#but season 1 and most of 2 tricked me

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

Jack-o'-lanterns have such a grab bag of lore, i love it

Fire, of course, has a long history of offering protection from evil forces. During the Celtic festival of Samhain (from which many Halloween traditions originate), the veil between worlds was considered thin, and ritual bonfires reminded the spooks to stay on their side of the lane.

Many a lantern has protected the lonely traveler on a dark moonless night. But lanterns can be dangerous too—especially the supernatural ones. in certain folklore 'jack-o'-lantern' was another name for will-o'-the-wisps, atmospheric ghost lights (or as legend has it, lost souls) that appear above bogs and lure unwise wanderers into sinkholes.

Then there's the 18th cent Irish folktale of Stingy Jack, a mischievous fellow who tricked the Devil twice, exacting a promise that hell would never claim his soul. So Jack goes on his cheerful way, and dies (as humans are prone to do), and ends up at the pearly gates. Now Heaven, it turns out, doesn't want a damn thing to do with him. So Jack jaunts on down and goes knocking on the gates of hell—only to have Satan slam the door in his face! How this leads to Stingy Jack being doomed to wander the earth carrying a hollowed out rutabaga lit by an ember of the flames of hell, I couldn't tell you. But that is how the story goes.

Whether the legend of Stingy Jack inspired or fueled or was created-by the gourd-carving practice, by the 19th cent, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh alike were annually carving jack-o'-lanterns out of turnips & rutabaga & beets & potatoes, and lighting them up to ward off Jack and other wandering spirits. Immigrants carried the tradition to North America, where pumpkins were indigenous and much easier to carve.

And so the modern Jack-o'-Lantern was born!

Not that gourd lanterns were anything new. Metalwork was expensive, after all, and gourds worked as-well-as and better-than-most crops when it came to carving a poor farmer's lantern.

As for carving human faces into vegetables, that supposedly goes back thousands of years in certain Celtic cultures. It may even have evolved from head veneration, or been used to represent the severed skulls of enemies defeated in battle. Or maybe not! Like many human traditions, jack-o'-lanterns evolved over multiple eras and cultures and regions, in some ways we can trace and others we can only guess at. But at the end of the day, it makes a damn good story, and a spooky way to celebrate—which is as good a reason as any (and a better reason than most!) to keep a tradition going.

In conclusion: happy spooky season, and remind me to tell yall about plastered human skulls one of these days 🎃

srcs 1, 2, 3

[k0ntr0l]

Tips to help avoid binging…

Cut up cucumbers or celery and put seasoning on them, eat them and drink water in between(gives the illusion of eating a lot and can trick you into not binging on bad food) you can do the same with raw broccoli or carrots

Drink lots of water, or if you can stand the taste drink 16oz water with 1tsp apple cider vinegar, you can add lemon juice to help with the taste

Drink lots of peppermint tea (or any hot tea) (add 0 cal sweetener if u need to)

Obviously Diet Coke, black coffee, or 0 cal monster

Vegetable broth!!!

Look at thinspo!

Take ur vitamins and drink 1-2 full bottles of water with them!

Cut up 1 small apple(55 cals) or one large apple (95 cals) into super skinny pieces(the smaller you cut up your healthy food and the more you chew, the more your brain thinks you’ve eaten) drink 1-2 bottles of water and you will feel full

Make sure SOMETHING is in your stomach whether it’s liquid or food, just make sure you’re putting something in it when you’re hungry to stop your stomach growling or over time your starvation instincts will kick in to eat as much as you can(trust me I’ve been down this road for most of my life) so as a rule, to avoid binging, put something in your stomach even if it’s lettuce or celery.

Whether you want to have the calories or not it will help to let yourself have a tbsp of peanut butter (90 cal) or even some oatmeal (150 cal for 1/2 cup) or both (240) bc those things will stick with you throughout almost the whole day and will keep you full.

Plain Low fat Greek yogurt(90 cal for 3/4 cup) will stick with you throughout the day as well. I put 1 tsp of agave nectar(honey works too)(30 cal) and cut up 3 grapes(10 cal) and it’s sweet and helps stop cravings. 130 cal total. You can also sub the fruit and honey for 1 tbsp peanut butter to stay full longer(180 cal total)

As much as you want to eat literally nothing, that is the reason you are binging. If you eat less than 1,500 calories a day you *will* lose weight. If you eat less than 1,000 a day you’ll lose it faster. But if you eat nothing for days you will binge. Eat small amounts of healthy food and you’ll be in control longer. Trust.

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk besties

[mightyflamethrower]

15 Facts About E. Jean Carroll’s Allegations Against Trump the Media Don’t Want You to Know

1.  Bergdorf Goodman has no surveillance video of the alleged incident.

2.  There are zero witnesses to the alleged sexual attack.

3.  Carroll first came forward — conveniently — with the allegations while promoting her book What Do We Need Men For? in 2019, which featured a list of “The Most Hideous Men of My Life.”

4.  Carroll was unable to remember when this alleged attack even occurred. She told her lawyer in 2023, “This question, the when, the when, the date, has been something I’ve [been] constantly trying to pin down.” She has jumped years — originally beginning with 1994, then moving to 1995, and even floating to 1996. She cannot remember the season in which the alleged attack occurred either.

5.  The Donna Karan blazer dress she claims to have worn during the alleged incident was not even available at the time of her claims. Trump Attorney Boris Epshteyn told reporters, “She said, ‘This is the dress I wore in 1994.’ They went back, they checked. The dress wasn’t even made in 1994.”

“And that’s why the date’s moved around. This is the 80s. Is it the 90s? Is it the 2000s? President Trump has consistently stated that he was falsely accused, and he has the right to defend himself,” he added.

6.  She never came forward with these allegations over the years despite constantly being open about sexuality, posting things that were very sexual in nature on social media — many of which Trump has shared. They include remarks such as “How do you know your ‘unwanted sexual advance’ is unwanted, until you advance it?” and “Sex Tip I Learned From My Dog: When in heat, chase the male until he collapses with exhaustion … then jump him!”

7.  She said she was never raped, telling the New York Times’ podcast, The Daily,“Every woman gets to choose her word. Every woman gets to choose how she describes it. This is my way of saying it. This is my word. My word is ‘fight.’ My word is not the ‘victim’ word. I have not — I have not been raped,” she continued. “I have — something has not been done to me. I fought. That’s the thing.”

8.  She named her cat “Vagina.” “Her dog, or her cat, was named ‘Vagina.’ The judge wouldn’t allow us to put that in — all of these things — but with her, they could put in anything: Access Hollywood,” Trump told CNN.

9.  Joe Tacopina, an attorney for Trump, pointed out in May 2023 that Carroll’s entire story has incredible similarities to a 2012 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In that episode, titled “Theatre and Tricks,” an individual talks about a rape fantasy in Bergdorf Goodman — the same department store where Carroll claims the incident took place.

10.  Speaking of shows, Carroll loved Trump’s show The Apprentice.

“I was a big fan of the show. Very impressed by it,” Carroll said on the witness stand, adding that she “had never seen such a witty competition on TV, and it was about something worthwhile, competing.”

11.  Carroll made a joke associating sex with Bergdorf Goodman in a November 1993 edition of Elle, which was before the alleged Trump attack took place. As Breitbart News detailed:

Carroll was responding to a letter from a female reader concerned that she was having trouble achieving orgasm through sexual intercourse alone while the reader said that she could climax through foreplay. “Is there any way I could learn to reach orgasm through sex?” asked the reader in the November 1993 edition. “Maybe books I could read?” Carroll replied with the following advice (emphasis added): Dear Snowed Under: Stop flagellating yourself. Gadzooks! At least you have orgasms. And if that isn’t spontaneous sex I don’t know what is. Most women (about 70 percent) experience difficulties climaxing through intercourse alone. So you’re perfectly normal. Begin by reading For Yourself by Dr. Lonnie Barbach. She’ll give you excellent instructions on how to have an orgasm during intercourse. Then after 313 queenhell love-wiggles, move on to Gretta Garbo’s favorite love position – the top. (In erotic scenes, Garbo is always above the man. So are Sharon Stone, Bette Midler and Katherine Hepburn). Indeed, this location works better for women than the fourth floor of Bergdorf’s.

12.  Carroll is financially backed by anti-Trump Democrat megadonor Reid Hoffman, who has openly admitted to visiting convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s private island.

13.  Democrat party activists back her as well, as Breitbart News detailed:

Indeed, one of Carroll’s attorneys is Roberta Kaplan — a Democrat Party activist who led the group Time’s Up. She left the activist group after it was revealed she was aiding former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in attempting to discredit the Democrat’s accusers. It served as a great irony as Time’s Up seeks to defend women from what it claims is discrimination and harassment. This fact has led to mounting speculation that Kaplan only gets involved in cases that she views as politically expedient. Further, Federal District Judge Lewis Kaplan is overseeing the process and has connections to Carroll’s other attorney, Shawn Crowley. She was actually a law clerk for Judge Kaplan, and he officiated her wedding. That aside, Trump has denied knowing the left-wing activist as the only evidence of any contact is a single picture with Carroll greeting Trump and his ex-wife Ivana at an event greeting line over 35 years ago. Carroll has yet to provide solid evidence of this alleged encounter and will not use the dress that she claims had DNA on it from this alleged incident. Even Trump publicly said the dress should be part of the case. Further, there are no eyewitnesses of this alleged incident, which supposedly occurred at the popular New York City department store.

14.  The lawsuit was only able to proceed after Democrats created the Adult Survivors Act in 2022. She conveniently pursued this suit in November following the law going into effect, which allowed her to avoid the statute of limitations for this case.

15.  Carroll once said, “Most people think of rape as sexy.”

Donald Trump Jr. also retweeted a list of facts about Carroll, urging others to take a look:

- She couldn't recall the date, month, season, or year the incident happened -

She never told anyone about it, despite being publicly obsessed with her own sexuality -

The dress she claims to have been wearing didn't exist at the time -

Her description of the dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman was inaccurate, making her sequence of events impossible -

Her lawsuit was bankrolled by Jeffrey Epstein pal and Democrat (and Nikki Haley) mega-donor Reid Hoffman -

Democrats created a law (The Adult Survivors Act in 2022) to enable her lawsuit to proceed - Her accusation is the exact plotline of an episode of Law & Order (one of her "favorite shows") -

Trump's Apprentice was also one of her favorite shows -

She has a history of falsely accusing men of r*pe, including Les Moonves - She told Anderson Cooper, "most people think of r*pe as being sexy. Think of the fantasies." -

She made a career promoting promiscuity, even writing glowingly of sexual assault and naming her cat Vagina

We owe Stalin and Hitler a huge apology. We are ever so bad as they ever were. This isn't Justice. Its punishment for for disobeying the deep state elites.

[rifari2037]

Did Zuko really love Mai???

I know Zuko and Mai were together in end of the series. I won't denying either that Mai loves Zuko. But still, this couple was poorly written and so forced.

Mai loves Zuko, but most of the time she didn't know how to comfort him. Zuko spent the time with her, but most of the time his mind wander off to something else. They only had a few scenes together in the entire show, and even then most of the time they were arguing.

Also, the storyline itself make me question about how Zuko really felt towards Mai. Did he really love Mai or is he just with her because of circumstances?

No hints in the entire season 1?

I understand that Zuko played villain role in season 1, he kept trying to capture the avatar so he could go home. His motivation was to regain his honour and his father's love.

Unfortunately, Mai was never one of his reasons to go home. In fact, Zuko never remembered her at all in the entire season 1. It seems like Katara's bending development made more impression on him than remembering Mai.

Zuko : I see you've learned a new trick, but I didn't come this far to lose to you.

Zuko : You little peasant. You've found a master, haven't you?

If the writers had plans to give Zuko a pairing, then a little hint is very important to build a story. Beside, although he was a villain, there was moment that show he wasn't completely evil. To showed that Zuko have feeling for someone back home wouldn't ruin his character.

Mai didn't need to appears in season 1, because her role was start in season 2. But there were plenty of ways to hint that Zuko had feeling for her.

Let's say, Zuko had memorable stuff that reminds him of her, or he had a glamps of his childhood memories with her, or a little conversation about her.

But, we didn't see any hint. At all!

Instead, Zuko picked up Katara's betrothal necklace, put it around her neck, and kept it on his wrist when he didn't have to!!

Like, c'mon!!!! What story did the writers actually want to build??

Still no hints in season 2?

Mai finally appeared in season 2, there was also a conversation between Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee about Zuko.

Mai : So, we're tracking down your brother and Uncle, huh? Ty Lee : [Turning to Mai.] It'll be interesting seeing Zuko again, [Teasing.] won't it, Mai? Mai looks away as a smile plays upon her face.

Mai's smile was a hint of what I was talking about earlier! It wasn't that obvious, but it showed that there was something between them.

Yet, Zuko still had no hint or conversation about her to show that he remembered her. It is only appeared on Mai's side, but not on Zuko's side.

Was she really important to him? Was there something between them, or was it just Mai?

Zuko memories in Zuko Alone

The only time Zuko remembered Mai was in Zuko Alone episode. But even that brief memories didn't really show that they had a special relationship.

In this memory, Mai blushed when she saw Zuko. Another hint that Mai had a crush on him.

But, Zuko didn't seem to care. Mai and Ty Lee weren't his friends, they were Azula's friends.

Azula asked Zuko to play together, but he didn't want to and refuse at first. He played with them, because their mom asked him to. Mai was there, but still Zuko's face didn't look happy.

Zuko helped Mai because he was surprised with what Azula doing, but it wasn't a hint that he had crush on her. There was no blush on his cheeks or shyness.

This scene wasn't about Zuko and Mai's relationship, but with his sister, his family. In fact, in this scene, there was no conversation between Zuko and Mai at all.

Zuko and Jin's date

I'm not a fan of Jinko, beside I don't see that Zuko had a crush on Jin. They were going on a date because Jin asked him first and Uncle Iroh answered her. During the date, Jin was the active one while Zuko was very passive.

Once again, if the writers really wanted to pair Zuko with Mai, wouldn't it make more sense if there was a little conversation, maybe like...

Zuko: What do you mean, Uncle? You know I have someone - remember Mai. Iroh : You have to start a new life and move on from the past.

With this kind of conversation, we could assume that Mai was the reason Zuko left Jin during their date. But that wasn't the story.

Since there were no hints about Zuko's feelings for Mai, I could only assume that Zuko left Jin because he didn't want to get too far into enjoying his life in Ba Sing Se. Zuko hated Ba Sing Se.

Iroh : I just want our place to look nice, in case someone brings home a lady friend! [He gives Zuko a nudge with the elbow.] Zuko : [Bleakly.] This city is a prison. I don't want to make a life here.

It's funny because, didn't Uncle Iroh know Zuko very well? But he never thought that Mai was special to Zuko. He never asked or talked about her, even secretly hoping for Zuko to date another lady.

So, was Mai special to Zuko? There was no proof for that.

There were no interactions until the end of season 2?

Until the end of season 2, Mai and Zuko didn't interact at all, even though they were in the same city, in the same palace.

Even more ironic, Zuko build a connection with Katara instead. Not only that, the scenes with Katara were crucial to Zuko's arc and the storyline in the next season.

Did Zuko remember Mai at this time? Of course not!

They were suddenly dating????

This is the reason why Maiko was so forced. They didn't have enough hints and they didn't have interactions at all in season 1 and 2, then suddenly they were dating in the very beginning of season 3?? How???

At this point, I feel like Zuko was dating Mai just because, why not?? He was finally home, he got what he always wanted, why not get his woman too???

Did Zuko really love her? I highly doubt it.

I mean, he still remembered his conversation with Katara after his betrayal. Yet, in The Beach episode, he remembering his family instead of Mai right after they were break up (with moon as background). So sad!

Zuko didn't feel the need to save Mai

Zuko said to Sokka that he didn't want to drag Mai with him as a traitor to the Fire Nation. But when Mai saved him at Boiling Rock, when she betrayed the Fire Nation - especially Azula, Zuko didn't try to save her.

Though, Zuko knew Azula well and knew what could happen to Mai, he just watched her from afar and let Mai to face the consequences of her actions alone.

Meanwhile, Zuko gave up everything, his throne, his nation, and sacrificed his life for Katara.

I don't understand, who exactly did Zuko love?

Then Zutara antis said that he would saved anyone else? He didn't even saved his girlfriend!

Zuko tried so hard for Katara

Zuko broke up with Mai, locked her in prison, left her to face Azula on her own, but he tried very hard to fix his relationship with Katara. He cares about Katara more than he cares about his (ex-)girlfriend. That's crazy!

Zuko : [Closes eyes in resentment.] What can I do to make it up to you?

Sokka : So what's on your mind? Zuko : Your sister. She hates me! And I don't know why, but I do care what she thinks of me.

Katara : [Angrily.] You look terrible. Zuko : I waited out here all night.

Zuko didn't feel the need to get Mai out of prison

Not only Zuko didn't feel the need to save Mai, he also didn't feel the need to release her from prison even though he knew where she was and he was a new Fire Lord.

Her uncle was the who helped her escape the prison. It was so sad considering the person who was the reason she imprisoned didn't help her. He didn't have to waited all night for her forgiveness.

Zuko : Mai! You're okay! They let you out of prison? Mai : My uncle pulled some strings. And it doesn't hurt when the new Fire Lord is your boyfriend. Zuko : So does this mean you don't hate me anymore?

No, Mai. If I were you, I would really hurt and hate him so bad. You should realise that he didn't really love you.

This is the reason why Maiko was one of my least favourite ATLA ship. Because, Mai was there or not wouldn't affect Zuko's arc in the slightest. She didn't really matter to him.

I can't ship them just because they kiss a few times, while their story is poorly written and so forced.

[cozycottagetarot]

Messages From Your Pet

How To Pick A Group:

I recommend going with the image you find you keep coming back to after giving each of the piles a once over.

Notes:

Thank you @getbellsgetbitches and @bowtothemallard for suggesting this reading. 💕

This reading is for entertainment purposes only. ✨

LINKS: Reading Masterlist | Dividers | Ko-Fi | Patreon | Paid Readings — Open 🫧

Pile 1 (Corgi)

You are in such a productive season right now, so use it to your ability to propel yourself forward so you can transform. You think you’re protecting yourself by not acting, but not really. It’s normal to be a little bit fearful and have your reservations. However, the thing you’re sitting on is the thing that can change the game for you. Where’s that sense of hope you used to have? That sense of hope you still have buried within. You loved to dance or loved when I danced, and loved when I did tricks for you. It always put a smile on your face. Do the same for yourself. Get out there and act! You are not meant to stay in this state; you’re meant to transform.

Pile 2 (Cat)

Stop pouring into other people, please! You deserve to give yourself your love and your energy. Stop trying to please everyone. What about you? Who’s trying to please you, hmm?

It’s time to set and stand firm in your boundaries. Who cares who says what? If they don’t like that you’re taking care of yourself, then that’s too bad!

There’s an opportunity (likely creative) waiting for you, bestie. But unless you start focusing on yourself, it’s going to pass you by. I know you might be worried they’ll get mad at you, but if they’re meant to be in your life, they’ll be in your life. No sweat. And at the end of the day, it’s better to walk away knowing you can heal rather than stay and deteriorate. New beginnings are on the horizon, but first, you’ve got to do you. Trust that it’s going to all work out for you.

Notes: I hear the lyrics "They just want my love and my energy. You can’t talk no shit without penalties." 🎵 There's a bit of a hyperactive energy. My yoga mat also randomly fell near the end as if someone pushed it and then I heard little feet skittering by.

Pile 3 (Bunny)

Sweetness, I know you dream of love, and love awaits you. But you have to put yourself out there—out into the world. There’s no need to keep hiding away under the guise that you must be fully healed before the one you want can find you, for healing is a never-ending process. What matters most is that you are at peace. You know yourself well enough to understand what strengthens and weakens that inner peace you’ve worked so hard to acquire.

You are beautiful and lovely as you are now; anyone would be lucky to have you. You only need to believe in yourself as you move forward. I know you’ve been hurt before, but don’t let the pains of the past limit you. Just breathe.

Notes: It felt like a whisper. A loving grandparent type of energy so maybe this could be a grandparent's bet or a pet that’s been around for a while. It also reminded me of Julie Andrews in Bridgerton (Lady Whistledown’s voice). Very doting energy.

[myhyperfixationisiforgot]

Young Justice was such a wild show. Like. It's based off a 90's comic by the same name. It contains exactly 1 (one) character from the source media, who they immediately change beyond recognition. It used Dick Grayson's Robin and Wally West's Kid Flash, but made Roy Harper the old jaded one. Instead of Wondergirl, they gave Martian Manhunter a niece. They invented a brand new Aqualad. A random 90's villain gets shunted into Arrowette's role, arguably gets the most compelling emotional story of the entire show, and turns out to be related to half the villains they ever meet.

They're a secret black ops team made entirely of teenagers. At one point several of them die onscreen. The martian almost murders several people. There's kind of a pseudo incest plot. There is an episode that takes place almost entirely through mandated therapy sessions.

The show does actually bring in a second character from the original Young Justice, in an episode where Artemis almost dies only to be saved by Secret, the ghost of the villain's sister (who was a member of the original comics team). In the same episode, Superboy and Miss Martian trick a classmate into thinking there's an alien invasion using a Loony Tunes character. Neither of these events are ever mentioned again.

The timeline of the show means that Dick Grayson became Nightwing at 15. They accidentally create Beast Boy because Miss Martian has been impersonating his mom. Aqualad ends up as the leader of the Justice League.

Five years go by between seasons, resulting in a completely different show. I could make the argument that Young Justice was Weisman's OC fanfiction of the comic series. Everything after season 2 is unwatchable. This is the show that got me into fandom. I adore it.

[haikyu-mp4]

Two jobs, part 2

word count; 1107 – set a few years after part 1, reader and Osamu are married and the three of you live together. I gave your son a name, Kazuo, to make writing easier

You were away on a business trip and left your two favourite guys to take care of each other for a few days. Luckily, you didn’t have to do this often, but you were relieved they got along so well that you could. Even though Kazuo grew attached to Osamu in a way before you two even started dating, it had been an adjustment for all of you after you got married and moved in together, especially because your son was at his most difficult age.

Currently, Kazuo sat on a bar chair by the island counter while Osamu made dinner. The two would often hang out in the kitchen together, because Kazuo liked spending time with Osamu when he had an excuse for it. He also found it hilarious when he asked his stepdad for help with his homework and Samu got frustrated because he didn’t understand it either. It was a peaceful connection they had, and you usually did your best to let them have their time in the kitchen to themselves even when you were home.

“Hey, look at this.” Osamu said to catch his attention. When Kazuo looked up, he did some weird juggling trick with the pepper shaker before adding the necessary seasoning to the soup he was making. Then he did the same with the salt to show it wasn’t a fluke. “Am I cool, or what?” It was meant as a joke, but there was a hopeful look in his eyes.

Kazuo made a face. “Uhh… yeah.” he said, which was an obvious lie, making Osamu deflate. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt particularly sensitive about it all of a sudden. Perhaps it had something to do with the difference of how Kazuo looked when he got to play volleyball with his twin compared to how he politely declined lately when Osamu asked him if they should do some passes in the garden.

“Do you not think I’m cool?” he asked after a long silence, leaning one hand on his hip while the other stirred the soup to make sure it didn’t stick to the bottom.

“Not like Tsumu.” Kazuo answered honestly without thinking about it, eyes on his homework so he didn’t notice his stepdad’s face scrunching up. If he thought he felt sensitive before, that one hit the spot for sure. “But it’s okay, being a chef is good too.” The boy honestly didn’t think adults cared so much about being cool.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t take pity on me now.” he said followed by a deep sigh. “Maybe I should cook you instead, you gremlin.” Kazuo just laughed, unknowing of Osamu’s bruised ego. When he turned back to his homework, Osamu pulled his phone out and opened messages, sending a simple ‘You’re ugly and stupid’ to Atsumu without context. That made him feel a little better, at least. You bet he’ll call you that night before bed for some reassurance. And to remind you that he loves you, of course.

Sometimes, Kazuo was allowed to go to parties in exchange for sharing his location at all times while he was away with whichever parental figure was home at the time. Usually, the parties were alright. Typical underage parties where someone had stolen a few beers from a parent and they all tasted it before looking disgusted and swearing to never drink it again. He would be picked up at the agreed time with a few complaints of how lame you were for setting those rules, and then he would tell you he loved you under his breath before going to bed.

However, they were growing older and that came with engaging in new topics of interest. That’s how Kazuo ended up in a game of seven minutes in heaven that he desperately wanted out of. It’s not like he could just tell them he might prefer guys over girls, he wasn’t even sure yet himself! It was all too much, so he snuck away and pulled out his phone with slightly shaky hands. You’re still on your business trip, and he was starting to miss you even though he would never tell you that. After all, you were the only one he relied on for the first 10 years of his life.

He pulled up his contacts on the old phone you had gifted him, scrolling past your contact until he got to a Miya. Even though he knew Atsumu liked spending time with him, he didn’t seem to have that much spare time anymore. Actually, he probably wouldn’t call Atsumu for an emergency anyways, he realised. Tsumu was more of a cool uncle, like he told Osamu in the kitchen the day before. Now that he was in trouble, he already knew who he had to call.

“Samu…” Kazuo said, voice cracking a little so he pretended to clear his throat.

“What’s up, buddy?” Osamu sounded tired, like he had taken a nap in that recliner he loved to occupy when you weren’t home. If you knew he snoozed off while your boy was at a party, you would not be happy, but at least he picked up the phone.

“Can you come pick me up?” he asked not too loudly, frowning at the floor. “I’m okay, I just want to go home.” He tried to sound tough and chill, but it didn’t fool Osamu.

“Sure, I’ll head out now. Go outside in about 15 minutes but not before. Actually, stay inside until I’m there.” Kazuo chuckled a bit at Osamu’s short ramble where he corrected himself, then he hummed in confirmation and hung up. So he told his friends he was feeling under the weather and went outside when Osamu came to pick him up.

Kazuo didn’t say much more than “Thanks for picking me up,” and “I don’t want to talk about it,” after getting in the car, and Osamu knew he would rather tell you about it than him, so he didn’t pry.

Instead, he clicked his tongue with a cheeky smile. “You know, the new Star Wars movie just came out for streaming. I won’t tell your mom we stayed up late if you don’t.”

And as he looked to the side where Kazuo fiddled with his hands in the passenger seat wearing a relieved smile, safe because he dared text him for help, Osamu decided that he didn’t need to be cool. He just had to be there.

Even so, his chest bloomed with pride when Kazuo came out of the bathroom after brushing his teeth for the night and told him, “Thanks for the movie, Samu. You are pretty cool.”

masterlist

taglist: @miyamizuna, @makkir0ll, @shiratorizawa-can-step-on-me, @sobbing-leave-me-alone-bots, @eeerreehhh, @f4iryk3i, @cosmiicdust, @malikazz243

[hballegro]

So Alright, Cool, Whatever

its not like i've got something grand to say to you

'So Alright, Cool, Whatever' by the Happy Fits [from Concentrate]

first time makin one of these so. could be shitty. created because spotify recommended i add this song to my BJ playlist and i went 'ur so right bestie' and here we are. the most polished section is from the shoulder nuzzling to 'same size same shape'. if u couldnt tell. rip. i had like 80% of that section done from the start lol

HERES MY CITATIONS READ EM AND WEEP cause i did; there arent timestamps because im incredibly tired. some of the scenes should be 'hallmarks' though to help u find ur way around. it SHOULD all be in order tho.

The smell of music

Lil

GFA

Where theres a will theres a war

GFA

Novocain mutiny

Joker is wild

Aint love grand

Hepatitis

Morale victory

Welcome to korea 1

Welcome to korea 2

Deluge

Preventative Medicine

War for all seasons

Mail call 3

The Kids

Aint love grand 

Trick or treatment

Private Finance

Private Finance [same scene]

Hawk’s nightmare

Soldier of the month

Morale victory

War for all season

Preventative Medicine

Lil

The Winchester Tapes

Tea and empathy

Are You Now, Margaret

Preventative Medicine 

Mr n Mrs Who

Yalu brick

None Like it Hot

The Tooth Shall Set You Free

Hepatitis

None Like it Hot

Bj papa san

Yessir baby

The Most Unforgettable Characters

Oh how we danced

Oh how we danced

Aint love grand

Period of adjustment

Mail call 3

War Co-Respondent

Life time

The Life You Save

No sweat

Preventative Medicine

Flagg

Depressing news

Father’s Day

War Co-Respondent

Mr n Mrs Who

War for all seasons

Soldier of the month

Peace on us

No Laughing Matter

No Laughing Matter

Mr n Mrs Who

Rumor at the Top

Patent 4077

Letters

Morale Victory

Mr n Mrs Who

The Bilford Syndrome

Morale victory again 

GFA

Tell it to the marines

Tell it to the marines

Morale victory

Soldier of the month

Birthday girls

War Co-Respondent 

Soldier of the month YET AGAIN

GFA

GFA

shoutout hawkeye for not once but twice looking at bj's lips on beat without me trying to make him do that

also i kept going 'wow i kept using these episodes a lot of times' i am lucky i managed to contain myself and only do the hugs from Aint Love Grand ONCE. there were FOUR HUGS there. and i picked ONE. thats restraint.

[noneorother]

The grand unified theory of Good Omens S2 hangs on - you guessed it - a double meaning (and art). *Part 4*

Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3 l Part 4 l Part 5 l The End?

This is major spoilers for season 3 territory. You have been warned. I'm also going to split this into parts because wow, I have so many ✨Clues✨! Friends, we have arrived at the prestige! Metatron come at me bro, catch these hands. Oh wait you can't, you always have your hands in your pockets...

People smarter than me have talked all about Aziraphale's magician outfits on this show, so I won't steal their thunder. Suffice it to say, The Metatron is wearing a weirdly dark coat and tie over his whole outfit. Which gives him a very only a white floating head look, but also keeps in the theme of ✨I am a magician✨. He's here to perform a trick!

I also won't talk a lot about him in the coffee shop because that's been done already. If we have learned anything from part 3, analyzing the coffee to death is what we are supposed to be doing, because He is distracting everyone with a benign object that we can inspect. So while he's waving this coffee around in the shop going "SEE I KNOW HOW EARTH WORKS" he's also doing something fascinating: Checking to see who recognizes him.

Weirdly, even though Aziraphael saw him in season one, and the angels all work with him, no one does right away. EXCEPT for Saraquiel and Crowley, who just saw his face not in person, but in a video tape of sorts up in heaven at Gabriel's trial by farce. And then something funny happens. Saraquiel is scared shitless and pretends to have 'forgotten' like Michael, but Crowley admits loud and proud that he does. Then Uriel gives THE BIGGEST SIDEYE I have ever seen on screen to Michael, as in "You don't recognize our boss? I am very afraid for what that means."

As far as I can understand, this is the reason the Metatron is here : "Are we in the version of events where I lose?" And the answer The Metatron gets after the question is : We are in the version of events where I have severely fucked with Michael, sort of fucked with the other angels, I have fucked with Aziraphale, and Crowley has seen me already in heaven. Now we're missing a lot of information as to WHY this specific answer is good for The Metatron, and how much Saraquiel knows, but it seems like he interprets this as an "I haven't lost yet, and I can still do my trick".

So now here we are, at the most important part of the episode, in my (and Aziraphale's) opinion. THE double meaning.

This line is insane. On the surface we have meaning 1) The Metatron is scolding over-zealous angels for meddling in this affair, and over reaching with their power, especially threatening to use the book of life on people. He's the good guy! But under the surface we have meaning 2) I HAVE THE BOOK OF LIFE and I have been using it on everybody in this room. If I don't get my way this time around, I will edit you guys again, and you will have done the right thing. And with that admission, Aziraphale severely twigs and becomes very afraid. From then on his voice shakes and he babbles, and he has trouble looking the Metatron in the eye. I'm willing to bet that this is the moment Aziraphale realizes what The Metatron just admitted: I am creating a version of reality as we speak where I change you and Crowley (and everyone else) so that you lose to me. A terrified Aziraphael goes off with The Metatron to have a chin wag. Now here's the trick.

We've already established that Maggie and Nina are here as stage assistants to The Metatron, so they need time to work on Crowley alone. If they talk to A/C together, like they would have without The Metatron's appearing in the scene before, better communication might have happened between them. He made Aziraphale disappear from the scene!

This does NOT look like the face of someone getting good news. We never heard what the details were besides inviting Crowley to the job promotion, so who knows what he threatened him with, but

This looks like the face of someone caught in a trap. So we are now seeing the prestige! We don't need that coffee anymore, that cup is GONE BABY. Aziraphale has been removed from the Nina/Maggie confession like a dove, and placed in The Metatron's dark coat pocket. Now he just needs to make our angel reappear in the scene the assistants have prepared for him and let him fail, thus completing the trick (uhg I hate it. So cruel).

I'm going to turn the final 15 into it's own post because this is already very long. Let's skip it for now, but we know our lovebirds get separated by heaven, and Aziraphale leaves. The Metatron breathes a huge sigh of relief in the elevator as he thinks his trick has worked, and he has won.

So it's finished now, and there's seemingly no way out. Aziraphale now knows what The Metatron meant when he communicated "I am creating a version of reality as we speak where I change you and Crowley and everything else so that you lose to me."

BUT! ARE YOU READY FOR THIS SHIT? BECAUSE IT HIT ME LIKE LIQUID JET FUEL. And I think it hits Aziraphale right here, (when he makes the creepy face after being hit with a beam of light i.e. realization)

That means that in the original version of events before all the edits, Crowley & Aziraphale won.

------

If you've gotten this far, thanks so much for reading. I'd love to hear what you thought, or even reblog it with your ✨Clues✨! Want to read more about the timey wimey business that we're gonna see in season 3, and why all this changes the final 15? Well I have *part 5* coming in just a bit. Parts 5 and The End are here! Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3 l Part 4 l Part 5 l The End?

[jjungkookislife]

Quarterly Fic Rec List 2023 #4

Hello! This is the last list of 2023! These are the wonderful fics I ended my year with! I hope you enjoy them! If anyone would like to be removed from this list; please let me know! As always each of these fics has its own content warnings, and most, if not all are 18+ so Minors Do Not Interact!

Seokjin

daydream @joonie-beanie

summary: Your literature professor has a bit of a…gift. A gift that let’s him see other peoples thoughts when he wants to. And despite the fact that he warns his class openly about this gift, one day you forget, and find yourself in a bit of pickle when Kim Seokjin reads your mind, and finds you imagining some not so school appropriate scenarios…involving him.

pink panther @gimmesumsuga

summary: The one where your boss, Kim Seokjin, tries to show you how beautiful you are

9 months to fall in love @floralseokjin

summary: It seems like everyone around you is either already in love, or in the process of falling, and while normally you couldn’t give a damn, finding out the co-worker you’ve had a teensy crush on is dating someone else at the office seems to sucker punch you right in the gut. It’s stupid, and you’re irritated at yourself, but you can’t seem to shake out of the funk you’ve fallen face first in. Feeling lonely and heartsore, and mad for no reason, during drinks with your best friend you spot a man at the bar. Tequila confident, you make your way over to the stranger, and successfully one thing leads to another. The next morning you leave before he’s woken up, feeling satisfied in one way, but still as discontented as ever. Telling yourself it was an inebriated mistake, you quickly try to forget about it. Only, three weeks later that night comes back to haunt you – in a very unescapable way…

dream come true @sugaurora

summary: Since your brother had warned you years ago that his best friend Seokjin was off limits, you’d only allowed yourself to safely fantasize about him in your dreams. You’re not sure why tonight his lips feel so much softer and his hands so much warmer than usual, but you’re also not about to complain.

whole @yoongiphoria

Yoongi

can't afford love @dollfaceksj

summary: Your childhood dream of having 2 children in a big house with a blooming marriage by this point in time has been eliminated the moment divorce came knocking at your door. With only one child and finding yourself back at square one, you ask your ex-husband—Min Yoongi—if he’d be down to fulfill 1 of these 3 things on your childhood’s bucket-list. And no, it’s not giving you a big house.

u suck !! @kithtaehyung

summary: Jimin’s cul-de-sac is filled to the brim with autumn leaves, trick-or-treaters, and halloween spirits. but the scariest part of the night? yoongi himself. and the way he looks downright sinful in his costume.

three tangerines ^

summary: throughout high school, you sometimes caught glimpses of your brother’s older friends: some of them were sweet, some of them were smart. but the one closest to him? that guy was a total f*ckboy from day one. after a foray of horrid relationships spanning years - ending with one that broke up with you for an alarming reason - you needed advice on what the hell you were doing wrong… and this wasn’t a conversation for anyone sweet or smart.

broken pt. 1 ^

summary: chilling conversations prolong things even further… until everything goes to hell.

ghostface killers @gimmethatagustd

summary: You’ve had your eyes set on Yoongi for as long as you can remember. What you didn’t know is that he’s had his eyes on you, too.

red & white @sweetestofchaos 💜

summary: you and yoongi have something to share this holiday

Hoseok

spookie coochie @gimmethatagustd

summary: The only monster Hoseok wishes you were interested in finding this Halloween season is his monster c–

drink champagne in my airplane @bangtanintotheroom

summary: Your friend Hoseok decided to use his excessive wealth for good and take the both of you on a much-needed vacation. The flight was meant to be relaxing until he broke out one of his most expensive bottles of champagne.

a holly, jolly crisis @kpopfanfictrash

summary: At this time last year, you thought you had it all. A kick-ass screenwriting job for the hottest TV show in LA, an actor boyfriend whose career was taking off and an affordable apartment with not one, but two bathrooms. Fast-forward to now and you’re single, soon-to-be jobless and searching for a way to scrape together January rent. Everything seems to be falling apart, which was why you told your family you weren’t coming home for the holidays. Enter your little sister, Sara, who recently became engaged to her boyfriend, Yoongi and needs you home to celebrate. The biggest problem? Returning home means you’ll be forced to face everything and everyone you left behind, including Yoongi’s best man – and your ex-best friend, Hoseok.

12 lays of christmas @minisugakoobies

summary: Your brother’s best friend Hoseok really likes your cookies 

it's a promise @sahmfanficbts

arranged marriage au

Namjoon

close, closer, closest @augustbutwinter

summary: you know your soulmate is close, but you haven’t met them yet. every day your counter goes up when you pass that one station. until one day it doesn’t.

make an effort @7ndipity

summary: When you ask Joon to be your fake boyfriend, he ends up finding out about your very real crush on him. Luckily for you, the feeling’s mutual.

a word from our sponsors @ugh-yoongi

summary: you’ve co-hosted a podcast with namjoon for three years; have known him even longer. the two of you have always been the picture of platonic, but that hasn’t stopped the internet from doing what the internet does. the shipping? a little weird at first, but you can understand it: two attractive twenty-somethings always in close proximity to one another, obvious (platonic!) chemistry—people have created ships for less. the fanfiction, though? also pretty funny… until you can’t stop thinking about it.

Jimin

cloud nine @suga-kookiemonster

summary: “he’s here again,” viv whispers. “you know who. the hot guy who’s totally into you.” and he is hot--devastatingly hot enough that you know he can’t actually be into you, because the universe simply doesn’t work that way. that still doesn’t stop your heart from pounding when he smiles at you from across the room.

menace @eoieopda

summary: Far and away the worst of your brother’s friends, you added Park Jimin’s presence in your life to the long list of grievances you held against Seokjin. Too bad you can’t keep your hands off him.

crescent bound @parkhabits

summary: One night you’re having the best hookup of your life and the next you’re being told that the little mark on your neck is more than just a hickey and that Park Jimin was more than you expected too.

the dark side of the moon @dovechim

summary: falling in love at first sight is cliche, not until it happens to you on a dark night in a lonely alley. but you’re only human, while Park Jimin is Alpha of his pack; it could never work out. so you resort to pining for him like a wolf howling at the moon, but when Jimin goes feral, that’s when everything changes. 

a remedy for mondays ^

summary: all you wanted was just one day off work. but for that to happen, you need to invent a plausible reason. and then somehow, somewhere along the way, things get out of hand, and now people think you’re having a baby with your co-worker Park Jimin after a one-night stand. confused? join the club.

heavy petting @kittae

summary: Your boyfriend is not just a cat hybrid, he’s also very needy! When you come home from work and you expect him to be all over you, you’re fairly disappointed to find he prefers a nap over some well-deserved quality time. You’ll make sure to pay him back for that.

the devil in his details @johobi

summary: Evil comes in many forms. In this instance, it’s a 5′8″ pretty-boy with an even prettier dick. And you’re the form you want him to come in.

me, you, and this thing we have between us @boymeetsweevil

summary: You’re pregnant and jimin is…happy about it

devil's advocate @7cypher

summary: You had met the devil on a hot summer day. He had shown up in a red polo, red cap, and white sneakers on his feet. That day, you had invited your devil into your home and he hasn’t left since.

no strings @kpopfanfictrash

summary: It started off as such a simple question. How to know if you’re bad in bed? Of course when you asked, you didn’t imagine Jimin would actually answer.

the ten days of ex-mas @kpopfanfictrash

summary: Three months following the worst break-up of your life, you finally feel ready to start moving on. The world, it seems, has other ideas when you pick up the phone and find your ex-boyfriend calling. Jimin Park, star right winger of the NHL and (until recently), the love of your life, has a very large problem. Despite the courage he regularly shows on the ice, in his personal life, Jimin is kind of a coward. When you broke up this fall, he could barely admit it. Not to his neighbors. Not to his friends. Not even to his family, who are expecting him home for Christmas. In a desperate plea for more time, Jimin begs you to pretend you’re still dating – and to his surprise, you agree. Faced with a second chance, Jimin is determined not to squander it. If only fixing a relationship were as easy as falling in love.

Taehyung

midnight @sailoryooons

summary: Taehyung loves being your prince charming, even if it means trying to find where you’ve wandered off to in the middle of a Halloween party without your shoes. 

the holi-date @kpopfanfictrash

summary: When your ex-boyfriend becomes engaged to his new girlfriend at your annual Holiday party, you admittedly are not in the best place. Which explains why you down six shots of alcohol, enthusiastically drop it low on the dance floor and – oh, yeah – tell everyone you are also dating someone. The only problem? You are obviously not. Good thing your neighbor happens to be cute and in need of a ride to work every morning.

of lace and lust @hobidreams

summary: friendship rule number one: don’t imagine how amazing your best friend’s cock would feel inside you. except that’s all you can think about after accidentally discovering taehyung’s kink for panties. specifically, the lacy ones you’re so fond of wearing.

hush @suga-kookiemonster

summary: four seats, five bodies. “careful, sweetheart,” he breathes into the shell of your ear, hands tightening over your waist in warning. you lick your lips, pausing just long enough to ponder: what if you don’t want to be careful?

rotten angelcake @inkedtae

summary: she’s as sweet as angelcake; he likes her honeyed rotten. this is a series following the complicated relationship between a sugar baby, sugar daddy and his corruption kink.

sausade @kimvvantae

summary: no one is born to be alone and no one can be complete in oneself - that’s why, in this world, every person has a pair, someone that complements their soul in every aspect. you, however, are an exception to the rule, for the mark on your wrist indicates that your pair has passed away way before you were born.

kinda hot @kimnjss

summary: you’ve always been cute, soft, tiny in taehyung’s eyes. but that’s changing one night when you’re accidentally sending him a naughty picture. forcing him to realize, maybe his best friend is kinda… hot?

Jungkook

jungkook drabble @euphoricfilter

summary: obsessed gf m/c and equally as obsessed boyfriend jungkook. he’s the light of her life, and she’s the reason he smiles

blessed with a curse @sweetestofchaos

summary: When your company throws a mandatory Halloween party, you aren’t thrilled. You’re even less thrilled when a delusional coworker ruins the party and places a curse on everyone because her crush, the resident werewolf, Jeon Jungkook, rejected them.

seasons don't fear the reaper @augustbutwinter

summary: life is short, they say. one day everyone meets their death, they say. how often can you meet yours before he takes you with him?

because i love you ch. 13 @readyplayerhobi

summary: According to society, Jeon Jungkook should not be with you. He should be with a younger, hotter and thinner girl instead of wasting his time on you. It’s a good thing Jungkook doesn’t care what society thinks then.

a holiday snowdown @kpopfanfictrash

summary: The Inn on the Hill is in trouble. Or that's what your boss, Namjoon, says during the last-minute All Staff holiday meeting he calls. You need money, and you need money fast, or his parents are planning to sell the resort. When no one can think of an easy solution, Namjoon proposes his parents' idea: a weeklong social media blitz with a celebrity guest. The celebrity? None other than Jungkook Jeon himself: two-time Olympic gold medalist, world-class snowboarder and the nation's sweetheart. What's the problem? You happen to have met Jungkook Jeon before, and sincerely hoped you'd never see him again.

all grown up @btsgotjams27

summary: A family reunion brings back the young boy you grew up with. Though he wasn’t the doe-eyed boy you once knew, he stood in front of you all grown up.

this is us ^

summary: you start to fall hard for jungkook.

OT7/Multiple Members

carnival of terror ch. 2 @theharrowing

summary: The carnival is in town, and it is unlike anything you have ever experienced. Will you make it out alive?

the gentlemen @honeymoonjin

summary: Sick of unsatisfying hookups, boring relationships or the company of your own hand? Apply today for the chance to be on bangasm.com’s very first reality show! Seven attractive young gentlemen will be vying for your choice of who is best in bed. All from different backgrounds, these men claim they’ll be able to rock your world, so don’t hesitate! Apply now!

of storms and vampires @wishesunderthestars

summary: During the worst storm you have witnessed in your life, a bat crashes on your window. When you bring it inside your cottage to take care of it, you realize it isn’t simply a bat but a baby vampire. Your past has come back to haunt you because Jungkook’s sire is no one else but Min Yoongi, who you had left behind when you disappeared five years ago.

oh, little red @jincherie

summary: You knew they warned you about that path for a reason, you knew you shouldn’t take it as a shortcut. You knew, but you were running late, and you did it anyway. Oh, little red, just what have you gotten yourself into?

Ateez

Seonghwa

let me keep you warm @sweetestofchaos 💜

summary: “Are you cold?” “A little bit but I’ll be okay.” “Come here, let’s get you all warmed up.”

[cucumber-icepop]

Website spoilers under the cut! Every password I could think to try, being updated as I go

If you input the password "Cipher" it takes you to the Wikipedia page for Triangles, and if you put in "Bill" it takes you to a Youtube video of a Sesame Street song about triangles!

"Billcipher" takes you to the Wikipedia page for the eye of providence

"Ford" takes you to a page written by scientists(?) discussing his hands.

"Euclydia" brings up the text "DIMENSION NOT FOUND" :(

"Alex" takes you to the Google search page for flannel. Cool

"Pines" brings up the text "A GOOD FAMILY TREE"

"Stan" brings up an Ebay page for brass knuckles. (This happens with "Stanley" too!)

"Blanchin" brings up a Youtube video on how to "blanch" vegtables.

"Dipper" brings up a slip of paper written by Bill telling him that he needs to stare directly into the sun to crack some of the codes in the book.

"Mabel" puts star stickers all over the webpage!

"McGucket" brings up the Cotton Eye Joe song on Youtube.

"Soos" brings up a few pages written by Soos about what it's like being the new Mr. Mystery. There's pudding on the page

"Pinata" (a code suggested in Soos' letter) pulls up a video of a Bill pinata being beaten, Alex is voicing him in the video. Get him!!!!

"Baby" pulls up a Bill ultrasound????????????

"Blindeye" pulls up an image WITH CODES!!!!!!!! LET'S GOOOOO

"Prism" doesn't work, but corrupts the prism on the screen.

"Gideon" pulls up audio of Gideon singing.

"Pacifica" brings up a letter written by Pacifica (and Mabel!!)

"Season 1" brings up text about "Season -1" of "Antigravity Falls"

"Season 2" brings up "Season 1", and "Season 3" brings up "Season 2". There is no easter bunny there is no tooth fairy

"Divorce" brings up the O'Sadley's logo (the beer Bill drinks) and a zip file???????? The zip file is just the png of the logo

"Wendy" pulls up a page where Wendy tricks the viewer.

"Robbie" brings up a chatlog between him and Thompson, they summon Bill

"Reality" brings up the text "IS AN ILLUSION"

"Universe" brings up the text "HOLOGRAM"

"Rat" brings up text saying "THURBURTS' NUMBER?"

"Weird" brings up A VIDEO OF WEIRD AL?????

"Gravityfalls" brings up text saying "NEVER HEARD OF IT"

"Waddles" brings up a website called "Pig Placement Network". It's a pig adoption website!

"Death" brings up text saying "LIFE'S GOTH COUSIN"

"Life" brings up text saying "LIFE: 72% COMPLETE. NOW LOADING: DEATH"

"Axolotl" brings up text reading "YOU ASK ALOTL QUESTIONS"

"Fuck" brings up a picture reading: NOT S&P APPROVED! WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT WITH SOAP" and a picture of soap lmaooooo. This also happens if you type in "Shit"

"Thebookofbill" pulls up text reading "HIDE IT UNDER SHIRT DURING PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE" ??????

"Mason" (I can't believe it took me this long to try that) brings up a page written by Dipper where he writes some anagrams. Ford has written something about a Cryptogram Codex on the bottom of the page.

"Cryptogram Codex" causes another zip file to be instantly downloaded. It contains different fonts for some of the codes used in TBoB!

"Theraprism" brings up this image

Very cool

"Love" brings up an image of Bill's stupid romance novel

"Journal3" pulls up text reading "THE JOURNAL FOR ME"

"Journal2" pulls up text reading "THE JOURNAL FOR YOU"

"Journal1" brings up text reading "THE JOURNAL OF FUN". Journal is looking less and less like a word to me

"Sorry" brings up the full picture of Ford and McGucket in college. What if I cried

"God" pulls up a video of a Bill statue in an aquarium with an Axolotl

"Lies" brings up a long page written by Bill, where he talks about lying and reality. It ends with a short video of flickering text reading "LIE UNTIL YOU AREN'T LYING ANYMORE".

"Scalene" and "Euclid" both bring up text saying "LIFE FORM NOT FOUND" I'm in shambles

I'm going to end the post here, I've been doing this for an hour, and the people running the main codes Google doc already have most of the results down. Aohurz av hufvul dov ylhkz aopz, zahf dlpyk, huk kypur dhaly!

[notbecauseofvictories]

Hi Sarah, I'm going to visit Chicago in a couple of weeks and when I think of Chicago I think of you. What would you recommend I visit/do?

Unfortunately, Chicago is not its best self for a couple months---while I maintain that the city is for all seasons, summer is undoubtedly when it's most alive. However, there are a couple things I will definitely recommend for the unseasonably warm spring traveler:

(1) Eat some food

A friendly word of warning: do not be tricked into eating Giordano's or Lou Malnotti's. Perhaps your companions might try to win you over with promises of Chicago-style hotdogs---do not be swayed! You must manfully resist! (Harold's Chicken is that good though, and if you're close to the one in Hyde Park, feel free to devour the three piece dinner of your choice. Cheap bottle of the too-sweet wine I preferred as an undergrad optional.)

A much better option is to find a place that serves whatever food you love, but does it really really well.

Do you like sophisticated twists on a brewpub menu? Try Moody Tongue in the South Loop

Or are you really more of a tapas person? Highly recommend mfk in Lincoln Park

Would you prefer something a little....meatier? My favorite steakhouse in Chicago is Tango Sur (though I would argue their empanadas are really the showstopper)

There's nowhere in the city that does Hong Kong-style barbecue like Sun Wah in Uptown---I just stopped by after the parade for the Lunar New Year, the duck is to die for.

Are you on the West Side? First of all, do not go to Big Star. I mean, it's fine, but....come on. I'd pick Forbidden Root instead, or head over to Pilsen for Rubi's if you can't survive without tacos.

There are so, so many different bars I would recommend. Chicago was the home of bootleggers for a reason, goddamn it. Still, if you can't get to Wang's (look, I like Violet Hour too, but sometimes you don't want to drink in near-darkness), Koval (the rare distillery in Chicago), or any of the many, many craft breweries we have in the city right now, you probably can stop by one of the many, many, many bars we have in Chicago, and get a drink anyway.

There are more---of course there are more!---but we don't have all day. So instead I will leave you with this bit of wisdom: don't eat at Navy Pier or anywhere too close to Lincoln Park Zoo. If you are at a bar, don't settle for a burger when sometimes, the chicken tenders are actually better. And if you absolutely must go somewhere for pizza, choose Pequod's.

(2) See a thing

Chicago has many things in it! So many things! A hundred thousand things! Unfortunately, I don't know what you're into, so I will just talk about them in general.

MUSEUMS: I am a devoted museum-goer, and Chicago has blessed me with an endless feast. There are the big ones, of course---the Field Museum of Natural History, the Adler Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Art Institute of Chicago. However, my favorites are smaller, more unique: the International Museum of Surgical Sciences, Intuit (though it's temporarily closed, more's the pity), the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures at UChicago, the Lincoln Park Conservatory. That's not even all the museums in Chicago! That's not even all the museums that I've been to. It's amazing.

EVENTS: I once joked that I was a person who needed to schedule her enrichment like a blue-haired senior, but the joke was on me---I am that person! Fortunately, Chicago supports me in this endeavor by publishing many, many different calendars of "what to do this week or weekend". Do you want to see something onstage? Well, here you go. How about some classical music? I have a trusty guide. What about non-classical music? Always go to the Chicago Reader for that. Are you thinking of catching a game? Well, we're still in spring training for the Cubs and Sox, but the Bulls are doing okay even if the Blackhawks aren't, and we've got soccer (male and female) now too!

(Unfortunately, the Chicago Sky aren't playing right now, they're my favorites.)

OTHER: Unless you are extremely efficient, coming here and eating good food, doing one other thing, is more than enough. I promise it is! However, if you have more time, I definitely recommend just---wandering around. The Loop in particular is great for this, because it's reasonably small and everyone there is busy doing things. Going places, talking on phones, getting into or out of ubers, protesting outside of the Daley center, etc. etc. It's amazing to watch, and the buildings are pretty neat too.

Or you could wait a couple months, and take the Chicago Architecture Boat Tour, which I think should be a requirement for all Chicagoans. Maybe even everyone alive in the world. Just saying.

(3) Walk along the lakeshore

Chicago offers many delights, but I really do believe that Lake Michigan and its vast expanse of water, sky and space, is a unique gift to the city. It is beautiful in winter, in spring, in storms, in sun. It is free. You can sit in the grass or the sand or amble along its broad paths for miles, looking at unexpected art installations and waving grasses and the way the beaches slope to the water; you can talk to a friend or watch bikers and joggers pass you by. In the summer, there are a dozen different stands offering warm elote or cold soda, and cheerful men on jingling bike carts that will sell you neon orange push pops. In the winter, there are still bikers and joggers but also Canada geese, and you can stare mournfully at the slate grey water and ponder existence.

It is the heart of Chicago. Nelson Algren called us an "October city, even in summer"; Carl Sandburg described us as a shirtless dude who gives great oral. Personally, I think of Montrose Beach in the setting sun of winter, the sand almost too cold to touch---and beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

[bookdragon6127]

Some hazbin hotel thoughts and theories because I still have brain rot. These might just be the sleep deprivation but they’re stuck in my brain:

1. Alastor is bound to Lilith or eve right and the deal is to dethrone Lucifer and get Charlie in power (because she's the most naïve) which is pointed to by Alastor's lines in the song with the cannibals

1.5 Lilith betraying Lucifer and Charlie is going to be *gut wrenching* both because of Charle loving and looking up to her mother and then Lucifer being turned on by the woman he fell with

2. Alastor's power is restrained because he sold his soul to one of the above and part of the deal was that he couldn't be a heavy hitter because then he wouldn't have been able to gain Charlie's trust when the time came. Hence why he had to disappear. It's also so he didn't just destroy the entire hotel/have collateral damage

3. Alastor is going to force Lucifer into making a deal holding Charlie as leverage and that is how he gets out of his deal- both/either fulfilling his end of the bargain or it's just more powerful and overrides it essentially

4. Lilith/Eve will be the main big bad and Charlie will have a mental breakdown because this woman she idolized really is evil. Lucifer is just a depressed lil guy but Lilith/Eve saw being banished to hell as a way to get power but she's a smart mfer She's playing the long game

5. The series will end with Charlie as an Angel but still serving hell. Idk it's a hunch

5.5. Maybe they’ll explore more of Charlie being half angel especially after seeing her full power and all the fun tricks she can do. How cute would it be with Lucifer to teach Charlie

6. Vox looked up to Alastor when he was a baby overlord and once he got power, he tried to go to Alastor because he was his idol but Alastor pulls his "do I know you"shit (iconic)

7. We’re going to either meet god in season two which will lead to tensions with Lucifer obviously or find out there is no god and the system in place is running on auto pilot

8. Emily will either fall or overpower sera/take over to help Charlie and redoing heaven’s whole system and that’s why/when Charlie ends up an Angel

9. Alastor was referring to Eve when he told Adam “you should know better than anyone what can happen when a soul takes charge of their fate”

10. Lucifer cannot defend sinners as part of the whole extermination thing but once Charlie was actually attacked he was able to intervene (because she is hellborn and they aren’t part of the extermination)

11. Lilith’s deal with Adam is driving me crazy and I’m so curious what it is but my thought is that it’s as simple as she would stop rallying the sinners but she wanted to stay in heaven for it (which maybe meant she got to learn more about it so then she can influence Charlie as her almost figure head on the throne OR when she takes the throne herself)

[starsandhughes]

Penalty Box Series— Quinn Hughes Edition (Fifteen)

Hughes Palooza Edition

SEASON MASTERLIST

previous: fourteen

hi i’m back! i had to take a much needed break <3 trying to post every game when i was so behind got to me and it wasn't fun to watch anymore. because of this, i’ll only be posting special games (like when the guys play each other), record breaking games, and reslly any game i have the motivation to (like if it's chaotic and quinn/trev get penalties). i’m not pushing myself anymore i hope y'all understand🤍

and because there was a lot of tense feelings after this game for devils fans, i decided to make this post *mostly* about the millers

JANUARY 6, 2023

yourusername

liked by _quinnhughes, jackhughes, and 18,439 others

yourusername welcome back to my postgame penalty box update show: hughes palooza MILLER EXTRAVAGANZA EDITION!

THE colin miller, number 24 on the devils, number 6 in my heart (his number on the stars iydk), scored not only his first goal of the season, 🚨BUT HIS SECOND GOAL, TOO🚨 pop OFF step dad!!! congrats on being third star of the game!

and OUR miller, mr. jt, ceo of shaking his head at my nonsense (he loves me), scored two goals 1 minute and 4 seconds apart!

WE GOT A MILLER DICK TRICK EVERYBODY! two from jt, and two from colin! 2 + 2 = 4!!

✨now for the accomplishments✨

my best friend, my lifeline, loser of the postgame mario kart competition, quintin jerome hughes, has best the canucks franchise record for most multi point games by a defenseman last night with his 69th (😏) game! I'M SO UNBELIEVABLY PROUD OF YOU, HUGGY BEAR! this is the second record (that isn't his own) he's broken this season, and we're not even halfway through! he also has the most points from all defenseman in the league currently! (10th overall!)

and demmer had his 100th career win tonight! we love a milestone!

and luke played, too! he was definitely there!

i’m so proud of the valiant effort and fight everyone on the ice put into the game tonight! especially colin! i love colin! go colin! i’ll be mailing jack your first goal trophy!

happy miller extravaganza everyone! xoxo, sissy🤍

edit: luke is the rookie defenseman points leader and he threw a fit so i’m adding this so he'll stop being annoying. proud of you, lukey poo!

edit: petey also scored twice and was first star of the game! and he also whined so i had to include this! yay petey!

tagged _quinnhughes, lhughes_06, colinmiller1029, and j.tmiller9

view all 406 comments

lhughes_06 i feel personally victimized by this post

yourusername personally, i think i victimized other people more

_eliaspettersson @/j.tmiller9 she's talking about you

yourusername @_eliaspettersson i’m going to victimize you.

_eliaspettersson @/yourusername you did by not including me

lhughes_06 @/yourusername we deserve justice

yourusername @/lhughes_06 @_eliaspetterson fine you cry babies! happy?

lhughes_06 good enough

_eliaspettersson i’ll take it

yourusername you two are lucky i love you🙄

lhughes_06 aww i love you, too, sissy

_eliaspettersson love you!

user17 MILLER DICK TRICK HA

_quinnhughes my pictures are way better than i thought they'd be

yourusername you beat another record so i decided to be nice <3 i love you!

_quinnhughes i love you, too

lhughes_06 @_quinnhughes she was mean to me

_quinnhughes @/lhughes_06 that sounds like a you problem

lhughes_06 @_quinnhughes @/yourusername get out of my apartment

yourusername @/lhughes_06 "i'm not letting you go back to california. you're moving in and we're getting bunk beds"

lhughes_06 @/yourusername rat

yourusername @/lhughes_06 mwah!

jackhughes we would've won if i was there

yourusername oh look another cry baby

jackhughes we would've!

yourusername your team came close without you! and you can't prove shit! be happy for your brother! i'm literally taking care of you! i will leave you alone to die!

jackhughes @_quinnhughes good job

yourusername good boy

_quinnhughes @/jackhughes thanks

user8 okay but they would've won with jack...

yourusername hi! the devils put in an insane amount of effort and came back from a three goal deficit at the beginning of the third. the canucks basically doubled their amount of offensive zone time and yet the devils still pushed through all their adversity and was so close in the end. you're dismissing all of the other players great work and play by claiming that just jack alone would've changed that. yeah, he probably would've made an impact, but the canucks have been in the top ten of the league all season and nico daws still held his own pretty well and stopped a good portion of their shots against a team that was top of the league for a hot second and was 5th coming into the game. every devils player played to the best of their abilities and there were some unlikely heroes, another thing you're dismissing. jack is my brother and i love him, but he is not the only player on the devils. it's a team. a team that came so close in the end with almost half of the amount of sog. don't dismiss the rest of the team. be proud of them all.

user81 preach!!

j.tmiller9 i thought you loved me

yourusername i do! why would you think otherwise?!

j.tmiller9 i got the worst photos out of everyone!

yourusername well i couldn't do it to colin! and quinn beat a record so i had to be mostly nice! and they barely showed luke proof of life! somebody had to be the one to give good content! congratulations! it was you! i love you🩵

j.tmiller9 you could've been nice to everyone! you're such a sweet girl!

_quinnhughes @/j.tmiller9 she's deranged and this is how she shows her love

j.tmiller9 @_quinnhughes do i need to show her how to love in other ways?

_quinnhughes @/j.tmiller9 you can try but it probably won't work

jackhughes @/j.tmiller9 it's best to accept it

lhughes_06 @/j.tmiller9 this just means she loves you so much and trusts that you won't leave her for doing this

j.tmiller9 @/yourusername i love you, too! i'm here for you!

jackhughes @/j.tmiller9 she's emotional and under my shirt but she says "i love him so much he's one of the best people i’ve ever met and i'm buying him a present for being so nice"

user96 quinn hughes beat a record to make up for being the only hughes that didn't score last game

colinmiller1029 thank you! but i’m a little confused

yourusername COLIN! STEP DAD!

colinmiller1029 step dad?

jackhughes @/yourusername sissy, you're supposed to ask before you give people father figure titles

jackhughes @/colinmiller1029 she's a little obsessed with you i'm so sorry

yourusername @/colinmiller1029 hi i know we've only met twice but will you be my step dad? i already have a dad (troy terry) and then a real dad so your duties aren't that bad!

colinmiller1029 duties?

jackhughes @/colinmiller1029 dealing with her nonsense is the only thing. it'll be pretty easy for you since you were a dallas star. she started a gang with wyatt, ty, and thomas

colinmiller1029 @/yourusername sure! but as your step dad, i should probably tell you that you shouldn't start gangs

yourusername @/colinmiller1029 it's a little too late for that, sorry! it was delly's idea!

colinmiller1029 that sounds about right

jackhughes @/colinmiller1029 and that is what your duties are! see? easy enough

user56 LUKE LOOKED SO GOOD DURING THE ANTHEM FUCK

trevorzegras come home the kids miss you

jamie.drysdale @/yourusername mason and i are the kids

yourusername @/trevorzegras @/jamie.drysdale soon! i promise! i’m getting some much needed brother time! (send help jack's whiney)

trevorzegras have fun! i love you, forever!

yourusername you're the worst! i love you, always!

jamie.drysdale mwah!

[applesandbannas747]

i wanna hear your thoughts on the fence challengers: long shot preview pages if you want to share!

oh mAN I have so many and they are all over the place!!

The first one is a little thing, but I bet Seiji had a crush on Marcus Washington when he was a kid--Nick's horror, Harvard's teasing, and Seiji's indignant blush imply as much.

And a fun fact, Jo posted a mini preview of baby Seiji to Patreon on February 14th...maybe I'm reading into it too much, but that's nothing new XD

Next couple of things are about the scene with the trophy case. It was really interesting and fun to see side-by-side redraws of Robert! It really illustrates the way the style has evolved, and also I gOTTA say it feels like Jo is more invested in Robert based on the level of detail she put in--like it's not just a style comparison, it's also just obvious a lot of attention was put into these shots when a) she could have just reused old shots (which she's done before, so I know it was an option), or kept it more simplified like she did when drawing the original shots.

I also think it's sweet that the redraws have Robert looking much more like Jesse than the originals.

And I am sure I will get flack for this, but I have incredible second-hand embarrassment from Nick leaving his newspaper clipping + note in the trophy case jfhdasl like bestieee noooo anyone can see that shit now oh my god please stooop

Onto some Nichoji thoughts! I love that Seiji's been confirmed as a before-bed reader! Him having a Kindle makes sense for the sheer efficiency of it too lmfao. Of course it's also adorable to see him in reading glasses <3 And then my favorite detail is Nick's stupid nightlight...notice where it is?

Rather than illuminating Nick's side of the room, it's peeking around the curtain and lighting up Seiji's reading, which is beyond adorable and sweet. I wonder whether Seiji stole it or Nick put it there knowing Seiji likes to read before bed, and I love both scenarios.

Also, it's fucking adorable that as soon as Nick mentions their date appointment, Seiji takes off his glasses and lowers his Kindle because it's got his full attention and investment.

And a quick pitstop to the locker rooms!

I like the visual metaphor here with Aiden and Bobby both very casual about changing and both literally having their shirts open; meanwhile, Seiji's straightening the cuffs on his button-down, which is already neatly tucked in and complete with his tie. It just highlights how Seiji's a lot more closed off than the others, and I think this was a neat trick to remind us of that.

In regards to plot, I'm still...really disappointed in the pacing. I know most people feel like it's a slowburn/it's taken a long time to develop, but if you waited to read Fence at all until it was complete and then read it all in one sitting, I think you'd see how unbalanced it is. Williams says that their first match will be in three weeks back right after tryouts:

which means everything between issue 12 and CHALLENGERS has happened in 3 weeks. Seiji and Nick's relationship is so sweet and cute, but it went from resentful rivalry to puppy love overnight with very little 'screen time' dedicated to the actual transition from resentment to friends (which I could write a whole essay on but this is not the post for that lmfao). Furthermore, the fact that it's the first match of State Championships rather than first match of the season is crazy to me. I'll admit, I didn't fence in high school--it wasn't even an option because we didn't have a team. And despite hours of research, the structure of high school team fencing is not entirely clear to me. However, I do know that typical high school sports go through the season, facing every other team in their division or whatever. Based on performance in those matches, they can qualify for state, and then their win ratio determines their seeding order for the state championships that happen in like 1-2 days. Seeding order is who you go up against in a bracket, so it's what this diagram is, basically:

(side note, but it appears there are 24 schools competing at state). Again, fencing could be different, but it kinda seems to me like we skipped over the season and went right to State Championships, which just cuts out so much development and build-up. It's like we're speed-running the entire story to get to the end faster. We cut out showing the development in the romance, and now we're cutting out the development of the plot. There's still plenty that we can do at state, of course, but imagine how much more it would mean to see Nick fencing in front of Robert if we'd built that up more. I just don't understand how we spent 12 issues on try outs, 4 on a practice match, 8 on camp, and none on the fencing season. It feels so abrupt and unbalanced. Tryouts and camp were my favorites arcs because they felt pretty well-paced as self-contained pieces of the story. I just feel like we needed waaaaay more relationship development between those two arcs to be satisfying, and I feel like there should be waaaaay more build up during the fencing season between camp and State Championships.

and now, the moment you've all been waiting for: my devastation over Eugene's role (???) in the story. I honestly question why he's in the story at all--at this point, it would have made more sense to have him flat-out not make the team. Except that keeping him this long lowkey backs up the theory I've had on his role since Striking Distance/RIVALS: Eugene is here to make everyone else look better/cooler/more impressive. The very first thing that struck me when reading the first look was this:

The dialogue here suggests that only one reserve actually gets to be on the team in the end, and the reserve is Nick. And, worse, everyone expected it to be Nick. Sure, it's sweet that Seiji thinks Nick's the better fencer, but all I can think about is how hard Eugene's worked for ten years trying to make the team as opposed to Nick's three months of fencing. Now, I love an underdog story. But it's interesting because Pacat stated in an interview (I'd have to go find where for the specific quote) that he always feels bad for the person who's been working to be #1 their whole lives only to be knocked out of the running by an upstart underdog--which I've always assumed would influence the path taken in Fence...and it seems like we may well let Seiji and Jesse remain above Nick in skill (or at least it seems like we won't be dethroning Seiji, even if we go for Jesse), but Nick's overcoming smaller obstacles. And those smaller obstacles hurt worse to see crushed because Eugene almost made the team in a way that mattered, only to have that taken away. It would have been less cruel to him and his fans to let Nick take the reserve slot back in issue 12, but instead we brought Eugene along to serve as a means to make Nick out 'secret weapon' and elevate his story.

I will say though, this page is one of my favorite Eugene moments because I see the character I selfishly want Eugene to be in it. From the context of the panels above, this page is likely Williams telling them that only one will be fencing in State Championships, and this is their reaction. Eugene's immediate concern for Nick and the comforting hand on his shoulder followed by a bright smile and a thumbs up--he just cares so much about other people and it so used to smiling through his own pain/disappointment and comforts Nick through being positive (and as seen back in issue 12, up playing his competitiveness) and acting like it's no big deal.

Eugene deserved better, but if this is where he goes out, I think I can live with it. Better to see him go now than continue to be a means to uplift the rest of team by being less than. but, man, I was really hoping we were turning it around after his moment in REDEMPTION being the only KR boy not to lose his bout

anyway, thank you sm for listening to my rambles!!! <33

[coraniaid]

buffy/faith for the ask game

(Reverse unpopular opinions)

Easily my favorite Buffy ship and one of my favorites in any work of fiction. I think the main reasons it works so well for me are:

The way it resonates so strongly with what's going on in the rest of the show the season Faith arrives. I mean, Buffy comes out to her mother (as a Slayer), which is treated by the show as ... well, as Buffy coming out ("it's because you didn't have a strong father figure, isn't it?" / "have you tried ... not being a Slayer?" / "I've tried to march in the Slayer Pride Parade...") and a handful of episodes later Buffy meets another girl who is also a Slayer and who she starts spending a lot of time with (because they have a connection -- "it's kind of a Slayer thing" -- which she doesn't have with her other, non-Slayer friends). And while they're busy patrolling cemeteries and looking for vampires every night, this other Slayer is keen to (1) talk to Buffy about sex and quiz her on her love life; (2) repeatedly tell her that "all men are beasts" and "losers" who can't be trusted; (3) suggest that Buffy should be more open to having sex with the people she spends her nights hunting vampires with (like ... who, Faith?); and (4) is delighted when Buffy breaks up with her boyfriend (and later furious when she gets back together with her previous ex) and immediately suggests that she could replace him ("You're still going to that dance, right? [...] Why don't we go together?"). If this was deliberately laying the ground work for an explicitly romantic arc, it would feel pretty heavy-handed. The fact that it apparently wasn't (at least not on the part of the showrunner or of most of the writers) almost makes it work better, in some ways.

The way that Faith is, from the very beginning, very deliberately written as a foil for Buffy, a person Buffy might have been if things went just a little differently in her life -- because she goes through things very much like things the audience has already seen Buffy go though (living alone in a small place in a strange town with no friends all season the way Buffy did in Anne, panicking and starting to pack to run away in Faith, Hope & Trick in the same way Buffy was accused of doing just the episode before, killing a person the way Buffy thought she had in Season 2's Ted, the way her fear of Kakistos mirrors Buffy's fear of the Master in When She Was Bad) and because she is so aware of the fact that she's always being compared to Buffy and coming up short, either by other people or herself ("you get the Mom, you get the Watcher ... what do I get?") it's very easy to tie Faith's arc across the show back to Buffy and to her feelings about Buffy. Faith wanting Buffy to accept her becomes Faith wanting this idealized version of herself to forgive her failings. And likewise Buffy recriprocating Faith's feelings and admitting to herself that she is attracted to Faith becomes Buffy accepting that Faith (and the things she represents) really are an integral part of Buffy herself; that Faith isn't entirely wrong when she says that Buffy enjoys being a Slayer and that being a Slayer is something she should be proud of (or, again, being "a Slayer").

Apparently this wasn't the original plan for the character (if there ever was anything like an 'original plan'), but the fact Faith's arc in Season 3 so clearly mirrors Angel's in Season 2 -- and the fact she is so very weird about Angel all season (and that Buffy is equally weird about how attracted to Faith she just keeps insisting Angel must be) just naturally suggests that Faith might have a similiar role to Angel in the narrative beyond just the circumstances of her betrayal of (and later not-quite-being-killed by) Buffy. And Angel is -- for the first three seasons of the show at least -- primarily cast in the role of Buffy's doomed tragic love interest who she has to (metaphorically) kill but will later be reunited with. Which makes Faith ... well, something.

Even if not all the writers were on board, the fact that Eliza Dushku was deliberately playing Faith as attracted to Buffy (and that SMG was playing Buffy as alternately frustrated by and protective of and tempted by Faith) gives their scenes together a chemistry that I don't think most of Buffy's (or Buffy's) canon relationships ever managed. Whether that's the Amends porch scene or Buffy kissing Faith in the hospital in Graduation Day or any and all of their various fights across the show. And those fight scenes are all great, which is another thing I love about the ship: is it really a proper enemies-to-lovers arc if one of the people in it hasn't tried to kill the other one and left them in a coma for months?

Faith's return to Buffy in the last five epsiodes of the show is one of the last season's saving graces, and it helps that by this point the writers definitely seemed to be playing up the ship deliberately ("Willow said you needed me: didn't give it a lot of thought" / "Defensiveness and weird mixed signals ... I've got Faith for that" / "Deep down you've always wanted Buffy to accept you. To love you." / "It feels like it's mine ... I guess that means it's yours"). Even without ever being canon and without wandering what happens post-Chosen, it feels like there's a real narrative arc to their relationship, from their initially rocky start through to "just good friends" to bitter enemies through to Faith seeking (and finding) some measure of redemption and Buffy cautiously letting her back into her life. Faith isn't in the show much (or even mentioned in the show in most episodes), but it feels like she has a genuinely meaningful connection to Buffy that most characters who appeaer in less than a season's worth of episodes can't manage.

The thing that made the ship work for me, rewatching the show after several years back in 2020, is the fact that Faith is -- even at her worst -- incredibly sympathetic precisely because she is such a loser and hates herself so much. She boasts about being a great actor despite the fact we see her awkwardly telling the sort of transparent lies that ... well, normally only Buffy manages (compare "There's this big party ..." in Amends to Buffy trying to tell her old crush Ford that "there was a cat ... and then there was another cat, and they were fighting"), she wants people to think she's cool so badly but only manages to fool Xander and Willow, she tries to act as though she's happy without friends but we only ever see her alone sitting watching old tv shows or lying listlessly on her bed, she insists she doesn't need a Watcher and "has a problem with authority figures" but she is so openly desperate for any sort of parental guidance in her life that she sides with first Mrs Post then the Mayor. She ties Buffy's mom up so she can have someone to listen to how sad she is that Buffy's moved on to a new guy in college and "dumped" her. The scene in the church in Who Are You? where Faith-as-Buffy furiously attacks Buffy-as-Faith while screaming through tears that she's "nothing ... disgusting ... murderous bitch" is, I think, a strong contendor for the best scene the show ever produced.

As Doug Petrie said, the reason Faith works as a character -- and the reason that Buffy/Faith works as a ship -- is that Faith is incredibly unhappy. If Faith was the cool loner she tries to pass herself off as -- and which some of the fandom seems to think she is -- the ship wouldn't be nearly as compelling to me. Faith isn't just the part of Buffy who loves Slaying and pushes back when other people give her orders, and she's not just another verison of Angelus. She's the part of Buffy from Becoming who lost everything and ran away from home, only unlike Buffy she never got to go home again. As Angel asked Buffy in that episode: "no friends, no hope ... take that away, what's left?". Well, Faith is what's left. Of course Buffy would see herself in Faith, right from the beginning. Of course Buffy would want to protect her. As Buffy (Sunnydale Class Protector 1999) tells Angel, Faith is in pain ... she's somebody who "some people ... protective-type people" are naturally drawn to. The show is very consistent about the fact that Buffy's type is friendless losers who look good in leather and can fight alongside her in battle (but not quite as well, so she can protect them and look after them when they're hurt). And what bigger loser in the show is there than Faith?