#mag 187 Tumblr posts

[job-ross-the-second]

HELEN NOOOOO

[mitwodlemi]

MAG 187

[ashes-in-a-jar]

Honestly good for it

[a-mag-meme-a-day]

Meme for @a-mag-a-day Day 194

MAG 187 - Checking Out

[that-agender-from-pluto]

This is just their relationship in one screenshot lol

Love that we got an episode all about helen love her rip ill find you in the afterlife

[martinknorrisblackwood]

guys guys

[lickmycoffeecup]

MAG 187 sticks out, cause its the first time we hear Jon having an issue with being touched (I swear it happens again later too).

Was this an issue he always had?

Or was this a product of all his kidnappings?

It just stuck out to me. Not only because he sites the suffering happening within The Distortion as a reason for shattering it, though obviously not the main reason. And the woman that touches him is suffering. So why have an issue with that? Does physical contact make the fear too potent? Is it a product of him being less human, and not wanting a “victim” to touch him?

Jon is just such a curious character. Cause he cares, he does. But he is just really drunk on The Eye, and all that that brings with it.

[kat-and-their-cats]

Favourite Episode Masterlist

[go-to-the-mirror]

i like my characters unfathomably powerful and uncharacteristically callous about human lives

[a-mag-a-day]

Helen gaslight gatekeep girlbossed too close to the sun

Too accurate

[styxiegoesinsane]

what really happens when you text 61016

[oaxleaf]

mag 187 - checking out

instinctually, i want to say that helen is not a person. not just in the sense that she's humanoid but not quite human, but in the sense that she's about as much human as a computer program immitating humanity. an external expression of charm and friendliness and complex thought and motivation, but really just a cog in a larger machine

but here's the issue: she was genuinely scared of him. she must have been. not threatened by or wary of him, but rather feeling true fear, an actual emotion, for it to have been a lie

it's hard to figure out where the intersection between human and illusion starts and ends. if it's even there. i think that even us as a fandom has a hard time reconing with the fact that the things we like most about her were probably just fabrications to make us like her. she was so well written that us, the audience, were able to ignor her horrible actions too (which, tbh, is really rare with female characters. their negative actions tend to turn us far more against them than men's, and the fact that i've yet to come across anyone who deeply dislikes her for what she did is testament to how excellent her charm was written)

helen was also an opportunity for projection. she often acted as a voice for the audience, commenting on the same things we would and thus further endearing her to us, but she also functioned as something for jon to project his view of the original helen on. it's this strange intersection of both disliking her fortaking helen away and not being able to remove the fondness he had for her even if she's now another creature's face. it further allowed her to perform questionable actions without him never letting her back in, even if it was always very grudgingly. she uses his idea of what helen might've been to her advantage, and even though he knew what she was, jon's always struggled to seperate knowledge and understanding and acceptance. which is why i think this statement is really important - it shows helen from an outside perspective. no personal relationship, no complicated projections of wants and needs, but just her as the pure manifestation of horror she truly is

helen was an excellent character, and this episode blew my mind the first time i listened to it. i'm sad to see her go, but it was necessary, and goddamn was she great from start to finish. top five character, easy

[hezekiahwakely]

Started thinking about the Distortion's arc again. Dozens dead hundreds trapped in endless spiralling hallways for the rest of eternity.

[social-mockingbird]

MAG #187: Checking Out

Are you telling me the Hotel California is a domain of the Distortion?

[hellenic-whore]

Distortion rant go!

Spoilers up to 188 and a LOT of Helen slander and Michael praise

Helen is horrible not just because she isn't Michael,but Michael is lies,he said it himself.

Something worse than a lie is something untrue.

Michael lies,he is delusion.

Helen makes you think she's not lying to you-not that she is. But there's a manipulative sense to it that makes her worse.

She isn't lying,she's a twisted truth. A fact,spun on its head.

Michael was lies. He wasn't trying to be your friend,he just lived it's life. He'd just stab you.

But Helen. Helen would keep you guessing, wondering if you could truly trust her. Trust a reality she held in the palm of her hand. Long,bladed hands.

Or maybe it's because her name isn't Michael and she's less iconic.

Who knows.

[lycanlovingvampyre]

MAG 187 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: taking a bath.

Lol, that elevator music xD

HELEN: "So, where’s the old ball and chain?" Fucking Helen... Always talking about others in a degrading way... Also typical narcissistic behavior, pushing others down in order to feel like they’re better.

JON: "You hoped that by nudging us past his domain, Martin would still be there when I arrived… so I would have to pass through on my own. Apparently, you were right." HELEN: "I thought you said you weren’t going to look inside people’s heads?" JON: "I thought you said you weren’t people." HELEN: "Touché." JON: "Well, for what it’s worth, I have tried not to look inside you." By now Jon has seen enough of the Distortion's behavior as Helen, it has become easy to predict what she's up to.

HELEN: "… He’s still so new to all of this, caught up in ideas of justice and ‘solving’ things. Sure, he can wave away the theoretical idea of people suffering…" JON: "But if he sees it up close, he might try to get his boyfriend to smite you?" I feel like Jon likes the sound of that. His boyfriend.

JON: "I’m trying to ‘know’ if there’s another route I can take." HELEN: "And?" JON: "Turns out there is, actually. But it is rather full of spiders." Coincident? I think not!!! The Web wants Jon to pass on the Fears.

HELEN: "The tape recorder feels more, um… awake." Hmmm, I wonder in what sense... The tape recorders have already been very actively clicking themselves on (or appearing at all) in S4. Is it just because the Web is now in this world instead of lurking at the edges?

HELEN: "Even though I saved you from Michael." The Distortion saved itself from Michael. Suddenly putting itself clearly on the side of "I am not your friend" is not what the Distortion is about. Besides, if it had killed Jon, the "Wonderland" of an Eyepocalyse, which is oh so loved by the Distortion, would have been delayed.

JON: "I liked Helen." HELEN: "I am Helen." JON: "The real one." It is consistent for his character, but I find it funny that Jon seems to bond with people rather quickly. He knew Helen for 20 minutes. He knew Jordan for 20 minutes. 

JON: "True. But as you’ll recall, I was pretty paranoid myself at that point." HELEN: "So what? You saw yourself in her? A sad reflection? A possible future?" Hmmm, maybe it's the same with Jordan. He bonded with him over his experience with the Corruption.

HELEN: "Oh, Jon! This existence can be wonderful, if you just let it." JON: [Sadly] "I know." :( He could just give up. Resign himself to his role as Archivist... Reminds me of working in retail, for example. Other people get sent to ware house duty because they're too rude be around customers. While I have to do the dirty work with customers because I care too much about not being an asshole. Or like working in a team with the same pool of work load. Others put their feet up, after all the work gets done by the others. But I don't want to be someone like that. I don't think I could be someone like that... 

JON: "I see. How long have you been working with Elias?" HELEN: "I’m not." JON: [Faux-shocked] "Helen! Is that… a lie?" HELEN: "No! No, it’s not. I don’t know him. I’ve never even – Look, I’m happy here, all right?" Changing the subject, hehe... We know, that it was Elias who sent og!Helen to the Institute. Did he also suggest that Helen will probably be confused after her statement so there’s high chances of her finally walking through his door? Was it also Elias who sent Michael to Sasha, so they could find out to use CO2 extinguishers against Prentiss?

HELEN: "You are so difficult to like sometimes. I’ve been nothing but nice to you." JON: "Maybe that’s why I never trusted you." Ohhh, yes, I've talking about this in another post already. I'm super wary of people who are immediately over-the-top nice to me. That's very often a facade which hides a very ugly personality. (Also, that was a lie again. Helen threatened him in MAG 157, so not very nice. But very typical for that personality again. Stating untrue things in a beneficial and factual way, suggesting you should believe it.)

(STATEMENT) "Well, not a dead end. It’s a door that says ‘Honeymoon Suite’." HELEN: [Saucy] "Currently unoccupied…" (STATEMENT) "I turn to retrace my steps. I must have taken a wrong urn." HELEN: "Just in case you and Martin were looking for a room." Pfff, Helen is so pushy and nosy regarding things which are absolutely none of her business.  

"How long… How long has Alex been alone now? " Ha! Another character called Alex!

The sound of laughter during the statement. So mean...

"She’d love nothing more than to help me, although she does hate to see me check out, it’s always so hard on her when guests leave." Making you feel bad for a totally normal thing...

VICTIM: "I don’t know how long I’ve been here." JON: "Look. I’m so sorry –" VICTIM: "You’ve got to help me!" JON: [Angrily] "Don’t touch me!" It's a stressful situation, but you're always allowed to set boundaries. No one gets to touch you when you don't want to. Again, it's just a shitty situation all over like so many others in TMA. Also, especially understandable that it’s Jon who doesn’t want to be touched... So many have hurt him..

HELEN: "Oopsie. Not so easy, is it? Keeping up your humanity?" Oh yeah, and then making you feel bad for setting boundaries...

JON: "You’re dangerous because for all the torture and cruelty, you still somehow got us to think you’re our friend." Mentioned it in MAG 183 (I think?) already that I'm not sure, what's more dangerous. More straight up hostile Helen. Or fun Helen. The one that makes you laugh about all her little manipulative comments. Schrödinger’s douchebag: Come on, don't be like that, it was just a joke!

JON: "No, you are the question of “What lurks behind a smile?” Is a friendship true, or is it reaching out with hands that cut you?" Being wary of the people who are over-the-top friendly... JON: "And when one face finally stopped smiling, you just changed the face." Helen taking over from Michael.

HELEN: "Fine. So if that’s all true… why? Why would I do any of that? What’s my actual motive?" JON: "I don’t think you even have one. It’s just what you are." I have asked myself this question so many times. And I've come to the same conclusion. There is no grand motive behind that. Just doing it over and over again, torturing others, they like that. The feeling of being able to make a person so submissive, so obedient that they will do everything to stay your friend. It makes me sick... I have once asked one of my “Helens” if she knows that those things she did are horrible. She got all smug and said yes and that she likes it and is proud of it. Fucking hell..

JON: "I will end you." [SILENCE BUT FOR SOME CREAKING] JON: "What, nothing? No smirk? A laugh? I’ve got you rattled." HELEN: "I’m not scared of you." JON: "Helen… Was that… a lie?" Smug and badass Jon is back, yaaaaaaaaaay!

JON: "Urgh!" [A STRANGE SOUND RINGS OUT AS THE ARCHIVIST REAPPEARS IN THE WASTELAND] MARTIN: "Christ, Jon!" JON: [Groggy] "Oh, Martin! Good." MARTIN: "Wh– Wh-wh-what… What happened? Th-th-there was the hotel and then…" Hmmm, I like the headcanon that Martin saw (and heard) something in the sky shifting and and suddenly, like "the sky ate him" but in reverse, it spits out Jon and Martin catches him^^ The soundscaping suggests otherwise though. After "Christ Jon" and during "Oh, Martin! Good." there's rubble to be heard, like climbing over debris. And only after "What happened?" we hear fabric rustling. So sounds to me like Jon fell out of the sky in front of Martin, then gets up and they hug.

JON: "Do you? Want to mourn?" MARTIN: "… A bit, I guess. I-I mean, she was our friend. Sort of. A bit." It's okay to be upset losing a "friend" like this. After all, there most definitely were fun times too, if it was just awful, you probably wouldn't have become their friend, after all.

@a-mag-a-day