#mag 176

[rigel-the-alkemi]

It's like Jon is a little kid who needs to pee in the middle of a roadtrip.

[that-agender-from-pluto]

Jon: The next few minutes are going to be very uncomfortable for one of us, and by one of us, I mean you who is about to be held at knife point

[microclown]

Finished 176, and once again I’m in love with the writing on this show.

I love how Martin knows Jon is keeping something from him, and can tell he is feeling apprehensive about whatever he has to do to catch Basira, and when he pushes Jon to open up about it, Jon is actually honest! Sort of…

Because Jon is nervous about betraying someone’s trust, it’s just not Basira.

I love how Martin is just like “If it were me I’d forgive you ☺️”

And Jon’s “Mm” in response like “I suppose we’re about to find out…”

[tumb1rprincess]

Interesting how the Hunt is less about chasing down prey and more like mob mentality. As soon as you hunt down one victim, you find somebody else to chase after. The way Jon described it as "your own pack turning their claws on you" you can see his voice get kind of quiet there. I bet he's thinking back to when he pretty much experienced that in season 4. Everyone at the Institute was like a pack, but they turned on him when they thought he was a monster, an other.

Gotta love how when Jon asks "Do you trust me?" Martin immediately thinks "Oh no, this can't be good." Made me laugh.

Man, I kind of feel bad for Trevor. His life has been hard from the get-go, Julia was like a daughter to him, Daisy killed her, then Basira killed him. That was kind of sad. The way Jon was during that whole situation though, mmm boy, he's not the stuttering, shaking mess he was back in season 3. He's calm and collected, almost cold while talking to Trevor, all the while knowing he just has to keep it up long enough for Basira to kill him. He's gone from a minnow to a shark to the biggest shark in the water.

Looks like the confrontation with Daisy is going to be another time, still worried about how that's going to turn out. And I'm not sure how Basira being with Jon and Martin is going to affect their dynamic. Martin still sees lot of Jon's monster qualities as kind of freaky, but he's a lot more understanding of them than Basira is. What is she going to think of how he's been acting in this new world? Although her potentially being the third wheel to any cute JonMartin moments later could bring some comedy, wouldn't mind seeing that. Guses we'll have to see.

[ihavemanyhusbands]

Basira: So what happens if he doesn’t do a statement? Does he get constipated?

Jon: Absolutely no—

Martin: Yeah, basically

[deadlykitten-404]

mag 173 - I was worried I was going to have to skip this episode, but it was tamer than it could have been

mag 174 - well, this was unsettling,,, until the second half. I was frankly so confused as to what the thing was supposed to be that it became not scary. like, it's a titan made of people?? I guess??

mag 175 - I think I now have a solid list of words I hate hearing Johnny narrate. bulb/bulbus. bulging. lump. sac. why does he say them like that.

mag 176 - OOOH DAISY GOT EM

[lickmycoffeecup]

“Whats the time Mr. Wolf?”

Every time I hear this line it takes me out of the episode 😂

[a-mag-meme-a-day]

Meme for @a-mag-a-day Day 181

MAG 176 - Blood Ties

Yall don't want to know how long it took me to make this template. You really don't.

[flowersfrombefore]

So we’re all in agreement that Martin said this because of Jon looking into his head in mag 170 right?

[a-mag-a-day]

For the third and final time, SURPRISE TREVOR! Though this time it was, shall we say, an anticipated surprise.

[bitter-goodbyes]

BASIRA!!!!!!!

[libraryfag]

I don't know if Trevor was referring to Barisa or Daisy when he talked about the 'bitch' who killed Julia but i bet her death was homoerotic

[themagnustournament]

Round One Part Two - Match 15

Oh, Archivist, you are indeed a monster. And yet, you remain my most blorbo.

MAG 142 - Scrutiny | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

Statement of an unknown bystander regarding an encounter with The Archivist.

MAG 176 - Blood Ties | Spotify - Acast - YT | Wiki | Transcript

An examination of pack tactics. Audio recorded by the Archivist, in situ.

[microclown]

I also think it’s so interesting how in 172, Trevor says he wants to kill Martin so that Jon can “feel the same loss” Trevor felt when when Julia was killed (Which he at least indirectly blames on Jon).

It mirrors Jon’s sentiment when killing the other Avatars. He hates them for the ways he perceives they’ve hurt him, and wants them to feel the anguish and fear they cause others.

If Trevor had the power to smite the way Jon does, he would arguably be just as justified in smiting Jon, as Jon was in smiting Not!Sasha, Jude, and Jared.

Because Jon is an Avatar who feeds of the fear of others and likes it (even if he is ashamed of that) and from Trevor’s perspective, Jon has wronged him just as if not more deeply than Jude or Jared ever wronged Jon. (Stealing Gerry, sending Daisy after them, ending the world…)

[oaxleaf]

mag 176 - blood ties

there's a lot to say about this episode. in a lot of ways it's sort of the ideal of a structure for me - there's character dynamics, a really interesting statement, and some pretty significant plot developments. it's just overall very enjoyable

the hunt has a whole thing about community and loyalty, but very rarely does that loyalty seem to be unconditional. i cannot be the only one who gets some religious subtext out of this episode, with all the talk of sin and how there a whole thing about scapegoats and witchhunts, and the church very much seems to be a prime real-life example of such a conditional loyalty and protection a lot of the time. despite this, the two primary hunt duos we see both seem to be far more through-thick-and-thin in their loyalty. i find basira's whole journey throughout the season interesting because for once she's not really sure in her actions. she thinks she is, and she thinks she's going to hunt daisy down just like she asked - which is the loyalty speaking - but she wavers. she doubts, because through it all a very real, human bond has been established that sort of strides against a lot of the hunt aspects

beyond that, it's clear how very dissapointed she is in jon. basira idealizes discipline and standing by your words and ideals. loyalty to a cause is just as important as loyalty to a person, and in failing to prevent the end of the world, which was his goal and cause, jon has lost all of her respect. their relationship truly is one fully built on conditions, but those conditions make it stand out a lot in that what terms they're rarely has connection to the current state of his other relationships, because she doesn't really care whether he's being harsh or does some immoral things. that's not the conditions of their relationship, and that makes them a very underrated duo

jon really should've communicated this situation better to martin. would martin ever agree if he knew? probably not. but it's still a sort of violation, i guess. there is definitely a pattern throughout the show of people doing shitty and hurtful things and how, even when that was the only way to really solve the situation, it's still not okay. other examples include martin hitting jon to snap him out of a statement, or the whole ghost bullet surgery fiasco. it's happened too many times for it not to be a deliberate pattern, and it provides yet another complicated aspect to morality

[lycanlovingvampyre]

MAG 176 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: cutting the French tamarisk in my garden.

Ah yes, this is the finale of act I. So without Covid, the finale would have been MAG 180, with the cliffhanger of meeting Salesa in the Eyepocalypse bubble aka Upton safehouse period. Since RQ produced a trailer for act III of S5, I wonder if there would have been a trailer for the originally planned act II of MAG 181 till 200. (Since this has never been the case for any of the season hiatus I doubt it would have been done on the originally planned schedule, and perhaps the second hiatus during S5 gave them a bit more time to produce an additional scene - I can imagine that production got a bit more efficient once everyone settled in a bit into this new process) - Okay, this got very off-topic now ^^'

MARTIN: "You’re dragging your feet. What’s up? (beat) What aren’t you telling me?" JON: "Martin, please. I’m trying to find our way to Basira." MARTIN: ( :) ) "Talk to me, Jon." JON: (is not fine) "I’m fine." This is so very Jon. High-stress situations always got the better of his nerves. And he's always considering what's the best way to keep others safe while also reaching his goal, adding only to his stress.

JON: "I don’t like betraying someone’s trust like this." MARTIN: (gentle) "It’s not a betrayal if you’re doing it to help." JON: (rueful half-laugh) "I’m not so sure." After Martin feels Jon didn't tell him enough about the situation although Jon just tried to help: "I feel like my trust was betrayed!" xD (Ok, not exactly like this bu briefly, after Basira worked it as Martin = bait in MAG 177, he’s a bit shocked that it went down without him knowing what was happening.) They're in such a difficult situation and I feel like Martin still has so much of the Lonely hanging over him if we're going by Lonely = depression. The irritability is very typical. Additionally it's very hard for him to understand what's it like for Jon. This knowing everything is not something easy to comprehend.

MARTIN: "Look, if it was me in her shoes, I’m sure I’d forgive you. It-It’s for the best!" At least I feel like this is something Martin always understood. People make mistakes.

JON: "…Have you ever had your friends turn on you? People you thought you could count on?" Mirroring what they're going through, or what sort of impression Jon wants to avoid giving Basira and Martin.

MARTIN: "I think we’re being followed." JON: (no hesitation) "We are." MARTIN: "Oh. ‘Kay. That’s not actually what I wanted to hear." JON: "I know, that’s why I didn’t mention it before." There, constantly considering how to protect others.

JON: "It’s tricky. She’s – (inhale) She’s had a bad time." MARTIN: (slight scoff) "I mean – haven’t we all?" JON: "No. No, we haven’t." [SLIGHT PAUSE, AND THEN:] MARTIN: "Right." The occasional privilege check for Martin xD

"But that is not important, not really." NOT REALLY!!!

"Not the driving, pounding need behind the hunt, what spurs pursuit of tooth and claw is not some calmly made assessment or judgement on the weight of the hunted’s sin." Hahaaha, the way Jonny's voice goes up at "of the hunted's sin" xD That is something he does actually quite often and I can't unhear it (just like the "not really". Examples of the intonation thing, that immediately come to mind are the promo for We're Alive; Descendants, something about "genre fans in general" or in the Magnus Protocol trailer "Office of Incident Assessment and Response".) And I have this need to immediately imitate stuff like this, words, accents, intonation...  I'm always a bit afraid people think I'm mocking them, but I actually do this because I like it ^^' (So in general I can it when I’m with people I don’t know that well.)

JON: (overlapping) "Hold up. Sh." [BUT MARTIN HAS REACHED HIS LIMIT:] MARTIN: "Wh– no! No, Jon; you just did a statement; I don’t care if you want another one, we’ve gotta move –" JON: (cutting him off) "Martin." [MARTIN STOPS.] How Martin immediately stops, knowing that this is serious now. I already said in MAG 174 their dynamic is written in a way that they know when to react in what way (except for jokes, of course, again).

JON: "Right. Martin, do you trust me?" MARTIN: "What? Ah, Christ, this can’t be good. Yes?" JON: "Then it’s very – listen, (movement) – look at me. The next couple of minutes are going to be quite unpleasant for one of us, and I’m sorry." MARTIN: "Uh – (sounds of incomprehension) Sorry, what?" JON: "You need to remain very calm, and don’t make any sudden movements." I know, this is supposed to be super serious, but I can't help to find it sweet. Jon asking for Martin's trust and Martin (after a bit of "oh shit" moment) immediately saying "yes". Jon doesn't seem to be aware of his surroundings when he does a statement (otherwise Martin wouldn't have such trouble snapping him out of it), so he probably saw Trevor too late and now there's no time for big explanations.

TREVOR: "It’s not okay. Stop fucking smiling!" I mean, we already had "(best customer service voice) Mhm." of Jon and his tone in general sounds very relaxed, but I love these moments when we get even more information of what's going on, since we're only having audio and not audio and visual like in a movie or TV show... Or theater, even! Jon's super smug because he knows Basira is already on her way to them and needs Martin to stay calm, so Basira can take the shot.

MARTIN: "(voice shaking, trying to sound unaffected) "Jon? I know you keep saying we’re safe, and I am feeling very calm, but just so I know – Can he – Can he kill me?" JON: "He could, yes." MARTIN: "Right." JON: "If he were still a Hunter." Oh god, I've waited so long to finally unpack this! There is more to this "who can actually kill" in the Eyepocalypse and this was very clearly established in MAG 113. Dekker said: "As you know, I am not by any means a Hunter, and if Justin Gough was as far gone as he appeared, it was likely he was no longer human enough for me to remove him without the aid of one." Once someone has crossed the literal/metaphorical death into full-avatarhood threshold, they can't be killed in a simple manner anymore. But Hunters actually have the power to end beings of the Fears. There have been other instanced of Hunters being actually able to kill monsters, Trevor Herbert is a textbook example, but also other instances, for example how the police deals with vampires. Daisy said in MAG 61 "There are a few others around who do it, but I take care of a dozen or so precincts. I cuff the suspect’s hands and legs, drive them out into the middle of Epping Forest, and burn them to ashes." Only a few of them are able to do that, only those "infected" by the Hunt. Prey needs to be aware, that there are actual consequences to them being hunted and caught, otherwise, why run when there are no stakes?

That entire conversation with Trevor is just stalling. Jon needs Basira to get into position and take aim. (But also for us audience, setting the scene and so on.)

JON: "I’m sorry I’ve reduced you lower even than prey." MARTIN: "Jon?…" TREVOR: "No." JON: "To bait." MARTIN: "(breathing faster) Don’t –" [GUNSHOT.] Theater kid Jon xD Needing that dramatic build-up! Hm, come to think of it, maybe he also just enjoyed Trevor's fear and therefore toyed with his feelings.

MARTIN: (with some effort) "Can I at least put my hands down? M-M,My arms are kinda getting tired." Martin is so funny xD

BASIRA: "Prove you’re really Martin Blackwood." MARTIN: "How?" JON: (picture of innocence) "You could do a poem." BASIRA: "Shut up." MARTIN: (hissing) "Jon, this is serious!" God, I love smug Jon and Martin trying to berate him that it's not the time to be smug.

JON: "I mean – (holding back laugh, badly) I can know literally anything, so – ask away I guess." BASIRA: "You understand how unhelpful that is for proving identities." JON: (audible grin) "I’m sorry to be an inconvenience." BASIRA: "Well, you better think of something, or…" [SHE WAGGLES THE GUN.] More smug Jon xD I love it so much xD

BASIRA: "I told you before not to look into my head." JON: (smug) "So you do believe it’s me, then." [BRIEF PAUSE.] BASIRA: "Know-it-all prick." That is actually the lowest point of audible smugness here. Basira is so super annoyed by him xD Just like old S4 times!

[WE HEAR HER PUT THE GUN AWAY.] MARTIN: "So – Can I – ?" BASIRA: "Yeah, put them down, Martin. It’s fine. You’re you." [MARTIN DOES SO, AND IN THE PROCESS LETS OUT A HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF. AND ANOTHER.] Martin being the anxious comedic relief again^^ Good old times indeed.

JON: "You’re sure?" BASIRA: "If you were monsters, that would mean I’d finally get to kill something with your smug face. No way am I that lucky." JON: "Can’t fault your logic." Basira again talking about killing Jon (she already did that in S4, what was her phrasing? "or I'll put you down"?). But now Jon's in a superior position, being demigod of this new world as well as being emotionally more stable since he has Martin.

@a-mag-a-day