#For a single scene

[trivialcrow]

“I want to kiss you.”

Jason blinked and looked up from his book. He fought the urge to glance behind him to see if someone else had entered the room. It was ridiculous, because no one else could have entered without him noticing, but it still seemed more likely than the statement that had just left Rayner’s mouth being directed at him.

“What?”

Kyle was staring down at the sketch pad in his lap, gnawing on the end of his pencil. He glanced up when Jason spoke and arched an eyebrow. “What?”

Heat burned up Jason’s neck. “I thought you - nothing. Never mind.”

It was too much to hope that the chair would swallow him whole, so Jason lifted his book and pretended to get absorbed back into the pages. Across from him, the old leather of Rayner’s chair creaked, but Jason refused to look up.

He wasn’t even supposed to be stuck here with just Rayner. The lantern had shown up to visit Connor, who had been visiting Roy at the same time that Jason had also been in the city. Which was fine. Until Connor and Roy had disappeared on an urgent ‘shopping’ trip with brief orders ‘not to kill each other,’ and left Jason alone with Kyle.

Fingers closed over the top of Jason’s book and tugged it out of his hand. A muscle jumped in Jason’s jaw and he slowly lifted his head, eyes narrowed. “Can I help you?”

Kyle said nothing. He slipped the bookmark off the arm of the chair and then gently placed the closed book on the coffee table behind him. Jason’s eyes followed the action before flicking back to Rayner’s almost blank expression. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“You,” Kyle said, his voice thrumming with an odd intensity. “You drive me up the goddamn wall. I hated you, you know?”

Yeah. Jason knew. It was hard to fucking miss. Rayner was about as subtle as a sledgehammer with his feelings. Not that Jason had helped himself any back when they first met. “Not exactly breaking news, Rayner,” he said. “Doesn’t explain why you’re in my space.”

“Seems only fair,” Kyle said. He braced his hands on either arm of the chair and leaned over Jason until their faces were inches away. “Since you won’t get out of my head.”

What. The. Fuck. “Are you drugged or something?” Jason asked. “Get into some kind of weird alien shit before you made landfall?”

Kyle laughed, the sound spilling out of him like cheap whiskey. “I wish,” he said. “That’d make all this make way more sense. You’re an arrogant asshole. You wind people up, just for fun, and then laugh when they spin out. You’re antagonistic about everything. All the time. And 90% of the time, I just want to punch you in your stupid, perfect face.”

Jason stared at him. Not that he had much choice, with Rayner three inches away from his face, but that was… a lot. “You realize you’re in stabbing distance, right?”

Kyle grinned, his dark blue eyes wild with delight. “Worth the risk.”

Jason frowned and then grunted as he suddenly had a lap full of green lantern. Kyle straddled Jason’s thighs and closed the distance between them. The collision of their lips was harsh, more fight than fireworks, but Jason’s hands snapped up to Kyle’s waist, regardless. His fingers clamped hard into the soft fabric of Kyle’s t-shirt, dragging him closer when he intended to push him away.

Kyle lifted onto his knees and grabbed Jason’s face between his hands, holding him still as he shoved his tongue against bitten lips. Jason groaned and let his mouth fall open, certain his brain was short circuiting. Kyle continued to push his advantage.

He tangled his tongue with Jason’s, sealing their lips together until Jason knew the only air he was breathing was Kyle. With a final, parting swipe of his tongue, Kyle pulled away, catching Jason’s bottom lip between his teeth. Jason barely felt the flash of pain before they broke apart completely, Jason falling boneless against the back of the chair. “What. The. Fuck.”

Kyle stayed in his lap, sitting back on his heels and dragging fingers through his hair as he worked to catch his breath. “I already told you,” he said. “I want to kiss you.”

[holographings]

my softest, beigest pillow

[hexcoreviktor]

In all timelines. In all possibilities.

VIKTOR & JAYCE 🦋 season 2

[whydoihavetoart]

apéritif

[forceuseralona]

THE OLD GUARD (2020) - Yusuf al-Kaysani & Nicoló di Genova ~ everyone's favorite van scene ♥

[dirtgrubber]

this chapter was so good i couldn’t choose a scene

from @morningstarwrites Of Saints and Sinners

[akascow]

HIS ! LOVE ! LANGUAGE ! IS ! PHYSICAL ! TOUCH !

which is even more depressing when u remember he was thrust into the bottom of a cave completely alone with no one to hold but himself for weeks 🫠

plus FOREHEAD TOUCH !!!!

and bonus lol:

dead!jayce responds to viktors touch

also this bc its funny

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Thank you all for an incredible 500 days of love and support. I offer you: answers to questions that no one has asked.

(As always, more can be found in the tags <3)

[benevolenterrancy]

He'd just finished speaking when Mobei-Jun sent Shang Qinghua flying forward with a kick. And he really did go flying... flying... flying... [...] he tumbled and skidded as he went flying into the hole, to "investigate and ascertain the situation". After a long, dead silence, a terrified scream suddenly exploded from within the cave.

The absolute business-like manner with which Mobei-Jun decided to "volunteer" Shang Qinghua nearly killd me, the visuals of this scene are unparalleled

[ilovemesomevincentprice]

Vincent Price - Diary of a Madman (1963) dir. Reginald Leborg

[krazieka2]

Here's a big old Fire Emblem Search & Find I did for the FE3H Masquerade Zine! Find the Golden Deer, but see if you can't find the rest of the students as well! For the ultimate challenge, see if you can't name every character! (Disclaimer two characters are NPCs with no names)

[avelera]

Absolutely crazy when you think about it that the most selfish thing Jayce ever did for love was bring Viktor back to life and the most selfless thing he ever did for love is shoot Viktor through the chest; and both were about finding a way to save him

[secriden]

There's something so wondrously momentous about Style only saying his "I love you" now, when he realises that all the secrets he was keeping from Fadel are already laid bare.

He says this a significant time after Fadel has said his (and, in the context of the wider narrative, after Kant and Bison) and for the character we have seen as prone to glibness, exaggeration and flippancy with his words, that feels incredibly intentional.

Because this confession was the only truth Style had left to give.

Fadel is finally done playing his (poorly thought out) game, done with his (already cracking at the seams) charade, done with giving Style more opportunities to pull at his heartstrings with his earnestness lies.

Fadel is demanding the truth, and tells Style exactly what truth he wants to hear.

And the thing is, there is truth in this: Style's motivations at the start were wrapped up in a deception specifically targeting Fadel.

I know we, as a fandom, harp on about Style "doing all that for a car", but something I would like us all to revisit is what Kant actually says to Style when he first asks Style to "hit on" Fadel:

Kant: You need to help me. You know I don't usually feel this way about someone. And then shortly later, after Style refuses: Kant: Hey, hold on. (Kant grabs Style's hand.) What do I have to do to for you to help me out? Should I pay you?

(Please forgive my inability to gif and watch Style's reaction to this.) Style is visibly surprised and intrigued. Kant seems to be serious about this request, and I think Style decides to test just how important it is to Kant by asking for the one thing he knows Kant will not give up.

Just look the expressions on Style's face. We didn't have the context of knowing Style back then as well as we do now, but this is the look Style gets when he's throwing out a challenge (to Fadel), when he's trying to ferret out some new insight (from Fadel), when he wants to see how someone (Fadel) will react to whatever outlandish (provocative) thing he's said or done.

And when Kant agrees, Style even checks again if Kant is serious about going through with it -- and it's this that convinces Style of the sincerity of Kant's request.

Yes, the car was a factor, and yes Style also wanted revenge and to humble Fadel, but at the centre of Style's motivation has always been a plea for help from a friend.

In episode 1: Kant: Under one condition. You have to make him head over heels in love with you. Style: I'll do it. Not just for the car, but someone like him needs to be humbled by someone like me.

But in agreeing to help Kant, Style really was damning Fadel to play the fool because Fadel's feelings (his heart) was a commodity that Style was fully willing to play with back then.

And there are aspects of truth here too. When Kant tells Style about Fadel (and Bison) being hitmen, Style decides he's done and wants out. Kant reasons that it's more dangerous for Style to break up with Fadel now, because it would look suspicious, but crucially this isn't enough to convince Style.

So Kant, once again, makes the plea to friendship and to his need for Style specifically, and it is this that causes Style to finally cave.

But in doing so, the things that Style agrees to are:

Kant: Work with me. Help me get more information about them. Once we get that, it's done. Captain puts them in jail, and we walk free.

So while Style may not be directly working with the police, he is working with Kant who he knows is working with the police. By proxy, Style is involved with the police, but in front of the empty pool, he makes it clear to Fadel just what that involvement actually entailed:

Style: Kant asked me to take you out so you could leave him alone and he could freely investigate. Fadel: What did he get out of it? Style: I don't know! That ain't my business! All I was asked of is to take you out.

And this, too, actually is true! Since finding out, Style has literally not discovered a single thing that could be remotely useful to the police investigation:

He's found out that Fadel likes to gym at night. He's found out that Fadel uses tenderloin in his burgers. That he runs in the morning before going to the market. That he attends a grief support group.

But these were all things Kant also already knew and could have given the police if it were in any way useful for the investigation.

Even his attempts to get Fadel to confess to his "other job" (something the police also already know) were clearly in service of wanting to save Fadel and/or convince him to give up the life of crime in the hopes that Fadel wouldn't have to be sent away from Style to prison.

But the truths are tangled up in misunderstandings and Fadel's own assumptions now; and also further tainted again by Bison's own hurt over Kant's betrayal. And Fadel literally cannot see -- because his eyes are filled with tears [see: @thisautistic's gifset + my tags] (good grief, Joong, the actor you are) -- the honesty Style is bleeding from the marrow of his bones.

Because the truth is that along the way Style has also found out that Fadel is a good older brother. That Fadel is still hurting and bleeding inside because his parents were murdered. That Fadel wears his favourite bands' make up in secret because he cannot bear the thought of other's judgement. He's found out that Fadel misses Style, wants Style, and hates himself for it. That Fadel is afraid to love. That Fadel is acutely aware of his own darkness and cannot comprehend an existence that would not involve someone (Style) rejecting it. That Fadel does not believe that 100% trust is possible, but that he will get himself drunk so that he can offer Style as much vulnerability as he can physically make himself give.

Because the things that Style did find out were all the ways Fadel's heart is soft and tender and precious and worthy worthy worthy of all the love Style has to give.

And Style will stand firm on this truth because this is the only thing he has left to give Fadel.

Because Fadel knows, now, all the ways Style was unworthy of his trust, but crucially has not figured out the most important truth:

Because in all the ways that Fadel has ever known he should want, Style actually IS worthy of his trust. Style knows the truth Fadel is hiding, knows what this man is capable of, knows the danger of being in his arms, knows the likely nonexistent future Fadel has to offer him -- and wants him anyway. -- Quoted from my meta post on the "One day, I'll be your 100%" line.

And as I alluded to in the tags on @yinwaring's insightful post: Style fully embodies the belief he espouses; because even in the face of a gun to his head and Fadel threatening to kill him if he will not admit that this, too, is a lie, Style refuses to give Fadel anymore dishonesty.

And this is because Style knows that the truth matters; now more than ever.

Because Style has had days to grapple with his worry after Fadel's disappearance. Style has had a week's worth of checking the diner only to face the regret he feels about not handling things differently. Style has had to recognise the terror of thinking he had lost something he never even knew he wanted in the first place.

And while Fadel had his realisation back in episode 4, Style never had to face this until Fadel vanished from his life and left a gaping hole in the shape of the absence of Fadel's smile.

So if this is what it takes, if this is the penance that Fadel demands of him, then it is a price Style is most happy to pay.

Because Fadel does not realise is that Style, too, now knows what it means to lose a love worth fighting for.

And in the war Fadel now feels compelled to wage against Style (because, yes, that's definitely still going on), the one damning thing Fadel has failed to recognised is that his only true weapon was leaving Style behind.

Which is why Style has already won. Not because Fadel's walls have crumpled again or because they don't still have a ton of things to talk through and work out (they really, really do), but because Style has already been stripped bare (and I mean this literally, like we all recognise THAT was the reason why Dunk is only in boxer shorts in that scene, right?? Like, I know we were joking about it, but seriously, that was so very intentional and a visual representation of Style being both stripped and, most importantly, freed from the lies he felt compelled to tell Fadel) and this means he has nothing holding him back.

And Fadel can wield his gun and his words and his anger and his hurt, but Style will die on the hill of the truth that he knew and understood and chose to love Fadel anyway, and saved this last confession for when he knew he could tell Fadel the truth without any lingering deception; and when the time is right, when Fadel is finally ready, Style will be there to welcome him back with open arms and, without any hesitation, an open heart.

[corrodedbisexual]

"Where'd you learn how to do this?" "Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball, my old man was teaching me how to hot-wire. Now, I swore to myself I wouldn't wind up like he did, but now I'm wanted for murder, and soon, grand theft auto. So, uh, I'm really living up to that Munson name." "Eddie, I'm not sure I love the idea of you driving." "Oh, I'm starting this sucker. Harrington's got her. Don't ya, big boy?"

[twicearoundthebend]

Everyone who’s complaining about Hera being the mc of war of the Rohirrim- genuinely who do you think should be the mc instead??

Because I reread the story in the appendices, and I understand that she doesn’t even get a name in the book, but she’s literally the only character that’s there for all the action and doesn’t die partway through.

Her brothers? Dead. Helm Hammerhand? Dead. Her cousin? Gone for most of the battles. And it makes way more sense to focus on Helm’s daughter- someone with deep emotional ties to all this loss, and an emotional tie to the villain- as opposed to focusing on some random soldier or general

Just say you hate women and leave it at that, don’t try to justify it with ‘I just want it to be accurate to the books!’