#mag 36

[ratpyramid]

[terebellumboy]

almost finished with s1 of tma, and. who the hell is trevor? from the closing notes of mag 36, taken ill.

[generalb]

MAG 36 “Taken Ill” review:

Good episode dead people lotsa flies yadda yadda yadda THERES A WEIRD TABLE. There were two things delivered from last episode. One of them was a Zippo lighter with a spiderweb design, the other was a hypnotic looking table with a hold in its center. I’m going to attempt to look up the table without seeing spoilers.

Oxygen Potassium so the table comes from mag 3 which is so long ago I don’t even remember what that episode is about.

Okay I read the summary for that episode. Creepy. Perhaps then the lighter belongs to Actual Graham, who was a chain smoker. Why a return to this episode, of all times? And, more importantly, why is it that Breekon & Hope had the strange table? I’m assuming it’s breekon and hope because the movers in MAG 2 “do not open” were two British men, same as MAG 35. Sims also makes a connection between today’s protagonist, Nicole Baxter, and Jane Prentiss’s accounts on their similar discussion of fear.

Another point of interest is that near the end, when Baxter is running back to her car from the old folks home, she’s momentarily stopped by an old man and a companion. This is undoubtedly a “important for later” that i will absolutely forget, but for now? I’m headcanonning them as The Doctor and his companion. Fuck it, Doctor Who in The Magnus Archives. This episode was gross, but good overall. 7/10

Statement Ends.

[themysterioustaria]

Well at least I know what pens the med students used

[oh-shit-i-spilled-my-genderfluid]

John Amherst fanart, completed. Greatly inspired by MAG 36 Taken Ill

[themagnustournament]

Redemption Round 2 - Match 19

Oliver Banks's own fear domain had 85 votes in Round Two and a total of 277 votes! The first (that we hear of) of John Amherst's crimes received 92 votes in Round One! Which avatar will come out on top, and which will be gone forever?

MAG 168 - Roots | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

A Post-Mortem report for reality from Oliver Banks. Recorded by the Archivist, in Situ.

MAG 036 - Taken ill | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

Statement of Nicole Baxter, regarding visits culminating in the fire that consumed Ivy Meadows Care Home in Woodley, Greater Manchester.

[insanearchivist]

So I'm probably about to hear Jon opening the package. I'm not sure I want to know what's inside...

Just for fun, here are a few guesses: a body part, more worms or a weird book.

So here goes...

A lighter? Okay... Any connections to the anglerfish maybe??

A table...with fractals maybe? Graham's table???

No don't end the recording I want to know more

[libraryfag]

only a few minutes into this statement and its almost definitely about jane

[glowofpurple]

Has anyone figured out who's talking/what they're saying in the background of MAG 36 while Jon and Tim are talking about the lighter?

[heartub]

omg the table from the one about the dude being replaced

(I get shocked every time I get reminded that the episodes r in fact connected)

[annabelle--cane]

holds a microphone out to the crowd. jon was carrying cigarettes on him by at least mag 78, though he said he hadn't smoked for five years. do you think he always had some on him just in case he ever felt like making a bad decision, or did he start doing that at some point during the course of the show?

[belle-of-a-time]

Holy shit things are PICKING UPPPP what do you mean they have THE TABLE now

I feel the need to liveblog as I go through the Magnus Archives. Jon got a package from what can only be that creepy delivery company. Saw a worm (ew) also Martin is my favorite right now tbh.

The institute feels very SCP Foundation except in the Foundation they would be Absolutely THROWING Memetic agent at everyone no following up because everyone’s memory is completely wiped just in case.

[darth-emerald]

I am on Magnus Archives brainrot thanks to the ttrpg coming out and I am 36 episodes into season one.

Taken Ill makes me feel like I need to take a really long shower.

In a good way, though. The Corruption is the one fear that I feel like could victimize me the most.

[wildgeese98]

Mag 166, The Worms and episode 36 of The Silt Verses, All Lovers Part As Dust, both play on this idea of hope as a harmful force.

In mag 166 the people trapped in the buried can see light above them. They crawl painfully upwards, urged on by the hope that they will someday make it to the surface. Their hope keeps them going but makes it so much more painful every time they are washed back down and have to start again.

In The Silt Verses hope is something that can quite literally trap you. Devereaux, and the other people passing through the Amicus Hotel are so caught up in their hopes for the future that they forsake the present.

In both stories the characters' hope is harming them, causing them pain or limiting their lives. But for both, letting of that hope is still unthinkable. For the worms to let go of their hope of surfacing would mean acknowledging how truely trapped they are. For Devereaux to would mean accepting that his sister is gone.

I'm really into the idea of hope as something tortuous, something that can trap you in a cycle of pain. Both stories have people hoping desperately for something they can never have. They tear themselves up trying to reach it. I enjoy the subversion of something we usually view as only positive. The acknowledgement that even the things that seem wholely good have the potential to hurt.

The two episodes are in the end about different things. Mag 166 is about the crushing burden of poverty and systemic oppression. Being trapped in a miserable life with no way out. Clinging to the vain hope that with enough work you could improve your circumstances and escape that misery. All Lovers Part As Dust is about living too much in the past and the future. Hoping for something so intensely that it consumes your life. Not only will you most likely not get what you hope for you will also miss chances for other good things.

As such the mag 166 ends hopelessly, there will be no end to the suffering. All Lovers Part As Dust, however ends more ambiguously. We are left to interpret whether Sebastian and Devereaux escape. We are left with some hope, though fittingly the ambiguity means that hope brings no comfort.

Something that is so great about horror is its ability to flip our perception. It allows us to see how something usually wonderful can be horrifying. It validates those who have found only pain in the things we are told should comfort us. Hope can be good. Clinging to hope can be the thing that pulls you through a hard time. But it can also trap you and when your pain has no end it can be cruel.

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

Ok i have a confession to make- i actually haven't listened to tma podcast itself, I just got really hyperfixated on the fandom to the point of watching every amv, scouring all the characters wiki, reading every fanfic and repeatedly diving in the tags to know all about to the point that I know atleast the major plot, themes, the entities, the avatars, most of the more important characters and what happens to said characters.

That being said I am listening to the podcast now and everytime I know something important is happening I am just like-

[themagnustournament]

Round One Part Six - Match 52

Our very first Leitner! And our very first John Amherst! I'm a big fan of the way Taken ill is... stylized I guess? on Spotify as Taken ill so that it's even remotely readable.

MAG 004 - Page Turner | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

Statement of Dominic Swain, regarding a book briefly in his possession in the winter of 2012.

MAG 036 - Taken ill | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

Statement of Nicole Baxter, regarding visits culminating in the fire that consumed Ivy Meadows Care Home in Woodley, Greater Manchester.