#because this was yesterday’s episode

[snowe-zolynn-rogers]

If you haven’t seen today’s episode yet, stop reading here.

I can’t believe Monty cloned themself, and then left their clone-child to deal with the cops in their place.

I did see that episode. Imagine their clone child is absolutely blank. Imagine the chaos of Monty’s clone child being caught by the cops for Monty’s crimes and this poor little think is just baby level babbling at the cops, who are all trying to interrogate them.

[killjoy-prince]

House M.D. but it's when Wilson and House says each other's name

[wigglebox]

Destiel Pride - Day 6; Profound bond

[caccry]

Old Friends, Not Forgotten

[mylittleredgirl]

genuinely though i love that the critique that gets lobbed at tng sometimes is that it's boring because the characters sit and think and talk and many of the episodes resolve with very few explosions, and yes! that's the point!!!

like the whole ethos of tng was "space (and everyone in it) is not a threat once you understand it" and sometimes you have to get quiet about it for a minute or have a productive group discussion or do some pontificating to reach that moment of understanding and communication, but at the end we warp away having made a friend or gained a greater understanding of the complexity of the universe and maybe it was a little bit silly or a character learned how to be a better version of themself along the way and that's why i love it!!

[thirstyvampyr]

from 🤨 to 🫠 because his baby is upset

[laora-ryn]

so I have a Magnus Protocol theory. it's not an airtight theory, but I think it holds enough water that I feel confident posting this today now that ep 21 is live

I think [ERROR] is Jonathan Sims, The Archivist. or what's become of him. or what's left of him

The short version:

Tape recorders spontaneously appear around [ERROR] and their victims

People are compelled to start reciting statements. We have an n of 3 total, but an n of 1 (of 3) where the statement and [ERROR] are directly linked

They were trapped in a water-logged space beneath the Archivist's office of the Magnus Institute, before Sam accidentally let them out

They seem to have a vested interest in protecting Gwen "Jon Sims' closest archetype in Protocol" Bouchard

The long version is under the cut because hooooo boy did it get long

I'll start with the obvious question. "[ERROR] is credited as voiced by Beth Eyre! we do hear their voice in Breaking Ground, and it doesn't sound like Jon!"

Answer 1: it would be extremely way too obvious if Jonny voiced this character, if they didn't want people to make the connection immediately

Answer 2: I doubt what [ERROR] sounds like right now is going to matter too much in the long run, if it isn't meant to, because it sounds like they're probably some kind of ghost/apparition, and their appearances are so heavily distorted audio-wise that I just. don't really trust them myself, tbh?

But it probably would be silly to forget that Beth Eyre did appear in TMA, exactly once. She voiced the lady who witnessed the attempted Flesh ritual and came to give a statement to Gertrude about it. As far as I can tell, that lady didn't meet Jon at all. I feel like it's probably premature to say this is a simple case of "reusing the VA because we like them," but I don't think it's completely out of the question

so to the matter of [ERROR] themselves, the only physical description we get of them is "manky old git," courtesy of Ink5oul. They seem like the type to think anyone over 30 is "old," so take that with a grain of salt lol

The in-scene descriptors we get of [ERROR] are as follows:

Episode 10:

The water is gently disturbed below. Then there is a thud on the hidden wooden trapdoor and the rattle of a padlock.

There is the distinct sound of a key being dragged across wood, then being blindly fumbled in a lock which finally clicks.

The trap door opens, the lock falling away and [ERROR] emerges and takes a shuddering breath..

Episode 21:

A Figure emerges, shrouded in a cloak of whispers.

The Figure continues to emerge, a nightmarish specter of an older world, slowly enveloping Ink5oul’s brash bravado.

Ink5oul reluctantly releases GWEN. She sprints away still gabbling as she flees.

The Figure does not move.

Beat. The Figure turns to Ink5oul.

The Figure breathes deeply, a strange and disconcerting sound, enveloped in pained whispers.

The Figure recedes.

Voice lines from episode 21:

"MINE"

"ALL OF THEM, MINE"

"THERE IS MORE"

"NO. NOT HERE. ELSEWHERE..."

So here's what I'm taking away from this list:

[ERROR] is at least in some way corporeal, in that they can interact with the physical world

They seem to do a lot of breathing. it is unpleasant to listen to

They appear to be followed around by whispers? I'm taking the transcripts' word on that one, because my hearing is crap and I can't hear the sound effect. But I'm including it because it might be relevant

They have either a powerful enough presence/aura, or did something visibly that we didn't hear, enough to make Ink5oul back down. Ink5oul, who three minutes ago cut off a man's arm because he thought about getting in their way. Ink5oul, who definitely was Not going to let Gwen go without a fight. Ink5oul, a powerful new avatar, backed down after barely a fight at all

"a nightmarish spectre of an older world" has terrifying connotations I am not yet ready to tackle!

So... to go through my points from earlier I guess aha:

THE TAPE RECORDERS

We've seen tape recorders pop up 3 times so far:

episode 10 in the Archivist's office

episode 15 when Alice encounters the drowning woman

episode 21 when Gwen is cornered by Ink5oul

Two of these, [ERROR] shows up directly. In episode 15, we have no [ERROR] that we can see, but we DO see someone who is very likely one of [ERROR'S] victims? after-effects? which leads into:

THE COMPELLED STATEMENTS

We've heard of 3 (4, ish) compelled statements so far:

episode 15, the drowning woman

episode 18, the woman who started speaking on the autopsy table

(arguably) episode 20, where Ink5oul gives a monologue that sounds Very Much Like a statement. However, the mechanism of how this happened is still unclear

episode 21, Gwen spontaneously starts giving a statement relatively coherently when she's been hysterical - immediately after Ink5oul's tattoo gun touched her skin, and literally three seconds before [ERROR] shows up and lays claim to her

Two of these are recorded on tape recorders, as above. One of them (Ink5oul's) is recorded on Gwen's phone.

Episode 18, according to the coroner's report, was transcribed longhand by the doctor while the victim was speaking. Presumably, they eventually loaded it into her chart, where it was picked up by Freddy. However, it feels significant to me that the initial recording of the statement was done in a non-digital way

THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE

Does this even need to be a section tbh? lol

I would like to point out some oddities from episode 10 that may or may not be relevant to [ERROR]:

Alice and RedCanary both specifically call out a weird floor carving in the atrium, that somehow survived the fire

The key to the trapdoor was at the bottom of a filing cabinet?

The LOCK on the trapdoor, which appears to have been keeping [ERROR] trapped, was on the UNDERSIDE of the trapdoor??

THE TIES TO GWEN

Please consider Gwen Bouchard for a moment.

Gwen is a young employee of the OIAR who's worked there for four-ish years. She's recently been promoted.

She's finding out very quickly that she's in over her head with this job, but doesn't feel able to ask her coworkers for help.

She's rash, and has a short temper, and has exacting standards, and doesn't think very highly of her coworkers. She's an ass, but she's not a bad person - when she realizes that something she did caused other people to suffer, she was genuinely horrified.

Her boss is deliberately obtuse and unhelpful. Her boss is deliberately sending her into dangerous situations without all the facts or even any information at all, making her go face to face with monsters with the power to seriously harm or even kill her.

All this, while she barely has any concept that the monsters she's been reading about are very real and very dangerous. She has, just moments ago, been visibly marked by a monster who's been stalking her with a stated intention to cause permanent, even fatal, injury

EDITED TO ADD: Gwen had a childhood encounter with something presumably supernatural. Something involving a door that shouldn't have been opened

It feels very, very in-character for Jon Sims, or what's left of him, or an Archivist that has any scrap of Jon Sims left in them, to see her and see her trajectory, and say "no, absolutely not." Jon Sims, who - last time we saw him - said "I'd rather kill our doomed world myself than make anyone in another hypothetical reality go through what I have."

"[She's] mine - all of them, mine." Gwen Bouchard, a young member of an office with a job she can't even begin to understand. Her coworkers: Alice Dyer, a friendly, sarcastic woman with a cheerful front and a younger brother she adores. Sam Khalid, a man far too curious for his own good, who will follow a lead into danger if it means he might get some goddamn answers. Colin Becher, a man who's starting to understand what they've been wrapped up in, and who is quickly letting it consume him. And Celia Ripley, a woman [ERROR] may or may remember or recognize from the last time they were anything approaching human

Jon, or what's left of him, or what he's become, seeing all the same parallels that the audience has been seeing since episode one, and deciding to do something about it. To be the protector he, and Tim, and Sasha, and Martin so desperately needed. Laying claim to the OIAR staff in order to prevent them from being harmed by other monsters. Helping in maybe the only way he can, as he is right now

And maybe I'm wildly off-base! Maybe I'll be proven wrong in episode 22, or episode 30, or episode 90! but the more I think about this meta the more I love it, and the more sense it makes to me

[bamsara]

Now I understand all those boomer 'don't talk go me before I've had my coffee' memes because I'm 30 hours without coffee/caffeine right now in an attempt to quit again and the withdrawl systems are pounding headache and making my vision go blurry in one eye. Shit sucks but we shall prevail

[originalaccountname]

sharing more fantastic inner monologue that did not make it to the adaptation

[koszmarnybudyn]

Kayne drawing because i really like him also some other malevolent doodles because i wanted to explore some designs:

[piinkhiilighter]

I've recently started listening to malevolent and like everyone who has ever listened to it, I too have become deeply enthralled so here's a few Arthur's I've done in the last few days

+ John and baldthur

I really haven't the faintest idea of a John design

[bruhstation]

special thanks to these pez dispensers for accompanying me during my stay at the hospital. glory to canada

[episodes-without-incident]

11/21/2023:

11 episodes since Drawfee last referenced Cats (2019)

0 episodes since Drawfee last referenced Everytime We Touch (2005)

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

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Show: LEGO Monkie Kid

Song: Seven Nation Army (Glitch Mob Remix)

link to watch on youtube

This is four minutes long my condolences

[chickenstrangers]

ONLY FRIENDS | EPISODE 4

YOUR EMERGENCY CONTACT HAS EXPERIENCED AN EMERGENCY by CHEN CHEN (2022)

[thefirstknife]

Is there any word on if episodes will stay, yet? Because so far they basically seem like the exact same thing as seasons except more of the story is time-gated and they have some additional rewards for the season pass, so I'm expecting they'll play into the same FOMO: The Game model to try and make sure players don't quit now that the Light/Dark saga ended...

So far nothing has been said about whether they're staying past a year or not. I wish they would tell us.

Personally I enjoy this "act" structure. For now ofc, it's way too early to make a full judgement. I know everyone is right now screaming about time-gating, but I find it more relaxing to play this way. Three weeks of content, three weeks of waiting during which I can do something else or catch up with existing content. This is obviously here to prolong engagement so people don't cram all content in a month and dip for the next three months until the new episode, but I think it not only gives us some extra time to come and go, but it also gives breaks to devs. At least I hope it does.

As for fomo... well. Yeah. It's an MMO. Live service. Whatever we're calling them these days. The company wants us to keep playing. I don't really understand why people keep bringing that up, it's been a thing for longer than Destiny has existed. We knew this going in, no matter what way episodes are constructed, we'd be enticed to play and then wait for new content. If it's like a season, we'd be in a 9 week cycle of weekly updates without pause and then 2 months of no updates until the next episode when you'd be expected to return to keep playing. Right now, at least, we can take breaks between acts.

But yes, at the end of the day, the goal is to keep us engaged and to get us to keep coming back. And it's easier to get people to come back in smaller chunks than to get them to return after they've stopped playing for 2 months. Or at least that's how it is in theory! We'll see how it goes. I enjoy it for personal reasons because it allows for more breaks.