not to be a hater, but given how tma treats its canon pairings, I’m kinda glad that jonelias never got there. I think they could pull them off if they tried, but would they try. would they.
I do wish we’d get Jonah’s statement, but I think it’s neat that nearly everything that we know about him we get from him*. the “statements” that he gave (like mag 40, 160) were actually his own words devoid of the Beholding’s influence, and the ones that he read out (92, 120) were his own intentional picks. even in Elias’s statement, Jonah is in control. this is a nice detail for a character so mindful of his image
* some notable exceptions are letters from his old pen pals, but even then, he allows Jon to read them, so I would still count that as him being in control
choosing to let Barnabas die was definitely a point of no return to Jonah. his letter asks him if he is ready to follow his goals now, if he is ready to leave behind his emotional attachments, his sense of duty, and other obstacles. there really wasn’t any other choice he could’ve made; if he had chosen to save Barnabas, there would be no such person as Jonah Magnus. Jonah, who saves Barnabas, is Jonah, who is not determined enough to follow through with his plans
it does seem like this could’ve been not the first time Barnabas got himself into trouble and went to Jonah for help… and Jonah did look out for him, he warned Barnabas about Mordechai even though he had no reason to try to protect him, but Barnabas still didn’t listen to him. between that and gambling, he seems to enjoy risk-taking behaviours
and maybe previously Jonah would’ve tried to help him anyway. maybe because they had known each other for a long time, because he felt responsible for Barnabas in some way, because he loved him. still loves him, probably, or at least he’s fond of him; why keep his bones after all that time, after he changed locations from Edinburgh to London, even? it could be to just remind himself that can’t turn back now, but it also could be sentimentality. probably both
but that was such a good opportunity to just… not. the only opportunity he will ever get. I wonder when he hesitated. was it when he just noticed the letter? did he make up his mind on the spot, knowing that he has to give up Barnabas now or he will never be able to? or did he try to save him first, went to Mordechai to ask him to release Barnabas? was it Mordechai who asked him how long he would let this continue?
I subscribe to (my mutual’s) vision of jonahbas as roommates in boarding school… Jonah escaped his family to live as a man (🏳⚧) and met Barnabas. in that way, Barnabas would be the first witness of Jonah Magnus, the man, and also the beginning of Jonah Magnus, the king of the ruined world. Jonah sacrificed him to himself
sorry, I’m back at my bullshit, but I think it’s so cute of Jonathan to actually explain what happened instead of just going no contact. especially since he’s so sure that Jonah knows what caused Albrecht’s illness. I don’t actually think that Jonathan had the option to not tell Jonah everything, because I believe that it works like a statement even in a form of a letter, so Jonathan was influentied by the Beholding anyway, but the way he rationalises that…
ALT
even before he went to Albrecht, he knew who Jonah was, at least vaguely. he collected stories for the Institute and seemed to be quite close with Jonah – which is interesting in its own right because he is a Man Of Science, and for him to willingly associate with something so esoteric… I’m not saying it’s completely unrealistic, but I do think that Jonah’s work wouldn’t be very popular with the scientific community. but not with him. but I can see why he wouldn’t think that Jonah is dangerous.
however. after the events at Albrecht’s estate, he still wants to give Jonah a chance. the letter seeps with his resentment (“consider this the severing of our acquitance”, “whatever it was that did this to him, I know in my heart that it is your fault”, “do not write to me again” – a breakup letter of all times) and yet he harbours a hope that Jonah didn’t know what he was doing. that he can be fixed. even after being subjected to all of this horror, he still!! hopes that he can save Jonah!! it would be enough to just go “kill yourself. you know what you did”. or even “kill yourself. here’s why”. but he doesn’t. he hopes that Jonan will listen to him. what a man.
(I do realize that it was done that way because it’s a podcast. but I can still dream)
now that we have something of a canonical basis for Jonathan “I can fix him” Fanshawe (it’s not very sturdy, but that’s the best you’ll get around here). may I introduce you to my personal reading of Jonathan as a complete Jonan apologist
again, he mentioned collecting stories for Jonah. it could be just literally asking people to tell their ghost stories to relay to Jonah later, or he could send them directly to the Institute. so maybe a patient with some strange health issues walks in, and he asks them if they encountered something weird recently, and maybe they did, and oh, he knows a place that deals with this sort of thing… you know. and if they return back to him to report that their issues got worse and the strange dreams they had recently… well. there’s a constant shortage of cadavers, especially with interesting conditions
I’ll criticise myself here: this is more or less what happened to Albrecht. if he dealt with this before, why would Albrecht be of any surprise to him?
first of all, these people’s condition is not Jonah’s fault. Jonah is just recording their experiences before they inevitably die
second, these people are of no value to Jonathan and Jonah, they’re strangers. Albrecht was Jonah’s old friend. I like to think about that as the main reason why Jonathan left him – he felt personally endangered. if Jonah didn’t spare someone he knew for at least 15 years, then he wouldn’t spare Jonathan either. that’s scary. not that Jonah could be a danger to other people, but that he could be a danger to Jonathan
but why would he ask Jonah to change his ways, then? if all he cared about was himself? well, maybe he’s a huge hypocrite. that would be fun. but why would he be so shocked/traumatized by the eyes inside Albrecht if he has worked with similar cases before? well. again, it could be proximity to him/knowing that it was Jonah’s fault. but most importantly, it’s that I’m just playing touys ❤️ I don’t actually think this was implied in the original text, but wouldn’t it be Fun if Jonah had a loyal pet doctor he could use for his own interests. wouldn’t it be hot.
sorry, I’m back at my bullshit, but I think it’s so cute of Jonathan to actually explain what happened instead of just going no contact. especially since he’s so sure that Jonah knows what caused Albrecht’s illness. I don’t actually think that Jonathan had the option to not tell Jonah everything, because I believe that it works like a statement even in a form of a letter, so Jonathan was influentied by the Beholding anyway, but the way he rationalises that…
ALT
even before he went to Albrecht, he knew who Jonah was, at least vaguely. he collected stories for the Institute and seemed to be quite close with Jonah – which is interesting in its own right because he is a Man Of Science, and for him to willingly associate with something so esoteric… I’m not saying it’s completely unrealistic, but I do think that Jonah’s work wouldn’t be very popular with the scientific community. but not with him. but I can see why he wouldn’t think that Jonah is dangerous.
however. after the events at Albrecht’s estate, he still wants to give Jonah a chance. the letter seeps with his resentment (“consider this the severing of our acquitance”, “whatever it was that did this to him, I know in my heart that it is your fault”, “do not write to me again” – a breakup letter of all times) and yet he harbours a hope that Jonah didn’t know what he was doing. that he can be fixed. even after being subjected to all of this horror, he still!! hopes that he can save Jonah!! it would be enough to just go “kill yourself. you know what you did”. or even “kill yourself. here’s why”. but he doesn’t. he hopes that Jonan will listen to him. what a man.
(I do realize that it was done that way because it’s a podcast. but I can still dream)
ALT