#tma 30

[aeromiyo]

TMA 30: It's probably messed up that this episode made me hungry.

The horror in this one resides in empathizing with animals and equating humans to them, and tbh that's something I internalized much time ago. Like, it is easy to debone meat when you know basic human anatomy. But, putting my butcher skills aside, let's talk about recurring themes here, shall we?

Meat, probably linked to the Many-eyed Meat Monster.

Someone says some vague shit and the space becomes liminal.

Workplaces left empty with few exceptions.

People leaving their workplace while in a trance.

A part of me feels that there are several forces working together here, as there was no liminal space in the other predominantly meat-themed ep. One of them is obviously what Tom calls "Slaughter". Could the other be the same thing that created "Sky Blue"? Idk, Sky Blue is an open space kind of fear, like prairie madness. This episode was more like the backrooms, like a maze.

[swan-uponleda]

So at this point (TMA 31) we know directly from Jonathan that he is staying at the Archives more; we can assume he would sometimes spent the night without going back home.

Martin already sleeps there.

I’ll assume that if others (Tim, Sasha) would also spend more time at the archives it would have been a point worth making in this situation since Jonathan tries to underline the fact that they are being hunted.

Which means it’s just the two of them. He and Martin spent more time together. Which is why I believe we don’t hear Jon picking at Martin anymore. Especially as he probably first hand sees him doing the research more then he would if they only saw each other during office hours - Couse you can’t tell me that they weren’t working extra hours late into the night; probably also keeping each other company by working in the same room (after others left) simply for the comfort. He sees how Martin relentlessly checks every information twice, thrice usually even more times - because in Martin’s head he has to. Jon sees how the way he was undermining Martin’s research got to the man. Even if he doesn’t know why. Even if he doesn’t know yet that the reason is the way Martin’s mother always dismissed him too.

We always claim that Jonathan felt remorse firstly later - but I think he already did back then; just didn’t deal with it himself yet. But we see the seeds of it in the way he starts to respect Martin’s findings. It’s in the way he doesn’t make snarky comments at Martin anymore, sure. But also he doesn’t question if more could have been done. He takes it at the face value. It’s even in the fact that he lets Martin join forces with Tim who he already trusts - or if they done so in the past he now starts to acknowledge Martin’s part in investigation (which also makes you wonder how many times before he didn’t).

(TMA 27, TMA30)

And so as they “are stuck” they sometimes talk. We are humans it’s in our nature that we socialise after all; so simply by proximity they get to know each other better, find out each other’s preferences. Jon ends up warming to his new assistant as he gets to know him better; Martin falls for him even more - if we assume (which for the sake of this I do) he already had a crush on Sims.

From both of them Jon is obviously the less paranoid one still holding onto not supernatural explanation with his dear life - as admitting that explanation is in fact supernatural would mean that they enter uncharted territory and are actually helpless without any real knowledge whatsoever. Even by the very end of TMA 32 he still can’t deal with the idea of Jane Prentiss not being completely natural. But also completely terrified of feeling watched.

But they move on, they live on ‘couse there is nothing else to do than look into it as any other statement. But I believe it was detrimental to Jon’s belief in The Fears and at that point he already did believe far deeper than I think we assume. Just couldn’t admit it. Since admitting it would mean not knowing what to do, how to even start fighting it. It would also allow him to be Seen.

And the reason he feels after this statement? It had to be coming from the fact that Jane Prentiss told him exactly who’s he about to become. Who he already became as soon as he recorded the first statement. A resource to store information instead of one of a help. So he acknowledges it, but still dismisses the mere idea of this or other statements being unexplainable by “natural” things. Still dismisses the statement from fear of being Watched that I assume absolutely was boiling him from inside out at this point of recording.

And Martin was there in the Archives the entire time looking at Jonathan’s change. The others did too of course. But there is always something more intimate when you’re in only each others company and not in a group. I’ll assume he noticed the shift in Jonathan stronger and more detailed than others.

[sweetdreamuwu]

First time listener here so no spoilers please but I'm currently at ep30 of tma and

Jonathan just going

"Mhm. More meat. Interesting 😐"

After the 102872616 horrifying meat case this season made me fucking WHEZE

I think it was the delivery and somehow also context humor after listening to all other statements in order 😭

Or maybe my humor is just broken idk

[thesaltyblobfish]

TMA 30: maybe I should become a vegetarian

[kat-and-their-cats]

Favourite TMA Episode 21-30

MAG 21: Freefall

MAG 22: Colony

MAG 23: Schwartzwald

MAG 24: Strange Music

MAG 25: Growing Dark

MAG 26: A Distortion

MAG 27: A Sturdy Lock

MAG 28: Skintight

MAG 29: Cheating Death

MAG 30: Killing Floor

Results

Voting ended onApr 11, 2024

Favourite Episode Masterlist

[silly-lil-blog]

My favorite thing in the about the statements is the random person they encounter that says something spooky and gives me goosebumps. Fav examples include:

"Enjoy sky blue." -Simon MAG21

"No, sir, you have nothing to fear from the dead." -Man from the Cemetery MAG23

"Be still, for there is strange music." (Not a person but it counts for me) -The Calliope MAG24

"You cannot stop slaughter by closing the door." Tom Haan- MAG30

"Tomorrow will be a good day for a run." -Hiker MAG31

I'll add as i go further along

[burninginthegymplplinko]

MAG 30 - Killing Floor

doodle 30/200; days left 73/110

uuh idk coming up w something for this episode was pretty hard because i do not want to draw dead bodies thankyouverymuch so i just went with doodling the hallways in innacurate perspective bc tHATS fun

[eleanor-is-fine]

TMA #30 Killing Floor

Statement of David Laylow. Tom Haan.

[JS reading]

“Every damn animal in that place knew exactly why they were there. You don’t need to be smart to know when you’re surrounded by your own mutilation.”

Casual human brutality... cruel and distressing for the animals

“You start to see people as meat, too.”

Animals that move and cry and tremble in fear and you turn them into blocks of meat. Hard to not see every creature as meat.

“Pulling that trigger sure felt like killing to me.”

Tom Haan did the bleeding.

I don’t remember how I felt, I wasn’t really feeling those days.

Tom said, “You cannot stop slaughter by closing he door.”

Silence. Bleeding area was clean.

Corridor was one I didn’t recognize. Behind each door was a hallway that seemed to lead deeper into the abattoir. I was somewhere new.

[soundscape begins in the hallways]

Rails in the hallways. Some doors led into rooms full of clean machinery.

[definite foreshadowing]

Stairs up. More passages. Out a window, saw a roof to the horizon, sky the color of blood being washed into a drain.

Dark green exit door. Stepped through. Conveyor belt... I screamed, fled out the door, began to cry. “I just couldn’t.”

Began to smell the blood. Followed the smell. Catwalk around a huge pit.

Conveyor belts carrying carcasses. Falling limply onto each other like dolls. Something mechanical processing.

Heard a thunking sound.

Sitting in front of the killing box, Tom Haan holding the bolt gun against different parts of his body and pulling the trigger. “He guided my hand to his forehead but I pulled the trigger myself.”

Next door led to an exit.

“I wish I felt bad about his death. I wish I felt anything.”

---

“More meat. Interesting.”

He and Tom left by the main doors.

Tom seems to have completely disappeared.

Current employee:  building already seems to be way too big, can’t get over the smell of blood.

{spoilers}

Related to ritual described in TMA #130

Sounds like the domain in season 5