#his name is Magnus btw :)

[driedlillies]

What do we think about Gerry instead of going for the beholding aligning himself with the spiral to hide/get away from Mary?? Traditionally it would probably be easier with the lonely, because of the invisibility, but the thing is, if he’s running away from Mary, abandoning her, he loses the closest thing he has to an anchor, and he doesn’t trust himself to pull himself out in time, so spiral it is.

The tattoos are spirals of course, he draws them on with sharpie the first time and they just don’t go away after that😭 also they change placements all the time.

He runs away successfully before she kills herself with the catalogue and still hunts leitners. Spiral likes him more than beholding does in canon but he still doesn’t give himself to it fully, it’s very much balancing on a fine line

He never gets accused of murdering Mary, so he doesn’t have any reason to start working with Gertrude, he’s very much a solo act. He focuses on burning the books and helping people, as much as he can. It’s harder without the eye, but he’s been doing this for a long time. I’m sure Mary is aware he’s somewhere out there — he’s certainly a popular gossip topic amongst avatars, but she can never get a trail on him, and neither can anyone she sends

He’s not a fully realized avatar, but his powers aren’t half bad — he’s confusing to look at, it’s basically impossible to pin down his eye color, and his flat is full of abstract paintings that make you dizzy when you look at them.

Eventually someone catches wind of his skills, so he sometimes gets commissions from avatars. It pays for the food, at least.

He meets michael in a library — for once, he’s not hunting anything down, and he likes to read fiction; if for nothing else but the reminder that books aren’t inherently evil. A door appears in the fantasy isle, between the bookcases, and out steps the distortion. They’ve never been introduced, but Gerry would have to be stupid or ignorant not to know about them. Nobody can ever agree is the Distortion is an avatar or something else, but the fact remains it’s one for the entities you don’t want to get on the bad side of.

They play for the same field, but Gerry has been known to play by his own rules, so he immediately gets ready to run — would that do anything to a being that can open doors anywhere they want? — but Michael doesn’t attack or even seem displeased with him.

“Hello, bookburner,” they say, smiling. “Would you like to come in?” they gesture towards the yellow door that wasn’t there when Gerry came in.

Gerry would have to be a fool to agree. Sure, the infamous hallways would most likely be harmless to him, perhaps even make him a bit stronger, but it doesn’t mean he would be able to come out on his own.

“At least take me to dinner first.”

“Would coffee be satisfactory?”

So, they go for coffee.

(Months later, Gerry would ask if that was meant to be a date, and Michael would just laugh.)

[potatowithahat]

When anyone talks about Elias Bouchard this is who I think of btw

[1nt3rnalpu7ref4ct10n]

s4e13

[iseeyoujon]

Thanks to the deluxe transcripts, my new pointless headcanon is that Jon doesn't know how to take a screenshot.

[quiggel]

Look. Here me out. I have a magpod thought and I can’t decide if it’s stupid or not so please let me know.

I like coming up with AUs in my brain that I don’t really share with people. And currently I’m making up ideas for like. What if TMA but with the main Protocol cast and vice-versa. And I have this particular idea for something. And I don’t know if I’ve struck gold or am just pulling shit out of my ass.

Celia Ripley: Head of the Magnus Institute

[chaosbungone]

MR BONZO HAS A REAL LIFE COUNTERPART???? HELLO???

I can’t believe my UK friends wouldn’t tell me this :(

[bornetoblood]

this is a PETER LUKAS stan blog

[ellascreams]

You know I frequently think about what Magnus Archive entities different characters from things would be warlocks for but I don’t think I’ve ever really talked about any of my thoughts on it before. Maybe I should start doing that, just for fun. Someone might find it interesting. This one is for IEYTD because I don’t expect this hyperfixation to die very soon. Spoilers for all the games. Oh and if you want to use this as inspiration for some weird crossovers you can, but please tell me if you do, because I wanna see it.

Agent Phoenix: The End This one is especially fitting if you think of the time loops as being in universe, stuck dying again and again, but it works even without that. Constantly close to death, feeling the fear of death, but never actually dying. Causing others fear because their friends have to deal with grief and their enemies have to be terrified every time they survive something they shouldn’t have. You could make an argument for The Beholding, you can for most protagonists, but it doesn’t make as much sense to me.

Handler: The Beholding He watches his agents do such dangerous things and can’t do much more than watch. He can help in someways but not too many. I imagine it would also be uncomfortable for Zoraxis agents to know they’re being watched by someone who they can’t see, someone other than the agent in front of them. Alternatively, he could be The Web. (“A mere puppeteer, they only enslave you,”) I just don’t think that works as well since he also has to answer to The Agency and he doesn’t have any malicious intent with his manipulations.

Dr. Zor: The Web Constantly orchestrating schemes from the shadows, has no loyalty to anyone and will kill their highest ranks without remorse if they interfere with their plans, too clever to ever be caught, and knows what Phoenix will do well enough to leave messages for them. Could also make arguments for The Stranger, The Beholding, The End, and The Extinction, but I think all of those connect back to their plotting and masterminding.

Daniel Sans: The Corruption Very minor character but I felt like adding him here. He made a super virus. That’s it that’s all I’ve got.

Zoraxis AI: The Buried Specifically the one in the escape pod. Does this even count as a character? No idea, but you can’t tell me that escape pod doesn’t sound like it would be the subject of someone’s statement if they got out of it alive.

Hivemind: The Corruption He’s literally just bees. Like, a bunch of bees. His name is Hivemind. What else can I even say?

Solaris: Uh The Vast Maybe? Because space? I’ll be honest I’m not really sure about this one, if anyone has any ideas I’d love to hear them.

The Fabricator: The Desolation She seems to enjoy the pain she causes with her inventions, whereas some of the scientists in game seem more like they’re just hurting people for the sake of their science. I’d also definitely accept The End for her since death traps are kind of her main thing.

John Juniper: The Stranger He’s got the masks, the acting and lying, he impersonates people, it seems like a perfect fit honestly. I guess he could maybe work for The Spiral but that’s mostly because it’s so similar to The Stranger.

Gibson: The Beholding Ok this one might sound a bit weird but hear me out. Phoenix pretends to be Gibson for a reason, his radio allows him to eavesdrop and he probably does eavesdrop just so he won’t miss Juniper’s commands. Gibson is just a butler, but he hears all about these worldwide conspiracies and gets caught in the crossfire, and there really isn’t much he can do about it. Except threatening to share the things that he’s heard, which is very affective, because he’s heard a lot of important secrets.

Shawn in HR: The Beholding Honestly he really does give me archive assistant or object storage vibes. Just doing his job hearing about and sorting the horrors. The big difference is that the horrors in this situation are corporate espionage and conspiracies.

Dr. Prism: The Extinction Ok once again, this may seem a bit weird, but hear me out. Her main goal in game is to replace the agents with robots and there is an element of humanity being replaced to The Extinction, not just everyone dying. Then there’s Zor’s betrayal destroying all her robots at once. Then she helps Phoenix save all the agents in the world from death. Even if it’s never an extinction of humanity she certainly has experience with extinctions. An alternate might be The Hunt because of her obsession with revenge and killing Phoenix or Zor, and the Agency trying to track her down.

Robutler: The Stranger or The Spiral He just seems so friendly and happy to talk to you while he attempts to kill you.

Ollie: The Lonely I swear this isn’t just because Ollie’s voice reminds me of Alexander J Newall’s. The poor guy just got abandoned in the ocean for like at least a month. His coworkers and bosses seem to be pretty mean to him too.

Director Morales: The Web He really is just running The Agency behind the scenes. We really don’t hear much about him orchestrating anything but maybe that’s just because he’s really good at it. Out of all these characters, he would probably be the creepiest to me if he was actually a warlock for an entity.

The Phantom: The Web We really don’t know much about them but they manage to leave coins for Phoenix to find everywhere they go knowing that they’ll find them. Very Web like behavior. Maybe The Hunt. The coin thing is kinda like a scavenger hunt and they do have to track down Phoenix to leave those clues.

[eiders]

bear paw succulent

[watchful-crown]

went to a coffeeshop close to Victoria Station to really get that sasha james when she first met michael vibe and told them my name was sasha so they could call it when the drink was ready

then I sat there drinking my chai latte and listening to mag 26: a distortion

tl;dr I'm a fucking nerd /pos

- Elias (🦷) he/it/eye

[kosher-salt]

Day 849 of drawing this around the Aviation Brigade

[rayssion]

Random scene that just popped up in my head,

Annabeth and the Argo 2 crew lost Percy in a crowd.

Piper: what are we going to do?

Annabeth: don't worry I got this.

Annabeth, screams at the top of her voice: BLUE IS THE UGLIEST COLOUR!!

Everyone: waits for Percy to show up.

Random person, screams back: HEL YEAH TELL THEM!!

Annabeth: Magnus?

Magnus: Annabeth? what are you doing here?

Annabeth: we were—

Percy: screaming from the distance, cutting her off, just screaming btw no context at all.

Percy, finally standing next to them: who the Hades just insulted blue?

Annabeth: it was me, I was trying to—

Magnus: I did it, are you implying that you are defending the ugliest colour in existence?

Percy, eyes narrowed: who's this gremlin?

Magnus: I'm nearly as tall as you, who are you calling gremlin you dimwit?

Percy: you better watch you mouth, pretty boy.

Annabeth: Percy, stop.

Magnus, also narrowing his eyes: or what, what would you do?

Percy: oh, you won't like the answer, sweetheart.

Magnus, taking a step closer to Annabeth: why are you calling me pet names? You alright, bro?

Percy, winks: oh honey, I'm perfectly fine.

Magnus: ok I'm scared, Annabeth tell your friend to stop.

Annabeth: Percy, stop flirting with my cousin!

Percy: I'm not flirting!

Magnus, speaking just before Annabeth: you know what, nice seeing you again Annabeth, I kinda have to go back to my group, hearth starts to worry when I'm late, see you around, I guess.

Poor boy just disappeares into the crowd again, traumatized probably.

Annabeth: sighs.

Percy: now before you say anything! I'll explain!!

Annabeth: Take your time. Explain.

Percy: so, yeah... umm....

Annabeth:

Percy:

Annabeth:

Percy:

Hazel, whispers in the background: what did I just witness...?

Leo, whispers back: I don't know, but the dude was cute though.

[lastflowerofyourhouse]

i fucking love the stuff with the ghosts in htn btw.

abigail and magnus get to be 3-dimensional and interesting and they get to use their skills to help people. they're first act shock value deaths but they were so so smart and in this one they get to be useful like they never got to be before. they get to do what they would've done, given the chance, and hold the group together. they get to actually solve the problem and offer harrow a truly healthy relationship with adults. they get to show her real guidance.

marta dyas, a one-note character who dies off page, completely freaks out when sock puppet judith dies. she's distressed, she's confused, but abigail convinces her so easily to stay and help harrow, a girl she's barely spoken to. she doesn't just get to demonstrate her genuine resolve and skill when fighting commander wake, but she also gets to be a good person, and she gets to be afraid.

dulcinea septimus. fucking dulcinea septimus. the woman on the sidelines whose name means sugar, the romantic interest who you were delusional for believing in, the unseen recipient of letters, is sick of roses and horny for revenge. she's jilted, she's angry, she's been cooped up and bored for a long long time and she's going to help you kill a ghost because what does she have left to loose.

and ortus nigenad, my beloved. talk about a one-note character who dies off page. a generally unpleasant poet who almost none of the characters respect. and he gets to be the hero. his genuine passion and love for something no one else gives a shit about is enough to warp reality and save everyone. harrow goes to him genuinely contrite and ashamed of herself, and he doesn't just forgive her, he apologizes for not doing more to protect her. he gives her a hug. he makes her feel seen and safe and real. and then. and then this is a story in which the power of love genuinely does save the day and ortus's ardent love for his mattias nonius verse fanfiction is the love that makes up the difference.

even protesilaus writes poetry. he has a family. he cultivates roses in his free time. and his relationship with dulcie is complicated. he genuinely cares for her but he isn't always what's best for her. and he, too, stays to help harrow. with no ulterior motives, no self interest, despite having never met her before, he stays to help harrow.

it just offers so much agency and depth to these characters who are so easy to write off in the first book. like, it sucks what happens to ortus, but no one was crying about him. we feel kinda sad about dulcinea for palamedes's sake, but not for her own. but then harrow the ninth comes out and suddenly they're all people. selfless, brave, intelligent, angry people banding together to help this unpleasant but desperate seventeen-year-old and i love them all so much. harrow the ninth is such a good fucking book.

[sasha-n-james]

TMAGP THEORY

HUGE theory about The Magnus Institute, Sam, Alice, the whole shebang. I feel like I'm really onto something here... Possible spoilers under cut!

In reading the list of children experimented on by The Magnus Institute before it burnt down, we know that Sam was on this list. The list gives information about the tests he was given, and even his birthday (he's 34 btw).

And we know that Gerry was also on this list, as Sam found him and tracked him down to ask him questions, but Gerry didn't remember much.

There's one other name that stands out in this list: Connor Dyer. Born 1989, would be 35. While Gerry and Sam received high scores, Connor did not, and didn't seem to pass.

A Dyer. Maybe a relative of Alice. Maybe a brother.

Or maybe, that is Alice, as a small child. We know Alice is transgender, Alex actually went out of his way to confirm that she's trans, something that wasn't necessary unless it was relevant for canon. It would make sense for her and Sam to be around the same age, as they went to school together when they dated. And it's highly likely that Alice's name hasn't been Alice her whole life. Maybe this kid IS Alice.

Maybe that's why Alice is so averse to the whole Institute thing. She isn't just worried for Sam, she knows something, she was affected by it. Maybe she remembers something that Sam and Gerry don't.

Sam said he had found "a list of a few of the other kids." Maybe it's not a complete list, and he didn't receive the name "Connor." Maybe he only got the names of the highest-performing kids or something.

I feel like I'm onto something huge here though!!!!!!!!!! I feel like a genius.

[mychlapci]

My liege I wanted to submit this during celibacy week but I ended up being so busy aughhhhhh oh well that just means we can make it horny now if it so happens to happen

Been thinking about... domestication... What if, when Minimus returned to Luna-1, being stripped of his rank and armour wasn't enough. What if he cried and protested and begged when Tyrest took the armour, and Tyrest decided Minimus was so unworthy that he doesn't even deserve to exist as he currently is.

When Rodimus and Rung and the rest of the gang end up imprisoned on Luna-1, they meet a strange little turbofox curled up in the corner. Its smaller than what they would expect. It's also very green. Whilst Rodimus is busy yelling about being stuck here, Rung gently approaches the creature, a little curious about why a mechanimal would be imprisoned here, but more because the thing looks so scared. The little kibble-fluff it has shakes and rattles whilst its big ears are pressed back in fear. And yet, when Rung approaches, it doesn't growl or bare its teeth. It just stares, optics wide, afraid.

It takes some coaxing with a few rust sticks and gentle pets, but the turbofox is gradually lured out of its corner. It doesn't seem to want to be held, struggling when Rung tries to pick it up. But Roddy, curious, and desperately trying to find something else distracting other than thinking about being trapped, is immediately like LET ME HOLD and grabs the poor little thing. It yips at first and struggles- but Rodimus' warm frame seems to calm it. The poor little thing must be cold. It curls up whilst held against Roddy's chestplate and doesn't seem to plan to move.

The rest of Luna-1 happens and etc etc etc and they all eventually return to the ship... it's too bad they never found out what happened to Magnus, but the poor bot would be deactivated by now anyway according to Ratchet's predictions.

They've brought the tiny turbofox with them. It's not like they could just leave the thing behind... Rodimus, secretly pretty shaken up by the whole killswitch thing and once again failing his duties to protect his crew, unable to even keep track of one DYING second in command, keeps the little guy with him. The turbofox isn't the friendliest creature, but it seems content enough to be carried around by Rodimus for his warmth. And Rodimus feels a little better with some company and a little creature to hold.

Rodimus brings that thing everywhere. He starts calling it Roddy Jr. and everyone hates the name lmao. He brings it to all his appointments with Rung, holding it close and petting it to ease his nerves.

As the turbofox gets more comfortable on the ship, they start to find that it's still not particularly friendly. It doesn't like to be petted or cooed at or held by most other bots, but it will also never snarl or growl. It will glare and swat at servos that get too close, or even just duck under them, but never bare its sharp denta. Rodimus seems to be the only one with a free pass to hold the thing everywhere. Even so, sometimes it complains and struggles, but eventually lets Roddy carry it.

It's only much later when Ratchet, finally less busy with all the mechs' repairs, insists that Rodimus brings his pet in for a routine checkup too. They've never had a chance to properly check the thing since they found it and who knows what diseases it could be carrying. (Roddy is like hey >:[ at this btw)

But when Ratchet finally gets a good look at the thing... he has some uncomfortable suspicions. Being the only one to have ever seen Minimus' true form, this turbofox looks strangely familiar. And once he finds that it has a tcog, things really seem suspicious. But, as far as he knows, it's never behaved like Magnus or responded to anything that would make them think it was him. Ratchet tries calling it Ultra Magnus, but the turbofox just looks at him quietly. It's strangely polite and docile for a turbofox, just sitting there and letting Ratchet work on it. Something isn't right with this thing, but he doesn't know what.

Ratchet starts asking Rodimus some leading questions about this... but Rodimus just gets really defensive about anything asked about his new little pet. No! How could his little guy be another mech. So what if it has a tcog maybe some mechanimals have cogs. Whatever.

If Ratchet's suspicions are right, he's going to need Chromedome to have a look too. But it doesn't look like Rodimus is going to even entertain that as a suggestion

Rodimus is so desperate to keep this thing with him, to have some company, some kind of comfort, something on this ship that doesn't hate him, that he's not willing to entertain a single suspicious thought about his pet. He's not losing his only companion.

oh yes yes yes that's so fucking good. Rodimus' emotional support turbofox... he refuses to let anyone near it, and honestly, people are a little worried about the blow that taking his new pet could deal to Rodimus' mental health.... no one can help Minimus it seems...

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

hi! i just reached crimson badlands in my current playthrough so how do you think sve bachelors, particularly the mages and adventurers, react to farmer (their s/o or spouse) asking them, "if i turned into a fallen adventurer, are you going to kill me?" it's like 'if i turned into a big, will u still love me?' but feel free to sprinkle some or make it angst btw!! i love ur works <33

OK, dear anon, got it 👍 Just a little pinch of angst, and- *accidentally dumped a whole bag of angst* Oops... Erm, to be fair, this headcanon would be sad either way you look at it, because no one can handle the corruption in Crimson Baldlans yet, and accordingly none of the adventurers have any answers on how to at least help the lost souls. So.... yeah, thanks for the ask! 💕

PS: I'm a bit confused about the "particularly mages and adventurers" thing, since available candidates from this category is Lance and Magnus. Or did you mean like future candidates too? I will leave available candidates this time, hope it's ok for you! 💖

_________________________________________

Victor:

"What...?"

Victor knows for the existence of magic in general, of adventurers and wizards that protect ordinary people like him from monsters or worse that lurk in the dark depths, of various wonders. Since Farmer had become his partner, his knowledge of these noble monster hunters and masters of the arcane arts had become even more extensive. Victor had understood perfectly well the risks of such work even before he and Farmer had officially started dating. Understood, feared for them, but always supported them in their urge to protect. However, the idea that his lover's job could be so dangerous, and the very possibility that they could meet an end worse than death... What could he, a simple guy with a passion for building bridges, do to an armed man? Especially a man close to him?

"There's always a solution, I'm sure." No, he's not sure of his words at all.

Magnus Rasmodius:

"...."

Magnus tore his gaze away from the gurgling cauldron to look his spouse in all seriousness in the eye. Ever since Camilla pointed them in the direction of the Crimson Baldlans, Farmer has travelled almost once a week on a perilous journey into the cursed lands where even the most hardened warriors can easily fall to the fangs and claws of the most fearsome of creatures. Each time they take a risk, in the name of protection, in the name of an idea, in the name of riches and glory, while Magnus stays in their shared farmhouse, praying to Yoba and the spirits that his spouse will return alive. Praying that the urgent message from Camilla would not be the very thing the old wizard feared most. Fearing that he would not have to face their body, scarred by black magic.

"That is my duty. If I have to, I will put an end to it." And that was a lie.

Lance:

*Sigh* "Do you really want to hear my honest answer?"

Castle Village has been home to Lance for most of his life, and as a local and adventurer, he knows full well what awaits anyone who dares to step foot in the sands that have been soaked in the blood of men and monsters for decades. Before the corruption of unknown origin, this place was already dangerous, and now instead of simple death, fallen warriors and wizards can become the living dead, cursed to wander forever knee-deep in these sands until a brave soul comes to the end of their suffering. These brave men were many.... And many have not returned, for to see your friend, parent or child as 'fallen', and you will involuntarily feel a hesitation, a shiver in your hands at the realisation that the one you lost is finally found. It is enough to make a living warrior join the ranks of the dead.

"I must. But... I don't think I can." Even he has weaknesses that will make him hesitate, and his lover as a fallen warrior.... is one of those.