#i mean i love tma just as much as the next guy but oh damn

[spacehorrors]

tma review aka I'm off the deep end this time.

you guys know where the other reviews are. if you don't drop me an ask. let's get rolling.

also I've had to adjust the structure of my normal reviews a bit because I am experiencing so many things.

idk where to start. actually yes I do I eagerly await elias' long and painful death.

top five episodes:.

E111 Family Business - immediately my favourite episode I loved it I loved hearing about Gerry and the impact the obsession with those books have on people. like the way he was marked by them right from the beginning and didn't really have a chance. excellent times.

E101 Another Twist - MICHAEEELLL I miss him so much I was actually devastated when he died he scared the shit out of me so much. just an epic character and his use of architecture to supplement his power is excellent.

E103 Cruelty Free - THAT PIG??? ough I love the Slaughter and the Hunt stuff it's so fucked up I love it so much nothing will top the first one they did but this was excellent. scary shit.

E107 Third Degree - what can I say I love trains and fucked up train stations and fire and heat. epic episode hit all my favourite things on the head.

E117 Testament - sorry this was really vying for its spot with the next episode I just had such a sense of dread listening to them.

characters thoughts

elias please die <3 slowly and painfully I hate you so much. that's it. explode and die.

jon. where do I start. I'm enjoying very much his powers and how he's using them and what an effect it's having on his sense of self. keep it up but stop getting kidnapping and being dumb god bless.

tim..... daisy...... I'm upset. I saw it coming and I thought they'd be the ones to die but I'm also caught up more in the reactions of the people they were close to. basira...... hope she's ok. tim's "I don't forgive you" line.....

martin. oh dear. um. I absolutely adored his scene with elias. yknow THAT one. was it emotionally harrowing? yes. did it create my favourite quote "I can't hear you elias there's a door in the way!" also yes. I'm enjoying his arc keep at it my guy keep with the tea!

MELANIE PLEASE MARRY ME. I am free every day of the week for you I love you I'm writing our initials in heart shaped glittery pens etc. in all seriousness she's one of my favourite characters and I hope they do more with her.

GEORGIE. another loml. as well as basira who I want to know more!! basira and daisy.... gah I'm inconsolable.

sighs. where do I start. where do I start so much has happened.

so these are my general thoughts

ok so first thing is all the different phobia things. ok when I tell you days before I had made a list of phobias to make short stories of and then I find out that that's the case for these avatars my mind was blown. it's very clever. makes a lot of sense and I love the idea of feeding them.

top ten unlikely team ups is julia and trevor damn nice!! they're hanging out and killing monsters!! um. yeah fascinating hope we find out more about julia....

I'M STILL DEVASTATED ABOUT MICHAEL. AND GERRY. MY PALS. my weird guys!! I literally miss michael so much.

tbh I have just been having a great time. just been enjoying episode after episode.

THE SENTIENT TAPE RECORDER fascinates and compels me so much I love thinking about it.

love the new focus on death and dying and zombies etc I've found that cool. 10/10 like what does it mean to build a body very epic.

my predictions

OK NO.1 PREDICTION IS THAT more of the gang are going to become hosts/avatars of the different fears. like I've got my bets on basira becoming a patron of the vast. I think they're all slowly going to see the impacts of living under the conditions of the archives soon.

dreams..... will become significant I am sensing perhaps they will all start having one collective dream.

think jon is going to be faced with a die to save the world moment. but like a proper one. a proper this is the end of the line only to be yanked back moment.

more trapped in the web moments pls.

ngl I think the next villain might be a proper serial killer. like yes most of them are but I mean hunting people down style.

this is not going to end well. like I think it will end very very tragically at this point.

episode 120

ok so I don't have the time nor the energy to dissect it but it did rule. tying together a bunch of statements and just being weird yknow. I just felt I had to acknowledge it. so glad I didn't get it and then nothing else I'm sorry to the people who did lol I would've lost my mind.

feels a bit shorter this time round but honestly I'm just tired and don't know what more to say! feel free to ask me questions about things I love answering questions <33 can be anything at all as long as no spoilers ofc!

#tma review #dont look at what time it is here lol

[d-lissa]

Liveblogging TMA - Season 2 - MAG 54-57

 "The same eyes that gazed at me from a hundred sawdust filled sockets around the room."

STILL LIFE :

God fucking damn it Jon.

Anyway, Anglerfish come back ! And with one of his victims other than Sarah Baldwin.

Of course, "Sasha" got on the case and everything was (supposedly) totally normal. At this point, considering how paranoid Jonathan is getting though, I am surprised he let anyone do the research for him. Shows that he's not all gone yet, though it is unfortunate in the sense that it give the stranger more freedom than she should be getting away with.

Of course, the delivery men were Breekon and Hope and I am still confused on what side they're on. Are they just ... Everywhere ? Doesn't matter of the moment they got a delivery ?

God, what a mess.

Supplemental, Jon has actually gone and broke into Gertrude's house, prooooobably got caught despite his assurances that he didn't, Gertrude was minimalist and also as suspicious of the eys as I am, to the point that she would keep any eyes outside of her flat.

This is ... Worrying. I am guessing that she too had a paranoid arc, same as Jon. Is he walking in her footsteps ? What did Gertrude find ? She probably got killed by Elias, so was he actually possessed by some spirit and she discovered that ?

And why are the eyes everywhere ?

Is it an oddity that look at the world ? "Beholding" it ? If it is like other oddities we've met, and considering that it is obsessed with the Archivist, does it mean that the Archivist is "Marked" by it, like some of the victims we heard of ? Does it hurt them ? Does it "love" them, the same way the Hive loved Jane Prentiss ?

I NEED TO KNOW MORE DAMN IT !

PEST CONTROL :

Yeesh.

Talk about a job.

Can you imagine being so used to people burning to death that you can differenciate the smells ?

Anyway, the Hive and the Nest. Probably not the same thing then ? Is it like a Michael situation, where he is himself and empty corridors are something else, but they are both a part of the same thing ?

But the Hive was pretty mad at the landlord, wasn't it ? Because it wasn't "a real parasite" ? Something about showing him what a "real parasite can do". Can two entities of the same oddity (Asag ?) be mad at each other ? Jealous of each other ?

Obviously Jane didn't know though. Seems like she was unaware of a lot of things, which makes sense.

The too big brown suit made me think of Grifter though.

Still, I am glad that it really was her ashes that Martin gave Jon. How disturbingly sweet, seems like a thing with him.

John Amherst from "Taken Ill" is back, and just as disusting as ever. Asag, or whatever the name is, the thing of diseases probably marked him ? I think he sounds like someone who would be marked. And there's Trevor and a young woman with him chasing him down ?

Supplemental, Jonathan actually got an entire night of sleep and my heart is breaking for him. Someone please let this fool rest. Season 1 was just an all around better time for him, really.

At least then, he felt like he had friends.

Onto next episode, probably about vampires again !

CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT :

... Holy shit, I am stupid. Trevor was the name of the Vampire Hunter, how the fuck did I forget that ?

To think I confused him and Simon together, how absolutely embarassing. Urgh, I wanna crawl into a hole and never come back.

I am so stupid, uuuurgh.

... Didn't he die before finishing his statement though ?

~~~~~~~~~~

"As for the spider person, the only proof of its existence seems to be that I am far too unlucky for it to simply be an old tramp hallucination."

Welp. That explains SO much. Oh my God.

Trevor is alive and, well, probably not well, but he probably found himself a way to keep alive and is apparently on the hunt of more oddities with a young woman ? His apprentice ? Or is she teaching him ?

All I know is that they set stuff on fire. I'm sure the guy from last episode would get along great with them.

Good on them.

And so, we have met the equivalent of Jane Prentiss but with spiders ? I just. Damn it. I really wanted the spiders to be somewhat good guys, but nooooo, they just got rid of their competition, probably to do all the work themselves. Are they and the Hive a part of the same whole too ?

Supplemental, Jonathan FINALLY confronted Martin, and I don't know who's more relieved between him and me. Of course, I still think Martin is hiding stuff, but like. Jonathan finally can trust someone. Jon finally has someone he doesn't need to be on guard for, Martin was just there for him and trying to look out for him.

Yeah, I just know the fandom is probably crazy about them. I still think Martin got a crush on Jonathan, ngl.

Hearing Jon scream at him broke my heart though, my man is just ready to snap at a moment's notice, Martin can you please help him ?

Anyway, we discovered what Martin was hiding (or ... one of the things) and it is kind of heartbreaking. A highschool dropout hiding his real identity and history to keep having his job. Did his mother die in the end, as I assumed ? Man, what a mess.

The guy must've been so lonely for so long.

I have no idea what the next episode will be, but I'm hoping it is about Martin getting all in Jon's personal space and giving him a hug. He needs some.

PERSONAL SPACE :

... And shit, it's a space episode. Fuck.

This season is fucking coming for me.

~~~~~~~~~~

"“No one is coming”"

... Yay, another Lukas. Fucking creeps.

And more isolation. God, can these stop, didn't we get enough of those already, the liminal spaces always get me the worse. Just. Brrr.

God, whatever oddity is behind those, I think it's the one I hate the most.

And of course, Fairchild and Lukas. They just can't stop being suspiciously creepy, can they ?

A call back to "Ny Alesund", from "Growing Dark". So I have to assume that all three are connected to the cult with the closed eye. The Darkness is what they worship, right ? The "Lightless Flame" ? Or am I confusing it with someone else ?

The thing that is opposite to the open eye that represents the "beholding" and so maybe the Archivist ?

... My head hurt.

Supplemental, Jon is actually showing wariness to Not-Sasha and I am SO fucking glad about it. Even though she is onto him, he is also kind of onto her and it's. It's good. Yes, please Jon, don't trust her, I know your instincts are kind of going out of whack with the whole paranoia thing, but you gotta listen to them here.

The quote of the post will be :

"We're all alone out there."

End Liveblogging.

#tma #the magnus archive #liveblogging #liveblog-tma

[doppelnatur]

Insane how Rusty Quill has 5k supporters and Nightlight 200.....

#i always think idk the stuff i listen to is like h u g e #and then it just isn't? #i mean i love tma just as much as the next guy but oh damn #same when i checked YouTubers and how many subscribers they have like Kat Blaque??? i thought she was like. up there.... #id have thought she has like just short of 1 million subscribers but she only recently reached 200k ? #i mean now she's at 300k but holy shit she deserves so so much more #I'm ridiculous in that i basically only support podcasts #i mean kat was the one utuber i gave money to but she's changing format to podcasting so I'm now giving more money #@brain.... w h Y? #but yeah idk the point of this is.......... mmm i think sometimes u can just notice how much of a factor race rlly is....... #hhhh

[dragons-bones]

The White Vault Season Three Roundup

Posting this as the tenth and final episode of the season is now in public release!

So I listened to the early release of the season finale on Saturday, screamed a lot, and immediately sat down and re-listened to the whole season. The following post is being put behind a read more for both length and season-wide (finale included) spoilers and includes discussion and theorizing for season four, which Travis confirmed is the penultimate season. (IS IT OCTOBER YET.) Please DO NOT READ until you listen to the finale!

First and foremost, I was originally a little concerned that season three would end up hitting all of the same story beats as the first two seasons without anything new, particularly on the matter of the mystery: lots of puzzle pieces that still don't quite fit together. Arguably we still don't have any clear answers...but we have a lot more pieces that I think we're seeing the overall shape. There is definitely some sort of centuries-and-continents-spanning conspiracy, one dedicated to keeping the shadow monster(s) and totem monsters fed, or appeased, or something, along with the people and civilization that revolves around these creatures. We don't know the why, we don't know the how, but I am personally surprisingly at ease with not having anything answered at this point--honestly I am having an incredible amount of fun speculating in my own mind and reading other fans' takes on tumblr and reddit. Travis and Katie confirming we have a fourth and fifth season to finish telling the story gives me a lot of confidence, particularly since season four is going to take a vastly different tack than the first three seasons.

The Documentarian confirms in the opening of episode one that she had come into possession of the information she presents to whom we knew as of episode five to be Graham "Fuck You I Have A Shotgun" Casner just a few days ago. Episode ten confirms that the events of season three literally occurred within the last few weeks and Dr. Zhou "Fuck You I Have A Frying Pan" Liu, Dr. Josepha Guerrero, and Simon "Fuck You I Am Getting Off This Mountain If I Have To Tobogan Down It" Hall may still be alive up in the caves. I am practically frothing at the mouth with excitement because this really raises the stakes for next season, and while I'm more than certain the entire cast isn't making it out alive...enough might. And in this situation: the dangers are known by both the rescue party and the scientists; and the scientists are the kind who might be able to begin putting our puzzle pieces together, along with whatever the Documentarian acquires elsewhere.

I want to give an especial shoutout to Peter Lewis as Graham Casner. I remember when I first listened to The White Vault, I was a bit uncertain about his voicework: he has a very deliberate, almost stilted-sounding delivery as Graham. His performance really clicked for me when we got the segue ways of him narrating Russian journal entries into an English translation: his Russian, to my ear, sounds very smooth with no hesitation. My thought is, English isn't Graham's first language, and his measured way of speaking is how he ensures he organizes his thoughts properly to be understood. And just--his performance this season was SO GOOD. Especially in the finale, he sounded so raw and angry and just a little bit broken over the discovery that the body Dr. Liu and Dr. Guerrero found truly wasn't Dr. Ureta (I thought, in episode nine, that they're comment of "that's not Dr. Ureta" was more a metaphoric "that's not her anymore" based on what they knew of Simon's experience so far), but Rosa. Like. Holy shit. 10/10 Peter Lewis, godDAMN.

(Aside: props to all the voice actors this season. We really heard them come into their stride as the season progressed, but special props to: Danilo Battistini as Lucas, who showcased Lucas’s descent into (religious fervor inspired?) madness; Eric Nelsen as Simon, who got saddled with a lot of the technical archaeological talk and made it sound natural (really evident when you listen to the bloopers); and Diane Casanova as Eva, who did a fantastic job showing her dealing with the stress of the situation while still remaining snarky and defiant.)

And now to Rosa--who was, unquestionably, my favorite member of the Fristed expedition, so I was, in fact, yelling like a mad thing while my heart went icy and broken when the body was identified as hers. So, I remember reading in a post-episode speculation thread on reddit earlier in the season that maybe the tunnels between Svalbard and Patagonia were connected and this was the same shadow monster as the Fristed team encountered. I thought this was particularly far-fetched bullshit, but, uh apparently not? Good job, fellow speculator! You called it! Perhaps they're not physically connected (that stretches my suspension of disbelief beyond the breaking point, considering Svalbard and Patagonia are on literal opposite ends of the planet), but maybe it's a space-time distortion, and the deep caves between Svalbard and Patagonia (and Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China, and wherever else this strange civilization has pockets of activity) are linked via supernatural means. And a space-time distortion would explain why to Graham, it didn't seem too much time had passed for him in the tunnels before he found a way out, even though it was weeks if not months before he was located.

(Brief side note: definitely the Svalbard totem monster that got him, that strange walrus-like entity with the super-elongated phalanges. Also features in Artifact. That totem monster scares me and scares me deeply.)

So does this mean the shadow monster at Fristed and Piedra are the same, able to travel between locations depending on which ones have people near them? (SPOILER FOR ARTIFACT: it's implied there's more than one and they can "travel" via the totem animal artifacts END SPOILER) Does this mean we might see "Jonas" again? Oooooh, two shadow monsters, das bad, das really bad.

(Another brief side note, since I didn't do an episode nine roundup: the dark part of my mind that loves the creepy horror elements of this podcast was overjoyed at being slam-dunked right into the fucked-up-edness of the return of the still-beating heart and teeth in a stone box. Just. Good shit, lots of nightmares, jumping at shadows that night, S U P E R B.

...Wait, Rosa's is the first body actually found, even though we know the shadow monster killed her. Karina's, Walter's, and Carito's bodies never showed up, and we know their hearts and teeth ended up in the stone boxes. Does that mean Rosa's didn't? Is there specific significance to this?)

The sites do seem to be very different: China was a mountain village, most of the village open air with their private ritual rooms carved into the mountainside; Svalbard's might be under a glacier, and is an entire underground village, with its ritual sites buried beneath it; and Patagonia is less a proper village and more a winding system of living quarters and open public/ritual spaces. Svalbard is also currently the only one (that we know of, we have no information about the interior of the China site) using teeth to pave its stairs so, uh, take that as you will.

Teeth appear a lot. I have a thing about teeth, and yet The White Vault doesn't ping it? It's rather strange.

RAIMY. RAIMY YOU GO GET YOUR MAN. PROUD OF YOU, PLEASE DON'T DIE. (Honestly, though, I get the feeling if the shadow monster breathes anywhere in the general vicinity of Raimy, Simon will go batshit and beat the thing to death himself. He is injured but he is pissed.)

I continue to have low expectations about Eva's survival. That she got off the mountain is a surprise--stalked by the shadow monster, perhaps hoping she lures more people to the caves?--and that her 'infection' (excuse me as I continue to have flashbacks to Jane Prentiss in TMA Season One and cry uncontrollably because oh my gooooooooood) hasn't, y'know, gotten properly ugly yet. But goddamn I love her spirit, I love that she's so determined to get the rest of the team out. I WANT her to survive, but all the clues are pointing at REALLY BAD SHIT happening to her.

I remain deeply curious about whether or not Dr. Ureta’s previous trip to the Patagonia site is what primed her to be the first victim of the Piedra team. This might very well be something we don’t ever receive a proper answer to--sometimes some mysteries remain so, after all--but I do find it telling that we have very little of her personal thoughts, unlike the other members of the team (aside, of course, from Lucas).

Dr. Guerrero remains the loose end for me: Simon and Dr. Liu have both shown an utter lack of fucks to give about not letting this monster have them, but Dr. Guerrero was so tunnel-visioned on the science of the find that we notes and thoughts we have her don’t give us a conclusive enough picture about what to expect going forward. But we might end up surprised.

I’m very interested to see what Maheer and Dragana bring to the table: Maheer is obviously the Documentarian’s man because of a very nice paycheck, and Graham’s grumbling about Dragana’s prodding for details has me on alert mostly because Graham is my guy and he deserves a fucking nap and a vacation for all the shit he’s had to deal with.

The White Vault: Iluka is coming up this month on Patreon; I’m willing to bet this is what the Documentarian is preoccupied with while Graham and the rescue team head into the mountains. I’m really curious to see whether or not this might have anything to do with the events of the short Acquisition? I feel we’re due for that to come into play...

There is just. So much. So damn much.

IS IT OCTOBER YEEEEEEET.

#the white vault #spoilers #white vault spoilers #white vault episode 3.10

[aflyingcontradiction]

The Magnus Archives Relisten: Episode 78 - Distant Cousin

Jon: I… er…We… we didn’t…

What is Jon starting to say here before he stops and goes on to read the statement instead? 'We didn't know'?

It’s weird to think about people who knew you as a child. You change so much, and when you talk to them again, they’re not talking to you. They’re talking to someone else, someone you used to be. The person they think they’re seeing has been dead for years, but they didn’t see the change. They’re looking at a complete stranger, and they have no idea. - Statement of Lawrence Moore

a) Yeah, yeah, that sounds about right. Though I've only really had that experience from the other end, actually. Meeting up with old friends and just ... finding a stranger in their place with whom every conversation is awkward. I suspect they felt the same about me, though, I just wouldn't have necessarily noticed. Also I've had that experience with myself, re-reading old diaries. Most of it is all 'Okay, yeah, that's clearly me' but every once in a while I stumble across a moment of 'WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?' and I'm ... not a fan. At all. Not that the changes between teenage!me and now!me haven't mostly been an improvement, but I don't like the concept of changing in ways I can't perceive except in hindsight, can't even remember going through until I see them in writing and sure as fuck can't steer. b) I like the connection they make here between the Stranger and just ... the experience of growing and changing as a person. It's actually really quite unsettling!

He looked at me for a long, off-putting second as a wide smile crept across his face. “I know it’s been a long time, Lawrence,” he said, “but surely you haven’t forgotten your cousin Carl?”

The reaction here implies (at least to me) that the Not!Them doesn't necessarily KNOW in advance who the person that knows them for what they are (that is, their ACTUAL victim, the person whose fear they feed off) is? Hence the smile growing wider.

I could feel panic beginning to rise in my chest, and I started asking everyone who might know Carl, and all of them told me the same thing. When my aunt gave me a withering glare for asking who her son was, I had to leave.

I'm really glad that they didn't draw this scene out any more than that because at this point it was actually becoming genuinely hard to listen. I can deal with and sometimes actively enjoy being unsettled in a fear sense (otherwise I wouldn't be into TMA in the first place). But being unsettled in a second-hand embarrassment sense (as was clearly triggered in me by the scene of everyone at the wedding silently judging this poor guy because in their minds he was either having a break-down or playing a stupid prank) ... yeah, I can't handle that very well.

Neither of us said a word. He just stared at me, smile still wide and something twinkling in his eyes that might have been amusement. Or triumph. He showed no desire to make any sort of conversation, and I was too terrified to say anything at all.

Oh god, this isn't pretty. Not at all. Nope.

Standing there was another man I’d never seen before. He was black, dressed in a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a thin necktie.

... and I completely missed that Adelard Dekker is black. I don't like how my mind glosses over that and settles on default-white, I'll have to work on that.

We placed it [the big box] down in the middle of the living room, and I instinctively went to lift the lid. I caught a brief glimpse of dark, varnished wood before he slammed it down, almost trapping my hand, and shook his head once. “It’s not for you,” he said.

This isn't Dekker being rude, is it? This is Dekker protecting Lawrence from being Webbed as well as Strangered.

I didn’t return to my house until the next morning. Dekker’s blue van was gone, and in its place was another one, dirty white. There was something printed on the side, but I couldn’t make it out under the grime. I watched two men in overalls carry that same box out of my house, load it up, and drive away.

Breekon and Hope, obviously, but I really wonder how exactly they got this "job" and also I'd love to know the exact trajectory of this table before it ends up in the Archive.

Sasha (recording): Hello! I see you! Show yourself! Not!Sasha (recording): Hello? I see you! I see you! Jon: And now I see you!

Oh god, this is so good! Just. The juxtaposition. The 'seeing' thing re: the Eye and Jon. Also it's a pretty important character moment - I think this is the moment that Jon first decides to stop being passive and take the fight to them. Well, Not!Them, I suppose.

Jon: Yes…. Yes. And I’m… I’m sorry. About everything. Martin: J-Jon… look, are you –

Okay, yeah, I mean, if a person I knew was obviously tying up loose ends by way of apology and then making sure they are completely alone, I would be genuinely wondering whether I'll ever see them again alive. Martin's got good reasons to be reluctant to leave.

Jon: I don’t know if destroying this is going to kill that thing… but I am damn sure it’s going to hurt.

Oh god, this is such a stupid decision. Jon literally JUST READ the statement obviously describing the binding of the Not!Them to the table by Dekker. And even without knowing about the Fourteen, he's got enough information to know the table is related to spiders and webs and shit and the Not!Them isn't. Jesus, Jon, what are you doing? I mean, yeah, you're all 'VENGEANCE GRAH!' for understandable reasons, but there's no need to be so STUPID about it!

Michael: That was very stupid.

YES! YES IT WAS!

My impression of this episode

Oh god, there's a lot going on here. First of all, the story of the cousin was disturbing in multiple ways, both the fun horror one that I came here for and the less-fun one (as previously mentioned, there are various scenes in it that set off my "Hiding under blankets and sticking my fingers in my ears until the awkward bit is done" reflex and fighting that was actually quite difficult). And then - well - seeing Jon genuinely fucking FURIOUS and ready to kill, not in self-defense but in revenge, is interesting! Of course, he ends up going about it in the dumbest fucking way and I honestly don't think there's a good explanation for Jon's complete brainfart here. But for me, that bit of rather weak writing is outweighed by the reappearance of Michael, who I love. so. much. So yeah, this is a pretty good episode, all things considered.

#tma relisten #the magnus archives