the-bookburner

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i have nothing else. have my first ever gerry design and drawing ever

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Felt it only fitting to draw a Gerry after Michael, so here's book boy

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My favourite goth guy who steals rubbish bins

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Uni band Jon is real btw

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I AGREE. MINE TOO PLEASE

Additionally: Ceaseless Watcher please project my period cramps onto Jurgen Leitner because I fucking hate him

ceaseless watcher please project my period cramps onto jonah magnus because it would be so very funny

[the-bookburner]

Funny story:

I wasn't always the... most safe, when it came to methods of finding/dealing with Leitners. Now, in my mind, this is perfectly fine. Maybe it's something Mary and/or Gertrude instilled in me, maybe it's just how I think.

Anyway, while I thought this was perfectly acceptable and normal, apparently everyone else around me did not.

More often than not, I'd end up at Tim's flat after a bad Leitner run. He'd roll his eyes, maybe tease me a bit, but he'd patch me up just fine. Sasha was usually there too. I wouldn't go to Jon's, because Jon would panic and also scold me. I wouldn't go to Martin's either (back when he lived on his own), because I didn't want to worry him. Sasha was also very intense when she was worried/angry, but thankfully, I did not often encounter her ire.

One time in particular, though.

I'd been chasing after this particular Leitner for a while, and I thought I had a good shot of getting it. It should've been easy enough, but I made... less than wise decisions, and ended up dealing with some group (one of the numerous groups connected to the Fears, honestly don't know which), that I, admittedly, couldn't quite handle on my own. I would've tried to, but I wasn't exactly an idiot. So I, while being led around, knocked on the nearest door I was able to (Michael and I had a specific... code, of sorts, I believe? I'd knock on a door, and he'd know it was me and also whether or not I needed him), and he managed to rescue me.

Problem is, apparently I'd been roughed up quite a bit (you know it's bad when you make a literal being of chaos worry about you -> Granted, I was also lucky enough to have that being of chaos Care about what happened to me on some level soooo).

Anyway. Michael dragged me back to the Archives like a literal cat. Actually held me by the scruff of my jacket. And I received multiple lectures that day, and had the worry of multiple Archival Assistants, the Distortion, and an Archivist.

Like I said, Sasha James can be scary when she's angry. And I've never seen her more angry than when someone she cares about puts themself needlessly at risk.

(I'd do it again though because I did get the Leitner in the end).

[the-bookburner]

So as it turns out?? I ended up as an Avatar as Gerry.

A weird mix of the Desolation and the Eye (although there were some hints of the End there, considering Mary and all).

I was definitely pissed off about it at first. I'd spent the better part of my life trying to fight against the Horrors™️, and the last thing I wanted was to end up as part of them. Plus, I was already unbelievably pissed off at frustrated with Gertrude for what she did to Michael. And I'm not sure exactly how, but she had some sort of hand in it, which. I still don't understand, even now. She was always talking about doing anything for the mission, and how she'd give up anyone to keep going forward. So why risk it for me? What made me worth it? I don't know.

I will admit, though, that having the Eye and the Desolation made things a lock easier for me when it came to hunting Leitners.

Well, technically I already kinda had the Eye? Never actually got those tattoos myself, they just kinda showed up at one point when I was a kid (9 or so), and I was always heavily connected to the Eye (which. Gertrude didn't particularly like anyway so???)

But the Desolation??? So easy to destroy Leitners with (unless they were Desolation Leitners in which case. The traditional methods worked or I'd get someone (usually Michael (Distortion)) to help.)

Also just hung around the Archives a lot (when I wasn't bookhunting, at least) cause,,, what else was I supposed to do?

[the-bookburner]

When we see Gerard Keay interact with statement givers he comes across as pretty socially awkward. For example: In TMA 38, he stares at women until she's uncomfortable and then he goes up to her and insinuates that she's ruining his vacation before saying that she's "marked" by something. Then he doesn't elaborate on what she could be marked by. In another example, when interacting with the nurse in TMA 12, after bottles of saline start to bubble, he says “Yes. For you, better beholding than the lightless flame," which, again, is confusing and the nurse explicitly says that she doesn't know what that means.

And I think that's an interesting note on how being raised in a world where the fears were so normalized affected him as a person.

Because the social mistakes he makes when interacting with the statement givers is talking about the fears as they're these casual things, which does nothing other than confuse and scare people who are already disoriented by what they're going through...but the thing is, you can't really blame him for making these mistakes.

After all, the fears ARE normal to him. They're all he's ever known, and from that perspective, it has to be hard to interact with people who have had such a different existence. There's a good chance he doesn't even register how confusing some of the things he says are, because in his world you don't need to explain what a mark is or why it's better to serve The Eye than the Lightless Flame. That's just a fact of life.

And I think this idea that Gerard just isn't good with interacting with normal people is backed up by the way he seems when we hear him interact with Gertrude and Jon. When he's interacting with people inside his world, he comes across as very witty and charismatic, not off-putting in the way statement givers tend to describe. And I don't think that's because the statement givers are painting a false picture of who he is. Rather, he just has an easier time with people who "get it" and (mostly) need as little context as he does.

Anyway, it has been exactly five minutes since I've had too many thoughts about Gerard Keay. But my main one is this: Gertrude should have gotten the chance to fist-fight Mary at least once because who raises a child like that?

[the-bookburner]

prettyyy sure this is five days late BUT merry pipe murder-mas mr gerry keay

-jinx @the-archives-sys :D

HELL YEAH

[the-bookburner]

Reblogging here too.

tentative outreach post,,, join our server.

hi i'm jonathan sims head archivist of the magnus institute providing everyone a server to discuss the magnus archives/for tma kins.

we're doubles and fictive friendly! although we ask, for our own comfort, for any jonah magnuses/elias bouchards, peter lukases, jane prentisses and nikola orsinovs to dni. sorry if this is an issue. please file your complaints to emil (HEY >:( -emil).

going to tag martin so he sees this and can maybe promote it better @thelonelyfog/nf

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Me realizing:

A. I was trans as Gerry (still am, haha)

B. I did, in fact, name myself after fucking Gerard Way.

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The more boring and mundane Michael Shelley is portrayed as the more psychological damage I take from the idea of Michael and Gerry's ship.

Because the thought of Gerry, someone who was forced into a world of horrors at a young age, finding solace with the most normal guy alive who just wants to have an average life is so bittersweet in a way that lives nonstop in my head.

(And so angsty too if you think the idea of Gerry finally getting a normal life with his normal boyfriend for a little while, only to have his "normal" boyfriend turn up as a monster and pull him back into the world he only had a brief escape from.)

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!!!!

I NEED ONE OF THESE, NOW.

HAPPY BRUTAL PIPE MURDER DAY!!!!

stupid crusty old man. anyways this is my leitner rant necklace

[the-bookburner]

SSHUT THE FUCK UP, JONATHAN.

my favorite thing about the “every statement giver feels the need to mention how shitty gerry’s dye job is” thing is that it makes sense if you think about it for a second: it’s an audio-only medium and we need to be able to recognize recurring characters, but the people talking don’t know their names, so it makes sense that every character would need a distinct physical trait to serve as a sort of calling card

but then you think about it for another second and remember that gertrude’s calling card is literally just “old woman.” like you understand meta-textual storytelling enough to understand that if someone says an old woman showed up they probably mean gertrude. and gerry is goth. which is a much more distinct trait than “old woman.” like that was more than enough on its own. that would have fully served the purpose. the dye job really was just that bad.

[the-bookburner]

Hey-

No I. I can't even defend it, it was That Bad.

my favorite thing about the “every statement giver feels the need to mention how shitty gerry’s dye job is” thing is that it makes sense if you think about it for a second: it’s an audio-only medium and we need to be able to recognize recurring characters, but the people talking don’t know their names, so it makes sense that every character would need a distinct physical trait to serve as a sort of calling card

but then you think about it for another second and remember that gertrude’s calling card is literally just “old woman.” like you understand meta-textual storytelling enough to understand that if someone says an old woman showed up they probably mean gertrude. and gerry is goth. which is a much more distinct trait than “old woman.” like that was more than enough on its own. that would have fully served the purpose. the dye job really was just that bad.

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fun fact! according to TMAGP ARG Stuff, February 4th (TODAY!!!) is/would be the 36th birthday of none other than gerard keay!

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michael shelley I would die for you