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Fictional Podcasts |OT| - "You mean it isn't real?"

Skittles

Member
Oh, shit, the imagery of the video from Binary made me turn the lights on in my room, actually.

But hmm... Lost John's Cave...

I just looked back at the list of episodes and for whatever reason I have no recollection of these three:


I guess it's possible I was dozing off for those three, so I guess I'll give them all a re-listen.

-----

About Archive 81. I do like how it's presented, and I like the main character. However, the actual content has been hit-or-miss for me so far.

Is there a point where it becomes more paranormal? There've been hints of paranormal stuff 6 episodes in (the guided meditation tape specifically comes to mind) but mostly it just seems like a psychological torture experiment that the main character is being forced to take part in by some shady organization that isn't necessarily paranormal.

-----

I'll give Wormwood a look after I re-listen to those 3 episodes of Magnus I can't remember.
Lost John's Cave dealt with some very fucked up claustrophobia

Stick with Archive 81, it goes lovecraftian/occult real quick in one episode and stays that way the rest of the series.
 
Lost John's Cave dealt with some very fucked up claustrophobia

Stick with Archive 81, it goes lovecraftian/occult real quick in one episode and stays that way the rest of the series.

...

SOLD.

Edit: Yeah, I definitely had no recollection of Piecemeal or Lost Johns Cave. Both were awesome.
 

Sulik2

Member
I will have to check out Gimlet. Once more a reminder to all the listen to the Magnus Archives.


Lost John's Cave dealt with some very fucked up claustrophobia

Stick with Archive 81, it goes lovecraftian/occult real quick in one episode and stays that way the rest of the series.

Archive 81 lost me when it had the same person doing two voices talking to himself at the start of season 2. That drove me insane.
 
New episode of Magnus Archives!

Episode spoilers:
Fairly tame and low on the creepiness, which is a little disappointing, but the meta plot had a really big development!
 
New episode of Magnus Archives!

Episode spoilers:
Fairly tame and low on the creepiness, which is a little disappointing, but the meta plot had a really big development!

Agreed.
Feels like the season's meta plot is coming to the forefront. The argument in the end was pretty good.
 
Magnus Archives 76

Still not very creepy, but yeah, shit's getting real on the meta front. Can't wait to see what hellish demon Not-Sasha reverts to when she's outed as a fake.
 

Skittles

Member
I will have to check out Gimlet. Once more a reminder to all the listen to the Magnus Archives.




Archive 81 lost me when it had the same person doing two voices talking to himself at the start of season 2. That drove me insane.
Eh, the voices sounded different enough that it didn't bother me too much.
Agreed.
Feels like the season's meta plot is coming to the forefront. The argument in the end was pretty good.
I don't expect the rest of the season to be really creepy since we should be pretty close to a season finale. So the metaplot coming to the forefront doesn't surprise me.

The actors in Magnus Archives are pretty fantastic.
the out of recording interactions really allow them to flex their stuff.

The music in Alice isn't Dead is second only to The Bridge when it comes to podcasts. Seriously good stuff.
 

Voror

Member
I'd probably have to agree that the second season of Magnus hasn't been quite as creepy overall but I've still enjoyed it. It's actually interesting listening to earlier episodes again with how the Archivist is in his summations at the end compared to the second season ones.

The
Gertrude tapes
have also been really good and from the sound of it next week may be another one.

I'm curious what it was that let Melanie be able to remember the old Sasha.
I'm glad they followed up on that implication from her last cameo where it hinted she remembered. It sort of sounded like John was going to disregard it for the moment,
but I'm sure it will come back up. I'm looking forward to the moment he finally realizes.

I can't recall for certain if it wasn't brought up, but I was surprised that John didn't make the connection that the Doppleganger Table was clearly the same one from the house on Hill Top Road.
 
The actors in Magnus Archives are pretty fantastic.
the out of recording interactions really allow them to flex their stuff.

Yeah, they're seriously impressive. Honestly, the fact that the voice of the Archivist is also the author of every episode makes me supremely jealous.
 

LuffyZoro

Member
I like Rabbits, but it's annoying when she says stuff like "the second iteration of the modern game, known as Two". That's not how people talk.
 

frequency

Member
All the PNWS podcasts are written very unnaturally. The conversations (among other things) grew infuriating to me over time and I dropped all their shows.
 
I'm seriously starved for good horror fictional podcasts that have a persistent story.

I've started listening to Pseudopod. Hundreds and hundreds of episodes but each one is just a standalone short story.

I'm also checking out Rabbits right now, as of reading the new posts in this thread, despite not liking the presentation/writing of The Black Tapes; let's see if this is any better.

Initial impression: If you're going to create an important character with a Japanese name, why not make sure that the people reading for you can pronounce the name naturally? The way she's pronouncing "Yumiko" is driving me insane.
 

Skittles

Member
Yeah, they're seriously impressive. Honestly, the fact that the voice of the Archivist is also the author of every episode makes me supremely jealous.
Yeah, dude is crazy talented
Magnus Archives 77

HOLY SHIT HERE WE GO, BOYS.
So it looks like
sarahs doppleganger will be the focus of the S2 finale. Wonder what happens to the person they replace, probably dead but she might come back. I'm guessing s3 will be focused on figuring who did gertrude in.
All the PNWS podcasts are written very unnaturally. The conversations (among other things) grew infuriating to me over time and I dropped all their shows.
This on top of the constant cock teasing for reveals and season finales which lead into nothing is why i dropped tanis.
I'm seriously starved for good horror fictional podcasts that have a persistent story.

I've started listening to Pseudopod. Hundreds and hundreds of episodes but each one is just a standalone short story.

I'm also checking out Rabbits right now, as of reading the new posts in this thread, despite not liking the presentation/writing of The Black Tapes; let's see if this is any better.

Initial impression: If you're going to create an important character with a Japanese name, why not make sure that the people reading for you can pronounce the name naturally? The way she's pronouncing "Yumiko" is driving me insane.
Your best bets for this are Darkest Night, Were Alive, and Wormwood. You can try Mabel, but i didnt like it too much
 
This on top of the constant cock teasing for reveals and season finales which lead into nothing is why i dropped tanis.

I just finished season 1 of Rabbits by PNWS and I'm just so underwhelmed. I don't think I'll be coming back for season 2. And I STILL despise their style. Fucking two 3 minute ad breaks mid-episode that are done "in-character". They're so jarring, unnatural, and off putting; they immediately pull me out of any sense of being immersed in the story.

And honestly PNWS's overall style of acknowledging that the character is doing a podcast in-world as their story happens around the character doesn't do anything for me. It doesn't make me believe in the world any more than if they didn't do that shit.

Hell, I'm more invested and immersed in Magnus Archives's world and they don't have any sort of in-world explanation for how we, the viewers, are hearing the Archivist's recordings; their presentation just works.

And MA's ads at the beginning and end of each episode are absolutely superior. People can argue that "Well, people will just skip them/turn off the episode before the end ad plays if we don't have ads in the middle of the episode" but I was straight up just seeking forward 3 minutes for each ad in PNWS because those ads are infinitely more annoying.

Your best bets for this are Darkest Night, Were Alive, and Wormwood. You can try Mabel, but i didnt like it too much

I checked out Wormwood and it's a little too campy for me. I'll look into Darkest Night, We're Alive, and Mabel.

Edit: Checked out Darkest Night, We're Alive, and Mabel.

Darkest Night is promising. There's some over-acting going on in the first episode but I like the premise and the presentation. I just hope it doesn't get too gruesome or torture-porny.

We're Alive is zombies, which don't scare me at all. I prefer ghosts/demons/weird entities like MA's Angler Fish.

Mabel... huh. Someone above mentioned PNWS's penchant for navel gazing. Mabel is navel gazing turned up to 11. I listened to two episodes and I was just bored out of my mind. It doesn't help that the reader isn't particularly talented.
 

Voror

Member
the new magnus is fucking great. So much to unpack.

Oh snap. So many threads converged here

I never made the connection between the thing in Episode 3 and the recent doppleganger

Man this season finale is gonna be very interesting. I figure there are two episodes left since season 1 was 40 and we're two episodes away from season 2 being the same amount.

I think my favorite addition this season has been
the Gertrude tapes. The change in perspective is interesting and Gertrude's actress is fantastic.

I've gotta say, destroying that table was a really dumb move but I suppose I can't blame John entirely. Going from episode 3 and then when Sasha was changed, it certainly seemed like it was the table that was the cause.

I only started getting confused when its connection to Hilltop Road and the spiders came up at which point I wasn't quite getting it. Did this Decker find a way to repurpose this artifact into one that could contain bind these things in some way?

Still, it seemed evident enough in the statement that it was being used to seal it or something, but I guess John was too panicked to realize it.

I'd be a bit surprised if John meets the same fate as the last person to enter one of Michael's doors. Unless it decides to give him a temporary reprieve for whatever reason or takes someone else.

Quite sad to have confirmation that the real Sasha is indeed dead, though it's not surprising.

It seemed like Tim could see something was up and didn't want to get involved,
seeing how John was trying to keep the both of them out.
 

Sulik2

Member
Oh snap. So many threads converged here

I never made the connection between the thing in Episode 3 and the recent doppleganger

Is there a good wiki for MA? All these threads and ongoing stories are really cool but hard to remember with months between the different story threads. And man the main voice actor is good.

They are still spending too much time on setting the stage in each episode of season 2 but overall this is still really the best fictional podcast going.
 
Man this season finale is gonna be very interesting. I figure there are two episodes left since season 1 was 40 and we're two episodes away from season 2 being the same amount.

I think my favorite addition this season has been
the Gertrude tapes. The change in perspective is interesting and Gertrude's actress is fantastic.

I've gotta say, destroying that table was a really dumb move but I suppose I can't blame John entirely. Going from episode 3 and then when Sasha was changed, it certainly seemed like it was the table that was the cause.

I only started getting confused when its connection to Hilltop Road and the spiders came up at which point I wasn't quite getting it. Did this Decker find a way to repurpose this artifact into one that could contain bind these things in some way?

Still, it seemed evident enough in the statement that it was being used to seal it or something, but I guess John was too panicked to realize it.

I'd be a bit surprised if John meets the same fate as the last person to enter one of Michael's doors. Unless it decides to give him a temporary reprieve for whatever reason or takes someone else.

Quite sad to have confirmation that the real Sasha is indeed dead, though it's not surprising.

It seemed like Tim could see something was up and didn't want to get involved,
seeing how John was trying to keep the both of them out.
I forget, was Decker part of another episode? I think Michael is more on the side of John and the archives since he did help Sasha in the past, and it seems he only feeds when he needs to. My take is that he doesn't like these skin crawlers (idk what to call them)
either.
 

Voror

Member
I forget, was Decker part of another episode? I think Michael is more on the side of John and the archives since he did help Sasha in the past, and it seems he only feeds when he needs to. My take is that he doesn't like these skin crawlers (idk what to call them)
either.

These last two episodes are the first I'd heard of him and John seemed like Gertude's mention of him was his first time hearing of him as well. Michael is hard to read but he has been helpful in his own way. He feels like a sort of wild card who at the moment seems inclined to aid them.

Maybe he's the type who prefers the world the way it is and doesn't want it getting wrecked or whatever.

This whole talk of protections is making me wonder who did Gertrude in and how, though if they simply used a shotgun maybe something like that doesn't count. That weird fire ritual seemed an effort for this as well.

I rather wish Gerard Kaey was still around. He seems like he might be a useful ally.
 
Magnus Archives 79

"Probably watching the Archivist die." HEY, FUCK YOU MICHAEL.

Michael better not kill Martin and Tim. :( They're in the hallway dimension which as far as we know so far (from the episode The New Door) means you're essentially dead because Michael has laid claim on you. Hopefully they can find a means of survival.

I hope the voice we heard at the end isn't just some more powerful supernatural entity that kills not-Sasha for Jon for free.

I'm looking forward to 80, but I'm dreading the wait for season 3 to start afterward.
 

blackw0lf

Member

Skittles

Member
Magnus Archives 79

"Probably watching the Archivist die." HEY, FUCK YOU MICHAEL.

Michael better not kill Martin and Tim. :( They're in the hallway dimension which as far as we know so far (from the episode The New Door) means you're essentially dead because Michael has laid claim on you. Hopefully they can find a means of survival.

I hope the voice we heard at the end isn't just some more powerful supernatural entity that kills not-Sasha for Jon for free.

I'm looking forward to 80, but I'm dreading the wait for season 3 to start afterward.
Judging by its tone
it could be whoever owns the archives. Also could be whatever watches/protects everyone at the institute from higher beings. Could also be what trapped the doppleganger in the first place

Lmao at Within the Wire charging $50 for a single fucking episode. Fuck off with that shit, that's absurd.

So am I the only one in this thread listening to The Earth Collective? Some quality stuff happening and it's about to ramp up even more with S2
 

blackw0lf

Member
Magnus Archives 79

"Probably watching the Archivist die." HEY, FUCK YOU MICHAEL.

Michael better not kill Martin and Tim. :( They're in the hallway dimension which as far as we know so far (from the episode The New Door) means you're essentially dead because Michael has laid claim on you. Hopefully they can find a means of survival.

I hope the voice we heard at the end isn't just some more powerful supernatural entity that kills not-Sasha for Jon for free.

I'm looking forward to 80, but I'm dreading the wait for season 3 to start afterward.

Last time we only had to wait a month and a half.
 
Judging by its tone
it could be whoever owns the archives. Also could be whatever watches/protects everyone at the institute from higher beings. Could also be what trapped the doppleganger in the first place

Lmao at Within the Wire charging $50 for a single fucking episode. Fuck off with that shit, that's absurd.

So am I the only one in this thread listening to The Earth Collective? Some quality stuff happening and it's about to ramp up even more with S2

Within the Wires season 1 was my favorite podcast last year but I ain't got that kind of money lol. There must be a finer balance between the free that most people will consume the podcast and the $50 on the most dedicated of fans can afford, making it cheaper would probably make them more money. Still super excited for the next season.

I have been enjoying The Earth Collective too, these short episodes have been such a tease.

And I know that PNWS (or PRA whatever they call themselves) has fallen out of favor here but the last season of The Black Tapes starts on the 30th. Just 6 episodes.

Apparently I missed that Alice isn't Dead is getting a TV and book adaptation!
----------------
Some random stuff I've enjoyed listening to (warning: my standards are a heck of a lot lower than most (I still listen to PNWS for the most part) so ymmv):

Lesser Gods: YA style show about a future where people can't have children or something. Was near unlistenable and confusing at the beginning when you had one person doing multiple roles. Got a lot better when the creator/original actress got more actors/actresses

Ostium: Guy finds a weird abandoned town, more weirdness follows

Under Pressure: another one of those seemingly rare non-horror/sci-fi/fantasy/comedy podcasts about a lady living under in this underwater research station and her interactions with her fellow members.

Spines: more weird horrorish stuff, because you can never have enough lol
 
Judging by its tone
it could be whoever owns the archives. Also could be whatever watches/protects everyone at the institute from higher beings. Could also be what trapped the doppleganger in the first place

Lmao at Within the Wire charging $50 for a single fucking episode. Fuck off with that shit, that's absurd.

So am I the only one in this thread listening to The Earth Collective? Some quality stuff happening and it's about to ramp up even more with S2

Could be one of the Lucas family members.

I feel guilt for not giving to mag yet, but I have paid for all the season passes of NoSleep. That model works better for anthologies style of podcasts though.
 

Voror

Member
6 episodes? Hmm that's short enough I might check back in, but I sort of realized I didn't care much by the end of the second about the whole meta plot.
 
I still listen to their podcasts (haven't finished the latest Tanis season) but in terms of story they definitely get too large and with too many ongoing threads after a time. Listening to TBT, it's been a year since the last episode, they expect me to remember everything? I barely remember stuff on an episode to episode basis lol. They really needed a recap of some sorts.

I wish PNWS would try a different type of podcast to change things up like Nightvale Presents does, I like their story ideas but this formula is just beyond stale.
 

frequency

Member
I'll wait for people to report back if TBT is worth listening to. All PNWS podcasts became extremely grating to me so I don't want to go back and endure it for no or bad payoff.
 

aravuus

Member
Found this thread earlier today, so obviously I had to listen to Limetown and I ended up binge listening it from beginning to end on one sitting.

It was pretty good. I can't say I found it particularly mindblowing, but it was generally well acted and written and I would definitely check out the second season right away... If it existed.

I quickly skimmed through the thread and saw lots of praise for Wormwood, Darkest Night, Sayer, hello from magic tavern and The Magnus Archives, so I guess they'll be my next listens. Just gotta decide which to tackle first. They're all still on-going, right?
 
I quickly skimmed through the thread and saw lots of praise for Wormwood, Darkest Night, Sayer, hello from magic tavern and The Magnus Archives, so I guess they'll be my next listens. Just gotta decide which to tackle first. They're all still on-going, right?
Sayer was finished for a while but just came back a few weeks ago with new episodes, so you have one full story to listen to with that

Darkest Night is kind of mediocre IMO; first few episodes were cool, but I liked it less with each episode

Sayer and Magnus Archives are my favorites. If you do check out Sayer, give it at least the first 6 episodes
 

aravuus

Member
Sayer was finished for a while but just came back a few weeks ago with new episodes, so you have one full story to listen to with that

Darkest Night is kind of mediocre IMO; first few episodes were cool, but I liked it less with each episode

Sayer and Magnus Archives are my favorites. If you do check out Sayer, give it at least the first 6 episodes

Thanks. I'll probably start with The Magnus Archives, though I can't say I'm a fan of the lo-fi recording quality, even though it is supposedly like that for a reason. Not a native speaker so it just means I'll have to concentrate on listening even more than usual.

But the creepy monster/mystery of the week with a continuous story arc behind the scenes structure is exactly what I'm looking for, so I'll try at least. I'll try real hard.

E: or maybe I'll go with hello from magic tavern first. Spider fingering talk right from the start?? Lmao this is hilarious
 

Skittles

Member
PSA: Don't read the summary for the latest episode of The Magnus Archives

HOLY FUCKING SHIT
it's god damn jurgen leitner whose been creeping in the tunnels. I also love how the series dipped even more into the lovecraftian
So much stuff happened in this episode it was ridiculous.

Good news, Season 3 is scheduled for later this year. Looks like the hunch I had on how a future season would progress was correct.
I was 99% sure john would leave the institute and do some kind of globe trotting (either that or I thought he'd be fleeing from it for a season or two) based on what elise said. There are other archives around the globe, as we've heard before, so it makes sense story wise.

My theory right now is that
the archives are a breeding ground for corruption to allow outer entities(or a certain one from the sounds of it) to have full influence in our world. Gathering certain objects to meld our universe into something inhabitable. Leitner talked about how having certain books together caused problems and most of the shit in the archives probably does the same.
 
Currently listening to the season finale. So good. will update my full take.

Holy shit, did not expect an episode like this. Great finale, usually "tell all"s can be really bad/cliche but this one was really satisfying and tied up some story lines... Man this ending is fucked. So it seems like there's a set number of the "others" and each one has their own representation. I assume Elias works for the Lucas family, but they don't seem to be "good" either, really curious what their motive is. Giving the very end, I doubt Jon will be reading the archives which I'm worried will cut down on MOTW type of episodes.

Sorry about bolding instead of tagging it as a spoiler. -.-'
 

Voror

Member
MA 80:

Hello Jurgen. Goodbye Jurgen.

I admit he wasn't high on my list of candidates. He wasn't quite what I was expecting either.
That said, the idea that he was trying to act as a keeper to these things isn't too surprising as I'd wondered about what the point of it was.

Quite sad he died here really though someone with his level of knowledge and usefulness might have made things too easy or at least easier. He had too much knowledge.
Was that a direct lie when he said he hadn't had time to talk about Gertrude to cover up he had or perhaps there was info he had on her he hadn't shared with John?

I rather liked that he'd come to understand enough about the books to be able to weaponize them or make useful tools. It sort of reminded me of an old Sci-Fi miniseries called The Room which had all these mundane objects given weird properties that when used in certain ways could prove quite useful.

So in the end it was Elias who killed Gertrude. It almost feels obvious that it was him.
It seems he does intend to save or protect things in some fashion but clearly not in the same way that Jurgen and Gertrude intended. I'm curious what he intends for John if he'd been thinking it was time for him to get out in a sense. Will Tim or Martin get promoted in the meantime.

That said, from the description of the attack, Michael sounds like he was involved in that.
Continue to wonder at what point he might start working against John. That said,
it seems like these various powers aren't necessarily all aligned since some can bind others.

So next season is John on the run. I'm curious how this will change the format.
We'll have weekly stories I'd think so will it be Tim or Martin reading statements with supplementals from John at the end? John is going to need to sharpen up quick if he's going to make it out there.

In that moment where Jurgen was talking about John, I wonder if that was literally to Gertrude who was present in some form or just in the spirit of the idea.

I noticed in the cast read that two characters are also Sims. John's parents perhaps or just a coincidence?
 
Welp. My nano project gonna have to be Magnus-inspired at this point. Brain was full of murakami last year and black company/Malazan the year before. This year it's some epistolary anthology horror with a meta-plot for sure.

As far as the season finale goes:
I loved
doubling down on Lovecraft influence.
I loved
who was in the tunnels
. I loved the description of
the end of the library
.

Not surprised at that one reveal but not disappointed. I figured we had another season to go before
john would leave the archives
 
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