#MAG 27

[eldritchhorrorlesbian]

I Am Very Proud Of Myself Because Today I Listened To Three Whole TMA Episodes! (MAG 26, 27 and 28) Since School Will Kinda Fuck Up When I Will Be Able To! Yay Me!

[tmascrapbook]

Mag 27: a sturdy lock

[a-mag-meme-a-day]

meme for @a-mag-a-day Day 28

MAG 27 - A Sturdy Lock

oh, and its my birthday today as well!

[a-mag-a-day]

This episode is a good example when it comes to "analyzing" statements. At first glance, one might say he was being haunted by the Dark, because of the unknown thing lurking at his door. Possibly the Stranger? But eventually you realize it's not really about the atmosphere, or the scariest things in the episode. You have to think about what is scaring the statement giver. And this man is completely terrified of that fact that nobody believes him, that he might be insane, that he has to be put in a home. So this episode must be a manifestation of the Spiral.

Godd you're right on the money

[themagnustournament]

Round One Part Eight - Match 65

Monster Pig, finally! Against the other half of our legacy episode pair -- Will Paul McKenzie join his son in Round Two? Or will he be devoured by the monster pig?

MAG 103 - Cruelty Free | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

Statement of Dylan Anderson, regarding an unusual pig he acquired on his farm in New Zealand.

MAG 027 - A Sturdy Lock | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

Statement of Paul McKenzie, regarding repeated nocturnal intrusions into his home.

[somanyfuckedupiftruebooks]

Mag 27

Poor old Paul. So scared, alone and paranoid; a perfect offering for the Spiral. He really should have gotten that dog, maybe then the TMA Pet Safe Guarantee might have protected him.

Well that's fucking terrifying. Luckily I sleep with my bedroom door open so that my cat can come and go as she pleases. That will keep me safe?

Weirdly, reading this got me thinking about Jon in Season 4. Serving the Eye is almost easy compared to some of the Entities, especially if you're the Archivist. People walk into the Institute voluntarily and offer up their fear, and when they don't you have 200 years worth of old fear to tide yourself over with. Theoretically Jon barely has to do anything in order to serve his Patron. Meanwhile, check out whatever pre-Michael manifestation of the Spiral this is. Look at all the hassle he has to go through just to traumatise one isolated old man.

This is why you never call the fucking cops. ACAB.

It's a calling card of the Spiral to target victims that no one will believe, which makes it even more notable that Michael chose to approach Sasha, the most level-headed and reasonable of the Archival Assistants. It really does want them to think of it as their friend.

So I assumed that the Spiral was just making Paul think that there was something at the door, but not actually touching it. Hence the video surveillance showing nothing. I have a slightly different theory now, that I'll explain later.

For now let's focus on Paul getting so terrified of a face in the shadows that he deleted evidence and never tried again. It's no wonder the Spiral managed to scare him into a stroke.

Oh my god, this is so heartbreaking. I really wish he'd gotten himself a dog.

Aside from Sasha, Jon has never openly admitted to having an emotional connection with a statement-giver before. Maybe the job is 'making him sentimental' (as if he isn't the most emotionally driven man on the face of the Earth) or maybe being raised by his gran makes him more inclined towards sympathy for someone old and alone.

So yeah, in last relistens I have always just assumed that the Spiral was altering Paul's perception of reality to the point at which he basically hallucinated the entire thing. Now I have a similar, but alternate theory. The first time Paul experienced someone trying to get through a door into his bedroom, the room was completely dark because he couldn't turn the lights on without letting go of the handle. So what if the door wasn't his bedroom door, and the hall outside the door wasn't the hallway of his home? What if it was a doorway to the Spiral's corridors which just manifested in his home? That could explain why the door Paul was keeping closed had a lock on it, while the real door to his bedroom didn't. All of the subsequent times were just escalations of that first experience.

Another thing that I find interesting is that immediately following a close encounter with the Spiral, the very next genuine statement Jon finds is also about the Spiral. Nothing on Michael specifically, but I wonder if Jon has spent the past week or so worried over what happened to Sasha that his fledgling Eye powers helped him pull a statement that was a least tangentially related.

@a-mag-a-day

[generalb]

MAG 27 “a sturdy lock” review:

Gotta be honest It’s hard to keep my thoughts about this clear because my back is killing me atm. Can’t even breathe without feeling it yell. Must’ve pulled a back muscle wrong due to my continuous non-exercise. Anyways, statement begins.

This is a really tough one to figure whether that it was truly paranormal. Given the fact that the person was an old man, and that both there was no evidence(not to mention the only evidence he had was a creepy looking shadow) This really could go either way. Today’s name mention is one Sarah Carpenter, which I swear is important. She was a then member of the institute(this happened in 2003). Then again, it could be just that the name Sarah and carpenter have belonged to many important characters in many other pieces of media. Who knows. I rate this episode 5/10 imaginary locks, would haunt an old man again.

Statement ends.

[rainbowr0ses]

I’m sorry has it been discussed that Paul McKenzie from MAG 27 a sturdy lock most likely HAD an issue and his son, Marcus MacKenzie (from MAG 146),kinda- just- gaslighted Jon by saying “oh it’s nothing, he’s a silly old man lmao” Like- have people talked about this?

[insanearchivist]

I need to know why people have different perceptions of the world. Like why would a man believe there's a lock on a door he's used his whole life but no locks on the photo of that door????

Also Jon is starting to believe all those things are real nice

[lilies-and-laughing-gas]

Oh MAG 26 thank you for having some of the best and only SashaMichael interactions. For two people that barely talked I sure do love their dynamic alot. No i haven't forgotten the amazing quote that is "How would a melody describe its self when asked?" I just haven't gotten around to make a design for it.

Some more love out here for random episodes. I think A Sturdy Lock is super cleaver, throwing you off by coming right after a very obvious Spiral episode. Up until this point there hadn't been any right after another occurances (to my knowlege).

The first of many an episode that seem pretty standard, except for the most mind rockingly cool quote you've ever heard in your life. Its so random it didnt need to go that hard but it did and you respect it for doing so. For some reason alot of them come from either The Flesh or The Slaughter.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

[oh-tobeafrog]

My thoughts on how Jon compares to the statement giver in mag 27 (The Magnus Archives spoilers below)

First of all, Jon actually sympathizes with the statement giver. Season one Jon rarely, if ever, says that he wants to believe the statement giver out of a place of sympathy or perhaps pity. The divergence from his normal, season one, harshly skeptic reactions to most statements is notable.

Next, two of the statement giver’s most defining traits is his loneliness and paranoia.

Paranoia: Clearly, Jon’s season two arc defines his paranoia… I don’t think I need to say much more about that, other than how both Jon and the statement giver ended up being right to be paranoid. There really was an intruder in the statement giver’s house, and the presence of Not!Sasha and unrevealed motives of Elias were plenty to validate Jon’s feeling of paranoia.

Loneliness: Jon is just a generally lonely character. Or, if not “lonely,” then alone. He actively pushes away other members of the archives throughout seasons one and two, while other circumstances (such as being wanted by the police, being kidnapped, and traveling frequently) cause more isolation in season three. In season four, clearly Martin pushing him away and becoming part of the Lonely causes Jon to be lonely, too. (“Just-don’t-wait-too-long-okay.”)

Finally, the image—every night, struggling to hold the door shut and keep the monster out, all with blood on his hands.

Blood on his hands: … yeah it represents guilt. Jon blames himself for the deaths of those who surround him. Yeah. Thanks shakespeare (didnt he come up with that? lady macbeth?) Ok next

Occurs every night: could be parallel with Jon’s nightly recurring nightmares. Every single night, he struggles with the monster that grows within him, the Eye that knows all of him.

The door: Just as Jon describes his relationship with the Eye’s power as a door in his mind that leads to the ocean, the statement giver struggles every night to hold the door closed. Jon, dreaming as the Archivist every night, is trying to keep this otherness out. That idea of wrestling in the night to keep the door closed, to keep whatever horrible thing that is outside from opening the door, panicked and fighting in the dark with bloodied hands… like goddamn. Goddamn bro

Those are my thoughts. I probably pulled all this symbolism out of nothing but yknow. If anyone has any other thoughts about this please say bro I love this show so so so so much

[almaprincess66]

MAG 27's supplimental was the one that got me so much the first time listening.

Our dear Michael tormenting some poor old guy, nothing special. But there was no lock on the door!

First itme that spooked me. The second time tho... They sent Sarah Carpenter.

The Web lady just wanted to kill her so bad and I feel absolutely terrible about her. Poor girl! She did not get eaten by a hungry door, but it brings up a question.

Does the Distortion torment people or places? Can it do both? Are haunted houses sort of Spiral alligned?

[oaxleaf]

i've decided to join the tma relisten, so here we go - mag 27!

first off, i will say that very few of the statements scare me in any capacity. horror just doesn't really bite on me, no matter how much i like it (and believe me, i love tma). however, spiral statements are usually the ones that come closest, so this one does kind of freak me out. it doesn't help that i'm writing this in the dark near midnight.

anyways, let's get into it!

as someone who really doesn't like being alone for too long, especially at night, i do really sympathize with this man. the paranoia is real

getting robbed and stalked! another fear of mine

whilst i'm not really scared by the episode, per se, this scenario is fucking terrifying. standing alone in the dark, fighting an invisible threat? absolute nightmare

where did the blood even come from? do we ever get an explenation?

wow, the cops suck. what a surprise.

the spiral is, as we know, usually manifested in a fictional form, i.e. michael and helen, but here we have some other creature or thing. it could be michael, timeline-wise, but it doesn't seem like it

i remember marcus had a statement of his own, but i remember literally nothing about it, so that'll be fun to get to in, like, a hundred days

is he stupid for deleting the footage, the only piece of semi-evidence? yes. do i do the exact same thing whenever i see something wierd? yes. delete and ignore, folks

i do think jonny did a really good job expressing the desperation in this man's voice in the end parts of the statement, it very much sells the fear and need for anybody to believe you

that was a pretty short statement, but i think it did it's job really well. not many people seem to be as freaked out as i am by it

jon gradually and reluctantly letting down the skeptic act is so funny

sarah carpenter! she's one of my favorites of the 'super-minor-but-still-mentioned-several-times' characters

the fact that this man died without anybody ever believed him is both terrifying and really, really sad

i might just be stupid, but i don't get the 'no lock' part. i'm sure it's cool and scary. i don't understand it

overall, a good episode that people don't talk about nearly enough!

[a-mag-a-day]

Have I ever said that I love The Spiral? Cuz I do.

It do be sending folks into spirals

[marlasomething]

Oh pals...ep 27

WHAT A JOURNEY

It is not only how GENUINELLY SCARY this episode is on itself, but the fact that this episode is such a great companion to the previous one...

...the point of how scary It is to be facing a fake smile, a lie, not to be able to trust your reality IS so well portrayed by the almost friendly face of the Spiral on mag26 vs the sheer psycological torture of mag27

Just love it, absolutely

[themagnustournament]

Redemption Round 3 - Match 4

Reflection made it through RR2 with 141 votes, but is it able to beat out A Sturdy Lock's 149 RR2 votes and 181 Redemption votes so far?

MAG 156 - Reflection | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

Statement of Adelard Dekker, taken from a letter to Gertrude Robinson.

MAG 027 - A Sturdy Lock | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

Statement of Paul McKenzie, regarding repeated nocturnal intrusions into his home.