I feel like we as a fandom kinda gloss over the fact that apart from being shit at detectiving, Jonathan Sims Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute is also kinda shit at like,,
His actual job -
Like. There is an episode beginning where Tim points out like twenty mistakes Jon made with the statements rapid-fire, he has absolutely zero training in library sciences or even experience with anything remotely archive related as pointed out by Georgie who’s immediately suspicious as hell that he was appointed head archivist at all, and in the face of the disorganized mess he kept complaining the archives were his brilliant solution was basically to just keep it that way and power on
It’s easy to overlook this bc of how buttoned up and “professional” and perpetually salty Jon is so we just assume he must at least be decent at his actual Job Description, but our boy is truly a stinky raggedy pathetic wet cat down to his b o n e s and I love that for him
Ooougugghd dkskskdjjfks and the Season 1 JMart implications…. Jon projecting his insecurities onto Martin…
Jon doesn’t know why he was promoted either, deep down. Gertrude and even Sasha herself expected for Sasha to be the next Archivist. He knows he’s under qualified, though he assures himself that the bar is in hell in this not-so-organized chaos where only Gertrude herself would’ve been able to find anything. He’s a reasonably organized and hardworking guy who can use basic digitization tools, so he’s already ahead of the curve there. If he can get things re-file the decades into their own piles, he’ll be way ahead.
But oh god, Martin. Jon is pulling 10 or 12 hour workdays trying to catch up and do a good job and prove to everyone and himself that he can do this, he was the right choice. But Martin is apparently even less qualified than Jon himself and Christ, if Martin doesn’t pick up his own slack it’s going to reflect badly on Jon! So he takes out his stress and insecurity on the poor guy, and since he can’t in good conscience (or legally) tell his subordinate to pull unpaid overtime, he instead focuses on the poor quality of Martin’s work and every tiny bumbling mistake, nitpicking and harping and judging and blaming so he can hide how petrified he himself is of making a mess of this promotion.
He doesn’t even know why it means so much to him. It’s not like he applied for the Archivist opening, or thought of it, or wanted it, or set it as a career goal for himself, before the moment Elias offered it to him. But he didn’t even stop to think about if he wanted the promotion. He just said yes, and let it consume his life without pausing to wonder why.
And it never occurs to him to write up warnings on Martin, or negative performance reviews, or even the beginnings of a disciplinary. He never starts the process. It simply… doesn’t occur to him.
(Ah, the trappings of office romance in a supernaturally cursed workplace that selectively blinds you to certain truths while confronting you with the horrors of others!!)