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the canon portrayal of Elias, and a little self-indulgence. I am lovingly just making shit up. )
Jonah Magnus
Jonah Magnus is a Scottish architect and academic who researches and collects stories of the strange, esoteric, and paranormal, working based out of his townhouse made research institute - the Magnus Institute - in Edinburgh.
He's made a name for himself in this field, and is reasonably well-liked among his social and academic circle, but that circle is beginning to dwindle as his obsession with collecting stories grows, and as each of his colleagues - sometimes friends - begins to fall to the power of the fourteen Primordial Fears introduced to them by architect Robert Smirke. Despite Jonah's intention to keep an objective distance from these powers, to observe and catalogue instances of their manifestations, he has, since long before this, been falling into alignment with one, himself: the Beholding, or the Ceaseless Watcher; the insatiable desire to see, to watch, to know — and the fear of being seen or watched or known.
One day, Jonah will succeed in transforming the world in this power's image before anyone else can do the same for theirs. But for now, young and only human, he's foolish enough to think he has any chance of stopping - rather than outplaying - them.
He's made a name for himself in this field, and is reasonably well-liked among his social and academic circle, but that circle is beginning to dwindle as his obsession with collecting stories grows, and as each of his colleagues - sometimes friends - begins to fall to the power of the fourteen Primordial Fears introduced to them by architect Robert Smirke. Despite Jonah's intention to keep an objective distance from these powers, to observe and catalogue instances of their manifestations, he has, since long before this, been falling into alignment with one, himself: the Beholding, or the Ceaseless Watcher; the insatiable desire to see, to watch, to know — and the fear of being seen or watched or known.
One day, Jonah will succeed in transforming the world in this power's image before anyone else can do the same for theirs. But for now, young and only human, he's foolish enough to think he has any chance of stopping - rather than outplaying - them.
personality
+
Clever. Adaptable. Strong-willed. Amicable. Charming?
=
Stubborn. Nosy. Cautious. Inquisitive. Insightful.
π₯
Controlling. Underhanded. Selfish. Distant. Impulsive. Short-tempered.
appearance
Jonah is a man with money, and he looks it, almost always noticeably very well put together. You will rarely, if ever, see him without at least a few of several layers on. He's not especially tall - thanks, average height in the 1800s - but he makes up for it with his presence. He puts on a congenial face most of the time, but in quiet moments he's cold and watchful, always vigilant, his mind always ticking under the surface. Voice ref here, but with a slightly rosined scratch and a tidy Edinburgh accent instead.
tastes
π
The Strange/Dark/Macabre. Reading. Conversation. Short-Distance Travel.
π
Surprises. Cold. Dogs. Incuriosity.
π
Good Coffee. Correspondence. Snooping. The Upper Hand.
point in time
Now five years into running the Institute out of his townhouse, with its first two floors decidedly dedicated to his collections of books and letters - and all the legitimacy of a plaque slapped next to his front door, this early on - Jonah is approaching the edge of a precipice. Heβs still an active member of Edinburgh academic society, still known by and friendly with his neighbours (though they do look sidelong at his shift from collecting odd stories as a strange pastime to dedicating everything to it). He travels a bit, he socializes, he sidesteps discussions of marriage, he walks in the park near his home and debates politics with his friends and smiles at his housekeeper.
But the knowledge heβs gained threatens that normalcy. The fear of running out of time, of being consumed by a successfully summoned Entity thrums under the surface daily. Heβs becoming less social, more watchful, more desperate to shed any light at all on the true horror lurking in the backdrop of daily life, spending the occasional night he might have spent drinking and laughing trying to find another story that seems true, or discern how deeply any of his associates have fallen to one Entity or another and working out ways to sabotage them. Not completely consumed, not yet - and not consciously dedicating himself to the Eye or to his own ritual yet; that comes after abandoning Barnabas Bennett to the Lonely out of cowardice and for the sake of Watching and Knowing - but fear is gaining on him while he tells himself heβs keeping the all-important balance, observing academically, doing what any reasonable man with a desire to learn - and a desire to stop an apocalypse - would do.
But in another year - 1824 - a good friend will be dead, and all of this will change.
But the knowledge heβs gained threatens that normalcy. The fear of running out of time, of being consumed by a successfully summoned Entity thrums under the surface daily. Heβs becoming less social, more watchful, more desperate to shed any light at all on the true horror lurking in the backdrop of daily life, spending the occasional night he might have spent drinking and laughing trying to find another story that seems true, or discern how deeply any of his associates have fallen to one Entity or another and working out ways to sabotage them. Not completely consumed, not yet - and not consciously dedicating himself to the Eye or to his own ritual yet; that comes after abandoning Barnabas Bennett to the Lonely out of cowardice and for the sake of Watching and Knowing - but fear is gaining on him while he tells himself heβs keeping the all-important balance, observing academically, doing what any reasonable man with a desire to learn - and a desire to stop an apocalypse - would do.
But in another year - 1824 - a good friend will be dead, and all of this will change.
abilities
ic & ooc headcanons / trivia
π Smirke was Jonah's architecture mentor for a few years before the Entities ever came up; he was working on the second Covent Garden Theatre at the time
π The Institute, such as it is, is run out of Jonah's house, with most of the main floor dedicated to it at this point; full shelves, piles of books and letters, organized chaos. This is backed up by canon until at least 1841/age 52 (see MAG50)
π Locals are very aware of this 'Institute' and his odd taste in academic subject in this age of science and logic blooming in Edinburgh, but he's successfully skirted 'insane' and has instead reached the level of 'a bit of an eccentric'
π He's not exactly known for being a gossip, but he is known for knowing everyone's business if prompted
π He can play piano, but he's very average at it, so he won't go out of his way to
π He's not good with children, per se, but they do love scrabbling at him for scary stories at gatherings, much to their parents' chagrin
π More... soon
π The Institute, such as it is, is run out of Jonah's house, with most of the main floor dedicated to it at this point; full shelves, piles of books and letters, organized chaos. This is backed up by canon until at least 1841/age 52 (see MAG50)
π Locals are very aware of this 'Institute' and his odd taste in academic subject in this age of science and logic blooming in Edinburgh, but he's successfully skirted 'insane' and has instead reached the level of 'a bit of an eccentric'
π He's not exactly known for being a gossip, but he is known for knowing everyone's business if prompted
π He can play piano, but he's very average at it, so he won't go out of his way to
π He's not good with children, per se, but they do love scrabbling at him for scary stories at gatherings, much to their parents' chagrin
π More... soon
OOC PERMISSIONS
name: forsyth
age: thirties
contact: pm first please
brackets/prose: slight pref for prose, but will match you
offensive subjects/triggers: n/a
pace: slow/medium; more involved tags can take me a few days.
backtagging: PLEASE it's the only way I get anything done, I will backtag forever if we're hitting it off
threadhopping: with permission, and only in more casual threads. blanket yes if we're pals
fouthwalling: there's a time and place, but generally idc
age: thirties
contact: pm first please
brackets/prose: slight pref for prose, but will match you
offensive subjects/triggers: n/a
pace: slow/medium; more involved tags can take me a few days.
backtagging: PLEASE it's the only way I get anything done, I will backtag forever if we're hitting it off
threadhopping: with permission, and only in more casual threads. blanket yes if we're pals
fouthwalling: there's a time and place, but generally idc
IC PERMISSIONS
physical touch: casual touch is fine, but in general, Jonah is standoffish about this sort of thing. it's part just being an upper-class man in 19th century britain, part personal.
kissing/hugging: he'll tolerate a warm greeting, but otherwise mostly prefers his own space and will quietly or forcibly disengage himself (see 'shipping' for more).
flirting: go ahead, and he sometimes will reciprocate, but it can be hard to tell if he's flirting or if that's just... the way he is. but if he's not interested, you'll know.
shipping: like a lot of people, I headcanon that Jonah has some ~things going on with his closest correspondents, but personally I prefer gen unless the characters seem to hit it off. Jonah's attraction is less based on the physical and not always predictable, but the physical elements certainly don't hurt. m/m in that case. expect Jonah to be controlling about intimacy, and go cold on anyone who doesn't - at least at first - go along with that. he's experienced, but he's weird about it. probably no smut, but we can see how it goes.
mind-reading: yes, he will absolutely hate it.
physical violence/injuring: if we can find a good reason to do it, yes! I'd love to bring out Jonah's scrappy, dirty-fighting side. he may be a scrawny 5'6" fancy-lad, but he won't go down easy. just give me a heads' up.
killing: and rob him of centuries of stewing in his fear of death? :')
kissing/hugging: he'll tolerate a warm greeting, but otherwise mostly prefers his own space and will quietly or forcibly disengage himself (see 'shipping' for more).
flirting: go ahead, and he sometimes will reciprocate, but it can be hard to tell if he's flirting or if that's just... the way he is. but if he's not interested, you'll know.
shipping: like a lot of people, I headcanon that Jonah has some ~things going on with his closest correspondents, but personally I prefer gen unless the characters seem to hit it off. Jonah's attraction is less based on the physical and not always predictable, but the physical elements certainly don't hurt. m/m in that case. expect Jonah to be controlling about intimacy, and go cold on anyone who doesn't - at least at first - go along with that. he's experienced, but he's weird about it. probably no smut, but we can see how it goes.
mind-reading: yes, he will absolutely hate it.
physical violence/injuring: if we can find a good reason to do it, yes! I'd love to bring out Jonah's scrappy, dirty-fighting side. he may be a scrawny 5'6" fancy-lad, but he won't go down easy. just give me a heads' up.
killing: and rob him of centuries of stewing in his fear of death? :')