This is definitely informative. I’m still interested in seeing everyone’s point of view on their in world selves and any process that went into the creation. Even if they’re an extension of out of world you with Magiq added, you still get to look at that version and think about it’s thoughts and actions and consequences. I remember hearing or reading somewhere that people have trouble making beneficial choices for their future selves because they’re a different person that the current person has a hard time caring about. Here we have a different version of yourself that you immediately care about. It’s interesting.
13 Likes
OMG. Yes. One of us. One of us.
11 Likes
Yeah, this is a super interesting question, because I think the real-world ties have (at least for me) both limited my character creation choices and encouraged a lot of interesting character growth.
As CJ said above, the Forum didn’t used to have any sort of “out-of-world” areas at all. When I joined (around the time of the 3rd Assessment/post Fragment 12), the marketing was something similar to an ARG but with more story and less gaming, and given that, it just made the most sense to me to inhabit the Forum as myself, with a couple of little tweaks.
So when thinking about how I wanted to present the “character” of Viviane, I started with the premise that Magiq in the style of the AGP-verse is real, and given that, what might be different about me?
The initial question was, How did I find out about magiq? Was I a believer or an adept who had known all along that magiq was real? Had I just been hoping for it and then found people in the Mountaineers to confirm that it was? Did I just stumble upon the group thinking it would be a fun game and then discovering it was actually real? Given those possibilities, what background knowledge or experiences would I have that would lead me to believe in the possibility of real magiq? Those were the sorts of things I wrote into my backstory, and that I keep in mind when talking about my experience of magiq in-world.
The next question was (and is) How do you react to Magiq? This is sort of the ongoing question that shapes my in-world interactions. The Monarch Papers at the time I joined was getting pretty serious narratively. The Book had been burned (or “gotten crispy” as someone said), and characters were actually in danger of losing their lives/memories/selves to a very powerful enemy. With that in mind, whenever we made a decision, I would have to think through why I would make the decisions I would make, why I felt like preserving Magiq or revealing secrets or whatever was worth the risk. Like, in this alternate universe what motivates me?
I think the most interesting thing by far has been the continuation of the story after TMP, because I’ve had to think through How would I carry on after those major events? And often times it’s easiest to create a certain amount of continuity between my real-life moods and motivations and my magiqal ones.
Incidentally, I do have trouble caring about my future self (mostly because I have no proper sense of time and limited impulse control), but I see my Magiqal self as very much me personally, in this moment, albeit with a different (and hypothetical) set of possible actions and limitations.
16 Likes
That parenthesis in the spoiler was me.
I know Griffin and I share a joining day, but yours must be pretty close to ours as well!
And real life things going on during TMP were the source for the quote from me.
But yes, coming in about the same time Viv did, and with my chosen forum name, I was feeling a bit wary/like someone might think I was a not-so-friendly plot-wise. (that never happened, or at least was never said where I could see it 
)
10 Likes
I didn’t realize that the origins were different from the current iteration. That’s another facet to consider, how when a person joined influenced their in-world self. Do you find that interactions with people who were closer to your starting point are preferable to interactions with newer people who have entirely fictional selves?
8 Likes
I joined when the whole forum was in-world as well. I crafted a backstory ( Finding the Way: Becoming a Mountaineer - #15 by Sellalellen )where the school librarian had snuck a copy of the Guide into my bag, and then went on from there, as me, but in slightly different circumstances. I almost see it as a “parallel dimension” self, with finding the Guide being the splitting-off point that leads my story in a different direction than the story of my character. So while she is essentially me, I do feel like (in keeping with the splitting dimensions analogy) the gap between character Sel and real Sel is getting wider, but not by so much that we’re two entirely different people. Just two possibilities of the same person? Idk I haven’t gotten philosophical about this in a while.
As for interacting with players who prefer to have a character entirely separate from themselves, I did find it strange at first, simply because there had never been a way to do that before then. Now, it’s no different to me than interacting with anyone else, though I can find it’s harder to get to know their real self sometimes.
7 Likes
These answers are excellent and really help me to think about how I want to form myself in-world. The point you made about it being a bit difficult getting to know the real person is a good one. I want to embrace this community and get to know all of you and hope you guys get to know me so I think I want to keep In-world me myself. That was a weird sentence. Anyway, I could alternately see why someone would rather have the distinction if they were looking for an immersive escape.
9 Likes
I think that’s really one of the big draws of this fantasy world for me, is that it’s much more immersive because you’re yourself, only plus magiq. You don’t have to try to put yourself into the shoes of someone from another culture or society (like in DnD, for example), imagine yourself going to a magic school like Hogwarts or Brakebills and create pretend experiences to draw from, etc. Your in-world life can be your regular life, but with this added enhancement. I think that’s what makes the “magiq-verse” unique, and why I’ve fallen in love with it.
12 Likes
If you go on the Magiq wiki (Basecamp 33 Forum | MAGIQ Wiki | Fandom), you can see some of the archives of what the forum used to look like. As The Monarch Papers ended, the forum was restructured. It’s gone through quite a few changes and now there’s much more meta (out of world) content.
I’ve been around since close to the beginning (Fragment Two). It’s hard to fully describe how things were, but there was a time when no one knew anything about CJ. We were only communicating with him through NPCs, primarily Endri. We started to get to know CJ through his vlogs, and eventually the Cabinet Of Otherworldly Wonders category was created to house meta content. The Discord was created around Phase Three, and that led us to really start getting to know each other. I mention all this because, for a long time, we didn’t really have avenues to communicate outside of the in-world categories and I feel like that shaped us. Most of us didn’t come in playing characters, we came in as ourselves and played along with the Magiq aspect.
Personally I would advise people to come in as themselves. Partially because then the regulars will get to know your authentic self. But also because I feel like there’s a very real risk of Main Character Syndrome. Especially for people still getting acquainted with the lore of the world. Magiq is a thing that happens of course, but it’s fading from the world, and even when the remaining scraps are honed, it’s very dangerous and unpredictable. So when someone comes in with a character concept that is super entrenched in magiqal doings…it can be kind of problematic? At any rate, that’s my perspective on the matter. 
14 Likes
More fantastic input! I used to play text based RPGs based on fantasy books when I was a kid and everyone other person was the True Hero from the way they wrote themselves. These are good things to state openly. I haven’t made it all the way through the books yet but I’m eager to participate and it would have been embarrassing to say something like, “Her entire being radiated with Magiq.” Not that I would say that. Lol. Just an example.
6 Likes
That is a concise and kind way to put it @Revenir and I appreciate it. The idea that we as a community are heroic, not just the individual. Or else this would become CJ Bernstein’s School For Gifted Youngsters.
15 Likes
Oh my gosh, I love CJ Bernstein’s School For Gifted Youngsters as a crack fanfiction though 
14 Likes
Same. I was like… wait a minute
13 Likes
There’s room in The Creationary for that 
9 Likes
And don’t forget the competing school, Teddy Fallon’s Academy for Extraordinary Children, now with 50% larger prison cells! 
(I’ll lead myself out)
10 Likes
Oh Man, the Kemetic Hellfire Club of New York.
11 Likes
Annnnnd now I’m imagining Teddy Fallon dressed as Magneto.
But yes, I would also highly recommend just interacting with the Forum as yourself. We’re here trying to discover every day a little more about how magiq works together, as a team, and I think that’s best done from your own perspective (more or less).
13 Likes
This is a really interesting thread because I hadn’t considered creating an in-world character. What I LOVED about the ad campaigns that lead me here (it was through Insta, for the record, @CJB, and those graphics helped seal the deal) was that they were basically saying “so you’re into witchy stuff? Come this way, please.” It was like getting the Hogwarts letter! So fun and immersive from moment one. It kind of felt like an invitation to come be myself, but through the forum format that I grew up on. #internetmillennials
I think the differences that I can foresee for my in-world play versus my “real life” is that my magiq will have slightly more visceral effects? I really do believe that our intention creates the world around us. I say little (non-religious) prayers over objects before I give them to people. But here, I think I could add a little glitz to my magiq. 
Also, I go by my full name here— Carlisle Rose— and in my everyday life I’m almost always nicknamed Callie. I love my full name, but it’s pretty long and can feel ultra formal sometimes, so I hesitate to ask people to use it. The online world can be such a freeing way to really be our truest selves! It’s always been pretty cool that way.
17 Likes
professer bernsteins school for extraordinary magimystics
5 Likes
I’ve been thinking about this post all day. I am extremely new here but was instantly sucked Into the story (almost done with TMP v.2), what drew me here were words I have uttered for years now. Magiq is missing from the world, erased and no one remembers. But there are those that do…the memory lingers and something just doesn’t feel right without it.
What I love most about this forum is that for the first time I’ve met people that get me, I’m not crazy or out of my mind. Fantasy, imagination, reality are all the same. What we perceive in the mundane is a snowflake on the metaphorical iceberg.
I’ve been reflecting a lot on how far would I go to uncover more of the Truth of why Magiq is gone from this world. I’ve felt all my life that my reason for being here on the planet right now is to help unlock Magiq again. In world, out of world, it’s all the same to me. I had been resolved to finding clues relatively on my own. To discover a whole community of folks that are pooling incredible skills, talents, knowledge, wisdom and intent sounds like a worthy force to challenge the powers that have held this world on magiqal lockdown.
I am extraordinarily grateful to be here right now. Really, this forum is helping me more in my life right now than many of you know and I am so appreciative.
And to answer the question I have asked myself all day, how far am I willing to go?
All the way. I have felt Magiq as far back as I can remember and I will stop at nothing to learn more. I will sacrifice any amount of ridicule, skepticism, judgement etc. to help bring Magiq back.
14 Likes