Tag: q

belinsky:

‘staring into the camera like you’re on the office’ is such an interesting cultural phenomenon because it points to one of my very favorite things in pop culture, which is the use of commonly known fictional situations to indicate an emotion or context that is extremely specific and can’t necessarily be communicated with language alone.

why do characters on the office look into the camera?  on the office, the characters are being filmed as part of a documentary; they understand they are being filmed and can acknowledge that fourth wall and those theoretical future viewers.  but because the office is a comedy, that fourth wall acknowledgement is not about explaining motivations or gaining approval for an action, but about sharing an agreement with a group of people who are not actually there.  

characters on the office look into the camera when something ridiculous is happening that no one in the room thinks is ridiculous but the person looking at the camera, were they to say ‘this is so ridiculous’ to the people in the room, their comrades in fiction, they would get serious pushback or anger; to those characters the situation is serious.  the character looking into the camera is a more objective viewer, like the audience, and by looking at us they’re putting themselves on our objective team.  and in the future when this ‘documentary’ would air, they would be vindicated as the person who understood that the situation was ridiculous.

so in real life, when we talk about ‘looking into the camera like we’re on the office’, this very specific emotion is what we’re referring to: that we’re in a situation that any objective viewer would find inherently ridiculous, and are seeking acknowledgement from an invisible but much larger group that would agree with us, even though nobody in the situation would do so.  we’re putting ourselves in an outsider position, a less emotional position, and inherently a more powerful position, because we’re not vulnerable to being laughed at like all the ridiculous people we’re among.  we’re among them, but we’re not with them, and the millions of people watching us on theoretical tv would be on our team, not theirs.  that’s such a specific idea and concept, and one that’s really hard to communicate in pure language.  but we can say ‘looking into the camera like we’re on the office’ and it’s much easier to communicate what we mean.

for me that’s what pop culture is for, and why it’s so important that it’s pop culture.  maybe it feels more special if it’s only you and a grape who know that something exists, but the more people consume something, the more its situations and reactions become common knowledge, a sort of communal well from which we can draw to articulate real life problems.  and ultimately, the easier it is for us to communicate and understand each other.

mcdanno-fan:

peggyswilliams:

When Clara Williams laments that she’s missing her grandchildren grow up, Danny – ever the dutiful son – embarks upon a mission to document the life and times of his family in Hawaii.

(Steven. Take out those last pics, babe, not all of the album is supposed to be sent home. Those are just for us.)

omg this is so perfect

azzandra:

bidyke:

alex-fulcrum:

shadowfire125:

i’m having an existential crisis

I am so sorry, but this is actually probably true. Plants co evolved to reward us for cultivating and propagating them. It’s called exorphin theory, and plants are pretty much just using us as their means of reproduction. That’s why humans show nearly every sign of species domestication. Have a good night, friend.

Trees are superior and I completely accept this.

I, for one, welcome our arboreal overlords.

The five types of writers block

Inspirationless: where you have the motivation but just can’t think of anything good to write.

Motivation Deprived: you have the idea, but just, don’t really wanna.

Pooped: Basically you have no ideas and don’t really feel like writing anyways.

Procrastination: Where you are SO PUMPED TO GET THIS THING DONE!! But, there’s that other thing, and, your show is on, and, you’ll just do it tomorrow.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

crossroadswrite:

I feel like we need to talk more about Stiles’ sexual identity crisis

Like yeah this boy is hella bi and we all know it but what about that denial tho

What about Stiles noticing boys and when he notices he’s noticing boys he snaps his head away

What about Stiles thinking his dad wouldn’t be okay with it and not wanting this to be another way in which he disappoints his dad

What about Stiles who watches a bunch of het porn not even to jack off just to assure himself he still likes girls

What about Stiles struggling a lot because he’s surrounded by hot boys so much and he’s weak okay, he’s so weak and really is thinking about sucking dick THAT gay???

What about Stiles talking about this with Erica because she’s kind of cool and Scott is busy with Kira

What about Erica actually encouraging him to pursue it, giving hin the love is love talk and telling him it’s okay and that his dad would be fine with it

What about Stiles and Erica being epic bros and working through it until Stiles feels comfortable with this new knowledge

What about Stiles still mantaining he prefers girls and he’s not THAT gay. Just a little gay. Just enough gay he’d like to suck dick and wouldn’t let a penis get in the way of him and somene he loves

What about Stiles Stilinski walking in on Defek working out shirtless and running to Erica so he can cry on her boobs about how gay he is because ohmygod he’s so fucking gay for Derek Hale he needs help

ladydrace:

stilinskihaleworld:

yodas-yo-yo:

stilinskihaleworld:

Do you ever just think about the fact that Derek and Stiles are on completely opposite ends of the emotional spectrum? That Derek conceals (but feels sooooo much) and Stiles just lets whatever he’s feeling show, no matter who he’s with?

Derek’s been without most of his family for 6 years and is now completely alone and he just doesn’t know how to handle all of his feelings. He doesn’t believe he deserves the pity he receives when he cries and he feels guilty when he smiles, so he just doesn’t. He latches onto his emotional anchor and lets his anger soar, even though all those unexpressed emotions just press up against his skin and exhaust him so thoroughly he doesn’t know how to cope, which only leads to bad decisions and more anger.

When Stiles trips into his life that fateful day, Derek is so taken aback by this boy who lost half of his everything so young and who never had the attention span to regulate his emotions like Derek does with anal retentive control so he simply lets whatever he’s feeling come out loud and clear. And maybe that’s why Derek is so angry at Stiles for so long, why he can’t seem to tolerate this boy who’s really just trying to help his best friend survive. Because he has this expressive capacity that Derek has buried so deep within himself he isn’t even sure it exists anymore.

Now think about what the series doesn’t show us. Think about Stiles teaching Derek that those emotions are okay not only to have, but to show. The lessons aren’t intentional at first, they’re just subliminal messages that Stiles’ interactions drive into Derek’s unconscious. Those little lessons teach him he can show he’s surprised like when Stiles forfeits his chance at first line to help Derek or scared like when he realizes mere moments later that Stiles is alone with the alpha.

Think about Stiles slowly coming to realize, especially during the summer of ‘11 that Derek isn’t emotionally stunted but rather emotionally overwhelmed. Imagine him watching Derek crouch over Boyd’s body and realizing that Derek wants to fall apart but can’t because everyone’s watching and they’ll think he’s weak and so the boy waits with him and offers that mere bit of physical comfort until everyone leaves and Derek’s sobs finally take over because Stiles is safe. Stiles cries all the time. It’s okay to show sadness and grief in front of him.

Gradually, his emotional freedom spreads to others around him. Forgiveness for Chris. Fondness for Kira and Malia. Finally letting someone other than Stiles see that he’s scared, even though it’s fear for Stiles’ sake.

At the end, Derek doesn’t need anger as his anchor anymore, because he has Stiles, and that’s so much better.

Sorry… This is so beautiful, and I really really love it! I wanted to post the following as a reply… but it got too long.. so I’m reblogging and adding my thoughts… I hope that’s okay : )

It’s just I’ve often thought that they both are quite repressed but in very different ways. Derek very obviously sublimates all his emotional pain in to anger (especially in the first two season) and only speaks when he needs to, certainly never voluntarily gets close to people emotionally, because that would give people power over him that they will abuse (at least that’s his assumption!) So he cares aggressively about the well being of his pack etc… but never let’s it show. I agree Stiles would be great at helping him to say what he means and express his emotions in a healthier way.

Here’s the thing… Stiles on the surface seems to be much more open and more in touch with his emotions, he certainly talks more, but he doesn’t always say much about the things that matter. I think that’s sometimes a coping technique that he’s developed subconsciously to distract himself and others from the things he doesn’t want/know how to acknowledge. An emotional sleight of hand, if you will. With Stiles, sometimes (not always!) you have to read between the lines and listen to what he’s not saying to understand what’s really going on. (I don’t know if I’m explaining it well at all.)

For example, if you listen to what he says about Derek in the first couple of seasons,  everything Derek does bothers him,  he hates him, he implies at one point that they should just let Derek die, and yet every single time, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Derek needs him, he prioritizes Derek’s well being. He does it at the expense of his chance with Lydia and often at the expense of his own safety.

I don’t necessarily think he’s aware that’s what he’s doing. I think he’s very insightful and emotionally connected when it comes to other peoples stuff, but when it comes to his own heart, at first at least, he had a massive blind spot. Once he acknowledges what he feels though, there would be no stopping him.

To summarize I guess what i’m saying is, actions speak louder than words with this pair. 😀

I don’t mind at all!! I love commentary 😀

I definitely agree, but I think I wasn’t quite clear enough about what I meant. I think of Stiles as being emotionally expressive but not necessarily emotionally intelligent. He has these feelings and he lets them out (crying, loud outbursts, fear) but he doesn’t really think about what those reactions mean, you know? Like he is very obviously terrified of losing Derek and he lets it show but he never really gets introspective about what those emotions mean about his feelings. I don’t know if that distinction will make sense to anyone else.

I think most of the time, Derek is incredibly aware of what his feelings are and what they mean but he doesn’t know how to show them without being vulnerable and making himself a target. His feelings made him a target for Kate and later for Peter and, like you said, he just can’t risk people using them against him.

Stiles takes a lot longer to realize what he’s compensating for (loving Derek, disappointing his father, guilt about his mom) and I think had we gotten to see their relationship develop longer Derek would have been able to help him confront those repressed fears and anxieties. Had that happened I believe Stiles would actually calm down a lot once he’d learned to understand those feelings but I don’t think it would happen until after Derek had learned to accept expressing his feelings as a healthy part of life.

I don’t know if that really clarified what I originally meant… Or addressed what you were saying. But I love your addition and wanted to respond:D

All of this is perfect. ❤