#and also they have to deal with other entities and avatars

[reasonablyneurotic]

Hey. Waving towards the three other guys into pjmoon and tma. I uhm. Assigned the limbus guys tma entities below the cut. Smile. Sorry if it’s inaccurate I am open to fighting in a parking lot for that. Except for Sinclair I have no clue of what to do w him I’ll take anything

Yi Sang

marked by the web and the stranger (unsure on how the deal w sang yi would count here…)

aligned w the lonely 

Faust:

the eye avatar ((obviously))

Heavily marked by the web (the fauschaft……..)

Don Quixote

spiral spiral spiral the throat of delusion incarnate 

Possibly also aligned w the hunt (the endless hunt after justice? Maybe?) 

Ryoshu

Marked by the desolation lol

Maybe even aligned w the flesh? In the human garden sense

Meursault

Marked by the strangerrrr and the eye due to.  Feeling like his behaviour is constantly being watched and deemed as inhuman  

A bit unsure on what entity would resonate the most with him? Maybe the buried … I think he would like just laying in a grave  

Hong Lu

the stranger the corruption and the web are all having a tea party

Personally I think he’s aligned w the vast  …. Longing for sky blue 

Heathcliff

marked by the web? And the buried (constantly being overwhelmed and “”buried”” (haha get it?) by other people’s expectations and having to play by other people’s expectations. And stuff.  Gestures vaguely) 

Aligned with the hunt (searching after Cathy    acceptance love……)

Ishmael

marked by the dark  ….. the vast (the whaleeeeeeee) …: and the web….. (ahab is an avatar of the web) 

And maybe even aligned w the desolation? Maybe? Burning down her old life for a new one 

Rodion

hmmmmmmmm Avatar of the flesh maybe ….. or the web …….. that one gambling ep in tmp

marked by the desolation 

Sinclair 

I have no fucking clue

Marked by? The dark? Maybe? Seeing something he didn’t comprehend w Kromer? 

Avatar of the flesh with a star next to his name? Due to Artist stuff?

Outis:

HEAVILY marked by the slaughter and the vast 

Aligned with the end and stranger #lowkey

Gregor 

the corruption avatar.  Obviously 

Except that marked by the web 

[autismprotocol]

TMAGP Theory Board ( EP 10)

Hi guys sorry for the late post I ended up drawing a lot for this update especially because it's the last one before the hiatus so wanted to give it a little more pizazz :D

What Happened in Episode 10: Saturday Night

Interview with Nigel Dickerson. The inccident report this week was all about Mr Bonzo. If you remember from last episode Nigel is the famous tv personality who created the character of Mr Bonzo. During this interview he recounts the rise and fall of Bonzo while being ominous and on edge the whole time. what I gathered from the interveiw is that Bonzo is either trapping Nigel or Bonzo and Nigel are linked somehow. (when he say "he won't let me leave" and refers to himself as "us") we also learn about the murders that are connected to the Bonzo suit, first by the serial killer Terrance Menki and very recently 3 unsolved murders. Nigel also mentioned that the actors who wore the Bonzo suit would be prone to injuries on set which is also really stange. Could be they were used as Bonzo's victims near his begining

Gwen meets Mr Bonzo. The other section of the episode dealing with Bonzo is when Gwen goes to Nigel's house on her first assignment as the Externals Liason. So turns out Bonzo is maybe a hitman for the OIAR! Also, big thing Mr Bonzo is atually alive and is introduced with some kind of practice almost resembling a ritual. I heard somone mention they think Bonzo is an avatar of the Stranger and I can definitely see this. I'd love to hear if anyone else has a theory for what entity Bonzo may be connected to.

The Return of Colin. Colin isn't dead!! Shocking absolutley everyone Colin is still kicking. a few episodes ago he was sent on mental health leave by Lena after his parnoia caused him to mentally snap. Celia sees him while on break and they have a short convorsation. Colin tells Celia that he need to figure out the computers. also big thing Colin is back without the permission of Lena. It will be interesting to see what hes looking for and if he'll continue to sneak behind Lena's back.

Sam and Alice's Adventures into the Institute. Probaly the biggest development lore-wise was Sams and Alice investigating the ruins of the Magnus Institute. They don't find much (but I'm still am gonna talk about it for awhile) Alice mentions that there were weird carvings in the floor which she later equates to the worms on the ground. If you are a Archives listener hearing about worms in the archives starts seting off all kinds of alarms. This means in this universe the Jane Prentiss attack still happens, which is especcially iteresting because If I'm not mistaken in TMA the worm attack happened spesiffically to mark Jon with the corruption. Was Jon ever part of the institute? or if not Jon there must have been an archivist role in this Magnus Institute that would require Jane to attack it.

ERROR and the Tape Recorders so far in protocol we have been listening to the characters through either the computers or though their phones. But during the last few minutes we here the click of a tape recorder. and TMA fans around the world rejoiced. The magnus archives is entirley told through tape recordings and are a tool used by the web (spesifically the avatar Annabelle Cane) does this mean Annabelle made it to this universe? or it could also signal the presense of Jon (since the tape recorders are linked to him) Alice and Sam investigate the archivist office looking for a place for the key when the floor collapes and Sam drops the key. After some Sam and Alice banter, they leave but the recorder stays running we then hear the scraping sound and some shutterd breathing. This is when I highly suggest going through the transcript after listening to an episode becuase they specifically what were hearing and who is breathing.

I included the snippet from the transcript that pinpoints every not verbal sound we hear

water from the pit under the archives is disturbed

thud on wood then a rattle of a padlock

Key being dragged across the wood then fumbled into a lock that clicks open

trapdoor opens and ERROR imerges

ERROR takes 3 breaths

ERROR has been used before for redacting the roles played by Johnny, Alex and Tim (aka the voices of FR3-d1) during the cast anouncements for protocol. This makes me think that ERROR must be someone from the Archives universe my running theory is that it is a entity that houses Jon, Martin and Jonah's souls or consiounous. but It could literally be anyone. I'm also thinking ERROR has been locked in the tunnels under the archives (Mentioned in TMA)

And thats about Everything! plese let me know your thoughts or if you wanna correct me on any mistakes :)

Also I would love to know if you guys would prefer this style of post where I illustrate moments and scenes from each episode? it would probably delay when I'm able to post the breakdowns but I'd love to know if you guys perfer that format over the less illustrated one.

[deconstructthesoup]

Which fear entities I think that the DBD squad would get marked by/serve:

Edwin: He would definitely be marked by an insane combination of The Stranger, The Hunt, and The Web (for, uh... obvious reasons), but in terms of avatarhood, he would be excellent as an avatar of The Eye. Edwin's a detective, after all, and he's all about knowledge and finding out more and more things---and we've seen him take things a little too far. Hell, him crossing a line, however small, for the sake of the case is the reason why the entire plot happens. He's Eye-coded to the core.

Charles: Due to his issues with rage, I think he'd both be marked by The Slaughter and, if the worst-case scenario happens, become an avatar of it. Either that, or he'd be an avatar of The Vast, which seems to be the go-to entity for guys who mask their trauma and severe mental health issues with a happy-go-lucky nature.

Crystal: While making her an avatar of The Eye is tempting, I actually think that she'd be marked by The Eye, and instead be an avatar of The Web. Everything we see of her powers beyond just her psychic skills is incredibly Web-coded, and we can't deny that her personality pre-memory loss was... pretty typical behavior of a Web avatar. Even now, she feels like a Web girl who uses her powers for good instead.

Niko: Marked by The Lonely due to her self-isolating and lack of connections when we meet her (also, her hair literally turns white, you can't get more marked-by-The-Lonely than that), and eventually becomes an avatar of The Spiral. Am I saying that because it's the only entity that fits her brightness and slightly out-there personality? Maybe, but you can't deny that everything related to the dandelion sprites is very Spiral-coded.

Jenny: Slaughter-marked, avatar of The Flesh. The girl literally owns a butchery, you can't get more Flesh than that.

Monty: Probably marked by The Hunt due to literally being a crow, and... uh, Vast avatar? Because he likes space, I guess? He's difficult to pin.

The Cat King: Hunt. No question about it.

Esther: Marked by The End, avatar of The Web. Very much so.

Tragic Mick: He strikes me as a combo avatar of The Vast and The Lonely, if only due to his connection to the sea. However, you do have to argue that his entire deal is very fitting to both of them.

The Night Nurse: The woman literally works for Death. How could she be anything other than an avatar of The End.

[dork-a-doodle]

I have so many thoughts so I’m putting them under the cut

Ok so thoughts about Fear Entity alignments for Deltarune characters!

Kris, to me, was one of the more obvious. Being the only human in town makes them a very distinct other from everyone around them, despite their attempts to blend in with their family. They’re also regularly referred to as creepy and “the class zombie” by their peers. All very Stranger-esque. They are also very clearly a victim of The Web via the Soul/Player, that’s just a no-brainer.

Susie is another easy one, she’s a Slaughter avatar if I’ve ever seen one. She lashes out with violence at the slightest hint of adversity, and only decided that non-violent solutions could sometimes be of use after almost killing one of her first real friends. And even after that she’s still always ready to bash skulls at any time.

Ralsei was an interesting one. His alignment doesn’t actually have much to do with his own fear, nor any fear he inflicts on others. But instead is a reflection of Darkners as a whole. All Darkners, as beings essentially born from darkness, are Dark aligned by default. As the Prince of the Dark, Ralsei embodies this.

Berdly as a Vast avatar is perhaps a bit more of a reach than the others, and it could be argued that he’s just as much a victim as he is an avatar. For me it comes in two parts. The first and simpler is that he’s a bird. Birds fly in the sky. The Vast deals with sky based stuff. The second is the more existential part of The Vast. Berdly struggles with being seen as unintelligent, unexceptional, insignificant. And the way he deals with this Fear is to project it onto others, belittling them and making them feel insignificant in comparison to him.

Noelle’s alignment changes based on the route. In the regular route she’s a shoo-in for The Lonely, being a quiet doormat who bends to others wills without actually being an active member. In the Snowgrave route, she fills the role of Desolation avatar quite nicely, destroying everything in her path, leaving nothing untouched by her ice. (She’s also clearly a victim of The Web in both routes, by Queen and Kris/the Soul respectively.)

Jevil is another simple one, what with the themes of chaos, madness, and unreality. Spiral avatar all the way.

I stared at Spamton for like an hour trying to figure out what to do with him. I gave up. Avatar of Capitalism ig.

[riveracheron]

eh. might as well post this now. a few of these are wish fulfillment rather than actual theorizing but explanations under the cut

i have an alchemy hyperfixation and all the alchemy stuff in tmagp makes me very excited so a lot of my theories are related to that

spoilers for the pilot btw

main character gets an eye injury - the image will not leave my head. in the magnus institute ruins statement there was this whole thing about redcanary having some kind of encounter with or experience with eye trauma and that feels like something thats just. gonna come up again

another mechanisms va - self explanatory, we need to complete the set. would love to hear kofi or rachel.

gwen has trauma related to something that happened with elias - this is going on the theory that she’s not elias’ counterpart, but a relative of some kind. something spooky happens to him and that pushes gwen to research the paranormal.

character referencing nicholas flamel - all the main characters have names that reference alchemists, and nicholas flamel is probably the most famous alchemist of all time. i doubt he’ll be given the smirke treatment because that kinda already happened with the transphobic wizard books, but someone could be sharing his name.

mag 114 statement is relevant - thats the. hill top road statement that deals with other realities, and anya (the statement giver) could be from the protocol verse. we could totally hear about the aftermath of her departure

alice/sam/gwen = three primes - the three main alchemical symbols on the OIAR crest, and a good sort of symbolic trio sorter. the three peimes are salt, sulphur and mercury, and are the basis for alchemy. the down to earth, reliable salt, the firey, unpredictable sulfur, and the adaptable, easygoing mercury. i think these could apply i just want to have it called out in universe

lena is a good person - i don’t think they’d pull the evil boss thing twice. i just think lena’s weird mannerisms are from her autistic swag

celia is related to or is agnes - (related to as in. her story involves agnes, not that shes like. a sister.) this comes from a theory by @/pinklotjeart, i think. basically: through the way her death was described (spark returned to the lightless flame) and some timeline discrepancies and general avatarness making it weird, agnes might not be Dead dead. and celia’s counterpart, lynne - well, she saw a fire ghost. also, both her and agnes are the only non one-off characters who have shakespeare names afaik. agnes MONTAGUE, celia from as you like it…

annabelle cane is related somehow - self explanatory, she was at hilltop road when everything went down. might have been pulled in.

a famous alchemist is robert smirke’d - self explaining, give me more canon historical figures jonny

another kitty cat - i want more kitty in podcast is that a crime

augustus is not jonah - we hear jonah’s voice as ben meredith in 193, so im skeptical that tim fearon’s character is jonah for that reason.

oiar group has a messy moment that devolves into actual physical violence - mmm angst i think they deserve to smack eachother around a bit

bonzo cult - yeah.

oiar found family - we got the group of coworkers that hate each other angst last time gimme the “hurting one to get to the others” and self sacrifice angst this time

colin dies early - mmmm i cant say much about this bc its based on one throwaway line at the MCM panel where jonny doesn’t mention colin in the main character group. so . death flags.

oiar is containing the entities scp style - this was a super early theory of mine, either this or theyre using them for power or energy in some way. even more heavy handed capitalism metaphors yay

someone gets ushanka’d - its computer horror: the podcast. that’s all

cookbook statement - a few clues in the ARG had to do with cookbooks, and alex and jonny have already said they’re getting weird with the statement formats (they mentioned an insurance report!) so. cookbook doesn’t seem too far-fetched

tiktoker/influencer character - archives was 2010s and they had a podcaster and youtuber, which were like. the big things. whats the hip trend now??? instagram and tiktok baybee

protocol editors va a small role a la mag 100 or the wtgfs cult - those characters were voiced by other rq team members (ie helen as laverne and martyn as robin) and the team has since expanded!! some editors dis stuff for cry havoc, so im guessing nico, annie, april and others will get a small role!

a villain’s goal is creating the philosopher’s stone or other alchemical thing - tmagp is heavily inspired by alchemy, and the philosopher’s stone was the main goal of alchemy!! it would grant you eternal knowledge snd the ability to turn lead into gold- which seems like a good. evil dude’s ambition

the desolation gets more focus - the institute burned down, the oiar crest has a lot of sulfur symbols (the fire element), alchemy as a whole having to do with fire, celia and her connection- it paints a very. lightless flame picture

trip to germany - a lot of the arg was set in and around berlin, and there was that exchange between sam and colin about german in the pilot! i could see a germany trip happening in the same way jon took a trip to china and america.

[theotherseapancakes]

Psssst. You mentioned no one cares about Philemon, but now I'm curious if you have any thoughts about his role in the games after he disappeared. And for sillies sake, does he have anything to do with the Dance games?

I have been waiting my entire life for this. Anon do you realize how verbose I'm going to get. DO YOU REALIZE? I hope you like read mores. Let me preface this with I am aware and have seen some popular theories, so I'm going to sidestep a lot of them and present one I've built since... well, I became a Persona fan as a teenager. MAJOR PERSONA SERIES SPOILERS LIKE THE ENTIRE THING OK? OK. yes even royal.

The P2 PSP additional scenario is so incredibly important and I think everyone missed the point of it. THE PERSONA 2 PSP ADDITIONAL TATSUYA SCENARIO!!!! It's beyond important, because it reveals to us Philemon can have more than one Avatar we know about, just like Nyarly. (Casual reminder he's like half the shopkeeps in P2. Time Count, anyone? Why was the Time Count so hot. Anyway.) Disclaimer: I'm just a casual fan who has played a LOT of Persona and SMT. I haven't gotten around to all of them, but I've played/finished both paths of 1, 2, 3 (and p3p) as well as 4 and 5. Didn't manage to get my hands on Golden but I've seen enough of it. (It's funny you ask about the dance games, they're the only ones I don't have right now! But my roommate does, and will be gone for a few months soon, perhaps I will take the time to start with p4DAN. I'm atrocious at rhythm games though so more than likely I'll find a video. Anyway.) WHAT is Philemon? If we can't define that, we can't talk about The Positivity Guy Ever.

So let's talk about Phil. He's a fascinating character. His Persona is just a form of Himself, But Cooler. And he seems to HAVE no set shape, not unlike Nyarlathotep. People have various theories about Shadows and their origins etc., but Phil is more like that vote of confidence in people. I think, personally, that after the end of Innocent Sin, Phil's been pretty weak. We see in Eternal Punishment he's fading pretty roughly, and has a hard time talking to the party. Presumably ending Nyarly might to some degree fix things when Deja-vu Boy goes home, but... the problem is, we don't know how fixed they truly ended up being, or the full depth of how much he could/did expend!

In fact, the first time we even see Phil without the dumb mask is when Tatsuya decks him. Pay close attention to that fact. To the mask motifs here. I want you to really soak in Phil's everything. He's a leader. A kind soul. He's the good of people. He wants to believe the best.

Anyway, most of these things overlook what I find really interesting as we've gotten more games worth of lore: he and Nyarly aren't the only eldritch entities walking around like that. Yes, Nyx is one too. Yes, it's probable she may even be their 'mom'. It's possible they all came from Nyx initially, but it's also possible (and should be considered) they too may have been outsiders at one point. We need to ask ourselves how far the human collective unsconsciousness can go. Is that sea infinite? Could it affect other worlds? Think about Aion in Devil Summoner Soul Hackers 2. Yes, I am asking you to think about Soul Hackers 2. Deal with it, I don't care. They're sister series. They share many things. SO! Did the shape of the human mind change a bunch of eldritch creatures and make them interact with us even more after Nyx smacked the moon a gazillion years ago? Is there multiple worlds? Weird bullshit? Just the two? Hmm. Well... I, personally, think so. I think he was touched by humanity just like Nyarlathotep, but in the other way. The reason I bring this up is two-fold. The first is Nodens. Now, we don't know much about the actual Nodens, unfortunately, just some speculation. Which is a shame. (If anyone has more info I'd love to have it, ngl. As a pagan this shit fascinates me.) But what we do get on him in Lovecraftian lore can provide us some intriguing possibilities about Phil's everything, which the games love to keep really rather vague. (And this is putting aside that his human Persona is based off the obviously bogus Jungian Spirit Guide, but we love an old guy in a mask anyway. He probably felt that was more 'friendly' for humans, hah.) I believe that Nodens, and Phil by extension, are just as responsible for nurturing and keeping the collective unconsciousness alive and positive. We see the butterfly symbol everywhere. We see it with Lavenza, too. "This is truly an unjust game." So was the bet Phil made with Nyarly, a game he rigged. Phil made the mistake of thinking the Crawling Chaos wouldn't cheat, a mistake he is never making again, I assume, if he can help it. Shit, you could view his boss fight in P2EP as him trying to train the EP crew to beat the snot out of Nyarly, even. But off topic. If Nyarly is basically the father of all Shadows, and they and Personas are the same coin, it makes me wonder a lot of things. The two have always been portrayed as simultaneously diametrically opposed, but also not? They have identical halls in P2. They have similar powers and talents... I think after Persona 3, Phil's remnants sank into the Collective Unconsciousness, to attempt to rehabilitate humanity from what it lost, from what he himself lost. I think Igor took over the room, because he took a backseat to recover. It would go a long, long way towards explaining why only SOME characters have the tier of the Wild Card, which is similar to the 'original' Persona power. (Having multiple.) He was took weak to remain in his Spirit Guide (Philemon) form, and had to abandon it to return to the depths as Nodens... So. Let me go back to Nodens and make some notes about design.

Nodens, as seen here, sort of resembles an iron maiden. It really brings to mind the idea of maybe Tatsuya or someone's humanoid form sleeping within it, doesn't it? Fitting for an aspect of Philemon! ... You probably can see where I'm going with this, but let me pull up some screens to finish the point:

That's right! It's Azathoth, Baby! I believe that unlike mythology, he's yet another aspect of Philemon. Eldritch positivity, in too much force, could be used for accidental bad, too. (Reasons Maruki is my favorite Law Hero, haha.) Let me explain. I think Philemon always existed in... let's call it parts. Azathoth is said to be a dreaming god in whom's universe we all just happen to be alive inside, right? "Dream of butterfly" (Philemon) "Or is life a dream? Don't wanna wake up. Cuz I'm happy here." That sure is thematic to what Maki goes through in Persona 1, and what Maruki's beloved suffers, isn't it? ISN'T IT. The "true reality" he creates... would help Maruki create in the additional Semester--would be something most humans would never pass the muster to even try to control. But we have seen Phil test a few people and find them worth passing before! However, that seems like ages ago. Why has he been so quiet? I think because he was spending time conserving his energy. He believed in humanity enough to give Makoto a push when it was needed in p3 (or femc, if you play her), but otherwise trusted Igor while he restored what needed it. But in Persona 5 Royal, he hand-picked Maruki, didn't he? At first, when I played Persona 5 Royal, I really thought it was some part of Nyarly, but I no longer believe this to be the case. The coloration and symbolism in the background (the golds, the whole garden of eden themes, the way his Palace was laid out), the whole sea of soul motifs in P3Re later... mmm. I have a lot of thoughts about this, but this post is already way too long for one simple ask. So let's wrap up by going one step further and looking finally at Nodens' dialogue to the party in the Extra Scenario in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PSP). The following is a transcript, you can find a video here:

Nodens: This is the memory of the lost child whom you all seek. Nodens: Memory occasionally brings about much distress and suffering, but it is absolutely vital to distinguish oneself from others and manufacture one's own psyche. Nodens: Ever since it began, life's memory has accumulated unbroken, passing through individual experiences and spanning several generations. Nodens: And so it has given shape to Kadath and the Collective Unconsciousness, thereby becoming a foundation for the next generation. Nodens: Even if the roots of the world are directed by fear and anxiety, never forget that the true essence of life is brimming with joy. Nodens: You must not stop seeking the answer for why life was born in a cosmos progressing towards absurdity and chaos. Nodens: Life brims with joy, bringing about balance in a universe predestined to heat death, and that allows the world to live a long time.

So to answer your question, I think he's taken a much subtler role. I think he's influencing people by pretending to be a Persona for Maruki, because he believes it will help them grow. I don't think he was intending a forever-control vice grip, but rather to prove a point. No matter what, the primordial chaos of humanity will rise up for chaotic good, lawful good, whatever "good" is needed. Azathoth is... interesting. Adam Kadmon is also interesting. But mostly I HIGHLY suspect we may see him again in Persona 6, or at least I'm hoping so. It's my personal pet theory by then he'll be less faded and come back to us in a new form of some kind. He's never had a set one, after all. Now for funsies about the dancing game, well, he's a positive guy, he wanted to just make sure everyone had their fitness regimen checked off. Obviously. (This is a joke.) Did the devs intend this? I'm honestly not sure? Like there's a lot of nods to older Personas in 5 and now 3RE especially, but it's definitely worth chewing on. I could go on and on about things I think he's connected to, but ultimately they have the final say lol. I'm just a crackpot conspiracy theorist on tumblr who really likes Philemon. He and the Room are my favorites. :) Ask me about attendants for additional dumb, sometime, I guess lol.

[zabala0z]

S3 is once again killing me again with all the lore and I love it. School started up so I might be slower with my thoughts but I got episodes 92, 93, 94 and 95 to talk about!!!

MAG 92: Nothing Beside Remains

Elias makes me want to eat my phone, similar to that one guy from MAG 65 :) I was like screaming the whole time. Of course he can see everything, he literally called the police before Daisy came. I took that as "oh he has spies" but no he can see everything, I hate that. Is Jon eventually gonna get that ability or does The Eye give different gifts. Elias hasn't shown any "compellling" sort of power so I assume the latter. ALSO MORDECAI LUKAS?? I need to see a statement from a Lukas member cause what is up with that family, I'm dying.

Guess Basira is now working there. Hope Elias is paying her. the fact he won't tell Jon shit is so funny to me. So The Stranger is now, basically, the confirmed main villain. BBEG yknow? Mildly terrified, I hate circuses and mannequins so this season is gonna like body me

Not much to say on MAG 93 but whatever entity has the whole "gross shit" as its deal, I'm guessing this falls under it. Purple fungus, the obsessive cleaning, etc. Also yaaay Breekon and Hopes!! Again!11!! get out! Poor Georgie. Love her for being like "Do you even have qualifications??". Jons explanation helped me a lot because during Elias's explanations, I'm mostly just muttering curses to myself because I HATE Him. Avatars. Baller. So Jude Perry was the avatar of The Desolation (destruction, fire, etc) Michael Crew was the avatar of The Vast (sky??, emptiness, general loneliness) and then like Jon is an avatar and I'm guessing so is Elias. I think you can have more then one avatar but anyways.

MAG 94: Dead Woman Walking

Jon refereed to the entity as "The End" which, using my notes, was mentioned in Mary keys statement when gertrude asked where the book came from and Mary said "The End" and said she could never serve it, not finding death interesting. Wild that she can't feel fear anymore??? Like damn. This kinda read as someone in a depressive state in some form. Or like a nihilistic person. Cause like "everything ends, time, it has already ended". Wild.

Not much to say on MAG 95 but I did understand the context vaguely which is more then what I can say for the other war statements. Also Martin and Basira friendship??? Love it. She gets really engrossed in books. I dunno if she was like lying or this is something supernatural related but I love Basira

MAG 96: Return to Sender

Literally screeching oh my god. The fact these things just hijacked this mans business is almost funny. They also talked with a circus ringmaster. Nikola Orsinov? gregor Orsinov? A different one. the statement was given 1996 and Gregor was the leader around the 40's but Nikola, by her description I think, sounded young. So. Who was this ringmaster? Maybe Im getting the timeframe wrong. or they're like eternal. Maybe they like just shed skin and steal a new body, just going by the same last name- okay I don't know.

Also, SARAH BALDWIN???? Welcome back girl. The fact the gorilla skin was stolen by gertrude means she was trying to stop The Unknowing, and likely that's why its been this long for it to happen, because they need that skin. Ew. The Stranger loves skin a little too much. Also Sarah being filled with sawdust and cloves. Great. If Not Sasha was shot, would we have seen that? Or is it different with every one of those, NotThem.?

Anyways, I think that's everything. Every statement, I'm kinda thinking, "which entity does this fall under" now that I know the surrounding universe. Tough since I only know 6 by name and I think there's more. 6 too many entities for this world though

[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.

[bee-ina-boat]

hello gay people. i mentioned awhile back about a possible concept for a tma au but its mixed with mythology/religion based stuff. i have since finished this chunk of concept/reference art of the Ceaseless Watcher for this au!!!

im dubbing it: The Magnus Mythos!! please talk to me about it i am insane

putting my rambling au nonsense under the readmore!!!!!

edit!!!: new mythos post just dropped :3

alright- bare with me because my thoughts are everywhere lol

random various au information:

the fear entites are instead more general gods, much like those from various mythologies (greek, norse, egyption, etc.) like the eye, rather than an entity that feeds on the fear of being watched, is rather the god of knowledge and sight!

all of the gods have influence over the world, some mortals will devote themselves to one specific god entirely, others will become devout to multiple, and some will simply be neutral among all 14 and live life out as they please.

avatars are mortals who have been blessed with power by the gods while creatures (like mr spider, the not them, etc) are simply beings who have been born into the world by the gods power seeping into it. artifacts are items that have either been blessed/cursed by the gods or avatars, or have been affected by the gods power seeping into the world also.

theres multiple sects, cults, and churches for each god much like how many real life religions have different sects with their own rules and standards. some have beef, others do not.

the gods themselves are entirely morally neutral, they have their own interconnected relationships with eachother, and kind of view mortals as pets in a way, picking favorites and seeing them as of lesser importance in comparison to themselves.

since the gods here arent necessarily evil and theyre actually sentient beings, their titles are changed to be more fitting (the mother of puppets -> the mother of fate as an example)

the story is set in an era resembling the early 1900s because idk. vibes are neat i guess

thats all the basic world building crumbs for now, ill go deeper into it when i have more art and story stuff ready!

for now- heres some actual lore :3c

Jonah magnus is basically eye jesus. thousands of years prior to the start of the story, the eye favored him and he became a messiah of sorts.

the House of Magnus is a church sect of the eye founded in what is now london. but it doesnt operate JUST as a simple church. many sects of the eye devote themselves to gaining knowledge of the world around them and the House of Magnus is no different there. operating with a library, research centre and all. the research not just on history and knowledge, but also the holy and divine. documenting stories that deal with the divine powers and researching cursed/blessed artifacts aswell.

its a common legend that if one tells their story under the eyes watch (either in a church of the eye or directly to an avatar of the eye) that theyll receive good fortune and foresight, and since the House of Magnus has become a well known sect of the eye, many will come far and wide to detail their accounts under its roof

all of this documentation leads down to the Magnus Mythos, a large archive under the church where the written documents are filed, curated and cared for by the head Archivist. as such, the position of Archivist has become a most sacred role among worshippers of the eye comparable to the head of the church itself.

they arent just revered for their care of the mythos (though the devotees of the eye view the care of documented knowledge to be a sacred and ever important responsibility) Theres a prophecy, hand woven by the Mother of Fate herself, one that states an ordinary archivist will one day be gifted by all 14 of the gods and awaken the great change, bringing about a new and blessed age.

but is this newest archivist even ready for such pressure and commitment? and what if the prophecy is more devious than one might think?

oooOOOOoooOO mysterious lore- i know this is heavily self indulgent but i refuse to apologize for that because im havin FUN. if you read all of that just know i love you so much and i hope you liked it ;w; im very excited and ive been working on archivist +archival assistant lore for the past few days and im excited to do art for them ;_;

[valtsv]

your terror tma au combines my absolute two favorite pieces of media ever so i am very very very interested to hear more about your crozier ideas…..

what other entities have touched him? addiction + how he came to be on the expedition seems like web to me but maybe he’s also got some vast going on

how did he pull himself out of the lonely? does he ever get a little foggy and someone helps him out of it? ouch. quote unintended

and very important: how does the flesh fit into the whole cannibalism deal?

yeah i agree that crozier's definitely susceptible to the web (considering how he was convinced to sign up for the expedition, his alcoholism since addiction has web associations in tma, his initially being taken in by hickey's false persona which is blatantly intended to flatter him, and the way his alcoholism causes him to unintentionally set up a lot of the later tragedies that befall the expedition due to poor decision making), although after he quits drinking i think he'd be more resistant to its manipulations (that being said, his rejection of the lonely and acceptance of the mantle of leadership could push him further into the web's arms as an avatar instead of a victim, especially considering how many lies he tells in an attempt to preserve morale). as for the lonely thing, i think he mostly pulls himself out during his rehabilitation from alcoholism, but having jopson taking care of him and his sense of duty towards the men that motivated him to go cold turkey in the first place would function as an anchor that helps him to find his way back. people definitely also notice his lack of presence as time goes on, which is what culminates in the intervention talk he has with blanky and fitzjames with episode 5.

regarding the flesh, i think that it plays a major influence on the entire expedition through the body horror (in conjunction with the corruption) that the men start to experience as they're poisoned by their food, and in driving people to resort to cannibalism out of desperation. hickey in particular courts the flesh despite being aligned more closely with the stranger, and several of the mutineers start to edge towards being its acolytes (hodgson especially develops strong flesh associations, founded in his childhood religious trauma).

[rosettyller]

some thoughts on what is going on in tmagp so far

What is “the Protocol”?

So far, we know of 4 instances of the Protocol being carried out. They are:

The Great Fire of London* (1666)

Burning down of Isaac Newton's lab (1684)

Burning down of Magnus Institute (1999)

Burning down of Hilltop Centre* (2016)

*Not explicitly stated but pretty clear that's the message we're supposed to take away

Now, these all have fire in common. Likely that this is just because fire is a very effective way of destroying things. However, fire is also one of the four basic elements in alchemy, associated with the humour yellow bile, and rising energy, and with aspiring to reach the divine above.

Sam states that Starkwall burned down the MI; from this we can conclude they were the security people who burned down the Hilltop Centre. We know they were at one point affiliated with the OIAR, but this ended after the MI burned down. Because they shouldn't have burned it down? Because they weren't secretive enough?

I think the main question now is, What is the purpose of the Protocol?

Robert Hooke states it's for safety, but this also interests me:

“children of Adam” I assume is humans -> transforming people - almost like avatars? transformation is certainly a recurring theme at the moment.

But from around the 17th century, alchemy was beginning to decline, and not be looked on as well - not “Good Science”.

So the Protocol is likely stopping something to do with alchemy - and Newton was creating the Philosopher's Tree, a precursor to the Philosopher's Stone.

However, it being specifically the Philosopher's Stone doesn't tie into the others.

This quote implies the burning was in response to the Plague. The fire burned down about 80% of the city, and did actually benefit the city quite a bit; there were very few deaths from the fire itself, although many people died from lack of shelter in the winter; it cleared out yucky-plagued stuff, and allowed for rebuilding from a clean slate - the area of central London it burnt down had houses very closely packed together. A comet in 1664 had beeen taken as an omen of doom, and then in 1665 the Plague hit particularly hard. Then 1666 - the devil's number.

Perhaps here, the Plague had a human/avatar origin. Something similar to the Corruption?

continued under the cut

Now, there's nothing really explicitly linking to alchemy in the Hilltop Centre, although all those items were certainly being brought there for a purpose. If they were trying to achieve something like a ritual, then that would be similar, making sense for Starkwall to go after them.

Then we have the Magnus Institute.

It's interesting that only the main facility in Manchester was burnt down; perhaps the project that caused the enactment of the Protocol was focused there.

The statement about the dice was given to the Manchester facility; the subject/agent/catalyst is common to all magnus statements, but the referral implies catalytics isn't at Manchester? Meaning Subject or Agent-focused stuff is?

Alice also mentions some of the old people at the OIAR mentioning the Protocol; this implies that the OIAR were somehow involved in the MI being burnt down, not Starkwall going off on their own.

Darrien's statement also gives us some interesting info. He was a candidate - candidate for subject/agent perhaps?? "Mutare Materia" implies they were looking into parallel universes & perhaps travel between them; Welling may refer to the Welling in London - maybe they had a facility there? However it seems to imply they're just keeping Darrien where he is (at the Oxford Outreach Centre) so at least some of this project must be based there.

What's the deal with the Entities?

So in contrast to the original universe (U1), this universe seems to have entities of positive and negative emotions, but they seem to function the same way as the Fears. I don't think they are (all) new to this universe; Lena speaks like they're not new, and Ink5oul has been becoming an avatar since at least 2020; the voices started in 2023, and if we assume that was Jon, Martin, the Fears and possibly Jonah entering this universe, then there must already have been some. She also mentions balance.

Which is interesting given what Colin's said. In alchemy, sulphur is associated with the soul, mercury with the mind. Alchemy is also all about balance, and incorporating the base elements in the correct proportions.

I suppose that links into emotions - they all have a reason. Even emotions like fear - they stop you doing stupid things (sometimes). Anxiety leads you to properly prepare for something. etc. But you can't have too much of any one emotion. (And also, human beings are complex. We can feel lots of different emotions at the same time.)

And now, with the addition of fifteen Fear entities, all this is out of balance.

What were the Magnus Institute doing?

I touched on this above, however, there's still a lot more they were doing that we have absolutely no idea about. They had Sam and Gerry there - for what? If they're doing something with the entities, and these entities are emotion-based, it's interesting that they're testing empathy. And that Sam (98% empathy) and Gerry (95%) both weren't what they wanted.

Also - Connor Dyer was there. Is that why Alice seems to know so much, and be trying to ignore it so hard?

Are Chester and Norris Jon and Martin?

...and does this universe have another Jon and Martin too? And if not Jonah, who is Augustus?

It has to be them, in some form. It can't just be this universe's jonmartin needed some money so did some recording as text-speech thingys. It would be mean, if that was all it was. Chester seems to be gaining power and responding to characters. Why was Augustus so much rarer than the other two? Why does Chester keep pointing towards the MI? Because he's Jon and he used to work there in other other universe and knows what it is, or because he knows something about this universe's MI? Why doesn't the OIAR get more MI statements, if they're basically doing the same thing?

and why did Celia get brought through? and what happened to georgie? (i'll probably make another post, i have more thoughts.)

[sapphicthunderhead]

TMAGP 15 Thoughts (Spoilers):

The first statement reminded me strongly of Jonny’s novel 13 Storeys (I’d highly recommend listening to it on Audible, btw; the voice performances are magnificent), as well as Ep. 8, Running on Empty (turns out both 8 & 15 were written by Newall). Naturally, it also recalled to mind old Hunt episodes from TMA— particularly Murder Club.

I’m not sure of that statement giver’s motives, but I’m inclined to speculate that either he had to hunt (as he elected to do) or he would simply be next to die, to inspire fear in his staff as they were hunted down by the clientele. But I personally would’ve chosen to die in that situation; a quick death would be preferable to such a drawn-out end (and not quite so delectable to the Hunters). I will say, in his defense, that he was perceptive or had good instincts to recognize that going to the police wouldn’t save him. I think it’s safe to say that the police are Hunt-aligned in this Universe also.

THE MATRIARCH. Excited to see more of her. Strongly suspect she’s an OIAR external, and clearly she has ties to the Bouchard family. Hoping we get to learn a great deal about her & that she dies a horrible gruesome death the likes of which Jude Perry, Not-Sasha, etc. suffered at the hands of the Archivist.

Updates on our 4 main OIAR employees (because Colin has been gone for a while now…):

1) Sam: continues to be complete dork. I say that with love.

2) Celia: the Avatars of this world can smell/sense that she’s a foreign entity. Also, glad she has a babysitter arranged for Jack given her possible propensity for random spontaneous teleportation. Very responsible. Girl’s doing her best given the circumstances.

3) Alice: has entered her 3rd Wheel era. Poor baby. Official blorbo. Good big sister. Desperately needs therapy (both for her sake & for the sake of those around her). Was all fucked up inside before most recent traumatic incident. About to go off the rails? Potentially.

4) Gwen: Icarus. That’s all I have to say about her right now.

Regarding the victim of the Deep (seemingly a Vast-Buried hybrid with a specific thalassaphobic bent to it) that Alice encountered after her brother’s concert, I have to say that their fate frightened me more than any other victim’s thus far in this Universe. It’s the perpetuity of the torture she’s enduring that truly makes my stomach turn. I hope to someday be able to communicate such horrific concepts as effectively, subtly, and concisely as Jonny managed to do with this one. I’m blown away.

Also, did it sound to anyone else like Alice was muttering a chant while giving the Deep victim CPR?

[magpod-confessions]

i think the reaction to characters being unfair to jon is a good example of how fandom often lacks nuance and has a lot of black and white thinking. while it absolutely is ridiculous and unfair to say characters are evil and terrible people for being mean to jon, it’s just as absurd to say how they treated him was justified and there was nothing wrong with it. i think people have split into two extremes on this issue, which misses the point that the entire podcast is about how people react and interact and change when dealing with fear and extreme situations like this, not about who’s right and who’s wrong. jon was consistently treated with less empathy than the other characters treated each other, and held to a different standard. the other archives staff are much more willing to give each other the benefit of the doubt, and while they’ll criticize each other at the end of the day there is much more tolerance for each other’s issues than there is for jon’s. that is undeniable. they see each other as humans who make mistakes, and jon as a rabid monster who cannot be trusted. from their perspective, jon is someone standoffish and unfriendly who always pushes too far and asks too much and has growing powers that directly come from the entities responsible for their torment. he is both their superior in terms of his job, and he is essentially the favored child of their jailer. basically like elias, but significantly more present and vulnerable and less of a distant untouchable threat. he has enough power over them (or at least association with those who have power over them) to make them resent him, but not enough to stop the torment or prevent them from lashing out. when you and everyone else you know are humans who are trapped together and suffering, and your boss is locked away feeding on fear and turning into a dangerous monster like the ones who keep hurting you, you’re probably not going to be feeling particularly empathetic towards him. you’re not going to stop and think about how he’s a victim in all this too, because you’re not in a stable enough space to do that and you don’t know his perspective on any of this. that makes sense. it doesn’t excuse the way they treat him like a violent animal, but it does explain why they would have that us versus them mentality. also, all the info on the other archive staff’s emotional state from season 3 and onward, the stuff that explains why they acted the way they did, all of that is from occasional lines and overheard interactions. small pieces. jon is the main character, and we hear the details of his experiences and struggles and trauma and breakdowns and suffering. he is the protagonist and his is the perspective the listener lives in. therefore, he is going to be much easier to be sympathetic towards. if melanie was the protagonist, or even another avatar like annabelle or mike crew, people would be much more understanding of them, because it is easier to be sympathetic when you know every reason why a character acts the way they do. if we listened to melanie for hundreds of hours, her lashing out and getting violent towards characters that didn’t deserve it would be much more understandable. we hear what jon is going through, so we know his life is hell and he is a genuinely good person faced with impossible choices and absolutely terrible situations out of his control. the other characters do not have that perspective and understanding. i just think it’s possible to acknowledge that some characters did treat jon terribly, he didn’t deserve it, and it doesn’t make them irredeemable monsters.

.

[comicaurora]

Following off the last ask, do you have any advice on how to write a hard magic system? Since it usually has to be cohesive and fit together, how do you start?

First principles. Establish a set of unyielding axioms of How Magic Works and then start asking yourself what the consequences of those axioms are. It's very math-y to me - I think of it the same way as, for instance, defining a group as a set of values and an operation that combines elements of that set according to a specifically defined rule. Like how the integers can be built from the unit value 1, the addition operation + and its inverse. You can proof-by-induction your way through generating every integer from just those first principles, and everything that exists in the integer group follows from those facts. Extrapolating logically from established axioms is how a huge amount of algebraic shenanigans happen. Anyway, math is not necessary for this, but if you happen to be mathematically-minded, this approach of worldbuilding will feel extremely natural.

In ATLA, those first principles are:

There are four elements.

There are people who can "bend" one of those elements, giving them control over it that can be improved through training.

There is an Avatar, who can bend all four elements and is reborn when they die. The Avatar is a fixed point in the world and exists to maintain balance. The Avatar is also uniquely capable of interacting with a "spirit world" that almost nobody else ever directly deals with.

Everything in the magic system extrapolates from one or more of these axioms. What is lightning? Well, axiom 1 says there are 4 elements, so lightning is one of them, making it easiest to see as a form of fire, so we'll say some firebenders can use it. Can we do healing magic? Well, axiom 1 says there are only 4 elements, so the body must be composed of them, so it makes sense someone could manipulate them - and the body is mostly water, so we can suggest that waterbending would allow for healing. Can anyone bend more than one element? Nope, rule 3 says only the avatar can do that. Hey wait, if the human body is mostly water, can a waterbender puppet them? …Huh. Yeah. Well shit. Can anyone control metal? Well, metal is a form of earth, but it's a very pure one, so maybe earthbenders have a lot of trouble with it and it's used to make prisons and stuff, but maybe somebody could figure out a trick to it someday.

In Fullmetal Alchemist, there is only one principle:

Equivalent exchange. To gain something, something of equal value must be lost.

Can an alchemist make gold? Sure, if they have an equivalent amount of some other metal. But they're not supposed to, because it devalues local currency. Can an alchemist make a wall get spiky or turn it into a door? Sure, they're just turning an equal amount of one material into a different shape. Can an alchemist fix a broken device? Sure, if they know what parts of it need to be reshaped or transmuted. Can an alchemist create something from nothing? NO. Something of equal value must be transmuted. If it looks like an alchemist is creating something from nothing, they're draing the power/energy/value from something obscure. Can a philosopher's stone break the law of equivalent exchange? NO. It's providing power/energy/value from the human souls it contains, making it LOOK like the user can break the rules. Can an alchemist bring someone back from the dead? NO. What could equal the value of a human soul? Asking the question gets the attention of The Truth, a godlike entity that seems to exist in the balance of the law of Equivalent Exchange, who isn't exactly pleased when people fuck with it and tends to take its equivalent price out of the alchemist's body. Everything begins and ends with the single axiom.

I tried to build the elemental magic system for Aurora the same way, with only a few key principles:

There are six base elements in the world. They used to be six living primordial beings, one composed of each element. They are now each separated into a physical element and an ambient elemental energy that used to form its soul.

Some people have the latent ability to channel one or more elemental energies into the corresponding element(s), giving them command over them.

Each element has a physical property and a "higher property" that represents something about who the elemental primordial was when they were alive, giving mages abilities beyond just hucking rocks and fireballs at each other.

There is Soul Energy, which is omnipresent and forms structures in living things, does not belong to any primordial and can be used to impede elemental magic's effectiveness.

This is a bit of a mouthful for starting principles compared to how streamlined those other two examples were, but it gave me a lot of little details to work with. Can a mage manipulate someone else's body? Not if there's a soul in the way, because rule 4 says that structured soul energy can impede elemental magic, because otherwise it'd be way too easy to kill people and I want there to be cool fight scenes. Can a fire mage throw a super cool fireball at someone? Yes, as long as they have access to fire energy to channel according to rule 2. Can a fire mage channel fire energy into something else, like stone? Not really, because fire energy doesn't belong to the same primordial as physical stone, so they don't mesh according to rule 2. Can I have magic long-distance communication? Yes, because wind involves sound and has the "higher property" of communication, making it usable for sending magical messages according to rule 3. How do I account for weird materials that don't seem to cleanly fit into any of the six base categories? Since according to rule 1 there are six base elements, the things that don't seem to fit those categories must still be accounted for, so the answer we can construct is that most of them are "fused materials" that combine physicality and properties of two or more elements. Can anyone control all six elements? Yes, but let's say it's a rare thing, because those people would be very powerful. Hey, since Life's higher property by rule 3 is "survival and adaptation," is she actually really dead like the others? Huh. Kinda seems like she should be broadly unkillable in a way that matters, so I guess not - it'd be possible for someone to wake her back up. What would that do? Well, according to rule 1, Life is one of the six fundamental building blocks of the world, and according to our "fused materials" corollary, her material is woven into absolutely everything alive. So, waking her up and giving her command over her body again would be…… apocalyptically, catastrophically bad. Oh, but rule 4 says soul energy would help mitigate that a little bit! Enough to stop it from being a problem? No, definitely not, because life magic can be used to brute force mutation because I wanted to worldbuild cool mutant monsters. So that WOULD be bad. Okay, cool. Hey, are there other primordials? There's no reason why there couldn't be, since all these rules cover are the specific arrangement these six guys are in, and they must've come from SOMEWHERE, so yea, sure, there are other primordials. What kinds? Well, [SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS-]

Hard magic systems are great if you like starting from a very simple set of axioms and then just combining them in different ways to see what you can get. This is half the fun of worldbuilding - "what consequences arise from established premises 1 through n" - but it can also be difficult to get the sort of world you want out of a hard magic system, since first principles can extrapolate in unexpected directions. I had to work out the soul energy system because I didn't want it to be ludicrously easy for any mage to just boil someone from the inside out, because that is not the kind of world I wanted to make to play around in, even though it would've been easy to get that from "everyone is made of materials that can be magically manipulated." I worked out higher properties of the primordials because I wanted to have mages that could do weirder, more fun stuff than just slinging fireballs and mudslides at each other. Pure worldbuilding might involve starting from first principles and just seeing where the logic takes you, but I find it's helpful to have at least a few soft aesthetic concepts you want to build towards, and maybe massaging the rules a little until they produce the outcome you're set on seeing.

You can also have more than one magic system in a given world - that's what I did, technically speaking, and it's also what shows like The Owl House have. Owl House really makes it clear when a magic system has specific rules (Luz's runes combining in ways witches aren't sure how to do, but not working outside the Boiling Isles) and when it's a little more fluid and wacky (bard magic, wild witch magic, unique powers like Gus's eye and Hunter's teleportation, Eda's curse), and each individual magic system internally holds together, which is really all that matters for audience immersion.

[katy-l1988]

Head Canon/Theory Part 12: Roo's Eyes

I've seen several theories regarding this character, so I will make a "list" of the ideas that in my opinion have the most possibility of being true. I'll try to make them clear.

Ok, so Roo hasn't even appeared in the show yet, and according to Vivziepop, it will be a long time before she appears. Viv also mentioned that Roo is an imminent threat, and I would say that she''sa branch of an omniscient entity...The Evil.

Like angels would be the extension of Heaven and possibly, of God.

This would explain the presence of the hundreds and thousands of eyes spread throughout Hell, through which she keeps her "grounds" under surveillance.

If "God" has his Seraphines, Evil has the walls.

Furthermore, it could be that Evil and God are both "places", (something like Pandora from Avatar), that eventually take on humanoid forms to deal with their creation.

It wouldn't be impossible, since KeeKee is the Hotel Key that takes the shape of a cat.

Now, I was thinking about a video I saw today, and it showed the following picture:

The theory of this video indicates that the Evil that made its way to the earth:

Was in the apple that Lucifer gave to Eve.

Would break through and take Eva's body.

Or Break through and take Carmilla's body.

I do believe that these two have a purpose beyond what we saw. Carmilla because of everything I have mentioned in previous parts, and Eve because she hasn't even appeared beyond Charlie's tale.

Now, the only way I think any of them could be linked to Evil, is by "creating" a body for her.

Just think about it! The seed of discord growing in the cursed womb of God's creation, allowing the birth of the very incarnation of Evil…Roo itself.

What greater mockery for Heaven than that? That would be a low blow to heaven, and a mockery to the greatest enemy of Evil.

This could even be the real reason Lilith left Hell, so that The Evil couldn't use her as a puppet, something this entity managed to do with Alastor.

Imagine, Lilith made the deal with Adam to avoid the worst evil, without imagining that The Evil would have other ways to achieve its arrival.

[ash-pile]

Starting a thread for myself of theories and ideas about tmp. Gonna update it as I listen to episodes.

I’ve listened to 11 as if this first post. Also I think it goes without saying but there will be spoilers here, I might not have a ton of info but I do have and reference stuff in the episodes

Jon/chester/computer bois:

I think that Jon is using the cameras and things to see and listen, which is why he’s able to give statements that are very close to what’s happening with the characters.

Also I think he is trapped, but idk if he’ll ever get out. Maybe if he and Martin get out then Jonah Magnus can too so they’ll have to choose.

I wonder if they’ll be the same if they escape?

Or if there is a jon and Martin in the world too?

The entities:

-I saw someone else say this (don’t remember who or where tho) but I think that when the web and Jon pulled the entities thru the crack in reality in tma, they got squished and melted together.

- It would explain why statements often multiple fears now.

- They are so squished/interwoven that they litterally can’t separate.

Can they still do rituals/summonings?

Alice

-Another thing I saw but makes so much sense. Alice used to hold Lena’s job/she’s secretly the boss-boss of OIAR

-would explain why she and Lena got the message that Sam was trying to access restricted files.

-I mean why would Alice of all people see that. Lena make sense but Alice would only see it if she had the same kind of access

-also It might not end up being canon but I want Alice, Sam and Gwen to end up together as a poly. The whole scene with the mocha and Alice being confused but not hostile to Gwen was sweet and I want more of that trio

Celia

-I think she and the others who weren’t in any fear domains were brought here, so Georgie and Melanie could be there too.

-Would also explain why she seems to know more about the archives that most, cause she would have heard about them from those two.

-Maybe she ends up in random places regularly hence the ‘not again’ because the world recognizes she isn’t supposed to be there

-or she’s like Micheal. Tma 198 did reveal that the cult was taken back to their domains, maybe Micheal/something like him got to her before the end?

So she’d be able to jump around with doors. Probably not on purpose tho.

-either theory explains why she’s looking into dimensions and space and physics things

Lena/OIAR

-I think that when Jon and Martin and Jonah and the fears came through, they came through at a different time but same space. The explosion from the gas destroying the building would have been brought over at the same time and thus destroyed the archives in this world

-and maybe if it was an important place for the eye/the eye is ‘staying’ there/leftover energy from the panopticon, maybe thats why redcanary was so affected and pulled out their eyes. They were forced to by some kind of eye powers

-so with that, I think OIAR formed to document what changes came about after the fears came through. And their database doesn’t work with the fears separately cause they aren’t separate any more

-I haven’t figured out what Lena’s deal is yet, I just think she’s aware of the fears in someway and uses them/avatars/whatever the monsters would be called now to control the amount of fear being spread