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beauty-and-passion · 5 months ago

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TMA - Chapters 101-110: Killing Jon is a national sport

Great news, everyone: we reached the 100th MAG and we’re officially in the second half of the TMA series!

We learned a lot until now, but there are still a ton of mysteries left, a Stranger to defeat, a ritual that will destroy the world, and a creepy puppet lady who (hopefully!) just wants to talk to Jon.

Let’s find out more.

<< Main Masterlist <- Previous post

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MAG 101 - Another Twist

Okay, I was expecting something to happen, but not this.

Nikola Orsinov is the best

I love how funny, cute and creepy she is. She’s a perfect package of fun - and the British accent makes her lady-like too, so she’s even more adorable.

Do you want proof of that?

Proof one:

She talks to Elias like a well-educated lady

The way she repeats “So, Elias, can I call you Elias?” is hilarious

Don’t worry, Nikola: maybe the other supernatural beings call Elias “The Eye”, but for a nice lady like you, I think he’ll gladly accept to be on a first-name basis.

She talks to Elias as if Jon is a toddler

Proof two:

But sure, of course my dear! Why search for a weird powerful skin everywhere, when you have a skin full of wet cat energy to use?

And also, why not kill Jon? This season is entirely dedicated to supernatural shit trying to kill Jon.

Proof three:

She disses Jon like a queen for his bad skincare routine.

If the Unknowing fails because of Jon’s bad skin, I will die laughing on the spot and TMA will automatically become best series ever.

Best Boyo is back for one reason and one reason only

And just when I asked myself if we would see a full skincare treatment, Michael appears. Finally, my boyo came back from… well, from wherever he was, I assume.

And why does he come back?

This is truly the season of supernatural shits trying to kill Jon! TMA is officially best series ever.

And what’s Michael’s reason?

He doesn’t want the Circus to win

He doesn’t want the Archives to win

He wants revenge for what Gertrude/the Archives/the Eye and his gang did to him

And speaking of this…

The Great Twisting

The Distortion and its acolytes tried to do a “Great Twisting” - which seems like what the Unknowing is for the Stranger.

It makes me wonder: is this a normal thing, for these supernatural entities, to try and “ascend” into our world through some sort of ritual? The Distortion tried through this Great Twisting, the Stranger is trying to do the same through the Unknowing: when will the Eye try to do the same? Did it already?

Gertrude’s plan and Michael’s role

Gertrude’s plan to stop this Great Twisting was simple yet effective: she forced the Distortion to incarnate. She gave it a physical body. And that made the entire ritual fall apart.

Makes sense. The Distortion is a force of the unknown, something unidentified: tying it to an identity, something clear, goes against its very essence, so it's understandable it would fail to "ascend" as Great Evil Godly Terror of Lies and Deceit and Unknown or whatever.

Now, I know Michael said that poor Michael Shelley (we finally got his full name!) was “disposable” and that’s why Gertrude sacrificed him… but honestly, I don’t think that.

Sure, Gertrude was probably ready to do anything to stop the Great Twisting and she was willing to sacrifice Michael Shelley. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t trust him.

If I were her and if I had to stop a powerful godly horror by giving it a physical body, I wouldn't pick someone just because he's "prepared" and "disposable". Even the most prepared guy could crumble and fail on a mission - or decide to not get the job done and run away. And disposable people are not a guarantee of success.

My main criteria would be to find someone I can trust. Someone I know won't mess things up. Someone who will follow my map to the end, do what he has to do and be strong enough to deal with the godly horror for years and years to come. Someone I can leave with the Distortion, knowing I can trust them with said god.

Becoming VS incarnating

It’s really interesting the difference in how the Distortion talks about the Great Twisting…

… vs how it’s like being incarnated:

Once again, it makes me wonder: is this what the Unknowing will be for the Stranger? A “joy of becoming”, something “crossing the threshold” into itself, as if the ritual is making the barrier between our world and theirs thinner? It’s fascinating to imagine how it would make an entity feel so good, so complete.

While speaking of incarnations, Jude, Michael Crew and even Jane Prentiss seemed to imply it was a great, marvelous feeling: they all talked about it as being finally complete.

But the Distortion describes it as something unpleasant. Could it be because the incarnation was being “forced” and not requested by the Distortion itself? After all, the Distortion wasn’t searching for Michael Shelley: it was Michael who went into it.

Micheal’s identity crisis

This backstory explains Michael’s confusion regarding his own identity much better, as well as why he keeps referring to himself as Michael, but also not as Michael. And it makes clearer why Helen resurfaces while Michael sinks in.

In a way, it kinda reminds me of a DID system, with personality states who are all part of a whole, but also moved by their own feelings and ideas. The Distortion seems to work the same way, even though the people inside it are not the ones they once were, but only shadows of them.

Speaking of Helen Richardson: when I checked MAG 47 to remember a bit about her, I noticed the first thing she did, was to draw a map. A fucking map of the Distortion she shows to Jon.

Could this be the reason why she managed to “resurface”? Because she also had a map, like Michael Shelley? That would be very cool.

Peter Lukas is back again

I knew these goddamn Lukas were always here, playing a role alongside the Eye and the Archives. Now we see another confirmation: Peter Lukas helped Gertrude against the Twisting.

Soooo… should we trust the guy? I don’t know, this family is too suspicious at this point.

The only one!

And finally, for the first time, a supernatural entity gives Jon a compliment.

After being told he’s a bad choice, he’s stupid, he’s rude and his skincare routine sucks, finally a supernatural entity tells him something nice.

Sure, it’s in between the “I’m going to kill you” discourse, but still counts.

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MAG 102 - Nesting Instinct

I can’t believe it: is Jon finally realizing Elias does nothing besides sitting on his lazy ass?

JON ACKNOWLEDGES ELIAS IS USELESS! The world is beautiful and I can’t stop laughing.

Ahahaha, he “overreacted”! He killed him live on tape and that’s what he considers “overreacting”! Oh my gosh, Elias, never change <3

But let’s put Elias being amazing on the side: we finally have more clues regarding the Unknowing! And it’s as fascinating as I hoped!

So, it’s a dance, with dancers and a “prima ballerina” (aka the “Danseuse Étoile”) which is our favorite creepy lady Nikola. This explains the skin too: of course, since it’s a ballet they’re staging, they need the right costumes and everyone should follow a specific role, do the right steps and keep the right position. I really want to see this ballet taking place and find out how Jon is going to stop it.

Ooookay, so Jon is getting omniscient superpowers. Which is good if you’re the Eye, but not so good if you still want to keep a semblance of humanity.

I said Elias appreciation time was over, but I lied: it’s always Elias appreciation time.

Also, bless Melanie for trying everything to kill the motherfucker. She has more balls than everyone else, I stan her. But I also stan Elias being alive and being a bitch, sorry Melanie.

So Jon calms her down, thus proving he’s now Elias’ bagman. They’re a weirdly powerful couple and I would love to see them together in action. But I also know that Elias loves sitting on his ass too much, to get up and be a man of action, so if they pair up together, I imagine Jon would be left on his own to deal with cosmic powers that want him dead. And since I don’t want him dead, it’s better if he’s paired with someone who can properly defend him.

But hey, I suppose my worries about his life will soon be over, because his cosmic, omniscient powers are growing even more. Now, he’s able to understand languages he never spoke before. I was just asking myself why this statement, when he revealed it was all written in French. Nice way to surprise the reader, Mr. Sims.

Okay, so the Hive (and its ilk) is part of the Filth. Gosh, I fear I will soon need a chart or a table of sorts, to put together every entity into their respective “family”. But I’m also scared to search for one now, because I don’t want to get any spoilers.

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MAG 103 - Cruelty Free

A statement about an evil, supernatural pig - possibly connected with the supernatural meat. But also not, because pigs can and will eat you, if you stand still a bit too long, supernatural or not.

And I’m pretty sure of that because my uncle has pigs. Luckily for him, his pigs have always been big cowards and run away as soon as they see a human getting closer to the pen. But considering how voraciously they eat and how easily they can break open fruits and vegetables, no matter how hard they are… yep, they would easily smash and crunch human flesh as if nothing.

So no, this statement isn’t much scary, but rather something that might happen anywhere, anytime.

Well, aside from the weirdly demonic possession that pushes you to open the cage and weird long gazes from a pig who wants to either kill you or become your bestie. I definitely didn’t expect the evil pig to snuggle with Mr. Anderson like a house cat. It was funny, though.

And right after that, we get a glimpse of how Jon’s omniscient powers are working (he knows Kurt Anderson will be useful) and especially how his “persuasion powers” are working.

I’ll admit it: it was pretty cool to see Jon release the wet cat energy, make his question and get the exact answer he wants. And yes, I know this shouldn’t be a good thing, because it only proves Jon is connecting to the Eye even more… but it’s so cool! He asked Kurt his darkest secret and used it to bribe him for those documents and he did it so well! Urgh, I know I should be scared for him, but the coolness is too much to ignore it.

Oh my, the best action couple is back! So Jon talks to Daisy in the tunnels beneath the Archives, because Elias won’t see them there. Why?

Oh my gosh, Elias does something in his life. He schedules. Schedules what, how much time he’s going to spend doing nothing, aside from watching everyone with his Eye powers?

Here it is, the constant of this season: everyone wants to kill Jon. If this man survives this season, he will survive everything.

Killing urges aside, Daisy will take care of things while Jon is away dealing with shit. My question is: why are you going away without telling anything to your colleagues, Jon? Hadn’t you realized you have to cooperate with them? Still trying to protect them from you and Elias, by keeping them away?

But I can also understand his choice: his colleagues all work there and if Elias can see and listen to everything, I don’t think there’s something that stops him from looking into their minds and simply knowing of Jon’s plan.

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MAG 104 - Sneak Preview

Oh my gosh, I was expecting Tim’s mental breakdown maybe, but not some of his background! And I wasn’t expecting to find out that Tim had a goddamn brother and he lost said brother to the Circus, because another evil clown stole his skin!

Again, this explains a lot: why Tim came to the Institute, why he knew about Robert Smirke’s architecture… and I’m afraid it tells us a lot about his future too:

If Tim had a “DEAD” sign on his head before, now the sign is flashing too. Tim is basically dead. RIP Tim, it has been a pleasure and an honor to know you.

But before dying, there is something Tim must still do, which is a wonderful back-and-forth with Elias:

I love Elias, but I love Tim too. He got my heart with the “statement of Joooe Spooky” from season 1, he still gets my heart with sarcasm.

And Elias tells Tim to stay away from the Unknowing. Uhm… very evil, I guess? I mean, he has eeeevil plans, but he’s also trying to save Tim’s life and ignore he’s already dead.

I think it just confirms Elias is the best.

But Tim doesn’t care: he knows he will die, so he’s trying to find a way to die, somehow:

It’s very sad I asked Elias the same thing two posts ago. But I suppose this just confirms my darkest fear: Tim will die. Maybe not because Elias will bash his head with a pipe, but he will. His days are numbered. And if he won’t die because of Elias, he will die by getting his revenge on the Circus.

And you know what? I would be okay with that. Because that would make Tim happy and if Tim is happy, I’m happy too.

Also, he will finally be able to rest and he deserves it.

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MAG 105 - Total War

Okay, so despite the promising title, this was an useless statement.

Sure, the imagery of the wandering soldier, followed by an army of dead people who keep killing everyone around him, while he waits for them to finally kill him too is interesting. But, again, it’s useless for the plot.

And I know Jon acknowledged it too, just like I know we needed him to go to the Pu Songling Research Centre because the author wanted to:

show us how far Jon is going, while following Gertrude’s steps

show us his powers are growing, because now he can understand all languages

casually tell us Gerard Keay is alive?

I mean:

"I’ve chased dead end to dead end until I finally give up. I-I mean, what am I actually looking for? Gerard Keay, after he faked his death? Some long confession he left tucked away in a library somewhere, telling me the ancient chant I need to stop the Unknowing from coming to pass?"

Sure, this may be just Jon making assumptions, rather than him using his powers of absolute knowledge to reveal that my man Gerard didn’t die of a brain tumor, but he’s still alive and well. I know all of that.

However, I still cannot understand why Mr. Sims (the author, I mean) wasted one statement like this. This isn’t the first time he has done that and he did it waaaaay more in the first two seasons. But why is he still doing it? It’s weird, coming from someone with such a big attention to detail.

My possible explanations are always the same:

he liked this idea and didn’t want to discard it

he needed some fillers to reach the number of 120 episodes for season 3

this statement is somehow useful?

Even though I really doubt the third point is correct, because there have been some statements in seasons 1 and 2 that have been completely useless. Unless they all reconnect somehow by the end of the series, I doubt we will remember or consider them anymore.

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MAG 106 - A Matter of Perspective

And just when I was ready to talk about space and solitude and this humongous creature that makes me think hey, maybe that’s the Vast… I get hit by a train of things happening all together.

Let’s start from the statement: Jan Kilbride was a familiar name, in fact Gertrude mentioned him in MAG 99. What happened to this guy? Well, aside from the weird space thing.

And speaking of that… since he talked about “existential vertigo” I felt the Vast was involved. Then “Mr. Fairchild” was mentioned and that only confirmed that yes, this is the Vast.

Mr. Fairchild chose this guy by referring to his psychiatric profile? Now I’m 200% sure there is a supernatural entity involved, this is the Vast and Mr. Fairchild was probably trying to find a new avatar for it. I mean, fucking Elias did the exact same thing and every other evil mastermind like him picks the right people by checking their psychiatric/psychological profiles.

So poor Jan Kilbride experienced the Vast the same terrifying way Robert did in MAG 21. Luckily for him, he wasn’t eaten by the universe like Robert was eaten by the sky, but it was pure luck, probably. Or maybe the universe returned to claim him, since Melanie couldn’t find anything about him and Gertrude mentioned him.

And just when I thought this was all, we got the best parts of the episode:

1) Gossip time

So let me get this straight: Martin’s crush is so obvious even the newcomers realized it 20 seconds after he introduced himself?

And they’re casually discussing Jon’s virginity like this? I am dying, please send help.

And then, as if the juicy gossip wasn’t enough, Melanie reveals Jon and Georgie used to date in the past?! So Georgie isn’t just a friend, she’s Jon’s ex! I hope Martin doesn’t know Jon hid at his ex’s house, or he would probably find a way to send another supernatural shit after her.

Don’t look at me like that: Martin is a cinnamon roll, but he’s also fucked up enough to do it.

Anyway, glad to know Jon and Martin are the canon couple. They’re not yet, sure, but it’s a matter of time. Sooner or later, these two will end up together and I can’t wait for it. I just hope Martin won’t kill Jon’s ex in the meantime.

2) Elias’ performance review

Elias pretends to do his job: that’s hilarious just like that.

But hey, once in a while, even Elias does something, so why not do Melanie’s performance review?

He asks Melanie how she find her job - aside from “being forced to stay here, trapped by a psychopath”. So it’s basically like every other job, I suppose she doesn’t have much else to say.

Melanie tells Elias he “sat up here lurking”, which is just a nicer way to say “You sit on your ass 24/7 doing absolutely nothing”. Glad to know everyone is acknowledging Elias’ uselessness, I said it since season 1.

In pure Pinky and the Brain style, Melanie does the same thing she does every night, which is plotting Elias’ demise.

MELANIE TOO CHALLENGES ELIAS TO KILL HER! Oh my god, what’s with all those characters and death wishes? Stop asking to get killed!

Ivy Meadows from MAG 36! Glad to see all characters are reconnecting to some places and/or previous statements!

So Melanie’s father died there, killed by that thing inside (the Filth?). And since Elias is a good boss and a caring guy, he wants Melanie to know the truth, so he fucking shows her the horrible way her father died.

And he threatens her to haunt her forever with that knowledge, if she doesn’t stop interfering.

Now, I know I said Melanie must be protected at all costs… but come on, this guy is an absolute bitch, how can I not stan him? Just look at this smug bastard, how he goes from being terrifying, to pretending to care with the “Oh take your time, take the day off even!”, to a hint of a devious smile when he says her performance “has been... satisfactory”. Fuck you Elias, I hate you and I love you.

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MAG 107 - Third Degree

Ah, so Gertrude was arrested right after Gerard’s death, because she was caught in the morgue “over the body of Gerard Keay, reading from a large, strangely shaped book”.

Well, glad to know my man Gerard is alive and well. The rebel boy of my heart will come back, I still cannot believe it <3

Also, all my previous points regarding the useless statements have been thrown out of the window, because Mr. Sims found a perfect way to put them in. They’re still filler, sure, but now their presence makes sense: Jon needs them. Physically.

However, why does he need one, now? I mean, he’s doing research and he’s already getting stories from people, while retracing Gertrude’s steps. Maybe those stories aren’t big and satisfactory enough for his new Eye powers?

The statement per se, despite being useless, is also very creepy. Is the police officer an avatar of the Flame? In that case, it makes the whole interrogation even better because it would be the first time (since Michael’s conversation with Sasha) that a supernatural entity in its purest form talks with a human (Jon is not exactly a human anymore) - and even asks “Who am I?”, by knowing the human knows too. Very cool, very creepy, love it.

But also: is that police officer the same Max Mustermann we meet later on? Can Elias see the future now? I won’t be too surprised, considering the clever, cunning bitch he is.

And speaking of him: Jon ran away, he’s going all over the world in his research, saying almost nothing to not let others know where he is… and Elias casually sends him an envelope to his last location, with a statement to give him to "eat". How can I not love this guy.

Okay, Julia Montauk was NOT on my bingo card and Trevor Herbert even less. But oh gosh, it has been amazing to see them again!

First, she casually kidnaps Jon because why not - and hey, at least it loks like she doesn’t want to kill him.

Then, Mustermann is back and as soon as I read the name, I knew I’ve heard it before - and I was right! It was the placeholder name for unidentifiable men! The same from MAG 34! Back then it was for a woman (Erika Mustermann), while now it’s for a man, but still. Pretty cool comeback.

And I’m really happy to see Trevor Herbert again, he was such a cool guy! I’m very pleased to see two secondary characters cooperating. Until now, all the people who came with statements barely served any other purpose, aside from “people who have a story”. So seeing two of them being present, doing stuff and knowing each other is pretty cool. It makes the whole TMA world feel more alive.

I’m hyped now, I want to see what they’ll do together.

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MAG 108 - Monologue

So, a statement about an actor who loves monologuing and is haunted by a creepy theater mask which is actually nothing physical aside from an image of the solitude he’s surrounded by and can’t escape from.

I’m still not sure which kind of supernatural shit is this, but it reminds me of how isolated Martin felt at the beginning of this season, which is not a very good sign.

Even worse, right after that, Peter Lukas casually enters the room and has a chat with Martin and what the fuck is happening here.

PETER: Ah, I see. I'm sorry to have disturbed you. It’s one of Elias’ little jokes. (...) PETER: Did he suggest you record a statement today? One that mentioned me? (...) PETER: Right. I have a meeting with him today. He suggested ... I’m sure he’s watching from his office, grinning from ear to ear.

Ah, now I get it: it was all because Elias was getting bored. Why not scare the shit out of his own employees, by sending his friend to collect complaints and suggestions? Sure, of course, that’s the most sensible thing anyone would do.

So Peter Lukas is:

friendly vibes

a weird supernatural shit by his own admission

Elias’ bestie

the umpteenth person to acknowledge Elias does nothing all day (“Elias Bouchard getting his hands dirty. Well, well, it must be the end times.”)

the Archives’ complaints department

Elias’ boss apparently, considering he can scold the bitch for wasting each other’s time

So if we associate the story with the guy… I don’t know, it looks like he can create “pockets” of solitude in which he can trap people. Maybe that’s what he did to Brian on MAG 100 too and the fog was another supernatural shit.

There’s still so much to know about these Lukas and this Peter is interesting. I want to know more about him - even though I fear him a bit too: if Elias told the others to not interfere with this family, there should be a very valid reason.

But also: they’re besties. So… I don’t know, I think I want to see them interacting.

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MAG 109 - Nightfall

A good backstory, we needed it.

Or more like… a connection story? As Jon said, when we left Julia Montauk and Trevor Herbert, they were doing completely different things. And yes, I forgot he was supposed to die. But can you blame me? No one really dies in this series.

Well, except the few who dies. And the people killed by Elias. The man may be lazy, but when it’s killing time, at least he makes it sure the people stay dead.

So Trevor was following a guy he thought was a vampire, but it came out he was one of the guys related to Julia’s story. The closed eye symbol is connected to the People's Church of the Divine Host, right? And Basira was reading something about it in the previous statement. Something regarding:

an eclipse on Ny-Ålesund

the relationship between Edmond Halley and John Flamsteed

which I thought were not important, but now I suppose they will be. Also because I thought these people were all somehow related to the supernatural shit with eyes aka the Eye. Will these people come back too?

Mustermann was involved in the Unknowing? Well, it makes sense: he’s an unidentified person, of course he’s in cahoots with the Stranger and the unknown. What will they do, then? Will Jon interrogate him? Will he find out more? Will we finally meet Gerard?

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MAG 110 - Creature Feature

A statement about a director obsessed with a non-existent film regarding a huge man-eating spider, who casually finds the book this supposed movie is based on.

Yes, I was sure it was a Leitner the exact moment he said it.

Oh my gosh Martin, I love you you huge dork <3 but also Basira is right and wrong at the same time: sure, standing with a cup of tea does nothing really useful… but let’s not forget Martin is the same guy who found out how to kill worms with a corkscrew, so maybe it’s better when he cares rather than when he leans into insanity.

Also, I wonder if we will keep this alternating between Jon and Martin throughout the next episodes. It’s entertaining to see both sides: the Archivist dealing with random shits related to the Unknowing, while the Archives deal with Elias.

And I cannot believe it, but we have an explanation regarding Elias’ lazy ass. We have a fucking explanation about why Elias does nothing all day.

They’re telling me Elias did absolutely nothing for two seasons and spends his time sitting on his ass 24/7… because he’s busy listening and watching everywhere? He can literally do nothing, otherwise he won’t know what’s happening?

That’s surprisingly clever and I’m angry it makes so much sense: this goddamn fucker literally cannot work or he won’t feed his supernatural powers! I hate him and I love him.

And yes, I will keep using his laziness to make fun of him anyway. It's too funny.

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In conclusion

Every episode gives me a more valid reason to stan Elias and hate him at the same time. Now there’s apparently a way to get past him and I cannot wait to see what the gang will do. I’m excited ✨

But I’m even more excited to see the possible Jon-Gerard meeting. My man is alive, the rebel boy, the one who beat the shit out of Leitner: he’s alive and I can’t wait to see him again.

The next ten episodes will also be the last of this season and I’m both scared and hyped to see how it will end: how will the gang stop the Unknowing? Will Tim get his revenge and die heroically or will he survive despite the “DEAD” sign flashing on his head? Will Elias be a huge bitch once again? Will Melanie finally find a way to kill him? Will we see more of Peter “good vibes” Lukas? Will Jon come back from his world tour? Will Martin confess his feelings (as if no one already knows about them)?

We’ll find out next week. Until now, take care of yourself <3

-> Next post

(How about a coffee? ☕)

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#the magnus archives #tma #tma podcast #magnus archives #jonathan sims #elias bouchard #martin blackwood #tim stoker #melanie king #basira hussain #daisy tonner #michael #michael shelley #peter lukas

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ollieofthebeholder · 3 months ago

Text

And If Thou Wilt, Forget: a TMA fanfic

Read from the beginning on Tumblr || AO3 || My Website

Chapter 54: Be it flood or blood the path that's trod

[CLICK]

[FOOTSTEPS STRIDING VERY VAST ACROSS THE FLOOR]

[TWO SETS OF HURRIED FOOTSTEPS CATCHING UP]

MARTIN

W-wait—Tim, wait, you don’t—

MELANIE

Slow down, Jesus!

TIM

(Sharp inhale) No, no, no, no, no…

MARTIN

—you don’t know where—

[FAINT GROWLING BEGINS, GRADUALLY GETTING LOUDER]

[STATIC ALSO BEGINS BUILDING]

MARTIN

Wait, that’s—how did you—

MELANIE/MARTIN

Occupational hazard.

MELANIE

Is he—growling?

MARTIN

Sn—snarling, I think…

ROSIE

(Shocked) Tim?

[DOOR BANGS AGAINST THE WALL AS IT IS FLUNG OPEN]

[ROSIE SCREAMS]

TIM

You.

JON

Tim?

BASIRA

(Not quite under her breath) Did you have to bring him in?

TIM

I told you to stay away from him.

DAISY

You said not to harm a hair on his head. Neck’s not part of the head.

TIM

You want to split hairs? Let’s split hairs. Do you think I can’t see what you were trying to do?

DAISY

On my turf, farm dog. Not yours. You’ve got no jurisdiction out there.

TIM

Whose turf are we on now, bitch?

ELIAS

If you two are planning to fight to the death, would you kindly do it somewhere other than my office?

TIM/DAISY

Shut up.

BASIRA

(Sounding a little scared) Daisy.

JON

Tim, please. Not now.

[GROWLING AND STATIC BOTH DROP AWAY SLOWLY]

MARTIN

Wh—what the—will someone please tell me what’s going on?

MELANIE

Um, yeah, same question, please.

JON

Elias here was just about to confess to his crimes.

MARTIN

What?

MELANIE

Oh. Good?

TIM

All of them, or just the current top ten?

ELIAS

Yes, I was just saying to Jon, it’s very important to me that you understand that no action I have taken has been controlled. I have done everything because I wished to.

TIM

Is that because you want credit for whatever it is, or because Jon tried to force you to tell him and you’re bragging about being more powerful than he is?

DAISY

Get to the point.

ELIAS

(Sighs) Of course. So. For the avoidance of any doubt. I killed Gertrude Robinson because she intended to destroy the Archives—

TIM

What?!

ELIAS

Yes, that was almost certainly her reason for detaining you on the last leg of your trip. She didn’t want you anywhere near the Institute when she destroyed them.

TIM

That is not my concern right now and you fucking know it. Sir.

ELIAS

I highly suggest you listen to the rest before you do anything rash, Tim.

(Clears his throat) As I was saying. I killed Gertrude Robinson because she intended to destroy the Archives. And I killed Jurgen Leitner because he was…an unnecessary complication. Likely to tell Jon too much too early.

MELANIE

Bloody hell!

MARTIN

So—so—s-sorry, that guy was Jurgen Leitner?

ELIAS

It was.

BASIRA

Daisy, where do I know that name from?

DAISY

Oh, the Yousuf case. An Introduction to Higher Anatomy.

BASIRA

Ah—oh, God! And you killed him? You sure we shouldn’t be giving him a medal?

JON

Very sure.

TIM

And what about me?

ELIAS

What about you, Tim?

TIM

Don’t give me that crap. I worked with Gertrude Robinson. She sent me traveling all over the place, and it wasn’t for cranks and bullshitters. You didn’t think I would tell Jon too much too early? If I’d gotten back in town any sooner than I did, would you have shot me too?

ELIAS

Tim, if I wanted you dead, I could have done it at any time.

TIM

You crack-brained slave driver, I’d like to see you try.

MELANIE

And Sasha? Did you kill her, too? Or…the other one?

JON

Sasha—the, the one you remember—died almost a year ago, Melanie.

MELANIE

What?

JON

When Prentiss attacked, something…replaced her. The Sasha we’ve been talking to since then is—y-you were right. I still don’t know how it did it, but—

MARTIN

So that—that thing I saw…?

ELIAS

Precisely. It tried to kill Jon. Then Leitner killed it—

TIM

The fuck he did.

ELIAS

…I’m sorry?

TIM

He might have stopped it, or trapped it, but it’s still down there. I’ve been down in those tunnels. I tell you, I know. I can sense it.

Not that we can ask Leitner that, since you killed him.

ELIAS

…

Yes, well, I believe that brings us up to date. More or less.

JON

What about Michael?

ELIAS

What about him? An irritant. Interfering because he’s bored, and because he resents us. He has no purpose—

DAISY

Right, good enough for me. Even got it on tape.

Everyone get back.

[DAISY DRAWS HER GUN]

MARTIN

What?

BASIRA

Daisy, wait.

DAISY

Out the way.

MELANIE

Now, hang, hang on, I thought you were about to arrest him!

DAISY

Get out the way!

TIM

Excuse me, but if this is anyone’s job, it’s mine.

[INTERCOM BUZZES]

DAISY

Don’t.

ELIAS

Excuse me.

[BEEP AS ELIAS ANSWERS THE INTERCOM]

Yes?

ROSIE (INTERCOM)

Elias, there are some police officers here to see you?

ELIAS

Ah, yes, thank you, Rosie. Will you ask them to wait for a minute or two?

ROSIE (INTERCOM)

…Will do.

[CLICK OF INTERCOM BEING RELEASED]

ELIAS

There. That should make it even easier for you, right, Detective? I know you were planning to kill me, but surely an arrest is a consolation prize?

BASIRA

Daisy?

ELIAS

Oh, didn’t she tell you why she hadn’t gone back into the station?

Allow me. She rightly suspected that I held evidence of various murders that she had committed, and that I had sent that information to her superiors.

TIM

Which you did. Whether you found that evidence or…created it, it’s immaterial. You had it, something tangible you could show the cops, and you sent it to them. Maybe the cops don’t care about the killing so much, but they definitely care about the proof. And you can sit here all smug and satisfied and pretend to whoever you want that you did it in the public good, just like she did, but we all know the truth, don’t we, boss?

MARTIN

Uh—do we? I mean…what truth is that?

TIM

That it was never about getting a dangerous killer off the streets. It was never about anything but getting what you wanted.

It’s about control.

DAISY

So what? So I kill you, and go to jail. I’ll take that deal.

ELIAS

Tim, since you’re the expert in the situation all of a sudden, would you care to explain?

[SNARLING]

TIM

You think you’re the only police officer eager to do violence and call it justice? Plenty of others out there, and some of them are Sectioned.

The cops didn’t just show up on a whim. Not to this place. Someone had to call them, and they wouldn’t have got here fast either. They were prewarned, probably by him. And if he told them you would be here…others have their favored dens and lonely places, and they know your movements well enough to contain you long enough to put you down.

BASIRA

They wouldn’t do that.

DAISY

…They would.

ELIAS

And anyone close enough to be implicated. They will kill Basira.

MARTIN

Okay, wai-wai-wai-wait, that’s the police you’re talking about! Okay, they…they wouldn’t…would they?

DAISY

I’m sorry, Basira.

BASIRA

Yeah.

ELIAS

If the officers down there take you…oh, but perhaps I was wrong when I called them. Maybe it was a false alarm.

TIM

And there it is.

DAISY

What do you want?

ELIAS

Collateral.

[A PIECE OF PAPER SLIDES ACROSS A TABLE]

DAISY

What is that?

ELIAS

An employment contract. For Basira.

BASIRA

Uh?

TIM

For which department?

JON

Oh, no…

ELIAS

Sign it, and I’ll send your ex-colleagues on their way.

DAISY

Basira, I…

TIM

No, don’t.

BASIRA

There.

JON

Oh, damn it.

ELIAS

Hmm.

[PRESS OF THE INTERCOM BUTTON]

False alarm, Rosie. Could you apologize to the officers for me, and thank them for their time.

ROSIE (INTERCOM)

…Oh. Um, all right…

[CLICK OF INTERCOM BUTTON SHUTTING OFF]

DAISY

So, what, you’re her boss now? Is that supposed to stop me?

ELIAS

Yes.

MELANIE

Um, why? She’s still got the gun.

ELIAS

Ah, of course. Sometimes I forget how new you are to all this.

Basira is now tied to the Institute. All of you are. Like fingers on a hand. And I am the beating heart of it. Should I, or the Institute, be destroyed, you will all, unfortunately, follow suit.

MELANIE

Wait, what?

ELIAS

And it would not be a pleasant death.

DAISY

Bullshit!

ELIAS

Then shoot me. Just squeeze the trigger, and watch the only person you care about die screaming in agony. Your last connection to humanity. Do it.

MARTIN

W-wait. Wait. Tim, you—you kn-know things, is…is that true? Is he telling the truth?

TIM

…

If you pull that trigger now, then…yes. Every single person in this room will die.

[LONG PAUSE]

[DAISY SLIDES HER GUN BACK INTO ITS HOLSTER]

DAISY

What do you want?

ELIAS

The police are not the only ones who can find use for your violence. I’m sure there’ll be plenty here for you to do. Feel free to go where you like in the meantime. I’ll be in touch.

DAISY

You piece of—

BASIRA

Daisy, it’s okay. We’ll figure something out.

TIM

You didn’t answer my question. What department did you just contract Basira to?

ELIAS

You really need to ask, Tim?

TIM

Yes. Because there’s a crucial part of this…employment contract that you’ve left out, and I feel like she deserves to know that part of it, if it’s relevant.

ELIAS

I don’t actually think that’s your call, Tim.

TIM

Put it this way. If you did assign her to the Archives, I’m going to tell her anyway. If you didn’t, it’s irrelevant.

MELANIE

Am I missing something here?

TIM

I told you. An appointment to the Archives is an appointment for life. You cannot quit. Period. End of discussion. You can’t leave the Institute for more than a couple of days or you’ll start to get sick, either, unless you’re doing official work. It’s why I tried to stop you from signing on in the first place.

I don’t know what the rules are in other departments, except that you can transfer out of them. Never heard of an Archival Assistant transferring to a different department, not that I’ve been here long enough to have actually met other assistants before you lot came down. I’m pretty sure it’s not possible. So yeah, Basira, if you’ve just signed on as an Archival Assistant, welcome to the first day of the rest of your life.

DAISY

You son of a—

ELIAS

I would think, Detective, that you would be delighted by the protections that affords Basira.

A guaranteed job. You’ll certainly know where to find her at all times. And I would imagine it’s less dangerous than being a police officer.

BASIRA

Is it?

TIM

No.

MARTIN

Wait, what about the rest of us?

TIM

Martin, I’ve been telling you this since day one.

MARTIN

N-not, not that it was—some kind of, of blood contract or whatever!

TIM

Look me in the eye and tell me you would have believed me if I had.

MELANIE

This is insane!

TIM

You get used to it.

ELIAS

Now that’s taken care of, if you’ll all give Jon and me a moment alone. I’m sure we have more to discuss.

[FAINT GROWLING]

DAISY

Yeah.

MARTIN

Tim?

TIM

…

Coming.

[FOOTSTEPS SHUFFLING TOWARDS THE DOOR]

[DOOR SHUTTING]

MELANIE

Just like that? Heigh-ho and we’re all one big happy family?

TIM

Trust me, no one’s saying you have to like it, but that’s the way it is.

BASIRA

So, what now?

TIM

Presumably our eldritch overlord, whom I am only not calling Machiavellian because I’m pretty sure even Niccolò Machiavelli would think he took things a little too far, will hand your paperwork over to Rosie himself, so you’re spared that delightful interaction, at least. Expect a packet of onboarding paperwork to come your way later, though. You know, banking information, next of kin, blood type, allergy information, where do you have your most updated will on file…

BASIRA

(Unimpressed) Very funny.

MARTIN

Um…actually, that is all in the paperwork.

TIM

Martin, can you and Melanie take Basira down to the Archives and get her set up? Assign her a desk, get her some supplies, whatever she needs? I’ll be down in a minute.

MARTIN

Are you sure? I mean…shouldn’t we wait for Jon?

TIM

He’s safe enough for the moment.

Martin, I know I’ve given you precious little reason to lately, but I’m asking you to trust me. Please.

MARTIN

…Of course I trust you, Tim.

Come on.

[FOOTSTEPS HEADING DOWN THE STAIRS]

DAISY

So is this the part where we tear each other’s throats out without witnesses?

TIM

I don’t go for senseless, purposeless violence. Neither do you.

Besides, there’s a camera there…and there…and right up there. Hi, Fred!

DAISY

Fine. So what’s this all about?

TIM

I just want you to understand that she’s safe.

DAISY

…I don’t know what you’re talking about.

TIM

Yes, you do. You’re not stupid, and neither am I.

This place is a monument to fear, and primarily the fear of secrets exposed and hidden knowledge. And I don’t need any kind of powers to know why you gave me that look when Basira signed the contract. You think that now that she’s working here, with me, I’m going to use her to get back at you for what you clearly did to Jon.

DAISY

If you hurt her—

TIM

I won’t. I can’t.

That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Tonner. And honestly, that’s the other reason I wanted to hear Elias say out loud that she was part of the Archives now. You remember how I told you the Archives and everyone in it were under my protection? Yeah, that’s still true. And now, that includes Basira. Whether either of us wants that or not.

DAISY

I suppose this is where you tell me there’s a catch? You know, you won’t hurt her if I stay away from Sims?

TIM

I won’t hurt you if you stay away from Jon. Me protecting Basira, though? No. No catch. No qualifiers. No conditions. She’s part of the flock now and as such under my protection. I won’t hurt her, and I’ll defend her from anyone else who tries to hurt her, and if someone gets past me, I’ll avenge her.

You don’t have to thank me. I’m not doing it for you. It’s my job. I’m not telling you this because I expect gratitude or some kind of…reciprocal boon from you or whatever.

(Considers) Okay, maybe I’m telling you so that you don’t go after one of the others in a preemptive strike. But for the most part…don’t worry about Basira.

There are plenty of things that are going to want to kill her. But none of them are going to be me.

DAISY

Hm.

What would Bouchard do to me if I went after Sims again?

TIM

Probably kill Basira outright. Or try to.

I’d stand between him and her if he tried, but I can’t be everywhere. And he knows where she lives.

DAISY

And you don’t.

TIM

And I genuinely do not care. Where she goes when she’s off Institute property is her business.

Can’t even promise I’ll know if she’s safe when she’s not here. But as long as she’s on the grounds? Especially in the Archives? Anyone who wants to go after her has to come through me first.

If Jon had come back here and started living in the Archives, you wouldn’t have dared try to get at him there, would you?

DAISY

…

Just see that she’s all right.

TIM

She’ll be at least as all right as the rest of us are.

DAISY

That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement.

TIM

Can’t do anything about that.

DAISY

…Yeah. I guess not.

TIM

All right, then. Get out.

[CLICK]

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colourfulbookdragon · 4 months ago

Text

Spoilers for up to 151 of the magnus arechive

I keept needed to know more and ended up going through a lot of episodes

135 dark matter

The dark yay watch jon further burn his hand that had the handshake by touching the sun or something. also yay the last datulus one at least someone on that forsaken space ship knew what the hell was happening and bassira and Elias also the statment is deffinitly giving please is Jonah Magnus hints because they are extending the offer to all the long lived avatars and Elias + just referring to him as gerturds boss I will be so sad if I'm wrong but there is so much evidence that I will just Wright a fic if I am. I was somewhat right about Daisy, bu I was very wrong about Sasha.

136 puppeteer

It almost feels to say to assume that the therapist is part of the web but like she definitly is thought because the episode established both that the web likes to be tricky and that that have a working relationship whit the institute and I would be disappointed if they were for the eye so. The timing is to close.

Cerppy special effects dude is back maby she moved the rigging and he was working on the set or unable was just controlling him thought her own webs during the first statment with him

And I love Daisy and jon being friends . Yes, tell each other what you need to hear Daisy in a soft sense that she's still important and jon to quit feeling sorry for himself

137 the nemesis

Slaughter ritual gone, yay. I don't really have that many thoughts

138 the architect of fear

Smirk story: Yay, watch Elias being in a prison that connects to the institute and the tunnels so he can do the watchers crown. Also any doubt I had as to werether or not the eye ritual will happen has just been wiped it's deffinitly gonna happen also Elias/ Jonah deffinitly knows how to stop all of the rituals and he's just a fcking badtard he deffinitly knows relatively what they are and he dam well knows who put the information so they are able to be done better. Robert smirk knowing he cause the rituals and he can't control them is great just suffering the consequences of his own actions and trying to convince his dear friend to stop witch he will not do will jon find the tapes with enough time to do anything for Martin and do we get some happiness for them

What will happen when the watchers crown starts we now know it's where able and Elias will probably try to put it on but will it go to jon instead and will jon just be a helpless figure after it first starts or can he do anything to stop it will he want to stop it will the others get killed or the connection severed and they get to go free.

139 chosen

Agnes I think the combination factors causes her down all and no one allone whould have been enough alolthough we don't yet know what gertrude did but that hilltop road and coffee shop were all needed also jon was probably chosen because he was traumatized so young right?

140 the movement of the heavens

Get the ritual down and stopped please, without getting destroyed in the dark

141 doomed voyage

Non-consensual statment extraction: Would things be better or worse if jon knows why he's doing things

Wonder if it's called doomed voyage cause somethings gonna happen when they are gone to fuck everything up at home

142 scrutiny

Jon no quit steeling people fears at least when they come into the archive there's some base level or concent random people on boats or in coffee shops don't give concent. I know he can't help it, but at least try. Martin's just like, let me protect you without seeing you for protection, then being surprised when he doesn't know beforehand if going to do the dangerous shit Jon's going to do . If you were talking, u would know

143 heart of darkness

Hellen yay also love that just giving the eye /ceaseless watcher a direct view destroyed it like it makes so much sence and hellesn you say u feel like your gonna die alot like maby he keeps getting put in thous positions and has not yet reconciled with the fact that he is now verry difficult to kill

144 decrypted

I feel bad for rosie??? Idk if that her name Elias s assistant because peter sure is giving avatar bosses a bad rep with his shit poor Martin just having to deal with it also Martin be nice to daisy I've given up on everyone getting allong at the same time but like at least pretend to try she just wants to make up for her past

145 infectious doubts

Angnus also maby u just chose the wrong god like go gertrude also poor jon he is just getting no rest from the monster accusations

146 threshold

Jon, i don't want to be controlled or have my actions not be my own

Also, John, I kind of just assume it will turn on if it's important

Like the hypocrisy also intervention on eating people fears yay "just shut up jon "

He got the statement not just because of Hilltop Road but to inform him that being marked is inevitable and he can't stop it only to avoid until he can't right. They r going to get hurt, probably Daisy in the house.

147 weaver

Free will introspection poor jon he has to deal with the worst ever thing realising his actions are his own now what will he do from hear also I love Annabelle being able to lie is it because she wrote away from the institute at hill top road or is the web just like that tm. Jon is really just feeding the web the whole time with his fear "covering himself in the strings of conspiracy "

148 extended surveillance

You know jon being addicted to the statments should not come as a surprise cause we knew about the nicotine, so he is pre desposed to it in some degere, and he probably might get over it. i also forgot they xan get eye statments and was trying so hard to figure out a different answere avoiding the frear self cannibalism

149 concrete jungle

I don't tend to get scared from statments but dam did this one get me maby it's just the extinction that gets me because I am deffinitly terrified of what comes after being worst and us failing to fix our stuff leaving a bigger permanent scar on the planet. Also give marting friends and free him from the lonely don't let him go invisible and talk away the avatar static he needs people plus I'm fairly certain he will fail and it won't be his fault maby it will be Jon's maby it will just have been inevitable that he does also love how he's getting pissed at Georgie for not doing his job (helping jon be better)

150 cul-de-sac

Un lonely Martin, he deserves better. Also, poor Melanie, she better not actually be seeing a web therapist she also deserves better. Why not let everyone be happy and not trapped and forced into whatever Eliass plan is

151

Simon Fairchild, yay, un lonely Martin, if I keep asking, it will happen, but anyways don't kill him either cause he's the one I have pined as making it out of this alive and the best off. Melinie wants out to bad so it won't be her basirea and daisy are two tied together and have been stuck to long to get out well jon is in to deep and is probably gonna die in the last episode is some traumatic way with him being to much of a monster that he needs it eneded and wants it to happen at that point he allready has low enough self estimate for it just make him suffer a bit more and be the cause of something on accident and it will happen Martin needs to make it out or no one will.

#the magnus archives #liveblogging #tma liveblogging #johnathan sims #martin blackwood #simon fairchild #the extinction #the eye #watchers crown #daisy tonner #jonah magnus #elias bouchard #the dark #robert smirke #Martin will be the final girl

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raevenlywrites · 5 months ago

Text

Todays listen of the Magnus Archives starts with ep 116: the Show Must Go On and continues through 117: Testament, 118: Masquerade, 119: stranger and stranger, and finally 120: Eye Contact

The Show Must Go On

Oh fuck, Elias doing something active? Perish the thought

Oh. oh no. this is the stranger's ritual, isn't it? the turk is wearing the gorilla skin, the automata are the dancers and the birds are the choir

Okay. So... the Slaughter came to stop it, along with the Desolation? I'll admit it's hard to make much sense out of the nonsense of the ritual almost completed

"When the unknowing begins i don't want to be inside it" is there another option?

"An aspect of your becoming" becoming? that doesn't sound safe, sane, or consensual...

"so you have a backup" says basira, the one I actually think might be the best backup

"melaine's not coming either, I think she'll need you here" oh shit, are martin and melaine going to kill elias?

"bought it" well shit

Testament

ooooh like last will and. gotcha

(I do really love how all these titles make multiple kinds of sense. so jealous of their ability to title things XD)

oh shit they got gertrude AND leitner???! fuck

"How did I wind up having to save the world" fucking mood girl

Melaine! you're alive! I've been getting worried about you

well shit. I guess they're not trying to *kill* him. Doesn't meant melaine won't got for it anyways tho :P

man, it's a shame there's nothing out there feeding on anger, bc melaine would be an absolute *feast*

martin! my baby boy <3

(I do feel pretty confident I'd love him even without the tumblr of it all. he's a good bean)

bless! I love how aware martin is of what jon might think of him. it's cute

"I get to burn some stuff so that's cool" martin! what are you up to???

daisy wtf? XD

oooh, interesting that everyone else is talkign to jon but Tim has a massive hate on for us (or whatever in world listener there is)

wow. tim is really the most audience addressy/meta of them all. that's really interesting comign from such a joker to start with. i wonder how much of his arc was planned from the start

oh jon. i'm sorry. you have to burn it. you promised. this is an important moment about who you're going to be

jesus. is it literally hurting him to destroy knowledge? fuck

The Masquerade

Holy shit martin are you burning statements!!!! does that hurt elias like burning gerry hurt jon?

(I wonder if the ones he's choosing matters. hilltop road, smerk passages, monster pig, hrm)

"Turns out my suggestion is fire" XDXDXDXD

(the dark and teh swartzwald)

oh. oh god. a chorus of skinless moaning ...corpses? ick. so much ick.

oh martin :(

(this section is where I had to stop listening at work, btw. I got caught up in thinking about what Elias would show me and uh, yeah)

Oh shit! Did Daisy just shoot jon????? ...will it even matter? he's... becoming, whatever that means

Stranger and Stranger

Oh fuck, did Helen come rescue Jon into the spiral- oof, nope. That's not Helen, doesn't sound right. Doesn't sound like Nicola either though - and it CERTAINLY doesn't sound like fucking Tim >:(

oh shit. we definitely don't want whoever that is to have the detonator...

and that's NOT basira. ...honestly, if its anyone, it sounds like Breekon/Hope...

shit. okay. that's tim and basira, or at least that's their VA's

No, I think that one actually is basira. I stand by my idea that she's been in archivist training, whether on purpose or not

ooooh now THATS nicola!

oh no! and THATS gertrude- oh, right, they have her skin. oh no. which means leitner is probably just around the corner

(poor jonny sims, having to listen to his parents tell him he failed and he sucks XD)

damn. i wonder if basira has any experience with like, normal delusions (...are there normal delusions in this world? like, just normal, actual schizophrenia? or is it all supernatural?) anyways she's doing great. If I didn't know Jon survived to get to the Jon/Martin ending, I'd wonder if we weren't teeing up Basira to be the next Archivist

tim! you see jon? good job tim!!

Okay. So. Daisy is the Hunt, Basira is the Eye, Tim is... channeling something. Maybe all that time he spent studying Smerk? The Spiral isn't enjoying being Helen, Sarah is not enjoying this transition, and Nikola, wearing Gertrude and Leitner... just got blown up?

Eye Contact

These punnnnnns

"Statement of Elias Bouchard, regarding the dreams of Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, currently unresponsive. Details pulled directly from subject." ....well fuck me

Jon... oh jon, what happened to you?

"nowhere for him to awaken to" shit, did the world end? will the last two seasons be in a broken world?

...has he been cut off from the world, or the world cut off from the other fears?

ooooh, arresting him. I guess that makes sense

lukas? what is he doing here---- oh fuck. when he was asking martin about how elias was as a boss, was he *planning* a take over????

*sigh* of course elias planned it

whelp. that's season 3. doesnt' sound like the world ended, but doesn't sound like jon is okay. it sounds like he's exactly where elias thinks he needs to be, but who knows if that's a good thing or not *sigh*

so. elias is probably trying to usher in the Eye's ritual. Using jon, i'd guess. maybe jon is beholding the other fears so the eye can eat them. who knows.

this season was exhausting. good, bu exhausting. much more emotionally taxing than 1 or 2. I can't decide if I want to take another break or not. we'll see

#raevenly nonsense #rrtma #RaevReads #the magnus archives #tma season 3

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corens-relisten · 8 months ago

Text

MAG 80 The Librarian

Statement of Jurgen Leitner regarding his life and works. Recorded direct from subject 16th February 2017.

So theyre out of the tunnels. jon still has his pipe and jurgen is, well, here. alive. trapped the not!them. and he wants help.

youre quite like her, you know?

so jurgen was familiar with gertrude, it seems. and contrary to what the not!them said, he thinks that theyre similar.

so jurgen can control the tunnels to a certain extent by reading the artefacts/books. thats pretty neat (: he changed the tunnels for jon, but he's not the one who put the arrow pointing down. that was not!sasha.

LMAO I LOVE HOW PISSED JURGEN SOUNDS ABOUT CALLING "the dissapearance" A BOOK "hardly 12 pages..."

jurgen has always been hunted huh? by creatures and by vengeful people. such as gerry (': hes not the one who writes the books though. his library was just because he was foolish enough to think he could contain them.

so jon asks him to start from the beginning. and so he does. hes good at buying things, apparently. finding interesting objects and such. eventually someone tells him about a rumor of some books. and well there we go.

smirke seems deeply linked to all this, huh.

978 BOOKS?? DUDE THERE ARE THAT MANY WHAT

a few years later, he learns of people and creatures serving the fears. the hard way. people like michael seem to have attacked.

he fled with no books. and hes been hiding since.

LMAO NOT JON IMMEDIATELY CALLING HIM A FOOL-

awe gertrude was lonely. jon seems so dissapointed in her for having been friends with him. and awe she had 3 assistants as well. they all died...

so he teams up with her to find books and stuff.

OMG ENTITIES EXPLAINATION YIPPEE

so these Powers arent necessarily present in the world. its not quite different dimensions. theyre not evil, per say, they just exist.

so now that thats been explained, me guessing the Power of the statement is no longer a spoiler! :3

ELIAS KILLED GERTRUDE ACCORDING TO LEITNER AAA. HE KNEW SHE WAS GOING TO DESTROY THE ARCHIVES.

AAAAA ELIAS IS HEREE oh my god aaa

jurgen wanted files on the Stranger, entity seemingly related to the Not!Them, etc, to stop the Unknowing, some sort of ritual. elias decides he can without his help. he. FUCKING KILLS HIM. WITH A PIPE.

jon shows up from his smoke break and finds jurgen. ded.

I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE END BUT NO YIPPEE THERES TIM AND MARTIN

tim seems depressed as shit. he'll claim hes being reasonable but hes just pessimistic

EXCUSE ME WHAT NOO THEY THINK HE KILLED LEITNER AND THATS THE END OF THE EPISODEE

well have a better day that jurgen did!

#coren's relisten!#tma #the magnus archives

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shoggoth-the-bitch · 1 year ago

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Opening with Nikola immediately, I see. Why do this? Oh god.

"Needs to be near us." Breekon and Hope need the coffin near? That's interesting. Also worrying that the coffin is there at all.

Nikola makes me uncomfortable. I kinda love them... They've said "Can I call you Elias?" twice now. I'm not convinced they entirely know what's going on.

Did Jon just try to say "Fuck you?" I'm smiling way too much from this episode already.

Oh god, are they gonna- oh god, they are gonna skin him.

"Can I call you Elias?" Number three.

"Do you have a preferred brand of lotion." Oh my god. This should not be making me laugh so much.

Wait, is this the episode? It is! This where the animatic came from that got me into the show to begin with! Yes!

This one!

Jon, why do you sound more annoyed then you do afraid of this man saying he's gonna kill you? I guess when so many people are saying the exact same threat, it stops being scary after a while.

Okay, Michael or I suppose the Spiral is lies and deception. He has nothing to do with the Unknowing but he wants it to fail. Jon, fuck why he's here, ask what the Unknowing is. He doesn't want the Circus or the Archive to win?

Okay, I think I get it.

Theory before it's all said: Michael was Gertrude's assistant, he some how got taken by the Spiral, and the part of him that is still Michael resents the Archive he what happened to him. The Spiral doesn't want to be Michael anymore because it has made it's nature complicated but I suspect it can't get rid of him, for whatever reason. Okay, starting the video again.

Sure, Michael, give up a statement. I'm sure this will be very coherent and not at all filled with me going "WTF?!" constantly.

Michael Shelly... Oh, Michael here implying Gertrude is deceptive, that's interesting... what? She FEED him to the Spiral? Oh... Michael really cared about Gertrude and she used him for this.

"Is a thing evil when it simply obeys it's own nature?" That is an interesting question. A polar bear isn't evil just because it willing to hunt humans, it's just hungry. And near as I can tell, the Spiral and all these other entities, they also are just hungry in their own ways. So, maybe they aren't evil. Though that certainly doesn't make them good.

"He believed everything she told him..." Alright, me and Gertrude aren't friends anymore. But what is the Becoming, exactly?

"Okay." Jon is just giving up? I mean, I know he lives because there's like 200 episodes but...

What do you mean "It's loc-

Uh... is Michael dead? Oh, hi Helen... Yeah, I guess Michael is dead? If it could kill Michael whenever it wanted, why didn't it before? Or did it need someone to replace him? Which I guess it what Helen is for?

You're options are the door or being skinned, my guy. Make good choices.

Wait, is the Spiral cool? It's just... taking Jon home? That's pretty chill of it, given the Archive's history with it but alright.

Okay, hold up. It's entirely possibly I'm reading this all wrong but were these entities at some point just kinda vibing and Gertrude decided they all needed to be destroyed? Because that's what it sounds like to me. Like, I don't know what the Becoming is yet but it sounds like the Spiral was attempting to transition from being a thing that could never be into something that was and perhaps could even be defined. At it's very core, it sounds like these things simply wish to exist but they're so volatile that it's difficult to do so. Gertrude even wanted to destroy the Archive, the focal point of the Eye. Even though, as far as I can tell, it's only interest is to collect knowledge.

So did she just decide to go rogue and destroy all these monsters and that's why they're mobilizing like they are?

#the magnus archives #tma #live blogging #long post #episode 101

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lunaroceanic · 3 months ago

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Magnus Archives Liveblog, Part 9 - Episodes 86-92

Ep 86: yay Tim’s doing this one! He’s Super doom-and-gloom about Melanie working here. Which. Fair tbh. “You’re suspicious and resentful, right? Welcome aboard” lmaooo. HE WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT THE TWO SASHAS. Oh Tim…he’s really broken up about it. Alright Melanie’s doing it instead. Definitely to do with the Dark. EUGH THE SHEETS FUSED WITH HIS CORPSE?!?! Oh this is a TERRIBLE episode to listen to before going to bed. “The blanket never did anything” I would SIMPLY kill myself. Jon meets with Melanie and is gonna tell her everything!!!

Ep 87: Georgie’s getting more concerned about Jon. Gertrude episode! THIS GUY IS SO ME I’m like the least observant person ever. Like huh metallic smell and dark red liquid. Anyway back to plumbing djsjfkdhdjfj. Oh god that’s so horrifying though. They were gonna bring him to their boss, called I Do Not Know You. The forest burns down, no evidence of human remains. Gertrude is worried about why “this” is happening so soon, and she was recently attacked? Jude Perry, the Lightless Flame, Jude knows Agnes? Gertrude doesn’t want to confront Jude yet. OH NO JON HEARS THE CIRCUS MUSIC.

Ep 88: Basira’s here! Looking for Jon, worried that Daisy mentioned “operational discretion.” Oh no another Leitner. Oh he “dug” into a man oh boy. The calliope organ has gone missing. Oohhhhh joy.

Ep 89: Jon’s interviewing Jude! Lots of good stuff here about the Desolation, the Stranger, Jon as the Archivist and how it’s a favor to Elias to keep Jon alive. Not a lot of straight answers, though. “The audience is only safe when the story isn’t about them” aahhghhh. She’s giving him advice in the form of a statement. “Whatever form it takes, you have to feed it”. Jude “burnt out” and Agnes found her, with a bunch of Strangers. Jude fed the Desolation by destroying a coworker’s life, still keeps an eye on his son Desmond. Diversity win! This acolyte of a burning god is a lesbian! Jon doesn’t know what to “feed” the Eye. Buddy if you were smart you’d be wondering how not to feed it. Though I guess that would mean it would feed on you. Michael Crew! He has to shake her hand first though. Jon what did you expect skfkkskd.

Ep 90: Elias confronting Tim about his absences. Oh damn they really CAN’T leave. Elias advises he lose himself in his work to deal with it. Martin takes over recording—yeah Tim had the recorder turned on during that convo for a reason, bud. Ahh another Flesh episode featuring Jared—BODY HORROR TIME YIKES

Ep 91: Aaa Michael Crew! Oh he’s acting reeeally nonchalant and ignorant. UH? He’s got Jon locked in free fall while he gives his statement lol. The Lichtenberg figure stalked him throughout his life, sounds kind of Spiral-y? Oohh he was looking for different books to protect him from the lightning thing. “An arcing branch of the Twisting Deceit” so it WAS an agent of the Spiral!

His devotion to the Vast is so interesting—it seems like a lot of people become Avatars of whatever entity because they find both fear and thrill in whatever that entity represents. Or obsession, whether positive or negative. It also seems like these people are finding enjoyment in giving their statements, and I have a feeling they’re being compelled to because it’s Jon asking them—the Eye making people reveal hidden truths.

Jon is free lol. Daisy’s here and she’s not fucking around sjfjsj. Oh yeah the spiderweb lighter what’s up with that!! I don’t think he turned that recorder on himself. BASIRA’S HERE. “You don’t know what it’s like, to have your secrets pulled out like teeth just because he asked” I FUCKIGN KNEW IT!!! Omg they want to use him to pull information out of Elias. I get the feeling that won’t work.

Ep 92: ELIAS IS PREEMPTIVELY CALLING THE POLICE ON THEM LMAOOOOO. And now he’s reading a statement?? Another letter to Jonah Magnus. This guy has nobody he would miss, and is trapped in an empty world. Ah, the Lonely. Jonah just left him there omg??? Just because he was curious, he Had To Know. “You may believe yourself to have friends, confidantes, but all they are in the end is something for you to Watch, to Know, and ultimately to discard. This, at least, Gertrude understood.” JEEEEEZUS CHRIST MY DUDE. Martin is SO HAPPY Jon’s here lmaoooo. AHAHAHA HE CAN FEEL JON COMPELLING HIM I AM DELIGHTED. It’s “tingly” lol. Elias wants the others here to listen, and he wants everyone to understand that he’s done everything of his own free will thus far. “He killed [Leitner]…you sure we shouldn’t be giving him a medal?” WHJDJSJFJSJJF. Ohhh man they’re finding out about Sasha :( Michael is apparently an “irritant” interfering because he’s bored and resentful. Aaahhaha Elias is such a bastard, bringing up the blackmail against Daisy. Martin you’re killing me man “it’s the police! They wouldn’t…would they?” BUDDY. NOO HES BLACKMAILING BASIRA INTO WORKING AT THE INSTITUTE?? Jon’s little horrified “no…” is so sad omggg. They’re all tied to the Institute, like “fingers on a hand,” and Elias is the “beating heart of it.” AAAAAA. He calls Basira the only person Daisy cares about aaahhgggghhh. God this sucks for everybody involved. Elias congratulates Jon, tells him it’s his job to Experience the Horrors™️ and insists Jon did in fact choose this over and over again. The Stranges wants to remake reality into something closer to itself so it can manifest. Elias thinks if he told Jon how to stop the Unknowing, he would fail…the Known vs. the Unknown. Jon wonders if he’s even still human. God, Elias just gets his way and gets the last word no matter what, huh.

#tma #the magnus archives #tma liveblogging #lunar rambles

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witchhazelevesque · 11 days ago

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Okay, so I DID do that relisten of the Tova McHugh episode and damn… I'm guessing in Leo's case he's not doing it to keep himself alive but like, having to decide the deaths between other groups of people? But if it is the former, then that would also be super interesting how he could have gotten to that point since he's basically a martyr.

Either way, yes, I love the tie in of that Annabeth and Percy vs. Hazel and Frank choice, and there's a lot of nuance that's there (A&P were partially responsible too imo but that's another story). Also, sorry I've just become so obsessed with the Nemesis of Leo's character development in canon so thinking of how it's brought up here. Like, The End is inevitable, I think at one point it might have been Oliver Banks that was like, 'Terminus doesn't have to work like the other entities, everything will belong to it eventually', and that aligns with the way I think Leo would view Nemesis, like everything balances out in the end. (lol in The End TM) Plus that whole thing he told Hazel in HoH about the universe being a machine that mostly works itself out.

Ah, the catharsis of Leo being completely free from fire… and the tangibility that the TMA universe brings to his relationship with fire (would Hephaestus kind of be desolation adjacent? Like, do the fear entities care if their servants are mortal or not? Inch resting). Since the Desolation is so all consuming, I bet the entity would have been really angry to lose Leo, ala the Spiral chasing Mike Crew. Might manifest as pettiness between those avatars, I love workplace drama. Speaking of, I would LOVE to hear more about Nico's issues with the situation.

Also, the first sketch, that's a Spiral avatar, right? I didn't see mention of that in the post, so I'm very curious about that too.

I love this series of events for Hazel, especially since at least early in HoO part of what Hazel wanted was a normal life, like Agnes and her coffee with enough room for milk. There's something about the contrast of romantic relationship between that statement giver (I don't remember his name) and Hazel and Frank with the whole 'trusting you with my life that could end in fire' and the whole 'burning his face off with a kiss' situation. Gaea really would be the Web, the Mother, in this situation (I'm just remembering all the alternate names rn lol), and the Web and Desolation have beef, so that's a funny tie in.

Canonically, Hazel hates that the gods have power over her decisions and life so her being marked by the Web and targeted by The Eye and ending up embracing an aspect of what she was born to (death), dang, she's going through it. Reminds me of Daisy's comment calling Elias a 'weird little freak', I bet Hazel would be thinking much the same she's so over this shit.

Jonah just looking for Jon's replacement is SO funny. I also think it's a bit like that meme 'if this character had a gun' because Frank is kind of Slaughter/ Hunt adjacent imo so he could just like. Stab Jonah and if not kill him then at least pin him to a wall with a sword. He is definitely marked by The End from birth though, how poetic.

I'm a bit iffy on the details of how they destroy the archives/ tower(?) Jonah's body was in(?) in canon. I really need to do a full relisten, but it ended with fire, right? A lighter? I might be misremembering, but if Hazel and Leo had to set one more place on fire to stop all this, that would be interesting. If I'm way off base, then killing Jonah and bringing him to The End that he's been evading for centuries, would also be real satisfying.

Also, I don't think it fits into this timeline, but the idea of Hazel and Leo being reluctant, maybe fake-incompetent Desolation avatars/ Desobabies (that term still makes me grin) is hilarious. It reminds me of the would-be victims that escape avatars or entity traps by just… not going along with them. Like that guy who got out of a Spiral maze by remembering he was supposed to have dinner with his mother and she was making roast, or that lady that just fainted whenever weird stuff went down or that plumber that just Did Not pick up on the strangeness of the Stranger. I bet Hazel and Leo would have a string of not-actually-victims like that that they actually just let go unscathed.

I can't believe how much comedic potential there is in this horror tragedy series.

a concept. @witchhazelevesque i apologize for tagging you but you are my intended audience either way so under the cut goes & i reference your fics

tmafied pjo haunts me and i came to conclusions: leo's fire powers are obviously desolationedsque & KILLED HIS MUUM however, he'd suck so much at being a desolation avatar bro cant be cruel in that way!! he dies in a altruistic sacrifice which defies the pure idea of desolation(the word of god sorry guys)

he IS the end avatar of the tova mchugh variety, since he traded percy and annabeth's lives for frazel & nico, since he accepted nemesis' deal.

and wouldn't it be so crazy and insane if he by sacrificing himself ceased every connection with desolation(fireee) he had ... just like in cult valdangelo classic words frost once wrote (would go very good with jason dead because leo lives btw) & also nico has a lot of problems with leo and the whole avatar of the death thing

so yes desolation melted of leo when he ultimately died for others... which also happens to hazel !!

i think canonically desolation only manifests as fire, but hazels curse is soo desolation to me.the way it always dooms people(actually it can be explained as corruption but whatever) but hazel doesn't want to cause harm to anybody at all!! she also sucks at being a desolation avatar and canonically avatars cant be unwilling so i propose hazel levesque as being born into avatarhood(agnes montague style i think. maybe it does work better with corruption but i had a vision). i also think that she is marked by the web(gaia) and maybe the buried, and then she sacrifices herself for her mother, destroys her connections to the desolation and gets marked by the end.

they are both desobabies that are too nice to desobabies and have to DIE

so to answer a question why would frazeleo even share their stories to the eye id say jon dead(maybe daisy did kill him) before he gets marked by the vast?? so its fine & then jonah magnus sees the girl marked by the most entities... a fuckass american demigod in her twenties by that time

#man i'm late with this #side thoughts- i think piper would hate the eye since she's had to watch and deal with what fame does to people #annabeth being marked by the web like you mentioned in your tags...#in addition to the physical spiders thing i think there's something about being out maneuvered no matter how clever she is #and how much she strategizes and how exceptional she is at that that would truly drive her MAD. both her pride and like her agency #man that could get dark #frank being born to die and loving avatars of both involved entities... tragic #tma #hoo #leo valdez #hazel levesque #rb #not sure reyna would be targeted by the stranger but i think there's hints of that since she's always gving a performance and had to watch #her sister turn into different people to survive #her proverbial mask and all #oh yeah rachel would def be freaked out thinking she was prey to the sprial for a while before knowing the truth about the oracle #frank zhang #frazeleo

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dissolving-mansion · 3 years ago

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I love shipping Jon in the TMA fandom because his potential love interests are this:

Guy who was only marginally worse at his Job than Jon was at his own (because he let an animal into the archives). Whenever he sees something he doesn't like he embodies the "I do not see it" meme. Man who is against crime until he personally dislikes the person the crime is being committed against, then it's fine. Bonded with Jon via shared trauma. Thinks Jon is incapable of making his own decisions. Spent most of his life lonely and bitter and without any 0 external or supernatural causes for this. Makes nice tea tho.

Guy who hates Jon because hating Elias would be even more pointless. Was stalked by Jon. Went from expressing fair negative criticisms and Jon not listening to expressing unfair negative criticisms and Jon listening too much. Lost the people he cared about to the thing that eventually destroyed him. More qualified for archival work than the rest of the team and simply because his publishing career gave him the mystical ability to spot errors. Only interaction with cops was sleeping with them for information so he took one look at Jon and Basira and was like "getting a lot of sleeping with cops for information vibes here". Heartbreaking last line before he went on his kayaking trip.

Girl who tried to murder him even after he thought he had tried to talk her out of it. Spent like a year looking at him and thinking "prey". Knife. Was a cop. In the camp of "Jon shouldn't have an opinion, actually, he should shit up." Often held up in comparison to Jon to make him look bad but she just honestly wants to do better. Has traumatic things on common with Jon. Werewolf. Presumably hot tho.

Not-a-guy that has stabbed Jon. Gives good advice in extremely cryptic ways like some kind of fortune teller. Has the skin texture of leather, apparently. A liar but honest about it. Has saved Jon and company on multiple occasions but did so in the creepiest and most villainous ways possible. Wanted to kill Jon. Had revenge fantasies that only involved Jon because he was Alive and There. Also wanted to be Known by Jon, a factor that may have contributed to its death. Died for wanting something clearly and without deceit.

Man who is way more dramatic and evil than he pretends to be. Makes puns that are only funny weeks later when you finally get them. Owns evil contracts. Hired the two people he knew would be most incompetent at archival work for archival work. Gave Jon a bed?? When Jon is stressed he concludes that the solution is More Work. Thinks being human is overrated. So terrified of being a victim that he victimized literally everybody else. "Grinning freak". Lying liar man. Same sense of humor and communication style as Jon tho.

Goth who comes across like a protagonist. Burns cursed books. Could have esaily been a bad person but chose to be good instead. Loathes saving people but begrudgingly does it anyway. Spent his entire life following the orders of old women who scare people. A book appraiser who would be shocked and upset by Jonathan "I only ever read a book once" Sims. Deserves a nap. Unfortunately, he died before Jon could meet him.

Jon is suffering.

#tma #Jonathan sims #jonmartin #jondaisy #jonmichael #jonelias #jongerry #tma ships #tma spoilers #08 #chats 08 #08 tma #jontim

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ollieofthebeholder · 3 months ago

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Each Sunday, post six sentences from a writing project — published, submitted, in progress, for your cat — whatever.

ELIAS (Sighs) Of course. So. For the avoidance of any doubt. I killed Gertrude Robinson because she intended to destroy the Archives—

TIM What?!

ELIAS Yes, that was almost certainly her reason for detaining you on the last leg of your trip. She didn’t want you anywhere near the Institute when she destroyed them.

TIM That is not my concern right now and you fucking know it. Sir.

ELIAS I highly suggest you listen to the rest before you do anything rash, Tim.

#sunday six #the project that ao3 enabled #elias bouchard #tim stoker #technically I didn't write the first couple of sentences so this still only counts as six

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lycanlovingvampyre · 2 years ago

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MAG 166 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: cutting the Kolkwitzia amabilis in my garden.

MARTIN: "What happened back there? What you did to Sa–" [HE CUTS HIMSELF OFF.] [A PAUSE.] JON: "Go on. Say it." Oh no. Oh god, does Jon think that Martin thinks it was his fault that Sasha died?

HELEN: "Oh, goodness. You see what you’ve done to the poor boy, John? He’s coming to me for clear answers." Oh Helen really knows how to get under one's skin.

HELEN: (giggle) "It’s very satisfying though, isn’t it? Teasing out vague information? You see why Elias got a kick out of it." Oh fuuuck, and now she's comparing him to Elias? Jon really is straight up not having a good time..

TMA usually is super vague, but I'm actually happy we got an explanation how the smiting works. Does sound plausible, I’d say. But also, this explanation about there only being watcher and watched should have got Martin's gears to turn. They are not victims of a domain. So they have to be watchers.

MARTIN: "Sure. Okay, that’s – I mean, that’s really not that complicated, John; I don’t see why you were being so coy about it –" JON: (overlapping) "Because I’m ashamed, Martin." [SLIGHT PAUSE.] MARTIN: "Ashamed?!" JON: "Yes! Ashamed of the fact that I just – destroyed the world and have been rewarded for it, the fact that – I can walk safe through all this horror I’ve created like a… fucking tourist, destroying whoever I please. The fact that I… enjoyed it, and… the fact that there are so many others that I want to revenge myself on!" Why does everything in TMA feel so natural!! There is so much bad and boring writing out there, every time something very logical happens it makes me super excited xD So yap. It's super understandable that he's ashamed of all of this. Especially since we know how he actually feels about this revenging stuff. His anger says “do it!”, but his logic says “It’s not gonna do anything”..

MARTIN: "…No; No, I actually think you’re good on that front." JON: "What?" MARTIN: "Yeah, I, I, I think we should go for it, get our murder on!" Martin, when he only remotely tastes power xD

MARTIN: "f you want to stop them and have the power to, then – then, then yeah, let’s do it, let’s go full Kill Bill!" JON: "I – I, I haven’t seen it." Laughed so hard at this xD Of course he is deflecting.

HELEN: "Oh, Martin, I am so proud of you. Can I come?" JON & MARTIN: (in unison) "No." HELEN: "So that’s a strong “maybe” then?" Asgdsdfjkdf, Helen can also be so funny! One of those characters I hate and love!

MARTIN: "Do you need anything?" [JON EXHALES.] JON: "No." Love that Martin checks in with him there. He has been a bit dismissive of Jon's feelings about this whole situation.

Yeah, that statement does nothing to me, neither terror nor excitement. As far as I understand it, it's more about the financial part of the Buried. About the pressure of the society we live in, ever trapped in bullshit jobs with only ever a glint of the prospect of escape and there is no use in fighting others like us (that second worm part) cause if we win against them, we’re stuck exactly where we were before.

"The rains fall here as they do so many places in this new world. Thick and oily drops that taste of bitter salt, torrential tears plummeting from the watching sky, thumping and squelching onto the thirsty soil in which the worms writhe painfully towards a surface that does not want them." That is a gross image!

"How do you fight, when you cannot move beyond the slowest inching crawl, without limbs or weapons or the kinetic force of violence? You do it slowly, pressing, biting, tearing gradually through each other until at the very end, one of you is still." There is a very horrifying animatic of this part of the statement, it's called "The Worms (Magnus Archives Fan Animation)”.

JON: "God, I hate the Buried." Mh, he was there once...

That phone's got to be a Nokia 3310, right? XD It is the Nokia ringtone after all!

ANNABELLE: "He’s more powerful here than he’s ever been, isn’t he? And you’re not sure what that means for you." [THE BRIEFEST OF PAUSES. MARTIN INHALES SHAKILY.] MARTIN: "I’m hanging up now." ANNABELLE: "Does he even need you at all?" That part about "you're not sure what that means for you" is actually something I could relate to. Especially in a relationship this young and under extremely high stress levels. Shared trauma and being in the same life-threatening situation can create incredibly strong bonds. Being in that same boat. But how life-threatening is it actually for them? Aside from his guilt and post trauma, Jon is very much fine in this new world. Still, not sure what Annabelle wanted to achieve with this, she does mention it to have been "clumsy", so yeah.

[THE PREVIOUSLY-HOWLING THINGS IN THE BURIED – LIKELY THE WORMS FAR BELOW – HOWL AGAIN, INSISTENTLY.] MARTIN: "I know, right?" Adflkdhfs, this episode has some great comedy!

@a-mag-a-day

#a-mag-a-day #mag 166 #tma #tma spoilers

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anamaleth · 1 year ago

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Transcript:

ERIC I want you to find my son. If Mary is – if she’s gone, or worse, I want you to make sure he’s alright.

GERTRUDE (amused) Hm. I’m not exactly a mother figure.

ERIC You could hardly do worse than her.

GERTRUDE Fine. But I don’t know what growing up with Mary has done to him. If he’s… gone rotten, I can’t promise anything.

ERIC I understand.

GERTRUDE I suppose he might be useful.

ERIC (dry) Oh, sentimental as ever.

GERTRUDE Hm.

GERRY And in the end, it was Gertrude who saved me.

She came to me when I was desperate, nowhere to go, and she offered to help. I just had to make sure I took the book while my mum was fading, and brought it to her, and then she would free me.

I didn’t really believe her, I don’t think, but I did it anyway.

When she returned the book to me a week later, her pages burned and mangled, I think I actually cried with relief.

GERTRUDE Gerard may have a connection to the Eye, but I’m not convinced it would be enough. And I will admit I’ve grown… fond of the boy.

ARCHIVIST (Statement) And it was in that state that your associate found me. At the time I thought he was your son.

GERTRUDE Curiosity is a very dangerous trait in our line of work, Gerard.

GERRY So is ignorance.

[Gertrude laughs]

GERRY Can I use your wastepaper bin?

GERTRUDE Yes, it’s just –

Wait. Surely you didn’t bring it here!

GERRY Well, yeah, I, uh –

GERTRUDE Gerard, we’ve talked about this.

Bringing unvetted artefacts or books into the Archive is incredibly dangerous.

GERRY It’s locked away!

GERTRUDE And I’m sure the lock is very sturdy, but that doesn’t stop it being an unnecessary risk.

GERRY (softer) Yeah. I’m sorry.

GERTRUDE This is exactly the sort of thing that will get you killed!

GERRY I said I was sorry!

[Brief pause]

GERTRUDE Then we’ll say no more about it.

I don’t enjoy being hard on you, but I really would rather you stayed broadly intact.

GERRY I’m touched. You’re going soft in your old age.

GERTRUDE (heh) Well, you are occasionally useful. Despite your foolishness.

GERRY Flatterer.

GERTRUDE Heh. You can probably burn it in the back courtyard, if you’re careful.

GERRY Yeah, will do.

GERTRUDE And for goodness’ sake, make sure no one sees you. The last thing we need is a letter to Elias about book burnings.

GERRY Look, if you have somewhere better to burn these books, then –

GERTRUDE (overlapping, jokingly over-the-top) Of course, Gerard!

I just happened not to mention the network of sinister tunnels that snake beneath the Archive where I keep all my darkest secrets.

GERRY I mean, you joke, but there could be! It’s that kinda place.

GERTRUDE I rather hope I would have found them by now. I like to think I’m not a complete incompetent.

GERRY Until dementia hits.

GERTRUDE Given my choice to confide in you, I rather suspect it already has.

Go burn your book!

GERTRUDE Oh, and, Gerard –

GERRY Hm?

GERTRUDE Don’t go rifling through my things in future. It could end… badly for you.

GERRY I never even considered that my mum might have taught Gertrude how to make pages for it before she was destroyed.

[Sigh] I think you know the rest. I joined Gertrude’s work for a few years. Didn’t realise how ill I was until it finally caught up with me. Then I died. I think… I think I finally understand why she brought me back. I just don’t understand why she left me behind.

[Beeping]

CELIA Is this place all yours?

GERRY (laughing) With London rent? Hardly!

Don’t get me wrong, landlord’s lovely and all, but no, I still share it with Gee Gee.

CELIA Gee Gee?

[Gertrude enters.]

GERTRUDE That would be me.

GERRY Visitors, Gee Gee!

GERTRUDE Yes, I can see that, Gerry.

GERTRUDE What exactly did you say was your business with my grandson?

GERTRUDE Well I’m sorry, but I don’t think Gerry can help you-

GERRY And come back soon! Always a pleasure to chat with old friends!

GERTRUDE I don’t know they’ll have much reason to, Gerry. (to Sam) Good luck hunting elsewhere.

GERRY (muffled) I liked them.

GERTRUDE (muffled) Of course you do.

crumbling into a million pieces

#tma #the magnus archives #tmagp #the magnus protocol #tmagp spoilers #the magnus protocol spoilers #tmagp 8 #gerry keay #gertrude robinson #long post

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a-mag-a-day · 3 years ago

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MAG 65 - Part 3 of the apple pie baking session

Lol, Tessa info-dumping and Jon is totally overwhelmed.

"Magnetic tape. Everyone thinks it’s analog, but it’s digital." - I mean, not all magnetic tapes are digital. Digital tapes came up in the 80s, but before then they were analog. Especially the kind of tape we usually associate with TMA, the "Compact Cassette", is analog. Look it up on Google pictures! And then compare it to it's digital successor, the "Digital Compact Cassette". Looks different. Mini- or microcassettes used for dictation are also analog (I think, there are digital minicasettes?). And yes, it's STILL in use for that. We use analog minicassettes and I have a tape recorder standing around, catching dust, on my desk at work in case the system's getting a service update and is not accessible for a longer period of time.

"the units of data that a computer works with are by their nature discrete and definite, while the words we use are clumsy, vague things, always at the whim of interpretation and decay." - unless you're working with a printer… They are also clumsy vague things XD

"I have a blog, actually, but I haven’t posted for almost a year. Almost too embarrassed to, now…" - info-dumping and oversharing! Jon is in for a ride…

Holy shit, she's constantly talking over Jon, it's so funny xD

"I mean, yes, there’s drug stuff on there, but it’s mostly just paranoid geeks who don’t want to be caught pirating Photoshop." - Deep Web's a bit overkill for that mumbling. If this was written in 2019 it would be "it's mostly Youtubers buying overpriced trash advertised as 'Deep Web Mystery Boxes' or faking them themselves and needing an excuse to give them a spooky backstory" xDD

I love how this is just a creepy pasta!

"Whatever version you’re told, the story goes that it actually worked, and the police found a pile of floppy disks full of impossible code next to the mutilated body of Sergey Ushanka." - Remember when floppy disks could destroy/save the world?? XD (insert Sailor Moon, Gargoyles, Street Sharks, Ninja Turtles pictures here)

"it was only for a moment, but I could have sworn I saw some of the symbols twitch?" - oh speaking of oversharing earlier - so when I'm not doing good mentally or also when I'm simply sleep-deprived I see all kinds of movement and shadows out of the corner of my eye. When I drew my fanart for "Statement Remains" in October (the dark shape of an Eldritch monster Jon with 7 green-glowing eyes in front of a tape recorder…) I saw all 7 eyes blink. I know it's just that quirk of seeing shadows/movement but it was sooo eerie and fitting.

"there’s no feeling, but the no feeling hurts" - Makes me think of the people in the Catalogue of the Trapped Dead. I don't know if they weren't able of feeling things, but they were basically just a memory (which could be seen as similar to Ushanka uploading himself) and that this existence hurt.

Jon's interaction with statement-givers back in S1 versus now in S2 is also very binary xD ("You are crazy and just imagined everything and I don't believe you" versus "I understand you have experienced something horrible and I believe you")

Tim and Jon arguing is so hurtful to hear. It was different in the intervention but now it's really personal. There is not just anger in Tim's voice I think, there is also hurt. And Jon is just so paranoid and he's right to be paranoid, he just doesn't know why and where it's coming from.

TIM "we didn’t kill Gertrude" - not including Elias, true. (cont.) "and no one wants to kill you" - not true…

TIM "No, no, you listen for once. I was fine in research. Happy. Then you asked me to be transferred here, and suddenly it’s all monsters and killers and secret passages, oh my!" - That's not Jon's fault though? I'm pretty sure, Tim could have said no to the transfer and the stuff going on with the Archives is even less Jon's fault.

TIM "like I didn’t suffer the worst right alongside you." - I really think, this is it. This is not about the actual act of stalking, it's about the betrayal of why Jon did it. Tim was there with Jon, probably also for Jon. And then he suspects him of murder and of his own betrayal against Jon.

JON "Well, excuse me if my experiences have made–" - Well, while in conflict solution and prevention it is advised to talk about yourself and how you have experiences things rather than accusing others, it is not a good idea to shuffle the conversation to yourself while the other one is pouring their heart out about their difficulties in such an angered manner. I know, a lot of people do this to show the other party that you can relate (I do this myself) and in that case it often works out, but I don't think that's what Jon's aiming for here and it seems rather dismissive of Tim's problems. It looks like both are fighting over who is the most miserable here and no one ever wins that fight. There's only losers if you make misery a competition.

TIM "Fuck you, I got eaten by worms because of you!" - And there we have it. It escalates and heavy blame get thrown around. And it's, again, not Jon's fault. How could any of them be at fault that Prentiss attacked the Archives and Elias wanted them to get hurt.

JON "Jane Prentiss was not my fault, I did not bring her to the archive–" - Tim started unfair blame, not Jon has to defend himself and getting defensive is not helping the situation.

I think Jon already suspected that they were bound to the Archives? It sounds like he already thought about offering Tim to transfer but somehow couldn't do it. Now he tests it, if Tim can leave by his own free will.

JON "I’m sorry, Tim. Truly I am. But I cannot and will not trust you." - It's hurtful, for both of them, Tim and even Jon himself. But given the situation Jon's in I think it's kind of fair. He is influenced by a Stranger's presence. He knows something is wrong, he knows the Archives are not normal. TMA is a lot about making decisions based on the knowledge you had at hand at that time and at that particular time I think it was actually best for Jon to stay wary and watch his back.

Tessa is a queen of oversharing, and I am sad for Jon.

#a mag a day #the magnus archives #tma #episode asks #mag 65 #tma spoilers #lycanlovingvampyre #mod elian

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littlebigmouse · 3 years ago

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TMA MAG 56 - AHHHHHAHAHAHAHA

TREVOR IS BACK!

I love him so much. You go you funky little vampire hunter.

I'm gonna be honest since he was a teenager(?) in his last statement I thought he'd be only a little older in this one, and didn't realize until he referenced "the 80s" for the third time.

I know the timelime doesn't work out but I'd love a "crossover" episode with Trevor, Gerard Key and Melanie? (the youtuber) teaming up to hunt spooky shit. Bonus points if a completely normal, random and unrelated person gets caught up in their shenanigans, so Jon is sifting through this random statement where the "weird shit" appears to be three people who all seem to be familiar? But it couldn't be, could it, last time we saw Gerard Key he'd been in italy, and they all work alone and - then Melanie posts an episode about them on her show and the entire Archive office just sits around the monitor, having their headcanons about these horror hunters entirely destroyed by them making funny faces into the camera before they start murdering people and hunting books (not necessarily in that order). (Damn I don't want to write fic before I'm done with the show but I realllllly want to write this fic now).

Anyway. I love, love his story.

This episode is also fuel to the "Everything is Connected" Board, since Trevor managed to take out one of the Jane Prentiss-like bug hives, and I'm glad Jon has finally gotten around to admitting that Trevor may have been on to something. I know Jon was largely pretending to be a sceptic in season 1, or so he claims, but Trevor was THE stand out "unreliable narrator" back then. Addicted to several drugs, homeless, young, traumatized, one would not run out of excuses to claim Trevor was a lying murderer. And that there was NONE of that this episode, even though the entire first half of it depicts Trevor murdering an innocent man by his own account! That's huge! I love this shift in the narrative. Back then the question was "Is there something going bump in the night?" but by now it's "How are the things going bump in the night connected to the spooky shit in our basement?". I have a feeling the point of escalation will become "(How) Can we kill the thing going bump in the night?" and if Jon's and Sasha's ... "corruption" arcs are any indication, "Are we the thing going bump in the night? (And can we still kill it anyway?)"

Apropos of Jon's "corruption" arc.

"Everyone in this place has so many goddamn secrets and I can’t trust a word you say."

Do they, though, do they?

Yes, Martin has been keeping a secret. Like I called, it's completely innoucious - or at least, unrelated to the murder case (vindication!).

Yes, Not-Sasha has been acting strangely except Jon didn't pick up on most of the actual strangeness and instead focused on - for example - her lunch break dates. Which sure! Could be fake! Or she's genuinely found a friend and is comtemplating life in a wax museum, who am I to judge. (I am finding myself getting fond of Not-Sasha, which is uncool, since I fully expect her to turn out evil by the end of the season the latest). None of which, btw, link her to the murder mystery.

Jon has absolutely NOTHING on Tim and Elias. Elias is as much a murder suspect as any of them simply by proxy (and having had arguably the most opportunity (and motivation, should my 'the institute demands human sacrifices to the horrors' theory be right, but that's pure unfounded speculation)). The only mystery Jon has on Tim is his goddamn work motivation.

Jon. Jon. Someone's birthday is not considered a secret just because you refuse to ask them about it. It's frankly insane that Jon is willing to go so far as to stalk his coworkers instead of just asking them basic and inane questions about their lifes! Yes sure, they could be lying, but you're not even giving them any opportunity to lie to you, since you refuse to talk to them! Nevermind that you've been lying too between the stalking and the pretend relationship and the increased paranoia.

Yeah so, I don't think it's a coincidence a good chunk of this episode is dedicated to someone convinced that they are doing something right just to realize they have been tunneling badly and are actually wrong. Trevor didn't realize until his victim was dead, whereas Jon did finally manage to just ask and get out of this one bad tunnel. I have a feeling that's not the end of the spiral for Jon, though.

I dare say Martin could be a potential alley for Jon in all this, since he's the only one Jon still willingly talks to (oh how the turns have tabled!) and hasn't - somehow - completely alienated with his bullshit. Although I believe Martin will struggle on whether to side with Jon through his mania or with his coworkers - or maybe even with himself, and finally standing up to Jon's bullshit. I'd love to see it. Did he always say "sorry" so often? I think he apologized four times this episode, which is incredible considering his short screen time. I think he may be genuinely intimidated by Jon. Although that could have just been because Jon was onto him, I feel like Martin seems to have... curled up on himself a bit this season. I remember him not taking quite as much of Jon's shit in season 1, but these days he's really just ducking his head.

Which brings me to the last point of this: Martin's secret: ahahahahahahah I love it so much.

As funny as I think it is - and I think it would have been even funnier if we knew what age Martin is pretending to be in the first place - his story gets sadder the more you think about it? He admitted his mother starting having problems and he dropped out of school to support them - considering that was apparently 12 years ago, and I assume his mother's struggles were health related somehow - I feel confident assuming she is indeed dead.

Martin was writing venty letters to his dead mother while he was trapped at his place of work because he was being stalked by flesh eating worms but also terrified that said place of work would find out about his real identity, probably throwing him back into poverty again with even fewer prospects - especially if they'd reported him to the police. No wonder he doesn't seem to have a social life, either.

Yeah okay, I'd feel meek under these circumstances too, and considering how put-together Martin seemed in season 1, I'd say he's officially a certified badass.

Man, if I had a nickle every time there was a main character who was once under siege by a supernatural entity trapping him in isolation, and who faked his paranatural work credentials and kept lying about it to his coworker, who happens to be a bit of an anti-social shut in, I'd have two nickels.

#tma #the magnus archives #tma season 2 #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #does trevor have a tag? i don't know #he should #tma live reaction #… Let's just hope Jon doesn't turn out to have been working for a big bad villain #who's trying to take over the world by destroying it with his superpowers.#Let's hope Jon will keep getting better instead! This the genre!#the other nickel is mob psycho 100 btw in case you're wondering

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