#i get his grief but it's still no fucking excuse for facilitating venetia's suicide

[island-in-the-shadows]

I've been seeing posts about that last scene between Oliver and Venetia and I definitely think it's a scene worth highlighting more. And yes, she's right for a LOT of it. And yes, it's very interesting that Oliver was openly crying even before he has his Category 5 Hurricane level breakdown at the grave. One of the things I personally find interesting is her scoffing at: you only knew him 6 months. Yes, that's true. And yes, Venetia is drunk and grieving and she lost her brother so comparatively Oliver crying so much would be silly. If I lost one of my brothers and some guy who'd known him six months was having a breakdown I would feel like that person is being ridiculous and that their grief means nothing compared to mine because I knew my brother for a whole life. I understand her perspective very well.

But I also think about things from Oliver's perspective. Of course, Venetia doesn't know that Oliver has (gonna go with has cuz 15+ years later he's still into Felix) these consuming feelings about Felix. She belittles his grief and, by extension, his love. Six months is not a lot of time. But six months is also PLENTY for people who fall in love. And if we include the time he was smitten but didn't actually interact with Felix, Oliver has been actively high on Felix for at least nine months at this point. I say high because that's (in a chemical sense) basically what happens when you're in love or super into someone.

So yeah he killed Felix (and I still think part of him held out for it not working at all). And yeah, he knew him for only six months. But, to him, the grief is seriously intense. All those good chemicals in his brain that were high on Felix are depleted and he's in a state of withdrawal. Is it any wonder he was wearing Felix's aftershave or wearing his clothes? They are tangible ways to feel like Felix is still there. And yes, I know there's also he partially wanted to be Felix thing but that's not what it is here. Smell is powerfully linked to memory. Smelling Felix's aftershave could easily trick his brain into believing Felix is there. Wearing his clothes has him feeling connected. Idk I just find his grieving process interesting as fuck especially given the circumstances and that he's trying to stay at Saltburn no matter what (though, again, I personally view this as going back to Felix).

TL;DR: Venetia is Mother for calling him out. Six months is quite a bit when you're in love with someone so Oliver probably felt belittled when Venetia dismissed his grief.