#proper mag

[determunition]

INSCRYPTOBER week 5: MASQUERADE

happy (late) halloween! between lbx, work, and getting smacked with sickness over the past few days this final piece is a bit behind; i was going to pare this down a little in terms of rendering but decided to polish it anyway! i'm happy w how it came out ^^

shoutout to everyone who participated in inscryptober this year, so many talented folks joined and it's been awesome seeing everyone's work :D

[bitter-goodbyes]

“Your will is still your own. Mostly.”

[superdummymags]

[zvarricopter]

Roger, who is hangin' in there but could lose it at ANY MOMENT

[opal-owl-flight]

A certain scene from Fantastic Mr Fox fit these two like a glove

[meownotgood]

are you sure you're not a secret published author and this blog is just your double life

anon I wish! perhaps one day I'll get my act together and write something meaningful instead of being perpetually horny all the time but that is for the future to decide

[aeolianblues]

Presented without comment.

[a-passing-storm]

(13 of) The 15 Fears As Lemon Demon Songs

In order of confidence/how well the songs fit/also just preferred fears.

The Eye - Touch Tone Telephone

The Extinction - Cabinet Man

The Lonely - Amnesia Was Her Name

The Spiral - Sundial

The Web - Spiral of Ants

The Stranger - Nightmare Fuel

The Buried - I Earn My Life

The Flesh - Modify

The Dark - Ancient Aliens(?)

The Hunt - Jaws(?)

The Slaughter - Knife Fight(?)

The Vast - The Ocean(?)

The Desolation - Action Movie Hero Boy(?)

I literally could not find any that fit The End or The Corruption. Explanations and some rambling beneath the cut.

I wanted to do this because I had ideas for a few of them, mainly The Extinction, Eye, Lonely, Spiral, Stranger, and Web. Then I kind of struggled to do the rest. I also typically only listen to Spirit Phone and View Monster, so I was mainly drawing from those two.

The Eye

Touch Tone Telephone - I don't have a good reason for this one. It fits John better than it fits The Eye, but I think you can argue that it fits the need for knowledge and loss of self in that search.

The Extinction

Cabinet Man - I don't think I need to explain this one! Cabinet Man is so similar to Binary, when that guy ate his computer.

Samuel and Rosella - I think this one is a sub-flavor of The Extinction. It's like... ah yes, these old people are convinced that the world is ending. Because of Kids These Days. Not climate change...

Fine - Speaking of climate change! This one is climate change denial, but I think it still fits The Extinction.

The Lonely

I had so many ideas for this one. Not all of them will make it here.

Amnesia Was Her Name - It reminded me a lot of Martin getting stuck in The Lonely in Season 5 and forgetting his name. It's got that sense of disconnection from other people.

It Can Get Lonely In My Mansion - This one fits pretty straightforwardly, because it is... about a guy who is in a huge empty space and feels lonely. The reason I didn't put it as my Final Choice was that it is more Capitalism Horror than Lonely Horror, in my opinion. I do think it fits The Lonely Making You Think That You Are Superior To Others And You Not Hanging Out With Them (I think that came up in Peter Lukas' statement?).

Soft Fuzzy Man - Again, being very literal with this one, it fits well. Some of the ocean vibes in the lyrics (ie. "cold and windy / dark and stormy") remind me of The Lonely's fogginess and Peter Lukas' sailor thing. I'm just going to start listing off lyircs: "can't you see me? / why can't you see me?" "I need to feel like I exist / so please, baby, please, baby, step into the mist." Going off of the lyrics, it fits well, but it just seemed a little too literal.

You're At the Party - I really wanted to use this for The Lonely, but then I decided it fit The Stranger better, but then I found other things that fit The Stranger. This song reminds me of when you are in a very busy/crowded place but feel completely invisible, out of place, and separate from everyone.

A Mask of My Own Face - This is another Lonely/Stranger one to me. You can take it as being around other people but still separating yourself from them, again in the Peter Lukas way.

Stuck - Doesn't really fit, but there is a line about forgetting your name and not having a clear personality.

The Spiral

Sundial - It's a silly nonsense song! The Spiral is the silly nonsense fear (ish). Sundial is a personal favorite Lemon Demon song, so I suppose I also wanted to assign it to a fan-favorite fear.

Eighth Wonder - Honestly, this one might fit better than Sundial, because it is an entity that is actually dangerous that comes off as very silly and playful, much like certain door people.

The Web

Spiral of Ants - I feel like someone is going to kill me for putting this here and not The Corruption or The Spiral, but it is... it is not really Bugs Gross nor is it about going crazy (that much). I think it fits The Web, because it discusses a loss of control over your own life, a lack of awareness over that loss of control, and the sense that you are just acting as a part of a collective as opposed to an individual with free will.

Redesign Your Logo - This was what I initially had for The Web. Going off of the literal words, it does have the repeating "everything's connected," which is pretty Web-y. I also think the general idea of manipulating and controlling people via advertising fits that pretty well.

Stuck - I feel that realizing that you are a character with no free will is pretty Web-related.

The Stranger

Nightmare Fuel - Once again, I feel that I don't need to explain this one. We have creepy clowns, puppets with human hands, mannequins that move, robots with human eyes, monsters made of clay, and a direct mention of the uncanny valley.

You're At The Party - This one is very Something Is Off But You Don't Know What to me and is personally very strongly associated with derealizing, which basically gives everything an uncanny valley feeling.

A Mask of My Own Face - I think this only works if you go by the imagery of someone wearing a mask made of human skin.

The Buried

I Earn My Life - I was initially going to use this for The Web, but then one of the Q&As mentioned that tax offices would totally be places of The Buried, and I figured this fit. Obviously, it fits more with the metaphorical sense of being stuck and having a lot of pressure on you than it does with literally being buried.

The Flesh

All of these seemed like slight stretches, so I had a hard time deciding between them.

Modify - This just felt like the most Body Horror song that I could find, even though it dealt less with the Ew Squishy Meat element of body horror than it did the Meat That Can Be Damaged element of body horror.

Lifetime Achievement Award - This was my initial choice for The Flesh, mainly because of the "even as we speak we're synthesizing blood and organs" in the chorus. It really doesn't fit that well, but that line tends to hit me with the sudden awareness that I am just a bunch of cells making more cells and such. Fleshy.

Nothing Worth Loving Isn't Askew - This one fits because of the "you are muscle, flesh, and bone," at the beginning and the themes of dysmorphia and insecurity about one's body. I just didn't find it particularly horrifying, I suppose. I kind of found it wholesome.

The Dark

We are now getting to fears where I feel that my song choices really didn't fit.

Ancient Aliens - I thought it fit mostly because of the sense of not knowing and the fear of the unknown. Also, the mention of darkness. Also, the mention of eye damage, I guess. Weirdly, a lot of Lemon Demon songs mention eye damage or specifically gouging out your eyes.

The Hunt

Jaws - Look. Spooky shark hunts people. People hunt shark. Shark hunts and eats people. People hunt shark more. Shark is dead. Hurrah!

The Slaughter

Knife Fight - Senseless violence! We'll ignore the tickle fight at the end.

The Vast

The Ocean - I did just pick a song that mentioned the ocean. In my defense, it also mentions not being able to see the horizon and watching the stars, which has been associated with The Vast a bit. By the way, there is another song called Deep In The Ocean, which also doesn't fit that well, though I suppose you could interpret it as being about how insignificant humans are in the grand scheme of things (time-wise).

The Desolation

Action Movie Hero Boy - I think you could argue this for The Slaughter, because both feature senseless violence, but this one touched a bit more on the romanticization of violence/destruction, in my opinion. Fire and explosives. Desolation. Woo.

Angry People - I think this one might fit better with The Slaughter or even The Extinction thematically, but it reminded me of baby Agnes. That was the main reason I picked it. Plus, I feel like The Desolation's people tend to be very passionate about things, and the mention of having sex angrily and eating angrily kind of had that vibe to me.

Others

When He Died - This really fits a good amount of them. I'm getting Stranger, because of the random skulls, Laughing Record, and clown; Lonely, because nobody mourned him and his wife's "voice began to fade to nothing;" Desolation, because of the house fire; and End, because of the foreseen death thing. There is also an apocalypse mention, so... Extinction + The Watcher's Crown.

Man-Made Object - It may or may not have reminded me a little bit of Jonah Magnus.

Pizza Heroes - This has got to be the Breekon and Hope theme song. They always deliver. :)

No Eyed Girl - This one! Thinking about this one in the context of The Magnus Archives actually made me cry. Like. Okay. Hear me out. Let me just straight up post the lyrics, actually. I will ramble and then I will straight up post the lyrics. I am not a huge fan of JohnMartin, however... Like. This song. This song in the context of Episode 200. Especially since the song is about someone falling in love with like... an unknowable being. In the song, the no-eyed girl and the unknowable being are two separate people, but like... this song if Martin was the no-eyed person and John was the being.

Oh, knowing what we know, knowing what we don't know  This is gonna change our world  Feeling how I feel, I'll accept the unreal  If you'd be my no-eyed girl From nowhere mankind can go  There's too much light, blinding white  Your matter tells mine to scatter  It's alright, it's alright From the moment that we met  I've been awake like I've never been awake in all my life  If I spoke your language, I could tell you how I feel  But your language isn't real In every myth, there's a little bit of truth  But I cannot say a thing  I cannot say a thing  Without proof, oh, no Knowing what we know, knowing what we do not know  This is gonna change our world  I might go insane if I learn your full name  If you'd be my no-eyed girl From nowhere mankind can go  There's too much light, blinding white  Emotions, human implosions  It's alright, it's alright Right before the kiss, I noticed something in the air  Molecules existed when there should have been none there  Chemical reactions with the surface of your skin  Some will say my actions let the no-eyed people in And I'd do it all again  And I'd do it all again  And I'd do it all again

I'm still rambling about this song. Like. Hello???

"Knowing what we know, knowing what we don't know. / This is gonna change our world." Like... HELLO? Knowing what they know about the Fears and the Archive and everything about alternate worlds? Not knowing exactly what would happen if they died or attempted to fix the world? But knowing pretty damn well that it sure would change?

Even the idea of being blinded by knowing too much... Jonah Magnus much? Everything going wrong as they kiss? Also just... how sad the last verse sounds...

Help!

[kipperlillycopperkettle]

hmmm i think after haymitch fic my next thg fic that takes priority is the mags one?

[totally-not-an-awkward-okapi]

So, if you’ve been following me for some time you might know that I made a great big horrible spreadsheet putting every episode of The Magnus Archives into chronological order of when each statement was given. You will also know that, though a labor of love, it wasn’t particularly accessible. After all, if you actually wanted to follow that listening order you’d have to go back and forth between it and the podcast platform of your choice. Well, no longer!

Though the power of Spotify letting you put podcasts in playlists, you may now listen to The Magnus Archives in a way I can recommend to absolutely no one. Have fun!

[duckiewashere]

I got to MAG 170 yesterday….

I did not like that episode. It made me feel like this seal

[somanyfuckedupiftruebooks]

@jonmartinweek Day 5: Body Horror

It is Polite to Knock

The knocking was the worst part. Being trapped, afraid, alone, all of that was bad. The pain was bad. The worms were bad. The monster outside of his apartment was bad. But the knocking was the worst.

Knock, knock, knock.

It is polite to knock .

'Can we talk?' Jon said. His voice was hoarse. Raspy from disuse. It had been days.

The knocking stopped. That was good. Very good. It was all Jon had wanted when he spoke, but he hadn't expected it. He'd shouted and screamed at the door for hours, and that hadn't made the knocking stop.

'I guess that depends... what would you like to talk about?' Martin Blackwood asked from the other side.

Continue reading on Ao3!

Jon, an archival assistant at the Magnus Institute, is trapped in his flat by Martin Blackwood, a man possessed by a hive of flesh-eating worms.

Check the content warnings on this one if you are disturbed by canon-typical Corruption content.

[tlatia-the-radiant]

- @askthecaptiangeneral

I will club you to death with your own fucking femur

[superdummymags]

the witch and her party

[dallonwrites]

think when i have a flash ready im just gonna first submit it to one of the mags with a quick turnaround but low acceptance rate just so i can microdose on being rejected

[meownotgood]

mags, I just wanted to reach out and to tell you that each time what you had described happened to me, it usually meant I am burned out, and usually it’s my cue to take a break from writing and relax. which is probably easier said than done, but my therapist suggested simply laying down on the floor and breathing in.

another thing that helps me reconnecting, is doing manual stuff as journaling or doing beads bracelets while watching my confort shows. usually even just a weekend like me gets recharged enough to write again.

aside this, bestie I am saying this while holding your face gently: you are a wholesome human being, by actively being a member of the society while creating this safe space and giving us your wonderful writing. you can rest and pls don’t feel guilty (again easier said than done). you are doing alright and you can rest.

have a nice day! ✨

thank you for saying so... I'm sorry it took me a bit to reply but your message really did make me feel better... 🥺 I'm still trying to take it easy but I felt much better about my writing once I decided to be more gentle with myself. thank you... I'll take things slowly zzzz