#eyestea

The Jon and Martin we knew, who loved each other, who bickered, and hurt each other, and helped heal each other all the same, they weren’t drawn together by some string of fate, not destined to be together in every universe. No. They just happened to fall in love. It didn’t change anything, and it certainly didn’t save the world, but it was there.

Maybe TMAGP Jon and Martin never met, maybe they died long before they ever could, but it’s oddly beautiful in a sense for the two we are familiar with. It makes their story, how they came to truly care for one another, feel more real. I actually think it would be more tragic if it was some destined thing, because it takes away from them what’s most important in TMA — choice. The choice to stick together through it all and to love one another dearly, even if it’s hard sometimes.

Shoutout to the person who mistook my Martin for humanised Freddy Fazbear, it gave me the stupidest doodle idea.

Being in an MLM relationship, I often find that for me, representation that I see myself in, especially in the media I personally enjoy, is astoundingly hard to find. I imagine that’s more of just a personal thing, and I’m sure there’s a lot of MLM representation others relate too, which I’m glad, but for me it’s always been a bit of a struggle.

I think Jon and Martin are one of the first times I’ve ever had a canon MLM relationship that just clicked, that felt real to me in a way others hadn’t before. I think it may have something to do with the fact both are deeply traumatised characters who are still allowed to be in a relationship, which sounds weird, but I’ve had a lot of awful fandom experiences regarding traumatised characters and romantic relationships, and the idea it’s inherently wrong unless they’ve been through intensive therapy first, or they’ve magically recovered and solved all their issue, and so to have a relationship between two men that acknowledges their trauma, shows them trying to work through it together, while still having arguments, acting irrationally, and snapping at each other unprompted etc… it doesn’t hide the messy side of PTSD/C-PTSD, I guess is the way to put it, and that’s so important to have!

They are their own people with their own problems and beliefs and so sometimes they clash — they aren’t a unit all the time. I imagine, had the Eyepocalypse not have happened, they would have had more time to tackle their boundaries and respective traumas and responses in a better environment, leading to a healthier relationship, but, unfortunately, they didn’t have that, and so we get all the raw stuff, and I’m genuinely glad we do. These characters clicked with me more for it, as did their relationship.

Realistically, Martin and Jon’s relationship is far too complex to truly cover In a post that’s just about gushing, but seriously, it’s insane how well written and grounded their responses are, and for that, I see myself in them and their struggles.

There’s also the element of Jon being Bi-Ace like myself, which isn’t an identity I expected I be represented in such a popular series, let alone in a character I loved. It just makes me happy, honestly.