The more entities we come across, the more my anticipation builds for The Vast’s domain. A lot of the episodes this season have hit me really hard, for obvious reasons, but something tells me I’m not ready to be seenlike The Vast makes mefeel.Plus, I wanna see Grandpa Fairchild again. I hope he’s having a blast.
MAG 2//MAG 20 This definitely means nothing, but my brain wants it to mean something, so I’m going to think about how Breekon and Hope started in a plague, and headcannon that this touch with the Corruption made them attracted to pale, yellow objects. They’d keep buttons they’d find in their pockets and I like to think they found the stole in a thrift shop and decided that they must have it. AND THEY HAVE MATCHING HATS.
per discussion on discord, the Tapes are not a Beholding thing so much as a manifestation of Jon’s own personal powers
the thought process is like this:
It’s assumed that tapes are just a Part of Being the Archivist, but they are mostly emblematic of Jon himself. There have been other Beholding avatars before Jon, and there have been other Archivists, but no sign that anyone else has this affinity for the tapes.
Per Gerry, Gertrude did absolutely read statements for her hunger, but according to him, she didn’t record them. What she did record was relevant information.
Tapes also pop up when Jon wants more agency. They crop up when there is information he specifically will want to know, and often not necessarily Fear-related.
And the way people react to the tapes is parallel to how they think of Jon. For Martin, he’s very fond of them, sees them as little confidants, and they form his connection to Jon through their separation in S4. Tim and Basira both view the tapes as a sign of Jon’s monstrousness. Back when Daisy has her bloodlust on, she sees Jon having one as a sign he’s a “freak”, confirming her need for him to be a monster worth killing. Melanie is neutral to them mostly, but they capture the story of Elias tormenting her, which informs Jon’s kindness to her after he knows about it.
And very interestingly, Elias can’t control them. When he wants to turn one off, it will decide “actually nah” and defy him. Particularly in the case of his mental attack on Martin, that doesn’t even feel like something the Beholding would want as a snack. What Elias does is scary, but the chief emotion Martin is going through isn’t Fear at all (in fact, it’s p much not fear, he planned the whole thing) but grief and sorrow.
Martin, who has the clearest view of who Jon really is, doesn’t distrust the tapes. And Jon takes one with him to Scotland for a sense of protection. In fact, they are closely associated with Jon from the very beginning; he shoves his fucking hand into worms to recover one out of his desire to not become a mystery. They are less an artefact of the Archivist and more an artefact of Jon wanting to be known. Not in a scary way, but an informative way, which is a motive that certainly overlaps with Beholding stuff but is not fear-aligned.
After all, later in the show, as Jon starts to fight with his addiction to statements, most tellingly, when he feeds purely to feed, the most monstrous thing he does, it’s done entirely OFF-TAPE. It feels important that things Jon is ashamed of and doesn’t want known about him happen off recording.
Thus, theory: the tapes don’t serve Beholding, they serve Jon. And Jon has power beyond the scope of Beholding.
So, I think I’m starting to believe that the tape recorders are actually just an extension of Jon himself, rather than somehow connected to the web, because I genuinely don’t see how the Web would gain anything from Martin having one this episode.
Like, Annabelle’s only interaction with Martin was trying to get him to think he’s less, and all the tape recorder did was allow Martin to talk through his emotions to see that he isn’t? And it seems anytime Martin is alone, and Jon feels like he needs to check up on him, a tape recorder appears.
Genuinely interested in what other people think about this, so please reply or dm me or something because I am stressing.
tma characters and pronoun pins (because it’s pride month)
Jon
- has a small button that simply says he/him. doesn’t joke around too often when it comes to his pronouns
Martin
- also gets a he/him pin
- has a second pin for comedy that just has a gender related tea pun on it but I’m too tired to think of one rn
Tim
- gets a fill-in-the-blank pin like “my pronouns are _____”
- fills it in with something different every day of june
- on the last day it says “my pronouns are disa/ster”
Sasha
- also gets a fill-in-the-blank pin but fills it in normally
- gets a second joke pin like Martin after Tim nags her about it
Elias
- the button is tiny so you have to squint to read it
- also you’re pretty sure the eye emblem in the background just winked at you
- but at least you know his pronouns are he/him
Peter Lukas
- has a huge blue pin with the words “my pronouns are [REDACTED]- do not refer to me” in comic sans
Melanie
- has a pin that says “my pronouns are nunya” and she stabs you if you ask
- alternately “Gender Hunt UK” and in smaller letters: “where’s my gender?”
Basira
- probably gets a simple she/her pin but might also steal a joke one from Tim’s immense stash if she’s in the mood
Daisy
- her pin says “my gender is wolf” but you’re too scared to ask what that means
Michael Distortion
- pin says “Ask me! :)” in a colorful font
- don’t ask him
- if you ask him he’ll launch into a long tangent about the inherently human inclination towards categories and labels and how he is not a he that would imply gender and aren’t you being rude by asking? don’t you think my hands shouldn’t be so sharp? are the words on my pin bleeding? you really should watch what you ask of a creature like me
I WAS TODAY YEARS OLD WHEN I REALIZED THE FIRST TIME SASHA APPEARS IS IN A STRANGER ALLIGNED EPISODE AND ALL THEY TALK ABOUT IS HOW “CALLIOPE” IS PRONOUNCED DIFFERENTLY. JONATHON SIMS YOU SNEAKY, FORESHADOWING BASTARD!! I HAVE LISTENED TO SEASON ONE MORE TIMES THAN I CAN COUNT AND I JUST NOTICED THIS??
All this man wants to do is lie down in the earth, and I support that.
The Vast: MAG 51 High Pressure
I just really love The Vast, and this episode perfectly captured a lot of what I love about it.
The Corruption: MAG 45 Blood Bag
Mosquitos are literally the worst, and this episode validated my hatred. Plus, this is the only episode to truly gross the hell out of me.
The Desolation: MAG 67 Burning Desire
Agnes Montague is an absolute gem who just wanted love, and I support her wholeheartedly.
The Eye: MAG 142 Scrutiny
Seeing that Jon actually used his powers in a completely negative way hit me really hard when I first listened to it. Like, I genuinely didn’t know who to feel.
The Dark: MAG 9 A Father’s Love
This is the episode that made me fall in love with this podcast. It was the first one that I felt completely immersed in, like I was right there with Julia.
The Lonely: MAG 57 Personal Space
This episode triggers some deep primal fear within me every time I listen to it, and most of the time I can’t even get all the way through it. And I love it.
The End: MAG 11 Dreamer
Oliver Banks really said “you’re gonna die, and there’s nothing you can do about it. have a nice day.” Plus, super cool imagery!
The Spiral: MAG 85 Upon the Stair
I have never been happier to live in a one story house in my life.
The Stranger: MAG 24 Strange Music
The sound design in this episode, whilst minimal, was perfect. Also, Sasha’s first appearance was in a stranger episode
The Hunt: MAG 112 Thrill of the Chase
This episode doesn’t get enough love. It’s so freaking funny to me. The nonchalantness of it all is so perfect.
The Flesh: MAG 18 The Man Upstairs
This episode took me completely off guard and left me with so many questions. Where did the meat pile go, AND WHY DID IT OPEN ITS EYES
The Slaughter: MAG 163 In The Trenches
I wasn’t going to include episodes from s5, but this statement just captured the essence of war so well that I had to.
The Web: MAG 81 A Guest for Mr. Spider
The idea of a Leitner specifically aimed at children freaks me out so much, and the fact that it was a Web one, the fear of manipulation and control, made it hit so much harder.
