#so I'm balancing both

[secriden]

Not to be a Style apologist, but I feel like some viewers haven't quite picked up that Style's brand of wooing Fadel is quite literally intentionally designed (by both the writers and the character) to be as annoying and frustrating as possible.

Lets consider:

Style thinks his bff is in love for the first time in his life. He thinks Kant is genuinely down bad for Bison: let’s not forget his clear surprise when Kant agreed to give up the car. As far as Style is concerned, Kant is acting really out of character and it's because Kant desperately wants to be with Bison.

He also thinks the only thing standing in the way of True Love™ is Fadel, who according to Kant is being unreasonably difficult about Kant and Bison dating. He doesn't know that Kant has a secondary motivation, nor does he know about the mind games that Bison is playing with Kant. Worse, he has no frame of reference or context to make any of Fadel's animosity towards Kant reasonable.

Moreover, while I think we all agree that Style made a terrible first impression on Fadel, the same has to be said of Fadel towards Style. Like, yes, absolutely Style was in the wrong, but Fadel came off as not only condescending and impatient, but unreasonable (and very weirdly cagey) when Style tried to immediately offer a resolution. Again, Style has no frame of reference for why Fadel would first demand that he take responsibility for his actions and then immediately after claim to have no time to entertain Style's attempt to take said responsibility.

Also, it doesn't help Style's wounded pride that Fadel keeps 'besting' him at every turn. So at this point I think a significant portion of that initial attraction (in ep 1) has shifted to annoyance when it comes to Fadel. By the time he gets his hands on Fadel's information, I think he's more than a little invested in some payback. While I think Style very much still wants to help Kant (and Bison) out, at least a part of him figures as long as he keeps Fadel busy, he kind of meets his goal. And if he gets to embarrass, frustrate and otherwise harass Fadel along the way, all the better!

You can see him start to have some fun with it. He ramps it up SO much in ep 2. He gets to lean into that wild, brash, playful personality because he doesn't really care if Fadel likes him. Style gets to be dialled up to extremes, and I love that for him because he's honestly kind of justified because he knows so fucking little about what's really going on. I think it's only fair if the other 3 are playing 4D chess while Style only has the Uno game rules in front of him, he gets to be the most Unhinged about it.

So, yeah, while I absolutely agree with all the posts out there that recognises just how reasonable and polite and tired Fadel is, I do think we need to give Style some credit here. He's absolutely SO extra, but he's also the one, arguably, that has been lied to the most and I feel that he deserves some slack for that.

[starssoblue]

i'm teasing you! i love you just the way you are, marinette dupain-cheng.

[mohntilyet]

Wait is the middle picture from those three sketches that one scene from the wigmaker job?

yes! it's this specific passage where lucanis is just seething with rage and trying to keep a lid on it, and illario's a stablising, comforting presence. BROTHERS!!!!! <3 though i chose to draw his hand on his shoulder rather than his arm i guess. artistic liberty!

[dewwshi]

princess of mithral hall

[anistarrose]

Don't think enough credit is given to the Announcer for being literally the first character to speak in TAZ and the character who starts the "fantasy x" gag of Fantasy Costco fame with their very first line. "Strap on your fantasy seatbelts and brace your asses," indeed. Their influence is unmatched.

[ruvviks]

‘I’ll fuck you up,’ Cato spat before she could stop herself, her voice hoarse as it left her lips— words scraping past raw throat and it caused her to cough, the raspy noise echoing through the room. ‘I don’t doubt that for a second.’ A pause, as Vitali Dobrynin reached into his pocket and took out a key, then reached for Cato’s wrist and— respectfully keeping his hands to himself— freed her from her restraints. ‘Cato Wu,’ he said, grabbing a chair from the side of the room and setting it down next to the surgery bed while Cato slowly sat up a second time, carefully now, allowing the dizziness to settle before she moved any further. ‘How’d you know my name?’ ‘I have my ways.’ ‘Right— fixer.’ ‘Do I sense contempt?’ Cato sucked in her cheeks and raised her hand, mockingly putting her thumb and the tip of her index finger a mere millimeter apart. ‘Thiiis much. Pinky promise.’

taglist (opt in/out)

@nistarot, @deadrlngers, @euryalex, @ordinarymaine, @mojaves;

@shellibisshe, @dickytwister, @mnwlk, @rindemption, @ncytiri;

@calenhads, @noirapocalypto, @faithchel, @radioactiveshitstorm, @strafethesesinners;

@fashionablyfyrdraaca, @radioactive-synth, @katsigian, @estevnys, @devilbrakers;

@aezyrraesh, @carlosoliveiraa, @adelaidedrubman, @fromgotham, @wardenevka;

@samuraifics

[adamanteine]

i know i often say that shams' original district is based on iran and that there are multiple races inspired by said area, but when it comes to the athyans and where shams grew up, i would say that they are heavily inspired by the lurs and their tribes (bakhtiari lurs in shams' case). there are obviously distinct differences between both, but it's said that tribal elders hold a strong authority in the main region and lur women have much greater freedom than women in other groups within the region. they have more freedom to participate in different social activities. traditionally lur-i-kuchek (modern provinces of luristan and ilam) comprised the entire belt of mountainous region. the entire area came under the control of a local dynasty and they maintained a semi - independent dynasty and paid tribute only when the supreme rulers of iran were strong enough to collect tribute by force and those are factors that stayed when it comes to the district and those are things that can be translated in her world

i like to think about this often because it parallels with the way shams grew up (her father teaching both her and her brother ways of battle, her having much more artistic freedom than the rest of her district's women and femme presenting people) and how her district viewed it when her father became king, simply because the main area has a large number of people who view certain groups of reera as "lesser". and shams' family was exactly that. when she first stepped into the role, the interactions started with her own people (alongside the zherkari who reside east of her district) because the support was already there due to how they already accepted her role as the sar - tāj (the chief’s due, the person who will follow in the elder's footsteps) and then she had to move onto the rest of the area

[hibernating-stag]

Thinking about how Venom and Robo-Ky started out as two deeply lonely individuals that ended up fitting together so well that they became two halves of a whole and getting emotional about it. Getting weepy. Misty eyed even.

[genericpuff]

vent post

[shannonsketches]

my favorite difference between toei and toriyama's version of events, Toei: Vegeta disappears for weeks at a time as it is and jumps at the chance to go train for six months on another planet Toriyama: If Vegeta's gone for more than a week without telling Bulma where he's gone she gets so concerned she will take it upon herself to find out what happened to him and try to get to him -- and when he's gone for almost a month straight he says he needs to go home or she will forget about him

[idontmindifuforgetme]

i need to go about my digital detox in a slightly different way. i feel like i'm only ever capable of being fully off my phone when i am so distracted that i cannot be on it (reading a book, on a run, w friends, doing a task etc etc). but i just want to be okay w the silence. i want to sit at a rooftop bar and look at the night sky and not feel compelled to check my phone or supplement the silence w something else. i want to be sitting on my bedroom floor doing nothing and still feel okay that i'm not on my phone. being off your phone can get intense bc after a certain point it actually feels like withdrawals (you get anxiety, fomo, antsiness) but i just want to feel those things and let them come as they may. it's not that i want to be off my phone completely so much as i want balance, but this interim of just letting go has been so tricky and kind of hard to beat. i seriously just need to be okay w the silence

[thedrunkenprophet]

19 yr old art dump again (from 2006)

Can we please not talk about this picture too much?

Like so much wrong and right at the same time.

Like his abs for example. Like ugh they're ugly and hot. Also the background. I can't even say I tried anymore. It's just stupid 🤣 the wind goes whoosh 🤣🤟

[lorelune]

not to be insane but ness saying that he'll remain by kaiser's side despite kaiser saying that the kaiser ness believed in was an illusion. ness saying he'll stay by kaiser's side. magic is often called an illusion. but ness BELIEVES in magic.

[murdockhawkeye]

this is *maybe* a bit of a stretch but i still find interesting to think about? don't know if i have everything right

but

i feel like with the elemental opposite duos - emma & rikki, cleo & bella - you could reasonably say their arcs'd mirror each other in a way

like

emma and rikki have issues with responsibility/expectations but on opposite ends of the spectrum

emma was a gifted child, everyone had high expectations for her and she tried to meet those expectations the best she could. she’s responsible emma, who makes sure everyone is looked after, and everyone “knew” was going to become a top athlete, because look at all those trophies on her shelf

and then rikki on the other hand, was alone for “her own good.” she admitted to elliot that no one really liked her growing up, so when somebody did, it made her feel weird and she pushed them away. she stayed away from other people, made sure they never had any expectations of her

they both avoided disappointing others, by going to opposite extreme lengths

and then they overcame these issues, with emma facing a sudden change in her life (becoming a mermaid) that meant she had to give up her swimming dreams and disappoint the people in her life (that had to suck for her, honestly.) she had to come to terms with that - but then, she also found a whole new world that she’d never have been a part of, if things had gone the way she planned

and as for rikki - her biggest change wasn't the tail, but becoming friends with emma and cleo. had she'd her way and zane’d never gotten cleo stuck on that boat, she’d never become friends with them. rikki had to learn the hurdles of friendship and of keeping them, like when she mistook the different kinds of fish, when cleo and emma didn't support her relationship with zane, etc. they had their issues - but in the end, they were there for rikki, and rikki was there for them back. she'd have never gotten that kind of solidarity, had things gone the way she thought it would

and then there’s cleo and bella

bella - unfortunately, didn’t have much in terms of development, since the writers prioritized will’s relationship with her over expanding her character background+ for some reason ??

so i'm just mostly going to talk about cleo here first - but i'll get to bella in a second

cleo by s3 is a very confident and self-assured person; but she didn't start out that way. she was insecure, somewhat naive. she grew up overshadowed by her two best friends, the both of them being gifted in their own rights - emma, the young up and rising athlete, and lewis the science genius, they were sure to go places. cleo, on the other hand, was overlooked. she didn't have much going for her - except for adequate grades and a love of the marine life that was hindered by her fear of water

and then cleo became a *literal* mermaid. either she was going to avoid it or overcome it. in the end, she didn't just overcome her fear of water, but she also took a risk by taking that job at the marine park, where she'd be working right by the marine animals. she let her fear control her before, and she wasn't going to let it stop her from wanting to pursue things anymore

(funny, she started out with a fear of water, then became a mermaid. she struggled with her grades, then became a science genius)

bella, much like cleo - had her own issues when it came to the kind of attention she got, but the other way around. her first appearance, she was being catcalled. same ep, nate is drooling over her. they've made her beauty a point throughout s3. even cleo and rikki's brought it up. it. could not have been easy for her to deal with that, especially with her secret in mind

seeing that, even with the different issues when it came to attention, i think they'd still have had the same feelings about it. a younger bella, probably would've been similarly insecure/anxious as cleo had been - until she learned to be more sure about herself and grew into the bella we know and love today

(we should've gotten way more lore and background about bella, agh)

tldr; emma and rikki have same feelings but opposite reactions (people pleasing and people avoiding.) cleo and bella opposite situations but same feelings (overshadowed and center of attention)

yk, rikki was right in a way i think about the "universal law," but like, more about keeping in balance and not about trios. emma and rikki balance each other out, cleo and bella were *meant* to balance each other out. but in s2, bella wasn't there - charlotte was

do i blame the antagonizing of charlotte and cleo's out of characterness on the writers, or do i blame it on some magical semi-canon mermaid universal law about balance

blaming it on a mermaid universal law sounds more fun, and could have interesting implications. (though the writing grates me, still)

[swan2swan]

Reminder that Brooklynn and Soyona absolutely had a breakfast together in Dubai.

[zephyrfuse]

i miss salt spray rig it was complete bullshit competitively but i don't care it was literally just a rig near the ocean and the kids were there bring it back 2023