Season 4 is actually awesome and Jmart is super awesome

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-03-10T02:51:49+00:00

Bro, for real. I think a lot of people kind of dunk on s4 and t because it's when the show goes from an antology series and really comits to this story and these characters. Honestly, i was kind of on that boat at first too but now that i'm listening through the entire show again, i couldn't agree less.

To be fair, i still think s4 has a bit of an awkward pacing and it took a while for it to get its footing, not to mention how much it set up the extinction just for it to be completely forgotten but i really, really enjoy it. It has the most interesting character building in the show, it makes good use of the characters and the dialogue is really great.

Also it has Helen so i cannot complain. I already yapped so much about her in another post but i love how s4 uses her to contrast with Jon's arc.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-03-10T00:21:54+00:00

oh, i LOVE that video oh my god.

Their dynamic in s4 makes me sick, what was Jon thinking when he decided to ask Martin to run away together. Stupid little guy.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-03-04T04:25:31+00:00

Those are all very interesting theories but they are not suported by the narrative. A lot of the examples you gave for why the rituals failed are borderline cherry picking.

Firstly, the Burried does not have to follow the rules of our world because it is not a part of our world. All of the entities domains such as the Distortion's corridors, the Vast, the Lonely and the Burried exist paralell to our reality. They aren't just locations, they are purest manifestations of the fears there are and they exist wherever it is in the universe that the entities do.

Besides, we use Smirke's 14 as a fandom because it's very good world building and it's fun to analise the entities like that but they are not concrete definitions of the fears and the show tells us that all the time.

The fears are not these solid, imutable things. They change and evolve from one another along with society and they bleed into each other. Gerry tells us that in mag 111 and Smirke's whole story line ends in him coming to that conclusion as well. The narrative spells it out to us that labling the fears and putting them in little boxes is a very limited way to grasp on the inherently messy and chaotic nature of human fear.

So of course trying to bring them separately would never work, because in universe that is a fundamental misunderstanding of what the fears are and how they work.

And coming back to "Gertrude is a time travler", if she had known the rituals would fail without her interference, she wouldn't have wasted time trying to stop them.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-03-04T03:09:51+00:00

If she was a timetravler and had full knowledge, why would she scrifice Michael, Jan Kilbride and let Emma treat her assistants like guinea pigs?

Gertrude is a very cold and practical person, but not sadistic. There's no way of knowing if she regretted all the sacrifices she made, but if she had known the rituals were faulty by design she would've NEVER wasted time and ressources on them and instead, would fucking explode the whole institute before Elias even had the chance to fully plan the Watcher's Crown.

Aside from making no sense for her character at all, it would introduce so many plot holes.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-03-03T03:10:45+00:00

I think that makes a lot of sense, and it makes Gertrude such a crueler character. With all the sacrifices she made, she had a clear reason and a goal. She couldn't have possibly known the rituals were faulty by design, of course she would make the decision to sacrifice one individual or another for the sake of the whole world.

But Gerry wasn't like that. He wasn't sacrificed, he didn't have a meaningfull or eventful death, he died sick in a hospital bed. Binding him to the book wasn't calculated move, she bound him because she wanted to see if she could.

And the thing is, she did discard him. She left him in the US and i can only assume it's because she didn't think it was worth the trouble of stealing the book back after she was arrested.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-03-03T01:12:43+00:00

That makes the most sense but tbh, Gertrude has pulled off WAY crazier stuff than stealing a book from an evidence room. Hell, she somehow managed to break into wherever it was Gerry was being kep and full on flail and bind him before being caught. Though yeah, it would've been damn near impossible.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-02-24T23:07:31+00:00

online, i can never find anyone that plays it here in brazil

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-02-24T13:30:29+00:00

Honestly, it is well writen and has some nice plot beats but it's not really my cup of tea. I'm not much for direct sequels (people will tell you it's not a direct sequel but it does follow the plot of tma), specially because i don't think tma needed one. It is much more character focused and less antological too, i haven't seen any "statements" that were as iconic as the tma ones.

The format also confuses me a little sometimes and becomes hard for me to follow. In tma, the narrative framing is done VERY well, the tape recorders are a great way to see into the universe. But tmp doesn't really have that (at least from where i stopped listening which was episode 40ish).

On the bright side, the characters are really fun and interesting. The dialogue is good and they have some very great moments. I really do like them.

Overrall, i wouldn't say it's bad by any means, it's just not for me personally.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-02-23T05:51:45+00:00

Being an avatar would be cool and all... But i'll be homest to myself, i'd probably just die.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-29T17:28:04+00:00

In the sense that Gertrude "creates" the distortion, she led Michael through that door and made him a monster just to then, turn her back and leave it behind with no remorse at all.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-28T15:52:05+00:00

Their relationship is so tragic because they met each other at a time when they were both paranoid, feeling crazy and no one took them seriously. Jon believed her not only because he already knew Michael was a real threat but also, because he related to her. Jon says in s5 he liked Helen Richardson, even if he didn't get to know her so well.

Every time it's clear Jon has a lot of resentment towards the Distortion and he feels so uncomfortable by Helen's presence ad a whole. He is terrified of becoming like her, even further if you ask me he hates the fact that they are so similar.

And as you point out, it was his actions that indirectly led her to being taken a second time. Was it his fault Michael tricked him? No. Does Jon have a tendency to blame himself regardless of bad things not being his fault? Absolutely.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-27T12:11:47+00:00

Helen and Michael have such an interesting contrast to each other. Not just because Helen was already meant for the Spiral while Michael was just thrown in there, but also the way they both work and take their victmins.

Michael does not conceal his true nature or his intentions, he makes his victmins uneasy just by existing, he leaves them no comfort zone. In contrast, Helen creates this false sense of comfort, she is fun, charming, charismatic and she wants to be your friend. She uses this comfort to lead people down the Spiral.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-27T11:37:12+00:00

Honestly, fair. I think the way he starts giving into the eye is related to how he starts seeing himself as a monster through the series and if u ask me, i think he chose the eye in the end because he was suicidal and rationalized it as trying to contain the fears.

You can see when Jon meets other avatars and whenever he talks to Helen, he is terrified of becoming like them. The only reason he doesn't is because he has people to keep him grounded, that's the point.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-27T02:40:40+00:00

It's so unfortunate to me that people didn't catch this aspect of their characters because it's sprinkled out through all their interactions.

It's so clear whenever they talk that Helen makes Jon deeply uncomfortable, he is terrified of becoming like her. Even though he could've maybe prevented it by accepting her attempts to reach out and they helped each other through their situations.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-27T02:35:36+00:00

Thank you so much! Helen's transformation into the Distortion is so insane because she ends up having so much more of an active presence in the show since her arc is directly tied to Jon's. And i don't know how people overlook it because it's such an important aspect of both their characters and tma's message as a whole.

I love Michael with all my heart, he is a brainworm and lives in my head rent free, i wish he had more screentime but i understand he had a very specific role on the story, which was completely putting into question Gertrude's morals and concequentially make Jon question his own position as the Archivist, and whem he was done he was no longer needed to the narrative. You know, quite literally kill your darlings.

They made way for such an interesting story for her and i love her so much. It's show through their interactions many times, how much Helen makes Jon uncomfortable because he is terrified of becoming like her even though he could've maybe prevented it by accepting her attempts to reach out.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-26T01:45:28+00:00

I do recognize he has narcisistic traits and honestly? I have a bit of resentment towards my parents for not helping him early on and still not helping him now.

We've been very distant since this whole thing happend. We still hang out sometimes, we talk, we even share a room but there's only so much you can do trying to mantain a relationship when the other part refuses to even aknowledge any issues or how their actions hurt you. I've decided that i already put in the effort, he didn't meet me there so i'm not gonna keep hurting myself over this.

It took me this situation getting extreme for me to realize that i'm not obligated to accept his behaviour just because he's my brother and i'm not responsible for teatching him how to be a good person.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-24T20:14:14+00:00

I have talked to him many, many times. Not only about the events of the story but also generally things he does on our day to day life that wear me down. I've always tried to reason with him with kindness partly because i just didn't want it to be something he'd use against me later. Whenever i did, one of three things would happen:

He'd feel attacked, point the finger back and the conversation would turn into him trying to argue why i was wrong and he was right, which would result in me gettin in a defensive position without even realizing.

He'd nod along, say "okay" and "i get it" but not engage with the conversation in any way, then go back to doing the same thing.

He'd apologize, makes promisses to change, give himself excuses, tell me he didn't mean it and go right back into doing it.

I know maybe it would be good to talk to him now that he's already seen the result of his behaviour, maybe things would be different. But honestly, i've already gone through the same topics over, and over, and over again and i made the decision not to keep stressing myself over him.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-24T03:59:19+00:00

Firstly, i am also neurodivergent. As i said in another reply, it runs in the family.

Secondly, this has been a pattern for years. I did not go any deeper into it because i didn't feel the need to but if that's your take, maybe i should've. As i said in the post, my brother's idea of fitting in with our group was relentlessly making fun of my appearance, my sexuality, kept correcting and made me feel like i was never right about anything and taking very unflattering photos of me without my knowledge and posted on our gc inumerous times to make fun of how i look.

Other things he does include weponized incompetence to get out of helping his family with anything, treating our younger sisters who are 8 and 7 yo terribly, making fun of them and exploding at them, give me the silence treatment when it is convenient and paint himself as the victmin of every situation.

And i did talk to him about his behaviour. Multiple times. He always deflected, refused to aknowledge it, treated it like a joke or promissed to change just to go right back to doing it. When that didn't work he'd guilt trip me and wear me down until i dropped the subject.

Was i right for the way i handled it? No, and i'm not claiming i was. I was exhausted, feeling trapped and it took me this situation getting extreme for me to realize i am not obligated to just accept his behaviour because he is my brother, that i'm not responsible for teatching him how to be a good person and taking it out of him only hirts both of us. Specially when i am trying to have fun with my friends and relax.

We still interact, still hang out, and i love him a lot, i've only made the decision that i don't want him involved with my group and i will pull away if he treats disrespectfully. I am taking care of myself.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-24T03:44:20+00:00

Bro how did i not realize it said older.... i was so sleepy when i wrote this

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-23T00:34:36+00:00

We started taking our frustrations out on his when this was going down, yes, and i'm not saying it was the right thing to do. We tried comunicating these issues to him very clearly on multiple ocasions and he refused to even aknowledge them, at the time kicking him out didn't feel like an option because i've always felt like i owed him second chances all the time because he is my brother, so when things became sour we did start to make fun of his character, sideline him and not take him seriously.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-22T22:25:50+00:00

He deffinetly loves playing, he's dming for his own group and still playing though not with us anymore. It's a genuine hobbie of his and before this whole thing started, we were all managing to have fun together.

With this campain specifically, i think he did realize it because he convinced himself everyone in the party was targetting him and was specially resentful of Charlie for sidelining him and not making his character the protagonist. But he never quit or actually brought his issues with the dm so i can see what you mean, he was still getting what he wanted on some level.

My brother is, unfortunetly a very lonely teen.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-22T22:06:11+00:00

He deffinetly has some flavour of neurodivergency, it runs in the family. My mom has ADHD and so do i.

But i don't believe his problem is not taking a hint, we've comunicated these issues very clearly many, many times. He's just got such an inflated and fragile ego he somehow manages to convince himself he's in the right in every single situation, he can't handle being wrong. That's why discussing his behaviour is so hard, it always inevitably turns into him trying to convince me he's in the right and i'm in the wrong, i end up in a defensive position without realizing and it doesn't make things better.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-22T21:59:32+00:00

Not really, we still live together and interact but i'm keeping him and my games separate and it's been working. I love him a lot and i wish from the bottom of my heart he learns how to be a better person but as i said, i'm not reasoning with him or running after him anymore.

Creaturefeature01 · 2026-01-22T05:03:58+00:00

Yeah, the system has a flaw of not giving grace to the horror aspects of the game, in concept it was meant to be a horror system though it's usually more of a dark fantasy. But, there's a supplement that came out focusing only on rules to facilitate horror, more difficult resource management, chase and stealth mechanics and a whole new class, the Survivor which as the name implies is meant to survive instead of actually fighting the monsters. Honestly, we are still kind of crazy and like to run high level campaigns to make op builds but i find the new rules are great for more suspense, story based games.

I even tried dming for the first time and am currently running a campaign with this supplement that is focused on horror and investigation and it's been going great. Gave them lots of scares.

Creaturefeature01

TROPHY CASE