#Also this guy wrote the Magnus Archives

[booreadsbooks]

Family Business, by Jonathan Sims, a Reread review

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Family Business is about grief and how one processes a world-ending loss. It's about how crushing loneliness and isolation can feel, and the effects it has on people. It explores societal views of the most underprivileged and what it means to be truly left behind and forgotten by the world. Paranormal encounters are elegantly blended with grounded social commentary and human emotion. It escalates slowly, in the way that any shit situation can quickly grow dire when pointedly ignored.

The best way to describe the vibe of this book is unsettling. You are faced with vignettes that are so real and so wrong that you cannot ignore the feelings they bring up. Things seem sad, but in the normal way, and then you're smacked in the face with something otherworldly that emphasizes the all-encompassing fear that is ever-present in a devastating situation. The climax of the book literally had my heart racing, it was so well-written and well-paced.

Diya, our main character, is incredibly smart and likable. Her reactions to her problems highlight her depth and make her more relatable to the reader. Her grief throughout this novel is raw, a gutting depiction of what it means to lose your person. Also, shoutout to the excellent queer rep in many different characters in this novel.

Overall, if you're interested in an interesting blend of paranormal and realistic horror, as well as poignant representations of the world we live in, I recommend this book. It's one of my favorites :) The physical and audio versions both have unique pros and cons, so I wouldn't honestly recommend one over the other. It's really whatever you prefer.

For notes on the audio narration, click below:

The first time I read Family Business, it was as a physical book. But listening to something usually helps me sleep, so when I saw the audiobook on spotify I jumped at the opportunity to revisit a story I love. I'm typically picky about narrators, and I'm happy to say the narrator of this book is incredible. She speaks clearly, at the perfect speed. Her voice conveys every mood and chilling encounter perfectly. She really captures the sense of creeping dread and the sense that something is wrong really really well. Every character has a unique cadence and voice, enough that you almost forget that one person is doing a majority of the speaking.

The choice to make the "big bad" a different voice was genius, and really captures that sense of "this thing does not belong" perfectly.

I enjoyed reading this myself, but I also really enjoyed listening to it (which is a big compliment because I don't normally love audiobooks!)

[kitsunesakii]

Printer issues

Chapter 1

(A conversation between Sasha and Micheal before the siege of Jane Prentiss)

Sasha stared as the printer sputtered and grunted. A pause, another sound before silence. She grumbled and hit the roof of the printer a second time. Nothing. A small mechanical shutter and then nothing. Sasha let out an exasperated sigh and sat back. It was unbelievable that she could hack into anything Jon asked her to, but she was thwarted by a damn printer. She considered bugging Elias about it but she wasn't in the mood to deal with him. If she wanted the details to the statement printed, she'd have to use the printer at the desk to artifact storage.

Just lovely.

Sasha dragged her hands through her hair as she made her way to the other end of the Institute. She didn't have to pretend she enjoyed the place. It wasn't... Natural. She had figured out that much. And not just because of the worm infestation gathering outside the walls of the Institute. She had felt it before as well. She sensed it when they had followed up on statements only to find the person dead or missed. She had noticed it when at her desk and it felt like a thousand eyes staring daggers into the back of her head. And she noticed it now as she sat behind the Artifact storage reception desk and logged in, praying desperately that the printer would connect and behave in a timely manner.

The printer made a small wine and a short compliant huff before a paper started feeding through. Sasha dared to breathe. The paper pushed its way through and the printer made a delighted chime. She frowned. The printer paper, which should have printed out an information sheet about a drug company in relation to a health crisis, was instead a mess of colors and patterns, Sasha found it was hard to look at after a while.

Just. Bloody. Lovely.

She didn't have time to think before laughter ricocheted off of the wall and shattered through her mind. Micheal. Lord, she really needed to get paid more.

Sasha forced herself to at least try and stay calm.

"Hello again, Archivist Assistant, what leads you down here to such a place?"

She eye'd him carefully. The last interaction had left her compromised and almost dead in a graveyard and while she was safely within the Institute, she doubted that would actually be a genuine factor against him.

"The printer wasn't working." She answered rather dumbly.

He giggled and walked forward, picking up the headache of colors splattered over the paper and looking it over. "It doesn't seem broken to me." He laughed again and she felt it in her bones.

She shook her head and swallowed. "No- not this one, the one upstairs."

"Ah yes, well that one has never seemed to work." He giggled again and she managed a small frown.

What would he know about the institute's printer? She thought it was best not to ask. Instead she carefully moved towards the computer and gestured at the screen. "That's why I'm opting to use this one."

"You should try again then." His hair washed over his jaw and his shoulder as he tipped his head. His grin spreading further than the confines of his face.

Right. Sasha clicked print and watched the printer go through the motions of odd sounds before spitting out yet another distorted array of colors and shapes. Maybe she'd just be better off telling Jon he wasn't getting a paper version. Surely she could just email the details to him?

Micheal's laughter reverberated through the room as he leaned against the counter, holding his face in too long fingers.

"My, my, Assistant, whatever are you printing?"

Sasha let out a half hearted chuckle. It was too late into the day to have to deal with this. She ignored his question. "Yeah, obviously this isn't working."

"Giving up already? Oh Assistant, come on, give it another try." His smile was all teeth.

"It's Sasha." She said, rubbing her forehead.

"The printer has a name?"

"No, Micheal, my name. My name is Sasha."

He laughed again, his form spreading out like smoke before reflecting colors like glass, just transparent enough to see through whilst also noticing your reflection.

"So you say, will you try again?"

"Yes cause I'm sure it'll work better than the first two times."

"Sasha?"

She snapped her head in the direction of the voice, seeing Sally walking towards her with a concerned expression and carrying a stack of books.

"Who are you talking to?"

Sasha turned back to where Micheal was standing, except Micheal was gone and the door he had come from no longer seemed to exist. Of course.

"Oh um, no one, just talking to myself."

Sally didn't press the matter, instead disappearing down an adjacent hall. Sasha scowled and tried pressing print again, almost crying with relief as the document finally printed. Sasha quickly grabbed it and went to walk away before glancing back at the tray. Back at the two distorted pages. She grabbed those as well, folding them up and tucking them into her purse.

----------------------------------------------

"Thank you, Sasha, I'll have Martin look into the drug company's representative tomorrow."

"Great, just don't ask me to print out anything in the future, I've had quite enough to last me for a while."

Jon gave her a quizzical expression and Sasha let out a belated sigh.

"Nevermind, I'm headed home. Don't forget to feed yourself, Jon."

He muttered some backhanded response and she headed for home.

Sasha tossed her purse on the kitchen counter and started brewing a cup of tea. She spent most of the evening getting out of work mode and into comfier attire. Finally pulling out the distorted papers from her bag and looking them over. The colors were...pretty. For lack of a better word. Oddly distracting, mildly disorienting, but pretty nonetheless. She hummed and taped them to her fridge. A bit of eye-catching decoration never hurt anyone.

Chapter:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

[jojotier]

hey if i started doing podfic versions of all my fics / the fics on the sam_roulette account, would anyone listen to them?

[not-the-cheese]

one(ish) sentence summaries of every magnus archive episode PART 3 (111-154)

HELLO FRIENDS In honor of one of my friends starting tma i am posting the rest of what i have for this series

I'm going to be honest, i wrote all of these like a year and a half ago so i don't even remember if all of them are as accurate as i thought they were at the time so tell me what u guys think ( ALSO IM SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO POST THESE)

if you guys want more i can be convinced to relisten to the series and finish this and also send me asks i love getting asks

------------------------------------------------------------

111. god fuck he just wanted his friends to call him gerry

112. guys I have a great idea for a game it’s called murder tag and there are no downsides I promise

113. sweet dreams goodnight don’t let the carbon monoxide poisoning bite

114. cleaning lady takes a trip to mandela effect land

115. ship cook discovers an infinite meat glitch!

116. oh god the unknowing ritual is fnaf security breach

117. alright guys it’s time to prepare for clown time let’s do a roll call

118. martin burns some stuff and gets traumatized while Jon and the homies are sneaking through an interactive wax museum.

119. ah fuck it’s clown time

120. omg! you were in the archivist’s dream last night! so cool!!

121. dude I’d KILL for a good night’s sleep

122. the worst person you know tells you about their "new philosophical theory" for 24 minutes

123. man is scammed into being the helpless mod for murder reddit

124. old man ruins our austrian mountain trip with impromptu skydiving

125. bagpipe music makes an entire town do a The Purge (2013)

126. man is so shit at sculpting that it literally makes four people loose their minds

127. hey guys… eye am not feeling so well…

128. skinwalker delivery man mourns the loss of his skinwalker delivery husband

129. we needed this rain

130. HOT SINGLES IN YOUR AREA WILL FILL YOUR HOLE WITH MEAT

131. I get the guy who turns peoples’ bones to turn my bones and also tell me the story of how he started turning peoples’ bones

132. MAN OPENS COFFIN. WE ARE VERY WORRIED FOR HIM.

133. My son’s weird boyfriend is a little too invested in my treasure hunt.

134. journalist takes a short and awful trip to dystopia land and it gives both her and adelard decker an existential crisis .

135. let me tell you about our lord and savior: shadow jesus.

136. my boss does a reverse pinocchio.

137. I am saved from the real horrors of war by spooky ghost horrors of war.

138. my dear jonah, it seems my years of fucking around have finally caught up to me, and I am nearing the time in which I will find out.

139. Local cult cooks up an antichrist and then deals with the terrible consequence: parenthood.

140. 17th century homoerotic rivalry between an astronomer and shadow jesus

141. our captain got depressed and then made us all steal a camera

142. hey sorry your archivist got addicted to eating trauma. yeah he’s just watching people on the street now. yeah he’s pulling statements from them like teeth. yeah he’s been showing up in my dreams and he is all eyes.

143. we KILL this evil orb using the power of looking at it too closely

144. math podcast makes man foresee the end of the world

145. gertrude drops the hardest diss track of the century on the desolation / part 2 of local cult’s adventures in parenthood

146. man is stalked by a sneaky door.

147. the archives is stalked by a sneaky spider lady.

148. Security camera guy loves his job so much that he becomes a security camera.

149. weird trash art in the Amazon rainforest bites researcher

150. HOMOPHOBIC SUBURBAN HOUSES

151. have you ever played aquarium tycoon

152. let me introduce you to the world of recreational dirt naps ( I am not asking )

153. evil worm polycule

154. i quit my job and my hot goth wife kills me.

Part 1 | Part 2

[clarionglass]

FUCK YOU HOLD ON YOURE BAD DECISION BLUES AND THE DOCTOR WHO GAME CHANGER GUY???????? WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU DONE

ahahaha yes that's me!

lol i'm hardly a Big Name (and honestly for that i'm thankful), but i guess i do kinda have three Things that people might recognise me from in different corners of the internet! the first two, as stated, are bad decision blues (for anyone who doesn't know, i wrote a lil song based on a text post by cuuno-moved) and the doctor who/game changer au aka the game master au aka the sam reich!master au, which is the brainchild of me and the exceptional @northernfireart, and i'm insanely proud of both and also very much wilded out that they took off in the way they did!

magnus archives fans may also recognise me from my tma chatfic 'we should ride this wave to shore', which again, lil project i started just for fun that also appealed to a good few people (probably because i was writing absolute crack to cope with the emotional trauma that was tma season 5 lol). oh god oh fuck it's been about 18 months but i promise i will finish the sequel at some point, my brain has been consumed by other things recently but i do have the plot in my head, i just need to. write it.

so that's me! i've tagged this post with my personal organisation tags for all three if anyone is curious about the stuff i get up to :)

(also, a cryptic hint re bad decision blues: watch this space! i've finally made a decision to act on Some Stuff, so there may be updates coming at some as-of-yet undetermined future point,,,,)

[averagespaceman]

chillin at the Hastings Institute 👁️

hi hello i apologize for the disappearance, i’ve been busy working on this AWESOME THING called What Remains of the Magnus Institute, a spinoff podcast of The Magnus Archives!! please please go check it out at @endlessfearsfancast !!

anyways this is our universe’s Archivist/ultimate goober, Sage Newbert, and the head of Artifact Storage/temporary Archival Assistant/unwilling IT guy who i voice, Elijah Perry!

here, have some extras while i’m at it:

closeups! (because i put waaay too much detail into this)

progress shots! (because this took me AGES)

aaaand THE NEWEST EPISODE! WHICH I AM IN!!

fun fact: i also wrote some of the dialogue for this episode!! it was so much fun and it was incredible to hear the others act out my writing!

okay can i just reiterate how incredibly honored i am to be a part of this project? because i am and it makes me so happy to work with this wonderful team and produce awesome stuff like this!!

n e ways, thanks for reading my yap session :D

be seeing you 👁️

p.s. another fun fact, i made Eli’s hoodie irl. i own it and i wear it all the time. mine says london though because *jonny sims voice* the magnus institute, london. >:)

[thehannibalextendeduniverse]

Adam (2009)

Looking at this now I'm realising how much I wrote on this movie. Mostly because 1. Adam 2. Autism. Also, mild spoilers?

I'm actually so excited to watch this like yes, give me my precious autistic boy. I've read a few reviews on this already so I'm quite intrigued as to how this film will come off to me, being an autistic person myself (if you couldn't tell from the obsessive special interest in Hannibal + anything Hugh/Mads). I think I will be drawing a lot of comparisons to my own experiences with autism. 

The food on the plate being separated is very valid, although the American way of eating tines up has always confused me. I get Adam is American though. Also I fear having tons of the same thing and nothing else because everything is a sensory issue and there's like 5 foods I eat is also accurate. Although I'm more likely to forget to stock up on my food and buy when I run out than have that many in a cupboard at once.

The standing awkwardly and not knowing how to hold your hands is very real.

I get sensory issues from sleeping with a t-shirt/trousers because everything is just way more noticeable when it's dark and quiet and you're trying to fall asleep yk? I do wonder if others have the same problem in that.

The oversharing and explaining topics you know tons about.

I mean they gave Adam kinda stereotypical autism? The guy's good at robots. I think media always tends to translate it to the super nerdy stuff like maths and CS and all that when there's so much you could be interested in. Not everyone has the 'smart' autism, and not everyone's interests are singular or stereotypically science-y. Like I have a friend who's special interest is neuroscience, a couple who love dnd (including me), one who's obsessed with the Magnus Archives and secret codes, and two who very much fit that TV stereotype (both are CS/physics/maths geeks and one loves planes and trains). Personally my autism loves Merlin and Hannibal and Hugh/Mads, and also bones and coins. If you couldn't tell. Also am I taking this opportunity to overshare? Yes this is my blog I can put whatever shit I want on here. I fear the majority of my friends are autistic. Also there's an overlap with my autistic friends and friends who use ao3, I think we all need that hit of fanmade content once the canon media has been wrung dry lol.

OKAY THE SPACE SUIT VALID THAT'S COOL AF. I take it back Adam has multiple interests and not just one singular thing yay for less-stereotypical autistic rep in media ig!

...ngl memorising a video from an interest and repeating it/speaking along with it is an experience I have had many a time.

He's not weird Beth he's just sharing his special interest that's like the equivalent of being nice and sociable.

The missing of social cues lol. Absolutely normal behaviour. I would have tried to balance out the touch if someone's shopping knocked against me though. Anyone else know what I mean?

Oh boy here comes the mild ableism from the other characters... like i'm sorry wdym "...your condition" he can function perfectly fine and do the work having autism doesn't make you a bloody child.

change bad, change stressful, poor adam :(

man just watching this and adam get stressed out is making me stressed.

yeah i know this was made in 2009 and that's why they're calling it aspergers, but fuck Hans Asperger we hate him for being a Nazi. I mean my report still say aspergers on it but like, I don't want no association with him please and thank you.

For a neurotypical person (presumably, from what I've seen/heard there's never been anything abt him being neurodiverse, also I just don't get The Vibe from him, I trust my radar) Hugh Dancy does a pretty darn good job of portraying autism. I think some of the behaviours, when compared to my own experience, are a bit more exaggerated(?) but everyone's experiences on the spectrum are different and I've definitely observed them in other autistic friends + I presume they made some a bit more obviously stereotypically 'autistic' to make it more digestible for film. I could definitely understand/read Adam and it didn't feel like a neurotypical 'faking' or pretending to be autistic, so Hugh did a damn good job.

God the struggle to explain yourself and people not understanding and continuing to pressure you which just makes everything more stressful and worse is so real...

Do I hate how some of the other characters treat Adam? Yes, absolutely. "You're not ten years old" etc. treating him with kiddy gloves, explaining things for him, "someone with your condition" —  it's annoying, but it is realistic and something I've definitely experienced in the past.

Aside from Hugh's portrayal, the writing of Adam's lines is pretty spot on in responses to other people, in not understanding social cues, talking at inappropriate times, oversharing special interests, and so on.

I love the space suit and that was so random to be dangling outside cleaning windows it was pretty funny.

Do other autistics struggle with smiling? it always feels so forced for me and I hate it. Facial expressions I mostly learnt from reading and descriptions and I do still struggle to pick the appropriate one sometimes although I've gotten better with time. Anyway this is leading up to say Hugh's smile is very pretty and Adam is so precious but also I think if I tried to smile that wide it would be very uncomfortable and annoy me.

"Did he do it" would be my response too, Adam, he's so real for asking that.

Okay Beth is pissing me off don't try to control what Adam eats he knows what he can stand and likes leave him aloneee. ykw she ordered him mac and cheese and got him out of the Bad Social Situation maybe she's okay.

Okay nvm I take that back that book is uhhhhh... ig she's...trying at least? Idk man if I got given that I'd feel quite uncomfortable, stuff like that seems to normally (in my experience) not be the best? It just kinda infantilises further and makes you feel bad/different for having autism.

Random facts let's go! Appreciate Adam's knowledge you asshole >:( (I do not like Beth's dad). Damn I thought he was being nice for a second when he inquired about more info but he was joking, I was too autistic to pick up on that ig?

That situation would make me so confused Adam I relate so hard.

Also Beth pissed me off with that hand grabbing like...no. Personally I wouldn't even be fine with my gf doing that out of nowhere? But I also have contamination OCD so my experience with people touching me is...less than good so idk.

Also like she just did not know how to deal with Adam's meltdowns, she hadn't done any research.

All I can think is that that would be a sensory nightmare.

yk sometimes I do wanna just smash shit when I'm frustrated and overwhelmed and it is a strain to not do it (tbf I have seen other autistic people react similarly to such situations) so I can't really blame Adam for actually doing it. Like, jeez, 1. surprises bad, 2. lack of communication and trust, 3. she lied to him, 4. arranging stuff behind his back and treating him like a child — blowing up especially after he's had such a stressful day with the interview and phone call with her mum is a valid reaction tbh. I get it. Beth is manipulative.

She calls him a child because she went into their relationship with a lacking understanding of autism and the expectation that he needs coddling and that he is a child. Fuck you, Beth.

Harlan is actually decent though. Go him.

No. Adam. You deserve so much better than Beth. And Beth doesn't know how to understand you. Not good. Please do not get back together I beg you.

I don't think Beth is necessarily a bad person, I just think she isn't educated about autism and definitely treats Adam in an uncomfortable way. However I am also trying to see it from a neurotypical pov and I know that sometimes if you aren't used to people with autism who struggle with dealing with situations like Adam has then it can be straining — it isn't uncalled for for Beth to react like that. But she could definitely have made a better effort with Adam. She conveys that she wants to 'fix' Adam like his autism is something wrong with him, which is clearly just...no. I'm glad that didn't happen and they split instead, because that would have been a terrible route to take.

It is clear Adam is trying and does genuinely care about Beth, he just struggles to explain it to her (I've been there, words are hard) and she leaves because he says the wrong thing. That said, Beth clearly did not understand Adam properly and their relationship would have likely further devolved if they had continued on due to that, so I see it as a good thing that they split and Adam got to go and live his dream talking about stars.

I do think Adam did learn from his experiences with Beth and his struggles with social situations seem to be exacerbated because he's been coddled his whole life — I mean he still lived with his father who got him his job, I don't think Adam knew how to act because he was so isolated. I feel that's a common problem with kids diagnosed young — the parents make assumptions and the kiddy gloves never come off. Hell, I was diagnosed in my mid-teens and my mother told the entire extended family who started treating me like I was half my age, apologised because they "didn't know I was autistic" in like a really demeaning way, and refused to take me seriously. It made things harder. Being treated like a kid just means you'll continue acting like one because you don't know how else to act. Treating autistic people like they're five is not the way to go. Just because we see the world in a different way and may understand some situations differently doesn't mean (for a large majority) that we can't understand things nor that we're stuck as children. I mean Adam himself makes mention to this at points when Beth makes assumptions about him not understanding certain things, correcting her (which is one thing this movie does which is good that I haven't really elsewhere).

Most unrealistic thing is that Adam wears collared shirts, scratchy jumpers, and trainers like all the time (unless he's going to bed) even when he's just at home and doesn't instantly change into comfy hoodies and joggers to escape the sensory hell of Outdoors Clothes. Although I think the trainers/shoes in the house is an American thing? The toes being squished together though...

Adam is better autism rep than a lot of the other ones out there in media (Sheldon Cooper I'm looking at you). Yes it is slightly stereotypical (and the bar is on the floor) but it isn't bad/harmful stereotypes. I relate to him, I understand his struggles, he's realistic. Could it have been better? Yes, absolutely. But it wasn't bad, I liked it.

For what it is, and especially considering it was released a decade and a half ago, Adam is pretty good. As a character, I fear he is now my all time favourite comfort character — like I just relate so much to him as a person + hugh dancy gives me insane gender envy like, Adam? I love this man. There wasn't really any point in this film where I thought that something they portrayed about autism (through Adam) was unrealistic or perpetuating negative stereotypes. However, the other characters definitely do, and I think if Beth had remained with Adam it would send a completely different and negative message about how to interact with people with autism and maybe perpetuate bad stereotypes.

But ykw, it does portray a kinda realistic (although irritating) experience being autistic. People don't always know how to react and unfortunately negative stereotyping (fucking Autism Speaks) have done a lot of harm to the community that even in 2025 there are a lot of people who don't understand autism or just make assumptions which aren't true. Hell, I've has specialised disability advisors give utterly terrible advice/opinions on autism. You can't truly understand it if you don't have it, and even then everyone's experience is unique and different.

I don't believe this movie was written by an autistic person but they did a good job. I am glad they didn't really paint Beth as a heroine character who gets back together with Adam and 'takes care' of him and his autism because that would have been terrible. I like that Adam got his happy ending at the observatory. Dream job for him, truly.

Not my favourite movie ever but definitely my new favourite character.

[fiuworks]

THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES OC

drew up my artfight ref for my tma self insert so i thought i'd post it here hoohoo

here's the blurb i wrote for him also

STATEMENT #0161111 of Isfahan Mughal, regarding…an inhuman infestation in Central London.

Isfahan, or 'Isa' is my The Magnus Archives podcast OC! Also a self insert so . just me but feral… Isa is trying to get through his university career and start a dwindling career in the arts, but after he notices a string of strange people moving throughout the Underground, he starts to get paranoid. Then, when a 'friend' follows a strange man home from a date, Isa's compelled by a strange sixth sense to follow behind. After witnessing her murder, Isa decides that letting these strange creatures live cannot stand. He neglects his education in order to hunt down and kill these hypnotic, vampirsh creatures. Only one friend believes him, but unbeknownst to him, she is also marked by another strange 'sense'. (Being an avatar of the eye!) Desperate for his life to return to normal, he begs the Magnus Institute for help, but when Jonathan Sims can offer no advice, Isa packs his bags, his only friend, and disappears to Romania, hoping that tracking the source of vampiric mythology can help cut these creatures off at the source.

However, after an encounter with two other rabid 'vampire hunters' and an arrest by one Daisy Tonner on his exploits, as well as fruitless killing in Romania and Central Europe, (and not to mention his 'sixth sense' as an Avatar of the Hunt affecting him physically and mentally) Isa gives up on ending vampirism for once and for all, but can't seem to stop feeling the compulsion to hunt them down and watch them die…

If his soul tells him that these evils need to die, so be it. He's doing the world a favour anyway. And with his friend marked by the Ceaseless Watcher watching his back, Isa feels like this life of murder and debauchery is wholly more successful than a dead end career in animation anyway.

i have written the full statement up and i'm writing the second one on the side currently so i might post them on A03 or something if you guys like him attack him on artfight u kno u want to

[historicallyaccuratecheese]

Well, I guess I’m continuing to make these now! Here’s the next part of my thoughts on every Magnus Archives episode! Now, last time I said that I was planning to write about episodes 21-40 in the next post, but as it turns out, the hyperfixation has set in and my thoughts are a LOT longer (so buckle up if you want to read this), and I also reached the tag limit. So, I’m only going to be covering episodes 21-30 here, and then I’ll write about episodes 31-40, and this 10 episode trend will probably continue for the rest of the posts, but that just means I’ll be able to put them out faster.

Also, unlike my first post, where I wrote all of my thoughts after finishing episode 20, all of these ones were written right after I finished the specific episode I talked about, so my thoughts are a lot more clearly documented. Finally, there’s a link to my masterpost, which will contain all the post’s detailing my thoughts on every episode before and after these ones.

Once again, no spoilers for future episodes please, and for anyone who hasn’t watched up to episode 30, spoilers are under the cut, so I recommend turning away until you’ve caught up. :)

- Episode 21, Freefall 🪂

Statement of Moira Kelly, regarding the disappearance of her son Robert.

WHAT THE FUCK??!! MARTIN??!! DAMN, I guess the horrors did get to him! Well, it’s nice to finally meet him, even if his first line was dropping shit on the ground. Either way, I get the vibe I’m in for a wild ride for this second half. ….What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the actual statement. Anyways this one upset me. Not only did it bring out my fear of heights pretty well, but the portrayal of a grieving mother who can’t comprehend what happened to her son was really heartbreaking. The line “The sky ate him” was kind of comedic at first, especially with Jon’s following reaction (love this guy btw, he’s such a loser), but then it became really horrific when I realized how it was just Moira desperately trying to make sense of the impossible horrors she just witnessed. The plot thread set up with Simon and Harriet Fairchild is also very interesting, and the whole sky thing kind of reminded me of Dominic’s visions in Ep. 4. Overall another one of many fantastic episodes, but HOLY SHIT I’M SCARED.

- Episode 22, Colony 🔦

Statement of Martin Blackwood, archival assistant at the Magnus Institute, London, regarding a close encounter with something he believes to have once been Jane Prentiss. Statement taken direct from subject.

….aaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Ok let’s start from the top. Firstly, I’m really happy we finally got to meet Martin in this episode, and he’s great! Honestly he comes off as more dorky than stupid, and just comes off as a real sweetheart, so Jon’s distaste for him (outside of very different personalities), gets more mysterious. Though all things considered, after what he experienced, I don’t think that the bullying is his biggest worry anymore… Alexander J. Newall does a fantastic delivery, as much as I love Jon’s readings, you can really feel how terrified Martin is here (also “Blackwood” is a sick as fuck last name, and I related to him trailing off about spiders…) Outside of Martin himself, we have Jane Prentiss (or what remains of her) and…well, let’s just say that I don’t find the sex worms nearly as funny anymore. Jane and the worms inside her are absolutely terrifying, and while I would say I’m excited to learn more about her, I wouldn’t be complaining if the institute staff never had to deal with her again. Also the text episode made me, if you’ll excuse my language…squirm. Honestly, this might just be my favorite episode so far. The way that the plot threads from previous episodes connected here was extremely satisfying, and needless to say, I’m very excited and horrified to see where the show goes from here.

- Episode 23, Schwartzwald 🇩🇪

Statement of Albrecht von Closen, regarding a discovered tomb near his estate in the Black Forest.

Worst episode ever because Jon didn’t do a German accent, smh. Ok but in all seriousness, I really liked this one! It wasn’t the strongest in terms of complex themes in my opinion, but it had a great vibe, and was still very interesting, entertaining, and decently creepy. Having a “statement” written before the archives was founded is a really cool idea that’s executed perfectly here, and while we didn’t learn that much about Jonah Magnus, I still found it cool to get a first glimpse of the archives’ history. (Also, given the eye imagery that appears both in here and in other episodes, I can’t help but feel like Albrecht’s wording of Jonah having “good eyes” or something like that is a little weird…) And…now that we have the instance of something that isn’t a statement, but is important being in the archives, I absolutely agree with the idea that Gertrude Robinson organized these poorly on purpose, so that Jon would get the knowledge he needed to have. Regardless, this whole episode had the vibes of a classic ghost story, which while not as weird and off-putting as some of the other horror here, was still a nice change of pace overall. The descriptions of The Schwartzwald were really well done and added to the atmosphere, and I just like the fact that we have another historical episode, that’s also set outside of The UK. Also, the way that they played with the time period at the end was amazing, I already had my suspicions due to the eye imagery, but the reveal of Mary Keay (and therefore Gerard Wa- I mean Keay) being a descendant of Albrecht was still really cool. I also do wonder if the Arabic book was eventually found by Jurgen Leitner in the future…eh, food for thought. Lastly, I loved Martin jumping in out of nowhere, it was both funny, and a grim reminder about how fucked the archives supposedly are, yippee!

Wow, these are a lot longer than my previous thoughts. This, my sweet children, is a phenomenon called “brain rot”.

- Episode 24, Strange Music 🪆

Statement of Leanne Denikin, regarding an antique calliope organ she possessed briefly in August 2004.

Jon, honey, are we not going to elaborate on the fact that one of ✨the horrors✨is literally inside the institute? Like, HELLO? That’s not terrifying at all! Anwyays, this episode continues the trend of making me scared of things I’m not initially scared of, yippee! It had great vibes as well, the weird shit in the attic was made to be as creepy as possible. Initially, I didn’t find this one to be too scary, and figured it was going to go in the direction of “music makes people feel kind of weird”. AND THEN JOSHUA GETS KILLED AND TURNED INTO A DOLL HELLO??!!! Like, I know he was kind of a toxic boyfriend, but DAMN, whatever was behind the calliope and the dolls did NOT have to go that far. (Also until the end I thought he might be Joshua Gillepsie, and like, I don’t care how toxic he is, but you do not dump a guy who bested an evil coffin with his freezer.) Outside of that, It was really cool to meet Sasha! I like her voice, and the introduction was quite funny. (Also, even as someone who has lived in England for over two years, and has a family that is 90% British, nothing hurt more that Jon’s “Americans”.) Lastly, I have a theory, which I like to call “Ringmaster? More like cult leader.” Because I’M SORRY, but you cannot convince me that a CIRCUS, called THE CIRCUS OF THE OTHER, which possessed a HAUNTED CALLIOPE ORGAN, is anything but a cult. (Watch me when I’m inevitably wrong lmao.)

I guess now is a better time than any to say that I’m kind of wondering if there’s an in-universe reason for the music in the background? I mean, considering that the whole framing device is Jon recording these statements, I have to wonder if there’s a reason for the noise we hear, especially with the worms in Ep. 22 and the music in Ep. 24.

- Episode 25, Growing Dark ⛪️

Statement of Mark Bilham, regarding events culminating in his visit to Hither Green Chapel.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I LOVE BEING RIGHT!!! I saw the episode title and immediately assumed this would continue the lore of Episode 9, and I WAS SO RIGHT!!! (Also, I now just noticed that the PCOTDH’s symbol is a closed eye, while The Keay Family’s symbol is an open eye…my cult theory thickens…) Anyways, this was another very enjoyable episode! Firstly, even though it’s far from the first piece of media to do so, I though the way they portrayed a cult brainwashing someone when they’re most vulnerable was very well handled and pretty depressing. I also really enjoyed how the episode isn’t the most weird and paranormal on it’s own, but the knowledge of the connections to Ep. 9 makes us know that it DEFINITELY is, even when the characters in the story don’t. The episode was certainly very spooky, the description of the spinach and the dark church definitely got me. (Also my mom came into my room briefly and when she left she accidentally turned off the light and I nearly screamed.) There were also some really interesting plot threads set up here, like the chanting of the northern most human settlement in the world, the mention of “three hundred years waiting”, and I also wonder if “Mr. Pitch” is an alias for “Detective Rayner.” then…the ending. Holy shit. You know, maybe I DON’T need to know what happened to Gertrude….

Episode 26, A Distortion ☕️

Statement of Sasha James, assistant archivist at the Magnus Institute, London, regarding a series of paranormal sightings. Statement taken direct from subject.

I…what…I don’t even…we are so fucked. Ok, there’s a LOT going on here, but I’ll try my best to formulate my thoughts as clearly as possible. Firstly, this episode easily scared me the most so far, I agree with Jon when he says that the horrors being somewhat friendly is scarier than them being antagonistic, like HOLY SHIT this one was unnerving. But with that out of the way…uh…let’s talk about Sasha! She’s really cool, I like how her character gives us a lot more insight into what working in the archives is like for a fairly regular person (i say this because Jon is weird as fuck and Martin is too nice to be normal, and I mean that as kindly as possible). But…while I don’t necessarily doubt her status as the most level-headed person in the archives, I don’t think that’s saying much. Like, she saw a creepy guy with weird-ass hands who spoke in riddles and knew too much about her and her coworkers, and followed him into a dilapidated building, also she works at the council of ghost stories despite not liking horror. Like, no offense, I’m sure she’s overall an intelligent person, as are most people in the archives, but none of them are beating Joshua Gillepsie anytime soon (yes I’m still thinking about him.) But mentioning the guy with fucked up hands, WHO OR WHAT EVEN WAS THAT??!! I have very little ideas as to how this “Micheal” even connects to the greater picture. I know some people connected him to the mentions of the man with bones in his hands in Episode 8, but that honestly reminds me more of the Leitner in Episode 17. Outside of that, his name is quite interesting, I initially thought that he might be Micheal Crew, but given that Sasha doubts it being his real name, I have my suspicions (although it would give us a connection between this, the words in Episode 8, and The Boneturner’s Tale….hm….) However, I could absolutely see him being Micheal Keay, as he gives off enough ghost vibes to pass as him (and I’m assuming that if Gerard’s dead, Micheal is as well.) Also he is not described as having a Lichtenburg figure on him so…yeah. Lastly, we have the return of THE SEX WORMS. And as happy(?) as I am to see that The Magnus Archives, a podcast developed by RustyQuill.com, that is also licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, is continuing it’s message of staying abstinent, all things considered, that was absolutely terrifying. I just LOVE the knowledge that the worms are a hive-mind and that Jane might not be the source, I LOVE THAT SO MUCH. In conclusion, I am probably going to sleep with a fire extinguisher tonight, and I am very scared for what the next 14 episodes have in store for me.

Also I guess I’ll mention Tim (the archival assistant, not the dead guy) here because why not. So far I’m getting major bastard energy from people’s descriptions of him, which means I will either love or hate him. Also I found it very funny but also kind of sad that Jon said he only trusts Tim to not prank him in Episode 11, and then he pulled a prank shortly before this statement took place.

- Episode 27, A Sturdy Lock 🔑

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

Ok, after everything that happened in the last episode, it was nice to get a short and sweet one here. Well, as sweet as an episode of a horror podcast can be. Overall, this one isn’t my favorite, I thought it was a little bit under the standards of creativity for the show as a whole, but that’s obviously not saying much, as it was still pretty damn good in its own right. I think it was definitely very effective with its storytelling, and credit where credit is due, it certainly brought out my fear of weird noises in the middle of the night. And even if I can’t personally resonate with this aspect of it, I do really appreciate how it tackled the idea of mental illness at old age, and while I’d be surprised if the statement wasn’t real, considering where the show seems to be going, it did a very good job at planting seeds of doubt in my mind. But still, it was genuinely pretty crushing how Paul had no proof throughout the entire thing, along with how the cops treated him. It really did make me thing about what would have happened if he hadn’t washed the blood off his hands. It still had a creepy atmosphere, and the reveals at the end were pretty interesting, I hope they show us Marcus’ statement soon enough. Also, the aspect of loneliness in this one did remind me a lot of what happened in Episode 13, so I wonder if there’s some connection there. (Also, I love how I’m 27 episodes in and Jon is STILL roasting Gertrude’s organizational skills.) So while this one isn’t the most interesting for me, I still enjoyed it, and it was nice to have a slightly lighter one after Episode 26. I hope Sasha had a good few days off, she deserves it.

- Episode 28, Skintight 📷

Statement of Melanie King, regarding events at the abandoned Cambridge Military Hospital during filming in January 2015. Statement taken direct from subject.

WHOA THAT WAS SO GOOD!!! Ok, I feel like I should start off with my thoughts on the basic premise, as while those episode is certainly…not the most humorous in its execution, the premise itself kind of is. I don’t know why, but I just thought the idea of there being an in-universe competitor was a really fun concept that was executed perfectly here. It kind of reminds me of something like Hatchetfield and Clivesdale (I don’t know how many people reading this will understand that, but there seems to be overlap between TMA fans and Hatchetfield fans, and also like, shut up, let me indulge in my hyperfixations.) The bickering between Melanie and Jon was great, as was Melanie herself, I’d love to see her again as I think she oddly brought a lot to the world of the series. Although I will say that, while it doesn’t make me like him any less, Jon’s reluctance to buy into statements is a lot more frustrating when there’s another person in the room. I also absolutely love the fact that there’s an in-universe spooky podcast mentioned by name, like, come one, that’s genuinely hilarious. But comedic value aside, this one was definitely pretty creepy. In a similar vain to what Episode 23 was doing, the whole “young people enter creepy abandoned building to film stuff and then get genuinely scared” concept felt evocative of other classic horror stories, and the way they spun it into the context of the show was great. The atmosphere was definitely very creepy as well, as I have mentioned, hospitals creep me the fuck out. And lastly…oh my god, THE CONNECTIONS. So, I’ll start off by saying that all of the skin shit reminded me of what happened in Episode 18 (which I hope is true because I think some connections to other things would make me like that episode more). But that pales in comparison to the fact that we have stuff on THE ANGLERFISH, HOLY FUCK THE ANGLERFISH. I’m SO glad that they didn’t throw it away just because it was in the pilot episode. In retrospect, I think that the story of Episode 1 isn’t quite my favorite. It doesn’t really have to be, as I think the main draw of the episode is getting a first look at the framing device and general vibe of the entire podcast, but the stories didn’t really grab me until Episode 2, which is still one of my favorites. But MAN, this episode really made me appreciate the setup at the beginning so much more, and the knowledge that the people who walked into the alley didn’t necessarily die, meaning that all of those names could potentially come back, is SO exciting to me. In fact, when you consider that Sarah was kind of going through what looked like a possession, I wonder if The Anglerfish is a figure of worship in a cult, if that theory is to be true. (Also I have relatives that live in the same area as Sarah so…maybe I should tell them to watch out for their neighbor lmao.) So yeah, this…this show is just really freaking good.

Note: I have discovered the Leitner rant, and therefore I have achieved true enlightenment.

- Episode 29, Cheating Death ♟️

Statement of Nathaniel Thorp, regarding his own mortality.

I should start off by saying that I love the episode title for this, like, it’s not even metaphorical, the guy literally cheated in a game against death. Well, anyways, the main thing that caught me about the episode was how it absolutely blindsided me. While I was right about the soldier being the same as the statement giver, which I think was supposed to be obvious, everything else in those last six or so minutes left me with a wide-open jaw. (Also, can I just say that I love how poetic this guy just…decided to be? Like, I just love it when the statements really show of personalities with the way they’re written, and it comes with a cool framing device.) Regardless, I initially assumed that it was going in a very traditional line. Nathaniel cheats death, becomes immortal, and regrets it in modern day because he’s lived longer that he really should have. That, combined with the fact that “Death” didn’t seem like the one of the more creative horror monsters in the show so far, had me so prepared to just write this one off as one of my least favorites (once again, not like that’s saying much.) And then the twist comes and HOLY SHIT I WAS WRONG. The idea of there basically being multiple grim reapers at the hands of some unknowable power, who have to gain successors to finally die themselves is absolutely terrifying and extremely clever. I tip my hat to you Rusty Quill, you did a great job at fooling me. Kind of funny considering how this is a story about being punished for your hubris (which seems to be a recurring theme???) I have a few other small thoughts as well. Firstly, I can’t help but shake the feeling that Nathaniel Thorp was an actual revolutionary war soldier, but I can’t find anything online other than the character from this episode. Also, the fact that his fate remains unknown makes me think he’ll show up again, as it seems weird to NOT end the story with confirmation of his death, given the themes. Secondly, a lot of the…less than pleasant imagery here definitely reminded me of Piecemeal and The Boneturner’s Tale. I don’t remember the story inside that Leitner very well, but I might check just in case there’s any parallels between it and this statement. (Update: Not really.) And finally, I was just a little bit intrigued by the fact that we learn no one who was working at the institute in 1972 works there anymore. It’s probably nothing, but given the mysteries surrounding Gertrude’s death, I’m just a little suspicious, both in general, and of Elias because he’s still around. Overall this episode went hard, I’m still kind of stunned by what it pulled off.

Jane Prentiss statement…save me…save me Jane Prentiss statement…

- Episode 30, Killing Floor 🍖

Statement of David Laylow, regarding his time working at an industrial abattoir near Dalton.

You know what, Jon is right, there’s a lot of meat in this show. Not that I’m complaining, I mean, it does fuel my obsession with connecting the dots between statements. Regardless, while this isn’t among my favorite episodes so far, I still had a good time with it. The reason it’s not one of my favorites is purely personal, as I don’t do too well with animal violence. Like, as much as I do really appreciate how viscerally Jonny Sims can describe the statements, I will admit that the opening minutes describing the slaughter house made me more uneasy than the actual horror, and not in a particularly fun way, but it was overall fine. Speaking of the actual horror, that was actually pretty good. The endless hallways lined with doors that lead to precarious situations also kind of tapped into a personal fear of mine, but in a more fun and digestible way. And while the idea of “imagine humans being slaughtered like animals” is something I’ve seen many a time before, it was still much more well executed than many other interpretations of the idea (*cough cough*, peta) and there were also plenty of other interesting themes and ideas, like how the episode touched on the inherent horror of working in a job as gruesome as the killing floor, being enslaved to said job, and the idea that maybe we’re all just walking sacks of meat in the end, and nothing more. As for some other thoughts, I was definitely creeped out by Tom Han, I’m not sure whether or not he’s someone who spreads ✨the horrors✨or someone affected by ✨the horrors✨, and his sudden disappearance was certainly…odd. On top of that, it’s admittedly haunting to know that there’s still creepy stuff going on at the slaughter house, and that this isn’t something that happened to David, and only David. Overall, a pretty good episode, I don’t have much to say about it, but it was a fun time overall.

Tim…save me…save me Tim…

Well, if you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for reading! Genuinely means the world to me when there are people willing to listen to me ramble about my horrible (affectionate) interests lmao. I should have my thoughts on the final episodes of Season 1 out in due time, and while I’m sure it’s obvious, I’m absolutely hooked on this podcast. It absolutely has the potential to become one of my favorite things ever if the overarching plot becomes more involved and this is coming from someone who up until now, wasn’t all that gripped by podcasts. While I’m a little sad that I’m as late to the party as I am, then I remembered “oh yeah, I was in elementary school when this horrifying series came out”, and I’m also hopeful that I’ll be able to be around for The Magnus Protocol while it’s airing (I know it premieres in like a week but still.) Anyways, thanks for reading and hopefully you’ll be around for my thoughts on the next batch :)

[zannolin]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @beautyofsorrow ty sis <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

visibly? 64. including anon? 110. including orphaned ones, 113. BOY i've been busy.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

774,206 with another ~28k waiting to be posted :)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

actively right now, just narnia. previously in descending order, as best as i can remember because i've been doing this 15+ years at this point: stranger things, the karate kid/cobra kai, lockwood & co, beyonders, the copernicus legacy, fnaf, national treasure, the shazam! movies, superman & lois, ginger snaps, resident evil, arcane, the batman 2022, star wars (jedi apprentice era mostly), a fandom that shall not be named (iykyk), the penumbra podcast, the magnus archives, bnha, voltron, miraculous ladybug, moulin rouge, warrior cats, my little pony, doctor who, disney/dreamworks (rotbtfd and frozen specifically), h*rry p*tter when i was a kid unfortunately, maximum ride, the mcu, the 39 clues, and of course, lord of the rings.

as a bonus, ones i have written but never finished include the man from snowy river (1982), the IT movies, bendy and the ink machine, fablehaven, the lunar chronicles, five kingdoms, keeper of the lost cities, oz, and atla.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

only doing ones visible on my ao3 for this because i despise all the anon ones that are my top five: paper faces (fnaf), harm's way (stranger things), (dental) care (bnha), pyrrhic victory (shazam) and please don't hold me to it (stranger things).

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

i try to! i don't often end up responding to every single one because it takes a lot of energy on my part, but especially if someone leaves a nice one that points out something specific they appreciated or noticed i like to try to respond and elaborate on it a little for funsies :) i try to let people know their comments are appreciated because maybe the positive reinforcement will spread the practice of commenting even more.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

probably still greek tragedy aka my batman 2022 fic where i just fuckin killed that guy (batman). i usually tend towards fixits so i think the only other fic that doesn't have any kind of hopeful hint at the end i wrote would be like. close encounters. but that's part of a fixit series? which is why i don't count good luck, babe! from the same series because it reveals the end of the first wasn't actually as much of a bummer as you thought even if the situation isn't resolved yet. you know.

WAIT i lied i also wrote a klance titanic au in high school which was SOOO funny like not even titanic the movie. titanic the historical event. and i killed those guys. high school me was so funny and for what.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

most of them. again, i'm a fixer at heart. but i would say probably wild blue yonder, my narnia wing au, 'cause literally everybody wins in that one. writing it made me able to listen to the prince caspian ost without crying for a solid couple weeks because i was like yayyyy fixit :) that's how powerful it is.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not really.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

no because i am overcome with secondhand embarrassment and shame and i dislike 90% of the vocabulary involved but sometimes i'm overcome with hubris reading bad smut and going "i could do better than this." like where is the eroticism. where's the character study. where's the unhinged vulnerability and intimacy. it's all so bad.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the wildest one you’ve written?

not at the moment, but i used to write rise of the brave tangled frozen dragons fic, and once i had an au where elsa was shipwrecked and lost her memory and washed up in america and made friends with spirit. you know. the stallion of the cimarron. i was an interesting child.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no but i've had people ask which is fine by me.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yeah i used to co-write warriors fics with my friend in high school, and then i was co-writing a horror au series (tho not specific fics) with some friends a few years ago, and tam and i never did end up finishing the coma au but we WERE co-writing it at the time. and i was also part of a collaborative story project for a vld zine back in the day.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

um i don't really know if i have one. i don't tend to focus on ships over everything else, though i have some beloved ones i'll always hold dear, like aragorn and arwen, quitahl, brileygail, the works.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i mean there's still the penumbra anastasia au on my ao3 so that's the easy answer. i'm also unsure if i'll ever get up the energy to complete the byler tsr au, or my reverse dawn treader au. i don't know. we'll see.

16. What are your writing strengths?

i'm good with character voices and getting inside characters' heads + to the meat of their relationships i think. i can write a bangin' metaphor. i'm good at melding my own style with the source material's style to make it feel more authentic. i am very very good about consistency and accuracy in details. i understand canon very well.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

too wordy. often spend too much time on introspection which jams up the pacing. plot.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i would like to be able to do it but i do not speak anything but english and a little spanish so i'm pretty sure i'll fuck it up lol.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

lord of the rings. i still have this fic. it's handwritten on tinkerbell notebook paper.

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

i fear i am never topping north of desire and the national treasure polyfic.

tagging @thescrapwitch @wyverningx @brionysea if y'all haven't done this and you wanna :)

[neverwalka1one]

Magnus Archives 29 - Something something skeleton key

Yes I didn't do one for 28, last week was a series of unutterable stupid and mostly my reaction was YELLING, so.

CELIA? Come get your boy. Before he drowns.

Unironically unimpressed by the phone in the puddle not dying because it's in a puddle, good job spyphone.

Nooooooooo not the breakroom I caaaaaan't fine I'm getting the transcripts.

... His excuse for going outside was to see the car? But he's not a car guy that I remember? Like? Am I forgetting something here? MP (who is still Trevor I just CANNOT) drives a fancy car and... yes?

How is Sam so sure this [Error]/Archivist is the same as Gwen's [Error]/Archivist? No one else from the office has seen one - Alice has heard a story about one, and Gwen saw one, but not Celia and Sam. Again, did I miss something, or?

Celia being the calm rational one is a) weird and b) not on my bingo card.

Also she's right, this is a crap idea.

Heeee kinda love Chester popping up out of no-where with a story. Chester's just like HEY! Want a story about betrayal? No? TOO BAD.

T e x t o b s c u r e d b y b l o o d s t a i n

Pack a bag for somewhere cold. Definitely not an ominous statement in this particular fandom.

Odemknout své srdce - unlock your heart. Written the day of the anniversary/day of the drowning. Who wrote this?

Then a whole year and change goes by with nothing. What happened during that year? Because her next comment is about being alone on Christmas, but she was alone the previous Christmas and wrote nothing, so why write something this year?

Is it because the previous Christmas was normal and 2020 was in the middle of a pandemic? Did this 'verse have a pandemic? What happened??

So a year and a third later and she's writing out this whole thing in detail. Sus.

He's gonna get a new lock 'come hell or high water'. I mean, be careful what you wish for.

Skeleton key skeleton key skeleton key

So she wrote what was on the lock? In her travel diary right after ALL THIS happens? Whut.

WHAT is with all these people putting things inside......... you know, no, I'm not going to finish that question, but I just want to say that key is not any more sanitary than the coral and UGH IT'S MORE PLANT PEOPLE.

Teddy and Alice are online buddies.

Teddy a) definitely doesn't have a job and b) is 100% going to die. Maybe be a plant person, idk, seems to be going around.

Saw something in another post that pointed out that from where Alice would have been standing, the [Error]/Archivist would need to be either in the conductor's booth or on top of the train. I don't know which mental image I love more.

Also was the skeleton doctor from last week what happens when you shove a skeleton key inside you just asking for my mental health a friend.

[kitsunesakii]

So to re clarify-

(And no I'm not trying to spell correctly)

(And this is just for fun)

(Also I'm so sick rn my head is about to explode)

Here at tma we have ;

Elias/ Jonah Magnus/ Bouchard - the stereotypical baddie from every animated kids cartoon

Gurtrude Robinson - somewhere in between "f- around and find out" and "screw it we'll just use dynamite"

Gerard Key - emo ghostie thats more normal than the 'norm'

Jon Sims - a "disgruntled-honestly-only-wanted-to-

reorganize-the-bloody-archives-is-that-

too-much-to-ask?!?" Workaholic

Tim stroker - didn't deserve his fate also 100% used his bedroom eyes to get info at some point

Sasha James - besides Martin she was the only one who could put up with Jon / also didn't deserve her fate

Martin Blackwood - bestie was down bad for his grouch of a boss/coworker also the only humanity left in that place

Bisera - here's where last names are gonna get iffy / good cop

Daisy - daughter of the hunt/ tried to execute Jon and pretty much K/O'd Mike Crew also she might be a werewolf

Micheal Shelly - a nervous bottle of energy that trusted too deeply, his revenge would be his end

Mike Crew - got a scar and gets offended at people about it

Peter Lucas - he sounds like any hr at any job when they are trying to kindly explain why brutal pipe murder is wrong but is drawn like a hundred year old sea captain (no I'm not over this)

Anabel Cane - the reason I hate spiders more than I do now

The cult of the undying light/ The people's church of the lightless flame - I've never been so confused on two seperate fronts but basically one of these is I think the desolation and the other is the dark and no I don't know which is which - they had a space mission that tormented two people

SO MANY NAMES

Yergain Lightner

Jergain Leigtner?

The old guy with the spooky books (nailed it) - he's been livin in the BASEMENT

Helen - see it's characters like hers that make me think I should relisten through 1-4 instead of s5 cause I don't remember where she came from,,, was she the one that was sleep deprived? Who knows! I certainly don't.

Nikola - she's fun, Russian, and mannequin, her pronouns are hell/no

Hilltop road - a street I shall never live on

Brennan and Hope - a service I will never deliver from

Also y'all remember that guy that was probably a gangster and wanted revenge on the other gangster so he went to the lady and told her he wanted it to be slow and painful but he didn't believe she had magical powers but when he went to kill the guy himself he found that he had some fingers missing and overall looked like hell and then started getting packages with his own body parts? Yea well I wanna know which fear helped in that....

There's also Mikale Silasa - y can't names be nice and easy

Michael Silasea

Something like that ^ -- genuinely cannot remember this guy

Was he the one that wrote those letters to Gertrude about the 15th fear that Martin had to read? Was he the antique dealer that seemed to come across all the cursed items? Was he that guy on the boat? The one that worked for the vast?????

Simon Fairchild - dunno. Just. Dunno.

I've got to be missing so many people and y e t.

[douglysium]

Episode 12 TMP Quick Thoughts

Housekeeping and Prologue

Hello, this is Douglysium and you might not know me as that guy who wrote over 100 pages of analysis on the Eye (which can be read on Tumblr here (https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/735599414228484097/the-relationships-between-the-dread-powers-the) or Google Docs here (The Relationships Between the Dread Powers: The Eye- Knowledge is Fear and Ignorance is Bliss)) or as that guy who wrote an article on the Extinction (which can be read on Tumblr here(https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/717929126195003392/what-would-avatars-of-the-extinction-be-like-a) and Google Docs here(​What would Avatars of the Extinction be like?: A TMA Speculation)). Suffice to say I might be a bit of a TMA fan. Also, spoilers for TMP up until episode 10. You can read my ramblings on the last episode here (Episode 11 TMP Quick Thoughts).

However, Protocol offers a very unique opportunity and experience for me because I didn’t actually get into TMA until after it was over and I binged all of it. So this is my first time experiencing something even remotely similar to what the original TMA fans probably experienced when waiting for each episode week by week and slowly having to put everything together with the limited information they had. So I decided to throw my hat into the ring since this might be my only chance to do something similar. However, I’m working on some longer form TMA content so I can’t spend as much time on these articles giving a bunch of super detailed thoughts. I will try to keep these short and that inevitably might mean some could have questions about why I think or predict certain things and in those cases I would probably recommend you read at least some of the two articles I mentioned above to get a better idea of where I’m coming from. This also means I won’t be giving you a play-by-play of every single thing that happens in the episode so I encourage you to listen to or read them yourselves and feel free to comment if you feel something is important.

These reviews are probably going to end up focusing mostly on the Entities and their manifestations as they are what I have thought about the most and spent the most time interpreting and there’s been a lot of… interesting theories floating around about how the Entities are manifesting that I want to go over.

Finally, I’m just going to say it right now, spoiler warning for all of The Magnus Archives. I know that Jon and co said one could start with Protocol and be fine, and while that’s probably true, media like this tends to be made in conversation with or take into consideration what came before it in the irl chronology in order to connect them. While I’m sure you could skip The Magnus Archives, I don't really see the point of skipping over it when we are already getting characters from TMA showing up in TMP in Protocol. So to me it’s pretty clear that if we want to understand the full picture of TMP and all the things it is trying to say then we can’t just try to pretend TMA doesn’t exist or scrub it away. Just because you could understand what’s happening without the context in broad strokes doesn’t mean you're getting all the nuances.

These articles are meant to be quick and short so sorry if there’s typos and if I don’t address every possible question or possibility. I don’t want to repeat myself too much in this series outside of the prologue so be sure to skim some of my other articles.

Episode 12 “Getting Off”

I think this episode is definitely one of the more straightforward Protocol episodes we have gotten so far, so hopefully this Quick Thoughts won’t br too long (but knowing me I probably just jinxed it).

We take in the scene through a CCTV in the breakroom of the OIAR at night. The transcripts clarify that Celia is very tired and searching through the cupboards for something and it is quickly made apparent that she is looking for tea and, since the break room has run out, Sam gives Celia a teabag from a secret stash that he apparently has. Sam then asks Celia out on a date and while she is busy at the moment she does show that she is willing to go out with Sam on “Saturday, 6? under the clock at Leicester Square. That work? We’ll go for dinner- well, breakfast- you know what I mean.” Once again, we see that the OIAR jobs appear to be very exhausting and have odd work hours. I also wonder what Celia’s end goal is. Does she genuinely like Sam or does she see him as means to an end. Is Celia here to help Sam and co or is she here to harm them?

As Celia leaves, Alice walks in and proceeds to make fun of Sam for clearly being extremely nervous as he asked out Celia. Alice says “(normal again) You know it’s rude to have absolutely no game? Christ, all these years and you still ask people out like a baby foal learning to tapdance.” A reference to the fact that she and Sam dated at some point, and how Sam probably acted very similarly when trying to ask her out. Sam does point out “Look it worked didn’t it?” which seems like it could be a sort of double meaning. Sam’s nervous approach got Celia to agree to a date but also Alice presumably agreed to go out with him in the past too.

Sam apologizes to Alice for dragging her to the ruins of the Institute only to fund nothing… well nothing Sam and Alice know about since something escaped the Institute. Sam says he’s done with Magnus stuff and Alice responds with “So you’re telling me that if I had a case full of emails with the title “Magnus Institute re: Samama Khalid – Massive Conspiracy” you wouldn’t be tempted?” to which Sam says no before asking “You don’t, though. Do you? That was just, like, a joke. Right?” Alice then says “Come on, for now let’s just focus on getting you as jaded and apathetic as possible.” Considering that Alice does appear to be pretty jaded about listening to the cases and piecing them together this could be related to her point about ignoring the talkers and not getting caught up in thinking too much about what’s happening. 

NORRIS starts expositing the next case

“Claim Review: EL-56920 

Policy Holder: Soho Jack’s Ltd. 

Policy Number: 548651-656 

Policy Type: Employers’ Liability 

Site Address: Soho Jack’s, 9 Carlisle St, London W1D 3BK 

Affected Employee: Ms. Jordan Bennett 

Date of Incident: 9 March 2024 

Incident Location: On site. 

Documentation: Crime Report – Submitted 

Medical Practitioner Report – Submitted 

Incident Book Entry – Submitted First Aider’s Report – Submitted 

Supervisor’s incident Report - Submitted 

HSE communications - Submitted 

Health-And-Safety policies - Submitted 

Employment Contract - Submitted 

Claim Valuation: £1,560,000 Assessment 

Conclusion: Claim Denied Reason: Fraudulent claim (see incident description and police report)”

This, along with some information Jordan mentions later, means Jordan is suing Soho Jack’s Ltd. They go on to say that their lawyer has advised them to cooperate with Soho Jack’s insurance claim as a show of good faith, even if they’re planning on “suing your asses to kingdom-come.” They start recounting an event that occurred on the company’s property and apologize for their terrible handwriting (which we later learn is probably because Mr. Bonzo bit off one of their hands).

They go over how they started working at Jack’s in the spring of 2021 after they had finished Flair Academy. After struggling to find a job they managed to get an interview and then job at the aforementioned Jack’s. The club seems to have a good reputation as Jordan refers to it as “the Soho Gentleman’s club.” The company’s building “...has dances on the bottom two floors with VIP suites for hire above with a dedicated bouncer keeping them separate. Really, it’s just a quieter box with a private bar, some comfy chairs and the option of private dancers.” Despite this being “THE” Soho Gentleman’s club Jordan says “It’s always booked up with swank dickheads trying to show off, but Stags are the worst: they’re cheap, they’re loud, they drink too much, tip too little and only ever hire one dance for the groom. Plus there’s always some “nice guy” that won’t shut up about exploitation without even bothering to stop staring.” 

Jordan begins to explain how the party the specific party that led to them wanting to sue Jack’s. They state that this specific party’s lot was not the worst and were “Just a bunch of heavyset, middle-aged lads with names like Ozzer, or Rozzer or whatever. ” and notes that “The groom was fine, acted embarrassed even though he was obviously keen and they were easily pleased. ”

“They started giving the groom gifts. Same old tat as always, cufflinks, poo gags, all the standard stuff. Then the groom spotted the last one on the table, this cheap yellow and purple kids lunch box. It looked old and shoddy and no one admitted to bringing it but the groom just squealed with glee and carefully opened it before pulling out a bunch old souvenir merch. Pencils, postcards, keyrings, all sorts of crap, all the same yellow and purple and last of all a cracked CD case. When they saw it the whole bunch gave this big laughing cheer.” I have talked about how I think Mr. Bonzo is probably tied to The Stranger if we view him through the lens of Smirke’s 14. I will retread some of those reasons later but right now I want to point out that no one admitted to bringing the Bonzo CD. It could simply be that it’s a prank and someone happened to grab an artifact or something tied to Bonzo, and maybe someone from the OIAR even planted it there, but it could also be connected to the idea of The Stranger and the fear of the unknown because it could be that no one actually knows who got that CD.

We also know that The Stranger is no… stranger to dropping off or delivering strange artifacts in order to feed on the fear of people interacting with unknown /mysterious objects. Breekon and Hope’s delivery service are a good example of this (strangers that show up and drop off never before seen or uncanny objects and artifacts).

“I could see which way the wind was turning and sure enough the bestman came over and asked if he could play it. The cover had this awful comic sans title: “Mr. Bonzo’s On His Way” and I wasn't exactly thrilled by this.” Jordan explains that “Mr. Bonzo was way before my time and from what I had seen online he had always looked pretty messed up. But hey, it was their night, if they wanted to spend it on some cringy nostalgia trip, who was I to say no?” Which could mean that Jordan doesn’t know a lot about Mr. Bonzo, and lack of familiarity with something is one of the things that we know entities like The Stranger love to prey on.

“This kind of thing happened often enough that we kept a battered old CD Player in the back that we could patch into the room's speakers, just in case. So, I ducked back there, put it on, turned the volume down as low as I could get away with, and prayed it wasn’t too obnoxious. Immediately the cheering children’s voices blared out the speakers accompanied by bouncy tubas loud enough to drown out the rest of the club’s music. It was awful but I could hear the lads stamping the floor in rhythm and as the kids started singing the men were singing along: “Mr. Bonzo’s on his way, he wants to stay, he wants to play! Mr. Bonzo’s on his way, he wants to stay, he wants to play!” If you want to listen to the song Jordan is referring to it is actually available on Youtube: Mr Bonzo (from 'The Magnus Protocol'). Maybe you can put yourself in the shoes of an annoyed Jordan or ecstatic old man at the club.

Jordan clearly finds the song annoying and after waiting a minute, in order to avoid being a “total killjoy,” they decide to turn off the song before “ Derek came down from the office to “have a word.” I assume Jordan meant Derek would complain about the music. However, when Jordan turns the CD player off it “...just grew louder, rattling the glassware in the bar: “Mr. Bonzo’s on his way, he wants to stay, he wants to play!” I even yanked the cables from the speakers, but it just kept getting louder.” Obviously, something supernatural is going on but Jordan reasonably assumes that the player just broke and begins to reach for their walkie talkie in order to call for some tech support. However, as they do so they are interrupted by a massive crash coming from another part of the room followed by a cheer. Jordan gets ready to reprimand the party goers for whatever mess they might have made but instead sees Mr. Bonzo. “It was hunched in the doorway, a bulbous figure with a purple hat that cast crazed shadows in all directions thanks to the club’s lighting effects. Then it doffed its hat and pushed itself into the room, foam catching on the doorframe with a squeak that set my teeth on edge. Its massive bulbous google-eyes seemed to roam all over the room before settling on the groom and it was almost as if the huge toothy grin grew wider when it saw him.” We know that Gwen delivered a name and address to Bonzo and in the previous episode Lena even tells Gwen “I’m sure you’ve already worked that out. But just in case you haven’t, keep an eye on the case loads over the next few days. It should become abundantly clear.” Implying that this could be the case Lena was alluding to or that the groom (or someone else in the room) is Bonzo’s target (but it’s almost definitely the groom).

Everyone in the room assumes the appearance of Bonzo is some sort of gift or prank and “The rugby boys were tripping over themselves to get in and hug it, laughing and pushing the groom to the front and so I figured at that point it was a prank. Again, none of them took credit for it and there was a moment of genuine hesitation, until one of them yelled out “It's ya lapdance, Baz!” and they all fell about laughing.” Jordan is furious that a coworker named Joey presumably let Bonzo in and the idea that Joey might have bailed on Jordan again by “ducking out for a smoke.” But as Jordan moves forward they notice something- “I began to stride over, readying for the inevitable complaints then hesitated as I saw something far more unnerving than the ugly costume that was capering with the groom in the middle of the group. There was a pair of heavy boots on their side, poking just inside the still open doorway. Joey’s boots, and they weren't moving. Just then the google eyes looked turned to me, and a puffy finger raised cheekily to its mouth.” So Joey was killed by Bonzo and all the while “the men had all started chanting “Bonzo! Bonzo! Bonzo”, stamping their feet and banging the tables in a circle around the pair in the center…” and the music kept getting louder. So loud that it began to sound distorted from the strain the song was putting on the speakers.

Out of all the Entities the Slaughter seems to have a pretty strong connection to music but The Stranger also has a strong precedent for music. For example, The Calliope in TMA is an artifact tied to The Stranger. In MAG 024 (Strange Music) it is mentioned that the instrument has "Be still, for there is strange music" carved into the cover of the keyboard. While The Slaughter’s connection to music is probably due to an association between rhythm and war (think the marching of an army or the phrase “drums of war”) as well as the fear of “violent” music, The Stranger’s connection to music seems to come from the idea of either strange unknown sounds or a song / sound that sounds really uncanny. It is noted by Jordan that Mr. Bonzo’s song grows louder and more distorted overtime which would mean that the song is becoming more and more incomprehensible as it would slowly change into a song with lyrics you couldn’t understand or identify as easily. It could also be that the song sounds uncanny in the sense that it is familiar in some ways but something is off about it.

Jordan tries to call for help on his walkie talkie but can only hear Mr. Bonzo’s theme blaring out of its tiny speaker. Jordan tries to warn everyone and get out but no one can hear him over the music. Bonzo takes the groom and begins to “dance” with him by spinning around faster and faster until Bonzo decides to rip his arms off and even as this act of gorey brutality took place the other party goers present continued to laugh and laugh until Jordan’s scream caused them to realize this wasn’t some sort of prank. Almost everyone begins to yell in terror but some yelled in rage and proceeded to attack Bonzo: “A few of the bigger guys picked up chairs or bottles and began to beat and slash at the thing. It didn’t seem to notice, its bulbous, bloodshot, eyes staying fixed on the groom’s body as it raised it overhead.” Bonzo then proceeds to continue pulverizing the body by smashing it against the ground over and over.

“For a split second, all was still but the music just pounded on, barely recognizable now over the distortion from the smoking speakers as those voices, no longer childlike, still chanted the words “He’s here to stay… He wants to play…”” “Then Mr. Bonzo turned towards us with its head bowed almost reverentially and everybody went silent. Slowly, awfully slowly, it raised its head, titling it coquettishly to one side. Then the seams across its face split revealing its gaping maw filled with even larger, sharper teeth.” Jordan admits that they don’t remember much about what happened after that but “I dream about it most nights. In the dream it digs through all those men to get to me, grabbing fistfuls of them and throwing them to smash against the wall. The strobe fires as its hands plunge into the pile of us and each flash shows a little less flesh between me and it, between me and all those teeth… finally everyone else is gone. I raise my arm to protect myself and it gently but inexorably lifts it into its mouth, smiles and bites… None of us was left whole but I was the luckiest. All I lost was a hand, it wasn’t even my dominant one.” The biting was set up previously in episode 10 when the transcripts mention “Gwen holds out the envelope and Mr Bonzo snatches it into his mouth, audibly chewing it. His teeth are not soft.”

Jordan says that they “told the investigators everything I know, doctors too. I don't know why nobody outside the room heard or saw anything, why the cameras weren't working, why it let me live. But I do know why there weren't any bodies. All I actually want is my hand back so I can tend bar but that isn’t going to happen is it? So I’ll have to settle for the next best thing and sue you for everything I can get, because I don’t know what happened that night but it was in your venue and no one came to help. Not Derek, not another doorman, no one. So yeah, you’d better have one hell of a settlement waiting for me, or I'll see you in court.”

While you could make an argument for themes of Entities like The Desolation, Flesh, Hunt, etc. I’m still going to primarily argue for Bonzo being tied to The Stranger or a similar Entity due to what we see in his previous appearances. For the sake of clarity, if there is any debate about what The Stranger embodies in MAG 200 it is stated “And as they learned to know their friends and kin, so too did they learn to fear the unknown figure, the coming of the stranger” and in MAG 092 (Nothing Beside Remains) Jonah tells Jon “We thrive on ceaseless watching, on knowing too much. What we face is the hidden, the uncanny, and the unknown.” while in MAG 111 (Family Business) Jon says “The Stranger is the unknown. The uncanny.” and Gerard doesn’t correct him.

However, a lot of Mr. Bonzo’s behaviours in previous episodes resembles The Stranger (and The Stranger has violently attacked or killed people in the past). Mr. Bonzo is also described as being a clown. Something we know The Stranger has a precedent for manifesting as, probably due to both the idea of the uncanny valley being achieved with a costume or makeup and the idea of a traveling circus full of strangers you don’t know from out of town in addition to a clown costume acting as a disguise that can obscure whoever is wearing it. Not to mention that Mr. Bonzo is described as a suit, which could very easily connect to an Entity like The Stranger. Firstly, The Stranger tends to have a big emphasis on wearing things like skins and suits. Additionally, Gwen mentions in episode 11 “That… abomination wasn’t a costume. That was skin. It was sagging, it was sweaty!” and we know The Stranger has a tendency for wearing skin, skinning things (such as with taxidermy), etc. as a form of disguise, in order to hide itself, or to metaphorically rob something of their identity.

This also applies to costumes in general since usually wearing costumes or disguises can actually obscure who is wearing them and thus their true identity is unknown. There’s also the fact that costumes themselves can easily fall into the uncanny valley. Ever since Five Nights at Freddy’s became popular there’s been an uptick in horror media focusing on how creepy and uncanny things like animatronic suits can be. Not that Mr. Bonzo is an animatronic but it is a suit. Also, Bonzo apparently has hard teeth and having solid teeth on a suit could look uncanny.

The surprise gift and sudden appearance of Bonzo that others assume is some sort of surprise or prank could also tie into The Stranger and the idea of something mysteriously appearing or not being expected. Bonzo was originally made to prank celebrities. As Nigel explains in episode 10 that his produce ““inviting a famous person on, someone really serious, and we tell them we’re going to have them do a segment with a popular children’s entertainer. Now, obviously these folks won’t have any idea about what kids are actually watching, so we could come up with the most horrendous thing, claim kids loved it and see how long it took for the guest to realize that they were the joke. That they’d been “berried”” and “The problem with a surprise prank is that doing it on Saturday night primetime means pretty soon everyone knows about it, and the guests knew it was coming. A couple even requested it. So the prank part of it sort of died, and he just became an SOS mascot. One of my many tormentors in the dungeon. By the end we’d even retired Mr. Six, and it was all Bonzo.” Once again, a focus on surprise and I think it’s interesting that Bonzo loses his punch the more people know about and understand him. Bonzo is a character that thrived specifically on the guests not knowing who he was and did. So a potential relationship with the unknown again.”

In episode 10 Nigel says to Gwen ““Try not to stare. He doesn’t like it when people stare.” Which could relate to The Stranger. While all the Entities are connected, overlap, and need each other for a ritual bringing them into the world to work, with even seemingly opposing Entities bleeding into each other or having overlapping fears, The Stranger can often have an antagonistic relationship with The Eye and forms of being known. The Stranger tends to thrive off the fear of being unknown so staring at something aligned with The Stranger might make it react negatively. In MAG 092 (Nothing Beside Remains) Jonah tells Jon “We thrive on ceaseless watching, on knowing too much. What we face is the hidden, the uncanny, and the unknown.” In MAG 165 (Revolutions) Not-Sasha says this in regards to The Eye’s Post-Change world “Do you know how it feels? To be – anonymous? And yet known! To have all the sweetest dread I can create tainted by the relentless gaze of that damned Eye. I’ve suffered enough.” So if my theory that Bonzo is tied to something like The Stranger is correct, that could explain a potentially negative reaction to being looked at for too long since aspects of The Stranger often don’t like it when people try to figure out what they are. This could ring extra true if it does turn out that the OIAR is somehow connected to The Eye.

Bonzo’s eating and biting could potentially be linked to The Stranger’s tendency for odd uncanny behavior, like that time Breekon / Hope ate a butterfly. The fact that this monster looks like Bonzo could also be related to the idea of the uncanny, since he would resemble Bonzo but behave and look a bit off. Also, it seems hard to tell if Bonzo is a costume or a monster resembling a costume which makes it harder to know what he is for sure, and The Stranger loves playing up mystery (think how we never know which character is Breekon and which character is Hope from Breekon and Hope in TMA, and Jon describes one of them as “one half of Breekon and Hope”). Also, Bonzo can only say his name which means you never really know what he’s saying or talking about.

Bonzo killing everyone in the room but leaving someone alive is not a completely unheard of idea. The Entities in general often seem to leave witnesses if in doing so more fear is generated and we see creatures like the Not-Them kill and replace people while ensuring that at least one person remembers what the original persona actually looked like even if no one else does. The reason for this is because if the Not-Them’s disguise was perfect and changed every bit of memory and evidence then there wouldn’t be anyone to be afraid of the idea that someone they know has been replaced by a stranger.

Jordan mentions “I don't know why nobody outside the room heard or saw anything, why the cameras weren't working, why it let me live. But I do know why there weren't any bodies.” which emphasizes his confusion about what’s happening. While confusion is often tied to The Spiral, in this case it stems from a bunch of unknown factors and variables, like why there were no other witnesses and why the cameras weren’t working.” As far as there being no witnesses and the cameras failing to work, the Entities are known for usually being on the downlow and not common knowledge but Entities like The Stranger tend to thrive off the fear of mystery and have a precedent for things like mysterious disappearances or hiding people / things. The Calliope I mentioned earlier mysteriously disappeared from the Institute’s archives at some point in TMA and in MAG 092 (Nothing Beside Remains) Jonah tells Jon “We thrive on ceaseless watching, on knowing too much. What we face is the hidden, the uncanny, and the unknown.” Jonah specifically mentions that The Stranger has a connection to “the hidden” among other things. In MAG 102 (Nesting Instinct) Jonah even says that The Stranger essentially hid Jon from him when saying “I was doing everything in my power to locate you. Everyone was working on finding the ritual site.” and “[Irritated] I am sorry, John, that my powers have not yet reached the level of omniscience.” Jordan does say that they know why there weren’t any bodies which implies that Mr. Bonzo probably ate them.

Jordan having trouble remembering exactly what happened actually does have a precedent with The Stranger since the Entity does have connections to memory loss or a loss of identity. In MAG 165 (Revolutions) we see Not-Sasha watch over a Domain that takes the form of a merry-go-round with people fighting over faces. People with no faces must fight over the faces of others to rip them off and regain some sense of identity. When they lose their face it is said “And soon enough they will forget they ever even had one, rest assured; it’s best to step the dance and keep your face secured as much as you are able. Just. Keep. Running.” Jon and co also face memory loss when they interrupt The Stranger’ ritual in TMA and forget who they are and what they are doing for a period of time.

Some other Entities this statement parallels are that of The Slaughter (with sudden brutal and gory violence), The Flesh (via bodily disfigurement by way of losing a hand, Bonzo being described as releasing “some vile mixture of putrid water, rotten foam and rancid meat.” when cut at some point, and Bonzo biting into people), The End (a lot of people brutally die), The Corruption (from the aforementioned vile mixture pouring out of Bonzo), and even The Eye (with the strange and horrifying dreams Jordan is forced to relive over and over resembling how people who give Jon live statements are forced to relive said moments in the form of nightmares over and over). Like always, I have to at least touch on the fact that The Eye doesn’t seem to just be the fear of being watched but also being a witness to something you don’t want to see. Jon can force people to recount and relive terrible moments, Jonah can force information into the heads of people like Melanie and Martin, and in MAG 200 The Eye is stated to have been born from the fear of one’s own eyes showing them too much.

All this being said, I still think the OIAR is somehow connected to The Eye. There’s the cases being like statements but also the fact that they supply sensitive information (such as names and locations) to things like Mr. Bonzo. People like Jonah could almost always know one’s location thanks to their Eye powers and The Eye is connected to the fear of someone / something knowing too much about you (such as knowing where and who you are). I wonder why Bonzo was sent to kill this particular groom when he was just partying? Did the groom know something or overstep some line or was the groom just some sort of offering to appease Mr. Bonzo? How was this person’s name and address obtained? Was it just mundane tracking or something closer to Jonah’s clairvoyance? Nigel acted like he was doing the OIAR a favor so right now it seems like this was a target decided by the OIAR and not necessarily Nigel. Unless you want to argue that the “favor” is aiding in keeping Bonzo pacified, under wraps, or something potentially more mutually beneficial. I wonder if Jordan’s dreams are somehow connected to being directly involved in a case or facing an External of the OIAR? It could also simply be that Jordan is traumatized.

We cut to Gwen and the transcripts say she “is sat at her desk, stunned by what she has just heard.” and she only says “Jesus Christ…” I wonder if this is because the case is unusually brutal or gorey when compared to most others or if she realized there’s a connection between the letter she delivered and what happens in this case. Considering what Lena said it's very possible that some of the cases the OIAR gets are connected to the activity of their own Externals (such as Mr. Bonzo).

ALICE CONT. 

“Gwen? Hello?”

GWEN 

“(dazed) What?”

Getting sucked into a statement like this and statements having a negative impact on one’s mental state are both things we have seen in TMA. Jon had a hard time stopping once he started a statement and at one point Jon expresses worry that Martin was listening to a bunch of statements for Peter Lukas and his plan in regards to The Extinction. Although, it could be that Gwen is merely shocked.

Gwen explains that she met one of the Externals but Alice seems to think Gwen is just referring to some annoying assholes as opposed to any supernatural monsters that takes the form of beloved childhood characters.

Gwen seems to finally wonder the question that I’ve been wondering for a while now:

GWEN 

“What do you think we’re actually doing, here at the O.I.A.R.?” 

ALICE 

“Apart from mortgaging our mental health for a wage packet?” 

GWEN 

“We’ve both been here long enough to know this place. We’re not doing good. We’re not just sifting random data. There’s something wrong here.”

ALICE 

“What are you getting at?”

GWEN 

“You never wonder what the point is? Who benefits from all this awfulness?”

ALICE 

“I don’t wonder. I know.”

GWEN 

(sitting up) “What? Really?”

ALICE 

“(portentous) Oh yeah. I’ve known for a while. What we’re doing here, it’s all part of a grand plan to satisfy one of the most unspeakable evils known to mankind... “

Gwen’s on the edge of her seat. 

ALICE 

“(almost a whisper) …the UK government.”

In TMA the point of the Institute sifting through statements and stuff was twofold. Firstly, to feed The Eye but also to set up the lynchpin for The Eye’s ritual with the position of the Archivist. I wonder if something similar is going on here but I can’t say since while you could argue that being an Externals Liaison is like the Archivist and shares the role as being a “living chronicle of fear” (especially since Lena remarked that Gwen should show fear via screaming because Externals tend to like that) Gwen had to blackmail her way into that position. I have no idea who was the Externals Liaison before her or if there are other Liaisons, if there even was one(s) before / with Gwen at all. Also, unlike the Institute, the OIAR is explicitly connected to the government and is meant to respond to things (not just watch). So it’s very likely that the OIAR has a role that is different from just “The Mass Ritual / Institute 2.0.” They could still be gathering fear related to the statements and being observed like the Institute in TMA though. However, even the Institute still wanted the Archival staff to do a good job following up statements and stuff. Jon tries to reorganize the Archives after Gertrude purposefully left them disorganized and Tim corrects Jon about some errors he made when reading some statements. The OIAR doesn’t really seem to care how well or poorly their workers categorize the cases and I don’t know if anyone checks.

Alice’s joke about the greatest evil known to mankind being the UK government feels like foreshadowing considering that the OIAR, and by extension all the Externals like Bonzo, are connected to the government.

Alice’s comment “Apart from mortgaging our mental health for a wage packet?” references how stressful this job seems to be.

Conclusion

Yeah, idk. This was a very simple episode overall and it mostly just seemed like it was following up Lena’s point about paying attention to the caseload.

Okay, hold on, before I end this I figured I should actually try to look at the voices in the computer system a bit more closely, since quite frankly, like with the alchemy symbols, I’ve admittedly been neglecting them and not focusing on them as much as I should have. This is because I actually couldn’t tell if there was any kind of correlation between the voices and the kinds of cases they read but a video by Maddie’s Maxis called “This Channel's First Video - The Magnus Protocol Analysis and Theories” (which you can view here This Channel's First Video - The Magnus Protocol Analysis and Theories) hypothesizes that there is actually a correlation. As we all know two of the computer voices sound like Martin and Jon and Maddie argues that the kinds of statements the voices read correspond to something that had to do with the character. For example, in theory NORRIS (Martin’s voice) tends to have statements relating to self-loathing and loneliness. I don’t know what they are feeding Maddie but Maddie is potentially cooking here. So I decided to glance over at some of the statements and see if there are any patterns.

I’m going to start with the theme that seems the most concrete in my opinion. The cases that NORRIS (Martin’s voice) reads seem to often be tied to themes of isolation, losing loved ones, or feeling abandoned. I should make it clear that while I know Martin in TMA is connected to The Lonely I am not saying all the cases NORRIS reads are connected to The Lonely. The mere presence of feeling alone or isolated doesn’t automatically make a statement Lonely related in the same way someone dying, getting attacked, or something taking place at night or in darkness automatically means End, Slaughter, or Dark respectively. Also, it’s important to remember that every Entity, even seemingly opposing ones, have overlap, shared fears, commonalities, etc..

But let’s look at the cases to see if this pattern is really there. The case NORRIS covers in episode 1 involves the Anglerfish, or something resembling it, killing and replacing their romantic partner. Harriet even says “And that voice I have loved for twenty years answered: “Some of him.”” So loss of a loved one.

In episode 3 NORRIS covers a case in which Dr. Samuel seems to feel immense guilt and sorrow about the death of Maddie. Once again, the loss of a close loved one.

In episode 8 NORRIS goes over a report Terrance submits about the effects of brutal liminalism. While no one dies or is replaced in the actual events of the case, Terrance does mention “originally took my role as a night janitor at Forton following a protracted divorce which cost me the majority of my friendships.” So while their partner isn’t dead they did lose a loved one, and if you read my thoughts on that episode you know that I actually think the case has a lot of similarities with The Lonely. The fog, the vaguely familiar but impossible to understand gibberish, people with repeating features, being isolated in a dark void, etc.. Even if you disagree that it’s The Lonely there is still a connection to themes of losing someone close and being alone.

If there was an episode to disprove this theory it would probably be episode 12 since it’s just Bonzo murdering a room full of people. Jordan does say “I don't know why nobody outside the room heard or saw anything” and earlier in the case they mention that they believed their coworker by the name of Joey the doorman might have ditched him again but this definitely feels a bit more like a stretch. Jordan does seem to blame the establishment for what happened and this is because from the perspective of Jordan no one came to help despite how obvious and loud the commotion was. Which could maybe tie into the idea of being abandoned or left alone but this is definitely pushin it and it’s clear that our understanding of what kinds of cases each voice reads might expand as the series goes on.

Maddie argues that CHESTER (Jonathon’s voice) seems to usually cover cases related directly to the Magnus Institute. Which is generally true, CHESTER covers the cases of RedCanary spelunking in the Institute’s ruins in episode 1, and the gambling dice being submitted to the Institute in episode 9 for example. But CHESTER also covers the case about Tom wanting to watch Voyeur in episode 5, the case regarding Hilltop Center in episode 7, Gordon’s encounter with the tattoos and Ink5 during construction in episode 11. It’s very possible that these are just related to the Institute in ways we don’t understand yet, for example some of the characters that appear could be members of the Institute or something, but in my opinion this definitely throws a wrench into some things.

CHESTER seems to have a stronger case for a theme of curiosity and a desire to know in general as opposed to just the Magnus Institute. RedCanary investigates the archives out of curiosity, Tom really wants to see the Voyeur movie for their blog, the narrator explains that they experimented with the gambling dice to figure out how they worked, and Gordon keeps talking about how they “just need to see it. I need to know what’s in the water.” As I’ve mentioned previously, The Eye also has a major emphasis on a desire to know and understand something even if it comes at the cost of yourself and / or other people. Hilltop Center still seems like a bit of an outlier here but while Dianne isn’t spelunking through ruins or anything she does mention that she was looking for people to help her work at the center. Which, while a bit of a stretch, could fit with a theme of curiosity or desire to know in the case of Chester. Or at least the idea of something being searched for as a theme at least. 

If you wanted to argue that CHESTER actually related to things being looked for you could say that the case about the gambling dice revolves around the narrator giving the Institute artifacts, and they even say “So yeah, I tell you all about them, how I got them, all that crap and you just… You take them away, right? You accept them? Good. I think. I’m pretty sure that’s how it works. It’s how it worked for me, at least. Put them in whatever vault you like, bury them, drop them in the ocean, for all I care. All that matters is that they’re yours now.” So you could say that the Institute was looking for artifacts. You could also argue that the narrator was looking for people to roll the dice, looking for good luck, or started making their way towards Gary when they found him.

AUGUSTUS has a voice I am not familiar with (and we will get to the popular theory in a moment). I can only recall AUGUSTUS voicing one case, I might be forgetting one or something, so I don’t have a lot to go on. AUGUSTUS could be covering really old statements, as Sam notes the one in episode 4 is from the 18th century, or statements revolving around others climbing their way to their top and doing whatever it takes to do so. It’s kind of unclear until I can see some more AUGUSTUS statements.

There’s also some obvious character associations with this theory. Martin, someone connected to The Lonely, has statements reflecting some kind of isolation or abandonment, Jon, the Archivist with a strong tie to The Eye and someone who was strung along while trying to solve Jonah’s plan and learn the truth about the Entities, has statements involving extreme curiosity or people looking for things, and Jonah, someone who is really old and ruthless (so ruthless that they made the world a fear hellscape in an attempt to avoid death), has had a statement taking place in the 18th century involving someone giving a blood sacrifice to play violin super well.

There’s a popular theory going around that the three voices in the computers are actually Jonathon, Martin, and Jonah, and this definitely seems like one of the more credible theories floating around the community to a degree. AUGUSTUS’ unfamiliar voice could be the voice of Jonah’s original body. Jon, Martin, and Jonah were all in the panopticon when the Change ended which could be the event that got them tied to the computers. It could also have to do with being the pupil of the Eye somehow. Jonah and Jon were both the Eye’s pupil at some point and Jon got his position by killing Jonah to take his spot. It’s possible something weird happened like Martin was about to become the Eye’s pupil after removing Jon from the position, giving them this common link, but I can’t say for sure.

Maddie also points out another big thing to remember in the video. I have mentioned that Annabelle seems generally right about what happens to the Entities’ various Monsters and Avatars after the Entities get pulled into the next universe. Monsters, like potentially the Anglerfish, presumably get sucked into the new universe since they are part of the Entities. Other people may or may not get sucked into the universe depending on how attached they were to the Entity. It’s also possible that they will always just be left behind. However, Annabelle also mentions that it’s possible the Entities will take the aspects of a person that are connected to or are a part of the Entity. So, it’s possible that the parts of Jon, Martin, and Jonah in the computer are not them in their entirety but merely specific aspects of their personality or being. It could literally just be their voices taken by one or more Entities for all we know.

We also know that some Entities, like The End, seem capable of making copies or “memories” of people after / when they die. In MAG 154 (Bloody Mary) Eric states “I know that I’m not really Eric; I’m just a memory someone wrote down. It hurts, most of the time. I don’t like it.” So one could argue that the voices in the computers are not the fully sentient original versions of Jon, Martin, and Jonah but “memories” or copies created by one or more Entities. This could also explain why the third voice might be Jonah even though Jonah potentially died before the Entities jumped universes. This voice could simply be The Eye’s metaphorical recollection of Jonah or Jonah wasn’t completely dead when the Entities switched universes. This also means that the voices in the computers could be more malicious than we first assume if there’s a chance they are in actuality not Jon, Martin, and Jonah or are in truth aspects of The Eye or bits of their personalities trying to achieve a specific goal.

As I’ve mentioned previously, the cases the voices read out don’t seem to be completely random. The second Sam is about to give up his search for the Magnus Institute CHESTER spits out a case that is perfect for reigniting his curiosity with the addition of a new clue, and when Celia takes the job the first case she gets is about Hilltop Center (which could relate to Celia’s questions about multiversal and time travel). I still can’t say if the CHESTER or any other of the computers are trying to help Sam or use him for more nefarious purposes.

I’m not super confident about this being the patterns the computers follow at the moment because frankly there isn’t a lot of cases to go off of, and I need to see more AUGUSTUS. It’s also possible that the cases are more variable or context dependant. What the voices read could depend on the person at the computer, for example: it’s possible CHESTER reads a bunch of cases connected to the Institute because that’s what Sam was most interested in. There are also some cases we don’t have enough context behind yet, for example the mysterious figure in the Hilltop Road case could be connected to something like the Institute in some way, or that some of the voices focus on certain Externals Liaisons, people, etc..

If you want another TMAGP theory video to watch here’s one by Pinkelotje: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX51EHLy7BQ&ab_channel=pinkelotje.

[avijohann]

I have an immense debt with I Don't Hate The Gravity. It's still my favorite fic that I've written, and as far and Johann and Avi's relationship, I think I did a pretty good job. I also tried a lot of new things that ended up becoming staples of my writing (for how little I write nowadays), and I'm very happy that people to this day still see traces of it over my work, and viceversa.

HOWEVER.

Bitch, I put so many fucking easter eggs in that fic that I never ended up addressing.

TL;DR: Gravity is now a series. I'm writing a sequel and spin-offs. Yay!

Spoilers for all of Gravity, obviously.

1. Magnus, Lucretia and the Voidfish.

This one is probably the less affected, I think knowing about their relationship and seeing it in snippets throught Gravity does a good job conveying the secret nature of their relationship, both from the point of view of a third party (who will never get to know the depths of someone else's life just from standing next to them) to the actual plot reason Magnus and Lucretia had to be quiet about it. On top of that, they both had their own personal character arcs that didn't rely on the relationship, which is something I'm very proud of.

That said, I did put a lot of effort into developing their backstory, and even if I summarized it quickly and consistently during Chapter 4, when Johann finds out Magnus' connection to the Voidfish, the way I wrote it was meant to be, I'm not sure you guys picked up, spin-off bait. I totally meant to write a little oneshot of their Voidfish heist.

2. Sweet Flips

Again, there really wouldn't be much to say. They are an stablished couple with their own life. They have (what I hope is) good rapport and are a nice resting point for the narrative when all the other relationships in this fic start getting dramatic.

Except:

"(...) Just because you didn’t PDA back then or even now doesn’t mean it wasn’t obvious to everyone you had it for each other.” “Everyone but us?” “Everyone but you, yep.” “Now you know how we felt in first year,” Avi muttered. Carey started sparkling. “That was different. I actually hated Killian’s guts.” “Yeah, you sure did.”

"Wow, Shi! That sounds like there's a story there! Are you gonna write it?" Well, sure! That's literally why I put that specific conversation there!

3. Taako, from TV?

This is the worst one imho, because unlike the other two where we kinda know what happened and how it ended. Taako's whole TV crisis thing was mentioned ONCE and then never brought up again. I was talking to @crystallizedkingdoms the other day about the Gravity spin-offs I never wrote and they told me they just assumed Taako had poisoned a bunch of people again, which is totally not the case. I planned an entire saga for him about his adventures as the only teenage contestant in a very famous and widely televised cooking show, which ended in betrayal and international embarrassement, and the consequences of putting popularity over those you love.

BUT YOU WOULDN'T KNOW BECAUSE I NEVER FUCKING WROTE IT.

The problem with these three stories isn't that I didn't write them. Everyone in school (at least the named characters) has their own thing going, it's part of the main message I wanted to write with Gravity, that everyone is the protagonist of their own life, even those who don't seem to have much going on, be it because you really can't tell the high stakes everyone is going through, or simply because what might be a nothing burger to you might feel like the end of the world to someone else. Realistically I could've never written every single backstory for every single character. The problem is I actively referenced and, again, baited with these three stories.

Well, I'm here to atone for my sins.

Gravity, the series, has officially launched as The Laws of the Universe, a series of fics centred around Gravity, the fic, exploring the lives of the teenage characters in more Astronomy metaphors.

As a reward for reading this far, and because I really need to be held accountable for this shit, you get to see the titles before anyone else. In no particular order of posting:

Pluto Is Not A Planet (Sweet Flips origin story)

And Then Copernicus Came And Ruined Everything (Taako backstory)

[TITLE TBD] (Magcretia+Voidfish backstory)

All of these are working titles and thus subject to change. As you may have guessed, each title references something related to astronomy, which in turn references the main struggle of the characters in the stories. I also wanted to keep up with the negative sentence structure (I Don't Hate The Gravity, Pluto Is Not A Planet) but found out it didn't work with what I had planed for the sequel, so that has been scrapped.

So, what is up with that sequel?

I need a new post to talk about that, but the most important thoughts have already been written in the notes of that fic. So, to quote myself:

This is a story that's been five years in the making. Some of the themes were originally part of Gravity, but I ended up cutting them out of... cowardice, basically. The thing is, Gravity was always meant to be a more """""realistic"""" take on a High School romcom, and the absence of these themes is not realistic.

I know what you're thinking. Let's talk about it in another post.

Thank you for reading, and see you in future updates!

[sunny6677]

I had the weirdest fucking dream about The Magnus Archives. 😭

SPOILERS FOR TMA!! DONT LOOK IF YOU DONT WANT SPOILERS

I had a dream about the Magnus Archives where the characters (Elias, Jonathan, and Martin specifically) worked at this office type area. Martin for some reason was acting oddly aggresive, spent most of his time his office, and kept screaming at anyone who entered and trying to get them to go away or push them away (I think it was Melanie and Sasha, who was alive for some reason, specifically). He also was chowing down on a cinnamon roll for some reason? And at some point, he did like this ritual in this rich ass apartment in a city he owned for some reason where he basically just wrote down how he felt while the door to his bathroom kept slightly swinging open on its own. Also, Martin for some reason had a raggedy Ann doll. And for some reason, Peppa Pig (who was in this dream for some reason) took the doll, while Georgie (who looked like a gacha character for some reason) took these two pink frog who for some reason were just casually chilling with their kid.

At some point in the dream though, the location for some reason switched to a gigantic ass aquarium. And there was this guy in the Aquarium who apparently the institute was chasing after. He was in his early twenties, with pale skin, black messy hair and bangs, black eyes, didnt seem to be wearing a shirt and had swimming shorts on with no shoes, etc. I dont remember his name was before he suddenly fucking turned into Antinous from Epic The Musical (which he did, btw, I'm not joking—he quite literally just suddenly shape shifted into him/lh). But while the guy was swimming around in this area with a bunch of tubes/glass sewers in water, a group from the institute found him nearby cuz rhey happened to be in a sewer glass thing filled with water right next to him. The group in question was Jonathan, Elias, this guy named Gabe for some reason who had dark skin and a beard with light blue eyes, and some other guy I dont remember. Gabe at some point grabbed the guy they were chasing wrist to prevent him from leaving (which I think is how they found him). At some point, after Elias said something I cant quite remember about the guy 'having to get used to that', Jonathan and Elias began to swim off presumably to go to where the guy was at and capture him, while Gabe gave him a menacing look and kept holding onto his wrist. The guy they were chasing managed to swim away though, and began to frantically trying to swim away while all three of them chased them down (I guess the fourth guy just vanished for some reason). Thats when Little Wolf from Epic The Musical suddenly started playing, the guy turned into Antinous, and a chase scene happened whkle it was playing. I remember Jonathan at some point almost caught him, but then eventually Gabe showed up while Antinous was about to escape from this sewer that looked like one of those green tubes you see in the Mario Games, and pulled Antinous down so he couldn't escape (which is when the song ended).

Also, at some point, I remember I was in thos gray school gym (resembling my Elementary school a lot) as a kid with some old friends of mine from Elementary, I laid down at some point while watching my phone and/or tablet (cant remember what it was), and also I think the Raggedy Ann doll showed up again at some point, or at least one of my friends found it lying near a wall at some random part of the Gym.

Sorry that this description is so vivid. I had the dream, woke up, realized how strange it was, and decided to type it all down before I forgot it. Which is why its so vivid right now, cuz I still remember it. 😭 But I probably wont later considering how dreams work.

[lunaroceanic]

Magnus Archives Liveblog: Part 6 - Episodes 65-76

Ep 65: love the ramble on analogue vs digital and the human mind, really brings to mind the ai debacle. Ooo cool internet creepypasta kinda thing. Oh god that’s so weird and horrific. Jon had her look at Gertrude’s laptop!! Confrontation with Tim. Jon gives him a chance to quit. Tim says he can’t. Jon says he doesn’t think he can fire Tim either. Jon doesn’t know who is a victim of the Institute and who is an agent. Damn.

Ep 66: Guy imprisoned by Salesa? Ohh boy it’s like the coffin. At least he warned him not to go to sleep? Auuughhh I hate the idea of being buried alive. Dean Winchester is a stronger man than me. Gertrude was trying to buy Leitners…

Ep 67: More invisible fire stuff! Agnes from Hilltop Road? I get the sense that the Desolation fucking hates the Web, or at least Agnes does. The Cult of the Lightless Flame. Elias will give Jon a key to the tunnels.

Ep 68: Oh damn that poor guy got got by a Leitner, which Gertrude presumably burned. JON YOU’RE SO CLOSE TO REALIZING THAT ISN’T SASHA COME ON NOW FJNSNDNSD

Ep 69: the girls (Tim and Jon) are still fightinggg. Spider ESP experiment, fun. Oh god she’s making him strangle himself. Mark(?) breaks out of it and saves him. Oh damn he left them all for dead.

Ep 70: Ohhh the book will change depending on if you try to change your fate. Looks like it was never possessed by Leitner, which makes me wonder what exactly his deal with the books was. Also, this one is called Book Of The Dead, but we already know one book is for sure associated with the End entity—can there be more than one that corresponds with an entity, or is this one associated with something else? Authentication issue with Sasha’s computer?? Jon’s doing more ‘splorin, finds a burned Leitner.

Ep 71: This lady is so nonchalant about nearly being buried alive lmao. It’s so sad how Jon thinks to warn Sasha about the train, but doesn’t even know it’s not her 😭 He’s sure someone is living in the tunnels? He’s gonna ask Basira (and none of his coworkers) for help searching.

Ep 72: Cops are about to arrest Maxwell Rayner; Jon advises they bring flashlights. Eugh nonconsensual cannibalism. “MEAT IS ME” lmaoooo. OH GOD NOT THE ACHILLES TENDON 😬😭 “like i didn’t want my last thoughts on Earth to be low-key racist” FKSKJFNSKFJSNF I gotta respect that, holy shit that’s funny. He’s instantly healing from his wounds… Same Tom Haan from the meat processing plant episode!

Much more chill season finale than s1, just waiting for the conclusion of Basira’s arrest of Rayner, and no new tunnel stuff.

Ep 73: Welp nevermind that was not the season finale. Thanks, Apple Podcasts app. The arrest didn’t go well. A twelve year old got kidnapped :C All those torches coming in handy. Oh damn Basira’s quitting. Aw how’s he gonna get Gertrude tapes now :( How did they find the cult…?

Ep 74: Insomniac lady. Michael’s here! She wrote a story about things pushing through into our dimension that only the very sleep deprived can see. Jeez this sounds so rough. The present tense is really interesting. Jon’s seen who’s living in the tunnels—a guy with an attaché case who moves the ground out of the way to get through the trapdoor, and Sasha goes a couple times.

Ep 75: “The man with the lightning scar” Michael Crew is back! Omg Grant just invites himself along to France lol. Oh no this is awful, he purposefully brought his brother up there to get back at him :C Ohhh god all the missed calls and texts…Just an infinite ladder over the void aaahhgghh that’s awful!!! Basira is back with all the tapes!!

Ep 76: More Melanie King! I love her and Jon’s rapport, it’s very good. AAUUGHHH SHES ASKING AFTER SASHA AAUFHJSJGKJSGJ IM FREAKING OUT COME ONNNNN. YEAH JON THERE *ARE* MULTIPLE THINGS IN THE STATEMENTS THAT CAN TRICK YOUUUU