Tell me your five favourite things about Ian do it do it do it
S H I T … well this isn’t in any particular order:
I think he has a strong sense of justice, which is both good and bad. Bad in that witnessing injustice, can make him so angry to the point of irrationality which might in turn cause harm to himself or those he cares about as we’ve seen. Good in that, in an environment where most people are so desensitized to it, Ian’s response is usually impassioned and he takes action even when the situation can be scary. He sees what Mickey and Mandy’s abusers have done to them, and he can’t stand it.
Going along with this, Ian is highly skilled in self-defense. He’s physically strong, but unlike a lot of the men in his neighborhood who constantly need to show off, Ian doesn’t feel the need to. He’s content in his masculinity. He betters himself physically because it’s what he wants for himself, not what he needs to do to seem tough. Furthermore, even though he is highly skilled he doesn’t use his skills unnecessarily. He knows how to use a gun and knives and what have you, but he knows when and where it is appropriate to use such skills. In addition, he knows Carl is curious about a lot of these things and is pretty much the only one in the family who really monitors Carl without treating him like he’s a budding psychopath.
He’s got an incredible work ethic that I’m actually jealous of because I’m super lazy. He’s the only one in the family for the first three seasons who held down a consistent job. He contributes what he can, and tries to be as self-sufficient as possible. He doesn’t like to burden his family financially, knowing what they are already dealing with even though ROTC training and so on isn’t always cheap to prepare for. Anyways, if Ian wants something he does work hard for it and he believes hard work matters. It’s a mentality that is actually really important, because so many people struggle in his neighborhood and they see people like Lip and think that they could never hope to achieve what that kid can achieve. Ian isn’t a defeatist about it, though he does get angry when things don’t go as planned.
He’s empathetic toward people that are hard to love because he can put aside his preconceived notions to see the humanity in everyone. I think that’s what makes him so angry and passionate about witnessing injustice too, because he can’t simply look away and say “that sucks” and go about his day even when it’s someone that he might have a hard time liking. Along with this, he can be very forgiving towards people if he understand the reasoning behind their actions like when Mandy sent her brothers after him. Normally, anyone would have distanced themselves from her as much as possible after what she pulled on him. Instead, Ian becomes friends with her and trusts her more than a lot of people - even more than his siblings sometimes. Then, of course, there’s Mickey. Ian went from hating Mickey based on their earlier interactions, to wanting to protect him and love him and wanting Mickey to invest in himself.
He’s imperfect, and it’s actually perfect. He’s got shitty attitudes. He’s sarcastic as fuck. He steals shit, and gets a kick out of Mickey’s shitty antics sometimes. He can be an asshole. He’s not what people think he is on the surface level (innocent, an absolute angel, physically weak, etc.) He’s just as thrilled by violence as any other boy in his neighborhood, the difference is that he has a higher level of control. Yet, the body can fly into a rage and cause a lot of damage. He’s not one extreme or the other, y’know? He’s a complex person effected by a ton of internal and external factors, and you can really see how those factors shaped who he is. He’s the type of character we need to see more of along with Mickey because they provide a much needed depth to queer characters that are traditionally treated as token characters and/or are limited to stereotypical representations. They’re allowed to have great qualities and shitty qualities at the same time, and people feel conflicted watching them on screen and tbh that’s how you’re supposed to feel because it makes them human.
baratheonpilled
andulkaphoto
dededos
