Suddenly the facade breaks and Jon is telling him he’s scared and vulnerable, admitting to his weaknesses and struggles, confiding in him everything he’s bottled up for months. He’s been suppressing frustration with Jon playing the skeptic for ages, and as soon as he has an opening he lays into him with his frustrations. TMA 39 - Martin doesn’t have a crush quite yet at the beginning when Jon is screaming in pain over worms being cut out of his leg, Martin is over in the corner fussing over a tape recorder and not too bothered by it. He’s still frequently frustrated with Jon and his skepticism and prickliness, but is starting to take a second look. He was not prepared for this, and is taken off guard.

TMA 22 - Martin is READY TO FIGHT his rude and skeptical boss after his ordeal with Prentiss, starting off his statement by chucking a bunch of worms on his desk, but then…what? His boss believes him? His boss is…suddenly serious and protective? What is happening. This just becomes a point of exasperation as time goes on and Jon is bossy and rude. TMA liveshow - Has a “this guy is kinda hot 👀” moment when he first meets Jon, but it’s very much a “I am acknowledging that this guy is attractive” thing rather than a crush. This is SUPER LONG (it accidentally turned into a double character study spanning three seasons) and pretty different than popular fanon interpretation so hang onto your hats!! I picture it as gradual for both, with varying levels of awareness of their own feelings, but with a surprising similarity for what stage each one is at along the way. This has been in my inbox for so long but I’ve been storing energy to answer it ever since, because I have SO MANY FEELINGS about the timeline I have in my head. Do you think there's a specific moment in the show that Jon fell hard for Martin and/or Martin for Jon? Or was it gradual for both?

The Magnus Archives by Jonathan Sims