#mag 36

[jazzically]

same

[ratpyramid]

[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

[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)

[libraryfag]

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

[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?

[jazzically]

it's giving jonathan sims head archivist of the magnus institute london

[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-

[vexwerewolf]

What do you think is the worst frame for a SEKHMET-Class NHP? Why?

I went on more of an odyssey with this one than I thought.

I gave myself a rule here: I am not allowed to build a mech badly on purpose. As Dan Olson said, "if you build it out of malice, you inject it full of all your own prejudices. It ends up bad for reasons you created. It tells you nothing." Whenever I examine a mech for its suitability (or lack thereof) of SEKHMET, I must enter into it in good faith. I must try to build a good loadout and fail - I must not try to build a bad loadout and succeed.

First Appearances

I was initially going to say a Death's Head. There are a lot of frames that aren't well-suited to melee combat, but prima facie, I don't think there's a frame that by its traits and stats is more antithetical to the ethos of SEKHMET.

However. When I decided to go to COMP/CON and map out a Melee SEKHMET Death's Head for a laugh, I discovered... actually, if you disregard its traits, the Death's Head isn't the worst frame for SEKHMET. It's certainly not good - none of its traits support the playstyle - but the Death's Head is fast. It's base speed 5, just like the Blackbeard, and it has higher Evasion and E-Defence. With three ranks in an SSC mech, you can get Full Subjectivity Sync and boost its evasion to 14 with just 2 Agility, which is pretty nimble.

Also, with three ranks in an IPS-N frame - which by necessity you must have if you have SEKHMET - you can get Reinforced Frame. At LL6, with 4 points in Hull and 1 SP for Personalisations, you can get this little bastard to 26 HP, which combined with its high Evasion gives it pretty hefty staying power.

Also, a bizarre interaction that I had previously never thought of - and had to check with #rules-discussion on PilotNET - SEKHMET can use Core Siphon. There's nothing in the rules that says SEKHMET can't use protocols, and Core Siphon applies to all attacks, not just ranged ones. This can be useful if, for instance, you're close to demolishing an enemy with your first attack, and the next nearest target is an ally - your first attack roll will be buffed, and all the other attacks you make this turn will be debuffed.

This is my janked-up build:

-- SSC Death’s Head @ LL6 -- [ LICENSES ] IPS-N Blackbeard 3, SSC Death’s Head 2, SSC Mourning Cloak 1 [ CORE BONUSES ] Reinforced Frame, Full Subjectivity Sync [ TALENTS ] Duelist 3, Executioner 3, Skirmisher 3 [ STATS ] HULL:4 AGI:2 SYS:0 ENGI:2 STRUCTURE:4 HP:26 ARMOR:0 STRESS:4 HEATCAP:8 REPAIR:4 TECH ATK:0 LIMITED:+1 SPD:6 EVA:14 EDEF:8 SENSE:20 SAVE:13 [ WEAPONS ] MAIN/AUX MOUNT: Charged Blade / Fold Knife HEAVY MOUNT: Nanocarbon Sword [ SYSTEMS ] Personalizations, SEKHMET-Class NHP, Synthetic Muscle Netting, Core Siphon, High-Stress Mag Clamps

It's not... great. But it could work!

So, if it's not the Death's Head, what frame really is the worst for SEKHMET?

The Big Boy

The next stop on my journey was to think about what made the Death's Head not the worst choice, and look for a frame that didn't have those upsides. This led me - as many "worst frame for X" deep dives do - to the Barbarossa.

The Barbarossa isn't just slow, it's fucking slow. I can't express to you just how much of a drawback 2 Speed is. I had to pump Agility to 4 just to hit Speed 4, the base speed of an Everest. But when I did, the unsuitability of the Barbarossa sort of melted away as well.

The Barbarossa's Threat is huge, and if you're eligible for an IPS-N core bonus - which, again, I will remind you, you must be if you have SEKHMET - you can get Gyges frame, which buffs weapon Threat by 1. A Barbarossa with a Threat 3 Nanocarbon Sword threatens an absolutely absurd 36 spaces around it, so who gives a shit if it's not the quickest? Speed 4 isn't great for SEKHMET but if you've got move assist from your team it basically doesn't matter.

Moreover, the Barbarossa is functionally immune to most sources of forced movement. It can't be knocked prone by anything smaller than itself, already always wins grapples even before you add Synthetic Muscle Netting, and can just march over obstacles that would force a smaller mech to go around them.

Again, it's pretty jank, but this build works surprisingly well:

-- HA Barbarossa @ LL6 -- [ LICENSES ] HA Barbarossa 2, IPS-N Blackbeard 3, IPS-N Vlad 1 [ CORE BONUSES ] Gyges Frame, Heatfall Coolant System [ TALENTS ] Duelist 3, Executioner 3, Combined Arms 1, Nuclear Cavalier 2 [ STATS ] HULL:2 AGI:4 SYS:0 ENGI:2 STRUCTURE:4 HP:19 ARMOR:2 STRESS:4 HEATCAP:10 REPAIR:5 TECH ATK:-2 LIMITED:+1 SPD:4 EVA:10 EDEF:6 SENSE:10 SAVE:13 [ WEAPONS ] Integrated: Apocalypse Rail MAIN MOUNT: Impact Lance MAIN MOUNT: Chain Axe HEAVY MOUNT: Nanocarbon Sword [ SYSTEMS ] Personalizations, Synthetic Muscle Netting, SEKHMET-Class NHP, Reinforced Cabling

Reinforced Cabling - by the end, you will believe a mountain can fly.

Wait, Is Lancer Just That Flexible?

So far we've looked at two mechs I was sure would be a simple answer to this question and they were actually astoundingly viable given their respective downsides. Sure, they're not anywhere close to being top picks, but Lancer's game design seems to be tight enough that it basically never entirely locks you out of a role even if your mech isn't suited to it.

But there's still got to be a worst mech, right? Even with Lancer's legendary build flexibility, there still has to be a worst mech for the job of housing the Murder Cat, right? By definition, there has to be.

So what is it? It has to be a mech that's some combination of slow, fragile, doesn't have trait support for melee or traits that would otherwise be advantageous for a melee fighter, does have traits that would actively disadvantage it in melee, or has traits that are rendered unusable by not being on SEKHMET's permissible action flowchart. Moreover, I realised that any mech that has a Heavy slot can put a Nanocarbon Sword in it, and that weapon is so good that it can make up for most of a frame's deficiencies by itself. Therefore, we also need to exclude any frame that has a Heavy Slot.

We have two somewhat viable options here: the HORUS Lich and the SSC Emperor.

Ghost Warrior

The HORUS Lich is absurdly fragile on its base stats (although this can be easily circumvented via HASE and core bonuses), and it can't use its survival reaction while using SEKHMET if doing so would cause it to move away from an enemy. It lacks a Heavy slot, and it also lacks any traits that non-Heavy frames like the Nelson and the Mourning Cloak have to improve melee damage.

Even so, you can easily make a 22 HP, Evasion 10, E-Def 12 Lich by LL6.

-- HORUS Lich @ LL6 -- [ LICENSES ] IPS-N Blackbeard 3, HORUS Lich 2, IPS-N Nelson 1 [ CORE BONUSES ] Reinforced Frame, Overpower Caliber [ TALENTS ] Duelist 3, Skirmisher 3, Hunter 3 [ STATS ] HULL:4 AGI:2 SYS:0 ENGI:2 STRUCTURE:4 HP:22 ARMOR:0 STRESS:4 HEATCAP:5 REPAIR:7 TECH ATK:+1 LIMITED:+1 SPD:6 EVA:10 EDEF:12 SENSE:15 SAVE:14 [ WEAPONS ] MAIN/AUX MOUNT: War Pike / Tactical Knife // Overpower Caliber [ SYSTEMS ] SEKHMET-Class NHP, Personalizations, Synthetic Muscle Netting, Armament Redundancy, Reinforced Cabling, Bulwark Mods, Wandering Nightmare

This boy can do some work. The War Pike gives it excellent threat, OpCal boosts its damage per turn, and the TacKnife lets it do Hunter shenanigans, such as essentially attacking twice with its Knife. It's still not great, but it... works.

Sword of Kings

The Emperor is probably what we're looking for. It has only one Main Mount (worse even than the Lich's Main/Aux, which at least lets it do Knife Crimes), and its survivability and sustain comes entirely from Overshield, which it can't interact with at all while using SEKHMET. Even at 4 Hull, its Repair Cap is only 4, meaning it can't afford to take much damage.

-- SSC Emperor @ LL6 -- [ LICENSES ] IPS-N Blackbeard 3, SSC Emperor 2, IPS-N Nelson 1 [ CORE BONUSES ] Reinforced Frame, Overpower Caliber [ TALENTS ] Duelist 3, Skirmisher 3, Pankrati 3 [ STATS ] HULL:4 AGI:2 SYS:0 ENGI:2 STRUCTURE:4 HP:17 ARMOR:0 STRESS:4 HEATCAP:7 REPAIR:4 TECH ATK:+1 LIMITED:+1 SPD:6 EVA:12 EDEF:8 SENSE:15 SAVE:14 [ WEAPONS ] Integrated: Marathon Arc Bow MAIN MOUNT: War Pike // Overpower Caliber [ SYSTEMS ] Personalizations, Synthetic Muscle Netting, SEKHMET-Class NHP, Reinforced Cabling, Armament Redundancy, Bulwark Mods

Now, to be clear, this guy does start every fight with 9 Overshield, and regains it every time they take Structure damage, giving them 26 effective HP per Structure. But the Emperor needs to be constantly applying Overshield to allies to recharge their Storm Shield, and this is essentially impossible while SEKHMET is active!

And yet this build is still... at least remotely playable. I think we've found the worst frame for SEKHMET. I don't think SEKHMET likes the SSC Emperor very much.

And yet. You could field this. It wouldn't be good, but you could field this. It would probably die quite fast but it's not completely unplayable.

Damn, Lancer's pretty good.