#webmartin

[mortal-kingss]

is there lore behind your web martin designs or is he just very spooky and neat bc i am SO intrigued

AHHH i habent thought of exact lore things and reasons behind certain aspects of the design (ie the web scars on his cheeks) but. i Do wanna make it a point that if he wears silk gloves then they r made of spiders silk

on my first webmartin fanart the shirt hes wearing has a web and theres a bug hanging from his necklace and its supposed to look like its stuck in the web :)

i think in general hes just supposed to look fuzzy . cuz those r his fav spiders . hes just a tarantula 🤍🤍

also dare i sayyyyyyy. i have drawn a different “type” of webmartin where his spidery-ness is based off of vampire spiders who drink mosquitoes filled w blood (cuz the type of fangs they have cant pierce human skin) and thats another little thing

uhhh one more … i hc martin is polish and a big part of polish jewelry afaik is amber ! amber is also used to trap and preserve bugs and spiders so id like to think that he has an amber pendant with a bug in it, mayhaps even a moth …

[transarchivist]

were some people like weirdly hostile to the idea of web!martin or am i just misremembering .

[melliejellybellybean]

YALL THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!!

WHAT IF WE GET WEB!MARTIN STILL

[the-magnus-scrotocol]

Me every week: THIS is how WebMartin can still win.

[annabelle--cane]

(the re webmartin anon again) i don't know that I saw it on Tumblr. I know I saw it on TikTok and discord and I don't know how much of that was the specific bubble of users I was interacting with. I was bad about curating my fandom experience so I have way more of the fandom blocked now.

that does actually sound exactly like the kind of thing I would have seen on tmatok in may/june 2020, I will wholeheartedly believe that

[arthurtaylorlester]

so safe to say the description of the magnus protocol still mostly supports my theory and the protags working for ‘‘The Office of Incident Assessment’’ sounds suspiciously like a thinly veiled attempt to collect more ‘‘statements’’ though i guess now they’ll be called reports or incidents or something

safe to say this is some kind of Somewhere Else where Gertrude succeeds and the fears are mostly quiet until problem magnet #1 and #2 (jmart my beloveds) show up and cause alice and sam lots of issues just by existing and re-awakening the fears (be gay do crime?) but like i don’t think it’ll be explicitly stated it’s them, they’ll probably be referred to as an entity because like i doubt they’re not gonna be horribly altered thanks to interdimensional travel. and like imagine, villain jmart except no it’s just the concept of them, and not actually them

anyways i’m excited to see whatever the magnus protocol has in store! even if it doesn’t have jmart because like, i get that their story is a tragedy but i like concepts like these, because i feel like evil jmart (with webmartin specifically) would be epic

[gammija]

The final Web!Martin evidence list

Now that canon is done, and we’ve got word of god confirmation that Web!Martin wasn’t complete nonsense, I decided to go back to my lil chronological evidence list and actually clean it up a bit, delete parts that in hindsight weren't all that indicative, and put everything in a slightly more readable format. (Obligatory disclaimer that i don’t and never did believe or advocate for some kind of evil web!martin, and that I'm not intending to connect a moral judgement to martin (or anyone else for that matter) having some of these traits)

So here: The (hopefully, please) final list with Web!Martin Evidence! Presented in order of importance, according to. me

The final (hopefully) Web!Martin evidence list

(In order from most to least obvious)

Spiders

I mean, it’s called the Web. TMA reiterates quite a few times that Martin liked spiders. Sometimes it IS that easy.

MAG022: Martin: "I like spiders. Big ones, at least. Y’know, y’know the ones you can see some fur on; I actually think they’re sort of cute -"

MAG038: | Sasha: "A spider?" Jon: "Yeah. I tried to kill it…" [...] Sasha: [Chuckles] "Well, I won’t tell Martin." Jon: "Oh, god. I don’t think I could stand another lecture on their importance to the ecosystem."

MAG059: Jon: "I have done my best to prevent Martin reading this statement in too much detail. I have no interest in having another argument about spiders."

MAG079: Jon: "Apparently, biologically, his account of the spiders doesn’t make any sense according to Martin."

MAG197: Martin: “What? Because I like spiders? Well, used to.”

Lies and subterfuge

Martin is able to use lying and subterfuge to achieve his goals, and is called manipulative a few times.

Lies:

MAG022: Martin: "[He] became slightly more co-operative after I lied to him and told him that one of the upstairs residents had buzzed me in."

MAG056: Martin: "I lied on my CV."

MAG158: Peter: “But you said –” Martin: “Honestly, I mostly just said what I thought you wanted to hear.”

MAG164: Jon: "You – I actually believed you!"

MAG189: Martin: “Sorry. Sorry, John. Not sure how much everything up there actually understood what was going on. But, y’know, I didn’t want to take any chances so it made sense to… um…” Jon: “Put on a show?” Martin: “Yeah, basically, more or less.”

MAG191: Martin: "That's not true." Arun: "Liar!"

Subterfuge:

The plan in 118, which revolved around convincing Elias that Martin was only “acting out”, to create a distraction for Melanie. (Also compare the way he evades giving a straight answer here with the way Annabelle talks in 196.)

Working with Peter in s4 under false pretenses, to distract him from Jon and eventually try to learn what Peter wanted.

Manipulation accusations:

These, I know, are somewhat contentious, since it’s mostly villains saying this to him. I’m still including them, since

1): From a media analysis standpoint, being mentioned 3 times is a sign to pay attention, even when it may not be the full truth.

2): I only see it as describing Martin’s behaviour in the previous points, not as a moral judgement; Especially since he almost always ‘manipulates’ people in positions of power over him.

Still, if it bothers anyone, feel free to ignore these.

MAG138: Martin: "That’s it? No, no monologue, no mind games? You love manipulating people!" Elias: "That makes two of us."

MAG186: Martin: “I can be a real manipulative prick, you know that?” Also Martin: “Oh yeah.”

MAG196: Annabelle: “Because you always managed to get what you wanted through smiles and shrugs and stammerings that weren’t nearly as awkward as they seemed.” [SMALL SOUND OF MARTIN’S CONCESSION TO THE POINT] Martin: “Point taken.”

The Lonely/the Web

The Lonely and the Web sometimes affect Martin to similar degrees.

In season 3, when Martin is getting used to reading statements for the first time, most of them leave him emotionally affected: MAG084, MAG088, MAG090,

MAG095: Martin: “S-S-Statement… done.” [HEAVY BREATHING & TREMBLING AS MARTIN STEADIES HIMSELF] “I don’t like recording these. There. I-I said it.”,

MAG098: Martin: [Panting] “End of statement.” [Deep breath] “I, um, I think I might need to sit down. Oh. Yeah, I am. Right. I don’t, uh, I’m not really sure if these are actually getting easier or harder. I mean I don’t feel –”

Only the last two statements he reads are remarkably easier. This might be a hint that Martin is just getting used to reading them, but the quote from MAG098 seems to contradict that. Either way, it’s likely not a coincidence that those last two happen to be the Lonely and the Web:

MAG108: Martin: “Statement ends.” (exhale) “That wasn’t so bad…”

MAG110: Martin: “Statement ends.” [...] “I mean, I think it sounds like a Jurgen Leitner book. About spiders. Hm. Good John didn’t have to read this one, anyway. I know he’s not a fan. Although, this one wasn’t too bad, actually! I – yeah. Anyway.”

In season 5, there are two powers’ Domains that actually affected Martin mentally, as opposed to only physically: the Lonely’s, in 170 (and arguably 186), and, depending on your interpretation, in 172, when Martin went exploring without knowing why he did so.

Proximity

Martin investigates a lot of the Web statements during season 1 to 3 (in other words, when the archive team still researches statements). The only ones he isn’t mentioned in during this period are MAG019 and MAG020, when he’s being harrassed by worms, and MAG081, which Jon records by himself outside of the institute.

Most notably, he’s the one who discovered the statement in MAG114, ‘Cracked Foundations’, which is the one statement in the entire show that sets up the interdimensional properties of HTR.

The Web!Lighter passed through Martin's hands first, before he gave it to Jon.

Similarly, Annabelle mostly spoke to Martin in season 5, despite most other Avatars usually focusing on Jon.

Aesthetics

Apart from the above obviously Web related areas, there are some other aesthetics which are mentioned in connection to both the Web and Martin, throughout canon.

These are describing the Web;

These are describing Martin.

Tapes:

Martin is the only character to treat the tape recorders as friends - any other character is either indifferent, or treats them as enemies.

MAG039: Martin: "I think the tapes have a sort of… low-fi charm."

MAG154 Martin: “Oh. Hi. Hello again.” … (small laugh) “Sorry pal, false alarm this time.”

MAG156 Martin: “Mm? Oh.” [HE LAUGHS, GENTLY.] “Yeah. (rustling paper) I was going to read one. Hate for you to miss it!” [SHORT, FORCED LAUGH, AS HE FLAPS THE STATEMENT AROUND.]

MAG170 Martin: “Oh. Oh, hello. What’s this? Wow, retro! What are you up to, little buddy; just – listening? That’s okay. It’s nice to have someone to talk to.”

MAG190 Jon: "[The tapes] seem to like [Martin]."

Retro:

MAG069: Statement: “I only saw Annabelle Cane once during this period. She wasn’t hard to pick out. She dressed like a vintage clothing store exploded on her, and her short bleach-blonde hair stood out sharply against dark skin.”

MAG160: Jon: “Anyways, don’t tell me the phonebox down there doesn’t appeal to your retro aesthetic.” Martin: “It – might. Maybe.”

MAG163: Annabelle/the Web callying Martin via an old payphone: [ A PHONE RINGS. IT’S NOT THE TINNY, ELECTRONIC SOUND OF A CELLPHONE – NO, THIS IS A TRUE, HEAVY, CLASSIC RING.] Martin: “Uh. John? Uh, J, John – the, uh, payphone that’s – here, for some reason – it’s ringing?”

Hatred of burns:

MAG067: Jack Barnabas’ statement: “I looked up and noticed within the corner of the room, where there had been a spider’s web this morning, there was just a faint wisp of smoke.” “Another held a bag that seemed to be full of candles, while a third had a clear plastic container filled with hundreds of tiny spiders.”

MAG139: Statement by member of Cult of the Lightless Flame: “The Mother of Puppets has always suffered at our hand; all the manipulation and subtle venom in the world means nothing against a pure and unrestrained force of destruction and ruin.” Agnes burned down Hilltop Road.

MAG145: The Web ties Gertrude to Agnes, stopping the Desolation’s ritual (the only Power whose ritual the Web is known to have prevented).

MAG167: Gertrude enlists Agnes’/the Desolation’s help in order to burn her assistant Emma, who was Web aligned.

MAG169: Martin: "Look, I just – don’t want to get burned, all right? It’s, it’s like my least favorite pain ever. [...] I, I legitimately hate burns, alright? They’re, they’re awful, and they scar horribly, and they just – it – it just makes me sick; I, I hate it. Hate it!"

Phrasing:

MAG039: Martin: "I’m trapped here. It’s like I can’t… move on and the more I struggle, the more I’m stuck. [...] It's just that whatever web these statements have caught you in, well, I’m there too. We all are, I think."

MAG079: Martin's poem: "The threads of people walking, living, lovi–"

MAG117: Martin: "This last couple of years, I’ve always been running, always hiding, caught in someone else’s trap, but, but now it’s my trap, and, well, I think it’ll work. I know, I know it’s not exactly intricate, but it felt good leaving my own little web. Oh, oh, Christ, I hope John doesn’t actually listen to these. “Good lord, is Martin becoming some sort of spider person?” No, John, it’s an expression, chill out! Besides, spiders are fine. I mean, yes, people are scared of them, obviously, but actual spiders, they just want to help you out with flies."

MAG167: Jon: “Methinks the Spider dost protest too much.” Martin: “Jon –” Jon: “Joking! Just joking.”

Personality:

How applicable these are depends heavily on how you interpret Martin's own personality, so your mileage may vary.

MAG008: Statement: “Nobody ever said a word against Raymond himself, though, who was by all accounts a kind and gentle soul [...]”

MAG123: Jon: "The Web does seem to have a preference for those who prefer not to assert themselves."

MAG147: Annabelles statement: "I discovered a deep and enduring talent inside myself for lying. [...] My manipulations were not intricate, but they were far beyond what was expected of a child my age, and I have always believed that the key to manipulating people is to ensure that they always under- or overestimate you. Never reveal your true abilities or plans."

Word of God and Annabelle

I kinda wanted to ‘prove’ that Web!Martin had quite a bit of evidence to back it up, hence this header being last. But of course, in this post-canon world, there are a few lines that most obviously confirm the theory:

MAG197: Martin is Web enough to be able to read the 'vibrations', like Annabelle, and see Jon and Basira (the latter being especially notable, as he hadn't known she was there beforehand): [CHITTERING, BUZZING AND HIGH-PITCHED SQUEALS CHANGE CADENCE] Martin: "Wait… Wait, hang on, is that him?" Annabelle: "Yes. I guess you’re better with the Web than we thought." Martin: "And – Wait, ha– No, uh… is that… Basira? He – He’s got Basira with him!" Annabelle: "Yes."

Season 5 Q&A part 2: Jonny: “Essentially, it was fascinating looking at the fandom and, like, the Web!Martin believers, because what they were doing was correctly picking up on hints dropped in the early seasons that were later, like, not exactly abandoned, but it was much more like, ‘Well, no, he does have like aspects of The Web to him, but he is moreover The Lonely.’ And that came about very… very organically, really. Because throughout Season 3 and going into Season 4, we had this conversation and we were like, ‘No, actually he's like-” Alex: “‘It can't be, it cannot be, it must be the other way round’ Yeah.”

(Note that they say “throughout season 3 and going into season 4,” which likely means that season 1, season 2, and at least part of season 3, aka half of the entire show, were written with Web!Martin as an intentional possibility.)

If you read all that, thanks so much! Obviously, Web!Martin never really came to fruition, so it's fine if you still don't like it. This is just a post explaining where it was coming from, at least for me and the other theorists I've spoken to.

[n-everafter]

The Antichrist, his plus one and olives of doom.

The Magnus Archives is a podcast by Rusty Quill running under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license which applies to my fanart as well. For more information about the original source material visit www.rustyquill.com

[marlasomething]

Piles Of Nonsense Bingo: Storaged Fire

Hi there! This is my first individual contribution to the @pilesofnonsense 2021 Halloween Bingo. My idea? To fill the marked column (bellow) adding an extra one in each entry.

As I am only useful as a writter, here it is my first fic:

"Boxes" filled: Artefact Storage and The Desolation.

Characters: Jonathan Sims, Martin Blackwood, Original Non-Human Avatar

Pairings: Jonmartin, background Tim/Sasha and Lonelyeyes

Additional tags: Season 4 AU, Archivist!Sasha, Web!Jon, Web!Martin, stablished (new) relationship, original statement (from Gertrude Era), Gerry gets mentioned bcs I love him so much, other characters also get small mentions, fluff, slight angst and intrusive thoughts, monster animals, she/they pronouns for Nikola, no beta we kayak like Tim

CW: Arson, identity crisis, mistrust issues, mentions of death

Ranking: Teen and up (it is not heavy but maybe a bit harsh for younger audiences)

Word count: 1941

Summary: Jon and Martin are hanging in the Artefact Storage when a dog appears...and this time is not Martin's doing

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34845676

Jon couldn’t hate spiders anymore. It would be rather…contradictory. Fire, though; fire was his new greatest foe.

He would never forget the day he died. The day he and Martin died.

It has taken all they had in them to force Tim to stay instead of going with them to destroy The Circus, all the compelling capacities both him and his…boyfriend (it is still felt weird, in a good way; but bizarre nonetheless) had started showing or, more accurately, finally accepting, even if doing so with reluctance.

If things went south (as they did), Sasha would need some anchor. And that ought to be him.

The Circus…it was maddening, there were no words in any dictionary to describe it otherwise. They knew the explosion was likely to kill them but…they had to do it. Especially after they had realised that Sasha was losing it completely and they lost complete track of both Daisy and Basira (the first one not even making it out of the place).

They had hold hands for a second before detonating the thing, for all of them, but also for Tim’s brother and the many other victims of Nikola and their troupe.

“I also liked you” he had said, seconds before giving use to the lighter Sasha had received as a present.

“What?”

“Before we begun to get close, when Sasha started getting, er…paranoid. Before all that, I already liked you, I just…”

“…was an ass about it” once he had confidence with someone, Martin was way bolder. Especially with him, the crush turned into real love for the whole flawed individual. “Yeah, I started realising it now…you were terrible to me, though. Good thing I have fallen for you.”

As every single time Jon had to put out any short of feelings, it cost him greatly to find the words.

“I have too.”

The explosion was brutal, the pain so great he could still feel it in his sleep.

It should have killed them. Ripped them from the inside out due to explosion itself as their exterior melted from the heat and fire.

And so it did, but The Mother had other plans…

…Jon didn’t envy the poor forensic examiner that was about to open them when they started vomiting spiders and clumsily woke up, their worst burns covered by permanent cobwebs.

And, now, nobody completely trusted them.

Not that neither of them could truly blame the others for it.

It got tiring, though. They needed some time when other people’s stares weren’t suspicious (or, also pretty annoying, full of pity when they saw the forever burnt tissue).

So they started hiding in the Artefact Storage Room from time to time. Also, quality calm time alone with each other was a treat they might have wanted even if things hadn’t gone the way they had.

Here they were, playing some allegedly cursed game that was supposed to trap its players on the game’s orders in real life (although it obviously had no effect of them, apart from a slight headache probably provoked by their annoyed Patron). If felt kind of…good.

“HA!” Jon screamed. “Won! Again.”

Martin sighed.

“Remember when you pretended to be this very serious, professional academic? I guess he wouldn’t have been this competitive.”

“Nah, but he would certainly have pointed out MANY TIMES how bad you are at it. I only did it this one time.”

The taller man rolled his eyes.

“The bar is that low, uh?”

“If you ask the rest…” he tried to sound even humorous, but came as bitter as he tried not to feel.

“Hey, they will get used to it.”

“Sure thing. Look, not being liked, that is usual, nothing new in the horizon. Neither is being looked at as some kind of…nature mistake but, for some reason, this time is hitting me harder” maybe because if it wasn’t for the fact that I had to make peace with the man I love being the same as I have become, I’d hate myself even more than they hate me.

Instead of trying to answer him, Martin hugged him, and he just let the smell of tea relaxed him…

…until a cheerful bark interrupted them.

“This time it wasn’t me I swear!” Martin said, as they turned to see a white extremely hairy dog with a friendly expression (for a dog) staring at them while shaking its long tail rhythmically.

At first, it could have passed as a regular dog, but, the more Jon looked at it, the more something felt off…and then, he noticed the paw marks.

The floor the dog had stepped on was burned.

“Martin, don’t touch it.”

“Oi! As a proud cat-dad I thought you would be more sensitive than to call an intelligent animal an it.”

“First, cats are far more evolved than dogs and second…look at the floor.”

“Shit.”

“Shit precisely” the dog’s face was now less amicable, as if it had realised it had been caught.

Jon pointed at the animal’s neck, where a paper covered in what he guesses was fireproof plastic laid.

Counting with far longer arms than his boyfriend, Martin reached at took it before the dog could even move. He was far quicker since…since the change.

It was a statement, a quite short one, but still an statement. Signed as having been register by Gertrude.

“May I…?” maybe The Web had claimed him, but his need to KNOW had gone nowhere.

“If you insist…” they shared a nervous smile; the dog-like-creature still staring, as if thinking what it should do with them.

He wondered for a second why he didn’t approach them more, but he didn’t like the implications of any of his theories, so he decided to pretend he didn’t have them and let it be.

He started reading the paper out-loud, his voice echoing in every corner of Artefact Storage.

Statement of Michael Smith, regarding the destruction of his house after the irregular adoption of a stray dog in April 2014.

Statement begin.

My family has always been big on adopting animals. Just as a kid, I remember it was basically the only topic my parents could speak about without my kitchen becoming a battle camp.

That is why; when my oldest son came home with an apparently adorable fluffy dog I didn’t question his decision for a second. He named him Zuko after a character in a show he was obsessed with at the time because he said “he burned a squirrel when I found him!”

I thought he was exaggerating, or straight-up lying, he was eleven and had decided that, if you believe something enough, you can make other people believe it too…

…I wish I could do that with what happened next.

The…ok; I am going to call it Thing because it doesn’t deserve any better.

Well, the Thing never came into the house and, curiously enough, only walked on watery parts of the garden. It was odd enough, but I had had other abandoned animals before, and you just cannot phantom the kind of trauma those poor creatures get exposed to and the long-term consequences it has.

It only let my son, whose name I’d rather left out of this statement, touch it and, when he did, he always had marks of what seemed to be burns later on.

However, stupidly enough, I attributed said marks to his own clumsiness and his eternal hyperfixation with house-made chemical experiments.

Reading it now, in front of me, I can’t help but feeling stupid…

…especially, because there was a pretty clear sign I didn’t catch upon: every single time we left the house, the Thing would tentatively approach our home, sniffing doors and windows, as in the search of something…

That something, if you haven’t guessed it yet, was a way in.

And, eventually, It found it.

I don’t know exactly what it wanted from our house; I am just a DHL deliver man, and my wife is a journalist stuck with weird rather unbelievable short stories due to her sort of pretty sexist bosses. But, whatever it had been, it was successfully destroyed.

The Thing burned our home to the ground, everything on it perpetually lost.

Everything we owned was in there; we had just gone for a walk around the neighbourhood with the dogs that actually wanted to do dog things.

At least, the not-dog is gone for good. According to our neighbours, just as the fire started calming, a couple of wardrobe-sized men went in and took the Thing, putting it inside their van and driving away without a word.

The insurance has found a way to blame it on us and, therefore, now we have to life with my wife’s father. Three kids, four dogs and two adults in their not-that-big house.

It is terrible but, worst part? When I looked at my oldest son’s eyes while he gazed at our destroyed home; he seemed…fine with it.

I have been finding small piles of ashes since then.

And now there is no monster-dog to be blamed; at least, not directly.

Statement ends, I suppose.

Archivist’s notes: everything Mr. Smith tells in his statement matches with the official statement. Regarding the reason the dog was sent to this family; it might be interesting to consider it related to a small article his wife wrote that mentioned Jude Perry in not very nice terms…she is rather revengeful.

The other option is, of course, that the eldest son of the Smiths is actually attracted by The Desolation himself; the thing that seemed to be a dog somehow making its way to him. If this is the case, I might pay a visit to the Smiths quite soon…

The… not-dog itself is now among our artefacts, since it apparently doesn’t really need any nutrients to just survive. It was given to us by Breekon and Hope, as a peace offering after some…private business I had with Miss Orsinov. It is to be well kept inside its cell, for there is no stopping It if It gets lose.

At least, with the research my acquaintance Mister Keay had done it apparently is not. And he is quite trustworthy and completely professional.

Signed,

Gertrude Robinson.

“No way to stop…”

“Well, we’ve both met Gerry and there is a reason that ghost and you have such a good relationship: both of you think too much and are oblivious to the obvious solution.”

Without thinking it twice, Martin took his tea mug and threw it over the dog and It….It started consuming itself.

“Makes no sense” Jon complained.

“Agree; learnt a long time ago not to make sense of Fear incarnations.”

They stayed in silence, as the not-dog made a quite good rendition of the Wicked Witch of the West, just a few white hairs left after It was gone.

“Who do you think let It loose?”

“Who can know about us and seems to be here just to have fun at our expense?”

“And speak weirdabout Elias. Do you think those two…?” Jon scoffed.

“Even Icaught that the first time, Martin. It can also have been an honest to God accident, though. This place needs a serious intervention…”

They both sighed and let themselves fell into the floor, staring at each other.

“You know? Your Gertrude impersonation is quite good. In another world, you might be The Archivist.” Jon smirked.

“Then, the World is saved there for certain, for you will always be my perfect anchor.”

No more talking was needed, as they kissed and let the intensity of the last minutes (more the last weeks, months…) made them succumb into a soft, comfortable slumber.

[foxy-alien]

Everyone saying WebMartin could still win

[annabellecanescookbook]

Martin K(nife) Blackwood

[martinsaysfuckcasually]

as a web!martin truther, hearing martin be all like:

“hmm I am suddenly hungry”

while stepping inside the web’s domain put me more than a BIT on edge. idk it just reminded me of Jon eating statements. (what would an avatar of the web even eat? like what would they feed off? that’s besides the point...)

yes- I know that this could be purely coincidental, but the fact that he also basically predicts that they’ll run into annabelle at the beginning of the ep...martin’s being a bit sus. i don’t like it here.

[amphitritemists]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Characters: Martin Blackwood, Jonah Magnus, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Georgie Barker, Melanie King, Basira Hussain, Oliver Banks, Annabelle Cane Additional Tags: WebMartin, EvilJon, Violence committed by an ex-police officer, Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Alternate Ending, Multiple Deaths, not to graphic eye gore but its there, Gun Violence, Spiders Summary:

Jon and Basira go to Hill Top Road to rescue Martin, but discover he doesn't need to be saved after all.

[theartistichuman]

Web Martin stans how does it feel to win???

[bare1ythere]

Listening to Jonny and Alex talk about Webmartin's intended design was So satisfying. On one hand, yes all these little moments in early seasons that connected Martin to the Web were intentional as foreshadowing for this aspect of his character, but on the other hand by the end a canon Webmartin would've felt (at least to me) like a significant betrayal of Martin's character, like he was lying to us and Jon the whole time. It was just incredibly validating to hear them lay both takes out like that

[bibliocratic]

Could I possibly ask for spider Martin except like he’s still Martin and knows being filled with spiders is fucked

Thanks for the prompt, anon! :)

Content warnings absolutely apply, please see the tags

The pain, when it comes, is unendurable. The sensations only have equivalents that he struggles to parse in terms no person should have to consider – thorn-dug, flaying, peeling, rotting, the intimate horror of his own skin being reworked to house new occupants. The old boards of Hill Top Road do little to deaden his screaming, and Martin dies and dies and dies and dies.

He’s a big man to consume. The spiders that Mother birthed for this purpose are thumb-sized, workmanlike, efficient, and joyous in their duty, but it is a project to gnaw and melt and inhale the mush of his liquidating flesh. It takes a long time. They string tassels of web between his ribs like ship’s rigging, set up a network of criss-crossing tin-can-telephone wires to connect every one of his unwieldy limbs.

When they make him stand, the inside of him crackles and shifts like a bag of rice.

“Now,” says Annabelle, kindly nudging a wayward scampering new-born off his cheek to clamber down his ear. “Time to say hello to your boyfriend, don’t you?”

yes yes yes yes yes, sing the siblings, their song filling in the cavern of his throat, the bulging skin under his nails.

A crumb of him, unchewed, the final sparks of a blown lightbulb, gives a horrified, feeble ‘no’.

The movement of his legs are an operation, a team effort of co-ordination. The spiders chatter and trill as they pulley-string his muscles to jerk forward, pivot his joints to unnaturally lope around corners.

jon jon we will see jon finally finally, we want to look upon him with all our eyes, mother has adored him so so long and we want to see him see how happy we make him see his face when he sees what we’ve done to please him… /not like this, god, no no no no

The spider parts do not comprehend the reticent spasms that flicker through their unity.

why why we love jon, don’t we love him, yes yes, we love him so, mother has told us, we will see him and we will cherish him, yes yes and from this skin we can stretch and grow, more arms to touch hold caress, yes yes, beloved, we will string webs to garland him a crown bestow upon him our multitude of affection… / he won’t want that he won’t be able to touch me look at me god I’m sorry I didn’t mean it I’m sorry… jon is patient-stubborn-loving-loyal yes yes that’s what the martin we were before believed, he will grow to love us once he knows how much we love him… / no no christ I don’t want him to see me like this I don’t want him to love me like this I want him to end it god jon…

There is a door opening. He sways to a stop, waiting, his skin writhing with excitement.

“Martin! Oh, thank God, Martin!”

“Hello Jon,” his mouth works. A smile is winched from him by the jostling legs in his gumline.

Seeing Jon’s expression through his new eyes, Martin wishes Annabelle had just killed him.