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lycanlovingvampyre · 2 years

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MAG 118 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: cutting apples. Again...

Ah, I remember very well when I listened to this episode the first time. Texted my sister twice right there at the start about Martin being sassy! ("Statement ends, I guess" and "Sorry, Elias. I can’t hear you. There’s – a door in the way.")

Trying to get the episodes of the burned statements by memory. Ivo Lensik is MAG 8 Burned Out, Harold Silvana is MAG 35 Old Passages. Dylan Anderson... MAG 103 Cruelty Free?

ELIAS: "Martin, I do not have time for this." MARTIN: "Then maybe you should make time." This is exactly what this is though. Stalling.

JON: "There’s no such thing as just cobwebs." Everybody sighs, but he is right. Usually in horror cobwebs are just a way to say "Hey, nobody's really been here in a long time, Oooohooo". In TMA though, it's never just that.

Benjamin Hatendi. MAG 86? Definitely the blanket episode though. God, what's it called... Tucked In?

MARTIN: "Oh, so that’s it, isn’t it. Martin’s just acting out. I mean, Daisy’s a “rabid dog,” and Melanie’s a potential killer, Tim’s a – a rogue element, but Martin, oh Martin’s just acting out. He’ll have a cry, and a lie down, and feel much better." Ah yes. He's not being taken seriously and wholly underestimated.

Albrecht von Closen is easy, MAG 23 Schwarzwald.

ELIAS: [TAKES A DEEP BREATH.] "Did Jon put you up to this?" I mean, kind of. In MAG 103 Jon asked Daisy if they could somehow get Elias arrested. Martin was the one, who found a way to actually get to the evidence.

ELIAS: "Please get to the point, Martin." MARTIN: "Maybe there isn’t one. Alright? Maybe –" ELIAS: "Maybe you’re just wasting my time." MARTIN: "Yeah. Yeah, maybe." Haha, exactly that. But Elias knew this already.

JON: "Oh god… Oh god, they’re not waxworks." Haha, classic 2005 House of Wax.

I don't quite understand why Jon suddenly wants to see what's going on in the auditorium though. Is Snoop God sniffing out potential fear if they look at the entire horror of it?

TIM: "Holy –" JON: "Yes. I suppose it is." Ok this... was not a joke on Jon's part I think... I mean, Tim also said that dancing performance Grimaldi and his brother was beautiful. And even if Jon's trying to do his best to keep his humanity, he is still aligned with a terrifying Eldritch entity. He also finds the Mortal Garden beautiful, if I remember correctly (tbh, I also thought that was pretty rad...)

JON: "And I guess you don’t need skin to sing." (shaky breath) "To join the choir." ... Is everyone thinking what I'm thinking... Was Danny in the choir?

MARTIN: "Not even close. Because, I – (composes himself) I’ve been thinking. It’s not like you got this all-seeing thing recently. You’ve had it the whole time. I remember the way you looked at Sasha after the attack. You knew it wasn’t her. And I reckon you knew Prentiss was lurking under the Institute, too, and you did nothing. Why?" On my first listen I thought, okay, when it's being addressed in the show, there's no way these are plotholes...

MARTIN: "Well, I hope you’ve got something better than that pathetic dig at my feelings for Jon." ELIAS: "It’s baffling, really. Such loyalty to someone who really treats you very badly." MARTIN: "Oh, is that supposed to be, what, a revelation?" ELIAS: "You know, I really should have gone for that. Found something that would finally manage to shatter that precious image you have of him. But, as you say I am very busy at the moment. So I suppose I’ll have to go with what I had prepared." Nah, Elias is also rooting for them. And he doesn't need to poke any further, he's got Peter on the job for that. And the bit about "who really treats you very badly"? Yes, Jon did. Past tense. Jon really did a 180 on that front by the end of S2. Still, it's a good way for further manipulation. Sowing seeds of doubt, that Jon still doesn't like him.

ELIAS: "The thing is, though, Martin. If you ever do want to know exactly what your father looked like… All you have to do is look in a mirror. The resemblance is quite uncanny. The face of the man she hates, who destroyed her life, watching over her." This is something I have asked myself, like, how often something like this actually happens in rl. I'm guessing it's a huge taboo. Losing your partner and getting reminded of them everytime you see your child(ren). Doesn't have to be hate, like in this instance. Grief will also do. Or turn it around. Everytime the child sees a photograph of themself, they are reminded of the parent because of their resemblance. There's something similar explored in The Babadook (2014). The father died in a car accident while driving his wife in labor to the hospital. And she resents the child. Blames him for the death of her husband. It's great (I mean, not in rl), I love it when bad relationships get explored in fiction. And especially parent-children structures make it so difficult, because the child is completely dependent on the parent. That just adds another layer to it.

Alex does such a good job at that terrified crying...

I think this was one of the strongest scenes in all TMA. Writing- and acting-wise.

JON: "I knew none of us might be coming back, and I’m not going to let anyone get killed for nothing!" TIM: "Well, except for those people in there." JON: "They’re already dead!" TIM: "Not all of them." Ah yes, TMA and the trolley problem.

JON: (sudden yell, followed by immediate realization of need to whisper) "I am not losing you as well!" T_T

That warped "Aaahh" from the Archives crew. The music picking up. It is absolutely clear what's happening there. Like being hit by a Weirdness Bubble.

In these last moments Jon seems to still have some remaining clarity. While the others are already confused, he still knows who Daisy is for example. And he seems to still have some sense of self ("Daisy, it's me"). So yeah, Elias preparation to See has worked quite well, Jon did have it a bit easier. I mean, this is all or nothing.

@a-mag-a-day

#a-mag-a-day #mag 118 #tma #tma spoilers

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late-to-the-magnus-archives · 1 year

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This Dark Thing That Sleeps In Me - a Magnus Archives AU, Chapter Eleven

This is a DARK AU; it is not a kid-fic, though Jon is young. Bittersweet ending ahead.

Spoilers for the whole show, though this is very much an alternate universe.

There was no good choice to make. There was only the right one.

AO3

Incredible fanart by @iiiumihottie!

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He woke, and knew today had to be the day for one simple reason. He couldn’t put this off. If he waited, if he came to love these people more than he already had, he wouldn’t be able to go through with it. Sacrificing good people to save the rest was not… something he wanted to do. Yet it was something he had to do, wasn’t it? He did. This went beyond mere choice.

He was certain Annabelle had been right. No one else could do what he needed to do; and if only two out of three were being reborn right now, there was a strong chance he couldn’t come back and fix it later.

The genius of making Martin immortal now came clear. Even if Jon had, for some reason, chosen to wait until Tim and Sasha naturally died, letting them live what life they had, it wouldn’t happen with Martin. There was no way to do this without sacrificing Martin. Jonah, somehow, had planned for Jon to come. “He’s horrible,” Jon whispered.

Annabelle Two emphatically nodded.

Speaking of, Martin knocked on the door.

Jon was still sleep-mussed. “Come in.”

Martin peeked. “Hey.” And he did not laugh at the overlarge nightgown Jon wore, and Jon was grateful for that. “The funeral is today. It got moved up. We’re going to have to go.”

“Of course.” Jon rose, feeling a million years old, and looked at him. Really looked.

Martin looked young. He looked fine. But he wasn’t, was he? How many friends had he already said goodbye to? And all so Jonah would have this chain, wrapped around Jon’s heart.

It hurt. All of this hurt.

Deep down, his quiet, past self raged.

It was back up to the outfit place, and this time, all black. Everyone was wearing black; there were plenty of people there, finding things, some just grabbing any old clothes off a rack, others choosing carefully. Martin said nothing. He was already in black; he waited while Jon browsed, waited with a distant look.

People talked about sacrificing to the pyre , whatever that meant.

Mike showed up, followed by Tim and Sasha, and all four of them hugged. Jon didn’t interrupt. This was a precious thing, a beautiful thing. All three of them fussed over Martin, adjusting his jacket, standing very close. Letting Martin adjust their clothes, too.

They’d all die. They were all going to die.

Jon was not okay.

Eventually, a bell rang, deep, like a gong, and they all filed out. Jon obediently trotted with them. They were going to the top of the tower, the very, very top, and it meant so many stairs.

The weather was cold today, and rainy. Cloudy. No one seemed to care; the entirety of the tower’s occupants seemed to be here, all together, and he was amazed at how big it was. From the ground, the tower-top had seemed like a needle. Actually up here, it was huge, and oval-shaped. There was enough space for everyone atop this place.

“Be careful,” Martin said to him.

On a whim, Jon hugged him.

Martin froze. “Hey… it’s okay, kid,” he said.

It was not okay. “I’m sorry you lost your friend. Annabelle Two is sorry, too.”

The spider under his ear moved, gesturing or something.

Martin stared. Went dead pale. “Annabelle?” he whispered.

“Annabelle Two,” Jon corrected.

“Whoa, hey!” said Mike, and caught Martin as he staggered backward, nearly falling over. “Tim! Seat.”

Tim rushed over with a chair, and Sasha joined them. Martin stared at Jon. No—at Jon’s ear. Then he turned and pressed his face to Sasha, holding her tight, and crying again. Maybe he thought Annabelle had been reborn as a spider. Maybe he just missed her. Jon didn't know.

They gathered around him. No one was watching. It was a perfect moment. He could slip downstairs. He could—

Not yet, came his past self. Be seen, first. Jon wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, so he just wandered slowly across the roof, being seen.

People startled. Some of them peered, very close and confused, but he just nodded at them, trying to seem as grown-up as he could. He was pretty sure he had one stop he had to make, One place he had to be seen: near Anabelle’s coffin, where Jonah was.

Jonah stood at the peak of this oval-shaped tower-top, in glorious blacks with a fur ruff and purple tips, with gleaming rings on his fingers and more silver around his neck and on his head. An enormous fire burned next to him, crackling, the most colorful thing in view. Jonah stood there with all the bored calm in the world, as if he hadn’t been the one to kill her. Stood there, looking at everybody, with something harsh in his glittering eyes as if he was seeking for more betrayal.

Or whatever he considered betrayal.

And he had no right to be that way when he was the one who’d betrayed.

(How did Jon know that? What did that even mean?)

Jon swallowed and stepped into view.

Jonah raised his eyebrows. “There you are, Jon.”

“Hello, sir,” said Jon. “I’m afraid of you, but you said not to look away, so… so I’m here.”

And that, clearly, was the right thing to say. Jonah’s eyes lidded. “Well, now—unexpected wisdom from one so young.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Jonah sighed. “She has put me in quite a bind, Jon. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her.”

“Sir?”

“With anyone else, I would her foolishness as simply being wrong. As judging the situation poorly, betting on the wrong horse. But with Annabelle... she was never wrong. So. Why did she even choose to talk to you, and tell you about supply issues that don’t exist, when surely she must have known how it would end?”

Be careful, whispered everything in Jon’s gut. “Sir, if I knew that, I’d be a lot happier,” said Jon fervently and truthfully. “I don’t like questions with no answer.” Because he didn’t know why it had to be him. Why he’d made some crown and given it away. Why someone else who’d died before it all started couldn’t be the one.

Jonah looked fascinated. “We share that trait. Perhaps we shall discover the answers together, Jon. What do you make of that?”

And Jon said, “As long as you don’t blow up my head, sir, you can do whatever you want.”

Jonah laughed. It was a terrible sound in the middle of communal grief, and many conversations stopped as people stared his way. Jon hunched.

Jonah smiled. “I need to know, Jon. I need to know why you’re here. You’re very lucky.”

“I am?”

“Yes. I will hardly kill you as long as I don’t know.” He reached and squeezed Jon’s shoulder, then loosened again. “If you are very good, I will even tell you what I learn.”

Jon swallowed. “Answers?”

“To anything you ask. Anything at all.”

Such a promise. Jon knew he’d do it, too; there was a voyeuristic quality to it, feeding Jon answers, feeding that hunger they shared.

If Jon just did that, just let Jonah do that, no one would have to die. No, he then told himself. That’s a child’s reasoning. He knew it wasn’t true.

Jonah smiled. “I have answers to almost everything—very nearly—and most certainly anything a fourteen-year-old can conjure up.” His look was fond. Indulgent.

Jon swallowed again. He seemed to be producing a lot of saliva, as if hungry. “I’d like answers,” he whispered.

“Imagine that,” said Jonah. “And I never grow tired of questions. Never. I think we can make good use of the next few years, hm?”

Jon knew he meant it. And he also knew it was a bribe. As if Jonah knew, somehow, that giving Jon a book would shut him up.

To keep you from acting.

Jon swallowed again. “Yes, please.” He kept his breathing slow. He’d learned, long ago when dealing with Amherst and Prentiss and Carnegie, that the appearance of submission was often enough to persuade.

“I feel your hunger,” said Jonah, patting his shoulder, and finally turned away. “I will see to it you are satisfied.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Jon, and somehow made himself stand still while Jonah began talking to other people.

One by one, people came up to them, said some words over Annabelle’s coffin, and tossed something into the enormous fire. It became a whole thing. Everyone required an individual response from Jonah; everyone required a minute at the coffin. Everyone required a moment at the flame.

No one was looking at Jon anymore.

Jon did not want Martin to die. He did not want Sasha to fall, limp and eye-dulled, dead. He did not want to consider Mike sad at one of these funerals, maybe making it rain. He did not want to think about Tim dying like Carnegie, alone in a chair when he turned thirty.

There was no good choice to make. There was only the right one.

He would do it. This had to end. Carefully, he wandered away. No one looked at him. Not even Jonah watched him go. Jon checked carefully, but no one saw as he slipped away down the stairs.

He knew he had little time. Establishing his presence upstairs had taken much of what he had, but it had been necessary. He was sure. He hurried to the floor below the roof—the one he knew was Jonah’s—and pulled his special key from his collar.

It made sense that it had been sent to him now. It all made sense. Jonah’s door unlocked, and Jon hurried inside.

Annabelle Two immediately took point. She crawled down his arm, waved to get his attention, and gestured.

He followed her instructions; followed where she directed. Past enormous and empty living rooms. Past ridiculously appointed bedrooms, with beds like pools. Past the enormous dining space, with one lone place-setting at the head of an gigantic table. Into a library, and here, he faltered. He could just… grab a book. Stuff it in his jacket. No one would know—

Annabelle Two hissed.

He jumped.

She made the no motion.

Jon sighed. “Really?”

She gestured.

With regret, Jon hurried on.

Finally, she brought him to a strange hall. It lacked clothes and furniture. Instead, it was some sort of showcase. Wallpapered in yellow, it had plinths topped with glass cloches, and under each one, something spun—something glowing with power, some object suspended in green, misty swirls and will.

A man was waiting for him here.

Jon froze. He’d never seen the man who stood here before in his life, but he knew. He knew who it was.

“Hello, Jon,” said Oliver, the Will of the End, who stood ensconced in dark smoke instead of clothes, whose eyes glowed a solid, dark red.

Jon stared.

The spider gestured.

“Yes,” said Oliver.

The spider gestured.

“No,” said Oliver.

“What?” said Jon.

Oliver sighed. He looked so weary , now that Jon had a moment to adjust to all the spookiness. The man looked like he hadn’t slept in a year.

“Are you okay?” said Jon.

Oliver’s face twitched. “So he’s kind.”

The spider gestured.

“That makes this harder,” said Oliver.

“I… I’m sorry, but if you’re not here to stop me, I have to hurry,” said Jon.

“You do, and I’m here to make sure you know how. Did she tell you how to break the crown?”

Jon gasped. “How did you… no, she didn’t.”

“Thanks a lot, Annabelle,” Oliver said drily.

Jon could swear the spider laughed at him.

“What… what do I have to do?” said Jon.

“Take the crown to the top of the tower and throw it off.”

Jon had a strangely clear, separated moment, like one of those memories from his life past. He could almost see it. Almost see that the crown was tied to him in some specific way—something about the way it had been handed over, about misplaced trust, about… about…

It was gone. He couldn’t hold onto it. But he could hold on to this: his whole life led to this moment, to the choice, which he had to make, and it would be terrible to do. For one moment, he was bitterly angry. Wound up, manipulated. Betrayed.

Then he was himself again, and afraid, and unsure he could. “Jonah will kill me,” he whispered.

“Maybe. Unfortunately, it’s the only way.”

It just didn’t seem fair. “If I do this, they’ll all die.”

Oliver sighed. “Yes. I’m sorry—but Jon, it’s only death. We’ll finally be free. Even I will be.”

“You want to die?”

The mist swirled, hiding more of him, but not hiding his face. “I’m tired, Jon. I know that probably makes no sense to you.”

“But… but Martin,” Jon whispered.

“Yes. Probably everyone in the tower.”

Jon shook. “Is it a sacrifice to the End?”

“No. It’s cutting the End off so we can be free.”

He felt sick. “This isn’t like a story.”

“No, it’s not. I’m sorry, Jon. I wish there were another way, but as it is, it’s taking everything everyone has to keep Jonah from just killing you already. The likelihood of him doing it will increase the older you get. This really is the only time you can help us. Save us all, Jonathan Sims. We need you. Please.”

Jon knew he was right. He knew—felt—that somehow, his past self had known about this, too. It was too much to understand. “Does Jonah know you want to be free?”

“Yes. He doesn’t care. He’s terrified of death, and if I die, so will he.”

“But he’s its Heart.”

“And he’s still terrified of it,” said Oliver, and stepped aside to gesture at one of the cloches.

There it was. The crown. Second from the last, on Jon’s right. Floating. Jon felt it like a gear in his chest. He ached, like it had been twisted right out of him, whole and unblemished. Ached, as if it was his heart, floating in that cloche.

“You’re not afraid to die,” said Oliver. “I can tell.”

“I’ve never been afraid to die,” said Jon.

“That’s how,” said Oliver. “That’s how you got through this without being Aligned. You’re not afraid of anything.”

“Sure I am. And I don’t want to hurt anyone,” said Jon. “Am I really saving the world?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t there another way?”

“Not that I know of. Jon, you’re almost out of time. Please hurry.”

It wasn’t fair. It was, in fact, horrible. But what choice was there? He believed Annabelle was right; the world would end if he didn’t do this. Everyone would die. Everyone. If he did do it, the world could continue; population could grow again (and he desperately hoped the resources would be there).

But if he did this, Martin would die, too.

No good ending. Only the right one.

He lifted the cloche—carefully—and took the crown.

It felt so good in his hand. Heavier than it looked, a thick gold band, inset with black stones, and warmer than he’d expected. It fit his grip as if made for it.

“Thank you, Jon,” said Oliver, the Will of the End, and he sounded so sincere.

Jon looked up.

Oliver’s eyes were shiny. “Thank you.”

It was a vulnerability Jon didn’t know how to handle, and he fled. He left, because to stay any longer was to invite disaster. He left, because he could almost understand Oliver’s tiredness, and the full impact of what Oliver had asked him to do. He left, and he tucked the crown into his shirt. It hid neatly beneath his vest, trapped against his thin waist. No one would see it there.

He made his way back up to the death party—back to Annabelle’s funeral—and realized that when Jonah killed him, he wouldn’t get the chance to read the book he’d gotten from Gertrude.

Well. Maybe he would learn things after he died. There was only one way to find out, after all.

chapter twelve

#rusty quill big bang #rusty quill big bang 2023 #rqbb2023 #tma #tma fic #the magnus archives #magpod #magnuspod #tma au #the magnus archives au #tma spoilers #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #sasha james #jonah magnus #annabelle cane #tim stoker #this dark thing that sleeps in me

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inklingofadream · 1 year

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Question about the cult au: I feel like I remember Gerry saying that if he'd found jon before Jonah, he would have tried to convince the eye that it would be better to leave Jon alone so he could "observe him in the wild" or something like that. Not sure if I'm remembering correctly, but what would have happened if Gerry had found jon first do you think?

Sorry for not answering yesterday, our internet was out! You're absolutely remembering correctly!

Very long post, but not putting in a cut because I don't feel like it

So Gerry finding Jon first is totally plausible because when Jonah has speaking engagements whoever comes with- usually Gerry and Michael- hangs around on campus chatting and trying to start developing people into prospective future members or meals. The speaking engagements are recurring, usually a couple times a year at any given institution, so they often have the opportunity to talk to people several times over the course of a year or two to convince them gradually to join

This has varying success; Actual Golden Retriever Michael Shelley is pretty good at this! Gerry doesn't believe in subtlety/doesn't like tricking people, significantly lowering their success rate via "this is actually, openly a cult. do you want to join our cult?"

So I think that's how they would run into Jon. Crucially, I don't think that this scenario is less morally suspect and invasive. It's more a difference in how much it influences Jon's life. Stalking is technically probably less bad than kidnapping, but it's not great. A fair few people from the Institute end up suddenly spending a lot of time in Oxford. Potentially, someone gets some personal details shifted around/forged and Jonah pulls some strings to get someone like Gerry and/or Michael enrolled. They do that occasionally, because a wide knowledge base keeps the Institute fairly self-sufficient and a good job on the outside brings in money. Probably Gerry, because he can like... function in human society better and has a tiny bit of existing rapport with Jon from their first encounter.

But I don't think Jonah and maybe Gertrude stop pushing for the relocate-Jon plan. I feel like as part of the "see but not understand" thing the Eye latches on when someone first has an idea, so having Jon In The Wild is more appealing the same way having him in the Institute was more appealing in the fic. It isn't choosing strategically, it's picking the first answer presented to it. If other avatars find out about Jon it's game over, he's going to the Institute.

So I think it's less he never gets kidnapped than it is just a VASTLY more disturbing and upsetting lead up. Instead of having 5 seconds of being accosted at his front door, it's months and months getting to know Gerry, and to a lesser extent Michael or one of the Stokers who sans the insta-friends chemistry with Jon, being friends with Gerry, inviting Gerry to his and Georgie's movie nights. Maybe there are even some dates, feeling out the do-we-want-to-be-just-friends vs actually we're an awesome couple. For both of them, maybe, the same one night stand and teasing flirting as with canon Sasha but with Georgie if it's Tim, or Michael or Danny doing a couple dates because Georgie's trying a bunch of things out in the wake of the breakup (Sasha can't be the partner, because her family only joined when she was 14 and non-Gerry members with experience as outsiders don't get to leave the Institute)

Gerry, for the first time in his life, has a social circle of people more or less his own age without any baggage from who his parents were. It's all very real for him, but he can't ignore or forget why he's here, how close both him and Jon are to losing that at any given moment. Maybe he even lets on a little bit of The Spookiness somehow and they have a little sharing circle about Mr. Spider and the dead body and Mary's Leitner collection. It's all very real for him, it's very precious, it's very easy to forget why he's here even with Beholding giving him butterflies every time Jon looks at him. It's an inevitable betrayal that he does not want to do but must

I think maybe, when something happens- maybe something spooky that makes it feel like being free is Not Safe for Jon, maybe someone has some loose lips and lets on to someone at the Usher Foundation or Pu Songling Reseach Centre or worse, someone not directly allied with the Institute- things go very differently.

Gerry isn't just in love-by-proxy with Jon, he knows him. He knows how terrible it is to be sucked into the Institute- he only chose to do so because he was very young and didn't have a single other option, no support system, nothing. Just Mary getting worse and worse, increasingly clear that she was working up to something dangerous and that she did not care if Gerry got hurt in the process. Gerry joined the institute after much thought and negotiation- not usually part of the proceedings but Gerry was someone they wanted more than usual, Eric leaving made them look weak and having Gerry back, even in a situation that sets him apart from everyone else in terms of privileges and allowances, alleviated that "failure". If Gerry had another option he would not have done it- thus the tattoos, ensuring that even more than the contract, Gerry is stuck with them. Jon has options, Gerry knows he has options, he has so much potential and has hopes and dreams and could live a long, happy life never setting foot in the Institute. He has everything Gerry wished he had when he had to choose between signing over his soul or letting Mary wear him down and down and down, carving away bits to test a Leitner, to gain access to things, trying out things that she doesn't want to test on herself, being a regular abusive parent in addition to the spooky stuff

And Gerry has been giving updates on Jon, talking about him and his life. Other cult members are intermittently watching from afar or constructing accidental encounters with him. Gerry knows, the cult knows, that Jon isn't close to many people, but he is close to Georgie. (Behind the scenes, much drama about Being Friends With Your Ex, debating if Georgie is something like a saint due to proximity and friendliness with Jon or the worst because she blasphemously broke up with him (it was a mutually decided breakup, but they sooo don't care.)) I think when they take Jon, they take all Jon accoutrements: if he's been there long enough that they got the planned cat, the cat comes with; Jon's books? coming with; Jon's clothes? favorite pieces come with, because Jonah has decided to be Weird about Jon's clothing and doesn't want too many Frightfully Normal clothes competing; Jon's bedding? he mentioned the Sensory Nightmare of finding replacement sheets that don't Cause Problems because of Texture to Gerry, so the bedding comes but is turned over to Jonah and Gertrude so they can determine what makes a good texture to Jon, RIP the kitty cat flannel sheets Georgie gave him as a half-joke birthday gift.

Georgie is the accessory that comes with your Jon doll. Georgie is coming to the cult. Georgie is having a Really Weird Time, because like... they don't have an endgame. People want to get close to her because of Jon- she doesn't blame Jon, but a lot of that S4 energy is coming out in reaction to other people, and probably results in one or two blowups at Jon rather than anyone else (escalating into a two-way shouting match because Jon is also having Big Emotions). Gerry's name is mud. Jonah, Regency weirdo extraordinaire, is Even Weirder about clothes for her. Jonah's kept up with The Fashion for men, because he needs to fit in on the outside. But a LOT of the time women raised in the cult spend on the outside is if someone is getting a degree to help the cult somehow, and like... you can just Do Whatever on a college campus. There was a guy at mine who wore a Union Soldier reproduction Civil War uniform all the time. It's fine if they look a bit odd, because they have the full time they're studying to figure out what professional attire etc look like.

When Jonah is weird about Jon's clothes, it's very deliberate; know the rules before you break them and such. Georgie gets fancied up for stuff like presenting them to the cult, but it's a hapless sort of weird. Her everyday cult wardrobe was picked out by a combination of Gerry and Gertrude, but Jonah's a control freak about the semi-regular Looking At Jon events. It's a mix of Back In My Day leftovers and whatever random bits of women's fashion he absorbed over the last 200 years. Like as far as underpinnings, we are absolutely not talking about anything more modern than a girdle. Creeper measurements gained while they're drugged or the Eye being able/deciding to share when Jonah wants them have not been used responsibly. Probably there is someone in London still making corsets for sale, if you look. Georgie is allowed to complain about a properly fitted corset, it's not stereotyping the past or being ignorant of how they work, it is actually a coercive and at least half-sexist situation for her. The only good news is that Jonah wants to focus on the event and Jon, so he just sics Sasha on her to play lady in waiting instead of becoming part of that process himself.

I don't think Georgie ever really forgives Gerry and co. All the S4 stuff with not acknowledging the intractability of the situation bc it's never spelled out in so many words and it's easier to be angry, it's safer to detach herself, it's frightening to think about how permanent this is, she doesn't have space to give grace to these people or read into the subtext of how little choice they have. Jon is kept separate from Georgie except for Good Behavior, he's in the thick of it and does not have a support system to be picky about. Georgie isn't operating in a place of fear, she can't, but Jon is. They end up being very careful about that conversation, because they're afraid of what'll happen to Georgie if she and Jon have a friendship breakup, they know and trust each other to be ride or die (if out of touch Georgie lets Jon be a fugitive at her place current daily presence Georgie is not going to let something she knows is not at ALL Jon's fault change that) but having an audience means walking on eggshells. So I think Jon does his best to get over the betrayal and ends up sliding back into friendliness because it's the best of a bad lot, he will actually go insane otherwise. Georgie I don't think ends up at more than a stalemate with Sasha (who she sees a lot bc of the Jon inner circle she's The Girl and, again, Jonah's an old-fashioned weirdo). Jon agitates for more freedom for Georgie, but they're still trapped.

The other bright spot is that I don't think they lose the Stokers. Escape means getting BOTH of them out. Gerry lets on how futile getting in touch with the cops is in a Super Normal Non=Suspicious Way. Even if the cops were helpful, TARDIS bigger-on-the-inside secret building addition is not the kind of place you can get a search warrant for. If Georgie gets out on her own, no one is coming back for Jon (Jon tries to convince her to do it anyway), and if Jon escapes alone... he just can't. What would they do to Georgie? He knows, experiences and is increasingly aware, that Jonah can be vicious and petty. Georgie is not valuable on her own. Maybe she'd be fine, because they need bait to get Jon back, but "alive" is an awfully low bar when Jonah could use anything in Artefact Storage on her, can whittle ties to life down to the tiniest thread if he wants. The logistics are too complicated. If Danny breaks Jon out, he insists they go for Georgie and they don't make it out. They trip something, Jonah shows up, and the Stokers are saved by a) plausible deniability, Jon is cut off from everyone because of things like this, giving him things Jonah doesn't want him to have and b) Jon just like. hanging off the Stokers. All misgivings abandoned, Stokers is my best friend now.

So all in all I don't think it's better for Jon, it's just different.

#writing #tma #cult au #ink post #ink writing #ink fic #the whole thing is high key tragedy for gerry #he's as doomed as any hamlet or othello. he doesn't want this end but he isnt built to be able to do anything else #someone else might have connections or power or anything but he doesn't. he has himself and can trust no one else with his misgivings

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kalaidosnail · 2 years

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Distortion!Sasha! From The Archivists’ Chat, in which they decide that all of them should record Statements actually, Jon and Tim are having a BadTimetm, and Martin is trying his best <3. She’s so very precious to me, uuuh, yeah this drawing was real quick.

#the archivists chat #tma #tma fic #polyarchives #tma art #the distortion #Sasha James #Martin Blackwood #yelling tw #?#yeah #my art #sketches #artists on tumblr

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taiey · 2 years

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The first time Basira and Martin talk—well, on-tape, presumably she talked to him after Gertrude's body was found—is 088.

MARTIN: I mean, yeah, a bit. You wanted to see me? BASIRA: Yeah, well, your boss is busy and I tried talking to Tim, but… MARTIN: Yeah, right. BASIRA: And he said Sasha’s gone, so I thought I’d talk to you.

basira do you mean he was specifically your last choice or

BASIRA: I’m looking for Daisy. MARTIN: Oh for – Okay, I don’t know where she is! I don’t know where anybody is! Why does everyone… okay, why does everyone think that I always know where everyone is, all the time?! BASIRA: Alright, okay, alright, sorry. They just… well, they said at the station that this was the last place she checked in.

that is much nicer of you, to apologise for not even asking a question yet 😅

MARTIN: Look, he didn’t kill anyone, okay? There’s… I think something’s going on, okay. I actually think he was framed. BASIRA: Yeah, well, I hope so. If not, well… I just can’t believe I was so stupid, you know? He really got me.

(she talks to martin like she's not sure, and to daisy like she is)

BASIRA: I just, I mean he was good company. Y’know, when he wasn’t being a paranoia machine. He was funny, you know? MARTIN: What, John? BASIRA: Yeah. MARTIN: I don’t think I’ve ever heard him tell a joke. BASIRA: Maybe you weren’t listening. MARTIN: Right. Well, I’m sure it’ll get sorted out when Daisy brings him in and you can probably talk to him then. Oh, sorry, I forgot you’re not actually with the police any more, are you.

...yeah, okay, getting that mean in response to Basira saying "John was funny" is very much our "trying to steal his precious Archivist" moment 😆

MARTIN: Yeah. She said she had “full operational discretion”. Is everything alright? BASIRA: I need to find him. MARTIN: Well, I’m sure your partner will find him; I just hope she’s not as – BASIRA: No, I need to find him now! You’re sure you don’t know where she is? MARTIN: No! I don’t know anything. BASIRA: Okay, alright, fine. Just… Here’s my number. You call me immediately if you find anything out, okay? MARTIN: Fine. Now please, we’re really busy.

martin shes trying to save your boyfriend's life :lolmad:

IDK if any of this matters much tbh, given the context of their relationship changes so much, but

#martin blackwood #basira hussain #the magnus archives #tma

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lemonpepperworld · 8 months

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I recently got into The Magnus Archives thanks to a friend and I am OBSESSED

I got several people also hooked on it so I’m just spreading the chaos—one of my friends who doesn’t even like horror is listening to it and loving it!!

I’m on episode 90 odd something so season 3, here are my thoughts so far:

I know about the entities, I was told about them and also looked on the Wikipedia pages so I’ve been trying to figure out what each case ties into but I’m not now just figuring out (like ep 93?) that the characters (specifically Jon) are just finding out!! So I’m confused as all hell but it’s so fascinating

I don’t like Tim, I get that that’s the point? He’s not there because he wants to be but I hate that fight with Jon 😭 (I just don’t like fighting tbh) but it makes sense in the storyline plot or whatever

Martin is so silly and precious, as is Jon.

Not sure how I feel about Melanie King but I’m sad about Sasha :(

Also who is Georgie?? I take is she’s a college friend Jon has kept in touch with but what?? She was just there one episode

The Michael entity plot line confuses me but it’s fine and also the voices of the characters sometimes blur especially without faces so sometimes it’s not until like five minutes into someone speaking that I’m like OH THATS WHO THAT IS

Jon feeling like he’s being used by an entity is fascinating

And I have so many questions about everything but I can’t quite form the words so they would be like question marks with increasing volumes of confusion

#the magnus archives #tma podcast #tma #jonathan sims #what the fuck is the Magnus archives

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msfcatlover · 3 years

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I have always had a soft spot for the mundane in otherwise fantastical stories…

…but the TMA fandom has introduced me to a special love for “We shall take down the supervillain ruining our lives, through WHITE-COLLAR WARFARE!”

#the magnus archives #tma #elias bastard #jonah magnus #jarchavist #tma: all about jon #tma: martin #tma s1 crew #tma: the asshole in charge #//#I’ve only seen it focused on in 2 fics though;one was a Vast!Jon fic where he knows he can’t take Elias down through supernatural means #BUT the Institute won’t last more than a year if its workers unionize! ‘’Hey Tim will you hand out these flyers for me?’’#The other was a Ghost!Jon fic where Sasha and Melanie got sweet vengeance by fucking with Jonah’s paperwork. Like Melanie becomes the new #secretary and schedules all his meetings for the same day; or Sasha finds his precious spreadsheets on the company server and just deletes #whole columns when she knows he can’t See.#I am so here for this #you don’t even know #/#my life #mine

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oskarwing · 4 years

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It’s being sad about Sasha James and Tim Stocker hours.

:( They deserved so much better.

#the magnus archives #tim stoker #sasha james #they were so precious and great people and I love them dearly

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hi-im-just-a-fan-here · 4 years

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I love Tim and I love Sasha and I love Martin and I love Jon

Anyway

Fuck Elias

#Sasha #Tim #Martin #Jon #tma sasha #tma martin #tma tim #tma jon #tma ep 39 #jane prentiss attack #i love Sasha so much u guys #AND I LOVE TIM SO MUCH U GUYS #I HOPE NOTHING HAPPENS TO THEM #PRECIOUS BEANS

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cuttoothed · 3 years

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Ship: Jonmartim (if a polyship is okay? Just Martin as a character if not), anniversary of the Prentiss attack, corkscrew for object.

Happy 3 year anniversary! <3

(Anniversary Prompts)

Thank you! And thanks for the prompt!

Imagine this in a world where things went a little bit less to hell.

CW: alcohol

Tim has one of those fancy bottle openers that requires almost no effort, but this evening it sits unused while Martin works the cork laboriously out of the bottle with a cheap waiter's friend. It's not the corkscrew, of course; that was taken by the ECDC and presumably incinerated. It's just a memorial, a grimly humorous little tradition. A reminder that they survived.

Martin pours the wine and Jon hands the glasses around. They're in Tim's flat, but by now the two of them have made themselves so at home here that they're far past the point of Tim doing hosting duties. There's an ease to having them here, as there is to simply having them, that Tim isn't sure anyone else could understand. The thread of shared fear and grief and perseverance through it all, that makes all the little things at once unimportant and impossibly precious. Jon is still an arse sometimes, and Martin still fusses too much, and Tim knows his own cheerful bravado can be grating. But they're his, and he doesn't know what he'd do without Martin's warmth and practicality and biting sarcasm, without Jon's careful gentleness.

He's even told them about Danny, and the aching hollow in his chest is somehow less for knowing that they get it. They understand.

Martin sits on the sofa beside Tim and presses a solid shoulder against his. Jon sits on the ottoman, not always as keen on physical contact, but always within touching distance. He's the first to raise his glass.

"To Sasha," he says, and god it's been years but right away there's still a lump rising in Tim's throat, his eyes misting over.

"To Sasha," Martin says, raising his own glass.

"To Sasha," says Tim, and his voice wavers and cracks on her name. They both pretend not to notice, but Martin leans into him a little more, free hand coming to rest on Tim's leg.

They drink the toast, a remembrance, and then they drink the rest of the bottle as a celebration. Because despite it all they survived, they're still surviving, and they this.

#the magnus archives #tma #jonmartim #my fic #writing prompts

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dathen · 3 years

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Okay I have some complicated thoughts following Melanie’s arc that all build on top of each other and hinge HEAVILY on unreliable narrator interpretations so bear with me

In my relisten I’m at the beginning of s3, and it always shocks me a bit at how quickly she interprets Martin’s interaction with her as hostile. I’m going to skip over the “it’s understandable, Melanie’s had a hard time in her career” disclaimers since there’s plenty of meta on that already, and instead follow the effects of this tendency: not on others, this time, but on her

(This got absurdly long and covers so many episodes so I’m going to split it into separate pre- and post-bullet surgery posts)

Rewinding a bit, the last time she was at the Institute, she was starting to get along with Jon before he seemed confused about her comment on “the other Sasha.” It takes her a split second to interpret that confusion as him suddenly deciding to gaslight and mock her, gets angry and tells him there is something seriously wrong with him, and leaves before he can ask what she means. Given how tenuous their truce was and the fact she and Jon had mocked each other in the past, it’s an outburst that at least has some personal history behind it.

But only a couple episodes later, we learn that it’s not just Jon she responds to in this way. In TMA 84, she meets our Martin Blackwood! Customer service voice opposite-of-Jon politeness extraordinaire! And as soon as he gets confused about the two Sasha comment, she.......immediately assumes that HE is also trying to gaslight her. She insists that “I’m not doing this again” without giving him a chance to ask or explain, so they miss the opportunity to piece together the deal with the Not!Sasha. Her doing this with someone she just met shows a much broader pattern than her interactions with Jon.

That very episode, Elias offers Melanie a job, and she accepts despite Martin’s protests. Later, she accuses them all of them being an “old boy’s club” because she interpreted Martin’s warnings as sexism rather than trying to protect her. As the audience, we see the unreliable narrator of her perspective at work: we know that Jon and Martin were genuinely confused, and we know that Martin was trying to save her, and that all of these instances were her seeing it as people being out to get her.

Hop forward to the notorious gossip scene in TMA 106. Here, Melanie complains about Martin being hostile to her. My first assumption was that this was all offscreen, but after this parade of misinterpretation and comparing to her and Martin’s actual interactions, I have to wonder:

TMA 84, after Martin tells Melanie about the murder, and right before Elias interrupts:

Martin: Are you sure you’re alright?

Melanie: Yes! I just got… God, I’m kind of at the end, you know?

Martin: The end of what?

Melanie: Everything. Friends, clues, savings. Everything. Options. There’s nowhere left for me to go . I don’t know why, but… I just, I just felt that perhaps coming here might help. And talking things out with Jon. I mean, I mean he’s awful, but at least he listens, you know?

Martin: (soft) Yeah. ...I’m sorry. Um, is there anything that I could, like, maybe...do for you?

They get interrupted immediately after this, so this was the first impression Melanie was given. Then, when Elias offers the job, she...assumes Martin’s “I don’t think that’s a good idea” is from sexism, when he’d just been talking about murders and disappearances that caused that very job opening.

TMA 88

Melanie: Are you alright?

Martin: Yeah… Sorry, just a lot of change recently, y’know. You and John and Sasha and… everything’s gone a bit wrong. It’s the not knowing, you know? I mean, Jon’s still alive. Not sure why, but I’m sure of that. But Sasha, I…

Melanie: Yes, it’s… it’s probably, um…

Martin: Sorry, sorry, I’m... What do you need?

Next interaction! Oh this one HURTS. Martin takes her question literally, and starts telling her why she’s not alright, a reverse of their earlier exchange. But Melanie came by for a question and wasn’t prepared for an honest answer, so Martin quickly reels it in and asks what he can do for her once again.

Skipping forward a bit in that same scene:

Martin: Oh, you weren’t here when we took the place over from Gertrude! It’s been over a year just to get it like this. I mean, I think the database was on Jon’s list, but--

Melanie: So how do you track someone down?

Martin: Oh, oh well, y’know, we’ve a few contacts in various record offices around the place. Aside from that it’s just… just a bit of detective work, really. Tim used to do a great line in impersonating people to utility companies! Heh, the number of times he got them to give him ‘his own’ address--

Melanie: Right, right… Um, this one, the name is 'Jude Perry.’ Doesn’t mean anything to you, does it?

I LOVE THIS EXCHANGE. I TREASURE IT. Having bottled up his emotions, Martin is going in full Friendly Helpful Coworker mode. There are so many little details here signaling that he’s embracing her as part of the team, sharing anecdotes about Tim’s shenanigans and Jon’s old plans, looping her in as One of Them as he helps her get what she needs. This is the kind of approach you go to management trainings to get, to help new hires feel welcome and part of things. But alas, Melanie is in a hurry and wants to cut to the chase, so all this is lost on her.

TMA 98 - I won’t copy it all in here because it’s long, but this is an overwhelmingly positive interaction. She asks if he’s okay, but he bottles it up and says he’s fine. This time, she presses, and he admits it’s because of the statements. Martin ends up asking for help!! and Melanie agrees! She’s on the way to murder Elias, but she still gets credit for “I’ll ask him to cut you some slack.” Then she invites him to drinks!

And then.... TMA 106

Melanie: Anyway, Martin’s always been lovely to you.

Basira: Hmm. I don’t know, I mean, you should have seen him when I turned up last year. I think he thought I was trying to steal his precious Archivist.

Melanie: Ahhh. I got the exact same when Jon was hiding out, and came to me with his “source on the inside” stuff. Martin was not impressed.

WAIT WHAT

We just looked over all their interactions! They were all soft and lovely and welcoming!! But then we hear Melanie with “well unlike how he is to me, Martin is nice to you.” This was taken at face value for years, but when you line up all of the above, I feel there is a strong basis to say this is another case of Melanie’s first impressions + over-defensiveness gone wrong. Just like we saw her initial bickerings with Jon solidify into series-long hostility, her interpreting Martin’s confusion as gaslighting and warnings about the job as sexism seems to have doomed her opinion of him long-term. We hear Martin being kind and concerned and welcoming, then hear Melanie contrast it as bad treatment.

Recently, a mutual considered this even further to how she talked about losing all of her friends with the Ghost Hunt UK circles:

Melanie: Even back then, I could feel all my old friends starting to distance themselves from me. ... I stopped asking the others for help, and I kept my research to myself. I talked to them less and less. By the time I was arrested, I think a lot of them had already given up on me.

I have to wonder...did this sort of dynamic play out here, too? Did she assume that her friends’ concern was judgment or hostility? Were they giving up on her, or did she lash out and push them away? Either way, it’s easy to see parallels to s2 Jon in her description, here, with her withdrawing and diving alone into increasingly risky research without asking for help. And s2 Jon definitely shared Melanie’s tendency to see offers for help and support as hostile. (Aside: I interpret her and Georgie as not very close at this point, like a networking contact rather than a friend; Melanie comes to Jon for someone to talk to about her struggles above her, and Georgie seems to be unaware of all of Melanie’s encounters pre-s3)

And on that downer note I am ending part 1...but PART 2 IS GOING TO BE WAY HAPPIER THAN THIS. Here, we see Melanie with a lot of people who would have supported her if she let them: Martin, Jon, possibly the friends she said abandoned her. But in her effort to protect herself and not let history repeat for how she’d been hurt in the past, she ends up alone and spiraling.

#tma #the magnus archives #tma spoilers #melanie king #tma meta #I had to stop myself from just rambling All Melanie Feelings in Every Direction to stay on track #but hoo boy writing this gave me a lot of feelings for the martin melanie friendship that could have been

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theearnestonion · 3 years

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I was considering leaving this in my drafts forever but screw it, im proud of this, its tma ramble time.

Having thoughts about Sasha and Agnes. I'd kill to know how they'd interact, post-mortem.

The reason Agnes is such an enigmatic figure is because we see her from many perspectives, wearing many different hats, but we never really get a grasp on who she is as an individual. She's a stifled church girl, she's a messiah, a woman and a god, worshiped, controlled, love-interest, soul-bonded, manipulated, powerful, naive, wise beyond her years. She dresses vintage like the 50's, or 70's, or 1800's. She's puritanically modest. She's sexy, goth, alt, and rebellious. She's a simple character. She's a walking paradox. Hell we can't even agree on her hair color! So. Who is she? We don't know. Neither does Agnes. Much like Gerry before we meet him, she's a figure we only see from second hand accounts, and anything we know about her identity and internal thoughts and feelings as an individual are just loosely evidence-based conjecture. She's the mystery girl, we never get to know her, and we get no closure or catharsis in her arc, we don't here the ending like we did with Gerry, because that is her arc: Unresolved. Agnes Montague truthers, you're right, it did kind of feel like there was a way 'How Agnes Montague Can Still Win', because it was left open-ended. That's the nature of her. That's the tragedy of Agnes. She's gone, and no one truly knew her.

And Sasha. Everyone loves her. And we got so precious little of her. She's curious and intelligent and funny and so very beholding aligned and has so very little self-preservation instinct that she rival's Jon and believed the nature of identity was masks all the way down. And sometimes we forget that the Archives Crew didn't even have that much to hold onto. Even even what little knowledge we have was stripped away from them. I think that's why her fanon design varies so much: sure, we have some basic ideas, I'd summarize as usually having curly hair, either a WOC or a freckled redhead, glasses, and a Dark-Academia-with-a-Side-of-Wonky sense of style being the most common elements. but there is, imo, way more variation on her design than Jon, Martin, or Tim's. Because we, like the characters, love her dearly and yet are left guessing as to who she actually is. That's the tragedy of Sasha. She's gone, and no one truly knew her.

Both Agnes and Sasha, despite their contrasting alignments, seemed to have a very tenuous relationship with the idea of being Known, despite Sasha's beholding alignment. Perhaps I'm enamored with the idea because my subconscious believes that Sasha-Gertrude parallels and a Gertrude-Agnes bond inherently creates an interesting Sasha-Agnes dynamic. And, ok, not inherently per se, but.

I just like to think they'd like to talk about their feelings together ok?

After all, aren't they both the most unforgettable and the most forgotten?

#agnes montague #sasha james #tma #pspspspsps who wants to hear me pretentiously analyze things I don't understand #its just now occurring to me that I might be projecting my fears a little bit but we're just going to ignore that #is this long enough to tag as a long post? I dont want to bother people. idk #Erniesaysstuff

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