The thing about Jonathan Sims is that he isn’t at all stupid, in fact he’s quite the opposite.
Take the Coffin for example, the idea of using an anchor is a logical and honestly quite clever one, however, where this idea falls apart is that while Jon may be intelligent, that does not mean he has common sense, or any sense of self preservation for that matter, and so he goes straight to cutting off his finger, and then continuously trying to cut it off despite the fact his body’s healing factor is clearly winning here.
And then, to top that off, he immediately decides the next reasonable choice of an anchor is his own rib, and actively gets not one, but two of his ribs removed by the walking embodiment of body horror.
Jonathan Sims is not stupid, but he is stupidly impulsive and should not be trusted with any actual plan ever, because while his initial idea may be the most ingenious thing you’ve ever bloody heard, I promise you he is going to ruin it with the most unhinged, god-awful follow up known to man.
One of my favorite things with TMA fanart is when people draw Elias with eye paraphernalia or motifs because it makes pre entity discovery tma so much funnier
I tried drawing a sequence from The Magnus Archives episode #111 Family Business.
Definitely a memorable episode. I hope we learn more about Gerard, it was nice to hear a bit of comedy in the podcast. I’ve started season 4 and my goodness, it just gets darker and darker.
ive been listening to q&a and the second i had a thought “hmm i wanna add some text here” johnny instantly screamed in my ears TELL ME YOUR STORY and i was like wow okay no need to be so harsh man (i didn’t tell him my story)
the problem with the addiction metaphor for avatars in the magnus archives isn’t actually with the metaphor itself, it’s that it’s treated as the Only way to understand monsterhood.
“jon made the choice to go after live statements because they felt good” is true
“jon felt good when he took live statements as a metaphor for addiction” is true
“jon felt good when he took live statements because victimizing people feels empowering” is true
“jon felt good when he took live statements Because Eating Feels Good” Is Also True
it’s easy to say that jon made The Choice to continue being a monster, there’s plenty of characters in the show who’ve said as much.
but the choice to continue being a monster is Equally the choice to Survive, to continue living. and trying to have a conversation about the Morality of jon’s choice, as if it is Only about how good it feels to be monstrous, as if the addiction to living can be separated from the reality of dying. is a bit ridiculous !
the whole point of jon’s situation, of Being an avatar, is that it’s not Fair. jon was turned into a monster without his knowledge or consent, and then was told that there was no way out of it but to die.
it’s not Fair to blame someone for wanting to live, it’s not Fair to hurt someone to continue living. both are true, and that’s Exactly what makes it interesting ! Why avatars can be both victims and victimizers in turn.
what makes someone like jon different from someone like jared hopsworth isn’t their capacity for violence or to cause pain, it’s the Choice To Continue Feeling Compassion For Other People. to make the active Choice to see other human beings As People and care about the harm you cause them.
so much of the narrative of tma is about characters who are stripped of agency, who still make Meaningful Choices Anyways. by Choosing to care, even as that choice hurts you. to continue to care even though it would feel Good not to.
this isn’t Separate from the metaphor about addiction, it’s in Conversation with it.
ALT
