behold, a fic

[kindkit]

I have written a little Magnus Archives fic, inspired not by any of the momentous events of S4 but by Jonny and Alex riffing, in the S4 Q&A, about the Institute's dress code. No spoilers for anything after S3.

Appropriate Attire (779 words) by kindkit
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Elias Bouchard, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Martin Blackwood, Original Characters, Gertrude Robinson
Additional Tags: Clothing, Workplace, Trans Female Character, monster says trans rights
Summary: Dressing for success at the Magnus Institute.

Comments

[rydra_wong]

I LOVE IT.

monster says trans rights

Have you seen the bit from the most recent RQGG livestream, in the "make Ben read things in Elias-voice" segment, in which he does in fact say "trans rights" in Elias-voice (and then repeats it in his own for good measure)?

(If you are unfamiliar with the RQGG thing I can explain.)

[kindkit]

I've heard of the livestream but I don't think I really understand it, so please do explain!

the "make Ben read things in Elias-voice" segment

I think this is a thing I want to experience.

And thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the story!

I've had a little look at the summaries of some recently posted TMA fics, and I am scared now. Not in the good way, but in the "wow, this seems to have nothing to do with the canon characterization of this person whatsoever" way. I'll need to be careful about what I read in this fandom, I think, because a lot of the fics seem to be things I will not care for. And in the past I've had that actually make me start disliking the original canon. Don't want that!

[rydra_wong]

Okay, so: a few years back, Mike LeBeau (voice of Tim Stoker) started an annual event called Rusty Quill Gaming and Giving, in which people from the Rusty Quill team (cast and crew from Magnus Archives, Rusty Quill Gaming, and Stellar Firma) do a 12-hour livestream to raise money for Mind (excellent mental health charity, does good advocacy work among other things).

The livestream mostly involves a succession of different games, played for maximum comedy, but it's interspersed with other things, especially when different fundraising targets get hit, and "make Ben Meredith read out audience suggestions in Elias-voice" is obviously a major draw.

In 2018, this produced the immortal "Elias reads Toto's Africa":

https://wildehacked.tumblr.com/post/188027694385/inventorbenny-kalgalen-kalgalen

I know I've seen some edited highlights of the 2019 Elias bits, so will try to locate a link for you! (Though it may have to wait until tomorrow because sleep etc.)

[kindkit]

Ben Meredith is a very good sport, clearly.

[rydra_wong]

He really is! But the whole crew seem enthusiastically willing to dive in and be ridiculous.

Rusty Quill recently put the whole of the 2018 livestream up on YouTube in hour-long chunks, and someone made an index for it, in case you want to dip in and watch Alex attempting to identify basic shapes, or Jonny playing a hacker bear while wearing a Christmas jumper and antlers:

https://naomiherne.tumblr.com/post/189496786016/a-lot-of-new-people-got-into-tma-this-year-and-are

[kindkit]

Thanks! TMA is so serious, much of the time, that I do very much like the idea of seeing the people involved with it be silly and have fun.

[rydra_wong]

Have you listened to the bloopers yet? They are AMAZING.

[rydra_wong]

I do very much like the idea of seeing the people involved with it be silly and have fun.

Yes! And they are very, very silly, and it's charming.

(I've not watched all of it but have dipped into the 2018 stuff, and watched much of the 2019 stream while trying to not think about the election.)

[rydra_wong]

Okay, I found the full segment (featuring assorted memes, crossover references from the other podcasts, and in-jokes from earlier in the stream -- ETA: and thus may be variously baffling, cryptic or tedious):

https://daengeli.tumblr.com/post/189557355075/ok-heres-19-mins-of-ben-meredith-saying-things-as ("trans rights" in Elias voice at 7:13)

Not in the good way, but in the "wow, this seems to have nothing to do with the canon characterization of this person whatsoever" way.

That's always the way with fanfic, though. People are going to go off in all directions and some of it's going to be amazing and some of it's going to be WHOA FUCK WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE (and obviously different people will have different opinions on which is which).

[kindkit]

Thank you! Yeah,, some of them are silly or in-jokey, but a lot of them were fun. I feel sorry for Ben having to read "Martin will not be okay," though. He's right, Jonny's to blame for that one!

[rydra_wong]

To be fair, Alex will also repeat it at any opportunity ...

I feel there's a moment of shock that a lot of new Magnus fans go through (I certainly did) on realizing that the mantra "He's a monster but we respect his craft" does not refer to Jonny; it became a meme in Rusty Quill Gaming fandom to describe Alex's GM-ing style.