#Man this whole episode was just so… sad

[ryomaandgundhamkin]

Blitz…

THE THINGS YOU DO TO ME…

[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.

[konohamaru-sensei]

ah. it hurts

[dimension-20-every-introduction]

Everyone Introduced in Dimension 20's Fantasy High: Junior Year episode 17

[kacievvbbbb]

Okay maybe it's just me but i actually don't care what the writers wanted to put in a story but didn't and I dont think they shoyod be used to argue canon.

It's one thing if a writer is forced to hide some details in the subtext because of censorship or tv-money politics its another thing completely to cut out whole scenes and be like but actually we where going to do this this this and that but we took it out but it shows you are intention.

like if something was that important just put it in the show 😭. And sure pacing and all that but that's for fluff and unneeded storylines not pivotal character building relationship scenes 😭.

I love arcane I really do but I am tired of hearing about what the creators said they were going to put in the show but didn't but before season 2 I personally did not understand Jinx and ekko's relationship/dynamic until I watched the Enemy music video where we actually see them being really close as kids and i heard the “I used to have a crush on you before you started talking to the gun line” from the game.

but it was likethe show just expected us to have all that content without showing it to us. And I just ughhhhh this is why we need "filler" episodes

[angelsdean]

truly i think the best genre of song is "songs that most definitely played in the background of some early 2000s show, possibly with an actual guest musical performance by the band" like just something abt them.....ping deeply in my heart. and shows just aren't doing musical guests like that anymore. and we are worse for it.

[bumblingbabooshka]

I love Worf so much Worf I love you

[meltyrambles]

I recently finished watching Bonanza: "The Crucible" and...that ending.

:(

[lilacs-stash]

Everyone shut up and look at my cat

Bonus gay people

[whiteapplesandblackblood]

2023 actor award nominees chuuya nakahara and dazai osamu for that stunning performance everybody! give it up for our two best gay- I mean gorgeous actors!!!!

[hauntingblue]

BACK TO ONE PIECE LETSGOOOOO

[cyarsk52-20]

this is nice and all but mind you last week he was defending deshaun watson bc ppl booed him for being a serial rap*st. you don’t care about women.

[torgawl]

do we agree that the punch yuuji managed to land in sukuna is extremely similar if not of the same kind as the punch yuuji received from mahito's ultimate self-transfiguration form? yuuji seems to have the ability to directly inflict damage to the soul.

having in mind mahito was able to morph into a stronger body only when he realised the truest essence of his soul, which he achieved through the understanding of how black flashes work, would it be so weird to think that yuuji could potentially do the same thing as well? especially when: a) yuuji has managed to land (if i'm not mistaken in the number) a total of 7 black flashes so far in multiple occasions; b) yuuji has in his possession yuki's research on the soul; and, c) yuuji showed up with body modification to fight sukuna alongside higuruma.

yuuji was able to somehow manipulate his body into changing both of his arms (one arm with claws, much alike the one sukuna had when he was trapped inside yuuji's body, and one slightly similar to mahito's enlightened form).

yuuji is extremely insightful and it's not weird to think he might have taken his past experiences, especially instances with sukuna and mahito, to learn from them. joint with the fact yuuji is able to swap souls/bodies, something that was probably possible due to yuki's research, could yuuji have an understanding or even the ability of something akin to soul manipulation? i feel like with yuuji and mahito thematically being two sides of the same coin especially, something that is acknowledged by them with the "i am you" dialogue, it would be interesting if they essencially used a similar power to achieve opposite goals.

[lucksea]

the two possibilities that might also both happen whenever i watch leo is 1 im going to stop watching before finishing it like i did with return of ultraman because i hate it too much. or 2 im going to have to redraw sydneys "where are you taking me" "i dont know man. just with me for the rest of my life i guess" with me and leo and/or nefariously written seven who was originally supposed to be a completely different character

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

Garak in "Second Skin": I will NEVER sacrifice myself for you people I will ALWAYS selfishly save my own life that is a PROMISE

Garak in "The Search, Part II", three episodes earlier: [sacrifices himself for these people even when he could have selfishly saved his own life]

[codgod]

chip trying to use the compass to find gillion….. :(