I think Martin fed on Jon. Whenever he demeaned Jon after he read a statement or whenever Jon agonized over being unlike the others as he was no longer human™ ... that's food for the loneliness
I have considered that possibility before, and I actually think that this kinda interpretation has a lot of potential, and would add a lot of depth and flavor to an otherwise bland relationship. What I had in mind when reblogging that post was the fact that Martin canonically being a full-fledged avatar was not utilized in the podcast at all beyond the convenient parts.
He got the “cool” part, which is disappearing when he didn’t want to talk to people. He got a domain that he refused to acknowledge but still spent an entire episode sitting in it and self-reflecting. But there was no hunger. He didn’t feel the need to feed like Jon or the other avatars did. Him being an avatar was not talked about unless it was beneficial to Martin angst and questionable jmart moments.
Throughout the length of season 5, the podcast highlighted the divide between Jon and Martin and their respective relationships with their humanity. Martin never had to face the consequences of being an avatar and thus fulfilling the role of a perpetrator in the fear-infested world. It was not explored or plot-relevant, and I think that was a wasted opportunity.
And it’s just weird to me??? The podcast spent several seasons outlining how being an avatar of a fear was very much like being a host to a life-threatening parasite. The fear feeds off of what you extract for it, and if you fail to do it, it consumes you. It’s not a superpower or a quirk. But in Martin’s case that aspect was never talked about. And yes, the potential IS there, but the podcast doesn’t cover it. You have to think it all up yourself, and when you fo you start to notice how much you have to dig for scraps and make up interpretations in order to make the ship even slightly compelling.
That’s a huge part of why I don’t like s5. The whole foundation of it is “two people in love walking through the apocalypse” but the romance is hinged purely on the assumption that you already shipped them, hence interpreting everything they did as romantic without the canon having to support it or actually develop anything.
What I’m saying is if Martin had fed as Jon did in canon, things would’ve been a lot more interesting between them. But all the Lonely made him do was fuck off to his domain and spend an entire episode talking to himself. As if one Martin wasn’t enough smh
I would be more rational-maxed and nuance-pilled if I could reasonably binge listen to the series while at work. Instead it’s mostly ads and I have also developed a mental block against season five’s existence.
Figured I’d post a link to my writing discord if anyone wants to join. No pressure. Just a place to talk about the creative process and get feedback and such.
I'm not saying you have to like those people—you're right, nobody should ever tell you you can't dislike or choose not to interact with them—but you shouldn't have to feel like all of these people are saying that the people who hurt you were right to do so.
With this in mind, I want to ask if you'd be interested in engaging in a good-faith conversation with me in dms. I sent this as an anonymous ask because I have no interest in starting a fight if this isn’t something you want, but I will reach out if you’re willing. I think we could be friends, and I’m always looking for people who are just as passionate about TMA as I am.
My DMs are always open so if you want to talk I don’t care. I’m fascinated by the idea that you think we could be friends if you’re already assuming I’d be on the defensive. Which. Good. Chase that instinct. But. Anyway. Full transparency, replies won’t be immediate. If you want non-reactive me, you’ll have to be patient while I reflect.
Ranting about Georgie Barker, arguably the most underrated tma character
(spoilers for tma and tmagp btw)
I was thinking about tma again (shocking, I know) and about all the lore and its implications that is less talked about, because I bet if I think about it enough there’ll be plenty of it an I’m kind of inclined to make a list at this point.
But one thing in the series I keep thinking about is Georgie and particularly her statement and how it ended with her becoming immune to fear. Which is crazy btw and I really don’t think we as a fandom talk enough about how crazy that is. Because what do you mean an avatar of a fear entity (you know, the creatures that are supposed to make you scared) somehow managed to cauterize someone’s fear entirely?
That’s like the complete opposite effect of what the fears are supposed to have. And I kinda wonder if it was even intentional or if it was something that wasn’t supposed to happen and if the avatar knew this was even a possibility. Because, honestly, to me the phrase “the moment that you die will feel exactly the same as this one” seems like a line meant to evoke fear, not neutralize it.
So how the hell did that happen? And not only did Georgie have her sense of fear switched off, but this effect also made her completely immune to the entities’ powers and exempted her from having a domain during the eyepocalypse. That’s kind of an op advantage to have in this world if you ask me. And it’s kinda crazy that no one points out how weird it is that, again, this was the result of encountering and interacting with an avatar of a dread power and especially The End, probably humanity’s most ancient and primordial fear.
And now I’m thinking, can all fear entities have this probably unintended effect on people or is it just The End? And if it is just The End then why only it? What’s so special about it that can give you perminent immunity to horror? Can this happen to any human or was Georgie special somehow? Would another person have been consumed by fear in her place or was that the only possible outcome there?
My best guess is that it was an unintended outcome and that it happened both due to The End’s nihilistic nature and partially Georgie’s personality and circumstance. Like maybe a phrase that would strike fear in most, to some poeple it can bring a sense of apathy. Since what The End represents is the fear of everything inevitably ending and everything being meaningless because of this.
It’s as if Georgie, instead of being crushed under the weight of the realization of her and the whole universe’s insignificance, she accepted it as fact and let it take over the void that the fear of it would have filled in its place. I also kinda wonder if this was a decision that she herself made in that moment. If she chose, though perhaps unconsciously, to exchange her fear with nihilism.
The only other person we know of who’s become immune to the effects of the apocalypse and its domains is Melanie, who we know gouged her eyes to unbind gerself from the Eye’s shackles, which we know is a thing that can happen and it makes more sense, as she gained immunity by going out of her way to defy a dread power. And we know that this is something anyone can do. Though I’m not sure if it would work the same if someone was blinded without being held hostage by the Beholding in the first place. Otherwise blind people would basically all get special treatment during the apocalypse. And maybe they did and we just never heard about it, who knows….
But Georgie’s case feels vastly different and much weirder to me. And not only is it interesting for its lore implications, but it also makes her a very uniquely fascinating character. Because how does a person who doesn’t feel fear live, think and feel? How does that work exactly? Like imagine you one day woke up and just didn’t care about you or anyone else dying or getting hurt or literally anything ever. It just didn’t phase you. How do you even go on? How does one keep on living when they no longer fear death? If those survival instincts don’t exist anymore, why do you keep going? Especially if you happen to live in the hellscape that is the tma universe during or after the apocalypse.
And what’s even more intriguing is that Georgie isn’t just surviving or quietly living her life. We know that she’s a world leader now and that she’s in charge of whatever has been salvaged from London during the eyepocalypse. She’s actively trying to make the world better and protect people. Which poses the question, how can a person be so fiercely protective wen they don’t even fear losing people? And how does caring about and even loving someone work for a person without the fear of hurting or losing them? How do her and Melanie work as a couple? Do they ever face any struggles because of this? Does Georgie ever struggle with feelings of uncaringness or coldness towards people? SO. MANY. QUESTIONS.
And I hope we see a lot more of her in Protocol because I’ll lose my mind if her character and situation aren’t explored further. It’d really be a shame and I can only hope that Jonny and Alex are as aware of her potential as I am.
y'know the thing of "he would not fucking say that". that but with martin in a negative way. the fucking. "sorry I can't hear you, there's a door in the way" is such an iconic line. but it doesn't fit his character at all. like. who the fuck is this self assured witty guy.
I can see where you’re coming from, but I disagree. I’ll try to explain as best as I can.
One of the things Martin cared about more than anything else was being seen as caring. He tried very hard to put himself into the role of a sweet and helpful guy not only because he cared about his colleagues, but because he felt safe that way.
Making them tea was a simple gesture, so much easier than trying to offer a solution or talk about a problem they had, but it still showed that he cared and put in effort. He avoided conflict because he’s bad at resolving it. He’s the kind of guy to pretend an argument has never happened, cause it’s easier to brush it off and forget about it rather than try to get to the root of the problem. Later on, he admitted to putting on this quiet sweetheart persona while simultaneously keeping people at a distance because loneliness is easier, safer than opening yourself up to someone and showing vulnerability. He kept his interpersonal relationships surface-level because it was easier to maintain them that way.
That moment you mentioned, the action of locking himself in the archives to burn statements, and throwing a snippy response at Elias instead of folding and apologizing seems to me like positive character development - Martin finally choosing a stance in a conflict instead of trying to find a blanket solution or an easy middle ground. Finally doing something he believed mattered, and not just to keep up appearances for his own comfort. That development is very clear later, when he made the decision to collaborate with Peter Lukas because he believed he could ‘help’ his colleagues that way.
So to sum up, I don’t agree with you. I think that line is very much fitting.
Welp. Guess I’m gonna be working on what is now dubbed ‘spun sugar, ground spice, not everything is nice’. Doing more research on child development, making graphics for the playlist and a cover page and etc, creating a mood board, working on the first third and developing the other two thirds. Probably make a master post of the sketches I drew to drum up interest. Not starting from zero, but actually getting back to it…
“(This) causes autism,” this. “(This) causes autism,” that. Everyone knows what actually causes autism is relating to Jon Sims, Head Archivist of The Magnus Institute.
“Levaa, you haven’t talked about the Georgie and Celia spinoff bridging the months long hiatus we’re facing.”
Listen. I am nothing if not violently the opposite of self-aware. But even I know. That if I took two seconds to think about it. Then the four day mental breakdown I had last week would look like a spa day in comparison.
Anyway. Last night I was thinking, as I sometimes do, about the month Jon spent at the circus. But this time, not about the nonconsensual lotioning. This time I was thinking about the fact it was a MONTH.
Was it an actual month? As in, near to or exactly 30 days? Four weeks? Or was it just hyperbole? Less than that, but close enough to count? Maybe even longer. Regardless. A twelfth of the year. Gone. Add that to the six months in a coma and Jon has a seven month deficit in his reality. But anyway. On that note. Was he aware of it the whole time? How had he survived? Was there bullshit time dilation? Is that it? He seemed pretty surprised about the length of time, but that doesn’t confirm one way or the other. Though, time dilation bullshit isn’t the Stranger’s m.o. That’s more along the line of the Spiral, right? Still. Can’t really establish HOW Jon exactly experienced that time. He was oddly fine tho. No malnourishment, no obvious degradation in mental and physical faculties that would naturally come from an entire month of being isolated and restrained. Maybe that’s confirmation? He seemed very… unaffected by it. Afterwards. Despite his willingness to die the way he felt he should’ve as a child. Though, would make for bad audio if the main character was unable to converse or react.
I still wonder, though. Why did they want us to not focus too much on the horror of being prepared to be murdered and skinned for a month? Why was it made into a joke? Was it all just to show Jon’s inhumanity? To help emphasize he was already becoming an other? I suppose that would make sense then. No need to dwell when you’re not supposed to empathize. No need to address it when it was just one more mark.
Rest in Piss, Peter FUCKING Lukas. I will be doing ANYTHING but paying respects to you today. I’m glad you’re Jon’s first murder. Gorton’s Fisherman looking ass motherfucker. I hate you.
Anyway. Spent last night making the playlist graphics. Gonna take tonight to make the cover and do some writing. My goal is to start posting act one early next year, so it’ll be a while until you see the things. Still. Pretty happy that I’m feeling like I’m making progress.
Got out of therapy a bit ago and thinking about this scene. Not about Georgie saying no, this time, but what Jon says afterwards.
I’m not going to take the commentary in the bracketed stage instructions cause that’s not here or there. But he knew she was gonna say no. And I use the lowercase know here cause it’s important.
She tells him to go to therapy, he asks that she be moral support — possibly even accountability that he follow through — and he is unsurprised when she denies his request. It wasn’t like he was asking her to BE his therapist, or help him find one, or anything more than just be present. And she says no like he thought — expected — she would.
It is so FUN when your preconceived notions are confirmed. It is the best feeling in the world, having your view of a situation be affirmed as right. Especially when that situation is as emotionally sensitive as going to therapy for an ongoing traumatic experience. Cause when you’re right, then you no longer have to alter your thought process. You were right. Ergo. You will continue to be right about the current thought and any related ones.
Georgie telling Jon no — which was her right, cause she is right with whatever decision she made — didn’t just deny her involvement in his life. It told him that his assumption that everyone around him would not help him get better was right. That his assumption that everyone around him thought he was better off dead was right. That he had no real worth to anyone BETTER and that getting worse to end an even worse outcome was preferable than putting in useless effort.
This was all subconscious. It wasn’t like she knew. It wasn’t like he knew. It is just what happens when what are considered cognitive distortions are affirmed.
This fucking sucks, I’m going to (remembers suicide jokes are bad for my mental health) take this world that you used me to create, and I am going to burn it out. It’s the only way. I am going to leave it a barren lifeless void, cold and unafraid and then finally, when everyone’s gone and I am all that’s left I will have the satisfaction of knowing that I’ll be leaving these things that you serve trapped and starving in their own. Private. Hell.
you know, there’s probably room for an interesting analysis post talking about how the text of TMA is pretty convinced that Jon’s biggest flaw is his inability to communicate effectively, but the actual dialogue seems to imply that he is just consistently misunderstood and occasionally outright ignored
Here’s the thing about Tim. Tim doesn’t blame Jon for his employment. He blames him for bringing him down into the Archives. Tim blames him for what Jon became. But, irony of ironies, they both have the same reason for being there. They saw someone they knew (and loved, in Tim’s case) die in a way that couldn’t be explained, drawing them to the Institute and employment there as a way to find answers. Whatever quality that made Jon what he became, good and bad, Tim had as well. He wouldn’t have joined if he hadn’t!And up until Jane, up until the stalking and accusation of murder, Tim didn’t find anything onerous about the place. It was just, exactly like Jon, a means to an end. The only difference was that Tim didn’t continue to dig. He found nothing and accepted it. Jon kept going and Tim saw that as him bringing them all down with him and not giving them any support for what Jon caused. No way out and no way up.
Thinking about how all the other characters’ flaws aren’t seen as defects but as explanations while Jon’s flaws are seen as reasons why he deserved everything he got and more. Which sucks because if he had a single person who ACTUALLY didn’t think of him as a monster, because fuck you Martin was just as if not more disgusted by him, I probably wouldn’t be this adamant about defending him. Because it wouldn’t be a clear cut case of victim-blaming. And I know I’ve said this same shit before but you’ll hear it again and again until I die.
The thing is Jon really didn’t need to go to Jude Perry or Mike Crew. He didn’t need the information. He could have ignored the spoon-fed statements. I’m sure the whole ‘on the run as a murder suspect’ and ‘eventually hunted down to be murdered’ situations would’ve resolved themselves. Not like the information had anything to do with either of those situations. Right? So. Yeah. I’m sure if he’d done neither then everything would have been totally fine. Eventually. Yeah.
I think that Tim Stoker is by far the most compelling character in the Magnus Archives. It’s a shame he didn’t make it to the final season. It was nice having him die taking down the Unknowing, but his character could have gone so many cool places if he had survived.
However, I am still peeved that he pulled the whole “I don’t forgive you” line. It’s one thing to not forgive someone, but you don’t have to make confirming it the last thing both of you will ever hear. You can just… not say anything at all! It isn’t like Jon didn’t know. Have mercy, man.
Sex repulsed people should not have to walk on eggshells when discussing their orientation and constantly remind everyone that they’re totally fine with other people having sex and that they’re not an anti-sex puritan. You’re allowed to be grossed out by the thought of sex and you should not feel like a bad person for your discomfort, no explanation or justification needed. If anyone tells you you’re harming others just by being grossed out they’re full of shit
Why do people try and interpret the only canonical indication of his asexuality as him being not sex-adverse/repulsed as saying that it was gossip and that Melanie, who was the third hand source of it, hated him?
Quickly, explain why someone who hates someone else would gossip that someone doesn’t fuck and why using that as a sign it’s not true isn’t because they AND YOUsee not having sex as something shameful and worthy of ridicule.
ALT
