#last night i finished season 4 of tma

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

I needed a break from the sadness of The Magnus Archives so I started watching the new season of Heartstopper but it's sad just in a different way so I'm not doing well.

[melliejellybellybean]

TMAGP THEORY

*no big spoilers, but stuff is mentioned*

So I am not one to feel as though any thoughts I have about any type of media I consume are correct, but I noticed something yesterday, and I need to know if I'm crazy or not.

I was continuing my tma relisten yesterday (because let's be real, who actually finished theirs on time) and I listened to MAG 148 - Extended Surveillance. This one is in season 4, right around when Jon is trying to figure out his connection to eye and what exactly it means for his humanity.

This one in particular is about Sunil Maraj, and his encounters with his coworker, Samson (he's referred to as Sam) Stiller, who is started to interact with the eye more and more. Of course, Sunil doesn't know this and he just writes a statement about his coworker being weird with security cameras, but Jon knows what's going on.

Now, I know it's a stretch. TMAGP Sam's full name is Samama, not Samson. Sunil and Samson work for a company that has a weird, wacky database that most people just dismiss. Samson, in this statement, doesn't like that he doesn't understand how the system works and is organized, and despite all of his coworkers telling his it's a waste of time, decides to look into it.

Doesn't that behavior sound familiar? A little bit like how TMAGP Sam doesn't like the OIAR computer system because it's weird and wacky and he doesn't really understand the filing system? So he's deciding to look into it? And possibly risk becoming marked or used by the eye????

Not to mention, in this statement, the eye is described (or maybe just implied) as using security cameras to do it's eye-looking(??). Which is a bit like how the eye is now using technology in TMAPG like computers and security cameras...

I'm not really sure, I listened to the episode last night as I fell asleep, and I haven't looked through the manuscript or relistened to the episode since then, so maybe I misheard or misinterpreted things, but there are an eerie amount of coincidences. I didn't do a great job explaining all these parallels, but I PROMISE it's fishy. GO LISTEN TO IT!!

Coincidences popping up in TMA writing isn't unheard of (Jon accidentally quoting the angler fish in season 5) but I feel like this one is maybe a bit too on the nose.

[glowstickfluid01]

FANDOM LIST

Please read the rules before making a request, here's fandoms I'll be writing for. They will change over time, so please look over it when you can.❤️

Show, movie, anime, and book suggestions are appreciated. Thank you for your support so far❤️

✅️=Finished

🚫=Not done, I'll write where I'm at in the series.

✨️Movies✨️

✅️FNAF(Five Nights At Freddy's)

🚫Harry Potter-I'm reading the books! It's a very slow process, but I've seen up to movie 5(Order of The Phoenix)

✅️Lisa Frankenstein

✅️TPOTO(The Phantom of The Opera)-2004 Film

🚫Scream-Up to movie 3 or 4

✨️TV Shows/Anime✨️

✅️Arcane

✅️ATLA(Avatar: The Last Airbender)

🚫Black Butler-Rewatching rn, wanted to add this before I forget

✅️Demon Slayer/KNY

✅️Good Omens

🚫Haikyu!!-Rewatching, stopped at season 2 last time, currently getting through season 1

✅️Hazbin Hotel-The pilot AND series

✅️Helluva Boss-Pilot AND series

✅️TLOU(The Last of Us)-Season 1

✅️Loki

🚫Miraculous-Pretty sure I watched everything, but I'm missing a few pieces.

✅️Moon Knight

🚫MHA(My Hero Academia)-Up to season 4

✅️TOH(The Owl House)

🚫RWBY-Up to season 5??? I need to rewatch this series

🚫Supernatural(In season 2)

✅️TUA(The Umbrella Academy) NOT DONE SEASON 4⚠️⚠️⚠️

✅️TWD(The Walking Dead)-Up to season 6 (Started season 7)

✨️Books✨️

Expect more soon!

✨️Video Games✨️

🚫The Arcana-Restarting, finished Julian's route (good ending), Muriel's route (good ending)

*I will write for Valdemar, Vulgora, and Volta

✅️FNAF(Five Nights At Freddy's)-I haven't played the games, but I'm familiar with the lore

🚫Genshin Impact-I'm restarting, but I stopped somewhere in Inazuna with the story quests.

✅️Sally Face

✅️Undertale

✨️Misc. Fandoms✨️

✅️Creepypasta-I haven't heard all the stories, but I've read the majority of them.

*Marble Hornets ≠ Creepypasta

✅️TMA(The Magnus Archives)

✨️Coming soon...✨️

Fairy Tail(Anime)

Naruto(Anime)

Marvel(In general)

Resident Evil(Games)

Percy Jackson(Book series AND show)

Silent Hill

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Halloween

The Mandalorian

[nukuome]

1) Either Revisionist History or The Adam Carolla Show bc they were on my dad's ipod.. but my first fictional podcast was the two princes

2) Only once- TMA, the buried episode with Daisy, and i started crying specifically when she said "Not alone, though" and it got worse when she talked asking for comfort

3) Dog from Deviser for sure

4) this is a hard one, but probably Malevolent

5) That was Malevolent for the first 3 seasons for me, I couldn't remember any of the plot other than key moments like coma, kellin, and John is kiy reveal (and I even struggle to remember how they got there, I think the hotel? I can't remember)

6) I feel like Helen and Kayne would meet for an afternoon tea

7) idk why, but I feel like Son and Cecil would NOT get along at all

8) I would get Peter lucas' and elias' voices confused sometimes

9) Arthur Lester hands down

10) Pretty much all of the plot-driven ones tbh, except wtnv only bc I find it more comforting relistening to it

11) I've relistened to Deviser like 3 times now in full but that's bc it's pretty short. I do relisten to specific episodes of other podcasts all the time tho (also if we're counting radio dramas.. I've listened to the Watership down one like 4 times in full)

12) MALEVOLENT AND DEVISER!!! !!

13) I'm usually riding the bus or doing miscellaneous tasks like organizing my stickers, but I also put on TMA when Im sewing or painting clothes

14) Jonathan Sims my beloved wet cat 🥰🥰🥰

15) ooohhh my god.. FUCK Eddie man

16) I heavily associate TMA with the violent things album by the brobecks, and whenever I hear Boring I imagine this series animatic I really wanna make

17) Malevolent and TMA live in my head rent free and I can't evict them if I wanted to

18) ouuuuggh.... probably........ idk I can't think of a podcast that I wish I never heard. I guess Adam Carolla can be an asshole but I wouldn't say I like, REGRET ever hearing it

(Edit: I actually DO regret listening to the magnus archives, but more so the method I listen to the series. I binged most of which led to me not really absorbing it very well. Like, I finished all of season 4 and 10 episodes of season 5 without stopping for anything other than sleep. Also I would listen to most of the series (1-3) at night, in the winter, with no one home but my dog and I. Lets just say... paranoia got actually detrimental to my health bc I was convinced people were in my house or waiting to kill me at all times :D)

19) oooo.. I've gotta say Cecil and Carlos bc they're just so cute together <3

(also, I don't get Jmart. Idk man, I just can't really find the chemistry outside of the "blinding frees us, let's go together" and even the end of episode 159 felt more like establishing a friendship rather than lovers uniting at long last. And even in season 5 it just.. idk. I can't see it. I think I just need more interactions with them pre season 4 and 5. But then again I can't see the connection between Sophie and Howl so..)

20) Many: Kayne, Michael & Helen (distortions), and Cecil for sure

I need to listen to more podcasts, I'm in the middle of season 1 from wolf359 and I wanna start listening to camp here and there and red valley. I've also heard good things about midnight burger.

Podcast themed ask game cause I’m bored!

1.) what’s the first podcast you listened to?

2.) what’s a podcast you’ve cried over?

3.) Favorite podcast pet? (Idk if that’s worded weird but like if one of the characters has a cat or smth)

4.) what podcast has the best soundtrack/music?

5.) what’s a podcast that you really like but find it kinda hard to follow the plot?

6.) what characters from different podcasts do you think would be friends?

7.) what characters from different podcasts do you think would hate each other?

8.) what’s a podcast where you mix up the characters voices?

9.) what’s a podcast that you know the characters so well you can recognize their breathing?

10.) what’s a podcast that you wish you could listen to again for the first time?

11.) what’s a podcast you’ve listened to more than once?

12.) what’s a podcast you wish more people listened to?

13.) what do you like to do while listening to a podcast?

14.) who is a podcast character that you love?

15.) who is a podcast character you can’t stand?

16.) what songs do you associate with a certain character/ podcast?

17.) what’s a podcast that you can’t stop thinking about?

18.) are their any podcasts that you regret listening to?

19.) whose your favorite podcast couple?

20.) whose a podcast character that you think would dress really cool?

[navree]

NAVREE! I JUST FINISHED SEASON 4 OF TMA LAST NIGHT! HOLY SHIT! 🤯🤯🤯

Oh yeah it’s a lot, an absolutely insane thing that Mr. Sims did there. And I will give you the minute to mourn that you doubtlessly need for Peter Lukas, since he was the best character and i miss him every day

[hongjoongpresent]

Tma sure is one of the podcasts ever

[microwavefruit]

jon: needs statements, doesn’t feel right without them, needs more and more to stay satisfied, comfortable excusing immoral behavior in order to get statements

me, an addict: ahahaha aha......... (._.)

[lairn]

Jon started calling himself “The Archivist” and it’s such a small change but every time he begins a statement I lose my mind.

[ghostbustermelanieking]

tma fic masterpost

love letters (of a sort)

(jonmartin, seasons 1-5, fluff, angst, wc: 13k)

Want to grab dinner later? I know you're going to be working absurdly late anyway, and there's a new Italian place I've been wanting to try. — M

Yes, that sounds nice. I'll try to be finished by 7:00. — J

Oh, yes. God forbid you don't work absurdly late. ;) — M

-

Or: The notes and letters Jon and Martin have written each other, through the years.

cracks

(post mag 200, tim & sasha, jonmartin, wc: 1k)

Sasha finds a tape on her kitchen table. A new one. The last one. She doesn't even need to listen to it to know it's the last one. And she has a voice-mail on her phone from Annabelle Cane.

She calls Tim first, right then, at one a.m., and he picks up. She knew he would. She knows he felt the change, too. "We have to go," she says. "Right now. We've got to go back. Something's happened."

microfics: tender, trembling hands, drastic

in the moonlight

(wtgfs, pre-canon, fluff, wc: 2k)

6. things you said under the stars and in the grass

Or: Georgie and Melanie on a late-night ghost hunt (in an "unromantic" field).

after words

(jonmartin, mag 102 au, hurt/comfort, wc: 3k)

things you said prompts: "13. things you said at the kitchen table."

Or: After Jon's escape from the Circus, Martin offers for Jon to stay with him.

warm

(jonmartin, scottish safehouse period, wc: 2k)

things you said prompts: "1. things you said at 1 am"

Or: Huddling for warmth after the Lonely.

reunions

(post mag 196, canon divergent, jonmartin, wc: 2k)

Martin and Jon find each other again at the remnants of Hill Top Road.

cursed grounds

(bly manor au pt 1, jonmartin, ensemble, slow burn, wip, wc: 14k)

When there's a lull, Martin speaks up, because he has to, he knows he does, he won't get a better opportunity. He says, "I've got a story," and when they look at him with interest, he adds, "A… a statement, really. It might be hard to hear, but… I think we all need to hear it again."

He shifts in his seat, sits up straighter, clears his throat and looks out at the lot of them and begins. "Statement of Martin Blackwood," he says, "regarding the Magnus Institute, and everything that happened there." He takes a breath, hears the familiar words in their familiar cadence rattle through his mind: the Archivist is taking a statement. He says, "Statement begins."

--

Or: In 1985, after the disappearance of Gertrude Robinson from the reclusive grounds of the Magnus Institute, Jonathan Sims is brought in as a replacement. As he adjusts to the new job, and begins to bond with his new coworkers, the strange happenings on the grounds that the Magnus Institute sits on become harder to ignore.

Years later, Martin Blackwood makes a statement.

variations on a death scene

(ensemble, jonmartin, wtgfs, aus, revenge stories, wc: 6k)

Or: Eight times Jonah Magnus was killed, and everything was fixed.

tapes winding forward

(jonmartin, time travel, season 1/season 5 au, word count: 48k)

Chapters: 6/6

Martin gets a closer look at the calendar, and his breath catches in his throat. He's gotten a look at the year, and it's wrong, it's all wrong. 2018. October, 2018. Right there, in Martin's own handwriting, on a Saturday, he's written things on little dates that Martin can't read, because he can't take his eyes off the year. 2018. 2018. They look differently. They have scars they don't recognize. Their hair is longer. 2018.

Martin seizes the calendar off the fridge and goes back into the living room. Jon's still at the coffee table, poking through the tapes piled there, but he looks up when Martin comes back in and says, "Martin, where…" with a familiar bite in his voice.

Martin ignores him, stops him mid-sentence to say, "Jon, what have you heard about time travel?"

---

Martin and Jon wake up two years in the future. It goes about as well as can be expected.

cat's cradle

(georgie & jon, wtgfs, the admiral, s5 au, cat angst & fluff, mag 189/190, word count: 5k)

Jon and Martin go out one day, on a trip to the eldritch horror-trap grocery store, and show back up in the tunnels after a few long hours, longer than any of the trips to the store that Georgie has been on. Martin has a bag of horrible spooky food, and Jon has a bag shut at the top that is wriggling suspiciously in his arms. "Oh, great," says Melanie, when Georgie fills her in. "What monstrous thing has he brought home now?" Georgie would giggle if the situation wasn't at least a little potentially dangerous, Jon could have anything in there, really.

---

Or: an exploration of the fate of the Admiral, after the end of the world.

rising static

(archivist!martin, jonmartin, s5 au/canon divergence/spec, word count: 14k)

Martin forces his eyes open to look at Jon, bruise blossoming at the top of his forehead, eyes red and wet. "Wh-what's gone?" he asks softly, almost afraid of the answer.

"It. All of it, or at least some of it, I don't know… I can't feel it anymore. The statements, the Beholding, it's—it's…" Jon breaks off mid-sentence, shaking his head. He leans forward so their foreheads are together, and Martin can feel him trembling all over. He says, voice low and thick with fear, "I'm… not sure I'm the Archivist anymore."

---

The initial confrontation with Jonah Magnus goes badly, and Martin wakes up outside the Panopticon to find Jon missing. In the wake of this initial loss, something about Martin starts to change.

northern-bound trains

(safehouse fic, jonmartin, post mag 159, pining, word count: 6k)

Martin rides with Jon to the train station. He insisted. Said he shouldn’t have to go there alone. “Nothing worse than leaving on a trip with no one to send you off,” he’d said. Jon had nodded, gratefully, and swallowed back the burning lump of what he wanted to say—Come with me, come to Scotland, I don’t want to leave you alone again. He kept hearing Martin’s words in his head: I really loved you. And he couldn’t ask Martin to do that, to leave his whole life and everything behind to become a fugitive, cower in Scotland and throw his whole life away. It’s too much. And Martin has already sacrificed so much for him.

He’ll be content with Martin seeing him off. That can be enough. That will be enough.

knowing

(s1 archives crew, timsasha, season 4 au, word count: 3k)

Jon falters, looks at the ground, one hand over his mouth. "You… you were both in the same place. In a… domain. D-Daisy was in one, too, a different one. I got her out. And I… I thought, afterwards, that maybe I could get the two of you back, too."

---

Or: After the Unknowing, after the Buried, Jon finds Sasha and Tim again.

journeys at the end of the world

(wtgfs, melanie king, season 5 au/spec, word count: 8k)

Melanie doesn't remember what happened after the world ends.

(Or: Melanie searches for Georgie in the wake of the apocalypse.)

a hidden statement

(season 1 au, s1 archives crew, jonmartin, timsasha, wc: 100k)

Chapters: 5/15 (wip)

Martin finds the tape in the wall. Specifically, in a small hole in the drywall, tucked behind boxes and stuffed with so much crumpled paper and tissue that it's almost impossible to see anything else in there. It's a cassette tape, the sort Jon uses to record statements, labeled on the front with a brown strip of tape. It's addressed to the Head Archivist in a spidery handwriting.

--

Or: Gertrude Robinson made a tape as a warning to the next Head Archivist. What if he had gotten it?

[guinevere01]

Time for Marius!

[ID: a plush Marius octokitten made from black fabric with lighter contrast fabric for the bottom of the tentacles. He wears a red waistcoat with a string chain leading from a "button" to a "pocket", a coat from a greenish blue fabric with glittery floral embroidery, and a leather bullet belt with black and gold shells (indicated by bands of black and gold marker on the leather). He has one irregular brown button eye, and one monocle, a large dark blue button with a gold rim reminiscent of a steampunk raider attached to a black band that runs diagonally across his face. He has grey embroidered whiskers, there's messy stitching visible at the lower part of the front tentacles.]

I finished this one over a week ago, then finally made photos last week on Thursday but everyone was screaming about TMA (including me) so that was Not a good time to post, so here he is at last!

The coat was a bit of a struggle as the fabric was frankly horrible to work with but I'm really happy with how it came out! Here's a shot where the cut of the coat is more clearly visible:

[ID: a photo with flash of the same octokitten, taken at an angle. The blue glow of the monocle is more clearly visible as well as the back strap against the black fabric of his face. Now also clearly visible is the cut of the coat: it has a high pointed collar and cuts back just above where the waistcoat ends, the coat is longer at the side. The leather bullet belt gets thinner at the end and finishes on his back, attaching to the other end with black thread running up over his back. /End ID]

One huge struggle I had with this one was that the black fabric was incredibly stretchy, which meant I had to be super careful with stuffing cause rather than making the tentacles stiffer I would just make them bulge by adding more stuffing. I also was lazy and thought I could sew the tentacles just by my cut of the fabric without actually drawing the pattern on it. This was a Mistake™ and meant his bottom turned out super lumpy cause I did not cut the tentacles in deeply enough. (I was on a high from listening to the TMA season 4 finale and meanwhile following a much anticipated liveblog of those same episodes whilst sewing and stuffing the tentacles, it was also the middle of the night, don't blame me). I eventually fixed this by pushing away the stuffing as much as I could without undoing my work and sewing them in deeper and then cutting off the excess fabric which led to the messier look the inside of the tentacles have now but also a much better shape.

Here's a shot from the bottom showcasing both the messy stitching I ended up with (half of it done by hand cause I got over confident once again and cut too close to my original machine sewn stitches), and the pretty fabric I gave him cause I A) saw I had this fabric and wanted to use it for someone and B) knew Marius would rock it and thought it was a nice ode to his scarfs.

[ID: a hand holding the octokitten with the bottom up. The fabric is white with irregular colourful patches with a somewhat marble like pattern, this is mainly yellows and pinks in the centre and bright green on one tentacle as well as several grey veins throughout. /End ID]

Oh and here's the obligatory picture of them all together so far!

[ID: a photo of three plush octokittens of similar size, left is Ivy - red fabric, white floral underside of tentacles, black waistcoat, white button eyes, black whiskers - middle is Marius who turned out slightly taller than the other two, right is Tim - grey fabric, brown waistcoat, white unbuttoned shirt collar, leather coat, uneven yellow eyes with black cracks throughout, white whiskers. /End ID]

This was the last one for a bit as, for my sanity, I need my sewing machine, ironing board, huge sack with stuffing and huge Ikea bag filled to the brim with fabric to be gone from my living room for a while. ✨ (I JUST finished putting the fabric stash back in the overhead storage and managed to almost kill myself thrice, lets go gays). Also I got other projects I really really wanna make some process on.

[the-kaedageist]

I see others have already asked about the ones I'm more curious about... except the REAL TMA fic 👀💕

This is another one I’m hoping to post someday! I went through several drafts of TMA fics that didn’t go anywhere after season 4 ended, and then I landed on an idea I loved a LOT in November 2019. I wanted to play with the idea of time travel (which wasn’t really common in TMA fandom back then, although I hear it’s exploded with time travel fics now lol). 

The premise behind it is that Martin and Jon sent themselves back in time to avert the apocalypse and then started living their lives again from 2012ish with NO memory of what happened...until Gertrude runs into Jon in a tube station and realizes he’s been touched by all seven fears, so she sends Martin to spy on him.

This is probably my saddest abandoned wip to date because I dropped it at 23,000 words in! 😭 I really like it though so I am hoping once I finish S5...whenever that is...I can incorporate elements from S5 into it and then finish it all up and post it, and hopefully fandom won’t be sick of time travel fics by then.

Here’s an excerpt from the beginning!

Gertrude glanced around the room before returning her piercing gaze to Martin. “You’re the best researcher at investigating the background of people from our statements,” she said. Martin blinked; he wasn’t sure where she’d heard that, as it was hardly true.

“That’s not—“ he began.

She cut him off. “I need you to look into someone for me.”

Martin’s hands were clammy. Gertrude was just the Head Archivist; there was no reason for her to set off his fear response. It wasn’t like she killed people or anything. She was just a very scary librarian.

“Who is it?” Martin asked, embarrassed at the high register of his voice. He heard a snort from the direction of Tim’s desk but didn’t dare look away from Gertrude.

Gertrude passed him a folder. “I did the preliminaries. His name is Jonathan Sims.” Martin took the file with a shaking hand, opening it to find printouts of information on the man in question. Sims was 28 years old, lived on the northern edge of Balham, and worked a political think tank that researched international relations policy. Martin flipped the page over to find a picture of a man who looked less like he was 28 and more like he was a decade beyond that, with graying dark hair, glasses, and scars down the side of his face.

Something about the picture hit him like a punch in the gut, but he didn’t know why. He stared at the image of the man in front of him, feeling his heart pounding, and tried to remind himself that he may be somewhat of a disaster of a person, but he did not need to be attracted to a man who he was supposed to be investigating.

“Why are we looking into him?” Martin asked, glancing up at Gertrude again. She was watching him carefully, as though she could see his traitorous heart pounding through the layers of skin and sinew.

“He has a statement for me,” Gertrude said. “He just hasn’t made it yet. I want to know what it is and I want you to convince him to come to see me.”

Martin blinked. “So this is less investigation and more…persuasion?”

“Sims is skittish,” said Gertrude. “I spooked him last night and he ran from me. Whatever he’s hiding, he’s not going to be easy to persuade to come in here.” She frowned down her glasses at him. “I need you to befriend him, gain his trust.”

“Oooh,” Tim murmured from behind his computer. “Martin the spy.”

Gertrude shot him a Look and Tim gave a yelp, silencing almost instantly. In Martin’s periphery, he could see Sasha shaking her head at both of them.

“I’m not—I’m not a good liar, I don’t think I can—“

Gertrude gave him a look that felt like it was boring into the very core of him. “You’re lying to me right now, Martin,” she said, very calmly. “And remarkably well. I think this is an assignment that will suit you perfectly.” She turned on her heel and made her way back to the door.

“Sure,” Martin squeaked. “I’ll do it.” At least it would get him out of the Institute occasionally.

Gertrude turned and gave him a small perfunctory smile. “I know,” she replied. “I need to have Jonathan’s statement by the end of March.” With that, she was gone, leaving only a faint hint of flowery perfume in her wake.

Ask me about my WIPs!

[cantarellangel]

angel's list of podcasts

Podcasts I'm up to date with:

The Magnus Archives: What got me started on podcasts again after wtnv in 2013. Really like it, the slow buildup to the overarching plot is v impressive. Frightening sometimes. (8.5/10)

Alice isn't Dead: Some genuinely touching moments. Dragged a bit in the middle, but I really liked it. Not all that attached to the characters but I'm making this list a year later. Lesbians!(7.5/10)

Archive 81: This is..... alright. I suppose. I mean I don't care about any of the characters and the plot is.... fine. I've got to listen to Season 3. Not scary. (6/10)

Caravan: I didn't like any character in this :( or the plot :( maybe i don't like non horror podcasts? representation is cool but i need to like the story as well :/(3/10)

Death by Dying: Solidly okay. The main character was funny...... but like thats it. The story was solidly okay. (4.5/10)

Gender Forking: This is a twilight podcast. (7.5/10)

Girl in Space: I liked this! Solid likeable characters and a plot that's actually halfway decent. Am I just rating these podcasts lower bc they're not horror? Has the magnus archives flowers for algernon-ed me? (6.8/10)

I am in eskew: REALLY LIKED THIS ONE. Lots of allegories and metaphors to draw parallels to that i recognised in some dark corner of my pitiful heart. It took me a while to get through this bc of the ambient rain sounds and the main character is a british man narrating so I kept falling asleep. Didn't scare me though, even though people say it's scarier than tma. (9/10)

Inkwyrm: I was told this was like devil wears prada in space and it is....... but like it's not that funny. And like instead of Andy growing more Miranda-like, in this Miranda becomes a better person which would appeal to some people i guess but not me. (4/10)

LifeAfter/The Message: I liked LifeAfter more than The Message tbh but it's good. Says interesting things about technology and capitalism but not in a boring black mirror sort of way. I liked it! (7/10)

Limetown: This is like LifeAfter but with more episodes and a more likable main character. Ep 2 warning was the scariest thing I've ever heard. I really like stories about brave women seeking out truth to an extent that everything else (including their own safety) becomes background noise. (8/10)

Mabel: This is so poetic and pretty and I love the characters and world and story and plot. Unfortunately it's so poetic I've missed whole chunks of it, and so i have to relisten. (8.5/10)

Old Gods of Appalachia: This is really fun, I like how the narrator refers to the audience as family. The plot is also really good. Horror. (8/10)

Olive Hill: This is a good one, like Limetown but the production quality is like rather indie. But it's the best modern adaptation of the changeling metaphor that I've seen. (7.5/10)

Philosphize This: Well it's a philosophy podcast. I've not finished it but it's good. (7/10)

Rabbits: Solid premise, annoying narration, bad execution and ending. (2/10)

Spines: I like this! Really good body horror!! Not frightening but like I love it. (7/10)

Stellar Firma: Well it's okay. Definitely more fun listening to it while interacting with the fandom than taking the pure source material. It's fun, it's alright. (7/10)

The Domestic Life of Anthony Todd: This is nice except I have barely any idea whats going on like world-wise and I don't like any of the characters. It's also not horror, god, do I really have a bias against non scary podcasts? (5.5/10)

Time:Bombs: This was funny. Also 3 episodes. (7/10)

Wolf359: LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS. Sometimes scary, sometimes funny, mostly a drama and I love all the characters. Really want to write a character driven drama like this (9/10)

Wooden Overcoats: Got to be real this isn't funny and tbh it's kinda boring. I've only listened to the 1st season and I may drop it. (3/10)

The 6 disappearances of Ella McCray: I liked this one! It's short and cute I think (5/10)

Mirrors: I liked this a lot more than Ella McCray, the characters were fun and the plot is intriguing and heart-warming (6.5/10)

Zero Hours: Love this as well! Though I'm glad I listened to this before 2020 since it's about the end of the world. (8/10)

Podcasts to be listened to:

Sayer

The Black Tapes

The Deca Tapes

The White Vault

Unwell

Within the wires

Podcasts I've dropped:

The Penumbra Podcast: Tried a solid amount of eps but it was a slog and i didn't like any of the characters or the plot or anything

The Bright Sessions: Why's the narrator so... aloof like? ugh. It's also a bit over produced

The Adventure Zone-Graduation: How do you make a boarding school story unfun? :(

The Adventure Zone-Amnesty: No idea wtf is happening here

My Brother, my brother and me : Maybe I just don't like these dudes.

Rusty Quill Gaming: Sorry Alex :( Maybe I just don't like gaming podcasts without a plot :((

Lore: Just not my style :/ Maybe I don't like real stories

Welcome to Night Vale: I love wtnv but like without a solid overarching plot it loses steam & direction.

(Last updated: 19-09-2020 3:25 p.m.)

[realbigpodcastslut]

Hello, I was wondering if you could suggest some podcasts? I am new to the podcast fandom and have already fell into Wtnv and serial podcasts. Thank you in advance.

Oh heck yeah!!!! Welcome to podcast hell. Though I haven’t listened to Serial (i listen to more backwater-indie but still good), WTNV is an old favorite. For some goodies, but more of a mixed bag here are the top ones you’ll see people post about (*=gayness):

*Wolf 359- A Space Opera on the USS Hephaestus. Wacky hijinks ensue for the first couple episodes and then you’re crying and everything’s a mess. But to be honest, this is really good. This turned my light hobby of listening to podcasts post-2016ish to binging it. I love the characters, they’re very complex. Its storyline is always easy to follow, which is a plus (there are some I still don’t know what’s happening). (Status: Ended but sometimes there are surprises in your feed) (Also the creators made Time Bombs which is a three ep series about a bomb squad and very good) 

***The Bright Sessions- Therapy for people with superpowers. It’s a lighter podcast in that it’s not guns in space- but it gets deep. It’s very sweet and it has so many characters that you’ll love- and some that you’ll want to punch in the face and they don’t get redemption arcs which is great. It’s a good podcast. (Status: Ended but a ton of bonus content is being released for years to come with a TV show) 

*****The Penumbra Podcast- This is not a single story podcast, but still good. The main story is Juno Steel and it’s about a Private Eye on Mars. It’s got drama, love, pain, friendship, and something special. The main love interest is also freaking amazing. The Second Citadel is the other one about a fantasy-age kingdom of monsters and humans at war. It gets…. well steamy. Not really but the tension between some characters is palpable. It’s good. (Status: Finished its  second season but their working on their third season) 

***King Falls AM- Okay, I’ve got to state this IS my favorite podcast. It’s got the whole “radio station in a small town” idea from WTNV, but it’s so fleshed out. The main characters you constantly meet and it doesn’t have the isolated feel like WTNV. It also isn’t surreal. But it deals with some heavy issues like depression and grieving but also has lighter episodes. I have to say I think it most definitely gets better later on. I freaking love this podcast and I wake every first and fifteenth at 3 am for my fix. (Status: Just got out of hiatus and is going strong). 

***EOS 10- Another space comedy, except it is like Grey’s Anatomy in space. I mean I’ve never watched Grey’s Anatomy, but it’s got doctors so it’s kind of the same??? It’s funny but like I said- it gets darker. I’m sorry, it just does. Another really good one. (Status: Is currently releasing season 4, and released season 3 after like a 3-year long hiatus)

**The Magnus Archives- A horror podcast but good. I mean I love horror podcasts- but this made get some tingles down my spine. It’s told though a file system but all connects later on. Very good and I really enjoy this one. Though it is very long, so I warn you to get comfy. (Status: Season 4 and is going strong).

***The Adventure Zone-  NOT AN AUDIO DRAMA, but fuck is it good. I’m usually an audio drama snob but I made an exception and it’s great. It starts off with there brothers and their dad goofing off while playing DnD and it’s very funny. It never loses this, but as time goes on the story is told and it’s so freaking beautiful. Made me basically cry. I would recommend 10/10 but like TMA it is also v long. (Status: Finished Balance and is half-way through their Amnesty arc).

Podcasts I like but don’t want to explain too much because my hands are cold:

*****Inkwyrm !!!! (The Devil Wears Prada in space and gay. I like this one so much asdhkjsad)

*****Dreamboy (WTNV but gayer and R-Rated)

Amelia Project (Some British guys fake your death)

*Darkest Night (Lots of people get killed)

Uncanny County (Weird shit happens in a county… that’s it)

We Fix Space Junk (Capitalism is bad in space)

SAYER (Capitalism but in space and with an AI)

*Kakos Industries (Do Evil Better, R-rated)

***The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Gay Space Pirates)

I hope this helped. If you don’t like any or are looking for something else don’t be afraid to say so!! Or if you need more. This might have lasted me a month or two hahaha. :))))

[celsidebottom]

Hi, so I have caught up with all podcasts that RustyQuill create, which are all amazing. And I was wondering if you listened to any other podcasts that give a similar vibe to them? So I can consume them in these trying times. Thank you, hope you are doing well.

I’m doing pretty well, all things considered, and I hope you are too!

I can’t say I’ve listened to too many other podcasts, but I’ll list the ones I recommend, and the ones I know other people like too, even if I haven’t listened to them myself

Podcasts I recommend that are somewhat similar to Rusty Quill shows: 

Inn Between - if you like the found family shenanigans in rqg then this is for you.  The episodes are pretty short (like an avg of 10 minutes) but it follows a group of travelling adventurers in a dnd rpg style quest but without any actual gameplay.  

Dungeons and Daddies - this is like the shenanigans of Stellar Firma if Tim and Ben were allowed to be completely unhinged while playing dnd but Alex didn’t care about the rules.  It’s the story of 4 dads from our world trying to find their missing sons in the Forgotten Realms.  Fair warning, it is pretty nsfw.  (The subtitle is “Not a BDSM podcast.”)

The Underwood Collection - a fanmade spin-off of the Magnus Archives set in the Usher Foundation.  It’s statement style show with spooky happenings and I would die for Ulysses Bamba (who is essentially in the role of Jon reading the statements)

Zoo Podcast - Think tma but tracking down cryptids and the magical, teleporting zoo that they stay in.  Imo the first season was a little longer than it needed to be, but it’s very worth it.  Sort of spooky, but definitely not to the extent of tma. 

Welcome To Night Vale - you’ve probably heard of this one out there but it’s like the original unsettling spooky vibe set in a town where the weird is the norm.  I know it was my first podcast, and I haven’t kept up with it in a while, but I think it has left a very lasting impression on everyone who listened to it 

Podcasts I recommend that aren’t really similar to any of the Rusty Quill ones but I still really like:

Death By Dying - I haven’t actually finished this one yet, but I’ve listened to 2 episodes (there aren’t many) and it’s a mix of silly and unsettling that I’ve found enjoyable so far!

Wooden Overcoats - “we put the body in the coffin in the ground on time.”  Shenanigans between two competing funeral homes on a very, very tiny island with a very, very small population.  One is functional, barely, and the other has expanded to include a juice bar and a monorail to their attached bar and lounge.  It’s absolutely ridiculous in a sort of morbid way. 

The Penumbra Podcast - (you’ve probably seen this one around but just in case) There are two main storylines in this one (one of which I still haven’t finished).  The Juno Steele stories follow a futuristic private eye on Mars, and the Second Citadel is a fantasy adventure with knights and magic.  There is so much LGBT rep in this one it makes me really really happy

Skyjacks (part of the Campaign Podcast channel) - I’m only on episode 4 but I love it so far.  It’s an rpg podcast about steampunk-esque air pirates with magic and shenanigans.

Podcasts I know other people who like Rusty Quill shows like but I haven’t listened to myself:

Critical Role - obviously the big one out there in terms of rpg shows, I just haven’t had the time or spoons to watch 4 hour episodes (also it’s not just a podcast, it’s got video too I believe)

Wolf 359

Fantasy High

Not Another DND Podcast

Friends at the Table

If anybody has any other recommendations, please feel free to add on!  

[septembersung]

I’d quit listening to The Magnus Archives, probably about the time I started watching Teen Wolf, but despite hearing that season 3 was pretty good I just suddenly Couldn’t with Teen Wolf anymore, so it’s back to TMA. I listened to 127, Remains to be Seen, last night. I admit I am... not as into season 4. In part because of the starting and stopping pattern to listening, probably. But also, I think I just liked it better when Jon was confused and paranoid but also energetic and ready to fight the universe. But now he’s lost so much and he just sounds so tired and it makes me sad. I reserve judgment on the story itself until I finish the season, of course, but I’m also sad we seem to have passed by the kind of storytelling I was really into.

[fearfearer]

more thoughts about the magnus archives as i reread the transcripts

i was thinking about how gertrude robinson was really an extraordinary person (not extraordinarily Morally Sound, but extraordinary) just because of who she was, whereas the only extraordinary things about jonathan sims are things that have been arranged for him (i.e. his role). i don't mean this as a diss for jonathan, as i'm not extraordinary either. it's just striking that gertrude was so driven and confident compared to jon. of course, now we know that basically everything she did was in the pursuit of a moot goal (i.e. killing people in order to stop rituals that were already doomed to fail) so maybe my point is somewhat moot as well.

i've been doing some rereading of episodes on my phone (i.e. away from this text document on my computer) and i'll have a realization like "right, i should note that down when i get back to my computer" and i have forgotten all of them now that i am back at my computer. suffice it to say there are quite a few things i misheard/misunderstood on the first listen, unsurprisingly.

reading through the first 20 or so episodes i'm surprised by how well i remember each of them, considering i was listening like 4 episodes a day when i started. then again, it was only a month or two ago that i even listened to them, so one should hope my memory is at least this good. anyway the first episode i'm re-listening instead of rereading is 22 bc that's the first one where we hear martin's voice, i'm pretty sure

i've also noticed some errors in the official transcripts, which aren't a big deal because obviously what matters most is the audio, but still... some of them have been simple typos. magnus archives hire me as your official transcriptionist and i'll make all your transcripts 100% error-free bc im smatr

(reading through the rest of the transcripts and my standards went way down in terms of grammar/stylistic consistency, as most of the later ones are fan transcripts by several different people. i found quite a few mistakes, but obviously i have no particular way to help fix them short of sending an email to the tma transcripts fansite person like “hey there’s all these mistakes. upload my good version instead?” bc i’m not that much of a dick)

the whole reason martin went to the spider guy's building was because he didn't want jon to be disappointed in him for not doing Due Diligence. he says so twice. then he went back for the same reason. it seems the fandom joke is "jon asks his assistants to do crimes for him" but in this case martin is like "oh no maybe i didn't do enough crimes to satisfy jon"

jon was doing his archivist voice HEAVILY in season 1, huh?

tim's first appearance is so jovial compared to how he ends up...

if this boat lady is speaking spanish in brazil, then it doesn't matter if it was "bad spanish" or not. anyway now i understand why we already knew peter lukas was serving the lonely by the time jon mentioned offhand that peter lukas was serving the lonely. it was my whole “let’s not bother noting down any FREQUENTLY RECURRING names”

well i guess robert smirke was a real person. should i feel dumb about this? idk. it’s such a fictional-sounding name, to be fair. but i guess that set the precedent of using a real person as an important historical figure in the fiction that we see happening again when edmund halley is referenced later on. also episode 35 has foreshadowing for the separation of 14 powers, and people thought it was 13 because they mention 13 halls PLUS the one they came through.

totally forgot about tim goofing around in episode 39... he was really not having the worst time at this job before bad things started happening and he realized he was trapped, huh

the worms were trying to make a doorway into the Worm Wealm

ep 40 jon's like "I need to hear it. I need to record it. Or else I can't finish." (lightly abridged)

listening to the season 1 Q&A for the first time and EARL BIGMAC

also good to know there's only going to be 5 seasons. very good to know. this seems like a good kind of series to write with a fixed endpoint in mind, as it's very easy to do an episode that has effectively no bearing on the MetaPlot but which is still a short story in itself and therefore doesn't count as "filler"

jonathan sims performs with a mythical space pirate music cabaret. so he IS a ham

jonny says, "no rude words. i could say bums, maybe..." (alexander j newall does a laugh while i do the exact same laugh irl) "...but i won't."

some dumbass writing into the Q&A to ask if the background music is diegetic... get a podcast brain, ya fool. though for my part, i have to say that one of the most striking things about this podcast when i first started listening (though i never made a note of it before) was the Too Spooky Music, and i didn't like it at all. the reason was that i am, and have been, vulnerable to Getting Spooked about irrational things at night, such that it becomes really hard to fall asleep... and one of the things that has an outsize effect on my level of Spookédness is spooky audio. so if i was watching a video at night and i was worried it would Get Me Spooked, i would just turn the sound off, and it would turn out fine. but obviously you can't turn the sound off on a podcast. and i've been listening to podcasts after work, i.e. after 5pm, and i go to bed at like 8 or 9pm because i'm old. so the way it turned out was that even if the actual subject of the podcast wasn't that scary to me, the music would amplify it in an unpleasant way and make me more likely to have trouble sleeping. also i think most of the episodes would have been fine without the music, or maybe with some less intentionally-disconcerting background music.

this just in: i seem to have totally missed episode 50 on my first listen-through, despite having gone in linear order. bc i'm listening to it now and i've definitely never heard this before. fortunately it doesn't seem to have much of a bearing on the rest of the series, so it's not like i missed any crucial information. tbh the only worthwhile bit was a brief moment of tim being a ham, which was good. i hope i didn't miss any other episodes the first time... still don't know how i managed to miss this one.

the official transcript said [EXTENDED SOUNDS OF BRUTAL PIPE MURDER] ...

so gertrude and leitner WERE played by jonny's parents <:3c i'd thought as much when i saw the cast names but i like that it's confirmed. his mom is a really good actress too. i always find the gertrude episodes to be striking in a certain way

"it's Fine working with your parents. it's Fine." as someone who worked with my mom for like a year i can confirm this

i'm tickled to find that the official transcripts have a sense of humor. i wonder who is behind them. i also wonder, what is the excuse for not having a full set of official transcripts when it is a script-based show? surely you know what is going to be said beforehand, and you have it written down, and if someone ends up saying something different in the final recording, surely it wouldn’t be too hard to give the original script a little edit, and bam! that’s a transcript. i wonder if this approach is not feasible for some reason.

whenever martin reads statements, he says something about jon... whenever he talks to someone, he says something about jon

i think episode 110 is an instance of the tape recorder turning ITSELF off... at the end of the episode. because they walk away, and they say something distantly, and then it turns off. lots of other times, there had to be a diegetic reason for the tape recorder to turn off at the end.

i noticed something which i missed last time, which was that there is a rumor between melanie and georgie and basira that implies that jonathan is asexual. worth noting, i think. [side note added in later: yeah it’s canon. cool]

also i listened to episode 103 again and yes. i had thought-- i had been SURE-- that the person interrogating the traffic cop (using the asky ability) was martin. but it was actually jon. how did i possibly manage that mistake? i'm not great at distinguishing voices, but i'm not THAT bad. the only possible answer: when i was listening to the episode for the first time... i must have been eating a crunchy snack.

"it doesn't have to make sense! alex has to make it sense." (jonny sims re: writing the spiral)

glad to know that jonny sims regrets using his own name for the protagonist. doesn't make a difference either way at this point but yeah

YES i knew episode 100 was improvised. and i see, all the statementers had actually had supernatural experiences, but because the archivist was absent, their statements didn't have the coherence and clarity normally lent to them by the eye (in exchange for becoming cursed). i think melanie or basira actually said pretty much that in the episode itself, but i still couldn't be sure that all of those people had something real to talk about.

"in the same way that tim is dead, michael is helen." good shit

the archivist is canon a bit of a drama queen. the first bullet point in my first tma notes document is vindicated

jonny sims mentions another podcast (apocrypals) that sounds 100% up my alley, so that is appreciated, i will add that to my list i think. (listened to episodes 0 and 1 of apocrypals and i'm heavily struck by how VERY clearly i can hear the smiles in chris sims's voice. i did not know smiling could be so audible, truly.) (listened to quite a few more episodes of apocrypals and it’s certainly entertaining at times. i should’ve been reading along though. maybe some other time)

I DIDN'T LISTEN TO THE SEASON 4 TEASER THE FIRST TIME AROUND.........................................

i must confess something that people who know me well may already know: i hate when stories have a bad ending. an unhappy ending. a painful ending. a hopeless ending. bittersweet is the furthest in that direction i can tolerate. my perspective, which is pretty deep-seated, is that there's no point in getting to know and love characters if you're only going to be hurt by that connection to them when the end turns out to be bad. if i have even a mild inkling that a story is heading toward a bad ending, i make a conscious effort to regard all characters from afar and not develop any strong attachments. this is not so much "how i think all stories need to be," but rather, "the characteristics a story needs to have to appeal to me personally." so i understand that my view is very subjective and mostly based on my own mental weakness. but i can't help but apply it to the media i consume. and the idea that someone would do something like "make characters very human and strongly developed" IN COMBINATION WITH "heading toward a bad end" makes me upset. like, picture a horror movie. think about the characters in a horror movie. with the exception of a main character, if there is one, there's no guarantee that anyone is going to survive to the end of the film... BUT... the characters generally aren't fleshed out and very sympathetic. i wouldn't go so far as to say they're disposable, but you're not SUPPOSED to cry when they die; you're just supposed to get scared. their purpose is as objects of fear, and you never expect or even hope for a happy ending. but in the magnus archives... all i'm saying... is that i would cry if any of the remaining members of the main cast died. and it seems clear that we're not heading to a happy ending. so i'm somewhat afraid, and not in a good way. i don't know how much i can trust jonny sims to give me the story i want, and obviously, i'm not entitled to it.

if your name is jonathan and you want to shorten it, the short form is jon. it ain't john, no matter what the official transcripts say. where'd you get that h, huh? stole it from someone else's name? are you shortening it like JOnatHaN? you can’t just be that sneaky!

i listened to scrutiny again and it hits so hard. now, in heart of darkness, when manuela begs jon not to force her statement, it's really heavy given the direct context of the previous two episodes where we see how compulsion works and how it hurts.

also when jon was talking about how to destroy the dark sun and he was like "i just need to see it," when i first heard it, i assumed he meant something along the lines of, "by seeing it, i will learn how to destroy it." but now i understand that the mere act of the eye seeing it destroys it, because being known is what the darkness is weakest to.

the magnus employees who work in the library probably at least have a LITTLE BIT of a feeling that they work in an almost normal place, given that jon and all his assistants were able to have that impression before transferring to the archives. so i wonder how the magnus library people feel about their institute's director getting arrested for double murder and now the big boss is a completely unrelated ship captain who seems to want nothing to do with the place but simultaneously is trying to continue business as usual

on second listen, listening to jon ask helen when the guilt stops (wrt hurting people in order to feed one's patron fear) is pretty chilling. because it seems like he's definitely accepting that he will have to hurt people, and what he's concerned about is how bad it makes HIM feel. of course, helen then answers with precisely what i just wrote, so...

i should've read the transcript for episode 159 instead of relistening because i forgot that peter lukas's actor got so gravelly and hard to listen to in this one. anyway, time to re-listen to the season 4 finale... then i'll listen to the season 4 Q&As and stuff... and then the new episode. (DOKI DOKI DOKI DOKI DOKI)

i heard in the Q&A that the voice of peter lukas did multiple takes for episode 159?! but it was because of technical difficulties. right. because i can’t imagine the way it turned out being deemed the best take. sorry

ok, things i missed last time i listened to 160: daisy and the other two hunters are missing. also jon mentioned "magnus's body" and martin mentioned "an old man's corpse" and at the time i took this to mean (somewhat unthinkingly) that when jon and martin returned from the lonely, they killed elias/jonah's body. which would be a weird thing to happen "off-camera," so to speak. so i think i must have been wrong? slightly confused. ok, no, i'm now sure that elias survived, so i must have misunderstood. definitely alive.

as martin leaves and jon is about to begin the statement, he sounds so peaceful and satisfied. that's good acting.

by the way, in one of the previous few episodes, i noticed that jonah seems to have body-swapped by switching out his eyes into his preferred body, which i'm pretty sure i missed the first time.

i like that jonny sims checks reddit to see whether people have solved the mystery. that's just a really funny way to do things, sneaking a peek like "hmm how mysterious is my mystery? let's see who has figured it out..." and for the record, i wasn't even close to figuring it out. but to be fair to myself, i didn't try. like i said from the beginning, i started listening with the intent of going along for the ride. plus the mystery had already been solved before i started listening to the series, so it's not like i had a lot of time in between updates to contemplate whether elias was jonah, etc.

JON'S AMERICAN ACCENT FOR THE IONIZED YEAST AD

ALEX WAS THE VOICE OF JARED HOPWORTH?! i mean it was so messed up it could have been anybody but god

ALEX DIDN'T LET GERTUDE CACKLE

i've listened to the bloopers (including a gertrude cackle?) and the season 5 trailer (martin seems slightly cavalier about the end of the world but maybe he's just trying to keep his shit together for jon) and i'm going to listen to the new episode Soon.

final conclusion on rereads/relistens: i had pretty poor comprehension of some important happenings. i’m realizing just how easy it is to mishear/fail to hear exactly what is happening in a podcast when you’re doing other stuff at the same time. there are still a couple things i don’t quite understand, but i think i’ll have a look around the wiki one of these days.