so a couple days ago for a mag a day was checking out, otherwise known as the episode that equated trauma based touch aversion to being a monster who thinks they’re better than everyone else :)
i will never be okay with the fact that this episode looked at how jon was legitimately tortured fourteen times over mentally and physically and instead of realizing that MAYBE trauma on that level and scale causes people to not want to be touched by anyone, let alone people who are currently not safe themselves, it said he was too self centered and self focused to see the fact that this person was scared and also in pain.
anyway, why am i still even thinking about ‘victim-blaming’ the podcast. i really should just. stop.
I genuinely don’t care if the way Jon was treated by Georgie and Basira and Melanie and Martin was warranted. I genuinely don’t care that Jon did awful things and didn’t deserve kindness. I don’t. I really fucking don’t. And I’m tired of reading people write about what Jon did as if every last bit of it was something he chose or wanted to happen. As if he ENJOYED BEING A MONSTER. So I don’t care that they were justified in not treating him like a human being. I don’t care that he fed on fear and “”traumatized“” people. I really fucking don’t. Because at the end of the day, no matter whatever the writers SAY was their intent, all I heard was a man being tortured and tormented and vilified and hated and none of what he did justified it. None of it. And this isn’t me saying he was hurt more than anyone else. That’s absolutely not what this is about. This is about how within the text it’s clear that everything that happened to him was intended to be seen as HIS fault and that HE deserved it all. When in actuality none of it was. And I’m just. So tired of people screaming about fucking accountability as if being turned into a fear eating monster is anyway analogous to real life. Fuck addiction metaphors. Fuck power dynamics metaphors. Fuck all that. All I saw was someone be thoroughly and LITERALLY dehumanized, someone incapable of fully being human ever again, and receiving nothing but threats on his life for it. Who received no understanding for his situation and instead was treated like a weapon of mass destruction. That’s what I saw. And any of y’all who wanna argue against that can eat my entire fucking ass.
Thinking about how trauma and reconciliation presents itself in The Magnus Archives and Moon Knight. Thinking about how both Jon and Marc were traumatized at young ages by watching someone they knew die in front of them, among other things. Thinking about how they ended up in positions where people are hurt or worse because of them in direct cause of that formative experience. Thinking about how they’re not given any forgiveness for that pain by those they hurt… however…
Thinking about how Marc is told his trauma wasn’t his fault and despite still not being forgiven for his actions because of it, in the end he’s able to choose a different way and will eventually be able reconcile with those he hurt and forgive himself.
Thinking about how Jon was told his trauma was the reason everyone around him was being hurt and that it wouldn’t matter if he tried to fix anything, it would still be his fault simply for existing, and he would never deserve forgiveness.
Thinking about how a key component to this is how both of them are unable to be open about that trauma. Thinking about how both pushed away any support system they had out of a misguided need to protect them. Thinking about how Marc had people begging him to be open about it and his feelings in order to understand and help him. Thinking about how Jon was consistently ignored or silenced when he eventually tried to make his emotions and actions known. Thinking about how both of their support systems were also dealing with trauma. Thinking about how Marc’s support system never once thought of his trauma as lesser than theirs. Thinking about how Jon’s support system only ever saw his trauma as an excuse that belittled theirs. Thinking about how Marc’s worked with him while Jon’s worked against him.
Thinking about how it wasn’t love that saved Marc, at least not the kind of love that’s valued, but the simple recognition that he wasn’t alone in his pain and how that meant placing his heart in their hand for protection. Thinking about how love saved Jon’s world, if not him, but the kind of love that meant giving someone the ability to kill you and knowing they would because of it rather than in spite of it as that’s all he knew love was.
Thinking about how trauma and reconciliation presents itself in The Magnus Archives and Moon Knight and how cynicism will always be weaker than hope.
sorry jon apologists but it always makes me laugh how even the minor devil's assistant character thought he was an dick (I also don't like the implications that his aggressiveness wasn't just about the archives but other sectors as well), "desperate to to be taken seriously" was wild. but i think it's cute that at least gertrude was cordial and respectful to her
Jon really couldn’t have anything, mans couldn’t even hate a guy in peace. NO he had to fall deeply in love with him and spend the rest of his life just absolutely eating his words
Not to be on the Jon defense squad but reading thru the transcripts in past episodes where Martin is yelling at Jon to “use his power” to “make things better” and to kill all the avatars they come across while Jon refuses because he doesnt like how it makes him feel is not making Martin look good in the argument in todays episode asdfghj like martin…. i love you dearly but what the fuck lmao???
Like look at this bit from right after they met Callum in Night Night where Martin was pressuring Jon to kill the dark domain’s avatar not knowing it was Callum…. Like Martin….. is this u???
Like Martin i really do love you but im begging you to admit you dont know what to do rather than get mad at Jon when he tells you harsh truths. Like i do agree with him that Jon’s plan wouldnt have worked and that it was a shitty idea but being so cruel and calling him names and being contradictory is NOT where its at. Especially after he’s been saying this for the entire season…
[image ID: Unofficial transcript from TMA 173 Night Night:
Martin: See what, Jon; what am I supposed to see? That you don’t want to kill a–thirteen year old kid? Big revelation.
Archivist: I don’t know what you want me to do.
Martin: I want you to use your power. I want you to help them; I want you to make things better!
Archivist: There is no better anymore.
Martin: (increasing in volume, emotion) You keep–saying that, and I hate it!
Archivist: (also giving in to the argument) I keep saying it because it keeps being true; you know that!
I keep thinking about Jon’s tone just before he goes for a smoke break. He’s so tired. They all are. And from his point of view, this group of people he’s been trudging on for have just unanimously decided that given the choice, they would create 1000+/- more archivist “I open the door” moments for 1000+/- other Jon’s to save what, themselves? Their two or three loved ones? Strangers? Certainly not Jon, not if they’re asking him to reenact his own worst guilt but as the perpetrator this time.
And the moment Martin said he wanted Jon to “want to save himself” was i think the moment that that exhausted point of view shifted from Jon’s peripheral to his central reality, and he’s decided to derail the plan to give those 1000+/- Jon’s the help he never got.
A MAG A Day is on Parting and of course all the shitty ‘it was envy’ fanart has resurfaced to remind me of how little benefit of the doubt Jon gets. Cause genuinely…
What the fuck does envy look like?
Maybe I’m too autistic to understand how to read expressions but like. Genuinely. I have no clue what envy looks like or how you would even distinguish it from any other emotion. Most of the Jon parts of those fanarts make him look disgusted. Or staring intensely at Jonah, jaw clenched or mouth open. What exactly did Martin see on Jon’s face that crossed out disgust or hatred as what Jon was actually feeling.
And even then, even if he was envious, what was that saying about how first thoughts aren’t what matter but how you feel about them? Even if he thought it who’s to say he wasn’t disgusted by that thought and regretted it? Just like how HE WAS DISGUSTED BY BEING ABLE TO KILL NOT!SASHA. SOMETHING MARTIN SAID HE SHOULDN’T FEEL BAD ABOUT.
Not only that, but it’s very VERY telling how most of the other fanart of the season have Jon very clearly looking monsterous, with black scleras and multiple eyes and etc, even when not using his abilities, but they make him look absolutely normal here.
Cause of course this is just who Jon naturally is. Envious of the man who used his body to end the world. Who orchestrated his and everyone else’s trauma and torment and torture.
“I mean my skin’s in better condition than… ever. Is that a weird thing to say?”
Ok, turned out more creepy than I planned, sorry about that. But the storyboards are going great! I’ll finish up some nice Michael drawings for you tomorrow.
Was reading the wikipedia page on trolley problems to find out whether TMA is or isnt one - I still don’t have a clear answer, but i do have this part from ‘criticisms’, which seems surprisingly apt:
Brianna Rennix and Nathan J. Robinson go even further and assert that the thought experiment is not only useless, but also downright detrimental to human psychology. The authors opine that to make cold calculations about hypothetical situations in which every alternative will result in one or more gruesome deaths is to encourage a type of thinking that is devoid of human empathy and assumes a mandate to decide who lives or dies. They also question the premise of the scenario. “If I am forced against my will into a situation where people will die, and I have no ability to stop it, how is my choice a "moral” choice between meaningfully different options, as opposed to a horror show I’ve just been thrust into, in which I have no meaningful agency at all?“
@a-mag-a-day not trying to open this semantic discussion again but i still rlly enjoy the quote
Spooky scary Shelley-tons!! Ok Michael Distortion fans, this one is for you.
Drawn in Storyboard Pro 20.1 with custom brushes from Rozlyn Waltz. The Magnus Archives is a podcast written by Jonathan Sims, Directed by Alexander J Newall, and distributed by Rusty Quill! This clip features voice acting by Jonathan Sims and Luke Booys!
Had a lot of fun figuring out how Michael moves! Now that I’ve drawn his grand entrance, maybe someday I’ll draw the scene where he…uh…leaves.
I went on the website for the London zoo because I have this “somewhere else” idea where Jon wakes up at the zoo and an employee is like “you alright mate?” and it’s Gerard Keay. so I wanted to see what kind of a job you can get at the zoo without like. an extensive education and background in zoology. And I found this
You should feel bad for her because her best friend died.
Well, okay, her best friend died because she threw them into a giant fan, but, like, she’s really sorry about it.
Well, okay, she’s not actually sorry about it at all, and will in fact staunchly maintain that the act was both pragmatically and morally justified if challenged on it, but she is a bit lonely now.
Look, the point is that you should feel bad for her, okay?
