#tma reference more like spooky

[heycerulean]

john is a computer gay but you could convince john to get in a kayak. kayne, on the other hand, is so kayak coded he might as well be the kayak. kayneak. arthur, however, is so computer coded that he is permanently and irrevocably welded to a usb drive at this current moment.

[drdrizzey]

Late Halloween drawing!!

The good old Creepypastas from the mid 2017s are what basically got me into drawing and art in general. I quite literally started off just to make fanarts of them and boy, I made so much. I know some of those characters are outdated now but I don't want anyone to feel offended from me drawing them, that's really just a really nostalgic Fanart for me with the classic found family dynamic we loved!! Then later on I really got into those slenderverse ARGs and especially marble hornets and again, I filled sketchbooks just with marble hornets comics and fanarts so thats also something lmao

I had a hard time choosing who to draw here arggh

My inner child heals a bit more every time I draw any Slenderverse and Creepypasta character or even my old Creepypasta ocs

Also I want to add a disclaimer that I do not ship Creepypasta characters with anyone and that to me, they always acted all like siblings to each other! (Saying that because I know some people are really sensitive about ship art in this peculiar fandom and I agree that's a tricky one, but for me they've always just been a big silly family in their spooky manor, having fun)

Here's some dynamics I love and loved picturing them with :

- sally is the cute little sister that nobody can say no to and she KNOWS it, she WILL make everyone play dress up with pink ribbons and no one can do anything about it

- Jeff is a really good big brother to her and really tries his best for that

- Masky is 100% the tired big brother having to care for all of his annoying siblings. Since he's a proxy, Slenderman especially asked him to keep an eye on them and to quote, "give them what they ask for and not letting them break stuff or argue too much" which leads him quite often to having to drive to MacDonalds at 3am, because one of them whined for it. He also pretends he hates it but in reality he really cares about them. Also headcanon, this is some alternative version of Tim/Masky from marble hornets because we'll, obviously this is supposed to be Masky and somehow some people literally dont know where he comes from and just twinkifies him (which is a jumpscare to me because tim is literally amazing, hello?but a lot of people seemed to not know where he came from, well go watch marble hornets if you havent its awesome (i'm looking at yall tma and mouthwashing fans, you WILL love it too)

- my HC for Toby is that the guy has a lot going on but he's also not a kid, i like seeing him in his twenties or so. And he loves ranting about really random stuff just to annoy pretty much anyone and especially Masky because he doesn't complain much, and if he does then Toby will just find it even funnier and follow him around, explaining to him like...I don't know random stuff like describing his whole feed of cat videos or something or internet drama

(also that's not a mischaracterization of them as characters it's just my version of them in the way my little autistic brain in sixth grade pictured them, which means very non canon inaccurate)

Here's the fun reference I used :

[atlitudes]

What The Fuck is an "External"?

The following is a theory for TMAGP containing major spoilers for currently released episodes (about up to 22), as well as semi-vague implied spoilers for TMA. Read at your own discretion!

So far, I, and I presume other listeners, had assumed that the word "externals" was used specifically to refer to the supernatural hitmen hired by the OIAR. This is informed by the way Lena speaks about them, Gwen's title as "externals liaison," and the duties we see her perform in this role, such as delivering a name and address to Mr. Bonzo in episode 10. It also helps that "externals" could easily be corporate speak for outsourced work/employees-- help hired from outside the company to assist with a specific demand.

However, I think this assumption is false. In episode 22, When Lena is speaking with Gwen after her encounter with Ink5oul and the [ERROR], she refers to both of them as "uncontrolled externals." Ink5oul very distinctly does not work for the OIAR or the government-- Gwen was approaching them with an offer to do exactly that, and they declined. Additionally, seeing as Lena did not know the [ERROR] or anything about it, she did not have its contact details, and it has been attacking OIAR staff, it is reasonable to assume the OIAR is not employing the [ERROR] as a hitman. Neither of these two entities work for the OIAR. Despite this, Lena still refers to them as externals.

I went back to see if there was anything like this that stood out to me in the previous episodes, and I noticed that when talking about externals, Lena always refers to the OIAR's spooky assassins as "our externals," which could just refer to the outsourced employees but could also imply that there are other externals that are not working for the OIAR-- that this term is not specific to this organization, and to its hitmen.

From this, I conclude that "externals" is a blanket term for supernatural persons/entities/individuals, and not just those hired by the OIAR. Specifically, I think "external" is this world's closest equivalent to the word "avatar," or a more general name for any supernatural entity.

So far I'm pretty confident about all of this. However, from here on out the logic beomes a bit of a reach.

So, "external" refers to something supernatural. Well... why are they called "externals" specifically? Why is that the name that was chosen? Within the context of the OIAR, it makes some sense, but since it's not just entities associated with the organization, where does that name come from? The word "external" connotes some level of outsider status, of foreignness-- If the supernatural in question aren't specifically from outside of the OIAR, what/where are they external to?

What if they were called that, not because they were external to the OIAR but because they were external from this world, this dimension, this universe? Fundamentally from (or influenced by things from) Somewhere Else?

I think you can see what I'm getting at here.

If that is actually the true meaning of "external," that also means someone gave them that name. Someone knew that there were supernatural forces at play, and knew well enough what they were, and where they were from, enough to name them "external." Do they know about the other universes? Do you think they knew that these things perhaps... came from somewhere specific?

I dunno. There is the distinct possibility that the "foreignness" that the word external implies is simply referring to the supernatural. That these things are "otherworldly" less in the literal sense that they came from somewhere else, but in the way that they defy the average person's understanding of the world. But I think it's more interesting to speculate that they might be alien in some way or another, and that whoever named them "external" knew. Let me know what you think!

[the-one-and-only-duckduckgo]

As I see the word around me turning pink (or, in some cases, purple), I've decided that it's time to make a sequel to that tma post. Yes, I'm at episode 20. No, I'm not okay (I promise). Perhaps, I need therapy. Anyways, enjoy:

The Magnus Archives but I've met the fandom (and am even more confused)

There's an Archivist (you have to use the capital letter if you want to survive), his name is Jon,sometimes Jonathan and sometimes Jalapeño.

He is also somehow the author of the podcast, and the guy speaking. I don't know how. Nothing feels real anymore.

Apparently, he brings the romantic side of the podcast. I'm glad. He should think about bringing the "makes sense" side too.

#JusticeForMartin2024

Get. Sasha. And. Tim. Some. Fucking. Representation.

There's Gerard Keay, who doesn't have anything to do with Gerard Way (I checked), and I love him.

He's also very dead. My point still stands.

WHERE IS THAT FUCKING HOMOPHOBIC VASE WHY DON'T YOU WANT ME TO UNDERSTAND YOUR INSIDE JOKE, WHY?

There's a guy named Evan Lukas, whose name reminds me of another guy. Was it James Lukas? Peter Lukas? George Lukas? Not a single idea.

Five people told me to be scared of the Mikes.

Who are they?

Is that a sect? A typo? A secret level you unlock once you understand what that vase joke refers to?

There's a secret link between everything.

Is it that every one of the stories involves being scared of something, and being alone?

Wait. Nevermind. That's a horror podcast, people are usually scared in these. I'm trying to be logical here.

I miss Gerard Keay.

OH WAIT WAIT SORRY I DIDN'T TELL Y'ALL THAT JALAPENO CAME OUT OF HIS RECORDING CLOSET TO TALK TO A MADAM. THAT REALLY DISTURBED HIM AND HE HAD TO LOCK HIMSELF AGAIN TO RECOVER, BUT I'M PROUD OF THE PROGRESS HE MADE

Michael is not okay. Do they need help?

I don't know their pronouns, and people answered with really disturbing and unhelpful things. Could someone help?

I kinda like Michael. Even if they're blonde.

Unless they're part of the Mikes. I have a bad feeling about the Mikes.

Uhh lots of blood, spiders, worms, death, spooky nights, people being alone, eyes everywhere, insanity, blood sacrifices, the Unknown, and evil books.

Oh, and drugs. Very important, the drugs

Leaving you with that, hope I didn't miss a very important point. May the stars shine in your direction, or whatever.

[vibinginthedreamlands]

I'm not saying you can't listen to TMP before hearing TMA. But, a little bit due to the fact that I *have* heard the original and am now unable to not hear the references and connections, what is TMP about outside of all the old gays and their updated nonsense? Like, obviously this world has its whole own thing going on (the Protocol is like if Gerry's book burning got big in superstitious circles and what's going on with the OIAR is its whole own thing) but also??? Sam is hunting down the Magnus Institue, Gwen is a Bouchard and just got compelled (alongside which the OG music played), there's a statis buzz, The Computers have Their Voices, and Celia is, she's, WELL SHE'S FREAKING CELIA Y'ALL. And her stories are all about universal doubles. And we've met Gerry, Gertrude, heard about alternate universe Jon and Martin, I've seen mention of Basira and Helen???

This show has to be such a fun spooky mystery for those that don't know and came in fresh but I swear every week I lose my mind a little more and I can't imagine anyone experiencing this as a lone show because I have been cursed with Knowing.

[foxy-alien]

ERROR/The Archivist

This is my attempt and compiling everything we know about The Archivist as of episode 26!

This got very long so the rest is under the cut!

THE ESCAPE

They find a key in a filing cabinet, which… why is the key to the Archivist in a filing cabinet, but I digress. Also poor Alice

Like our universe the Archivist was a position. Were they turned into what they are now by someone? Why were they locked away underneath their office?

This is a stage direction that confuses me. How can the key be on top of the trap door – something that presumably the archivist is trapped within – and be moved by the Archivist to the lock. Does the Archivist have the power to control objects?

But the Archivist is freed, by Sam and Alice. 

In the very next episode Alice feels like she is being followed by someone she can't see.  Thus begins the encounters with ERROR/The Archivist

THE VICTIMS

We have the Drowning victim, The Wanderer, and The Runner, each of their statements have been recorded within a month of each other. 

With the Drowning Victim her "Statement" and appearance give us the basis for what the Archivist does to you. You seem to wander oblivious to the world outside of you as your greatest fear takes place in your head. It eventually causes your death.

The wanderer's body is affected as if she has been walking through a house until she died. It's the same for the drowning victim. What is happening to them is not just psychosomatic.

The wanderer speaks after death retelling her being trapped in the house on Church Street. She mentions meeting who we can assume is the Archivist

It's interesting that for Jarred we don't learn what fear he is trapped in. I assume that this line is his fear, but it also might be about the Archivist who appears right after. 

Now the line An Archivist is interesting, implying that they are not singular. I’ve seen this compared to the others from the panopticon. 

But this universe Archives and Archivists are different!

Jons victims recount something that happened to them and this one causes your biggest fear to happen to you. Jon soaked up the latent fear from a previous experience making it more palpable. This Archivist causes you to experience your fear first hand.

GWENS ENCOUNTER

The Archivist is also able to compel others. At first I thought Gwen was telling Ink5oul’s story, like how Elias did to Daisy, but it’s Gwen telling her own. It cuts off before we can tell if what she saw as a kid was supernatural or not. 

Their conversation reminds me of The Fears marking a person. Also the Archivist is much more spooky than Jon was.  

Again, hard to tell if the Archivist is saying everyone is theirs or if they are referring to the other OAIR employees. I’m leaning towards the other employees as cases keep cropping up around them. 

It’s also interesting how… possessive the archivist seems over them. It presumably could have killed Gwen here, It was close to Alice, why leave them alive? What other motivations does it have?

PERFECT ALICE BEING SMART AND SEXY

So now they know what we know, that they let something out in the institute ruins and now it’s following them. 

This to me is further proof that this archivist is acting differently than the ones in the Panopticon. If it is TMA Celia then she would have had first experience with them. Or if she is referring to Jon it still is acting very differently than he did. 

To Wrap Up

This Archivist used to be a person with an office and at some point was turned into what we know now and locked underneath the ruins. 

The Archivist now causes people to be trapped in their worst nightmare, this has effects on the body as well and will eventually pass from these injuries. It seems that their body will keep giving their statement after they die. 

The Archivist can compel others to tell their story like Jon. 

It is stalking the employees of the OAIR but has not hurt them yet even though it has had the opportunity too. 

[james-spooky]

INTRO POST

I realised I never made an intro post so here I go:

I’m James! Or James-Spooky 🙂‍↕️ I’m 18 and use he/him pronouns. I have the displeasure of unfortunately being british but the plus side is living in one big tma reference. I post mainly magnus verse content here and I’m very active (probably too active) on Pinterest where you might’ve seen me before! I love making silly posts and memes for tma/gp 🙏 My ao3 is james_spooky if u want to indulge in my malevatouille madness - I’ve been posting on Pinterest for 2 years and have become more active on tumblr this year :)

side-blogs

@malevatouille (malevolent au shenanigans)

@daily-podcasts (podcast recs + wiki stuff)

‎‧₊˚✧ Interests/Fandoms✧˚₊‧

tma/gp (ofc)

X-MEN !!!!!!!

malevolent

DERELICT POD 🙏 (GO LISTEN PLS)

the silt verses

fiction podcasts (esp horror)

9-1-1 + other procedural dramas

iwtv

the newsreader

lost

life is strange

hunger games + red queen 🙂‍↕️🤝

maurice obsession has never left

LORD OF THE RINGS (heavy)

musicals + starkid + theatre/improv (theatre kid here can u tell…)

mitski/searows/aurora/adrianne lenker 🫶

if the media is gay i will consume it

i wanna get into pixel art so bad but unfortunately i have minimal artistic skills or patience but we move 😶 i play the guitar sometimes 🥁

‎‧₊˚✧ Writing✧˚₊‧

I’ve written four books 🙂‍↕️🙏 planned like a billion (countless pinterest boards on my acc) I have like 6 active wips 😭 (☠️) Also writing a podcast which is really fun! I’ve thought about making writing posts etc. but also that’s scary lol 🥴 I might soon though!

Speaking of podcasts, I’m the admin/one of the editors of the podcast directory fandom wiki, a fandom wiki to navigate fiction podcasts! If you wanna easily find new podcasts to listen to give it a visit 😎😉 (Also admin of the Derelict Podcast Wiki 🙂‍↕️🫶)

‎‧₊˚✧ Tumblr✧˚₊‧

Ngl it’s mainly shitposts abt tma/gp 😭 Might have to expand my horizons… No I will never stop making those welcome back memes every week for tmagp 🙂‍↕️ (it’s a curse) I’m def gonna post more of my graphic designs for tma/my wips!

aaaaand I think that’s it hello people in my phone 🫵

[kazperthegh0st]

RaTing TMA season 1 episodes

001: Angler Fish, the cigarette and disappearance one. Not very memorable. 5/10

002: Do Not Open, the will power this one man contains is greater than God, i swear. I probably would have opened that coffin tbh. 10/10

003: Across the Street, to be Grahm or Not to be Grahm, that is the question. Eating paper is not really my thing but you do you. 8/10

004: Page Turner, kinda boring to me but it introduces important people. 4/10

005: Thrown Away, it reminds me of that one short FNAF story where the girl finds her real body cut up in garbage bags. I liked this episode. 9/10

006: Squirm, I have no memory of this episode. 2/10

007: The Piper, All i remember is rats, a dead dude in a dumb ditch, and The Great War. It was a good read tho. 4/10

008: Burned Out, There was a Spooky Tree, an apple, and a box ( i think it had a necklace in it??). There is also the religious dude— i think hes also the jesuit dude that killed two people in a later episode but i could be wrong. 5/10

009: A Fathers Love, this one was so sad to me ngl. I have two questions: What happened to the mother (i know she died but theres gotta be more)? and also whats the necklace all about ( i might be crazy but wasn’t it in the box in burned out?)? I do think the dad is somehow innocent, like he was possessed or smth. 10/10

010: Vampire Killer, this was a cool, fun episode and I enjoyed the different approach to Vampires. 9/10

011: Dreamer, We hear some new stuff about what happened to Jon’s predecessor, outside of that its an ok episode. Elias is mentioned. 5/10

012: First Aid, don’t remember this episode at all but i looked at the episode tag on here and Gerry is in it so on principle it gets a 5/10

013: Alone, my mind is so blank about this episode. Jon was nice tho. 2/10

014: Piecemeal, i don’t remember it well but Tumblr tells me it was good. 5/10

015: Lost Johns’ Cave, this reminded me of those tiktok videos about idiots who get stuck in caves. But at the same time this episode was deeply unsettling and sad. 10/10

016: Arachnophobia, proof that spiders do not die no matter what you do. Lazy ass cat ( Major Tom, great name, unintended David Bowie reference ) 8/10

***All previous thoughts were made well after the episodes were read so i could be wrong or forgetful regarding some details.***Future thoughts will be made immediately after, or the same day as reading the episodes.***

017: The Boneturners Tale, more of the weird books. I think there was arson in this episode (?) 5/10

018: The Man Upstairs, This one was absolutely disgusting (in a good way?!?!) it made me want to throw up but at the same time was sooo cool. 8/10

019: Confession and 020: Desecrated Host, putting these two together. Why is there such a strong theme of cannibalism and removal of body parts in this podcast? It was really interesting and well written. 8/10

021: Freefall, not that interesting to me ngl. It wasnt bad tho 5/10

022: Colony, MARTIN!!! A real character! He is a sweet innocent baby who can do no wrong. The episode itself was super unsettling. Who is the woman again tho?

023: Schwartzwald, this was boring, sorry. I know i should have found it more interesting cause its a letter for Jonah Magnus but it just wasn’t appealing to me. 2/10

024: Strange Music, I love the aesthetic of Pipe Organs, always have. (Why is it now in the institute?!?!) the creepy dolls and the circus clowns were cool. I love that the movers came back again, kinda odd but thats expected. 10/10

025: Growing Dark, not too memorable but there is now another missing person. (Yay). 4/10

026: A Distortion, SASHA!!! Another Real Character! Nothing had better happen to Jon or Martin or else. I love them too much. Micheal seems interesting too. 8/10

027: A Sturdy Lock, the first episode I listened to while reading the transcript. Is there or is there not a lock on that door? Bro should invest in a pet tho. Average episode but still good. 7/10

028: Skin Tight, wasn’t Cambridge Military Hospital in another episode? Also who is the archivist? The voice ( im listening and reading ) is different from Jon’s and is not female so not Gertrude. Sarah Baldwin is also a familiar name. Skin peeling. Lovely. (Sarcasm) 10/10

029: Cheating Death, reminds me of 007. I think its neat that the person making the statement had the Institute write it for him. This was a cool story. I like how much of it was a folktale and then it took a turn. 10/10

030: The killing floor, oh the delights of the meat industry. What was up with Tom Haan tho? Why did he kill himself? Why is there a living meat pile?!?! 10/10

Shortly after listening to that episode i made steak. While making steak i listened to the next two.

031: First Hunt, I kept thinking of that “Run Rabbit” song. Im glad humans dont have natural predators. But as an American (unfortunately) as soon as I heard where this was and the guy made note of the whistling… I knew he was screwed. Jon is so dissmissive tho. First episode where i only listened to it. 10/10

I have no idea why the previous story made me decide to cook steak.

032: Hive, this wasn’t much of a real statement but proof that Jane is crazy. It was just “insects do be buzzing” the noises in the background were upsetting. (Listened only while cooking a steak) 10/10

033: Boatswain’s Call, We meet Peter Lukas ( who may or may not be Elias’s Husband? I saw it in a Tiktok ) and I think it was slightly unsettling how they all loaded into the lifeboat. Did they vote the dude out or something? (Read and listened) 8/10

034: Anatomy Class, body snatchers named John/Jane Doe traumatize a professor. I love how they’re all trying to pump their hearts to figure out how they’re supposed to beat. Im a big fan of anatomical sciences. (Read only) 10/10

035: Old Passages, It’s Gerry on the hunt for Leitners books! Another dead person and some secret passages. What happened to Jon. Why did the Delivery Duo Dudes show up with a package for him??? (Read only) 10/10

036: Taken Ill, the episode itself was boring to me but the end was interesting. Why is there a lighter, that i assume has connections to The Web? What does Elias want with it? (Read only) 7/10

037: Burnt Offering, boring. Sorry. Could the wicca and voodoo stuff in the woods be related to Jane? (Read only) 5/10

038: Lost and Found, This was Sad. Important things go missing, more so they cease to exist, until eventually its the Husband. Jons fear of spiders returns. And now for the end of Season 1. (Read only) 10/10

039: Infestation, I did find it funny when Jon called himself an idiot. Martin just needs to let my boy Jon be in (SEVERE) denial. Jon is being watched (the eye!) Tim is so excited that he almost died. Its odd. Oooh its Not Sasha! “Archivist.” “Shit.” (I listened to it and then read the transcript) 9/10

040: Human Remains, what did Not Sasha do with the tape… I do know what happened to Gertrude so Elias acting the way he does in this scene is funny. (I listened to it then read the transcript) 9/10

Really good podcast. I liked it.

— are the secret passages from 038 connected in anyway to the tunnels around the archives?

— what was it that got sasha in the end and is real sasha dead?

— does gerard start to pop up more often? As an actual cast member?

— what was Jane looking for in the written files?

[theendorisit]

magnus protocol season 1 final part - praise and credits

all right my haunted maggot clowns, Season 1 is OVER, we are at our Magnus protocol hiatus until FEB 2025 and you know what that means?

No, not hysterical weeping! 

It’s time to recap the last ten episodes, epilogue and fluff of Season 1, so SPOILERS AHOY!! Including TMA Spoilers. If you haven’t listened, come back later! Ok? Ok!

Part 1 (eps 1-20) is here:

All praises to the guest writers:

Harlan Guthrie, for more of his work visit https://www.malevolent.ca/

Alex C Telander, for more of his work visit https://ostiumnetwork.com/

Muna Hussen, for more of her work visit https://www.thesiltverses.com/ I honestly cannot rave enough about how much I adore The Silt Verses, strongly recommend to everyone. 

If you have enjoyed the guest writers, I also recommend the Nine To Midnight annual series, lots of writers, all brought together by Harlan Guthrie: https://linktr.ee/ninetomidnight - Check it out! This years halloween episode is GOING TO BE AMAZING!

The Magnus Protocol Episode 21 – Breaking Ground

CAT2RBC4254-04011998-12042024 Architecture (landmark) -/- corruption (entropy)

Written by Jonathan Sims 

Script Editing by Alexander J Newall 

Thoughts: Intriguing case, I enjoyed it thoroughly, though as a Brit it is very disconcerting hearing about the millennium dome in a horror context. It’s like a fleshy bouncy castle. Spooky, but also plain weird. Hello, Dr Welling. Of course the star of this episode is the consequences of Gwen trying (failing) to be authoritarian. Delightful escalation of Ink5oul’s powers, as the mere presence of a tattoo can be manipulated. I adore Magnus stories for the implications they provide - what might a scorpion tattoo do, hmmm? Crawl under the skin? After all, some scorpions can burrow up to 2m underneath the surface, using complex tunnels. Sting and sting and sting again until death? Mind you, some scorpions only paralyse their prey, before they feast. The compulsion scene is delightful, amazing performance by Anusia, and ALL OF THEM, MINE: So amazing, giving me shivers. All of them: All people? All normies? All OIAR? We’re back in the terror, the horror, the mystery, compelling statements again. 

The Magnus Protocol Episode 22 - Mixed Signals

CAT13RBC4488-14121924-15042024 Experiment (brain) -/- imprisonment (existential)

Written by Jonathan Sims 

Script Editing by Alexander J Newall 

Thoughts: I love existential horror. What makes a person a person after all? If there’s someone screaming in pain and terror and loneliness but you never hear them, see them, know of them - do you know, or care, of their personhood at all? Also, as with Archives, the question of why we’re hearing about certain cases is floating in the air. There are certainly voices speaking in the void, yet unable to make themselves heard. Office tensions are rising, we are getting some juicy backstory hints. Shahan and Billie getting some real frustration into their voices, Sarah and Anusia have all the terse company-line bullshit vibes and I love Lowri’s conspiratorial name-dropping bombshell to a mood-killing baffled response.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 23 - A New You

CAT13RBC3536-20062018-18042024 Transformation (dysmorphic) -/-doppleganger (infection)

Written by Harlan Guthrie, for more of his work visit https://www.malevolent.ca/

Script Editing by Alexander J Newall and Jonathan Sims 

Thoughts: One of my top three episodes in Season 1. This case makes my heart sing. It’s delightful, insidious body horror, with a sweet side of social commentary. What’s not to adore? And a piece of coral (a living skeleton with multiple identical lifeforms inside) being referred to as She is so intriguing to me. I feel I could spent a long time trying to unpick the nuances of this piece. Especially as there’s a key story element in the fact that something goes wrong at the end, and the forum mods don’t want other people to know. So far things have felt every individual and separate… but maybe things are more connected than we think? Do we have cults and followings like in Archives? On a related note, ngl I cackled when JS and MB’s fates were revealed because I know Jonny and Alex had fun writing that. However, I don’t trust such suspiciously merciful deaths, at all. (Also, were those deaths a Koji Suzuki reference? Hmm) Wonderful performances from Anusia and Billie in the final scene. 

The Magnus Protocol Episode 24 - Raising Issues

CAT1RBC1375-29022024-23042024 Baby (demonic) -/- Delusion (exhaustion)

Written by Alex C Telander, for more of his work visit https://ostiumnetwork.com/

Script Editing by Alexander J Newall and Jonathan Sims 

Thoughts: This is the first time a Magnus episode has made me physically cringe in sympathetic pain. Please keep the demon child that wants to chew through my tit and into my chest cavity far away from me. Nope, no, nuh-uh, nah mate, f* off with that nonsense. The medical gaslighting, the exhaustion and the dark acceptance of pain, oof. Plus the new parent not-knowing-if-this-normal? Brutal. Painful realism came in kicking with this one, and it’s very good. Also, demon baby likes Celia. Lady Mowbray likes Celia. Celia is an external magnet. I enjoy the multi-person dialogues in Protocol, everyone giving their best, reminds me of the intervention scene in early Archives. Also, yay, Basira! I love Plummy Teacher Basira, she’s so baffled by these two randomers. Great performance by Frank Voss.

The Magnus Protocol Episode 25 - Gut Feelings

CAT2RB2474-07022024-24042024 Food (Gorging ) -/- compulsion (disgust)

Written by Jonathan Sims 

Script Editing by Alexander J Newall

Thoughts: Ah, the McWeevil episode. Tasty. There are all sorts of wonderful implications here that I dare not type in case someone is eating while reading. Also I love the dance we’re doing with the old consent/compulsion/choice dynamic. In Archives many people tried and failed to escape from horrors (shout out to Robin Lennox), but there have been quite a few cases in Protocol with the victim struggling and managing to walk away (though with unclear consequences - the OIAR team aren’t doing follow-up in the same way as Archives). Also Colin, Colin my sweet, you might be the most sensible person in this universe, but this sort of thing will only get you murderised. I love Ryan’s acting, such a desperately agonised breakdown, which you can see a bit of here: https://youtu.be/xlERmS-okTI The universe persists in teleporting Celia towards Oxford for shits and giggles. 

The Magnus Protocol Episode 26 - Catching Up

CAT1RBC4463-14042024-02052024 Exhaustion (athletic) -/- compulsion (tape)

Written by Muna Hussen, for more of her work visit https://www.thesiltverses.com/

Script Editing by Alexander J Newall and Jonathan Sims 

Thoughts: Magnussing - creator approved! I really enjoyed this case, because Mr Jarrod is set up as a mysterious figure, like what’s this guys deal - nvm, he’s fucked. The character narration (as a witness statement) is engaging and draws you in, right down to the horrible end. I can’t recommend Muna’s writing enough. Alice connects all the dots together, and we get the wonderful Imogen Harris as Helen again. I am increasingly wondering why some people seem identical to their Archives counterparts, and others are quite different. Is it a natural variation? Does it mean something. Also, while I love Helen’s laugh, I kind of wanted Helen to finish with ‘come back anytime, my door is always open!’ (too on the nose perhaps). Celia, get the tory baby to sleep, it’s sexy time. “with additional voices from Jonathan Sims.” Alright, it’s official that Jonny’s making the baby burbling noises (/silly). 

The Magnus Protocol Episode 27 - Driven

CAT3RB5535-18021845-10052024 Kidnapping (carriage) -/- consumption [letter]

Written by Jonathan Sims

Script Editing by Alexander J Newall

Thoughts: Another one of my top three episodes in Season 1! On the same theme as above, Jonah is a twat in this universe too! I wonder who ’N’ is. Victorian Paranormal Monster Pursuit? Yes please, more please! Such delightful gore, very delectable, much fun. So many thoughts on how such a monster would hide in our world. And ‘no cost too great’ indeed. The ancient Magnus rite of sacrificing assistants reigns eternal. Curious emphasis on ‘if there are already such monsters in this world’. Hmmm. Maybe the gap in reality has been discovered? Ooh, weird emails. Sam, now Gwen. Very interesting that Celia, having been repeatedly teleported towards Oxford, now wants to take Sam to Oxford. Something will get revealed…

The Magnus Protocol Episode 28 - Interruptions

CAT2RB2578-17081998-13052024 Transmutation (human) -/- ceremony (academic)

Written by Jonathan Sims 

Script Editing by Alexander J Newall 

Thoughts: Goodbye Dr Welling. And this, children, is why we don’t roll a critical fail when casting reanimate dead. It’s spooky scary skeleton time, and Sam dun fucked up. Though honestly, if I had experienced something this traumatic as a result of wandering off into a place I wasn’t supposed to be, I don’t know, I think I might have a severe aversion to doing that? Sam, wtf is wrong with your trauma response? Though I am curious on the mechanics of statements - are people only saying things they know, or can information they’ve long forgotten be brought up? 10/10 case, superb, love it. Every episode is getting me hyped. Gwen doesn’t take shit lying down, and while corralling externals is not her forte, backstabbing office politics clearly is. I love Ian’s brusque minster, it’s pretty damn accurate and really gets me in the room with the characters. 

The Magnus Protocol Episode 29 - Keyed In

CAT2RB4254-30012020-13052024 Drowning (subterranean) -/- key (metaphor)

Written by Alexander J Newall

Script Editing by Jonathan Sims 

Thoughts: Now something else (not Celia) is pushing Sam to go to Oxford. Interesting. Alex makes Jonny try to pronounce things in Czech. This is a curious case, and I think it’s speaking to keeping secrets, unlocking doors you can’t close again, and the floodwaters are rising. All things Gwen needs to hear. The fact that Lena considers that the Visit went well, ouch. Also, I am convinced Teddy is working for the Response part of the OIAR, and he’s the one dropping off Sam’s weird paperwork. That ending: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUN…. (Alice, just pop over to Victoria, get the Oxford Tube, it’ll drop you off in Headington, it’s fiiiiiine). Presumbly the archivist got the train down from Manchester in the first time. Perhaps it has a (Communications) Network Railcard?

The Magnus Protocol Episode 30 - Dead End Job

CAT2RS3366-13052024-13052024  Transmutation (human) -/- Isolation (urban) 

Written by Jonathan Sims 

Script Editing by Alexander J Newall 

Thoughts: Light a candle for the Scottish in the Magnus Multiverse, they are doomed. Ryan’s performance broke my heart. Robin as the custodian is a gem, and then he’s the hilltop golem. Spectacular sound design. Turns out the Welsh aren’t doing so hot either. Lena moonwalks backwards out of the whole situation, Gwen, yer fucked, luv. IT IS MINE  - Is this Celia being an external magnet or is the rift what the Archivist is actually after? Makes sense, an entire multiverse of suffering would definitely be satisfying! Plus see previous comment about Magnus Institute and the rift.

London Exclusion Zone has a delightful 28 days later ring to it. I do hope this means what I think it does: that Celia is wrong and the wound is not a pathway to her world but to any world. Which means we’re in Magnus Mk 3, and there could be ANOTHER Jonathan Sims here. In fact, wouldn’t it be something amazing, if here was a world where the Archivist succeeded in taking over as the conduit, and managed to control the horrors into a smaller area, namely London? If so, fucking brilliant, cannot wait… a few weeks until the premiere, and my relentless hunger for lore is satiated.   

The Magnus Protocol Season 1 Epilogue

Written by Jonathan Sims

Script Editing by Alexander J Newall

Thoughts: Anusia and Billie smashed this one, some great emotional beats and as they now comprise 66% of the office staff (assuming Celia doesn’t just book it), I’m looking forward to watching their dynamic change over the next season. Important point: apparently there was a full description of the horrors that were seen, but we don’t get to hear it. Yet. Maybe. So until we do, all that happened was that Gwen yanks out a server rack, the phone rings, and Alice says ‘oh Colin...’ because she can see that Colin has been relentlessly ringing his exes and sending dick pics to everyone. Gwen screams because she spots Colin, drunk out of his mind and naked on the floor, having broken into Lena’s other secret alcohol stash (she has like 5 of them). 

Colin in Season 1: Dinnae fash yersel', I'll sort out this machine!

Epilogue: Did ye, aye?

(But yeah, I’m mid way between gruesome flesh packed inside the servers, with hairy skin peeling off the circuits like lichen on tree bark, or Colin being in the phone, like the ringing brings up a picture of his face that’s been flensed and matrixed with wires and LEDs, because whatever happened, it was a) not immediately obvious, aka the room isn’t splattered with gore, and b) immediately obvious that it was Colin. So either his face is on show, or a defining feature like a tattoo.)

The Magnus Protocol Season 1 Fluff

Written by Jonathan Sims (except that intro and ending, that is clearly all Alex) 

Script Editing by Alexander J Newall 

Thoughts: Alex, you are a delight. Never change. All the characters are absolute train wrecks, and we are here for them (and their pain and suffering)

Featuring (in order of appearance), and where you can support them:

Lowri Ann Davies as Celia Ripley (https://x.com/lowritweets?lang=en)

Shahan Hamza as Samama Khalid (https://linktr.ee/shahanhamza)

Billie Hindle as Alice Dyer (want to support gender affirming treatment for a trans creator? https://ko-fi.com/F1F2XMJRD plus check out Billie’s latest role: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eDt3bYqDT0) 

Sarah Lambie as Lena Kelley (https://x.com/baabuzz)

Anusia Battersby as Gwendolyn Bouchard (@anouchard, https://x.com/AnusiaBattersby)

Vera Chok as Ink5oul (https://x.com/Vera_Chok)

Callum Dougherty as Bystander (https://rustyquill.com/crew/callum-dougherty/)

Beth Eyre as Archivist/[ERROR] (https://x.com/BethEyre)

Tim Fearon as Augustus (I think: https://www.mandy.com/u/tim-fearon/)

Jonathan Sims as Chester (@jonnywaistcoat, @macguffinandco, https://www.patreon.com/macguffinandcompany/posts)

Alexander J Newall as Norris (@rqbossman)

Faye Derham as Mother (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8335409/)

Frank Voss as Basira Hussain (https://x.com/AvoidedDrowning)

Ryan Hopevere-Anderson as Colin Becher (https://linktr.ee/ryanhopevereanderson)

Mark Nicolson as Ticket Attendant 

Imogen Harris as Helen Richardson (https://x.com/ImogenCHarris)

Ian Hayles as Trevor Herbert MP (https://x.com/IanHayles)

Kazeem Tosin Amore as Teddy Vaughn (https://x.com/KazeemAmore)

Kai Partenie as Ticket Officer (https://www.instagram.com/kai0997)

Pip Gladwin as Taxi Driver (https://x.com/pip_gladwin)

Robin Hellier as Custodian (I think: https://robinhellier.com/#qualifications-credits)

Executive Producers April Sumner, Alexander J Newall, Jonathan Sims, Dani McDonough, Linn Ci, and Samantha F.G. Hamilton

Associate Producers Jordan L. Hawk, Taylor Michaels, Nicole Perlman, Cetius d’Raven, and Megan Nice

Produced by April Sumner

Dialogue Editor – Lowri Ann Davies

Sound Designer – Tessa Vroom

Mastering Editor - Catherine Rinella

Music by Sam Jones (orchestral mix by Jake Jackson)

Art by April Sumner

Fabulous work everyone! See you at the Premiere!

Official transcripts:

[im-the-queen-of-stardust]

Alright people, just got my early access of the Magnus Protocol Premiere. Been thinking about whether I should do a live blog like I did for Magnus Archives. Still not sure but we're just gonna start it and see where it's going. Tbh I've been so out of the loop with the podcast I didn't even know the premiere episode was coming and I have no idea when further episodes are getting released. I thought it would start next year! Anyway, I'm gonna put all my reactions down below under the read more so I'm not accidentally spoiling anyone.

That intro music is amazing. Love it.

So glad they included a transcript, I would've already been lost with all these voices. That's what I loved about tma, never got confused there because the introduction to the characters was so nice and slow

Oh, here we are then! Jumpscared by Alex already. Did not expect him to turn up so soon. I'm certain there's nothing sinister going on here. Not me already theorizing that it's Martin who got stuck in the system or something after Mag200. But that means Jonny is one of the other voices who occasionally reads out the statements, right? Gotta be. So Chester or Augustus, who do you think he is? Putting my money on Augustus I think. Why? Because why not.

First look at the Fears?? Is it the Stranger? That's got to be the Stranger, right?

The transcript has these little stage directions and I gotta say I'm in love with "Lena's office is pristine, sterile and has nothing that might indicate its occupant would be brash enough to have a personality"

Btw don't know the in universe reason for the recording yet but friends, your microphones are shit. Jon's recordings were never as bad! Your voices do that thing where it gets frizzy. Might I suggest using a tape recorder?

Is that more static in the background I'm hearing when Gwen says "I'm not most people." Oh, I kinda missed overanalysing sound cues.

We have great vegetarian sausages in Germany too, Colin. I already like that poor IT guy

Sam I really don't think this is the job if you're "just trying to get back on your feet" There must be more going on there

Damn, had a 50/50 chance and didn't get it. So you're Chester then, Jonny? Really can't decide if I would love it more if these voices had some connection to tma or if there's just no reason at all.

I actually read a fanfic like that before. Immediatly though about it when I heard Alex's voice. Jon was sorta trapped in the tape recorder. All Martin and co had were his recorded statements on tape and at some point Jon got like powerful enough to be able to communicate through the tape recorder I think. Was a really great read. Would be funny if this turns out to be similar

Oh, Magnus Archives ruins!! What are you gonna find there RedCanary?? This is exciting

Of course you've been having trouble uploading the pictures, RedCanary! And I don't think that's you're normal getting paranoid either. Oh, I love this. It's like my old friend, spooky Magnus Institute is back

An Archive, you say?? And it's empty. Interesting.

Side note, the music during this is fantastic. Like loved it from the beginning but right now? Amazing.

"What the hell is that? Are those eyes?" Never thought I'd actually be happy about eyes getting mentioned. But eyes, people!! This statement has everything: Magnus Institute, some poor bugger who's descending into paranoia and madness, weird symbols, an artefact (?), ominous texts ("Canaries should stay above ground", okay obviously a reference to the user name red canary but also do you think that has anything to do with like mining. Weren't birds used to detect gas?), eyes and were those the last few notes of the tma intro in the background music?

Oh, who is listening then? Can't mean me, Colin

The Magnus Protocol is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill and licensed under a creative commons attribution non commercial sharer like 4.0 international license

[shinesurge]

I'm doing one of my semi-regular re-reads of Kidd Commander, and saw the hover-text on this page: https://kiddcommander.com/?comic=gts-page-62 ("i would posit that the desert is equally eerie and terrifying but in a less 'develop a puritanical dogma' way and more 'i worship The Vast now' way")

I didn't have the context at my first reading, but is this by any chance a reference to The Magnus Archives?

It is! The Vast sort of gave a cool spooky name to a lot of personal feelings I'd already had for a long time so I really latched onto it, I still carry it around with me pretty closely even if I don't super visibly participate in TMA these days. There's The Eye and all, but I feel like The Vast does a good job describing the type of fear I associate with religion specifically so it comes to mind a lot when I'm working on Kidd Commander hehe

I really vibed with the entire concept of the fear entities for probably obvious reasons. It's a pretty big departure from my usual writing style but I even wrote a very small tma au fic for KC that I add to infrequently, the entities are so much fun for character study.

[rainbowr0ses]

Okay part 2 of the protocol journey, idk why I’ve decided to do this, but I’m continuing until I reach the end or run out of motivation. 

This is what I do instead of sleeping (silly… for the most part) if any of this sounds like- off-? Or more unhinged than I usually am? Blame it on my time zone 

(This is after-watching Roses, this episode does talk about serious topics, so I recommend checking the content warnings before listening!)

oh hi Jonny! You’re starting the episode this time? 

Oh hi Alex! Jonny usually does this part, doesn’t he?

Spooky intro! 

Oh that’s a spooky title, knowing the tma/tmp series that is

The SFX my beloved <3 

Dracula-? Hi-?

This categorizing system is so silly to me-

Hahahah she got it wrong!

I love the sounds- it’s so different from the tape recorders

This is gwen right? Cause Alice’s voice is deeper.

I was right! The voices so far are easy to differentiate 

Or maybe I’m just better at it

Damn Gwen 

Alice is so real for that. I say that on a daily basis-

Oh- new scene! 

Oh that’s funky

Zoom-?

THERAPY?????

I- that voice- I recognize this voice

Oh I know that tone from therapists. Mmmm

Whoever you are kinda mystery lady, you are right

Okay, that’s a good way to speak

Patience!!

Fair-

I should not have laughed at the “deep trauma that your itching to unpack”as much as I did-

We love our artists. All forms of artists, but in this case we’re talking about a visual artist

Wtf

I’m sorry- is #makeupfree An actual hashtag-? (I don’t use a majority of social media, because you know (:  )

Ah

Good for you? Feeling more comfy in your own skin?

That’s not a good silence, I know that silence. That’s the thinking silence that means your brain is producing thoughts that aren’t good. Those thoughts are treated respectfully, and those that have them are welcomed in the household, but not the thoughts themself. (Guys I promise I’ve studied psychology-) I paused the episode for this

Continuing!

Daria! Such a pretty name

Ah, makeover is a good term

Oh? Tattoo time?

A generic witchy-alchemist character-? I wanna know who cause that’s so silly. Oh wait it’s generic, would it even be a specific character?

Ah so this is the ink5oul thing

I swear I saw ink5oul x bonzo somewhere. Or maybe it was needle?

Oh?

Pfft-

I can see this tbh (I’ve never watched ink5oul-)

Oh-? I love tattoos like that 

Does ink5oul actually exist-? 

Icky

I love when people are so spooky and use they/them pronouns

Omg

Diversity wins! The tattoo artist who is also an influencer that is causing you excruciating pain is referred to with they/them pronouns!

I unpaused the episode at wasp stings- flash backs to the Jane prentiss statement (🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱)

Heartbeat noise!

Oh passing out from pain is such a trope

Not the mediocre dubstep-

Oh that’s so aesthetic!!

Tbh I wouldn’t complain if that was my tattoo

yeah go get your eeps Daria!

I have no idea how you spell Daria’s name-

Oh yay!! She’s having a good time! I can’t wait for it to be ruined

Oh here It goes

Ah-

Mmh

I see where this is going

I- oh dear- 

WHAT DO YOU MEAN-??

THE FUCK??

oh goodness not “perfect”

I- 

Mh

I’m speechless

I’m-

Oh fucking dear

I. The wording of this is- AAAAAAAAAAAA

This is going to go so so so so so so wrong

YEAH, SHE BETTER SCREAM WHAT THE FUCK

Oh? Valid? 

You see, this is what a therapist should do. 

Valid point, valid point, from the lady who tried to remake herself into something perfect by carving it out on a painting. 

That’s a normal painter people thing probably-

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT LAST LINE-

oh clicking buttons

Alice. Okay Alice and Tim share the same vocal slot in my brain now

That’s so fair actually Alice-

“Paid to not care” I can make so many Political jokes rn-

Camera time!

Echo-y

Alice and Gwen interaction!!

I-??? 

What kind of question?

Oh government stuff

Fucking Alice- I love you so much 

Gwen is my favorite 

I think I like Bouchard characters-

Elias, and not Gwen-

I love one sided conversations, but only when I can understand what’s being said though, but I can get the gist from Alice

Oh she went silent-

Click click click

I love band names-

THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE??

???????

MY INSTITUTE??

I mean. 👀

The computer must be so disappointed

The aggressive beat after its so- quiet? Always jumpscared me (I’ve heard it twice)

Woooo credits!! We love crediting people!! 

[pixelated-pancakes]

Here’s Why Things Are the Way They Are

The Overall Layout

Let me start off by stating that one of the characters (read: Oliver Banks), in podcast, describes the Magnus Institute (TMI) as small. SMALL. 

Suffice it to say that I respectfully decline and offer you (what I deem) a medium sized building instead. Before you ask me, 'did you even try', I attempted to make two other layouts in the ‘small’ category that just. Did. Not. Work. So yeah. No small Magnus Institute for you.

The only reason I didn’t make it 'large' is because of a bit of research I did into probable locations of TMI, where none of the buildings were taller than four floors, or could be considered large by any stretch of the imagination. In terms of facade and size, I think TMI is kind of like a Starbucks on a college campus. It isn’t distractingly out of place, but you can find it easily enough.

Most of the more interesting shapes in the various floor layouts are the result of scouring Google maps and historical images for architecture typical of the 1800s. While it’s entirely possible for the building to have been gutted between now and then, I like to think of the Magnus Institute as being a preserved historical building, one that can’t be completely replaced without losing that status. Which is, unfortunately, why it doesn’t have an elevator/lift either.

Ground Floor Rooms

On this floor lies the rooms that gave me the greatest trouble: the Boiler Room and Artefact Storage. 

The source of my difficulties? MAG 038-040, three episodes wherein the amount of setting descriptions provided is greater than the sum of the descriptions found in the other 197 episodes. The entire Prentiss scene is extremely difficult to justify in a building with a feasible layout that can be designated as ‘small’ or even ‘medium’. 

Here are the most important points I used making this floor, just for easy reference:

Elias and Sasha have to find the boiler room ‘a few floors down’ 

The worms are on the upper floor (possibly the ground floor, one floor above the basement)

Elias and Sasha have to ‘turn a corner’ to see a ‘tidal wave of filth’ rushing towards them

Elias has to 1) lose Sasha, who finds her way into Artefact Storage and 2) take a roundabout route that requires 10-15 minutes to reach the boiler room (with one close call)

There are multiple corridors, only one of which contains the filth mass

Artefact Storage does not have any windows.

I spent so much time considering whether the Artefact Storage and the Boiler Room were in the basement or not — and I have been working on an alternate layout somewhere to do just that, if anyone’s interested — but ended up settling on the first floor because a lot of the descriptions didn’t line up with the idea of either of those rooms being in the basement. Elias’ ‘alternate route’ and ‘corridors’ from MAG 040 were one such description.

I also couldn’t bring myself to justify lugging a table all the way down to the basement.

(The reception, break room, toilets, and an administrative office are all located on this floor largely due to convenience and/or logic.) 

First Floor Rooms

This was the easiest floor to design. I didn’t want it to be too far from the research floor or Artefact Storage, and I knew that the library deserved its own floor. Simple, effective, and logical. I gave the head librarian an office, too. It’s what Diana deserves.

Second Floor Rooms

So, as it turns out, to run a business you need more than just the spooky parts. This includes offices for workers that are essential to keeping the company running. Marketing, accounting, the like. I also read on the wiki that the Magnus Institute has approximately 80 workers and couldn’t justify not having this floor. 

If you’ll notice, the HR department has an office smaller than the toilets. This is because Jonah Magnus deems it nonessential. The janitorial staff, however, are both very important and very well stocked, so they get one of the larger rooms. 

Third Floor Rooms

TMA explicitly states that researchers work on the third floor. Therefore, the research room is on the third floor. What is not explicitly stated is whether or not the floor levels are based on the British English floor system (which would make sense), where the ground floor is street level and the first floor is one level above, or the American English floor system (which would not make sense), where the first floor is on street level. I went for the obvious choice.

As for Elias’ office being on the third floor, in MAG 039 Elias states that there’s a manual release for the Archive’s fire suppression system “a few floors down”. Originally, I wanted his office to be on the second floor, or the first. In the end, I got a bit stuck on the idea of “a few”, which seems like it’s more than two, so all the way up to the top went Elias’ office. It stayed up there for character purposes — namely, the idea of Jonah Magnus being able to watch the city from his office.

Basement Rooms

In the basement is, of course, the Archives. Surprisingly, despite how much of the podcast takes place in the Archives, the layout is just as nebulous as the rest of TMI. 

Here are a few notable details I used in planning, all from MAG 038-040:

In the Archives, there is an office (likely small and intended for statement recording)

There’s an entrance to the tunnels in the Archives

There’s a storeroom intended for statements/files that need more care

From the storeroom, the office is visible, as is the door to the Archives.

While the second break room and toilets are not mentioned in the podcast, I thought I’d include them because it makes sense to me that a spacious area with only one exit has options in case of an emergency.

I am almost absolutely certain that I misinterpreted the description of the Archives, but alas, I won’t be remaking it for a while. The new version can wait until I’ve regained my sanity.

About the Stairs

The odd positions for the stairs are the result of trying to reason my way through the descriptions provided in MAG 038-040. My idea was that he and Sasha would descend all the way to the ground floor using the stairs closest to his office, only to run back up after meeting with a wall of corruption. 

At first, I thought that Elias’ “roundabout” route to reach the Boiler Room (MAG 040) would have him dashing through the library and down the other set of stairs, so that particular set of stairs by the Boiler Room only went up to the library floor. 

Then I thought it would be hysterical if Elias didn’t even bother running through the library because he is genuinely terrified of the librarians. (He tries to justify his actions by stating he wanted to extend Jon’s exposure to the corruption and Sasha’s encounter with the table, but he’s lying.) So in went another set of stairs.

TL;DR

The Magnus Archives is a wonderful podcast with descriptions that are highly immersive while allowing for a lot of interpretation by fans, which is something I've always appreciated in storytelling. Although I’m certain those at the Rusty Quill have their own layout, unless they choose to release all the specific details, the Magnus Institute truly is what we make of it.

Also, Elias’ description of the Prentiss invasion can get burrowed into by worms :) 

Me trying to explain the Magnus Institute layout according to the Prentiss Incident™

A Few Sources

Thoughts on layout and location of Magnus Institute

Robert Smirke (architect) - Wikipedia

Donald Insall Associates | Historic Buildings Research - Donald Insall Associates

Mostly Google Images of random 1800s buildings located in Britain and searches for reasonable building dimensions. (Never thought I'd Google, 'how big does a restroom need to be', but here we are.)

[the-spooky-archives]

Intros, among other things.

Cocoa Beane

Hello hello! Cocoa Beane (Any Pronouns), Head Archivist, at your service! Currently in the process of attempting to reorganize the archives while also keeping up with all the new statements that keep pouring in from Research. Scared of spiders. Just a tad.

catch me over at @the-better-archivist for daily liveblogs about the reorganization efforts, among other things. My posts here are denoted by #archivist speaks.

Vinny Seraph

Hi everyone, names Vinny Seraph, She/her. I’m yet another archival assistant here, and I also help Cocoa out with her organization efforts if I can. I like coffee, music, and more coffee. I’m not addicted, I swear. I just like the taste.

My personal blog is @magnus-coffee-shop and the tag I use for my posts here is #Vinny Coffee Talk.

Kairos

Hello. My name is Kairos, and I’m an archival assistant here at the Institute. I handle most of the tech side, because it’s abundantly obvious how much Cocoa needs it. If you need to reach me, I’ll probably ignore you. And don’t touch my plants.

But if you must ask me something, you can find me at @clock-weaver for…my own efforts in archival work. All posts written by me here will be signed off with the tag #clock’s ticking

Minty Mori

Hello Hello! My name is Minty Mori (He/him) and archival assistant. I do a lot of filing, paperwork, I handle a lot of miscellaneous tasks but really just standard paper things. I have narcolepsy and I wholly apreciate the patience of the archival staff. I'm not entirely sure what to write honestly, Hopefully this will be alright with the Cocoa.

You'll find me occasionally posting at @minty-mori-archival-assistant (gosh it's so long.) And my tag is: #Sleep talking Minty.

Michael (Angelo?)

Hi there! I'm Michael, short for a myriad of things! I go by Mikey usually. I'm an archival assistant, brought on by Elias. I used to know Gertie, my guardian used to bring me out to see her! I'm not telling what I do here, as I find it fun to keep it secret. I like to refer to myself as "Michael 2" as my guardian is also named Michael (part of why he adopted me in the first place). My blog is @a-second-smaller-door, and I post with the tag #Michael..... 2!

What is The Spooky Archives?

The Spooky Archives, aka TSA, is a TMA AU created by all the mods on this blog and a few others who haven't been introduced yet. In this AU, our own OCs/sonas take the place of the s1 archival crew (though of course they all still exist, they just aren't working in the Archives).

About the Mods

Cocoa

Names Mod Cocoa (Any pronouns). A few of my friends (who are also mods on this blog) told me I should listen to Magnus. I gave in after a few weeks and proceeded to listen to the entire podcast in two weeks, so that gives you an idea of my level of insanity.

My main blog is @ihavenohotcocoa, and I kinda just post whatever I want so like. Maybe some magnus, maybe not.

Vinny

Hi! Mod Vinny here! (She/her pronouns) I’m a bit of a newbie to the series, and pretty much still am. I started listening to TMA and then my progress grinded to a halt around 107(?) because I was too anxious for everyone. And then I just got Mod!Cocoa to tell me everything because I was tired. And honestly? I would have not survived. So please forgive me if I do things contradictory to canon because everything I got is from word of mouth.

My blog is @vinegar-on-main, but don’t expect me to post only TMA stuff. I post whatever I feel like.

Llama

HI HI HELLO my name’s Llama (she/her)!! I was one of said friends who bugged Cocoa to listen to tma and I don’t think any of us have been the same ever since, I know I haven’t :D

My main blog is @constellama, I post art and sometimes random thoughts on different fandoms I’m a part of :D Feel free to follow !!

Minty

Y O U. Hello! I'm Minty (He/him or any), and I was also bugged to listen to it!! It really spread like a plague/pos ofc. I post about a couple things?? DC and Spiderverse have me in a chokehold at the time of writing so you may see a lot of that.

My main blog is at: @hyperspix and yeah! Chilling and vibing. Always free to yell about something to me because I love hearing them! Have a lovely day <3.

Mikey

HI! My name is Mikey (He/They/It). I listened to tma back before s4 even ended. I like transformers a lot. like so much. so so so much. please someone talk to me about transformers. my main blog is @snowybookwyrm !

[longnose-gar]

tmagp ep 7 spoilers below

Celia :) hi, how do you know all of this, Celia, how. So, Celia definitely is Celia from tma, that was at least three tma references, she referenced the archives, the Buried, The Flesh, and also was just really unbothered by everything. Good for her

HILLTOP, like the house? Oh god I hope the web is here, I miss it. Wonder why Ms. Dianne can't remember his name or find any paperwork. Stranger business maybe? "in a somewhat disconcerting ceramic pot modelled on a shouting human face" Skin pot, that pot is made of skin. Another person who Ms. Dianne can't name, and another person who said "it’s all for a good cause". This is so stranger coded. Also, "to stop laughing so much whilst on the main floor" is interesting, can't really link it to anything, but I am taking note of it. A bearSKIN rug? how odd. A gramophone? oh this couldn't be more stranger coded if it tried. ALSO, "it's all for a good cause" is repeated, does the stranger deal with repetition often? Can't recall. Reminds me of the anatomy class students

Ok so, theory time, what if all this junk is artifacts, either from this timeline or otherwise. Wonder why they (the volunteers) are doing this.

"heavyset", either they're making Gerry canonically buff, or this is a different guy in black clothing. I think it's the latter.

oooo, mystery organization, ALSO, this building got burned down cus of spooky stuff, do you know what other building got burned down. :)

The guys who burned down Hilltop (.2) are probably the same as the ones who burned down the Mag Ints.

I hope we get to meet Ms. Dianne, she sounds lovely :D.

CELIA knows them! She knows the voices :D. Celia is my fav now, the only one (that we know of) who's in the loop!

Colin sounded SUPER freaked out when Jon got mentioned, guess he know some things as well. Maybe he's like Celia, however she still knows stuff from the other reality.

Oh! we were listening through Jon's phone! we hear this through phones!

Gwen doing typical tma character silly behaviour, confronting murderers, oh, attempted murderers, good job Lena

GWEN HAS A SOURCE, WHO

Confirmation that Gwen comes from a wealthy family.

Good (bad?) job on the promotion, hope the horrors are all you expected :D

[somanyfuckedupiftruebooks]

JON! How can you do this??? We just talked about the tapes needing to be accurate for research purposes and then you're immediately like 'Well this tape's already recording so waste not want not' and launched right in as if Tim wasn't just criticising you for this exact thing!

Imagine doing a PhD in spooky ocean disappearances and listening to this tape. It starts with a whole conversation about how the materials you are currently using for your research are full of inaccuracues that the people responsible for creating/archiving them can't be bothered to fix, oh and also the department is using an insane date system that the staff either hate or else don't understand. Then it gets weirder! There's a worm problem that is somehow being addressed using fire extinguishers and someone has some kind of mysterious mouth infestation. And Jon just... left all of this in the statement. I just, I can't-- I don't know what to do with all that!!

Get a fresh tape!! You madman!!

ANYWAY. Time for a meta note. My parents are visiting me this weekend so I have been very busy and really didn't have time for posting these commentaries. I was hoping TMA would throw me a few softballs, but nope! The last three days have been:

One of my favourite statements in the entire series, featuring one of my favourite statment-givers that I had a lot to say about.

The POV statement from the primary antagonist of Season 1, including the first explicit references to the Entities.

The statement that introduces the primary antagonist of Season 4 and also the first in-person appearance of Tim. That's two main characters in one statment!

That statement hasn't even started yet abd I've already had to split this post once!

Hells yes, boss bitch behaviour. I love her already.

I was wondering why Peter took on this random person. I'm sure the larger reason is that it's always handy to have spares around to feed the Lonely (that's the whole point of the Tundra) but why her specifically? I don't think she seems particularly inclined towards or afraid of the Lonely, but there's a couple of factors that may have sold her for Peter. The first is that I think she's Eye inclined, and Peter is marginally more willing to spend time around Eye types. The second is her desperation, because people who are desperate are far more likely to give in to their fears. And the third is that she seems very direct and confident, and I think Peter 'No Social Skills' Lukas would have said or done literally anything to end the conversation with her as soon as possible so he can get back to drinking alone (which is a mood).

This is so intimidating! His heavy stone door eyes creating an immediate sense of gravitas and doom, followed by the fact that just being in his presence is apparently enough to pull the statement-giver into the outskirts of Foresaken and make everyone seem to vanish.

This reads as incredibly stern and terse, but I can't help but hear it in Alasdair Stuart's 'affable used car salesman' voice, which does take a lot of the tension out of this interaction for me.

I love how incongruous the various statement-givers' accounts of Peter are with his eventual appearance on the show. It's endlessly funny to me. He's a man of mystery!

All of her work is done alone, to the point at which she's talking about spending time with the autopilot as if it's a person. I looked it up and apparently Iron Mike is a thing and not a Jonny original, but I'm still counting it.

Michael count: 8

It's so interesting how there is a culture of silence and lonlieness on the ship, and everyone plays along and feeds into it. Compare this to the Institute where no one can leave and they have varying levels of tolerance for being constantly monitored; the crew of the Tundra are all here voluntarily and apparently choose to spend most of their time alone, knowing that at any time they could be the one left behind to die.

I completely forgot about Tadeas; I thought Peter was the one with the whistle and captaining the ship. In hindsight it makes much more sense that he's outsourced all of the parts of his job that involve interacting with people, but that doesn't make it any less hilarious. He calls himself a captain but he's doing literally nothing. He's not even the one who summons the fog!!

This is exactly what he does with he's 'running' the Institute in Season 4; outsource the entire job to someone else. Tadeas is the template for what he does to Martin.

What a fuckin' loser.

How does Peter spend his time?? Alone and just staring at the walls of his cabin?? No wonder Elias is able to coax him into high-stakes bets and games so easily. He must be desperate for anything to break up the boredom. He should get a hobby.

Mag 33

*Waves excitedly* Hi Tim!! It's so nice to meet you in person! <3 I'm glad you've arrived to point out problems and try and make Jon do his job properly.

Grumpy >:(

Thank you Tim for the canonical confirmation that normal people do listen to these tapes as part of standard research and study. This is absolutely essential to the inherent comedy of Season 1 and you are an angel for bringing this to our attention.

Fuck me this is so clever. Pointing out that the dates around Hill Top Road are canonically inconsistent during an in-universe moment where the characters are clarifying non-canonical inconsistencies with their own narration of events, thus disguising the fact that time, space and reality actually are inconsistent around Hill Top Road in-universe. This is so clever!!

Imagine doing a PhD in manifestations. What does that even mean.

Also Jon is being Very Grumpy >:( If you don't care about the answer, don't ask the question Archivist. Tim's trying really hard to be chipper and you're not helping.

God it's so good getting these parantheticals describing their tones. I'm really happy that I'm actually reading the transcripts, this is great.

Tim. Tim. Tim. Look at me. Are you saying you've been working in the Archives for months with no idea what the statement IDs meant and you're only admitting it now? Did you not realise the numbers correlated to anything before this moment? If so, you're the most valid motherfucker in this entire Institute and you deserve a raise.

In all seriousness though, this is incredibly understandable. I have actually done it twice! In a previous job at a hospital I worked in Medical Records (which was very similar to an archive) and I was there for months before I figured out that there was a logical sequence to the MRNs (Medical Record Numbers). I thought they were just long strings of unique numbers. And in my current job I work with educational course codes (processing multiple different subject and qualification level codes each day, sometimes working with the same ones for months) and I literally had this job for years before I was told the system behind the codes and learned to actually start using them properly. Before this I relied on route memorisation, and if I forgot a code I was just fucked because I didn't know it was possible to figure them out from context.

In conclusion, Tim is definitely great at his job and deserves a kiss on the lips from me as a reward.

There's so much great stuff here. What happens if there's two statements on the same day? That just never happens? Like, in the entire history of the Institute? How? Why not? Is the Eye on a diet or something? There's definitely instances later in the series where Jon takes more than one live statement in a single day. Does he not allocate them numbers?

This would also imply that the Research department takes, at most, seven new statements a week (both real and fake). That's ridiculous. Although it might explain why there seems to be an inconsistent amount of follow-up for each statement before it arrives at the Archives. If there are so few coming through, looking into them is probably not the main focus of the department. It might even be an afterthought, 'If we have spare time, we might spend Friday looking into a few statements' kind of a job, not something that is prioritised.

Did Gertrude come up with this system? She could have inherited it from the previous Archivist, but it does line up with her policy of making the Archives deliberately disorganised and difficult to extract information from. If she did implement this date system, then that means at some point she went back through every single statement in the Archives (all of them, not just the real ones) and re-numbered them all. Fuck off.

I can see why Jon is not keen to fix her batshit system and implement a new one. Although obviously that's what he should be doing (you could start by using a more efficient date system on new statements and temporarily running both systems at once until you've updated the historical statements) but it would be a massive undertaking and I do not blame Jon at all for not prioritising it given the state of the Archive and also the fact that monsters are real and after him, specifically.

First 'good lord' of the series?? This epsiode is giving us so much.

Also... *raises hand sheepishly* it was me. I complained about that one. I'm sorry Jon.

Uh oh, Tim's cheery demeanor is wearing thin and Jon is boiling over!

It's good to get a reminder that the statements we are hearing are only a small number of the total 'mountain' that the team are working on, and that they are distinct because they can only be recorded to tape. Also seeing how Jon's attitude towards that has changed since Mag 1 is great. He was so composed and in control back then! Now just the reminder that he needs to read the bad statments is enough to have him freaking out.

Tim calming the Archivist down like he's a spooked horse is great, the fact that it works is even better.

And thank you Jon for confirming what was obvious but unspoken last time. Reading the statements isn't just an opportunity for him to practice his theatrics, they take an actual toll on him and are exhausting and stressful to deal with, to the point at which he refuses to return to them even for minor corrections.

And Elias is supplying the Archives with extra entinguishers, literally the least he could possibly do. From memory Jon even had to ask for them after Sasha's statement, Elias didn't do this on his own initiative. Still, it does imply that he wants the Archival staff to have at least a chance of surviving? Probably because it would be boring and annoying to watch them all just die immediately and have to start over with a new team, but I guess it's better than nothing?

Fucking hell, I will never be able to hear that line again without imagining Tim getting horny over Martin sticking his tongue out for him. This fandom ruins everything (affectionate).

I definitely think that even with his understandable aversion to returning to the bad statements, Jon is being influenced by the Eye here. It doesn't want to be fed the same stale statements that the Archivist already gave it!

But, attitude aside, Jon's not wrong. Re-recording would be a waste of time, and a note in the file outlining the disrepency between the 'digital' and hardcopy versions should be adequate.

There, I defended him once, that makes up for dragging him for the Carla/Clara issue. Now we're square again.