#fear of string

[danskjavlarna]

Source details and larger version.

Needles, threads, and vintage sewing.

[coffee-without-anesthetics]

puppet string study thingy , no.1

[masochist-marmot]

TMAGP Theory: Tria Prima

Spoiler alert/disclaimer: Written after The Magnus Protocol episode 34; also spoilers for The Magnus Archives

I don't know if this idea has been properly explored yet, but I have had a weeklong hyperfixation where I've delved into alchemy and tried to figure out the inner workings of TMAGP universe. This theory is half-boiled at best, and I apologise if I've misunderstood any of the basic concepts. It seems like even alchemists never fully agreed on them, so they're contradicting each other a lot. That being said, let's get into it.

Perspective Reset

First of all, I think we are collectively still too hung up on the Fears as entities or powers. It's very tempting to classify things with the same framework we're familiar with (and conditioned to), but I think it's preventing us from seeing the bigger picture. Prior to the end of TMA, it's possible that no entities ever even existed in this universe, but the incidents have been taking place for a long time. The creators have also explicitly said that they wanted to create a new rule set, and I doubt that they'd build it with the same blocks. Because of this, I set out to find a set of rules that has nothing to do with the fears.

Classical Elements (Very Briefly)

I will oversimplify this for my sanity and yours. We have the four classical elements: fire, air, water and earth. In the classical worldview, these make up everything on Earth. Each element has two corresponding properties, as you can see in the figure below (fire is hot and dry etc). The elements are in a constant process of circulating and flowing, breaking apart and coming together (sand into water, water into stone, stone into wood...), but fire and air are considered more active and volatile while water and earth are more passive and stable. The rest of the universe is filled with the fifth element, quintessence or aether. It is considered heavenly and perfect and completely unchangeable.

The Three Principles (Tria Prima)

Later alchemists made the addition of (first two and then) three principles that work on the elements and in conjunction with them. These principles were used to describe the alchemical process and its parts, but they also had more metaphysical implications. These are the foundation of my theory.

Salt 🜔: Aka. Corpus or The Body. Things that are solid and stable but also corruptible. The dust that's left behind after something is burned. Associated with earth, water and the property of coldness. In humans, associated with the physical body and therefore physical health. Salt is also associated with preservation and sometimes even rebirth. It's what's left behind after the alchemical stage of putrefication, and therefore what undergoes purification.

Mercury ☿: Aka. Spiritus or The Mind. Things that are volatile and soluble. The alchemical solvent or the smoke that rises from a fire. Considered the perfect agent because it demonstrates properties of both a liquid and a solid. The principle of flowing freely between elements and perhaps even heaven and earth. Associated with air, water and the property of wetness. In humans, it's the mind, or the intellect, knowledge and rationality of a person. Some seem to consider it the universal, platonic idea of thought, as mercury wouldn't be restricted by an individual body.

Sulphur 🜍: Aka. Anima or The Soul. Things that combust, but also the principle of combustibility. The flame that manifests when something is burned. Associated with fire, air and the property of hotness. With fire and air being the most active elements, sulphur is also the catalyst for change. In humans, associated with the soul, or the consciousness that links the body to the mind. It's the emotions, ambitions and desires that animate the body.

Why have I given you the symbols? Because they're all there on the OIAR logo:

(I also circled aether because I thought I'd talk about it later but decided not to, so you're free to make your own conclusions)

I currently believe that these three principles are omnipresent in the Magnus Protocol universe. They're just part of the makeup of the universe, causing no one harm. At least, when they're in balance.

The Theory - It's All About Balance

There's been a lot of talk about balance by now.

"The institute, alchemy, all of it. "It’s all about balance. Dua prima, four elements, seven planets, it’s all the same. You’ve got to keep things balanced. And if something is missing, if someone is misplaced, the equation doesn’t balance… and that’s when things get bad…" (Celia, episode 30)

Here Celia mentions dua prima, which (as I alluded to before) is an earlier theory surrounding Sulphur and Mercury. Salt was proposed as the third principle in a later theory, but by now the tria prima seem to be more widely accepted.

"Not that anyone cares as long as it all balances, right? Not too much mercury or the world ends, not too much sulfur or we all go mad…" (Colin, episode 19)

Huh.

So, let me lay out the actual theory.

The principles usually strive for balance, because it's their natural state. However, sometimes the balance is skewed by human action or some other unexpected force. This imbalance can happen on an individual level or it can affect objects (which then become "cursed") or locations (which then become "poisoned"). In fact, the Magnus Institute calls such poisoned locations loci (singular "locus"). I also hypothesise that this is how the OIAR categorises their incidents (1. individuals - 2. locations - 3. objects).

When there is an imbalance, the affected person/area/object starts to display an unnatural amount or lack of one principle. For example, if there's an abundance of salt, we may see people or things slow down, become passive, even crystallise. Bodies preserved despite obvious corrosion, infections that putrefy and then purify flesh into a "perfect" form. The clearest example I can think of would be episode 3, where the character quite literally transmutes into a tree. Or episode 23 where a character inserts a piece of coral under her skin and begins to paralyse as it grows out of her. If you absolutely have to compare to TMA, I'd say a lot of Flesh, Corruption or Buried statements would fit under salt. It is associated with earth, water and literal bodies, after all.

Abundance in mercury would manifest as things getting a little weird, unstable and volatile, but in a subtle, flowy way. Changing architecture, people seeming odd, things dissolving into others, time or dimensions being unstable, perhaps the limits of a human psyche being broken. I'm thinking of the liminal spaces from episode 8 or the pier from episode 33. The fog is an especially fitting link, what with fog being a manifestation of air and water. I also think the entire Hill Top Centre has been affected. And now that I started, you could easily make connections to the Stranger, the Lonely, the Spiral and the Eye. Which brings an ironic twist to Colin's statement. Too much "mercury" already ended the world once.

Abundance of sulphur would bring out more abrupt changes, it would twist people's passions into unhealthy obsessions, drive people to anger and senseless bloodlust, give consciousness to the unconscious and animate the inanimate. In fact, in episode 19, the character says of Newton's dog: "such a creature must by all natural law lack that essential and ephemeral anima." Another case of an unexpectedly conscious thing would be Liverpool (episode 32), who is coincidentally also incredibly angry. I also think Ink5oul's tattoos have an element of sulphur, not only because their first stolen design (sun with a dot in the middle) evokes the alchemical symbol for sun. In TMA sulphur would probably be attributed to the Slaughter, the Hunt, the Desolation or the like.

I have noticed that a lot of TMAGP incidents involve an unhealthy desire, passion, obsession or (literal and metaphorical) hunger. It's also noticeable that the symbol for sulphur appears on the OIAR logo four times (once in each corner of the square representing the elements). I don't know if this is a stylistic choice or if it has deeper implications. But it's there. And as Colin implies, it could be bad.

The beautiful part about this framework is that it doesn't set any clear limits between the categories, because the balance can be disrupted in many ways. Lack of salt means abundance of sulphur and mercury, and their distribution may also vary greatly. I also don't know if the OIAR ranks their incidents in these terms. They probably have some needlessly complicated system that's practically undecipherable. (I took a long time trying to figure out the DPHW and I'm no closer to solving it.)

End note

I have some thoughts about what the goals of the OIAR and the Magnus Institute are based on this theory, but this post is too long now. May make a follow-up eventually. Or procrastinate until they just tell us.

Edit: I have now written my theory posts on the OIAR and the Magnus Institute. Go read if you're so inclined.

[todayis-snowy]

"Hey how's studying going."

Idk but I did make all of this in an hour on Obsidian.

[thechy-fychannel]

y'all ever think abt how it was julie having the affair and it is even said multiple times that she was the one who left him, yet wilson was still the one who left their home and moved in with house. like. he couldn't bear to stay in their home alone. he immediately ran to house and stayed on his couch for weeks. suffered through his pranks and his laziness and his manipulation. telling him he wants him gone while sabotaging his attempts to leave. and he only left once he got a girlfriend again.

[creatively-cosmic]

in loving memory

or: what did @pkmn-monochrome mean by this

[jaijeijayjei]

Mel, Jayce, and Caitlyn in S2 E1

Mel and Caitlyn both argue against invasion at the council meeting, despite Mel almost dying and Caitlyn's mother being killed from the attack.

Jayce was adamant that Hextech shouldn't be used as a weapon, Mel reassures him she won't let that happen. She sees how distraught Caitlyn and later tells Jayce he should check on her.

Caitlyn and Jayce have a talk; Caitlyn says she understands how easy it is to hate Zaun from one vicious act. Jayce starts to wonder if Hextech can save them from this situation. Foreshadowing!!!

After the attack, Caitlyn is furious at the disrespect and is scared of everything falling apart. Jayce is terrified after being targeted and almost killed by Renni. Mel literally "stared down the barrel" and could've been killed.

The attack affects them in different ways: Caitlyn believes she must take control of the situation and bring the undercity under control Jayce now sees Zaun as a serious, aggressive threat to Piltover. Mel realizes just how much violence and chaos can result from this conflict.

Caitlyn forms the strike team, Jayce creates the weapons, Mel unsuccessfully tries to dissuade the council from turning on Zaun.

Then, these consecutive shots of the three of them. Caitlyn exudes confidence and stands proudly. Mel is shocked and distraught, wringing her hands. Jayce hangs his head in the forge, uncertain and pensive.

At the outset of this episode, all three characters were worried about escalating the conflict and wanted to salvage any peace between the two cities. But now, Caitlyn is driven by a desire for justice and vengeance. Jayce is driven by fear and a sense of self-preservation. Mel continues to be afraid of starting an all out war.

What an interesting dynamic, I sure hope none of them get isekai-ed away from the main plot for half a season!

Thanks to @420technoblazeit for inspiring this post.

[kisakisaxo]

I need the yj gay people in my phone to grab me by the shoulders and rattle me a little to get me to finish this update for the Mistynat College Au

[rustedleopard]

I feel like if Chujin was still alive during the events of Undertale Yellow, his and Clover's relationship would be incredibly rocky. Pacifist!Clover could bring him around to tolerating them (after all, they have that sort of effect on everyone), but it would be more in a "this human is the only 'good' human" manner than a "maybe I should reevaluate my opinions on humans overall because you can't judge an entire group based off (very biased) stories and one bad experience." Even then, that opinion would be subject to change should Clover ever get frustrated or behave "too aggressively" or act in any manner that isn't perfectly docile. If Clover ends up attacking a monster then it's "humans are just as horrible as they were in the war stories, I should've known better" regardless of the circumstances that could've pushed Clover to fight. Suffocating expectations and endless demands for patience when he wouldn't ask the same of a fellow monster.

And heaven forbid he ever meet Clover on a No Mercy Run...

[evil-ot3]

no one:

me when ben is encouraging david and kristen to get together as a couple but not also addressing his own feelings for them:

[gingermintpepper]

"Hey Ginger, what are you thinking about at 2 am?"

"Well, you know that one part in Graf's 'Apollo' where he concludes that Apollo's deathbringing is not opposed to his joy-bringing but that, in fact, through him both aspects are unified and given equal prominence?"

"Oh, you mean:

"Yeah,,, that's the line right there."

[stillgotscars]

does anyone else feel nauseous when they think about the transition from “chains around my demons, wool to brave the seasons” to “i know my pain is such an imposition,” or is it just me?

[broareweabouttoviberightnow]

alright yall I'm relentin. on my knees here beggin for a boot. please. dear god almighty.

[emperor-forneus]

woke up and Immediately chose to be a yapper again. i was thinking about delta and remembered something from the q&a sections in the manga, which i think might also be lesser known delta info??

upon reading this the first time i was ready to give myself an ass whooping because even though i'm a samulnori enjoyer i completely missed the reference delta's launch was making. i genuinely thought he was just being a bit of a clown. shame on my whole family /j

what is samulnori though? samulnori is a type of traditional korean music involving four types of drums:

janggu (장구) - mimics the sound of rain

buk (북) - mimics the sound of clouds (?)

jing (징)- mimics the sound of wind

kkwaenggwari (꽹과리) - mimics the sound of thunder

as a whole, everything together mimics the sound of a storm. it's a modern adaptation of ancient ritual music koreans would perform during holidays, but it was probably used to tackle periods of drought in agriculture as well. alongside the music comes traditional dances too (sogo dance, or "drum dance"). i'll only dive into the move delta's launch is referencing - 자반뒤집기 (ji-ban-dwi-jib-gi, roughly translates to tossing/writhing in pain. as a verb it can also be used to say "to change one's thoughts or actions in an opposite direction")

"수백, 수천 번을 연습해야 좋은 소리와 몸짓이 나온다."

"it takes hundreds, thousands of hours of practice to truly master the move and sounds." and this sounds pretty accurate for delta's experience too, since it took him 3001 attempts to perfect this launch. the kkwaenggwari players, which represent thunder as mentioned previously, are the ones performing the move and they're usually the main highlight of the entire performance.

i believe oh jin koo did this reference as a funny jab because the name of delta's best friend is quite literally drum, but there's also some other layers to it. the performer (delta) and the drum (drum/dante) - they go hand in hand. the show cannot be if either of them isn't present. the meanings behind the name of the move itself are also things delta goes through in the show. he does writhe in pain while trying to be "the brightest star in the sky", while trying to satiate diabolos' endless hunger. and in the end his mindset does change into the opposite direction, this time for the better

in summary: the way the animation studio was cooking with this is not to be underestimated

[narratorsandall]

He broke Crane’s fishing rod…

(though it IS just a stick and string + no hook…so it’s a bit of a wonder that August got a bite at all really)

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Me: *points at Rangi before Kyoshi is found to be the Avatar* Me: Sugar Mama-Nepo Baby. Me: *points at Rangi after Kyoshi is found to be the Avatar and inherits all of Jianzhu's wealth* Me: Sugar Baby-Nepo Baby.