Jonelias - Blog Posts

(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.

it’s psychological horror to YOU. to me it’s a romcom

made a little edit of some of jon & elias's lines. spoilers for mag 1 to 161.

JonElias Week Day 5: Sci-Fi

(Jonah had his conciousness uploaded into the AI of a space station and Jon is part of the crew maintaining him)

jonelias thesis statement

eugh blugh anyway anyway. elias like talks to jon completely differently than he talks to anyone else. if jon is the room he is talking exclusively to jon regardless of how many other people are in the room. if jon is not in the room but there’s a tape recorder running he’s talking to jon. if he thinks jon might have this conversation relayed to him at a later date he’s talking to jon. mag 92 is hysterical because why did you pack this office with as many people as possible for this conversation and then audibly not break eye contact with one specific guy for twenty minutes. well this is because jon is the only person that actually exists to him in this situation. or most situations. elias knows he’s in a podcast but as far as he’s concerned he and jon are the only characters in it and everyone else is set dressing and he gets so cranky about it when the set dressing starts expressing free will. jon is aware that other people exist 95% of the time unless he is actively talking to and/or yelling at elias and then he kind of forgor. mag 102 when elias is like melanie is coming to murder me with a knife for like .25 seconds jon is like the fuck is melanie and then returns to reality and remembers he has a life outside of “weird thing with elias” and is kind of embarrassed. like uh whoops sorry got kind of intense there for a second (elias continues to be kind of intense unabated) (forever)

It's been nearly 3 years since I did my fanart of Candentia's darkly, and now that she's reposting her fics I can once again show my appreciation to one of the best authors in the fandom. ...Maybe I'm a little excited to be able to show off how much I've improved since then as well

This is fanart for Where Hope and Reason Part, which I'll link in a reblog.

AAAAAA! Holy cannoli!! This is absolutely lovely!! Mr Magnus's pose as he walks down the street is so good! He's just having a good time! Completely unaware of the consequences!! Jon in the background is amazing too! Holy moly!

Thank you so, so much for making such amazing and lovely art! I'm a big fan of Jonah's outfit and color palette! He's so fancy! I'm going crazy I'm going rabid-

I had to google Regency Era for Jonelias Week, and I just finished re-reading @paptato ‘s “A Little Game of Cat and Mouse” sooooo…. Have this incredibly lazy sketch of Mr Magnus enjoying a stroll :D

I have updated my goofy nonsense.

The Mayor has found something weird.

Hi there! I'm a mod for the JonElias Prompt Week Event @joneliasweek and we're just about to kickstart the event! Our prompts will be released 6/19 and the week itself will be 7/17-7/23. Our FAQ and schedule are up on the blog, and our askbox is always open for questions, so feel free to ask! Wanted to let you know this is happening, feel free to reblog if you'd like to support! -Mod Guess

!!! Howdy guess! I would love to participate! I need to make content of the cool two eyeball dudes 👀

Holy Smokes??? Thank you so much???

I'm really honored and happy that you like this fic enough to rec it and reread it?? I'm a blubbering mess asdfghjkl 😳💖💖💖

Fic Recommendation:

By @paptato on both ao3 and Tumblr!!

Is there anyone who HASN’T read this JonElias fic yet? Cause if not, you absolutely should.

It’s 6/? chapters and 24,422 words of absolutely amazing writing. It’s a time travel fic where Jon goes back in time to kill Jonah Magnus, but for some reason, *cough* spiders *cough*, he can’t seem to finish the job.

It’s hilarious and seeing Jonah get so jealous of Jon being nice to everyone other than him is a wonderful touch. I’m currently about to re-read this fic cause it’s definitely one of my favorites right now!!

Chapters: 6/? Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jonah Magnus/Jonathan Sims, Elias Bouchard/Jonathan Sims Characters: Jonathan Sims, Jonah Magnus, Elias Bouchard | Jonah Magnus, Robert Smirke, Mordechai Lukas, Annabelle Cane, Barnabas Bennett Additional Tags: (past) Jonathan Sims/Martin Blackwood, Time Travel, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Season 4 and Season 5 spoilers, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Pre complete bastardman Jonah Magnus but not really, Alternate Universe - Historical, Jonathan Sims Needs a Hug, Archivist Jonathan Sims, Period Typical Attitudes, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Asexual Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, A ridiculous amount of spiders, Dear god theyre getting everywhere Summary:

“Jonah Magnus.” The cloudy silhouette snarled as it’s hand clamped tightly around Jonah’s ascot. That was indeed his name, but Jonah couldn’t begin to fathom what he did to have it spat out with such hatred.

But nonetheless, Jonah was a gentleman and he would kindly address the angry figure as politely as possible, “Yes, and you are?”

“What?” The form spluttered as it slowly came into focus. Ah, yes. That probably wasn’t the proper response to being held at gunpoint by a random stranger. Must have been the blow to his head.

(Or in which Jonathan Sims goes back in time and tries to pull a Terminator, but fails and Jonah Magnus finds a new mystery to solve.)

(@paptato)

Hold me like water

Or Christ, hold me like a knife

The chokehold they have on me

Elias laughs and the sound of it isn't unkind. Jon isn't sure why he expects it to be. It's somewhat pleasant, actually, to see his shoulders shake undone, forehead pressed to the roof of the car.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Elias waves him off and straightens up with a smile that gets his face all crinkled up. It's a lot of fine lines, a lot more under the unforgiving streetlights than what Jon is used to. It makes him seem more articulated, somehow. Less of a, what is it that Sasha keeps calling him, Walt Disney's frozen head?

"Not at all. You are one peculiar man, Jonathan."

Jon, he wants to correct, but doesn't know if it's appropriate — they're not really on the first name basis, are they. Elias is, sure. Was, from the very start, but the "Elias" in question never actually slips past Jon's head. So, instead, he finds the logo on the bumper very noteworthy.

"Cadillac," Elias suggests and now Jon scoffs himself.

"Are you showing off?"

Elias bops his head in a touché kind of way and scratches at his brow with a thumb carefully stuck away from the burning cigarette. "You looked like you were about to ask."

"It's just my face."

"Oh, I know."

Jon buries his freezing fingers into the coat's pockets and joins him, pressing a hip to the cold metal. Elias offers his portsigar in that sickeningly polite manner of his and Jon grabs a smoke for himself without thinking it through, mainly because he feels awkward standing empty handed. Something about them and the deserted Tesco parking lot does feel extremely inappropriate, now that he thinks about it with a cold cleared head.

Elias squints at his scrambling. "Are you uncomfortable?"

As he pockets for his lighter, Jon actually contemplates his answer. Elias doesn't rush, but does, however, mirror his stance so they end up face-to-face.

"No, I suppose," Jon clicks the wheel and takes a drag. "Are you uncomfortable?"

Cranks his head a bit and tries to roll something on his tongue along with the smoke. "Do I make you uncomfortable, Elias?"

He looks at him then, really looks at him, so prolonged and heated Jon feels like he might break sweat. But then the gaze slips somewhere above his shoulder and Elias smiles to himself as if remembering a joke.

"Somewhat, yes."

"Unfortunate."

"Not at all."

When Elias reaches out to him after a moment of silence, Jon isn't really surprised. He's not good at this but god knows he isn't entirely lost in clues, not when it comes to someone as blunt as Elias. It leaves him soured, really, the momentary rush of anxiety and disappointment. He takes a deep breath, preparing to say his best collected good-byes.

Elias runs his fingers gently along his clenched fist, so much so that Jon trails off with a stupidly hanging mouth. The nails, somewhat long and polished, scrape his dry skin up the sleeve and slip to the underside, following the veins with just their pointy tips. Jon makes a noise he's terrified to hear as his hand opens involuntarily. Elias holds it like he has held Jon's hand a million times before, like he watched it weather through the years just alongside his own, like he pressed kisses and whispered prayers into his palms. He holds it like he knows it, turning it over towards the dimm light above them.

Jon stares at his own clipper laying now cradled. Elias points a finger, connects the moles on his wrist and draws a thoughtful line to the cheap plastic, eventually tracing the pixelated design. The eye stares back at them.

"Let me drive you home, Jon."

Jon can't breathe for some reason.

"Wha..."

"You seem tired."

"Oh. Hah."

Elias makes his way in without much commotion to it. There's certainly enough space around Jon's somewhat limp body sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of the doorway and he makes use of it, eventually stopping to neatly fold his coat. Jon is not entirely sure he finds it in him to be surprised. Or scared. Or, maybe, he just doesn't have enough will of his own left to feel pretty much anything.

"Take the shoes," he clears his throat out, trying to find his voice. "Take the shoes off. Georgie doesn't—"

"I know."

Of course.

"Of course," he blinks first and shuts the door second.

They go by a kind of move-stare-follow protocol while Elias proceeds to make himself at home. Although it's mostly Jon doing the staring, Elias doesn't look at all. He walks across the flat blindly, like his muscles remember the floor and the corners. Jon supposes they might, in some omniscient and messed up way.

"Charming," Elias proclaims dryly at the thin mattress Jon came to inhabit.

"Indeed," Jon echoes.

Seeing the man plop down gracelessly in his thick flannel suit doesn't have the same effect anymore. Jon used to think it was some weird corporate thing, something they'd teach you at a workshop about great leadership. Make yourself approachable. Sit down with them on a dusty curb in the back alley, share a cigarette, address them by their names. Crush a man's scull into a purée in their office. Make them feel. Make yourself human.

"Don't," Elias said softly as Jon takes a breath in.

He reaches out a hand that Jon doesn't take. Instead, he sits at the opposite end of the mattress, feeling a sudden vertigo. Elias drops the hand into his lap, palm up. "You're burning up."

Jon cracks a hysterical laugh, heavily propping himself up. He feels a tug at his chest, a yearning for a solid form beside him, spitting "fuck you" in the viper's face — a sad, childlike desire, to call for Tim like he'd make all the monsters go away in an instant. Jon squints at the hungry void across from him, all alone, he's so alone, and the monster creeps closer. Elias takes his still burning, still bubbling hand in a firm hold and tugs until the void swallows Jon whole. He watches the fall of his own body, wet forehead pressed into the wooly fabric, bones twisted in an unnatural position. Elias jolts involuntary as Jon tumbles into him but sits still for the few excruciating moments Jon needs to collect himself. Mentally, mostly, because to recuperate his body on the ground — mattress, — and push himself up against the wall proves to be easier than walking.

They sit now, shoulders and sides touching, and Jon now can't see the void. He closes his eyes to be sure and pants heavily.

"What are you doing to me?"

"Nothing. You're just dehydrated."

"Sure."

Elias sighs and runs circles over his wrist.

"I might get sick," Jon adds.

"You are."

"No, I mean." He gestures vaguely, shaking off the cold fingers. "I mean puke."

"Mhm."

Jon makes an effort to pull his knees up and double over, curling in on himself. He breathes, fast and panicked, trying to will the nausea away and the cold hand returns to pet steadily at his back. Jon feels a very particular nothing about it being there.

"You..."

Killed. A complete sentence, not even an accusations, because Jon doesn't know how to finish it. Leitner. Gertrude. Sasha. You killed me, he wants to say, even when he's still hurting and breathing.

"Time and place, Jon. There's no use to try right now."

Jon squeezes his head between his knees and wants to wail. He wants to cry more and he wants Elias to be gone. He does get away, truth be told, the mattress shifts and pangs and Jon doesn't know if this twisted delirium of his is ever coming back until Elias carefully unfolds him.

"Don't get the wrong idea," he sounds almost amused as he cradles Jon close, pushing a bottle into his hands and palming greasy hair out of the way.

Jon drinks in gulps that hurt him more than the burning and drops his head onto the bony shoulder in some exhausted kind of surrender. Elias smells like the archives. Cologne and cigarettes, too, but mostly dry rot and dust. Never sweat. Never the must of a human body. Jon feels cold terror bite at his ankles and curls up again, this time pressing himself into Elias' rigid form, nose buried in satin. He doesn't knows gods, not the way his grandmother did, but he imagines this to be the smell of those catholic statues adorn in silks and left to stale for centuries on end.

Feed your god fearlessly and without hesitation, or it will feed on you.

He feels a gentle press to the top of his head. Might be lips or something else, Jon doesn't know, but he laughs coarsely, clinging to the shirt with bloodless fingers. "Don't get the wrong idea."

He doesn't really think there are any wrong ideas left between them.

Elias hums and it echoes all around. Jon speaks again. "Is this real?"

He's not sure if he's doing the thing, but Elias scratches at the base of his skull with repulsive tenderness and answers earnestly. "It is."

"What do you want?"

"At the moment?"

"I... Yes."

"For you to sleep, preferably."

"Why?"

Jon feels his pitying gaze. Like he's a blind rat staggering in a labyrinth under a watchful eye from the above.

"There's a job to be done, Jon."

Jon pushes away with a sigh, not meeting much resistance, and buries himself into the scattered sheets. Maybe this is the kind of acceptance the underground woman felt in the face of death. He never understood it before, not before a kiss touches his temple and slips onto his cheek. He's not sure he wants the touch. He's not sure if he resents it. Papers slide across the floor, a statement he won't read, not now, not in this room. He kind of expects footsteps and shutting of doors now, but instead Elias gives them some distance and seemingly settles for good, prickly eyes creeping up Jon's spine.

"Do you want to hurt Georgie?"

"No."

"Are you lying?"

"Not to you, Jon."

Jon turns his back on the monster in his bed and doesn't find it in him to care if he doesn't wake up.

'Cause we'll dance together so close we're sharing breath

But now I'm leading, doesn't that just scare you to death?

"I like the new hair"

"I fail to see how any of this is amusing to you"

everyone's listening to the magnus protocol and i'm still obsessed with whatever these fuckers had going on

remember when elias told jon it’d be hard to replace him then later on said he’s the beating heart of the institute and then we’ve got tim telling jon ‘this place loves you too much to let you get swapped’ that was so silly aha.

men would rather share unorthodox eating habits with one another than go to therapy

to anyone who has ever written or drawn jonelias dancing be it literally or metaphorically i hope you know i owe you my everything