#mag088

[saintbleeding]

[ID: Lineart comic based on slightly modified dialogue between Martin and Basira in MAG088:

MARTIN: Wait, you mean… like you…

BASIRA: Oh, what? Urgh, no! Why does everyone think that?

MARTIN: Right, yeah, ‘cause I don’t think he actually… (above this dialogue is a thought bubble above Martin’s head which reads “people Jon would date: Tim (circled with a tick), Sasha (with a question mark), me (with two question marks), women (struck-through, circled, with a question mark), cops (struck-through twice)”)

BASIRA: I just, I mean he was good company. Y’know, when he wasn’t being a paranoia machine. He was funny, you know?

MARTIN: What, Jon?

BASIRA: Yeah.

MARTIN: I don’t think I’ve ever heard him tell a joke.

BASIRA: Maybe you weren’t listening.

MARTIN: Right. Well, I’m sure it’ll get sorted out when Daisy (derogatory) brings him in and you can probably talk to him then. Oh, sorry, I forgot you’re not actually with the police any more, are you, [strikethrough text] bestie [end strikethrough]?

BASIRA: Thanks.

Both of their expressions are angry or confused, except for Martin during his last line, where he smiles angelically with a halo and sparkles around his head. In the last panel Basira sticks one middle finger up at Martin who returns the gesture with both hands. End ID.]

manipulate mansplain martinblackwood am i right

[webtable]

dreams and the buried

mag002 // mag066 // mag071 // mag088 // mag097 // mag099 // mag152

[tma-traduzioni]

MAG088 - Caso #0030411 - “Scava”

[Episodio precedente]

[pdf con testo inglese a fianco / pdf with english text on the side]

[CLICK]

BASIRA

Huh.

Registri ancora allora? 

MARTIN

Cosa?

[Sedie si muovono, fruscio di fogli]

BASIRA

Perché? Pensavo fosse una cosa di John. 

MARTIN

Voglio dire, sì, un po’. 

Volevi vedermi?

BASIRA

Sì, beh, il tuo capo è impegnato e ho cercato di parlare con Tim, ma...

MARTIN

Sì, certo.

BASIRA

E ha detto che Sasha non c’è più, quindi ho pensato di parlare con te. 

MARTIN

Okay. Cosa vuoi? 

BASIRA

Sto cercando Daisy. 

MARTIN

Oh per - Okay, non so dove sia! Non so dove sia nessuno! Perché tutti… okay, perch�� tutti pensano che io sappia sempre dove siano tutti, tutto il tempo?!

BASIRA

Va bene, okay, va bene, scusa. Hanno solo… beh, hanno detto in centrale che questo era l’ultimo posto in cui aveva detto sarebbe andata.

MARTIN

Quando ci ha interrogati. È stato tipo un mese fa!

BASIRA

Già, non l’ho più sentita e allora sono andata a trovarla in centrale, e hanno detto che non si fa vedere da febbraio. 

MARTIN

E nessuno l’ha cercata? 

BASIRA

Voglio dire, non tengono molto d’occhio… Beh, sparisce dalla circolazione a volte quando lavora a un caso. Mai per così tanto, però. Pensavo che potesse avere qualcosa a che fare con… sai. 

MARTIN

Senti, lui non ha ucciso nessuno, okay? C’è… credo che ci sia qualcosa sotto, okay. Penso davvero sia stato incastrato. 

BASIRA

Già, beh, lo spero. Altrimenti, beh… È solo che non riesco a credere di essere stata così stupida, sai? Mi ha davvero fregata. 

MARTIN

Fregata come?

BASIRA

Pensavo davvero di averlo giudicato male. Che diavolo, mi piaceva. 

MARTIN

Aspetta, intendi… Nel senso che tu…

BASIRA

[Farfugliando] Oh, cosa? Urgh, no! Perché lo pensano tutti? 

MARTIN

Certo, sì, perché proprio non… Proprio non penso che lui… 

BASIRA

È solo, intendo che era di buona compagnia. Sai, quando non era una macchina della paranoia. Era divertente, sai? 

MARTIN

Cosa, John?

BASIRA

Già.

MARTIN

Non penso di averlo mai sentito fare una battuta. 

BASIRA

Forse non stavi ascoltando. 

MARTIN

Giusto. Beh, sono certo che tutto si sistemerà quando Daisy lo arresterà e tu potrai parlargli allora. Oh, scusa, dimenticavo che non sei più con la polizia, vero? 

BASIRA

Grazie. 

Allora, non hai idea di dove sia Daisy?

MARTIN

Sono certo che stia bene. Probabilmente sta solo usando la sua “discrezione operativa” per bullizzare qualcun altro. 

BASIRA

Cos’hai detto?

MARTIN

Beh, è stata davvero scortese, a dire il vero. Ha minacciato di dire che io

BASIRA

No, no. Ha usato la frase “discrezione operativa”?

MARTIN

Sì. Ha detto che aveva “totale discrezione operativa”. Va tutto bene? 

BASIRA

Devo trovarlo. 

MARTIN

Beh, sono sicura che la tua partner lo troverà; spero solo che non sia così-

BASIRA

No, devo trovarlo ora! Sei sicuro di non sapere dove sia? 

MARTIN

No! Non so nulla. 

BASIRA

Okay, va bene, d’accordo. Solo… Ecco il mio numero. Chiamami immediatamente se scopri qualcosa, okay?

MARTIN

D’accordo. Ora per favore, siamo davvero impegnati. 

BASIRA

Sì, devo andare. 

MARTIN

Sì, in bocca al lupo. 

[Porta si apre, si chiude]

MARTIN

Bene, um, vediamo... 

[Fruscio di fogli]

Martin Blackwood, Assistente d’Archivio all’Istituto Magnus, registra la dichiarazione numero 0031104, dichiarazione di Enrique MacMillan, rilasciata il 4 novembre 2003. 

Inizio della dichiarazione.

MARTIN (DICHIARAZIONE) 

Non ho mai amato scavare. Un lavoro troppo duro, dicevo sempre, è non sono più un giovanotto. Quindi in genere, se i reperti non sono abbastanza in superficie perché io possa semplicemente raccoglierli, li lascio stare. A volte, però, non puoi farne a meno. Hai bisogno di sapere cosa c’è là sotto, quindi ti metti in ginocchio e scavi, scavi, scavi. 

Lo scorso sabato è andata così. Non pensavo sarebbe successo, davvero. Le mie ginocchia hanno fatto le bizze per tutta la settimana a causa dell’umidità, ed ero uscito principalmente per fare una passeggiata, piuttosto che per cercare un qualche particolare reperto. A essere onesto, ero nel dubbio se prendere proprio il metal detector; non è esattamente uno strumento leggero. Al tempo in cui vivevo a Londra cercavo sempre nel fango del Tamigi. Vagavo nella bassa marea con solo una borsa, i miei occhi e un paio di guanti spessi. Mi mancano quei giorni, senza il peso del detector. Senza il bisogno di scavare. 

Non so neanche perché l’ho preso. Alla fine, quel tratto di spiaggia non può proprio considerarsi territorio vergine per quelli che hanno il mio hobby, e di solito è perfettamente ripulita. Quindi potete immaginarvi la mia sorpresa quando ho cominciato a captare qualcosa appena prima del molo di Smeatons. 

Era quasi buio a quel punto, e la fresca aria salmastra del porto di St Ives soffiava un leggero spruzzo di sabbia contro le mie guance. Pungeva leggermente, ma non in modo spiacevole. Corroborante, penso si possa definire. Era tranquillo, silenzioso, e io ero perso nei miei pensieri, mentre fissavo l’oceano che si oscurava, quando il metal detector mi ha interrotto, spezzando la mia trance. 

Ho tirato fuori la mia piccola torcia e ho illuminato il punto, cercando il luccichio rivelatore. Ma non c’era altro che sabbia. Qualunque cosa fosse doveva essere sepolta. Stavo dibattendo con me stesso se lasciar perdere quando il detector ha abbaiato di nuovo, più insistentemente. Non avevo trovato nient’altro quel giorno, quindi ho sospirato, ho tirato fuori la mia piccola vanga di metallo dalla borsa, e ho cominciato a scavare. 

Ci sono voluti solo un minuto o due prima che lo vedessi, una traccia di metallo placcato d’oro in mezzo all’oro più grossolano della sabbia. Un orologio da polso. Il quadrante era crepato nel mezzo, e le lancette sembravano congelate alle quattro e diciannove, ma a parte quello sembrava essere in condizioni abbastanza buone. Non un brutto reperto, ricordo di aver pensato, mentre cominciavo a togliere la sabbia che lo circondava. E ho scoperto il polso a cui era ancora attaccato. 

Penso di avere urlato. Devo aver gridato in qualche modo, ma nessuno mi ha sentito, perché non c’era nessuno che potesse sentirmi se non io stesso. Ho ripulito un altro po’ di sabbia, giusto per essere sicuro di quello che stavo vedendo, e ho velocemente rivelato una rigida, immobile mano. La carne era gelida e scolorita, quindi ero certo che il suo proprietario doveva essere morto, ma non sembrava avesse cominciato a decomporsi. Mi sono seduto lentamente, cercando di raccogliere i pensieri, considerando quello che avevo appena scoperto con il mio maldestro, avventato scavare. 

Volevo chiamare immediatamente la polizia, ma non ho un cellulare, ed ero un po’ distante dalla cabina telefonica più vicina. Le mie gambe non smettevano di tremare quando cercavo di alzarmi in piedi, quindi sono rimasto lì seduto per un po’, con la mia torca che brillava su quella mano senza vita, cercando di ricompormi abbastanza da andare a cercare aiuto. Era un cosa strana, quella mano. Le dita erano piegate e insanguinate, e le unghie erano state scheggiate e rotte. Dal loro aspetto, il danno era avvenuto prima della morte del suo proprietario. 

Poi ho notato qualcos’altro nella sabbia vicino a essa. Qualcosa che sporgeva leggermente dalla sabbia che avevo già smosso. Non sembrava parte del corpo, e mi sono ritrovato ad allungare una mano per cercare di tirarlo su. È scivolato fuori dalla sabbia con facilità, persino con impazienza, e non ho neanche dovuto scavare. Era un libro. Il tessuto della copertina si era consumato, ed era ancora bagnato dell’acqua di mare che copriva la zona con l’alta marea. Mi aspettavo che sarebbe stato una poltiglia di carta bagnata, fusa insieme e illeggibile, ma quando l’ho aperto le pagine si sono separate facilmente. C’era un marchio sul frontespizio, ma l’inchiostro era sbavato e non ho idea di cosa avesse potuto dire. Quindi ho voltato la prima pagina. 

Era molto strano. C’era solo quella singola parola, robuste lettere maiuscole in un formato piccolo e preciso nel bel mezzo della pagina. Diceva “SCAVA”. Ho immaginato che quello fosse il titolo, e ho girato alla pagina successiva. “SCAVA”. Esattamente lo stesso. La terza pagina. “SCAVA”. La quarta pagina. “SCAVA”. Scava, scava, scava, scava. 

Tenerlo mi faceva male alle mani. Sapete il modo in cui se si dice o legge una parola più e più volte, questa comincia a perdere tutto il suo significato? A suonare come solo un miscuglio di suoni o lettere scollegate? Beh, questo era il contrario. Ogni volta che la leggevo, era come se il significato della parola diventasse più solido nella mia mente. Sapevo cosa significava trovare il tuo significato sepolto nella terra, artigliare il tuo senso da sotto la sabbia e il fango e la terra, scavare.  

Avevo quasi completamente dissotterrato il corpo quando la polizia è arrivata. A quanto pare un jogger notturno aveva notato la scena, e li aveva chiamati. Mi hanno creduto quando ho spiegato come l’avevo trovato, anche se non erano contenti del fatto che avevo rovinato così accuratamente quella che poteva benissimo essere una scena del crimine. Non penso lo fosse, e uno degli agenti più amichevoli mi ha detto che probabilmente l’uomo aveva scavato un buco troppo profondo sulla spiaggia, e questo gli era collassato addosso quando era arrivata la marea. Una tragedia, ma niente di nuovo. Non ne erano comunque molto contenti, però, e dopo aver preso la mia dichiarazione mi hanno mandato via. Il libro era nella mia borsa, e loro non hanno chiesto di perquisirla, quindi… L’ho tenuto. Probabilmente avrei dovuto accennarlo alla polizia, ma sono stati molto scortesi. Capisco ora, ovviamente, che erano semplicemente irritati dal fatto che li avevo privati della loro opportunità di scavare. 

Forse l’hanno sentito, quel bisogno dentro di noi. Sopra di noi, vedete, c’è solo il cielo, l’infinito, un nulla di spazio e vuoto così incredibile che pensarci nel dettaglio è troppo per la mente. Ma giù, giù nella terra. Attraverso i diversi strati di questo globo, questa sfera costruita e incrostata sopra a un singolo punto pulsante. Il centro dell’universo per ognuno di noi, quella gloriosa convergenza da cui tutto, qualsiasi posto, è “su”. Per raggiungerlo, per avvicinarti a quella fonte, quel fuso e mobile centro di tutto quanto, l’unica cosa che devi fare è scavare. 

L’ho sognato, ovviamente. Al sicuro e felice là sotto, avvolto su tutti i lati da innumerevoli miglia di terra e pietra che schiacciano e amano. Lo vedo, e osservo il passare della storia costruita su di esso, strato dopo strato. Viaggiare sottoterra è viaggiare nel tempo, questo è quello che dicevo prima di trovare il mio libro. E lo credo ancora, ma il tempo è l’ultima delle cose che ci aspettano laggiù. Mille terribili cose, intrappolate e sole, senza aria e senza luce, tutte contenute in quelle poche terribili lettere: SCAVA.

In quei sogni stringo una vanga. Grida quando la affondo nel terreno piangente, e la voce con cui grida è la mia. Il fango morbido mi implora di smettere, cercando invano di salvarmi. Ma io non ascolto, e la mia pala arrugginita ne sposta blocco dopo blocco, liberandolo da se stesso, e ammassandolo intorno a me, scolpendo la mia tomba. Sollevando il terreno per arrivare a dove io devo essere seppellito. Riempie i miei polmoni, e io sono libero. Sono sveglio. La pala è nella mia mano, e il libro è aperto sul suo capitolo e verso: SCAVA. 

Nei momenti senza la pala, senza il terreno divelto, ho provato a scoprire di più sul libro, forse anche a sbarazzarmene. Un libraio a cui ho chiesto informazioni al riguardo mi ha indicato voi e i vostri, prima che io scavassi in lui, e quindi sono venuto qua. A raccontare la mia storia, certo, ma anche per un’altra cosa; fredda, vuota, che mi chiama. C’è qualcosa qui, vedete. Qualcosa che deve essere dissotterrato, sradicato, seppellito qui dentro. Uno spazio vuoto su cui tutti gli occhi puntano. E io intendo raggiungerlo, se le mie dita non cedono prima. So dove scavare.

MARTIN

[Ricomponendosi] 

Um, um, la, uh, la dichiarazione si interrompe abbastanza bruscamente qui. Basandosi su alcune note sparse e i racconti di alcuni dei membri più anziani dello staff, sembra che il signor Macmillan abbia causato una rissa, che ha portato al suo arresto, e la sostituzione di buona parte del pavimento nell’ufficio di Jon. Ci sono ancora un paio di assi con dei segni che io avevo sempre sperato non fossero di unghie, ma immagino…

…

Comunque, il signor Macmillan è deceduto in attesa del processo. La causa ufficiale di morte è indicata come “asfissia”, ma non riesco a trovare dettagli su cosa sia accaduto esattamente. Il libro è attualmente custodito nel Magazzino Reperti in una scatola di metallo sigillata, e inserita in cima alla lista “Non Accedere”, ma da allora non sembra abbia causato nulla di strano. 

[Qualcuno bussa alla porta]

Er, sì?

[La porta si apre]

MELANIE

Ciao, hai un momento? 

MARTIN

Um, sì, penso, um…

MELANIE

Stai bene?

MARTIN

Sì… Scusa, ci sono solo stati molti cambiamenti ultimamente, sai. Tu e Jon e Sasha e… tutto è andato un po’ male. 

È il non sapere, sai? Voglio dire, Jon è ancora vivo. Non sono sicuro del perché, ma ne sono sicuro. Ma Sasha, io…

MELANIE

Sì, è… È probabilmente, um…

MARTIN

Scusa, scusa, sto- Di cos’hai bisogno?

MELANIE

Oh, già, sì. C’è un qualche database, per caso? 

[Martin sbuffa]

MELANIE

Chi ha rilasciato le dichiarazioni o magari le persone citate? Sto cercando di rintracciare un testimone di un caso recente. 

MARTIN

Sì, sì, mi piacerebbe. Sarebbe… Voglio dire, renderebbe il lavoro molto più semplice.

MELANIE

Nessuno ha mai provato a farne uno?

MARTIN

Oh, non c’eri quando siamo subentrati a Gertrude. C’è voluto più di un anno solo ad arrivare a questo punto. Voglio dire, penso che il database fosse sulla lista di Jon, ma… 

MELANIE

Allora come rintracciate qualcuno?

MARTIN

Oh, oh beh, sai, abbiamo alcuni contatti in vari uffici anagrafe qua e là. A parte quello è solo… solo un po’ di lavoro da detective, a dire il vero. Er, Tim era bravissimo a fingersi una persona con le società di servizi. Ah, quante volte è riuscito a convincerli a farsi dare “il suo stesso” indirizzo…

MELANIE

Giusto, giusto… Um, questa, il nome è “Jude Perry”. Non ti dice niente, vero?

MARTIN

Uh… no. Ha rilasciato una dichiarazione? 

MELANIE

Non ancora. 

MARTIN

Beh. Scusa se non sono più d’aiuto. 

MELANIE

Certo. Oh, er, un’altra cosa. Con chi parlo per il Magazzino Reperti?

MARTIN

Oh, er, dipende da cosa ti serve, probabilmente Sonja. Perché? Sei sicura di esser pronta a quello?

MELANIE

Cosa dovrebbe significare? 

MARTIN

No, no, è solo, solo… Sai, è… C’è un sacco di roba strana là dentro.

MELANIE

[Indignata] Non sono una principiante, Martin. So che genere di cose c’è la dentro. Ho solo bisogno di sapere con chi devo parlare per dei pezzi rubati. 

MARTIN

Sì, pro-probabilmente Sonja. Aspetta, perché? Cosa è andato perso? 

MELANIE

Un vecchio organo calliope. È nell’inventario, ma nessuno riesce a trovarlo quando lo chiedo. 

MARTIN

Huh. Voglio dire, non è... ottimale. Er, ti serviva per qualcosa?

MELANIE

Sto solo indagando su una dichiarazione. Cerco di trovare delle risposte, sai?

MARTIN

Huh. Beh, se ne trovi, fammi sapere.

[CLICK]

[Traduzione di: Silvia]

[Episodio successivo]

[gammija]

The final Web!Martin evidence list

Now that canon is done, and we’ve got word of god confirmation that Web!Martin wasn’t complete nonsense, I decided to go back to my lil chronological evidence list and actually clean it up a bit, delete parts that in hindsight weren't all that indicative, and put everything in a slightly more readable format. (Obligatory disclaimer that i don’t and never did believe or advocate for some kind of evil web!martin, and that I'm not intending to connect a moral judgement to martin (or anyone else for that matter) having some of these traits)

So here: The (hopefully, please) final list with Web!Martin Evidence! Presented in order of importance, according to. me

The final (hopefully) Web!Martin evidence list

(In order from most to least obvious)

Spiders

I mean, it’s called the Web. TMA reiterates quite a few times that Martin liked spiders. Sometimes it IS that easy.

MAG022: Martin: "I like spiders. Big ones, at least. Y’know, y’know the ones you can see some fur on; I actually think they’re sort of cute -"

MAG038: | Sasha: "A spider?" Jon: "Yeah. I tried to kill it…" [...] Sasha: [Chuckles] "Well, I won’t tell Martin." Jon: "Oh, god. I don’t think I could stand another lecture on their importance to the ecosystem."

MAG059: Jon: "I have done my best to prevent Martin reading this statement in too much detail. I have no interest in having another argument about spiders."

MAG079: Jon: "Apparently, biologically, his account of the spiders doesn’t make any sense according to Martin."

MAG197: Martin: “What? Because I like spiders? Well, used to.”

Lies and subterfuge

Martin is able to use lying and subterfuge to achieve his goals, and is called manipulative a few times.

Lies:

MAG022: Martin: "[He] became slightly more co-operative after I lied to him and told him that one of the upstairs residents had buzzed me in."

MAG056: Martin: "I lied on my CV."

MAG158: Peter: “But you said –” Martin: “Honestly, I mostly just said what I thought you wanted to hear.”

MAG164: Jon: "You – I actually believed you!"

MAG189: Martin: “Sorry. Sorry, John. Not sure how much everything up there actually understood what was going on. But, y’know, I didn’t want to take any chances so it made sense to… um…” Jon: “Put on a show?” Martin: “Yeah, basically, more or less.”

MAG191: Martin: "That's not true." Arun: "Liar!"

Subterfuge:

The plan in 118, which revolved around convincing Elias that Martin was only “acting out”, to create a distraction for Melanie. (Also compare the way he evades giving a straight answer here with the way Annabelle talks in 196.)

Working with Peter in s4 under false pretenses, to distract him from Jon and eventually try to learn what Peter wanted.

Manipulation accusations:

These, I know, are somewhat contentious, since it’s mostly villains saying this to him. I’m still including them, since

1): From a media analysis standpoint, being mentioned 3 times is a sign to pay attention, even when it may not be the full truth.

2): I only see it as describing Martin’s behaviour in the previous points, not as a moral judgement; Especially since he almost always ‘manipulates’ people in positions of power over him.

Still, if it bothers anyone, feel free to ignore these.

MAG138: Martin: "That’s it? No, no monologue, no mind games? You love manipulating people!" Elias: "That makes two of us."

MAG186: Martin: “I can be a real manipulative prick, you know that?” Also Martin: “Oh yeah.”

MAG196: Annabelle: “Because you always managed to get what you wanted through smiles and shrugs and stammerings that weren’t nearly as awkward as they seemed.” [SMALL SOUND OF MARTIN’S CONCESSION TO THE POINT] Martin: “Point taken.”

The Lonely/the Web

The Lonely and the Web sometimes affect Martin to similar degrees.

In season 3, when Martin is getting used to reading statements for the first time, most of them leave him emotionally affected: MAG084, MAG088, MAG090,

MAG095: Martin: “S-S-Statement… done.” [HEAVY BREATHING & TREMBLING AS MARTIN STEADIES HIMSELF] “I don’t like recording these. There. I-I said it.”,

MAG098: Martin: [Panting] “End of statement.” [Deep breath] “I, um, I think I might need to sit down. Oh. Yeah, I am. Right. I don’t, uh, I’m not really sure if these are actually getting easier or harder. I mean I don’t feel –”

Only the last two statements he reads are remarkably easier. This might be a hint that Martin is just getting used to reading them, but the quote from MAG098 seems to contradict that. Either way, it’s likely not a coincidence that those last two happen to be the Lonely and the Web:

MAG108: Martin: “Statement ends.” (exhale) “That wasn’t so bad…”

MAG110: Martin: “Statement ends.” [...] “I mean, I think it sounds like a Jurgen Leitner book. About spiders. Hm. Good John didn’t have to read this one, anyway. I know he’s not a fan. Although, this one wasn’t too bad, actually! I – yeah. Anyway.”

In season 5, there are two powers’ Domains that actually affected Martin mentally, as opposed to only physically: the Lonely’s, in 170 (and arguably 186), and, depending on your interpretation, in 172, when Martin went exploring without knowing why he did so.

Proximity

Martin investigates a lot of the Web statements during season 1 to 3 (in other words, when the archive team still researches statements). The only ones he isn’t mentioned in during this period are MAG019 and MAG020, when he’s being harrassed by worms, and MAG081, which Jon records by himself outside of the institute.

Most notably, he’s the one who discovered the statement in MAG114, ‘Cracked Foundations’, which is the one statement in the entire show that sets up the interdimensional properties of HTR.

The Web!Lighter passed through Martin's hands first, before he gave it to Jon.

Similarly, Annabelle mostly spoke to Martin in season 5, despite most other Avatars usually focusing on Jon.

Aesthetics

Apart from the above obviously Web related areas, there are some other aesthetics which are mentioned in connection to both the Web and Martin, throughout canon.

These are describing the Web;

These are describing Martin.

Tapes:

Martin is the only character to treat the tape recorders as friends - any other character is either indifferent, or treats them as enemies.

MAG039: Martin: "I think the tapes have a sort of… low-fi charm."

MAG154 Martin: “Oh. Hi. Hello again.” … (small laugh) “Sorry pal, false alarm this time.”

MAG156 Martin: “Mm? Oh.” [HE LAUGHS, GENTLY.] “Yeah. (rustling paper) I was going to read one. Hate for you to miss it!” [SHORT, FORCED LAUGH, AS HE FLAPS THE STATEMENT AROUND.]

MAG170 Martin: “Oh. Oh, hello. What’s this? Wow, retro! What are you up to, little buddy; just – listening? That’s okay. It’s nice to have someone to talk to.”

MAG190 Jon: "[The tapes] seem to like [Martin]."

Retro:

MAG069: Statement: “I only saw Annabelle Cane once during this period. She wasn’t hard to pick out. She dressed like a vintage clothing store exploded on her, and her short bleach-blonde hair stood out sharply against dark skin.”

MAG160: Jon: “Anyways, don’t tell me the phonebox down there doesn’t appeal to your retro aesthetic.” Martin: “It – might. Maybe.”

MAG163: Annabelle/the Web callying Martin via an old payphone: [ A PHONE RINGS. IT’S NOT THE TINNY, ELECTRONIC SOUND OF A CELLPHONE – NO, THIS IS A TRUE, HEAVY, CLASSIC RING.] Martin: “Uh. John? Uh, J, John – the, uh, payphone that’s – here, for some reason – it’s ringing?”

Hatred of burns:

MAG067: Jack Barnabas’ statement: “I looked up and noticed within the corner of the room, where there had been a spider’s web this morning, there was just a faint wisp of smoke.” “Another held a bag that seemed to be full of candles, while a third had a clear plastic container filled with hundreds of tiny spiders.”

MAG139: Statement by member of Cult of the Lightless Flame: “The Mother of Puppets has always suffered at our hand; all the manipulation and subtle venom in the world means nothing against a pure and unrestrained force of destruction and ruin.” Agnes burned down Hilltop Road.

MAG145: The Web ties Gertrude to Agnes, stopping the Desolation’s ritual (the only Power whose ritual the Web is known to have prevented).

MAG167: Gertrude enlists Agnes’/the Desolation’s help in order to burn her assistant Emma, who was Web aligned.

MAG169: Martin: "Look, I just – don’t want to get burned, all right? It’s, it’s like my least favorite pain ever. [...] I, I legitimately hate burns, alright? They’re, they’re awful, and they scar horribly, and they just – it – it just makes me sick; I, I hate it. Hate it!"

Phrasing:

MAG039: Martin: "I’m trapped here. It’s like I can’t… move on and the more I struggle, the more I’m stuck. [...] It's just that whatever web these statements have caught you in, well, I’m there too. We all are, I think."

MAG079: Martin's poem: "The threads of people walking, living, lovi–"

MAG117: Martin: "This last couple of years, I’ve always been running, always hiding, caught in someone else’s trap, but, but now it’s my trap, and, well, I think it’ll work. I know, I know it’s not exactly intricate, but it felt good leaving my own little web. Oh, oh, Christ, I hope John doesn’t actually listen to these. “Good lord, is Martin becoming some sort of spider person?” No, John, it’s an expression, chill out! Besides, spiders are fine. I mean, yes, people are scared of them, obviously, but actual spiders, they just want to help you out with flies."

MAG167: Jon: “Methinks the Spider dost protest too much.” Martin: “Jon –” Jon: “Joking! Just joking.”

Personality:

How applicable these are depends heavily on how you interpret Martin's own personality, so your mileage may vary.

MAG008: Statement: “Nobody ever said a word against Raymond himself, though, who was by all accounts a kind and gentle soul [...]”

MAG123: Jon: "The Web does seem to have a preference for those who prefer not to assert themselves."

MAG147: Annabelles statement: "I discovered a deep and enduring talent inside myself for lying. [...] My manipulations were not intricate, but they were far beyond what was expected of a child my age, and I have always believed that the key to manipulating people is to ensure that they always under- or overestimate you. Never reveal your true abilities or plans."

Word of God and Annabelle

I kinda wanted to ‘prove’ that Web!Martin had quite a bit of evidence to back it up, hence this header being last. But of course, in this post-canon world, there are a few lines that most obviously confirm the theory:

MAG197: Martin is Web enough to be able to read the 'vibrations', like Annabelle, and see Jon and Basira (the latter being especially notable, as he hadn't known she was there beforehand): [CHITTERING, BUZZING AND HIGH-PITCHED SQUEALS CHANGE CADENCE] Martin: "Wait… Wait, hang on, is that him?" Annabelle: "Yes. I guess you’re better with the Web than we thought." Martin: "And – Wait, ha– No, uh… is that… Basira? He – He’s got Basira with him!" Annabelle: "Yes."

Season 5 Q&A part 2: Jonny: “Essentially, it was fascinating looking at the fandom and, like, the Web!Martin believers, because what they were doing was correctly picking up on hints dropped in the early seasons that were later, like, not exactly abandoned, but it was much more like, ‘Well, no, he does have like aspects of The Web to him, but he is moreover The Lonely.’ And that came about very… very organically, really. Because throughout Season 3 and going into Season 4, we had this conversation and we were like, ‘No, actually he's like-” Alex: “‘It can't be, it cannot be, it must be the other way round’ Yeah.”

(Note that they say “throughout season 3 and going into season 4,” which likely means that season 1, season 2, and at least part of season 3, aka half of the entire show, were written with Web!Martin as an intentional possibility.)

If you read all that, thanks so much! Obviously, Web!Martin never really came to fruition, so it's fine if you still don't like it. This is just a post explaining where it was coming from, at least for me and the other theorists I've spoken to.

[cruelfeast]

I Am In Eskew, Episode 3 / The Magnus Archives, MAG088

[tma-latino]

MAG087 – Caso 0141010 – “Valle Inquietante” Caso 0141010, Sebastian Skinner. El incidente ocurrió en el bosque de Gwydir, en el norte de Gales, en septiembre de 2014. [Disclaimer/ Aviso] [MAG086] | x | [MAG088]

[jays-shit-parade]

recently finished tma season 2, im on mag088 holy Shit 

brutal pipe murder was not on my list of activities to listen to but here we are

[mag066]

Loneliness and The Buried (2)

MAG088 // MAG099 // MAG129 // MAG132

[soveryanon]

Hey, hey, hey, I’m not 100% sure it’s exhaustive, could have missed a few; but on the subject of characters entering rooms/offices… Times characters knock on a door: - Martin before entering Elias’s office, after having fetched Melanie&Tim as Elias had requested (MAG092). - Melanie most of the time with everyone, waiting for them to allow her to enter (with Tim in MAG086, with Martin in MAG088, with Elias in MAG102 and MAG106, although she only does a “Knock knock?” with him in MAG098 – Elias later does the “Knock knock?” thing to Tim&Martin in MAG104). - Daisy, on two occasions, when she wants to get Basira in MAG112. - “Helen” arriving through Not A Door in MAG117. - Martin&the police officer on Elias’s door in MAG120. - Oh, and Elias in MAG118, aggressively and to no avail, when Martin is inside (carve “Sorry Elias…! I can’t hear you. There’s a door in the way.” on my headstone). Times characters do NOT knock on a door: - Accidents when the room is supposed to be unoccupied (Martin in Jon’s office in MAG023; Martin when Tim and Elias are talking in MAG090; Tim when Martin is there in MAG098). - Emergency (Martin barging into Elias’s office to warn him about Jon&Daisy&Basira’s arrival in MAG092) - Knowing someone is inside and assuming they’re not interrupting anything (Basira to Melanie when the door was explicitly open in MAG106, and after hearing Martin call for her in MAG108) - Melanie waltzing in while Martin was inside in MAG098. - And most importantly: unless I missed one… EVERY SINGLE TIME ANYONE HAS EVER WALKED INTO JON’S OFFICE WHILE EXPECTING HIM TO BE INSIDE (Elias in MAG017; Sasha in MAG024 and MAG038; Martin in MAG045 and MAG053; Not!Sasha in MAG047, after Jon had called her; Basira in MAG052 and MAG075; Tim in MAG065; Melanie in MAG063, all COMPLETELY CASUALLY). Sssssso. Has Jon put up a sign on his door ordering people to come in WITHOUT knocking… given how he has a very specific relationship to Guests Knocking At One’s Door?

[yszarin]

see below for thoughts on Creature Feature

- !trans statement giver! excellent!

- sounds a very pleasant boss, don’t think I’ll mind overmuch when he gets eaten

- “spiders are eating” is better, I think. gentle facts.

- oh no this casting thing seems very similar to what I’m imagining is the Institute’s recruitment process - will anyone miss you if you die? great, hired

- Brandon, is he our new spider friend?

- oh, time for all those poor actors to wander into the spider’s mouth, as in the film/book, lovely

- so Martin’s OK with this one? bit of a sigh but seems fine? you know what? after this I’m going to do a quick relisten to the Martin-statement-endings, see even further below for probably inconclusive, to me anyway, results

- finish your sentences Martin

- oh no, at least she didn’t die?

- Basira and Melanie have talked, hooray! and ahhh, Martin asking the questions, and Basira’s all protective of Melanie

- ouch, who wants to bet that Martin offered his mother a lot of cups of tea?

- please talk to Tim I’m desperately worried about him.

- maybe not even about this, though if he might talk you out of it I’m all for it. just, like, check in on him? please? 

- oh great. wonderful. so someone’s going to have to get their head poked at so the others can get to kill Elias or otherwise restrain him? someone who knows this plan and has it in their head where he’d find it, unless they’re planning to involve Tim without telling him anything, or Jon, and I really can’t see Martin agreeing to that. no way that can go wrong. and assuming that Elias hears everything we do, he probably already knows about this? goddamnit I hope Jon gets back soon, before Elias decides to make an example of someone.

- and oh god I can imagine exactly how smug he’ll be, maybe even mock-disappointed, I’m just going to be in a constant state of worry for the next two weeks, maybe longer, I don’t imagine it’ll let me stop being worried about them

- and I have realised that I am waiting for Jon, disaster-archivist who makes all of the bad decisions, to come back and sort everything out. what has this brought me to.

- anyway, to stress about the assistants in a slightly different way, now for unscientific relisten (please let me know if I’ve missed any Martin-statements)

MAG084 POSSESSIVE - long silence, difficulty breathing, but says he thinks it was OK (possibly not referring to statement difficulty) - FILTH MAG088 DIG - sounds shaken - BURIED MAG090 BODY BUILDER - longish silence - BUTCHERY MAG095 ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE - stammering, issues breathing, says he doesn't like it - WAR? END? BUTCHERY? MAG098 LIGHTS OUT - intake of breath, pause, needs to sit down but is, isn't sure if they're getting easier or harder - DARKNESS MAG108 MONOLOGUE - seems ok? says it wasn't so bad - ISOLATION MAG110 CREATURE FEATURE - seems ok? says it's not too bad - WEB

it’s possible the associated power’s a factor? Isolation and Web seem to not be too opposed to Beholding at the moment, and those statements seem to have been the easiest - it would be interesting to see how Martin would react to a Stranger statement (he’s been getting a nice little tour, and I would now for Reasons of My Own very much like to hear him read a Vast statement). Or maybe it is just that he’s getting used to it - not sure if I’d be more worried by that or by his being so in with Beholding that opposed statements upset him more. At any rate, I am, as ever, deeply worried for Martin Blackwood.  

[tma-latino]

MAG088 – Caso 0030411 – “Cavar” Martin Blackwood, asistente del Archivo en el Instituto Magnus, grabando el testimonio número 0031104, testimonio de Enrique MacMillan. [Disclaimer/ Aviso] [MAG087] | x | [MAG089]

[tma-latino]

MAG089 – Caso 0172404 – “Doblemente brillante” Testimonio de Jude Perry, sobre un consejo. [Disclaimer/ Aviso] [MAG088] | x | [MAG090]

[soveryanon]

Reviewing time for MAG126 /o/

- We have definite confirmation that Martin and Michael Shelley worked at the same time at the Institute! Until now the dates weren’t clear regarding the Great Twisting attempt, and we only knew for sure that Michael was working at the Institute in September 2007 (since he interrupted Gertrude’s tape from MAG099). Martin has been working at the Institute at least since September 2009, since Jon reported that he had “vague recollections” about the statement-giver from MAG072. MAG126’s statement was given on 11 October 2009, and explicitly shortly before the Great Twisting… so! There was a window of time during which Michael and Martin were working at the Institute at the same time for sure!

- OBLIGATORY SOBBING ABOUT THE OBVIOUS PARALLEL, STARTING FROM THE TITLE (“SCULPTOR’S TOOL”):

(MAG126, Deborah Madaki) As soon as Gabriel spotted me, he hopped up and hurried over to me. He grabbed my hand in a firm, damp grip, and started to thank me. I was the best assistant he could have asked for, he said. He’d improved so much because of me. […] ARCHIVIST: […] I can’t find any evidence related to the condition of the body, but I can imagine what a sculptor’s apprentice might be capable of. Even an unwilling one. End recording. [CLICK.]

(MAG126) PETER: No. No. Can’t stand computers. Besides! That’s why I have an assistant, isn’t it? MARTIN: [SIGHS] Yeah. I guess so. [CLICK.]

THANKS, I HATE IT……………….. Martin………………. ;;

(Both for the fact that HUUUUUMMM, PETER? BACK OFF, HE’S NOT YOUR ASSISTANT… and about the concept of an “assistant” causing harm without even being aware of it…)

- There is something deeply satisfying and disturbing about the fact that… Martin is in all but name replacing Elias as Head Director of the Magnus Institute? If the clock ticking is any indication, the scene with Peter took place in Elias’s office; it’s where Martin is working nowadays; it’s where Martin is doing admin work and taking care of the Institute’s spreadsheets. And if we know One (1) Thing for sure about Elias, it’s that:

(MAG103) ARCHIVIST: […] and it’s Wednesday afternoon, when he does his scheduling. So I’m… hoping he’s distracted. … He, er… He loves scheduling. DAISY: … Rrrright.

Martin’s affiliation with the entities always felt like a pick between Web (loving spiders, relishing in control, web metaphors, the fact that spiders are swarming the Institute, that Martin is this person you barely notice, and that The Web has plans regarding Jon), Lonely (family situation and unrequited crush, always a bit of an outcast due to Jon’s dry comments in season 1, his fundamental lie about his degree preventing him from being known, and overall his trouble connecting, the fact that he never had Tim’s charisma nor Sasha’s wit, that Daisy+Basira and Basira+Melanie quickly formed as pairs leaving him mostly on the side… even before Peter swooped in) and Beholding (by nature, as someone who worked at the Magnus Institute for the longest out of the entire cast except for Elias, and even more as an archival assistant; and because he was the only one who began to read statements after Jon went on the run, and because he has often had glimpses of intuition and has been getting chattier with the tape recorders). There has been room for questions about his theorical functions as a Beholding agent, though, I feel? Because we… have options. Was Martin supposed to be (or did he slowly turn into) a back-up Archivist, since he was the one who handled most of the statements-reading when Elias wanted the assistants to keep going with the Beholding-feeding that activity (MAG098, Martin: “I mean, [Elias] kind of explained. I think? Jon’s ‘too inconsistent’ at the moment. He needs to make up for the shortfall. Which, I guess means me.”)? The archive team was aware of the possibility, since they used it against Elias to make him rationalise that it was in his best interest to have Martin staying back while the others would go to The Unknowing:

(MAG116) ARCHIVIST: [SIGHS] What about Martin? […] He should stay behind. MARTIN: What?! ELIAS: Really. MARTIN: […] No, no, I can help, I’ve been reading the statements! ELIAS: … quite right, er, probably best he does stay behind. BASIRA: What, so you have a backup if Jon doesn’t make it? ELIAS: I’m sure that won’t be necessary.

Something else that has happened a few times is also… unclear – spooky intuitions? Power Of Love? Martin has sometimes just… had inexplicable feelings that turned out to be true. The concept of it sounds a lot like Jon’s “insights”, a sudden knowledge that is just there, skipping any reasoning?

(MAG088) MARTIN: Yeah… Sorry, just a lot of change recently, y’know. You and Jon and Sasha and… everything’s gone a bit wrong. It’s the not knowing, you know? I mean, Jon’s still alive. Not sure why, but I’m sure of that. But Sasha, I…

(MAG117) MARTIN: […] I know, I know, I’m not gonna die, I’m not even going to be on the incredibly dangerous mission. Me and Melanie, well… Well, I don't think “death” is really the worry, it’s just… [SIGHS] It feels like an ending? Or… something. Like nothing can go back to normal after this.

(And he was also the one to find Gertrude’s notebook in MAG113. And Gertrude’s body in MAG039-040. And The Hill Top Road statement from MAG114.)

On the other hand, Martin was quite clearly installed as Elias’s foil at the end of season 3: the plan to take down Elias was referred to as Martin’s plan, Martin was the one to remind the others to stick to it, and he was the one to confront Elias (in MAG118) and to lead the police officer to him (MAG120). It’s mostly thanks to Martin that they more or less behaved as one, at least when it came to neutralising Elias? What Jon referred to “Elias’s new management style” (MAG099) was an utter disaster made of pain, anger and resentment, mostly managing to get the assistants united against him, whereas Martin gave the feeling of succeeding precisely where Elias had failed. I don’t know, I always got the vibe that if anyone were to replace Elias at some point, it would be Martin? (Much to Elias’s horror, probably.) (At the same time: not very clever, Elias, to insist so much on the idea that you’re ~the beating heart of the Institute~. Could give people bad ideas about how, uh, maybe they only to keep your heart pumping in order to not die, and not the rest of you.)

Anyway, I find it extra-interesting that Martin is currently assuming his functions, without being officially the Head Director – Peter being supposedly the interim.

(I hope that Elias is seething about Martin doing his precious scheduling :w If there is any consolation with current events, it’s that Elias is still rotting in jail in the meantime.)

- Peter, though. You lazy ass.

(MAG120) PETER: Oh! Right, of course! Well, you’ve successfully managed to remove Elias as the Head of the Magnus Institute. So… MARTIN: Oh. Oh, God, what does that do? PETER: Oh! No, no no no! No. Not in any, hum, metaphysical sense, no, he’s still very much the… how did he insist on phrasing it… Ah yes, the “beating heart of the Institute”. But, practically speaking, he can hardly fulfil his more mundane managerial duties from a jail cell.

You were supposed to replace Elias for his “mundane managerial duties”, not foist it off on your newfound ~assistant~.

- … Okay, so, assuming Peter is not only Absolutely Bullshitting, he… needs Martin for a specific reason. Something that apparently an avatar of the Lonely can’t do himself…?

(MAG126) PETER: You talked to him. MARTIN: I… I, I tried not to, I–I, I didn’t mean to… PETER: You talked to him. And that’s understandable, Martin, of course it is! Please don’t think I’m upset, it’s just… not ideal. Shows how much work we still have ahead of us. […] I had hoped that all this time apart would have given you the space you needed, but… MARTIN: … You said he’d probably never wake up. PETER: And he beat the odds. Which is good. But it does make things more complicated. It doesn’t… actually change… anything. MARTIN: A–a simple “hello” isn’t going to make any difference to– PETER: We’ve been over this. The sort of power you’re going to need relies on your– MARTIN: [SULKY] Obedience. PETER: Isolation. It needs to be you, Martin. You’re the only one who could possibly balance between the two.

“The two” are most likely to be Beholding and Lonely here, I’m guessing (since Peter is apparently training him with the latter and Martin is supposed to be tied to the former already given his position in the archives), but I still hope that there is some room for the Web to get back to Martin? ;; That one suits him aND IS A BIT LESS SAD THAN THE CONCEPT OF MARTIN GETTING INVOLVED WITH THE POWER OF LONELINESS GDI!!!

What is the deal with Martin, though? Is he aggressively normal, or is there indeed something intrinsically special about him? Getting back to the Lonely: Elias pretty clearly sent Peter after Martin in MAG108, according to Peter, as if… his being one of the Archival assistants wasn’t the most valuable thing about Martin?

(MAG108) PETER: Martin, isn’t it? […] That… that would seem wildly out of character, from what I’ve been told. MARTIN: Okay, but okay, step back. PETER: Please, Martin. I’m not gonna hurt you. I just thought we might have a chat! Alone. MARTIN: Oh. You’re… one of them, aren’t you. A… a Lukas. PETER: Yes, that’s– Peter. Pleased to meet you. Now, how did you know that? MARTIN: I, I was just reading? Jon left some notes, and… PETER: Ah, I see. I’m sorry to have disturbed you. It’s one of Elias’s little jokes. MARTIN: I don– What? PETER: Did he suggest you record a statement today? One that mentioned me? MARTIN: … yeah? Sssort of? I mean… not you specifically, but… PETER: I have a meeting with him today. He suggested… I’m sure he’s watching from his office, grinning from ear to ear. MARTIN: I… don’t… PETER: I almost thought he genuinely wanted me to meet the team! Oh well. MARTIN: I’m really sorry, I… I don’t actually…

“I almost thought he genuinely wanted me to meet the team!” => implying Martin’s relevance is not tied to him being a member of said team…? Was ~Elias’s joke~ about getting one of the assistants to read a statement about the Lonely/Peter when he would visit, or the fact that it was specifically Martin who made the reading…? I lovelovelove the fantheory that Martin could be tied to the Lukas family through his father; we… had the example of Evan, who apparently tried to get away from the family; we know it ended badly; we also know that Gerry wasn’t too surprised when Jon highlighted the possibility of the family turning against one black sheep (MAG111: “And I imagine they’re not… reluctant to remove any members that might put that legacy at risk.”), as if… it was far from being the first time it had happened; aND given that Martin apparently looks like a carbon copy of his father… anybody who had met said father would be able to tell right away that Martin is closely related to him?

(MAG118) ELIAS: […] How old were you when your father left? Eight? Nine? When you mother began to sicken and he decided he was done with you both. Not old enough to remember him with any great clarity, especially when your mother refused to keep any pictures of him. She never recovered from that betrayal. He just tore her heart right out!, and took it with him. The thing is, though, Martin: if you ever do want to know exactly what your father looked like… all you have to do, is look in a mirror~

It’s mostly back-tracked reasoning but: if Martin’s dad were to be a Lukas, yeah, of friggin’ course Elias would have flaunted it to Peter’s face by sending him to meet Martin doing archival work downstairs.

(Aaaand it could also give Peter another reason to not show his face to anybody in the Institute, ie people who know Martin, if they actually have a family resemblance? I’m still wondering why Peter hasn't appeared in front of other people while Carlita (MAG033) and Michael (MAG102) had been able to see him without any problem. Is that because of the Institute itself? Is there something wrong with Peter when he’s too far from the Tundra?)

- But right now, at the very least, Martin is

(MAG126) MARTIN: […] You missed him, didn’t you. … Yeah. … [VERY SHARP SQUEAL OF DISTORTION] Yeah, me too. PETER: Which isn’t a great sign, if I’m being completely honest. MARTIN: [SURPRISED GASP] [EXALES] PETER: You talked to him. MARTIN: I… I, I tried not to, I–I, I didn’t mean to… PETER: You talked to him. And that’s understandable, Martin, of course it is! […] I had hoped that all this time apart would have given you the space you needed, but… MARTIN: … You said he’d probably never wake up.

literally Too Gay for the Lonely, pass it on. (But does it count as Functional or Disaster, at this point.) (Aside: ;; Confirmed that Martin apparently signed in in whatever he’s currently doing… to Protect, overall, and not only Jon. Which good. But also awfully sad ;;)

- WORRIEDANYWAY.JPG since…… according to Gerry, the Lukases are awfully good at grooming people.

(MAG111) GERARD: Well, Fairchild’s just a name, they’re not really family. The Lukases, though, yeah. Thing is, it’s harder than it looks. What’s out there… doesn’t care about blood. […] But they care about your choices, your fears, not your parents. Families are just useful ‘cause they can push you in the right direction. And the Lukases are very good at that.

MARTIN ;___;

- Adelard Dekker is back into focus! There’s quite an interesting split between Jon’s investigations and Peter&Martin’s: on one hand, Peter namedropped him and made it explicit that he was following his lead. On the other hand, Jon has been focusing on the notebook found in Gertrude’s storage unit (MAG126: “I remembered Gertrude’s notebook; we found it alongside the plastic explosives”), which is also where he had found Adelard’s written statement about Justin Gough (MAG113: “This was found tucked into a hard case containing… many blocks of plastic explosive, kept by Gertrude Robinson in a storage unit that I can only assume has… extremely lax oversight.”). Jon was close and yet… was sent in another direction entirely? Towards the past and how Gertrude had come up with her counter-rituals? Could still be a valuable example for next threats, but still: Jon was sent towards the past, while Martin&Peter are actively working ~towards the future~. It’s a bit worrisome that they’re physically close and yet… not managing to meet in so many ways, and actively drifting further away. (Gdi Peter.)

(MAG126) ARCHIVIST: It… it’s borderline incomprehensible, not because of any code or cypher – there’s every chance I could read those; just simply because… most of it is… numbers or fragments of sentences that would no doubt mean something to her, but… well, not to me. I’ve been staring at it for hours, in the hope something from it would just… come to me. And it worked well enough to point me towards this statement, which is… useful background, and perhaps gives some insight into how Gertrude formulated her counter-rituals, but… not much more.

………………. I love that Jonathan smartass Sims assumes that yeah!! Secret codes would be sooo easy to uncover, of course he would be able to do, through natural or spooky ability. But his worst nightmares are personal notes and abbreviations. Must have sucked when he was at uni, huh. I wonder if Jon is missing a point, here (though I would read the same conclusions as him: the statement describes how Gertrude learned where the Great Twisting would happen and some key elements that would get involved; “Gabriel” even accidentally revealed how to neutralize his friend, and this is what Gertrude used against them), or if his powers/Beholding is being purposely or accidentally unhelpful? Is that all that the notebook contained, or just a fragment of it? Did Beholding throw him a bone to avoid Jon focusing on current events, or was it to satisfy his curiosity, or was it because Jon sucked and was himself accidentally focusing on parts regarding The Spiral without realizing it? We know that Gertrude apparently tended to keep files regarding the rituals together (since Elias had gotten his hands on those, and accidentally sent a few about The Buried and The Spiral to Jon when… he was supposedly trying to get him to work on The Stranger), so there could be more in the notebook… (Or not at all, and she kept information about Beholding elsewhere, or only… trusted her mind for those.)

- With Peter (and Martin) focusing on Adelard’s research… seems that he was right about his suspicions, or at least that Peter shares his beliefs? There is probably much more trickery than what Peter is willing to tell, but I doubt that everything would just be an elaborate ploy to keep Martin occupied / separated from Jon – it would sound like… a lot of efforts for almost nothing?

(MAG113, Adelard Dekker) I was pursuing my researches into the new emergence I mentioned earlier. I know you are dismissive of the possibility, but if I’m right, the sudden urgency of these “immediate dangers” you are so focused on could very well be a direct result. But that’s for another day, as this particular instance turned out to be unconnected.

Jon admitted that he had “no idea what else Dekker was alluding to” and that it sounded like something outside of the categories that Gerry had described to him. I’m still a bit cautious about jumping on the 15th Fear theory bandwagon, since I don’t want to close the possibility that it could be something else entirely but… but it would make much sense? Thematically, Gerry had precisely explained that the Fears can shift:

(MAG111) ARCHIVIST: Fears change. Fears are– are are cultural. GERARD: A lot of them, yeah, but others are deeper than that. And when our fears change, so do these things. But it’s not quick. Gertrude reckons they’ve basically been the same since the Industrial Revolution. She and my mum both liked to follow Smirke’s list of fourteen. […] I think [The Flesh]’s quite new. Only just beginning its, uh, ascendance when Smirke labelled it.

Before that, we wouldn’t have been able to know that the Fears could even evolve; since the concept was introduced, it’s probably meant to be useful to ascertain the present situation? The Smirke system had been in place since the emergence of The Flesh and a lot of knowledgeable people (Gertrude, Gerry, partially Leitner) based their expertise on it. Now, let’s picture a new Fear emerging, without… anything in place ready to contain nor restrain it? Nothing to “balance” it? We know that the different Fears have been trying to launch their rituals in a tight timeframe (MAG111, Gerry: “[Gertrude] worked out they’d all be happening quite close together. She’d already been doing it a while. And the Unknowing was the next on her list. That and the Watcher’s Crown.”); is that how it usually happens, through the cycles, or… were they actually panicking and hurrying to set off their own ceremonies before the new Fear could take over? ;; It would also show how… weak the Smirke system would be, since it would have more or less worked for barely two centuries – “less” rather than “more”, probably, but we can’t really know how much worse stuff would have been without it, can we? And our resident Smirke expert is resting in fucking pieces, after having spit out his delusions about the guy… (Tangent but: now, I’m thinking about Basira, who… has been studying a bit about John Flamsteed, and noticed the pattern in The Dark’s activities in relation to Halley’s Comet? If a new Fear was emerging, and if they needed to implement a new system or something… I wonder if Basira wouldn’t be meant to become the new architect of our time…)

- Also. Dekker’s description of the victims.

(MAG113, Adelard Dekker) […] From the look on their faces I could tell two things. It had hurt. And they had never woken up. You see why I thought this might be related? Well, hoped more than thought, maybe. The manmade nature of it seemed like a potential link, but it had few of the other hallmarks. Still, I thought it was worth following up on.

I have no idea what his new Threat was about but. It’s. It’s a bit reminiscent of Jon-during-his-coma, actually? Jon, who was dreaming (and hurt and hurting in his dreams); Jon, who Peter told Martin that he might never wake up…?

- There was definitely a problem regarding Adelard’s statements in the Archives, whether it was due to Gertrude messing up with the files or to someone else meddling with them. When Jon listened to Gertrude’s tape of Lucy Cooper (MAG077), which was labelled “Changeling / Imposter”, Gertrude had explicitly mentioned a statement given by Adelard himself (whether in written or audio form):

(MAG077) GERTRUDE: Based on the interactions and effects, I suspect this to be the creature that Adelard Dekker refers to as the “NotThem” in statement 9910607.

But following her directions in MAG078, Jon had noticed that he hadn’t found the right statement: the date was posterior to the one Gertrude was alluding to (presumably given on 6 February-or-July 1991 according to that number case), given on 12 June 2001; and it wasn’t a statement by Adelard but by one Lawrence Moore, mentioning him:

(MAG078) ARCHIVIST: I found this in the folder marked 9910602, where Gertrude’s tape had indicated I would find the statement of Dekker himself.

We’re still missing Adelard’s old statement from 1991. Given that Peter said that he had “unearthed a few of Dekker’s old statements”, I wonder if it included that one? Even though according to Gertrude, it was related to the Not!Them, which sounds like an old matter.

…………. Unless we were very wrong to assume that it was an agent from The Stranger, and it was actually something entirely different? Not!Sasha taunted Jon about wearing his skin, mentioned that she was spying in the Institute for her “friends”, name-dropped the Unknowing, sounded very much like The Stranger in its effect (I-Do-Not-Know-You). But. But.

(MAG077) GERTRUDE: […] Unfortunately for Ms. Cooper’s attempts to convince her father, it appears George Cooper died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a gas leak two days after this statement was recorded, before her next visit. […] Personally, I suspect [the NotThem] to be an aspect of The Stranger, though that’s entirely conjecture at this point. […] What puzzles me more is why one or two people can always see through it. The sheer power that it must be able to call upon to be able to rewrite so much of reality, seemingly as a reflex, is staggering. So why does it always miss a few witnesses?

“died of carbon monoxide poisoning” was exactly the (apparent) causes of death from MAG113’s statement, and one of the elements Adelard specifically named that made him think that the cases could be related to the new emergence. It’s a very specific cause of death…?

Overall, I’m so glad that we’re meant to hear more about Adelard Dekker!! He was one of the mystery figures I was the most curious about and there is something very uncanny in thinking that he had revolved around Gertrude for (at least) around a quarter of a century when she passed away. How do you know Gertrude for this long without meeting a gruesome fate? + It was the same year that Elias began working in the Institute, according to his “official” backstory. The nineties are packed with quite a lot of deal-breaking events? Elias beginning to work in Artefact Storage and becoming Head Director five years later; the destruction of Leitner’s library; Jon's encounter with “A Guest For Mister Spider; Martin’s father abandoning him and his mother… (As a fellow millennial, it just makes me !!! every time the nineties are mentioned, don’t mind me.) ………….. at the same time, Oliver was one of the Mystery Figures I was the most curious about, too, and look what was revealed in MAG121. That doesn’t bode well for Adelard’s current state, if he’s even still alive at this point.

- Peter is absolutely Terrifying. All affable, all rational! All logical! All accepting! All indulgent!

(MAG126) PETER: You talked to him. And that’s understandable, Martin, of course it is! Please don’t think I’m upset, it’s just… not ideal. Shows how much work we still have ahead of us. […] I had hoped that all this time apart would have given you the space you needed, but… MARTIN: … You said he’d probably never wake up. PETER: And he beat the odds. Which is good. But it does make things more complicated. It doesn’t… actually change… anything. […] You’re the only one who could possibly balance between the two. MARTIN: But if I could just explain– PETER: And how do you think Jon’s going to react, to that explanation? Hm? Do you think he’ll accept it calmly? Come through with a well-considered, rational response– MARTIN: That’s not fair– PETER: –or would he assume he knows better than you and do something rash? MARTIN: … I don’t like being manipulated. PETER: That’s fair. But I’m not wrong. MARTIN: … No. PETER: Martin… this isn’t how any of us wanted it to go. But here we are, and if we don’t pull this off, it’s over for everyone. Jon included. […] So it’s down to us. You and me. The dynamic duo. MARTIN: And so what, that means I have to trust you?! PETER: That would make things a lot simpler. […] Anyway, I’m very excited to see this rota you’ve put together.

1°) That textbook manipulation about how ~Martin is conveniently the only one able to help~! How ~of course it’s only logical that he can’t tell anyone about what he’s currently doing~! How ~he must avoid contact with the others to get more powerful~! How ~they don’t have much time~! How ~Martin has to trust Peter~! How ~they’re the only one who understand was is truly happening~! How ~Martin will save everyone if he follows Peter’s lead~! PETER WAS EVEN CALLING JON “JON” AT THE BEGINNING, WHEREAS IT WAS BACK TO “YOUR ARCHIVIST” WHEN TALKING SHIT ABOUT HIM. THAT SUGARCOATING / TRYING TO SOUND MORE BENEVOLENT AND HUMAN IN FRONT OF MARTIN WASN’T EVEN TRYING TO BE SUBTLE…………. And I’m glad and I hate that Martin clearly saw through it, but that… there might be enough slivers of Truth for him to go along with it anyway, because the situation is really (genuinely, objectively) bad. There is most likely a catch, I don’t think that Martin is doubting that one second (even if the current plan doesn’t involve nice things for him anyway). Won’t guarantee that he’ll mitigate the damage when the time come ;; We’ve had examples of both ignorance nor knowledge being no help.

2°) SSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH I’m having so many feelings over Martin’s “… I don’t like being manipulated.” said to a friggin’ agent of the Lonely, in Elias’s office. Martin’s been through some shit, okay.

3°) GGGGG at how snappy and Having None Of Peter’s Bullshit Martin was being (… while going along with it at the same time ;;). Peter Was Not Allowed To Trash Jon About His (Poor) Archival Skills, uh. (Peter relenting when Martin snapped that stern “Peter.”!!! Gods, Martin. Martin…)

- Regarding Peter and his distaste of technology/modern things…?

(MAG033, Carlita Sloane) Most modern container ships have a lifeboat that looks more like a lumpy orange blob than a boat. They’re designed to be quickly and safely dropped into the water and tough out whatever conditions the sea might throw at them. But this was an old-fashioned boat, with oars and a winch mechanism for lowering it into the water.

(MAG126) PETER: Anyway, I’m very excited to see this rota you’ve put together. Never had much of a gift for– MARTIN: Okay. PETER: –administration myself; too many variables. Now, this box on the left, that’s the library stuff, yes? MARTIN: What? N–n–no, th–th–that’s, no, those are the dates, I– … Look, are you sure you don’t want me to teach you? It’s, it’s a very simple program– PETER: No. No. Can’t stand computers. Besides! That’s why I have an assistant, isn’t it?

Is it a Peter thing, or a Lukas thing? (At the very least: doesn’t sound like he’s wary of computers for spooky reasons, since he probably wouldn’t be very keen on Martin using one right in front of him if it was the case…?) (I’m laughing so much at how casually he shot down Martin’s offer. Just. Noped the fuck out without even trying to be polite about it.)

- Peter has never namedropped the L(onely) word in any of his appearances, and…

(MAG111) ARCHIVIST: Isolation. GERARD: Smirke called it The Lonely. The feeling that you’re just… alone. Maybe there’s no-one else there at all, maybe you just can’t connect.

(MAG126) PETER: We’ve been over this. The sort of power you’re going to need relies on your– MARTIN: [SULKY] Obedience. PETER: Isolation.

I wonder if actually, “Isolation” mightn’t be more the Lukases’s favourite word to describe the concept of their god, but everyone just peskily keeps using other words to piss them off.

- A few things around Elias.

(MAG126) MARTIN: Yeah. You said. … But if things are really so urgent, then why didn’t Elias say anything? PETER: [LAUGHS] Because, behind all his bluster, Elias’s just like all the rest. He’s so preoccupied playing the game he doesn’t pay attention to the big picture. He managed to convince himself that he could get his ritual off first, which would have made all of this a… bit moot, but that’s not really an option anymore. So it’s down to us. You and me. The dynamic duo.

1°) I’m still laughing so much about the fact that Elias isn’t there, yet is mentioned so much, and casually dissed here and there. No respect for him. A few Nice Things.

2°) Technically, Peter didn’t say outright that Elias’s ceremony was The Watcher’s Crown. I mean, I don’t have any doubt after MAG120 that Elias is truly Beholding-aligned (he sucked so bad until then that… I was harbouring doubts before. But after MAG120, okay. No, he’s Dedicated to the Big Eyeball.), but it’s interesting that Peter didn’t use the name of the ritual here.

3°) ……………. Yeah, so Elias knows about the New Thing. Peter and Martin ~agreed~ that they wouldn’t tell Jon… so there is still someone who could give Jon some information about this, uh. (BAD. BAAAAD.)

- So, ~Elias’s ritual~ would have prevented the New Thing from doing whatever it’s threatening to do, according to Peter… but “that’s not really an option anymore”? Uh, why? It would sound a bit weird that the reason would be because of Elias being in jail (because… he didn’t even try to flee from being arrested? And we know there are other Beholding-related institutions around the world? And the Lukases didn’t even try to shield Elias from the charges?), so… is there a problem elsewhere preventing the ceremony? Is it because of Jon? Because of Jon’s unwillingness or… or is there actually something wrong with Jon as an Archivist? We know that the spiders have plans involving him (Oliver made it clear) and there was this part:

(MAG126) MARTIN: But if I could just explain– PETER: And how do you think Jon’s going to react, to that explanation? Hm? Do you think he’ll accept it calmly? Come through with a well-considered, rational response– MARTIN: That’s not fair– PETER: –or would he assume he knows better than you and do something rash?

… which makes me wonder if it wouldn’t be only a matter of Jon trying to fix an exterior situation, but something intrinsically involving him? Because Martin had seen Jon try to open up and trust the assistants towards the end of season 3! Jon’s behaviour on the matter basically changed after his kidnapping by Nikola: he was keener to explain and to rely on them, afterwards. True, Martin is not currently there to witness s4!Jon following the decision he had made about trusting the assistants (immediately going to talk to Basira about Melanie’s bullet; going along with Basira’s judgement that they shouldn’t try to talk to Melanie; not trying to compulse anyone), but he should know that Jon was doing better already in that regard…? So I’m really wondering if the New Problem… isn’t tied to Jon himself somehow (to Jon not being dead, overall), hence the fact that Martin accepted that they shouldn’t talk to him about it, and Peter’s comment about how Jon being awake is not changing anything, and how Martin “won’t want to” talk to him about it once it’s over? (;; Just like Jon and Basira did to Melanie, uh…) (Overall: “When all this is over, I’m telling him everything, with or without your permission.” “Martin… when it’s over, you won’t want to.” => is it more telling about Jon’s and the others’ situation at the end of it, or about Martin’s? At least it implies that Martin is not supposed to die from whatever he’s doing, but that’s not reassuring either.)

- Given that the statement began with Jon flipping through papers and clearly hissing in pain briefly at some point, I’m assuming that the injury from last episode was probably on his hand? (But Which Hand, is the question. Is he now injured on both, or did he get stabbed on the 10-months-old burn.)

- !!! Glad to know that Jon remembered to go back to Gertrude’s notebook that he had found (… that MARTIN had found) back in MAG113!!! Yay!!! … Sad to know that uh, it apparently contained… old information. As Jon pointed out (“The “Worker in Clay”… that’s what Michael called him in his statement. A “Great Twisting”, that Gertrude stopped at the cost of a single life.”) we got a demonstration of how Gertrude had understood how to neutralise one of the rituals, The Spiral’s in this case:

(MAG126, Deborah Madaki) The structure he held in his hands made my eyes hurt. Thin, sharp lines angling off from each other in an incredibly intricate arrangement – although they never seemed to actually connect with each other. It shifted, just like the other one, and I felt something jabbing at my skull like a migraine. Finally the lines seemed to resolve into a clear shape. A door. “Perfect!” Gabriel told me. “It looks just like him.” I asked him if it was supposed to be a face and he told me yes. It was a good friend of his. I asked him who, and he said they didn’t have a name. I told him everyone has a name, and he said his friend wasn’t like us; that having a name would only confuse them. My head was pounding. […] I got a letter, a week ago. It was from Gabriel. It said that he had found a new job, and he’d love it if I came up to assist him again. He’s working in a place called Sannikov Land. I’ve looked it up. It doesn’t exist. And it sounds cold. I don’t think I should go. I’m not going to go.

(MAG101) “MICHAEL”: And it was me they sought to stop. Me and the others of It-Is-Not-What-It-Is. Our Great Twisting. The-Worker-of-Clay had laboured for decades on that contorted, impossible edifice of doors… and stairs… and falsehoods… and smiles. A thousand staring morsels stood, and not one of them believed themselves sane to look upon it. And in the centre, the door that would open to all the places that were never there, was me. […] Even sharper than the joy of becoming is the agony of being opened and remade. To have your who torn bloody from your what, and another crudely lashed into its place. To become Michael. And to do so at such a crucial point in our Twisting, in our becoming, well of course it destroyed it. The impossible altar collapsed. The-Worker-of-Clay tore out his veins to dissolve himself in crimson mud. The others of us were cast to all the places that aren’t; some have still not found their way out again.

Gertrude got the confirmation that the ritual was coming close, what would be its point of focus (the door) and its localisation. She also got, from “Gabriel”’s comment, its weakness: giving the Distortion a name and an identity:

(MAG047) ARCHIVIST: … You’re him. “MICHAEL”: Yes. ARCHIVIST: Michael. “MICHAEL”: That is a real name. […] ARCHIVIST: Who the hell are you?! “MICHAEL”: I am not a “who”, Archivist; I am a “what”. A “who” requires a degree of identity I can’t even retain. ARCHIVIST: S… So… “Michael” isn’t your real name? Wha… “MICHAEL”: There is no such thing as a real name. ARCHIVIST: What are you talking about?! “MICHAEL”: I am talking about myself. It’s not something I’m used to doing, so I’m sorry if I’m not very good at it.

I’m still wondering if there is something behind the map she had given to Michael: where did she find it and/or how did she manage to draw it? Helen could draw one, but that’s because she (as the ~Wanderer~) went beyond the doors and managed to get out before “Michael” came back after her. Did someone manage to come out from The Distortion before, when it was even more chaotic? Or did Gertrude actually get it from Deborah Madaki herself, reconstituting it from what Deborah could remember of the sculptures made by “Gabriel”? (Or did… someone else give the map to Gertrude?)

- I’m sobbing and hurt at Jon… drawing parallels between Gertrude and him ;___;

(MAG126) ARCHIVIST: […] A “Great Twisting”, that Gertrude stopped at the cost of a single life. … I thought… moving away from my humanity would have made that seem more acceptable. That sort of sacrifice… but it just makes me sad… … I remembered Gertrude’s notebook; we found it alongside the plastic explosives, but it rather got lost amongst the business of… [SIGHS] saving the world at the cost of two lives…

Tim and (officially) Daisy’s deaths weren’t… at all… similar to what happened to Michael Shelley; Tim wanted to go, Daisy is a bit more ambiguous given how roped into it by Elias she had been (but she at least sounded exceptionally eager at the prospect of using explosives to blow something up). Tim insisted on going even though nobody wanted him to. It was Tim’s choice. Tim didn’t do it for Jon but for his own revenge, for his own feelings! He might have got back a bit of his freedom and agency that way! It was different!! But the fact that Jon, right now, is equating the two a little… is not wrong either (while very wrong at the same time); in the end, the Archivist witnessed and survived, while… people died.

My heart is also breaking at how Jon… has grown to accept that he’s been technically losing his humanity? It was something he feared, something he suspected; and towards the end of season 3, something he had to learn to deal with (seeking anchors to prevent him from slipping too much). But it’s really not going as envisioned or feared, precisely? So far, it’s mostly making Jon sound like a sweeter bean who is a bit lost because Too Many Feelings; it’s making him more aware of what he is losing and what he could risk losing further…

- STOP MAKING MY HEART CRY, JON, GDI???

(MAG126) ARCHIVIST: […] I’ve been… trying to check on Melanie’s condition. She refuses to see me – understandably, I–I suppose, and Basira has been looking after her. [SIGHS] It hurts, of course, but… [SIGHS] I really hope getting that bullet out of her helps. At least… stops it from getting any worse. I can’t have been too late again.

;; There are so many things that hurt, gdi??? The fact that he understands Melanie’s stance towards him, the fact that it hurts him, the fact that he feels that he’s been “too late” for other things in the past?? (Sasha being attacked by the Not!Them? Tim’s self-destructive spiral? Basira and Daisy getting coerced by Elias? Melanie getting trapped in the Institute? Martin’s current association with Peter?) I’m a bit surprised that Basira is apparently taking care of Melanie; I would have assumed Melanie would have been extremely cross at her, too…? (;; I hope they’re not lying to Melanie and pretending that Jon acted on his own and Basira tried to stop him, or something, because… the truth coming out at a later point could make the situation even more explosive.)

- The difference between Jon’s and Martin’s respective treatments of the tape recorders is… jarring.

(MAG126) ARCHIVIST: [DRY EXHALE] There was a tape recorder waiting for me when I sat down. They’re not even hiding it anymore. There weren’t any tapes from when I was… away – I checked. Whatever they are, they are here for me. I suppose I should be worried, but I have so much to keep watch over. So I’ve decided to let the tapes run. They’ve… proved useful before, so… [TINY CHUCKLE]

MARTIN: Oh. Hello. Haven’t seen you in a while. [TYPING] … Really? I mean, it’s just admin. It’s not exactly thrilling listening. … Alright, fine. Whatever. You do you. Spool away, I guess. Just, you know, let me know if you need some more batteries or something. [TYPING] … It’s because he’s back, isn’t it. [SIGHS] He’s back, so now you’re going to be… around, again. Listening in. Mff. You missed him, didn’t you. … Yeah. … [VERY SHARP SQUEAL OF DISTORTION] Yeah, me too.

1°) Jon talks about them in front of them in third person (rude! =D) and describes them in terms of usefulness. Martin pours out his soul to them, addresses them directly, offers them BATTERIES IF THEY NEED………, and finds things they have in common (the fact they both missed Jon), absolutely humanizing them. … did they actually go spy on Martin because Jon was so casually mean to them, and at least someone in the Institute would treat them right?

2°) Same as Elias, Peter doesn’t seem to mind them – he didn’t acknowledge the tape recorder, but he heard Martin’s last sentence (at the very least) so was probably aware that Martin was talking to it?

3°) Not absolutely definite, but Jon mentioning that he hasn’t found tapes from when he was “away” probably included MAG118 + MAG120 + MAG121. It’s… very curious because, until now, the tape recorders had had a bit of a communicative function – they allowed Jon to hear what he had missed, or were explicitly used by people to leave messages for him (Elias, Martin pushing Tim to give his statement). Right now, they’re voyeurs who neither help nor give anything back to the characters? (I… don’t think that the tape recorder popping up in front of Martin was on a mission to bring that tape back to Jon; it sounds more like a purely selfish action…?)

- But Jon. Jon. Joooon, no D:

(MAG126) ARCHIVIST: I suppose I should be worried, but I have so much to keep watch over.

(MAG120) ELIAS: I presumed that I knew you thoroughly, but by the time you demonstrated otherwise… well. There was simply too much to keep watching over. I only have two eyes, after all.

You’re sounding like Elias, now DDD:

- It was my favourite written statement from season 4 so far, I think? I really loved the creeping sense of wrongness rising gradually, sprinkled with bits of mundane reactions and rationalizing (“He coughed gently and, well, I suppose it would have been rude not to look.”, “That was when I ran. I suppose I could have run before then, but I wouldn’t have wanted to seem rude, and it’s not like any of it could have been real, is it? It was just me losing it a bit.”). Plus, very casual queer statement-giver whose wife had down-to-earth preoccupations is always a good start (“since George was off to university and Rosa was usually working evenings, I tended to be alone until about… ten or eleven most days. So obviously, I started going to as many classes as I could. It was a great way to… meet friends, learn new skills, and, er, as she always reminded me, spend a good portion of Rosa’s paycheck.”). It was already a very good and chilling one, slipping more and more, like, HOLY MEW, SON??

(MAG126, Deborah Madaki) Ray told us the lesson was “faces”. I put my hand up to say that sculpting faces was probably a bit advanced for where we were in the course, but he shook his head, and said that we were… a lot more talented than we thought. He said the key was that faces were twisted. All faces were twisted on the inside and all you had to do was reach into the deepest part of yourself and put that twisted on the outside of the clay, and as soon as you can scream you’ll have your own face staring back at you. I asked him to clarify and he nodded again. “ ‘s Soon as you can scream," he said, glancing over nervously to Gabriel, who gave him… big thumbs up. Like it was all some… joke they were playing.

(And how everything began to be obviously more and more wrong, and how, cherry on top! It actually tied in heavily with chronologically-later events that we have already heard about. It was totally unsettling and terrifying; then the conclusion was already a punch; then Jon’s statement made things worse, from “There was no sign of Mary. They still haven’t found her.” to “shortly after this statement was given, they found the body of one [Mary Randall] in her basement, and she has spent the last nine years in Eastwood Park Prison” sHHHHH………… I’m never getting used to these moments in which suddenly, we’re made aware of what was actually happening.)

- Patreons-perks mean that we get the next episode’s title on Monday, now! Jonny had mentioned he was proud of MAG127’s; I can confirm it’s a terrible title and I hate it already. The worst things is that the question it elicits is just a big “WHOSE.” because we… have choices… Anyway, could be very wrong as usual, but the title just reeks (for me) of Beholding and/or Elias and I’m not ready for either :|

[soveryanon]

Reviewing time for MAG125 /o/

- I’m still going to nickname that power ~Insight~ until further notice because of MAG123 (“I have no theories on it, no… no sudden insights.”), though Basira’s “spooky brain” is A Very Tempting Phrase to cover it. Interestingly, there were similarities in the ways it has manifested so far:

(MAG124) ARCHIVIST: Still no sign of Peter Lukas of course, or Mar– [STATIC] Wait– Wait.

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: Peter Lukas is just… sitting up there, doing whatever the hell it is he [STATIC-] and Elias have planned, and Melanie still has that bullet pumping violence into her, waiting to turn this place into another Lanncraig. [/STATIC] I just wish there w– … w… … Wait, I, I, I didn’t… Did I read that somewhere, or…? R–right, yes [CLEARS THROAT]. The bullet, er, didn’t show up on… electronic or… mechanical scans, but it’s still lodged in her leg, just above the tibia. … And it’s been getting slowly infected ever sin– I have to find Basira.

1°) After Jon read a statement. (It had also been the case in MAG099 when he had dropped Gerard’s name amongst the list of Gertrude’s acquaintances when he’d been given absolutely no reason to do so.) 2°) Both times, regarding the assistants – who are Jon’s primarily concern as of now (at least explicitly). (3°) Right after Jon mentioned Peter Lukas, but that one is most likely to be a coincidence. Probably.)

-> … is this the equivalent of Beholding throwing him a treat and going “thank you for the meal”.

- If his screams are any indication: Jon got hurt. Again. Beating his own record from season 2, in which it had taken 7 episodes for him to Get A New Injury (the reopening of his worms-induced wounds in MAG041 notwithstanding). I wonder how long it will take for us to know where he got hurt and what happened exactly? It had taken from MAG047 to MAG053 to learn that Michael had cut him deeply enough to require five stitches – and even know, we don’t know where he got stabbed exactly. (I’m love it, I love that we know that Jon gets hurt but that it’s rare to know which part of his body was damaged every time around; we’re not even sure what hurt him here? Could have been the scissors, could have been the scalpel, could have been a surprise! hidden knife. So many sharps things laying around.) (*Tim’s voice from MAG082* “When you[’ve been hurt] and there are more than three different ways you might [have gotten sta]–”.)

On the one hand, insert jokes here about how Jonathan “Disaster” Sims is collecting the set.

…………….. on the other hand, he is. Indeed. Slowly completing the set of getting physical injuries from other entities, things that might be considered a form of marking?, and/or getting live-statements from other avatars, and it has never been highlighted as a problem by Elias – all the contrary, it’s technically a good thing according to what he said about Jon’s job description (MAG092: “It is your job to chronicle these things, to experience them, whether first-hand or through the eyes of others.”):

* The Web: encountered “A Guest For Mr Spider” as a child (recounted in MAG081: “The first of the dark powers to touch me, perhaps, but it did not claim me.”). * Beholding: claimed him hard (when becoming the Archivist? when he signed on as Head Archivist? when he began working for the Institute? when he watched the other boy get taken as a child?). * The Corruption: worms digging into him during the Jane Prentiss invasion (MAG039), Jon still has the scars on various parts of his body. * The Spiral: slashed/stabbed by “Michael”, probably on his arm/hand since he was trying to stop it? The injury required five stitches (MAG047). “Michael” gave its statement in MAG101. * The Desolation: one hand burned by Jude Perry following a Handshake Event (MAG089). Received her live-statement. * The Vast: thrown into it by Mike Crew, sayonara to your already tar-filled lungs motherfucker (MAG091). Received his live-statement. * The Hunt: Alice “Daisy” Tonner did something to his neck, half-strangling him or cutting it with his own knife, we don’t know, but it wasn’t pretty since Elias commented on it the following episode (MAG091). Received her live-statement in MAG061, and Trevor&Julia’s in MAG109. * The Stranger: terrorised by the Not!Them (MAG079), punched or strangled a bit by Nikola (MAG097), held captive by Nikola for a month (MAG101), the whole Unknowing mess (MAG118-MAG119). (And Nikola left her mark on his skin uwu) * The End: approached it following the bombing of the Unknowing, and received a live-statement from Oliver Banks (MAG121: “You’re… balanced on an edge where The End can’t touch you – but you can’t escape him”) + dead-but-not-dead-dead!Gerry’s in MAG111. * The Slaughter: given his screams, probably hurt by Melanie (MAG125).

Now, for the missing ones:

- The Buried: no direct injury on that front, but a few weird occurrences around that one – Jon received that live-statement from Karolina Górka in MAG071, who might have been claimed after her experience (“Aside from that, all that’s left to do is sweep up after Ms. Górka. She left the place rather dusty.”); the “DIG” ad that crept into Jon’s nightmares (MAG120) was not from a statement he had read, but from one read by Martin (MAG088), and Elias’s narration had the same static as Martin’s when he described it (what happened with that one?!); the statement-giver, Enrique MacMillan, had felt something in what is now Jon’s office and tried to dig it up in November 2003 (“cold, empty and calling. There’s something here, you see. Something to be dug up, rooted out, buried within. A hollow space that all eyes point towards. And I intend to reach it, if my fingers don’t give out first. I know where to dig.”) – the tunnels? Daisy had mentioned they felt “empty”… - The Flesh: attacked the Institute when Jon was in a coma (as mentioned in MAG123). Curiously, we haven’t met/heard any avatar of that one yet, not… in the flesh (badadadumdum), so it might be coming? - The Dark: has people lurking around (MAG125: “In the last week, I’ve seen two different people wearing symbols for the People’s Church of the Divine Host”) and, in the same way, we haven’t met/heard any avatar of that one yet (though Basira has). - The Lonely: has Peter as interim director of the Institute, and Jon has already highlighted that he’s feeling isolated on multiple occasions:

(MAG123) ARCHIVIST: I wish I could talk it through with Martin. … Or Tim. Or Sasha. But we never really did that, did we…? … Everything’s changed.

(MAG124) ARCHIVIST: It’s been a week and… Melanie’s attitude towards me hasn’t softened. And Basira, though she is very willing to talk, still doesn’t seem to trust me enough […]. Still no sign of Peter Lukas of course, or Mar–

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: I find myself basically alone.

So… it might be at least affecting him already, although it’s not a physical injury (yet).

Once again: is Jon supposed to catch them all as a part of The Watcher’s Crown ritual…? ;;

- There were a few hours of panic for Patreons when the episode came out in early release, because Martin was listed in the voicecast for the episode. So, WHERE WAS HE. WAS HE THERE DURING THE SHOUTING AT THE END OF THE EPISODE?? HAD HE COME BACK JUST BECAUSE JON SCREAMED AND HAD BEEN HURT AGAIN?? HAD HE BEEN TRYING TO STOP THE OTHER TWO WHEN THEY BEGAN OPERATING ON MELANIE?? IS HIS VOICE SOMEWHERE IN THE CHAOS??

In the end, nop, genuine mistake, he wasn’t meant to be in the episode.

Schrödinger’s Martin.

- I stand with this statement-giver on the idea that Sheep Are Weird And Evil. You’re valid, statement-giver.

- I really like the way Slaughter statements are tackled, because there is an overall quietness in them: the violence erupts, or has left its victims behind and is only reconstructed through them, but it’s mostly… stillness and silence. The Slaughter has its own logic and, from an exterior point of view, you never understand why things are happening; they just happen, breaking all the links and coherences that had been reigning until then. It might actually one of the fears that gets me the most, now that I think about it, because of the suddenness of its outbursts, the fact that you don’t see the violence coming? (This plot in particular made me think of the last arc of Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, too!)

- … this statement felt especially gruesome, and one of the things that freaked me out even more, at first, was that Jon… was apparently unfazed by it?

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: Statement ends. Hm. An Englishman returning from Scotland with a fear of bagpipes and sheep. I’m sure we can all relate! In many ways, The Slaughter fascinates me.

Immediately throwing a joke and then going on philosophising about the Slaughter’s implications, without giving a thought to the villagers…? Really, Jon, really…? Nnnnnot the time, maybe? On first hearing, I was very unsettled/worried (comparatively to MAG123 and MAG124, it sounded… very harsh); after stepping back, I realised that it’s… actually a Typical Jon Thing, though. He wasn’t only doing that in season 1 (when it’s official that he was faking it to conceal the fact that he was actually afraid), and he wasn’t discovering the story for the first time (like us listeners), so that could be why he felt too detached to me there. Still. Not great, Jon ;;

(I’ll keep being a bit paranoid about Jon having lost something since he woke up, until we learn about what it’s supposed to mean for him…)

- Also, I’m *squints* about this bit:

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: Regardless, I’ve hit another research dead end with this. It’s… frustrating, to be honest. I finally feel myself, I feel… focused, and ready – and I find myself basically alone.

“READY” FOR WHAT, JON???

Sidenote, but I wonder whether Jon is absolutely sincere and genuine here, or trying to… wave a hand at Elias or whoever can be listening in, basically trying to bait them into acting by showing that he’s impatient/waiting for them to do something? I’m glad that, at least, Jon has no illusion that Peter’s behaviour might be going all according to Elias’s plan, slumping them in the same bag:

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: But honestly, it’s the internal threats I’m worried about. Peter Lukas is just… sitting up there, doing whatever the hell it is he and Elias have planned […].

(I love that although they’re (almost) entirely absent, Jon delivers a Quota of mentions about Martin and Elias(+Peter).) Peter could actually be something outside of Elias’s control/plans/interests but… I’m glad that Jon is assuming that they’re on the same side, and that it means Bad News, for now. (/ meanwhile, other side of my brain: “oh my gods, it sounds like Elias&Peter are a power couple when you say it like that, Jon.”)

- This is the third statement picked up by Jon since he woke up (since he didn’t have any say on MAG122’s), and the second one that delved a bit into an aspect of “control”, together with MAG123’s.

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: There seems to be, in all cases, a question at its heart about… control. Is it a mindless dance, dragging participants along by the beat of a drum or… is there a kernel of will in there, a lucidity and deliberateness to the random fury and violence? I suppose that’s the question with so much of “violence”, “war”: how much are you really in command of yourself or of others? I’m not sure what scares me more: the idea that deep down, everyone is in complete control of their actions, that everything is, on some level, intentional; or that ultimately, we don’t have any control of ourselves at all, and the rest is just… rationalisation.

It sounded a bit too Relatable to his own situation and concerns, uh? Since the end of season 3 had a few moments of Jon’s worry about becoming a monster and how to deal with it – Georgie’s advice in MAG093, Tim’s “These things aren’t human. It’s… instinct. You can’t not!” (MAG114), Jon’s decision to trust the assistants in MAG117, etc. Jon’s lines, here, specifically reminded me of Tessa Winters’s pondering about the human consciousness, what control you exert on it?

(MAG065) TESSA: […] Assuming I’m not losing my mind, of course. ARCHIVIST: Yes, I hear that a lot too. TESSA: Well, that’s what’s terrifying, isn’t it? Your mind is all you are. There’s no backup, no reset, if it goes… I’m not just talking about madness as it appears, but what it is from inside… The way people talk about it, it’s like you have to think you’re saying that our mind is everything we perceive, everything we are. Well that means… you can never know when your grasp might be slipping. I’m not convinced that’s it, though. Or maybe deep down, somewhere inside, you understand what’s happening to you and… No, I am… I don’t know which scares me more.

That’s still a relevant thematic, now more than ever, since Jon apparently ~became The Archivist for real~ and we still don’t know what that means, and what he truly knows about it (officially, he’s missing some of his memory, but to what extent?). Jon’s “and the rest is just… rationalisation” also put me to mind of how the Web tends to operate according to Trevor:

(MAG056, Trevor Herbert) The weirdest sensation began to flow through me; I wanted to leave. It wasn’t like with a vampire, where I would feel like I’d been spoken to. This was just a sudden awareness of my own desire. I’d been sober for three years at that point, but I felt like I desperately wanted to get high, and I knew that the best place to get some was out in the night. Looking back, I think it might have been my own mind rationalising the way I felt my will being tugged out of the room, but it was still very powerful. If I hadn’t had a lifetime’s experience of identifying and fighting off the effect of the vampire’s gaze, I probably would have done it, too.

Aaaand of course, what Elias had said to Melanie about her own intentions (which is a bit more relevant here in a Slaughter context):

(MAG106) ELIAS: Whatever I’m planning needs to be stopped! Even if it costs a few lives. Including your own. MELANIE: Well, that’s not even– ELIAS: A rationalisation, of course. A lie, about your own selfishness, that you would rather be dead than trapped without the self-determination you prize so highly.

I was assuming that Slaughter and Web would probably be on opposite sides on the spectrum of Colours-That-Hate-Me, since respectively unleashed chaos and absolute control, but I’m not so sure anymore?

- There was a tiny allusion to “What The Ghost?” in Jon’s pondering, though! Patreons got one episode of it (so far? I hope that they are more to come, the first one was… plainly amazing) and this bit sounded like a reference to its content:

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: […] In many ways, The Slaughter fascinates me. There seems to be, in all cases, a question at its heart about… control. Is it a mindless dance, dragging participants along by the beat of a drum or…

We already knew that Jon listens to WTG but still… nice!! … and also sad because that’s a way to think about Georgie without even naming her. *cRIES*

- Jon, please.

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: Another Leitner, obviously. Not one I can readily identify, though it sounds like it would now be… inert, anyway. Given the blank pages, I do wonder whether its destruction was a last-ditch effort to stop its effects, or the exact thing that released its power in such an… extreme way.

Technically Not A Leitner since the statement was from 1993 (implying that it never made its way into the library before it was destroyed in 1994), how dare you slander Leitner by associating his name to this book :ww

- Okay, so Melanie and Basira are now living in the Institute, that was made explicit.

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: You’ve been staying here too. BASIRA: Got a camp bed at the other end, near the tunnels. I like to keep an eye on them. Besides, I wanted to give her some space, y’know. But yeah. Living outside the Institute, ’s just not safe anymore. ARCHIVIST: What about Martin…? BASIRA: I think he’s still got a place? He’s not down here anyway.

1°) Not exactly sure where exactly they’re sleeping? It definitely sounded like they were in the tunnels, but Basira very clearly said that she’s sleeping “near the tunnels” (not inside of them)? Unless they’re in one of the rooms and Basira is staying close to its entrance to keep a broader look on the corridors? 2°) (Melanie and Basira… are… roommates… (OH MY GODS THEY ARE ROOMMATES.)) 3°) ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; Where is Martin sleeping, that is a good question. Does he really still have his flat or did he… leave everything behind when he began working with someone-that-we’re-assuming-must-be-Peter? Or is he living in the Archives, too, though in ~another space~? DO HE AND JON SOMETIMES ACCIDENTALLY SHARE A BED IN THAT-ROOM-IN-THE-ARCHIVES, WITHOUT EVEN REALISING IT? (… Or does he sleep at Peter’s place.)

- Except for season 1 (in which he was a stuck-up ass) and season 2 (in which he was a paranoid ass), Jon has never mentioned Martin so much, has never been so concerned about Martin… and it’s understandable that he would, if Martin is acting in a worrisome way!! But. But. Still. He immediately wondered about Martin’s own accommodations and, after their encounter in MAG124:

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: I am now sure Martin is actually avoiding me.

aOUCH… I’m glad that Jon is preoccupied about Martin, thinking about Martin and not taking him for granted anymore (kind of)… but AT WHAT COST………………

- uUUUuuuh… Meanwhile, Jon kind of implied that he is still going outside?

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: Basira was right about the Institute being watched, though. In the last week, I’ve seen two different people wearing symbols for the People’s Church of the Divine Host, and it’s rare I go anywhere without cobwebs anymore. … I, er, find myself keeping my guard up around mannequins as well, though I’ll admit that one is more likely to be my own projection.

I would have assumed that Jon would have been the most likely to migrate long-term in the Archives, there is something funny in the idea that he… isn’t, somehow. (Also, Jon: what. are. you. doing. with all this free time.)

I’m not sure if cobwebs are a new thing around Jon, or if it’s only that he is able to pay attention to their gravitating around him nowadays: spiders had been… very prevalent in the Institute before. Or is it just growing even worse? (;; Sad for Jon, regarding the mannequins mention… Jude Perry is a prime example of avatar being still around and holding grudges after Gertrude messed with them, so… Jon being cautious of potential Stranger agents is not unwarranted. Maybe some survived, and maybe some would want to go after him…)

I’m laughing at the fact that is sounds like you can NEVER GET RID OF THE PEOPLE’S CHURCH OF THE DIVINE HOST. From “a small cult that grew around the defrocked Pentecostal minister Maxwell Rayner in London during the late eighties and early nineties. […] Mr Rayner himself disappeared from public view sometime in 1994 and the group fragmented shortly afterwards.” (MAG009) to them being around in March 2015 (MAG025), to Maxwell Rayner being stopped by the police in February 2017 (MAG073). It’s almost a running gag at this point, that they’re still there and lurking in whichever circumstances efurefdvhjnref. (Julia!! Julia, come back!! They’re still around, surely you would like to take care of them? Please? Pretty please?)

- ONE GOOD THING ABOUT WHAT THEY DID TO MELANIE if it was indeed in the tunnels (it sure sounded like it): assuming that they’re right and that Elias can’t see shit inside of them… then Elias didn’t see it, didn’t watch as Jon was able to ~see~ the bullet inside of Melanie. I’m taking all the Positivity I can, okay. :[

- But also: Jon escapes your Eyes for 35min, and he comes back bloody and with a new stab wound. Typical Jon. (Do you think that Peter and Elias had a bet going on about how much time Jon would need before getting a new injury once he would be back? Or about the nature of the next injury? Who betted what? We know that Peter was implied to go with the gruesome option when betting with Salesa (MAG066); but on the other hand, Elias is supposed to know Jon a bit more. Who would have gone the most realistically pessimistic about Jon?)

- I’m worried that Jon is using his powers so much since he woke up, because it feels like there should be a compensation or a catch – it’s… very beneficial to Jon right now, and I can’t really believe that it could be solely positive and something he’s using without being used by it. Jon is more than ready to use it to his own advantage, quite obviously; the contrast with how he had been startled and thrown-off when Elias had highlighted the phenomenon in MAG102 is just… telling:

(MAG102) ARCHIVIST: […] Is there anyone else who might know what it is, or– or where? Aside from Leitner, or Gerard. ELIAS: … Sorry? Gerard Keay? ARCHIVIST: Uh… yes…? ELIAS: How did you… Who, who told you he was working with Gertrude? ARCHIVIST: No-one, I–I–I just, I… I read it in one of the statements. ELIAS: I don’t think you did. ARCHIVIST: I… but… aaah… ELIAS: You just… knew it! ARCHIVIST: What, no, I, I… Th– that’s not a– ELIAS: No, no, no. No, Jon, this is good. It’s a promising development! ARCHIVIST: [GETTING FLUSTERED] No, No I… It’s just, it’s just… just d–deduction or– ELIAS: Is this the first time it’s happened? ARCHIVIST: Look, I don’t– Look… Haaa… Gerard’s not really a lead. He… he’s dead, isn’t he?

^His stuttering was terrible back then. In MAG125, he was startled, a bit shaken at first, but quickly got back on his feet, accepted what had happened, and ran with the new information in order to do something for Melanie. More used to it? More comfortable with it? Ready to use everything he can in order to fight? There was something overall… more firm, more goal-orientated within Jon afterwards, and it also made me think of… Gertrude.

(MAG101) “MICHAEL”: Gertrude Robinson did not waver. She did not… hesitate. She gave no indication that she saw anything more or less than was expected. Hers was not a mind that left room for doubt. She stared into us carefully, her eyes scanning for something that was my heart. Looking for my door. And she found it.

(MAG125) BASIRA: The guy said you’d need to hit the right nerve for it to work. Do you know much ab– ARCHIVIST: [STATIC-] Here. [/STATIC] BASIRA: You sure? ARCHIVIST: [SHARPLY] Yes. […] … God. Look at that. [STATIC] BASIRA: I don’t… It’s a leg. ARCHIVIST: No. Inside… BASIRA: I don’t know what you’re seeing, Jon. ARCHIVIST: It’s… Christ, it’s all rotten… BASIRA: Can you see the bullet? ARCHIVIST: Yes… […]  BASIRA: You better be right about this. ARCHIVIST: I am.

Jon was sure when it came to what was happening and… that part was a novelty. It wasn’t the fake-it-until-it-becomes-real from season 1, nor the blatant bullshitting from season 2; he was certain of his information. (And!! Using it for good!! Gertrude had one priority, stopping the rituals, and… so far, it seems that Jon’s is more about protecting the assistants. … which means there will probably come a point where he’ll have to choose between the two, and it will hurt, uh.)

- But at the same time, it was still… Jon. Jon being awkward, Jon asking the wrong kind of questions to the person in front of him,

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: … yes, right. Sorry. You, er… you managed to get some anaesthetic? BASIRA: Here. The guy said it was a nerve block. Should numb pretty much the whole leg. ARCHIVIST: Right. Right. … Was it hard to come by? BASIRA: No, I just popped down Superdrug. Yes it was hard to come by. ARCHIVIST: You–you couldn’t get any general anaesthetic, knock her out fully? BASIRA: Oh, sure! Did your spooky brain tell you the right dosage to not kill her? ARCHIVIST: … N–no. N–no, it didn’t. BASIRA: Then it’s got to be the local. Here, get on with it. ARCHIVIST: What, me? BASIRA: Yeah, she comes around, she’s gonna kill us or someone, and… You know. Not it. […] Okay, go for it. ARCHIVIST: [SHAKY VOICE] R–right. BASIRA: And pray the injection doesn’t wake her. ARCHIVIST: Yes, thank you Basira. […] BASIRA: You ready? ARCHIVIST: [DRY HOLLOW LAUGHTER] No…? [SHAKY VOICE] You’re sure you don’t have… restraints, or…

1°) I’m love Basira. I’m love how casually dry and savage she can be, how she’s just throwing Jon into the lion’s den without any hesitation nor remorse. What a legend. 2°) That [“You ready?” “No…? *laughs hollowly and does it anyway*”] refdhbjrefdhj Jon, you absolute millennial icon.

The mix of Jon being certain and awkward and obviously thinking about how it could easily end badly for him was so… satisfying and fun and hilarious to me. Still an awkward dork, I’m glad!! =D

- BUT I’M STILL WORRIED ABOUT THE WHOLE “JON USING POWERS” DEAL… if Elias had portrayed it as a good thing and as Jon sinking deeper into Beholding territory, then it’s *gulps*:

(MAG0116) ELIAS: I have been doing my best to prepare you, Jon, to See. You should hopefully have it a bit easier than the others. ARCHIVIST: Another of my… powers? ELIAS: More… an aspect of your becoming. DAISY: You don’t say. ARCHIVIST: Er… right. ELIAS: Regardless, it should, I hope, give you an edge. Otherwise I would never suggest you go yourself.

It wasn’t only a punctual ~insight~, it was a series of them (helping Jon to know where to inject the product and block the nerve) and x-ray vision allowing him to see the Spooky State of Melanie’s leg, when it was officially fine in our realm (the scans hadn’t revealed anything). I’m glad that Jon is using his powers for Good, but I don’t believe that it can last and remains as positive as it is, even though there would be something very beautiful and satisfying in the idea that no, the Fears do not actually corrupt you – it’s just that most avatars were already rotten humans to begin with? ;; (There is something fishy, to start with, with the fact that Jon is missing memories…)

(… okay, and there would also be something utterly satisfying if Elias was proven totally wrong. And bittersweet, if Tim was also proven wrong about the idea that you can’t fight these things or things happening to you.)

- The way I understood Jon’s “The bullet, er, didn’t show up on… electronic or… mechanical scans, but it’s still lodged in her leg, just above the tibia. … And it’s been getting slowly infected ever sin–” is that: Jon had listened to MAG117’s tape(s), potentially even before the Unknowing, and knew about Melanie’s recollection of how she got shot – I think that part wasn’t coming from the Insight? But the new knowledge that was planted within him, or emerged from him, was something irrefutable: that the bullet was still there and the root of the problem (“Melanie still has that bullet pumping violence into her, waiting to turn this place into another Lanncraig.”) It could/should have been a hypothesis from him, it sounds like a logical explanation; but the way it was presented, it wasn’t some wild guess or pondering. It was a certainty.

Insert here obligatory sobbing about how compulsion and this power provide Jon, who is prone to paranoia fits, who is prone to be wary of people, with absolute truth… yeah, the powers cater a bit too much to him, as a way of keeping his own personal human relationships-oriented fears at bay, uh.

- On the relationship side: gOSH, Melanie… probably won’t be fine, and would have every right to not be ;; But Melanie specifically… won’t react positively with something deliberately done to her while she had not consented (MAG102, Elias: “Even more than the others she has a visceral hatred of being trapped. Regardless of how much freedom I afford her.”), even if it could ultimately save her from The Slaughter. She probably won’t forgive.

She was already in an antagonistic spiral regarding Jon, (MAG102: “We’ll try it your way. But whatever your way actually is, you’d better figure it out fast. Because it is your fault that I’m here. Fix it, or get out of the way!” / MAG124: “Wipe that look off your face. Like you’re not the reason all of this is happening. Like you’re any better than– […] He’s still alive. You are still alive. So THIS PLACE is still–!”), and even though part of it was probably Slaughter-induced (MAG117: “Elias thinks he’s got this ingenious way to hurt people, but it’s just the same old bullshit in a creepy new package. … asshole… God! I just want to rip his…! [BREATHES] When did I… start to lose the parts of me that weren’t just anger…? … Hum.”), Jon highlighted in his conclusions about MAG125’s statement that perhaps The Slaughter is not making people lose their mind so much as making them follow something they already had inside of them.

At the same time, we already got Tim resenting and antagonising Jon at every turn, so I don’t know if Melanie will ultimately follow the same path? Technically, it’s… probably Basira who should deserve her ire about the non-consensual surgery on her asleep body, since:

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: And it’s been getting slowly infected ever sin– I have to find Basira. [STANDS UP] [CLICK.] […] You’re sure we shouldn’t just… tell her…? BASIRA: … I really don’t know how she’d take it. Not well. If we want to get it out of her, this is it. ARCHIVIST: [SIGHS] Okay.

JON WANTED TO TALK TO MELANIE ABOUT IT!!! Holy shit, Jon!! Such progress ;__; First for going to talk to Basira about it right away, and then for offering to talk to Melanie, and for ultimately trusting Basira’s judgement about it!!

Basira’s cold pragmatism is not… exactly surprising, to be honest: she’s always been prone to assessing the situation and making drastic decisions right away when it comes to saving lives or to doing what she deems right (Daisy in MAG092, the expedition to stop Rayner, the fact that she took the tapes from the police to give them to Jon when they tried to cover up the reason her colleague died…). In this particular case, there was no right thing to do? Melanie would have probably exploded and ruined any chance for them to remove the bullet if they had even tried to mention its existence to her, true? But they took the decision for her and it was definitely wrong on many levels, and Melanie will have many reasons to feel shaken, violated and betrayed by what they did ;; She already had it bad in season 2 (the fact that her old team fell apart, her first injury, her downfall) and season 3 (the second injury, the lack of options, the fact that she actually got trapped in the Institute, Elias torturing her with the memories of her father’s death), I hope she won’t get too messed up by this new thing?? ;; But the concept of non-consensual surgery applied to her, with her personality, with everything that has already happened to her… is especially horrifying ;; (And she has no support network either… Maybe Georgie still applies, though, but the situation is likely to get complicated in that area since Georgie is also tied to Jon.)

… at the same time, there could be something comforting for Melanie in getting a hold back on her own anger, instead of the foreign surge of violence that was injected into her? I really don’t see how the situation could get better for her and ;; I’m sad sad sad.

… on the other hand, Basira will probably open up a bit more to Jon after this, since… he kinda proved himself to her, here? Proved that, even though he has powers, even though he’s ready to use them, even though he has sunk deeper in, he’s also there to help the assistants, even if it means getting hurt or ruining his relationships with them – as long as it helps them to survive. So. We’ll see.

;;

(I have trouble picturing that nobody will visit Elias in prison at some point, so, hey. Basira is the one who has contacts in the police. She might be a bit more willing to share them with Jon.)

- I can Never Believe how this show manages to always make moments… creepy, and tense, and horrifying, and convey that well a sense of dread while, at the same time, making them so hilarious. The dialogues are always lovely; but Basira and Jon were just… amazing, here.

  (- Patreons already got the title for MAG126 with the new schedule planning, and it feels so weird to speculate with the title alone! Not spoiling it, then, but I’m worried about its second meaning (outside of the statement itself). Could be many very wrong things, and the worst I’m coming to on my own, as of now, is “what if it’s about Peter and Martin”.)