#its just such a good episode. i adore it

[lesbianwithchainsaws]

I think it's time I accept Epidemiology might be my fav episode

[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 a very significant and profound way, Style is wholly deserving of Fadel's trust. 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.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Jingles a little bell in front of you to convince you to do tasks.

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[cowchickenbeefpork]

I know this is kinda the bare minimum in depicting systemic bigotry seriously in art but. I really do love how oz isn’t depicted as a disgusting man who hates every woman he sees.

he loves his mother, his female colleagues, he’s rather respectful to the women around in general, he’s normal about women. Despite being a gangster, he doesn’t go out of his way to make women or any minority for that matter uncomfortable around him. And yet he still told Sofia's father about the fact she talked to that reporter.

Despite knowing this wouldn’t do her any good, he still tattled. He still threw a woman under the bus in order to get ahead in this world. He still partook in systematic abuse toward women by that simple act. And he still takes true responsibility for his actions! He may say sorry for what he did but he won’t not do it again so he could get ahead!

That’s the problem with systemic bigotry at its core. It doesn’t matter if you don’t personally hate women. The fact that you are willing to hurt a woman in order to get power in your life is bigotry no matter how you twist it. You are using systemic sexism to make sure you succeed in life and no amount of loving your mother or the sex workers around you will absolve you of the fact you’ve done this multiple times!

[merthurians-prat-and-idiot]

Whenever a character says- "We were best friends- no, we were more than that..."

My head pops up like a meerkat like "is something queer afoot? Pls 🙏"

But at the same time I'm bracing for the-

"We were like brothers/sisters/siblings"

[luck-of-the-drawings]

EPISODE 2 AND 3 HAVE BEEN SOOOO FUN im already so emotionally attached to each of these characters.. if anything bad ever happens to any of them im killing everyone and then everyone.

[realbeefman]

been getting deeply emotionally invested in big bang theory past few days. been really big banging as they say.

[5hrignold]

yea

[eebie]

looks like SOMeone got visited by the autism fsiry

COCOMELON………..

[universalheart]

apocalypse

[leenaur143]

i am a person with a simple dream

🕯️skz code/wanteez where the boys are baristas and they run their own little café 🕯️

[technikki]

i actually adore how they did belos' death like. him first trying to pass it off as some curse/'i couldn't control myself' kinda shit and when he begins melting and realizing luz is absolutely not buying it he instead tries to guilt her into saving him by telling her she'd be evil to let him die. the way that even after fucking everything he's done he still refuses to take responsibility for it, it's not 'you'll be just as evil, conniving, unforgivable as me' but 'as those witches'. the way luz stays completely silent, her expression unchanging, not even granting him the dignity of a response as he's dying.

the final plea of 'we're humans, we're better than this!' still not getting a response from luz, but rather eda cutting in with 'well, we ain't!!' before her, raine and king stomp what's left of him into the ground.

people could say it was underwhelming or even just petty but honestly after ever the years of controlling and restricting the residents of the boiling isles, after the years of abuse towards hunter and all the other grimwalkers, after the attempt to COMPLETELY WIPE OUT EVERYONE LIVING IN THE BOILING ISLES, a petty death is all he deserves.

the colonizer tyrant who refused to believe he was in the wrong until the very end didn't deserve a big climactic death, but rather to be unceremoniously stomped to death by the people he hurt. he saw himself as the hero of this story, and to not grant him the big flashy death all heroes are given was the ultimate final fuck-you to him. raine was right when they said that that was extremely satisfying <3

[youngpettyqueen]

BJ menacing Hawkeye for absolutely no reason in Bottoms Up I can understand but why does everyone act like Hawkeye killed their mother. since when are they all Charles Emerson Winchester III stans. BJ being a bastard is perfectly in character but why is everyone else acting Like That

[waitineedaname]

funny story but you always rbing mob psycho stuff made me have a dream about getting like a physical version of the manga for it and reading it- i have had 0 interest in watching the anime or reading the manga for mp but after that dream i kind of want to?

OMG????? my power.... subconscious messages telling you to get into mob psycho........... I think you should do it, listen to the dream

[navree]

double date having been written by gail simone….yeah that tracks

[jackass-jones]

Starfire teen titans my best friend Starfire id burn alive for you