Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
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Post by Jonny on Nov 30, 2016 9:18:47 GMT
Apparently they've been booked solid for RPGs for sometime, but had neglected to make any announement or take down the GM submission form on the website. So no games from me this year, I'm afraid.
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
|
Post by Jonny on Nov 29, 2016 11:51:55 GMT
I should, in fact, be running two games of Deadlands - one in the morning slot and one in the evening slot. There's six spaces available for each, so hope to see a few of you there!
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
|
Post by Jonny on Oct 26, 2016 13:21:43 GMT
Whoops! Those last two appear to just be photos of my cats. That's not as spooksome, but on the other hand it is pictures of the two best cats.
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
|
Post by Jonny on Oct 26, 2016 13:20:23 GMT
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
|
Post by Jonny on Oct 20, 2016 9:27:12 GMT
I think you have the Archivist's tone down rather well Also enjoying the Mechs cameo (I think everyone and their mother might have some real misconceptions about Kilburn!), although the idea of those two universes colliding gives me a bit of a headache, though! Weirdly enough, I should make a disclaimer hear - I actually have an episode planned for the latter half of Season 2 that revolves around the night tube (working title "Under Ground"). From reading this it doesn't look like there's much actual overlap in content, but it rather surprised me to read the title!
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
|
Post by Jonny on Oct 19, 2016 16:12:09 GMT
If you've never heard Knifepoint Horror, give it a listen. No longer running, alas, but it was a big influence on TMA and I still hold it up as the gold standard of horror fiction podcasting. No mysteries or titles or credits, just fear.
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
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Post by Jonny on Oct 18, 2016 21:36:41 GMT
i guess in the end it depends how Jonny feels about people 'tampering' with the archive while he's writing it... Nonsense. I'm generally very in favour of fan fiction as a thing, but even if I wasn't... I'm the creator - that means I get zero say over it, which is exactly how it should be. Make or don't make fanfic as you please. All I ask is that you completely disregard me when doing so.
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
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Post by Jonny on Oct 17, 2016 15:40:07 GMT
Apologies, Jonny, for holding your feet to the fire like this. I think I possibly hold you more to account than is entirely fair, but I can't help but feel like it's also bad to just ignore it? No, you're quite right. It's not fair to build an intricate web of clues and connections and then get confused and directly feed people misinformation - you're absolutely right to call me on it when I mess up, as occasionally there are deliberate discrepancies or inconsistencies, so I really need to be clear with when it's actually me, the author, getting a date wrong. I can only assure you I keep better track of everything when I'm actually writing it!
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
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Post by Jonny on Oct 17, 2016 15:25:36 GMT
Yep, Martin investigated Carlos' flat late February. That places MAG22 in mid-March, which has some interesting connotations: Martin was locked in his room for the duration of recordings 1-21. I think he's mentioned, but most of the groundwork being done beforehand (we see it takes a good few months for recordings to be done, since it took so long for Sasha's research into the Harold Silvana case to come up) mean it's not quite a plot hole The first 22 statements were recorded in a matter of weeks, but the following 18 took almost 5 months. Turns out worm infestations really kill workplace productivity! You're right - I think that's probably me getting confused between the release schedule (which started in March with the quick-release) and the in-universe timeline - I've been plotting season 2 and so am currently wrapped up in a different set of dates. Also, Gertrude disappeared in March 2015, so that was also in my head (plus Elias wouldn't take a year to appoint a new Archivist). So I'm retconning my previous statement: Canonically, MAG 1 was recorded in October 2015 (probably on Halloween, because that pleases me thematically).
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
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Post by Jonny on Oct 15, 2016 19:17:07 GMT
- So, presumably, in-universe, as we've been with Jonathan, starting MAG1, the recordings we've heard were only one of every, say three, where MAG1 was misbehaving digitally, he put it to ancient tape recorder, it worked, then he moved on to a digital recording of a written statement, perhaps another digital recording, and so on until he found another misbehaving digital recorder and took back to the tape -- providing US (meta) with MAG2.
Correct. I don't recall it ever being explicitly stated, but the first statement to be recorded to tape (MAG 1) was recorded in-universe at the beginning of March 2016, and MAG39 and 40 were took place at the end of July 2016, so the first 40 recordings took place over the course of roughly 5 months. The MAG numbering is semi in-universe, in as far as it accurately indicates the order in which the tapes were recorded. The week-long gaps between episodes is completely out-of-universe and to facilitate its being workable podcast; in-universe there may be multiple weeks between, or only a few days (or hours, in the case of the latest episodes).
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
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Post by Jonny on Oct 13, 2016 13:09:42 GMT
I think my concern is that this is what Lost did: pile mysteries on enigmas on conspiracies, but never closed off anything, or if it answered one question, it raised twenty more to replace it. I get that the unknown is scary, but I would like to be able to draw a line under something like Jane Prentiss and just say "she was this demon, that wanted this, end of". I wouldn't worry about this going the way of Lost. Jonny actually knows how to write a story. Although in all seriousness I was having a chat with Jonny about exactly this a little while ago and from what I can tell (not to put words in his mouth) he pretty much agrees with you with regards to unresolved mystery. I think what I'm really saying is, I think Season 2 will be right up your street ^^ I generally try not to respond to criticism, as it's very hard to avoid sounding defensive - I usually just do my best to dissect it for useful notes and move on - however this speaks to something that is going to be coming up more and more as the series progresses, so I feel it's a good idea to address it upfront (I'll also probably be covering it in the Q&A for all those who don't meticulously read every forum thread). The two main points I feel I need to be clear on are as follows: 1) It will be a long time before the "Why?" of anything is fully revealed. 2) The Magnus Archives is a world, not a single story. To unpack those a bit: 1) One of the main tightropes to be walked with this series is the one stretched between Horror and Mystery. It's a common problem with stories like this, because Horror and Mystery work FANTASTICALLY well together at the beginning, as both thrive on the unknown, but as any story goes on they become bitter enemies. If you reveal too much then the horror loses all its power: the sinister, terrifying presences simply become characters with known qualities and motivations. But if you keep too much hidden, then the audience you've taunted with shreds of mystery feels cheated, because they're never going to actually get any real answers. I have been trying to balance this, of course, but it's always going to fall a bit too far either side for some: as the series goes on it will lose a few of those who only want pure horror and feel that too much of the fear has gone from evil beings that are now too well know; and it will lose some who are only invested in the mystery, and grow frustrated with slow reveals, or that there will always be some dark corners that aren't illuminated. Now, one of the questions that will always be left as late as possible to answer is to "Why?", because knowing motives and plans is one of the quickest ways to lose the fear. It's one of the reasons most classic movie monsters have no discernible motive beyond "Murder" or (in a few nuanced cases) "Vengeance". With Jane Prentiss, the main question that is still left unanswered is the "Why?". We now know more or less who she was, what happened to her, what she was doing and how she was stopped, we just don't know why. And I'm afraid we won't for a long time. Unlike many of the other questions, the various "Why"s of the Archive are going to be a long time coming, not only because it helps preserve the horror, but also because most of them tie into a central aspect of the MA world, which is going to be gradually coming into focus over the next few seasons. If the slow burn frustrates you more than it intrigues you, then that's a completely fair reaction, although I'm obviously sad you feel that way. All I can say is that eventually you will know what is going on, and I hope you stick with us through the journey. 2) There is a story at the centre of The Magnus Archvies: the story of the Archivist himself. The rest makes up a world with many, many other stories within it. Some are the stories inherent in the statements themselves, others are stories that are hinted at across several statements, or simply lurk in the background informing others. Many of them cross over and intersect, and most of them will touch the Archivist at some point in one way or another, but they remain fundamentally different stories. What I think of as threads. Trying to tie them all together into a single narrative is only going to bring frustration, because they're not. It's not much of a spoiler to say to anyone wondering, for example, how the Lukas family fits in the story of Jane Prentiss, that they don't. Their stories are in the same world, and may conceivably brush against each other, but they're very distinct. What this means is that many of these threads will have resolution at different times, but most of them have plenty more to say. Indeed, because of the nature of statement chronology, it may be that we discover the resolution of a thread, then later discover its origin. Now, it is a fair criticism that I concentrated on setting up these threads in Season 1 almost to the exclusion of resolving any of them. This is true, and I may have been a little bit overeager to establish the depth of the world at the cost of giving enough actual closure. I'm hoping to address this a bit more in Season 2 and beyond, where threads will be resolved, as well as opened. That said, as I mentioned above, in most cases, even when they're resolved, you're going to need to wait a while until there's a definitive answer to the "Why". There will be clues, though. There are always clues. Sorry for the wall of text, but I felt your critiques deserved a proper answer as to how I'm trying to construct the series.
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
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Post by Jonny on Sept 29, 2016 14:07:39 GMT
Finally, an open letter to Jonathan Sims- Jonathan, If you ever, ever, EVER end a post-statement summary with "before I get to..." again, you deserve everything you get. Sincerely, The Fans Dear [The Fans], Before I get to the specifics of your feedback, I'd like to take moment to thank you for listening. You're the lifeblood of the show, for now only in the metaphorical sense, and we couldn't do this without you. Your comments about [post-statement summary] has been taken on board and we will be sure to include more [post-statement summary] in future! Kind regards, [Jonny Sims]
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
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Post by Jonny on Sept 25, 2016 21:42:21 GMT
There are various horror films/programs that I love and have inspired TMA to one degree or another - please be aware my loving/being inspired by a film does not necessarily mean it's goodCarnival of Souls (1962) - The plot is so predictable you'll have guessed the end correctly with 2 minutes, but its shot and edited in such a weird way it just has this oppressive, bizarre creepiness to it. The Thing (1982) - I love John Carpenter so much, but The Thing is a clear favourite, and it has been noted (not incorrectly) that I have a bit of a thing for body horror. Session 9 (2001) - A good modern spook story that's just very well executed. Also plays into themes of people running into supernatural just doing their job, which I like, as I find horror that much more accute when divorced from ideas od "deserve" Uzumaki (2000) - Japanese horror that is SO FUCKING WEIRD. Very good at demonstrating that not all monsters need to be slavering beasts, or even have a body. Jeepers Creepers (2001) - Not a good movie, but notable as being one of the first horror movies I saw as a teenager, and I still have a lot of affection for it. Plus very good example of the "horror doesn’t discriminate" trope I enjoy. All you need to be is wrong place and wrong time. Three Extremes (2004) - A rather gruesome East Asian anthology film by three great filmmakers. Great example of entirely distinct stories complementing each other to create an even better whole. A Ghost Story For Christmas (BBC 1971-78) - I believe the BBCs yearly MR James adaptation have already been mentioned by kea, but I also love the 1976 adaptation of Dickens' The Signalman. It perfectly encapsulates how less is more in Horror, and revels in its Britishness and the unexplained. Far scarier than the original short story in my opinion. L'Inventaire Fantome - wonderfully spooky French claymation short. Find it on Youtube - you'll see very quickly where the similarities lie to the archive. Backwater Gospel - American gothic of the darkest hue, and a wonderful piece of animation. A true monster's motivations are obscure, and its how people react to it that can create horror worse than anything it could do with claws or teeth
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
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Post by Jonny on Sept 23, 2016 11:13:47 GMT
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Jonny
Member of the Order of the Quill
Host of The Magnus Archives
Turns out I was a ghost all along.
Posts: 114
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Post by Jonny on Sept 22, 2016 19:03:43 GMT
Very lucky. I'm used to my preferred series (whether books, webcomics etc) suddenly going "yeah nah" and vanishing :/ The bane of the fanfiction-readers' existence. Or, like with Limetown, shrugging off the second season due to (rumors of) a TV deal... and then waiting... and waiting... None of that, I promise. Even in the very unlikely event we have to end earlier than intended, I have ways to bring the ending to completion faster than currently planned. I can't stand series that just sort of stop, and whatever happens I will not let that be The Magnus Archives
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