#yall are coming up with some super cool s5 theories and i wanted to join in

[zolf-loadsahitpoints-smith]

Y’all

I had a realization

Jonny Sims (as in the writer not the character) hates being human but embraces it. For example in the Magnus Blooper Special he says “Humans are gross, gross meat sacks, we’re all disgusting meat sacks” He says this with acceptance and delight, acknowledging the absurdity of life while also celebrating it. Instead of letting the insanity and existential dread that comes with existence control him, he directs it to his storytelling, crafting tales about what being human means in its rawest form. This question of what it really means to be human is explored in most of his work. One example is The Mechanisms. They’re a band of immortal and invulnerable space pirates who travel through worlds and time. They are different than all other humans because of their inability to die. Without this inescapable deadline holding them down they do many things that to us seem selfish and downright awful. In Once Upon A Time (In Space) Jonny D’ville admits that they’ve been observing the war from the sidelines for thirty years. They’ve watched billions die and they’ve “been having a great time.” To the average person that line is so unbelievable that it is comical but that is the essence of The Mechanisms. Their immortality stripped away their humanity and without death as a limitation they can no longer empathize with others. The only reason they end up getting involved in the war is because their ship asks them to. They have become immortal but also inhuman and they don’t even realize how far they’ve strayed.

The other example is of course The Magnus Archives. The Magnus Archives is about what happens to a person when they are aware their humanity is being stolen from them but is powerless to stop it. Jon knows, although not at first, that he is transforming into something beyond human. He understands that he is becoming an avatar of The Beholding and can feel his humanity slowly drifting away from him. After Mag160 he grieves over the loss of the world he killed but also over the loss of himself. He no longer sees himself as an individual but rather as “an avatar of voyeuristic terror”(Mag161). He believes that The Eye’s claiming of him has taken every piece of what made him human. He hates himself for what he has become and what he has been made to do as a result. When others try to console him it makes no difference. In his mind there is no way his humanity could remain and without his humanity he is worthless. When compared to Jonny Sims who delights in the worthlessness of being human and uses it as inspiration it is clear that The Archivist’s journey is one of acceptance. He has already accepted what he and his world have become and now he needs to accept that he is not less for it. He needs to accept that the apocalypse was not his fault and that he is still human no matter what The Eye makes him do. He is still empathetic and caring, unlike The Mechanisms and at the end of the day that is what makes him human, not just being a disgusting meat sack.