I was watching one of the Gaming and Giving games on YouTube (Quiplash) and Jonny said he found TikTok ‘alienating and alarming’ and I feel like that would be Jon, the Archivist’s, position on it too.

I have the gut feeling that Jon pronounces caramel ‘care a mell’ *shudders*

I love the fact that no fix-it type TMA fic, whether time travel or just ‘they live together now and things are good’, has exactly the same solution to getting out of the Institute or saving the world. It’s always different. You guys are just so creative, it’s awesome.

I’m still thinking of how dramatic Sue Sims was in “The Final Culling”. It was terrifying. I want her to have done that as Gertrude but it’d be out of character.

Jon: *throws apple at Martin*

Martin: Ow! Why did you do that?

Jon: What can I say? You’re the apple of the Eye.

Also, Jon probably figured out that Season 5 is an allegory for capitalism and how it’s terrible. I imagine he’s adding commentary after each statement.

Jon, after narrating the Slaughter statement (In The Trenches): …so, that was about the glorification of war, I guess.

After the Stranger statement (Revolutions): Hard to say. Possibly the fears were just getting back at me for thinking carousels were thrilling.

Look, you can’t tell me Jon didn’t read and love The Lord of the Rings as a kid. So the fact that season 5 of TMA has so many parallels with LotR (so. many) is funny.

Jon, our beloved English Lit major, definitely noticed. (Probably from the outset, what with the eyeball tower.)

Jon, mid-apocalypse: …I think Helen is Gollum.

Martin: What?

Jon: This journey we’re having is significantly analogous to LotR. We’re going on a journey through a hellscape to an eyeball tower. We went to a spider-thing’s domain. We had a respite partway through. Also people ship Frodo and Sam—um, anyway. Salesa is Faramir, Annabelle is Shelob, and Helen is Gollum.

Martin: …doesn’t Gollum, like, steal the ring from Frodo in the end and jump into the lava with it?

Jon: Um, yes. Essentially. Shoot, maybe I should smite her.

(this is the real reason Jon smote Helen)

for the love of Agnes every time

every time I try to write John

if I don’t think about it I end up writing Jon

dang it I put “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” in a sad moment in a TMA fic and now I can’t listen to it because it makes me sad.

I did this to myself

Jon getting 14 marks is simultaneously funny and horrible. Like, fourteen traumas in two years? How do you even…he really got smacked around.

But then it’s also like god Jon fourteen traumas in two years how are you functioning

oh yeah I randomly got feels about Daisy not recognizing Jon while at work

Maybe Jared doesn’t find Jon’s rib ‘good’ because it’s got eyes growing on it like in that one statement.

I love that Jonny wrote a canonically ace, neurodivergent-coded character, eventually gave him nigh-infinite knowledge and partial loss of humanity, and he still cared so much that he couldn’t bear the thought of possibly dooming other worlds to the Fears.

Jon was not named after a horror writer until the very second Jonny finalized the script of MAG 1 and became a horror writer.

(Unless any Mechanisms songs count?)

Jon in Season 5: When I said I wanted to go to Middle-Earth, this is not what I meant.

I have a theory about what made Amy Patel get a concussion in MAG 3 and why.

So the Stranger presides over your eyes deceiving you. The Not!Them allows you to get fake-gaslighted and start doubting yourself. And Jon read that she got a concussion and said it made her story more dubious.

Yeah…the not!them concussed her to make people even more likely to doubt what she saw.

You know how people say that people’s voices are so nice, they could read the phone book?

Jonny is probably the only person I would actually say that non-hyperbolically about.

I was rereading a book and came across the line “There’s honor and glory in being chosen. But not much room for free will.”

Friends, enemies, and Switzerland, I did a spit-take.

If you keep going on the Season 5 Is The Journey To Mordor train, it makes the safehouse Lothlórien. The last refuge before the journey. (Upton House as wherever Faramir was? Is Faramir Salesa???)

And if the safehouse is Lórien, that makes Daisy Galadriel. Two women who were offered power and refused it? It… works better than expected. Frodo offers Galadriel the ring and she goes all. Well. Mega spooky. And then she refuses it. Jon doesn’t offer temptation but saves Daisy from it in a way. But still. It’s a better parallel than it really should be.

In LotR, there’s the idea of the eucatastrophe, where in the climax and things are at their worst, the tide turns suddenly for whatever reason. And you know that everything will turn out all right in the end. There’s always hope.

Since TMA is a tragedy, it…doesn’t have that. (That’s why MAG 160 is so wrenching. It dangles the safehouse in front of your face and rips it away.)

But. That’s where fanfiction comes in. Because we write all our Somewhere Else AUs where Jon and Martin are happy. Where they get their eucatastrophe, they get to go somewhere else, they get to have their Valinor.

And I think that’s beautiful. /gen, even though that’s a meme

I am loving this adjective placement here in the transcript /gen:

“[A very large, shrill girl’s scream.]” (MAG 164)

In a story where nearly everyone dies, and nearly everyone dies tragically, painfully, unmourned and afraid, Georgie was promised a death with no fanfare, no warning, and no fear.

Perhaps that is a tragedy too. Georgie survives the apocalypse, and survives, and survives. She outlives them all and will outlive Basira and Melanie too.

In a world in which the powers that be are ones of terror, she is estranged from them. She does not fear, and so she is apart and alone.

You know that mentality some people have where they’re like “it was bad for me so it should be bad for them too”. Jon is the exact opposite of that.

It’s so funny how different Jon’s statement voice is from his work voice, especially early on. Like

“and then I moved away and the scary stuff stopped.”

Statement ends.

“It was at that point I felt a hand grab my shoulder and throw me into the road. I don’t know how else to describe it, one moment I was walking along, the next I was flying towards the ground. It can’t have been Graham – he was in front of me at the time, and I would have sworn there was nobody else on the street.” (MAG 3)

does this straight up never get explained???????????

I am relistening (again) to MAG 3 and it’s just. So funny how into it Jon is. Like, we expect it (especially after Jon does it a few times), but…he doesn’t have to give it like he’s talking. Obviously the Eye is helping him, but the fact that he didn’t really notice or think it was weird early on (that we know of) means that he fully intended to act out the statements. To himself. For future reference and research.

He is so dramatic.

So I’m working on a TMA fic, and Jon keeps just wanting to say “Martin” instead of holding an actual conversation.

If I wasn’t doing anything, he would just be like “Martin? Martin Martin Martin Martin Martin, Martin. Martin! Martin Martin, Martin Martin Martin. Martin Martin. Martin Martin.”

(Yes, characters just do that. Jon and Martin are very stubborn like that.)

If Jon and Martin adopt a kid in Scotland,

what accent will they have? Jon’s got a (fake /j) RP accent, Martin’s got a Manchester accent, and everyone else is going to speak some kind of Scottish accent.

??? What will they do about the trap-bath split? What about r’s? I bet there is somewhat of an answer for this, but I don’t know what.

The three things I haven’t listened to of TMA are:

1. the making of magnus bonus thing. It didn’t seem very interesting.

2. the liveshow. Might be worth it, I don’t know. It would be fun to, you know, have actually seen it live.

3. The part where Elias inserts memories into Melanie’s brain. I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to do it at all. Just no. Once (Martin) was enough.

Another parellel between TMA and LotR (and maybe moreso the Silmarillion) is that a major theme is don’t isolate yourself, it only leads to bad stuff

The funny part about me saying ‘good lord’ now is that I did not get it from my dad, who does say that. No. I got it from a podcast character.

I’ve seen a post (maybe multiple) that said that Jonny forgot about snakes in his categorization, even though ophidiphobia affects one-third of adults apparently. But, in-universe, they must be covered by an entity. So which one?

Edit: so far, our options are Corruption, End, Hunt, Spiral. Keep reading to find out more. It’s already getting long. The post is also updated without deleting older writing, and the bolded options are the most recent version. Sound off in the notes: which entity are snakes?

I’ll start by crossing out (figuratively) the ones that don’t make sense: Buried, Corruption, Dark, Desolation, Eye, Flesh, Lonely, Spiral, Stranger, Vast, Web.

So we have End, Hunt, and Slaughter. According to Wikipedia, a study theorizes that mammals may have an innate fear of snakes (and spiders) because it was necessary for survival and identifying a threat. The threat is that they’re going to kill you.

I’m leaning towards Hunt here? But it’s difficult to pick between those three.

Edit: More debate has taken place! Corruption and Stranger/Spiral have been plopped back into the mix. (Also tossing out Slaughter because a snake bite really isn’t all that violent. You know? It hurts but it’s not…violent.)

phrenic-a pointed out that snakes can appear to be sticks and then suddenly slither towards you, thus deceiving you. Now, whether it’s Stranger or Spiral…

The wiki says this: “It is the fear of things that are almost human, but not quite, a fear of the unknown and the creeping sense that something is not right.” for Stranger and this: “It is based on the fear of madness, that your world isn’t right, that your mind is lying to you. It deals with deception, lying, deceiving the mind and senses.” for Spiral. I would have to go with Spiral because it’s outright deception. My counterpoint is that I don’t know if people actually become paranoid about snakes being there if they fear snakes. I mean, probably, but I don’t know that Spiral is the central fear.

And Corruption because in my research there’s a lot of connection with fear of spiders and a sort of disgust. (Slimy, slithering, etc. Although they’re not slimy.) And we’ve got the Garden of Eden thing, although that’s only one mythology.

You know how the historical statements never hit quite as hard? I think an in-universe explanation is that the fear is too old. Like, it’s gotten stale. Jon can’t retell their fear as well when they’re long dead.

This is also kind of my explanation for why that episode about the ghost soldiers who deserted and are in a cave is so weird. The fear got stale and doesn’t work as well anymore.

silly headcanon that Jon is, actually, a terrible storyteller when not a conduit for fear

Why did the world need to end for the Fears to spread?

Edit: answers so far:

1. My own, in the tags. It would force Jon to make that decision when put in the impossible position of the finale.

2. Also my own. No one could have done it, not even Jon, before the apocalypse? Maybe? (Because he wasn’t a proper archive yet.) Both my theories are a little shaky.

3. via annabelle–cane: Annabelle (the, uh, the ‘real’ one…you get what I mean) does say this:

“Oh, it’s so much more than a crack now. It’s an aching hole, a gaping wound in the very fabric of our world.” (MAG 196)

and in the actual statement in 196 there’s this: “It was not wide enough to allow true passage, not yet, save for the odd accident. But it was wide enough for what we now intended…”

implying that the crack only widened enough after the world ended, because everything got Mega Spooky.

4. via gammija: the Fears needed to come into our world first and then go to others. Also they’re more vulnerable here, so killing the Pupil would only then (when they’re on Earth) untether them and enable them to spread.

How does Jonny make it so you forget it’s Jon reading the statements? I listened to MAG 2 recently, and it sounds like it’s Joshua Gillespie reading, if that makes sense. It still does upon relisten and it did upon first listen.

I have forgotten multiple times that it’s Jon reading the statements. One time I’m pretty sure it happened twice in one episode. (Strangely, almost always in the earlier seasons.)

How does he even do that?

anyone have a good Stranger-themed playlist?

There’s a cool effect I’ve noticed in TMA because of how soothing Jonny’s voice is. Since he’s soothingly talking about scary things, it forms this weird mix for me where it’s like I need to keep listening because he’ll guide me through the horror. It’s simultaneously the life preserver and the flood. I’m hanging on to his every word as he narrates whatever scary thing happened. Especially in the domain statements, which can be second person. It’s such a weird effect, and hard to explain well. Do you get what I mean?

these…one episode apart, too

[image id: two screenshots from Magnus Archives transcripts. The first is from MAG 159 and says ‘Martin (emptily, echoing): Hello, John’. The second is from MAG 160 and says 'Archivist (statement): Hello, John. [As soon as he begins speaking, a whizzing static kicks in from the background.]’ end id]

Does it bug anyone else that this:

is a misquote?

source: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/asyoulikeit/full.html

??? a) he’s been practicing this play for months and b) I’m surprised the Eye would let him quote incorrectly.

microdosing on being a Web avatar by writing a serial plot with foreshadowing in the middle of really sweet scenes that will add an extra layer of meaning to a really sad scene that makes it worse

microdosing on being a Web avatar with the knowledge that whether they see my foreshadowing and predict what will happen correctly or not they will keep reading to find out what happens next (if I write well enough!)

microdosing on being a Web avatar by writing complex plots my beloved

I’ve seen some posts about how Jon’s coworkers are impatient with him and rush him, and the thing about that is in all cases, if you wait longer, you’re going to get a more coherent answer. But with Jon, if you wait longer than a few seconds, you’ll probably get a whole essay. I mean, he’s extremely eloquent:

Is it a mindless dance, dragging participants along by the beat of a drum, or is there a kernel of will in there, lucidity and deliberateness to the random fury and violence?“ (MAG 135) (I realize I just used that quote, but it’s what sparked this post.)

They’re missing out on getting above-average answers to questions in terms of clarity and eloquence by rushing him. It may be hard to translate eldritch fear into English, but once Jon’s able to do it, he’s definitely able to do it. He creates wonderful analogies, like the ocean of knowledge behind a door. They’re missing out.

I love just how eloquent Jon is in his commentary on statements. Like, obviously he’s a) very educated and b) trying to be professional, but there are times when he starts getting all poetic.

“In many ways the Slaughter fascinates me. There seems to be, in all cases, a question at its heart about control. Is it a mindless dance, dragging participants along by the beat of a drum, or is there a kernel of will in there, lucidity and deliberateness to the random fury and violence? I suppose that’s the question with so much of violence, war. How much are you really in command of yourself, or others?” (MAG 125)

Of course he’s only talking to himself here (not thinking about it as work) but that makes it funnier. Like, he’s just chatting to himself. It’s his inner monologue. He’s so dramatic.

Are there any fics of an AU with no entities where Jon and Annabelle are friends? I really love the concept. I feel like they would be good friends.

This might be a weird request, but I had a post that Tumblr ate. And it was actually a good ficlet that I would like to save. Since it got some notes I assume some of you have it saved, whether as a like or a reblog.

It was a ficlet where Martin apologizes to Jon for laughing at him at Salesa’s. It’s still in Season 5 and everything. I hope some of you can find it easily, because I sure can’t. Tumblr ate the post off my own blog. So…if you have it, can you put the link in the comments please? I don’t care if it’s from a reblog and therefore from your blog, that’s fine. I just want my story back *sniffles melodramatically* Really, though, I would appreciate it so much if someone found it.

Edit: it’s been found! (It’s this: https://ahumaninbakerstreet.tumblr.com/post/665892141979123712/this-ficlet-is-called-martin-apologizes-to-jon-for)

Even when Martin was deep in the Lonely (season 4, not specifically MAG 159) and he was just recording statements and talking to himself, and no one talked to him, Annabelle was listening to the tapes.

And if it was just the Web it might be kind of creepy. (Maybe it still is, but the ‘creepy’ threshold in a place dedicated to a voyeuristic fear god is high.) But if it’s Annabelle, there’s a person on the other end. Someone is still listening.

Maybe she even sympathizes with him. She knows Jon is probably going to save him from the Lonely (in order for Jonah to mark him), so she’s probably going “hang in there Martin, Jon’s going to help you”. And I think that’s sort of sweet.

I see your ‘Jon was in the Mechanisms/a college band" and raise you “Jon, the archivist, was not in a band. However, Jonny Sims, player of Jonny D'Ville, was in the Mechanisms. They’re two different people.”