#tma theorizing

[thevoidcannotbefilled]

So, is the "long life" thing generally with Avatars, or more specifically with the Vast, or is Simon Fairchild something special in that way? I mean, thematically it makes sense to be a Vast kind of thing, but we don't have enough data to say for sure.

HMMMM.

I think it manifests differently per power? Like the End avatars just straight up can’t die, but you have others like Jane Prentiss that don’t technically have human bodies and are functionally immortal as a result. The Cult of the Lightless Flame and the Stranger peeps don’t have human bodies, so they aren’t human. Rayner and Jonah are body hoppers, so they aren’t immortal, but they aren’t dying. We know the Archivist can’t be injured, but we don’t know how long his life is. We’ve got zero clue on the Lonely people, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they lived long lives: what’s lonelier than immortality? Oh! And we know Grifter’s Bone has been around a long while. Plus, you’d think that Jared would live a long while just by the fact he can replace any part that might age. 

So, I think it depends on the power and what they’re willing to lose in order to gain life? The Vast makes sense that they’d live a long time because that’s their stick, but the others justify it in other ways. It makes sense. It’s easier to keep minions than to keep replacing them. It’s just for the Vast, theirs is easy as “Hey, infinite cosmos? Infinite Life” rather than needing to replace your skin with wax in order to become something new.  

[thevoidcannotbefilled]

I take your “It doesn’t matter if Jon gouges his eyes out because his bones are actually filled with eyes” and raise you “Jon doesn’t need his eyes to be connected to the Beholding; he already has a door connected directly to it in his head.” 

[thevoidcannotbefilled]

dathen replied to your post “So, is the "long life" thing generally with Avatars, or more...”

I think that the Archivist can be injured--Gertrude talked about recovering from her binding ritual--but they can't self-harm without it healing

Hmmmm. Honestly, anything with the Archivist is weird? Because we don’t know the difference in how Gertrude and Jon went in terms of how powerful they got. Jon we know grew very powerful very quickly, but had to do more inhumane things as a result. Gertrude might have physically been more human by the end than Jon, even if she did have Archivist powers. 

We know the Archivist can be harmed by other entities (rib time), but I don’t think it’s been confirmed whether or not mundane injuries heal or not that aren’t self inflicted? 

Current standing: Archivist can be harmed by other entities. Stab wounds unclear. 

another to add: the strong implication that the man with the shovel in Underground was Hezekiah Wakely

(ALSO I FORGOT THAT DUDE. Funky little dirt man. Just wanted to nap in a coffin. ) 

[thevoidcannotbefilled]

horrorlesbion replied to your post “So, is the "long life" thing generally with Avatars, or more...”

peter told martin smth along the lines of "it'll be centuries before i can attempt another ritual" which sounded pretty confident about him still BEING there in a few centuries so presumably lonely avatars also have at least above average lifespans

I like to think that they could technically live that long, but most of them just end up becoming too insufferable or too unwilling to be lonely for that long to have that long of a lifespan. 

Or at the very least, they get tired of interacting with other people so much, that they pass off the head of the household to the new generation, and go be lonely somewhere else until funerals. 

Which there are funerals. 

Which means family members die? 

..........The Lukas family is confusing.