I am thinking about what choices would be available if TMA was a choice based game, so here's batch from each season. (I hyperfixated on this and it got long. Whoops. I think my ending ideas are cool though.)
Season 1:
Flirt with Martin, Sasha, or Tim. I made a post about this, actually!
Believe Naomi in "Alone", or be skeptical of her story. This plays into how skeptical you'd want Jon's mask to be. If you believe Naomi Jon will let his mask break a bit and say strange stuff is out there, if you are skeptical of her story Jon will keep his mask and act how he does in canon. (Believing Naomi raises entity points, being skeptical of her story raises humanity points, because remember, Jon is acting so skeptical because he feels like he's being watched.)
Admit to Martin that you believe in the "paranormal", or don't admit to Martin that you believe in the "paranormal". In the safe room during the worm attack, you can either answer Martin's question about Jon's skepticism honestly or refuse. If you answer honestly the canon events of TMA will happen where Jon opens up to Martin about his paranoia, if you don't, Jon will shut Martin down and say he's just like that and there's nothing more to it. Being honest gives you a major relationship increase with Martin, shutting him down causes a major relationship decrees.
Go with Sasha, Tim, or Martin during the worm situation. If you with Martin, Jon will be there to find Gertrude's body, you will also raise relationship points with Martin. If you go with Tim you will raises your relationship with him, and Tim (High on fire extinguisher) will help Jon walk on his leg. if you go with Sasha you will raise your relationship with her, and then Sasha and Jon will be separated and Sasha will become Not! Sasha! On this route Jon will noticeably be off put by Not! Sasha's presence because he was JUST with her and now she's acting...odd.
Let Tim go home, or make him give a statement. At the end of the episode, Tim will refuse to talk about what just happened, and say that he wants to go home. If you let him go home he'll walk away, and the player never gets to learn his POV of events. However, Jon and Tim won't loose relationship. If you do make him give a statement, you will get to learn about the events through Tim's POV, however, the downside is that Tim and Jon's relationship looses points and becomes more strained. (If you make Tim stay you get entity points, if you let him leave you get humanity points.)
Season 2:
I'm imagining like a scene with a big board with a red string on it, and for a choice Jon has to pick who he finds the most suspicious: Martin, Tim, Sasha, or Elias. Depending on your choice, Jon will treat whoever you choose with more suspicion when they talk. (If you choose Martin or Tim, your entity score will go up. If you choose Not! Sasha or Elias, your humanity score will go up.)
More Under The Cut!
Attack the figure in the tunnel, call out to the figure in the tunnel, or hide from the figure in the Tunnel. When Jon runs into "Sasha" in the tunnels early in the season, you'll have a choice on how to handle a strange figure approaching you in the tunnel. This is really just to let the players "flavor" their Jon a bit, and play into what part of his personality they want to lean into.
Agree to let Melanie into the library or not. If you agree to let Melanie into the library you can be on better terms with Melanie when she gets back from her trip, and Georgie will thank Jon for helping. If you refuse to let Melanie into the library, she'll cuss you out and her and Jon will be on worse terms when she gets back, Georgie will also be annoyed by Jon's refusal and will make a comment about him being snooty.
Tell Tim and Martin about your suspicions about Not! Sasha, or don't. If you don't tell Tim and Martin, Jon will say that he is "sick," like in canon, and Martin and Tim will follow behind Jon later. If you do tell them, Martin will be horrified and Tim will go into denial but INSIST that they go with Jon to figure it out and "prove that nothing's wrong with Sasha." This choice will give you more Martin and Tim content, and Jon will give them a little more context about the whole situation.
Tell Leitner, or don't. I like the idea of this choice being vague, and the player is left wondering "Tell Leitner what???" If you choose to tell Leitner Jon will allude to "A Guest For Mr. Spider," and tell Leitner that his life was ruined by one of his books. But you don't actually the specifics of that until Season 3. If you don't tell Leitner than Jon will ask if he felt guilt for letting the books get into the hands of the public.
Season 3:
Tell Georgie the truth or protect her from it. When you're staying with Georgie in Season 3, you can either tell her the truth or try to protect her from it. If you tell her the truth she tells you about the dead women walking and her fear. However, she distance herself from Jon because she just can't be involved in that. If you protect her from the truth, she'll stay close with Jon but be annoyed at him for not confiding in her, and when she finds out what's happening later, she gets very upset that Jon was risking dragging her into it and not even saying anything.
Tell Basira not to sign the form or stay silent. When Elias hands Basira the form, you can either tell her it's not worth it, or just stay silent. If you stay silent nothing will happen. If you tell Basira not to sign the form, Elias will be more attentive of you, however, you will get the option later to reconcile with Basira at the end of the game. (If you stay silent you get entity points, if you say something you get humanity points.)
Go through Michael's door or refuse. When Jon is kidnapped, Michael will offer him a way out. Jon can agree to go through the door or refuse. If you agree, Michael will tell Jon his story first like in canon, and you get learn more about Michael Shelley. If you refuse, Michael snaps and goes on a rant about Archivists thinking they're so above him. Instead of getting his human backstory, he'll tell you what the first few years of his life were like as The Distortion, and his few failed attempts to go after Gertrude Robinson.
Burn Gerry's page or refuse. If you burn Gerry's page canon will happen. If you refuse to burn Gerry's page, Jon will call upon him later and Gerry will be PISSED and refuse to tell him anymore. He'll say that Jon is just as bad as Gertrude and his Mother, and he wouldn't help him even if could save the world just out of the principal. Gerry will then get so upset that he'll accidentally reveal some lore about Gertrude, or Mary, or the fears, or just something that makes his knowledge real. So Jon will learn something new, but the very real of cost of that is loosing his newfound friendship with Gerry. (If you burn the page you get multiple humanity points, you don't burn the page you get multiple entity points.)
Take Tim to The Unknowing, or don't. Before The Unknowing, Tim insists that he's going to go, and as Jon you can either accept or refuse. If you accept canon will play out and Tim will die thanking Jon for this. However, if you refuse Tim will follow you to The Unknowing instead, and be significantly more hostile when he reveals himself in the theater. This will have ruined their relationship for good, and Tim will die telling Jon to go fuck himself.
Season 4:
After waking up in the hospitalyou can tell Georgie that you're still the same or tell Georgie you've changed. If you tell Georgie you've changed she'll gently say she knows, and give Jon a quick pat on the back before leaving. If you tell Georgie you haven't changed, she and Jon will get into an argument about whether that's true or not, then Georgie will angrily storm out. (Saying you haven't changed is plus one to the humanity counter, saying you have changed is plus one to the entity counter.)
In regards to Melanie's bullet you'll have two choices. You can either tell Melanie about the bullet, or do surgery on Melanie when she's unconscious. (Like canon) If you do the surgery canon happens and Melanie will become more distrustful of Jon. If you tell Melanie about the bullet she'll argue and try to fight Jon (Because of the bullets effects) which will leave Jon's character model with a new scar. Basira and Jon will end up having to force it out anyways. However, Melanie will trust Jon a bit more on this route.
Go into the coffin or don't go into the coffin. Since choice based games are notorious for having choices that change the flavor of the story but don't change the actual story, Daisy will be spit out of the coffin if Jon chooses not to rescue her. Since she'd give up in this route, she wouldn't be feeding The Buried fear anymore so it would release her. If you don't rescue Daisy she'll distance herself from everyone and you'll be locked out of seeing how her relationship with Jon could have developed. if you go into the coffin to save Daisy, you'll get Jon and Daisy's canon mutual understanding after The Buried, and they'll get closer. (Not going in the coffin raises your entity score, going into the coffin raises your humanity score.)
Hug or kiss Martin in the lonely. In true choice based game fashion, you get a friendzone or romance option with Martin.
Keep reading or stop reading during the final statement of Season 4. This choice changes nothing in the main plot, I am just mean. (Keep reading raises your entity score, stop reading raises your humanity score.)
Season 5:
Use Martin as bait or don't. During the Trever Herbert confrontation, you can either use Martin as bait, or tell Martin to stay close. If you use Martin as bait canon will play out. If you tell Martin to stay close Jon will be the one who gets grabbed. This is another humanity vs entity choice. You get humanity points for telling Martin to stay close, and you get entity points for using Martin as bait.
Make Jordan an avatar or leave him to his suffering. When you run into Jordan in "Like Ants," you can decide to free him from the domain through avatarism, or decide that's a fate worth than bug suffering. If you leave him Jordan will call out in agony and Jon will be upset about his choice despite knowing why he made it. If you turn Jordan, Jordan will be distraught to be an avatar, and Jon will feel less guilt about the choice because he "saved" him the best he could. (Turning Joran into an avatar makes your entity points higher, leaving Jordan makes your humanity points higher.)
Kill Simon Fairchild and continue the vengeance streak, or stop. If you kill Simon, Martin will happy with you and Jon will feel more affirmed that his vengeance spree has been well-deserved. This choice makes him very self-righteous. If you don't kill Simon, Martin will be disappointed like in canon, and like canon Jon will admit that the vengeance spree hasn't been all that it lived up to be, and he's uncomfortable with some of the choices he's made. (If you kill Simon, you get entity points, if you let him go, you get humanity points.)
Stay with Salesa or leave. When you get to Salesa's house, you can either agree to stay the night or confess to not feeling well and you and Martin will leave. If you stay you get two different scenes depending on if you romanced Martin. if you romanced you get a cuddling scene, and if you friend zoned him you get a scene where him a Jon sit and drink tea together. If you don't stay you get a scene where Jon and Martin talk about just how bad Jon's eye dependence has become. (Staying raises humanity points, leaving raises entity points.)
End the world or end yourself. This is the ending choice, and I think you could get four endings depending on whether you have more humanity or entity points. If you have mostly humanity points and decide to end yourself, Jon will be able to lapse free of The Eye's power and stab himself to try and doom himself alone. Martin will find him before that happens and Jon will encourage him to just go back and live his life. Maybe whether Martin agrees or decides to die with Jon would depend on how high your relationship points with him were. With a high relationship Martin will choose to die with Jon, while with a lower relationship, Martin will very hesitantly agree to Jon's wishes and say goodbye before going back downstairs.
If you have mostly entity points and decide to end yourself, The Eye will have enough power to revolt against Jon's choice. Martin will be struck down by The Eye's power, and Jon will be forced against his will to be the king of a doomed world.
If you have mostly entity points and decide to end the world, Jon will decide to let the world die out to keep the fears contained to his universe. Martin will be angry with him, but Jon will be resigned and promise to keep him and their friends safe and as happy as he can until the end. The status of their relationship is left ambiguous.
If you have more humanity points and decide to end the world, then the episode 200 ending will happen where Jon will try to keep the fears contained, but be swayed by Martin's emotions to send them away and stay together with the hopes that they can be sent somewhere better.
I'd also think it would be cool if there was a relationship sheet at the end, that showed if you managed to reconcile with the main cast. I think Jon could reconcile with: Georgie, Melanie, and Basira if you picked enough correct choices, dialogue options, and had more humanity points than entity points. If you managed to reconcile with them, they'd have kinder and more affectionate things to say about Jon in the epilogue.
Some headcanon's about Gertrude's assistants because I think about them a lot.
Michael Shelley -
A: He has a camcorder and loves to film in his off time from The Institute. Capturing the world already him has always made him feel more grounded, but even more than that it's just simply something he enjoys. He often walks to the local park and just films the going on around him for a little bit. He would maybe make a movie or something if the chance just fell into his lap, but storytelling isn't his real passion. He just wants to show what the world looks like through his eyes, which is why he doesn't tell anyone about this hobby because he'd be embarrassed if they wanted to see.
B: He really likes cat memes. RIP Michael Shelley, you would love Grumpy Cat.
C: Despite working at The Institute, he doesn't actually like certain types of horror. Psychological horror is something he finds really upsetting because of what happened with Ryan. He actually does like slasher movies, and some paranormal movies, but a lot of paranormal movies are a miss because he can't stand the common trope of people not believing the person seeing the ghost. It hits to close to home.
D: He wears glasses, and without them, easily has the worst eye sight in the entire institute. He can run into a desk right in front of him if he doesn't have his glasses because everything is just a blur.
E: He has OCD and a lot of his compulsions are around his door trauma. When he opens a door he has to open it three times to make sure it leads to the same place each time, and he needs to knock on a door before he opens it because it makes him feel better.
Eric Delano -
A: He often brought in a portable radio to work and listened to it while he did busywork. He was the type of person who just couldn't stand silence.
B: He stole a ring from artifact storage once. It's a ring from The Lonely that blocks out nightmares and makes sleep a cold oblivion instead. As it turns out, he prefers waking up cold from a dreamless sleep than having nightmares of giant eyes watching him.
C: He used to buy weed from the real Elias. He was really surprised to hear that he was the head of The Institute now.
D: He also really had a fondness for more "dangerous" animals. Poisonous spiders, poisonous snakes, alligators, sharks, something about them being labeled as dangerous just makes him want to learn about them. He believes most of them are understood on some level, and even if they aren't humans are still at fault for most bad interactions because animals are just animals. They can't help but be that way. This mindset did not help in his relationship with Mary.
E: He's a huge "Adams Family" stan.
Sarah Carpenter -
A: She loved campy horror movies. Horror that took it itself seriously was fine, but she always had a special enjoyment for movies with terrible effects and even worse acting.
B: She was the most eye aligned of Gertrude's assistants. She always wanted to explore and know more, and was never satisfied with the answers she found because she knew more was out there.
C: She has bright red dyed streaks in her blonde hair. Her hair looks like a flame.
D: She loves roller coasters and amusement park rides. (Also: Her and Jon rode on the same carousel.)
E: She really loves arcade games. If she's on a job and she see's an arcade next door, she's totally begging Emma to take a five minute detour.
Fiona Law -
A: She really loves sweaters. She's always wearing one, and she spends a lot of the summer lamenting that she misses her favorite glittery cat sweater and she can't wait for the weather to get colder.
B: She loves a good pun. Especially animal puns or fear related puns. Michael does not understand why she find eye puns so funny, but he's to awkward to not roll with it.
C: Her favorite fear to investigate was The Lonely. She always thought it was a bit romantic with all the fog, and the nice cold weather and sea captains. Her least favorite was The Slaughter. She never liked gore.
D: She snorts and starts tearing up whenever she laughs.
E: She's diabetic, and uses a walking cane.
Emma Harvey -
A: She has the hobby of repairing old dolls. She actually does that occasionally on the side for extra money. Gertrude was worried she was with The Stranger when she mentioned this, but she was able to calm her down by telling a mostly real story about her childhood doll collection.
B: She was always a bit fond of The Stranger. The thought of having a lack of face that can help keep you under the radar is....well, a good one. Ironically, this thought process pushed her closer to The Web.
C: She often teased Gertrude about going grey a little earlier than her, she joked that she was officially an old women now and made many age related jabs. When she started getting spider webs in her hair, she stopped, scared that she would start paying closer attention to hers. Gertrude noticed she stopped, but she got sidetracked by her mission whenever she thought about asking why.
D: She's allergic to birds because of their dandruff. (This is a meta joke because Emma is an avatar of The Web, which is aligned with spiders, and birds eat spiders. I find this hilarious.)
E: She wears cat eye glasses, and they're always a fun, bright, color. it's one of the little bits of color in her otherwise pretty cold life.
A fun fact for you based on your favorite TMA character:
Jon Sims - Eyes heal quickly, it only takes about 48 hours for a cornea scratch to heal. (New headcanon about why Jon couldn't cut his finger off just dropped.)
Martin Blackwood - One of the most expensive teas in the world is fertilized with panda poop. It costs about 200 dollars per cup. Early harvests costed about 3'500 dollars for a batch.
Tim Stoker - Architecture used to be an Olympic sport between 1912-1948.
Sasha James - The official name for the phobia of long words is Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.
Melanie King - The first ghost reference dates back to 1500 B.C.E. It was an exorcist tablet and "the tablet’s tale still tells of the ancient instructions on getting rid of unwanted ghostly guests in your home. The directions state that the exorcist must make figurines of a man and woman, prepare two cups of beer, and, at sunrise, speak a ritual that calls upon the Mesopotamian god Shamash, who was thought to be responsible for bringing the dead to the underworld. The idea was that the unwanted spirit would be transferred into one of the figurines."
Georgie Barker - The oldest cat ever recorded was named Creme Puff, and she lived to be 38 years.
Basira Hussain - When you're reading silently in your head, the muscles of your mouth, tongue and larynx are activate as if you were reading out loud.
Daisy Tonner - The earliest werewolf story is the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh. In the story, the goddess Ishtar turns a former lover into a wolf
Peter Lucas - "Mermaid sightings," were likely just manatees.
Elias Bouchard - Only 1/6 of your eyeball is visible.
Gertrude Robinson - A cat purring can be therapeutic! A cat's purr ranges from 25 to 150 Hertz, a frequency that can help bone density, tendon repair, and helping with breathing!
Gerry Keay - Tetrachromat is a genetic mutation that causes people to be able to see about 100 million colors. The average person can only see about a million.
Hezekiah Wakely -it can take anywhere from 100 to 1000 years to form one inch of topsoil,.
Jane Prentiss - Ophiocordyceps is a fungus that hijacks the nervous system and bodies of insects. It forces the insect to wonder around widely before they die. Then when they die, the fungus eats the body of it's host.
Agnes Montague - Throwing colored chalk in fire can change the color of the flames!
Jude Perry - The longest tattoo session ever recorded was 61 hours and 37 minutes.
Oliver Banks - Before color tv about 15% of people dreamed in color, today, about 75% do
Jared Hopworth - Adults have 206 bones. However, kids have 300 bones. This is because bones fuse together as you age!
Distortion Michael - The average person opens and closes a door 70 times a day.
Distortion Helen - About a third of people who get migraine headaches experience visual hallucinations. Flickering, tunnel vision, and seeing spots is all common.
Nikola Orsinov - Clowns are traditionally nicknamed "Joeys" after Joseph Grimaldi.
Michael Crew - In Tennessee, the landlock state, it is illegal to shoot animals from a car window. Expect whales. You are legally allowed to shoot whales from a car window. In a landlocked state.
Simon Fairchild - Flamingos aren't actually pink! They're white or grey when they hatch, but then their diet consistent of a lot of animals (especially brine shrimp.) that have a lot of carotenoids. These carotenoids are what make flamingos pink!
Anabelle Cane - A study found that 60% of adults can't have a 10-minute conversation without lying at least once. Most lies were lies to seem more likeable or competent. Many people reported not even realizing they were doing it until after watching back a recording of their conversation.
The Buried - You're a psychological study because this links back to childhood somehow. You either ate dirt or had to dig somewhere every time you went outside.
The Corruption - You're always vaguely sick (Coughing, sneezing, randomly dizzy.), yet despite this you are probably prefer The Corruption as a toxicity metaphor instead of just a blatant fear of illness.
The Dark - For claiming the dark is your favorite, you sure would love a star projector. The dark to astronomy pipeline is real.
The Desolation - This is not your favorite, Agnes Montague is your favorite.
The End - Your favorite season is winter, no I'm not elaborating.
The Extinction - You like making fan content after watching something more than actually watching something.
The Eye - You really resonate with Jonathan Sims.
The Flesh - 🏳️⚧️.
The Hunt - All your hobbies become personality traits and you're so real for that.
The Lonely - Go straight to therapy. Do not pass go. Do not get 200 dollars. Get off AO3. You know you shouldn't be reading those fics at 2AM. Yes. Those.
The Slaughter - Okay, "knows a lot about medieval torture devices and the paranormal," I see you.
The Spiral - You think spoilers make stories better.
The Stranger - You either don't like for people to know you, or your childhood was full of the fear of Ronald McDonald. Either way, there's a nonzero chance you are/were a theater kid.
The Vast - You want to be full of whimsy, but you're full of exhaustion and burnout instead.
The Web - You probably disagree with Jon's choice at the end of TMA, you probably like the directors cut of movies, and you probably tend to make the least popular choices in choice based video games because you trust your opinions even when others see something differently.
Considering how much Elias body swaps, I'm shocked there's not more content of him body snatching Jon/Martin/Sasha/Tim during the events of TMA.
But having said that, it's hard to imagine a man like Elias had no plans on what to do if he needed to change bodies fast. Which means:
A: He was so certain that Jon was going to cause the apocalypse he didn't truly think about.
B: He did have some sort of body swapping plans, and they didn't come to fruition but likely someone around The Institute was in even more danger than they thought they were.
A: Melanie King/Sasha James. This one is criminally underrated. It's one of my favorite TMA ships and I need more content of them immediately.
B: Jonsasha is heavily underrated for how much drama and angst it could have if it stayed (mostly) canon compliant.
C: Michael Shelley (Human)/Jon. Someone who knows nothing X someone who needs to know everything.
D: Gertrude/Emma. It shocks me that Emma is said to be Gertrude's closest confidant in "Curiosity," yet no one ships them. Everyone says they want toxic older women yuri, but when it's on a silver platter there's no takers.
E: Agnes/Jon. This one could go crazy in the angst department. They're two people who feel doomed to their fate, and while Jon wants to fight it, Agnes has submitted. Honestly I think this one could be devastating.
F: Not Them/Nikoli. Nikoli is so cursed, this is the only ship I can imagine with her.
G: Julia Montauk/Daisy Tonner. This one would be crazy, but I also think it could be really compelling if after the coffin Daisy got to actually TALK to Julia and maybe that part of Julia that grew up known as the daughter of a serial killer could empathize with the more human parts of Daisy that knows she went to far.
H: Tim/Gerard. I don't know how this would happen, and a part of me thinks they would dislike each other (I don't know if Tim could get past the eye tattoo thing if he knew what the eye was, or the fact that Gerry was so involved with fears, and I think Gerard would struggle with Tim's preference for the naive world) but they're such snarky and fun characters I'd love to see them together. They have some really good fics on AO3 too!
I: Anabelle Cane/Agnes. The web spinner and someone caught in the webs of fate.
J: Salesa/Gerard Keay. Guy who sells cursed objects X guy who hunts them.
Expedition 33 characters as TMA fears because guess what I'm playing.
The Buried - I hate assigning the buried to characters. It's such a stupid specific criteria, oh yeah, sorry guys, no characters in this media want to be buried in dirt. So that's all to say, IDK.
The Corruption - The Paintress. (I feel like this placement might be controversial, but I stand by it.)
The Dark - Jar (Not being able to find your mistress because you can't hold light anymore, is very psychologically devastating.)
apropos of your general genre of post, do you have any headcanons for how each of the archival staff's initial interviews for the magnus institute went?
(imo this is a niche that's overlooked and under-discussed,,, elias definitely plays it differently depending on the person he's interviewing, but the interview segment from mag 193 just gets copy+pasted over every character's interview. tragic, really.)
Jon Sims - When Elias met Jon and knew he was marked by The Web, he spent the interview asking Jon questions. What drew him to the archives, what is he hoping to learn here, what does he want out of all this, would he be open to doing field interviews if that came up? Jon thought the questions were of a normal job interview sort, and was more worried about appearing professional more than anything else. He didn't notice anything weird at all, but why would he?
Martin Blackwood - Martin was a nervous mess during his interview. He was so scared that Elias was going to figure out that he lied, and Elias pushed. He said that the Institute was a very prestigious place and only the most qualified got the chance to walk in it's walls, which made Martin double-down in a way that reminded Elias of a certain fear. He asked Martin how he felt about spiders and barely held back his grin when Martin said he didn't mind them. He was very interested in Martin from the start, and Martin was too busy sweating bullets to think hard about Elias outside of whether he was buying his act or not.
Tim Stoker - Elias treated Tim more like a regular interview than most. Due to his mind reading, he was able to figure out that Tim wanted to avenge his brother, but wouldn't want to get involved in all the other things. So Elias asked if he had an interest in Robert Smirke, as the Institute heard about his building quite often, and that's all it took to get Tim trapped. He basically offered to start then and there, and Elias knew not to push on the clown subject lest Tim get angry and change his mind before the forum was signed.
Sasha James - Elias did not like Sasha. She had a determination in her eyes that reminded him of Gertrude, but at the same time that made him curious. He spent a lot of their interview asking her about if she had an affinity for fire and how far would she go to complete a task on the job? She answered the first question no, the second one as "very far," and Elias could barely contain how intrigued he was. Sasha was kind of off put by him, because he seemed strangely giddy through her whole interview. She decided that he was probably just lacking workers and excited to not be short staffed, but it always felt a bit off.
Gertrude Robinson - I honestly think I would just copy and paste the answer I put about her and Elias's first meeting.
Michael Shelley - Elias did do something similar to what he did to the real Elias with him. Though he doesn't do it every time, he could tell Michael had been touched by the fears, and making him squirm and relieve it was more than enough of a meal for the day. He didn't think Michael was anything special, so he didn't treat him like he was worth more than a meal.
Eric Delano - Eric and Elias spent a lot of his interview talking about horror media. Horror books, horror movie, horror art, all the stuff that Eric liked and Elias encouraged conversation about because it gave him good insight on Eric's fears and desires. They talked much less about the job than they about who played the best version of Dracula.
Sarah Carpenter - He treated her appearance like a regular job interview. She didn't seem special in any way unlike the others, and he didn't feel a reason to push. The Eye always needs new people, so he can be a normal boss every once and while.
Fiona Law - During Fiona's interview, Fiona thought to herself "I hope there's nothing so scary that I faint, I've watched enough horror movies to know that won't go well," and therefore Elias brought her to artifact storage to scare her bad enough to see if she would pass out or not. He wanted to test the theory, and when she woke he played dumb and apologized and said that he didn't mean to give her a fright. Perhaps the room was to much for her, but that's okay, she seemed like she'd be a good worker and she did SO well in the interview. He was just curious about her really. And she never doubted him.
Emma Harvey - Emma knew something was different about Elias when she met him. She obviously couldn't have guessed the real story with a billion tries, but she had good enough instincts to know that Elias wasn't someone she would totally put her faith in. Meanwhile, Elias interrogated her about what she would do if she encountered the core of each of the fears (Fire, spiders, clowns, etc.) because he found it interesting how she seemed to have an answer for everything.
TMA but it's what I think their first meetings were like:
Jon and Martin - The TMA cast did a very well known skit on this actually.
Jon and Tim - Jon and Tim didn't know what to make each other on first glance, but my the end of their first interaction they liked each other. When they first saw each other, Tim was worried that Jon was going to stuck-up. He dressed more nice than the business casual atmosphere warranted, and had a serious face that looked like it never smiled. But what Tim found with only one conversation was that Jon WAS stuck-up, but in a way that was very fun to tease. Jon didn't to know what to make of Tim either. He didn't seem to take himself to seriously, but he warm personality that Jon didn't mind. He had a shockingly good work ethic as well, helping Jon find a folder he misplaced for nothing more than some jabs about the memory loss of the elderly. They felt like friends before the day was even over. Neither of them could have guessed what would come later.
Jon and Sasha - Jon and Sasha were instantly on the same level of nerd. They had met for five minutes and were having conversations like "This would be the best way to organize the archives," and discussing the lore of The Institute's existence while they both worked on their separate projects. They was an instant bond there. Jon is the type of guy where you either love him or hate him, and Sasha was quick to love him as a friend and value his opinions enough. That's a feeling shared by Jon, who immediately likes and respects Sasha on a level he doesn't feel about most coworkers, who just don't care about their jobs enough for his taste.
Martin and Tim - Martin and Tim actually didn't know how to feel about each other at first. Tim was overly friendly in a way Martin didn't know what to do with, and Martin was a bit more withdrawn in their interactions then Tim is usually hoping for since he loves some good banter. They obviously did end up as friends in the end, but it took them awhile to sniff each other out. (Also, headcanon that Tim called Martin "cute" when they met, and Martin fully went "????? I'm sorry????" out of sheer surprise, and Tim was scared because he did not know what that reaction meant.)
Martin and Sasha - Martin and Sasha's first meeting was awkward. He heard Elias mention a women who worked with him, but he thought he said her name was "Sarah." So when he met Sasha he asked "Oh are you Sarah?" and she said "No, Sasha. I don't think any Sarah's work here." Sasha didn't mind and thought Martin was super sweet. She liked him on meeting him. Martin however, is haunted by this memory of him fumbling his first conversation with his new coworker.
Tim and Sasha - Tim and Sasha liked each other sense first glance. They met each other on Tim's first day at the job, and Elias was going on and on about the limits of overtime pay thanks to Jon, and Tim sent Sasha a "Are you hearing this?" glance and Sasha sent one right back with a little smile on her face. According to Tim this is when they became instant best friends. According to Sasha this is when she thought her new coworker was going to be pretty cool.
Basira and Daisy - It's rare for both Basira and Daisy to meet someone and feel like they've known them their whole life. Yet, meeting each other for the first time felt like reuniting with an old friend they hadn't seen in awhile. They just clicked, and effortlessly had conversations about everything from their favorite tv shows to their childhood dreams. The day wasn't even over before felt like they had always been each others partner.
Melanie and Georgie - Melanie had a instant crush on Georgie when she saw her on social media. They both ran on the same paranormal internet circles, so they first found each other through Instagram. Melanie thought this girl's pictures were adorable, with her ghost pins on her jacket and a cat in her arms. So she sent her a totally normal message considering they were collages, and asked if she knew any good ghost hunt locations around London. Georgie answered her back, and....it never really went farther than that. Melanie didn't actually flirt, and neither did Georgie. They just kept each other in mind as work collages. Very, very, very, attractive work collages that shared the same common interests.
Jon and Georgie - Jon and Georgie had a very typical meet cute in college. Georgie dropped her book, Jon awkwardly picked it up for her, then he noticed her ghost sticker on one of her notebooks and asked if she had an interest in the paranormal. They had a conversation from there that lead to Georgie saying that she would be down to get coffee with him sometime if he wanted, and Jon agreed with all the charm of stressed of a nervous schoolboy. This is one of the only times their relationship felt romantic.
Peter and Elias - Peter and Elias met at a "socialization" event surrounding the fears. It was at a nice fancy house, and when Elias asked Peter if he could buy him a drink, (Trying to use his flirting to get someone else under his thumb,) Peter was quick to decline. That sparked Elias's curiosity, especially when he realized Peter was aligned with The Lonely. He wanted to know what it would be that would make someone Lonely aligned break and embrace socialization. So he tried something else. He asked how much he'd bet that Angela would be black out drunk by midnight. Peter couldn't help himself and wagered a hundred. Elias knew he lost the bet, but he won in his own way, and that's all that mattered.
Elias and Gertrude - Gertrude didn't like Elias from the second she met him. There was something about him that was just to robotic, like he was reading a script instead of engaging her in real conversation. He wasn't like anyone she had ever met before, and that unnerved her. Elias didn't like her cold eyes either. He usually felt so in control, but when she looked at him it felt like she saw through him, and knew what he would do before he even had the chance to act. They were weary of each other on first sight.
Gertrude and Gerry - Gertrude did not trust Gerry, and Gerry did not trust Gertrude. Gertrude assumed the son of Mary Keay would be just as cunning and sadistic as she was, and Gerry assumed anyone his Mother hesitantly respected would be the same type of person she was. He was surprised when he meet her, and despite seeing his Mother in her, he also believed the words she said about wanting to stop apocalypses and save the world. Gertrude was surprised too. Mary Keay's son just seemed more...sad than she was have expected, and more eager to help others than Mary ever would be. That curiosity of each other is what started their friendship. They did not understand who each other were, and that meant they needed to find out.
Distortion Michael and Helen - Helen did not know what to think about Michael, because she could not fathom what he was when she first saw him, but Michael could fathom her. She was supposed to just be another victim. Another deeply unimportant one that he didn't let himself feel sympathy for lest a part of him he wanted to forget started to hurt. He never would have guessed that she would be the one to take his existence, and she would never have guessed that she would be able to empathize with a monster more than anyone.
