Clothing collab, Colin and a new network announcement!

Hi folks,

Firstly, our collaboration with Knock Thrice is now available! This gorgeous collection of The Magnus Protocol inspired clothing and accessories, including a jacket, messenger bag, cardigans, a t-shirt, a Bonzo beanie and more, is available to pre-order at an early bird price until Sunday 13th October. On top of that, Knock Thrice is kindly offered an exclusive discount code to our Patrons – just use code BONZO10 at the checkout to get 10% off all items in The Magnus Protocol collection. Please note, the code is not valid for bundles, can be used once per customer and is valid until 13th October 2024, 11:59 EDT. The items are available to pre-order until 17th November and have not yet been manufactured. You can find approximate shipping dates in the description of each item.

(Image description: Two people model The Magnus Protocol x Knock Thrice merchandise. The person on the right has their back to the camera and is wearing a messenger bag featuring a logo for the OIAR from The Magnus Protocol. The person on the left is facing the camera, but looking off to the right. They are wearing a black cotton jacket with red accents. The jacket is decorated with numerous patches and embroidery, inspired by alchemy.)

It has been such a pleasure to work with the Knock Thrice team on these beautiful items and it is so wonderful to see the show bought to life in this way! Thank you to everyone who has ordered items so far.

This week on The Magnus Protocol, we have the season one “what if?” episode. These episodes are non-canonical, but pose the question: how would things be different for our OIAR staff if just one, small thing was done differently over the course of the season. For this first What If, we are asking: What if everyone had listened to Colin? Tune into early access on Tuesday at 4pm BST or on the public feed on Thursday at 4pm BST to find out!

After this week, we’ll be moving to more sporadic releases, though you will still have a Q&A, Rusty Fears and more to look forward to before the release of season 2 in February 2025. We’ll keep you up to date with what’s happening here in the Patreon newsletter and on our social media pages. Next week, we’ll be sharing a behind-the-scenes Protocol treat, exclusively for Kickstarter backers and the Rusty Nobles tier, including artwork, wallpapers, music, videos recorded during production, and season one video outtakes. We’ll share a full run down, and how to access, next week to the Nobles tier!

In news from the RQ Network, we’re pleased to say that we’ll be sharing some more episodes from The Program Audio Series on our YouTube channel! The Program is a dark, science fiction noir anthology, set in a future in which Money, State and God have become fused into a single entity called The Program. Each episode is a self-contained story focusing on ordinary people inhabiting this extraordinary world. You can find our initial YouTube release of The Program in this playlist and we’ll be adding the new episodes to it as they are released. Alternatively, you can listen to every episode of The Program Audio Series wherever you find podcasts, or on the Rusty Quill website.

Finally, we are very excited to say that today we are welcoming Soul Operator, an actual play podcast, to the RQ Network! Produced by Tatiana Gefter, Soul Operator blends solo TTRPGs with audio dramas, creating a multi-genre, fully fleshed out story with an inclusive cast of characters and performers.

We spoke to Tatiana to find out more about the show, in an interview that is exclusive to Patreon.

Tell us who you are and a bit about Soul Operator? 

Hello, my name is Tatiana Gefter, I am the writer and producer of Soul Operator, a show dedicated to highlighting Solo TTRPGS through adapting them into the Audio Drama medium. Each season will highlight a new game, with a new cast and storyline for the audience to follow. In this way, it is almost an anthology. Almost. As for me, I am currently a student and work a day job in insurance. I am a Queer, Latine, Jewish woman and it was incredibly important to me to create a diverse show that includes not only my identities, but also those that I have felt are unrepresented in the Audio-sphere.

What got you into podcasting? 

I have always been a big horror fan. During the pandemic I was dwindling a bit, needing something new to sink my teeth into. Lucky for me, I stumbled upon an animatic of The Magnus Archives on tiktok and got curious. It was just before season 5 aired so I caught up as quickly as I could. Once that was finished, I expanded into shows like Wolf 359, Old Gods of Appalachia, and many, many more. These podcasts opened my eyes to the true potential of horror. After all, what is scarier than what you can imagine inside your head? So often I would find myself annoyed when a horror movie would reveal the monster because it never matched up to my own creation. Audio drama removed that problem entirely. Plus, I love how I can be doing nearly anything else while also listening to a show rather than having to split my attention between a screen and something like data entry, for example.

What are you most proud of about Soul Operator? 

I am proud that the show exists. I, and I’m sure many creatives can relate to this, have a bad habit of starting projects and never seeing them to completion. Soul Operator, above all else, was meant for me to prove to myself that I could not only finish something but that I could do it well. We have been incredibly fortunate in the attention and support that we have received over the past year since launch and I couldn’t be happier with how things have gone. This is evidence that not only can I do this, but anyone can if they put their mind and their heart to it. In fact, everyone should try to make at least one thing. I hope my show helps inspire people to do that.

You can listen to Soul Operator wherever you find podcasts, or on the Rusty Quill website. If you enjoy it, please do consider leaving a rating or review on your podcast player of choice, as this is the best way to support a show!

Have a good week all!

The Rusty Quill team