*takes a deep breath* jmart criticism post. i don't have anything against jmart shippers. my dear mutuals (and other people) who ship them, please don't hunt me for sport. thankyou.
spoilers ahead
( @girlfailureinc thank you for giving me the courage to post this)
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(i might be rambling a bit because i'm a bit irritated ngl)
the quote "it would be good if it were good" perfectly describes my feelings towards jmart. i expected to like this ship, but ummmm
i'll try to make this as coherent as i can. let's begin.
i knew that they were going to be together, but when i actually listened to the podcast, their relationship seemed so unrealistic to me. maybe it's my aroace (demi aro?) ass speaking, but they literally went from
Jon doesn't like Martin, Martin has a crush on him -> Jon is paranoid that Martin wants to kill him, Martin still has a crush on him -> Jon is on the run after brutal pipe murder, Martin thinks that Jon brutally pipe murdered someone -> Jon is in a coma, they don't interact for 6 months -> Jon wakes up from the coma, suddenly caring about Martin more than about anyone else, Martin is isolating -> AND SUDDENLY THEY'RE A COUPLE???
again, maybe it's my aromanticism speaking, but how can an office crush evolve into love? especially that they weren't friends before? maybe i missed something, but i never noticed any major bonding moment, maybe except when Jane Prentiss attacked, but after the attack Jon was super paranoid and didn't trust anyone. he stopped hating on Martin but that's all. so the shift in s4, when Jon randomly started caring for Martin felt so random? the whole "let's gouge out our eyes and run away"? i just can't get it.
additionaly, and this is my opinion only, they had absolutely no chemistry. no history. i don't really ship jontim, but i'll use them as a counterpoint. because Jon and Tim had history, had drama, they were friends, they both were traumatised by the fears, they both came to the institute with a purpose, they couldn't trust eachother anymore, they hated eachother, they died together. that pairing has substance, meanwhile Jon and Martin don't really have anything in common. no shared interests, nothing. and dare i say that Jon and Gerry, in their 30 min conversation, had more chemistry than Jon and Martin in all the 5 seasons.
their relationship dynamic COULD'VE been interesting if some things (that i'll list) were acknowledged and adressed:
the majority of the fandom portrays them as this "uwu cute couple" which they're NOT.
Martin doesn't love (if this can be called love) Jon. Martin loves the human version of Jon that no longer exist. he has a problem with Jon using his archivist powers (the others also hate Jon for that, but yk, the others barely like him), EXCEPT for when it's useful (killing avatars)
Martin calls the other avatars "monsters", meanwhile Jon is literally one of them. he is no longer human. IN FACT Martin also isn't fully human, but he chose to ignore it and live in denial, while encouraging Jon to kill people that are like him because in his view they are inherently evil (when in reality most of them didn't ask for that, for example Oliver Banks).
Martin is constantly annoyed with Jon making statements (he even punched him, there's no excuse for that). ik that the apocalypse is a stressful sutuation, but Jon needs them to survive.
this kind of a relationship, with one person loving a no longer existing version of the other, while hating the kind of people that his loved one now is, and the other person being with the first because they want anyone to care about them even a little bit, could be very interesting, IF ADRESSED IN THE WRITING.
but instead they were made into this cutesy couple and didn't have any serious conversation about their relationship.
i'm ending the rambling now, i'll add things if i remember anything else.
and hey. ik that this looks like i'm a hater (maybe i'm a little bit), but absolutely no shade to anyone who ships them. who am i to judge. peace and love on planet earth and in fandom spaces🕊
i feel the anxiety coming, once again please don't hunt me for sport! peace and love in fandom spaces!