This blog was created to collect things for a currently unnamed fan project for The Magnus Archives (which is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill). The project follows on the Usher Foundation, the Magnus Institute's American sister organization, with a focus on Valerie Silverton, winner of the Saltiest Archival Assistant Award for 3 years running. (also, yes, I know there's already an Usher Foundation podcast, I am choosing not to listen to it so I can develop things independently).
I think any artist who's dreamed up enough OCs eventually ends up with that one supporting character who's voiced by Patrick Warburton. They may not intentionally have designed the OC in question to be voiced by Patrick Warburton; they may not even realise that the OC in question is voiced by Patrick Warburton; but once it's pointed out to them they'll literally never be able to un-hear it.
anyone else got the 'fan of tma and now cant stop assigning your favourite characters entities' disease? its hitting me right now. im thinking elena elkhorn lonely. abigail blackwood eye. a.s. eye but heavily marked by spiral, protagonist spiral but heavily marked by eye because that parallel is delicious. red guy slaughter. duck end. it goes on
Plotwise, since I still haven’t figured out Audacity enough to do the dialogue I wanna do that better contextualizes this, this happens while Valerie is trapped in the Rooms, a series of puzzle... areas run by someone calling themself the Craftsman. Throughout the experience they find several notes, some signed with the initials AS.
(basically, I just played a level of the game that the Craftsman and Rooms are based on, recorded myself in-character as Valerie, and this happened)
Carl is one of the other archival assistants. He’s from a small town in Middle-of-Nowhere Alabama, he unironically thinks that the Fast and the Furious movies are cinematic masterpieces, and he is surprisingly good at getting inside information when researching statements because his family seems to have connections everywhere (and if you don’t think that’s suspicious at all, wait until you meet his sister).
 The following scene is the beginning of what I've dubbed the Craftsman Arc... I'll explain a bit more of that when I post about The Craftsman themself (and when I'm not on mobile, lol), but tl;dr The Craftsman is a Spiral Avatar inspired loosely by a puzzle game series called The Room.
Also, the first written appearance of Alan Parker, the Foundation's actual Head Archivist. He's far better at delegating his job than he is at actually doing it, so he often hands projects he's supposed to be doing to his assistants, as seen here.
 Door opens enthusiastically
  ALAN
Valerie! Just the person I was looking for.
  VALERIE
Well, you found me. Here. At my desk. Is this important? I was kind of in the middle of something...
  ALAN
Yeah, so, there’s a lady out front wanting to make a statement, and I was wondering, since you’re doing such a good job handling the recordings, if you wouldn’t mind collecting it from her? I’d talk to her, but I’ve got that department heads meeting in about 15 minutes, so...
  VALERIE
Sighs. Sure, just let me finish this up.
  ALAN
Great, I knew I could count on you. I’ll tell her to head right on back here.
  footsteps as Alan leaves
  VALERIE
Alri... wait, I... Okay, guess I’d better grab a chair...
Footsteps approach, door opens
  KIA
Hello, are you Valerie? Â
  VALERIE
Yep. Alan said you wanted to make a statement?
  KIA
Yes. So, back in May, I think? Although it felt like...
  VALERIE
Hang on, I need to get something set up. What was the date and location of the incident?
  KIA
May 30 of last year, at Puzzles by Gaslight in Leesburg.
  VALERIE
Okay then, let me just... Usher Foundation Statement Designation VA-0515-0416. Date Collected: April 12, 2016. Collected From: [to Kia] I need your name and town of residence.
  KIA
Kia Epplin, Fishers, Indiana.
  VALERIE
Subject: [to Kia] What’re you making a statement about?
  KIA
A trip to Puzzles by Gaslight Escape room. Â
  VALERIE
Statement collected directly by Valerie Silverton, Archival Assistant on behalf of Alan Parker, Head Archivist. Statement proceeds as follows:
Went for a slightly more serious read on this one… The Craftsman is a Spiral semi-Avatar and is currently intended to be one of the earlier arc villains (probably more along the lines of the Not-Them than Jane Prentiss, but I’m still in early stages). You’ll hear more of them momentarily. Timeline is fluid at the moment, but I still want this to be early enough that Sasha can be the one to have found/sent the statement (although whether it’s the real one is up in the air).
Incidentally, having Valerie do the traditional TMA statement prologue (I hope) highlights one major difference between how they and Jon approach statements
Went for a slightly more serious read on this one… The Craftsman is a Spiral semi-Avatar and is currently intended to be one of the earlier arc villains. You’ll hear more of them in a bit. Timeline is fluid at the moment, but I still want this to be early enough that Sasha can be the one to have found/sent the statement (although whether it’s the real one is up in the air).
andulkaphoto
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