#the panopticon

[guillempaints]

CW: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR TMA and a bit of blood

+my reference ;))

This is actually my first Jonmartin piece, I saw the painting and couldnt not paint them... why do i do this to myself??

[thefleshyougoveggie]

my teacher literally mentioned a panopticon today in class????

the saga continues

(all i could think about was tma. i am so normal abt this podcast)

tma fans when their course literature casually mentions a panopticon:

👁️👁️💚🤓☝️🤭

[atomic--bloom]

Ceaseless Watcher, i want that butch obliterated

----

A slightly older fanart that i never uploaded anywhere

[ineffablewhovianholmes]

How am I meant to focus on criminology work when they're talking about panopticons ?

[jouxlskaard]

there isn't a barber in prison

[excaliburarts]

Omg I just realised I hadn't posted this tma piece that I spent way too long working on in June. I'm so dumb.

Full disclosure this clearly was just an excuse to draw the panopticon. As a criminologist, a special interest of mine has always been prison design. So me and the panopticon go way back haha. Even wrote a whole research paper on the design's failures lol. Also resulted in collecting a whole bunch of quotes that give major tma vibes so here's a couple.

"The Inspector was in fact all-seeing: his gaze extending beyond the limit of the visible into the invisible." (Bozovic, 1995)

'Upon seeing the panopticon plans Edmund Burke (philosopher) remarked "there's the keeper, the spider in the web."' (Hummelbarb, 1968)

Also if anyway is interested here is Jeremy Bentham's original design mock-up.

[the-magpie-archives]

[iwikpines]

statement ends

[klm-zoflorr]

Pagnogtigpion

[webbedsitecryptid]

any glass beach tma fans here

[inky-squid-art]

is this not how that scene went (og meme under cut)

[mechanical-v1scera]

sonothan jims :0

[spiralingwatcher]

A panopticon is a prison built so that all the prisoners can be seen by the guard without being able to see the guard. The tower is the central part of the panopticon where the guard watches from, but the tower isn't the panopticon, the prison is. In tma s5 the tower is referred to as the panopticon, but the panopticon is the whole prison, not just the tower. The entire world is the panopticon, the tower is just the center of it.

[python-nebula]

Alright, by popular demand here is my rant analysis of how 'Rex - Brutus II' by The Buttress is basically just TMA season 5!! :3

(WHY DO THINGS KEEP STOPPING BEING IN BOLD) (okay just ignore it)

[first of all: 'Brutus' = 'Jon', 'Rex' = 'Archivist']

secondly from a purely sound standpoint, the song has such TMA vibes anyways, the discordant tune, the eerie-ness, like,,

(okay, let the lyric analysis commence!) (also I'll put the lyrics in different font + bold) (also most questions as rhetorical)

______________________________________________________________

Speak with me! No - Your eyes already say the things that with your mouth you won't

I feel like this bit is self-explanatory (first part: Jon's Compelling thing, second part: he Knows things/has emotions about things but won't tell Martin, Martin can tell)

Below my countrymen cry out for each other's blood and anguish The men and women now at war, each camp speaking different language and yet both sides curse out at me as they toil and they languish

Very reminiscent of the first Slaughter domain + Jon projecting his self-blame onto everyone else (aka thinking that everyone must blame him bc he blames himself, even though they don't even know that he caused the eyepocalypse)

am I even Brutus still? It's like I've forgotten my own name... But the people call me Rex

'am I even Jon still? It's like I've forgotten my own name... But the people call me Archivist'; trying not to give up his humanity but feeling a duty to help humanity that requires not being one of them

My heart never beats in me alone But always through the hearts of other men That want me dead

Jon's been manipulated for 4 whole seasons and he's sick of it- he doesn't want to be a disposable pawn anymore

[I skipped most of the next verse bc I don't feel that it fits neatly]

I do not do what is best for myself, but for us - The Public

He's trying to convince himself that the only reason he's smiting avatars and getting to the Panopticon is to save the world; that is one reason, but there's an element of selfishness too

Also in this section of the song, you can hear people shouting in the background which a) is reminiscent of the soundscaping in Mag 189 and b) representative of the pressure Jon feels to succeed in his task

during this instrumental section, voices in the background whisper 'Brutus'[/'Jon']; either the Eye calling Jon to the Panopticon or Martin trying to get through to him

But now here I supersede you - The difference between you and me - You act out of love for yourself I do so for my love of the people

Again, trying to convince himself of the previous point, however this time it's directed at Elias/Jonah; Jon maintains that he's better than Jonah, but is he?

the aformentioned shouting begins again in the background, as well as the 'Brutus' whispering

There, you - Have you no pride? What are you doing? Feel shame, it is I - Brutus the human

Jon talking to the other avatars and/or smiting them; also 'Brutus' = 'Jon' so he is restating his humanity once again

Make them like oil from water - I will separate them! Mothers will kill their own daughters and friend will kill friend

How Jon basically gets to decide who is watcher (an avatar) and who is watched (a victim), and how neither option is good; the people will suffer anyway

It's not cruel or loveless or hatred Cause even if it means I must erase you I do so for the good of the many of those who must remain so please forgive me!

He is insisting (to himself or others?) that what he is doing isn't malicious, it's right/good in the long run, it will help everyone eventually, but still a part of him begs to be forgiven

It is my duty, I must separate them Must divide them - With tear in eye and iron stomach

He is losing himself, no matter how hard he tries; but is he? he still feels sadness for people (if vague) and has to steel himself before going into a domain/smiting someone- is that not humanity?

Here I go now... Like Samson among the Philistines... For I am become.... Death.

Now eventually, he has come to the end, they all have destroyed the Panopticon and killed Jonah, he and Martin have carved their way through domains like Samson, and now they bring death to Jonah and the Fears , but also to themselves [although those last two are debatable]

Finally, the outro of the song has not only the shouting return, [all the elements together are so good and remind me of the soundscaping in Mag 200 after they succeed]

but elements of the previous song 'Brutus' also bleed through (the tune and the laughs/violin, the word 'Brutus' repeated like a mantra); Jon is being pulled back to himself and his humanity in his last moments; although in the song these elements sound sinister, I think it just reflects how the Archivist comes back to being Jon as the man he loves agrees to kill him - they die/disappear together, as themselves.

And there you have it!! I might add to this later but for now its finished, lmk if I missed anything (I probably did) :3

[tagging the people who seemed interested:

@cupsy-daisy @sushisocksthereal @cinemasapph1c @lobsterwizard

@kitsunesakii @rotting-and-so-beautiful @malthedreamer]

[mrghostietoastie]

The captain lives by the sword

And the captain loves by the sword

When the captain dies by the sword

He'll leave you trapped in the cockpit

Crying out 'mayday!' -mayday by sparkbird

(Hate how Jon turned out and my attempt at the panoptic but whateverrrr)