andd(ga)y

she/her || lg(b)t || 26 || BTS supremacist first, human second || asoaif

[danielsarmand]

who was it that was going on about jamie and stuart acting together in an age-gap yaoi? because i think they're listening if you want to speak up (thanks @boo-kei for the edited pics!!!)

[glossope]

Breaking my silence: it was me ajsksjsj I just went bonkers over the size difference and my mind envisioned young introvert freaky top Stuart railing older bratty desperate bottom Jamie and just exploded 🙆🏻‍♀️

[glossope]

This panel has been basically a slap to the face to the moral police dumbasses that called r3tarded to anyone who shipped Ruben and Niall.

Literal representation of this:

“Rubambi loved each other both fraternally and sexually", i say into the mic. the crowd boos me, tomatoes are thrown. i hang my head in shame. as i begin to retreat off the stage two voices carry above the roar around me to say: "NO SHE'S RIGHT” the men behind the voice? richard gadd and jamie bell.

[glossope]

TVL concert and Half Man FYC event BOTH today with tons of rpf sprinkles courtesy of EricAssad and Gaddell holy shit two cakes! I love my toxic fucked up freaky queer shows 💖💖💖

[boo-kei]

Jamie & Richard on the Red Carpet for the Gothams 🍃

[boo-kei]

THE HALF MAN FOURSOME | THE GOTHAMS (JUN. 1, 2026)

[boo-kei]

Jamie Bell & Richard Gadd (ft. Kate Mara) ↳ 2026 Gotham Awards Red Carpet

[messymindofmine]

Something I am really fascinated by is the role the characters of Mona and Alby play in Niall and Ruben's life. It is made clear that both are loved as ideas by Niall and Ruben and both are connected to both of them. Mona is connected to Niall through that first night where she took his virginity as facilitated by Ruben. And then later, Ruben sees her as proof of his masculinity and Niall is reminded of how the only reason Mona had sex with him is because Ruben facilitated it. And then later, when Niall rebuffs Mona's advances after having been spying on her at Ruben's demand only to then kiss her himself and have sex with her in the home that her and Ruben share. It is the only way he can be close to Ruben and it is also an attempt to feel the power that Ruben has that he so covets. Only for Mona to not want anything to do with him after while continuing to want Ruben. He fathers the child that Ruben has always wanted and keeps it a secret until he sees Mona go back to Ruben. And all that while, those feelings of love and hate and the trauma from Ruben's violence on him continues to burn within him.

And then Alby. Alby is also connected to Ruben through violence. Alby is the first boy Niall has shown interest in. Ruben encourages Niall to go after Celeste because Celeste isn't a threat to what he has with Niall. Alby is. And even if Ruben was not capable of recognising that for what it was, he knew in the deepest part of his soul. And so when he saw Alby shove Niall, even though it was very obviously an accident and Niall tried to pull Ruben away, Ruben was willing to knock Niall unconscious so he could freely display his rage and scar Alby's face. And like Mona, that connects Alby to both Niall and Ruben. And the thing is, we never really see the result of how Alby and Mona have been affected by the violence outside of their interactions with Niall. Because both from a Doylist standpoint and a Watsonian standpoint, they are ideas that Niall and Ruben project on. They are not fully realised people. And it's not just Alby and Mona that Niall and Ruben do this to. Every person in their orbit is affected by it to some degree. But it's Alby and Mona that are connected to both Niall and Ruben and provide a link for those two to each other. In a way, it could be argued that in order to be free and live their own lives, Mona and Alby needed Niall and Ruben to be permanently gone from theirs.

Of course, from a practical standpoint, the show has a limited time frame and a specific story to tell so we couldn't have seen much of the other characters as they existed independently because they were never the main characters to begin with. But within the story itself, everyone ends up fading in significance no matter how great the impact Niall and Ruben have on them. In the end, it is only Niall and Ruben and everything they have for each other. And that's not even in the sense of wanting the two of them together or supporting a toxic, abusive relationship. It's the reality of the story that we are seeing and it is important.

[1osingdog]

literally never getting over this…. ruben’s hand placements, the framing, the sheer manic desire in his eyes at times i actually thought he was gonna kiss him

[tumelothee]

OH homophobia, one will find a way.

When watching Ruben and Niall establish their connection, it becomes very clear that it is more than brotherly. I mean, the homo-ness of it all is literally screaming at us! But because they both live in a time where that was forbidden, it comes out through subtle and disguised ways. One way that it comes out that is so intriguing, is through the use of women, specifically how Ruben uses women to sexually connect to Niall.

The first instance, Ruben being grateful of Niall's help with his exam, he rewards him with an opportunity to lose his virginity by bringing a girl into their private space. During that scene, the focus is not on the act but on how Ruben guides Niall through it. Obviously it is signaling that it is Ruben wanting to pleasure Niall, like the hand-to-chest contact, the eye-f*cking, the SYNCED BREATHING! (Richard Gadd your mind.............) All those things merging to gesture sex, specifically between Niall and Ruben.

(And I just want to make it clear that it is RUBEN coming up with these ways to form a physical bond with Niall because he probably suspect of Niall's queerness and lack of interest in girls. I see you Ruben.👀👀👀)

The other instance is at Niall's university. The male ritual bonding of trying to charm and get with girls (Celeste and Joanna). The spin the bottle scene of it all. Ruben kissing Celeste to Celeste kissing Niall, that's Ruben sneaky way of kissing Niall! Honestly, as I am thinking about it, RUBEN LOWKEY HOPELESSLY ROMANTIC.🤣😭 Alby coming into the mix and disturbing that flow must have been threating as hell for RuRu.

In saying all of that, Ruben still directly physically tries to connect to Niall but only when necessary. Like, in the bedroom scene, Niall couldn't get hard so what does Ruben do? He grabs that boys ding-a-ling and "helps". And at that point its just so obvious that Niall is gay gay gay GAY LOL!🤣🤣🤣

Ruben and Niall really don't even need to kiss or get physically intimate with each other, they've done so much more freakier stuff spiritually. Richard Gadd, you're such a freak.......I LOVE YOU. 🫡🫡🫡🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾

[boo-kei]

Richard on Niall's death

[jonmoxleys]

I feel it everywhere. It sort of runs through me in a way. 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 of you or something. Chemically dependent. I don't know.

HALF MAN 1.06

[softdevotion]

You love me, don't you?

[timetoboldlygo]

im obsessed w the fact that the prison scene, the airing out of all these secrets, still does not touch on niall's own assault at ruben's hands . its amazing . it's still something they can't talk about . they can air everything out and call each other brothers and still not this . i don't even think he knows WHY he tells ruben "no it's too much" when hearing about ruben's own sexual abuse, when he hears that it's the closest ruben's ever been with someone! to say it he would also need to acknowledge that he IS attracted to ruben and that their relationship which has had this sexual abuse in it the whole time is also the closest he's been with someone!

[danielsarmand]

it couldn't have ended any other way because they had been killing each other for years. they didn't kill each other then and there in that barn, they did it a LONG time ago. it just took them a while to die

[deleuzes]

right…

[sammyhale]

The range of emotions Ruben goes through at the end, though. The borderline horror and grief as he follows through with killing Niall (god, his last, terrifying moments) and the way he stares down at him as the tears drop, then the way he begins to calm and he takes in the stab wound, and when he looks back at Niall, Ruben gives him a little smile and a nod, like he's proud of the way he fought back because he knows Niall got him good (a "well played, brother," in his mind, maybe), and then that final "apathetic" grunt at the end signifying his acceptance that the ride is over. He's not going to try to leave this barn looking for help to stop the bleeding. If Niall's gone, what's the point? Back to prison for life now with no one to visit him? No. That last grunt is Ruben deciding in that moment he's going to bleed out in that barn, choosing to die with his brother. That's the final look on his face we see.

[glossope]

Once again @ Richard & Jamie: start writing those fucking acceptance speeches because I'm getting y'all every possible award I can get my hands on okay? YOU DESERVE IT SO MUCH

Can't not mention Mitchell Robertson and Stuart Campbell because they deserve every bit of credit for embodying Niall and Ruben as teens 👏