That’s the exact dynamic I always imagine for jonelias tbh.
But god. Now I’m thinking about Jon settling into his role as the Archivist and becoming steadily less human and more monster, craving things that aren’t just words and emotions but real, tangible fear. And Elias indulging him, bringing him new things to try, presenting him with a still warm human heart like it’s a bouquet of roses.
i do not consume JonElias but my favorite flavor of the dynamic is basically:
Jon, a man who’s had zero men involved in his upbringing: can you be my Patriarchal Male Figure? Elias: puts hand on Jon’s inner thigh and squeezes Jon: wait
now I don’t know when this is set but it’s obviously before elias goes to gay baby jail but anyways so like the fandom loves making stoner elias jokes and those are all well and good but I feel like the assumption is he p much gave it up once he got More Srs Bzns which ok PROBABLY he did but lets say for old times sake he happens to still know where he can get a gram or two when he’s feeling extra stressed so he can mellow out in the privacy of his own home
and BOY has everything been stressing him out lately
so elias is at home and has just taken his first hit, probably going to have a good long wank later, when jon texts him, frantic, about needing something out of elias’ office like ASAP. Elias is obviously not going to drive stoned but he IS going to go Peak Bastard and fuck with jon for a bit, because honestly his archivist has it coming (and elias is mind you the only one allowed to fuck with jon, keeps him on his toes) so he lies and says that he has the statement or whatever it is at his house because he was going to do some late night reading or something vaguely plausible, and jon of course believes him
so jon gets there, and elias is much farther into his joint than when jon first texted, and jon’s first question upon enetering elias’ home is ‘what is that smell?’ It’s not meant to be a Compelling question but elias answers him anyways from his sort of cartoonishly-villainous leather armchair in front of the fireplace and jon’s eyebrows shoot up towards his hairline in disbelief. ‘I thought you’d quit’
‘and so I have. mostly. it’s certainly not worse than your cigarettes.’
‘I wasn’t…accusing you of anything. It’s just, er, unexpected.’ Elias likes his archivist at a loss for words; it means Elias gets to put ideas in his head instead. ‘So uh, can I have the file? I’ll just, grab it and be on my way.’
‘Come here first.’
‘I’d better not.’
‘Come here, Jon.’
Elias can’t compel Jon’s feet to move in the literal sense, but they’ve fooled around enough by now that Jon knows not to cross him when he’s got that tone in his voice. Elias taps the arm of his chair, intending for Jon to perch there.
(Jon for his part, is Wary about all of this. Usually when Elias gets in a Mood he’s stone cold sober. Jon’s never seen him any other way in fact. This Elias is unpredictable in ways that could either be very good for jon, or very very bad)
Sure enough when Jon goes over to sit where Elias had motioned, Elias takes the opportunity to knock his archivist off balance and pull him neatly into Elias’ lap. Jon does not squawk, the noise he makes is very dignified actually thankyouverymuch. But with only a little manuvering Jon’s now straddling Elias’ hips. Elias is hard, and Jon realizes at that moment that whatever’s about to happen, it’s beyond his control. He probably should’ve packed an overnight bag.
Elias takes the last hit from his joint, and before Jon can stop him or protest he’s kissing Jon, letting the smoke flow into his mouth. Jon’s only option is to breathe it in or choke. Elias’ large warm hands move through Jon’s hair, holding his head in place so he can’t back away. He’s just got to take, and take, and take.
Eventually. when Jon’s head feels like it’s swimming, Elias lets him free, and he exhales the last dregs of the smoke. Elias wastes no time in diving back in however, plundering his archivist’s plush mouth with his tongue, almost like he’s trying to suck the smoke back out of him.
They end up finishing the second joint like that, Elias patiently feeding Jon each hit, and Jon had tried marijuana once in college with Georgie and a couple of friends, but it had mostly just given him a headache and he’d never bothered with the stuff again. But Elias doesn’t smoke the cheap stuff that college students typically can afford, and each hit is smooth and sticky sweet, and soon he’s practically flying, Elias wasting little time in lifting Jon up and getting him undressed right there on the floor in front of the fire so he can suck Jon off while playing with his hole
and Jon wants to be angry that Elias drugged him without his permission, he REALLY does, but it seems as if Jon can’t make thoughts stick for very long in his brain, so every time it comes up elias times a particularly firm suck or rub against his prostate and Jon loses the thought, until he’s so lost that he’s coming straight down elias’ throat
Elias fucks him like that, after. Jon soft and pliant and half-delirious, weak as a kitten and unable to resist, Elias with a tolerance much higher than Jon’s and familiar enough with what he’s like when he’s stoned to keep his wits about him, pushing little helpless noises out of Jon whenever he thrusts in and in and in.
Jon’s mostly asleep when Elias finally comes, crooning little praises into Jon’s sweat damp hair, but that’s alright. Elias carries him to the bedroom and lets him sleep it off.
In the morning, Jon’s completely forgotten about the statement.
Jon, to himself: I don’t know what Elias is to me anymore. Is he my friend? My enemy? My abuser or my lover? Am I just another piece on the board for him, to be discarded when I outlive my use?
The Eye, The Beholding, The Ceaseless Watcher, It Knows You, whispering into Jon’s very existence: He’s your sugar daddy.
So some people have mentioned the idea that Jon and Elias together might be the season five villains, and this is essentially in support of that idea.
There’s not really… many places Jon can go from here? Like either he can continue not taking statements and starve, presumably either to death or a worse state (and I think it’s fairly clear that it at least partially mirrors actual starvation, given what seems to be happening with Daisy, what has apparently happened with other avatars, and the constant references to it as hunger/eating), or he can take them and (presuming they find out, which considering they’re looking for it now it would be difficult not to) hell will most likely break lose in the archives. Considering he’s essentially the character the podcast focuses on, I sincerely doubt Jon is just going to starve to death from a narrative perspective.
Helen is actively encouraging him to take statemnts, and Elias isn’t actually interacting with him as such, but essentially has the same thing in mind.
Everyone else actively wants him to starve himself, with varying levels of hostility.
Martin obviously isn’t going to be helpful in this situation, might be actively harmful (intentionally or otherwise), and has repeatedly demonstrated he has no idea what’s going on with Jon.
Basira has actively threatened to (try to) kill him if he takes more statements which, appart from being a moot point if the starvation kills him, might actually be less of a threat than the starvation itself - particularly considering it’s becoming increasingly difficult to kill him in the first place.
Melanie seems less like she’s inclined to respond by blatently trying to kill Jon, and more like she just wants nothing to do with it (though I’m a bit confused as to why her objection to the Eye & co is now moral, given we haven’t heard anything about disagreements with Helen and what she does). Also, if you take her taking the escape route to be fairly likely, this may not be relevent for long, anyway.
Georgie has made it clear both that she doesn’t think he’s actually trying to stop and also that she no longer wants anything to do with him.
Daisy is probably the closest to being in any way helpful to this situation- but that’s provided she doesn’t starve to death or nonexistence or worse herself, and it’s clearly not as if she has a better solution.
There’s also the fact that Jon’s still trying to figure out what he Watcher’s Crown even is, whatever’s going on with Elias, and several factors likely to contribute to the escalation of all of this, the most recent and arguably the most likely at present being Escape Via Eye Gouging.
If Jon’s not going to starve, and he’s trying to find out about the Watcher’s Crown, and there’s more left narratively with Elias that seems to be coming into play, and there’s no one left in the Archives for him to work with, who does that leave?
First impression of each other? Was it love at first sight?
Elias was immediately struck by Jon’s curiosity and affinity for Beholding. He found Jon’s prickly nature endearing. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with Jon, but he knew it would be something wonderful for his patron, whether as a servant or a meal.
Jon wasn’t sure what to make of Elias and his too-sharp gaze. He felt like he was being judged, weighed against some standard, and he was caught between irritation and a desperate need for approval.
I found myself binge reading jonelias fics as soon as I discovered the tag, and my friend who is still on s1 couldn’t appreciate the joke I made to justify it so here it is
now picturing, for the last scenario, literal floating eyeball beholding somehow drinking wine as it watches jonahlias fall for jon's incredibly awkward seduction attempts
somehow, set right in the middle of this endless and constantly changing expanse, there is a giant glowing eyeball
in front of it, floating, is a giant glass of wine
it has a bendy straw in it
(the Beholding wanted a fun twisty straw, but didn’t want to deal with the Spiral being all smug about it)
the eyeball has no mouth, as it is an eyeball
it is watching its Archivist awkwardly pose against the doorframe of its Watcher’s office
the Archivist is wearing booty shorts
this is painful for everyone involved
oh no, the eyeball thinks, my precious Archivist is an idiot
every time we look away from the eyeball and look back, the straw is in a slightly different position and there’s a bit less wine in the glass
we cannot think about the logistics of this without questioning our perceptions of reality
the eyeball continues to watch as its Watcher responds to the Archivist’s terrible attempts at seduction
the Watcher is blushing, flattered and delighted at the attention and not at all put off by the horrible awkwardness any normal human would be feeling in this situation
oh no, the eyeball thinks, my Watcher is an idiot too
the glass of wine is almost empty
the eyeball continues to watch its Archivist and its Watcher engage in the worst mating ritual in human history and beyond
oh no, the eyeball thinks, maybe I’m just terrible at picking avatars
Perfectly groomed Elias with his little sweater vest gremlin sugar baby Jon is a great image but, for your consideration, punk Jon.
Jon who wears cheap tweed suits and vests and oxfords for work, but on his off hours, discards all that bullshit for secondhand combat boots and old band tshirts and leather jackets and ALL of his piercings. He looks like he just crawled his way out of a three day long drug-induced stupor that he spent in some random person’s basement, cheering for shitty bands and drinking stale beer. He has at least one stick-and-poke. He smells like coffee and old cigarettes. The bags under his eyes would indicate that he’s gone at least 48 hours without sleeping.
This human disaster is who Elias Bouchard fell in love with.
[walks up to a couple] so which one of you is the lynchpin of the new ritual that will bring about the end of the world and which one of you is the megalomaniac that’s been planning this ritual for over 200 years in your attempt to achieve immortality and power?
you seem to like monster fucking so i thought i'd share an idea i'm too scared to write? and it's a jonelias fantasy au where jon grows up in a beholding cult but isn't really invested in it until high priest elias insists he has to be the new virgin sacrifice. and jon expects uncomfortable sex with elias, he doesn't expect elias to actually transform.
:
OH??
first of all you’re right i am Very much into monster fucking
second of all!! write it!!! if you want ofc, i’m not gonna force you, but if you wanna send me more about this idea please do! it sounds really good + hot
Imagine Elias finding Jon asleep at his desk so he picks him up and carries him over to the cot in document storage. He pulls a blanket over Jon and turns to leave, but then he feels a hand around his wrist, and he looks over to see Jon half awake, tugging him towards the cot. So he lays down behind Jon and wraps his arms around him and they both take a nap together
One of the first things Elias did when he knew that the thing he had with Jon was serious was tell him the truth.
He knew that once Jon came into his full powers that he wouldn’t be able to hide it.
So he tells him. He tells him what he’s done as Jonah, as James, as Elias. Tells and tells the horrible things he did and still does.
After that, after that…he tells Jon about his last relationships. Tells him about the people he’s slept with, why, and all that.
He tells him about the arranged marriage deal he has with the Lukas’s. Tells him how it secures money for the Institute and creates an alliance.
He tells him that up until they got together, he was married to Peter Lukas. It was their tenth marriage.
Elias says he’s slept with the man but truly has no interest in him, isn’t in love with him.
The divorces became a game for them. Just out of spite.
Their last “marriage” lasted a few weeks before Elias realized he was falling in love with Jon.
Jon’s…quiet. He takes everything in. Is understanding. Holds Elias’s hands as the man struggles to reveal himself.
Inside he is shattering.
Suddenly the weight of countless people is pressing down on him and he realizes that compared to any of these faceless people…
He’s nothing. Just a random Archivist who’s soon to become something more. For Fear.
He knows Elias will get bored.
He had the smallest dream of getting married one day, back before he met Elias, and he’s not sure if that’s even on the table with him.
He would probably cry if Elias jokingly asked for a divorce.
So as Elias smiles weakly at Jon, Jon smiles back.
In Elias’s mind, he’s relieved that Jon took everything well.
In Jon’s mind, he’s lost everything before it even happened.
But he can’t stop loving Elias.
Still thinking about pre-established jonelias and how it would be affected by canon events and how it happened in the first place.
Just imagine Jon, a fresh face at the Institute, recently graduated from uni and still unsure about what he was doing at this strange but fascinating organization. He’s probably shy and nervous, reluctant to try to make friends because he knows that people don’t usually like him, and probably still raw from his recent breakup with Georgie. He’s used to everyone looking down on him, unimpressed by his age and his slight stutter and his hunched posture and the way he never meets their eyes, and his new coworkers aren’t any different from anyone else he’s met.
But then there’s Elias.
Elias, with his perfect and pristine suits and his carefully styled hair and his cool smile that softens just a bit when he looks at Jon and his intense gray eyes that seem to stare right into your soul. Elias who is older and handsome and ridiculously wealthy, and then intelligent and charismatic on top of that. Elias, the head of the Institute, paying attention to Jon like no one ever has before. Not just letting him talk, but actually listening and paying attention. Making sure that Jon is eating and not spending his nights in Artifact Storage, bringing him coffee and pastries from the cafe, inviting him to dinner… … .
It progresses from there. Jon would probably be really unsure at first, scared of the expectations that Elias might have for him and of the implications that come with dating a wealthy, older man, especially when that man is also your boss.
But time passes and their relationship blooms and that unease falls away into a soft domesticity, both of them just falling for each other like it’s where they were always meant to be.
And Jon still has his flat but he spends most of his time at Elias’s “house” (read: mansion) and they spend lazy mornings in bed together and get lunch at quiet cafes and go home together at the end of the work day. And they’re happy, genuinely and purely happy.
And then Jane Prentiss happens. And everything goes straight to hell.
Suddenly, all of Jon’s insecurities are back but a million times worse in different ways. He’s not worried about things like sex anymore, doesn’t think about terms like “sugar baby” or “workplace relationship disclosure” or anything like that. Now he’s worried about the implications of them being avatars of the Beholding, about Elias knowing about everything and manipulating things from the sidelines as well as any avatar of the Web. He suddenly wonders if any of their relationship was ever real, or if Elias was just grooming him, preparing him to take the role of Archivist and act as a catalyst for the apocalypse.
It was real. Elias may have initially seen him as the Archivist and nothing else, but it hadn’t been that way in a very long time. But Jon doesn’t Know that, probably wouldn’t believe it anyway.
And the worst part is that even after all the pain and suffering and betrayal and distrust, Jon still loves him. More than anything, honestly. This is a man who he had spent his recent life with, who he had fallen in love with so easily, who he wanted to marry one day. And no matter how much his assistants yell or look at him like he’s betraying them, Jon can’t just turn those feelings off, can’t just stop loving someone.
He doesn’t even really want to stop. Would it be so bad, to embrace the Beholding and their purpose? Would a world with no secrets really be so terrible? He doesn’t know anymore.
But it doesn’t matter because then they stop the Unknowing and the next thing Jon knows, Elias is gone. Locked away in some prison, a god trapped in a gilded cage, and Jon is alone again. No allies at his side, left alone in empty archives and an empty mansion and an empty bed. There is someone he doesn’t know sitting in his lover’s office and his nights are spent tossing and turning because he misses the comfort of arms around him and he’s just so hungry all the time. And he can’t even get the comfort of visiting Elias in prison because security won’t let him in, tells him that Elias doesn’t want to see him.
He misses Elias. Misses the way he laughed and the methodical way he’d get dressed in the morning and the gentle press of his lips when he came to get Jon to go home every night and the way he couldn’t cook if his life depended on it but he still tries. Jon just misses everything about him, about their relationship.
I doubt he would resist the Beholding after that. I doubt he’d fight against Knowing and Seeing when it’s the only thing tying him to the man he loves. When Elias gets out of prison, Jon would crumple against him and they’d finally be truly united.
Hoo boy, this got long.
After he wakes up from the coma and retrieves Daisy from the Buried and has to learn how to live without someone at his side, Daisy and Georgie are the only people who support and help him.
Martin is jealous and bitter, Melanie is furious, and Basira is just disappointed and wants nothing to do with him. But Daisy hovers over Jon at work, snarling at anyone who so much as looks at him wrong, and helps him feel safer and more secure when he’s alone. And Georgie doesn’t understand but she knows him and loves him and doesn’t want to see him suffer, so she invites him over to her flat and keeps him company in his big, empty house, cuddling on the couch with him and sharing meals and bringing the Admiral over for play and cuddle time.
Neither of them get it. But they get Jon, and they’ll be there for him just like he’s been there for them.
Jonmartin- you like fluffy office romance, and you like listening to people infodump
Timsasha- you have a general mistrust of authority and you are bisexual
Lonely Eyes- you like angst and/or you just want these dumb fuckers to torment each other
Martim- you like office romance but you also like hurt/comfort and unrequited love fics (i see your 12 hanaki disease fanfics open right now)
Jontim- you like those fics where the super flirty one gets flustered by one (1) flirty comment from the really awkward one
Basira/Daisy- you too want a werewolf gf and you might be a lesbian
What the Girlfriends- you love domestic fics and you thought that slaughter!melanie was pretty hot
Jonmartim- it’s the bestttt of both worldsssss yeahhh, you love all three of these boys and pretend like seasons 3-5 never happened
MichaelGerry- you’re a sucker for characters with shared trauma and you either hate gertrude or love her there is no in between (you also probably kin one of them)
Jonelias- listen, you’re expecting me to bully you but i will not, you like hate/love relationships and the concept of evil murder husbands + you might be an eliasfucker
Breekon/Hope- you love the concept of being tied to the love of your life for centuries and being completely inseparable
Whatever you do, don’t think about the possibility that it is Jonah himself calling Jon to the Panopticon due to the fact that Jonah won’t feel his victory is complete unless the Archive is with him. Don’t think about Jonah’s heart skipping a beat when he finally gets to look upon all that Jon is within arm’s reach, the moment when Jonah is at his most human in centuries whilst Jon is at his most gloriously monstrous (monstrously glorious?).
Don’t think about Jon seeming to hesitate when he Sees the way Jonah trembles down to where his soul should be. You don’t want to get caught up imagining Jon cupping Jonah’s terrified face in both hands and swiping his thumbs across his cheekbones. Jon could be easing the start of tears, or he might be preparing to core Jonah’s eyes out of Elias’s handsome angular face.
Maybe he’ll snap Jonah’s neck. Or, perhaps he’ll kiss him.
If the Beholding had breath, it would be holding it.
soft but horny jonelias: jon confessing wanting elias to fuck him while he's sleeping, certain elias will be disgusted, only for elias to reassure him he's delighted by the thought
:> a few days after this, elias finds jon asleep at his desk so he closes and locks the door, turns on a tape recorder, and fucks him nice a slow. jon’s so tired he doesn’t even wake up, but he does listen to the tape the next day and hears all the wonderful noises elias made and all the praise elias gave his inert body and he doesnt stop blushing for a week straight
Tim finds the tape while he’s doing archival duties or w/e (bc of course elias left it where someone could find it, of course he did) and tim is really concerned (which is a valid and correct reaction!) and he brings the tape to jon like hey. I really don’t want want to upset you but I think you need to hear this and then take it to HR. And jon is just absolutely mortified that a) tim listened to elias having sex with him and b) he now has to explain that yeah no it was planned. He’s like tim it’s fine I let him do that and tims like jon if he’s coercing you that’s not consensual and Jon is like no. No you don’t understand I asked him to do that. And Tim just has no idea how to respond to that
jonelias au where already an eye avatar!jon is told to take down elias by the beholding. and jonathan 'disaster' sims decides seducing elias is a foolproof plan. even better: elias falls for it hook, line, and sinker
OKAY OKAY HERE’S THE POTENTIAL OPTIONS FOR THIS SCENARIO
The Beholding is fucking sick of Elias. He’s been around for 200 years and MAYBE, just maybe, it wants to try out a new Watcher. That’s valid. Elias is an annoying shit. So the Beholding sends in Jon to do his dirty work and Jon just fucking? Seduces him??? That’s so unnecessary wtf, just shoot the bastard. But Jon does what he fucking wants and he wants that dick so whatever. This scenario would absolutely end with Elias being dead, but how? Does Jon murder him in his sleep? Cut his throat open on a sacrificial altar to the Beholding? Let himself essentially absorb Elias’s powers and connection to the Beholding until he’s withered away? Lots of good potential.
The Beholding likes Jonah but is sick of Elias specifically. Maybe it doesn’t like that particular body or it isn’t as well-adapted to being the Watcher as the previous bodies were or maybe it just wants to get to know the Watcher in a new form and Jonah is just too slow with his bodysnatching. Either way, Jon is sent in to essentially force Jonah out of that particular body and into a new one. That could be literal, with Jon picking the new body himself and doing all the messy work like eye-gouging and shit and then forcing Jonah’s soul out of Elias’s body and into the new one. It could also be really funny, with them literally shopping for new bodies and bickering over ages and hair colors and heights. Elias is extremely picky, Jon just wants to get shit done. Could be a very fun concept to explore.
Jonah has been straying away from the Beholding. Originally, he was absolutely dedicated. He had temples and shrines and altars built, he offered regular sacrifices, he was essentially a priest to the Eye. But over time, things changed. Now he treats their relationship like it’s a business arrangement, meeting the minimum requirements to keep his powers without putting in any real effort. Shrines fall into disarray and the only offerings made are through statements. The Beholding is hungry and that just won’t do. But now it has a new priest, one who is dedicated and in awe of his Master, who treats their relationship like the religion it is. And there is no one better to remind Elias of who he is, who his GOD is. This is one of my favorite AUs, with ritual sex and human sacrifices and knives carving ancient symbols into skin.
The Beholding doesn’t actually want to get rid of Jonah. He’s a bit power hungry and isn’t as focused on his Master as he should be, but he’s still a good Watcher and has remained faithful for 200 years so his faults can be accepted. But now the Beholding has a new avatar!! A cute little Archivist!! It’s been so, so long since it’s had a good, faithful Archivist who has actually embraced their role and even longer since its Archivist and Watcher have actually gotten along and worked together. And it needs some way to get them to interact, so why not make up a fake mission for its dedicated little Archivist to throw himself into? The Beholding didn’t expect the seduction. It also did not expect its avatars to fall in love. But whatever, this is a way better option than Jon just killing Elias. The Beholding really did not think its plan through but everything turned out alright in the end, right? Right. This is a good AU because I love the idea of the Beholding playing matchmaker in the worst fucking way possible.
I have too many wips already so prompt if anyone wants it: already an avatar of the eye and undercover at the institute Jon blowing his cover by calling Elias Jonah during sex
All those jonelias fics where Martin secretly watches them having sex except instead of fucking, they’re tenderly kissing or cuddling or napping together and it’s a million times more painful for Martin because casual sex is one thing but Jon actually being intimate and affectionate with another person is something entirely different.
you say "punk jon" and i'm now picturing punk archivist jon covered in eye tattoos to match his actual extra eyes. elias has still not noticed his younger lover isn't human.
Call me gross or whatever but I can’t stop thinking about Elias gently lifting Jon’s hand to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to his knuckles or wrist, the two of them never once breaking eye contact, Jon wide-eyed and breathing fast and feeling worshipped and seen in a way he’s never experienced before.
