#coincidence in naming

[nessatwene-art]

Union! A fictional in New Jersey where the story takes place. Between the size of Philly and Chicago, Union takes a lot of inspiration from cities between the east coast and midwest.

While Unnaturals appear everywhere, Union seems to have a very high density of appearances. The leading Laboratory studying them, The Union Institute for Unnatural Research (UIUR) and the Unnatural Hunting Association (UHA, An organization tasked in hunting monster wreaking havoc) are headquartered in the heart of Union known as Center city.

The kids live a part of Union called Central, a borough inspired by Brooklyn and Newark just north of center city. Majority of the story and there investigations take place here and you can find many low tier unnaturals.

They go to Central High, one of the older High schools in Central. Ravenwood Academy also resides in Central in another neighborhood.

Robyn and Mark were both born and raised in Central. Lucas moved from South side, borough on the southern most end of Union, to Central when he was 8 years old. Clarissa moved from outside Union to Central when she was 10.

[mrjeremyman]

RAT DAD GHOST!!! HE HAS MANY RATS THEY’RE HIS FAMILY!!!

Phillip: absolute trouble maker, will escape and will cause chaos. Has to be separated from the group sometimes because he will start fights.

Gregory: Polite and gentle young lad, loves his berries. Ghost tends to let first time rat handlers hold him first to get a feel as Gregory isn’t fussy.

Ivo: Most skittish but over all nice. Never bites, will go bald soon.

Toms: most energetic and curious rat, is usually the one scrapping with Phillip. Fussy eater, might bite of feeling moody. But on a good day, very happy to get pets and to be held. Might run away if too excited.

I love them. So much.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

At your side [End of Season 2]

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[chloesimaginationthings]

The baseball reference on vanessas screen was genius because theres a baseball player named mike schmidt!

IM GLAD someone noticed this detail!!

[d4rk-x-w0lf-17]

i'm fucking sick. i just remembered that each time that n reached out to the girls that he loved, asking them to let him help them and it just got him hurt in the end

[jessmalia]

MAL'S TOP SEVEN VILLAINS: #2. Kai Parker (The Vampire Diaries) "You’re right. I am a liar, alright? I’m the black sheep. You know, the defective twin that nobody wanted. Must feel real nice for you to stand here judging me surrounded by all the things that you got out of life, while I spent eighteen years in isolation as the family reject. Let me tell you, every inch of me wants to kill you for that. EVERY PART! But I can’t. Because the only way that I can survive is if you help me. And I’d like to live, frankly. Because I didn’t get to do a whole lot of that before everyone decided… that I wasn’t worth it."

[colin-becher-death-countdown]

Re-listening to The Magnus Archives while dyeing my hair, when I was struck with this:

Episode 10 of The Magnus Archives and who just so happened to make his first appearance in Episode 10 of The Magnus Protocol

and it just so happens that he's chilling with a creature that seems very Hunt alligned

.....

Coincidence???

[daz4i]

having extreme soukoku brainrot recently so i decided to make it your problem as well ♥

[puppppppppy]

i like him

[visenyaism]

having a ridiculous amount of fun with this game. my bard’s lore is officially that she is a mildly annoying pop star who was real popular in the underdark and in the middle of her breakthrough into the baldur’s gate music scene like peak of her career when she got kidnapped and tadpoled. but shadowheart has no memories, karlach was in hell, gale is the worlds youngest boomer and doesn’t listen to whatever teens do these days, lae’zel is in an insular space cult, and it’s my understanding that astarion was locked up in some kind of vampire sex basement for like 250 years so literally no one in the party knows who she is and it is driving her insane. this type of situation for real

[seraphicghost]

as promised, Midnight x Inko B)  happy pride

[teatitty]

Funniest KakaIru first meeting to me is if they're forced to be roommates for whatever reason and Iruka just. Has no fucking idea who Kakashi is. Sure he's heard of the guy's reputation and stuff but how is he supposed to know that Kakashi-the-roommate is the same as Kakashi-the-infamous-shinobi? The Kakashi he knows is laidback and lazy and sleeps in until 11 and reads on the ceiling and uses the baby voice on his dogs

And Kakashi has no idea who Iruka is either. Yeah yeah he's heard about some delinquent kid who gave Asuma grey hairs early but the Iruka he knows mutters curses under his breath when he can't find something in the flat and reads historical drama's and slips his dogs extra treats when he thinks Kakashi isn't looking and stays up way too late doing work unless you bodily drag him off to bed

So you can imagine the tonal whiplash they both get when the shoe finally drops

[miyano-shiho4869]

so. you're telling me these girls are straight and both have male love interests? sounds kind of fake ngl.

[markscherz]

opinion on the infamous Sharkey et al debacle?

I have a LOT of opinions.

For those who don't know: Sharkey et al. advocate for the description of species based only on DNA barcodes (i.e. unique DNA sequence in specific regions of the mitochondrial genome), and have described hundreds upon hundreds of species of wasp using this approach. This is 'minimalist' taxonomy.

This is a very bad idea, for dozens of reasons. I recently mentioned how fun it can be to read reply papers. This is a great example. Here are the titles of the three papers I myself have coauthored in response to Sharkey et al.—I refer you to these papers to get a well-formulated view of my opinions on their approach.

[pdf]

[pdf]

[pdf]

My colleagues and I are not the only ones who have responded to Sharkey's highly dubious taxonomic approach.

[pdf]

[pdf]

[paulic]

why does he have insanely good style when he’s not wearing photoshoot clothes? Mary feeding us Paul candids for Father’s Day, everyone say thank you Mary!!

[secriden]

*cracks knuckles* Okay lets talk about the elephant in the room: Style going to the support group for those who've suffered loss and telling what appears to be a fake story about losing his pet dog.

I'm going to point out a few things that I think provide a framework for Style's actions here. Not because I think it excuses what he did, but because I think a nuanced read is what the character deserves.

Point 1: An irresistible opportunity

The subs put the "Support Group for Loss" on the image in the notebook, but I'm not sure there's anything to suggest that Style would've known that was what this image represents until he showed up and saw the sign on top of the door.

In episode 2, Bison says, "He plans everything down from years, months, weeks to days" and then tells Kant:

So Style is literally just going to addresses/locations at given days and times, potentially not knowing what to expect. And as much as Fadel is certainly attending this meeting as a response to having that heartbreaking flashback (😭), this is also something he attends regularly and has planned to attend way in advance. So Style has no reason to think Fadel is attending this meeting because of a recent resurfacing of his pain.

What we, the audience, and what the characters know are very different things.

Now, should Style have turned his cute ass right around once he realised what this meeting was? Of course he should. But that wouldn't have been true to Style's character. We've been told by his best friend that he is "crazy" and been shown repeatedly that he lives right up to that description.

Style is impulsive. He's all base instinct and he acts on his desires without thought or contemplation. And by this point he is desperate for a deeper connection with Fadel. He's fascinated, captivated by the mystery that is Fadel and this is an excellent opportunity to finally see behind the wall Fadel so carefully maintains.

When Style sees the sign above the door, Style looks at the notebook (which, again, shows nothing but people sitting in a circle with the words RISE UP) like he's just realising what it means. He then gets this amused, almost rueful look on his face (like he's thinking "am I really going to do this?") before it shifts to determination and he walks through the door.

(My soul for the ability to once again gif something because FUCK Dunk is doing SO MUCH in this show!!)

To Style, this is just too good of an opportunity to give up.

Because let's be real, Fadel is so clearly lying and hiding something:

Fadel is shady as FUCK. He is simultaneously actually a really good cook (Style finally tries his burger so he knows, now), and also has the skills to work at a strip host club, and also can take on 3 guys in a fight, and also can break a man's arm with his thighs. Can you honestly blame Style for losing his mind just a little bit about wanting to get his hands on something, anything, to figure this man out?

Style is being absolutely consistent in his persistence to understand Fadel. This isn't about the car or about finally 'winning' the fight (thank you @airenyah for giving such a detailed framework to understand what Style's been doing until this point) anymore. This is about Style wanting to know Fadel himself.

Point 2: The potential implications of the setting

Now, what might give us a bit of insight as to why Style is this way? I have a theory (albeit one that could prove to be very wrong, but hear me out). I think this whole entire show is set in what could potentially be quite a small town/suburb.

There's a few things that make this theory plausible:

(1) Fadel and Bison are in hiding after Bison blew their previous cover. They're probably on the run from some section of the authorities and so it makes sense to settle in a quiet/out of the way place.

(2) Style seems to be really familiar with the people in the area. Like he grew up there and its the kind of small town where everyone knows everyone and everyone is in everyone else's business.

(3) Style is clearly the darling of the market aunties and uncles.

Style just lost her a sale and potentially a loyal customer, and she's still rooting for him? In episode 2, when Style asks the uncle to let him borrow his cart, it takes nothing but his word for the uncle to give Style his entire cart of produce for his ridiculous scheme.

Style is so clearly someone they all know well and have great affection for, and a very plausible explanation for this is that they all watched him grow up and the entire market (town/village) is fond of him.

And honestly?? Yeah, we see the way Style is actually quite sweet in that careless, guileless, thoughtless way. He goes the extra mile to fix his mistake with Fadel by replacing his car parts for free in episode 1. He helps out by taking orders in episode 2 without being asked and takes it seriously. In episode 3, he tries to drive more business to Fadel's store (bless him, he so clearly does NOT understand how restaurants work, but he MEANS well!!), and can we all acknowledge that it works?? He understands how to appeal to potential customers in the area because he knows the people there. It's not (entirely) his fault that Fadel wasn't remotely prepared for an actual rush crowd and Bison was off getting kinky with Kant and not doing his (fake) job. He is so clear about not judging Fadel's host job and tries his hardest to help him (to absolutely NO effect, but still) when the 3 guys gang up on Fadel.

Style is so loved and more importantly so very loveable.

Point 3: What this could mean for Style's character

So, potentially, Style is someone who grew up in a small town, who has been well loved, potentially spoiled and coddled, but also very much kept within the confines of the narrow viewpoint that a quiet, country town places on you.

It's in the way his dad scolds him as if he was still a child when he's at least in his mid to late 20s. It's in the way Style was so mad at Fadel for scolding him ("thanks for the lecture, dad"), like that hit a sore point for Style. It's in the way no one in the market takes him seriously; they're fond, but he's still a kid in their eyes. It's in the way he has an abundance of free time like he doesn't REALLY need to work at his dad's shop. It's in the way he sees Fadel beat 3 guys up with ease, starts wondering if Fadel is an assassin or a hitman, and is completely unfazed like he doesn't quite have a handle on reality.

It's in the way his best friend is a man who has no qualms about lying to him and putting his life in danger, and how Style seems to have no other friends or people (aside from his dad) in his life.

@wuxian-vs-wangji made a comment to me about Style being desperate for a meaningful connection, and I think she hit the nail on the head. Because along comes Fadel, a mysterious stranger with a suspiciously versatile set of skills who is also very hot and keeps giving Style these wonderfully complex reactions? Who sometimes wants nothing to do with Style, but at other times seems to be at war within himself about desperately wanting him? Who treats Style with anything but apathy?

This is catnip to Style; he never had any hope of resisting this.

Breaking news: Style is a complex and imperfect character...

Here's the thing, though: he was never going to try. The show has been incredibly upfront about who Style is as a person. Regardless of whether I'm correct about why he is this way (ie. that he is very much the product of the environment that didn't know how to handle a kid with Style's personality), episode 3 shouldn't have surprised anyone about Style. He's been incredibly consistent and true to himself.

He wants Fadel and he's "crazy" enough to go all in, no holds barred about it, and the Support Group was the biggest doorway to finally discovering something REAL about Fadel.

And its not just about sex or to prove his superiority anymore. Because if it was just that, then Style would have reacted very differently to their first time.

In this scene, Style is pleased and evidently enjoying himself, but he isn't exuberant. He isn't overcome with joy. If anything, he was more happy and excited when Fadel let him help out in the diner (I mentioned this in the tags in this post too) than he was when Fadel is literally fucking him. He lets Fadel set the pace; barely moves to touch Fadel except to hold him close. Almost like he doesn't want to accidentally mess this up, like he's worried he'll take too much, so he'll take what Fadel gives him and no more (please appreciate @braceletofteeth's amazing tags on this post). For a character that has been so aggressively on the offensive, this is shocking until you realise that sleeping with Fadel - while it's a step in the right direction - isn't Style's end goal anymore.

And he makes that abundantly clear in this episode:

Does Style even fully realise the weight of this desire? I doubt it. But I do believe that Style is in earnest. He doesn't fully understand his own feelings, but he also doesn't really care to either. All he knows is that he wants Fadel, wants his attention and his passion and his focus and his heart.

...but Style is also kind of, sort of, perfect.

Because he's exactly, precisely, breathtakingly exactly what Fadel needs.

Because Fadel is hurt and broken and bleeding inside. Because Fadel is barely holding it all together for Bison's sake, but has already given up hope for any true happiness for himself. Because Fadel can't trust anyone or anything in his life, when he's been used and used and used by the family who should've loved and cared and protected him.

Because it's going to take nothing short of this kind of unwavering, unshakable, uncomplicated determination to give Fadel even a chance of healing and opening his heart to love again.