#1 Jonathan Black Apologist

just recently got into this show :) jackie | she/he | @abcdeception on Instagram

[disappearinginq]

🌹

Ok, so it's not a single sentence, but it is a single line. Part of the fic Mirrors.

Jonathan glanced over at Cameron. “Dad is dead, right? That’s not suddenly up for debate, is it? Because if it is, I’m going to kill him.”

[abcdeception]

something that’s fascinating to me in Deception is this idea that Jonathan is so good at reading people, and at reading Cameron specifically (look at all the psychoanalytical phone calls; recognizing Cam is jealous before Cam does, already come to terms with the fact that they have daddy issues) while Cameron seriously struggles to tell when Johnny is lying or not. And I think that fits very well with the premise introduced by the show: if Johnny has been practicing at stepping into Cameron’s shoes his whole life, then it makes sense he’d be more sensitive to the minute details that make people stand out from one another. It makes sense that he would be intimately familiar with Cameron’s mannerisms, reactions, expressions, etc. while Cameron, who never had to… well, do that, is probably less aware of it.

[incorrectdeceptionquotes]

Cameron: So when are you gonna go out with me?

Kay: I don’t know, when are you gonna ask me out?

Cameron: ...

Cameron: Uh...

[Later]

Jonathan: So you just ran away?

Cameron: I didn’t think she was gonna flirt back!

[incorrectprodigalsonquotes]

If I had a nickel for every time the same show creator created a series with loveable characters, a fun ship (or two), great writing, and a fresh concept with its own twist only for the series to be canceled and left on an evil cliffhanger where the main character is betrayed by a family member who spent the majority of the show in prison, I'd have two nickels.

Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice, right?

[abcdeception]

Jonathan & Cameron in episode 4 are a whole other level of pain ;-;

[abcdeception]

THE SYMBOLICAL IMPLICATIONS IN GIVING JONATHAN THE COIN TO FIDDLE WITH WHILE CAMERON GETS THE CARDS… GOD. I do in some ways believe the show hinges on Jonathan despite the fact it mainly follows Cameron and the crew. To my mind, the entirety of the first season is first and foremost influenced not only by MW’s scheme(s), but also by Jonathan’s decision to stay in prison at his brother’s behest. It’s a power struggle between his faith in his twin and his desperate desire to be free for the first time in his life. Think about it for a second: he’s had to pretend to be Cameron his whole childhood, and then when their father dies and he finally thinks he’s free, Cam asks him to stay. And he does! (I mentioned in a previous post: It’s so hard saying no to the people you love…) I think that’s what the coin alludes to. It’s all about decisions, the 50-50 chance where every promise and revelation pushes him more to one side than the other. He’s playing with his choices: stay for his brother, or achieve the sense of freedom he’s been deprived of since he was born. Keep in mind that his initial introduction to the world as himself, Jonathan Black, was when he was framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Even though people now know he exists, they don’t know him. He’s still an unknown entity, and he is still trapped literally and metaphorically in a life that isn’t truly his. Beyond the way it ties into the plot, I think the coin is a phenomenal prop for representing that internal turmoil.

(as a side note: Cam with the playing card also of course makes sense with his upbringing and current profession, but I think it’s interesting how this is another double-sided motif. It’s not about decisions, though - it isn’t about one-or-the-other, it’s about one side of the card hiding the thing that’s on the other side, which I think is very representative of Cameron. He seems to surprise people a lot and tends to hide his competence beneath an overwhelming display of showmanship. This works to his advantage when he wants to blindside people… also, a card is just inherently a more playful (and perhaps childlike) symbol, which, of course, suits him very well)

[abcdeception]

Alright Deception community…who’s the older twin?

Jonathan

Cameron

Voting ended onJun 9, 2023

[melanieexox]

Deception | 1x09: ‘But Cameron also had to win back the trust of Kay, who admits she was genuinely scared when Cameron was suffocating during last week’s hour. Does that mean she actually has feelings for him?

“Yes,” executive producer Chris Fedak tells EW, before adding: “She sees him as a partner, a friend. But I do think she was more affected by Cameron almost dying in [episode] 108 than she expected. It shook her. Her anger toward him wasn’t only about his betrayal, but concern for what could have happened.”’

[squeakitties]

i finished reading your story and i must say that, while it's alright, there's so many plot holes because the characters made irrational decisions and didn't think logically 100% of the time. consider fixing this next time please

[ehksidian]

also, the fact your characters weren’t able to overcome their internal struggles is a massive plot hole. everyone knows emotions are very easy to understand and sort, and the fact your characters acted on them was such a massive story contrivance it broke my sense of belief. please fix this.

[abcdeception]

deception (2018) I will never forget u<3

(click for better quality)

[merlinwinchestr]

I haven’t watched Deception in several months, but I randomly got the urge to write an AU where Cameron is evil and Jonathan is the only one who realizes. I think I need to rewatch Deception and start writing...

[eg515]

...I'd read that

[incorrectdeceptionquotes]

Random question: What’s an unpopular opinion or headcanon that you have about Deception?

Oooh an opinion or headcanon that I have?

I'm not sure how unpopular this would be but Jonathan's kind of a d*ck, like you get why he is rough around the edges and he has every right to be angry with life, his father, even a bit at Cameron who got him to continue the hidden twin act and all.

However, unless there is a reason (that we'll never know, we can only theorize), he really didn't need to burn bridges in Cameron's name. Even using Kay and Cameron's relationship against each other, him being angry at Cameron for technically choosing Kay over him (though considering Kay was the first one outside of their family group to believe that Jonathan was innocent and the fact that she puts her career on the line to help them) and him telling Kay that she's not Cameron's type which would have been just a funny moment but then it's almost like it was leading up to him basically making her think Cameron hates her was just plain cruel and I don't know what his end goal would've been with that.

Though it has crossed my mind that maybe he did that because if she thought she and Cameron were on okay terms, she wouldn't stop him from doing anything and maybe he wants Kay to think something isn't right and she'd be able to quickly get Cameron out of prison, which we do know would've been 36 hours later and it was probably thanks to Kay.

In my personal fanfic narrative, I have been able to give Jonathan his redemption arc in a way (though I was 18/19 when I wrote A Bundle of Secrets so I'm not saying it's the best narrative work I've done) but as it stands in canon... yeah, Jonathan's kind of a d*ck.

Oh, also he has no reason to have any beef with Mike considering it's been over a year since he and Dina broke up and the reason they broke up was because Jonathan technically cheated on her with MW which is also a d*ck move!

I clearly still have a lot of feeling about this show and I didn't even realize lol

[abcdeception]

One take I’ve seen which sort of annoys me is this idea that if Jonathan really wanted to leave the show after Sebastian died, he could’ve just told Cam so & then he would’ve been free to live his life as he saw fit. Beyond the fact that we know he did tell Cameron he wanted to stop performing, or at least that he voiced some kind of protest about performing certain shows (from the final episode, Transposition), there’s the point that it’s really fucking difficult to say no to the people you care about.

(^ from Transposition, ~38:54)

From this scene alone we know that Cam had to talk Johnny into continuing to perform after their father passed; it’s obvious that Johnny values his freedom, though, so why did he ever agree to it? Primarily, because his brother asked him to, and he loves Cameron more than he wants to be free (this is true, at least, at the beginning of the show). It’s not as simple as just saying “No”. If that’s the line of logic we’re following, then Jonathan can’t carry any blame for asking Dina to retrieve the files that the FBI were hiding — she simply could’ve refused, right? Cameron, at the very least (and I do mean very least, because their father treated him like shit), got to go out and connect with people as himself. Johnny only ever had Cameron, so to deny his brother anything must’ve seemed impossible. I don’t want to start speculating about how that conversation must’ve gone because it’s counterintuitive to the point I’m trying to make, but I just think this idea (that all Jonathan had to do is tell Cameron he didn’t want to perform) is reductive, and also does a massive disservice to the really complex character dynamics at play in the show

[incorrectprodigalsonquotes]

I think what's so interesting to me about the parallels between Brightwell and Kaymeron are that no matter how different their storylines may get, they have the same basis: they actually like each other's company no matter how much the other might frustrate them at times because news flash, it's okay to have differences.

The relationship doesn't suddenly become toxic if you have a disagreement.

Plus a side note, even though we never got to see either of them as an official couple, I feel like they would have two very different vibes with Kay and Cameron being like a modern Disney couple (think Rapunzel and Eugene, Tiana and Naveen... a genderbent Anna and Kristoff) whereas Malcolm and Dani would be like Morticia and Gomez (Malcolm’s got Gomez's eccentricities while Dani has Morticia's calm, cool yet warm demeanor).

[incorrectdeceptionquotes]

I think I have one more idea for a short-ish Kaymeron fic but at this point, I don't even know if anyone will read it 😭😭😭😭

[enfernalinferno]

Think I'm coming into the fandom a little late

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