I thought I didn't see it coming, but now I know they left us some clues
So to avoid some insanity this past weekend, I decided to do a little Bones watching. Since I'd already watched a fair amount of what was on Netflix, I decided to watch something more current. Let's just say that I'm now going to be missing the point of the show because I found a rare pair to ship. Awesome!
I cannot bring myself to care about the fact that I'm one of five people on the planet that actually digs the Camstoo. I'm just...I'm in love with it. It actually makes a lot of sense when one considers my preferences when it comes to love stories. I like them messy, ethically dubious, emotionally potent and intelligent. Camstoo ticks off every item on that list. I don't even care that it's a superior/subordinate romantic entanglement. In fact, I'm probably a little too sympathetic to it because that's how my parents met. On top of that, hello brain use! Both parties are not just very mentally intelligent. They both have stronger social and even emotional intelligence than many of the other characters having spent some time in the real world and not just focused on academia/lab work. And yes, it's messy. I can't wait to see what the fallout will be, because it promises to be a real shit storm. Yeah, I know B&B is the core of the show, but screw that. Camstoo is a lot more interesting, at least to me.
What I find myself wondering about with these two is how exactly their relationship evolved to become what it is now ( seemingly intense romantic involvement). Cam's feelings are not the clearest to me, but I suspect Arastoo's been enamored with her for a long time. I really do. While it's not made known how many relationships he's had in the past, it's naive to think he hasn't had any significant others in his life prior to Cam. Therefore, some of the things he says during "The Bod in the Pod" imply that he's in this for the long haul come hell or high water. I'm looking specifically at the fact that he calls his involvement with Cam "the best thing that has ever happened to [me]". How many people are going to say that four months into a relationship? Yes, that's how long I think they've been together, and I'll address that in a second. There's also the fact that he offers to quit his job and offers this up almost off-handedly while spending time with Cam one night. If he's willing to give up his job so they can stay together without fear of professional repercussions for either of them, that's kind of a bold declaration of his feelings.
I think I should probably take the time to discuss the method I used for coming up with this timeframe. I actually used two different methods. FIrst, I fcoused specifically on what happened in "The Bod in the Pod". When I first watched the episode, I thought it seemed a little sudden. When I watched it a second time, I realized the clues were right there in front of me. I just think they introduced them in an episode that had kind of a loaded case woven into the plot. Had the case been a little less, shall we say, intricate we would have seen this a bit more clearly. There are giveaways. For example, Cam slips Angela a hint about her new beau and then ends up grinning like a loon. It's a grin that's part new romance giddiness and "Hell yeah, I'm gettin' laid." With the latter, it seems to be on a regular enough basis that it would loosen up her personality, which we do see a bit at other points in the episode. Another thing is that they both act very guarded when they're in close physical proximity but other people are around. Angela's visit to Cam's office toward the beginning of the episode is a great example. Arastoo's eyes stay fairly focused on the payroll forms in an effort to not give himself away, but he damn near twitches from the effort it takes. A secret can only be kept for so long, and the fact that they're both keeping up such fronts with some difficulty indicates they've probably been at this for a while but are very close to losing control. Cam's defensiveness with that poetry book when she visits with Arastoo and Hodgins shows that even she's having a somewhat difficult time with keeping this secret.
As for the other method, well, I started combing through the backlog of episode in which Arastoo makes an appearance or is even mentioned (thank you, Bones Wikia!). I need to rewatch The Patriot in Purgatory because nothing's coming to mind right now (other than Arastoo stealing the episode and 9/11 being handled quite well). It's a really good episode, and even if you don't watch Bones you'll like. If you aren't a big Brennan fan, you'll appreciate the squintern focus of this one, which is a nice change of pace when it comes to storytelling. I'm getting off track here. The one episode that I find particularly interesting is The Don't in the Do. Yes, Arastoo's supposedly getting published, but it's his interaction with Cam that's enlightening. First, in all the times I've watched this show, I don't recall Cam ever letting someone else handle non-bone tissue. This time she lets Arastoo cut out the victim's tongue. I'm sorry about the possible gross out there. It probably doesn't help that it didn't really bother me. Then there was the end of the episode, where Arastoo is moping in the lab. Cam is apathetic and practically begs him to do something unrelated to work. His expression (so easy to mispalce an 's' in that word) softens, even though he doesn't leave the lab before the scene fades out. Even though there's a gap between them, the way they act during that exchange cuts the space in half figureatively (and perhaps even literally). A part of me can't help that Arastoo's behavior in that ep has less to do with that paper and more to do with getting together with Cam. It occurs toward the end of season 7, and then there's a roughly three month jump to the beginning of season 8. The math suggests it. Some sites also hint at Cam's objections to Michelle dating Finn as being rooted in her relationship with Arastoo (and these objections were raised in the episode before). This would actually make some sense. I think I'll need to keep combing the back catalogue for more clues.
So yeah, they're gettin' it on and proving to be a bit of a wedge. Not surprisingly, the reaction is mixed. I'm clearly in the minority of loving it. I'm dying for fic now. If fandom keeps hating on them, though, I just might have to write fic to piss them off. Maybe I could write something where they actually do end up in it for the long haul and things work out for them. I love happy endings for couples in really tricky situations. I really do.
I cannot bring myself to care about the fact that I'm one of five people on the planet that actually digs the Camstoo. I'm just...I'm in love with it. It actually makes a lot of sense when one considers my preferences when it comes to love stories. I like them messy, ethically dubious, emotionally potent and intelligent. Camstoo ticks off every item on that list. I don't even care that it's a superior/subordinate romantic entanglement. In fact, I'm probably a little too sympathetic to it because that's how my parents met. On top of that, hello brain use! Both parties are not just very mentally intelligent. They both have stronger social and even emotional intelligence than many of the other characters having spent some time in the real world and not just focused on academia/lab work. And yes, it's messy. I can't wait to see what the fallout will be, because it promises to be a real shit storm. Yeah, I know B&B is the core of the show, but screw that. Camstoo is a lot more interesting, at least to me.
What I find myself wondering about with these two is how exactly their relationship evolved to become what it is now ( seemingly intense romantic involvement). Cam's feelings are not the clearest to me, but I suspect Arastoo's been enamored with her for a long time. I really do. While it's not made known how many relationships he's had in the past, it's naive to think he hasn't had any significant others in his life prior to Cam. Therefore, some of the things he says during "The Bod in the Pod" imply that he's in this for the long haul come hell or high water. I'm looking specifically at the fact that he calls his involvement with Cam "the best thing that has ever happened to [me]". How many people are going to say that four months into a relationship? Yes, that's how long I think they've been together, and I'll address that in a second. There's also the fact that he offers to quit his job and offers this up almost off-handedly while spending time with Cam one night. If he's willing to give up his job so they can stay together without fear of professional repercussions for either of them, that's kind of a bold declaration of his feelings.
I think I should probably take the time to discuss the method I used for coming up with this timeframe. I actually used two different methods. FIrst, I fcoused specifically on what happened in "The Bod in the Pod". When I first watched the episode, I thought it seemed a little sudden. When I watched it a second time, I realized the clues were right there in front of me. I just think they introduced them in an episode that had kind of a loaded case woven into the plot. Had the case been a little less, shall we say, intricate we would have seen this a bit more clearly. There are giveaways. For example, Cam slips Angela a hint about her new beau and then ends up grinning like a loon. It's a grin that's part new romance giddiness and "Hell yeah, I'm gettin' laid." With the latter, it seems to be on a regular enough basis that it would loosen up her personality, which we do see a bit at other points in the episode. Another thing is that they both act very guarded when they're in close physical proximity but other people are around. Angela's visit to Cam's office toward the beginning of the episode is a great example. Arastoo's eyes stay fairly focused on the payroll forms in an effort to not give himself away, but he damn near twitches from the effort it takes. A secret can only be kept for so long, and the fact that they're both keeping up such fronts with some difficulty indicates they've probably been at this for a while but are very close to losing control. Cam's defensiveness with that poetry book when she visits with Arastoo and Hodgins shows that even she's having a somewhat difficult time with keeping this secret.
As for the other method, well, I started combing through the backlog of episode in which Arastoo makes an appearance or is even mentioned (thank you, Bones Wikia!). I need to rewatch The Patriot in Purgatory because nothing's coming to mind right now (other than Arastoo stealing the episode and 9/11 being handled quite well). It's a really good episode, and even if you don't watch Bones you'll like. If you aren't a big Brennan fan, you'll appreciate the squintern focus of this one, which is a nice change of pace when it comes to storytelling. I'm getting off track here. The one episode that I find particularly interesting is The Don't in the Do. Yes, Arastoo's supposedly getting published, but it's his interaction with Cam that's enlightening. First, in all the times I've watched this show, I don't recall Cam ever letting someone else handle non-bone tissue. This time she lets Arastoo cut out the victim's tongue. I'm sorry about the possible gross out there. It probably doesn't help that it didn't really bother me. Then there was the end of the episode, where Arastoo is moping in the lab. Cam is apathetic and practically begs him to do something unrelated to work. His expression (so easy to mispalce an 's' in that word) softens, even though he doesn't leave the lab before the scene fades out. Even though there's a gap between them, the way they act during that exchange cuts the space in half figureatively (and perhaps even literally). A part of me can't help that Arastoo's behavior in that ep has less to do with that paper and more to do with getting together with Cam. It occurs toward the end of season 7, and then there's a roughly three month jump to the beginning of season 8. The math suggests it. Some sites also hint at Cam's objections to Michelle dating Finn as being rooted in her relationship with Arastoo (and these objections were raised in the episode before). This would actually make some sense. I think I'll need to keep combing the back catalogue for more clues.
So yeah, they're gettin' it on and proving to be a bit of a wedge. Not surprisingly, the reaction is mixed. I'm clearly in the minority of loving it. I'm dying for fic now. If fandom keeps hating on them, though, I just might have to write fic to piss them off. Maybe I could write something where they actually do end up in it for the long haul and things work out for them. I love happy endings for couples in really tricky situations. I really do.