ghbjhhhhhhhgfjhfhg. i’ve been thinking SO hard about JE lately, and as much as I disliked S5, I don’t think I’ll ever be over this crumb from MAG167 [for context, they are travelling towards the panopticon to confront Jonah]
LIKE…. that’s canonically THEIR domain…. Everyone else who has a domain owns it individually….. Everyone except for Jonah and the Archivist……………….
I have to say, jonelias is like the only ship I have where I don’t want to just ignore the canon relationship, I would be very happy if Jon left Martin for Elias
Actually I want to expand on this. According to paper cut theory, when reading fiction people tend to empathize with things that have happened to them or people they know over fantastic things, even if objectively the fantastic thing is way worse. So people will flinch watching a TV character get a paper cut, but probably won’t when that same character gets decapitated. I have not personally been turned into a fear monster by my boss before, but I have definitely known people like Martin.
I just get such a sense that Martin doesn’t actually like John, he likes some ideal of John he thought up when they met. He doesn’t understand John’s sense of humor, he doesn’t agree with his principles, every time they’re in the same room in s5 they seem to argue with each other. They have pretty much no common interests. Elias is an awful person in pretty much every regard, but at least he seems to like the John that actually exists.
jonelias really is the crazy guy ship like it really is a conspiracy. it makes so much sense but no one will acknowledge it. and then people went around misinterpreting it sooo badly like it made me feel insane
The paranoia. The determination to apply rationality to something unknowable. The need to know. Them drinking their coffee the same way. Them keeping bones in their offices. Pushing away their connections. The way they instinctively get what the other is saying. The fear of being puppeteered around. Them being both nerds and old men at heart. The fact that their names are similar. And it was all unintentional.
This is genuinely insane. I’m 90% sure I remember Ben Meredith saying his Elias voice is a copy of Jon’s but more smug. You know this. You make Jon speak as Elias/Jonah for your grand season finale. You do nothing with this. I’m biting.
season 4 Q&A part 2:
JONNY: It was actually- it was actually incredibly simple. Uh, because Ben once confided in me that his Elias voice had originally just been based on my Archivist voice just making it a bit more smug.
the first of hopefully several “the silence of the lambs” jonelias redraws!! I watched it for the first time with @paradisepuppet today and we had some….. feelings :)
every season of jonelias really has something new and shiny that gives it a particular flavor…the pre-canon longing and professional interest, the s1 office romance <3/”fine i’ll be more lovely”, the s2 paranoid and crazy and I NEED TO KNOW, ELIAS phase, the s3 tense but inexorable connection (my evil boss who murdered a guy is still the only one I can run to and no we can’t kill him yet!!), the s4 post-coma pre-160 longing/betrayal/growing into monsterdom/suffice it to say I called you, the s5 Knowing and Eye Opening where all bets are off and the dynamic has heavily shifted into jon’s favor…
also i know that dubc/noncon is just really appealing for people esp in ships where any sort of power imbalance is involved but i really can’t vibe w how much jonelias content is so explicitly dubcon
like eliss’ whole thing is emphasizing that the watcher’s crown only works if jon chooses to press onward and develop his true nature, and jon’s whole thing is that he chooses to do so every single time
every choice they’ve made for the whole of their lives brings them closer to one another
i also just think it’s sooooooo sexy for jon to want to give up control more than anything bc he doesn’t want this he doesn’t want to be responsible for this please just make me do it just make me do whatever you want… and elias just smiles and strokes his hair and makes him choose to do it instead
take it if you want it so badly, archivist. it’s just within your reach, but i won’t move an inch.
also jon sexy compelling elias is unparalleled like imagine u are in love with a man who you are secretly using to craft a world of your own making and this vessel of your patron deity can channel the whole of its power and influence through himself and into you
I implore you to imagine jon panicking during his first interview for research and forgetting elias’ name, only for his brain to get stuck on the first surname that comes to mind in regards to the institute.
jon: thank you for the opportunity, mr. magnus
jon internally: wait
jonah, experiencing total heart failure as this random traumatized interviewee starts sweating bullets: what did you just call me
I think Jon knows how to play chess and actually really enjoys it but he doesn’t have anyone to play with.
Which is why he should marry Elias, who absolutely 100% plays chess too and would love to have another Beholding avatar to play weirdly elaborate games with where they start to completely make up rules to keep things interesting.
maybe I just wanted them to make out in Elias’ office
maybe I wanted Jon to walk past Rosie and into Elias’ ridiculously large office and just get all of his frustrations out in typical ranting Jon fashion and then just make out for thirty minutes only to walk back out and past Rosie again with his tie all messed up and shirt wrinkly from Elias’ fist grabbing it and pulling him close
I am squeeeeing about metaphysical intimacy. Let the budding eldritch horrors undertand each other in a way no one else can comprehend. Let them Know each other. Even more, let them Understand each other while still being repulsed by the other’s motivations. But let them acknowledge that despite all the moral justification that lets them denounce the other’s actions, there is beauty in what the other has done. A beauty that one must be an eldritch horror themself to undertand.
Anyway, as much as Jon hates Elias, he is uniquely positioned to understand him. And see the beauty in his self centred villainy.
Jon forces himself to calm his breathing and smooth out his expression - he knows he tends to frown when he’s under pressure.
The Head of the Institute - who he almost called “Mr Magnus” when shaking his hand, holy shit - is reading though his résumé, occasionally humming - though whether it’s from appreciation or disapproval, Jon can’t tell. He’s currently way too busy worrying his cuticules to identify which emotions (if any) are passing on Mr Bouchard’s severe but attractive face.
Then, finally, the man looks up and smiles. His teeth are white and straight, his eyes distant, as if they don’t really belong in his face.
“You seem like a very promising young man, Mr Sims. I feel like we’re going to accomplish great things together.”
Don’t frown, Jon reminds himself despite his eyebrows attempting to knot themselves into one. He nods, engaging a level of eye contact with Mr Bouchard he hopes is appropriate.
Sorry, sorry, but manipulative hurt/comfort is fucking cocaine to me. The predatory aspect of it. The vulnerability—500% better if the hurt party knows they’re being manipulated and is past the point of caring. The juxtaposition of sweet and sharp flavours. Barkbarkbark
My pet peeve in jonelias fics is when Jon is completely disinterested in Elias. Like he may not like Elias but you cannot tell me that man isn’t obsessed with Elias too