#witnesstotheend

[annabelle--cane]

I only just learned now that you ran fake-tma-discourse I loved that blog you are a fucking legend 💛

like icarus I flew too close to the sun and the people whose takes I was making fun of started to crawl into my asks with the worst reading comprehension possible. rip fake-tma-discourse, you still get a like or two once a month.

[naivety]

jeanharry and hirarchie

oh evil things to send me. i tragically did not get to explore much of canonical jeanharry breadcrumbs in my playthrough HOWEVER. i see the vision i see the seeds of resentment and so much care i see the tragedy also. why have my hopes in a sequel been dashed forever

you make me speak of this.... ok. no freaks allowed on this post but it is literally about the themes and the narratives. canon dropped the ball a lot but they also knew what they were doing a lot! and though i largely look at this through archie kin goggles i do miss hiram is forever..... i am stabbing him forever and ever and i hate him though. also i have read fics that either expand on canon or alter it in more interesting ways than canon ever did and i am content to leave it at that. for the archie character study of it all

gay af to have a sworn rival but like not together. like they are rivals and they are gay but not for each other but also they are rivals homoerotically because kj apa cannot help himself

send me duos

[jackkdaniels]

jongerry uwu

dem Bois

when I started shipping it if I did:

hmmmm I'm not sure if I remember exactly, but it was probably around the second or third time Gerry was mentioned and Jon was like "i want to know more about this guy and find him if i can" and i was like "oh okay that's a crush right there"

my thoughts:

i don't want to change canon but in another universe they could've been so good together. things could've been so different

What makes me happy about them:

Gerry's like. the one person in the whole podcast who displayed any actual understanding of Jon. they barely interacted but when they did everything about it was perfect. Jon managing to defy the eye's impulse for more knowledge to grant Gerry his last wish

What makes me sad about them:

Gerry's life sucked and then he died. idk. i think he had good times with Gertrude and if he had outlived her he could've brought so much to the archives.

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

ooh I haven't read jongerry fic in a WHILE i cannot think of anything

things I look for in fanfic:

Gerry Lives aus, or aus where he and Jon somehow knew each other before the archives

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

For Jon, Martin obviously, or Tim. for Gerry I'm not sure. Sasha just popped in my head and I think there might be some potential there

My happily ever after for them:

Gerry lives. they defeat Elias before the watcher's crown. they move to a small town where Jon works in a library and reads stories to kids and Gerry continues to track down leitners but now with Jon's help

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Gerry big spoon

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

burning evil books

[voiceless-terror]

11, jontim? 💛

jontim + things you said when you were drunk! <3

“I liked you, y’know.”

Jon blinks slowly and looks over at his companion. “What?”

Tim sets his drink down with a little too much flourish, beer spilling over the edge of the glass. It’s their first night out since Jon became Head Archivist, Tim had to practically drag him from the Archives. But it’s a nice, temperate night and Jon had been at it since seven am, so he makes only the weakest of protests. It’s just the two of them, Tim having waited until the others had left to make his request. They even went to Jon’s favorite bar- a tiny, out of the way place with only a few patrons and a nice, quiet atmosphere. And now, only two drinks in and Tim’s already sloshed, leaning heavily on the bar and scowling at his hands. He’s been unusually mopey for someone who wanted to go out.

“I liked you. Back in Research. Back before...all of this.” He makes a vague gesture at the air and refuses to meet Jon’s eyes. It makes him nervous.

“Well, I’d hope so. We’re friends.” But Tim said liked, and Jon’s heart sank a bit at that. Maybe this is some sort of ‘friend’ breakup. Is that a thing people do? Jon’s usually a ‘slowly grow distant and never speak to someone again’ type of man himself. Cutting off relationships can be very messy. He's rather not get into all that. And if that’s what this is, he prefers Tim just not tell him. He knows the move down to the archives has caused a bit of tension with Sasha, and she and Tim are close.

But Tim just rolls his eyes. “Don’t be obtuse. Liked, as in ‘stay the night at mine,’ yeah?” 

Jon flushes at the words. Now he’s just not making any sense. “Tim, you know I don’t do that sort of thing-”

“Not that,” Tim groaned, slumping dangerously low on his bar stool. “Like, you could come over and we’d get shitty takeout, and maybe watch a movie, and kiss a little, and you’d fall asleep on my shoulder and my arm will go numb, but I won’t move because I don’t want to wake you-”

Hang on.

“You- you liked me like that?” Jon, for the life of him, can’t remember any signs of this. And usually Tim is so forward. “You never let on!”

“I invited you out loads of times-”

“With Sasha!” Jon sputters. “You always brought Sasha!”

“No, you brought Sasha. And you were clearly uninterested, so there’s that.” Tim ran a weary hand down his face. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. Shouldn’t have had those shots.”

“When did you have shots?”

“When you were in the bathroom.”  Ah. 

Jon takes a long sip of his drink, attempting to make sense of his swirling thoughts. Tim liked him? Like that? It never occurred to him that Tim might want to spend time with him alone, hence always inviting Sasha. But Tim...he wanted him. Or at least, he used to. And that hurts. Tim’s always been there for him, always the problem solver, always willing to stay late or put in the extra hours if Jon needs anything. He’s quick to laugh at Jon’s stupid jokes and enjoys debating on any topic, no matter how obscure. And a night in with him, outside of work, no need for professionalism or pretence...it sounds wonderful.

Tim’s signaling for the check, clearly done with the conversation. Jon steels himself, takes a deep breath, and lays a tentative hand on Tim’s arm. The man gives him a confused, weary look.

“Yeah, boss?”

“Would you- that is, if you’d still like to, maybe sometime we could...do that?” He winces as the words tumble out of his mouth and Tim continues to stare. “What you said before. A-A movie, or something. It could be as friends, but if you still- if you still-”

“Like you?” Tim supplies, an irritating little smirk forming.

“T-That, yes.” Jon can feel his face heat up at the words. “Only if you want-”

“Sure.” Tim’s smile is back in full force. It hasn’t been aimed at him since their time in research and he feels like he hasn’t done anything to deserve it.

“R-Really?”

Tim laughs. “A date? With the one that got away? Of course-”

“I hardly got away-”

“No,” Tim softens, giving him an unreadable look. “You didn’t, did you?”

That night, Tim walks him to his door like a proper gentleman. He stands patiently while Jon fumbles with the keys, like he’s waiting for something. Jon thinks he knows what it is.

“I don’t want to kiss you.” He blurts out, probably a bit too loudly considering the hour. “I-I don’t like that.”

“That’s fine,” Tim says, looking utterly unperturbed. “Hug, though?”

Jon grins. “Yes please.”

When he curls up later that night, he can’t quite capture the warmth of Tim’s arms. But they’ve got time for that, Jon thinks. Time for plenty more hugs and nights out and secret smiles, if Tim will have him.

For the first time in weeks, Jon sleeps through the night.

[measureyourlifeincake]

29 for wrapped covers!

Diane Young by Vampire Weekend! This was just on a playlist I listened to a bunch and I never paid particularly close attention to it, so this was interesting

[fagderolo]

dorian: slutty gay alcoholic fire mage, big eliot waugh energy, forced to leave home because of a long story that ended with his dad almost doing a blood ritual to make him straight

cole: spirit possessing the body of a young neglected mage who died alone in the darkness, does not understand the physical world, tries very hard to help but sometimes helping involves doing murders

these are the briefest summaries I could manage

yeah no okay yeah you got me! also hold on. hold on. his father did what?

[cardinalfang]

6, 9, 14, 15!

6 - if you could add an extra ten episodes to any of the arcs, which one would you want more of?

Paris!!! I love the setting, between Eiffel’s Folly looming in the distance, the hotel gradually crumbling as the resources dry up, the catacombs(!!!), and the failing automatons. It’s all very compelling to me, and I would have loved to see a little bit more time spent dealing with the fallout of Mister Ceiling’s death and the riots in Eiffel’s Folly.

9 - which character do you think is most like yourself?

I think I have little pieces of Cel, Skraak, and Wilde in me.

Other than them... hmm. I can relate to Sasha’s social awkwardness, as you know.

14 - offer a fic rec! 

small knives by @shofics fucked me up. Great Sasha feels. I love it dearly.

15 - share a doodle/scrap of writing/headcanon that “isn’t enough to publish on its own” 

Here’s a Zolf from the little notebook I doodle in at work:

[annabelle--cane]

marina I have seen countless bad tma takes lately and I was wondering if you had any theories on why the tma fandom specifically spawned such. vitriol and hypervigilance of other people’s fic/headcanons.

uhhhh my main theory would be that it got a very big fandom very quickly at the start of a period when a lot of people suddenly had a lot more time that usual to dedicate to Being Online, a sure recipe for disaster, but there are a few other things I think contribute to this

after the fanbase boom of march-april 2020, episodes would come out weekly with two additional six-week long hiatuses thrown in there, and boy do people love picking fights when they're bored

the character writing in tma is generally very good but also very dynamic, so people can get attached to the way a certain character's personality is at one particular time and view portrayals that tap into other points of their arc as Wrong and Bad

similar to that, characters are often quite realistically written and easy to recognize people from your real life in, so people often get big mad if they see someone doesn't like the character they relate to most or do like the character who reminds them of someone they hate

the unavoidable thing in fanbases for media with progressive social commentary where fans will get obsessed with being the Most progressive All The Time and then make it everyone else's problem

tma is generally geared towards adults but picked up a large teen following, so you'll get young teens who are mostly just used to kids' media posting bad takes while people further into adulthood succumb to superiority complexes about being the oldest person in the room and then generate their own radioactive takes in tandem

the desire to to apply social media black-and-white "we're always right, they're always wrong" thinking to a podcast that is explicitly about how black and white lenses don't work

honestly there were just like five absolute motherfuckers active in the fandom in early-mid 2020 who were very loud and visible and that kind of thing can set the tone for a whole community even if they eventually shut up