Tma characters as hyperspecific non-categorised experiences.
Jon: Trying not to fall asleep on the bus when it’s cold and dark outside.
Martin: The slightly firm texture a fluffy blanket has before you wash it for the first time.
Tim: Sipping a cocktail without realised how cold it is, the ice brushing your lips.
Sasha: The slightly artificial but altogether natural scent of fresh homemade popcorn.
Basira: When you spill rose oil on your hands and they smell like it for the rest of the day.
Daisy: The sting of a burnt tongue from a sip of scalding coffee.
Melanie: The taste in your mouth after you spit out chewing gum that’s lost its flavour.
Georgie: Pressing your hand into a brand new feather pillow
Elias: Accidentally putting your hand in your mouth after using hand sanitiser.
As anyone who’s ever listened to the magnus archives knows, the characters are viscerally and entirely captivating. This sounds like an exaggeration, but it’s impossible to not fall in love with at least one of them.
I think this lies in the intense humanity of each of them. Their reactions are so real, their emotions so tangible. Hearing Martin sob when verbally attacked by Elias, Jon yelling in anger when he doesn’t understand something, or Sasha whimpering her explanations during prentiss’ attack; these are all such relatable reactions, and make the characters extraordinarily easy to sympathise with.
This also goes a long way in making the horror that much more powerful. It’s a bitter reminder that horrible things happen to people exactly like you. It puts me in mind of the quote “The moment you die will feel exactly like this one.”
Your life could be this awful; you’ve simply skirted around the terror.
TMA characters as texts my sister’s sent me:
(part 3)
Melanie:
Daisy recovering from the buried:
Elias:
Jon, suffering immense horrors at work:
Martin:
Gerry:
Martin transferring to the archives:
Everyone to Basira for enjoying working in the Archives:
Leitner @ Jon:
