TMA: The Eye Opened
Dec. 8th, 2019 11:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkSoo I just finished season four of TMA and I have a lot of feelings.
I knew it was going to end with the apocalypse, and I knew about some things like Martin working with Peter Lukas and Jon losing a rib, but overall I had no idea why and how things were going to play out and it was wonderful. DD was excellent in not spoiling me too, idk how often she nodded and made thoughtful noises while I speculated about who could have sent Jared Hopworth those letters, and other "mysteries." ELIAS YOU BASTARD.
Jon was wonderful in this season. He woke up from a coma and said he felt "more real" now, and even though he was so afraid of turning into a monster he also for most of the season sounded more comfortable in his own skin than he'd been in a while, I loved that. He can not only force people to tell their stories now, sometimes at least he can also compel them to act, even more dangerous. And he starts going out to feed on people… and then stops when there's an intervention, fortunately, but for how long? What if people really do need him – or does he only tell himself that because he doesn't want to die. I loved all the statements and stories about people turning into monsters and how they justify it to themselves ("Cost of Living" was not very subtle) or don't – I also really loved all of Jon's conversations with Helen about it. And yeah it would be much easier if he were controlled but what is free will, really.
Still very curious about the tape recorders… so apparently they just show up now and people figure something interesting is going to happen. But they don't show up for every real statement either. Hmm. I loved that Martin piling the tape recorders on top of the coffin allowed Jon to find his way out of the Buried. And Martin's infinite battery plan ^^
From what I'd seen from the fandom, I expected much more Jon/Martin romance. That was a bit of a surprise. They hardly ever talked! As Peter Lukas points out, they barely know each other. But they each hold on to the image of the other because they need someone, some connection. I could see it as a romance but I could also see it as not, or at least I see it more as a romance in the very early stages.
Martin was great this season. Him snapping "sit back down!" at Simon Fairchild was one of my favorite parts. And refusing Peter Lukas at the end, too. Though Peter did get to him – I loved it when Martin said that yes, he has the power to talk to people, but he also has the power to clean the fridge and well, some things are hard…
I also really loved Daisy. Her time in the coffin was basically forced detox from something she lived with nearly all her life, and she knew that abstaining might eventually kill her but she didn't want to go back. Very similar problem to Jon, actually. And she only gave in to save Basira.
Poor Basira, sounds like she had a terrible time, especially right after the Unknowing. And now she's left alone in the Institute… Elias might still be down in the Panopticon, I assume he shifted it somehow so that Jon couldn't find it again to kill him, and then they didn't burn the Archives down because the police came because of the attack by Trevor and Julia. I bet a lot of other staff died in the attack, and then Not!Sasha was released as well… But now, with the apocalypse, sounds like a good time to burn down the Archives. If she even still can - there's a lot of artefacts down there that are probably even more powerful now. And Elias is still around. I hope she'll be alright.
Melanie too – she had such a great arc! She was steadily getting better, and she's okay now! Okay it was definitely a setback in her therapy when she couldn't explain why she gouged her eyes out ("call me an ambulance in five minutes, after I've finished stabbing myself in both eyes," holy shit) but still, she has support and she's getting help and she sounds a lot more stable. And she's with Georgie, who's fearless, and both of them have broadcasting experience – Georgie might even still be doing "What the Ghost" – I expect it'll become very popular soon.
I wonder what the servants and avatars of the other Powers are doing and how they reacted… especially Helen, and Simon Fairchild. Peter Lukas is gone, probably permanently – he's an asshole, but nevertheless I found him very entertaining.
We learned a lot about Gertrude – she was such a badass! Bound to Agnes since she was about twenty-five, huh. The fact that servants of the Lightless Flame protected her is hilarious. And she was really fucking ruthless: what she did to Eugene, ouch. And of course Michael Shelley, and Jan Kilbright. We also found out that she sought out Gerard because of a deal with Gerard's father Eric, interesting. (I'm still not sure why she turned Gerard into a page though.) She even admitted that she became fond of him! (in "Nemesis.")
Yeah, Gertrude got things done, but it's another question how much Jon should emulate her. At least, unlike Gertrude, by now he trusts his assistants and doesn't keep secrets from them.
Some of my favorite episodes/statements:
- #131 "Flesh", where Jon pays a rib for a statement
- #132 "Entombed", lots of Daisy feelings
- #135 "The Puppeteer," that is a very creepy construction
- #142 "Scrutiny" for making the Archivist very creepy indeed
- #143 "Heart of Darkness," poor Manuela Dominguez, heh; and also Jon can blow up a star by looking at it now
- #144 "Decrypted", Daisy trying to reach out to Martin but Martin sends her away and of course Peter Lukas is very happy
- #145 "Infectious Doubt," have I mentioned Gertrude is a badass
- #147 "Weaver," yeah what is free will even
- #151 "Big Picture," Simon Fairchild! And Martin! That was a lot of fun, and informative too.
- #152 "A Gravedigger's Envy," great story of how slowly one is taken over by The Buried, and Jon's conversation with Helen. "They" need him, huh.
- #153 "Love Bombing," great creepy cult depiction
- #154 "Bloody Mary," Keay family backstory
- #155 "Cost of Living," not subtle at all
- #157 "Rotten Core," Adelard Dekker was a badass as well (and purely human!), bad luck
- #158 "Panopticon," Martin confronting Peter andElias Jonah, and Daisy giving in to the hunt and making Basira promise to find her and kill her
- #159 "The Last" Peter Lukas statement – poor guy, heh. Still an asshole.
- #160 "The Eye Opens" – holy shit! Jonah Magnus is the worst.
And now, the apocalypse!
I want a Jonathan Sims vid to "Let's See How Far We've Come" because I love pain.
I thought at first I'd be frustrated to have to wait almost four months until the next season, but there's a lot of fanworks to check out, fic and meta etc., and so much time to speculate! And so many ideas and AUs to consider, and there are already so many episodes I want to listen to again…
I knew it was going to end with the apocalypse, and I knew about some things like Martin working with Peter Lukas and Jon losing a rib, but overall I had no idea why and how things were going to play out and it was wonderful. DD was excellent in not spoiling me too, idk how often she nodded and made thoughtful noises while I speculated about who could have sent Jared Hopworth those letters, and other "mysteries." ELIAS YOU BASTARD.
Jon was wonderful in this season. He woke up from a coma and said he felt "more real" now, and even though he was so afraid of turning into a monster he also for most of the season sounded more comfortable in his own skin than he'd been in a while, I loved that. He can not only force people to tell their stories now, sometimes at least he can also compel them to act, even more dangerous. And he starts going out to feed on people… and then stops when there's an intervention, fortunately, but for how long? What if people really do need him – or does he only tell himself that because he doesn't want to die. I loved all the statements and stories about people turning into monsters and how they justify it to themselves ("Cost of Living" was not very subtle) or don't – I also really loved all of Jon's conversations with Helen about it. And yeah it would be much easier if he were controlled but what is free will, really.
Still very curious about the tape recorders… so apparently they just show up now and people figure something interesting is going to happen. But they don't show up for every real statement either. Hmm. I loved that Martin piling the tape recorders on top of the coffin allowed Jon to find his way out of the Buried. And Martin's infinite battery plan ^^
From what I'd seen from the fandom, I expected much more Jon/Martin romance. That was a bit of a surprise. They hardly ever talked! As Peter Lukas points out, they barely know each other. But they each hold on to the image of the other because they need someone, some connection. I could see it as a romance but I could also see it as not, or at least I see it more as a romance in the very early stages.
Martin was great this season. Him snapping "sit back down!" at Simon Fairchild was one of my favorite parts. And refusing Peter Lukas at the end, too. Though Peter did get to him – I loved it when Martin said that yes, he has the power to talk to people, but he also has the power to clean the fridge and well, some things are hard…
I also really loved Daisy. Her time in the coffin was basically forced detox from something she lived with nearly all her life, and she knew that abstaining might eventually kill her but she didn't want to go back. Very similar problem to Jon, actually. And she only gave in to save Basira.
Poor Basira, sounds like she had a terrible time, especially right after the Unknowing. And now she's left alone in the Institute… Elias might still be down in the Panopticon, I assume he shifted it somehow so that Jon couldn't find it again to kill him, and then they didn't burn the Archives down because the police came because of the attack by Trevor and Julia. I bet a lot of other staff died in the attack, and then Not!Sasha was released as well… But now, with the apocalypse, sounds like a good time to burn down the Archives. If she even still can - there's a lot of artefacts down there that are probably even more powerful now. And Elias is still around. I hope she'll be alright.
Melanie too – she had such a great arc! She was steadily getting better, and she's okay now! Okay it was definitely a setback in her therapy when she couldn't explain why she gouged her eyes out ("call me an ambulance in five minutes, after I've finished stabbing myself in both eyes," holy shit) but still, she has support and she's getting help and she sounds a lot more stable. And she's with Georgie, who's fearless, and both of them have broadcasting experience – Georgie might even still be doing "What the Ghost" – I expect it'll become very popular soon.
I wonder what the servants and avatars of the other Powers are doing and how they reacted… especially Helen, and Simon Fairchild. Peter Lukas is gone, probably permanently – he's an asshole, but nevertheless I found him very entertaining.
We learned a lot about Gertrude – she was such a badass! Bound to Agnes since she was about twenty-five, huh. The fact that servants of the Lightless Flame protected her is hilarious. And she was really fucking ruthless: what she did to Eugene, ouch. And of course Michael Shelley, and Jan Kilbright. We also found out that she sought out Gerard because of a deal with Gerard's father Eric, interesting. (I'm still not sure why she turned Gerard into a page though.) She even admitted that she became fond of him! (in "Nemesis.")
Yeah, Gertrude got things done, but it's another question how much Jon should emulate her. At least, unlike Gertrude, by now he trusts his assistants and doesn't keep secrets from them.
Some of my favorite episodes/statements:
- #131 "Flesh", where Jon pays a rib for a statement
- #132 "Entombed", lots of Daisy feelings
- #135 "The Puppeteer," that is a very creepy construction
- #142 "Scrutiny" for making the Archivist very creepy indeed
- #143 "Heart of Darkness," poor Manuela Dominguez, heh; and also Jon can blow up a star by looking at it now
- #144 "Decrypted", Daisy trying to reach out to Martin but Martin sends her away and of course Peter Lukas is very happy
- #145 "Infectious Doubt," have I mentioned Gertrude is a badass
- #147 "Weaver," yeah what is free will even
- #151 "Big Picture," Simon Fairchild! And Martin! That was a lot of fun, and informative too.
- #152 "A Gravedigger's Envy," great story of how slowly one is taken over by The Buried, and Jon's conversation with Helen. "They" need him, huh.
- #153 "Love Bombing," great creepy cult depiction
- #154 "Bloody Mary," Keay family backstory
- #155 "Cost of Living," not subtle at all
- #157 "Rotten Core," Adelard Dekker was a badass as well (and purely human!), bad luck
- #158 "Panopticon," Martin confronting Peter and
- #159 "The Last" Peter Lukas statement – poor guy, heh. Still an asshole.
- #160 "The Eye Opens" – holy shit! Jonah Magnus is the worst.
And now, the apocalypse!
I want a Jonathan Sims vid to "Let's See How Far We've Come" because I love pain.
I thought at first I'd be frustrated to have to wait almost four months until the next season, but there's a lot of fanworks to check out, fic and meta etc., and so much time to speculate! And so many ideas and AUs to consider, and there are already so many episodes I want to listen to again…
no subject
Date: 2019-12-09 01:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-12-09 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-12-10 02:59 pm (UTC)The eternal mood...
For me the jonmartin feelings this season were all about the mutual pining my very favorite trope. I shipped them when it was just Martin pining over Jon and me wishing for Martin to have everything he wants, but when Jon starts pining back? And the implication that Jon has in fact been pining back and in denial about it since season two???? (I'm a sucker for the kind of romance where they never talk and never touch and just sigh wistfully for literal years, so you know. My jam.)
You're caught up! *shakes pompoms* Let me know if you want any recs or links, the fandom has gotten so big now there's a lot to absorb.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-10 05:48 pm (UTC)I like mutual pining, but personally I didn't see that much of it, at least not in a romantic sense. I loved Jon and Martin in season 1, where Jon was mostly a dick to Martin but then also unexpectedly nice at times (let him stay in the Archives etc.) and they had great conversations during Jane Prentiss' attack. Then in season 2 Jon was super-paranoid of everyone (though he wasn't that diligent an investigator, since he didn't find out that Martin's degree is fake) and though Martin was being nice and tried to reach out, Jon didn't really make connections. In season 3 Jon was absent most of the time, and in season 4 Martin was absent most of the time. So I see them more at the very beginning of a relationship, likely still more in the dating stages - and I very much look forward to seeing more of their relationship develop! While most of fandom seems to think it's quite firmly an established relationship already, or at least that both of them are much more deeply in love already than they are in my personal headcanon, at least that's the impression I got.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-10 06:20 pm (UTC)I've re-listened a lot (I've been listening since the season two premiere, so I've had a lot of time) and I think their relationship is definitely new but they're also both the type to go all-in on very little notice? Jon is canonically ride-or-die -- he tried to punch Michael, of all beings, over Helen, who he'd known for fifteen minutes at that point. If he decides he's for someone, he's for them. And Martin, given his history, is very used to having more feelings for someone than he ever expects to have reciprocated. So I think the "established relationship" feel is more the sense that the two of them are going from mutual pining to married in two days flat because they're just...like that. (And some of it is fandom doing its thing, to be sure.)
But a lot of the relationship is so subtextual; I didn't catch all of Jon's tone of voice when he's talking about the "office gossip" until someone else pointed out to me that he sounds flustered-happy more than flustered-annoyed (and what he's stuttering is "I don't know if it's t- t-" True, Jon?) They try and fail to have a conversation just before the Unknowing, but Martin doesn't quite get Jon's sense of humor ("My skin's better than it's ever been"/"I don't know that I've ever heard Jon make a joke") and it falls flat. But they were going out for lunches together in season two, and as of season four we know that the tape recorders absolutely don't catch everything that might be relevant to the story.
(Also Jon saved Martin from the Lonely with the power of love, which is at least the third instance of that happening in canon, even if he doesn't say the words)
...I stan jonmartin hard, and I am happy to shut up or gush more about it, whichever you prefer.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-10 10:11 pm (UTC)Feel free to gush as much as you like ^^ I think for me it's also personal preference - I'm not a big fan of "and now suddenly we're in love" stories, I prefer a slower getting-to-know-each-other. And it also makes sense that Jon and Martin's relationship is immediately very intense because, well, they only have each other - there's almost nobody else around, and almost nobody who'd understand what they've been through. You could have some of both: very strong commitment to the relationship, but them still figuring things out and learning about each other. And they both don't have that much practice with relationships, platonic or romantic, especially recently, so there's a lot of learning happening there too.
I missed them going for lunch in season 2! Where is that?
And are you talking about something specific that the tape recorders missed?
no subject
Date: 2019-12-10 10:58 pm (UTC)There's a moment - I cannot for the life of me remember the episode, and of course season 2 is where there's a big gap in the transcripts (eta Discord informs me it's Crusader, ep 53) - somewhere shortly after A New Door? - where Martin says he's going to get a sandwich, and Jon says something along the lines of "let me get my coat, I'll come with you." And there are references in season three that this was a semi-regular thing, not a one-off.
The big thing the tape recorders don't catch is those four victims of Jon's in season four; that was when we knew for certain there was stuff that was important to the characters that wasn't on tape.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-22 03:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-12-10 06:29 pm (UTC)ceylon, assaam, and darjeeling, written pre-160 about the success of the Watcher's Crown, Jon/Martin and a very interesting Archivist
cuttooth's tumblr ficlets, cuttooth is one of the gems of this fandom, all their stuff is good
Life As You Know It, a happy ending inspired by Bloody Mary
The Loneliness of Stars, in which both Jon and Martin have embraced their monsterness
Informed Consent and Other Cosmic Ironies, in which Tim fills out paperwork
Woefully insufficient paranoia, which I love more for the meta than anything else (rated E for violence and horror, not sex)
A Weather in the Flesh, about Jon being touch-starved
ouroboros, Peter/Elias that's technically not canon-compliant any more but god it's so good
(more pairings or gen on request, those are a selection from my bookmarks)
no subject
Date: 2019-12-10 10:23 pm (UTC)If you have any fics with a focus on Gertrude, Gerard, Mary, or Tim, I'd love those specifically, but I'm pretty sure I'll read anything.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-12 02:36 am (UTC)There seems to be more demand for Gertrude fic than there is supply (she cameos in a lot but not much centered around her) so I'll go ahead and promote my own series.
in the unlikeliest of places, we all find a little grace has Adelard Dekker being kind of a father-figure to Gerry which gives me So Many Feelings
I have not actually read An Eye for an Eye, the Archivist Gerry AU, yet, but Maud is one of the fandom's best writers and I love her Gerry so I'm sure it's amazing
I asked a friend for Tim recs as they are the biggest Tim stan I know and got these, most of which I can second wholeheartedly
no subject
Date: 2019-12-13 08:56 pm (UTC)("An Eye for an Eye" is my favorite so far.)
no subject
Date: 2020-01-12 04:35 pm (UTC)"I want a Jonathan Sims vid to "Let's See How Far We've Come" because I love pain." OMG yes!!
About Jon/Martin: I mean, there was not a lot of romance, but to me, after Jon being all "office gossip... it's fine..." at the end of s3, I was like "now they must talk about it". So IF they had been able to talk normally, I think it would have been faster.
Also, I really think they know each other quite well. They worked together, had a few fights, Jon offered Martin his bed, trusted him when he thought everyone was a murderer, Martin trusted Jon when everyone thought he was a murderer, Jon admitted to Georgie Martin was one of his anchors... I've seen people dating with far less history.
no subject
Date: 2020-01-12 08:25 pm (UTC)"I want a Jonathan Sims vid to "Let's See How Far We've Come" because I love pain." OMG yes!!
Right? :D
The lyrics are basically perfect.
I have only seen one TMA vid so far, which I love: The Riddle.
I can absolutely see Jon and Martin dating! I got the impression that some people consider them to be in a stable romantic relationship now, and that could have happened between episodes 159 and 160 I guess but we haven't really seen it yet, or even heard that it happened. Yes they trust each other, but there's also a lot they should probably talk about.
(I also wonder if I have a different definition of the word "dating" than some other people? I see them in the very beginning stages of a relationship.)
no subject
Date: 2020-01-13 05:04 pm (UTC)https://flo-nelja.tumblr.com/post/188783993075/kickinest-i-wanted-the-whole-thing-of-this
https://flo-nelja.tumblr.com/post/187210019685
https://rubydart.tumblr.com/post/190230467454/what-like-a-brief-30-second-previewproof-of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8SdCQWTdEk