My thoughts while rereading Tex!!! (thereās a lot) (idc im leaving it all as one post)
(tagging @broareweabouttoviberightnow @damthosefandoms @bleucheeeeeese my Tex homies <3)
Okay right off the bat the opening just shows Texās personality so well. I feel like you can tell a lot about a person if you know they talk to/treat animals like theyāre people. My favorite part is when Tex worries he sounds too sarcastic and has to reassure Negrito that heās a good jumper. Oh my heart.
I wish in the movie they wouldāve kept the detail of Mason and Tex sharing a room(the only one in the house)/bed. Itās kinda important imo in showing that they donāt have a lot.
A short list of āhickā things about Mason: he loves to fish, he did junior rodeos (we need to talk about that more btw), and he wears boots.
āA guy came out and turned off the heat this morning. I havenāt paid the gas bill lately.ā āNo kiddinā? Why not?ā š¤¦āāļøoh Tex my sweet summer child.
It gets lost in the movie just how bad Mason beats up Tex. Itās BAD bad.
āI cried because I was hurting and because I wanted to kill Mace, and he was my only brother and I didnāt really want to kill him.ā Hey this is crazy considering what happens.Ā
I also wish that in the movie Tex gets in the bed of the truck when Mason comes to get him like he does in the book. Heās too mad to sit up front with him.
Idk what other peoples opinionās of Jamie are but I love her. Chewing out Mason for beating up Tex? Hell yeah.Ā
Hey can we talk about Mason being the only person to call Bob Robert. What is up with that. I guess āBob didnāt like to be called Robert. He took a lot off Mason, though,ā probably means Mason just gives him shit but being the only one to full-name him seems kinda intimate to me.
Tex remembering Pop coming to pick him up after he borrowed that car: āI remember seeing his face, when he came to get me, almost like he had written me off, like I wasnāt his kid anymore.ā Another bit of insane foreshadowing there, Hinton.
After the fight Tex talks about how things arenāt the same anymore and Masonās changed :( idk, for me, things changing between me and my sister is one of my biggest fears so I get the way Tex talks about it.
A short list of details I love about Mason: heās good at making chili but doesnāt know how he does it, he doesnāt like driving in the city and gets road rage, and he measures how tall he is on the door frame.Ā
āJohnny was smarter than most people thought. Once you get a reputation for being scatter-brained, people always think you never have a serious thought in your head, but that isnāt always true. I ought to know.ā š¢
Very important to me that the fortunetellerās best advice is ādonāt change.ā Obviously Tex changes some, heās not a static character, but at the end of the day heās good by just being himself.
āIt tasted really good, like pop with a zing to it. The only thing Iād ever tried drinking before was beer, and I never could get a taste for it.ā Heās so real for this. Beer sucks.
Very important to me that multiple people refer to Tex as ācowboyā (Charlie Collins, the hitchhiker, and Lem).
Texās dream is so sad. The fact that he wakes up holding the doorknob, when what he remembers of his mom is wanting to stop her from leaving but he wasnāt tall enough to reach the doorknob š stfu. And also just the way Mason deals with his sleepwalking. āHe never gets mad at me when I sleep walk.ā š
Mason dealing with Cole Collins demanding who got his kids drunk is so good. Peak Mason right there. āDonāt you have enough kids of your own to hassle?ā GET HIM. Heās also just so funny. āI was thinking about going over to the Collinsā and demanding to know who got you drunk last night,ā pls.
Iāve talked about it before but Masonās reaction to Lemās baby being āLittle Lemā and him not liking being named after Pop is a detail thatās really important to his character.
āI would have rather gone out for track, but not going out for anything was the thing that would bug Coach most, so thatās what I did. I love to bug people like him.ā Love that for him, honestly. Okay Mr. Do things out of spite.
I really like how Tex says āIt was a relief to me that Jamie always said what she thought without hedging around or playing games.ā You would think he would maybe feel the same way about Mason, but later he says something about how Mason doesnāt lie to him, but he doesnāt tell him the truth either, and I think thatās the big difference.
Taking a moment to say that itās nice to see Tex being a teenage kid whoās just like living life and growing up and learning about love, but itās also so frustrating in a good way. āI wondered when she had started wearing a bra.ā BROTHER PLEASE.
Tex and Johnnyās make up after Tex jumps the creek is actually very sweet. āJohnny, there are people who go places and people who stay, and I think we stayers ought to stick together.ā ā¤ļø
Tex telling Mason heās got a few more inches to grow based on how long his legs are because thatās the way it works with horses (and Mason sighing with relief) is so freaking funny.
I love how Mason drops the subject of Tex jumping the creek so quickly. It really shows how he has to truly pick his battlesš
Tex being confused and flustered by the salesgirl <3
Okay he mentions going water skiing once and immediately my mind went to Alan Jackson in the music video for Chattahoochee. Tex core as hell.
āHell, Bob hasnāt made it any further than I have. But for different reasons.ā Hello. Hello Bob what.
āTexas, all my life I wanted somebody who knew more than I did to tell me the truth. I really wanted that. I never got it. I had to learn it all the hard way. Iām just giving you a present I always wanted.ā God this gives so much insight to why Mason is the way he is. I think thereās more to it than just truth, too. He just wants someone to help him. And as an older sibling, I get that so much. And my parents are great, and I have several older cousins and friends who are a few years older than me and I still feel this way sometimes, so Mason is like really on his own.
I will NEVER not laugh at Tex looking at Western Horseman but thinking about Playboy. YOU STUPID HORNY BOY.
āWe drove out to the expressway so Lem could get it going fast. I had fun running the windows up and down.ā Oh it really doesnāt take much to amuse you, does it Tex. (relatable)
God Iāve talked about it before but the hitchhiker scene is just. . . urghhhhhh. Tex being pissed off because Mason is scared. Getting the hitchhiker to look by saying the cop turned his lights on (I wish they kept this detail in the movie, itās very smart). Mason letting his head hit the dash so he doesnāt hurt his arm. Tex having to hold onto Mason so he doesnāt slide out or be dragged out by the hitchhiker. Him wondering if heād had a gun if heād join in the shooting. Fuck.
Then the aftermath!! Tex knowing that something bad mustāve happened for the guy to turn out like that. That his actions killed him. That he reminded him of him.
Also, just want to say that the first time I read this I LOST my mind when itās revealed the hitchhiker is Mark. Truly lost my shit. And then for some reason it took me until Miss Carlson going to the funeral to realize that Miss Carlson is freaking Cathy. Crazy.
Mason trying to act all cool after being called a basketball star on the local news <3
I didnāt fully appreciate Mason smoking the joint with Tex until now. And the fact that he lit it on the stove burner. Cool as hell. And heās just a 17 year old kid.
Hey, for all that he hates about Pop, Mason still gets excited when he comes home and tries to beat Tex out the door so he can get to him first, and he was all over him just the same as Tex wasš¢
I know it was probably just for the sake of pacing, but I wish in the movie they kept Pop forgetting that he was going to get Negrito back. Itās a prime example of him being a bad parent. Itās ANOTHER thing Mason and Tex have to do by themselves, another thing that Mason has to take care of.
Tex telling Mason heās going to hate him for the rest of his life and knowing it hurt him: āIt was the first time I realized hurting somebody could feel really good.ā Yeah again Iāve talked before about how Hinton writes this part of sibling relationships really well, that the worst thing youāll say/do will be to your sibling and this just emphasizes that. A sibling relationship is full of everything, especially intentional hurt.
āBlackie had the perfect build for football. . . it must be weird for him, to look like a football player and be totally on the inside.ā Again hello. Blackie Collins I know What You Are.
The second worst thing Pop is guilty of is him not worrying that much when Tex busted five in a junior rodeo. FIVE FUCKING RIBS AND HE WASNāT REAL WORRIED. Oh I hate him.
Tex helping Ralph look for his false tooth after punching him and knocking it out <3
āJamie, when we get older, sixteen maybe, letās get married.ā Mind you he just turned 15š¤¦āāļø
Thereās something about when Tex and Johnny are in the office and āI hadnāt been too afraid of facing Pop, but the look on Masonās face was giving me chills,ā that just really got to me. Idk. And again, the way Mason deals with Cole. Peak.
Johnny calling Mason a lousy son of a bitch for saying heāll think of a punishment for Tex. Oh man. He and Jamie really said āweāll defend Tex til we dieā and I am so here for it.
I knew it was coming, but Texās reaction to not being Popās son is so sad :( also, I think itās important to note the weight Masonās words carry and how double edged they are. āI know when you went to prison and when you got out and I know his birthday.ā Yeah he can do math but he also just knows when his fucking birthday is, unlike Pop.
āI was scared. I wanted Mason.ā āWhenever I was scared, Mason was there.ā SHUT UPšš
Honestly I donāt like Cole very much but props to him for being so level headed, asking Tex where he was right away and then calling the ambulance.
ā 'She was real good with animals, especially horses. She always said they talked to her and sheād get mad when I laughed.ā My wound gave a sudden throb and I had to bite back a gasp.ā CLARE WAS THE PARENT HE DESERVED. HE AND MASON BECAUSE MASONāS LIKE HER TOO IN A LOT OF WAYS.
Okay, listen, HATE Pop McCormick, but his one good action is telling Tex and Mason to not think bad about their mom for cheating while he was in prison.Ā
But believe me that is the ONE thing. Because what do you mean Tex asks him if him not being his biological son was the reason he paid more attention to Mason and all this motherfucker has to say is āI reckon.ā I am going to rage. (this is the worst thing)
Iām really appreciating Johnny and Texās friendship more. I love how Johnny is so jealous that Tex asked for Jamie.
Tex asking Jamie if she wants to see the bullet wound and then kissing her when she leans down. Little boy you just got shot, calm down.
āIām goinā for a walk and Iāll take the gun with me. I aināt going to shoot anything, though. I aināt going to shoot anything ever again.ā š
āLate at night, lying awake, rehashing everything until my mind was whirling around like a squirrel in a cage, I thought I was going to die or go crazy. But then, in the morning, Iād still be alive, and sometimes the pain seemed a fraction less.ā Hey so what the fuck. Oh god I get it so bad. And to read it in a young adult novel. Good god.
The ending really is my favorite. Tex telling Mason he has to go to college. Tex doesnāt hate him. Mason crying. Tex is going to make it. Not being able to say I love you but they know itās there. āI remembered what Jamie had said, that love doesnāt solve anything. Maybe. But it helps.ā š and them deciding to go fishing. Because Mason loves it and it helps him unwind but he hasnāt been able to go for a long time. While I like the very last lines of the movie ("you wanna go fishing tomorrow?" "nah, you'd better practice. its rough where you're going" "well its pretty rough where you're staying"), I wish they would've gone fishing in the end like in the book.
