#no info from Magnus

[draconic-ichor]

i’m curious now to know how magnus’ parents would react if bby magnus went missing for a day then came home in full dynasty regalia tho 👀

Very worried about the implications of it all…

Echos of the Past

“We found him!” The cry rang out through the darkened castle halls. Magnus stood sheepishly as a guard fetched his fretting parents.

The Lady Tarnished ran towards him, falling to her knees to scoop the small omen into a tight hug. She buried he’d face into Magnus’s Raven fur, not minding the pricks from his horns.

“I thought we’d lost you.” She murmured, pulling back to cup his face.

“I’m ok, Mama.” Magnus informed, seeing her eyes wet. He never remembered seeing his mother cry, usually careful to do so away from the children.

The GodLord nodded before peppering his face in kisses. Morgott came up behind them, moving slower than his small wife.

“He’s well?” He asked worriedly.

“Yes he’s-“ she started but the words died in her throat. She truly looked at the boy now, resting on her haunches to see his outfit more clearly. The small omen was adorned in an eerily familiar set of attire, fabrics of rich blacks and crimsons over him.

The Lady paled, twisting to meet her husbands gaze. Morgott mirrored her concern. Confusion clouded over his good eye.

Mohg…

But he was dead…slain…

Fear flashed over the Lady’s face, a silent question spoken between the couple. Morgott mirrored her, gripping his cane tighter.

Did he…live?

“Magnus…” the tarnished turned back to her young son, mustering up the most soft of tones she could manage, “Where did you go, my love?”

Magnus clutched greyoll closer to him, looking down at his feet. His small frame tightened, tail curling around his legs. His big, orange eyes began to get glassy.

“I’m sorry.” He bubbled guiltily, tears spilling out over his furred cheeks.

As more questions came to him, the young omen cried harder. The parents were at a loss, no more information gained from the distressed child.

Later, after the boy was safely tucked away in bed, new clothing taken away for inspection; the GodLord stood in her chambers.

She took the trident into shaking hands, feeling the pulse of power radiating under her fingertips. She failed to hear her husband enter the room, his voice startling her back into reality.

“Thee hath said that he was dead.” Morgott stained to keep his voice level, “Slain…” A deep pain seeped from his words.

“He turned to ash.” The tarnished insisted, “I took his great rune!”

“Then where didst the boy cometh across such regalia?!” Morgott’s voice was sharp.

She looked back to the trident in her hands, metal warm, “I…I’m not sure.”

“Does mine brother live?” Morgott pressed, coming closer.

She turned fully towards him now, voice wavering, “Morgott…I thought I killed him. I promise you…I thought it was so.”

She’d always been a woman of her word, throughout the entirety of their marriage. Morgott deflated a bit, realizing his anger was misplaced. He both feared the idea of his brother surviving and missed his twin terribly.

The implications of their young son making contact shook him to his core, however.

Magnus was already a worry…but this…

Morgott pulled the tarnished closer, embracing her. She nuzzled into him, his fears echoed on her.

The trident pulsed in her hold once more.

@mohgwynn

#morgott suddenly realizing his twin might be alive #no info from Magnus #scared parents #elden ring ocs #short dabble #morgott/tarnished #answered asks

[i-am-not-a-who-i-am-a-what]

so about the header that proceeded today's statement:

Viability as agent: Low

Viability as subject: None

Viability as catalyst: Medium

i didn't know what to think of this part of the entry at first, but the longer the statement went on... was the institute in this universe trying to manufacture avatars?

the dice can't do anything without someone to use them, they can't be an "agent" by themselves, but might be capable of manipulation, so in that aspect their viability is "low."

the dice could be a "subject" in the sense that they could use further studying, but the statement itself was a very thorough investigation of their workings, so in that aspect their viability is "none."

the dice seem to influence their holder to roll them, or at least find more victims to roll them, and could therefore be described as a "catalyst" for someone's becoming. but, as seen in the statement, their owner can give the dice to someone else (albeit not without consequences), so in that aspect their viability is only "medium."

so what about the line following all this, what does "Recommend referral to Catalytics for Enrichment applicability assessment" mean? if we go by this interpretation, i'd say it could mean the institute wanted to find a way to make the dice even more potent as an artifact, maybe even remove that pesky ability for their owner to reject them.

imho all of this this brings a whole new level of context to the events of episode seven, of unknown violent agents going after an influx of objects that seemed straight out of artifact storage. was that the nature of the titular "magnus protocol" first mentioned in episode four, the one that involved the starkwall group? containing or destroying potential artifacts before the institute could get their hands on them?

it also makes their "gifted kids program," and sam's link to it as one of the kids being studied, all the more horrifying to think about. was it not just avatars in general they were after, but child avatars specifically? no wonder gertrude got so defensive over the possibility of sam and celia dragging gerry back into the institute's business last episode, we all picked up on her clearly knowing more than she's letting on but now we might know the shape of that information a bit better.

and one final bit of food for thought... this statement had a lot of familiar themes, didn't it? free will or the illusion of it, gambling and not-so-random chance, the statement giver being done in by one final hit from what feels like a bit of an addition... all hallmarks of a certain mother of puppets. doesn't it seem fitting that "chester" would use this kind of statement to warn sam about what harm pursuing the magnus institute could bring to him, considering the one his voice might draw from? and doesn't it seem so painfully ironic that his warning seems to have only driven sam further into that web?

#tmagp #the magnus protocol #tmagp spoilers #tmagp 9 spoilers #MANY THOUGHTS HEAD FULL AAAAAAAAAA #there are so many other things i want to link to this but i also just want to post it asap to get other people's thoughts #honestly at the word 'catalyst' my mind went straight to mike crew using ex altiora to become an avatar of the vast #combing through lietners until he found one that fit #and the statement giver from mag 4 feeling like he had to specifically sell ex altiora to gerry or it wouldn't 'count' #i can't pull out the episode quotes every time i have a theory or it becomes a bit passé but know they are always on my mind #also that last paragraph just came to me in a vision while i was typing up the rest of this i hope it's not too far of a reach #i tried to keep it vague but i'm also imagining jon banging his head against the inside of a crt monitor in frustration r/n #i still need to read the breakdown of the arg so if any info in that bolsters or discredits this please let me know!!!

[kittenkatbar]

I was listening to TMAGP with my partner, who works in cyber secops, and he informed me that windows NT 4.0 was rolled out in 1996 whereas windows 95 was rolled out in 1995 (obviously lol). So win95 is actually the predecessor to NT! It could very well be like a "slight difference between universes" thing, which could be fun, just miniscule differences to add to the unease and "other" this universe a bit more. (and if it's not, then I'm just sharing fun facts!! knowledge is neat!!)

#If it's not I still love it bc I got to hear a really cool info dump about systems from when I was born and my husband was like 3 lmao #tmagp spoilers #the magnus protocol #windows nt #tmagp

[navree]

jon seems to be the only one who has some degree of sentience if he is trapped in the computer/office in general, given that he's not only able to send an email but clearly picked a magnus institute statement to read out once sam and celia started demonstrating a waning interest in any investigation into the institute

#personal #the magnus protocol #tmagp #tmagp spoilers #also i'm not sure what's going on with that statement #it's got some thematic similarities to the two statements we got about the end #the soldier who played faro with death and then the mummy with the dice #but there's clearly differences in how the game was played and what it affected #the statement giver didn't turn into an undead reaper himself he just started dressing weird like a freak #but anyway interesting that we know that all the info we're getting is coming from surveillance based on phones #(that clearly colin was aware of and isn't dissimilar to the spying via the tapes) #and jon seems to be the one in the most control of everything and who does magnus related things #while martin's just kinda There #i'm guessing cuz martin isn't of The Eye

[magpod-confessions]

what i'm scared about for tmagp is that they're writing it just for the fans.

i feel as if there's been a lot of content meant specifically for the tma fans to enjoy, "oh there's gerry! there's your office romance, minus four seasons of slowburn! there's this and that and everything you want" and while it's good to keep fans in mind, I fear it's only keeping the fans' interests in mind, not the story or plot. as much as I disliked the ending of tma, it was perfect for every possible reason, and I don't like that the lack of closure has been (possibly? probably) solved with chester and norris. we all want to see jon and martin again, which is exactly why we shouldn't. if everything is done for the fans, they end up controlling the work, and nobody ever said fandom was fantastic with plot decisions.

that being said, I am really liking tmagp so far. despite my critiques, it's cool, it's interesting, it has mysteries and I want to know more. plus, I really missed the statements, so it's cool as all hell to hear new formats and everything. the redcanary story especially was perfect. and all the characters seem very real, they're interesting and while the relationships feel a bit rushed, they are interesting and funny and I want them to be okay (which will likely not happen but yk)

i’m rambling at this point, but you get what i mean!

.

#yea im somewhat worried its being made for the fans so i hope that the cameos actually get to develop separately from their tma versions #that being said i need georgie info #magpod #tmagp #the magnus protocol #magpod confession

[cielkie]

idk how this would work in the OIAR bc i just feel like they wouldn’t let anyone from outside look at their files, but i think it would be really funny to have like. a college age researcher show up to the og magnus institute or the OIAR who’s like studying the paranormal or folklore or some shit (cue guy with an actual degree in parapsychology which makes martin shit himself when he tries to start conversation HELPP) who’s just like oh hi guys this is my honors project! :) can i look at some spooky stories? 🤗 and the OIAR/MI staff are like NO. DO NOT LOOK INTO THIS ANY FURTHER RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. but i feel like elias would 100% require that they help this person out, bc he’s evil and he’d want a fear to eat them, and like… it’s just funny to imagine like. the staff trying to keep the true nature of the institute/OIAR away from this totally clueless 22/25 year old and feeding them the silliest statements possible that don’t connect at all to throw them off track so this poor kid is confused and hopefully gives up. but also kinda bittersweet imagining them all coming together to protect a stranger from falling into a world they can no longer escape… the old “it’s too late for me but it’s not too late for you” makes my heart hurt

#they interact w kids in the show and old ppl but they never rly interact w teenagers or actually college students #and i feel like i TOTALLY know people who would ask the institute to see their files like. as an undergrad honors thesis #or a phd defense or something #and like. seeing the research get stymied and the poor kid get frustrated would be kind of sad bc i while researching some niche topics #the institute would be like a treasure trove #and info on contemporary supernatural beliefs is kind of hard to find #but like the tma cast especially—who treated each other terribly—having to band together for the common goal of driving the intern out #what if it was a bonding experience. what if they came together about it #but someone curious enough to seek out the magnus institute is already a little doomed #so how could they prevent that person from finding anything real? #the feeling of hopelessness in tma is so pervasive bc the staff can’t escape. but what if someone else could… #the magnus archives #the magnus protocol #tmagp #tma podcast #the magnus institute #story ideas

[gammija]

a little thing I like about this episode is the way it sets up Jon's injury to his hand:

first it shows us the consequences of hand + molty wax person in Jude's own statement ("It would be a long time before I was able to use the hand again,") then it shows us Jude is also a molty wax person, and then of course Jon shakes her hand anyways and screams.

So afterwards, we don't need a scene of a doctor/hospital telling us, 'yup, this hand is seriously burned alright and will hurt to use for a long time', because we already know that and can just move on to the interesting scenes

@a-mag-a-day

#it's just good efficient story-telling #there's no 'As you know-' exposition #the first chunk of info also introduces the waxy people concept and that they run hot; #the second also explains why Jude doesn't look as old as she is and is a direct answer to a logical question from Jon; #the third... well ok Jon burns his hand in exchange for information. not a lot of double duty there but #it does build Jon's character as someone willing to do that #(he's heard the same statement we just did; i think it does him a disservice to interpret it as that he just genuinely #thought it wouldn't hurt) #a mag a day #the magnus archives #magnus archives #jonathan sims #jude perry #tma meta #tma #jonathan #yk its a little thing but its these kinds of things put together that make tma like. good. #tma s3

[swordsonnet]

okay so this basically confirms that the magnus protocol is set in a parallel universe right???

#the magnus protocol #tma #the magnus archives #sidequel??? the magnus institute was in manchester and burned down in 1999??? #theres only one explanation for this right #words cant describe how excited i am about this ive been hoping for a parallel universe storyline pretty much right from the moment tma2 #was first hinted at #feels good to be right :3 #for context: there was a patreon announcement like an hour ago w/ a link to a video of jonny and alex talking about the kickstarter launch #(which is tomorrow at 4pm gmt!) and revealing some new info... #idk if rq has made the video available to non-patrons yet but feel free to dm me if you want the link :)

[creature-once-removed]

Alex: There will be returning voices as well.

Alasdair: Oh, who?

Alex: ...NO!

#:D #tma2 #the magnus protocol #the magnus archives #I love Alex fighting to keep from accidentally leaking important info

[rainiiis]

sometimes, being in uni is also being able to look at a guy straight in the eyes and say you read fanfiction on a regular basis, and when he laughs at you, instead of going haha that was a joke don't worry just stand your ground and be like yeah, it's quite fun actually you should try it.

#raine talks #the confidence boost this olace brings is a miracle #genuinely love it #the best part is #he didn't ask for further info #for all i know he may be thinking i only read smut #and instead of feeling embarrassed about it #it's just #lmao wouldn't you like to know #all u gotta do is ask buddy #i can tell you allll about the magnus time travel fix it i've been reading #this started because i pointed out a girl in front of us at the library was writing fanfic #we couldn't read from that far away #but #it had the ao3 layout #and he was like how do you know about fanfic site layouts??? #i took the chance and ran with it #i'm a lit student buddy #i'm open to any and all writing #didn't seem convinced at all #oh well #his loss #uni #fanfic #ao3

[sapphodryad]

i NEED the magnus protocol arg plot stuff/easter eggs compiled somehow BECAUSE i was messing around and trying to find info on it and realised that one of the documents that were "leaked" (in-universe) for the arg was a corrupted list of data that is named klaus.xls???????????? AND NOW I WANT ALL THE EASTER EGGS PLEASE AND THANK YOU

#tmagp #i know about the list of kids from the magnus institute but with exams i do Not have time to go through all those names #i also saw someone mention how its fun hearing about dphw and!!!!!! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS TOO PLEASE #my best guess on dphw so far is only that dp standa for dread power #also yes i know the rusty quill has a summary but as far as i can tell #its a summary on the puzzles and i cant really find any of the story info #but i could've overlooked links or sth cause i was on mobile? not sure

[steampoweredskeleton]

Like three things I enjoy are either currently making ARGs or have just finished them and I really wish I could take part but the idea of the media topic being brought into real life in a way that I can interact with freaks me out enough that I KNOW actually taking part is going to make me disconnect from reality in a really not fun way

#delete later #i love the idea of args #i canmot handle them. i love horror shit but i have a track record of becoming a lil bit delusional in terms of believing shit exists #and this is just asking for trouble #like the way i interact with horror is by knowing it is conpletely seperate from reality. plus especially with the magnus protocol #one i know that if i start feeding into the idea that there are clues about intangible evil things that watch abd hunt and etc #i am gonna start HARDCORE having The Bad Thoughts #pathologic is setting up an arg and i love yhe idea of it but a oart of it is emailing abd relaying info about the pandemic and #wow that would be bad for me huh!!!

[littlebigmouse]

"I'm more inclined to believe this statement because we have the aforementioned Greek Siren Murder Piano in our possession. I'm sure this is not going to cause any problems, and that the circumstances around this acquisition are in no way relevant" (paraphrased)

Jon at this point you deserve to be murdered. Let the puppet summoning murder piano at least worry you good grief.

#tma #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #i'm getting stressed just from how jon ends an episode with the most terrifying twisty info ever and then goes 'so tldr nothing weird here' #my brother in christ if you were a supernatural character you would have died right after the girl in the shower

[bookwyrminspiration]

I’m going to have to catch up on tma arent i

#tma #the magnus archives #i thought I had all the time in the world to make it through all the episodes!! #but not anymore with more seasons…??? #idk I’m just absorbing info from my dash

[tcelujhita]

I’ve been rotating Michael Magnusarchives and the Wolf Neverafter in my head recently because they share such an engaging character concept. They’re both kind of ambiguous weird blends of one human and one person whose identity is more wonky. Both characters present a single trait that originates from their component parts, except the reason is different for each part. 

With Michael, he’s made up of Michael Shelley and the Distortion, right. Shelley’s gentle and trusting personality got him worse-than-killed (sorry man for following your nature), and his identity got placed onto the hand of the Spiral like a sockpuppet. Michael hates what and who he is because he's Michael (which as a Person Identity, is antithetical to the Distortion, a location that just lives to be confusing and undefinable), and because he's a manifestation of the Spiral (which Shelley got killed by). He's bitter about being sacrificed by Gertrude, and he's bitter about being forced into being a somewhat-definable person. Dude got blended and he’s so spiteful about it. Even though he should be contradictions within contradictions, the human and the manifestation agree to hate Michael and the Archivist. His bitterness originates from both and I really like that.

So the Wolf, I’m thinking specifically of the scene in the forest limbo with Ylfa. The Wolf switches to being her Grandmother, except it’s ambiguous as to who this actually is. I mean obviously it’s the Wolf but she’s simultaneously Ylfa’s Grandmother, despite the wrong personality. That’s how Ylfa treats her at least. And even if there’s no aspect of Ylfa’s real grandma there, then the Wolf is not just wearing her appearance, but also her behavior & role, and so what’s the difference really. This person offers Ylfa genuine kindness and she accepts it. The bit of the scene before this shows Ylfa grappling with the idea of ‘comfort in the certainty of death’ despite her efforts to protect people’s lives. This is presented by Death itself (who I believe later when talking to Pib, says he thinks of himself as more of a concept than a character/person), then Ylfa is simply emotionally comforted by the archetypal nice Grandmother figure. The traits originate from both. I just think, Death and the Grandmother could both be pictured as saying, “Come here into my arms and it’ll all be over soon.” 

#tma #the magnus archives #neverafter #dimension 20 neverafter #my posts #im on episode 13 of neverafter so thats the info im working with #maybe if i think harder i could write about how these two stories also deal with the framing of death as simply 'the end' #but my brain is fried #yeah so.... falsettos you gotta die sometime verse 3 #hug from death as a lover rather than a grandparent #still the comfort in the embrace of the inevitable death expressed literally #even more literal in neverafter #grandma your metaphors are honkin sad :(

[annabelle--cane]

"the magnus protocol had a whole ARG beforehand? what?"

yes! it did!

"oh so I need to have participated in this whole big thing to actually understand the podcast?"

not at all! from the official post-mortem put out by RQ, "while the ARG was not something that was necessary to participate in to understand the magnus protocol, it was designed to contain a wealth of background story and context that would enrich any player's listening experience."

"a wealth of background context that would enrich my listening experience 👀👀👀 how can I learn about this?"

SO glad you asked. sadly, many of the materials made for the arg have been taken down since the game ended 😔 (ex., the official OIAR, magnus institute, and bonzoland websites. (edit ii: I found partial wayback machine captures! see below) though @strangehauntsuk is still up!), so we're a bit low on primary sources, but in terms of learning about what happened:

for a starting point, I would really recommend this video by @pinkelotjeart

it's super accessible, it was made in real time as the game progressed and follows the solving and revelation of clues as they happened, it hits all the major points of the mystery and moments of community insanity while eliding some of the nitty gritty puzzle grinding, 10/10 would recommend.

here's the official summary put out by RQ, and I'd recommend reading through this once you've already gotten a basic handle on the flow of the story and the basic connections between major clues and events. it's got some fun behind-the-scenes info and lays out the thought process behind the puzzles in simple terms

here's the full masterdoc of all puzzles and resolutions put together in the statement remains discord server. masterdoc my absolute BELOVED, masterdoc my bethrothed, masterdoc my soul mate. I'd recommend this as a second port of call after the above video as it either contains all details about the puzzles or links to other expanded docs that do.

here's the narrative summary doc that lays out all the plot and lore discovered in three pages of plain prose. if you just want to get to the good bits as fast as you can and get blasted directly in the face by contextless lore bombs, this is the doc for you. if you don't want to start with the video, I'd say this is another good entry point.

once you've got the lay of the land, some of the game materials that I found particularly interesting include:

the in-universe east germany expat usenet forum, with all content translated into english. most of it is irrelevant space filler with occasional extremely sus lore, but I still found it fun to read through. love to soak in some fictional forum drama.

chdb.xlsx, the spreadsheet of the names of all the children the protocol 'verse magnus institute was studying/experimenting on. EDIT: here is a version of the sheet without any annotations and with all of the names in their original order, kudos to @theboombutton for catching that the commonly shared copy had the order swapped around.

klaus.xls, a (very corrupted) spreadsheet with what looks like the classifications of a bunch of old OIAR cases.

EDIT: have a few more saved materials from the game that I forgot to include.

an in-universe audio ad to apply to the OIAR that ran before archives episodes and kicked off the whole game.

an in-universe video ad to apply to the OIAR, this one is an official upload that's still up from the game itself. you can subscribe to the OIAR's official youtube channel today, if you so chose.

the robo-voicemail greeting from the OIAR's phone line.

EDIT II:

here is a wayback machine capture of the OIAR's official website.

here is a wayback machine capture of the bonzoland website.

(pretty sure both of the above captures just archived the home pages, though I haven't tried clicking all of the links. I'd say they're still worth looking at, the home pages give a good window into the vibes.)

once you start poking around in these documents, you'll find a bunch of links to others with further information, the materials I've included here just contain what I feel to be the most relevant details to getting a broad feel for the whole game. once again, huge shout out to the statement remains server, I was barely in there as the ARG was in progress and only ducked my head in every so often to find links like these. true mvps of the fandom.

#gonna pin this for a bit because every day I get 2-5 asks saying 'there was an arg? how do I learn about it?' #tmagp #video #marina marvels at life