A funny thing about the widespread “Jon is stupid and keeps making dumb choices that lead to him almost dying” take is that if you were to really look at his behaviour, he very much acts in the way the “horror characters are so dumb” people would want him to act.
He doesn’t jump to irrational conclusions, doesn’t dive head first into danger and instead prepares for it as well as he can etc etc. He’s very distrustful of everyone and everything due to his paranoia, and tries to do as much research as possible before heading into the unknown.
You just get annoyed at him because you, as the listener, already know the things he’s researching, and possibly already know what his actions will result in. No, his fate couldn’t have been avoided if he had done something differently. The only way Jonathan Archivist Sims’s fate could’ve been avoided would be by entirely rewriting his character story from at least the age of eight. Goodbye Mr Spider!
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
What if, instead of Sasha, it was Martin who got killed and replaced by the Stranger in s1?
Think about it. Martin was sweet, always helpful. You couldn't say a bad word about him. He was inobtrusive and caring. But what did you actually know about him? What are his hobbies? His passions? What was his history? After all, most of the information he put in the Institute's paperwork was made up.
Imagine the Archives crew finding out the truth about him being gone and seeing that they never actually knew him, not even when he was there. That he was a replaceable figure. Good, sweet, caring Martin who never shared what was on his mind. Martin who was always so plainly kind without actually contributing much to their lives, passing by unnoticed not because he was disliked but because he wanted to. Was he ever truly there? Do you even know who the person you're mourning was? Or is it just an image of him, an image that HE created of himself and sold to you.
My controversial tma take is that Martin should've died instead of Tim. Jon and Tim should've been the main duo of season 5 because unlike with jmart it could've actually 1) make for interesting conflict and conversations 2) explore their characters much more deeply especially Jon being a monster without the yaoislop that we got instead what do you think do you see my vision
I think I'm picking up what you're putting down. And now that I'm thinking about it, it would've been interesting if Martin died instead of Sasha. But back to your point.
Unlike Martin, Tim actually had a sort of bond with Jon in the earlier seasons. They respected each other, and I'm pretty sure they were on decent terms. Fast forward to when things started falling apart, Tim and Jon are now conflicted, and that conflict partially stems from the respect they previously held for each other (at least from Tim's side). Add to that Tim's relationship with the supernatural and you have a much more complex and intriguing bond than Jon had with Mr. "avatars are plain evil" Blackwood.
It would've been crazy if Tim in his quest to find and/or avenge his brother ended up becoming the very thing he sought to destroy. Avatar!Tim hating Jon for his feeding, very aware he has to do the same thing... lashing out at Jon because he's an easy target to blame, but the actual person he hates is himself..... every time he'd feed on someone he'd imagine that's how his brother must've felt before he died....
I dont know. The random canon appearance of a fan favourite ship ruined a lot of lives that's for sure
y'know the thing of "he would not fucking say that". that but with martin in a negative way. the fucking. "sorry I can't hear you, there's a door in the way" is such an iconic line. but it doesn't fit his character at all. like. who the fuck is this self assured witty guy.
I can see where you're coming from, but I disagree. I'll try to explain as best as I can.
One of the things Martin cared about more than anything else was being seen as caring. He tried very hard to put himself into the role of a sweet and helpful guy not only because he cared about his colleagues, but because he felt safe that way.
Making them tea was a simple gesture, so much easier than trying to offer a solution or talk about a problem they had, but it still showed that he cared and put in effort. He avoided conflict because he's bad at resolving it. He's the kind of guy to pretend an argument has never happened, cause it's easier to brush it off and forget about it rather than try to get to the root of the problem. Later on, he admitted to putting on this quiet sweetheart persona while simultaneously keeping people at a distance because loneliness is easier, safer than opening yourself up to someone and showing vulnerability. He kept his interpersonal relationships surface-level because it was easier to maintain them that way.
That moment you mentioned, the action of locking himself in the archives to burn statements, and throwing a snippy response at Elias instead of folding and apologizing seems to me like positive character development - Martin finally choosing a stance in a conflict instead of trying to find a blanket solution or an easy middle ground. Finally doing something he believed mattered, and not just to keep up appearances for his own comfort. That development is very clear later, when he made the decision to collaborate with Peter Lukas because he believed he could 'help' his colleagues that way.
Inside of me there are two wolves. One of them is sick of popularized headcanons and tma fandom in gereral and wants to stay as close to canon as possible. The other one desperately needs Jonathan Archivist Sims to be happy
I recently thrifted this hoodie and the little pixellly tapes in the front reminded me of tma (because of course they did). I want to try painting on it.
