#Shizu's Red String Board

[shizucheese]

Okay okay okay, I need everyone to listen to me about this.

I know I kinda talked about this before in a reblog to someone else's post, but the idea has been rotating in my brain ever since and I feel like it needs to be further explored. A lot of people have been talking about the differences between TMA and TMP, and memeing about how people can actually quit the OIAR (which btw, I'll believe when I actually see it, by which I mean if we're able to get through the entire series without Teddy either coming back or turning up dead or otherwise facing "You can quit but you can never leave" levels of repercussions) but like nobody, from what I've seen, has been talking about what imo is the pretty glaringly obvious element at play here. So let's talk about the spider in the room, shall we? What do we know about the Magnus Institute in TMA?

People came there to give statements regarding their spooky experiences, including people who had doubts about doing so (because they weren't sure if the Institute was reputable, because they weren't sure if they believed what they had experienced, because they served a different entity so what reason would they have to do something for The Eye, etc).

The head archivist would ultimately become the Archivist, an Avatar of the Eye.

The Archivist's abilities included enabling statement givers to give their statements without going off track or leaving out details (we even see what happens when it's not the Archivist taking the statement), and being able to compel people to tell them things against their will, from statements to their darkest secrets.

You couldn't quit, at least not without gouging your eyes out.

The Magnus Institute was a part of the Eye.

Or was it? Because the other thing we know about the Magnus Institute is that the Web was using it as part of its plan to break free from the TMA world and gain access to the other worlds out there. How much of the compulsion aspects of the Institute-- people being drawn to the Institute to give statements, the Archivist's ability to draw statements and secrets out of people, people's inability to quit the Institute--was actually because of the Web? Where does the Eye's "compulsion to seek out knowledge even if it could be bad/ harmful" end and the Web's "not being in control of your own actions" begin? Was the Archivist--at least in the form Gertrude and John took--really purely an Avatar of the Eye? Or were they an Avatar of a mix between The Eye and the Web, much like how Martin, if he were to ever become a full fledged Avatar, likely would have been a mix of the Eye and the Lonely, just like his domain in S5 was? After all, Jonah was an Eye Avatar, was he not? And as far as we saw, he never needed to compel information out of people. He just Knew it (and used it to torment people).

One of the themes I've been playing around with in my TMA fanfictions since I first finished the podcast for the first time last winter is how the course of history would be different in the alternate worlds, where the Web wasn't interfering--at least not on the same scale, or for the same reasons--since it had already gotten what it wanted at the end of TMA. And I think that's exactly what we're seeing a version of in Protocol. I think the OIAR is what it looks like when it's entirely the Eye at play, with 0 interference from the Web. The Eye is all about having your secrets exposed, being watched, being followed. The tape recorders--something that would need to be turned off and on (controlled) in order to record something--were a tool of the Web. Now we're "witnessing" the events of the podcast through the audio from security cameras and other things that are constantly running; constantly seeing and listening without needing to be turned on and off. The statements aren't being given by people who somehow found their way to the institute and were on some level or another compelled to tell their tales. They're journal entries detailing a person's private thoughts. They're letters meant only for the eyes of the recipient, sharing secrets not meant for anyone else. They're recorded therapy sessions.

And the statements that are related to the Eye? The ones read in John's voice? They're forum and blog posts, which not only makes them the only ones whose sources didn't have the same expectation of privacy as the others, also ties them to the Web, since computers and websites were previously established as being associated with it.

[shizucheese]

So full disclosure, I actually listened to episode 7 on Saturday, but this episode had so damn much to it and I got a bit side tracked by a theory that I'm still working on but I really want to get this out before episode 8 comes out.

As usual, if you want to see the continuously updated and reblogged version of my red string board, you can find it here.

Today is Tuesday, 2/27/24. Episode 7 came out 5 days ago on 2/22/24.

“Talkers”

Norris (Voice: Martin?/ Alex)

Episode 1: “Reanimation (Partial) -/- Regret [Email]”. The Stranger? The End? The Dark? The Lonely? The Flesh? Arthur (Nolan?).

Episode 3: "Infection (full body" -/- Arboreal [Journal entry]". The Spiral? (Paranoia? Auditory, visual and olfactory hallucinations) The Lonely? The Corruption. The Flesh? (Callbacks to the Flesh Garden from S5)

Common Themes: Hearing the voice of a dead/ missing loved one?

Chester (Voice: John?/ Jonny)

Episode 1: “Transformation (eyes) -/- Tresspass [chat log]”. Magnus Institute, The Eye. (Involves a forum; the Web?).

Episode 5: "Disappearance (undetermined) -/- Invitation [Internet blog]". The Eye (Movies. Movie name: "Voyeur" "Must be seen to be believed"...). The Web? (Another website?). (Very reminiscent of Mag 110: Creature Feature.) The "poor old guy" at the theater is totally an Eye avatar, right? Kinda gives me "Simon Fairchild when he was first introduced" vibes.

Episode 7: "Agglomeration (miscellany) -/- congregation [email]". The Stranger. The Burried. The Desolation. Possibly all of them if my theory about the items the Volunteers brought in is correct...

Unsure if this is Eye related like the other statements were. This is also the first "Chester" statement where the source material wasn't from a website or blog, which don't have the same expectation of privacy that the sources of the other statements do. Email, though, so still internet related, and this seems to be an open letter rather than personal correspondence, so it still might align with the theme.

Agustus: (rare?)

Episode 4: “Collection (blood) -/- musical [letter]” The End. The Lonely? The Slaughter.

Letter writer thinks passing on his violin might allow a part of himself to live on in his nephew. Very Jonah Magnus of him.

Music teacher hears “faraway music”, then goes crazy and throws himself out of the carriage and dies. Reminiscent of Mag7 and the Piper? The merchant’s wares include dice (Mag 29?). Got the violin from him (took his blood?). Effect of the violin reminiscent to Grifter’s Bone (Mag 42).

(Oliver Bardwell lol very funny guys)

Non-Talkers (?)

Episode 2: "Transformation (full) -/- dysmorphic [video call]". The Spiral? The Flesh. The Stranger. Ink 5oul (avatar/ entity?)

Episode 6: "Injury (needles) -/- intimidation [999 call] "Corruption? The Spiral? The Flesh? The End?

"Needles" reminds me of Michael!Distortion.

Notes and Thoughts:

"It's not like we're dealing with Tape Recorders..." I'm side eying you real hard, Celia. And what's with all of the questions? The "looking for patterns" question is 100% fair but those examples are AWEFULLY SPECIFIC. I wasn't entirely sure I bought the idea that Celia was the same Celia from TMA, but no this is totally her for sure. "DO YOU KNOW WHO JOHN" IS EXCUSE ME? WHAT REAL STUFF?

HILLTOP CENTER BRANCH?!!! 0 managerial or other support from HR; very reminiscent of the weird circumstances surrounding the house on Hilltop Road. Bear skin rug very reminiscent of the Gorilla Skin in TMA S3. The Volunteers remind me of the medical students from Mag34. The email is about events from 2015. This was the same year Gertrude died and John became the Head Archivist in TMA. Why am I not seeing anyone else talk about this?

I have a theory that I was originally going to put in this post but detangling that giant ball of red string entirely is taking too long so I'm just going to put the TL'DR here and maybe make a proper list later if I can ever finish pulling the string on that particular red sweater. Between the items the Volunteers bring in, and the events of the incident itself, what if every single Entity is represented? The gunshots that were heard were the Slaughter. The fire was the Desolation. The person who wrote the email being crushed by all of the items was the Buried. There are a number of artifacts that get listed off that could represent at least one if not multiple Entities (which might be their purpose; considering how many times the fact that the categorization was imperfect got brought up in TMA, it's probably more helpful to view them as a spectrum more than anything else), including some that are very reminiscent of things from specific TMA statements (The bear skin rug -> The Gorilla skin, Old medical equipment -> the syringe in mag 45? The telescope -> Maxwell Rayner was originally Edmond Halley, the Astronomer, etc. etc). So...okay, hear me out: what if this was all part of a ritual, and that's what the "good cause" was? A ritual that involved all of the fears being represented? Sound familiar? Except instead of it being a ritual to start an apocalypse or reshape the world in the image of one or more of the fears, what if it was a ritual to summon something that was associated with all of the fears? Or, rather, what if it was a ritual to summon someone who had been touched by all of the fears? And that's also why so many of the items seem to be analogous to things from statements and events from TMA? Like....maybe I'm wrong entirely. Or maybe I'm right about this being about summoning someone, or something, (maybe someone from TMA? Maybe Celia?), but wrong about it being John who was being summoned. But, again, this incident took place in 2015, which was the same year Gertrude died and John became head Archivist, and I feel like this means something.

[shizucheese]

So I have this theory about the Entities in TMP. We know that the alternate worlds referenced in season 5 are similar to the world TMA took place in with slight differences. The experiences of the statement giver from Mag 114 (the cleaning lady who worked at Hilltop Road) is an early example of this: none of her friends knew how she knew them, she'd never heard of the Magnus Institute before and the dates were all wrong. Same deal with the Magnus Protocol, where the location of the Magnus Institute is different and the place burned down 17 years before TMA started. We also know that new Entities emerge when enough people fear something enough in a way that's distinctive from the already existing Entities. (EG: The Extinction branching off from The End). So what if those differences in the alternate worlds have resulted in cultures/ values being just different enough that what people fear/ how it manifests and new Entities have arisen from it? Which brings us to the meat of my theory: obviously the Magnus Institute is still a part of the Eye, based on what we heard in the second statement from the first episode. And I've seen some people talking about the OIAR also being part of the Eye. But what if it's not? Colin is convinced something/ someone is listening. In TMA, statements were collected in order to feed the Eye, and in TMP, the cases that get sorted through and documented are sometimes read out loud by one of the three Voices or it's otherwise an audio recording anyone present would then basically be forced to listen to. So what if there's another entity similar to/ split off from the Eye, but instead of it being the fear of being watched/ exposed/ followed, it's tied to the fear that someone's always listening; a fear of exposure distinct from that of the Eye, related to your secrets being heard. Etc. Etc. And what if that's the Entity that the OIAR is tied to? As silly as it may sound, it'd probably be called The Ear or the Listening.

[shizucheese]

Welcome to my Red String Board for the Magnus Protocol. Instead of making new posts I'm just going to reblog this and add new thoughts after every episode and update certain theories. Things might be a little bit messy because some of this is a bit stream of conscious but I'll try my best to at least keep the formatting consistent. So let's get this party started. 1/24/23: As of this writing the first two episodes have been released. Theory: As more episodes come out and we get more cases/ statements, is there going to be a pattern to the "Talker" statements and which voice gets used (or if it's a Talker at all?). References to specific subjects, Entities, other themes? What we have right now: “Talkers”

Norris (Voice: Martin?/ Alex)

Episode 1: “Reanimation (Partial) -/- Regret [Email]”. The Stranger? The End? The Dark? The Lonely? The Flesh? Arthur (Nolan?).

Chester (Voice: John?/ Jonny)

Episode 1: “Transformation (eyes) -/- Tresspass [chat log]”. Magnus Institute, The Eye. (Involves a forum; the Web?).

Agustus: N/A

Non-Talkers (?) Episode 2: "Transformation (full) -/- dysmorphic [video call]". The Spiral? The Flesh. The Stranger. Ink 5oul (avatar/ entity?) Are different characters aligned with certain Entities (working off of known Entities from TMA)

Alice  = Spiral? (Conspiracy Theories). Web? (Is the reason why Sam got his job. Her whole conspiracy theory thing could be way to mess with people/ manipulate them)

Gwen = The Buried (?) (Behind on her work. Ambition?)

Colin = The Slaughter? (Irritability) The Eye? (Something’s listening?)

Sam = The Eye (Hunger for knowledge/ need to know even when warned it could be detrimental).

I have a theory about the butterfly effect/ multiverse theory regarding the manifestation of the Entities and new ones emerging as a result of things being just different enough for it to happen. The full thing + my support for it is long enough to warrant it's own post though so I'm going to make it one and then probably link it here just for record keeping purposes. Edit: My Butterfly effect/ Multiverse Entity Theory

[shizucheese]

Hey guys! It me, "The Magnus Institute is a part of not just the Eye but the Web" girl, here with some thoughts and a new theory for the consideration of the Red String Comity. Come step into a curated (for your safety and sanity) corner of my mind as I walk you through my thought process: First, some further evidence that the Web was tied to the Magnus Institute in TMA all along: in MAG193, it's mentioned that Elias doesn't remember ever sending his CV to the Magnus Institute. Web. In Mag056, when Martin confesses he lied on his CV, he mentions that "for some reason" his lie about parapsychology got him an interview with Elias. Now, I always assumed that this was because Elias/ Jonah knew his secret and the Eye likes secrets, but like...How did Martin know to apply there in the first place? Why was that the only place where he got an interview?

Now I'd like to bring your attention to the below sticker. I have this same sticker on my laptop because as someone on the Ace spectrum John and Martin's relationship is everything to me. For anyone who needs a refresher, the quote is something John says to Martin in S5. Obviously the teacup represents Martin. But let's talk about that thing coming out of the teacup, hm? The thing that's supposed to represent John? I've always tried to rationalize it as "lol it's just some kind if Eye creature, that's not a spider..." but guys....that's totally a spider, right?

Now here's why this is so huge: this isn't fanart someone turned into a sticker. This is a sticker from Rusty Quill's very own RedBubble shop.

It's official merch. Official merch "designed and sold by RustyQuill" represents John as a spider creature covered in eyes.

They've been telling us this the entire time guys! Now, I need to give @amanda-519 credit for setting my mind down this next path. These are the tags they used when they reblogged my previous post on this topic:

Now, this got me thinking about all of the Avatars we met in TMA and like....

We know from Mag 102 that the Corruption can manifest as unhealthy relationships, which I would argue would include infatuation and obsession.

And like....was Jude's infatuation with Agnes really all that different? It's what drew her into The Desolation in the first place, so could we not argue that she was a mix of the Desolation and the Corruption? (Like....the destructiveness of infatuation? Corruption leading to Desolation?) And like I've always assumed the reason why Oliver became an Avatar of the End is because of his association with Graham and what happened to him resulting in Oliver being touched by The End, but like...does that actually make sense? They were already broken up and he had 0 involvement with Graham being taken by the Not Them. But like Graham's circumstances are also kinda weblike, no? The Web includes the fear of being forced to do something against one's own will, and Graham went through some pretty extreme measures to try and escape his powers. And then his efforts to escape ultimately lead to the events that turned him into a full fledged Avatar. Was Graham also a part of the web? Or were the circumstances of him becoming an Avatar of the End basically the result of him being the Web's victim?

And the whole concept of the Unknowing is pretty weird, huh? Like...I can't be the only one that looks at what happens to people who get trapped in the Unknowing and thinks that it feels awfully "Spiral-like" right? (or, for that matter, that The Desolation has some elements of the Stranger to it).

John Amherst was an Avatar of The Corruption, but unlike Jane, whose main interest seemed to be spreading and expanding the Flesh Hive, Amherst's form of Corruption seemed awfully End-flavored. When we first meet him in TMA, it's at a Nursing home where his spread of infection results in the death of all of the residents. In Mag68, Tale of a Field Hospital, the accounts about Amherst are all about him dying and then showing up again; in the second story, the people who end up in the bed Amherst is supposed to be in keep dying; the statement giver who gave the book to the Institute dies a few days later after, having cut himself on the pages of the book. The illness he spreads in the town where he ultimately dies kills the victims horrifically. The bug he is most affiliated with are flies, which are known to flock to dead bodies and are therefore associated with death. Okay now after all of that word vomit, here's the epiphany that I had and the actual point of this post:

For some reason my mind kept straying back to Jude and her infatuation with Agnes and how that might have made her part of the Corruption, and the different ways the Corruption might have been involved in other ways, and then I remembered that theory going around that in TMP the Fears are becoming Obsessions. This theory never sat well with me because in TMA, all of the Avatars were obsessed with something. Most of them were obsessed with their Entity and bringing it into the world. Jude, as previously mentioned, was obsessed with Agnes. Simon was obsessed with the sky. Mike was obsessed with freeing himself of the Spiral manifestation that'd been tormenting him since childhood. Oliver was obsessed with running away from his powers and John was obsessed with finding out what the fuck was going on. There were also plenty of non-avatar characters that were obsessed; The guy in Mag90: Body Builder was obsessed with his body and making it look how he wanted to. The guy from Mag102 Nesting Instinct and his petite scarabée. I could go on.

And then it clicked: Obsession is a form of Corruption. We know that the Corruption can manifest as unhealthy love and companionship. But what is "unhealthy love" if not a form of obsession? Obsession sinks its teeth into you and takes over your life and can lead you to your own destruction. In other words, its corrupts you. Which is exactly what happens in pretty much all of the statements we've gotten so far in TMP. The Corruption is up to something. Idk what or why, but I think that in the same way the Web's influence was all over TMA if you know to look for it, the Corruption is all over TMP. Is it just a season 1 thing? Is it going to be the Big Player in the whole series? Are the Avatars (?) we've encountered so far--Ink5oul, The Merchant, Movie Theater Man-- part of the Corruption as well as the more obvious Entities they serve-- The Flesh, The End/ The Slaughter, The Eye--or are they only servants of those respective Entities and the Corruption is swooping in later and poisoning things?

[shizucheese]

Someone give me a cookie, I managed to listen to the new episode within like 48 hours of the new episode coming out! As usual, this is the standalone version of the weekly post that I also made as a reblog to my main Red String Board, which can be found here. Today is 3/9/24. TMAGP episode 9 released on 3/7/2024.

“Talkers”

Norris (Voice: Martin?/ Alex)

Episode 1: “Reanimation (Partial) -/- Regret [Email]”. The Stranger? The End? The Dark? The Lonely? The Flesh? Arthur (Nolan?).

Episode 3: "Infection (full body" -/- Arboreal [Journal entry]". The Spiral? (Paranoia? Auditory, visual and olfactory hallucinations) The Lonely? The Corruption. The Flesh? (Callbacks to the Flesh Garden from S5)

Episode 8: "Architecture (liminal) -/- hunger [coursework]". The Spiral. The Lonely. (Statement giver has an ex-wife. Witnesses strange mist. Fog?) The Stranger? The Vast. The Flesh. The description of the space reminds me a bit of Mag 150: Cul-De-Sac. The description of the diners and the way they were speaking reminds me of Mag 48: Lost in the Crowd.

Common Themes: Hearing the voice of a dead/ missing loved one? Loneliness

Chester (Voice: John?/ Jonny)

Episode 1: “Transformation (eyes) -/- Tresspass [chat log]”. Magnus Institute, The Eye. (Involves a forum; the Web?).

Episode 5: "Disappearance (undetermined) -/- Invitation [Internet blog]". The Eye (Movies. Movie name: "Voyeur" "Must be seen to be believed"...). The Web? (Another website?). (Very reminiscent of Mag 110: Creature Feature.) The "poor old guy" at the theater is totally an Eye avatar, right? Kinda gives me "Simon Fairchild when he was first introduced" vibes.

Episode 7: "Agglomeration (miscellany) -/- congregation [email]". The Stranger. The Burried. The Desolation. Possibly all of them if my theory about the items the Volunteers brought in is correct...

Unsure if this is Eye related like the other statements were. This is also the first "Chester" statement where the source material wasn't from a website or blog, which don't have the same expectation of privacy that the sources of the other statements do. Email, though, so still internet related, and this seems to be an open letter rather than personal correspondence, so it still might align with the theme.

Episode 9: "Dice (bone) -/- fate [Magnus Statement]" Flesh (blood)? The Dark (blown lightbulbs)? Web. (The dice aren't random. Nobody ever says no to rolling them. The way the statement giver describes his experience almost sounds like addiction, which is also Web affiliated).

Are these the same dice that were in the bag of The Merchant from TMAGP 4? Common theme continues to be Eyes/ The Magnus Institute and The Web (either internet-related or an artifact of The Eye like in TMAGP 7)

Agustus: (rare?)

Episode 4: “Collection (blood) -/- musical [letter]” The End. The Lonely? The Slaughter.

Letter writer thinks passing on his violin might allow a part of himself to live on in his nephew. Very Jonah Magnus of him.

Music teacher hears “faraway music”, then goes crazy and throws himself out of the carriage and dies. Reminiscent of Mag7 and the Piper? The merchant’s wares include dice (Mag 29?). Got the violin from him (took his blood?). Effect of the violin reminiscent to Grifter’s Bone (Mag 42).

(Oliver Bardwell lol very funny guys)

Non-Talkers (?)

Episode 2: "Transformation (full) -/- dysmorphic [video call]". The Spiral? The Flesh. The Stranger. Ink 5oul (avatar/ entity?)

Episode 6: "Injury (needles) -/- intimidation [999 call] "Corruption? The Spiral? The Flesh? The End?

"Needles" reminds me of Michael!Distortion.

Notes and Thoughts:

...Sam's filling out the paperwork because he feels compelled to do it? Does the paperwork also have spiderwebs on it?

This might be nothing but the statement giver for Mag144: Decrypted was also named Garry.

There was something incredibly cozy about hearing Jonny's voice reading a good old fashioned Magnus Institute statement. So I posted a while ago about my theory that in TMA, the Magnus Institute was not only affiliated with The Eye but also The Web, and that John (and Gertrude before him) was an avatar of both The Eye and The Web (hence their ability to compel statements and stuff). (If you haven't read it, you can find the whole thing here.) Everything "Norris" just reaffirms that theory. All of his statements have had two things in common: they have been related to the Magnus Institute or the Eye, and they have had something web related about them. TMAGP 1 and 5 were a forum and a blog, which are both websites, which is something that has previously been associated with The Web (eg: In MAG 123: Web Development). They are also the only statements that didn't have the expectation of privacy/ limited audience that the other statements have. And if the dice from this episode aren't Web aligned, idk what is. The only exception to this seems to be TMAGP 7. It was an email, which is still internet related--also now that I'm thinking about it, it was set on Hilltop Road which we all KNOW is web aligned--but there doesn't seem to be an obvious Magnus Institute or Eye theme to that one though. Was it the fact that it was set on Hilltop Road? Was it the security firm? Am I on to something my theory that the "good cause" was a summoning ritual that required artifacts or actions related to all of the Entities, in order to maybe summon a certain someone we all know and love who was touched by all of the Entities into the TMAGP world (a certain someone who was made Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London in 2015 in TMA, which is the same year that statement took place)?

I recall also saying in my post with my "The Institute was part of The Web" post that I'll believe Teddy fully left the OIAR for good when I believe it. How convenient that he ended up being laid off from the job he left the OIAR basically immediately; I'm starting the countdown until he ends up getting his old job back (or turns up dead) now.

-

Idk what's funnier about the dedication at the beginning: the fact that it was probably written before the person who wrote it knew the details of Protocol and the whole "voices in the computer" thing, or the way Jonny read it.

[shizucheese]

I was doing so well on staying on top of things and then Life just kinda...happened to me. (I wouldn't normally include stuff like this on these posts but like....if you're a writer and you're in need of an editor check out the pinned post on my blog). Today is 4/5/24. Episode 10 came out on 3/14 and since then the podcast has been on hiatus (so at least I don't have multiple episodes to get caught up on...haha...). I'm finally getting my ass in gear on this because @kazooyay asked me what I thought about this episode and I'd like to give her an answer to this question. Also figured I'd directly expose her to the chaos she has unleashed. :)

As always you can find the full reblogged spiral into insanity here!

“Talkers”

Norris (Voice: Martin?/ Alex)

Episode 1: “Reanimation (Partial) -/- Regret [Email]”. The Stranger? The End? The Dark? The Lonely? The Flesh? Arthur (Nolan?).

Episode 3: "Infection (full body" -/- Arboreal [Journal entry]". The Spiral? (Paranoia? Auditory, visual and olfactory hallucinations) The Lonely? The Corruption. The Flesh? (Callbacks to the Flesh Garden from S5)

Episode 8: "Architecture (liminal) -/- hunger [coursework]". The Spiral. The Lonely. (Statement giver has an ex-wife. Witnesses strange mist. Fog?) The Stranger? The Vast. The Flesh. The description of the space reminds me a bit of Mag 150: Cul-De-Sac. The description of the diners and the way they were speaking reminds me of Mag 48: Lost in the Crowd.

Common Themes: Hearing the voice of a dead/ missing loved one? Loneliness

Chester (Voice: John?/ Jonny)

Episode 1: “Transformation (eyes) -/- Trespass [chat log]”. Magnus Institute, The Eye. (Involves a forum; the Web?).

Episode 5: "Disappearance (undetermined) -/- Invitation [Internet blog]". The Eye (Movies. Movie name: "Voyeur" "Must be seen to be believed"...). The Web? (Another website?). (Very reminiscent of Mag 110: Creature Feature.) The "poor old guy" at the theater is totally an Eye avatar, right? Kinda gives me "Simon Fairchild when he was first introduced" vibes.

Episode 7: "Agglomeration (miscellany) -/- congregation [email]". The Stranger. The Buried. The Desolation. Possibly all of them if my theory about the items the Volunteers brought in is correct...

Unsure if this is Eye related like the other statements were. This is also the first "Chester" statement where the source material wasn't from a website or blog, which don't have the same expectation of privacy that the sources of the other statements do. Email, though, so still internet related, and this seems to be an open letter rather than personal correspondence, so it still might align with the theme.

Episode 9: "Dice (bone) -/- fate [Magnus Statement]" Flesh (blood)? The Dark (blown lightbulbs)? Web. (The dice aren't random. Nobody ever says no to rolling them. The way the statement giver describes his experience almost sounds like addiction, which is also Web affiliated).

Are these the same dice that were in the bag of The Merchant from TMAGP 4? Common theme continues to be Eyes/ The Magnus Institute and The Web (either internet-related or an artifact of The Eye like in TMAGP 7)

Agustus: (rare?)

Episode 4: “Collection (blood) -/- musical [letter]” The End. The Lonely? The Slaughter.

Letter writer thinks passing on his violin might allow a part of himself to live on in his nephew. Very Jonah Magnus of him.

Music teacher hears “faraway music”, then goes crazy and throws himself out of the carriage and dies. Reminiscent of Mag7 and the Piper? The merchant’s wares include dice (Mag 29?). Got the violin from him (took his blood?). Effect of the violin reminiscent to Grifter’s Bone (Mag 42).

(Oliver Bardwell lol very funny guys)

Non-Talkers (?)

Episode 2: "Transformation (full) -/- dysmorphic [video call]". The Spiral? The Flesh. The Stranger. Ink 5oul (avatar/ entity?)

Episode 6: "Injury (needles) -/- intimidation [999 call] "Corruption? The Spiral? The Flesh? The End?

"Needles" reminds me of Michael!Distortion.

Episode 10: "Mascot (kids) -/- murder [TV interview]" The Buried? The Stranger. The Flesh or a light version of The Slaughter (injuries)? The Slaughter. (Would feeling trapped like Nigel does be The Buried or The Web?)

Notes and Thoughts:

Oh they're totally using Bonzo as a hitman aren't they....what the fuck.

Also I heard that tape recorder turn on and off. In TMA the tape recorder turned out to be a tool of The Web. Is that still the case here? What's that damn Spider up to? I swear to god if Annabelle shows up I'm going to scream. And now I can't tell if some of "crawling sounds" are just for the environment or if they really are spiders.... Pattern on the floor? Also Alice is saying a lot of things that she makes sound like she's joking but like....."Maybe Archie stands for Archive" "Worm tracks?"

I so cannot wait to learn more about Sam's past and what he was involved in. Chosen for what? Did he want to be chosen? Why?

Okay okay okay, so obviously Sam and Alice let something out of the Institute. Is it John or Martin? Annabelle? Jonah? Something else entirely? This might be nothing but whatever "[Error]" is was credited to Beth Eyre, who previously voiced the lady who witnessed the Flesh Ritual in MAG 130: Meat. Is this her in this world (she gave a direct statement in TMA...)? Or are they using her for this character right now to throw us all off?

[shizucheese]

So fun fact I normally try to avoid Tumblr between Thursday and when I finally get to listen to the new Protocol episode because that seems easier than constantly blocking and unblocking the spoilers tags, but also this is my preferred social media site so it generally results in a vicious cycle of me hopping in Tumblr, and either VERY CAUTIOUSLY scrolling (or scrolling only through specific tags), or completely forgetting until I see even a HINT of something Protocol related (even if it's not spoilers) and figuratively running away screaming.

As always, you can find the full evolving red string board here. It's getting real long. I'm trying to decide if I want to start a fresh one for season 2 or if I want to see how long and unwieldy that puppy can really get. What do you guys think?

Today is Monday, 3/4/24. Episode 8 came out on 2/29/21.

“Talkers”

Norris (Voice: Martin?/ Alex)

Episode 1: “Reanimation (Partial) -/- Regret [Email]”. The Stranger? The End? The Dark? The Lonely? The Flesh? Arthur (Nolan?).

Episode 3: "Infection (full body" -/- Arboreal [Journal entry]". The Spiral? (Paranoia? Auditory, visual and olfactory hallucinations) The Lonely? The Corruption. The Flesh? (Callbacks to the Flesh Garden from S5)

Episode 8: "Architecture (liminal) -/- hunger [coursework]". The Spiral. The Lonely. (Statement giver has an ex-wife. Witnesses strange mist. Fog?) The Stranger? The Vast. The Flesh. The description of the space reminds me a bit of Mag 150: Cul-De-Sac. The description of the diners and the way they were speaking reminds me of Mag 48: Lost in the Crowd.

Common Themes: Hearing the voice of a dead/ missing loved one? Loneliness

Chester (Voice: John?/ Jonny)

Episode 1: “Transformation (eyes) -/- Tresspass [chat log]”. Magnus Institute, The Eye. (Involves a forum; the Web?).

Episode 5: "Disappearance (undetermined) -/- Invitation [Internet blog]". The Eye (Movies. Movie name: "Voyeur" "Must be seen to be believed"...). The Web? (Another website?). (Very reminiscent of Mag 110: Creature Feature.) The "poor old guy" at the theater is totally an Eye avatar, right? Kinda gives me "Simon Fairchild when he was first introduced" vibes.

Episode 7: "Agglomeration (miscellany) -/- congregation [email]". The Stranger. The Burried. The Desolation. Possibly all of them if my theory about the items the Volunteers brought in is correct...

Unsure if this is Eye related like the other statements were. This is also the first "Chester" statement where the source material wasn't from a website or blog, which don't have the same expectation of privacy that the sources of the other statements do. Email, though, so still internet related, and this seems to be an open letter rather than personal correspondence, so it still might align with the theme.

Agustus: (rare?)

Episode 4: “Collection (blood) -/- musical [letter]” The End. The Lonely? The Slaughter.

Letter writer thinks passing on his violin might allow a part of himself to live on in his nephew. Very Jonah Magnus of him.

Music teacher hears “faraway music”, then goes crazy and throws himself out of the carriage and dies. Reminiscent of Mag7 and the Piper? The merchant’s wares include dice (Mag 29?). Got the violin from him (took his blood?). Effect of the violin reminiscent to Grifter’s Bone (Mag 42).

(Oliver Bardwell lol very funny guys)

Non-Talkers (?)

Episode 2: "Transformation (full) -/- dysmorphic [video call]". The Spiral? The Flesh. The Stranger. Ink 5oul (avatar/ entity?)

Episode 6: "Injury (needles) -/- intimidation [999 call] "Corruption? The Spiral? The Flesh? The End?

"Needles" reminds me of Michael!Distortion.

Notes and Thoughts:

I think we've all been a bit off about the theme of the Norris statements. The common theme isn't I lost a loved one; I can almost hear their voice..." The common theme is loneliness. Like yeah, the statement giver mentions being divorced, but it doesn't seem to be a central driving factor for him the way it was with the other two Norris statements. I think it's just that those two were lonely because they lost a loved one and had isolated themselves in one way or another because of it, and this guy was lonely because he got trapped in a liminal space.

Alice sounds really tired. What's up with that? (Also, considering how much she continues to seem to enjoy messing with people, I'm still convinced she has some connection to the Web.)

GERRY?!!! (not a coincidence. The credits call him Gerry Keay. Also same VA, but I totally didn't recognize him at first because he sounds happy???) GG??? (Credits say Sue Sims as Gertrude Robinson!!!) "Grandson" you say? For realsies? Or did you adopt him (again kinda)? Or is it a cover like it was the last time. Gertrude's word choice of "good luck hunting" was weird, huh...? Is this actually something big or are they just cameos because Alex and Jonny like to mess with us. I trust nothing. Why did the Magnus Institute have a "gifted kids" program? And is Sam just saying that as a cover story or is it true and that's why he's been so interested the whole time? (Reminds me a bit of certain elements of the Storage Papers...)

Celia is doing "a favor for Georgie"?!!!

Is this OUR Georgie or the TMP world Georgie? How much of a connection is there between TMA Gerry, Gertrude and Georgie and TMP Gerry, Gertrude and Georgie?

I wonder if the episode coming out on 2/29, a date that only exists every 4 years, and the episode being about liminal spaces was on purpose or just a happy coincidence.

[shizucheese]

So I realized after last week that reblogging my original red string board every week with updates is going to turn into a monster. I think I'm going to keep doing it but also make individual posts for each week with the same info linking back to the original for posterity and in case anyone wants to see the full descent into madness in one post (in which case they can go here).

With that, I give you this week's solo post update:

Today is 2/3/24. Episode 4 released 2 days ago.

“Talkers”

Norris (Voice: Martin?/ Alex)

Episode 1: “Reanimation (Partial) -/- Regret [Email]”. The Stranger? The End? The Dark? The Lonely? The Flesh? Arthur (Nolan?).

Episode 3: "Infection (full body" -/- Arboreal [Journal entry]". The Spiral? (Paranoia? Auditory, visual and olfactory hallucinations) The Lonely? The Corruption. The Flesh? (Callbacks to the Flesh Garden from S5)

Common Themes: Hearing the voice of a dead/ missing loved one?

Chester (Voice: John?/ Jonny)

Episode 1: “Transformation (eyes) -/- Tresspass [chat log]”. Magnus Institute, The Eye. (Involves a forum; the Web?).

Agustus: (rare?)

Episode 4: “Collection (blood) -/- musical [letter]” The End. The Lonely? The Slaughter.

Letter writer thinks passing on his violin might allow a part of himself to live on in his nephew. Very Jonah Magnus of him.

Music teacher hears “faraway music”, then goes crazy and throws himself out of the carriage and dies. Reminiscent of Mag7 and the Piper? The merchant’s wares include dice (Mag 29?). Got the violin from him (took his blood?). Effect of the violin reminiscent to Grifter’s Bone (Mag 42).

(Oliver Bardwell lol very funny guys)

Non-Talkers (?)

Episode 2: "Transformation (full) -/- dysmorphic [video call]". The Spiral? The Flesh. The Stranger. Ink 5oul (avatar/ entity?)

Transcript calls the male voice in the audio at the end "Klaus" (also the last voice credit in the episode credits). Who the fuck is Klaus? Why did he disappear the first time and why does he need to disappear again? What did Lena do to him? Was it just an audio recording Gwen got or was it video too?

[shizucheese]

Hello everyone! Welcome to this week's edition of "Shizu's Red String Board Madness Corner," where I once again embrace the Eye in all it's glory! As always, if you want to see my descent into madness in full all in one place, you can find the weekly reblogged post here. All Hail the All Seeing, All Knowing!

Today is 2/12/2024. Episode 5 came out 4 days ago, I just didn't have time to listen until today.

“Talkers”

Norris (Voice: Martin?/ Alex)

Episode 1: “Reanimation (Partial) -/- Regret [Email]”. The Stranger? The End? The Dark? The Lonely? The Flesh? Arthur (Nolan?).

Episode 3: "Infection (full body" -/- Arboreal [Journal entry]". The Spiral? (Paranoia? Auditory, visual and olfactory hallucinations) The Lonely? The Corruption. The Flesh? (Callbacks to the Flesh Garden from S5)

Common Themes: Hearing the voice of a dead/ missing loved one?

Chester (Voice: John?/ Jonny)

Episode 1: “Transformation (eyes) -/- Tresspass [chat log]”. Magnus Institute, The Eye. (Involves a forum; the Web?).

Episode 5: "Disappearance (undetermined) -/- Invitation [Internet blog]". The Eye (Movies. Movie name: "Voyeur" "Must be seen to be believed"...). The Web? (Another website?). (Very reminiscent of Mag 110: Creature Feature.) The "poor old guy" at the theater is totally an Eye avatar, right? Kinda gives me "Simon Fairchild when he was first introduced" vibes.

Agustus: (rare?)

Episode 4: “Collection (blood) -/- musical [letter]” The End. The Lonely? The Slaughter.

Letter writer thinks passing on his violin might allow a part of himself to live on in his nephew. Very Jonah Magnus of him.

Music teacher hears “faraway music”, then goes crazy and throws himself out of the carriage and dies. Reminiscent of Mag7 and the Piper? The merchant’s wares include dice (Mag 29?). Got the violin from him (took his blood?). Effect of the violin reminiscent to Grifter’s Bone (Mag 42).

(Oliver Bardwell lol very funny guys)

Non-Talkers (?)

Episode 2: "Transformation (full) -/- dysmorphic [video call]". The Spiral? The Flesh. The Stranger. Ink 5oul (avatar/ entity?)

Notes and Thoughts:

So, so far both of the Norris statements have involved someone missing a loved one and tentatively some Lonely themes. Both of the Chester statements have been very Eye themed, and both involved websites; possibly some Web action going on as well (if this is actually John, that'd make sense given his history with the Web...). Between that and the fact that while they always start off sounding more robotic, Alex is definitely slipping more into his "Martin" voice and Jonny into his "John" voice as they get further into a statement whenever they read one, I think we can officially safely say at this point that it's not just Alex and Jonny playing Norris and Chester just to fuck with us. That being said: is this actually John and Martin? A portion of them that got trapped while the rest of them is somewhere out there, incomplete? Or is Something Else using their voices?

Idk if I've ever shared this theory on Tumblr before but until I'm told otherwise, I'm going to remain convinced that the Mangus Institute in this world burned down because Martin's Suggestion was Fire.

Is it just me or, when Alice was trying to stop Sam from filling out the forms, was there some level of desperation to her voice? Is her constant dismissal of the paperwork Sam fills out really just because they have so much work to do? Or is there something else going on? What is she hiding?

[shizucheese]

What's this? I'm actually posting one of these on the actual day a Protocol episode came out? Madness! As always you can find the full descent into madness here. Today is 2/15/2024. Episode 6 just came out today.

“Talkers”

Norris (Voice: Martin?/ Alex)

Episode 1: “Reanimation (Partial) -/- Regret [Email]”. The Stranger? The End? The Dark? The Lonely? The Flesh? Arthur (Nolan?).

Episode 3: "Infection (full body" -/- Arboreal [Journal entry]". The Spiral? (Paranoia? Auditory, visual and olfactory hallucinations) The Lonely? The Corruption. The Flesh? (Callbacks to the Flesh Garden from S5)

Common Themes: Hearing the voice of a dead/ missing loved one?

Chester (Voice: John?/ Jonny)

Episode 1: “Transformation (eyes) -/- Tresspass [chat log]”. Magnus Institute, The Eye. (Involves a forum; the Web?).

Episode 5: "Disappearance (undetermined) -/- Invitation [Internet blog]". The Eye (Movies. Movie name: "Voyeur" "Must be seen to be believed"...). The Web? (Another website?). (Very reminiscent of Mag 110: Creature Feature.) The "poor old guy" at the theater is totally an Eye avatar, right? Kinda gives me "Simon Fairchild when he was first introduced" vibes.

Agustus: (rare?)

Episode 4: “Collection (blood) -/- musical [letter]” The End. The Lonely? The Slaughter.

Letter writer thinks passing on his violin might allow a part of himself to live on in his nephew. Very Jonah Magnus of him.

Music teacher hears “faraway music”, then goes crazy and throws himself out of the carriage and dies. Reminiscent of Mag7 and the Piper? The merchant’s wares include dice (Mag 29?). Got the violin from him (took his blood?). Effect of the violin reminiscent to Grifter’s Bone (Mag 42).

(Oliver Bardwell lol very funny guys)

Non-Talkers (?)

Episode 2: "Transformation (full) -/- dysmorphic [video call]". The Spiral? The Flesh. The Stranger. Ink 5oul (avatar/ entity?)

Episode 6: "Injury (needles) -/- intimidation [999 call] "Corruption? The Spiral? The Flesh? The End?

"Needles" reminds me of Michael!Distortion.

Notes and Thoughts: I've been thinking this for a while, but is it just me or does the theme music for Protocol sound like something's laughing? Alice really doesn't like it when Sam doesn't do what she tells her to, huh? "How do I make the nightmares stop..." ALICE WHAT NIGHTMARES? I DON'T THINK YOU'RE JOKING ABOUT THAT ONE. WHAT DO YOU SEE IN THOSE NIGHTMARES? IT WOULDN'T BY ANY CHANCE BE A MAN WHO APPEARS TO BE IN HIS EARLY 30'S WITH PREMATURELY GREYING HAIR, WOULD IT?