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Idk why it’s taken me this long to actually realise, but I think the cases that get read out by Chester/Norris/Augustus tmagp are actually “real”.
Not like they actually happened irl but like “real” in universe. Like the thing in tma where “all the statements you hear actually happened in universe”.
This is really random but the thought just kinda made itself known while I was listening to tmagp 13 lol
Honestly “Desires” might not entirely be it. I think it may be sort of a “Careful what you wish for”
“I just wanted to make people laugh” okay well nightmare clown
“I wanted to play the role of the mysterious stranger” okay. Truck crash
“I wanted to prove my thesis.” How about such an intimate experience with it that you will never be the same
It’s like these people are experiencing the consequences of obsession in real time dialed up to 11
This might be kinda rambly, but the first time I heard Augustus’s voice in tmagp ep 5 I was like THATS JONAH MAGNUS!! THE RICH VICTORIAN ASSHOLE EYE MAN!! It seems kinda obvious but still THE RICH EYE MOTHERFUCKER IS HERE AGAIN!
Fuck him, and apologies for the incoherence of this post, I had a some thoughts and wasn’t sure how to go about it.
THEY AREN'T THE FEARS ANYMORE!! THEY'RE DESIRES
(SPOILERS for TMA, and all of TMAGP episodes so far)
Okay, here me out
Tmagp1: Darla wants to hear Arthur's voice again. She even says: "I just couldn’t face the thought of the rest of my life never hearing him again, I had to try" and later on she even says: "But I had to know, so I went to the cemetery."
Tmagp1: RedCanary wants to know about the Magnus Institute. They want to know why it's listed under 'cleared' when there's no evidence of it. Hence why they go and explore it.
Tmagp2: Daria wants that absolute perfection. She wants to change who she is and get out of that dark place. When she talks about the thing that she felt was missing, she says, "... and that’s when I decide I need a tattoo. I had a couple already – just little things on my shin and my wrist – but I decided I needed something big. Something that really changed my look." She also mentions when talking about Ink5oul that "they just kept pressing me about my life, about why I wanted the ink" instead of asking what design she wanted. And when she got the tattoo she describes herself as now being, "Someone I wanted to know more about." Afterwards she even says how "For the first time ever [she] wanted to attempt a self-portrait. Something real and physical, [she] wanted to feel the brushes in my hands and the oil on [her] fingertips." I think a lot of her statement is about her desire and impulsive need for that perfection and that wholeness that she has been aspiring to for her whole life.
Tmagp3: Samuel wants to stay hidden. He wants and he "need[s] to get up, get out of here for treatment." He wants to get better and most of his delirious thoughts are the things that he wants, or feels like he needs. E.g. "I so much want to see it [the sun] again. This night seems endless. I want to be warm again. I am terribly afraid. Thank god for Maddie. I need to treat her better."; "I just need to rest."; "I need to be careful or we’ll drift apart." And then obviously as the narrative continues, Samuel wants to grow and 'put down roots'.
Tmagp4: The narrator wants to be revered and accepted into the Royal Court Orchestra of the Palatinate. He wants to show off and impress. The violin "was a creature with needs and purpose of its own. The needs were simple enough. Blood. Flesh." It has these needs and desires.
So far, I'm interpreting it to be that everything so far can be interpreted as a desire of sorts, varying in the strength and intensity of it. Obviously, fear is still a big part of it all, because if you want something so badly, aren't you afraid of it being stolen from you? Of it being out of your grasp? Of it being unachievable or impossible in some capacity? Of it being a lie?
Even Sam wants to find out more. He wants to know the why and the reason for things. Gwen wants Lena's job. Collin wants to fix all these bugs and keep Freddie running. Alice wants to just get on with it because she found out that wanting to know the 'why' of things is dangerous.
I think that somehow when the Web took all the Fears into a different universe, they morphed into something else. Or they changed to fit what was the most prevalent thing in that universe, because after all, everyone wants something, even if it's something small and inconsequential. Life and aspects of it has always been characterised by that desire for something. Like people wanting food, shelter, safety, love, warmth, happiness, etc. And I think since the Web was so intwined with Jon and Martin, it absorbed some of their emotions when it found its way into this new world, because after all Jon and Martin wanted to stop Jonah/Elias, to stop the apocalypse, to destroy the Panopticon, to be safe, and they wanted each other. I think the wanting and fear of things are really entwined in it all, though this could be absolute bullshit haha
I’ve been noticing this also, and I think it has something to do with the purpose of what Sam and the crew are doing in the first place. The purpose of the Magnus institute was to document people’s fear to make them relive it to feed the eye. But the OIAR randomly gathers statements from wherever it can find them.
Based on this, one possibility is that the OIAR is harvesting fear from the employees. So the system chooses statements based on what might stick with the employees. Hearing a story about someone suffering is sad and unpleasant, but hearing a story about something that is out there to cause pain, and it is probably still out there? That’s certainly enough to keep your average Joe paranoid.
did anyone else pick up on how many of the cases weren't from the victim's point of view? it's happened 3 times so far (4 if you count daria? she's complicated) out of seven cases. tma in comparison has 130 out of 154 statements (i am only counting s1-4 because s5 messes with format) (if the numbers are a bit funky please note that i hand counted them so i apologise for that). of course, we only have six episodes of protocol, but there is clearly a difference and i can still make a post out of it.
maybe it's because we aren't only getting stories from the survivors now, as other people have mentioned
but also, those accounts from the perpetrator remind me somewhat of statements from avatars. needles' poetic, ominous manner of speech sounded similar to statements like jane prentiss, manuela dominguez, etc. (side note: needles was very corruption in my opinion. calling the stabbing/other violent actions an act of affection was definitely reminiscent of jane and the hive, just saying). others have pointed the parallels between jonah magnus and the violin guy, but i'll do it again: guy obtains much power via acts of violence, and despite knowing it hurts people this guy continues to see the skill and power with a cost as a blessing, keeps the origin of the power secret and passes it onto another person, who they tell the origin of the power to and bestow the power upon this other person, who did not ask for this. samuel webber's contentment with his new form while retaining an underlying sense of fear is comparable to avatars who love and fear their entity in equal measure.
as well as this, these cases seem more directly aligned with tma entities. magp 4 is extremely slaughter, and resembles mag 42 (grifter's bone). magp 3 is corruption, and mag 6 is also corruption in my opinion (i think people agree with me on that?).
i'm sorry i haven't planned this out i just noticed something and spent an hour typing on my phone about it. tell me your thoughts in the tags, i'd love to see someone make an actual theory about this!
@mement0m0r1 sharing this here because we’re onto something
Celia mentions a “Jack” at the beginning of Episode 11: Marked, right? Stick with me for a moment.
The name Jack has appeared only three times before in TMA: once mentioned offhand by Breekon, once tangentially related to the Everchase, and finally (and most PROMINENTLY) in Jack Barnabas, the man who dated Agnes Montague and ruined the ritual of the desolation.
Now, assuming that Celia is in fact the same from TMA, this would mean she was originally known as Lynne Hammond. Lynne Hammond gave a statement in MAG: 100 “I guess you had to be there,” talking about a ghostly woman who was on fire and could burn her- which *seems* linked to the desolation.
Conclusion: After losing Agnes, Jack Barnabas went on to date Lynne Hammond, inciting the anger of whatever connection Agnes still retained to the world and making her appear to Lynne. Now, in this alternate universe, Celia is still dating Jack Barnabas
Thoughts?