May 2024

hi! so sorry to be contributing to the flood i assume is currently flowing through your inbox.

i’ll be fully honest - i don’t know who you are beyond knowing vaguely that you’re involved with TMA/Rusty Quill, but i found this blog and you seem really cool!

any advice for a TMA listener on ep 4? i’m pretty much with no prior experience or influence as to what to think beyond some incredible fan art of characters i haven’t met yet! (one of whom i think you voice??)

so far the show is so cool and the community is amazing! obsessed with the cozy horror vibes so far <3 hope you have a wonderful day!

Hey! “Vaguely involved with TMA/Rusty Quill” pretty much sums me up.

My advice at this point is just listen to the show. Don’t try to get ahead of the story, don’t do research on what you should or shouldn’t be paying attention to. Just give it a listen and enjoy the ride. I guarantee you most of the people giving the advice would love to be in your position coming in from the cold for the first time again.

whats your favorite animal?

I’ll answer this honestly for a change.

Currently Pangolin but Octopi are making strong progress.

I need confirmation about something. I think it was mentioned somewhere but it's difficult to find Definite Proof in the Vast Depths of the Internet so I'm gonna ask here

Were you one of the distress signal voices in Terminus from The Bifrost Incident?

Yes.

I posted a tweet fairly recently and was directed here. A few friends and I had been playing a game of frantic fanfic and came to the conclusion we believe Jared Hopworth hates feet to the extent where he has none, only hands. Thoughts?

Makes as much sense as anything else although callouses would become a big problem since I doubt he is brachiating around like his forebears.

Hi Alex!


In episode 160, Martin unzips what’s presumed to be his bag while talking to Jon. My spouse and I have argued back and forth because I think Martin’s a sensible-suitcase-type-of-guy while he thinks Martin is more likely to have a tactical fanny pack. Thoughts?

Thoughts on the trans Alice (mtf) and Sam (ftm) headcanons? :)

I tend to steer clear of canon discussion and avoid head-canons as much as possible since I don’t really believe in the author-as-authority thing.

That said, just to be clear, the character Alice Dyer is canonically trans.

How is Casper?

Getting fat on treats from the neighbours and at serious risk of an intervention if it carries on.

please could i have some words to put on a patch for my jacket? i think this has Funny Potential so i am leaving it up to you boss man

“You are callipygous. I am erinaceous. We are not the same.”

“You have beautiful eyes. I want them.”

“If you can read this, go thank your teachers.”

Hello! If the OIAR crew fought to the death, who do you think would be the last one standing? I don’t think Sam would last very long

Definitely Lena.

Alex, this is a question which I believe you are the right person to answer. If one day all mammals started habitually laying eggs (like chickens do), where would we draw the line at what eggs are acceptable to eat? Would we eat any of these mammal eggs? What would the moral and/or ethical difference be between eating a rat egg and a lion egg (if any)? This haunts me at night and I desperately need answers.

This seems pretty straightforward to me. People would eat the eggs of animals they already eat, like with chickens. Generally speaking if someone says they enjoy lion eggs just back away slowly.

what's been your favourite magnus protocol episode to write so far?

One you haven’t heard yet. Jonny said it was positively dripping.

did you see this devastating news? 😔


[image ID: screenshot of trending news page reading "UK running out of ghosts". End ID]

Yeah sorry, I actually ordered all the ghosts in the UK for protocol and created a shortage.

How good do you think you'd be at Taskmaster?

Honestly? I think I would be middle of the pack but Very entertaining. I am… tricksy.

Trying to ask something that no one has asked yet so... we know your opinion on time travels fics but what is your opinion on crossover fics?

(me personaly, I like trying to blend the lore and world-specific rules from the different fandoms I'm trying to mix. the more different the better because it feels like a challenge and I like seeing what other people do with that too, even when it's not particularly good)

I’m generally not a fan since I’ve never seen one that really satisfied me. That said more power to the creators and fans of it.

Hows the GM fatigue? Have you wanted to do it again, real life or online? If not, do you think you will ever again?

I actually started my first attempt at GMing again last month. I am starting v. small and mostly as a bargaining chip to get a new gaming group together. It certainly won’t be an epic campaign or anything.

Rules

Hey everyone,

I thought it would be a good idea to establish some ground rules to guide interactions on here so without further ado:

1) I get to change and or ignore my own rules as and when I like. It’s my blog so tough.

2) I won’t even consider answering an ask unless it meets the following criteria:
a) I haven’t been asked it before on Tumblr.
b) It is worded as a question.
c) It does not ask me to rule on canon for content I make.
d) It does not ask for takes on real people.
e) It has a positive tone (seeking to become positive counts)
f) It is not a callout (e.g. why are you so rubbish etc.)
g) It is not asking for confidential information on business and/or Intellectual property
h) It is not just rephrasing a previous question because people didn’t like the answer.
i) It’s respectful.
j) It is not just a veiled story request (e.g. why don’t you make these characters kiss etc.)

3) This is not a press conference or an interrogation. If you want to ask serious questions about Rusty Quill and other proper topics send them to mail@rustyquill.com

4) If you DM me I will ignore it on principal. Not because I don’t like you but because I am receiving so many that I can’t be fair with it and it’s just generally unwise anyway.

5) Remember we are all human. That means we can make mistakes, change our minds, be flippant, have a bad day and give bad advice. Please show a little grace rather than trying to catch people out. I do not support dogpiling in any situation.

6) Be kind. The fastest way to get yourself blocked by me is being unkind even if you are in the right. Some of the cruellest and regrettable actions I have ever seen have been fuelled by righteous indignation.

7) Be wise. Internet culture moves fast. Not everyone knows everything you know and not everyone needs to know everything you know. You aren’t helping me if you appoint yourself “chief brainbox educator supreme” and try to school people on how things should be. Let’s just all keep it chill yeah?

8) Be patient. This is not my job. This is barely even counts as a good idea! I run my social media when I can but I don’t have deadlines and I don’t have sociability quotas. I might do a flurry of activity when I have time then go quiet for months. Just go ahead and assume if I am not posting it’s for a good reason.

9) One question per person. Don’t worry it doesn’t annoy me, its just I don’t know if its fair me using all my social media time budget on a single person and leave others unanswered.

UPDATES:
10) I am not a helpdesk for Rusty Quill. If you are having technical issues, personal logistics questions, complaints or similar you need to direct them to official company channels, ideally via email to mail@rustyquill.com. Moving forward I am going to have to ignore these asks due to them drowning out other asks.

This is hardly a complete or exhaustive list and no doubt I have made some tragic tumblr newb error but it’ll have to do for now. I am happy to take constructive feedback on these but don’t expect quick turnaround on anything.

hey alex you said in one of the TMA q+as that you're not scared of the corruption because it's "a power that can be kicked." In your opinion are there any other kickable powers?

Yes.

if lena was in charge of the archives and elias/jonah was the boss of O.I.A.R, what do you think would change?

Everything.

Hello mr boss man! Is The Magnus Protocol going to have 40 episodes per season like The Magnus Archives did?

The Magnus Protocol will have three seasons.

Each season will have 30 episodes.

Thanks to generous Patrons and Kickstarter Backers there will also be the following bonus content on a per season basis:
1) An Epilogue episode
2) A Fluff episode
3) A What If episode
4) Actual play episodes

There will also be other bonus materials but to my knowledge the above are guaranteed whereas the rest are negotiable.

There will also be a short spin off podcast and some other fan facing stuff.

That means the “core” story content will run at 93 episodes but you should expect significantly more than that if you include all the bells and whistles.

Have you listened to Welcome To Night Vale?

Yes but not all of it.

In fact I think it might technically have been the first fiction podcast I ever heard.

Hey Alexander!

I’m a massive fan of your work! And also a massive fan of bookmarks! My favourite hobby is making my own bookmarks with my favourite quotes on them ( with cut out letters or calligraphy).

Do you have any favourite quotes? If so, what are they? (tma, tmp or otherwise)

So I sort of collect quotes. I know they are generic but I always got good mileage out of:

“This too shall pass.”

“He who endures conquers.”

“All things in moderation”

But I love saying: “brosnað enta geweorc” ominously.

what is the most efficient and foolproof way to get rid of a body?

Nice try FBI.

I saw you said octopi are a favorite animal of yours, and remembered Jonny saying on a livestream years ago that some super smart animals, including octopi, should qualify as people.

do u think octopus is people?

I mean, I don’t really think people are people so the question doesn’t really scan for me.

I think that Octopi are Alien, intelligent and sneaky.

Yo. Favourite road tiling pattern?

Examples: chess-board-style squares, offset squares, offset bricks, herringbone pattern, etc.

Herringbone is my absolute favourite but it’s just not feasible for national infrastructure.

do you have any plans to do more tma/tmagp live shows?

Yes.

How do you feel about the other Tumblr account with your name?

I haven’t really looked since legal partners raised their initial concerns.

In broad terms though: I realise that it’s all meant in good fun and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all that but at the end of the day it seemed like someone inconveniencing me for their own amusement. Imitation of living people outside the compact of produced media where audience understand the context (e.g. documentary, impressions, satire etc.) is always on shaky ground and I am probably not going to answer any more asks relating to it.

It would be nicer if stuff like this stopped but that will only happen if people stop validating such things with their attention.

And no that doesn’t mean I want people to go on a grand takedown campaign or anything, just don’t expect me to care much unless I have to.