#manipulating peter lukas????

[cult-of-the-eye]

Praying to Martin K Blackwood to one day have as much audacity as he does

#falling in love with his boss??? #walking around with only boxers??? #lying on his CV??? #the persona of oh im so incompetent i just make tea hiding his actual bitchy self???? #manipulating peter lukas???? #loving highland cows???? #delicious character #10/10 #tma #the magnus archives #martin k blackwood #martin blackwood

[mcskullmun]

My own personal Jmart and Lonelyeyes hc parallels and comparisons (because it’s this or Another fic) Many words under the cut

-Tw abusive relationship

-The Lonely as an allegory for depression

-Non consensual mind reading

*mind reading*

-Jon actively tries to avoid, and in most cases succeeds in avoiding, reading Martin’s mind. It’s a clear boundary in their relationship

-Elias actively attempts to see inside Peter’s head. It’s only Peter’s strong connection to the lonely that keeps him out and in some cases where he burnt out/hurt he just can’t. Big angst potential, Very Unhealthy

-I think Martin doesn’t do the whole ‘I want you to look inside my head and see my true feelings as an act of love’ thing. He trusts Jon to know how true it is when he tells him he loves him. He knows Jon might not believe him with certain things, and that that kind of thing should be up to him, not to Beholding. This (in my opinion) is healthy

-Elias doesn’t trust shit. I hc him as secretly paranoid as hell. The nature of the lonely makes things kinda fuzzy when he tries to Look at them which drives him crazy. And Peter Is manipulative. He Does lie. So it’s almost impossible for either of them to know when the other is being genuine. Again very fun to write, Very Unhealthy. So Peter does open his mind to Elias when he wants him to trust him, and Elias just doesn’t. He has no idea if Peter’s somehow tricked Beholding or is Very Good At Lying or anything- there’s never any certainty

*Compelling*

-As a rule Jon tries his hardest not to compel Martin. Martin tried it once to see if he would be able to read poetry aloud more fluently and Hated it. So yeah never again.

-Elias doesn’t like compelling Peter. He’s more into the observing side of Beholding, so actual confrontation is more difficult. More than that he hates it when Peter resists, but tells him of his own free will anyway. This is one Peter hasn’t asked him not to do, but still actively resists.

*Disappearing*

-Martin will not send Jon into the Lonely. He occasionally disappears himself, but knows Jon will find him no matter what. They’re working on it together.

-Most conflict ends with Peter vanishing into the Lonely. He doesn’t send Elias there because it feels like pushing someone else into your room and slamming the door on them? If that makes sense. It’s his space to torture people he doesn’t deem quite as real as Elias.

*Memory loss*

-As far as I’m aware Martin would not be powerful enough to have this power. If he did I don’t think he’d use it

-Having said that inducing memory loss is tied to domains not Avatars, but I’m giving it to Peter for angst reasons

-Peter doesn’t actually use it on Elias. He sure as hell thinks about it, about starting over and pretending he’s still the original Elias (whole other can of headcannon worms), but he won’t. I think he used it on original Elias for some time to hide the fact he was an avatar/isolate him for his own purposes

*Non Avatar related section*

-Jmart do at home dates. Sure they go out places sometimes but outside is tiring as hell. They prefer reading or cooking together and watching weird documentaries

-Lonelyeyes don’t really do dates. Their idea of a bonding moment is burying a body in the woods and not speaking again for months

-Both Jon and Martin have rocky relationships with birthdays so they both try so hard to make them the best they possibly can be

-Elias is fucking ancient and Peter hates interaction, these guys don’t do birthdays

*end*

Sorry for having an obvious Lonelyeyes bias but Peter and Elias have a fucking vice grip on my mind (it’s the whole Jonah/Original Elias being not quite two different people in Peter’s eyes) (And also the voice)

#the magnus archives #tma #elias bouchard #peter lukas #martin blackwood #jonathan sims #jonah magnus #tma spoilers #tma headcanons #tma hc #manipulation #mind reading

[carpet-of-moss]

I AM GOING TO MURDER PETER

#HE IS BEING A MANIPULATIVE LITTLE BITCH #peter lukas #tma #the magnus archives #mag 126 #mossy posts

[varyathevillain]

Aziraphale entering his Jonathan Sims arc was not something I had on the bingo for season 2 of Good Omens.

#Good Omens spoilers #Good Omens S2 spoilers #Good Omens Season 2 #GO S2 #Varya rambles #text post #local 'man shaped queer being' gets manipulated by an old white man in power #into doing their bidding and executing a plan of Great Importance upon the Earth #as much as I am tired of TMA as a fandom exploited by RQ? i am still a fan of that whole podcast #can't wait to know who's gonna be Peter Lukas to Crowley :'D #jsyk all in good fun and we're just joking around not LITERALLY imposing works atop of one another #but the fact that like MOST people on our server were SAME BRAINCELL. I needed to share #Good Omens #I'm not adding T/M/A tags i don't wanna talk about it outside my circle of friends rn 🥱

[pirate-in-daps]

peter is a manipulative, petty man and he's still a better boss than elias, we love a king

#tma #the magnus archives #mag 126 #peter lukas #this man is so manipulative but also!!! i love him!!!

[the-boy-with-round-glasses]

Peter Lukas should appear more, wanna see his persona breaking down completly from the nicey nicey talk

#love that bitch his manipulation bound to positiveness is great #he sounds so friendly and supportive. nailed in the voice #peter lukas #the magnus archives #mag 144

[magnusmadness]

ok but can we talk about how martin is such a manipulative lying little bastard. like the fandom likes to make him soft and scared (never mind the fact that this man likes spiders, my greatest fear) but he lied on his CV and got away with it for a while, fed jon lies on the tapes, manipulated peter lukas?? peter lukas???? stood up to elias while burning statements, and knew elias would come at him about his mother and was prepared to feel that and then move on because he had work to do

like this isn’t even getting to any of his behavior in S5. we gotta stop downplaying martin i need more content about him just straight up lying!

#the magnus archives #tma #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #jonmartin #tma martin #tma jon #elias bouchard #peter lukas #tma jmart #jmart

[thermodynamic-comedian]

i wanna talk about tma characters and the concept of a facade. because i have a lot of thoughts.

so most people understand how ironic it is to characterize martin blackwood as a soft boy that can do no wrong, because one of the most interesting parts of his character is how much of a subversion of that trope he is. he's manipulating people by acting like that. this is addressed in the canon. he wants everyone to like him, and he knows he'll almost always get what he wants if he puts up this facade.

something people talk about a bit less, but is still equally canon, is that gertrude robinson was doing basically the same thing. pretending to be just a boring old woman, when she's actually extremely clever and ruthless. she plays into everyone's pre-existing biases and assumptions masterfully to hide just how competent she really is. she knows exactly what she's doing, and she's willing to sacrifice anything and anyone for the sake of her self-appointed mission. characterizing her as a grandmother figure is the funniest form of irony to me.

but do you know who isn't putting up a facade? do you know who isn't changing their behavior to affect your idea of them?

the older avatars.

peter lukas isn't pretending to be passive-aggressive and overly cheery, he just kind of...is. why would he ever bother putting up a facade? he doesn't want people to like him. his authentic self is this talkative yet asocial man, who specifically aims to be awkward and unlikeable.

people say that simon fairchild's polite and carefree demeanor is an act, but i really don't think that's true either. i guess i might see it differently because i personally resonate the most with the vast out of all the fears, but i really think that a lot of that behavior makes perfect sense for his character. he doesn't think that anything in life matters. his personality reflects the lightness and carefree nature of that mindset. he just doesn't care. he does everything for fun. he's not pretending to be anything he isn't.

this could be me reaching, but honestly, i don't think even jonah magnus is putting up that much of a facade. he's lying, sure. he's manipulating people, obviously. but he's not changing his behavior in order to do that. even in mag 160, there's no big, henry mildmay-esque "dropping of the act" when he has his monologue. if you look at his behavior as elias bouchard, it's exactly the same as the little bits of him that we get to see in s5. the elias whose last words are "good luck" is the exact same elias as the one who always greeted basira with "hello, detective".

humans put up an act. monsters don't bother to.

#now that last part kinda contradicts my other interpretation #but im not gonna get into all that (<- girl who's praying for someone to ask her to get into all that) #not in this post. but a girl can dream #the magnus archives #tma #tma analysis #tma meta #martin blackwood #gertrude robinson #peter lukas #simon fairchild #jonah magnus #elias bouchard #tma spoilers #mag 160

[mintytea-exe]

Martin Blackwood who was utterly loyal to Jon even when Jon was cruel to him. Martin Blackwood who loved Jon enough to try and save him, and chose to potentially die with him rather than let him die alone. Martin Blackwood who was a good son despite the circumstances outside of his control. Martin Blackwood who writes poetry to "get out" the weird of the Magnus Institute. Martin Blackwood who manages to outplay Peter Lukas despite seeming like he would be easily manipulated by him. Martin K. Blackwood. MARTIN BLACKWOOD

#can you tell I love him??? #I love him so much #martin blackwood #martin blackwood tma #the magnus archives #tma #tma spoilers #the magnus archives spoilers #tma s4 #tma s5 #if that's not love idk what is #jmart #jonmartin #guys I am sooooooo normal about-

[marspumpkin]

spoilers for all of TMA elle DO NOT READ

martin and elias parallels bc im insane

- extremely manipulative in the same way. both put on a front of being bumbling and clumsy so people wouldn't suspect their true nature (martin being totally unqualified for the job and elias being. yknow.)

- lied about their ages so they wouldnt look suspicious

- deeply practical and logical people but conceal it to get what they want

- manipulated peter lukas together into taking L after L after L

- not normal about jon jarchivist

- frequently use jon jarchivist as a living weapon (portable gatling gun/apocalypse trigger)

- not opposed to playing god and think they get to decide who lives and who dies

- winners of the idgaf war in s4

- generally petty little bitches and are at their coolest and sexiest when they're being morally bankrupt

- both deliberately got someone suspected for murder (one of them actually got the suspect arrested and surprisingly it wasnt elias)

- smugness meter through the roof when they're deliberately fucking shit up. does not end well for either of them

- constantly underestimating each other despite their knowledge of manipulation tactics and it fucks shit up for them both but they hate each other too much to stop

#to be clear i adore both characters #albeit in very different ways #the magnus archives #tma #magnuspod #elias bouchard #martin blackwood #tma spoilers

[ian0key]

"TMA AVATARS OCS"

So..

Frenando and Ianto B. worked for Peter Lukas and Simon f.

Fren is an Avatar of dark and vast??.And ianto B. Is an Avatar of the Lonely, both have been "friends" since they were teenagers.

But then, they argued very hard and quit, Fren decided to get away from everyone and follow his own path although he is still in contact with Ianto.

but Ianto wanted to help Ciel destroy and stop the rituals of fear.

(Ciel is the new Archivist, but he managed to defeat Elias alone thanks to Gerdtrud's statements and now he is the owner of the institute)

All this in exchange for Ciel helping him look for his sister who was kidnapped by the Spiral.(Ciel confirmed that she is still alive)

Shiara is an avatar of The Web who works alongside Annabelle for the Mother , she has thousands of multimillion-dollar companies under her control.

Cele is an avatar of The Desolation, but she worked with Avatars of Slaughter, and the flame cult, but she escaped after they started telling her that she was the reincarnation of Agnes.

She worked for Shiara and Annabelle for a long time, but she ran away from them after finding out that the Web was manipulating her to be the new Agnes too (for unexplained reasons)

She got so tired of all the cults and Entities that she ended up helping Ciel and Ianto.

ianto Blackwood (he/him), Frenando (He/him), Cele (She/her), Ciel (he/they/???), Shiara P. (she/they)

#English is not my first language #please let me know if I make any spelling mistakes #the magnus archives #tma fanart #tmatober #jonathan sims #the magnus archive fanart #the magnus protocol #sketch #the magnus archives oc #tma oc #tma ocs #martin blackwood #Blackwood family??? #SHIT I WROTE THIS HALF ASLEEP AND ON A CAR TRIP AND I DIDN'T REALIZE HOW BADLY I WROTE IT #Sorryyyy #oc lore #oc art #ocs #oc meme #tma the lonely #tma the eye #tma the spiral #tma the desolation #tma the vast #tma the web #tma spoilers

[cult-of-the-eye]

LEMME HEAR YOUR UNHINGED TMA RANTS! <3

Oooh I think I've already posted a lot of my rants but one of the characters who I haven't really had a whole rant on is Martin K blackwood.

THIS MAN. This man is so wonderfully written. A lot of characterisations of the "nice one" are quite flat and don't really expand much on them being nice apart from maybe giving the person low self esteem. What I love about Martin is how masterfully it uses that sort of prototype of a character and makes it much more gut wrenching and relatable. He starts off as sort of the office dunce from Jon's pov, which early on we also realise is unreliable. He's the bumbling idiot, the sweet fool and I get it. As a fat person, I feel like a lot of us feel pressured to be the comic relief or to put it more precisely, the one to be laughed at. And he's seen the gap in the archives, he's seen that role that needs to be filled and he's easily filled it. When you have the group of Tim and Sasha and then Jon, the only thing that could unite them is mutual awkward laughter towards Martin. And Martin is used to seeing what's there and filling the gaps, man is a people pleaser to a fault, he has had to guess what his mum didn't like about him and change accordingly, getting it wrong every time. He makes himself palatable which is so REAL especially for a fat person and/or traumatised people.

And then we see this more calculating side of him. He LIED to all his colleagues and his BOSS about a qualification to get a job and then kept that lie going for at least a couple of months. Listen, I don't think it's fair to label Martin as completely a manipulative calculating guy who's just put on a mask but it's also not exactly fair to characterise him as just a sweet, tea making guy who wears jumpers. And that's what I love about him. He's so complex. I feel like it delves into the idea of having both a saviour complex as well as an inferiority complex. He's had to make choices that are above his skillset early in his life and frequently, he's been blamed for causing other people's emotions so he naturally thinks he has control over how other people feel. Which gives him that sense of responsibility, like I can save anyone cause I can control their emotions, if I'm nice enough then they won't be mad/ill/sad/they'll love me. But at the same time, these sort of underhand methods of indirect communication don't resonate to him as causing any damage cause he doesn't actually think he's important enough to cause damage or have an impact on other people's lives

I don't think it's of any shock to anyone that my favourite Martin is angry Martin. It's the part that fights against both aspects of this inferiority/saviour complex because it 1. Is a path of direct communication. He has the opportunity to state exactly how he is feeling and the focus is on that rather than how can I get the other person to respond. 2. It recognises that he is important. Anger is in response to perceived injustice, frustration, annoyance and all of those things are in a way, self preserving. Obviously it's not good to do that too much (see: Tim Stoker) but there you go. I'm not saying angry Martin is perfect or anything but I'm saying that it's so satisfying and interesting to see cause it completely goes against the characterisation we've been given so far and it introduces a whole new facet to Martin - that he doesn't want to be ruled by his trauma and past experiences.

It's honestly a joy to see Martin develop into someone who fights more against the role he's been "given" while simultaneously playing into it. His whole Peter Lukas arc is very much a part of that. Essentially he's saying I'm not important enough to contribute the way you are (inferiority) but I'm still going to try and control things behind the scenes (saviour). So when Jon goes to save him it breaks that, he looks him in the eyes and tells him you, Martin K Blackwood are Important, you make an impact and you Mean Something. You don't have to save us all. It's such an important part of his character arc and honestly it blows me away every time I think about it.

Plus obviously the whole isolation thing is just so AGH it's just so built in to his character it makes complete sense that he has a tendency to isolate himself. It fulfills both the inferiority and saviour - he doesn't think he's important enough to be missed but also he feels like it'll push them into missing him. Solving the problem and putting himself down in one fell swoop.

Our final stage of Martin is one that is far from perfect, far from healed but absolutely closer than he was at the beginning. He shows more of himself, in working towards realising he makes an impact on people, telling jokes and just sharing his thoughts to Jon. So what does him stabbing Jon mean for this? Honestly I'm not entirely sure (I'm gonna be honest I did not realise this rant would be so long lol) but I'm thinking along the lines of this is an ultimate show of acceptance of his significance and rejection of his need to save people. He is committing the most direct act of all, he's doing this in the same need to help people but instead of being manipulative about it, he's just directly doing what needs to be done. But also he's not saving Jon, he's doing the complete opposite. He couldn't control Jon's response to the situation, as much as he wanted to, so he did what jon wanted. I might not be explaining this right cause I'm not entirely sure what I mean either but I'm trying to say it's a poetic end. It's separate from everything he was but in a way that's parallel to and pays homage to his struggles. He's still being sort of a saviour and he's still arguably not the most important person in this scenario but the point is that it's in a different way than he's used to. In my opinion, a better way.

Anyway yeah thank you for enabling me, I didn't know how much I needed this rant and I didn't know I had so much to say lol. <3

#tma #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #martin k blackwood #jmart #jonmartin #tma character analysis #character analysis #martin kartin blackwood #martin blackwood #tma martin #tma martin blackwood #answered asks

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Gay wrongs tournament, round 3 of the minor bracket

Propaganda:

For Lord Hater and Commander Peepers :

Lord Hater is the self-proclaimed "universe's awesomest evil-doer", an immature, attention-seeking manchild with electric powers and a short temper. He rules the Hater Empire with Commander Peepers as his second-in-command (technically third, after his beloved pet spider-xenomorph, but who's counting), however it soon becomes *very* clear that the cunning, remorseless, hardworking Peepers is the *real* brains behind the empire. Peepers might be frustrated at Hater's incompetence at times and isn't above manipulating him to reach an end goal, but he'd never dream of usurping him because, well, he's really gay and in love with him (as much as he can be in an early-10s Disney cartoon, anyways). Hater might take Peepers for granted a lot of times, but as his oldest friend and closest confidante he's the one who Hater is closest to. Whether it's invading other planets or kicking puppies for fun, these two are *delightfully* terrible jerks and the epitome of gay wrongs. 

Commander Peepers is both Lord Hater's right hand man in villainy AND his jilted stay-at-home-wife-guy (Also in villainy. Hater is really good at getting distracted from productive and efficient villaining.) Lord Hater was the greatest villain in the galaxy thanks to how well he and Commander Peepers worked as an evil team to run the Hater Empire!

Lord Hater conquers planets and is such an edgy bastard. Peepers is the actual brains behind the operation. Peepers is often pushed aside by Hater, they are besties and yet Peepers is always pining for this guy who will never notice. Peepers is so horribly gay for him if you watch the show he wants his stupid boss so bad. Peepers is so scared of him season 1 but then starts yelling BACK in season 2 and has to deal with him like a babysitter or something and yet STILL idolizes him and that’s just such a fun dynamic. His password is H8RNP33PRS43VR (Hater and Peepers forever). They are so evil and everyone fears them and they are villains and they are gay and the side of the fandom that draws them as a married couple that needs counseling is absolutely correct. The fanart of Hater openly liking him back is wonderful but I swear you don’t even need that. They are so gay and villain you have to love them they are

Villains that conquer planets and do evil stuff, my favourite characters, not really canon but they are the best :)

For Peter Lukas and Elias Bouchard:

Elias is essentially the big bad of the entire podcast and Peter’s just as evil They both are servants to fear gods, causing significant harm and distress to feed their patrons The best part is that they serve diametrically opposed fear entities. Elias serves one focused on the fear of being watched and known while Peter serves the one about being alone, forgotten and forsaken, it’s a very interesting dynamic They have been divorced and remarried more times than anyone - possibly even themselves - can count

#minor bracket round 3 #the magnus archives #tma #elias bouchard #peter lukas #wander over yonder #commander peepers #lord hater

[vastpotato]

Ok so yes, Elias is absolutely babygirl. But he’s also very bastard. The way he completely manipulated the archives without even seeming like he was interfering at all gets me every time I relisten. Man puts new people in it to make sure the og group is going to be divided even more, hires on others he KNOWS will threaten and scare (jon specifically) them all so they don’t talk really.

Man really took a page out of the Lonely for it. The archives were so used to being alone that when Peter Lukas took over, they barely felt it. There’s no way he wasn’t touched by the Lonely with how easily he did set them alone.

I’m sure the day Sasha died, he grinned cause he KNEW that sash was the glue between them, the one who kept Tim’s spirits up and joking and teasing, the one that Jon felt he could trust and rely on the most, could confide in as an academic and a friend who actually joked with and made him laugh. And we didn’t get to see it, but I’m sure she was the one who kept martins spirits up when Jon was an ass to him. She kept the archives smiling and laughing and they say she died, Elias knew he’d win.

It’s so obvious to see everything he did just to put those cracks in between when you relisten and it makes me go ahh cause it’s so masterfully done.

#I’m spiraling with this thought line someone save me #the magnus archives #tma #the magnus institute #magnuspod #jonathan sims #the archivist #the eye #jonah magnus #martin blackwood #elias bouchard #Sasha James #Sasha #tim stoker #timothy stoker #jon sims

[thefabulous-mostgroovy]

Need You Here

Annabelle insists that it wasn't part of her plan. The Jump has left her weak, barely connected to the Mother of Puppets by more than a thread. Her face, her voice, are completely sincere. Her sympathy true and deep. She tells Martin that it was not a part of her plan for Jon to become the Pupil of the Eye. She didn't mean for Jon and Martin to travel with her at all.

She didn't plan for Jon to die. Martin wishes that she had.

Jon/Martin, 3k words, rated T, read on AO3. this is for day 4 of @jonmartinweek for the prompt Tea as a Love Language / Beyond the Grave. Content warning for grieving, heavy description of blood, and ghost shenanigans

Annabelle insists that it wasn't part of her plan.

The Jump has left her weak, barely connected to the Mother of Puppets by more than a thread. Her face, her voice, are completely sincere. Her sympathy true and deep. She tells Martin that it was not a part of her plan for Jon to become the Pupil of the Eye. She didn't mean for Jon and Martin to travel with her at all.

She didn't plan for Jon to die. Martin wishes that she had.

He doesn't want to believe that Jon became the Pupil, that he betrayed him, because of own lack of self control. He doesn't want to believe that Jon's blood is on his hands for the rest of his life. He doesn't want to believe that he killed the love of his life. He wants to blame it on someone else. If it had been Annabelle's intention all this time, it would be so much easier. Maybe it would let him sleep at night if he could just say that it was always going to happen, because the Web decided it would happen.

But, no. In her infinite pity, Annabelle assures Martin that she didn't want Jon to die. She thinks it might make him feel better. It makes him want to vomit. Or scream. Or cry. Or all three. Instead, he stares at her blankly, barely even processing what's around him except for the limp weight of Jonathan Sims in his arms.

When he eventually tears his eyes away from her face—her awful, grinning, blood and tear stained face—he meets Jon's eyes. Or, he tries to. Jon's eyes have turned a brown that Martin, for just a moment, couldn't even remember he had. They're dark, almost black, but when the rising sun hits them, they turn vibrant. His gaze is glazed over. The whites almost pink with how bloodshot they are. Dried blood flakes off his skin from where they poured out of his eyes. Out of his mouth. His shirt is completely saturated with dark, dark red. Martin takes his face in one hand, the other arm hooked under him so he's not laying on the ground. There's ink on his hands. Ink and blood and dirt.

Annabelle drags herself closer. The snow crunches under her as she leans in to look at his face.

"Thank you, Archivist," she whispers. And she kisses his forehead. Tears drip out of Martin's eyes.

He tilts forward, wraps Jon up in his arms, cradles the back of his head, and he cries. He cries harder than he thinks he ever has in his life. Annabelle rubs between his shoulders with a delicate hand, and he wants to tell her to get away from him. To not even think of touching him. But his sobbing too much to get anything that could count as a word out.

He stays there for a very long while. It's well into the morning before he can be convinced to let Jon go. He can barely see the forest they've landed in through the fog.

//

Martin hates to admit it, but Annabelle has helped him a lot. Not emotionally, god forbid, but practically. Even weak and in a completely foreign universe, she is still a master manipulator.

(Martin isn't exactly any better, himself. It turns out, stealing money from Peter Lukas is easy in every dimension.)

She helps him find a flat, a nice job in a library—since that went so well the last time—and for the most part, she leaves him alone. To his relief, she doesn't try to comfort him beyond her attempt in the forest. She doesn't try to become friends, or tell him to stay in touch. She just makes sure that he isn't about to top himself and moves on to whatever she has planned next.

Martin stands in the middle of his flat. The only thing that fills it is a pool of fog wisping around his ankles. No furniture except for the couch and coffee table that came with the place. No bed, he doesn't exactly sleep anymore. He just lays on the couch for some amount of hours and hopes he doesn't have another nightmare consisting of Jon and the Panopticon and the knife.

The library job is, thankfully very quiet. It's an underfunded little building whose 'rush hour' is four or five kids popping in after school to pick up some books or hang out for a bit before they go home. He checks books out. He checks them back in. He logs what books are in the cart. He puts them back on the shelf. It's all muscle memory by now (he would hope so after eleven years of doing it in the Magnus Institute).

His coworkers don't talk to him. They'll say good morning, how are you, Martin? And Martin will say, I'm fine. And you? And they'll say they're fine, then avoid him for the rest of the time he's there. He prefers it that way. If they notice the fog that fills the aisles, they don't comment. If they hear Martin crying in the bathroom, they don't comment. If they notice the occasional college student going missing... well, they definitely don't come to Martin about it.

To say that Martin is still living, despite it all, would be a bit of a stretch. He more shambles from place to place, vacant eyed and zombie-ish. Sending people to the Tundra at least makes him less hungry, though there is an ache in his gut that no amount of feeding will ever fill.

At night, he yearns for the warm weight that Jon provided as they slept. He would always end up right on top of Martin, head on his chest, arms wrapped around him. Martin buys weighted blankets to try and imitate it, but it's crude at best. Nothing could ever replace the gentle breathing rustling his shirt, the hair weight of his locs laid over his chest, the gentle removal of glasses to be placed on the bedside table.

Martin gathers the blankets up to his chin, and he weeps.

//

After six months, and a few furniture purchases, Martin comes home to a tape recorder on his coffee table.

His blood runs cold at the sight of it. He thought he was done with tapes. He thought that they would stop showing up in this universe. He thought he would never have to hear the whirr of a cassette ever again. Yet, here it is. A plastic box on his table, next to his poetry notebook.

It takes about an hour of staring at it before he actually clicks it on. When he does, he almost covers his ears before it actually starts to play. It buzzes for a moment, then another click plays through the speaker, and the air fills with rustling fabric. A sigh.

"Martin?" a voice whispers. Martin's heart stutters as he places it immediately. Jon. Jon's voice. "Martin, are you awake?"

A sleepy grumble. "I am now."

"Sorry, just... did you know, oranges aren't naturally occurring fruits?"

"What...?"

"They're a hybrid of a pomelo and a mandarin."

A pause. A rustle.

"Jon," his own voice says. "Why are you telling me this at two in the morning?"

"I'm having one of those moments."

"Moments?"

"The Eye keeps telling me fun facts, and I simply can't help it."

There's a warble of laughter through Jon's words, and Martin can't help but smile at the sound. He hasn't heard that laugh in so long. Even before he died, it had been a long while since Jon had laughed about anything. He can't remember what it was...

"And this can't wait till we wake up properly?"

"Some cats are allergic to humans."

"Jon..."

"New York was named New Orange for a while in 1673, after William III of Orange."

"Jon."

"The man who invented the frisbee had his ashes turned into a frisbee."

"Jon."

Jon falls into laughter. More fabric shuffles about and it becomes muffled. Martin laughs as well. Martin, listening, feels tears dripping down his cheeks.

"Sorry," Jon says, taking a breath. "I'll let you sleep now. Stop burdening you with my- my fun facts. How dare I want to tell my boyfriend interesting things."

"Boyfriend, huh?"

Martin suddenly remembers this moment. The first time they'd ever put a label on it.

"Is- is that alright?" Jon had asked, looking up at Martin almost timidly. Even in the dimly lit room, Martin could see his wide, nervous eyes.

"Of course it's alright," Martin had said back, and he kissed Jon's forehead, then his lips. Jon curled further around him, pressing into him as much as he physically could, and sighed against his lips. When Martin pulled back, he said: "Maybe just wait till morning to tell me more fun facts."

"Fine."

Martin had smiled, and Jon had too.

The tape clicking off breaks Martin out of his memories. He sobs with his chest as he gathers the recorder up in his arms. He holds it close, under his chin. This is what he has left of Jon. A tape recording he never knew existed, somehow in his living room.

Martin cries so loud it probably disturbs the neighbours, fog encompassing his flat, leaving his skin feeling damp and clammy. His shoulders shake with sobs, the plastic creaking under his tight grip.

A hand gently touches his back, between his shoulders.

He gasps, head snapping up as the fog blows away. There's no one there. No one behind him or beside him. Yet, a warm handprint burns into his skin.

The feeling doesn't disappear for hours.

//

Martin feels it again a week later.

He's in bed, because he finally got around to buying a damn bed instead of sleeping on the couch, staring at his ceiling. The room is cold. He has twk weighted blankets on top of him, and he's still cold. It's still not enough. It doesn't feel like him.

Tears have frozen into ice crystals on his lashes, making it painful to blink. He can barely feet his hands, his feet. He feels separate from his body. Like he's hovering a few feet outside of it. The most has made his flat smell damp, and musty. It's moments like these—laying on his back, barely conscious, barely even alive—that he kind of wishes Annabelle had kept in touch. At least she would be someone from Before. Something recognisable.

It's then that a pair of arms encompass him. They're warm. Hot. Like the heat coming off of a fresh burn. It lays along his side, tucked into his shoulder. His mind flashes back to days in the cottage, in Upton House, with Jon clinging to his side like a koala. He can feel his face thawing, from the phantom space heater that has taken up residence in his bed.

Martin doesn't want to look. If this is all in his head, he doesn't want to know, because then it might all go away. He might be completely delusional, but he closes his eyes anyway, and falls asleep faster than he has in months.

He wakes up to a cup of tea waiting for him on his bedside table. He doesn't drink it.

//

The next week, he has a nightmare.

Martin's never experienced sleep paralysis before, but he thinks this might be what it is. He feels asleep, head still stuck in the haze of half-consciousness, but he opens his eyes anyway. There's a vague light in his bedroom. Not bright enough to hurt his bleary eyes, but enough to be noticeable. He blinks a few times before he manages to squint and make out the source.

There's a figure at the end of his bed. He's tall. Baggy clothes. Dark, greying locs hang down over his shoulders. Six emerald green and gold flecked eyes sit on his face; two in their proper place, and two above and below. His shirt has a rip down the centre, revealing a gaping wound still leaking blood. It falls out in almost black blobs, but never reaches the ground. It floats away, almost.

"Martin," the figure gurgles, and more blood drips over his lips, also falling away into nothingness.

Martin passes out. Or falls back asleep. Either way, what a fucked up nightmare. Because that's all it was. A nightmare.

The next morning, before work, he listens to the tape again. His coworkers don't notice his red, puffy eyes.

When he gets home, a cup of tea sits on his coffee table. He doesn't drink it.

//

There's another cup of tea on Martin's bedside table. Martin did not make tea. When he finally takes a sip of the Mystery Tea, probably against his better judgement, it's just how he likes it. Regular old Earl Grey with a splash of milk and two sugars.

He brings it out with him to the living room as he drinks it. There, behind the couch, stands Jon.

His hands and legs are a little see through. His extra eyes blink out of time with his regular ones. He's letting out a constant stream of blood and ink. Stained, transparent hands wring together, fiddle with the ends of his locs.

"Made you," he starts, then chokes on his own blood. He clears his throat, then he finishes: "Tea."

So, Martin has started seeing things. He's gone completely crazy and started hallucinating his dead boyfriend. That's what's happening. Except, hallucinating doesn't often involve cups of tea appearing at his bedside.

"Okay," Martin sighs, scrubbing his face with one hand. "Okay. Okay. Ghosts?"

"Think so," Jon barely manages.

They sit together on the couch. Martin sits at one end, and Jon at the other, and he can feel a sharp heat radiating off of the ghost. Perhaps heat isn't the right word—it's more like the air of a fever. Jon creates a radiance like a stover around himself, in a way that is so painfully familiar, it makes his head hurt.

Martin stares at the chest wound. Jon's shaky hands pull his cardigan over it. His lip trembles for a moment as he figures out what to say. Is there anything to say? He takes a deep inhale; the air smells of copper. He wants to say so much. He wants to scream at him, ask him how dare he do that to him? How dare he leave him and then just show back up, making him tea? He wants to hold Jon close and never let go, never leave this flat, if it means he will be beside him forever. He wants to shake him by the shoulders and call him an idiot and kiss him absolutely silly and—

Jon starts before Martin can get his mouth to cooperate with his brain.

"Missed you," is all he gets out through the mouthful of ink. He swallows. Grimaces at the taste. "Love you... I'm sorry."

Martin crumples.

His head tips forward and he starts to cry, for what might very well be the millionth time that week, and he tugs Jon's half-there form towards him. His hands, surprisingly, don't go through him. Jon shifts until his legs are flung over Martin's lap, and they hold each other. He's boiling hot, even through the layers, and Martin doesn't care. There's an odd noise in his ear, and it takes him a moment to realise that Jon is crying as well.

Martin calls in sick to work. He and Jon hold each other for hours.

//

Having a ghost for a boyfriend is surprisingly easy to get used to. They can't really kiss—Martin's mouth just gets filled with copper and it burns his tongue—but they spend almost every hour curled up on the couch. They watch movies and TV shows, some that they've already seen from their world, but with different casts and slightly worse plots. Jon makes Martin tea every day. He can't pick up books anymore, seems only able to interact with Martin and the ingredients for tea, so Martin reads to him. (Jon is very happy that the Eye can't tell him the plot anymore.)

Martin sleeps much easier with Jon on top of him. Sure, Jon doesn't exactly sleep, but he does lay on Martin's front and close his eyes. Martin sets up an audio book for him to listen to at a low enough volume that he can still sleep, to make sure Jon doesn't get bored.

They give up trying to talk pretty quickly, instead taking up sign language. Jon's hands shake pretty badly, but it works. He still chokes on the blood, and every time, Martin feels a sharp stab of guilt, but he insists it's his own fault. That conversation is long, and difficult, and Martin is very glad it's over. Not to say they actually agreed on whose fault it is, if it's anyone's at all, but they both privately blame themselves while outwardly deciding that it's a topic best moved on from. What's done is done, and there's no point squabbling about it.

And so, Martin enjoys this thing that he thinks is close to domestic bliss, and he lets Jon take care of him. Jon makes him go on walks, convinces him to start actually talking to his coworkers, somehow manages to get him to get back in touch with Annabelle to the point where they could even be considered friends. It's nice, in a way that Martin hadn't even thought he'd felt. Unconventional, obviously, but... nice.

Annabelle can see Jon as well, which at least means Martin hasn't completely fallen off the deep end. He thought Jon would hate her, after everything, but it seems she's not so bad once you've stopped being apart of her schemes. She visits often; she seems just as excited about having a friend, herself.

With Jon lazing against his side and Annabelle telling them about a play she saw and how it's significantly better than their old world's version, Martin thinks, for the first time: maybe this universe isn't all that bad.

#jonmartinweek 2024 #jonmartin #jmart #tma #the magnus archives #jon sims #martin blackwood #jmart fanfic #tma fanfic

[mordenandmerry]

I got bored so here’s all tma character’s enneagram numbers :)

Also yes all of them are the unhealthy versions of their types because this is the Magnus Archives

- Jon is a SCREAMING 5 because look at him. Fucking look at him. Probably 5w6 though.

- Martin is a 2w3. That man is very loyal and will put other people’s needs over his own but can also be very manipulative and aggressive when stressed.

- Jonah!Elias seems like an unhealthy 3w2 which is probably why I hate him :)

- Tim is definitely an 8w7 that covers his 8 with his 7 wing until s2

- Sasha wasn’t there for long but I’d say she’s a 1. I couldn’t say what her wing is, but 9 and 2 would fit.

- Melanie is an 8. She doesn’t even really need wings because DAMN is she an 8.

- Basira is a 6w5. She’s incredibly loyal, but very analytical.

- Daisy is an 8w9. She’s a very reserved person at times and sees both sides, but will gladly challenge people when necessary and go off at people (and also murder people but we don’t talk about that)

- Georgie is a 6w5. She somehow manages to keep a group of people alive through the apocalypse. She’s also a nerd for research.

Here’s some rapid fire ones:

Gertrude is 1w2, Peter Lukas is a 9w1, Gerry’s a 4, Simon’s a 7, Nikola Orsinov is a 3w4

I love the enneagram please debate with me over this or if you don’t know about the enneagram please research it.

#also i’m a 9w8 #enneagram #the magnus archives #tma #tma podcast #jonathan sims #tma shitpost #jon sims #magpod #tim stoker #sasha james #martin blackwood #elias bouchard #elias bitchard