Picture of CJB

The Ackerly Green Book Shop

Alright, so this is… weird.

I’ve spent the past 24 hours on calls and email with Instagram, support threads on a tech security forum, and I even paid a guy $20 on a freelance site to try and explain how this could happen if someone didn’t hack my account.

Sorry, backing up…

This photo:

 

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I didn’t post this photo. I posted the first one, the quote. That’s taken in our office. But not the Oz book.

 

Instagram says there was no suspicious activity on the account. No weird sign-ins.

 

After the bio changed to “The Ackerly Green Book Shop” last week I added two-factor authentication to make sure nobody was messing around with the account. So I should’ve gotten a text on my phone. Never did. Support at Instagram said that it had similar hashtags to my previous post so I should check to see if someone else in my company had posted it (they are unaware that I and Dev are the company at the moment.) So where did it come from? Listen, if it was one of the Mounties, I don’t mind AT ALL. I just want to know because this, combined with the bio, and some other weird things that have been going on lately (will post about soon) it’s got me all kinds of sort of freaked out.

 

175 Comments

  1. I mean, I wish I owned a cool book like that…but no. Sorry, Sabes. Do you know how someone else could have gotten the account info? Or do you think someone’s got a spell that can hack websites or social media accounts?

    (And am I crazy, or do I remember you saying that the Book of Briars seemed to have put itself up for pre-order on the AG site?)

    1. Good point, @Viviane. And I considered The Council.

      The Book of Briars did “put itself” up for pre-order, which I assumed was either the book itself sort of wanting to… be? (Which I kind of headcanoned was the point of what you guys did anyway. Sort of bring the book, and the new age, to life.) Or it was the last thing The Council did before they went quiet.

      But in all the months since they disappeared Instagram is the place they decide to pop back up?

      It’s definitely a possibility, but I guess I’d just counted them out. From everything we’ve learned, The Council used up all the power they had, and nearly all the magiq left here, to help us in the end.

      I mean I’d love to believe they’re still out there helping. But I’d also like to have a long talk with them if that’s the case because I don’t personally think the best use a magiqal, otherworldly organization’s time is gathering Instagram followers.

      1. …Aaaaand now I’m imagining the Council trying to decide what filter has the best magimystical properties to show off their morning inter-dimensional Starbucks. :joy: But yeah, good point.

    1. I mean, The Oz books are my favorite series. One of the reasons I became a writer… otherwise, I don’t know. That’s the nerve wracking part, @OracleSage. We’ve had people highjack our stuff for good and bad. And is that even what this is? A highjacking? A message? A clue?

      1. Could be all of the above honestly, what we know for now is that neither you nor Dev posted this… Which means someone else, for whatever reason did, based on how cryptic these folk like to be… Id say its definatly worth taking a look at. Ill see if I can spot anything after I’m done making dinner, maybe we should start with what we know about this book in particular? It seems like our best lead.

        EDIT: According to Wikipedia Ojo in OZ follows a young man whose been captured by gypsies, gypsies who plan on delivering him to some unknowable enemy whose offered them a great sum. Ojo befriends Snufferbux (try saying that ten times fast :joy: ) who is the gypsies dancing bear. It follows their journey in Ojo’s attempts of escape. That’s the basic plot, anyway.

  4. Okay, it’s almost creepier knowing the series is your favorite? Like, some rando posting pics of old books to a publishing bookshop’s Instagram is one thing, but if it’s personal to you, that seems…a lot sketchier. Or, you just happen to have exceedingly magiqal taste in books, and it has nothing to do with your tastes and someone wants AG’s Instagram followers to see this book for completely different reasons, which we also don’t know.

    Cool. Awesome. (At least we know it’s not the Storm possessing us to steal our memories/selves, right? Heh. Hehehe.)

  6. perhaps some third party with magiqal means is doing this. Have we considered anyone who isnt monarchs or silver might still have magiq? i mean, surely there are others out there.

    maybe someone from behind the scenes is setting us up for something big. Dunno what oz would have to do with it though.

    Then again, take what i say with a grain of salt. I write so many stories sometimes its hard to differentiate game backstory and real life :stuck_out_tongue:

  7. I think a major thing worth considering is Sabers privacy, and safety… Or how close this mystical third party could be. I don’t know about any of you, but my favorite books series isn’t something someone could find by simply looking my name up. Sabes have you cast the Jordorian Protection spell on your home/ackerly green offices??

    1. Dev and I, with Deirdre’s notes, cast the Joradian Safeguard on my place, his place, the site, and the redone forum. Poor Dev. Imagine your first week at a new job and you’re asked to cast magic of unknown origin on your own apartment. Well, you guys probably wouldn’t mind, actually.

    1. Oh! I hadn’t even thought of that… It would make total sense too, I mean, I think Saber said the pin has brought him places and things like that in the past… Maybe they have gotten tech savvy.

  9. I would be more freaked about it being an Oz book if they weren’t already so popular, you know? Hoping someone isn’t targeting me directly, but I guess I signed up for a certain amount of that.

    But yeah, could definitely have something to do with the pin. I’ve gotten turned around in my own neighborhood while wearing it. I feel like I have… I don’t know, higher sensitivity when I have it on. It’s not a bad thing. Not scary. Just definitely something magiq going on.

  12. So either someone is sending you a secret message, or you have a magiqal/spectral PR department working for you.

    As much as I love a good secret message, that second option is pretty interesting.

      1. I noticed that whoever/whatever is posting always puts the description in curly brackets, and signs it “-AG” – Ackerly Green, I’m assuming? Is it safe to assume that if you post, you’ll be signing it with your initials, like the first post?

        1. That’s right. I noticed the difference in formatting too, but I guess I’ve seen “AG” so many times over the past year I didn’t think much about it. Who’s signing these as Ackerly Green, the company?

          1. The only other AG I can think of is Aisling Green. Maybe in the age of Magiq we lost she was (is?) an Instagram genius.

          4. Well we all agree AG stands for something. It always a good first step to round up all the possible suspects and keep them in mind.

            I know our Supreme Court thinks corporations are people, but I have a slightly easier time swallowing a person is doing this than the actual company. But either way, I am way too far into tin foil hat territory even speculating.

  13. Okay, so since we’re :tinfoilhat:-ing, ever since I got a separate office for Ackerly Green (and moved work hours out of our apartment) there have been… things happening.

    Like voices? Not in the adjacent offices. In AGP. And if I’m here late, and the floor is quiet, I sometimes hear typewriters.

  15. Since we now know the Low has it’s own podcast. I wonder if they have their own version of those cheesy ghost hunting shows? We could try to get your offices featured on one of those. It’d be good publicity, too.

    Now I’ve got this image of some bro with spiky hair and a flamboyant cape looking around your office for ghosts with his small camera crew. I’m amused and appalled.

    1. Ghostfacers: the Ackerly Green Edition! Although I think getting a whole camera crew in there could be difficult.

      So, that’s also super weird. Do you think it might be connected to the Instagram posts? I mean, given the past year or so I’m ready to say anything is possible. Are typewriter ghosts also proficient in Instagram marketing?

    2. Where is this podcast? Also no joke, maybe its the magiq thats already in AGP. The previous company was producing magiq books, and was in the book of the wild right? Maybe the residual magiq connecting the old and new is affecting things? Names have power, and taking on the mantle of AGP probably has let the magiq be released and be used. Maybe the ghosts are appearing there too.

        1. Oh wow. The memories here. This should be required listening.

          I wish we had an “in” to find new episodes. How often do you think they update?

          A quest for a later day, I suppose.

  16. Okay. Who is an important question, but let’s not forget about the Why. Why these books? The first one might have been to catch Sabe’s attention, being a favourite, but what about this one? What is the poster trying to say? It feels unlikely that whoever this is just wants to show us pretty books. Is that just a tinfoil hat theory? Maybe, but things surrounding this company tend to be more than they seem.

    1. The Mountaineers – including Sabe, let’s not forget, though he’s from the previous generation – and Ackerly Green have enemies and allies on this side of the mundane and on the other side.

      Nothing about this seems malicious to me. But it’s a good reminder that things… are changing.

      I think we’re on to something with all this :tinfoilhat:

      1. Woah. Okay, the questions are multiplying. This post calls the series “personally beloved.” Can we assume it’s one person, then? Who apparently shares my love for Beatrix Potter? And “recently acquired?” By whom? Sabes, the shop hasn’t actually acquired a copy of this game recently, right? No vintage board games mysteriously appearing in your office?

  20. Okay I’m just gonna list random thoughts as I read through these posts and see if anything stands out so sorry if any of the points have been made already;

    1 – Why are there so many ridiculous words in the description of the first post?

    2 – Should we look at Baum’s original works for clues?

    3 – Is the Bears full name important?

    4 – Everything has history, this seems like another clue

    5 – History, Memory, Wonder all key parts of Ackerly Green’s philosophy? Ideology? Motto? I’m not sure on the right word

    6 – Maybe it belonged to Ackerly Green or even Sullivan?

    7 – Rabbit, why is it always the rabbit!

    8 – The person who’s posting these pictures seems to have some attachment to them

    9 – Again with the wonder

    10 – A Game and books

    11 – Pathways, Silver and wool?

    12 – Maybe this is a clue to how many people are involved in this or who are being targeted or who have travelled a particular path?

  21. Do we have a connection to Connecticut in 1880? Or something that would lend meaning to the four year difference (Again sorry for lack of knowledge. I found the Mountaineers pretty late compared to y’all. Still working my way through the very helpful wiki in the gaps between homework and classes and study abroad apps. Maybe I’ll find some new corner of Magiq in the UK…I’m getting off track…again.)

    Payson Dunton & Scribner’s National System PENMANSHIP (for ease of access) this is #5 of twelve. Potter Ainsworth and Co. → Potter? Beatrix Potter connection between two sources?

    References to paths and alternate worlds. Game itself is called a race.

    Could there be clues in the photos aside from the books/games. These all seem to have a focus on childhood

    Beatrix Potter – Wikipedia (lil wiki article on Beatrix potter)

    Ref to four characters (again with the four…?)

    Book 27

    Emphasis on bear “Snuffurious Buxorious Blundurious Boroso”

    Wiki on author L. Frank Baum (seriously Lyman is an unfortunate name): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum

    Summary of Ojo in Oz (Mooner Mountain, MM?)

    07%20PM

    07%20PM1842×1000 550 KB

    Again, I’m gifting y’all with my unfiltered initial thoughts/notes. Hopefully you can make connections I can’t or that I missed. I’m not always accurate but I am thorough. Will post something more polished once I’m home.

    1. You pointing out the penmanship reminds me of Steve’s last puzzle a few months ago. :tinfoilhat:

      When I read the summary for that particular Ojo book/a summary of all of Ojo’s storyline, the fact that his father’s under the influence of magic stuck out to me as something that could be important.

  25. Whoever, or honestly I shouldn’t even assumed its a person, we spent the last year communing with a book… So whatever it is, it has a message, and I think the best way we can figure out who it is to allow them to say what they need to say.

  27. LOL. I love how Sabes tells us that someone not him is mysteriously posting from the Ackerly Green Instagram, and within a handful of days we’re all assuming something wants to communicate with us and are looking for hidden messages and crazy literary puzzles. :tinfoilhat: What even are our lives on the Magiq internet?

    I’m not sure what exactly the common thread is between the mystery posts, aside from the same ‘old world stories’ aesthetic. The first post didn’t have a year, the second post had two, the third was actually about a board game…I dunno. And why the AG Instagram? What’s the connection? If who/whatever is posting wanted to contact us, why wouldn’t they come to the Forum? If they know about us and are friendly, we’re not that hard to find. And if the Joradian is keeping them away, I’m not sure I want to be talking to them…

  28. What’s striking me is that the author of the posts keeps citing the years they were published. Like if it was solely story based, why would they need to do that? I’d understand if something was obscure but this is consistently happening.

    Thus far we have (in order of posting):

    27 (mentioned), first published 1933

    CW 1876, labeled 1880

    1917

    1906

    1908

  29. Any pattern to the times the posts happened? Today’s was earlier in the day than the previous posts. Maybe mapping them to the times of day for the guilds on the Chronocompass? That would make a knock pattern to Neithernor…

    1. Feb 2nd, 2018; 7:57 pm HST for Ojo in Oz

      Feb. 5th, 2018; 7:41 pm HST for the Penmanship book

      Feb 7th, 2018; 5:28 pm HST for Beatrix Potter game

      Feb 8th, 2018; 3:54 pm HST for second Beatrix Potter post

      Feb 9th, 2018; 1:23 pm HST for third Beatrix Potter post

      My IG was displaying PST, almost made the mistake of posting that instead of HST. Whoops. Glad I caught that!

  32. Are we sure this is even a puzzle? I mean I’m so used to the Fragments that it’s the first thing my mind jumps to as well, but maybe it just is what it is.

  34. The fact that it’s just happening means something is up. Maybe it’s related to those strange pins Sab found? Either way, magiq is shifting and there’s a reason why.

    1. I had to reread “strange pins” a couple of times. It kept coming up as “stabbed bins” in my head for some reason. You’re probably right though. The pins are a probable cause of this.

  36. The caption for the fourth and third post seem like they might be referencing each other? Jeremy Fisher, at least the book is nowhere to be found in the post supposedly about him. The closest is the frog statue in the fourth post. Just spitballing.

    The four characters referenced in the 3rd post are: Peter Rabbit (rabbit), Jeremy Fisher (the frog), Squirrel Nutkin (the squirrel), and Jemima Puddle-Duck (a duck).

    1. I think the book is peeking in at the left side…

      Or I thought it was, but now that I look again, that’s a pig foot…

      Edit: Just looked again, Fisher’s book is in the first pic with Nutkin’s game piece. So I’m not going completely crazy.

  40. That dang repeating four again. Any significance to that number in the past? I’m drawing a blank.

    Thus far we have:

    Four ducklings

    Four characters

    3 dice with a four face up

    Four year difference between publishing and date of use in handwriting book

    The bear has four names

    1. Typically from what we’ve seen magiq works in multiples of 6, but the first magiqal reference to 4 that I can think of was unlocking the Book of Briars, itself. Four phases, four fragments per phase – Fragment 4 itself was divided into 4 parts? Anyway, that gave us four plants (flora), animals (fauna), and constellations (cosmos). I don’t remember whether we got a Book/Age on the last fragment?

      And, of course…tetrahedrons have four sides. (Please don’t kill me for reminding everyone!)

      2. I can’t believe I missed the four from the fragments.

        @Ashburn don’t remind me. I’m still emotionally destroyed.

        Edit: Also I’ll keep updating that list of posting times in case that ever becomes relevant.

    1. Well, it has nothing to do with magiq, but there is a sci fi fandom that has a focus on knocking four times during one particular season.

      A little more on-point, Peter has three siblings, which would be four rabbits total.

    1. The caption wasn’t {in brackets} and it was signed “-CJB” so I think it’s safe to assume so, but let’s see. Hopefully what ever entity is doing the other posts isn’t also committing perjury!

  47. I’m beginning to think it maybe hinting at the guilds in each theme, the peter rabbit theme could be Balimora, and then this new one could be Weatherwatch. Obviously it’s took soon to tell.

    2. If the pirate one is Weatherwatch, penmanship feels very Thorn-y.

      And at this point, there are now 6 AG posts.

      Adding: The Toad post could be Bali! (Remembered the Minnying of Ojorad)

      Again, presuming there’s some correlation going on to begin with.

      Some more general spitballing:

      Tenuous linking of Jemima Puddleduck and Unowl?

      Puddleduck post mentions a fox; there’s a fox in the cosmos picture.

      I thought that “boroso” could translate to something and knew that “ojo” did; ojo is “eye” and “borroso” is “blurry.”

      The first Beatrix Potter post is more about the mechanics of the game than any specific characters, maybe Flinter?

  48. what could this be leading to? We dont have a code or a locked box, so to speak. We cant enter a passcode or anything… Maybe it’ll be revealed as we go.

  57. So, Captain Salt feels distinctly WW.

    Black Beauty as Gossmere? Or possibly Eben?

    Game of logic as Thornmouth?

    Alice in Wonderland as Balimora?

    1. Osh. Black Beauty definitely feels like a Gossmere story.

      Captain Salt definitely feels Weatherwatch along with Alice In Wonderland feeling Balimoran.

  58. Alright.

    So

    Black Beauty: Gossmere

    Alice In Wonderland: Balimora

    Captain Salt in Oz: Weatherwatch

    Game of Logic: Thornmouth

    Am I missing any?

      1. See… Ojo seems the Gossest to me of the bunch. It talks about nomads and a talking bear? Seems p Goss to me. But I see Black Beauty too…

        1. Maybe Ojo as Goss and Black Beauty as Eben? I know you mentioned that before. And I think it’s plausible, since Ebenguards are known for being activists, and that’s something Black Beauty inspired.

          1. Yeah, thats just my instinct, but I could be totally off. I do agree that Gossmere are probably found a lot in the ranks of activists, animal activists especially, but a book that could start a movement so big just seems distinctly Eben, and I would have a hard time placing Ojo anywhere else.

  59. I haven’t posted to Instagram in a while simply because I’m not sure what’s happening there. I do know what’s been happening at the offices of Ackerly Green and I’m putting a post together about it. It should be ready tonight/tomorrow.

  60. In response to @Cj_Heighton in a better thread, on his suggestion of AG being Aisling.

    Aisling was Sullivan’s … partner? I wanna say wife, but I’m unsure if they ever got married? They met up when each was following their respective path, Sullivan: Wool, Aisling: Silver.

    Anyways, she’s Deeds mother.

    From what we know, Aisling ‘sacrificed herself to save Diedre’ from being taken by Sullivan when Deed’s was little.

    So if it is her … ghost Aisling?

    I mean, either way Aisling or the actual Ackerly Green it’ll be a ghost.

    Tin foil time:

    That struggle between Sullivan and Aisling, she supposedly used some sort of Magiq on him and that’s what cost her her life?

    Do we know that she actually died, though?

    Or perhaps she simply no longer exists in our mundane world but elsewhere …?

    Or did we alter timelines enough that the struggle never happened and she didn’t die …?

    I am very sleep deprived.

    1. So, I don’t know if they ever legally married, but I think I remember that they married in some ancient half sunken Indian temple some time before Deeds was born.

      1. They did end up marrying for real (in the eyes of the law) once they reached New York. And they totally did do their first vows in a sunken temple. :slightly_smiling_face: She talks about it in her blog post about Tome Kindling with Colby, The Door – Part Three.

  61. Huh. So I might somewhat be onto something, here. Uhm, if thats the case… Could it be Aisling trying to protect the publishing house from sullivans influence? Is she malicious or good?

    1. I would say, based on what we know of Aisling… shes a wild card. She followed Silver, which to me is a big ole red flag. However, she seemed really morally driven, so much so that for awhile there I suspected she was an Ebenguard. I don’t think we know enough about her to make a guess as to where she stands, honestly.

  64. Screenshot_20180403-210023~2

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    Okay guys we have another Instagram post! I think that this might definitely link to what’s going on with Woolies memories

    1. This AG post is interesting. It mentions ‘a personal favorite of mine’. I want to think they’ve used that phrase before. Maybe if we gather together enough details of this person we can start to whittle down who it is. There’s a lot of mine fields in trying that though. Huh.

  69. Okay, so if the Warner in question is D’s grandfather, this AG may not be Aisling. Warner passed in ’78, and D was born in ’92, so unless Sullivan and Aisling were taking it super slow she never got the chance to meet Warner (unless it were to remind her of what she’d heard about him posthumously).

    1. I have to say this… hacker? I’m still not entirely sure who it is but I want to say hacker because admitting I believe a ghost has taken over the instagram is just too much to handle. Whatever it is, has nice taste in reading material.

    1. Indeed, it is a great work. Props to the poltergeist/ spooky Spector haunting the instagram.

      EDIT: YO WHAT IF ITS LIKE AETHER BECAUSE HES LIKE A HALF TECHNOLOGICAL SPIRIT BEING (GHOST) PERSON? Or did he go into witness protection program for magical Mounties or something??? Ah i dont remember and can’t be bothered to figure it out. Sorry @Aether for like not keep up with you, man.

  90. Its almost like he’s trying to tell us something :rofl:

    I have to say, we faced the literal storm and for some reason I find the idea of a ghost running the Ackerly Green instagram far more unnerving. Warner is familiar though, right? He used to co-own the old Ackerly Green I think? So that gives this… whatever they are, a time and place, if they knew Warner.

  92. Ye it’s either a huge clue or just a coincidence but I thought it was worth a shot. I’m gonna comb through the Instagram posts and see if I can find anything

    1. I tried summarizing the backgrounds/grouping them, if this helps?

      Table, broken pottery/china, unidentifiable books

      -Ojo in Oz

      Table, ship in a bottle, anchor

      -Captain Salt in Oz

      Table, pocket watch, game

      -The Game of Logic

      Table, key, Alice books

      -Sylvie & Bruno

      Table

      -Through the Looking Glass

      -The Prince and the Pauper

      Envelopes (Disbro- towards the top)

      -Penmanship

      -Black Beauty

      -Little Men

      -Art of Correspondence

      Peter Rabbit board game

      -board game

      -Jeremy Fisher

      -Jemima Puddleduck

      Beliefs and Magic, Mr. Livingstone, Russian monarchy, Mr. Maraini, Argentina/Buenos Aires

      -A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

      -The Little Prince

      -The Last Battle

      -The Master Key

      -20000 Leagues Under the Sea

      -Gulliver’s Travels

      -The Wind in the Willows

      -Oliver Twist

      -Robinson Crusoe

      -The Secret Garden

      -Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

  94. Okay so the first 9 posts are unique after that it’s either letters, books or wooden table as background. The only noticeable thing in the book background is the “Beliefs and magic” heading

  96. Aaaand a book that makes numerous references to all 3 words! http://books.google.ca/books?id=2RkkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT146&lpg=PT146&dq=“kirk”+”tete”+”botany”&source=bl&ots=3puyshhPWE&sig=0m9ccF4QIfoItQqyAzndl3DXVUg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwie-dy3vPzcAhWTCDQIHRoEDH4Q6AEwAXoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=”kirk”%20″tete”%20″botany”&f=false Its called “kirk on the zambesi”. Written by Sir Reginald Coupland. Follows a man named David Livingstone in 1858 on a zoological and botanical expedition to the Zambesi with a companion named kirk. Written like a biography.

    Oof. Davids cause of death was rather nasty. Internal bleeding mixed with disentary. Both of them were british legendary figures and african explorers. Interesting.

    1. So uh… theres a couple rabbit holes for all of you. The question is, why is this book here in (almost) every shot? It isnt exactly a classic, and its boring reading.

  98. I think I’ve found something else! In all the later book posts there are six books surrounding one in the centre. Could it be one book per guild? If so maybe chi’s finding represents Balimora? Because plants and stuff

    1. Yeah, I think there’s it might lead us to having to do something with magiq, as the tribes once did before. We’ll probably have to learn and perform one of their traditional spells, such as blessing the African Rains as they come down in order to have a bountiful harvest or something.

      Maybe we’ll be able to bless the rains down in Neithernore as well?

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