#mag 83

[eldest-daughter-syndrome]

Ep 83

The best boss an artist could have, goes to this lady!

No for real this low-key sounds like the best retail job ever

[obsessedwithao3]

Mag 83: stranger or eye I think

[manueladominguezliker]

Back at it again with two more episodes.

MAG 83

Gonna try and be more reserved with the images.

That said, I don’t want to talk about this opening. I have baggage about this opening. I am not smart nor detached enough to talk about this opening. So. I’m not going to. It’s good. It’s fine. It’s whatever. It just makes me want to kms. Anyway. Moving on.

Chloe Ashburt is one of the more memorable statement givers imo and yes it’s cause of her dwarfism. It’s a part of her life but it’s not all of her life and we see that. The connection to circuses and freak shows that dwarfs have is something that cannot be ignored, and bringing her in when we’re ‘introduced’ to Nikola Orsinov (in a way) addresses it without being completely offensive. Too bad that can’t be said for much else this show does — looking at the Haan family here — but this wasn’t horrible at least.

I don’t have much else to say about the statement. It’s pretty damn good. One of the few non live statements that stuck with me. Chloe doing her life drawings, the descriptions of the displays, the single line of blood across her lips. I can see it like a movie.

I guess by the end I’m just. Wondering. Why isn’t he trying to exonerate himself? Why is Jon more focused on the Unknowing rather than finding evidence that Elias killed Gertrude and Jurgen? Guess it’s a combination of being unable to freely leave the flat and also being sent that statement as a distraction? Dunno why that, of everything, is tripping me up. Just don’t get why Jon is unconcerned with being a murder suspect. It’s weird.

MAG 84

Eurgh. Martin reading :/

I don’t think I can give much input to this statement. It’s one-off and unconnected. Just gives another view into the Corruption and its dual meanings. Maggie as an abusive family member, Gordon as an eventual perpetuator of the cycle of abuse. Clear cut metaphors.

Anyway.

Not gonna talk about the conversation between M&M before Jonah comes in to trap Melanie as a pawn. Don’t wanna get into the weeds about the others perceptions of Jon and how frustrating they are. They confuse and annoy my simple brain.

You know… I can’t even be mad. I can be annoyed that she blames Jon later, considering HE WASN’T EVEN THERE but… I mean. C’mon. Accepting a job she didn’t know — except for a mild warning — will eventually cause her to gouge your eyes out, isn’t something I’ll hold against her. That’d be dumb of me.

Anyway. Much shorter post tonight. Don’t have much to say for now. Gonna go to bed. Night night.

[sathtrash]

I’m doing my Autumn MAG relisten and I’m on season 3 again and I’m so obsessed with Unemployed!Jon, he’s so unhealthy and defensive and there is something that just tickles me about him being deeply pathetic but not actively in danger, kind of very cute of him, very demure, not very mindful to Georgie, but still very demure, very cutesy

[kaleidoskuls]

*georgie voice* sure

[shadow-the-crow]

Listened to mag 83 and had some thoughts:

I love the "i need to record it" - how it's becoming a recurring thing.

In season 1 Jon was only recording the statements, just because it was the next best thing to digitalizing them (or at least so he thinks).

In season 2 he starts recording his conversations with his coworkers, and he says "i need to record it" at least once (i don't exactly remember), but he has the excuse of wanting to record exactly what they said so he can construct his paranoid little theories.

Now, in season 3, he has no excuse - there's no logical reason why he would be recording this statement. Saying it's part of his job doesn't make any sense, as Georgie points out, because he was fired (or fled because he was accused of murder, idk). So his only explanation is that it's just what he does - and, again, "i need to record it". Said 2 times, without any further explanation, almost obsessively (funnily making him sound like an addict, right after he said "i'm not on drugs"). And his stammering is making me think he's becoming aware of how illogical this need is. This development is so interesting...

He really must be hungry, huh? I can totally imagine Elias slipping this in the letter box thinking "gotta feed my little archivist"...

Or maybe it really was a warning? Was the mannequin Nikola?

[raucous-cacophony]

mag 83 - Drawing a Blank is such an incredibly solid episode. Its finally made me realize Jonathan Sims structures his horror stories - set up the setting and statement-giver, then reveal the horror in an unsettling but logically explainable context, then escalate to another, more unsettling event that could theoretically be explained in a mundane way, then finally have the horror come out into the open and traumatize the statement-giver.

So, in this episode they execute that by:

Setting up Chloe as an illustration student that's working at the department store to get through school (which gives a good excuse to stay late and pay close attention to the mannequin)

Swap out the real mannequin for the horror (forget her name). The way they have Chloe notice the subtle difference, see that it has a crueler nature than her mannequin, and rationalize not telling anyone is really good.

Escalate the creepiness by vandalizing the window display. The display description is plenty unsettling, but on top of that the use of dramatic irony is excellent - we know that the swapped mannequin is what vandalized the display, and Chloe doesn't realize that, but we're not screaming at the metaphorical camera because there's no way the characters would be able to put that together.

Have the Horror commit Trauma on Chloe. Good reveal of the creature, unsettling description of the creature putting a finger on Chloe's lips, and Chloe dialing in the police before confronting the horror is smart.

It's so well-executed! And, I really appreciate how Sims writes his horror protagonists so that they're smart and make reasonable decisions given the information they have. It's just that they aren't abe to make decisions that let them escape the horror because supernatural shit shouldn't be real. So why would they factor that into their decision-making.

[golden-dreamers-waltz]

MAG 83: Drawing a Blank

[Day 83/200]

The arms were just a little bit longer, the neck ever-so-slightly twisted,and the face, where before there had just been the faintest hint of a nose and a slight smile, was almost completely blank, save for a small patch of broken plastic near its forehead.