Per a post you recently reblogged:
I think Martin fed on Jon. Whenever he demeaned Jon after he read a statement or whenever Jon agonized over being unlike the others as he was no longer human™ ... that's food for the loneliness
I have considered that possibility before, and I actually think that this kinda interpretation has a lot of potential, and would add a lot of depth and flavor to an otherwise bland relationship. What I had in mind when reblogging that post was the fact that Martin canonically being a full-fledged avatar was not utilized in the podcast at all beyond the convenient parts.
He got the “cool” part, which is disappearing when he didn’t want to talk to people. He got a domain that he refused to acknowledge but still spent an entire episode sitting in it and self-reflecting. But there was no hunger. He didn’t feel the need to feed like Jon or the other avatars did. Him being an avatar was not talked about unless it was beneficial to Martin angst and questionable jmart moments.
Throughout the length of season 5, the podcast highlighted the divide between Jon and Martin and their respective relationships with their humanity. Martin never had to face the consequences of being an avatar and thus fulfilling the role of a perpetrator in the fear-infested world. It was not explored or plot-relevant, and I think that was a wasted opportunity.
And it’s just weird to me??? The podcast spent several seasons outlining how being an avatar of a fear was very much like being a host to a life-threatening parasite. The fear feeds off of what you extract for it, and if you fail to do it, it consumes you. It’s not a superpower or a quirk. But in Martin’s case that aspect was never talked about. And yes, the potential IS there, but the podcast doesn’t cover it. You have to think it all up yourself, and when you fo you start to notice how much you have to dig for scraps and make up interpretations in order to make the ship even slightly compelling.
That’s a huge part of why I don’t like s5. The whole foundation of it is “two people in love walking through the apocalypse” but the romance is hinged purely on the assumption that you already shipped them, hence interpreting everything they did as romantic without the canon having to support it or actually develop anything.
What I’m saying is if Martin had fed as Jon did in canon, things would’ve been a lot more interesting between them. But all the Lonely made him do was fuck off to his domain and spend an entire episode talking to himself. As if one Martin wasn’t enough smh