THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES
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- čas přidán 5. 06. 2024
- MAG130 - Case #0081912 - Lucia Wright
Statement regarding a hole filled with meat.
The Magnus Archives hears from a prolific traveller who encountered a strange manner of meat disposal at some temple ruins outside of Istanbul.
Content Notes: Body horror, dismembered human/animal remains, emotional trauma, death/dying, sleep disorders
Starring: The Archivist - Jonathan Sims; Gertrude Robinson - Sue Sims; Lucia Wright - Beth Eyre
Writer: Jonathan Sims
Director: Alexander J Newall
Producer: Story Sylwester
Editors: Alexander J Newall, James Austin, Brock Winstead
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everyone is going to be all shocked and surprised when jon goes into the death coffin on a suicide mission like they haven't been bullying him and blaming him after waking up from a 6 MOntH ComA... god i feel more and more like a peeved mother every episode
or maybe they won't care at all :/ that'd be worse ://
Oh god each of these possibilities are horrible.
Yea same, and im a Man…
yep yep yep
Seriously, what do they think happens to the psyche of a person facing that much shame and ridicule. I know they're all suffering, but taking it out on Jon isn't helpful and it's no wonder he getting increasingly reckless and desperate--poor man already had no self-preservation instincts, and now he's actively being told he's not human, should have died, and isn't helpful. Of COURSE he's gonna end up doing something outrageous, he doesn't think it matters what happens to him anymore! Ugh, poor Jon, i want so badly to protect him
Look, Gertrude's methods may morally dubious at best but there's something about a little old librarian repeatedly getting right up in the face of Eldritch Fear Entities with a walking stick and a big middle finger for freaking decades that just makes me happy.
Dont forget carrying C4 and yeeting it at them.
If you cant solve a problem, just blow it up.
And explosives, don't forget those 😂
Kinda like that old lady that got beef with Alex in Madagascar and kept fighting other big animals
Too bad that her fate was inevitable....
**Gertrude sidles up to a meat temple** “Hey fuckers, hope you like fireworks!!” 😂😂
*Lucia:* will giving a statement help with my nightmares?
*Gertrude, knowing good and damn well that giving statements CAUSES nightmares:* uhhhhhhh
Listening to her lie so blatantly was fascinating
@@kellanlevi5663 technically she said that the current nightmares wouldn’t trouble her anymore. Now she has all new and much worse ones.
Oh the irony of Martin dumbly risking his life to protect Jon while Jon is willingly going to walk inside a magic coffin that kills people
doesnt it specifically not kill people
@@klbzplbYes. Or it kills them very very slowly.
Yeah it doesn't kill, it traps you in forever choking and crushing torment, never letting you go, never gifting the eternal peace of death
Episode 129: "I need an anchor'
Episode 130: Meat.
Well that clears that right up
HONESTLY
Alright but queen behavior from Lucia here. She was faced with a horrible meat ritual and just went with it tbh. She and that coffin guy have the ability to survive literally the entire podcast I think
*makes popcorn*
Also that train girl.
Honorable mention to the plumber who literally didn’t notice monsters making flesh masks because he was too focused on doing a good job.
also that guy who survived the Spiral bc he realised he was late for dinner with his parents.. lmao
Who's the coffin guy again?
I wonder what'll happen if we tried to feed it some veggies
A more nuanced way to disrupt the ritual than explosives indeed, Gertrude would be proud !
This actually portrayes it really well czcams.com/video/vIqdwGYmTgU/video.html
@@colonelcucumber Ah, yes. Will McDaniel. If any human on this planet were to have an affinity for the flesh, it would be this man.
Gertrude would be so proud
even before clicking the link I knew who it was going to be
She went to Istanbul, not Constantinople. it's been a long time gone, oh Constantinople.
Why did Constantinople get the works?
Alex it’s nobody’s business but the Turks
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam.
@@kninenights but why they changed it I can't say
@@finnlaymoth2171 People just liked it better that way !
I wonder if when. The flesh attacked the Institute when Jon was in his coma, if it was Jared Hopworth's gym buddies.
:O
Jocks vs Nerds battle royale
😂😂😂
You mean gym bodies?
The way Gertrude said whatever was inciting her nightmares would end soon was rather ominous.
I came here to say the same thing lol
Gertrude Savage Robinson
Amen
... that's probably it. Web, Eye, Lonely, Hunt are all mostly on the same team because they are happy enough with the world as it is. The Hunt's ritual isn't even done to change the world, the Web is in the world wide web and busy happily enough, it's the age of Information for the Eye, and we are all alone together thanks to social media for the Lonely.
The End also doesn't want to change the world. Everything Ends, no need for a ritual. Things will always End, no need to stop other rituals.
You are forgetting the Watcher's Crown
@@Axius27 well I think that was mostly due to some pressure, if you remember all the others tried before the eye so it was probably like saying "do it, unless of course you can't"
"Lonely"
"on the same team"
Wait, that's illegal
@@saucevc8353 one could say thats pretty *Strange*
@@Axius27
Considering the Watcher's bias towards Jon, someone who is actively undoing all the rituals and such, I feel like some rituals are something the followers want to do but the entity doesnt. Watcher's Crown would feed it, but also make new information much harder to fabricate, functionally causing a shortage. Of course the followers would want it because theyd get a huge power boost tho, and the way the patron-avatar contract works, as long as they feed it they get power. Even if the patron doesjt want it. Miss bone book was able to take power after all, despite actively defying multiple entities. In many ways they're self aware sources of power who can draw people to it, or people can draw from it without its say.
Well, the body horror is certainly something else this season.
It's very _fleshed_ _out_ 👀
Lmaoooo
And the award goes to Macabre Citrus for outstanding innovation in puns and wordplay.
@@TheProtoChimp
🏆🎆🎇✨
The puns are awesome
@@l.raphaelnery7299
Well thank you 👀
Regarding a hole filled with meat
me
Starring - Meat
Produced by - *Meat*
Director of Cinematography - *MEAT*
With special thanks to, you guessed it
*M E A T*
@@byong9954 at
Nice
giggity
I cannot emphasize enough how much I think it's a BAD IDEA for Jon to go adventuring in the coffin without Basira there.
he’s stupid
I mean yeah the woman REASONED her way out from a place BEIOND REASON!
I like The Flesh's seeming recurring connection with religious imagery. The two images together just feel so wrong and corrupted, as an eldritch horror should.
It's interesting since the Flesh comes from the fear of millions of animals, why the religious aspect?
@@-S.L. I think it might find it... ironic? Idk, thats my theory at least. Religion is typically all about the spiritual and the transcendent, about convincing ourselves there is more to us than just meat, that we're uniquely blessed with an immortal soul... and then the Flesh comes in like "sic, immortal soul does not exist and you really are nothing more than a pile of meat, no different from the animals you consume. All your religious posturing is for nothing"
Idk, the Flesh might not be subtle but its fun to think it has a sense of humour
@@agnieszkasalach4395 it always seems to be christian churches as well, what with eating the body of christ and all
Your body is a temple, after all.
this is my favorite comment on this whole episode. you might even call the mental imagery.... juicy.
i got to the part about the backwards-arm lady being thrown into the mouth and my brain thought one thing:
*Bad boys get put in the Meat Hole*
lazy flesh slaves get put in the meat hole to atone for their crimes
This has the energy of that post about the hockey penalty box 😂
I hate the fact it made me cackle
Damn you
Loving how Gertrude amusedly talks about how she disrupted the ritual, considering she was last time around the person copping up another human being and tossing them in to a maw in the ground.
“no one here throws body parts into demonic holes in the ground, but me”
* Gertrude turning around, putting on sunglasses and pushing a button. Explosion behind her ensues *
omg I hadn't thought of that, thank you for the imagery.
I know its narrative purpose, but I'm too much of a biologist not to wonder. Did the spiders bring the cassette to the drawer and then covered with webs as a signature? Oh, or maybe they built the web and then it produced the tape from within itself. That'd be satisfying.
Also, why cut yourself, Jon? Just leave a juicy, nicely seasoned, fragrant steak outside the casket. I know *that* siren song would draw me back from the dead any day.
lay out some strips of bacon on a George Foreman grill and start it up outside the casket right before jumping in. Save Daisy just in time for a lovely pork treat!
I know this comment is old, but I'm pretty sure there's webs left over from the act of spiders moving it. I'm sure spiders don't just pick it up and move things, I think they wrap it in web and slide it along with other webs to the place they want it, or at least that's how I understand it. So it's just leftovers
me, dumb as a doornail, hearing jon talk about the anchor: but what does that have to do with the flesh?
me: ...
me: oh- OH NO
I was like "It's JON'S STUPID IDEA TIME AGAIN! He's had too much common sense this season! Now to do away with that."
Heh, Gertrude being amused at how it feels like cheating to just blow up the ritual instead of devising some symbolic and elaborate counter ritual. Turns out "breaking the important thing" also works.
Someting says me, that these nightmares didn't stop. At least Gertrud recomments therapists. Well, when Jon did it that one time, the lady just got angry. How he did it was just too condescending.
Ok but like, CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT HOW JON IS IMPLYING THAT HES GONNA CUT A PIECE OF HIMSELF OFF IN ORDER TO SAVE DAISY!!!
I hope its only gonna be a vial of his blood or something but i think its gonna be a bit more than that.
I'm very late, but as a first time listener, can we just talk about how screwed up a podcast is when we're like "I hope it's ONLY A VIAL OF HIS BLOOD"
This podcast is so fucked up...
I love it
Everyone: Jon don't do anything stupid.
Jon: aw shit. Here we go again.
"A hole filled with meat."
Me, day n+1 in quarantine: *nice*
I got the giggles from reading this. My customer's looking at me all funny now, thanks
Meat is meat
Meat is me.
Me is e a t
Meat is m e
Meat is Taem but backwards
Hm. Neat.
14:30 I feel like I know her, but sometimes my arms bend back (c)
Honestly, I know that we all think Jon's humanity is being drained, but to me it looks like he's become so much more human in every way lately. All the pain, and empathy, and loneliness, and exhaustion. It both hurts and gives me hope.
"what's another scar" annnnnnd there goes my heart.
2:22 "...and whatever nightmares your experiences left you with I'm sure they wont be bothering you much longer..." was Gertrude intending to kill her before she found out that the statement giver didn't see her or did she honestly forget that she will be watching Lucia re-living her trauma in her dreams personaly-
or it might be that miss "The Distortion itself was impressed by my dihonesty" was simply lying again
oh 22:29 "i would avoid them if i could" lol
Gertrude is so fucking cold. I really liked her at first but I'm realising she fooled me just like she did poor Michael Shelley. :( Jon has more humanity than her, certainly at this point. But yeah I think Gertrude was going to kill her and bringing her in to give a statement was just to find out if it would be necessary...
@Barbora Zahradníčková Vždycky je hrozně fajn potkat v komentářích možného krajana
@@kaayya.k ahoj, taky jsem ráda, když se to stane :) předpokládám, že jsi také fanoušek tohoto podcastu? Já jsem jím úplně posedlá 🙃🙂
Most of them have attempted a ritual, and are pissed that they've been interrupted, so they're chasing after the Eye. I've got to wonder more about the Eye's ritual and the other rituals.
I dont like the idea of john bungie jumping into the buried with, mabye a lost finger or so as a small safe rope, and no one to tell what he wants to do but I love the idea of a mud covered archivist dropping daisy to the feets of a completely surprised basira with a "found your girlfriend" attitude
Why does that has the vibe of finding your friend's lost dog
@@citra1885 not finding your friends lost dog but more like retrieving your friends lost dog from your trigger happy local farmers land. Also the dog tried biting you before.
this was such a good episode and lucia's bit about a renewal of fascination with some aspects of religion and churches at 20 really hit it on the nail for me funnily enough
(old comment but I really can't resist the joke) Was it the right amount of nail tho?
I was a bit worried about carving up a chicken for a Sunday roast while listening to this, but it was fine.
TMA comment sections are literally one of my main sources of happy brain chemicals. Everyone is too dang funny 🤣
yesterday I pulled up this episode to listen while I was eating then saw the name of the episode and looked at the chicken on my plate and nope'ed out so fast. today I came back and was surprised to hear about a ritual in Istanbul, I have been living in this city my whole life and all I can think was how it is creepier when the location is unexpectedly close.
Now you know how an unfortunate/fortunate amount of listeners living in the UK feel! :D It's so creepy and well done.
Lucia getting caught by the driver and just instinctively took the meat given to her makes me imagine a white lady unknowingly helps out on distributing qurban meat during eid al-adha😭
aw man gertrude's growing on me, her va is great
This ep: (about the Flesh)
Also this ep: (concerns religious rituals)
Me, who has to go to church in about an hour: *Lord forgive me for what I am about to do*
6:14 i was thinking about the song Istanbul by They Might Be Giants when i heard that XD
tbh we all propably did lol
I wonder if Elias had Martin moved to the position of archival assistant when Jon started working BECAUSE he could see that Martin was vulnerable to the Lonely, and that meant that in the event that Elias lost his position, things would be easier to manipulate for his ol' buddy, ol' chum, ol' pal Lonely Lukas? AND if getting Lukas in to manage the place after his removal wasn't simply a way of neatly destabilising what little solidarity the crew had - the very thing that helped them remove Elias in the first place. Then Elias can get everyone neatly isolated, swoop back in after Lukas has done the dirty work, and have Jon all to himself to shape into the perfect Archivist...
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Oh Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night.
Im sorry i had to.
Never apologize for dropping an appropriate TMBG reference. You aren't the only one.
Given the state she was in the last time we saw her, I dunno if going to pull Daisy out of the coffin is the best idea... :/
YEAH i also thought that...
She is just a liiiiittle bit unhinged
Pretty sure the asian man with the british accent is the same one who kept cutting the statement givers fingers or hands off in the episode about the closed down takeaway where cannibalism had been committed
Jon out here collecting scars like pokemon
This statement gave me chills bc I grew up going to church, then became an angry atheist and soon became fascinated with the history of religions.
Really interesting seeing the Demiurge referred to as being of The Flesh, when something like, say, Persona 5 portrays the Demiurge being more in line with The Web.
Could be both. After all, the terrors are like 'a spectrum of colour that hate you'
Isn’t that how it’s traditionally portrayed? The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak? There’s probably more but that’s off the top of my head. The demiurge is the one opposing the god, right?
@@tmaxgo6696 My understanding is that the Demiurge is a master of the physical universe but is shut out from the spiritual knowledge and enlightenment of God. I'm not a Gnostic scholar though.
@@mimkyodar It is thought YHWH is the Demiurge split with Lucifer. Sophia birthed him accidently.The Demiurge created the physical human, but not their soul.That is why it is heretical to traditional Christianity. In the traditional take, YHWH and Jesus are the Same God. In Gnostic traition, they are different.
The Flesh and The Web are incredibly similar when you look at them closely, some parts of them could even be a different fear
I already love Lucia's voice.
Beth Eyre, the va, is also in another podcast called Wooden Overcoats, playing one of the main characters. I recommend checking it out, it’s really good!
@_ Mel _ I love Wooden Overcoats! It was weird but awesome hearing Antigone making a statement. lol
Beth also had a brief part in an episode of Wolf 359. :)
It’s just fun hearing her voice pop up in random other podcasts. She’s awesome! 😁
TheNitpickChick Oh yeah I remember her in Wolf 359 too! She’s great
[INT. MAGNUS INSTITUTE, ARCHIVES, GERTRUDE’S OFFICE]
[TAPE CLICKS ON.]
GERTRUDE
Do you mind?
LUCIA
What? Oh - no.
GERTRUDE
Excellent.
[SOUND OF A METAL CHAIR BEING PULLED OUT, THE LEGS DRAGGING AGAINST THE FLOOR.]
LUCIA
Why tape recorder? Why not digital?
GERTRUDE
Well, there’s nothing wrong with tape. A bit old-fashioned, but I suppose (amused) so am I.
LUCIA
Right. ..Yes, tha-that’s fine. It’s all fine.
GERTRUDE
Are you quite ready?
LUCIA
(intake of breath) Ah - Um -… Will it help?
GERTRUDE
I’m sorry?
LUCIA
Telling my story. Do you… will-will it help with the nightmares?
GERTRUDE
If that’s your primary goal, my dear, I would suggest you speak to a qualified counselor. We can suggest one, if you like.
That said, I do believe most people find the process of giving a statement to be rather… mm, cathartic. And whatever nightmares your experiences left you with, I’m sure they won’t be bothering you much longer.
LUCIA
Okay, then. (hm) So. What do I do?
GERTRUDE
Let’s start with your name.
LUCIA
Oh. (embarrassed laugh) Uh - Lucia. Lucia Wright.
GERTRUDE
And what is your statement regarding?
LUCIA
Just um… a hole. A hole filled with, uh… with meat.
GERTRUDE
Gertrude Robinson recording. December 19th, 2008. In your own time.
LUCIA
Right, okay, so. Um. I was on holiday, actually, meant to be, at least. No, no, I was. Whatever happened later, it was, technically, a holiday. Sorry. I’m rambling. I like to travel, when I can. I’m not one of those people who can take months and months and… go swimming with dolphins or… climb Machu Picchu. My job is very high-pressure. Well. It was.
The point is, I… used to take a lot of city breaks. Spending a long weekend flying off to anywhere with decent flights, and… seeing the sights. I generally try to take in an art gallery, a-a few of the best restaurants the guidebook recommends, and somewhere with a decent view of the whole city. And of course, a couple of churches.
I’ve… always had an odd relationship with churches. I suppose I was raised Church of England, but my parents were never very involved with it, and when I told them I wanted to stop going when I was fourteen, they didn’t make a fuss. I had a few years as an angry atheist, but when I was about twenty, I swung back the other way a bit, and became pretty fascinated with religion. Not in a believe sense, but I found it all really interesting, especially early Christianity and the church-so much politics over what it means to be good, to be holy. So many heresies about the Trinity, about - how human Jesus was, about - how many nails they used to crucify him - but more than that. I loved churches. These big, quiet, echoing spaces of peace and beauty, designed to quiet the soul, and prepare it for communion with the divine. Even if I didn’t actually believe in the god they were supposed to house, I always found them… meditative.
And whenever I went on one of my breaks, I’d always try to find a local church- hopefully not too full of other tourists like me - and spend an hour or two in quiet contemplation. I’d listen to the shuffling footsteps of the other people, and breathe in the lingering smell of incense, before lighting a candle to my grandmother. She had always been very religious- although, since most of the churches I visited were picked for their design, they tended to be Catholic or Orthodox, and I’m not sure how happy she had been about my lighting a candle for her in them. Still, at the end of the day, I did it for me, not her. She’s gone. There isn’t anything but us.
Anyway, when a deal came up in the middle of October for five days in Istanbul, I jumped on it. I’d heard a lot of lovely things about the city itself, but more importantly, I’d just been reading a brilliant series of articles on early schisms in the church, specifically the various gnostic sects that started springing up around the fourth century, many located in what was then Constantinople, and is now Istanbul.
Do you know about gnosticism? It’s the sort of dualism that places the purity and goodness of the spiritual world in opposition to the baseness and corruption of the material world. Some gnostic movements even go so far as to posit the existence of the demiurge: A counterpoint to the god of the spiritual world, who created material existence as a warped, imperfect imitation of its purity. Everything that is base, corrupt, and vile in the physical world comes from them. If God, as gnostics see him, is the god of the soul, then the demiurge could easily be called the god of the flesh. Of- bone and blood. Of meat.
I had read about an old gnostic temple some miles outside of Istanbul, and decided to make a short trip out to see it. When I got there, though, there was nothing but a disappointment. What the artfully lit photos had shown as stark and ancient, were in person just… empty and old. Whatever decoration there once had been had long since worn away, and only the occasional plastic tourist signs indicated it had ever been a place of worship. Whatever peace I was looking for, I wasn’t going to find it there. It was barely more than a ruin. More than that. I seemed to be almost entirely alone. There had been an old woman coming out of it when I arrived, but I hadn’t seen anyone apart from her, not even at the ticketing booth.
As I wandered the small building, I became more and more aware of the quiet, and of the wind that blew gently through the open windows. I did my best to shrug off the growing feeling of unease that had settled over me, and walked back outside. The taxi that had taken me had long since departed, and the temple stood alone, some distance from any other inhabited building. The afternoon was wearing on, and I didn’t fancy trying to walk all the way back to my hotel, but my initial plan of asking a staff member to call me another taxi was somewhat scuppered by their absence.
As I was considering my options, I heard the roar of an engine, and looked over to see a heavy-looking truck slowly rolling down the street towards me. It had no obvious markings, and the back of it was covered with a grey tarp. For some reason it filled me with the most intense dread I’ve ever felt, and I found myself stepping back, behind a pillar, desperately hoping I was out of sight.
The truck pulled around the side of the building, and I heard the engine stop. I crept forward, still not sure why I had such instinctive terror of what seemed to be on the surface a perfectly normal vehicle. But as three men climbed out of the front, and started to walk back towards the covered load, I started to realize I could smell something. Damp. Slightly sour, with the faintest hint of iron.
I realized what it was a moment before the tarpaulin fell, and revealed the huge pile of pink and white and brown. A-At first I thought the bodies were all human-that perhaps I had somehow stumbled upon some sort of - gang, disposing of a massacre’s worth of corpses.
But then some of them started to move. Squirming limbs were dragging, rising, extracting themselves from this massive mound of flesh, and making their way down to join their companions on the ground, one by one. Most of them could still be mistaken for humans at a distance. A few even wore clothes. No one said a word.
After a minute or so, it looked like everything that was going to climb down off the truck had done so. The pile of meat still rose several meters up from the back of the truck, and as much as I wanted to look away, I couldn’t. M-most of it was just- unidentifiable chunks, but a lot of it was clearly animal: chickens, lambs; I even saw a whole pig head.
Some of it was human. I could see a man’s torso near the top of the pile and an arm jutted out near the base, the hand splayed out at the end. I had the weirdest impulse to wave at it. The driver - or, the one I assume was the driver - then started to reach up onto the pile. He took a handful of meat, and turned to- whoever or whatever was nearest to him. He passed it on to them, and then they would turn, and head towards the back of the temple, towards an unmarked temple I’d assumed was staff only.
Now it was open, and they went in, one at a time. They didn’t come back out. All this time, I’d just been watching from my hiding spot, totally frozen in confusion and fear. As I said, the temple stood apart from any other buildings, and.. if I tried to leave, the chances were higher that I’d be spotted. I thought I could maybe just wait. Just. Stay where I was until these people had finished doing whatever it was they were doing. And then they would drive away, and I would leave, and spend the rest of my life pretending I had never seen anything, (breath) that I had gone to an art gallery instead.
This plan lasted right up until the driver saw me. It was my own fault. My leg was starting to cramp up, so I tried to shift position - but I didn’t realize just how painful it would be to move, and I let out a cry before I had a chance to stifle it. The driver’s head snapped up and focused on me. He was rail-thin, dressed in rough overalls, with shaggy black hair and pale skin. He was East Asian - Chinese, maybe, but he called me over in a crisp British accent. His tone was firm, but unhurried, and to my ears, not immediately threatening. So I did as he asked.
I walked, slowly, but deliberately over to him, hands out to my side, doing my best to show him I wasn’t a threat. I made the decision that-whatever was happening, my best chance to make it out was just - keep doing as I was asked.
By the time I reached the truck, the smell was so thick I could taste it. I stood there, legs shaking, muttering a prayer to a god I didn’t even believe in. He stared at me for what felt like hours, but - can’t have been longer than a few seconds. And he shrugged. Turned to the truck and picked up what looked like the back half of a goat. He held it out to me, expectantly. Honestly, I was so surprised I just took it on instinct. The driver nodded to himself, like he’d made the right decision, and I turned, and started to walk towards the door, afraid that any hesitation might make him reconsider, mark me out as something other than what he had decided I was.
I - don’t eat much meat, and rarely ever cook it myself, but I held that cold haunch to me like a talisman. As if it might ward whatever awful thing waited inside that door. As I got closer, I saw one of the others, a tall, gangly woman with arms that bent backwards leaving the entrance. She had to stoop to get through. But as she raised back up to her full height, I felt her eyes rest on me for a second. I didn’t slow my pace or meet her gaze. She walked past me quickly, on the way back to the truck for her next load.
I stepped through the entrance, moving carefully down what looked to be a rough-hewn stone stairway. It went deeper and deeper, far below where any normal basement might have been. So narrow at points that I had trouble fitting. My mind kept trying to imagine meeting one of the less human-looking things coming back up the other way, but I didn’t let it. Finally, I reached the bottom, and stepped out into a scene I s-s-still see every time I close my eyes.
I don’t know how big the room would have been to begin with. Only one side had anything that might’ve once been considered an interior wall. The others were rough rock and stone, clearly hollowed out and extended until the place must have been almost forty yards across. In the middle of the floor, taking up almost the entirety of the strange vault, was a pit. (mm) No, not a pit. Not exactly. The others stood around the edge, throwing their burdens down into it one piece at a time. And there, at the bottom, was another pile. One that dwarfed the truck outside. One that would have dwarfed a hundred trucks. Because I couldn’t actually see the bottom. For all I know, it could’ve gone down forever, an endless pillar of flesh.
But then it moved, and I realized in a second what it actually was I was looking at. Not a pit. A mouth. I feel a strange, deep pride that I didn’t scream. I didn’t panic, though my mind felt like it was trying to shut down at the repulsive sight. Instead, I forced myself to take my place there at the edge, and hurl my… offering down into it. It accepted it greedily. I wish I could say I ran, then, or that I found a clever trick to escape, but I didn’t. When I returned to the surface, I was handed more meat, before I even had a chance to consider getting away.
So I decided I would keep up the ruse until the truck was empty, in the hopes that I would have a chance later. But as we unloaded the last of the grim cargo, and I carried a heavy, red tongue down into the vault, I saw another truck pull up, almost identical to the first; then another; then another.
There was no end to them. Day turned into night turned into day again, and still I carried meat, and threw it into the hole. And my back was screaming. My legs were weak. And my mind was numb from terror. But I was spurred on by one thing: the woman with the backwards arms had fallen, sometime in the night, and her companions had showed no hesitation. They had gripped her shoulders, hoisted her up, and hurled her straight into the gaping maw. I swore it wouldn’t happen to me.
All through this, the mouth got closer and closer to the edge of the pit. The pile of flesh within it grew larger and larger, sat there in an awful, half-solid slurry, chewed and crushed together. It was impossible to tell what had once been animal, and what might have once been us. It was all just meat.
And as the mouth got closer, the smell got stronger. The air became thick, and the walls began to sweat a pinkish liquid, like cutting into a steak. More of those workers had been thrown in, replaced by others brought in the- endless procession of meat trucks. I didn’t know what was going to happen when it finally reached the top, but I knew it would be something bad. Something unspeakable. And I would have helped make it happen.
When the explosion came, it was a blessed relief. A deep rumble passed through the structure of the building, a deafening cry of rage and dismay that came from below, as the roof collapsed downwards, burying it under a torrent of rubble and stone.
I was lucky. At that moment, I had been stood in the bottom of the stairwell, and as the world collapsed around me, I began to sprint up the stairs. But I barely made it halfway up before that toppled as well, and I felt the foundations of the temple above fall down around me. I thought I was dead. I wish I had been.
I don’t know how long I lay-trapped there before Turkish rescue workers found me. Certainly long enough that the scent of rot began to waft up from far below. I was delirious and barely conscious. I-I tried to warn them, to tell them to finish the job - but all that did was convince them that there might be other survivors.
They, um, haven’t told me what they found down there. They paid for my flight home, but haven’t told me anything. I don’t know anything. I, I just want to sleep. (businesslike tone) That’s it. That’s all I have. That’s what happened.
GERTRUDE
And… Do you feel any better?
LUCIA
No.
GERTRUDE
Well that’s a shame. Hang on, let me see if I can find you the number for that counseling service. They’re, They’re actually quite good.
[AS SHE SPEAKS, SHE MOVES, AND WE HEAR THE RUSTLING OF HER CLOTHES AND A COUPLE OF FOOTSTEPS.]
LUCIA
If you say so.
[TAPE CLICKS OFF.]
[INT. MAGNUS INSTITUTE, ARCHIVES, GERTRUDE’S OFFICE, LATER]
[TAPE CLICKS ON.]
GERTRUDE
Well. That is a relief. When I heard there had been survivors of the Last Feast, I was rather concerned that one of them might be able to positively identify me, (ha) which could land me in all sorts of trouble. (she inhales) But she doesn’t seem to remember me at all.
Tom Haan might be a bit more of a problem, as it looks like he also survived, but I’m hopeful he has been weakened enough by this failure to not be an issue in the near future. Hopefully, he’ll fade away or burn out as they tend to when robbed of their purpose. Still, I should keep a watch on him in case of any erratic behavior that might lead to complications. Also worth watching out for any… additional esoteric fallout from the ritual attempt, like that Carlisle boy down in Wandsworth.
Dekker really came through with the explosives. It almost felt like cheating. Sad about the loss of history, but… Miss Wright didn’t seem to think the old gnostic church got many visitors anyway. I’m honestly impressed she had the strength to get through it, even if she does seem to have been.. deeply affected by it. Shame about the dreams. I would avoid them if I could.
At least we know for sure that these grand rituals can be disrupted by conventional means, though a more… nuanced approach will be needed for some of them, I’m sure.
Also… I can’t rely on having this much lead time. I’ve had ten years tracking supplicants drawn by the siren call of flesh, watching them gradually stockpiling meat. Very useful, in terms of preparation time for derailing the final push, but in future, I think I need to get a little bit more… pro-active.
[TAPE CLICKS OFF.]
[INT. MAGNUS INSTITUTE, ARCHIVES, JOHN’S OFFICE]
[TAPE CLICKS ON.]
ARCHIVIST
I found this tape tucked in a corner of my desk drawer (sigh) covered in cobwebs. I suppose subtlety has gone out the window a bit, and the question is now simply… how much I trust the Spider to have my best interests at heart.
Hm. I suspect my assuming it has a heart might be a clue I’m looking at this the wrong way. (sigh) Even so, and - leaving aside the matter of Gertrude’s actions for a moment - what is it trying to tell me with this? Is it about… rituals? About getting Daisy back?
About - About an anchor. What was it she said, “the siren call of flesh.” Hm. It’s possible, I suppose. It would - hurt, but - well, what’s another scar?
(small sigh) It’s been two weeks since I heard from Basira. I’m not waiting any longer. I’m getting Daisy back.
End recording.
[TAPE CLICKS OFF.]
@@petraivan6778 thank you! Ugh these flesh episodes make me glad I'm a vegetarian （≧ｍ≦）
@@islaridland well they almost made me one ;) (btw I really respect you being a vegetarian, I wish I had the willpower)
Petra Iván thank youu
I think they all kind of keep each other in check when it's time for the rituals
The archivist prevents their rituals and then when it comes time they prevent the eyes ritual, because I doubt an avatar for the eye is going to do much about preventing it
Gertrude: yes, your nightmares will... _stop_
Me: you're replacing them with new ones, Gertrude, that's not what she meant you know it!
I don't know if it's actually something to look into, but it's really weird to see how rambly and unfocused the speaker sounded. And there's no static either, so I think this might be earlier in Gertrude's journey, before she became a fully realized archivist?
the flesh b like: * meaty wack, both chuckle *
Niceeee a Mythbusters reference. High five, my guy.
I desperately want a crossover episode with Nightvale
I would scream XD
I like how exactly 100 episodes ago, the episode was also about meat
The name of this one makes me somewhat terrified.
Wow it's my first time being so early, I just adore Gertrude's voice
NBCs Hannibal really ruined the scare factor of cannibalism and meat for me. Even monster pig and human take-away and arm burgers don’t phase me anymore. Meat hole? Whatever.
W-wha- Jon what are you gonna do. What, are you gonna leave a finger or some other chunk of your body or something- *reads who the statement giver in the next episode is* .....UuuhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHH O_O
Yuuuuup! :D
"I don't want to know anything. I just want to sleep"
*Papa John's commercial*
I now have an image in my head of the web going " you know what I'm not even going to try and be subtle with this reckless fool anymore" and just gave Jon a tape
Its kind of weird gow strangeley Happy Gertrude is trought this whole recording hahaha
"I'm sure they won't be bothering you much longer."
Not as comforting as she thinks it is. 😅
Dose most of rituals can be stopped just by blowing everything up?
We had three of them from with two included tnt (or whatever) that's not to much but weird enough.
To quote: *Hefts gun* Parry this ye fucking casual
well at least the buried can't really, as it needed a void-touched body, i dont imagine explosions work if eveything is falling in
Elias thought Gertrude was going to blow up the Institute so I guess it works pretty good?
OH SHIT IS JON PLANNING TO FUCKIN CUT A PIECE OF HIMSELF OFF
Oh Gertrude, what did you mean by Lucia wouldn’t have to worry about the nightmares for long? Glad you changed your mind by the end.
“What’s another scar?” SHHSJSKSJS AND NOT TO MENTION HES LIKELY DOING THIS SO THAT EVERYONE WILL TRUST HIM OR STOP HATING HIM OR WHATEVER
I am... concerned. To say the least.
Gertrude you seem too damn happy for this. She sounds like a child who has been given permission to wreck havoc at the school play
I know it's a horror story but this is the most soothing statement just based on narration
So you're telling me there's a statement recorded on my birthday and it's this??? I'm literally a vegan 😫
more reasons to stay vegan
Sure Gertrude's morality is... disputable, but you can't deny she's efficient. In 15 years she successfully stopped (as far as I know, first time listener) three rituals. It's impressive
Wait... didnt Peter also recomend a therapist to Martin? Idk if it relates at all but could Gertrude be talking about the same person?
Also, this episode is reminding me alot of the episode about the Giant meat maw in the butcher factory or whatever the place was called (cant remember the episode number)
I really shouldn't have been that excited to hear the names Tom Haan and Carlisle...
MEAT FOR THE MEAT GOD MEAT FOR THE MEAT GOD MEAT FOR THE MEAT GOD MEAT FOR THE MEAT GOD
veggies for the meat god. all that protein and no fiber is unhealthy!
@@f_mva he's a god, gods don't need to worry about health
"A hole filled with meat" i started just going over and over "whyyyyyyy whyyyyy whyyyyyyy meat"
This episode reminded me very strongly of a short film called AM1200, i think it's on about 40ish minutes on youtube split into parts.. So if you liked this episode I definitely recommend
Gertrude sounds... different. Maybe this is an older statement? Lucia didn't give answers as readily as usual. Maybe the Web is trying to remind Jon of what it was like, maybe? before everything with the eye and the paranoia... Or maybe it's just fucking with him
orrr Gertrude's being creepier? :(
Wait... The web?
I mean, I'm not contesting it, I just figured this was all the Eye's doing and that the web was only here for Martin
I feel like the description “rail thin” has come up way too many times. I am multiple amounts of concerned.
oh no now I'm worried
Lucia's voice makes me smile
we love the mysterious flesh pit and it's rituals
Martin can be an anchor
That's what I was thinking but I don't think it works like that. "someone you love" seems to be an anchor to escape the lonely, but maybe it doesn't work with the buried.
@@achnav3762 i think it has worked with the buried! in the statement that convinced jon he needed an anchor, the victim managed to survive the flood of the buried by holding on to the sheath of his grandfather's machete. jon took this to mean he needed a physical object, but i think it's more likely his love for his grandfather that acted as the actual anchor.
Wait, one of your patrons is named BJÖRN JAEGER?!
yay meat!!
We are the meat we love the meat :))))
Found the Flesh Avatar. Keep on keeping on my meaty friend. :D
@@vomitfountain meat :-)
robin meat is meat 🍖
DIG but meaty
6:15 They Might Be Giants reference?
wow she's so brave!
I THOUGHT I HEARD ANTIGONE FUNN FROM WOODEN OVERCOATS AND THEN I SAW THAT BETH EYRE WAS IN THIS HOLY SHIT.
ADJSJDHD SAME I WAS WAITING TO FIND A COMMENT ABOUT IT
This podcast is secret vegetarian propaganda
Or maybe it’s cannibal propaganda , meat is meat
Meat is me /ref
This episode got me thinking though: if servants/avatars of The Eye like Elias can put knowledge into people's minds, can they also erase information from there? I'm sure a lot of those who give statements would be more than happy to forget what happened to them. Not sure if it would stop the nightmares, but it's worth a try right? I mean Elias is surely too much of an asshole to do that, but maybe Jon could figure out whether he can learn that.
Honestly, I don't think so. Destroying information is almost the anathema of the eye. That's why Jonathan had such a hard time burning Gerry's page.
Some aspects of the stranger could possibly pull it off, or the distortion. But the eye curses you by giving you too much knowledge, and making you afraid that others know all your secrets. It doesn't erase
@@TheShadowlord18You're right. Thanks for the answer, I haven't considered it like that at the time.
Probably the stranger would with it’s unknowing.
@@tmaxgo6696 Or the Spiral. maybe.
@@mimkyodar spiral wouldn’t erase, maybe make 3 or 4 other scenarios so you can’t tell what happened
I haven't seen the video yet but if I had to guess what entity is featured here...
...idk maybe the vast?
(I kid I kid ajjdjdkd)
The patreons names had me rolling 🤣
reading about early church politics and debates exactly as weird as "how many nails did they use to PIN A MAN TO WOOD" - religion is a fandom!
The difference is the Harry/Draco faction would literally murder the other factions and rewrite everything so no one would know the others were equally accepted ideas.
@@Badficwriteryou mean that the attempts to declare others heretics and therefore perfect slaughter targets is canon? The only reason that protestant and catholics don't currently try and do that is that governments are large enough to stop them
I looked at the name of this and the next episode and just went "not the meeat whyyyy why meat again im just about to eat dinner"
quite the up front title, eh?
7:37 - Put on your headphones and turn the volume up. After she says, "Whatever peace I was looking for, I wasn't going to find it there," she begins to say, "it was barely more..." and at the exact same time, there is what sounds like someone's voice saying something quickly over her. What's that about?
i could be missing something, but i think the va just said “it was barely” a little nasally, i don’t think it was a separate voice :0
Ancient eldrich entities tearing their way into this world: Haha, foolish mortals, no weapon forged can stop me
Some old lady: that was then, this is now *explosion*
i don’t understand what the web has anything to do with this?? i thought jon served the eye? or is it because of the leitner he read as a kid?
He had a lighter with a web design gifted to him in season 1. I think the Web like him? Or want to use him?
Some entities seem to be allied with each other. Maybe the Eye and the Web are just friends?
I was going to listen to this eating lunch but when I read the title I decided to be smart about it and save for later lol
Jon: *knowing Basira is no where around* Basira, if you don't want me stepping into this coffin, say stop. *waits for Basira for a minute for comedic effect* All right. Time to go into the coffin.
Jon, Jon, heh, now let's not make any rash decisions. You don't need to cut your arm off, okay? Surely your last brain cell understands the absurdity of what you're saying.
So I was listening to this episode, enjoying the tape static and old-timey sounds, but wishing they were a bit quieter....... Then my earbuds died, so I switched to my higher quality pair.. . ..... And suddenly realized that the tape static is, in fact, very subtle, and you're actually supposed to *hear and clearly understand* the words being said
Is this the same voice actor as "I saw a ghost"?
I don’t think so. This was Beth Eyre. I don’t remember who the voice actor was for that segment of episode 100, but Beth has a pretty distinctive voice and it definitely wasn’t her before. :)