b3thecowboy - Tumblr blog

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Another old thing I drew for Sõbrapäev (aka Friends' Day aka Valentines' Day in Estonia).

[b3thecowboy]

someone need to draw nalias please

[b3thecowboy]

im sick um. hi

[b3thecowboy]

just so everyone knows if cal and andre were modern teens cal would be a male manipulator tiktok poser and andre would wear sweatpants and play fortnite and he would say sigma

[b3thecowboy]

thinking of namias jid

[b3thecowboy]

Fav Sketch

[b3thecowboy]

s4 mike is kinda my favorite and i don't get the hate...like let him be a depressed fourteen years old teenage boy with an existencial gay crisis for christ sake

[b3thecowboy]

nalias kid

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[b3thecowboy]

nalias fic coming up!

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[b3thecowboy]

OH THIS COOKED

New essay out, because I feel the need to write this into words. This is a personal headcanon I have for the Gus Van Sant 2003 movie Elephant, that I don't believe I've really given a full explanation for, mainly about the IMPLIED relationship between main characters Alex and John.

Please note that this is based on mainly implication and how I myself see the movie. You can even call it borderline fanfiction if you want to. I will not imply nor directly say that this is the way the movie is, since a piece of art's meaning is subjective or dynamic and differs from each person. If anybody would like to discuss this theory or punch me in the fucking face for how shitty my writing is, I'm open to it. :)

Until It's You and Me: The Alex x John Propaganda Essay

(AKA Why I think Alex does his decisions in the movie and my theory about his one-sided crush for John.)

Love. Love is a bittersweet thing. It can create opportunities, the want to be with someone, to hold someone. But it can also corrupt and consume others. Although he may not seem like the type to let something like love consume his thoughts, Alex Frost's similarly-named character in Elephant is an example of one.

Since Elephant is very loosey-goosey and not very showing with details before or after the shooting, this essay will be purely what I think would've led this moment; a personal headcanon. Do take with a grain of salt.

To talk about their IMPLIED relationship, however, first we must discuss their personalities.

CHAPTER I: PERSONALITY

If you've seen the movie, you obviously know that Alex is a very bottled-up, more bitter character. His actions are very upfront, and when he feels the need to truly show his anger, he does. He's a very more eager character, and from his last kiss with Eric to the slaying of his own classmates, we can clearly see that he's one who dives into something he's committed to. It's clear that he isn't the type to get along with most people.

John, on the other hand, is a much more timid character. He usually does not like confrontation, but he is definitely sociable enough to get along with people in his class. Unlike Alex though, he is less of an eager character. He is a more mellow, more shy person, but as a result of that and his more pacifistic and more positive outlook, he isn't the type to really hate on others or lay judgment.

Seeing John's less-judging and peaceful personality, it makes sense why he would try to befriend Alex.

CHAPTER II: MY THEORY; JOHN AND ALEX'S RELATIONSHIP

My theory about Alex and John's relationship suggests that they did know each other before the shooting. The way John talks to Alex and Eric, is delivered in a way as if he knew the both of them, as if he's recognized them. Alex talks the same way too, even if both haven't really said each other's names. My belief is that Alex and John did know each other as friends, with John being more open to lend a hand out to someone he wants to befriend and Alex being more open to befriend someone who wouldn't necessarily judge him.

Knowing Alex's in-movie attraction to other guys, however, my belief is that Alex at some point did gain a crush for John. Finally, someone who would not judge him for the way he really acted, even if it was to the detriment of John's popularity or friend groups.

However, as all friends do, John and Alex do drift apart. Elias and John start hanging with each other, and Alex begins to grow animosity towards Elias as a result; he feels as though he's the wedge who drifted him and John apart in the first place. As a result, he starts isolating from John, still feeling love for him but detesting the thought of him hanging out with Elias. As he becomes more isolated from everyone else, he starts to become more nihilistic and ends up planning the events of Elephant, his constant teasing and bullying and his believed broken relationship with John being the things he cites. He starts writing a list. Elias McConnell's name is on the top, above even most of the bullies who taunt him daily.

CHAPTER III: MY THEORY CONTINUED, EVENTS IN THE MOVIE

In his search to make more friends, he ends up connecting with Eric, the one who he'd commit his massacre with. In the end, they end up becoming lovers, but I believe that in the end, this didn't stop his feelings for John. Although he loved him, he still couldn't stop despising those who John talked to. Even during the infamous shower scene, he still wished it would've been John with him instead of Eric.

This is when he starts to plan his massacre, to kill those who did taunt him and tease him, but also in his sick view of romance, try and kill those who he felt were responsible for drifting him apart from John. Alex luckily gains the trust of Eric, and has him tag along so that he could commit his atrocity.

Obviously during the day of the incident, but in the library scene, he specifically chooses to look at Elias first before everyone else in the room, his eyes clearly fixed on him even as he takes a picture. If it weren't for Michelle being there at the wrong time, he would've likely shot Elias first before opening fire on everyone else.

As he starts to indiscriminately kill or injure everyone in his path, he then settles down near the cafeteria, in the infamous scene of him taking a sip after brutally killing his peers and mentors. As he meets up with Eric, he starts to realize something, that even though the wedge between Alex and John was possibly severed when he murdered Elias, he still felt there was one more in the way: Eric. Despite trusting him and being by his side, Eric is shot by who he saw as his lover.

This then leads to the ending where it is unknown what happens next.

CHAPTER IV: EXPLANATION

Although there is little evidence for any of the claims I've made here, which I do recognize and will admit is mainly based on speculation. I still would like to dwell on details that make this theory make more sense.

EXHIBIT A: the delivery of both Alex and John's lines when they meet during the incident clearly give the impression that they do recognize each other. John clearly sees them pass and he easily recognizes them as they carry instruments of death in their bags, a confused "Hey, what are you guys doing?" showing his concern for Alex and Eric, who would've both been fairly late for the beginning of class that day at the time of the shooting. Alex's bitter warning shows that even despite his cold, calculated plan to kill him and John's peers, he snaps at him so that he clearly knows that shit will go down that could get him hurt.

EXHIBIT B: John's personality and his less judgmental nature would make him more open to friendships, even with Alex. There would be no reason to shoot him since for one, they obviously recognized each other, and for two, Alex would not have a reason to kill someone like John especially if he knew him as much as it is implied. Real criminals and killers usually warn others that they trust before they end up getting caught in the crossfire, or they plan not to kill certain people.

And finally, EXHIBIT C: it finally gives an answer as to why Alex decided to kill his own partner in cold blood, and then passing him aside as if he was nothing before searching the kitchens. Although Van Sant gave no answer for why this happened, the implication is definitely there even without John being a factor; he saw him as a roadblock to his goal in the end. Alex's goal to kill not only those who wronged HIM, but those who set a roadblock from the boy who he loved the most: John McFarland.

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION.

Now I shall remind you, this theory is again purely speculation based on loosey-goosey evidence. You do not have to believe me, but I will thank you for seeing this to the end and letting me say my piece. Truly I thank you. Also need I remind you that this is NOT meant to be an excuse for the atrocity in the story. This is a theory about a piece of art only.

Now, in conclusion, I believe Alex and John's relationship is very important to the story. He clearly chose and planned to let John go, and the first thing he did when walking into the library was notice Elias, the boy who he felt wronged him more than even some of the bullies just for the fact that he believed he drifted him away from his crush, or his soulmate. Other Van Sant works, such as his work for the 2006 anthology film "Paris, Je T'aime", most specifically, his segment "Le Marais", which also starred Elias McConnell, touched on finding soulmates and was about love. However, Elephant is different in that front. Despite Le Marais' message about finding a soulmate through a loving connection, Elephant's message is about the dangers of chasing love and using violence by killing those closest to them or those who only held them back from finding true love.

Thank you for reading. Feedback appreciated.

[b3thecowboy]

should have gatekept brad huff

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[b3thecowboy]

guys imagine cal and andre couldnt do zero day cause cal was busy giving birth in the hospital