#i absolutely crushed my talk

[casbitchh]

just so you guys know, i am killing it at this conference

[egophiliac]

don't think I'm not still obsessing over 7-12

[cent-scratchnsniff]

something bad did indeed happen to that man. spent abt 25 minutes trying to find a better picture of that one (1) offical piece with his eyes open that wasnt compressed or tiny

[moonyflesh]

MARK HOFFMAN character analysis — (in the eyes of someone who’s rewatching the entire franchise).

— [no timestamps] • SPOILERS !

— (i have a ‘PETER STRAHM character analysis’ posted for those that keep asking!!!)

Mark Hoffman's character is one that is arguably rather divisive and hard to pin down, and I wanted to provide my thoughts on it as I think it may expose some ideas that haven't been discussed before. My thoughts are also from the perspective of looking back, so this is perhaps wrong and not how the directors or writers intended it, but, just the way I interpret the films.

I think the best way to describe Hoffman is as a murky/dirty body of water. This is because he is putting on an exterior face the majority of the time we see him, so we have to be careful how we read him. I think in the timeline, when we first see him around the timeframe John kidnaps him, he is a moral, decent man then. Clearly heavily effected by the death of his sister, and his killing of Seth Baxter, but still noticably removed from the Hoffminator we see in Saw VII.

But at this point lore wise, the first major character defining trait we observe from him is he believes in dispensing justice - just not the same as John, or the law. Seth Baxter for example, or in Saw IV when Hoffman covers for Rigg when Rigg punched Rex, even though Rigg was in the wrong. Hoffman saw Rex as deserving, and viewed what Rigg did as justice served, so he stepped outside the conventional methods of law and took his own actions for what he felt was right.

I don't think Hoffman ever completely bought into John's framework and moral philosophy when it came to rehabilitating suspects. In the flashbacks of John and Hoffman working together in Saw V, Hoffman seems uneasy about all of it, and reluctant. By the time of Saw III lorewise, and based off the body language and the way Costas plays him, (Saw V flashback of III) I feel it is very safe to say Hoffman was always planning to have an exit out of working with John. If Saw V established anything about his character, it's that he is a cold, quiet, calculating man who is also thinking one step ahead.

He is also seen to be critical of others, when he views them as not appreciating life. Such as the "all he had to do" line in Saw III, and him criticizing Rigg in the beginning of Saw IV for questioning his choice of being a cop. This may be an aspect picked up from John, it may be Hoffman's own judgmental side coming out. However, I think there is another very important aspect of Hoffman's character that is pivotal to understanding him, and why he acts the way he does: the sociopathy.

I don't believe this to be a natural part of his character, I think the more brutal elements were simply added as an attempt to add depth to him because his character was arguably all over the place with no real clear motivation. Which, personally I really like. It makes reading into him much more interesting. But, lorewise, I think it is safe to say the killing of Seth Baxter induced this sociopathy like a seed into Hoffman, and taking part in Jigsaw's schemes allowed the seed to grow.

Hoffman is a hard to read character, but the way I see it, he has a clear moral descent, because lorewise, the first time we see him and the last are two opposite moral extremes. Logically speaking, there has to be a descent. This descent, because of the writing, and Costas' acting, is complex to read. But 100% there. I believe it happens in the early days of working with John, but you could make an effective arguement for another specific time.

Regardless, in Saw VI, we observe elements of sociopathy and clear sadism influence his actions.

At this point, the morals and justification attempts Hoffman may have had when working with John earlier are quickly evaporating - Hoffman is clearly primarily acting out of self interest. This is that seed of sociopathy growing, and manifesting in cruel ways, such as listening to the audio of The Pound of Flesh Trap or grinning while pouring extra gasoline onto Erickson. Hoffman has always been more concerned with punishing wrong-doers than rehabilitating them as also seen when he carelessly dumps Timothy Young on the ground. It seems in Saw VI they really wanted to highlight this sadism of Hoffman's, which likely took time to manifest in his character.

As for Saw VII, I'd say it's clear Hoffman clearly has lost any trace of morals he once had. Saw VII was full of great ideas with mixed exectution, and one aspect that really suffered was the strategical intelligence that Hoffman previously displayed - being one step ahead. It was inconsistent in VII, from outsmarting Gibson with the machine gun but sending in dvds??? It could be understood as Hoffman's cockyness, and narcissism. But, Saw VII is a bizzare case to put it lightly, so I won't go too harsh on it. We just have to enjoy it for what it is.

I don't know if I'd describe him as a vigilante the same way as John. I think some may struggle with understanding his motivations because of how murky/neutral Costas plays him. (Which I personally enjoy). While I think there's a effective discussion to be had about how the shift towards vigilante killers in Saw as well as misunderstanding John Kramer's character hurts the later films, I do genuinely enjoy Hoffman's character and the depth it has.

Here’s basically a summary of why I fell in love with Hoffman’s character:

1.) There’s this hard to pinpoint, unclear-descent in morality through his behavior as the movies go on, making him so much more mysterious than Kramer- he doesn’t have nearly as much a reason as John to continue with the role of ‘Jigsaw’.

2.) He’s just a man seeking to dispense justice the way he sees fit— the definition of a ‘vigilante’.

3.) There’s a budding sadism/sociopathy that continues to grow the more he kills- making him less like John and more like Amanda (with the sole purpose of revenge instead of giving someone a second chance; opposite Kramer’s motive).

4.) There’s also an underlying narcissism in him that I think not only I, but a lot of the fandom seems to relate to (whether willingly or not).

[owari-no-suffering]

shoutout to lan wangji and luo binghe for being endlessly tormented by their love interests' mixed signals, reaching their breaking point, and then proceeding to never be normal about their (always reciprocated) crushes (turned husbands) ever again.

[cementcornfield]

also like speaking of college joe'marr....one of my favorite headcanons is like, yeah, ja'marr probably hero worshiped/had a big crush on the new hot older super talented QB....but i also think joe had a very inconvenient little crush on ja'marr

like joe said himself that thought of his time at LSU as a master's/internship type program but for football instead of any real school curriculum (lol). he had just spent 3 years at OSU /not/ playing football and it was all he wanted to do. now that he had this chance at LSU he was going to buckle up and take it as seriously as possible (he took all online classes and spent as much time as he could at the facility, living and breathing football as much as possible).

so like, he did NOT plan on getting distracted by the cute freshman with the million watt smile and easy warm nature. this kid who would try to joke with him but never try to talk with him without justin or terrace around. this kid with all this god-given talent but no clue how to actually watch film and improve from it. but hey! nothing always goes 100% to plan!

[star2stop]

ART TRADE TIME!!!! (w @dontlookforme00 and @piereoglyphics :])

from the top, in order of who did sketch - lineart - color&shading:

donnie - piere - star

star - donnie - piere

piere - star - donnie

THIS WAS FUN!!! (we should totally do it again some time :])

u guys r so cool and i love ur arts btw im so glad i got to do this w u!!! :D

(my own sketch and lineart under the cut!!)

[angelbambisworld]

You mean to tell me that KISS has gone on this long and not once have they made a single KISS-themed sex toy?!

Not even one based on Gene's tongue?! Not even one based on Paul's Love Gun?!

[sapphosclown]

i still can’t believe paramount plus literally said “HEY. LESBIAN. LOOK.” and showed me my favorite character of all time and just i was jumping and spinning with glee they grabbed me the shoulders slapped me across the face and spit on me and said “you fool. you absolutely useless dyke. it was all a ruse. get fucked” and then deleted the whole damn thing

[stinkypeanutbutter]

oohohohoohoh me goodness they are sooo silly I love them soy much I was falling out of interest hit this piqued it back up it’s that easy just look at them having fun girl dinner is so real the doodles are so silly they are the teenagers ever guys

Like don’t you ever just love a character or group or ship so much it makes you want to die 😹😹🥹🥹

[himblebo]

She’s married she’s married she’s married she’s married (to a man to a man to a man to a man)

[sinnettini]

cute guy winked at me while he was wearing a milan tracksuit........ i might self combust

[fauxpontchartrain]

There is actually nothing more insane than being a criminal justice student again after what the fuck i just went through dealing with the legal system first hand. How am I supposed to take any of this bullshit seriously when I have seen with my own eyes that our entire criminal justice and prison system is a sham that can be manipulated at will by those who have connections within law enforcement lmfao

[uchiha-gaeshi]

I would never wish growing up in a hyper religious African house on my worst enemy. The cognitive dissonance is insane especially if you grow up in the West yet your family (and other African families around you) insist on clinging on to asinine “traditions” that are really just covers for abuse.

[whenthegoldrays]

and today we observe a phenomenon scientists have dubbed the flan boy effect

[corvidaedream]

its so embarrassing to be an adult w a schoolgirl crush on a friend and just when you're like "nothing will come of this so im just going to put these feelings into just caring a lot about my friend as a friend" they do something like make u breakfast in their handmade regency-era quilted banyan, and ur like. fuck. yeah no i stand no chance.