꩜ Oh, Archivist! ꩜TMA 101 Animation

CONTENT WARNING: Body horror.

Spooky scary Shelley-tons!! Ok Michael Distortion fans, this one is for you.

Drawn in Storyboard Pro 20.1 with custom brushes from Rozlyn Waltz. The Magnus Archives is a podcast written by Jonathan Sims, Directed by Alexander J Newall, and distributed by Rusty Quill! This clip features voice acting by Jonathan Sims and Luke Booys!

Had a lot of fun figuring out how Michael moves! Now that I've drawn his grand entrance, maybe someday I'll draw the scene where he...uh...leaves.

[JainaBelbin]

If they made this series into an animated show, they better hit you up first.

[karmallarma]

Michael: I'm going to kill you
Jon: Growls of mild annoyance

God I love this

[alexacox]

The way Michael is completely inhuman and distorted though out the whole short until the very last frame where he becomes something recognizably human because he is asking to be understood!!! the very antithesis of his nature as an avatar of the spiral so he changes physically to reflect that!!! The stunning nature of this animation?!?!?!?! I JUST CANT RN!!

[brokengeckostudios]

I absolutely LOVE how twisted Michael looks. He doesn’t move like a human, he bends and twists. And the EXPRESSIONS. You managed to make his grinning skull of a face hold so many expressions! This is amazing!

And I LOVE the way how when Michael says “ask me” at the end and he appears almost human. Perfect!

[TheMajorHunter]

Love this: so many people seem to forget that Michael is a monster born of pure fear. We have so many prettyboy Michaels, and not enough portrayals like this that I think would be closer to what he would look like.

[mateodominguez]

I can’t help but think when he returns to normal it’s a piece of Michael coming to the surface and he wants John to know just how bad Gertrude was and how she screwed him over

[FP]

This is how Michael should be seen. The Distortion isn't just a tall guy with weirdly curled fingers - *this* is the personification of someone that just doesn't work "right", and it is amazing.I would love to see this as a full series.

[insnailable]

this is, I feel, the most accurate depiction of the Distortion I've seen! The way it moves never makes sense, he's always changing, the physics don't match up... also, just the whole choreography of what he's doing the whole time is so interesting to look at! It's very hard to draw a being that can't even be defined properly, but this animation does it so well

[tynesheynkman]

i love the last bit where michael is just… so human. it’s like that little bit of Shelley peeks through and it really emphasizes that he really is going against his nature. he’s doing this just be cause he used to be human and he wants to be remembered.

[jamiebaxie]

The fluidity of micheal and how he moves here is DELICIOUS. I love how he solifidies when asking jon to ask him, guess the room cooled past his melting point.

[judgebunnie]

This is possibly my favorite version of the Distortion that I have seen. Someone mentions above all the ways that it just works to articulate a being that just doesn’t make sense. He’s recognizable, but he’s so wrong, he makes no sense at all. But I also like how you have made him comical almost, but at the same time show off that he is sinister. He’s a monster. This is my absolute top in terms of how he’s been depicted. I’ve watched it over and over and I’m still finding little details you’ve added in. Bravo.

[sumomo]

Oh wow, when Micheal reverted back into his human face, and his expression turned from a manic grin into a desperate look. Got the chills. ^_^

[nathanstein]

Dude your design for Michael is hard as FUCK. The face morphing from one place to another at random and the extra pupils are extremely fucked up touches to add to hisI design and it rules. really appreciate that he’s definitively more monster than human here, cause so many people just make him hot

[dayaning]

the body lotions on the floor, the details- i am speechless this is perfection. everything is so smooth especially when Michael grabs and turns Jon's face--

[leahwilson]

The two headed echo laugh at the beginning, and the coalescing into a more solidified Michael at the end? Chills. Chefs Kiss. A masterpiece.

[flkvjnf]

I love how he looks more human at the end because it’s the human part of him that wants to tell Jon his story

[amidalaprin]

The way Michael just deforms, twists, shakes and changes the whole time is SO perfect, refusing to hold onto a concrete form, right up until he says "ask me" and unifies just a bit

[distortiondaisiras]

BIBLICALLY ACCURATE MICHAEL DISTORTION

[tjnguyen]

Best depiction of The Distortion EVER. I hope I'm not the first person to notice (and gasp at) how his right pupil briefly turns into an infinity symbol. Absolutely incredible.

[itakru]

THIS! THIS is my favorite depiction of the Distortion ever! The way he starts to spill out from the door but then doesn't, the way his head moves with his eerie laughter, the constant shifting movements that sometimes move "correctly" but most of the time are just...off--THIS is the embodiment of Distortion. Its entire purpose is to make you doubt your perception of reality, to make you look twice and question your sanity. Didn't he just have two pupils in that eye? Wasn't his head just a bit more to the right? How is he talking to Jon on his left side when his body is on his right? Distortion doesn't escape perception, but twists and bends it to near madness, and you've done that here so marvellously! And the mostly human but still slightly off frame at the end? Beautiful!