Season 3 Q+A
ALEX
Hello and welcome to The Magnus Archives Season Three Q & A Special. I’m Alex Newall, director and with me I’ve got…
JONNY
Uh, Jonny Sims, I am the writer and I play The Archivist.
ALEX
Yes.
So, uh, we are going through all of your questions. We are going to be doing our best to answer them.
JONNY
I am excited.
ALEX
But, I do have a few caveats before we start. Uh-
JONNY [SLIGHTLY OVERLAPPING]
I am less excited.
ALEX
(a lot) We got a lot of questions! Like A LOT of questions!
JONNY
Yea, Alex has… a literal pile of paper in front of him.
ALEX
And… a lot of them sort of doubled up. So, whilst we will be doing our best to make sure that, sort of, everyone credited with their questions, I will be cutting through some of the wording to get to the sort of the- the crux of it as quick as we can.
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Meat.
ALEX
Yeah. To get… Thanks for that… (disgusted)
To get as quickly as we can and make sure we do get to everyone.
So, here’s our first question, TimNotSasha on Discord asks: how do you plot both in a single episode and the metaplot? What they’re getting at is you use a lot of detailed notes or is it more of a vague notion, everyone knows now that we have a plan ‘till season five, but do we have a ring binder with fifty-thousand pages of- of notes on there?
JONNY
Yeah, I, um- in the meta- the metaplot it planned in more detail, uh, than any individual episode generally right at the start of the season, me and Alex will sit down and we’ll really hash out exactly what really actually is going to happen, what the beats are. Within a given episode I generally- I have a vague idea of what’s going to happen and then I’ll be going away and sort of percolating, I guess… and sometime in the week beforehand… I’d be like: “Oh! This will happen in this episode!”
ALEX
‘Cause I really enjoy our season plans, where we know all the- like character arcs and blah, blah, blah, blah.
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Yeah.
ALEX [CONT.]
But sometimes there will be an episode that says: “Spooky computer.”
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Yeah.
ALEX [CONT.]
And that’s just our placeholder… (squeaky) because we know what it’s about.
JONNY
(incoherent squeaky sounds) And, um, at some point I’ll go very quiet, uh, and someone will go: “Jonny, are you alright?” and I’ll be like: “Yes, I know where the spooky computer goes!”
[ALEX LAUGHS]
“I know what it links to,” and they’ll say (softly) “Y-y… you’re past it, Jonny.”
ALEX
Yeah, y- I have been in around those conversations before.
OK, a follow up! Both sAZAndorable via Discord and neurosock via Reddit asks: how far in advance do we plan the characters’ individual arcs? We have answered this before so we’ll get to it quickly, but they’re mostly interested in Martin having a crush, uh, did we always know Tim’s backstory, and did we know that Basira was going to join the team full-time?
JONNY
In order, right from the beginning.
ALEX [BACKGROUND]
Yep!
JONNY [CONT.]
About… two seasons ahead?
ALEX
Yeah, I’d say that there was… t-there was some vagueness but we- we basically had it.
JONNY [SLIGHTLY OVERLAPPING]
Yeah. And very soon after she was introduced.
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
Yes.
JONNY [CONT.]
Uh, we know in pretty good detail what our character’s, uh, arc within the season is going to be, because that’s one of the big things that is laid out in the initial season discussion.
Um, and we have a good sense of what the… the-the skeleton, the structure of the overall thing is going to be, but a lot of those… skeletons are built up with… pleasant surprises and, for instance, Basira and, uh, to a certain degree Daisy becoming, uh, quite as significant as they were, uh, is largely because the characters and Fay and Frank are amazing! Um, and the actors, uh, really came through and we were like… we want to do more with these characters.
ALEX
thefleshhive, good name, in Reddit asks: how did you arrive at the idea of thirteen fears, specifically and with the tag on, how long have you been planning this? Again as a-
JONNY
Uh, the fears, right from the beginning, that was very much, um, the beginning, like the building block-
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
Like the day one pitch.
JONNY [CONT.]
Yeah, day one pitch for the world, uh, was the fears, um, I then went and did a lot of thinking. I looked through long lists of common phobias. Obviously, I have read and encountered an awful lot of, uh, horror stories anyway and started sort of dividing them up and just thinking more about, like, how different scary things feel in terms of the sort of fear they generate… Um, and- and originally The Hunt and The Slaughter were kind of the same in my mind but the- the more, um… I started thinking about it and started planning it properly the clearer it became and those were actually two quite distinct, um, things.
ALEX [SLIGHTLY OVERLAPPING]
What I’ll say with them, as well, is one of the few ones where the characters fed back into… lore…
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
Very much so.
ALEX [CONT.]
Where it became apparent that you had two radically different types of character that were…
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
Yeah, at first it was going to be…
ALEX [CONT.]
…Not going to gel.
JONNY [CONT.]
Yeah, At first it was: Oh, fear of violence, uh, nice and simple, but actually the more, uh, we did writing and planning around it, the clearer it became that, well, actually there’s two…
ALEX [BACKGROUND]
Yeah.
JONNY [CONT.]
There’s two very clear strands here.
ALEX
Got a question from, uh, mielebit on Reddit.
JONNY
Sure.
ALEX [CONT.]
Has anything changed drastically from what we’d originally planned?
JONNY
Yes and no. Grand scale, I don’t think anything has changed drastically.
ALEX [BACKGROUND]
I’d… No… I don’t think so.
JONNY
That’s because largely because the structure we built, aside from one or two very key points that have remained the same, the structure we built was flexible enough that even though stuff has changed oddly, from what we sort of assumed it was going to be, it’s still managed to fit very comfortably on the same structure.
ALEX
So this is from PenelopeTwite from Reddit and Mika Caddots from Facebook.
JONNY
Cool.
ALEX
How to balance doling out the information for the long-term plot versus the statement of the week stuff? And more specifically, how confident were we before starting that we’d be able to sustain a podcast long enough to actually finish a metaplot if we got it started?
JONNY
Um, in terms of, uh, confidence and sustaining it, very confident because I, hundred percent, pitched this to Alex as five seasons…
ALEX
It did- it did help, we knew what, like, sort of, horrible illnesses or something that no one can predict, like, we’ve already locked everything down on what everything is.
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, I mean fundamentally if- if Rusty Quill had completely collapsed, if Alex and me both died in fiery explosions-
ALEX
Separate fiery explosions, at least!
JONNY
Separate fiery explosions, um, though I like to think at the same time…?
ALEX
Oh, definitely.
JONNY
Um, if that- if anything that had happened obviously then the podcast would have… stopped, but you know you can never plan for that sort of thing. But in terms of forseeables, we knew were gonna go the distance. We started it with the aim of doing, uh, five seasons with a strong ending.
ALEX
So, got a question here from carnationlily2rose from Reddit: were we always planning to have episode 120 be Elias reading the statement or is that entirely because he got a- uh, huge fanbase?
JONNY
(ugh) Oh, god. Oh, god. Elias’s voi- why does everyone want to-
(trying not to get riled up) No, it’s- it’s fine, that’s uh, uh, it had always been the plan.
[ALEX CHUCKLES]
ALEX [BACKGROUND]
Yeah.
JONNY
Um, right from seasons- I think it was only about… it was only after 92, when we started to be… properly, overtly villainous.
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
Well that’s the thing everyone thought he was boring…
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
(argh) Then everyone decided how sexy he was!
[ALEX LAUGHS THROUGHOUT THE NEXT TWO SENTENCES]
Um, so, when we were planning that out, there was no way for us to foresee how sexy Elias was probably be. Something I blame entirely upon Ben.
ALEX
So, this is from, I want to say, fxktn, I do not know how to pronounce that, via Reddit: in terms of writing them, not their themes, do you have a favorite power amongst the fourteen?
JONNY
Uh, The Flesh, uh, for the- for the most favorite, I really enjoy writing The Flesh, because it allows me to be super weird, uh, I do lots of grotesque body horror and I do actually feel quite proud of the justification, um, behind why The Flesh is so weird.
ALEX
Least favorite?
JONNY
Least favorite… probably… actually, probably The Dark. Just because I find it draws me into tropes and cliches more than I’m entirely comfortable with.
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
It’s really tricky. It’s really, really tricky!
JONNY [CONT.]
Um, because The Dark is such a well-explored fear that- and also one that I don’t have myself quite as strongly, like most of the ones I really enjoy writing are the ones where I’m kind of scared of it myself, so I can really figure out what it is that gets to me and hone in on it. And there isn’t as much of that in The Dark. So, I find myself having to, um, lean a lot more on historical stuff for instance.
ALEX [BACKGROUND]
Yeah, yeah.
JONNY
Or, like, it’s a lot harder to find the interesting, uh, bit of writing a Dark story.
ALEX
Certainly for me, I have a nice, simple one for the least favorite, at least which is The Spiral!
[JONNY LAUGHS]
The Spiral is always a nightmare to edit!
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
(hehe) I love The Spiral!
ALEX [CONT.]
And it has stage directions like: everything goes wrong, that’s- that’s the stage direction. Everything goes wrong.
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
(joyful) I love The Spiral because I can be- I can- I can just- I can just write whatever I like. It doesn’t have to make sense. Alex has to make it sense.
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
It’s nonsense! It’s nonsense!
Right… going more- (Alex has his hand on his face; slightly muffled and tired)
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
(hah) Weird spirals.
ALEX
Going more specific, sentient8 asks from Reddit: what episodes are you most proud of?
JONNY
Um, a few, but I thought- for some reason the one that sticks in my mind is actually “A Tale of a Field Hospital”. There’s nothing specific about that episode that I’m super proud of, but I really like the narrator and how I got to write him. Uh, I was really proud of finding the book “A Tale of a Field Hospital” because so little of it had to be changed to make it nicely creepy and it just dove-tailed so well into, um, everything else. Also, it’s one of the ones that I’ve been able to dive into the history in more than just, a sort of, uh, set dressing sort of way.
ALEX
Mm. Yeah, for me, it’s anything that is a punch to the gut. I- I enjoy killing characters that people love. Um, maybe the replacement of Sasha by Not!Sasha, was a nice one, because enough people didn’t notice it…?
JONNY
Yeah, I was always surp- I mean, I guess, because, y’know, it’s hard not to notice piling four duvets on top of, uh, Lottie and just have her- uh, scream, so that it didn’t alert the neighbors at midnight.
[ALEX CHUCKLES]
ALEX
Yeah.
(down) Yeah.
[ALEX CHUCKLES]
Uh, circusmask via Reddit: are there any episodes that you weren’t happy with in terms of writing or story?
JONNY
I mean, yes, but I’m a hundred percent not going to tell anyone which ones they were.
[ALEX LAUGHS]
Because then they’ll never be able to listen to them without being like: “Yeah, I see it.” I will, however, say that it definitely won’t be the ones you’re thinking of.
ALEX
So, follow up from, uh, “fix kitten” or fxktn, I still don’t know which- which pronunciation, via Reddit: which has been the hardest episode to write and why?
JONNY
Um, I would say that that would be number 95: “Absent Without Leave” and I have no idea why.
ALEX
I’ve actually, yeah, remember we ran into issues with that one.
JONNY [PARTIAL OVERLAP]
I have no idea why that one was so hard for me to write, like, it wasn’t emotionally, it wasn’t mentally. I knew what was going to happen. It just was one of those one where I sat at the computer and every word felt like pulling out a tooth.
ALEX
It- it was the first case of block, I think, that I’ve ever really seen come up in years.
JONNY
Yeah.
Um, so, yeah. Um, that was the hardest, zero idea why.
ALEX
Um, HumidNebula via Reddit: which is one aspect, event, or nuance that you regret putting out?
JONNY
I mean, names. I’m really bad with all the names. I’m so bad with names.
[ALEX LAUGHS]
I’ll tell you what it is. It is naming the main character after myself. It is not bothering when Alex went: “Hey, rather than making this an anthology series with you as the host, why don’t we make it a long fore-metaplot thing, uh, where it’s The Archivist is the main character?” And I said: “Yes,” rather than “Yes, in which case we’d better not have my name being the name- be the main character.”
ALEX
In fact, I remember this conversation being: “Are you sure you want your name to be the main character?” and you were like: “Yeah, I’m sure it’s fine, like… Wha-“
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Yeah.
ALEX
“What difference is it going to make?”
Uh, from PCI_Compliance via Reddit: how do you write groups of episodes where the same events are viewed from different standpoints?
JONNY
Uh, I, generally, uh, figure out the core of that setting or event is. Like, I know the deal with the Daedalus Space Station. I know the deal with Hill Top Road. Then I will write a story within that and then when it comes to writing the next one, I’ll think: “Well, what aspects of this haven’t I covered yet?” and then I will usually have a read or a listen through the last one to make sure that I’m getting all the details linked up right and then I’ll be like: “Oh, yeah, I threw myself that little hook when we did that first episode,” I’ll take that and I’ll wind it into the other episode and gradually just build up the whole picture.
ALEX
And I remember we did baked into Daedalus, we were like-
JONNYYeah.
ALEX [CONT.]
We will return to this.
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Yeah.
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
Let’s leave this for that. And this for that. ‘Cause we were like… we knew would come back.
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, exactly, we were like three and then we were like and then… OK. Then we can put one in season three and one in season four!
ALEX
(in the background) Yeah. Yeah.
Uh, sort of linked, adverse_inference via Reddit: do you feel like you still have plenty of ideas for statements? Is there any media that you consume to stay inspired?
JONNY
The media I consume to stay inspired is generally anyone I talk to, uh, because any time they mention anything that could be in any way construed spookily, I will ask them to stop and then I will write it down, uh, on a tablet, or on a bit of paper, or the back of my hand, uh, and I will add to my extremely long list of potential spooky episode ideas.
ALEX
I enjoy playing the what-if-subject-but-spooky game.
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
Yeah. No, it’s great.
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
Where you’ll say fifty as a joke and then one of them he’ll go: “Oh, actually…”
JONNY
Yeah, no, I can- I can do something with that.
[ALEX LAUGHING A BIT]
Um, also, uh, in terms of media I consume to stay inspired, uh basically anything
but horror!
ALEX
Notnac via Reddit: which came first: The Archivist and his journey or The Magnus Archives world?
JONNY
Exactly the same time.
ALEX [BACKGROUND]
Obviously at the same time.
JONNY [CONT.]
Uh, they were built up pretty much parallel.
ALEX
I’d agree with that.
scottums, again, via Reddit, um: there seems to be very little swearing, is that conscious decision or did it happen to work out that way?
[JONNY BURSTS INTO LAUGHTER]
Why don’t you answer that one, Jonny?
JONNY
Um, so, episode 14: “Piecemeal” uh, the original cut of that, I- I remember I turned up to record that one and I started reading it out and about a paragraph in, uh, Alex said: “Stop this. Ah- ts- th- there’s a lot of swearing in this one,” and I said: “Yes, he’s, uh, he’s a- he’s quite a swear-y man! Is a- is this narrator.”
[ALEX CHUCKLES]
ALEX
(softly) Didn’t I say, “No, he’s not”?
[ALEX LAUGHS]
JONNY
Eh- yeah, pretty much. And then Alex, uh, explained very- very gently to me what the “explicit” tag was on iTunes, uh, and why it was a good idea if we could skirt around it. And then I said: “What about all the gore and the grotesque body horror?” And Alex said, “That’ll be fine,” and then I said, “What about the- the sexual stuff, I mean we’ve already recorded episode six and that was some pretty horrific, sexual horror!” And he said, “That’ll be fine,” and I said, “Is it literally just the swearing?” and Alex said, “Yes.”
ALEX
Turns out that the U.S. market, especially for podcasts, has some (voice cracks) very, very specific preferences, should we say.
JONNY
Yeah.
ALEX
And it turns out that it’s a lot easier to market, sell, and just generally make things for the U.S. audience that don’t swear as much.
JONNY [SLIGHTLY OVERLAPPING]
He does let me swear, but I generally need to convince him in any given case.
ALEX
So, next question is from kookooforpococuffs, (whooah) I got it out, uh, that’s via Reddit: Burke County got a reference near the end of episode 58: “Trail Rations” they were very very happy about that.
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Yes.
ALEX [CONT.]
Is there any method that you use to choose locations mentioned in the show?
JONNY
Right, what I will do, uh, is that I will figure out rough, geographical area, like the- the country or sort of the area in the U.S. if it’s, um, set there and then I will go into Google Maps and then I will zoom into a level that I think people will find creepy if they’re there.
[ALEX BURSTS INTO LAUGHTER]
And it gets referenced. And they’ll be like: “Why’s he referencing this place specifically?” And there’s no particular reason, but I really like being super specific deliberately to just slightly worry people.
[ALEX CHUCKLES]
ALEX
Question from dudling via Reddit: do you listen to music when writing? Do you have any songs that you use to get into the feel of particular powers?
JONNY
Um, I do listen to music, uh, but not specific stuff. Uh, there are various sort of playlists of dark ambient, uh, sort of things that I will have on in the background or I actually find if I’m finding an episode particularly difficult, just like, intense rain soundtracks, heavier than, would be relaxing. So, it feels oppressive.
[ALEX CHUCKLES]
ALEX
A bit of pathetic fallacy.
JONNY
Yeah, no, absolutely I- I basically, in my mind, everything is significantly more dramatic if I imagine it happening when it’s raining very heavily.
ALEX
I mean presumably, before every writing session you start with some like (dramatic) ”THEY CALLED ME MAD!” and begin writing or something.
JONNY
Yes, obviously.
ALEX
So, this one is a tough one. This is from confectionery via Reddit.
JONNY
Right, right, right.
ALEX
What are Jonny and Alex’s values when it comes to horror?
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
(intrigued) Oh.
ALEX [CONT.]
As in: what should well-written horror fiction accomplish other than scaring people, obviously?
JONNY
To me there are almost two sorts of horror. There’s what I think of as, uh, “escapist” horror.
ALEX
Mhm.
JONNY [CONT.]
And what I think of as “literary” horror. “Escapist” horror is- it’s very practical in a lot of ways. Uh, it is, uh, a way of… catharsis, uh, it’s a way of, uh, indulging in fear and, uh, spooking yourself out in a controlled, safe way, allowing you to safely indulge in those, uh, slightly darker, uh, emotions and feelings.
Which is one of those reasons that, for Magnus, uh, I think it’s so important to take certain, uh, certain boundaries and treat certain subjects with a lot do respect and sensitivity, um, because one of the key things here is you need to be able to trust that you can enjoy the horror. Um, you need to be able to trust the- the writing and the performance that it’s not going to suddenly cross lines and what has previously been a very pleasing spooky catharsis, suddenly becomes, uh, incredibly upsetting. And of course there is the other sort of horror and obviously it’s not- it’s not a binary here, it’s very much um…
ALEX
It’s more of a spectrum.
JONNY [CONT.]
It’s very much on a- on a spectrum. Uh, but what I think of more as “literary” horror which is using the… mechanisms of horror, the mechanisms of, um, being spooky, being scary to actually examine and, uh, come to terms with darker subject matters. “Literary” horror is just as thoughtful about how it engages with that sort of thing. And to be honest, I don’t write “literary” horror, I… don’t really feel like I have any place writing “literary” horror most of the- most of the subjects that it tackles and it deals with well are things that I have no real experience of and that I would not be coming from a place where I feel comfortable exploring it. It’s- they’re not often my stories to explore.
ALEX
Mine is going to be a lot more specific, but I think a lot less profound, let’s say.
[JONNY SNORTS WITH A SMALL LAUGH AND SAYS “YEAH”]
Um, I think that in all fiction you should- I’m going to have to expand on this, you should avoid being intellectually lazy and I think horror more than with any other genre. More than any other type of fiction you must not be intellectually lazy. Now, to be perfectly clear, I’m not talking about, y’know, using big, long words or writing in a weird way that no one’s ever seen. When I’m talking about being intellectually lazy, I’m talking about knowing that there’s a better way in doing something and taking the shortcut. It’s stuff like for horror it’s very easy to spot the, uh, the shortcut, because what someone will do is they will write a taboo and then look at the taboo and go (dramatic, fake-OMG) “I broke a taboo! HORROR!”
And it’s not. It is a shortcut, because you aren’t putting the work in to really engage with stuff and trying to pick at the bits that are interesting. You are just taking something wholesale and slapping it out there and that for horror, bizarrely, is the thing that encourages people to take that shortcuts most.
[JONNY AGREES WITH A “YEAH”]
And especially things like body horror, actually that’s the one and most often, yeah, you’re- you’re heading into like horrible, torture porn-kind of sub-genres and stuff and actually, it doesn’t need to be that and it- it’s just about putting the work in and not just taking quick easy low-hanging fruit every time.
JONNY
Yeah.
When we talk about being intellectually lazy, we are, a hundred percent, not talking about being original.
ALEX
No! No, no, no, no, no!
JONNY
Because… weirdly, horror is actually one of those genres where I feel like you, thinking about it, in terms of originality is actually missing a lot of the point. There’s only so many spooky things that you write!
[ALEX AGREES WITH A “YEAH”]
It’s all to do with the rhythm and the pacing and making sure that you’re getting the- the right beats in the right place to… evoke the- the emotions the- the same way that, y’know, you need to, uh, evoke the right notes from an instrument.
ALEX
Um, asterisks, how are the editors doing right now? It must be hard having to handle all the recent stuff.
They’re fine. They’ve been having some lovely weeks.
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
(not reassuring) They’re safe and alive.
[ALEX CHUCKLES]
Do not look for them.
ALEX
How do we get in the zone of giving the exact emotion needed for a piece especially for the recent episodes?
I’m going to give the- the unsexy, the uncreative answer here, which is, honestly, ninety percent of the decisions are based entirely on logistics. It is, I mean, obviously there- there are creative decisions in terms of, like, y’know, oh, The Buried should be bass-y and, uh, Nikola Orsinov, if anyone listening out for it, has like sounds of, like, needles scratches on LPs and stuff.
[JONNY IN THE BACKGROUND SAYS “OH” INTRIGUINGLY]
But in a lot of it, a lot of decisions are less about mood than about “OK. Jonny has requested thousands of people screaming and this and this and this and this.” That’s not going to be possible.
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
[GIGGLES]
(hehe) Yeah. It’s so easy to write it in a script.
ALEX
So, what I do is write down what it is in order that I can get away with and then I’ll actually experiment and, uh, certainly when it comes to soundscaping, this is true.
For the music, I have to hand all credit to Brock, he’s been doing a lot of the music this season and he’s practically better at it than I am. Uh, he’s getting very, very good at replicating mood with music in a way that I’m less skilled at.
[JONNY IN THE BACKGROUND AGREES WITH A “YEAH”]
When it comes to the soundscaping side, a lot of it is you just keep trying permutations until something works, which means that I also have full soundscapes we never used because… when you layered them up they didn’t work.
Summoboomo via Discord: how do we achieve the convincing sounds of violence?
So, there are- there are three tips I will give.
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Yes… yes.
ALEX [CONT.]
I will not go into the specifics of it, it will take hours. Uh, tip number one: get your performers to physically act out stuff in the studio. I don’t mean fully, but generally speaking, I do-
JONNY [SLIGHTLY OVERLAPPING]
Not on each other, but on themselves.
ALEX
I get them to hold their… um, their sort of shoulders. Hold their own shoulders.
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
(shouting-surprised) Alex! Alex! What are you doing!
[THUMP AND THEN JONNY GRUNTS AND STRAINS A BIT WITH ANOTHER THUMP]
ALEX
There ya’ go.
Effectively everyone holds their own shirts and then you sort of wiggle.
[JONNY AGREES WITH A “YEAH”]
That’s the best way I can describe it. Wiggle in the correct way!
JONNY
Literally right now, (straining) what I’m doing is just… holding my lapels… (no straining) oh… and I mean- thumping the table. Uh, ‘cause that was- that- it wasn’t in a controlled or safe way to do it.
[ALEX LAUGHS]
(defeated) Don- don’t follow in our footsteps kids.
ALEX
So, step two, once you’ve done that, is you want to find all the correct sound effects. Do not pick sound effects that are accurate, pick sound effects that sound right. Melons are your friends. Melons punch well, they smash well, they grind well. They’re great!
And the last step is when it comes to things, layer it up. Too many people spend hours and hours and hours and hours trying to get the perfect folly, y’know hitting a melon in fifty different ways to find the right one. Nine times out of ten, just layer three different sounds together and you will get it sounding right.
As this sort of bonus tip for everyone, bass. If you want something to sound heavy and to sound like it hurt, use more bass, less treble.
(takes a deep breath) OK. Which was our favorite episode or scene to record this season?
JONNY
Uh- I- I mean I- I’d love to answer you Alex, but- (puts fist in mouth and makes muffled noises and continues such noises as Alex talks)
ALEX
Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. [LAUGHS]
That was a fun episode. (Jonny stops the noises) Where Jonny…
JONNY
You produce a ridiculous amount of saliva doing that. (gross)
ALEX
Jonny- Jonny was right- right to believe the only possible way he could record being bound and gagged is doing an entire recording-
JONNY
Y- you- you literally shove as much of your first into your mouth as you can and then try to speak and it- it’s- it’s not a pleasant thing to do but it.. I- there- there- there’s a s-
(Jonny is laughing trying to say all this) w- it’s just funny!
[ALEX LAUGHS]
ALEX
It’s- it’s a weird one. Um, I’d say probably my favorite from this season- I did actually enjoy, bizarrely, recording with Lori for Martin’s… um…
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
(loud, realization) Oh!
ALEX [CONT.]
Interview in episode 100? To be clear, 100 is actually my least favorite to record.
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
Oh, yeah, no. I- I’m… I’d- I’m very sorry about that… I mean, I- um, no I’m not.
(softly) I thought it came out very well.
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
But- but… but that specific scene was just me and Lori getting into a room, I’m an improviser and she was an improviser. We just hit record, did it and then stopped and just tried to make each other [“corpse”? “cough”? “co-op”?].1 So that was actually quite pleasant.
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Yep!
Yeah.
ALEX [CONT.]
But with the exception of that scene, it was a nightmare.
[JONNY GIGGLES DEVIOUSLY]
OK. From SteveBread via Reddit: all the statements in 100 are they or are they not truly supernatural?
JONNY
Yes. Uh, they fall, a hundred percent, under the standard rule, you will only hear recordings about statements that are legitimately supernatural because otherwise it’s not fair to all the red-strong brigade.
ALEX
Correct.
OK. The dialog was largely improvised. What was the process behind that? How much freedom did the hat- actors have?
JONNY
Well- r- OK, what I did was I wrote about a paragraph, uh, that was what has actually happened. Then I wrote a bunch of bullet points about the character giving the statement, uh, about what they might get side-tracked on, what their particular or their bits they couldn’t get pack were, uh, and generally how they were a nightmare to try to get a statement out of and then I let them go.
ALEX
And then once we got that, I sat down with the actors and discussed it briefly and unfortunately, because of the nature of the show, it’s very difficult to improvise well to it. So what ended up happening is we would do a recording, we would then stop, evaluate, do a recording again, stop, evaluate, do a recording again. For some of them we did as far as, like, eight repeated recordings.
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
Yeah… there were- there were some… yeah.
ALEX [CONT.]
Normally with improv you just run the thing and let it go. Because Magnus is very specific and it’s very easy to go off on a tangent when you’re improvising.
[JONNY AGREES WITH A “YEAH”]
And say something that’s non-canonical or couldn’t work. So, what it’s more like we’d- we’d get the first two minutes and be like “That’s a nice two minutes,” and then we’d- we’d focus on the next two minutes and that’s another nice two minutes and keep doing that, but yeah, that was- that was a strange one.
JONNY
Yeah. I felt- I like- I think it came out very well. But it’s not a method that I would want to use again.
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
No. Certainly not for this show.
What made us decide on a more light-hearted episode?
JONNY
It’s episode 100 innit?
[ALEX LAUGHS]
I mean- it- it’s what you do. Like episode 100 has got to be a change of pace, uh, and it’s gotta be nicely self-referential, uh, it’s gotta be (squeaky) just a little bit of a victory lap, ‘cause you made it to a hundred episodes! (wow)
ALEX
We did discuss it well in advance, as well, on what we wanted 100 to be.
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
Yeah!
Yeah!
And- and to be fair, um, when we were planning season three, “Oh this is a really good way to answer everyone who’s like ‘aww… I mean does the magic-‘”
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
Everyone- Everyone is very eloquent.
JONNY
Yeah, “Does the magic power make them really eloquent storytellers?” (firmly) Yes. Yes it does.
[ALEX LAUGHS]
ALEX
OK. Next question is from carnationlily2rose via Reddit, um, for 119 that had to be brutal with your parents berating your alter ego so. Was it difficult to hear your parents reading those lines at you?
JONNY
(laughingly) Not even a little bit. It was hilarious.
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
[LAUGHING]
(laughingly) It was really funny!
JONNY [CONT.]
I’ve – I’ve got a – like a – I’ve got like a weird, but a very good relationship with my parents – like, by this point in season three – like right at the beginning of season one there were like quite a lot of elements of the archivist that I saw within myself and, like, he was a little bit of a fictionalized version of me…? For like maybe the first twenty episodes, but as soon as plot actually starts happening2: he very quickly went on a like – went on a – a strong right-angle character-wise.
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
I’d say you’re less of a hot, garbage-fire of a person.
JONNY [SLIGHTLY OVERLAPPING, CONT.]
Oh yeah. No, I’m a- I’m a- I’d like to think my decisions are… less overtly horrific.
[ALEX GIGGLES]
In many ways it was quite cathartic for me, uh, because it’s allowed me to, uh, have these two authoritative figures within the universe just eviscerate the idiot that shares my name.
[ALEX SNORT-LAUGHS A BIT]
ALEX
Apatharas via Reddit: do you have any issues coming up with names to use in character statements rather than reusing everyone you know as a character?
JONNY [OVERLAPPING](ugh) Yes. Yes. Obviously I do.
(ugh, louder) Obviously I do! Why would you ask that question! It was… it was blatantly obvious!
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
(softly) I mean, you still haven’t used the name “Alex” in the Magnus at any point.
(softer) Just saying, not once.
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
(softly, deviously) I’m saving it.
[ALEX LAUGHS]
(devious) You know what I’m going to do when we’re going to finally have an Alex!
ALEX
(laughingly) That’s terrible!
JONNY
(laughingly) Penultimate episode of season five, when you can’t cancel anything!
[BOTH ARE LAUGHING]
ALEX
Let- let’s address the elephant in the room, this has been asked by a bunch of people but especially carnationlily2rose and others.
JONNY
Mhm. Yup, yup, yup.
Sure.
ALEX [CONT.]
Is Tim actually dead-dead or just mostly dead?
JONNY
He is dead. [PAUSE] Tim is dead.
ALEX
So dead.
JONNYHowever, uh, while we make a point not to bring people back from the dead in, uh,
Magnus, I know it sometimes feels like that, but we are very careful to never actually resurrect anyone.
ALEX
Yep!
JONNY
Uh, we’re very happy to play fast and loose with what might have happened to somebody pre-death, uh, and we’re not shy about having dead people talking in various ways.
ALEX [BACKGROUND]
Yep.
JONNY [CONT.]
We’re very… keen to keep death meaningful.
ALEX [BACKGROUND]
Yeah.
JONNY
Uh and it-
ALEX
It’s too important to horror.
JONNY
Exactly and so why, obviously, I mean, Gertrude’s been dead the entire time. And so, we’ve heard plenty from her, so, I’m not gonna make any blanket statements that you’ll never get to hear Tim’s voice again, but Timothy Stoker is dead.
ALEX
Yes.
Uh, PlunderDuck and liquidmirrors via Discord and Reddit, respectively, asks: Elias! Are we going to get more of him? Are we going to get more backstory of him? How did he turn from a pothead to a high priest of The Watcher?
JONNY
Uh, no, you’re not- I mean- he’s- he’s in prison now, so, uh, that’s- that’s him done for the series. I don- I don’t think we’re going to be seeing him again.
[ALEX LAUGHS]
ALEX
Really satisfying arc.
JONNY
Yeah. I f- feel like he’s developed as a character and then we wrote him out elegantly. So-
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
Although, I- I think he’s- he’s about overstayed his welcome in about from season two and onward.
JONNY
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Realistically.
(not joking) Yes. Obviously! We- we’re diving more into what the deal is with Elias.
(ugh)
[ALEX LAUGHS]
ALEX
OK. Georgie! By d-asly : will we hear more from Georgie? And especially her anti-fear power? That’s not phrasing of the original question, I’m just passing…
JONNY
Sure.
Uh, yes, we will hear more from Georgie.
ALEX
71penguins via Reddit asks: (dramatic) What about Agnes?!
JONNY
What about Agnes?
[ALEX LAUGHS]
(sarcastic) What a great question! What about Agnes? That’s what I want to know!
ALEX
(laughingly) Is that your answer?
JONNY
Uh, I mean- I- again, yes, we will be getting more from Agnes.
ALEX
From catsusingcoconuts via Reddit: what about Michael? Is Michael just Helen now and that’s the end of Michael?
JONNY
In the- I mean in the same way that Tim is dead, Michael is Helen.
ALEX
OK, uh, we’ve got a lot of questions, actually, about this. I’ve lumped- lumped them together.
JONNY
Sure.
ALEX [CONT.]
The- the other institutions…
JONNY
(surprised) Oh! Right, yes!
ALEX [CONT.]
So, Mark Certen via Facebook and others: The Usher Institute, what’s the deal? What can you tell us about them? Is there a chance that we’ll see their people in future episodes?
JONNY
Right. Uh, The Usher Foundation is the American, sister institution to The Magnus Institute. And, they are similar…? But different, they will almost certainly not appear in the main story in any significant way. From a writing point of view, I want The Magnus Archives to be a world as well as the story.
ALEX [BACKGROUND]
Yeah.
JONNY [CONT.]
And I’m always acutely aware that… the more everything mentioned is super significant and everything that is mentioned is tied to everything else the more it becomes a locked down story and the less it becomes an open world. So, I’m always very keen to add in just little things that maybe we’ll- you’ll never hear about again but they… Uh give-
ALEX
Flesh it out.
JONNY
They flesh it out and give jumping off points for a wider world that anyone wants to explore in.
ALEX
So, this one is from Polyphonic via Discord.
JONNY
Sure.
ALEX [CONT.]
Are the tapes or other recording devices that are able to hold statements purely neutral or is there a capacity for an entity to maybe enlist them to their aid like they can to humans?
JONNY
They are not neutral.
[ALEX CHUCKLES A BIT DEVIOUSLY]
Next question.
ALEX
Hobbes] via Discord: in MAG 87: “The Uncanny Valley” we learn that Gertrude prevented Desolation’s ritual.
[JONNY ACKNOWLEDGES WITH A “YES”]
What are the deets, uh, can we know what the ritual was, what it was called, what it might’ve looked like? Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
JONNY
(brightly) You, a hundred percent, can know those things!
[ALEX LAUGHS]
ALEX
Next question…
JONNY [CONT.]
I- I mean… Wait. Is- is the answer to that.
[ALEX LAUGHS]
ALEX
K. Historic references.
JONNY
(surprised) Oh! OK.
ALEX
So, from selfreferentialname via Reddit, liquidmirrors via Reddit, and others: as an example, we got Wolfgang von Kempelen and Library of Alexandria and so on and so on.
JONNY
Mhm!
ALEX [CONT.]
Um, what other historical figures, organizations, and events are associated or puppeted by some powers? Is there anything you can go in to?
JONNY
Oh! That’s… a very good question! A- and the answer is… Yes…? And I know one or two of them…? But if I already know them it’s ‘cause they’re gonna be coming up in a later story… um.
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
Yeah, it’s one of those one where you can’t say anything actually specifically.
JONNY
Yeah, I mean, there’s- there’s so much that I’ll be like:
(surprised) Oh! Maybe I should do something with… this historical event or- or w-what’s the deal with…
Like, I mean, the whole deal with the Wolfgang von Kempelen thing came with me going like oh, I haven’t done much with automaty yet.
ALEX
Yeah.
(whisper) What’s an automator? …What?
JONNY [CONT.]
What’s the deal with the historical automator? I looked in as like- oh, cool so- yeah the Mechanical Turk- that’s interesti- oh, I can use that! And who was he the- by Wolfgang von Kempelen… And then I read Kempelen’s biography. I was like…
ALEX
(excited) Yeah!
JONNY
(shocked) …What?
[ALEX LAUGHS]
(excited) That’s proper spooky! What? He made a speaking machine that just goes: (makes a weird noise) and uh- and like it’s so often that like- if you actually dive deep enough into a bit of history and you’d be like (whispering) that’s weirdly spooky.
[ALEX LAUGHS]
Um, so- y- the- the answer- the short answer is yes, they’ll- they’ll almost certainly been quite a few and I’ll be diving into as many of them as I can and have time for, uh, because honestly a lot of that history stuff is- it’s certainly one of my favorites bits of writing.
ALEX
From Marimo], Discord: does The Archivist taking on the persona of people’s statements revitalize him? Or does The Archivist just have a secret past-time of putting on different personalities really well? Is he- is John a secret impressionist?
JONNY
Um, we… uh- (incoherent sounds of putting words together) I mean, lore-wise the first one. Though, we came to the conclusion very early in recording season one that The Archivist is secretly a (softly) a bit of a drama queen.
ALEX
(excitedly) Yeah!
JONNY [CONT.]
Really likes, uh, (straining) it- it’s ninety percent a hostile, malevolent, uh, alien force, uh.
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
But he was working with what he was given.
JONNY [CONT.]
…t- that’s working… I mean, fundamentally, he doesn’t not like getting into a statement and really, giving it a bit of the a- like he probably did some am-dram.
[ALEX BURSTS INTO LAUGHTER]
ALEX
(laughingly) I bet he was insufferable while he was doing it.
JONNY
(agrees) Oh, yeah.
ALEX
K. The question is from Duckpond via Discord.
JONNY
Yes.
ALEX [CONT.]
Does Tim have any hobbies unrelated to revenge?
(plainly) Not anymore. No.
JONNY
(softly) And now…
(normal) Uh… (like he’s thinking)
ALEX
(brightly) Did Tim have any hobbies unrelated to revenge?
JONNY [SLIGHTLY OVERLAPPING]
I always thought of Tim as one of those people who, like, is very social, but, uh, rather than having a lot of hobbies in his down time he would go on, um, big holidays, like adventure holidays.
ALEX
(hm) Yeah. Yep. Yep.
JONNY [CONT.]
Like he probably does- did- did some rock climbing or…
ALEX
See, I always picture him kayaking!
JONNY
…or- yeah kayaking! Yes, very much so!
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
I always have TIm down as “he doesn’t do it all the time…”
JONNY
(agrees) No.
ALEX [CONT.]
…But he- he makes a point for his main holiday for the year is kayaking. I don’t know why.
JONNY
Yeah, yeah.
I- I think of it less specifically as kayaking, like he’s not gonna- he’s not gonna say no to like y’know a bit of scuba.
[ALEX LAUGHS]
Or- or that sort of thing, but, uh, yeah, I think for the most part his- his time he would, uh, just general socializing, uh, relaxing. I think he’d probably- I’d think he’s probably…? Play a reasonable amount of console computer games…? Maybe…?
ALEX
I- I couldn’t judge that one. He was too busy kayaking in my brain.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
JONNY
But a- but, yeah, active, social, uh, adventure holidays.
ALEX [BACKGROUND]
Gregarious.
JONNY
(plainly) Dead.
[ALEX LAUGHS WITH SOME PAIN]
ALEX
…Oh, that was brutal.
So, this next one is from sAZAndorable via Discord.
JONNY
Sure.
ALEX [CONT.]
What cat was the inspiration for The Admiral? What’s their name and how precious are they?
JONNY
Uh, uh- OK, The Admiral is an amalgamation of all the cats in my life. I have a real fondness for, uh, pets with, uh, like, appellations or ranks. Uh-
ALEX [INTERJECTS]
What are the names of your cats, Jonny?
JONNY
Uh, I have two cats. One of which is Ser Pounce-a-lot, yes, that is the reference3, uh, and one of which is The Ambassador. Ambassador Cat, uh, should be noted that “Cat” is his name and he’s an ambassador, uh, he is not, “ambassador cat” in the sense of, y’know, ambassador to all cats, he is an ambassador, his name is “Cat” and he happens to be a cat.
ALEX
From Seraphim755 via Reddit: how do you feel about fan-made podcasts riffing off The Magnus Archives? For instance, a registering podcast where fans discuss episodes and the connections between them or a fan-based non-canonical podcast dealing with statements given to The Usher Foundation?
JONNY
Very flattered! Uh, probably a bit too intimidated to actually listen.
ALEX
So, now the boring-y, business-y, not-nice-part hat on, the licensing Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial ShareAlike 4.0 International License which means that anywhere in the world…
JONNY
Mhm.
ALEX [CONT.]
You can make derivative products as long as you do not claim that we gave permission, you do not make money off it, and, um, you reference the original source material as much as possible, basically.
I have to say of the two, The Usher Foundation carries a little more complications ‘cause of things to like, uh, like, trademarking and branding and so on.
Next question is from satanistgoblin via Reddit: what id your favorite podcast not from Rusty Quill?
JONNY
I binge podcasts. Uh, quite a lot so for me the answer is almost always going to be, uh, different. My- my favorite, favorite at the moment and very happy I can give them a shout-out cause they gave us a really nice shout-out…
ALEX
Aww!
JONNY [CONT.]
On their last episode of Apocrypals! Um-
ALEX
(realization) Oh yeah! You’ve mentioned them before!
JONNY
I have, uh, it- they- they are- they’re sort of secular bibles studies podcast by two comics writers and it sounds really dry, but it’s incredibly interesting and really, really funny. Uh, because, y’know, I- I thought I knew the bible quite well, it turns out I basically didn’t know it at all.
[ALEX CHUCKLES]
And it is, really interesting and really weird. Uh, even from a- like a non-religious point of view, just as like a foundational text as a- of a lot of society. It’s fascinating and they are very, very informative and very, very funny. So, uh, it’s Benito Cereno and Chris Sims and they are awesome! I think they’re probably listening so… (enthusiastically) Go guys!! Um, aside from that, Pseudopod is always good.
ALEX [BACKGROUND]
(agrees) Oh, yeah, yeah!
JONNY [CONT.]
Knifepoint Horror is always been good. I’m- I’ve been going through the back-catalog of Shut Up and Sit Down recently…
ALEX [BACKGROUND]Oh yeah!
JONNY [CONT.]
Because I’ve- I’ve been in a real, board game phase at the moment.
ALEX
So, from my perspective, I listen to a lot of audio drama- shocker.
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Yep.
ALEX [CONT.]
I… am often recognizance to recommend audio dramas, like pick favorites and stuff.
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Yeah, yeah.
ALEX [CONT.]
Because… It’s- it’s (a) a dangerous game because it makes people- it makes it sound like some are better than others with that said, I would say I recently finished and really enjoyed Wolf 359.
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Oh yeah, Wolf- Wolf is great.
ALEX [CONT.]
Done! Like, as a personal tasting, I enjoyed it, had good fun with it. In terms of things that aren’t audio drama, so, I’m quite peculiar that my tastes outside audio drama are really, really generic. Like-
JONNY [INTERJECTS]
Oh yeah, you’re always recommending me like-
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
I- I re- I remember like Stuff You Should Know.
JONNY
Oh yeah…
ALEX
And… uh, History of Rome! Great podcast!
JONNY
To be fair, it’s good for me ‘cause sometimes you’d be like: “Oh, here’s an interesting episode on something spooky that, uh, could be very easily made spooky,” and I’ll listen to it and be like: “Yes, I can very easily make that spooky.”
ALEX
So a nice, adorably, naive question here from liquidmirrors via Reddit: IF (hah) Rusty Quill was an organization that served a power, which would it be?
JONNY
Uh, I think the Web.
ALEX
OK! I think that was fairly conclusive. I couldn’t disagree.
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Yeah!
ALEX
Um, wicked! I think that’s everything apart from thanks for listening, as always.
Thanks for another season!
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
Yeah! Yeah, thank- thank you! Uh… It’s probably gonna be quite a chunky one.
ALEX [OVERLAPPING]
Almost certainly we will have a reduced version coming out for the public, so no one has to listen to us ramble on for ages.
JONNY [OVERLAPPING]
Yep, yep, yep.
ALEX
But if you happen to enjoy us rambling on for ages there is a version of this on the Patreon.
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Why?
ALEX
Speaking of which, big thanks to all of our patrons who have basically funded our way through this season. This season would not have happened without you!
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Thank you!
(laughingly) No, it would not!
ALEX
Season one and season two we got by, we sort of- we shoulder a lot-
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Yep.
ALEX [CONT.]
Season three would not have happened categorically, so thank you so much! Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing, thanks to everyone who has been sharing…
JONNY
It’s weird to say but everyone in the fan community has been putting in so much work on our behalf! So, thank you!
ALEX
Yep!
Thanks to, uh, an arrangement with third-parties we’re now available on Spotify!
So that eas- So that’s easy-
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
(excitedly) Hey! I didn’t know that! You hadn’t told me that!
ALEX
I hadn’t told you! This is the first that you and basically everyone at the company knows!
JONNY [BACKGROUND]
Hooray!
ALEX
We, uh, get to be making new shows, as well, which are going to be coming in the new year and again it’s all thanks to everyone who’s been, y’know, leaving reviews and taking or getting involved as a Patron or just telling people what we do. If you are wanting to engage with the fan community over the break, uh, as always, we have the forums, we have Reddit, we have… um, Facebook, we have Twitter, we also are running a Discord which is specific to us so we have our own server if you go onto RustyQuill.com you will find links to all the above. Thanks again to everyone. We really, really appreciate it! And we are looking forward to season four, uh we will have trailers on the way, as soon as we can get them out!
JONNY
Yes.
ALEX [CONT.]
But, uh, thanks from me, thanks from everyone involved, and we hope you keep listening and hope you enjoy it!
JONNY
And- and most of all, thanks to you!
ALEX
Oh, yep, that’s the- that’s the… one.
JONNY
‘Cause these are the losers… (ominously) you.