Butch Character: [exists]

fuck it I made these when I was bored

Jon was a better pick for head archivist (the profession not the godhood) than Sasha according to me, a Jon apologist/Sasha stan with a masters degree in information science

1) a disaster pit of an archive like Gertrude's requires a work horse like s1 Jon, not someone easily lost in the weeds like Sasha. For a body of information that huge, with subject matter that broad (even just 15 fear subjects is broad when you consider the overlap and highly subjective, contrasting nature of the statements), you want to create as little work for yourself as possible until you've built a foundation. Ergo, in this early stage you want a project manager who has the ability to burn through busy work, resists distractions, and remains open to his team's input for future endeavors while keeping them on track.

I also have a hc that a disorganized archive bolstered the Eye's hold rather than undermined it because that meant that only Eye-aligned people had the ability to navigate it. So in a normal case, I'd assume they could just call up one of their sister archives and borrow their database or taxonomy, because why reinvent the wheel, but here I suspect that messy records were an industry standard designed to lure in people with a craving for tidy answers. It's possible that no-one at any location had successfully organized their statements, or at least not before getting indoctrinated with some mark or another and abandoning the task.

2) Referring to statements by their dates isn't a bad idea when first tackling a project this unclear. When you create a spreadsheet map of your body of information (literally just a giant inventory list), I was taught to also provide an ID column to designate each collection item with a uniformed shorthand for easy, clear communication and notes. Think dewey decimal. It can be something simple as sequential numbers or dates. Why use dates and not statement giver names? Confidentiality is likely a behind the scenes factor in statement acquisition. Some of the statements are anonymous. Some names double. And the series demonstrates that statement givers rarely visit twice in one day, much less twice a week or month, and even if there are, they can tack a .1 on the end or something. This shorthand ID key will likely change no matter what once they familiarize themselves with the content enough to build a more thoughtful catalogue. So since that makes this a placeholder anyway, dates as a good-enough-lets-keep-moving ID would be my pick, too, ESPECIALLY because of point #3

3) the catalogue is nonexistent in s1, so the most pressing task is to create a taxonomy. Remember, a catalogue is a giant inventory list, a taxonomy is a predetermined, uniformed list of words to be used as metadata, which is like tags. We need taxonomies because a computer will think that The Eye =/= Beholding, so we build catalogues that only allow people to utilize one synonym to avoid inconsistencies. Building a taxonomy would be atypically difficult in the magnus archives, considering how unrelated or overlapping or contradicting all the statements are to someone not in the Know. Trying to pin down a vocabulary on day one will only create more work because it'll almost definitely need massive revisions. That's why it makes sense for someone to closely read several random statements with post-follow-up clarification in order to analyze the subject matter and slowly define a work-in-progress metadata. If they have a chance to kill two birds with one stone by making a recording? Go for it. I would not commit this task to EVERY STATEMENT EVER, but rather to a handful at first to help chisle out that high priority taxonomy, which is what one statement per week amounts to. Which leads me to point 4:

4) Jon's attitude toward s1 Martin was uncalled for and unprofessional, but Jon's frustration makes sense. Martin's existence on that team was likely justified to Jon by his fake masters in parascience, which makes Martin the technical subject matter expert. He's presumed the only one qualified to determine that critically important taxonomy because it'll have to be consistent with vocabulary and classification systems already established in Martin's field of study so that visiting experts can easily navigate it. Martin 🙃 is none of these things 🙃. So from Jon's pov, his technical subject matter expert is either A) being deliberately obtuse by offering tea and conversations about jigsaw puzzles with old ladies instead of results, which adds work to his already enormously laborious project For Funsies I Guess??? or B) Martin did not retain his masters program/doesn't know how to apply his skills practically and therefore isn't actually qualified to help with the task at hand. Or? C) Martin got a bullshit degree, landed a job where he can't get fired (supernatural contracts aside, libraries are famous for job security) and is now half-assing assignments that Jon is on the hook for since he knows he can get away with it, because tbqh some coworkers are genuinely Like That. All of which means that Jon now has to cover their collective asses by overworking to compensate for Martin's percieved fallthrough and record/analyze the statements himself to protect his team and to avoid admitting he couldn't succeed with Elias' hand picked resources.

This is maybe the most frequent citation against Jon's management skills, but the only reason Sasha may have avoided the same trap is because she invaded Martin's privacy and learned about his lie. Which... doesn't really improve the situation, just creates new problems. And also takes us to #5:

5) Sasha, light of my life, did not have people skills that made her excel at managment just because she's charming and confident. The main reason: she's habitually invasive as a coworker and employee. Imagine the conflict that behavior would have shifted into if the power dynamics tilted, if she was in charge of the people she wanted information from (it's an excellent, rich source of conflict, tho, don't get me wrong.)

Jon stalked Tim for a few weeks, maybe a month or two, because he was scared for his life and this became the catalyst for their relationship deterioration. Comparatively, Sasha stalked Jon and Martin presumably their entire working relationship, or at least enough to at least learn Jon's real age/multiple password changes and Martin's fake CV secret, all for fun. Moving past s1, Jon accidentally compelled mundane secrets out of Melanie and Basira which resulted in swift retribution. How long do you think those two would have humored Sasha's active, remorseless boredom?

Also? If the only issue is people skills, then tbh if I was coordinating this employee transfer, I would say to myself "I've heard that Jon's occasionally difficult to work with, but his work style is suited for the task. I'll just let him pick his team to make sure he gets along with everyone. We need a subject matter expert tho, so I'll include that one guy in the library who's a cuddly people pleaser, that will help smooth over any clashing personalities."

6) oh? Jon deniers say this is a public facing job and he needs to be more lovely? Bitch, the public treats jobs like this as basically free, walk in therapy. I've had public facing jobs similar to Jon's. If you don't go in with firm, predetermined boundaries, you'll burn out immediately and become a doormat. If anything, s1 Jon is the perfect combination of "my job is to offer One Service, and if that is not the service you need then move along, I'm not being paid to suffer fools." mixed with "I've decided my One Service includes a willingness to listen in full and let you define your experiences for yourself in a time when the world is likely trying to dismiss your fear and tell you what you saw."

7) insofar as formal training goes, information science is the type of field where sometimes people are just absurdly suited for it because they already interact with the world with those skills. I have a coworker who basically gave a work training on Info Sci fundamentals for fun and when I tagged up with her after, she had no idea that was even a field. Jon and Sasha imo are among those types that click naturally with information science, so I personally do not fault them for not having a specialized degree. If anything, Jon might have recognized his natural inclination and applied for the job for that reason a la "might as well, the worst that can happen is I'm told no." Did they all still need some kind of formal training to properly manage an archive? Yes. Was their need for guidance JUST info sci related or did they much more desperatly need real answers on malevolent eldritch forces delibrately obfuscated from them to, specifically, prevent them from safely doing their jobs? Probably a combination, but leaning much more heavily toward the later. So imo, they weren't unqualified because they didn't have a grasp on info sci, they were unqualified because there was a 200yo contrived plan to keep them ignorant.

do you guys see my vision

i cant go to sleep until i release the thoughts so here they are. im sorry if this is a bit more nonsensical or rambleish than my other ones, im very very tired but anyway

this is going to be a bit upsetting for the lovey-dovey sunshine and rainbows crowd but people give red guy and duck WAYY too much credit when it comes to their relationship (or at least how it used to be) like they DID NOT //start out// functional AT. ALL. they used to go together like a car and a tree. and honestly this makes them even more interesting

They’re both insecure in different areas, and they react differently to these insecurities as well. from what ive gathered, red guy dislikes how “odd” he is. he tries to act bitter and uncaring about everything and everyone, either to fit in with the other red things, or to keep himself distracted or distanced from the world hes stuck in. he distances himself from his friends as well. this is a horrible contrast with ducks outward and open love of his friends (despite how horribly he treats them lmao but i digress) duck reveals in the family episode that despite loving himself, he wants other people to love him too. duck is not necessarily insecure in himself, hes the best one after all, but he does feel very lonely. he feels like nobody loves him as much as he loves himself, like the only person he truly has is himself because nobody else is willing to love him. this obviously makes him feel very alone. this is why red guys denial and dismissal of his friends hits ducks insecurities harshly and directly, even if its not intentional.

once i got to the fridge scene during my first watchthrough i was very confused. firstly because i was utterly flabbergasted that they were gay for some reason (i had never even considered it), and secondly because ducks reply caught me off guard. duck is a very full-of-himself character. so why would he be surprised to find out someone likes looking at him? shouldnt he reply with something like “well yeah duh you big stupid idiot im the prettiest and the best etc etc”?? well i understand now why duck reacted that way. he doesnt get many compliments from anyone but himself, probably talking in the mirror. and he ESPECIALLY hadnt gotten many compliments from red guy at this point. red guy denied being his friend very adamantly. EVEN AT HIS FUNERAL. HIS FUNERAL!!! and yes red guy does realize he misses duck eventually, but duck isnt even there to see it, and when he comes back he finds himself literally replaced?? (like.. red guy ur fumbling so hard right now. fumbling straight into a divorce. and ur not even married yet man. but anyway, back on topic)

slowly throughout the series red guy starts being more open, and whether he realizes it or not his whole uncaring act isnt that good to begin with. my favorite small detail during the funeral is that red guy calls the plates “our plates” without even realizing it, right in the middle of denying his best-friendship with duck. like dude who do you think youre fooling other than yourself!?

with all of this considered, despite red guys poor performance of denial, it’s perfectly understandable for duck to be surprised when red guy openly confesses his honest emotions. an up-front confession of feelings is not something red guy ever wants or allows himself to do, so duck was probably confused as hell.

my favorite part of this scene is how red guy is looking away when he says it, still clearly embarrassed but saying it anyway. this is a HUGE deal for his character. it was a character development that had been slowly growing throughout the tv series, and by episode six i think it was as close to completion as its ever been. he does pull the whole “its fine just ignore it” thing with duck earlier in the episode, but he does it more to calm him down in this context. the fridge scene confirms to me that red guy has almost stopped running, not necessarily from the house, but from his friends. he has finally let himself love them. hes finally let himself admit not just to himself, but to duck, that hes important to him.

this is why i think theyre so interesting, because these two characters are cynical assholes. that’s how becky and joe have described them at times. these characters are not the best of people, theyre both messed up people in a messed up and confusing world, so of course they wont be perfect. but thats the beauty of it. they dont want to hurt eachother, so they try their best to change. they try their best to fight against the cruelty of their minds and surroundings and let themselves love eachother even if only for a second, even if in the end it wont really matter

ok im going to sleep now goodnight

Do women still shave? Really? Like who does that anymore? Grow up!

Close enough welcome back Arthur Lester in the prison pits

@lighthouseshepard

WAHHHHHHHHHH

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