#and try to upstage you even

[deerspherestudios]

Hello again! I see ask are opened! And from the previously answere asks, ive come to know that mychael loves lil funky doo daads! (Im so happy to know this fjwvdjdh i make quite a bit of these and worry that theyre actually useless in the long run ;u;). How would he react if the mc gave him a bunch of ducks? Ive made quite a few and i'd love to throw em at him/affectionate

Oh my god he would adore these!!! Little knickknacks and souvenirs are the best, and he'd definitely fawn over these. I can imagine him happily displaying these little lads and lasses on the fireplace calling them something silly like the 'Ducklings Siblings'. Probably give them names and backstories too (they change spots and stories every time you visit).

And the fact you handmade them makes it so much better! A gesture like that he'd want to return tenfold. He'd be cooking up something similar for you the next time you see him (since his love language is gifting):

[robonoba-zorbo]

First impression Law vs. actual Law is so crazy cause when we first meet him, he's this asshole(affectionate) who makes whimsical little torso tornados and travels with a bunch of dudes in jumpsuits, and then you meet him for real and he's some... edgy twink with a friend group that consists of a furry and bunch of dorks, and an inability to play nice with people who're at the same skill level as him.

I love both versions so dearly tho-

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

Archer Rama when?

idk but heres a lakshmana attempt thats been floating around my brain recently

[boltgunkiller-archive]

anyone else think santina kissed. multiple times. constantly. nearly dated maybe

[poptartmochi]

somehow Carver is like. one of my dilfest Sims 😳;; in my head, he is eternally DA2 Carver but I think I might give him a lil makeover for Inquisition because it's what he deserves 🤌🏻

[steddielations]

Upstaged | Part 2 | Part 1

It all makes sense.

When Eddie comes back from taking photos with the fans, he looks a little sheepish for the first time. Steve has about a million things to ask, mostly he just wants to laugh about the fucking odds, but he remembers the grace Eddie extended to him about the press ordeal.

Instead, he settles back with his lime soda and a simple question, “So, what kind of music are you into?”

A grateful smile breaks out across Eddie’s face, ecstatic to dive into that with Steve. Their lunch extends into dinner. Steve doesn’t have anywhere to be these days and Eddie practically jumps up and down when the meeting he was in the area for gets canceled. They stay there for a couple more hours, just talking. 

Their music taste overlaps at certain points, Eddie talks about how getting his first guitar from the pawn shop pretty much saved him, Steve recounts a little league story that makes Eddie laugh so hard he chokes on his soda.

It’s the most monumentally casual time Steve’s ever had with a new friend in public and he’s not ready for it to end. Even after exchanging numbers and promising to meet up again, they still linger together outside.

“So uh, I remember where I know you from now."

Eddie leans against the side of the building. It’s getting dark, they’re tucked away from any eyes so Steve freely scoots closer to Eddie, waiting for him to explain. He does after a moment, seeming nervous and fiddling with his rings.

“I hate to ask, but my Uncle is huge into baseball, especially you and your general all-around-awesome thing. There weren’t players like you to look up to when he was young, all that. I’ve seen you on his tv so many times, you’re basically part of the family— ah shit, that’s weird, sorry,” he cringes a little, scrunching his nose in a way that makes Steve’s chest clench with affection, “But he’s getting old and like I said earlier, he’s my rock, he raised me and I won’t forgive myself if I don’t at least ask you to come see him sometime.”

The way he rambles is pretty endearing, looking at Steve with a wide-eyed hopeful expression, as if there was even a chance Steve would say no.

He reaches out, gently takes Eddie’s hand to stop his restless fidgeting, “You want me to meet your folks already, hm?”

Eddie lets out an amused scoff, looking down at their hands and back at Steve like he can’t believe it. “You’re not as funny as you think you are, Steve.” 

Steve knits his brows, “Why’s that?”

“C’mon man. Y’know how hard it is to find someone who can handle this lifestyle, let alone all the shit that comes with me,” shaking his head a little, Eddie smiles but there’s something aching in it, “Then the nicest looking guy I’ve ever seen comes outta nowhere and saves my life, agrees to go to lunch, happens too know as well as me that life in the limelight ain’t always pretty and turns out to be one of the best people I’ve ever met.”

His fingers thread through Steve’s, holding tight like he’s not sure it’s real. “Even if I never see you again, I’m gonna write songs about you. I’d take you home and keep you right now if I could, but that’s not happening.”

There’s a part of Steve he’s kept shut down for years that comes pumping through his veins then, hot and alive. He realizes that he’s been trying so hard to keep his life as normal as possible that he’s been missing out on actually living it. Now he has this wonderful, crazy, wonderful man spontaneously in front of him and he’s not letting him slip away. 

Steve moves in, slowly crowding Eddie against the wall. Eddie’s eyes go a little wide with surprise then darken with desire. Steve watches his face shift through so many emotions, his mouth parting with a soft gasp, wanting this just as badly as Steve.

“Wanna bet?” Steve asks before he crashes into Eddie again. 

This time it’s a hot press of lips instead of a full-body collision, but it’s just as breathtaking.

Steve deepens the kiss, thrill prickling all across his skin when Eddie opens up for him right away. Steve licks passed the bright hint of lime on their tongues to get to Eddie. The heady taste of him makes Steve’s world spin, all the desperate noises between them going straight to his head.

“Want you so bad, Eddie, wanna keep you too,” he threads his fingers into all that hair, reveling in the shiver it elicits from Eddie, “God, just wanna have you.”

Eddie chases his lips, “You can, Steve, you can have me— please do.”  

Steve loves the sound of that, going in for a longer, more indulgent kiss before pulling back.

“You can’t take me home tonight,” he professes hotly against Eddie’s lips, “My place is closer, you’re coming with me.”

[itsbecomeblue]

band!ellie headcanons and smau

sinopse: ellie williams is the lead singer in a band (+some texts with her). i lost the resquest im so sorry!

cw: nsfw after the texts with warning! swearing, ellie's a changed woman after you, reader works in a record store and ellie's a simp.

part 2

✮ is obviously in a band with dina and jesse.

✮ cat was in the band when they started too, but they had massive drama when she and ellie broke up. (they're on good terms now tho! trust)

✮ they had a phase where they acted like they were both dating dina...(they were in a love triangle).

✮ got matching flash tattoos on their very first serious show.

✮ is kind of a fuckgirl and looooves her fans iykwim.

“just until i find the wife.” that's her lame excuse.

✮ the type of girl to have groupies and sign their tits.

✮ mets you at the fucking record store where you work.

"is that you?" you gather the courage to ask about what she was buying and she smiles proudly.

"it's our debut album."

"oh! congrats." you sigh before lifting your head to continue.

"i bought one this morning when they came in, thought it looked cool." and she has to ask for your number because why the hell did that make her heart melt.

✮ you initiate your first kiss after your lunch date and she just looks like she's never kissed before (:o)… awh she was NOT ready.

✮ 3 dates in and she's inviting you to a local show, having you in the front line. eye contact goes insane...

✮ you notice the girls drooling over her and tbh you feel a bit insecure.

✮ they bite their tongue when ellie leans over to you at the edge of the stage, singing to you, fingers on your chin.

✮ but soon enough she's on tour, she's texting you less and you try to move on.

✮ and you're soooo wrong for that because she's just busy and thinking about you.

✮ always talking about you to dina and jesse.

“i need to get back to my girl.” she's so delusional too.

✮ she's instantly only focused on you, weirdly adding your name in every cover of romantic songs they do at rehearsal.

✮ the first thing she does when she's back is run to the record store.

“how was the tour?” you asked, she's leaning on the counter and you take a step back.

“i missed you.” and you're not even thinking anymore.

✮ she wastes no time asking you to be her girlfriend after you cuss her out because she was late to one of your dates (it's hot asf).

✮ never beating the u-haul lesbian allegations after that.

✮ she's soooo daddy upstage but you know she wants and NEEDS to be babied.

✮ you were so upset she had a show on your birthday, but she called you on stage and serenaded you as if she was justin bieber or sum… flowers and everything. (she sang “one less lonely girl”)

her fr^

✮ when she's out and fans stop her… she's so sweet and attentive but she wouldn't want to be late to see you

“sorry girls, the wife is waiting i have to go.”

texts with band!ellie

nsfw (cw: cunnilingus [e!receiving], strap on sex [r!receiving]. switch!ellie!!!!).

✮ absolutely loves good luck head when you're backstage.

“baby just needs some encouragement, am i right?” you ask softly between open mouthed kisses on her lower stomach and thighs. she nods. “yes… need your tongue.” she grunts, thrusting her hips. you start licking and kissing her slit and she can't help but grind against your tongue until she cums all over it.

✮ loves it when you ride her strap too, but she has to switch out and completely dick you down… with permission after not touching you for so long.

“please let me fuck that pussy.” she knows you're getting tired, since you didn't even slap her hand when she started rubbing your clit. “come on…” she spits down your clit. “tired, babe?” you nod breathlessly grinding on her lap. she fucks up into you “tell me i can fuck you…” but she's already doing it?? “f-fuck me, ellie.” and now she's grining and holding you flat. “damn, this pussy's split open.” as she bottoms that shit deep in you. she will fuck you stupid.

a/n: this is a lot but i enjoyed doing it... and.... my phone's charged!

[tgcg]

we do a bit of trolling

CG: OKAY DAVE, I KNOW WE CAME TO A TRUCE ON THE WHOLE FOOD WARS SHTICK, I'M NOT ABOUT TO HURL TWENTY MORE INSULTS AT YOUR EARTH CUISINE, BUT.

CG: BUT WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT.

TG: man

TG: ok look i was kinda preoccupied with the seven minute voice message i left you about the infinite jump glitch in sonic 06 and it turns out i cant measure water and talk at the same time

CG: DON'T SLOSH IT!!! THAT'S DISGUSTING!!! IT LOOKS LIKE BILE!

TG: yeah well its the last pack of mac n sheese and im gonna eat it whatever viscosity it decides to have

TG: i can make this work

TG: is cheese soup a thing

TG: nah theres no way in hell

TG: k so what is your cooking proficiency like what are we dealing with here

CG: OH, I DON'T KNOW. I WOULD SAY I CAN PROBABLY FOLLOW BASIC INSTRUCTIONS, POSSIBLY LIKE THE ONES THAT WERE ON THE BACK OF YOUR SALIVATION-INDUCING SLOPFEST YOU'VE GOT GOING ON HERE.

TG: alright cool i got a pitch

TG: might work might dont

CG: THAT ISN'T SO MUCH INSPIRING CONFIDENCE IN ME AS IT IS TAKING WHAT MORSELS OF FAITH I HAD IN YOU OUT BACK AND THRASHING THEM IN A DARK ALLEYWAY.

TG: alright so im basing my operations on like the core features of water im talking the ten commandments of h2o-logy

TG: as the component responsible for the shlop of my shlock presented before you

TG: it can evaporate right

CG: … YEAH?

TG: ok but cheese doesnt evaporate does it you cant get a cheese mist

CG: OH NO.

TG: cheese doesnt evaporate it just like melts

TG: or dries

TG: so my theory is if i jam this shit in an oven or maybe the microwave

CG: NEITHER OF THOSE WERE IN THE INSTRUCTIONS AND YOU KNOW IT

TG: but the problem is the pasta is already cooked and all up in there so if i microwave it the pastas gonna go soggy and i cant have that

CG: DAVE.

TG: so microwave is out of the picture im assuming oven heat will keep the pasta dry while also evaporatin the water without removing the cheese

TG: that checks out doesnt it

CG: CUT THE BULLSHIT. STOP EMBARRASSING YOURSELF.

CG: YOUR INSISTENCE ON UPSTAGING YOUR OWN STUPIDITY IN FRONT OF ME ISN'T CUTE OR ENDEARING. I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO PULL AND I'M NOT FA--

CG:

CG: WAIT… NO… WOULD-- WOULD THAT…?

TG: real brain wrinkler huh

CG: OH SUCK MY FAT FUCKING SHAME GLOBES

TG: dude you even pointed out the tripwire and you still went ahead and threw yourself over it what kind of troll are you

CG: I DIDN'T FALL FOR SHIT! OBVIOUSLY MY ATTEMPT TO HUMOR YOUR RAPIDLY DETERIORATING SENSE OF "INTELLIGENCE" WENT CLEAN OVER YOUR NUGBONE! YOU'VE PROVEN YOUR POINT, MY FAITH IN YOU IS COMPLETELY MISPLACED.

CG: WOOPS! SILLY ME FOR BELIEVING IN YOU! WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER?

TG: hahahaha oh man

[jewishregulus]

what about james who takes regulus’ virginity and then for some reason or another they break up and reg starts seeing some new guy and james loses his mind and does everything he can (literally breaking into reg’s house) to cockblock them and make sure this guy doesn’t touch reg, whilst also trying to win back reg in the process

see this anon….. you just upstaged me . he would be absolutely fucking miserable at the idea of anybody else touching regulus like he has at all. even fully clothed ….. why should anybody else get to touch His person ….. he’s the one who made regulus realize he likes to get touched there there and there it’s just Unfair for anybody else to . bonus points if regulus Knows and is doing this in a weird attempt to get james back too….. implying heavily he’s going to hookup w someone and the guy comes over and regulus is like we r going to watch this movie But you gotta sit on the other end of the couch. featuring james showing up and seeing another guys car and getting so mad he genuinely debates keying it . i know when they finally get back together that second first time james is so so so jealous until regulus fesses up he didn’t actually let anyone else touch him and james becomes sooooo cocky ……. anon im giving you the keys to my blog

[silversodas]

Interesting Alastor Insights

I think I may have figured out what was up Alastor’s ass in Dead Beat Dad. On one hand it may be a deeper issue that I am missing some context for, but I actually think it’s a little simpler then we think.

Even before Lucifer arrived, Alastor was clearly not happy about him coming over, and yes Alastor was 100% full of shit in the dad off song, BUT! Something note worthy is that he was not only being possessive of the Hotel (claiming to be its host and even greeting Lucifer as the master of the house does) but is also weirdly possessive of Charlie

And right down to the “fuck you” to Lucifer’s face it was projecting “get your feet off of my damn coffee table and get outta my house” energy. At first I was wondering what crawled up Alastor’s ass and died, and then Hell’s greatest Dad starts playing and..

“Who’s been faithful as a Nun? Who’s been here since day one?”

And it dawned on me and I was like “Alastor, why are you acting like your being replaced?” And Charlie is just as confused at Alastor’s behavior, like this came out of nowhere. Apparently Alastor was determined to show Lucifer who the Genie of this bottle is. But I didn’t believe it at first, I was like “nah it has to be something else” but then Mimzy gave some VARY interesting insight

When Mimzy first arrived, Alastor has a look that says (oh this is all I need right now) but he still seems happy to see her

Like holy shit, he happily reciprocates the hug, but that’s not to surprising if you know who Mimzy is if you have been fallowing Viv for a while

When she mentioned that he frequented the club (speakeasy)that she preformed in I was like “oh! They are drinking buddies!” Drinking Buddies are someone you generally only know the fun side of because you only hang out together at the bar, but Mimzy highlights a different side to their relationship

“Put on some Jazz, and pour a few fingers of Rye, and he becomes a kitten”

This gives me insight that while they were alive, she wasn’t just his drinking buddy and dance partner, she was his comfort zone. The way she phrased this sentence, made it sound like this was something she used to do for Alastor when they were alive, maybe she was a soothing presence as well as an entertaining one in Alastor’s life. But bar friends can sometimes be pretty high maintenance friends outside the bar, actually I think a lot of us have had something close to a friend like Mimzy in our lives. Apparently she is so bad that even Husk is concerned enough about Alastor to try and talk to him about her

“You and I both know Mimzy only shows up when she needs something. That bitch is trouble, and who knows what demon she fucked with to come running to you this time”

Alastor’s response threw me for a loop

“It’s nothing I can’t handle, don’t worry Husker, who would cross me?”

So Alastor is not immune to having toxic friends? I always assumed he would just drop anyone who became to much trouble, this is an interesting surprise. And on top of that he’s…an enabler!? Huh…that is super interesting to know. Putting a pin in the rest of this interaction for another post because there is a lot to unpack with husk and alastor. Except for the being on a leash thing because it made me realize something.

What if the reason he felt upstaged by Lucifer was not because Lilith told him to keep him away (yeah I am subscribing to the Lilith theory, it’s to much to Be a coincidence) but because he is legitimately afraid of no longer being needed by Charlie? What if, if he isn’t needed by Charlie then he has to go back to wherever he was the last 7 years? Everyone assumes he is free because he acts as such, but is he? Like real question, what if he was a straight up gift to Charlie in a way? Even if it was a “look after my daughter” command I would still call that sending a gift.

And oh man, what if he was suppose to tell the whole truth to Charlie but gave the whole, “I am here for entertainment” speech instead.

And your probably thinking, Charlie wouldn’t tell him to leave. Yeah but does Alastor know that? And he probably thinks Lilith might call him back anyway if he is not needed but just hanging out. But as we have seen, he cant even except his own situation

I will unpack this whole encounter later, but for real I don’t even think he is that mad at husk, he was mad at the reminder that his soul doesn’t belong to him any more. Like look at his face, it’s the most upset we have ever seen him, and it’s so detailed. He looks enraged, but also hurt at the same time. He and Charlie are not friends, yet, but I think he does feel some what safe at the hotel and maybe that’s enough for now

I also think there is some stock in Alastor hating that Lucifer is a bad dad theory, because that contempt was so raw and he did calm the fuck down a little bit during the “more then anything” song

But those are my random insights of Alastor, there were more but this is already to long I just hope it’s coherent

[lyneira]

♡ mwah! ♡

-> how would the twst boys react if you gave them a peck on the lips out of nowhere?

slightly suggestive at a certain part, otherwise, it's mostly fluff as usual!

Asks why

Vil, Jack, Jade, Lilia, Epel

They're not upset or anything, they're simply curious. What's up? Did you want something? What's with the sudden affection? Are you looking for attention? If so, why didn't you say so? He'd gladly give it. There will be some differences behind the nature of their questions though.

Some of them might be genuinely curious and would like to know what's earning them such affection from you (This would apply to Jack and Epel)

The others will use it as a way to tease you. They'll cheekily ask, "aw, does my sweet y/n want attention? come here", and they'll either give you more smooches or make you work for it, all depending on their mood 😌 (This would apply to Vil, Jade, and Lilia)

Gives you MANY kisses

LEONA, Malleus, FLOYD, Jamil, Che'nya

If you give him a kiss and expect to easily leave without a word, you're terribly wrong. You think you can do something like that and try to escape? Tsk tsk.

Before you can try to retreat, he'll pull you onto his lap and begin kissing you all over, muttering things like "if you're gonna kiss me, do it right". He's 'upset' that you think one small peck was gonna satisfy him, especially since you've interrupted him to do so. Now you have to deal with the consequences. You'll be given the most passionate kisses everywhere and anywhere 😏😘

*.exe has stopped working*

Deuce, IDIA, Silver

Congrats! You've broken them!

You know how the prince had woken up Sleeping Beauty with a kiss? Well you have successfully done the opposite because now these boys can't move a muscle! Their burning cheeks and bewildered stare at you is enough to tell you how much they're freaking out inside.

'WHYDIDTHEYDOTHAT? OHMYGOSHTHEIRLIPS WERESOSOFT Y/N,AREYOUTRYINGTOKILLME?!?'

It's not like you two haven't kissed before, but bear with them, they're just not used to sudden gestures of affection. The best they can do is hug you and hide their flushed face in the softness of your bosom. Pet their head, hold em tight, and they'll melt even further, mumbling a soft,"I love you"

Calls you adorable and gives you a big kiss

Kalim, Ruggie, Cater, Neige, Trey, Rook

These guys will feel the warmth you've put into that kiss and will give it right back. He finds it extremely endearing of you to be so affectionate!

In general, there would almost be a competition of affection between you two. You'll do something sweet and in turn, he'll do something sweet right back. Whether it's through more spontaneous kisses, hugs, or encouraging words, he's not going to allow you to upstage him, he loves you too much

"What was that for?! ...please do it again"

Azul, Riddle, Sebek, Ace, Rollo

Will get flustered once you catch him off guard by bestowing your lips upon his. He'll complain at first like, "I'm busy" or "don't distract me". However, you'll notice that even after a couple of minutes, his blush still hasn't left his cheeks and then he'll finally turn to you, revealing the pleading look in his eyes, "y/n...please do it again". Of course you oblige. How can you resist? He rarely showed this side of him after all.

You can also take this opportunity to tease him a little, but don't overdo it! (or else you'll never be seeing this adorable side of him again) And ensure to make up for your teasing by giving him all the smooches and love he deserves afterwards!

© 2023 lyneira. PLEASE DO NOT COPY, PLAGIARIZE, OR REPOST MY WRITING ONTO OTHER PLATFORMS

[bigfatbimbo]

Vox/Lucifer/Velvette/whoever you want loll in a “who hurt you?” Situation? 👀 OR reader trying to make them jealous? 😏

a/n — wait i actually don’t know what you fully been by the “who hurt you situation” but that makes me sad because it sounds like something i wanna write so please clarify.

Anyways here’s the reader making them jealous.

Lucifer, as much as he hates to admit it, gets insanely jealous. He doesn’t work hard to hide when he is feeling that way, but he will deny it for the longest time. We see in episode five that he deals with this by trying to upstage the said person, or show you how much better he is. This only works for a little bit before he crumbles. I feel like he would end up getting genuinely sad about it after his cockiness wears off. Like if you’re hoping for a smutty outcome with him, nope. He’s just kinda insecure and will need lots of reassurance.

Vox is kinda harder to place because yes, he gets insanely, maddening, concerningly jealous, but it’s how he shows this that’s complicated. If you’re in public, especially at the voxtech building, I doubt he would make a big display. After all, image is very big for him. But I do think he would be very petty towards you because, what the fuck? He would be furious at your selfish attempt to make him jealous, especially because it would work super fast. He would probably be very bratty about the whole situation, giving you the silent treatment, only replying with short hissy answers, etc. Probably also has trust issues because of valentino so lots of “Oh, now you’re talking to me? Don’t you have that whore to flirt with?” type answers.

Velvette would not hide her jealousy, in fact I think she would flaunt it. Openly insulting whoever the person is, and these cut deep too. She would be petty too, but not in a Vox way, in a ‘oh, im gonna make you even more jealous’ type of way. Like she goes ten times further too. If you were just gently touching someone’s arm, she’s halfway in their lap. Definitely playing with fire, looking over to see your reaction, smiling when she feels like it’s working. Her end goal here is absolutely to get railed by you, just being honest. Wasn’t even gonna be an nsfw post but she is absolutely pissing you off on purpose so you can take it out on her later.

[coraniaid]

Speaking of Faith, Hope & Trick: that first conversation between Buffy and Faith must be so different from Faith's point of view.

I mean, the episode itself is very much told from Buffy's perspective. She's only recently reclaimed her identity as "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" and she just started to reconnect with her friends as of the end of last episode. Of course she feels challenged by Faith's arrival; of course she feels like Faith's deliberately trying to upstage her. Of course she feels Faith is trying to intrude on her life. She reacted much the same way when she met Kendra, and that was when she was a lot less keen on being "the Vampire Slayer" and much more comfortable with her place in Sunnydale. As she tells her mother later, she's "just getting her life back […] not looking to go halfsies on it".

But think about it from Faith's side. Even while she's lying about where her Watcher is, she admits that she came all the way from Boston looking to meet "the infamous" Buffy Summers. She presumably set up the earlier encounter with the vampire deliberately to try to lure Buffy out (she's the one to lead him outside and she only starts fighting him seriously once Buffy and the Scooby Gang have arrived looking for her). She must have picked out her never-to-be-seen-again outfit and practiced her slightly too casual introduction of "I've got it. You're, uh, Buffy, right?" (as if she came all the way to California to meet some girl whose name she didn't quite remember) well in advance. She's already calling her 'B' while the vamp's dust is still cooling. You think she hadn't planned that too?

And Faith is trying to so hard to connect with Buffy in this scene. Yes, she tells a lot of "tall tales" (as Scott Hope will later put it) -- she wants to seem impressive! she wants Buffy to view her as an equal! -- but she's also the only person in the group who keeps trying to get Buffy to share things. It's not her fault that the rest of the gang talk over Buffy's attempts to talk about her own past battles or that they undermine her attempts to tell equally impressive stories. It's not even really her fault that she ends up sharing things about being a Slayer that Buffy as obviously been trying to keep secret from her friends (I mean, it's her fault a little, sure, but I don't think it would even occur to Faith to be embarrassed by anything she says).

"Did you really use a rocket launcher one time?" Faith asks, having already heard the story from somewhere and so done her best to convince Buffy that she too has done equally cool things (she hasn't). "What was your toughest kill?" she asks, having fled most of the way across a continent to escape a vampire she couldn't kill herself. "Isn't it crazy how Slaying always makes you hungry and horny?" she asks and "You and I are gonna have fun," she promises. What can that mean but: don't you feel the same way I do? Aren't you just the same as me? Aren't you glad I'm here?

Yes, Faith is jealous of Buffy's friends and her Watcher and her Mom, right from the start, but she didn't arrive in town looking to meet them. She came looking for Buffy; and look at how quick she is to accept Scott's description of her as "Buffy's friend" the next day. But Buffy (very understandably, from her point of view, because of experiences Faith has no knowledge of) just keeps trying to shut her out. The harder Faith tries to impress her -- by trying to win over Buffy's friends, and her Watcher, and her possible boyfriend, and her Mom -- the more aloof the other Slayer seems to get.

No wonder Faith gets annoyed by the rejection. No wonder she starts to get angry. No wonder she's ready to start exchanging threats once they're alone on patrols and the vampires aren't even showing up the way they're supposed to. Like she'll complain later in the season: she came to Sunnydale, she slayed, she did the good little girl routine, and what did she get? Not Buffy, that's for sure.

[spriteofmushrooms]

All Jiang Cheng Ships Are Bad and You Should Feel Bad, a non-comprehensive list:

xicheng? Trying to upstage wx by taking the #1 eligible bachelor for your ugly #5 blorbo. As IF!

chengxian? Literal incest literally literally. Even more incestuous in MXY's body. That's THREE JL uncles?

zhancheng? Fiction is REAL and you are making your fugly slut into a HOMEWRECKER!!

zhanchengxian? Ummm first of all, everyone knows that fictional mlm only need a mommy (bottom) and daddy (top). What would he even do? 🙄

sangcheng? WWX barely even mentions NHS and JC interacting, and since he was gone for 9 months of the GSL lectures and then dead for 13 years, I think he'd know!!

mingcheng? What, just because he's tall and strong and WWX teases JC about NMJ? Great OTP, idiot. He's not even in the top five eligible bachelor list.

chengyao? Infidelity much?? Or are women not REAL to you?

chengsu? WHY ARE YOU OBSESSED WITH BREAKING UP THEIR MARRIAGE?? Also she has like two lines of dialogue, they have clearly never spoken before. 🙄

3zuncheng? More like JC's healing bussy. Which is NOT healing, FYI.

chengqing? Well Wen Qing is canonically a lesbian who's repulsed by men. Sooo lesbophobic.

chengning? Get your necrophiliac hands OFF my uncomplicated sweet baby Wen Ning!!

chengxuan? Oh my god, do you not even care about Jin Ling!

rencheng? LAN QIREN IS AROACE. PROOF?? IT'S FUNNY. Aphobe much??

zhucheng? Oh my god, WZL is literally at work. I suppose you'd write JC harassing baristas, too?

chaocheng? This is double homewrecking.

zhuicheng? Barf!! In my version of the novel, JC constantly tried to murder every Wen survivor and said he'd eat a-Yuan!!

chengyi? It's sooo curious that you just recreated the chengxian dynamic without the real incest... Stealth chengxian shipper.

zhencheng? Who's Ouyang Zizhen?? Oh, right. AGE GAP!!!

xuecheng? Why would JC care about an orphan street kid with a lot of resentment? That's right... chengxian III: The Return.

OC/JC? Kind of telling that you had to make up a guy to ship with your blorbo... Unlike LWJ, who was specifically designed for WWX by the author, this is just sad.

JC/reader? Love yourself.

[pluckyredhead]

The past few days I've been thinking a lot about the General Slocum disaster.

It's a mostly forgotten story now, but the General Slocum was a passenger steamboat that was used for excursion trips around New York during the turn of the 20th century. In 1904 it caught on fire and sank in the East River, and over a thousand people died (there were less than 1400 aboard to begin with). Most of them were women and children. They were on a church-sponsored picnic outing.

From top to bottom, the story of the General Slocum is about corporate greed, and corruption, and incompetence:

The fire was probably started by a match or cigarette (!) in the Lamp Room, which was full of straw, oily rags, and lamp oil (!).

A child told the captain that the ship was on fire, but the captain ignored him. The crew didn't properly inform the captain of the fire until ten minutes later.

The captain inexplicably made for North Brother Island, even though other islands were closer. Steering directly into headwinds spread the fire faster.

The crew hadn't practiced a fire drill in the past year.

None of the safety equipment on the ship worked, because the steamboat company found it cheaper to pay off safety inspectors than to keep their ships up to code.

There was a hose on board, but it was so old and rotten that it burst when the crew tried to hook it up. The crew then gave up trying to put out the fire or help anyone and abandoned ship.

The lifeboats were wired to the deck, and the wires had then been painted over, rather than removing the lifeboats each time the ship got a fresh coat of paint, so it they were impossible to lower.

The life preservers were filled with cork. They were supposed to weigh a certain amount, so the manufacturer had put lead bars in some of them to make weight.

Others were so old that the cork inside had disintegrated into powder. Solid cork floats. Powdered cork sinks.

That meant that some of the mothers who survived described putting life preservers on their babies and throwing them into the river to escape the flames, and watching them sink.

Very few people could swim at the time, and everyone was wearing the heavy wool clothing of the period. Hundreds of people drowned.

The disaster decimated the immigrant community of Little Germany on the Lower East Side, where most of the deceased were from. Fathers who hadn't been able to attend the picnic because they were working got home to find their wives and children were all dead. Dozens of bodies were either never found, or found but never identified.

Though multiple safety inspectors and employees of the steamboat company were indicted, only the captain - who very much became the scapegoat for the whole thing - was convicted. The steamboat company paid a nominal fine. The one silver lining was that state and federal safety regulations were strengthened in the aftermath.

Like I said at the beginning, this story is mostly forgotten. A lot of historians credit that to the Titanic upstaging it just a few years later. Adella Wotherspoon, who survived the General Slocum as a baby and lived until 2004 (!), said she knew why: "The Slocum people were very poor or middle class. They were often German immigrants. The Titanic and other ships had celebrities."

I don't really have a moral to this story, except that safety regulations matter, ships full of immigrants are just as important as ships full of rich people, and humans have pretty much always been the same, as far as I can tell.

(If you want to know more, I highly recommend Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum by Edward T. O'Donnell, the excellent Wikipedia page, and the Bowery Boys podcast episode on the disaster.)

[artbyblastweave]

Okay, Time for that belated Shrinking Rae post-

In the comics, Shrinking Ray's "arc" (bearing in mind an extremely liberal definition of that term, they had exactly one scene showcasing this) was that he was implied to be developing an inferiority complex; he's not necessarily incompetent, but he's out of his niche, his clever shrinking-based plans kept getting upstaged by brute-force solutions from the more conventionally powerful heroes like Invincible. He's the scrawny, nerdy little guy with the joke powers, he never gets a win, and in most fights he literally isn't visible. In the fight with the Lizard League his death is framed as pathetic and ineffectual- there's one or two panels between "I'll make you pay!" and getting eaten alive by Komodo. All of this is doing a couple of things- it's emphasizing that again, this is in fact a story and setting where superheroes sometimes just die really badly with limited fanfare- a thing that IIRC hadn't happened since the original Guardians team wipe in issue 7. Second, it's an indicator that the new Guardians are structurally kind of on the ropes. They're heavily staffed by second stringers, they exact second they have to split their forces they suffer a 66 percent casualty rate, and that's with backing from two capes who aren't actually part of the team. Grim! Anyway, when they do the adaptation Shrinking Ray becomes Shrinking Rae, because they want to tweak the gender balance of the cast and the pun is too good to pass up. But I think that there was a reasonable reluctance to transfer the "arc" from the comics one-to-one, because to be blunt, "Ineffectual Nebbish Glasses-wearer who whines a lot and dies pathetically," paired with absolutely nothing else, is gonna read as misogynistic if the character is a woman now. So in the adaptation Rae is markedly more competent. We're introduced to her taking down a much larger opponent by fucking around inside his ear canal, which becomes a favored trick of hers. There are traces of the self-esteem thing- the visual gag where she physically shrinks about a foot when getting chewed out in the briefing- but the overall throughline isn't "look at this loser who somehow ended up on the guardians." In the Lizard League fight, she doesn't get eaten- she's deliberately trying to execute a Thanus maneuver and just fucks it up, seconds after successfully killing a different villain the same way. And there's a second where it looks like it might work, too, before hope is cruelly yanked away. Which makes for a markedly cooler death scene- but who died? What was actually going on with her? Anything? In some sense she's cooler, but it's kind of an undifferentiated cool. She had what, Six lines? Seven? On balance I think Rae is still doing her fundamental job in the story, which is to pad the Guardians roster for a while and have someone who actually dies and stays dead as a result of the Lizard League fight- but I think they definitely missed an opportunity to give her some more texture than her comic counterpart had. Part of me thinks that the show would have been a good place to go even harder on Shrinking Rae being in over her head, but in a considered way, to emphasize that the Guardians aren't well managed- maybe tie it into the tensions between Robot and Immortal regarding sustainable team management practices. Part of me thinks you should go the other way, that if you're gonna do away with the idea she's underwhelming you should blow up her role, have her actually say and do some things that affect the story or the team dynamic in any noticeable way, because as it stands she's kind of visibly siloed as the designated mauve shirt. I'm definitely of one mind that this showcases something I suspected was gonna bite the show in the ass, which is that they're (laudably) diversifying a secondary and tertiary cast whose main role in the source material is often to die badly or fade out of focus.