes and the changes it makes to ponies' dreams.

It currently has three sequels:
* [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/342603/aunthood-issues Aunthood Issues]], in which the Tantabus says hello to Princess Celestia. Unfortunately, Luna had neglected to tell her about it, and curious interrogations follow. Complete.
* [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/363882/tantabus-communication-protocol Tantabus Communication Protocol]]. Following the final joke of Aunthood Issues, a reporter who believes that Luna has had a child, but not the explanation that it's a dream construct, decides to hound Luna until she gets the truth. This annoys Luna, and attracts the attention of the Tantabus itself. Complete.
* [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/428991/how-the-tantabus-parses-sleep How the Tantabus Parses Sleep]]. Now free to explore the dreamscape on its own, the Tantabus begins to learn more about Equestria, test its abilities, and have fun messing with a few ponies along the way. In progress.

** To ''VideoGame/AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAAARecklessDisregardForGravity'', when Coranto and the Tantabus go sky-diving:

* BlatantLies: Luna definitely didn't recognise Bon-Bon and call her by a different name, she just resembles someone Luna used to know. Honest.

* BadassMustache: The Tantabus gives [[EvilSorcerer King Sombra]] one in true villainous fashion, described as the handlebar mustache to end all handlebar mustaches.

* NotSoDifferent: As established in ''HTTPS'', Moondog and Discord may hate each other, but even before [[spoiler:Discord gave Moondog access to Chaos Magic]] they had very similar power sets and senses of humour. Apparently, [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity with the same kind of great power comes the same kind of insanity]].

* TradedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining: Due to the very specific purpose Luna programmed The Tantabus for it came out a bit like this. Note that The Tantabus itself sees no difference between having something having been explained to it and it having been built into it during this initial period before Luna discovered it was sapient.

--->'''Tantabus:''' It's a term that means lacking distinction between male and female. You learn ''amazing'' things in the dreams of linguists! Did you know that some languages have a special verb formation to show that the speaker is surprised? It’s called mirativity!\\

* TalkingApplianceSidekick: When Twilight brings Moondog through the portal into the human world to help sort out Sunset Shimmer's bad dreams, Moondog emerges as a smartwatch. They can hear her by plugging in a set of earbuds. She speculates that because Luna created her as a sort of machine, the portal turned her into a literal one.