#tma universe lore

[we-love-you-star-child]

Hi! It's Sage (@/thebestieyoureinlovewith) and this is where all the lore of my current wip will be going! You can find it on ao3, called TMA by writelikeimrunningoutoftime!!

—*—*—*—*—*—*—*—*—*—*—*—*—*—*—*

Here's what different tags mean on here!!

#tma character lore- the lore of all the characters

#(character name) lore-the lore of that specific character

#tma update- for when I update

#tma universe lore-the things that aren't about the characters

#tma quotes-quotes from things I've already posted

#tma setting lore-lore about the places of TMA

#tma story lore- general story information

I'll probably be adding more but these are all I need right now :)

[youmustfixyourheartt]

personally i think the backlash coming from de-gothing gerry has less to do with peoples personal and differing headcanons and more to do with the fact that as soon as he was mentioned to be happy, people could no longer see him as goth. which is. Not Good. as a goth, there are very few examples of happy goths in media, because people subconsciously equate being goth with trauma or mental illness. and this isn't to say that people whose goth identity overlaps or is directly connected to their trauma or mental illness are wrong or invalid! It's actually the opposite. again, you can headcanon him however you want it's all up to you, but i have seen people saying that because he is happy there is no longer a need for him to have "badly dyed hair" or to be goth, as if these are universal indicators of someones happiness. i'd urge you to think about the implications of that.

[the-random-phan]

DP x TMA

Danny arrives to lend a helping hand! Life must be tough when you're hiding in your ex's apartment because of murder charges and being mildly tormented by some circus clowns.

Danny might be a bit too calm in this situation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Set some time between MAG 81 and 87

[sh4rkfinn]

okay so… i made a post the other day about starting a tma Notebook and i got a couple awesome recommendations for more topics i can add nd i appreciate it so much !!!

i am slowly realizing the sheer scope of what i am starting nd oh boy. so far my episode recaps have been an average of 3 pages so if it stays this way we’re looking at 600 hand written pages of just recaps alone before moving on to the other sections which is. so crazy but you guys don’t even understand how stupid dedicated i am.

BUT the real point of this post is to say that. i will be turning this into a mega powerpoint nd updating it like hopefully weekly because some of my friends want to be able to look at it and i just wanna know if any of you guys are interested in me posting it here to have a comprehensive view of like Everything in one solid place !!

[elias-magnusnt]

Um, so, when I was doing research for a statement, I came across a link that I may or may not have clicked and caused another interdimensional tear... So far nothing's come out of it, but I don't know how to close it... (I can't believe I'm doing this) Help? What do I do?

Have you eaten something expired recently? Links do not cause interdimensional tears, they put viruses on your computer and at worst take all of your baby pictures hostage. I'm sure the tear was entirely unrelated.

As for how to close interdimensional tears... The point of them is that you somewhat can't. It requires in-depth knowledge of universe management and administrator access to the underground of the world to smoothe those wrinkles, both things that you wouldn't be on tumblr.com if you had. No, for us mere... participants in this world, the only thing we can really do is security tape the area and make sure no one goes there to fall in it or stretch the tear out. Silk from one of the Mother's puppets might be able to cover it up enough to stop it from growing, but... It's not my area of expertise.

Ask Annabelle, she went to tear-in-reality school.

[ask-grian]

(thats it, your going in the soup (positive) your now one of the ask blogs i interact with frequently) why would it be cursed? its just a creepy moon necless we found in my best friends office after he died. it has a weird glow.... but anyway! im glad your day is well, what are you having for supper? -@archivist-of-the-void-institute

E- Excuse me? Died? You can't just gloss over that-

[bat-luun]

(tags via @encryptidarchivist)

YESSSSS i love him very much hes my darling beloved!!! <33

(ramble below cut cuz this got so long oh my god lmao - cw: suicide mention)

The tma oc is actually an au version of 'Pai Rite' (he/she)! He's player character i made while co-DMing a Call of Cthulhu campaign. He's originally from 1982 Chicago and about 28 years old. Her og lore and backstory and what played out in the campaign is rather complicated so imma leave it out. (tho i'd happy to rant about it lol-)

For the tma version: She uses her full name more often than just her nickname/chosen name; Joshua 'Pyrite' Kerr (he/she). She was born in 1978 in LA, moved to England in 1997, and died 2010 at age 32.

She is marked by both The Vast and The Spiral! (in the same way Martin is a mix of The Eye and The Lonely)

Pyrite has a rocky relationship with his parents from the start, his father was killed/taken by The Vast when Pyrite was only 17. His mother was killed by The Spiral, which triggered Pyrites leave to England to study mathematics at the King's Collage in London.

(Idk if it would really work all that well in canon but I've taken The Vast in a less 'real' direction? Like making it less of a place of endless mist or whatever but making it more like a concept?) Pyrite's father was a mathematician and investigating/trying to figure out more of the pi number. The horror of the uncomprehendable powered my the Fear drove him to insanity and eventually suicide, leaving his family suddenly and without a word.

Her mother, turning even more hyper religious than before, turned to pseudoscience as a way to cope with the grief (buying crystals and crafted religious symbols/spells to protect her, and doing other low-key paranoid superstitious stuff).

She eventually got her hands on some colorful (sea)glass shards which she hung by the windows to catch the light and "ward off evil".

The glass is an artifact of The Spiral! It slowly multiplies in numbers in the given location, and starts changing colors/patterns of objects within it's line of sight (though the owner is the only one who can see it's effects).

The longer the artifact is a set location and affecting it's victim, the more intense the distortions get (pottery/dishes "melting" or changing shape, entire rooms becoming mirrored, objects switching places with each other, glass clinking sounds being heard from every room, ...). Eventually it moves from inanimate objects to people in the victims life.

Pyrite's hair got turned a purple/pink as a cause of the artifact. Panicked, Pyrite's mother took a hammer to the glass, breaking it untill there was nothing left but dust. Pyrite found her body later that day as it was being taken away by paramedics. He moved away after that, taking a single glass shard as a keepsake to remember her by, having no idea of it's effects.

He went on to study mathematics in London and found his fathers research notes, going down the same cursed rabbit hole he did.

She did become an avatar for The Spiral later on as the artifact went on to distort any research notes Pyrite made/found beyond recognition, essentially 'winning' and making her a Spiral avatar. Pyrite died in 2010 after Gertrude and Michael stopped the great twisting. Died mad and dazed and out of breath, trying to keep her grip on the only thing that was left of her mother, the destruction of the ritual making her take her own life.

me and my best friend(one of the other co-DMs) did art of Pai Rite and his gay boyfriend Revemine for valentines day!! :D

(also tagging @horrid-mothlegs for if you want more info for when our tma ocs can hang out >:])

[0-sunstranger-0]

You ever see two fandoms that are so expansive and could slot together so easily, or at the vary least function as very close cousin fandoms

[tmaaov]

Sometimes I stay awake at night knowing some people in the server have my tik tok

[laertesthelocalstranger]

Lae has a terrible father. It makes her very well suited for this.

She finds the first tree she can, scrambling higher with ease. It scrapes her knees and her hands, and real blood flows. She ignores it. Instead, Lae finds the limb of the tree with the most strategic angle for what he plans to do, and waits for the Hunter to catch up to him. The second Marc reaches the branch right below them, they’re ready to strike.

Lae isn’t exactly sure when this forest stopped being her forest. Technically, she doesn’t know if it’s not her forest at all. It could be the same one.

But none of the traps are in the right places, and he would know- he helped lay most of them. He avoids them anyway. Lae knows Marc, and she knows traps- she’s been walking among them long as she can clearly remember.

But it might not be her forest. And that is an interesting thought.

[autismprotocol]

TMAG Theory Board Update (EP 11-12)

Hi guys sorry about the late posting I've just started a new quarter of college and its been pretty hectic. also got into my school design BFA program so pretty stoked about that! Anyways lets get into the Episode Breakdowns because even though not a lot of lore related things happened I still have a lot to talk about

For the breakdown I'll separate each by episode in sequential order

What Happened in Episode 11: Marked

Celias Rude Awakening- we jump right into the weirdness straight away with Celia waking up on the side of the interstate. she indicates that this is not a weird occurrence and ends the scene by telling someone named Jack that she's "on her way." If you remember episode 8 after Celia and Sam talk to Gerry and Gertrude, she mentions stuff about wanting help with her own mystery. When Sam asks about it she says she's looking into Time travel, other dimentions and teleportation. Many people have theorized that maybe Celia is just a super heavy sleepwalker, but I think the she teleports random places out of nowhere. This could be a side effect of her reality hopping if this Celia is originally from The archives universe.

As for the identity of Jack I'm not quite sure about that yet. I cross referenced the name Jack with past episodes of TMA. The only thing that came up was Jack Barnabas from the statement about dating Agnes Montague (aka an avatar of the desolation and Jesus-like figure for the cult of the lightless flame) So Unless Celia is secretly Agnes of Agnes reincarnated , I can't find any way to link Barnabas to Celia. (if anyone has a theory feel free to send it my way.)

Sam Lore- this one is pretty minor story-wise but I thought it was interesting. Before the statement for the episode is presented we get some classic Sam and Alice Banter ™ most of it is pretty lighthearted but I noticed Sam mention something that could indicate he might be an amputee.

These could not mean anything and I find it weird that it hasn't been mentioned until now but thought it was kind of cool and I will probably be drawing sam with a prothetic leg in the future cause I really like this head-canon. It also begs to question if he is missing a leg. it might have anything to do with his past as a Magnus institute test subject but then again could just be a fun character detail added by Jonny and/or Alex .

The Statement- Getting into the statement we get another Ink5oul appearance. Also possible Ink5oul identifying as she/they. (and lets be honest being a fear avatar is pretty non binary core). I found this Episode gave me a feeling of a hybrid between the Vast, Buried and the Flesh some people are theorizing that is might be a new entity called the Deep but I think that the fear of the ocean could easily apply to the vast or buried. Not much to say about this story though pretty standard Magnus horror that also gave us a hint to what Ink5oul's goal could be/which entity they serve.

Post Bonzo- Gwen has a debrief with Lena after her first Externals Liason assignment and her meeting with Mr. Bonzo. Undoubtedly Gwen is still pretty shaken from her encounter, even arriving late to work due to sleeplessness. Gwen is able to ask Lena a few questions mainly she wanted to know who's name was written on the letter given to Bonzo

Lena is largely unhelpful but tells Gwen she should have worked it out by now and if not to pay close attention to the case load for the next couple of days. before the latest episode my guess was Klaus because that is the only person mentioned so far that the OIAR intends to kill. but more on that later

Marked- Now were getting to my favorite thing about this episode. This episode title can have two meanings. The first is the more literal interpretation. Tattoos are marking of the body and the case this episode was all about tattoos so easily a good name would be marked. But I believe this is a red herring meant to misguide listeners who have not consumed all 200 episodes of TMA because if you know the world of Magnus Archives the term Marked takes on a entirely different meaning.

In TMA the term marked is used to indicate that somebody has been influenced by one or more or the fears and are one their way to becoming an Avatar. I think this could be a coded way to tell the audience someone in the OIAR has been marked. I have two potential candidates

Alice Dyer- Alice has been having dreams about the Institute after her and Sam's adventure into the ruins. also she mentions feeling like someone's watching her (common to people influenced or fed upon by the Ceaseless Watcher/The Eye) My guess if she is marked it would be by the Eye.

Gwendolyn Bouchard: Probably the most likely culprit. The main way an entitly tends to mark people is through encounters with other avatars. Gwen has just had an encounter with Mr Bonzo last episode who I strongly believe must be an avatar of some sort.

What Happened in Episode 12: Getting Off

Aww Sam!!- Sam asked Celia out and it was adorably awkward. not much to say I just loved this interaction and I'm longing for a new Magnus brand office romance hopefully is wont be an agonizing slowburn that ends tragically like a certain pair of morons from Archives (I love you Jon and Martin but Jesus christ)

It's Bonzo time bitches!!- Probably one of the most gruesome Magnus statement I've ever listened to (good work Alex) Mr Bonzo completely annihilated some poor dude at his bachelor party. Based on the date of the Incident the I can confidently say that whoever Baz (the groom) was he was our mystery person the OIAR sent Mr Bonzo to get rid of. Along with some of the bloodiest imagery we learned a few things about Bonzo. The most interesting detail is that Bonzo has to be summoned by playing his theme song I think the CD of his theme song acts somewhat like the tapes did in TMA by materialising out of nowhere. Also fun fact you know that torn seam that is right down Bonzo's middle? that is actually is his mouth lined with rows sharp teeth so I guess I know that now (so fun) Moral of the story dont f*ck with Mr. Bonzo

Alice knows something: Theres been this recurring audio glitch throughout TMAGP thatnks to a few extremly observent fans we have started to relize that these glitches are not at all random and are actually letting the audience know when a character is lying (i actually reposted somones deepdive into all the istances of this glitch so far if you guys are intrested in knowing more) why i bring this up now is becuase since we know when any charater is lying we also know when they are being truthful if there is no glitch when they say somthing and at the end of this episode this interaction occurs

Alice goes ahead and makes a joke about this to annoy Gwen but the fact theres no audio glitch when she says "I know" means she does actually know who is behind the OIAR and is activly refusing to share it with Gwen or the others. What do you know Alice!?

and that's about it im already loving these next batch of episodes and am so excited to learn more (ERROR has to show up somtime )

thanks to everyone who resonded the poll on the last update I will continue to include drawings into the breakdown even if it takes me a little bit of time to post. anyways I wrote this all in one sitting and I'm about ready to pass out so thanks again and the ask box and comments are always open for discussion and theory crafting.

-Echo

[we-love-you-star-child]

Months

Eumeye-life

1. Glaranos- Eumeye is celebrated here

2. Seleymi

3. Malenra

Elovolm-power

4. Naseyli

5. Enyaris- Elovolm is celebrated here

6. Julema

Toreil-death

7. Liredi

8. Wofyani

9. Quonasi-Toreil is celebrated here

Algor-helplessness

10. Kiruvi- Algor is celebrated here

11. Alystras- Algor is celebrated here

12. Dulyira- Algor is celebrated here

[thevampireauthoress]

Something that really strikes me about TMAGP is that it has two listener inserts. The one coming into it completely blind (Sam) and the one coming into it from another universe with preconceived notions (Celia).

Jon was a useful protagonist/listener insert in TMA because all of us were discovering the lore with him, now for this side-quel they've split the difference, I'm looking forward to seeing how their story develops.

EDIT:

thank you @overlyegoistic for telling me the correct term is "audience surrogate" :)

[anthroposeen]

tmagp 12 relisten notes

Celia:

- requests tea, not coffee, the OIAR custom. points to her being from the TMA universe + bonus thing! there was no tea in the OIAR and sam lended her some. potentially a demonstration of their relationship dynamic lore-wise (celia representing other-wordly things and sam's insistence on interacting w them. this is definitely a reach, though, since im very much a 'the curtains are never just blue' person)

- she agrees to go out with sam but needs to "sort some things out" maybe related to jack, georgie, or her individual research

Sam:

- he asked her out! oh my god (alice's father)!

- is trying to distance himself from the magnus institute (TMI) but is still unable to break his curiosity about it

Alice:

- watched sam ask out celia (we can assume it was with the manner of a deer in the headlights)

- "its rude to have no game" i love you maam

- no glitch after she says "i cant believe im missing out on all of this- devastating" but could be because it comes off as more sarcastic than a blunt lie

- "we dont always get what we want, do we?" potentially a hint at her feeling about sam

- "i go by alice, now, actually" important only because i adore you miss dyer

- seems to genuinely care about gwen, lending to the idea that shes protecting her coworkers

- "i dont wonder. i know" no glitch followed this statement. it could be because it was meant as a joke and not to deceive gwen, but who is to say

Gwen:

- she's trying to discuss the morality of their roles and seems to be unhappy to participate in mascot strip club murder

- "you dont wonder what the point is? who benefits from all this awfulness?"

Glitches/lies:

- "dont worry about it, it wasnt that bad" alice, referencing TMI

- "no." sam, lying about not being interested in information about TMI

Incident:

- this is the result of gwen giving mr bonzo the hit, and it seems to have been read at her computer (once again implying theres a consciousness within FR3D1 or jmj)

- incident made by jordan bennett -> maybe related to this universe's bennett family (connection to barnabas bennett) but i doubt its lore relevant

- no obvious alchemic ties in this incident

- this case is narrated by norris/martin, but goes against the regular theme of his incidents (lonliness, loss of a loved one)

- the robotic sound of the narration seems to be diminishing, with very little of the beginning and end of the incidents being read in a monotone and robotic voice

- i want to voice my deepest appreciation for the title being "getting off", along with mr bonzo initiating a hit for the uk government in a strip club. incredible. absolute cinema from the minds of AJN and johhny sims truly

The target:

- before this episode, my theory was that klaus, colin, and teddy were the most likely to be the hit

- based on this list, if the target is the groom, it makes the most sense for it to be klaus, since there has been no mention of colin or teddy being engaged, and thats a clue i dont think the writers would leave out. however, the groom is called "baz" by his friends, which is a nickname i dont recognize (but its potentially on the rpg somewhere?)

- im not very convinced that klaus was the groom in this incident. i think the hit may have been obvious to lena, but gwen has yet to connect all the dots, leaving the audience a bit in the dark as well

[1tsteatime]

TMP 11- IMPLICATIONS OF ALICE'S PARANOIA

OKAY OKAY-

ALICE IS BEING PARANOID ABOUT SOMEONE FOLLOWING HER. This could mean a couple of things, and all outcomes are REALLY interesting:

Nothing is following her, but the effects of the Magnus Institute (i.e. THE EYE) are feeding on her fear by making her feel like she is. That has serious implications for the wider lore of protocol so far. Not to mention, it would mean bad news for Alice- we all know where that kind of paranoia leads [extended sounds of brutal pipe murder].

Mr. Bonzo is following her- less likely I think, but still possible! And honestly the idea of AU Mr. Blobby being an evil, government-hired, supernatural operative is still so funny to me, so I'll take it.

[ERROR] is following her- THIS WOULD BE SO GOOD. Whether the physical entity (for lack of a better word atm) is stalking her, keeping just out of reach, or the manifestation of it being nearby is causing trailing paranoia, again as a result of being so near the ruins, this is so interesting. Even if it isn't the case, I am dying to find out who/what [ERROR] is.

None of the above- this could be an entirely new entity or avatar or person that we haven't met yet! That would be a super cool way to introduce them.

As to whether [ERROR] is Jon or Martin or Jonah, or someone else from the TMA universe, or a new big bad of the podcast, I think we'll just have to wait and see.

Either way, I am so so excited at this development.

[disappointingcabbage]

TMAGP uhhhh *checks transcript* 24 live reaction and thoughts, spoilers under the cut

Gwen: pls let me go meet the monsters again

Lena: no…. Ok fine but only if you help me get rid of my annoying asshole boss when he shows up later

Gwen: bet

Why did I think the mother in this case was Celia for a hot second

Wait a fucking second this lady doesn’t remember shit about the pregnancy or the birth???? Are we sure this isn’t Celia?????

Like I know the intro of the case (courtesy of Norris, haven’t had a case from him in a while) calls her Patricia but like. This cannot be a coincidence.

DEMON BABY DEMON BABY DEMON BABY D-

CELIA MENTION IN THE CASE so the mother isn’t Celia got it

Awww demon baby likes Celia

Is the demon baby drinking blood?

I like that this case is just as horror oriented as it is an accurate depiction of new mothers’ struggles, especially single moms.

Yup he’s drinking blood

These health visitors are sus

this might be inspired by changeling lore I think

the transcript saying “it is not a baby” is kind of hilarious tbh

Oooh Sam and Celia field trip

Alice stopping them to lore dump about what she learned and subsequently figured out from her conversation with Gwen last episode is the kind of clear communication the characters should have had in TMA

Celia believing Alice the second she mentions tape recorders is very much not disproving the universe hopper theory

I’m glad they’re agreeing to watch each other’s backs, even if Sam and Alice are butting heads

Awww Alice really cares

wtf why is basira a school headmistress

Why does she sound so different from how I remember her in TMA

Celia asking about her being a cop is very TMA