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Post by Oneiros on Jan 19, 2017 8:49:16 GMT
The Archives go gallivanting to Genoa today, exploring the sights and sounds, immersed in the culture of the cafes and backstreets, swallowed up by the teeming throngs...
Ah, the perils of solo travel. On a personal level I think this ep highlights a lot of why I don't really like travelling on my own. I can appreciate the feeling of wanting to be on my own, free to go wherever and whenever but I know the lack of immediate safety net would be a worry. Anyone else feel like that?
A quieter episode after the revelations of last week but a decent level of disquiet nonetheless - is the stranger at the cafe really Gerard? Does Elias really have anything to hide or is this just the Archivist's paranoia talking? And what of Sasha?
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Post by spooniermist on Jan 19, 2017 10:49:14 GMT
I find it really interesting that Sims is on to Sasha, in some way. I wouldn't love for him to discover for himself that she's something untoward, rather than it being a dramatic reveal.
I totally get what you mean, Onerios, I wouldn't leave the hotel if I travelled solo.
Does anyone else feel like there's a pattern emerging here with some of these statements. I'm not sure my Uncanny Dimensiona theory really fits, but there seem to be an awful lot of instances of people being transported to warped places with messed up figures. Maybe Onerios is right and it's a 'squiggly dimension', or something, where when you're in it, it's just the real world all messed up. I'm just not sure if it's a theme, or a clue, or a intentional thing, or if that's just how Jonny (writer) likes to write horror.
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jubjub
Alphabet Squire
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Post by jubjub on Jan 19, 2017 13:44:47 GMT
Father Burroughs (#19 & 20) was also "marked" by something, a demonic presence connected to the word "mentis," Latin for mind. It could warp perceptions. He also walked through bizarre twisting streets before his grisly snack; he too encountered a tall, thin pale man. Ms. Nunis should be cautious; Father Burroughs was "marked" for years before his world fell apart. Hopefully, she was protected by thoughts of her mother.
Breekon and Hope were (surprise) involved in the Father's case as well.
If Jonathan is right and the pale man is Kaey, he just keeps getting more interesting. Is he a demon hunter? A servant of one of the factions in the paranormal war? Something else entirely? I'm wondering if the mother he killed may have been "not" mother...
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Post by cannonlongshot on Jan 19, 2017 15:40:03 GMT
Nice to return to a monster-of-the-week story - It's good to take a breather once in a while! The random-connection-that's-completely-out-of-character put me in mind of Evan Lucas... Also, I can't be the only person who really wants to hear a re-recording of "A Distortion"? Seeing SNot-Sasha trying to piece together a full statement would be interesting XD Also - agoraphobic, Jonny?  |
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Post by captainhowdy on Jan 20, 2017 2:20:33 GMT
I love the way The Mag doesn't explain everything, leaving us to fill in the gaps...
One of the most basic rules of a good horror film is that to hint at something and cajole the audience's imagination is far more effective than to directly show, as anything the imagination can conjure up is infinitely worse than anything that can be directly shown. This is what I love about The Mag and what keeps me mulling over the episodes long after I've listened. What was it that marked Andrea??? Why had it marked her?? What would of been her fate if she hadn't visualised her mum???
Always hinting at this whole other universe of unspeakable evil co-exiting alongside ours. Another treat :-)
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kea
Member of the Order of the Quill
Posts: 136 
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Post by kea on Mar 6, 2017 20:26:36 GMT
A random aside about Elias - it's mentioned in MAG 29 that he was working as a file clerk in 1972, but I this statement says he started at the Institute in 1996. Have I missed something somewhere?
Listening to other statements, it seems like MI has a high turnover of staff, bar Gertrude and possibly Elias. There doesn't seem to be any pre-1994 people still around, but I could be wrong.
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Post by cannonlongshot on Mar 7, 2017 13:58:57 GMT
kea Did you mean this episode? I listened to both, and think you might have meant MAG49. Having said that, MAG49 says Elias became Head of the Institute in '96  EDIT: Oops - it then goes on to say that he only joined in '91. Some caveats: 1) MAG29 only says that there were 2 people working at the time, and Elias is implied, but not stated definitively, to be one of them. 2) Elias says he was working as a file clerk and heard about the Thorp incident… It could be he just had friends in the Institute, and he was working as a clerk somewhere else. 3) Sims says “from what he could find” Elias only joined in ’91 – it could be Elias has been around for a while, and Sims is forgetting about the conversation he had once 6+ months ago, though the lack of corroborating evidence is concerning… 4) Oh god! Not-Elias! A whole Not-Team!
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kea
Member of the Order of the Quill
Posts: 136
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Post by kea on Mar 9, 2017 5:23:37 GMT
Yup, I did! Got tangled up in my own red string there.
Interesting caveats, and points well made. Just struck me as odd.
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Post by cannonlongshot on Mar 9, 2017 9:45:06 GMT
No, it's definitely odd - none of my caveats strike me as particularly convincing.
I would cast the bones of some mice around to summon Jonny, but I don't think doing so so soon after asking him about the dating of MAG54 would be wise...
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Post by spooniermist on Mar 16, 2017 11:14:56 GMT
I would cast the bones of some mice around to summon Jonny, Shhh... some say that just speaking his name can summon the beast! |
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aslee
Travelling Wordsmith
Certified Zolf/Hamid shipper.
Posts: 28
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Post by aslee on Apr 11, 2017 5:35:59 GMT
Sorry to necro this thread, but I'm archive binging and if I don't say anything and I feel as if I will burst.
I've been CONVINCED Gerard isn't a bad guy since his second appearance and finally I have something else to back that theory out. I think I might break out the alcohol in celebration; I'm absolutely thrilled and I need to not focus on being creeped out by nega-Sasha.
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Post by cannonlongshot on Apr 11, 2017 12:17:49 GMT
Sorry to necro this thread, but I'm archive binging and if I don't say anything and I feel as if I will burst. I've been CONVINCED Gerard isn't a bad guy since his second appearance and finally I have something else to back that theory out. I think I might break out the alcohol in celebration; I'm absolutely thrilled and I need to not focus on being creeped out by nega-Sasha. I've always felt like Gerard ain't a bad egg - I'm half expecting him to have been framed for his mother's "death". |
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aslee
Travelling Wordsmith
Certified Zolf/Hamid shipper.
Posts: 28
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Post by aslee on Apr 12, 2017 16:04:47 GMT
I've always felt like Gerard ain't a bad egg - I'm half expecting him to have been framed for his mother's "death". I'm not sure what I think about that yet, honestly. Like, first, which Mary Keay is the real one-- The one we met or the one that was already dead? And then you have to figure out whether Gerard actually killed whichever one it was... Like, I feel the two more interesting stories are that, yes, the dead one was a monster and either Gerard took the fall or actually killed it. The alternative is that his mom really did die, and Gerard really did kill her because she was awful, and the Mary we met is some kind of remnant or a benevolent being "hiding" as Mary. I mean, it could just be his mom is dead and someone else killed her, but I feel like Gerard's story could be taken to amazing extremes and Occam's Razor would be a bit of a disappointment in this case. It would be pretty cool to be able to tie in the Nega/Shadow people to the main narrative through something other than Sasha, and Gerard is about as main narrative as it gets. Then again, my brain wants to make everything part of the main narrative; Like, what do vampires have to do anything? And the Russian circus? Is the witch/warlock lady who stole that dude's body parts with cardboard boxes connected to the Bone Turner's Tale shenanigans at all? What about the anatomy class? And the evil jar who terrorized/ate that poor gay couple? Does one of the spindly limb people live in there? I'm dying and we still have like four and a half seasons to go. |
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kea
Member of the Order of the Quill
Posts: 136
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Post by kea on Apr 13, 2017 5:19:56 GMT
I've always felt like Gerard ain't a bad egg - I'm half expecting him to have been framed for his mother's "death". I'm not sure what I think about that yet, honestly. Like, first, which Mary Keay is the real one-- The one we met or the one that was already dead? And then you have to figure out whether Gerard actually killed whichever one it was... Like, I feel the two more interesting stories are that, yes, the dead one was a monster and either Gerard took the fall or actually killed it. The alternative is that his mom really did die, and Gerard really did kill her because she was awful, and the Mary we met is some kind of remnant or a benevolent being "hiding" as Mary. I mean, it could just be his mom is dead and someone else killed her, but I feel like Gerard's story could be taken to amazing extremes and Occam's Razor would be a bit of a disappointment in this case. It would be pretty cool to be able to tie in the Nega/Shadow people to the main narrative through something other than Sasha, and Gerard is about as main narrative as it gets. Then again, my brain wants to make everything part of the main narrative; Like, what do vampires have to do anything? And the Russian circus? Is the witch/warlock lady who stole that dude's body parts with cardboard boxes connected to the Bone Turner's Tale shenanigans at all? What about the anatomy class? And the evil jar who terrorized/ate that poor gay couple? Does one of the spindly limb people live in there? I'm dying and we still have like four and a half seasons to go. Part of me wonders whether Mary did that to herself. It'd be a hell of a thing, but amazing physical feats aren't uncommon in TMA.
One of the absolute and pure joys of this podcast is the sudden reappearance of various things I'd thought were one-offs (the anglerfish, for example). I'm really hoping for more on the Circus of the Unseen stuff!
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Post by cannonlongshot on Apr 13, 2017 8:31:48 GMT
I'm not sure what I think about that yet, honestly. Like, first, which Mary Keay is the real one-- The one we met or the one that was already dead? And then you have to figure out whether Gerard actually killed whichever one it was... Like, I feel the two more interesting stories are that, yes, the dead one was a monster and either Gerard took the fall or actually killed it. The alternative is that his mom really did die, and Gerard really did kill her because she was awful, and the Mary we met is some kind of remnant or a benevolent being "hiding" as Mary. I mean, it could just be his mom is dead and someone else killed her, but I feel like Gerard's story could be taken to amazing extremes and Occam's Razor would be a bit of a disappointment in this case. It would be pretty cool to be able to tie in the Nega/Shadow people to the main narrative through something other than Sasha, and Gerard is about as main narrative as it gets. Then again, my brain wants to make everything part of the main narrative; Like, what do vampires have to do anything? And the Russian circus? Is the witch/warlock lady who stole that dude's body parts with cardboard boxes connected to the Bone Turner's Tale shenanigans at all? What about the anatomy class? And the evil jar who terrorized/ate that poor gay couple? Does one of the spindly limb people live in there? I'm dying and we still have like four and a half seasons to go. I've said it before and I'll say it again - either all thinks are linked, or nothing is. The logical conclusions are that everything has its roots in some kind of singular source-of-paranormal-evil, or the world is so astonishingly complicated we don't understand the many ways that the natural law is broken. Either is terrifying, though I favour the latter in a sort of cosmic horror way. |
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