Dorkette Picture Show

Maria, 30. Current dish of the day: Half Man

[dorkette06]

Realizing just how intoxicating Ruben REALLY is as a person helped me understand Niall better, including some of his seemingly stupid decisions, and made me empathize with him so much more.

There’s something easy and natural about Niall and Alby together. He’s obviously so good for him and we're meant to see that too. Their interactions make me involuntary smile. Alby equals warmth, understanding, acceptance, and forgiveness.

Ruben is quite the opposite. Instead, his presence is vibrant, overwhelming, seductive, drug-like. Sometimes almost god-like. He seems to naturally and effortlessly draw people in, and whenever he feels like it, he becomes the center of the universe. If you don’t let yourself be at least fascinated by him and a little tempted to excuse his wrongs, it becomes harder to imagine what it feels like to be in Niall’s skin. Let yourself fall for his cunning game while still being aware he can be the fall of you. And you can’t help but oblige.

And Niall holds a unique place by his side, because he is his brother, after all - the one Ruben protects and shares his strength with, which makes Niall feel truly special.

Side note: All the wedding scenes in chronological order is a must-watch after the show.

Niall knows, on a conscious, rational level, that he has a chance at a good and peaceful life with his Alby. Despite that, the second Ruben arrives, he is just ready to give in to whatever he has in store for him - good or bad. Exactly like a god or a father figure, Ruben guides and protects him through life but also brings punishment. Niall refuses to call the police and, in a way, lets hell unravel. In the context of the suicidal jokes with his mum, it may even seem as though some part of him has given up on himself and grimly accepted that going to the barn might mean the end for him. Perhaps it was his guilt and self-loathing talking, as if he didn’t deserve happiness in life until they had found final closure and he had atoned for his sins.

However, I like to interpret it as a fatal manifestation of his addiction: some instinctive part of him knowing that nothing and no one will ever compare to his brother, or to the intoxicating intensity they share. That he will always remain unhappy, like half a man, without Ruben’s physical and spiritual closeness. Even after all this time with Alby, and after all his self-destructive attempts have eventually failed, Niall still believes that his addiction to Ruben is incurable and will lead to his demise one way or another.

Paraphrasing Richard, you need to want more of that drug before you realize it’s bad for you.

I feel devastated for both of them.

[Note: Made some edits on 6.06 to get the message across better]

[monarch-of-altamira]

Alright okay remember in episode 4 at the hospital where Ruben tells Niall he’s his muse and then later in episode 6 when he says he’s the main character in the relationship and that’s kinda true for us as the audience as well since we see it all from Niall’s POV until the last scene which is the first time we’re truly alone with Ruben as he realizes he’s ended the person closest to him and once Niall is gone the story ends? yeah.

[dorsetti]

I cannot put into words how much this edit means to me MY GAWD

[lazybakerart]

Richard Gadd on filming Half Man

[ithappensoffstage]

Every time you close your eyes And feel his lips, you're feeling mine

[siopiana]

obliterate this twink

[aronyflo]

I wanted him dead. I wanted him all to myself.

BTW I really like the reference arts.

[loo-nuh-tik]

Half Man (2026)

[monarch-of-altamira]

Imagine you’re 15 years old and having many issues accepting or even admitting to yourself that you’re gay, because you see the homophobia your mom and her gf suffer while also blaming the gf for everything.

And then the gf’s son, who you’re developing an intense psychosexual relationship with, brings his girlfriend and kinda strongarms you into having a threesome with them because it’s the only way he’ll allow himself to touch you without violence.

Happened to my good friend Niall Kennedy once.

[cosimads]

JAMIE BELL as Niall Kennedy Half Man — Episode 6

[dorkette06]

This, and the scene where he breaks down in the car after Ruben confesses that he lost his job and that Niall is the one he trusts the most. Eh...

Niall drowning in guilt and mourning the relationship they could have had, all the lost years, betrayals and hurting each other over and over again

[boo-kei]

I was lucky enough to really get along with Jamie from the get-go. We were also staying in the same building. My apartment was in the same apartment building as his. So, we were pretty close to each other throughout the six months we were in Scotland. And we developed a kind of friendship which really helped in terms of, you know, if you have some ideas, if you have some questions. Sometimes you have to search your limits of what you can do with an actor or ask of an actor. And, I with him, I really knew I can ask a lot of him and he's not going to be like that compromises me. He would tell me if it would compromise him, but he he never said anything when I'm asked to do special things. He's also in every single scene. So every shooting day I had was with Jamie. By the time you get to 30 shooting days, you kind of know each other in a way of like he knew what I was going to do or where I was going to be. He kind of got to know how the director and I approached the scene and he fairly knew like, "you're probably going to be here and probably going to do this," and so it was a really easy way of working with him. There's not a single scene in episode 3, 4, 5, where Jamie is not in the scene. He's literally in from the beginning to the end, he's always there. Because we follow it through Niall's eyes. But that means that it was really intense for him. Because there was a lot of dialogue, a lot of long days. Sometimes we did six days in a week, a lot of night stuff. He'd be absolutely hammered from one day and then he had to go back home and just study like 13-page dialogue for the next day. And so it was tough for him. I'm still amazed and how he got through it so well, the way he did. I think he did fantastic. I mean, he really studied what the first actor did and then again, he went with it. I think I remember the director saying me after he did the edit that there was barely any take of any scene that he didn't like what Jamie did. You know, sometimes you have actors that have to search like, "Where we're going with this?" or "No, that—that wasn't a good take. Let's go again". And Jamie would be very tough on himself saying like, "Yeah, I didn't like that. Let's do another one". While we were all like, "Well, this was it. This was great, right?" And he would just be like "No, no, no. Let's go again". He was really tough on himself while actually I never looked at him doing anything that we were like, "That's a bit off. Maybe that doesn't feel right". It was just for us, it was pretty spot on every single take. And especially here, Richard was really down to like—he insisted on every word being like it is on the page. Sometimes you know, you have a scene and your actor does something else with it, which is great. Like, "I'll just say it differently because that's how I feel". This was not the case here. Most of the time it was exactly like it was on the page. Every word, so when you take the script and you put it next to the episode you see, it's literally all there. So Jamie nailed every sentence, especially in these long scenes. I have no clue how he did it.

- Cinematographer Frederic Van Zandycke on Jamie Bell

[adamraczek]

half man (2026) // late in the long apprenticeship, carl phillips

[putrefae]

Sue Zhao, 'I loved you in all the ways that I could'

[buttholy]

ruben drives me insaaaane how dare you look at niall like that. how dare you look at him with your eyes big and glassy and wet as though you regret anything. as though it hurts you to see him hurt. like a misbehaved dog whining at the feet of his master. you who's brutalized him and violated him and belittled him and tore him apart. I bet you thought it wasn't going to stick didn't you! it was just going to bounce off of him! just shake off the dust and carry on! but now you're looking at the imprints of your fingers on his skin and you dare! you dare!! to look guilty!! and then you scoff and pretend you don't give a shit actually! it has nothing to do with you! ruben pallister!!!! I will destroy you!!!!!!!

[melancholicseduction]

"We may not flow through each other's veins, but we flow through each other's brains.. Ya get me?" -Ruben Pallister

"I hate everything about you and the giant shadow you cast, which seems to turn with the sun whichever way I'm walking. But that doesn't stop me.. wanting every bit of it" -Niall Kennedy

“It’s like dangerous. It is the best and the worst thing all at once. It’s like the only thing. It’s the only thing I’ve ever felt. It’s like I’m fucking high off you or something. Chemically dependent, I don’t know.” - Niall Kennedy

Richard Gadd, fucking thank you for the homosexual angst.

[rainbow-femme]

My first reaction to the reason Ruben killed Niall was “huh, of all things, it’s not like that was even that bad given the things that have happened and what they’ve gone through” and I feel like that’s such a compliment to Richard Gadd’s writing

Because of course it’s not a good reason, it’s murder, there’s not good reasons for murder. But I got so sucked into the mindset and dynamic of the show I was willing to accept a scenario where Ruben’s violence would surely feel reasonable

But of course it’s not, it never was, and when Niall dies so does the narrative lens that loves and forgives Ruben for all he does

Ruben killing Niall is like all of his other violence; Senseless, immature, a self conscious attempt to prove something to himself. It was because of a pretty big betrayal, yes, but considering everything else that happens it doesn’t seem like it should be the one big horrible thing that is worse than everything else. But it’s not about escalating betrayal, it’s about Ruben’s escalating rationalization of his violent actions that lead him to decide killing Niall is ok

Ruben wanted to be the most Alpha Male he could be, and what is more pure animalistic Alpha Male than killing a rival male in competition for breeding territory? He did it, he achieved the peak of masculinity, and it was hollow, it meant nothing, he gained nothing, nothing about the situation changed for the better or was resolved. There would be no storming off and then talking things out later when they’d cooled down like all the other times, instead of closure it was a wound that would now never close because the violence was never what resolved anything between them. It was the talking, the hugging, the crying, the apologizing. But Ruben’s nature couldn’t accept that, it had to be the violence that did it

I do wonder at his mindset in that moment. If he’d known going into the killing that he would get no ultimate satisfaction but he felt his personal code demanded it. Or if part of him didn’t really understand the finality of what he was doing until it had happened and suddenly ‘Oh, oh it’s all done now, it’s over, it’s gone’

I know there are people who don’t like the ending but I loved it man, I love fucked up relationships that end in fucked up ways

[trueknights]

I found a Half Man post that I'm sure you'll greatly appreciate: https://www.reddit.com/r/HalfManTV/comments/1tsysuw/the_tiger_and_the_rat_charismatic_abusers_and/

Just sharing this quote below. Thanks for sharing this banger with me. People romanticize Ruben and his abuse to the point of believing his not past being reformed or saved. Meanwhile, Niall is made to be a worse villain than Ruben, and his victimhood is stripped from him.

Anyway, please go read that reddit post yall.

Niall becomes 'rat-like', while Ruben is 'tiger-like'.

Both animals can be dangerous. Both can hurt others. Yet they evoke radically different emotional reactions. People admire tigers. They are powerful, beautiful, dominant, and dangerous in ways that feel dignified. A tiger's violence feels natural to it. Rats evoke a different response. They are associated with cowardice, scavenging, disease, furtiveness, and survival at any cost. A rat's aggression feels petty rather than grand.

The audience's reaction often follows the same pattern. Ruben's violence is frightening, but it remains legible. Niall's weakness provokes a more visceral form of contempt because his coping mechanisms and his suffering lack the qualities people instinctively romanticize.

Ruben's transition from victim to abuser does not disrupt the narrative audiences have constructed. If anything, it reinforces it. Trauma leading to violence is a very familiar story. Audiences know how to process it. Niall presents a more uncomfortable problem. He remains a victim, yet he fails to embody the traits people associate with sympathic victimhood. His existence creates a contradiction that Ruben's does not.

Ruben's violence, manipulation, and cruelty don't create a sense of betrayal because they fit the abuser role he occupies. The audiences expect abusive behavior from him. People continue searching for context, explanations, even excuses. They seek the romanticized tragedy within him, and some invent it when they can't find it.