Hello Mr. Newall! I hope Tumblr is treating you well! Just wanted to give you a warm welcome to the site. Anyways I hope you have a wonderful day!

What a lovely first thing to read! I have no idea what I am doing so let’s see how long I can go without an egregious fauxpas!

Is that you, Alex J Newall?

Gosh, no foreplay? We’re just cutting straight to the existential stuff

stay strong soldier. if anyones sent you asks yet, then you will receive an influx eventually. it happens to us all.

So I think this is what you were talking about? Not sure how sustainable answering everything will be!

sir i got lost in the labyrinthine depths of curiousity and "accidentally" clicked on the do not push button on your website and id comment on the experience but ive been told not to talk about it. i think i may have already said too - [EXTENDED SOUNDS OF ERROR]

Do not push the button.

Hey I heard you're Alex. I have a question I think you might not mind answering.

The data in chdb.xls from the ARG degrades in quality as the sheet goes on. It goes from reasonably realistic fake data, to "this is obviously fake" fake data. Is that intentional? Or did whoever was making the data just say "fuck it"

I made the data. I did not say “fuck it”.

What fascinates me is that AFAIK no one managed to find all the real world things that spreadsheet referenced. :)

How will you know if it is Martyn? Does this imply the existence of a Martyn tumblr account?

Because Martyn, (not to be confused with Martin) is ususally very, very obvious with his shenanigans.

You mentioned you like the idea that everyone in TMA is a Muppet except for Jon, so I have a very, very important question...

Which Muppets would you cast for who and why?

I always thought Trevor Herbert had big Animal energy.

why do you think people got so attached to Michael/Helen over some of the more "good" characters (aka, those who are not literally delusion incarnate)?

also, do you have a favorite between the two? (I personally have a soft spot for Michael, but Helen really is delightful hehe)

Michaek/Helen were designed to be appealing. That is their danger. I guess we did a good job.

I prefer Helen. It’s not often you get to write an unapologetic monster that is also fun to be around.

Going back to the RQGaming days (only actual play podcast I've listened to all the way through, loved it), were you annoyed at all when the party skipped planned material like the Eiffel Tower?

Yes.

If Martin did have a middle name and if that middle name did start with a K, what would it be?

His middle name is Potassium. A fan suggested that and I think it’s the best joke ever so I am sticking with it.

What has been the most rewarding part of starting a company? Is there anything you wish you knew beforehand?

Watching April Sumner grow from nervous interviewee to production powerhouse.

Yes. So much. Too much to go into here.

which Magnus monster would you say you relate to most and why? And if you had to assign Jonny one, which one would that be?

Monster Pig.

Jonny has to be John. Though to be VERY clear they have wildly different personalities in reality.

Do you have any recommendations for audiodramas/radio shows/whatever with great sound design?

I always devour the recommended ones in your Q&A specials

I would check out anything by Amber Devereaux who works on Tin Can Audio. They are very inventive and detail oriented.

Hello, Alex

Now that there's been some time since then, do you feel any fondness for making an entire podcast pilot in 2 hours for the Kickstarter reward? Did you enjoy it, despite the stress of it all? (It was very enjoyable to watch, so I hope you at least had some fun making it)

I’m actually a bit frustrated and want to try again. I reckon I could do more in just one hour if I didn’t have to be entertaining at the same time.

If you had to pick one thing, what part of Erasing The Line would you say you're most proud of?

Finishing. Not joking, getting something of that scale to actually land is almost impossible. I know people have their issues and goodness knows there are other ways it could have gone but at least it Has an ending.

How do you motivate yourself to write when the brain worms aren’t taking over? (Currently struggling from the curse of Everything I Write Is Written Two Days Before The Deadline)

I don’t. I just have LOTS of fear, anxiety and compulsions that happen to result in work because if I miss a deadline hundreds of thousands of people get angry at me and then they get cruel. I’m just fleeing the monster.

So good to see you on here, finally!

Just wondering if your advice on making an audio drama is solid, I may have started writing one off the back of it.

I stand by all my advice unless I was being obviously sarcastic. I hope to one day give some more formal advice but my workload is vicious at the moment.

do you think if i asked him nicely enough mr bonzo would do my top surgery

Not in a way that would be helpful.

I must know… is Celia’s last name after your Dog Ripley? Or that a happy accident?

It’s just that I think that Ripley from Aliens is just the frigging best so I nod to her more than I probably should.

hi Mr. Newall! I was just wondering if there’s any things-that-you-wish-you-knew/lessons from say s5 of The Magnus Archives that you’re taking into account for The Magnus Protocol? whether that’s writing tips, editing, the planning and plotting etc. I’m interested in the whole ordeal.

have a good day!

Some people don’t like change and some people don’t like repetition. Just tell the story you want.

I'm interested in playing some tabletop role playing games but the fear of the unknown and embarrassing myself around strangers is holding me back. You mentioned in a Q&A that RQG is not an accurate representation of playing pathfinder, and someone said you would come across badly if you tried to emulate the way you play in the podcast. In what way is it different? So I can prevent doing whatever that embarrassing thing is.

Much love from the community for joining tumblr but final little note to only keep responding to asks if YOU want to.

So Pathfinder is pretty “crunchy”, i.e. Full of rules and I, as a player, am a bit of of min-max munchkin, I.e. I can’t help but make the strongest character possible every time. The reason the episodes would come me across badly if they were unedited is merely because I was looking stuff up constantly, everyone was forgetting basic rules and we were generally a bit all over the place when it came to mechanics. This is boring to listen to, trust me.

TLDR don’t worry about it, you aren’t gaming for an audience so you’ll be fine.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Yes.