Jonathan Sims

Ahem…

Jonathan Sims (Jon, “The Archivist”) is from the horror podcast The Magnus Archives, where he is the Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, an organization that focuses on categorizing, documenting and researching the unexplainable; anomalies, the paranormal, sometimes things far bigger than ourselves. Jon changes quite significantly over the course of the series’ five seasons. For those who are familiar, I can set him at any time upon request, though I would prefer to avoid any time after the Cabin episodes.  I’ll use my own discretion when deciding which version to use, depending on the game (it’ll probably be some nebulous Season 2-4 area bc time is not real). But generally, here is what you can expect based on how I personally write him:

(I am keeping things vague for those who have not listened to the series, but there will be spoilers by the very nature of me playing him due to his abilities and the context therein.)

Abilities and Details:

• Jon is influenced (unwillingly) by an entity known as The Eye/The Ceaseless Watcher. There are 14 of these entities in his world known sometimes as “The Fears” (based around common fears living creatures have). The Eye is the entity of knowledge and surveillance, so sometimes Jon will simply… know things. Sometimes it’s useless information, sometimes it’s details about people he meets. He can attempt to know things manually (though this can be difficult and even painful), but typically he’s given this knowledge unprompted.

• Jon has to “feed” on statements- true stories about the paranormal either written down or told directly to him by another person. He goes into a kind of trance when he reads these statements, and can compel others to tell him their stories (details on that further down the list). If he goes without a statement for too long, he becomes weak, disoriented and ravenous. It’s not really Jon who’s consuming these stories, but The Eye who requires new information to survive.

• Jon heals easily from most injuries and is generally tougher to incapacitate than a normal person. His healing isn’t instantaneous, and if he hasn’t fed on statements in a while, it can take much longer. He is covered in scars from his various misadventures, and my version occasionally uses a cane due to an old leg injury.

• Jon can compel people to tell them their stories of supernatural experiences they’ve had, answer questions, or other various small actions (i.e. “Look at me”,“Don’t touch me”, “Put that down”, etc.). Sometimes he does it without meaning to, and struggles immensely with the idea of making people act against their wishes. He clings to his humanity but worries that compelling others is turning him into a monster.

• Jon is obsessive and has a tendency to neglect himself once he’s latched onto a topic or trail of inquiry. Part of this is The Eye compelling him to behave this way, but it doesn’t help that he already took his job far too seriously before things got weird. He doesn’t need to eat normal food anymore (though he still can and it’s grounding to do so), but sometimes he has to be reminded he hasn’t slept in 36 hours or that having a cup of tea really would help his stress level.

• Physically, Jon is a noodle. My version is barely 5’5 with basically no muscle mass.

• More often than not, he sleeps with his eyes open, when he even needs to sleep anymore.

• He does not like spiders. He won’t run and scream, but he’s suspicious of all spiders and does not want them on him.

• Analogue tape recorders tend to just- show up wherever he is. Sometimes he’ll have one on him without remember packing it, but occasionally he’ll just turn around and there it will be, whirring away. Some of them don’t even need batteries anymore.

• Jon is asexual. I play him as more demi-leaning or grey ace, as that is how I experience my own sexuality. I imagine if he trusted someone and was very emotionally invested in them that he may be comfortable with some level of intimacy later on. Jon can be extremely obtuse about recognizing when someone ✨likes✨ him. Honestly, he’s kind of emotionally constipated too. All this being said, he has a preference for men over women.

Content Warnings:

(These are things that can happen with Jon. Please tell me ahead of time if I need to leave any details out or alter them to your comfort level. You’re also welcome to ask me to alter things mid-scene as well, I do not mind in the slightest.

• Jon smokes. Once upon a time he tried to quit but honestly The Eye has its claws so deep in him that he couldn’t get lung cancer if he tried nowadays.

• I will always ask out of character if you are okay with your character being compelled, and you are always welcome to say no. Sometimes a person’s psyche is just too tough to crack, or there may be another reason entirely for it not to work. He’s outside of his normal world here, maybe certain abilities don’t work as well.

• Jon has disordered eating tendencies due to his anxieties regarding compelling people. He is perfectly fine with written statements though and I can (and likely will unless it comes up as relevant) omit this detail entirely.

• Horror tends to follow Jon wherever he goes, but I will keep it light unless the tone of the scene skews more towards the spooky. >:) There are also a few weird body horror things (Jon is missing two ribs, for example) that can be left out as well.

• Shipping with Jon requires work, if that’s what you want. He’s stuffy and sometimes difficult to get along with. He does not express his emotions well, and does not know when someone is interested in him. He may become uncomfortable if things are moving too quickly.
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