2021-05-23 12:27:40 ¶ ● ⬈

## TMA Meta, Fan Theory, Headcanon Grab Bag:

thedesolationkilledmycat:

> I haven’t been very online lately, but I figured it would be fun to post some miscellaneous meta/fan theories, ranging from “I think this is absolutely true,” to “canon compliant patches on plot holes,” to “look, this is the most absolutely ridiculous idea, but I love it.” In no particular order:

> 1. The reason Gertrude bound Gerry Keay in the skin book was to prevent him from becoming reborn as a fully-realized Avatar of the Eye. Much like Oliver, Trevor (who also had cancer), and even Jon himself, Gerry died and would have returned with full Eye powers if not for Gertrude’s actions. He already had some improved skills as we see in MAG 162 when he’s chatting with Gertrude in the archives, and it seems like his zeal for eyes and eye iconography is already paying off. What I wouldn’t give to read the AU where Gertrude gets waylaid trying to put Gerry in the skin book and he comes back as a freelance Eye Avatar (Gerry Keay, Private Eye???), messes with Elias/Jonah/The Web’s plans, and occasionally pops up as Jon’s mysterious benefactor. Obviously in this AU, his many eye tattoos become actual eyes. You’ve seen Jon with his hundred Archivist eyes - it’s only fair that Gerry gets his chance to look extra cool, too.

> 2. In MAG 196-7, the reason the Web, unlike the other Fears, is self-aware is because people started imagining it like that - it changes as it takes the shape that people give to it. Once people started fearing “the Web” proper and not just manipulation/lack of control, it took on its own personality.

> 3. This is also why the Fears end up splitting in Smirke’s way as per MAG 200 - he saw some legitimate faultlines, but as people came to believe in Smirke’s taxonomy, and it became hegemonic, the Fears started to reshape in that way. This would connect to MAG 183, Monument, where Jon argues that the hubris of people like Smirke giving systematic shape to the Fears is what let them come through. This could be compatible with an account of the fears as having a variety of culturally specific forms insofar as: a) other societies had their own accounts of the Fears, but did not share the Victorian mania for taxonomy, and thus didn’t regard them as easily-definable entities; and b) there was a broad enough range of views of the fears and which were salient in different cultures but none ever became dominant enough to produce really robust faultlines that went all the way through.

> 4. The spiders are there because spiders are associated with trickery/wisdom/storytelling in a lot of mythologies. A lot of what the Web/Annabelle is doing is like this.

> 5. Annabelle has a more complicated relationship with the Web than we see in canon - mostly because she’s such an interesting and charming character, and I think it’s interesting to explore how she would relate to, and maybe even try to outsmart/outmaneuver a patron that is more conscious than the others. It seemed like there were interesting points in 196-7 where there was slippage between her speaking as herself and her speaking as a herald for the Web, and the question of what that’s like would be really interesting.

> 6. The coin in the Schwartzwald tomb that had “for the silence” embossed on it is actually evidence of historical alliances between the Eye and the Lonely. Yes, I mean LonelyEyes but make it medieval Germany. I don’t know if this showed up ever in canon, but I always associated the Lonely with a sort of uncanny quiet.

> 7. The mummy from MAG 64, Burial Rites, has an apocalypse Domain. It was really weird.

> 8. Wakefield Prison was a Domain, and Father Burroughs its extremely unwilling Avatar.

> 9. Jon with tattoos. I am not the first person to say this by any stretch of the imagination, but I absolutely believe it to be true.

> 10. Jon sees Gerry, willing to be overtly alt and not take any bs about how he presents himself, and is filled with a mix of admiration and envy: he’s being buttoned down at the office to seem more credible, but he resents the anxiety that makes him do it, resents the wishy-washy indecisiveness that makes him reach for his long-sleeved shirts every morning before work. In my hypothetical AU where Gerry is still alive, Jon ultimately cultivates a healthier sense of self-expression (rather than the eventual “screw this, I give up, might as well wear my depression pajamas comfy clothes” approach I imagine Jon takes in canon - especially S3).

> 11. Martin definitely went to a few open mic poetry nights, perhaps when he first moved to London, but he was kind of awkward and didn’t end up making any friends, and eventually stopped going, realizing that he was trying very hard to go through the motions of meeting people and being social, but somehow totally failing to connect with anyone.

> 12. There were undercurrents of Jmart relatively early on, but both of them were probably initially upset to realize they had crushes: “oh no - I like him? Eugh!” Basically the fun feeling of knowing you’re starting to like someone, being irritated about that fact, and then insisting that no, it’s only that that particular person is irritating, not any emotions you might have towards them.

> 13. Elias has some eye-themed accessories, but they’re discreet and tasteful. No! That tie pin is absolutely not..KITSCHY! Peter, how dare you say that!