TMA #166, #167
May. 14th, 2020 09:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkThe Worms
Helen! She is so entertaining.
Yess you go Martin, terrorizing innocents is different from killing evil monsters. "Get our murder on" xD Though him saying that with Helen standing right next to them, the Distortion who also has no problems with killing people, was not exactly cautious, heh. And pooossibly you want to be careful when you know that Jon struggles with thinking of himself as a monster.
I enjoyed the statement too, about Sam who only ever had choices but no freedom, and now the choice of whether to turn left or right but no freedom and walls everywhere is just more literal. No wonder Jon hates the Buried, he recently felt like that a lot.
The reminder that you need hope to be able to really feel the fear, uh-oh.
The two worms ripping each other apart with their teeth *shudders*
Martin talking to the Buried ("scary mud") and the tapes ^^
Annabelle! That was an odd conversation. Asking Martin if Jon needs him: at first I thought that's a weird insecurity to attack, since right now it's easy to see that Jon does need Martin. But I saw a theory that maybe she meant for Martin to feel like he could be more useful and be more active than he otherwise would be. Hm. The Web is difficult, especially because it deals in the fear of manipulation even more than in manipulation itself, and in that regard it's extremely successful with the entire fanbase.
#167: Curiosity
To be fair to Jon, "sad. Very sad" is a very fitting emotion about the apocalypse ^^ And just last week he explained to Martin how ashamed he feels, so he's not quite this bad.
We get another instance of Martin not getting Jon's jokes xD
(Sidenote, I wonder if Martin ever feels guilty about the apocalypse, since it wouldn't have happened if he'd killed Jonah like Peter wanted. I think he realizes that it's not rational, and that he's exactly as innocent as Jon when Jonah used him to start the apocalypse, but knowing and feeling are different.)
I'm surprised that so many people are apparently worried that Martin hasn't told Jon that he loves him on tape yet, when we know that Jon can literally read Martin's mind and so far has done that on occasion, I'm pretty sure Jon knows.
I love what the show has done with Gertrude over time: we started out hearing about her being a terrible archivist, then slowly we learn that she was actually a terrifying badass, then we learn that she was also incredibly ruthless, and now we learn that she was also very human and had massive blind spots and faults. I liked that Jon said he thinks she'd have struggled even before the static started – though with how his abilities work now, I don't think that's a reliable indicator anymore.
It's interesting that a statement summarized as "an examination of Gertrude Robinson" talks more about her assistants than about Gertrude herself, but then that did say a lot about Gertrude, what she noticed and what she didn't. Emma was very interesting. Not dissimilar from Gertrude herself, and Gertrude's confidant, but yet they didn't really work together on Gertrude's crusade. It sounds like that was Emma's decision, I wonder how disappointed/sad Gertrude felt about that. I also find it interesting that Emma was afraid of Mary and knew more about what Mary was doing than Gertrude did – it sounds like Emma and Mary were similar in many ways too. Gertrude just believed Mary when she said she hadn't seen Eric *facepalm*
When Emma got Sarah killed and thought that she "might have gone too far" finally, I wonder if that was because Sarah died – after all, Fiona had died too – or just because this would finally make Gertrude suspicious.
So Gertrude and Agnes did meet once! Interesting. So was it Agnes who killed Emma, or arranged for it, or did she just confirm how Sarah died and then Gertrude arranged for the fire herself.
I'm surprised that Gertrude asked Jonah for permission to kill Emma, did she also ask before sacrificing Michael?
Gertrude, so grievously betrayed, never trusted anyone again. While Jon, even after betrayal, more than once made conscious choices to trust people. I love the contrast between them. I don't even think that for Jon the only reason not to resign himself to his role as Archivist is Martin – or, it is, but he'd have more chances.
Martin being unable to interrupt or stop Jon while he gives the statement also means that he'd most likely have been unable to stop him from reading Jonah's statement and invocation, makes sense.
The assistants being bound to the archivist, not to Jonah as he claimed, is interesting, and Jonah is lucky that Jon didn't find out about that earlier (or Melanie.) Martin asking Jon if he'd have told the others is an understandable question, but ouch. I don't think it's the right question either, because it would have put the burden on them to decide whether to remain trapped or to kill him, and it's not a good answer to have to wait for either. I think the question is more about if Jon had known, would he have killed himself. It depends on timing. I do think that if Jon had found out that the assistants were bound to him after he heard Eric's statement, he would have blinded himself in the hope that that would be enough to sever their connection.
That was some nice background info! Though there are at least two major things that contradict dates given elsewhere, concerning Michael's hiring and death. I also learned that there is a statement Gertrude apparently recorded after her death (#87.) I don't care that much about details, but it is annoying that there is conflicting information about important events like this, and I wish Jonny would pay more attention to the timeline. (For an in-universe explanation, I like the idea that the Distortion retroactively screwed with Michael's life and timeline, or at the very least people's memories of him, which is why nothing about it makes sense.)
Helen! She is so entertaining.
Yess you go Martin, terrorizing innocents is different from killing evil monsters. "Get our murder on" xD Though him saying that with Helen standing right next to them, the Distortion who also has no problems with killing people, was not exactly cautious, heh. And pooossibly you want to be careful when you know that Jon struggles with thinking of himself as a monster.
I enjoyed the statement too, about Sam who only ever had choices but no freedom, and now the choice of whether to turn left or right but no freedom and walls everywhere is just more literal. No wonder Jon hates the Buried, he recently felt like that a lot.
The reminder that you need hope to be able to really feel the fear, uh-oh.
The two worms ripping each other apart with their teeth *shudders*
Martin talking to the Buried ("scary mud") and the tapes ^^
Annabelle! That was an odd conversation. Asking Martin if Jon needs him: at first I thought that's a weird insecurity to attack, since right now it's easy to see that Jon does need Martin. But I saw a theory that maybe she meant for Martin to feel like he could be more useful and be more active than he otherwise would be. Hm. The Web is difficult, especially because it deals in the fear of manipulation even more than in manipulation itself, and in that regard it's extremely successful with the entire fanbase.
#167: Curiosity
To be fair to Jon, "sad. Very sad" is a very fitting emotion about the apocalypse ^^ And just last week he explained to Martin how ashamed he feels, so he's not quite this bad.
We get another instance of Martin not getting Jon's jokes xD
(Sidenote, I wonder if Martin ever feels guilty about the apocalypse, since it wouldn't have happened if he'd killed Jonah like Peter wanted. I think he realizes that it's not rational, and that he's exactly as innocent as Jon when Jonah used him to start the apocalypse, but knowing and feeling are different.)
I'm surprised that so many people are apparently worried that Martin hasn't told Jon that he loves him on tape yet, when we know that Jon can literally read Martin's mind and so far has done that on occasion, I'm pretty sure Jon knows.
I love what the show has done with Gertrude over time: we started out hearing about her being a terrible archivist, then slowly we learn that she was actually a terrifying badass, then we learn that she was also incredibly ruthless, and now we learn that she was also very human and had massive blind spots and faults. I liked that Jon said he thinks she'd have struggled even before the static started – though with how his abilities work now, I don't think that's a reliable indicator anymore.
It's interesting that a statement summarized as "an examination of Gertrude Robinson" talks more about her assistants than about Gertrude herself, but then that did say a lot about Gertrude, what she noticed and what she didn't. Emma was very interesting. Not dissimilar from Gertrude herself, and Gertrude's confidant, but yet they didn't really work together on Gertrude's crusade. It sounds like that was Emma's decision, I wonder how disappointed/sad Gertrude felt about that. I also find it interesting that Emma was afraid of Mary and knew more about what Mary was doing than Gertrude did – it sounds like Emma and Mary were similar in many ways too. Gertrude just believed Mary when she said she hadn't seen Eric *facepalm*
When Emma got Sarah killed and thought that she "might have gone too far" finally, I wonder if that was because Sarah died – after all, Fiona had died too – or just because this would finally make Gertrude suspicious.
So Gertrude and Agnes did meet once! Interesting. So was it Agnes who killed Emma, or arranged for it, or did she just confirm how Sarah died and then Gertrude arranged for the fire herself.
I'm surprised that Gertrude asked Jonah for permission to kill Emma, did she also ask before sacrificing Michael?
Gertrude, so grievously betrayed, never trusted anyone again. While Jon, even after betrayal, more than once made conscious choices to trust people. I love the contrast between them. I don't even think that for Jon the only reason not to resign himself to his role as Archivist is Martin – or, it is, but he'd have more chances.
Martin being unable to interrupt or stop Jon while he gives the statement also means that he'd most likely have been unable to stop him from reading Jonah's statement and invocation, makes sense.
The assistants being bound to the archivist, not to Jonah as he claimed, is interesting, and Jonah is lucky that Jon didn't find out about that earlier (or Melanie.) Martin asking Jon if he'd have told the others is an understandable question, but ouch. I don't think it's the right question either, because it would have put the burden on them to decide whether to remain trapped or to kill him, and it's not a good answer to have to wait for either. I think the question is more about if Jon had known, would he have killed himself. It depends on timing. I do think that if Jon had found out that the assistants were bound to him after he heard Eric's statement, he would have blinded himself in the hope that that would be enough to sever their connection.
That was some nice background info! Though there are at least two major things that contradict dates given elsewhere, concerning Michael's hiring and death. I also learned that there is a statement Gertrude apparently recorded after her death (#87.) I don't care that much about details, but it is annoying that there is conflicting information about important events like this, and I wish Jonny would pay more attention to the timeline. (For an in-universe explanation, I like the idea that the Distortion retroactively screwed with Michael's life and timeline, or at the very least people's memories of him, which is why nothing about it makes sense.)
no subject
Date: 2020-05-14 08:30 pm (UTC)Yeeeah. I keep forgetting it's more the first than the second. XD
"I'm surprised that so many people are apparently worried that Martin hasn't told Jon that he loves him on tape yet,"
Huh. Yeah, if there was anyone who doesn't need verbal confirmation of something to know, it's John.
"I wonder if that was because Sarah died – after all, Fiona had died too – or just because this would finally make Gertrude suspicious. "
I was thinking that by that point with what Emma had been doing, it was the making Gertrude suspicious that was too far.
" I love the contrast between them."
Yuuusssss. 8)
Aaaah, it's a shame about the timeline stuff. D:
no subject
Date: 2020-05-14 08:51 pm (UTC)depressionthe Lonely which I'm sure must have aftereffects, it doesn't just disappear from one moment to the next, not even with the power of love and Beholding.The timeline stuff is especially annoying when trying to write fic with Gertrude or one of the others affected :(
no subject
Date: 2020-05-15 04:59 pm (UTC)And we're seeing all of twenty minutes of them together in the space of a week. XDD There are soooo many times Martin can be saying/showing he loves John elsewhere. If verbal confirmation is even Martin's love language. (Which is probably gifts/tea making, really). Aaaand they're trying to stop an apocalypse - there's other things to be thinking about! XD
Aaaah, that super sucks. :(
no subject
Date: 2020-05-16 02:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-15 12:56 am (UTC)Jon wouldn't go mad-with-power if Martin wasn't there, but I do think he's still very reliant on Martin. It's just Jon tends to internalize while Gertrude tends to externalize, so while a grounding force for Gertrude would have prevented her just going over to ruling her domain, a grounding force for Jon keeps him from wallowing about feeling sorry for himself.
The assistants being bound to the archivist and not Jonah also raises a different question: would Melanie succeeding at killing him have ended up killing them like he claimed? Without Jonah manipulating everything, being bound to Jon isn't great but it also isn't, like, stultifying terror. (Well, she'd only ever have succeeded at killing the body and then we don't know how picking a new body to possess works, but.)
no subject
Date: 2020-05-15 07:34 pm (UTC)I would love to see an AU where Melanie succeeds in killing Jonah, and then finds out she still isn't free. (I don't even necessarily think Jonah was lying about it, I think he might have been mistaken.)