THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES #76 - The Smell of Blood

MAG076 - Case #0171302- Melanie King
Statement regarding further researches into ‘war ghosts’.
The Magnus Archives hears from a returning statement-giver who had a pointed encounter in a scrapyard looking into a decommissioned hospital train.
Starring: The Archivist - Jonathan Sims; Melanie King - Lydia Nicholas
Writer: Jonathan Sims
Director: Alexander J Newall
Editors: Alexander J Newall, Mike LeBeau
MERCH:
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The Magnus Archives is distributed by RustyQuill.com and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.

[@samschmidt8772]

I like how when given the photocopy, Jon immediately went into his statement reading with full voice acting with no hesitation whatsoever

[@ametrime4754]

I thought he was possessed for a second i was like "oh ok were doing this now"

[@voidmatic]

"yes I know what a meme is" - Jonathan Sims, in an angry tone, 13th February, 2017

[@nikonikoknees4488]

"YeS i KnOw WhAt A mEmE iS" - sarcastic spongebob meme

[@glumbortango7182]

@@nikonikoknees4488 Imagining Johnathan Sims and Spongebob back to back like that is funnier than I think you intended

[@amphitritemists4595]

I fully expected the supplimental to be "ok so i did some research and apparently a meme is..."😂

[@Ra_the_Sun_god]

@@amphitritemists4595 oh that’s great

[@nemodra4790]

@@amphitritemists4595 meme is a scientific term introduced by Dawkins in the 70s, It became part of the internet culture only with popularization of social media sites. They are not the same, but Jon will probably know what meme is, no matter how old and pedantic he appears to us.

[@mistykat3137]

John being offended when he was asked if he knows what a meme is is so funny

[@frogonthebikeheh]

He's a cute little man with insomnia and mania about every one of his co-workers except Not!Sasha. ;) He the best.

[@stevbe1723]

Best line so far, although there's some real challenge for that spot

[@dseray9494]

Reminds me of 'I could be on drugs!'

[@trin-is-late]

@@dseray9494remains one of my favorites

[@zypalitra8080]

I like how for 99% of the series so far he's never once interrupted the interviewee once they start talking, but as soon as he's asked if he knows what a meme is he's instantly in there like "DO YOU DOUBT MY KNOWLEDGE, MORTAL"

[@charliem.1368]

“another Sasha? Are you collecting them?” [the artifact storage room is full of sasha after sasha. no sasha is safe] /j

[@rosemarycat5]

This is the real reason Sasha found it unnerving to work in artifact storage

[@nikonikoknees4488]

What do you use the sashas for?

[@nikonikoknees4488]

@cak01vej oh, *casually eats a discarded Sasha* well they do taste pretty good :3

[@belugaval144]

that line is so fucking funny

[@allie_678]

😂😂😂

[@purplecatloverrandompizza]

Melanie: whose the new assistant? What happened to Sasha Jon: the wHAT😳

[@CallMeNIBS]

"I mean-wHAT" sums it up quite nicely

[@jaderush4141]

He also said it with exactly the same intonation as Martin after Jon accused him of being a ghost.

[@applesource8261]

@@jaderush4141 "Martin.... Did you die?"

[@brunacastro7614]

oh god, FINALLY someone who noticed Not!Sasha isn't Sasha FINALLYYYYYYYYY

[@pyrosianheir]

@cak01vej Nah, it was Melanie the last time, too. But, considering where NotSasha came from, it isn't crazy that Melanie might be the only one that even could know about her, barring any low-tech things of Sasha, like the tapes that went missing after Jane Prentiss attacked.

[@stephenguivara8388]

Lmao Why do we call it Not!Sasha?

[@mimkyodar]

@@stephenguivara8388 Because that's how she's credited in Episode 40. The Not!Them is the monster itself, but as its pretending to be Sasha, we call it NotSasha

[@maggiem6209]

I was looking for this comment!!

[@hamburgerdog25]

@@stephenguivara8388 also you can see in the credits in the description in every episode shes in, shes listed as Not!Sasha

[@queenmaj6576]

awwww around 16:30 when melanie and jon get all excited about melanie's research 💞💖 we stan these nerd frenemies

[@pianos4095]

Oh god I know, it was just so freaking cute and dumb

[@DrMDHyde]

It’s cool shit!

[@kaley_kayla6914]

i knowww omf

[@Gingerbredgirl1]

I WANTED TO COMMENT THE EXACT SAME THING!1!1! glad someone loves that scene as much as I do

[@KateCantDraw]

@@pianos4095 the one thing that can unite any two people, Geeking out

[@heresthadude1080]

I always wanted to hear Jonathan say "meme"

[@jadynnkotch1833]

oh my goodness, if jon works on the tapes instead of investigating NotSasha i'm just going to accept the fact that she's going to kill them all

[@clayxros576]

Among Us

[@frogonthebikeheh]

Jon's STUUUU - PIDDD

[@bobtheflyingmonkey]

He forgot to say, “Supplemental,” to start the supplemental part. A clear indication that he’s cracking.

[@dendakrmelova1201]

this is for melanie king and for melanie king only, so if you are not melanie king, please keep scrolling now that only melanie is here, i am free at friday at 7 pm an-

[@trucetruce335]

I had a friend with the same name as her but I think she spelled it different

[@grimgrinners]

“You know what a meme is...” “Yes I know what a meme is!” My life is complete.

[@dannymern6425]

OOOOO! BUSTED, NOT!SASHA!

[@fridaysantos738]

YEES I kNoW wHat a MEME Is!! Jesus John

[@conandenz8413]

Jon, Tim, and Melanie all had the same inability to leave their situation. Jon and tim couldn't quit even though they wanted to, Jon couldn't fire Tim, and Melanie says that she felt she couldn't leave it be. Idk seems weird. Hope we see more of Melanie in the future, she's cool.

[@jambur6577]

same with Marvin when he mentioned in season one that he wrote letters of resignation but could never turn them in

[@DrMDHyde]

I think Jon and Tim literally can’t. Held by the archive.

[@takeoats]

@@jambur6577 lul Marvin

[@HyacinthoIgnis]

when she said scalpel at the beginning i thought of that disease scalpel they have in the artifact storage, sure hope its not that one. but oh boy, i love when jon interacts with the rest of the cast! good stuff.

[@fluffsnake]

same XD and at first I thought the concern on Jon's voice was based on that realization, but he would've told her so it must not be the same one

[@nalinmalhotra3319]

Sasha acts weird and has her voice changed Jon: Martin's upto some shit Michael: bruh! you know that's not Sasha right? Jon: wdym but Tim sure is acting weird Melanie: *literally screaming* THAT'S NOT THE SAME WOMAN I MET BEFORE!! Jon: lol wut? Obviously that's Sasha! 😂

[@rosesinwinter3919]

The Not!Them alters memory. It makes perfect sense why Jon didn't suspect her

[@BeautifulEarthJa]

at the same time, he is taking the position of the idiot/oblivious in the horror movies and its annoying

[@Falcon-doing-doodles]

To be fair, imagine if someone you barely knew told you a family member wasn't the same person they had met 6 months ago. I'd be confused too

[@ayonixanimations]

@@Falcon-doing-doodles Valid, but with Jon's paranoia you'd think he'd suspect all of NotSasha's weird actions regardless.

[@midnights2631]

I mean, to be fair, I won't trust "Michael" if I was in Jon's position.

[@aaliyahadesida2815]

I absolutely _adore_ Melanie and Jon's dynamic!!!

[@A_Classy_Phoenix]

Melanie: "Tall, long hair, glasses." Jon: "Glasses?" Relistening to the whole series with some really high quality headphones and completely did not hear that the first few times. You pick up so many little details.

[@MrIsizukuri]

thank you, now I can hear it too!

[@Companion92]

I have the feeling that the not!Sasha affair is going to mess Jon up bad even more

[@b-blythe6763]

During the episode with Not!Graham, the table seemed weird but irrelevant to what happened to him. Then when Sasha got taken, I started thinking the table summoned the replacement creatures, like how that weird vase in a different episode spat out some kind of monster that took the narrator's husband. But Not!Sasha's comment about the patterns unnerving her and looking like spiderwebs makes me think the replacement monsters are something separate, but they're trying to keep an eye on the table. Maybe Sasha was replaced not to infiltrate the archive but so Not! Sasha could stick close to the table.

[@jaxsonadros2066]

Teehee, bet you know the truth of the table.

[@veratsia]

@@jaxsonadros2066what is it ? Why do the not!thems care about the table ?

[@cawareyoudoin7379]

"Do you know what a meme is?" How old does she think Jonathan is? I mean really?

[@leomorris7573]

how many 30 year olds do you meet w greying hair

[@bisexualantigone]

@@leomorris7573 There are a few but John definitely looks older than he is

[@late_prince8945]

@@leomorris7573 with job like that? My history teacher was fresh out of collage and he started greying after one year

[@cecil9881]

Leo Morris My mom had white hairs in her twenties.

[@waxingmoon2726]

i seems like a stressful job so

[@vee802]

They need to give Melanie a job!!

[@TheNitpickChick]

No they don’t! Let her just join Georgie on “What the Ghost” and never drag her into this mess! Melanie deserves better! 😭 (honestly they all deserve better, but... Melanie...🥺)

[@leomorris7573]

comments that aged poorly

[@cezar3169]

@@leomorris7573 uh oh, what does that mean?!

[@leomorris7573]

@@cezar3169 come back to me when youve hit season 4

[@cezar3169]

@@leomorris7573 im back and omfg why did i even ask? I feel so bad for everyone, 161 really hit me like a ton of bricks 😭😭

[@at-owen3659]

God I really love Melanie. I hope nothing really bad happens to her?!!

[@at-owen3659]

Hey I'm back half way through season 4 and j e s u s christ Melanie

[@tuuhao1464]

I swear, that's the last time I'm reading the comment section.. Everyone is back from season 4 and 'ooh boy shits gonna get bad'

[@phoneguy8369]

As someone listening for the first time oh boy! I'm afraid

[@tearez13]

@@phoneguy8369 same

[@Amalgemotion]

I mean, arguably Melanie is in better shape than a lot of characters by the end of S4!

[@allenl5960]

I assume not Sasha tricks people not by looking or sounding very much like Sasha but by doing some magic thing to make them think she/he/it's Sasha, and since it's been a while since Melanie came, it didn't realize she knew Sasha and didn't do the entire 'I'm totally Sasha' thing making her recognize her as definitely not Sasha.

[@mimkyodar]

Listen to Episode 3 - Across the Street. Same creature.

[@cryptid12]

I love how passive aggressive they are

[@JustAJauneArc]

Very on brand for the british

[@grumpygato99]

"yes I know what a meme is" well we weren't sure Jonny fellow, you do use a tape recorder for your cases

[@grumpygato99]

15:30

[@trucetruce335]

He does that because the cases won't record on his laptop or any more advanced device. Same as Gertrude

[@tearez13]

@@trucetruce335 yeah but does Melanie know that?

[@trucetruce335]

tearez oh I’ve never doubted that there was any reason for her to NOT think he didn’t know what a meme was

[@tbodole]

Jon reads out loud so perfectly, like I know he reads out all the other statements but I always assumed he read through them beforehand but him just reading the photocopied sheet that Melanie gave him so perfectly with so much emotion, with no scanning the paper beforehand. It's amazing, either that or I just suck at reading out loud!!

[@MilanaIsHappy]

I love melanies explanation of what makes a real ghost story because it encompasses so many obviously fake ghost stories like man door hand hook car door. fits all the criteria.

[@solonserenity4067]

Omg finally! I have been waiting for someone to notice.

[@Zarkawi17]

Same, noticed from the very start she had a different voice. Great stuff!

[@noabinnendijk361]

At the end of Season 1 they named all the voice actors and their characters, and they named a voice actor as playing "not-Sasha". But what really tipped me off was the first episode of season 1, where she was speaking in a different way, more flat, and the fact that Jon said she was the least affected. Sinc e then I've been yelling at my phone trying to get Jon to n o t i c e

[@pianos4095]

Mood

[@flaminyawn]

That's the problem when you're dealing with a supernatural perception retcon. As far as everyone in the Institute is concerned, it's always been Sasha, and their memories back that up. Just like how recent images of Graham were replaced with not!Graham, and the only one who noticed they weren't the same person was his pseudo-stalker neighbor.

[@robloggia]

Why is everyone so quick to emotional outbursts? I thought we were in London not my family reunion.

[@lordbaphie]

Supernatural shit fucks you up, man

[@GreatvalueSerotonin]

“Yes I know what a meme is “ probably my favorite line so far

[@-S.L.]

I feel so sorry for Melanie, she sounds so worn and sad and traumatised giving her statement :(

[@bookfanatic8329]

"Well this pompous ass has some very urgent work to do!" Such strong language, oh dear. It's so odd to hear Jon curse.

[@late_prince8945]

Why peoples are getting stop easy angry and frustrating with him? Why they never can calm down and talk things out but always are so in rush?

[@Companion92]

I think they want to get out of the archives again as soon as possible.

[@pyrosianheir]

Maybe because of that feeling of being watched that some people get in the archive? Get outta there asap to get away from who/what ever is watching.

[@hopefullydrawinglives4212]

i really enjoy the distortions near the end. what a nice effect

[@ironbarsjack7977]

People keep making comments like these and I never notice what they’re talking about when I’m listening

[@pianos4095]

@@ironbarsjack7977 oh god same

[@jasonschuler2256]

@@ironbarsjack7977 The first time I listened to this podcast was on my crappy laptop speaker, and I couldn't hear any of the distortions. It wasn't until I listened a second time with high-quality headphones that I noticed them.

[@clovercard22]

I audibly gasped, not!Sasha they are finally onto you now

[@Iquey]

"are you collecting them" just lots of Sashas... To the point that it just becomes a title. 😅

[@cutiepie120048]

Uh-oh not!Sasha - you finally got caught. Keep Up The Good Work~!

[@ElForrest-Okey]

I love how when they work together melanie and jon are of a singular mind, but when at odds its so discordant its hilarious

[@leawa]

I love how both Melanie and John get both really excited about melanies research, they are paranormal nerds at heart.

[@ablynn_thegalewinds]

I KNEW MELANIE COULD TELL I KNEW IT

[@gwendolynpeterson5229]

"Yes i know what a meme is!" -Jon Sims,February 13, 2017.

[@quinnkaplan172]

i am getting so frustrated reading a million comments yelling at Jon over not noticing not!sasha but its like all of them are as oblivious as they think jon is because they all seem to have completely forgotten how the not!people work and have not gone back to the original segment on them or even checked the wiki. there like "jOn hOW coUld YoU nOT nOTiCE ThAT SaSha lOOKS dIFfeReNT". when it is completely explicit that the not!people change peoples perception of past events to match with the new version of themselves. the only person who was immune to this effect the first time around was A) habitually observing and borderline stalking the first victim and B) actually saw the person get replaced. like everything about the plot line so far makes sense with this taken into account. Jon is overly paranoid because he can subconsciously tell there is something wrong and suspicious about his co-workers but is unable to connect that suspiciousness to the source in not!sasha and thus spirels into further and further into paranoid delusions. i feel like most of comments have taken the approach of lets ignore everything the show is telling us and instead misinterpret everything to match a version of events where jon is HaHA funny incompetent paranoid man point and laugh everyone.

[@mimkyodar]

But Sasha has always been like that.

[@melissaharris3389]

I'm relisting and am very surprised at how many people in comments didn't understand that the characters' perceptions are being affected and don't realize Sasha has been replaced due to supernatural shit. You're exactly right about Jon's suspicion of his assistants being caused by the presence of the NotSasha right in front of him. It's like Hitchcock description of suspense being the audience knows there's a bomb under the table when the characters don't.

[@namaschu9418]

His reaction actually makes me afraid of the time he will discover the truth

[@user-mz6gk7cj4d]

can we just talk about how jon and her were getting along so good-

[@victory_snow8220]

Okay, at first I was really happy that those two got along. I always felt they could be a good team, and hearing them working together and everything seems really cool. But as soon as she mentions the "Sasha" she met the first time around and now the "New Sasha" that made me generally scared. I knew something must have happened to the other Sasha, the original Sasha, but I had no idea it was the same creature that popped up in season one, the episode we are first introduced to the hypnotic table! Probably not the same creature, but another of its kind. And of course, no one noticed! The only reason the girl in that episode noticed something was because she didn't know the guy personally, so she was someone not affected by the change. Some with the ghost hunter chick! She didn't know Sasha the same way the others knew her. It all makes sense and now I'm generally freaked out! Not only because Sasha is most likely dead, but now this causes more problems for Jon and is bound to feed to his paranoia even more.

[@odothedoll2738]

The way he enunciates “pompous ass” is hilarious

[@kellyfish920]

The table got Sasha. Damn.

[@TheNitpickChick]

Yup

[@nialls.9939]

maybe micheal is wearing her

[@TheNitpickChick]

@bob Seery - ??? Huh? Michael isn’t associated with the table? And he doesn’t “wear” people? Are you perhaps confusing him with the creature that replaced Graham in “Across the Street”? Because that being and Michael are very different. 😊

[@kellyfish920]

@@TheNitpickChicki think this was supposed to be a joke? I don't really remember. It's been a long 6 montha dude.

[@rynnziolkowski4642]

Just discovered the show yesterday via a random google card on my phone, and now I'm almost done with season 2 bravo rusty Quill you got me hooked enough to binge listen to this show

[@Jamie-A]

THANK YOU MELANIE!

[@emberj6973]

melanie did us all a service

[@kyberserpent6397]

Uh oh, Jon has an idea...

[@pyrosianheir]

Jon, maybe you can put the Gertrude murder on the back-burner for a few days, retrace Sasha's steps so far as you're aware (assuming you remember her talking about stumbling on the table during Jane Prentiss' attack), and get some back-up to contain her before she does something mean?

[@aliyinn3186]

Yeah but he doesn’t even know she stumbled on the weird table right? Cuz she was in the tunnels on her own and the tape recording of when she found the table and not!sasha was "accidentally lost" so he can’t know about it

[@pyrosianheir]

@@aliyinn3186 Sure, but he knows she was in there, and that afterwards she started having trouble with tech. He's even got Michael on tape, as well as other subtler audio tearing, to clue him in properly.

[@ironbarsjack7977]

“Well, this pompous ass” idk why I really enjoyed him saying that

[@kohtea]

was so prepared to hear jon absolutely butcher the pronunciation of "meme"

[@whentheskittlesfightback]

jon: "yes i know what a MEM is!" melanie: "... why did you say it like that. i pronounced it out loud to you."

[@stevbe1723]

So this pretty much confirmed for me that not!Sasha has some kind of hypnotic effect on people around her that makes them not suspicious of her, even though she apperantly doesn't even look similar to Sasha

[@CamilleChauTempsDesCerises]

In one episode, Melanie made the scenario advance way more than Jon's researches through all the season

[@coffeewolfproductions9113]

I just wanted to say that I really love Jon's realizing that Sasha isn't really Sasha. I have a feeling he's gonna be more suspicious of Not!Sasha after this. After all anything weird that happened in the past could be easily ignored and written off (like her pictures with Tom, her fascination with the table, and problems with computers), but now in comes Melanie out of the blue saying that 'Sasha' isn't who she says she is and had just before given a comprehensive statement that had no connection to Sasha. Everything makes sense to us the audience because of our own information and us either not being under Not!Sasha's illusion or not being too fooled by it because we can't see that she looks completely different. The dots may be connected to us and while Jon might not see the full picture he's taking a few steps back. I personally love this because usually when we know something the characters don't and they don't realize what's going on for a long time we get frustrated. But with TMA we can see what's going on and still understand the characters actions based off of what we know. Really excited to see where this goes.

[@Alsmythical]

"Yes I know what a *meme* is!" caught me off guard

[@F4GBOY]

Man in a different world Jon and Melanie would be the perfect kismesis

[@stirrcrazy2704]

Train graveyards actually seem a lot scarier than normal graveyards. Like, maybe a person could hide behind a headstone from a certain angle, but really it’s gonna be hard to keep hidden from someone moving through a graveyard. A bunch of decrepit train cars though? Anyone or anything could be hiding anywhere. Behind them, in them, under them or on top of them, and you wouldn’t know. Even during the day time.

[@elijahkleinman1332]

Jon pretty clearly isn't following up with his witnesses

[@ajnapalm]

OH GOD! MELANIE! YOU'VE ACTIVATED THE HORROR REVEAL!

[@RoseMultiverse]

"another Sasha" 👀👀👀👀

[@hannie8279]

Nerd to nerd communication I love it 😭

[@grfrjiglstan]

The best part was hearing Jon mouth "glasses" after she mentioned them. It was like he recognized that the Sasha he knew did wear glasses, but he just couldn't square it with the fake memories Not!Sasha implanted in him.

[@GlacieThat1Dog]

i got into a car accident 5 minutes into this episode. context: I deliver pizzas and got bored of my music so I've been listening to this show. my phone that's streaming the audio to my car wasn't in my hand while the crash happened. it was deemed the other persons fault as I had the rightaway. everyone was ok no bad injuries.

[@manoumanou2859]

The second of silence at the end of the episode JUST before the end music is just the right length to creep me out

[@johnpears9558]

I think this is the first video I’ve ever watched that has no dislikes.

[@sumitrana2420]

Jinxed it

[@kaitheferret2229]

Now it has six

[@nicothebandito]

Jonathan: *offended* I Know What a meme is!

[@racoon_in_ankhmorpork]

I hope that Gertrude’s tapes magically scream some sense into Jon, because currently it seems that even Melanie’s observation wasn’t enough to convince Jon to deal with Not!Sasha once and for all.

[@lilalino]

God, the part about Sasha was terrifying. For some reason, this is the kind of stuff that really gets me. I think i haven't been that scared in like 30 episodes...

[@l.raphaelnery7299]

So Melanie was the "chosen one" the one to be able to notice it

[@fays.p.5663]

BIIIIIIIIIIIITCH MEL HAS THE BRAINCELL THAT'S FUCTIONING THANK LORD

[@DrMDHyde]

I think it’s cause she didn’t know Sasha, she can tell there’s a difference. Maybe. I think that’s what you’re talking about.

[@cantaloupegodling352]

The way Jon just switched into Statement mode the second a piece of writing was put in front of him was absolutely hilarious.

[@anegginthesetryingtimes7636]

So Sasha has fallen victim to the pipe monster from the table entry

[@bonniecornelius3836]

hi eridan pfp

[@HyacinthoIgnis]

finally progress on not!sasha holy shit

[@mimkyodar]

Naww, Jon and Melanie geeking out over their love of research is so cute.

[@coremagpie9221]

Really shouldn’t be listening to this late at night, but whatever they are so addictive

[@hp_minecraft522]

This reminds me of the restless man and the woman who trapped in the train.

[@tearez13]

As an ex-train-kid I am super into this episode.

[@wagabagabobo6093]

15:29 jonnyboy insists he knows what memes are

[@Glamiers]

YES! Finally we’re getting some clear statements that not Sasha is well not Sasha

[@sidney9796]

ms king im in love with u pls call me back

[@evagrev7351]

My theory from this episode and what we know so far: Finally! Okay, so, I honestly believe that John isn't that thick to not understand that what Melanie told him is at least alarming and needs further investigation, so I believe that this is once again the supernatural being able to reassure its victims and making them act as if they didn't see or hear or read or feel that one thing that alarmed them in the first place. I mean, for God's sake the photographer in another episode was seeing human-like shadows in the walls that were coming to him and becoming more in numbers in each of his photographs and, instead of running away, he was like "tch, something with the lightning is wrong, so let's keep going towards those shadows until we get it right". John in this season is just like all those witnesses of these episodes, telling and describing about how eerie or weird or spooky were things before the big event, and how they should have known from all those signs, but at that time they were convincing themselves that there is a logical reason for all that and, even though everyone else was warning them against it or everyone else being spooked and wanting to leave, they just kept doing what they were doing or kept going etc which led to their big encounter with the supernatural and then saying "I know I shouldn't have, but I did", you know? But now I'm convinced that season's 2 finale will have something to do with Not!Sasha. As for the story itself, as I said before again, I thought that the ghosts in-universe were actually manifestations of the entities that there are in play. Something, like, when those ghosts were humans they were "captivated", "lured" by the entities and those people were working for them (either willingly or without knowing so) that, in the end when they died, their soul was already corrupted enough and they became a part of those entities instead of just dying and moving on, so that's why they are seen after their death and, in most cases, they keep on doing the entities' work. I don't know whose entity this ghost is part of though, I can't figure it out yet. From the sounds of it, it's just a young war-surgeon who likes hurting his victims, so not much info about it.

[@borderlinecrazy6444]

The piper.

[@evagrev7351]

​@@borderlinecrazy6444 Since the surgeon was from the war, yes, it could be related to the Piper, thank you for saying it ^_^ But, until we have further info about the Piper entity I'm not 100% sure. I mean, many of the entities are pretty aggressive too, you know? 😅

[@theroomba1094]

I'm surprised that not a lot of people know about these podcasts. Yet still amazing

[@micah2879]

Thank God SOMEBODY recognizes not-Sasha! :D

[@f_mva]

melanie i like you but you need to chill, jon does not have the people skills it takes to gaslight someone

[@biancamlf288]

Third listen through (spoilers), and I can't help but see the obvious parallels between Melanie and Jon, I'm sure I'll have more thoughts as I make my way to season 4, but it's just ok so. They're following the same path, searching for an explanation and hoping to understand what is happening. They've lost the respect of their co-workers, and have done incredibly rash things (breaking and entering isn't normal, impulse trips, not to mention physical harm). Being "ruined" by the pursuit of knowledge and Melanie being hired by Elias was incredibly fitting. It doesn't help that they are just so similar, as Georgie says. I truly think that had Melanie been hired before Prentiss, she and Jon would probably have fed off of one another or genuinely murdered the other. So in that respect, I really like the fact that their first interaction was awful. It might have saved her. Instead of her descending into madness and ultimately becoming an avatar, she -granted, perhaps because of the diy surgery - had a wake-up call, reached out, and decided that no, her fate wasn't sealed. Whereas Jon wasn't helped, didn't reach out/have that support (deserved or not because s2 paranoia Jon is a lot and had its consequences), thus he ultimately became the Archivist. In short, it's frustrating, and I'm already dreading s4's trauma, trauma, and more trauma. There's a lot to say about free will, and decisions, but that's TMA and I would like to hear the sounds of a brutal pipe murder sooner rather than later.

[@melissaharris3389]

Good points. I just really don't like Melanie and didn't from her first statement to the end. She's rude and unnecessarily hostile. Consistently blames others for her own choices _and_ the consequences of her choices. Jon at least takes responsibility for his choices (even the ones he didn't know he was making) and their consequences; even the blame for things he couldn't have conceivably predicted. Melanie is the _only_ character that actively _chooses_ to go looking for the supernatural even after she's warned not to. She accepts Elias's job offer and refused to acknowledge that both Tim and Martin try to stop her from doing so and treats Jon like he forced her into joining the institute.

[@darian.ry413]

I ASSUMED IT WAS JUST A VOICE ACTOR CHANGE SINCE THAT HAPPENS SOMETIMES! WHY WOULD I ASSUME THAT!?

[@kerryis2col]

I'm listening for the first time and that little moment around 16:00 where Melanie is discussing her findings and Jon is connecting the dots as she explains is so wholesome and makes me hopeful she's a recurring character in the "eventually becomes apart of the team" variety and not the "will eventually be found dead" variety.

[@LunDruid]

"Yes, I know what a *meme* is!" 🤣 I don't know why I find that so funny.

[@hermajestythewhat2533]

POV: you're relistening and hear Melanie talking about her eyes...

[@GreatvalueSerotonin]

I cannot explain how much I love listening to John , his voice and attitude gives him so much character

[@stalesocks6483]

FINALLY JON, FINALLY edit: OH COME ON JON SASHA ISNT SASHA ITS SO OBVIOUS

[@pyrosianheir]

Obvious to us, as outside observers. People in the story, particularly those who get the whammy put on them by weird maybe-cursed tables and/or the entities residing in it, wouldn't find it to be nearly so obvious since they're inside.

[@jasonschuler2256]

The entire point of the creature is that it's not obvious. Just like how the neighbor in S1E03 was the only person who could tell that Graham changed, no one besides Melanie notices any differences in NotSasha. Seriously, the amount of times I've needed to explain this simple mechanic to people.....

[@wonderwhatsgonnahappen579]

Hearing Jon say the word meme is life changing. Also Not!Sasha better start packing, they are finding out now.

[@nightberry7]

Melanie's last statement was S1 EP 28: Skintight (She's the old paranormal investigator)

[@NerveUnderscore]

HE WILL KNOW. C'MON JON I BELIEVE IN YOU

[@clayxros576]

Man those Not!People must have some form of perception filter for those regularly around them. For how paranoid Jon is, he sure isn't eager to look to Sasha.