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English
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Published:
2026-01-02
Updated:
2026-07-20
Words:
17,521
Chapters:
6/?
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24
Kudos:
16
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The Argylle Institute

Summary:

Jon doesn’t understand himself at all. He dislikes Martin, hate may even be the right word. This assistant, the only one appointed to him without his approval, has caused the head archivist nothing but delays and annoyance. In turn, the only thing Jon has given him in the past are rude comments and straight up ignorance, it was only fair because of his incompetent behavior. And now he’s suddenly obsessed with the idea of helping him? Jon had felt his heart breaking without his own consent when he saw his coworker in the abandoned room, shaking and crying. Pathetic was the first word that came to mind of course, but it felt like more of a reflex than a genuine thought.

An AU in which everyone works at a psychology institute in the parapsychology section.

!!Updates are on semi-hiatus. I'm currently writing a time-sensitive fic, after that I'll get back to writing.!!

Chapter 1: Explanation

Chapter Text

In this AU, our beloved workers (in their s1 forms mostly) from The Magnus Institute, London, work at a completely different archive. The archive is a part of a research institute on the topic of psychology. This specific archive is only a subsection, specializing in parapsychology. Just like the archive in TMI, they collect statements of people who have experienced or been close to unexplainable psychological happenings, and also do research on old abandoned cases and documents and occasionally work on cases that have been labeled inexplicable or unusable by real scientists. This section of the archive has a lot of rumors surrounding it, like that the last head archivist went mad because of a few specific cases and killed herself. The truth is that Getrude’s case is yet to be solved, and no body has been found.

I’d like to once again state that this is an alternate universe and a LOT of things in this fic aren’t canon-compliant at all, including the greater lore, fears, etc. It’s safe to read for even beginners of The Magnus Archives, as spoilers are only hinted at in obscure references. I do recommend being a little further than season 1 though. All of the characters have their canon counterparts’ first name, but not their last (or middle). This is because I want to make it very clear that these characters aren’t the same as the canon ones. A lot of my personal understanding and headcanons have been added and I may have slightly distorted things like backstory and personality to fit the narrative and the people they’re supposed to represent.

Here's everyone that will be featured so far, with the meaning of the last name if relevant and not self-explanatory:
- Jonathan Pavlov -> 'small' (yes, he's partially Slavic)
- Martin (K.) Webb
- Helen (the cat, formerly named Micheal because Martin thought she was a tomcat)
- Tim Wilde -> named after Oscar Wilde
- Sasha Lee
- Melanie Atwood -> named after Margaret Atwood
- Basira Burhan -> 'the one with proof'
- Daisy Wolffe (I know her real name is Alice but nobody ever calls her that so I changed it)
- Elias Veillard -> 'old man'
- Georgie Parker
- Getrude Thompson

CORRECT CHARTER ORDER (as of right now)
1. Stay Soft
2. Let It Snow
3. The Space Pirates

You'll figure out the rest as you read. I hope you enjoy!