Jonah Magnus - Blog Posts

When I realized what the little title picture with the cassette tape actually meant all along 😃

“SHITSHITSHITSHIT” “Martin stay with me” “SHIT SHIT SHIT” *sounds of gunfire and bagpipes*

He really said you have something I want

(i know i still haven't responded to the last ask i sent you shhh i wanted to draw something and then art block eviscerated me)

Happy about a year anniversary of A Little Game of Cat and Mouse perpetually haunting me! If I may: What is one bit of knowledge about our contemporary world that would interest/flabbergast the regency crew the most? Every time I get really into a new song I imagine the crew being exposed to modern music

Hello Witherydithery!! I am so incredibly sorry for responding so incredibly late to your question. I must check my ask box more frequently- my sincerest apologies.

And aaa I am so happy you think of the goofballs when listening to tunes! I am sorry for haunting you, though! 

And also, oh geez, I think *most* aspects of our current era would be very surprising to someone currently living at the tail end of the Regency Era. Our society has advanced so much in the ways of technology, civil rights, and culture that our world may be somewhat unrecognisable to them! Everything from our dress, the way we speak to one another, our standard of living, and the way our world is so interconnected would take quite a bit of time to get used to! Also, I am no proper historian, so I am probably off in many ways (feel free to correct me!)- but here are some of my thoughts, which go on for far too long. Which is why they are under the cut!

I think the whole crew would be very impressed by how quickly we can travel between one place and another! For context that relates to A Little Game of Cat and Mouse- by car, it takes only 40 minutes to get from Old College, Edinburgh to the Whittingehame Estate- a trip that is roughly 24.3 miles (39.10 km). Since stage coaches averaged around 7 miles (11.26 km) per hour, it would roughly take 3 and a half hours to get there if the roads and conditions were alright! This is also not mentioning that we can fly now? Crazy! Sometimes I can't even believe it, and the airplane has been around for 122 years!

I also believe our modern day clothes would be very shocking to all of them! Our summer wear in particular would be very scandalous! Even in the 1930s it was considered inappropriate to wear shorts in Britain outside of certain outdoor and athletic activities! Also, not to mention how our clothes have significantly less gender regulations than we used to have! I grew up watching period flicks with my mom and a common joke between us was that we would have hated having to always wear dresses- opulent or otherwise. Also, the wigs- ew. I think the Regency era person would believe us to be rather socially liberated! Though they will probably be surprised and disappointed that the wealth gap is still very significant between the economic classes. Also, as I headcanon a great amount of the regency cast to be Scottish (The first location of the institute being in Edinburgh must have been intentional!) Some of them may be discouraged that Scotland is still not independent from the United Kingdom. 

The ease of access to information would also of course be mind boggling! The fact that we can ask the internet a question and get millions of hundreds of answers within a second is astounding. I think perhaps the Regency era person would be pleasantly surprised by our literacy rate and yet also be disappointed with how gullible we can be! The global average literacy rate is 86.81% yet our modern world has a disturbing growing anti-science sentiment. Wild! 

Individually speaking, Jonah’s Harem The characters from the Regency era would also each probably be interested in different aspects of our modern world. So, barring other major historical events and technological advancements that would probably be shocking to them all- here are some thoughts about the individual characters:

Everytime I re-read how I wrote Robert Smirke (fictional) I feel really bad for Robert Smirke (actual famous English architect Robert Smirke not to be confused for the famous English painter Robert Smirke that lived in the same time period.) I am so sorry Sir Smirke, you would have been very impressed by the use of concrete and iron frames in skyscrapers. I wonder what he would have thought about brutalism and deconstructivism?

My version of Barnabas Bennett, as a tailor, would be very interested in the evolution of our fashion today. Our clothes today are so incredibly different and much more casual! I believe he may be embarrassed by the sight of people basically walking around in the regency era version of underclothes. How scandalous! On the more silly side, if Barnabas was somehow introduced to gacha games- he would go into debt for rolling for too many cute outfits. This is how the Lukas family can still win I guess. Additionally, as Barnabas is not exactly a member of the gentry and is very careful with his words, I believe he would also be surprised by how casual we are when we speak to one another. There are certainly less social rules and regulations than there were in the early 19th century, so it would probably throw him off center when confronted with the fact the average person can, like, tweet insults to public figures with little to no push back. Maybe he’d be into it?

Mordechai Lukas would certainly be into it! As my version of him is not very interested in following social decorum, he would be very entertained by our modern interactions and public drama. I strangely think he would enjoy reality tv specifically when it relates to romantic courting. More specifically- I think Love Island would fascinate him in a very not normal way. He would also very much enjoy the option to work remotely- it’s all the man ever wanted. Mordechai would also probably be the most accepting of wearing modern day clothes. 

I have not got quite a good grasp on Albrecht von Closen’s and Jonathan Fanshawe’s characters yet- so I cannot make a good prediction for them. But Fanshawe would probably be very pleased at the development in medicine! You go king- vaccinations are now commonplace.

We do know that canon TMA Jonah Magnus is very well adapted to the modern era! I can only imagine how ecstatic he was when security cameras and IP tracking became commonplace. We also know that he has a fondness for scheduling, which most likely means he enjoys Microsoft Excel. But if my version of 1818 Jonah Magnus was suddenly brought to our contemporary world - barring ancient fear gods - this man would be obsessed with Wikipedia. There’s so much information! For free! It’s incredible! You can click on the citations and be brought to primary sources and research journals! He also would probably be interested in the potential of finding dirt on people through social media, background checks, and public records. I don't believe 1818 Jonah is currently at a stage where he would be entirely comfortable with blackmail- but I think he would just be really fascinated in the potential of learning about the secrets of people so easily without eldritch eyeball power. If Jon had a social media (the man most likely does not, outside of maybe potentially posting one picture of The Admiral) Jonah would stalk the hell out of it. And then feel guilty about it maybe. 

With the knowledge of learning that gay marriage is now legal in the UK, Jonah would immediately begin scheming to formally court and marry Jon so he can fully utilize his companionship and power, and for no other reason, he swears to God. He would probably not get very far, though, as he is still an incredibly repressed person when it comes to expressing genuine affection. Jonah would then fully throttle Mordechai Lukas when Mordechai beats him to it and actually begins courting Jon in earnest. Jon, in turn- would be very confused and concerned.

Also! Music! As the options for music genres and composers were rather limited in the regency era- I imagine that the sheer amount of musical styles would be very compelling to them! Ballads and orchestral pieces would probably be the most familiar and comforting, but I do wonder if Jonah would have a fondness for jazz? Strangely, I think Barnabas would be the most open to different types of tunes! Though I suspect that the crew may be scandalized by how our lyrics today can be very forward or explicit at times. One struggle I had while writing Jonah’s POV was how to describe modern-day sounds like tape-recorder white noise and Nokia ringtones. I settled on describing chiptune ringtones as somewhat similar to bagpipes- but even then chiptune sounds are so alien to what we hear in nature! So I am very curious as to what they might think of the variety of instruments we have nowadays! I wonder how someone in the early 19th century would describe heavy metal or synthwave?

Thank you so much for sending in this ask!! It was very enjoyable to ponder on their thoughts of our modern era! Also, I very much understand art block! I am still trying to fight through my art and writer's block myself! Together we shall prevail! 

Thanks once again Witherydithery! You are so hip and cool, and I think of your art all the time because,,, your really cool jonahjon pieces are a widget on my mobile homescreen.

This might be kinda rambly, but the first time I heard Augustus’s voice in tmagp ep 5 I was like THATS JONAH MAGNUS!! THE RICH VICTORIAN ASSHOLE EYE MAN!! It seems kinda obvious but still THE RICH EYE MOTHERFUCKER IS HERE AGAIN!

Fuck him, and apologies for the incoherence of this post, I had a some thoughts and wasn’t sure how to go about it.

open hand or closed fist would be fine

the blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine

It is unlikely but.. what if Jonah decided to in some time period, to be a woman for a little bit. Not even in a trans way, which I am now thinking about. I mean, in a "goug out eyes and replace with his own" type of be a woman. So.. I drew what I think she would look like? It's a bit rushed but I just wanted to get the idea out. I feel like he never did it again because he didn't like how people treated him at the time (time period misogyny). If anyone wants to draw lady Jonah, then that's fine. I encouraged it. Sorry if it's a bit messy, it was just a quick sketch. Also, I thought that he would put eyes on the back of his dress so he could see our of them. Should I call Jonah a she or a he when hes/shes this? I'm not sure. Probably he.

TMA Season 4!

What a CRIMINAL way to end the season, holy SHIT!

Now I understand why I’ve seen so many artists do scar maps of Jon, it really did all come together in the end. And the way Elias, or Jonah, really, orchestrated it all with the cherry on top of giving Jon a false statement that he couldn’t stop himself from reading; truly the master plan. The words for the Watcher’s Crown ritual itself were very cool, just the right amount of nonsensical almost-rhyming to make it flow nicely.

And the fact that three of the most iconic TMA quotes/moments happen so close together near/at the end of season four is WILD; I was not expecting all of that! First we got “Where are his eyes?” “Where they’ve always been, Martin. Watching over my institute.” THEN “Look at me Martin, what do you see?” “I see… I see you, Jon. I see you!” and to wrap it all up “Jon…?” “Look at the sky, Martin! It’s looking back!” *maniacal, distorted laughter.* Absolutely insane place to leave off. (Also the bonus of Jon using his named attack of “I see you!” on Peter Lukas).

I can’t forget Basira and Daisy, either. Their story is so good, I love me some tragic yuri. (Although for their sakes I hope it gets less tragic tbh; I want them to be happy 🥺). But I’m not that hopeful, considering we got ~2 minutes of Jon and Martin being content at the safe house before things really went to shit. At least Melanie got away, she’s been through so much. And I’m happy she got together with Georgie, that’s so sweet 🥹

The Extinction and the fact that new fears can emerge was an interesting plot thread for this season, both for how it fit with larger events and how it gave us a new kind of spook. I liked the hunger-world amusement park one the most, I kept thinking about it when I went to the fair myself the other day. I also noticed there were more episodes where it wasn’t 100% clear which fear entity was behind the statement, or even that there were multiple involved. Like with ‘A Gravedigger’s Envy’, it could be both The Buried and The End. It was fun to see how the fear entities could be mixed and matched, then of course to find out how that aspect, too, fits into the big-picture meta-plot. After having episodes with this type of spook, it makes more sense how no ritual can succeed if it tries to separate one fear entity from the others.

Season four tied up a lot of loose ends and got the official statements of big names that have been lurking around since season one, like Simon Fairchild, Annabelle Cane, Adelard Dekker, Peter Lukas, and of course Jonah Magnus himself. Personally, I’ve been wondering about the statement of Mr. Paul MacKenzie and which fear entity was responsible for his demise since season one, so I’m glad we got the statement of his son so far down the line to say ‘Spiral’ for certain.

I can’t believe I’m already about to start season five, this has gone too quick!!

Jonah Magnus has been dead for one slutty slutty year

Plot twist Jonny's sticking with the whole evil boss thing, and Lena actually got her eyes scooped out and replaced by this universes version of Jonah: Joannah Magnus

Alice is kinda hot

Also Martin would be so pissed knowing that his name is Norris

Jon: *in the coffin*

The eye: shit!!! No!!! My special boy!!! Jonah!!!

Jingus McBingus: *in jail*

The eye: I didn't want it to come to this. Mahtin! Mahtin! The tapes, Make a tape castle on the coffin. My special boy, my poor special boy

However sometimes gerry decides to insult beholding while staring at the tattoos and jonah always gets personally offended when he does this. Gerry would probably do it significantly more often if he knew this

Its funny knowing that Elias can see out of any eye, real or drawn, so he could have a pov of Gerry’s knuckles as he gets into fistfights with entities left and right

Gerry about to throw down with a horrific creature:

CATCH THESE HANDS

And Elias is just getting a front row seat from his office through angry goth tattoos.

What if jonah prefers symbolic/nonmoving eyes and doesn’t look through other people’s eyes very much because he’s prone to motion sickness and looking through moving eyes is sort of like watching someone else play portal. Gerry’s tattoos also don’t/didn’t get looked through much for the same reason

Jon sims

shitpost tma version almost all of them were drawn in june when i was stressed about college and needed a way to relax, so I started drawing these silly things

how am I felt into liking this ship? no idea

will I draw them every chance I get? of course I will

old gay man my beloved

wake up honey what if they un-ambiguouslygay-ify jonah magnus in tmagp

thinking about the messy side of Jonah. The “I beat an old man to death and called it an overreaction” side. The “I have to pry out my eyeballs (by myself) and push them into another guys head so I can live forever” side. He’s fucking insane.

Fanshawe speak your truth 🤾🙏

Magnus Institute Job Interview

Elias: Do you speak any foreign languages?

Jonathan Sims: No, but—

Elias: Don’t worry, you will.

Jonah Magnus seemed to receive two types of letters

1. Hello friend I recently experienced something sinister and since you have that funky institute of yours, I thought you’d like to hear it

and

2: NO JONAH WE CAN’T KEEP HOOKING UP, but here have an account of my experience with something horrific, DON’T CONTACT ME AGAIN

“It’s very important to me you understand that no action I have taken has been controlled. I have done everything because I wished to.”

took a while to find a haircut and outfit for this weird little freak that walks the fine line of cunty and servant of eldritch horror

bonus, edited to silly size

Canon Jonah Magnus is way funnier than fanon Jonah Magnus. Why does everyone try to change him. He’s perfect.

The Magnus Archives: mentions a road/ borough I visit regularly/ live in:

Me (a Londoner):

"I see"

"Be seeing you"

There's a joke about an eye roll in here somewhere...

EVERYONE LOOK HERE, THIS DESERVES SO MANY LIKES AND VIEWS

Also, yeah, spoilers for mag200

TMA x Villain(빌런) feat. @worldformula

This is almost as good as going all John Amehrst on Elias's office.

Extremely late crack AU where Gertrude and Gerry met the guy with the clown-eating Monster Pig and just took it back to the Institute. 

Jonah-James-Elias: I’m compelled to ask why

Gertrude: This is my new service animal.

Jonah: For what service?

Gertrude, with her longest pointed Stare: Eating clowns

Jonah:

Monster Pig, sitting outside Jonah’s office, staring in at him through the door he Knows was closed and locked when he came in: 🐷

And that’s where it stays. The titanic horror-hog wouldn’t go anywhere if it didn’t want to. It’d be there to greet Breekon and Hope the second they tried to walk in with their delivery. It’d devour them and the table in one sitting just to get at the Not-Them. 

It’d lay in wait, lurking around Jon and the Archive crew like a massive pink shadow–

Jon: Elias, I understand Gertrude was attached to it, but are you sure we shouldn’t relocate th–

Monster Pig, in the corner: 🐷

Jonah, Knowing it knows where he sleeps: The Pig Stays, Jon

–and turn up at the Unknowing, at which point it would devour the entire circus. 

Jon, Tim, Basira, Daisy:

Monster Pig: 🐷

Its job done, it goes snorting off into the night, maybe heading back to haunt its very best friend, Dylan Anderson…after a brief detour.

Jonah, sitting in his cell: Well, the Unknowing was a waste. At least there’s still the Dark Sun to string them along w–

Monster Pig, kicking down the door, having saved the best clown for last: 

 🐷  

tl;dr: The Monster Pig was Flesh-aligned, Stranger-averse, pro-clown-cannibalism, and would’ve saved the day if Gertrude had only taken it away to let it do what it loved