#this series had so much potential

[wallflowers-in-the-wind]

The more you look at the ACOTAR series the more messed up it seems.

SJM expected the audience to be introduced to the lord of spring in the first book. A man who is practically Eugene Flynn Ryder Fitzherbert incarnate with the flirting skills of Adam from Beauty and the Beast.

Have us fall in love with him to the point where people got their first book tattoos for him due to the book being a pretty decent but not Oscar winning romance novel with a Katniss Everdeen attitude as our protagonist.

Only to retcon the whole thing claiming it was ‘all part of her plan.’ Attempt to alter every character the fandom holds dear with only the ones left alone to be safe until she gets ahold of them.

With the new love interest being a walking red flag of SA, murder, various war crimes, and other unspeakable horrors. And the ‘found family’ that act like they’re better than everyone. And torture anyone deemed as a villain or ‘not to their standards’.

Any hope of things getting better is lost because SJM loves to pretend the previous books didn’t happen and misquotes events.

This fandom is held up by hopes, dreams, fan art, and fanfiction at this point. And I feel so sorry for the new readers who read the first book and fall in love with Tamlin and Feyre’s romance only for SJM to destroy everything about them and the first book and the rest of the series.

[highflyerwings]

They really should have fucked.

[miningroseakira]

before i get distracted by watching new wild life episodes again, here's some of my doodles from PerryRata's life series prediction whiteboard from before episode 1 of WL

! the boatboys one had an underlying sketch that someone put on the board as free to use - it's the thin yellow lines underneath the drawing. they didn't leave an @ anywhere but i did my best not to cover their signature, it's next to joel's head.

[Reblogs are great and help the artist, don't steal or trace, etc etc]

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

MDZS x ISAT part 1: In Stars and Necromancy.

(Part 2)

[1800-lemon-boy]

“I can’t help you if I can’t help myself” + “Who is going to help me if you’re not here?” duo but it’s just Bianca and Nico Di Angelo.

<33

[tangerinelabyrinth]

No because it kills me we're not getting another season. 😭

[odo-apologist]

Okay imagine you're Lister. Your Kochanski is dead. Your Rimmer is dead. But then your Rimmer comes back, and he's back because of you. You made him possible. Then he leaves- you encouraged him to leave. And another Kochanski appears. She's not your Kochanski but she could be. Only she doesn't want to be because you're not her Lister. And then you're confronted with a Rimmer who was your Rimmer, at one point, but not anymore, because he grew and you've grown and this Rimmer hasn't.

Then imagine you're Kochanski. Your Lister died, but he comes back because of you. You made him possible. And then you're forced to leave him due to things out of your control. And there's a new Lister who wants you to be some version of you that isn't you- his Kochanski. But you can't because you are not his Kochanski and he's not your Lister. You may never see your Lister again. You will never see your universe again.

And imagine you're Rimmer. This is your Lister. He has to be, because to you, for you, there is no other Lister. But you aren't his Rimmer. He's changed and he wants a version of you that has changed with him. He and this Kochanski (who is not his Kochanski but is the closest he has to her) and the strangers you're supposed to know are the reason you're here. They made you possible. But you are not their Rimmer. You are no one's.

Now imagine trying to be normal with this information in mind

[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.

[kismetconstellations]

[littlestkoi-n]

the rage I feel when reading Blood of Olympus chapters 45-56 is almost equivalent in magnitude to the absolute joy I experience when reading The Last Olympian chapters 1-23.

remember when percabeth was good? when they meant the world to each other but had other people they cared about (nico, for one. both of them. so much), other worries and other storylines aside from their romantic plot? and when nico's completed arc wasn't repeated for no reason other than to dump more trauma on the youngest character in the series? when background characters were included in the story not for all the unnecessary last minute romantic subplots but because they were fun and fascinating to learn more about? and were actually friends with main characters? remember when grover was percy and annabeth's best friend forever? and antagonists were actually interesting and intimidating and had compelling goals? and the story revolved around friendship and family and loyalty? and death was definite and loss was palpable and battles were thrilling?

yeah. good times.

[somewhereincairparavel]

Jason knew. He knew, the moment Caligula's spear had passed through his course of vision. He knew that he was finally going let go. As the spear pierced through his body, Jason couldn't have been happier, it was all over. He was covered in a bed of fresh leaking blood, the life slowly ebbing out of him as his veins pulsated. He would never have to continue living his horrible life anymore. He could finally rest. Jason had nothing to hold on to anymore, his anchor had dropped finally losing its purpose. His best friend Leo was some place else Jason didn't know of, his good friend Reyna had stopped talking to him, the girl of his dreams had decided that he wasn't the one. What more was there to live for? Even as he heard the screams of Piper and Apollo, Jason did not fight the urge to die. His blue eyes were fixed on the sky, the same sky that he had come from. He knew his friends needed him, he knew they would all be devastated to lose him. yet this one time, he didn't think of them. he didn't hold it all together like he had done his whole life, he was selfless since the moment he arrived at the wolf house at the ripe age of two, always wanting to please others, never refusing to help anyone, yet, in his last breath, Jason Grace was finally selfish enough to think of himself, he didn't want to live his life for others anymore, he wanted to put his sword down finally and plunge into eternal peace. And that's what he did. Jason Grace's eyes fluttered shut. He even had the urge to smile, a genuine smile of relief. Jason Grace was finally going to eternal slumber, the soothing thoughts of reaching elysium had made the pain in Jason's body evaporate, and there was no coming back, yet the son of Jupiter was feeling the happiest he's ever felt.

[spaghetticat3899]

When you absolutely despise something a lot of people like, and no matter what way you look at it you cannot see the appeal, but you know you can’t talk about it in public or else you’ll get dogpiled to hell and back, so you just kinda sit there frothing at the mouth like this

[intrepidtrickster]

Moominvalley and Snufmin

S4 Spoilers Under Cut

I’m so disappointed in how they handled Snufkin and Moomintroll this season. I had my worries, but I also had a lot of hope. They did deliberately put in those interactions. The team also kept reacting to mentions of Snufmin with winks and nudges in interviews and videos they put out. It makes me wonder what the point was. I genuinely feel like this was queerbaiting. And I don’t want to use that term because it doesn’t feel like one to use lightly. Even more so since I had such a great love for Moominvalley’s other seasons. Especially 1 and 2. It was genuinely really beautiful and soft and had such lovely queer undertones and moments. But I think it’s more than fair to say that the team knew about the reactions and how many people were introduced to it via Snufkin x Moomin. And they seemingly used that. They gave us build up but didn’t follow through. When it came down to it, they shrugged it off and didn’t address it at all. It felt so removed from Season 4. And I think that that, in essence, is queerbaiting. Because if you keep nodding to something throughout a series, using it to keep your audience waiting for the ‘inevitable’ conclusion to it that’ll certainly play out by the time the story ends only to snatch it away once you’ve secured your viewers and money, that is what that is. And I honestly expected better from the studio. If they weren’t going to commit, then they shouldn’t have kept bringing hopes up and making it seem like the direction it would go in.

(forgive the essay in the tags- I was thinking so many things)

[aroaceleovaldez]

they cast a 28 year old for Tyson 💀

[relevant rants: here and here]

yeah, i saw - i wasn't holding onto hope of them casting a disabled actor for Tyson (still disappointed, just not surprised) but casting a 28 year old for a middle schooler is really out of left field. It's just an odd choice? Particularly given how much they've been emphasizing age-accurate casting so far.

It makes me really wonder what major rewrites they have planned for Tyson's character. Because as things stand currently there's no way to make Tyson's existing character work with this casting. Tyson is supposed to be in Percy's grade, but Daniel Diemer sticks out like a sore thumb against the child actors. Tyson being in Percy's grade is pretty important for the entire arc of Sea of Monsters with the main character arc being Percy combating internalized ableism and establishing him as a character who stands up for other marginalized kids. If they remove that, what's Percy's arc going to be for that entire season? At what point are they going to establish that about his character? Or are they just going to exposition it at us like usual with nothing backing it up and no actual character progression? And in later seasons the age gap is only going to be more prominent - like how is Tyson going to work in BoTL or TLO? Are they planning on removing his character entirely for those scenes? Are they going to remove him as a recurring character in general? It'd be really weird if they killed him off or something.

I'm also afraid for if they do try to keep Tyson's disability coding in some form - cause there's kind of no good way it can go at this point. Either they completely erase Tyson's coding because they cast an abled actor for him and that messes up the entire arc of the book and his character particularly in relation to Percy, or they have an abled actor attempt to portray a character heavily coded as having down syndrome (and i believe they're already doing similar with iirc Chiron's actor is abled but they're doubling-down in the show on Chiron being disabled) and given how they've written the neurodivergence themes (or absence there of) in the show so far there's just no way that'd end well. Like, Tyson's characterization is a little questionable to begin with in the books, but given the show's writing so far it just feels like we're very rapidly ramping up for an extremely ableist characterization of Tyson. Like i'm sure Daniel Diemer is a great actor, but... i'm just getting real tired of the show erasing the entire premise of the series :T

anyways as per my initial post about pjo tv tyson casting theories i guess it's time for me to start tearing stuff apart with my teeth ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[mayabishopgold]

Can you just stand next to me? This helps. I think this is what I need right now. Maya & Vic | Station 19 - 1x07

[phoenixcatch7]

Loz fandom stop being angsty and give the daydreaming kids on big fun adventures with a cool glowing sword some actual whimsy and joy challenge