Jonah Magnus's Regency Harem

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Character Group
Name: Jonah Magnus's Regency Harem, The Regency Polyamory
Type:
Fandom: The Magnus Archives
Members: Jonah Magnus, Mordechai Lukas, Albrecht VonClosen, Barnabas Bennett, Jonathan Fanshawe, Robert Smirke (and sometimes Maxwell Rayner and / or George Scott)
Other:
Related:
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Jonah Magnus's Regency Harem or Jonah Magnus's Regency Polyamory (sometimes just known as The Regency Harem or The Regency Polyamory) is a group of often-shipped characters from The Magnus Archives podcast. It is a fan (nick) name given to the ship of Jonah Magnus with his group of friends and associates during the period when he is founding The Magnus Institute (which The Magnus Archives is named after) during the Regency and early Victorian periods.

In canon we see this group mainly through a set of old/historical letters to and from Jonah Magnus. And many fans have noticed what they see as romantic or homoerotic character in these letters (or at least opportunities for fanfic), one popular piece of fan media being Jonah Magnus' Very Heterosexual Correspondences by Sneckoil, a vid that cuts together the letters in ways that emphasize the romantic nature or tension that the vidder sees in them. And there is also a video that collates together all the episodes containing these letters or significant info about the time period into one video for easier watching Letters to Jonah Magnus by Mementomoray.

When it is revealed in canon that Elias Bouchard is Jonah Magnus after centuries and under another alias, Elias's current behavior is often used for characterization in fanworks.

There is a bit of fluidity as to who gets portrayed with who in any particular fic, One of the most popular pairings though is focusing on the close pairing between Jonah Magnus/Barnabas Bennett. Some fics stick with the tragic and cruel canon ending, where as many come up with a variety of "fixes" or happy endings, or focus on the happy period before the ending, slipping by that source of conflict all together. Many fics also focus on themes related to the Regency time period, getting involved in worldbuilding and setting or social issues. There is often mentions of period homophobia and sexism. And also sometimes how class and race disparities have their impact For example a somewhat common theme in fanworks is how Jonah Magnus's involvement with The Eye, the arcane manifestation of the fear of being watched, could have been shaped or caused by the scrutiny towards homosexuality or even transgenderism/gender crossing - and in general the increased focus on gossip and proper behavior as class markers. Since the original material deals with horror themes, other fanworks may show the rich members of this circle hunting for "victims" among the lower classes. There are also fics that explore the differences between the highly rich, and those that work in the trades or fine arts like Bennett, Smirke, and Scott.

A somewhat popular trope in the fandom includes pairings of characters being thrown back in time, as fish out of water, several include being thrown back into this era.

Example Fanworks

Vids

Fanfic