#i do in fact like the magnus archives. some might say that i like it quite a lot.

[continuousmeowing]

i just had the most wonderful evening of my life. family dinners can actually be fun sometimes.

[sweet-as-kiwis]

International business is officially the Podcast Class

[jonnywaistcoat]

Hi Jonny, if you don't mind I have a question about the TMA TTRPG! So I noticed that on the player's guide there's this guy, who my friends and I assumed is probably Jon. If it is him, is this a canon design, or more like some of the non-canon stuff that's in the merch?

So, I hope you don't mind if i use this ask to go a bit off on one. I'm not specifically dragging you (I'm actualy glad you asked, as I've thinking about posting on the topic), but all the discussion around the RPG art and how "official" or "canon" it might be is, to my mind, slightly silly.

First up, is it "official" art? I mean, yeah, its art for the officially licenced Magnus Archives RPG. This means Monte Cook Games have commissioned someone to do a beatiful illustration broadly based on some aspect, episode or character from the podcast and it goes in the book. But that's kinda all it means. "Official" is a legal distinction, not an artistic one. The fact that it's in an official product doesn't make it any less one artist's cool interpretation of a character that has only been vaguely described in audio.

Second, is it Jonathan Sims the Archivist? I mean, it's probably based on the idea of him, but it's certainly not set in stone. When we were first discussing art with MCG, we advised that character pictures be more vibes-based and not explicitly tied to specific people (ie. a portrait inspired by Tim wouldn't be captioned "This is Tim" and wouldn't be placed opposite a profile for Tim Stoker, archival assistant.) This was mainly because we wanted the artists to have plenty of freedom to interpret and not feel too tied down by the need to know everything about the podcast. But, to be frank, it was also because we know that there are a few fans out there that are kinda Not Chill about what they've personally decided these characters look like and can get a bit defensive over depictions that differ.

It strikes me as particularly strange to be having this discussion about art that's for a roleplying game book. Something that's explicitly and solely designed to give you the ability to play in your version of the Magnus universe. The idea that this is the thing where we'd for some reason try to immutably establish unchangable appearances for these characters would be pretty funny if some folks weren't taking it so seriously. Similarly ridiculous is the idea we could reasonably have said to MCG "We'd love for you to make a huge beautiful RPG book of our setting... Just make sure you don't depict any of the iconic characters or events from it!"

But... is it "canon"? Now, to my mind, this highlights a real weakness in a lot of fandom thinking around "canon", which is that it generally has no idea what to do with adaptations. All adaptation is interpretation, and relies on taking a work and letting new creatives (and sometimes the same ones) have a different take on it. Are the appearances of the Fellowship of the Ring in the LOTR movies "canon"? How much, if at all, does that matter? Neil Gaiman's book Neverwhere was originaly a 90s BBC series made with a budget of 50 pence; is anyone who makes fanart of Mr Croup that doesn't look like the actor Hywel Bennet breaking canon? What about the novel that describes the character differently? Or the officially licenced Neverwhere comic where he looks like neither of them? Which is his "canon appearance"?

Canon is an inherently messy concept, and while it is useful for a creative team trying to keep continuity and consistency within a creative work, for thinking about anything beyond that it tends to be more hinderance than help.

Anyway, all this is to say that the above picture and all the others in the RPG are exactly as canon as every other picture you've ever seen of the Archivist.

[earthstellar]

Earth Music on the Lost Light: Human Music That Cybertronians Like

we know for a fact that the Lost Light has access to human media, primarily movies, TV shows, and music-- and we know they generally seem to fucking love most of it, or at least find it interesting

but what would everyone's tastes be, in regards to Earth music?

time to talk about music for a long time!!! strap in, enjoy some tunes

we already know Cyclonus has impeccable taste and enjoys some of the best jams the 80s had to offer.

I can't help but imagine Rodimus being given a media archive of Earth tunes to approve for the Earth Dance would only result in chaos

(it's not like he would say no to anything, he absolutely blanket signed it all, it's just an obligatory thing-- or Ultra Magnus tells him it is, solely to keep him away from Important Captain Things that he would rather handle himself or hand off to Megatron, lmao. the shit that really needs to get done)

and this is how Rodimus discovers the somewhat questionable yet amazing genre of "mid-90s underground techno rave mix tapes"

(somewhat related, I still think Testarossa might as well be Rodimus' theme song, although it's not a 90s track and has more of an 80s synth vibe)

Rodimus would love that "computers are the future, fuck yeah let's make Digital Cool Future Music" mid-90s shit, there is no way he would not. it has the exact energy level that appeals to him and is also cheesy and weird and chaotic. and has like 500 different sub-genres, so his selection is endless, lmao.

he would probably find it cute that this is what humans imagined to be the peak of "digital sound" at the time. like lmao this was the best humans could do when asked to create music that sounds like it was made by robots or other mechanical space future cyber lifeforms--high concept!!! he would probably find it interesting and endearing. this is what organics think non-organic music is like!!

anyone acting as DJ at Swerve's on any given night would be so, so mad that Rodimus keeps requesting shit like "DJ MASSIMO ITALO DISCO BEST RAVE TUNES LIVE FROM LONDON 1995" or "DJ ARMPIT SLUDGE FEST HOUSE-RAVE-DRUMS N BASS SET 1996" for them to play, lmao

not individual tracks. the whole album. entire mix tapes of random, somewhat questionable mid-90s techno house rave bullshit.

that having been said, that good ass early 90s trance techno might send him into a spiral depending on his mood at the time, lmao (it's been known to happen)

but at the same time I can imagine him sharing tracks like Solar Quest - Space Pirates with Drift and they'd both just sit there and jam out, but quietly, thinking about shit while sitting in a port window next to each other (this was peak sleepover party techno, Back in My Day-- many deep conversations were had while listening to stuff like this, lol)

Drift would probably find some of Rodmus' recommended stuff to be pretty good for meditation-- although once he finds out about the human drug culture involved and certain concepts of experimental consciousness etc. that surrounded techno/rave and other related genres, it might cause him to pull back a little bit

(until he finds out about kandi culture, in which case, Drift would love the idea of hand-made unique bracelets and sentimental trinkets being made and exchanged at warehouse shows purely out of Good Vibes and Love for Fellow Beings and it turns out actually he fucking loves this shit, a chill vibes based "expand your mind" kind of music subculture appeals to his Spectralist sensibilities and he likes sharing tunes with Rodimus in return)

Drift picking tracks on his own would likely lead him down more of a classic rock road, but more of the chill side of things, more of the folksy type of classic rock -- I can see Drift really enjoying Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum or California Dreamin' - The Mamas and the Papas. or like, Incense and Peppermints - Strawberry Alarm Clock.

I mean, Drift might even go Full Earth Hippie and end up liking Green Tambourine - Lemon Pipers, lmao. in fact I am fairly certain of this.

I can see Drift loving Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In - The 5th Dimension. the whole vibe would probably appeal to him.

he'd quite possibly also like I Need a Dollar - Aloe Blacc, but it hits him in a place that still hurts to think about. so it's in rare rotation.

meanwhile Ratchet would probably be fine with classic rock too, like the good Dad Rock shit, just a lot of tracks from the 70s/80s -- a couple tracks he and Drift could probably agree on would likely lean more into the experimental/psychedelic rock side of things, like White Room - Cream or something like Wheel in the Sky - Journey

Rodimus tries to troll Ratchet by recommending Old Time Rock n Roll - Bob Seger, but joke's on him because it turns out Ratchet loves it, lmao

Swerve would go all out on classic bar jams for the evening playlist. Chill, good shit like Do It Again - Steely Dan.

Megatron would love Sinnerman - Nina Simone; He'd send it to Drift in a command crew level secured data packet, and they would both feel the hell out of this song. They don't need to talk about why. They never mention it to each other.

Megs would also probably love These Old Bones by Dolly Parton (mostly due to the lyrics, rather than the upbeat tune, but he would find it relatively relaxing), as well as 9 to 5 (of course), and similar music. Country from back in the day when country music was more about the struggle of poverty and the working life of rural people. Country music from back when songs told all the untold stories. He can respect that.

He'd listen to You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive by Patty Loveless and it would get him right in the fucking spark. Megatron is the Cybertronian equivalent of an Appalachian miner, god dammit. He understands.

Megatron would also like Johnny Cash; He would overthink Ghost Riders in the Sky and it would depress him, partly because it reminds him of Seekers... sigh.

I think he'd also like Cold War - Janelle Monae. He'd be way into good lyrics; What's being said in a song matters most to him. "This is a cold war, you better know what you're fighting for..." Indeed.

anyway I like thinking about what jams Cybertronians might like from their available selection of Earth tunes

[historicallyaccuratecheese]

I know this isn’t very in line with the usual “haha magnus archives worm lady” posts I usually make, but this is very important to me and I want to spread as much awareness as possible.

One of my favorite games of all time is Dead Cells, a fantastic indie roguelike developed by Evil Empire. Recently, it was announced that it’s upcoming 35th update would be the last one for the game. Now, let me start off by saying that on its own, this isn’t what I’m upset about. The fact that Dead Cells has gotten as much support as it has over the years is quite frankly incredible, and 35 updates, most of which have been free and very high quality, is an amazing amount of support. Rather, I am more concerned about the circumstances behind this announcement.

The announcement was…off, for a number of reasons. For one, Update 35 has been in Alpha and Beta on Steam for a while now, and it’s not exactly an update you’d expect the entire game to end on. Still quality, but not exactly a “grand finale.” Also strange was how long it’s been in alpha and beta, as it seems to have been in development hell for over six months. And finally, it’s clear that there was so much more planned for the game. For example, 2023 was said to be the biggest year for the game, and yet we only got two updates. Granted, one of those updates was very big, but not nearly big enough to really live up to the title of “biggest year so far.” By all accounts, it definitely seemed like there was some sort of internal issue that cut the planned lifespan of the game short. If so, that would be very unfortunate, but I would have been willing to accept there was probably nothing that could be done. However, recently some information about what actually happened has shown up, and….yeah I’m pissed.

For those who didn’t know, Dead Cells was originally made by a team named Motion Twin, but after the fourth update, most of the people working on the game left to form their own team, Evil Empire. Evil Empire has developed every update for the game since that split, and yet, they are rarely credited as the makers. Motion Twin is the company that promotes all of the new updates, as if they made them, and unfortunately very few people know which company actually makes the game. Recently, Motion Twin announced a new game called Windblown (proclaiming it was made by the same team as Dead Cells, when it certainly wasn’t), and based on recent interviews with Evil Empire, we learn that Motion Twin pulled the plug on Dead Cells against Evil Empire’s wishes. Evil Empire loved making the game, and planned to continue updating into 2025, expanding the gameplay and lore, yet Motion Twin decided to pull the plug, either to promote Windblown (which if so…why? You can have two games?), or simply out of spite towards Evil Empire, which seems unfortunately possible due to the fact that the devs do not seem to have the best relationship. And to add insult to insult to injury, Motion Twin straight up lied by saying that Dead Cells stopped development because they “don’t want the game to feel bloated”. ….THEY DON’T EVEN MAKE THE GAME WHAT THE HELL?!

So yeah…this is a really terrible situation. Dead Cells is a game that means a lot to me, it’s helped me through some very tough times and there are many other people who hold the game dear to their heart. So please, anything from a simple reblog to making your own posts about the matter goes a long way. Spread awareness about what’s going on. Tell people about how Evil Empire has put so much hard work, love and dedication into the game, and wishes to continue. Tell people about the lies that Motion Twin have been telling. Pressure the two teams into splitting away from each other entirely, so that Dead Cells might get a chance at continuing development. (Be respectful about it though, don’t commit any forms of serious harassment.) It would seriously mean a lot to me and many others, and I would greatly appreciate it :).

[entities-of-posts]

i know this blog takes a lot of inspo from tma, i havent listened to it in a while but i wanted to hear your thoughts on the eye and the fear of being watched in general, if you dont mind! im writing a thing with those themes rn and i thought it might be helpful to ask some other people about what their input was on the matter, since that way i could see how diff ppl thought abt it yknow? sorry if theres any bad english here by the way :p

“Takes a lot of inspo” is a little light, this is in fact a Magnus Archives fanblog, but of course!

Personally, I have always been deeply afraid of being watched. It doesn’t matter how innocent or mundane my actions are, if I expect to be in private, I need that to be true. Something as simple as someone entering my room or looking at my camera roll makes me very anxious. It’s not that I believe I’m being spied on by the government, or anything like that; I just am someone who very much wants to get to choose what I show to others, and the idea that there would be no moment where I could stop performing is haunting.

There is also the fact that I have a lot of awful intrusive thoughts, and the idea that someone might see even into the private sanctuary of my head and get a peek at the horrible things in there makes me nauseous. I am not joking when I say that if I learned someone out there could read minds, my immediate reaction would be to start planning murder. Someone with even the capacity to intrude like this cannot be allowed to exist.

I am also very curious. If I had the opportunity to take for myself the power to violate others’ privacy in exactly the way I get sick thinking of someone doing to me, I would take it in a heartbeat. To get to know anything I want, to get to watch so closely the tapestry of others’ lives, is so alluring to me that morals seem so much less important. In addition to this, the moment something is hidden, even when I know it is hidden because it would upset me to see, it takes Herculean efforts not to look. I think this urge is also part of the fear of the Eye. I need to know. Even when I’m aware that curiosity will kill the cat.

[theendorisit]

I want to talk about some fun stuff I have had knocking around my head regarding the Magnus archives 

Note: is it Canon? I don’t know and I don’t care. @jonnywaistcoat gave us a bunch of fun toys to play with. I wanna play with them. I am not gonna tell anyone if their opinions on Magnus are right or wrong because it doesn’t matter! it’s a story. It’s fiction. It doesn’t matter if you picture white Archivist, black Archivist, asian Archivist - that’s how we end up with fun stuff like mermaid Tim! Imagine everything, and anything - it doesn’t matter, and that’s the fun of it! Also, I am keenly aware I am (checks watch) 8 years late to this fandom and I may be spouting stuff long since discussed, so forgive me if I am getting excited discovering long trodden ground.

I digress. So. One of the many things I love about Magnus is the fun and very clear metaphors that are used to describe the entities/ fears and what’s going on in the story. One of my favourites is the colour wheel theory. During the show I would get confused between the different entities particularly the stranger and the spiral but if the entities are like colours then this makes perfect sense: they do bleed into each other. So I wanted to try and transcribe these entities onto colours not thinking so much about which particular colour I think they ought to be, but how they complement or clash with each other. Disclaimer, not an artist. At all. I don’t know if I’ll do a good job - but that’s not really what I wanna talk about. 

Death/Terminus/The End isn’t a colour. Death is black-and-white. And death isn’t like any of the others.

This is just to say, that the way I read it - death, as an entity, is treated differently.

Jonny himself said in calls and livestreams that death was actually his main fear, maybe still is? So that might lend itself to different considerations.

In TMA, death is described as the fear of death, dying and nonexistence and all of that cosmological shit that most of us feel. However, TMA stories of death also include the opposite fear which is the fear of not being able to die. This is equivalent to the Eye finding someone who is afraid of being watched and putting them in a box, where no one can ever see them again.  The fact that this person in the pyramid can’t die and wants to, the fact the reapers, in escaping death achieve basic immortality - and often are not so sure they like it - this would be a very weird way to create a fear of death, by creating an apparent desire for it! 

So I think within the universe, this fear is special because it encapsulates itself and its opposite - whereas the other fears have distinct opposites which are separate entities (buried and vast, eye and dark). Not only that, but as season 5 showed us, there are fears that can combine and match with each other, and there’s no fear that death DOESN’T complement!  Like yes, actual death will stop fear, but a healthy dose of the fear of dying will go with everything. So in the colour wheel theory, I say fear of death is black and creates shades with other colours, and fear of not-death is white and creates tints (I just really like this metaphor!).

I’d love to make anthropomorphic art of the entities as individuals, and groups of individuals, based on matching colours. Example - Death, The Buried, The Corruption all work together as a buried alive fear. Unfortunately my fine art skills are dismal, so I’ll let more talented people have a go if they like this idea. I get why I haven’t seen so much of this, as the avatars kind of do this anthropomorphism, but death itself as a concept has been characterised for thousands of years (I am a big fan of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s versions!), and we have 4 (+1?) horsemen of the apocalypse bringing war and pestilence into humanoid form so I reckon it could be pretty interesting how people envision the entities. Personally I imagine the vast like Junji Ito’s Spiral-faced girl (she’ll pull you in!).

Anyway, that’s my perspective on blending fears like colours, and why Death really isn’t like any of the others.

[thatpodcastkid]

Magnus Archives Relisten 23, MAG 23 Schwartzland

"Hey dude, some weird shit happened, thought you might be in to that."

Albrecht Von Closen writes letters to his colleagues the same way my friends text me. MAG 23 analysis, spoilers ahead!

Facts: Statement of Albrecht Von Closen regarding a tomb near his estate in the Black Forest.

Statement Notes: While this episode doesn't necessarily have many of the classic TMA style horror, I do think this one of the more objectively scary episodes. The imagery of Closen's story as he wanders deeper into the forest, the dread that creeps in as he discovers the story of Johann's Steps, his surety that the man with no eyes saw him, all serves to create particularly frightening vision.

In spite of his excellent description, I didn't find Closen particularly compelling. The complexity of his backstory was interesting, but would possibly be more entertaining/captivating if presented through a visual medium. Through his description of his familial circumstances alone, it's more difficult to connect with him and his wife in spite of their apparently kind personalities. I was more intrigued by Wilheim. He was left alone in Schwarzwald without a proper caretaker. He was left mere miles from the temple. He was left to be haunted by the man with no eyes. What becomes of a young, sickly boy who can't escape something that cannot see but always watches?

Entity Alignment: The broadness of the forest indicates the Vast, the tomb holds elements of the Dark, the Buried, and the End. But of course, what Jonah really cares about is the living library. What Jonah cares about is a man who can continue watching even without eyes. Jonah cares about the Eye.

This episode is the first mention of Jonah in the series, and it explicitly mentions a man with no eyes being able to see all continuously. In spite of all rules of nature, he watches. He hoards knowledge in his hidden library until it becomes an organism in itself. Did Albrecht send this letter because the experience reminded him of Jonah, or did this letter give Jonah ideas?

Character Notes: "Good lord man!"- Actual Victorian librarian Jonathan Sims.

I love the no-trousers Martin scene. You love the no-trousers Martin scene. We all love the no-trousers Martin scene. But what stood out to me this listen, as opposed to the most ridiculous interaction to ever take place in a horror, was the fact that Jon is in the office before 7 am. He says that he wants to leave before dark to avoid Prentiss, but given how his work schedule lines up with other characters later in the season, it seems more likely that Jon's obsessive tendencies began to take over after Martin this was attacked, and he began working 12 or more hours a day. Whether this is because of fear for himself, fear for Martin, or just using work as a coping mechanism to avoid dealing with his emotions, Jon is pushing himself.

Because we don't know much about the Protocol yet, I hesitate to include many mentions in these analyses. However, I did notice that the only speaking-characters who ever have statements directly addressed to them are Jonah, Jon, and Martin. The three of them are the most deeply ingrained in the system of knowledge collection--they have the most tapes and wires wrapped around them. It stands to reason that, if shocked into another universe, they would be forced even further into that system.

[griseldagimpel]

Why Basira Hussain in The Magnus Archives Isn't Textually Muslim

I've noted before that Basira Hussain in The Magnus Archives isn't textually Muslim and is implied not to have strong religious faith. And it is religious faith I want to talk about in this post. Basira may very well come from a Muslim cultural background. But she isn't depicted as a capital B Believer.

Let's start with: a character's background - of any and every sort - is going to have some kind of impact on that character. The specifics of that impact will vary - there is no universal experience of anything - and the extend of the impact will be affected by the specifics of the story they are inhabiting. But a character's background shouldn't just be garnish.

With The Magnus Archives, it's a story that deeply involves religion and religious faith, what with the fear entities being worshiped as gods and all. And that means that characters' non-fear-god religious background comes up more than it might in another narrative. Thus, we get stuff like Eugene opining that the Cult of the Lightless Flame shouldn't just imitate Christianity and Martin & Jon discussing whether the Christian God is a force they can invoke.

As such, the fact that religion never comes up with Basira - when it comes up with so many other characters in the story - leads me to believe that she doesn't have a strong religious background.

Are you following me so far?

Right. So why is this? Why did the creative team make this creative decision?

Well, it's because of season five.

The fourth season ends with the fear apocalypse beginning, and then throughout all of season five, no deity intervenes to stop the fear apocalypse. (Well, unless you want to argue this was the case with Georgie and Melanie's immunity, and there, yeah, I think from an in-story perspective their cult's pretty justified, honestly.)

We spend most of the our time with Jon & Martin, who explicitly come from culturally Christian backgrounds but don't have particularly strong Christian faith themselves and predominantly experience religion in the context of the fear gods. Then there's Basira, Georgie, and Melanie.

The goal of the fifth season is the stop the fear apocalypse, which the characters do, and then the series quickly ends. And the sequel series is over there in a whole different parallel universe.

Because, look, even after being undone, the fear apocalypse was going to fuck with a lot of humanity's religious faith (or lack there of!) something fierce. Gods are real but also they're monsters and also no other god intervened.

That's...a lot.

Basira's doesn't have strong religious faith because if she did, she'd have to process season five through the lens of her religion.

And that's...a lot.

And the creative team wanted Basira's story arc to be about her confronting the harm she and Daisy did as corrupt cops.

Also, look, a British podcast depicting the Christian God as either probably nonexistent or useless? That's like, whatever. England's got a whole Church of England. Christians in England aren't being persecuted for being Christian. The episode "The Architect of Fear" can have Robert Smirke write, "I am certain the Dread Powers cannot take a soul who keeps faith in the Resurrection." and then drop dead before he can even finish his letter. It's fine.

But a British podcast specifically depicting a Muslim character having to confront that their faith is false?

Muslims in England are a religious minority. They don't have a whole institutionalized Mosque of England behind them.

Yeah, that could easily end up coming off as Jerk Move.

Not saying that it couldn't be done or couldn't make a compelling narrative, but it would be a lot to take on. It would risk overpowering the corrupt cop reckoning character arc. And the creative team would have to tread carefully for it not to be a Jerk Move.

Ergo, it's easier on the creative team for them to just...not have Basira be religiously Muslim.

Relatedly, Melanie and Georgie aren't depicted as strongly religious for similar reasons. Because they're outside of the Eye's power! If either of them had a strong religious faith, the characters would likely be interpreting their exemption as being a reflection of their faith! And that would be another plotline where the creative team would likely feel like they had to tread carefully lest their story come off as Jerk Move. Again, not impossible to pull off. But difficult.

[noveratus]

I just finished listening to the last episode of this season of the Magnus Protocol, and I have thoughts, both for the episode and the season overall. Spoilers below.

I have mixed feelings regarding this episode. To put it short, I think it is fine as a regular episode, but I don't like it as a season finale. I think that Celia's reveal and Gwen taking over Lena's position was handled really well, but I think it was done kind of late. I will get more into this in the season review since that is where my main issues lie, the structure of the season itself. Also, the whole 'Sam being taken' thing and being shoved into this other universe betrayal would have felt more meaningful if we had an idea of what the other world looks like, because, if I remember correctly, Sam is falling into a world without the entities where people are most likely rebuilding now so it really doesn't feel that bad and he can just walk through the portal again which is why I wish this reveal had been done in a different episode. It simply doesn't feel worthy of the season finale, and the cliffhanger was very undeserved. We already know the Archivist doesn't want Sam dead. In fact, I have a theory it was trying to save Sam from Celia. Honestly, I'm more interested in whatever is happening to Collin because that guy is dead dead now. There is no way he is living.

Ok, for my season reveal: I think that this season was alright, good even! Not as great as season 4 or 5, but better than season 2 for certain. I think I might like season 1 of the Magnus Archives better simply because of the build up. Are the things real? Are they not? And then Martyn being terrorized for weeks and it all culminating with that attack. It was really cool and had an actual resolution, even if not all questions were answers, there was a sense of finity by the end of it which this one lacks. It just doesn't answer enough questions. "Oh, but Celia-" I think Celia was too obvious to be considered fulfilling, which isn't to say the reveal wasn't great, but I think it needed more. They had to at least have revealed what happened to Collin I think.

Now, for my main issue with the season, it started really well and it was pretty interesting in the first episodes, the character dynamics were really fun and I wanted to learn more about the computers, but at some point the show became the 170th love triangle this side of the pacific with a forced romantic subplot on the house. I think that Alice and Sam being exes is an interesting development, but you didn't need the romance man. You already have Alice as the foil for them just not wanting them to investigate, you don't need to make their previous relationship and current relationship be a whole thing, genuinely, who wanted this? And it wasn't built up, it just happened so that Sam would follow Celia around like a puppy dog (as if he wouldn't do that as was with him being obsessed with solving the secrets of the institute as seen with him exploring with Alice) and half of the season felt like Sam and Celia talking about how they were going to investigate about this and never really doing any investigating while the plot hit Alice like a truck.

And then there is Sam, who is probably the most boring character in his show. His personality traits are that he is into women, is obsessed with solving mysteries, and that's it. Considering that his obsession with his job is something he shares with both Celia and Gwen, that only makes him feel even less appealing. Also, Celia and Gwen have a much stronger reason for why they are who they are, which in Celia's case is her son and the trauma from being in the apocalypse while Gwen is proving herself, which is something that Sam is apparently trying to do as well, except in his case it is not really all that well built. Like I have said before in my previous posts is Gwen, while I despise her and I dream of her death every day, is a really well written character, because that is what the audience is meant to feel. They are meant to hate her, she is kind of a bitch. Alice? She is the most well written character in the show. She has nuance, you understand why she does what she does. Celia? She has potential. Personality wise, Celia is a bit flat for my taste, but she has enough of a backstory and motive to be very interesting if you just remove the stupid forced romance plotline. She is just a woman, a mother, trying to do her best in a pretty shitty situation, which I can stand behind. But Sam is none of those things. Yes, he got rejected by the magnus Institute and saw some fucked up things, cool, but compared to the rest of the cast, it just feels flat. It doesn't have the same impact as Jon retelling his story of how he came across the first book, so what you end up with is a cardboard protagonist surrounded by otherwise very interesting characters! Hell, even Lena and Colin who are meant to be secondary characters are more interesting than Sam since Colin has the paranoia Jon had and makes you wonder just what the hell is he seeing? And Lena, who is in charge of these monsters and yet still clearly cares about people is genuinely fascinating and I want to learn more, and I hope she doesn't die off screen. I want to like Sam. I really, really want to like him, but by God he feels like every protagonist ever and it is so stale and it is so boring and it doesn't help that the season drags on for too long on the later half with people talking about how they are going to do things and never doing them which is my main issue with Season 2 of TMA where there is a lot of people talking about how they will do stuff and how people will do stuff but nothing of importance actually happen. I genuinely think you can cut from season 1 to season 3 of the original show and skip most of season 2 without anything of notice and the same can be said about a solid 5 episodes of this first season of the Magnus Protocol which, since they are on the latter half. There is a lot of build up, and it is not that it doesn't go anywhere, but it is not the reveal one might think it would be. Which is kind of insane considering the writers are the same people who wrote seasons 4 and 5 of the magnus archive, which are probably some of my favorite pieces of media ever and I get that it could be a slow burn and all that, but this is just 2 seasons. There isn't a lot of time to burn slowly here, especially since they are adding a lot of new concepts like alchemy that I feel like won't be handled how they should be handled.

Another point I want to bring up regarding the The Magnus Protocol, actually starts in the Magnus Archive with how it handles its female characters. So, in modern media we have something that I like to call the Nagging Wife problem, in which writers will write women, particularly the love interest of MCs as being 'smart' so they will oppose the MC whenever they act in a dumb way or a way perceived as dumb by them, which puts them in a position antagonistic to your Main Character. Think Wanda from Fairly Oddparents or Marge from the Simpsons for example. And that is a very glaring issue present in TMA where despite not being love interests, all of the main female characters will, at one point or the other, act as Jon's 'nagging wife' at some point, leading to their nagging irrevocably affecting the plot and making Jon act as more of a whump since 'oh look how poorly treated Jon is' and hey, this could have worked, but because the cast is mainly female and none of the characters is really given as much depth as the male characters, we just get Jon's many nagging wives and entire episodes of them doing pretty much that and it can be very inconsistent with their character and very annoying and off putting. Luckily, the Magnus Protocol doesn't have as much of that. Yes, there is Gwen, I suppose, but that's her point in the narrative. She is the most morally dubious one. But I was so terrified that Celia and, particularly, Alice would fall under the 'Nagging Wife' problem, but luckily, for the most part that isn't the case because, while yes, Alice does go against Sam, I think she is pretty consistent overall and they do call her out on it which definitely helps avoiding the issue.

Overall, I like the Magnus Protocol, but I don't think it is anywhere near as great as the Magnus Archive, neither as a stand alone story nor as a sequel. I hope this changes with the next season, because, as it stands right now, I don't think it has that much of a reason to exist- as a sequel. As a standalone story, it is good, not as great as its predecessor, but good, which might sound harsh considering that I said I like this podcast, but then you need to remember how TMA ended and so far, this season hasn't really improved on the ending nor surpassed it.

Final score: 7/10, but only as a standalone story, Gwen and Alice carry it hard, with Celia being a solid character as well and the side characters being interesting enough, but not enough happened to them. Put them in more situations, please, and thank you. As a sequel, as it stands, it's a 5/10, maybe lower, but it has asked a lot of questions that could lead to something great.

Have a doodle of my beloved and my beloathed for the trouble as well :)

[dannycasts]

TMAGP EP 10 SPOILERS (aka Danny spouts delusional theories that are probably incomprehensible and wrong)

Not sure how to feel about Magnus protocol 10… There’s a lot to take in honesty but I some thoughts

Firstly,,Worm tracks …. In my mind that’s sorta implying that Jane prentis still attacked the institute in this timeline, which changes my idea of what exactly happened there a lot- the worm attack would’ve happened awhile after Gertrude died but given she’s definitely still alive I take that to mean either Gertrude chose a later date to burn down the institute and either the attack happened in the meantime or she burned down the institute DURING the attack so Jonah would be distracted .. I think the latter is more likely

There’s also the possibility that the institute was burned down by accident by another employee desperately trying to kill Jane prentis, this sorta tracks since in the main tma timeline the fact that fire extinguishers could kill the worms was found completely by accident so the likelihood that anyone trapped in the building would find that out by accident AGAIN seems pretty low to me, leading them to try and set her on fire taking the institute down in the process

There is of course a third possibility, the possibility that Gertrude was never the archivist in this timeline or simply found a way to leave her post without gouging her eyes out.. this would make it possible for her to be alive and Jon still be the archivist, in this scenario Gertrude wasn’t the one who burned the institute but rather Martin, presumably killing himself and Jon in the process before either became inhuman enough to live through it— I’m sure it’d be Martin and non Jon because we’ve already seen Martin is willing and capable of burning down the institute and in a scenario where he discovered the true supernatural nature of the archive and his inability to quit sooner then he might choose to burn the institute down way before any other major events occurring, after Jane prentis but before the unknowing

These possibilities are rattling around in my brain really hard., another idea I had was that maybe Gertrude was the archivist but rather then finding some way to quit she was actually fired after Jonah found that Jon was a great candidate for the true archivist someone with a great chance to bring about the eyepocalypse

Maybe I’m going on about absolutely nothing here but these concepts do intrigue me…

Something else I noticed in this episode was Colin refusing coffee from Celia, this could be him being paranoid but it could also support the theory that food and drink consumed in the OIAR have some effect on a person.. regardless of who it’s coming from (either that or my personal theory that Celia is not to be trusted is true and Colin knows)

Unfortunately I don’t have anything to say about Mr Bonzo because I didn’t participate in the arg and don’t really understand his significance at this time… very interesting as an entity though, one might be quick to categorize him as a stranger but I’d go more for desolation with how he’s personally torturing Nigel and has apparently destroyed his life (that and if this were a stranger instance we’d have wayyyy too many of those so far)

That’s about all my input for this episode, toodaloo

[persephone-tim]

Thought i should make an introduction post.. you know after having this account for eight months... Anyway!

Hi I'm finn/viktor! I'm a transmasc and I'm genderfluid, floating somewhere on the aro/ace spectrum however i am in fact in a relationship. Anyone is allowed on my page as long as you aren't making me or anyone else feel any form of discomfort. Spoiler alert, i can and will argue for days, Although if you treat people like that you are probably not worth any effort! My page should be a safe space, despite me literally only posting artwork and such alike, but anyone can come talk to me if needed, i will try to reply!

This blog is mainly for artwork and i usually post about my two current hyperfixations the magnus archives and the mechanisms! I also occasionally post about other fandoms too, but it takes me a while to move on from my interests i suppose (autism strikes again! What a tragedy!) I do also occasionally write and do poetry in my spare time (as well as a long list of other nerdy interests) so let me know if that would be something you would be interested in!

But anyway, feel free to literally request any drawings you want, i personally do not believe in commissions and although i can't promise a time frame for artwork, i will pretty much draw anything. At all. (Although saying that i might decline a request for a drawing if it makes me uncomfortable/it'll make others uncomfortable). Feel free to dm me to talk about drawings/ideas or even theories if you'd like, or just ramble about anything you've seen me post about, for i will be happy to do the same! I promise i don't bite!

I currently have an ongoing series around my personal headcanons for TMA characters but if you'd like to see other series i do have some ideas planned for future!

I hope you enjoy my rambling along with the occasional artwork :3

[cult-of-the-eye]

MAG 86 here we goooo

Ok so I actually listened to this like a few days ago but I never got round to looking at the transcript but HERE I AM

God this is the blanket never did anything one

He says tucked in so fucking menacingly like Jesus Christ man

TIM MY LOVE

I can't get that one post out of my head that says how Tim was the furthest from being taken by the Eye cause he keeps tripping up on pronunciations and stuff in statements that other archival staff wouldnt honestly it's such a genius take

Oh shit this is getting really long I'll add in a read more

God I love how he's rebelling in every sense, he's doing the bare minimum, he's literally warning people away from it

It's kind of interesting the way he always thought the statement stuff was stupid but in the whole of season one and a lot of season two he managed to hide his distaste pretty well, like even when he lashed out at Jon about the Prentiss incident, he still didn't say that the statements were stupid, but he's saying it behind his back - maybe some part of him knew that Jon needed the statements to work and some part of him still felt for him enough to not point that out

He's kinda dramatic with it as well but I feel like in more of a self aware way than jon

You can feel his distaste honestly the statement just sounds wrong coming from him, which is interesting cause I didn't think that about when Martin did it

So he's mad at the fact that he put effort into a job that he wasn't even that comfortable with in the first place and now he's trapped in? Not about the monsters??

Jesus Christ Tim being a bit of a dick to melanie

HE BLAMES MARTIN????? Damn bro you weren't there how could you tell he didn't do it properly??

I think he's mad at himself for not being there and deflecting it on to martin

She likes that it's quiet!!! That's cute

Martin's not big on change AH neurodivergent vibes

All the archival staff are literally queer and neurodivergent you can't change my mind

Also the fact that he thinks that's the biggest reason why martin doesn't want Melanie around, not the Horrors and the same reason as Tim

I think Tim is refusing to think that Martin might see the situation in the same way as him because if he does then it means Tim's way of dealing might not be the best way and that's an unacceptable thought to him

Suspicious and resentful - my man is self aware I think he knows the way his path is going (hurtling towards destruction) but is too stuck shaking his fist at god to try and get out or he's sort of known his whole life that this is where he was supposed to end up, a terrible fate created by his own two hands that dug their own way down to rock bottom and he's just so tired of trying to do anything about it that he's just accepted it

SASHA OH GOD

Wow seeing firsthand the effects of the stranger, the way neither Tim nor Melanie can remember the real Sasha, but Tim has to live with the fact that he didn't notice and Melanie has to live with the fact that she did, but can't prove it

WHO AM I EVEN SAD FOR

AUGH I THOUGHT SOMEONE MADE THAT UP I DIDNT KNOW IT WAS CANON OH GOD

He lost his FRIEND and he DIDN'T REALISE and he STILL DOESN'T KNOW THE WHOLE TRUTH AUGH

Oh I wonder why he left the tape running? I'd think he would've forgotten to turn it off but if so I feel like he'd have that shocked moment of remembering which he didn't

Maybe he wanted proof of the conversation? Maybe it was a warning to anyone listening to the tapes? See firsthand how terrible it is at the Magnus Institute so you don't work here? I dunno

Ha I had to ask my lovely mutual @melandrops to explain what a marker was

Oh god honestly this statement fucked me up I completely understand why people hate it I hate it

I was so scared of the dark as a kid and the idea of being reduced to that state of lack of awareness and vulnerability is actually terrifying

Also the dude dying in the blanket???? Ew ew ew

Love the fact that tma doesn't just go with a oh shit I forgot a torch so it was pitch black kinda horror but the I brought a torch, I even brought spare batteries but it still did nothing which in my opinion is even scarier

Oh god her whispering the blanket never did anything that was horrifying

Melanie was actually so good at giving the statement girl really got into it

I was also talking to @melandrops about archivist!Melanie cause I think that would be really interesting... she'd definitely bring a more proactive vibe to the role...

It's interesting to think that Melanie and Jon hated each other at first sort of because they're so alike? It's like the we are made of the same stuff (derogatory)

Love how she just checks out the dead guy

The way she's denying it even though she's literally had paranormal experiences before that's so Jon core she would be a great archivist

JON????

Oh shit I just realised he's labelled as Archivist...when did that happen??

That's so funny he's like bitch maybe I do have reason to kill you

Hmm nice touch of Melanie being like do you guys not want me cause I'm a girl?? Is this misogyny??? Good guess but unfortunately it's worse

It's quite nice that Jon's trying to save her even though the meetings about helping him and her quitting would mean he'd lose the one informant he might have in the institute

Shot in the leg by a ghost in India????

Ha Tim hates you and Martin's probably being watched

Love how Tim's hatred for Jon is so visceral and known that they don't even bother watching him

I bet Elias would delight in knowing about Martin's little crush on Jon and how Jon actually hated him in season one and then how their relationship progresses he'd thrive on the drama and the angst the little bastard

Ok ok it's good that he's on the right track, he guesses it was elias

Wait the whole murder was on tape... WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT TAPE??? DID ELIAS TAKE IT??? COULD IT BE USED AS EVIDENCE???

YES MELANIE IS BEING CAUGHT UP (info style) BUT ALSO NO MELANIE IS BEING CAUGHT UP (web style)

[ccelestialfox]

Y'ALL--

imagine this:

stop-motion magnus archives

I watched Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings and got inspired to think about stuff I have no money to make-- but think of the character designs--- THINK ABOUT MICHAEL he'd be fucked up and twisty,,

episode one would be kinda like this:

[TAPE CLICKS] [ARCHIVIST PERSPECTIVE]

Episode Starts, showing Jon in his office, giving the introductions to everything-- this is just the first few minutes of MAG001. the camera would be showing the details of the office, whatever those details might be, while he's talking, and of course, the tape recorder will be sitting on his desk, next to Nathan Watt's statement.

Once Jon starts to actually read the statement, the story would shift to Nathan himself, with Jon's voice being less present as the encounter and experience itself starts to play out.

[STATEMENT BEGINS]

We'd see a portion of Nathan's life, getting ready for the party that evening, maybe bumping into the later victim of the Anglerfish (John? I think his name was?) and overall giving some life and personality to Nathan.

As night falls, the students start to party at the albanach, showing them drinking and partying, displaying the events that Nathan described; celebrating Michael MacAulay's acceptance into a master's degree, primarily, showing Nathan drinking more than he should have, growing a bit more vulgar, until finally he decides to leave the party and walk home.

We see Nathan start to walk, with the camera showing the tilted-ness of Edinburgh, before he inevitably falls and takes his tumble, stopping not far from the alley, where, as he takes out his cigarette, we hear, from the alley:

"Can I have a cigarette?"

Nathan looks over in surprise to see the figure in the alleyway. While Nathan is enough in the light to be visible, the figure is hidden slightly, hiding the fine details. Nathan holds out the cigarette, trying to talk to the figure, to no avail.

The figure asks again, "Can I have a cigarette?" and Nathan starts to think that something might be wrong. The figure can be seen to be swaying now, with Nathan paying closer attention to the figure, holding out the cigarette now, not stepping any closer.

The figure is in frame now, the swaying unable to be missed, when we hear, for the third time, "Can I have a cigarette?" clearly seeing the fact that the figure's mouth does not move.

Nathan catches on, dropping the cigarette and fumbling with his phone to turn on the torch. At the same time, the figure gets pulled back into the alleyway, with a long thin hand being the "string" that pulls it taught.

The phone light illuminates the alleyway, showing it to be completely empty. Nathan scans around it for a moment, before powering his phone off and heading back up to the party to call in a taxi.

We see Nathan sit in flat the next morning, drinking lots of water, making the "very greasy breakfast" he mentions, and overall keeping himself busy while thinking about the previous night. This section would be eerily quiet, with little to no music to distract from the unsettled feeling that Nathan has for what he's seen.

After a moment, he'd pull out a laptop and do his best to look into whether or not anything has cropped up, do the research he mentioned in the statement, coming to the initial conclusion that that hadn't ever happened before, or been any kind of myth.

Perhaps any flatmates he has see him looking into this and we get a short conversation where they suggest he might've been drunk, where he retaliates and says he's never hallucinated while drunk, and keeps insisting that something was wrong with the man in the alleyway. The flatmate gives "one of those looks, halfway between pity and concern" mentioned in the statement, and he stops talking about it, leaving the flat to investigate the place in daylight

Unsurprisingly, he doesn't find anything at the alleyway, making his way back home.

Cut to a few days later, where at the campus, he sees a missing poster for John Fellows. Nathan walks up to and studies the photo they used, eventually seeing the pack of Marlboro Red cigarettes in his pocket.

The statement ends with Jon's words coming into focus once more;

"I haven’t quit smoking, but I do find that I take a lot more taxis now if I find myself out too late."

[STATEMENT ENDS] [ARCHIVIST PERSPECTIVE]

Here, Jon gives the conclusion to the statement, with little variation from the original audio. It's simply animated over it now.

As the statement ends, we see the final shot of Jon's office, where he reaches over to the tape recorder, and..

[TAPE CLICKS]

Don't know what came over me to write all of that, but yeah, if I somehow get the materials to create this, I fully want to dedicate the time and effort into making episode one. If I was really ambitious, I'd want to do the whole series, but on account of there being so many characters and 200 episodes..... I don't think that'll happen any time soon..

I might be thinking a bit too ambitious for this project too, on account I've never done anything even remotely close to this. I've never worked with puppets like I'd want, I've never made any kind of set before, I've barely made any stop-motion animations with even LEGOs.

Still, it's been going around in my brain for a little while, and I think it would be really cool to do something like this in the future.

[arthurtaylorlester]

whispers into your inbox "jmart was the worst thing that could have happened in tma; it wrecked Jon's character and is the most transparent 'how do we not have our mc become suicidal?' I have ever seen. TMA then falls into the hole of the only important or good enough relationships being romantic, discarding previous character development to throw everything into romance solves all ~ ♡ I hate it and I hate how much Jon is woobified and infantilized in the fandom to drool over Martin and I hate how everyone acts like their relationship is good, when I think either of them with 5 years of a normal life would realize how awful the relationship was for both of them." Anyway lol I expect no response or post of this I am just being spicey on anon

oh anon you thought i was gonna see a take like this and not post it?

i need you to out yourself to me because goddamn this is an interesting take!

look, i love jmart, but even with 5 seasons of development they still somehow managed to feel rushed?

i disagree in that their relationship being unhealthy is a bad thing for them, because like the appeal of podcasts for me is the fucked up relationships. fucked up characters = fucked up relationships, yknow? like john and arthur from malevolent, normally, they'd hate each other without much of a second thought, but that's not the point, they love each other despite that, and that kind of extends to jmart for me.

i also totally agree with the fandom criticism, woobifying jon is like the only tma content i see on twt and it is soooooo annoying.

my personal qualms with tma however is in part the lore decisions and how the fandom treats the lore (and also the whole podcast).

s1 is easily the best season, mostly because you have no fucking idea what's going on, but after s2 things really start feeling like they're being drawn out, at least to me? like i think season 3-4 couldve been one thing, and um. season 5 is fun if you like jmart and the eye ig. i know most of this is a gross oversimplification (not forgetting yall basira&daisy fans) but after the core cast of season 1-2 i could not really get the other characters being fundamental in the story (not georgie. i love georgie)

don't get me wrong, the not-sasha arc was amazing! but after tim died, and martin fucked off for most of a season being sad, i was a bit bored. the buried isnt interesting to me sorry.

and also they under-utilize basically every fear, including the eye, and the one that upsets me the most is the stranger. oh what is it? circus and clowns ig. LIKE OPEN UP YOUR EYES THE WORLD IS OPEN TO YOU THE UNCANNY VALLEY AS SO MANY NICHES PLEASE

and by the end of the show, it just feels like they keep rotating the same 3 fears, and the others just kind fade into the bg

and then there's the fandom. i'm sorry but some of you guys act like tma is the end-all-be-all of fiction horror podcasts. when it's just not. sorry, but the magnus archives, after s1, just isnt scary. you know what's going on, the fears! which are neatly tied into these categories of oddities!

and the show explicitly states that the 14 fears categorization is arbitrary and that they all bleed into one another, but the fandom just. ignores that? like i've heard so many people go to other podcasts and say ''oh x is so eye avatar-coded!!'' and then x just has some vague eye symbolism that isnt even the point (this is about arthur lester)

and like i don't understand how tma manages to be the most mainstream fiction podcast nowadays, when welcome to night vale is right there ! and yes, i am implying that wtnv is objectively better than tma, because wtnv despite running for 12 goddamn years has never bored me with an episode, and it has roughly the same amounts of episodes! they both have similar formats that could repetitive quick (radio show vs statements) and even though i'd say statements have more creative freedom, wtnv still manages to not be boring. this might also just be a fact of better and more varied authors but hey, this is just my opinion

i want it to be clear that i'm not trying to start discourse, i still like tma! the fanartists are some of the most talented artists i've seen, and the fics are just aughhhhhhhhhhhh /pos

[beannary]

Oh, wow! You really sounded like you hate Donnie when you answered number 24, it looked like you put your soul into answering no. 24. How about no. 9, 12 and 19

aldhdkslala i put my heart and soul and love for the Magnus archives into answering number 24

9. If you could change one thing about TMNT, what would it be?

I would change how some of the iterations deal with race and with integrating Japanese culture into the series. I really think that TMNT could do some really cool things with the turtles being Japanese and dealing with the fact that they don’t look japanese (or human really because they are turtles) you could do a lot like through the lens of tmnt as a commentary on racial stereotypes and the series could also be a cool way to introduce non japanese American kids to a depiction of a japanese American household. I could say a lot more on this if given the time to write it all out but I’ve been doing a lot of research on racial representations in the media for school reasons so I have a lot to say about this which I might type out fully later if I have the time.

12. Favorite turtle across all iterations

DONATELLO DONNIE DON DON TRON THE BEST BOY OF ALL TIME AAAAHHHHH I love you my sweet boy

19. Give ONE character a gun

I think 2012 Raph deserves a gun, he deserves to go apeshit for funsies well he already goes apeshit but I think he would just be so excited to have a gun he could go pew pew

Questions taken from here!