an-american-crisis:

Is he… you know,,, A correspondent of Jonah Magnus?

girlcaligula:

girlcaligula:

girlcaligula:

‘it wasn’t your fault, just bad luck, though i’m sure the knowledge brings you no comfort’ is probably still one of the most meaningful things tma had to say

tma episodes 82 - 106 - 118 - 160 - 200

or, in other words, things that keep me awake at night if i think about them a little too intensely for my own good

sorry today i cant stop thinking about this but like. it is such a weird thing to say for someone who’s deliberately trying to hurt you. 'nothing that happened to you has been your fault, there is no reason no justification for it, it is just how it works because it is just bad luck’. it is such a fundamentally KIND thing to say.

of course it doesn’t diminish the harm but it is such a deliberate choice when it comes to his characterization that it upsets me to no end this was never brought to our attention more. jonah wanted to be in control of himself so much that he damned the world for it and continuously re-addresses his own control over the narrative by stressing how the other characters instead are not.

and yet this is never explored within the framework of the narrative even if season 5 would have been the perfect moment to do so. like what brought you to such extremes. what made you so scared.

somuchbetterthanthat:

weeping thinking of Jonah saying he knew deep down this would never last, thinking of Jonah in the last seconds of his life probably scared out of his mind but also he’s not really dying is he, he’s staring into jon’s eyes, jon killed him but jon is his, his creation, his work, his his his, so really he died from his own hand, and isn’t he what he has been doing for centuries, a little death every few decades to survive beyond bodies, his legacy has killed him but there is a part of his soul that is anchored in jon’s heart and that’s why he gets to say good luck and that’s why OBVIOUSLY if there is a somewhere else Jonah is here also, a phantom limb escaping from jon the moment Martin also brings the knife to his chest—

somuchbetterthanthat:

Post about Jonah and luck just made me think about MORE Jonah and Jon stuff… the way both of their stories are centered around agency and choices… but whereas Jon constantly wonder if he had a choice, if he didn’t, if he was set up, if he can even break free, questioning himself at every turn and having bouts of impulsivity in the mix, Jonah decided long ago that no. He has agency and he will keep agency and everything is his choice

and the THING IS, I think maybe that’s why Jonah, despite seemingly a good fit for the web, is ultimately not, because the same way Basira logic her way out of the unknowing, Jonah determines his own free will and doesn’t let doubt pester him.

Cause in my head at least, the web is all about choices and agency, but what feeds it is your own fears and questions about free will and choices and such. A good avatar will have ever given up the idea of the answer being given (is there free will? who knows!), a victim might slowly fall prey when they fully stops believing they have free will at all, it’s not even a question anymore, and therefore it makes it “true” and turns them into puppets. Inescapable fate, self-fulling prophecies, etc.

JON is perfect for the web because he keeps pondering, – and admitedly was set up (ha.) – not to trust hs judgement, his feelings, his free will. S4 is all about that!

.. and in the light of that (yes i’m thinking as i write), you COULD interpret Jonah in S3 telling him that it is, in fact, all his choices, trying to lurr Jon closer to beholding and further away from the web (I feel S3 Jonah was trying to make Jon a mirror, he was trying to be as much a mentor as he could be while still using Jon for his own purposes. Hence why he tells Jon about discarding relationships - might get Jon in the end - , hence why he tells him no jon don’t doubt this was all you - because that possibly removes the fear of the spider, hence why he helps him grow his powers further, even if it means having to be away from him later on). AND EVEN WHEN HE TELLS JON THAT JON IS JUST THAT, SOMEONE HE CHOSE, he’s also giving Jon the … choice not to doubt anymore. He’s giving him a proper answer about free will;

the comparison between Annabelle’s first statement, when she feeds Jon’s fear of lack of free will, and Jonah’s 160 statement, when he tells him, so clearly, no jon, there is a free will, no destiny except the one i make, the one WE can make, it’s just so FASCINATING

(how did i not think of that before… fuck. now i’m having feelings again over Annabelle and Elias fighting in backstage for Jon ………nngh.)

:

People out here characterizing Elias as flamboyant and colorful when Jon described him as “austere” (which means “strict” or “plain”).

lonelybeuys:

tma fans have the collective literacy of a peanut you bitches honest to god think the guy who has to beg on his hands and knees for donations to run his non profit academic institute of the occult is somehow an elon musk allegory? are you stupid? do you have worms in your brains? do you know what an institute IS?

pink-apocalypse:

Funny episode when I first heard it, absolutely hiLARIOUS episode in retrospect.

Elias Week 2022 Day 6: humanity/monstrosity

Title: throw your mercy down
Author: @insuspensa
Rating: Gen

The apocalypse started over a century ago, with an act of betrayal.

Or: Jonah Magnus muses on a monstrous decision.

the-magpie-archives:

How are you even supposed to fill out a return to work form after all that?

elias-rights:

Oh, yes. Elias is conservative for sure. He dutifully votes on every election and poll and runs a little political blog on the side. Seriously, the man committed to ending the world gives so many fucks about human politics. I also think he loves discrimination. Yes, Elias “it’s not in your blood or in your fate” Bouchard cares so much about your birth circumstances. This makes perfect sense.