I think the tma characters generally Know about contemporary queer labels and identities, they're really not that old and jon uses language like "male presenting" and georgie and melanie have jobs that require them to be very on social media. it's not out of the question that any of them might have pride stickers on their laptops or would introduce themselves with their pronouns if they thought the social situation was relaxed and gay enough. the important and beautiful thing to remember is that this does not preclude any of them from having extremely weird internalized queerphobia and very repressed relationships with their gender and sexuality, because I am a young adult in the year of our lord two thousand and twenty five and I know plenty of people with those exact problems. jon can know what the colors on the asexual flag mean and be casual friends with trans people and still turn around and say "well my issues with sex and my body are because I'm uhhh a fucked up little freak? probably?" and that wouldn't be any contradiction. you don't need to temporally lock him into a mid 90s understanding of queerness, he can be the pinnacle of a modern man and have issues aplenty. x
I think melanie has been extremely clockable as queer since she was like seven and it pissed her off so bad that she avoided coming out until her mid twenties just out of spite
there’s something about reading the tags on this post that really gets to me because so many people are talking about how this podcast was their first exposure to a gay character that wasn’t played off as a joke and instead how powerful it was to see Cecil completely unshakable in his immediate love for Carlos. some people even talked about how they used to listen to this with their parents and how their parents actually became more understanding for their own coming out because of it. I know it’s a podcast that most of us listened to when we were 13 and haven’t caught up to in years and but it’s really refreshing to see how much that representation meant to people then and still now :)
it was also one of the first times i’d seen a jewish character whose jewishness was only used as a joke in explicitly jewish contexts. like not that “hey i don’t worship christmas trees” or “haha circumcision” or something.
the joke is never “haha cecil’s jewish” the jokes were an ancient chant being similar to one he learned in torah school and his mom covering up all the mirrors even though, as far as we know, no one had actually died yet.
he’s explicitly gay and jewish and neither of those things are ever mocked.
Oh hey, I have something to add to this. So when I was in college I majored in a cross of sociology and media studies, which effectly lead me to studying fandom, identity, and how what we love defines us. I started in 2011 so you can imagine when Night Vale was getting big I was smack in the middle of the everything, and as a fan I was approaching it through the lens of my thesis and studies.
I ended up doing an entire final on this and including it within my work, but the long story short on this one is that Night Vale does particularly, specifically well because Cecil’s queerness is the most mundane part of the show. In the first 2-3 episodes, we are introduced to:
- A floating sentient glow cloud
- 5 headed multicolored dragon running for mayor
- The weather report is music for no apparent reason
- A portal that hocks dinosaurs into the school gym, a “minor inconvenience”
- That our MC is gay
Now out of those five, Cecil being gay is the only thing that exists in the real world, and therefore automatically becomes the most relatable. Effectively, the usage of the fantastical as mundane makes our fantastical, to the story, mundane. The key aspect of Night Vale is that sensationalizing the queers would actively make the story worse. And it set such a good fucking precedent for queer people in fantasy, horror, just about anything- the queerness becomes the relatable aspect, and it was Night Vale.
So y’know. Yeah, go back and give it a listen, now that it’s coming up on 10 years old. And think about how far we’ve come.
A moment that didn’t happen in Story & Song, and wouldn’t have really worked dramatically speaking due to the format, but that I think could be super cool and gratifying in an adaptation:
Magnus, having gotten his memories back, telling his Shield of Heroic Memories about all the times he fought the Hunger and the various beings that make it up over the course of The Stolen Century, and a hundred new images appearing across it.
I must have posted about this before, but. The fact that the Animus Bell asks Magnus: "how would you like to live forever?" and Magnus replies: "I'd hate it, shut the fuck up," all while Barry is listening. Barry, who not only made the bell, and knows what it would've asked Magnus, but also remembers the hundred years where Magnus was immortal, when Magnus could've lived forever. Who knows that the Hunger is coming again. Who knows that depending on the next 24 hours, the only way to save this world, and prevent complete annihilation of the multiverse, might be to restart the cycles, and foist immortality upon Magnus again. Despite hearing how much Magnus — his friend, his brother, his century-long companion who doesn't remember him — has come to despise the concept of living forever. They don't call it the Suffering Game for nothing. Because man. Man.
You ever re-listen to a podcast and an idea for a missing scene pops into your head, and for some reason the only way your brain will let you write is to write it literally like it is part of the podcast?
I got to end of Stolen Century in my TAZ Balance re-listen and was thinking about how absolutely pissed Davenport would be at Barry and Lup for not telling the others about their lich plan, and when I started noodling the scene the only way the narration would get out of my head was in transcript form, complete with the boys interrupting Griffin as he tries to tell the story.
Anyway, please enjoy this scene of Davenport yelling at Lup and Barry for not telling their family they were going to become liches, heck.
--
Griffin: So, it’s the next cycle, cycle 83. And you’ve all reformed into your recorded states, the same positions and physical forms you always return to.
And Lup’s back in her body. She and Barry both look totally normal, just like they always do. And Taako, I think that’s probably a relief, to you? Like, maybe you weren’t sure how the lich thing would affect the reset?
Justin: Absolutely.
Griffin: So, it’s a new cycle, you’re coming into a new planar system. And Davenport brings you down into this next world, and he’s—he’s absolutely silent. Like the rest of you are I think like, pretty jazzed about what you just saw Lup do to the Hunger. Like she said, blowing it up didn’t fully work but it was the most—the most damage I think you’ve done to the Hunger, maybe ever.
Travis: Yeah, Magnus goes over to Lup and is like,
Magnus: That was the coolest shit I’ve ever seen.
Lup: Hey thanks, Magnus. It was pretty baller, if I do say so myself.
Griffin: And you’re all congratulating Lup and talking about how this will change things, you’re all excited—except Davenport. He’s just flying the ship, keeping his eyes straight ahead. And then as soon as he’s brought you down into the prime material plane of this new world, he turns around and says,
Davenport: Lucretia, take the helm. Lup. Barry. Lounge, now.
Travis: Uh-oh.
Griffin: And the tone of the room instantly shifts, as you realize that Davenport is like…really angry.
You’ve all been together a long time, but you can count on one hand—well, it’s been 80 years, so maybe two—you can easily count the number of times you’ve seen Davenport truly angry at one of the seven of you.
Usually, if he’s had to do the captain thing and reprimand you, it’s been a little more toned down—
Clint: “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.”
Griffin: Exactly. But this is—Davenport is pissed. And Lup and Barry realize it too, pretty immediately, and they go to the lounge without any protest. And Lucretia takes over the controls from Davenport and puts you in a holding pattern as he goes into the lounge.
Do you guys go after them? Or like, eavesdrop, or whatever?
Justin: Oh, eavesdropping for sure.
Travis: One hundred percent.
Justin: Taako is—he’s always here for the drama. And he’s relieved Lup’s okay, so he’s definitely gonna like, give her shit now. As she passes by he’s like,
Taako: (sing-song) Oh, you’re in trouble…
Clint: Merle does that trick where he puts a glass against the door so he can hear.
Griffin: Well, Davenport leaves the door open, so you don’t have to—you can hear pretty easily.
Clint: Oh, okay.
Griffin: So you sort of follow behind Davenport—not into the lounge with them, but close enough to hear. And you hear Davenport say,
Davenport: What the hell was that?
Griffin: And Lup says,
Lup: Uh, I mean. That was me blasting the fuck out of the Hunger. It was pretty incredible. Did you see how that whole column just vaporized?
Davenport: Yeah, I did see it. I also saw before that, when you jumped off the ship and turned into a crackling red specter. What the hell was that? That was some—some lich shit.
Griffin: And Lup says,
Lup: Well…yeah.
Griffin: And Davenport is just, like flabbergasted.
Davenport: Are you serious? You and Barry are liches now?
Griffin: You can’t see them but Barry must make a face because then Davenport says,
Davenport: Don’t look at me like that, Bluejeans, I know that there’s no way one of you would have done something like this without the other. What were you thinking? Do you know how risky that is?
Barry: Of course we knew the risks. We researched the hell out of it, we took every precaution.
Lup: Yeah, we weren’t like, stupid about it.
Davenport: I’m sure you weren’t, which is why you’re here right now. But you didn’t think to say something before you did this?
Griffin: And Lup is getting a little frustrated. She says,
Lup: We don’t need to ask your permission.
Davenport: I’m not talking about asking permission! Gods know, Lup, after eighty years I know that I can’t stop you from doing anything you really want to do. I’m talking about the risk, to all of us.
Griffin: Lup seems even more frustrated, she’s maybe even getting a little angry.
Lup: It was our souls, Dav. It was our risk to take.
Griffin: That—that seems to really piss Davenport off, because he kind of starts yelling. Which is rare.
Davenport: It was not just your risk to take! Did you think of what might happen to the rest of us if something went wrong? Did you think about what it would do to us if we lost one of you—or both of you—in a way you couldn’t come back from?
You took a risk for yourselves, but you also took that risk for all of us. Our escapes have been so narrow for so long—who’s to say how it would work if there were even one fewer of us?
You put your crew and this entire mission in danger. And what’s more, you risked us losing you both. Permanently!
Griffin: And Davenport takes a deep breath and sort of, calms himself down a little bit, and then he says,
Davenport: You could have died for good. We could have lost you both for good. And you didn’t even have the courtesy to let us know that it could happen.
Griffin: There’s a moment of silence after that. Like Barry and Lup are a little—maybe a little struck by what Davenport just said. Like maybe they hadn’t quite thought of it that way. And Davenport finally says,
Davenport: Did you tell Taako, at least?
Lup: Of course. He’s—he helped anchor me. I would never do something like this without him.
Griffin: And Davenport kind of sighs, and says,
Davenport: Good. At least you’re not a total idiot.
Taako: Debatable.
Lup: Yeah, it really depends on the day, and who you ask.
Justin: Wait, I’m not in the room, she can’t hear me.
Griffin: No, no, you’re just so much on the same wavelength, it’s like she knew you said it even if she didn’t hear you.
Justin: Hell yeah.
Griffin: There’s another pause, and then Barry says,
Barry: We’re sorry, Dav. You’re right, we should have told you all. It’s a big decision, it—it changes a lot. Mostly in a good way I think, but uh. Still.
Lup: We kind of thought that you would try to talk us out of it, if we told you.
Griffin: Davenport sighs.
Davenport: I probably would have. But like I said, I don’t think you would have let that stop you.
Lup: (laughing) Probably not.
Griffin: And you can’t see Davenport, but you just know that he’s like, pinching the bridge of his nose right now. Like, the two of them make him so tired sometimes. And then he says,
Davenport: Okay, then. What does this, uh, change for you two? What do I need to know?
Griffin: And Barry and Lup start to go into the particulars of—the advantages, mostly, of them being liches now. Barry emphasizes that they’ll still stick around even if they die,
Barry: Which is a great fail-safe for leaving the plane - we won’t be stuck in a Judges situation again. Even if we bite it, one of us should still be able to fly us out of here.
Griffin: And Davenport is quiet for a second, and then he says,
Davenport: Are liches—are you corporeal? Can you still move the controls, and everything?
Barry: Uhhh.
Lup: Um…
[Travis laughs]
Barry: You know…I think so? I can’t say we really, uh, tested that part yet.
Lup: Yeah, it’s—it’s still in development.
Griffin: Davenport kind of sighs again, and then he says,
Davenport: And this is why it’s good to run this sort of thing by your crew, who are all just as smart as you, before you go pulling a stunt like this.
Lup: Well. Fair point.
Barry: Uh, yeah. Didn’t, uh. Didn’t think that one fully through, I guess.
Griffin: Davenport kind of chuckles, a little bit. Then he calls out through the open door of the lounge,
Davenport: Show’s over!
Travis: Aw, dip.
Griffin: Do you guys try to like, run away or act casual or anything?
Travis: Magnus starts trying to like, inch back away from the door.
Clint: Merle steps away and starts whistling.
Griffin: Good.
Justin: Taako doesn’t move an inch. He’s a nosy bitch and he doesn’t care who knows it.
[Laughter]
Davenport: Come on. Let’s go see what this new world has in store for us, huh?
Griffin: And the three of them come out of the lounge, and Davenport gives you all a—a kind of wry look. And Lup and Barry both look a little sheepish. Like I think they know that there are some apologies ahead.
And you all head back to the bridge, to see what this new cycle has in store.
Since people enjoyed my Malevolent cosplay so much, I figured maybe I’d share some of my Magnus Archives cosplays from the last few years, starting with my favorite- Hezekiah Wakely from A Gravedigger’s Envy! Best guy. All he wanted was a nap.
All clothing pieces were thrifted and altered by me! The coffin backpack (I’ll share more photos of that in the original cosplay I made it for) has a real chain and lock and really opens, and was a great way to carry my stuff around the convention. I wore this for ECCC 2023 and then my car broke down in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night on the way home and I had to get a tow while wearing this. I also had bronchitis at the time and didn’t know it. Still one of my favorite costumes ever, and I love how the mud effects turned out!
HelloFlesh, just an endless supply of meat arriving at your house.
You don’t sign up for it. It just appears. Meat in bags. Meat in boxes. Meat oozing through the vents, crawling up the stairs with trails red and dripping.
I kind of want a B side of The Magnus Archives where it's just Elias' perspective while he's being an evil bitch and scheming, like Episode 39 "Hurhur little does Sasha know I *want* Jon to be attacked by OH SHIT - WAVE OF WORMS COMING AT ME SHITSHITSHITSHIIIIIIIIII-"
The strongest guy in the Magnus Archives is that one guy who was so obsessed with his dog that he just walked right out of the Spiral because it was her dinnertime
This is one of my favorite episodes. Fears can't hurt you if you're chill enough. The guy who walked in a spiral for four hours and then just left because he remembered he had somewhere to be is, to me, the avatar of the entities' fear
AND he didn’t even realize evil taxidermy was at play for the longest time because he came in like “I love and respect autistic people, of course I’m not judging eye contact”
we CANNOT forget the woman that was actively being swallowed by the buried and when there was nothing she could possibly do she lied down on the ground and accepted her fate so thoroughly and with such calm that it had to barf her back up.
give in to the dark @thelightlessflame - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
