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tropicalfreckles · 4 years

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Beej?

Anon you’ve opened the floodgates you absolute fool(i’m kidding) OKAY, let me tell you all about what I like about the smelly trash man cause if it wasn’t obvious before with me not being so subtle I have a big crush and enjoy this stupid demon a lot (crush on musical beej specifically of course LAWL)

Why I Like them: OKAY IN ORDER, first movie Beetlejuice. I enjoy he’s a big sleazy asshole that has funny one-liners every time he actually just show up in the movie. He’s a fast-talking con man that acts like a used car salesman and he has a sleazy charm to him. I also enjoy watching Barbara school his ass every time I rewatch the movie, stan movie Barbara y’all she’s a babe and will take you down. I also like to thank Michael Keaton for his performance it was a great one and we all have movie Beej to thank for the other Beetlejuices we got!

Toon Beej! Adorable, a brat, a jerk, a man that would do anything to make a quick buck and he’s gross and such a petty shithead I love him lmao. He can be pure and adorable and nice when he wants to be even if he doesn’t like to show that he has a soft side. Also holy shit all his puns??? YES?? I LOVE PUNS. His jokes, his powers, everything about this middle aged dead ghoul is A+ and ya know what when karma does slap him that’s good too cause he does deserve to get taken down a peg some times lmao. Toon Beej is someone I’d happily be friends with.

now we get to my big ass crush on a stupid, smelly BASTARD OF A BUGMAN

Musical Juice. What don’t I like about him? Besides his dumb ass plan of a green card marriage lmao (I mean movie beej also sleazy af for doing that too). ANYWAYS. What I like. His stupid smile (both blum and brightman just WHY ARE THEY BOTH SO ATTRACTIVE AHHH), his unhinged pansexual disaster energy, who tf is letting this man do coke that is a terrible idea but it gives such hilarious results, the fact that he uses his humor with his trauma he needs to NOT call me out like that lol. I weirdly relate to Musicaljuice like a lot (as someone who struggles with trying not to be petty or get jealous and stuff like that), plus him feeling invisible and lonely also hit home really hard when people in middle school and high school would randomly just drop/ghost me out of the blue. He’s such a chaotic sleaze and I just enjoy his energy and his jokes so much. His dirty humor? Sign me up I keep it clean here folks cause I got another blog for dirty stuff but I like dirty humor when it’s done right lmao. Also dadbod. Dadbod is CHEF KISS. The little things I also enjoy. How he does have an affectionate side (him being just affection/touch starved also coming for the throat cause me too), the fact that he jumped to protect Lydia after she rightfully killed him and he even gave her his cowboy hat as a goodbye present. I thought it was nice of him to yeet out of there cause he did do a lot of bads lmao. I also love how excited he got and the chaotic sibling energy he had with Lydia when scaring. I just really, really enjoy musical Beetlejuice a lot guys.

Sorry I’m such a simp for him lmao

He is my emotional support bastard

Why I don’t: I honestly do not hate his character at all, but, I can criticize his actions. To a degree. I can’t exactly say (ex. Musicaljuice)“Oh no! a demon trying to kill Lydia’s friends and family?? How unexpected!!” he’s a demon he’s gonna do evil-ish things. Which is why I applaud Lydia taking matters into her own hands good kid 10/10. and like movie Juice is a bastard sleazy man of course he’s gonna have a shitty idea as to marry a teenage girl so he can freely do whatever he wants in the world of the living. He never in the final script showed any creepy shit towards her which god I am grateful for I don’t need someone perving on this teenager that’s already having a wild time in her new house. He’s a conman just trying to have a good time but goes about it by crappy means. The petty/jealousy thing can go too far some times (but I chalk that up to musicaljuice’s sad upringing along with not having an positive relationships that we know of in his life to support him) for musical and toon juice (toon juice once again I don’t think had any friends that really understood him when he was alive and when he died so he just does whatever he wants since people already think so little of him before he meets Lydia), however with the proper talking to I think both could improve from it. Like in an analysis way I know these guys are fictional just like character development thoughts. All three have said and or done some things ranging from like small shitty things to problematic obviously. Beetlejuice is a very complex character as a whole. Movie juice obviously not as developed since he’s barely in the film to kind of shroud him in more mystery but that doesn’t mean his motives aren’t intriguing. I don’t want to make this post longer than it already is so that’s just all of my thoughts summarized.

Favorite Episode (scene if Movie): Fav movie beej scene is hard.

His first time meeting the Maitlands, his charades with Lydia, then the ending scene are all so good.

Toon Beej I’m trying to think. Once again I’ve only rewatched like 20+ episodes for the cartoon so it’s hard to pick with limited options. Uhhhh I like the haunted attraction episode lmao also the creepy tree and how he went out of his way to help Lydia move her favorite tree and in the end tried saying something nice to the tree even though eh was annoyed with it the whole episode.

Musical juice that is HARD, Blum and Brightman just own every scene they’re in shit lawl. I really like the evil plan reveal during the séance. The whole being dead pt 1&2 (the guide reprise), say my name, his scenes with the maitlands.

Favorite season/movie: Skip

Favorite Line: NICE FUCKING MODEL!! *honkhonk* (pfft)

also like... everything beetlejuice says in the musical lmao “new phone who dis”

Favorite Outfit: HONESTLY I love every single outfit all three beetlejuices wear. I want the fucking guide hat so badly!!!

OTP:

hahahaAAAHH ah. Well. Ya see here. Let’s go with the first options. Cause of a number of artists on here I’ve been pretty keen on the BeetlejuicexMiss Argentina ship for moviejuice tbh lmao. I like the idea they had an office fling. Musicaljuice and Miss Argentina sounds cute too.

I don’t actively go into the Beetlands tag but I do think the art and idea for it (after a lot of building up trust/consent/and talking) think it can be a super cute poly ship! I like.

I don’t really ship Toon Beej with anyone tbh.

so now into the self indulgent shit lmaaoo

I love people’s ocs/self inserts with the Bugman a lot and I myself super hardcore ship my oc Leilani and musicaljuice. I... maye have drawn self insert art I have no posted here out of being shy but it’s on another blog that will stay hidden lmao. I don’t normally post self insert stuff of myself cause man I can draw it easily for other people but when it comes to myself I am shy.

I mean I’m writing a fic for beej and lani as we speak and you all know by now if you’ve been following me for the past couple of months I’ve drawn a handful of doodles plus commissioned numbnutspo to draw my self indulgent ship lawl

BROTP: The obvious for toon and musicaljuice is Lydia Deetz of course. Chaos siblings. Also I have a BROTP of my demon oc Antares with musicaljuice too. Dumb demon bros.

Unpopular Opinion: TBH Idk if I have one. I like to think there’s a resounding hiss @ the ship that shall not be named lmao.

A Wish: Same wish I had for Lydia’s ask, I wanna see the musical live REAL BADLY. I also wish I could tell the cast/crew of the musical how much it has helped me get through this shitty year and how it legit just revived my passion for drawing again. I got to meet a lot of people through the musical and made some new friends. Plus I’m actually making money off my art now???

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: I wanna forget that clean beetlejuice from that one episode of the cartoon exists lmao it scares me (I mean I wouldn’t object to musical juice to taking a fucking bath or brushing his teeth but let’s be real that ain’t happening)

5 words to best describe them: Bastard, Unhinged, Handsome, 1-Brain Cell, Huggable

My nickname for Them: I mean when I refer to him or write fics it’s always Beej, BJ, Bugman, Bug, Bastard Man, Smelly Trashman, Garbage Man, Lawrence, the list goes on lawl

and now I have aired out more of my stupid obsession with this dumb demon

edit: I FORGOT HEADCANONS

OKAY HEADCANONS. Musical juice is definitely the oldest of the three, (in dead terms too, in alive terms he was ony alive for like less than 3 minutes or something), I love musicaljuice pansexual/genderfluid so much. I have a bunch but my mind is like blank rn for the rest shit sorry but I added those in at least

also I like the funny headcanon toon juice is taller than keatlejuice and musicaljuice

I also like the headcanon for autistic beetlejuice (as someone who is also autistic)

#asks #long post #anon #beetlejuice #musical beetlejuice #asks game #Anonymous

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doloresabernathysworld · 5 years

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His Dark Materials season 1 episode 2

I'm a little late this week, and I really haven't had the chance to rewatch the episode, but here is my review.

I have to warn you that I'll be discussing a lot of things from the books, so if you haven't read them you should probably skip this.

Again, I'm doing this on mobile, and I don't know how to add cuts - if anyone knows how to do it on mobile I'd be glad to learn, because I don't have a computer.

A lot of things happened in this episode, so instead of going by order of events, I'll talk about it by characters.

Starting with Roger and Billy. Their reunion was beautiful, and I'm in love with Roger's character. He's such a sweet boy, consoling Billy, even though he is frightened himself. And we are able to see the faith he has in Lyra early on. And his interaction with Mrs Coulter was fantastic, it was like he was saying "I'm on to you" without giving too much away.

Then we have the Gyptians. It was nice to see Ma Costa still on the fence about the expedition, and heartbreaking when Coram gave her Billy's vest. In the books, Ma Costa trusts John Faa, and now we see why. On that note, am I the only one picking up something more between them? And then there's Tony. Ma is afraid to lose another son, but given the evidence there's no way Tony will just stay put if there's a chance of rescuing his brother.

Now for the biggest surprise in the episode: Lord Boreal. I have to say I'm loving what they are doing with his character. Yes, I did picture him older and kind of slimy, but I don't mind at all this new take. Boreal is sophisticated, and threatening in a non obvious way, and that's what makes him so dangerous. The scene in Jordan was amazing, we got to see the authority the Master commands, and we see Boreal is sneaky, pretending to yield just so he can do his own bit of research.

And then he crossed to our world and my heart stopped! The window is so gorgeous, it was so nicely done, I was mesmerized by it. And the feel of our world, it was so subtle, it reminded me of the descriptions given from Will's and Mary's pov. I know some people are on the fence about this reveal, but as I see it, it makes sense showing us now what Boreal is doing and introducing Will's plot before he appears. I've always wondered how Boreal knew Will's identity, and I had to conclude it had to do with his father, but it's nice to see it explained.

As for Asriel, I don't think it'll take that much away from his storyline. Right now, Asriel wants to find a way out of his world, true, in order to find a place that the Magisterium doesn't control, only to discover that the Authority has control over multiple worlds. And now that it's confirmed that Asriel will feature in season 2, I think it really is important for the audience to know there are portals into other worlds, even if Asriel thinks he is the first to cross. Plus it doesn't take away any merit of Asriel's doings, because he's still the first one to cross worlds in the open.

About the scene with Adele, I gasped loudly when Boreal touched her dæmon, but for the people who don't know about the taboo it wasn't that shocking, just enough. I think it will have more impact upon rewatching, and if the experience with the books taught me anything is that going back to understand some things is bound to happen. It also shows us that Boreal has a mind set that tells him some rules don't apply to him because of his status, which is a big theme in His Dark Materials.

And now the main event: Lyra and Mrs Coulter. I think the dynamic of their relationship is spot on. We got to see Lyra being a child full of enthusiasm in the Artic Institute, then begin told she needed to act differently, and Marisa equates obedience with trust. The bath scene was done well enough, although I missed the part where Marisa stared at Pan until he behaved like the golden monkey. A thing that I liked was Marisa calling out Lyra for lying, and all her talk about letting Lyra be mold by her really was a red flag. Marisa wants a clone of her, a version of her with a more easy start than the one she got.

The parallel between Lyra and Pan afterwards and Marisa and the monkey really illustrates their differences. Lyra feels the need to be loved, and is interpreting being well treated with love and affection, so she goes along and that's sad. Even in the books it said that Lyra was happy but lonely, like she was missing something. As for Marisa, she's so secretive that she hides parts of her to her own dæmon, meaning her own self. Both Lyra and Marisa are lonely in their own way, but at least Lyra has Pan.

From here on, we see Lyra being molded by Marisa, but showing resistance too. At first is by trying to be charming, by showing she's smart with the talk of Dust. Then Lyra sees her away from her dæmon, and the protests are more feeble. Then mild protests about the dress, and then the bag.

Marisa, meanwhile, is dealing with Lyra the best she can in order to keep her facade longer. In the Dust conversation, Marisa is hurting her dæmon in order to steady herself, and him too. Then Lyra sees the monkey without her, and Marisa just lies in her face, gaslighting her, saying she's just sleepy. But when she's alone again, she hits her dæmon, and that tells us she is someone who deals with self-hatred, and doesn't tolerate failure.

It was nice to see the rivalry between the factions of the Magisterium, and to get Marisa and McPhail to interact this early to establish a pattern. That visit, more than anything else, makes Marisa very frustrated. Her charm is useless with McPhail, and she can't manipulate him easily. And when Lyra points out that she's upset and lost control, she takes that as an offense and starts a fight with Lyra, only to feel in control again.

The confrontation between the dæmons and the speech Marisa gave was done beautifully, and I liked the modification. I liked that Lyra wasn't complying, and the mention of Asriel makes Marisa lose control yet again and reveal that he's Lyra's father. And the monkey lets go of Pan and immediately turns to her, (I think anticipating the abuse he would endure), and the confrontation stops at once.

Now, I saw some posts about how Marisa was hurt by Asriel and still holds a grudge, but I have some thoughts about this matter. From what I can remember from the books, including La Belle Sauvage, Marisa was married and had an affair with Asriel. Asriel wasn't the one who abandoned her, she chose to continue married because that was more advantageous for her. She lied about baby Lyra, telling her husband the baby was dead and rejecting her completely. I'll probably write a meta about this whole thing later.

In my opinion, Marisa wanted Lyra to admire her the way she admires Asriel, so hearing Lyra invoque Asriel like a protector hurt. So of course she talks badly about him, so she can tarnish Asriel's imagine and isolate Lyra even further. She doesn't reveal her own identity because she wants Lyra to like her first. So she gives Lyra space.

Then Lyra finds out she's being spied, and breaks into Marisa's office only to discover some blueprints, and that discovery was the only iffy part of the episode for me, but we'll see how it'll play out.

Then we have two interesting moments. First, when the golden monkey caressed Pan. Marisa is trying to show good intentions to Lyra, she's trying to get back to good terms. And at first she seems to think she's succeeded. The second is the breakfast scene, when she mentions Roger and how he must've forgotten Lyra already. I loved how Lyra tells her, without raising her voice but full of defiance, that she's lying. Marisa gives her the same look before the confrontation and orders her to eat, and Lyra does, but her spite all visible.

I enjoyed the party scene, but I was hoping to see Lyra talk with Boreal. But I get it, now that he's so visible to us it would be dumb to have Lyra not recognise him. I also enjoyed the fact that she escaped from a window.

The kidnapping scene at the end was the perfect way to finish the episode, it created an urge to keep watching.

One final thought, in Northern Lights Lyra mentions once that the monkey was far away from Marisa in a disturbing way, but then nothing more is said in that regard. With all this new content they're showing us, I'm really curious about what we'll see regarding Mrs Coulter and her dæmon.

I loved this episode, I'm really happy with where this is going, and I'm happy I'm not only watching something I read, but also new things that make the plot and the world building richer. Let's hope next week's episode makes me feel the same way.

#his dark materials hbo #his dark materials bbc #his dark materials #his dark materials spoilers #His dark materials book spoilers #Hdm s01e02 #the idea of north

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avidbeader · 6 years

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Voltron Season 6

Okay, now that I’ve seen the season (and that was much harder than it needed to be, but I’ll save that for another post), I will try to get some initial thoughts down. I’m sure I’ll have more as I rewatch.

TL;DR version - I loved this season.

If you follow me, you know I ship Sheith and ship it hard. And S6 makes me feel like I won the lottery there. I was hoping that the Operation Kuron thing would be settled. I was hoping Keith would return to the team, be the one to discover the clone plot, and find a way to rescue Shiro. I was hoping there might be another hug. I was hoping for some flashbacks to how Keith and Shiro got to know one another.

I was not expecting a scene that I have seen a dozen variations of in fanfic. I was NOT expecting a battle of “Akira”-level epic-ness, a crossover fic of “Winter Soldier”, and the clear declaration of “I love you”. I think I would have legit screamed if my husband hadn’t been watching with me.

(And miss me with the “brother” thing. Thanks to the flashbacks we see that other than his dad (because he didn’t remember his mom), Shiro is the only person that Keith cares about. He has no frame of reference for when the affection and friendship from his side slides into romantic love. I’ve seen plenty of posts from gay people who verify that yes, calling that person for whom you have all these new messy feelings a brother or sister at first is actually something that happens. And *because* JDS started with “brother”, he could finish with “I love you” and not have the toy company execs try to censor it. I look forward to seeing how much more they are able to do with this.)

I’m trying to decide whether I’m surprised or not that they killed Kuron. On the one hand, we’ve already had the brother variation in GoLion and the melding of both those characters into one in DotU. On another, my understanding is that Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim Dos Santos originally planned to either kill Shiro off permanently or have him be gone until nearly the last minute in order to have Keith grow into leadership. But for once the toy execs were useful and insisted that they weren’t going to create toys for a character that was only around for the first two seasons. (Boy, the philosophy has changed from my childhood, where two seconds in the background was enough reason to make yet another Star Wars action figure...)

My interpretation is that Kuron’s consciousness died the moment his connection to Haggar was severed, leaving behind a body running on minimal brain activity. That’s the most moral way to have Allura recover Shiro’s consciousness from the Black Lion and infuse him into Kuron’s body, since his own is nowhere to be found. It’s rather sad, since Kuron was certainly trying his best when he wasn’t being pushed by Haggar into doing her bidding. I will be interested to see whether Shiro has access to or retains any of Kuron’s memories, or how much Shiro knows - if his essence was tied to the Black Lion, he may only know what the Lion was there to witness.

At the moment, I’m not a fan of the all-white hair. I really grew to love Shiro’s look in S1-2 and was only putting up with the look of S3-4 Shiro because I figured we’d see Original Shiro back once the Kuron plot was done. But that’s just my personal opinion and I’ll try to make myself get used to it - even though it reminds me of those horrifying edits where people just removed all the hair from the characters’ heads.

Non-Sheith stuff:

I was SO immensely relieved and happy when I realized that the time-skip was (1) on Keith’s side and (2) he was with his mom and got a pet in the process. I was legitimately pissed off in advance at the idea of Keith being stuck alone or just doing Blade stuff while the rest of the paladins were in the semi-leaked long sleep that came from a cast interview. Instead, it seems like he and his mother had the time to get to know one another again forced upon them. (The fact that it makes the age discourse even more irrelevant than it was already? That’s a bonus.)

I was not surprised that Lotor had some really nasty skeletons in the closet. I may find some more to think about, but I do feel that the story was written fairly, showing through Zarkon and Honerva the effects of being exposed to the rift, and telegraphing that same effect onto Lotor (such as reverting to “Victory or Death” when facing the white lion of Oriande). Whether or not he might have overcome it given enough time and support...that’s for fanfic to explore. And when you contrast the fact that Lotor chose to sacrifice others (the Alteans he took to the “colony” in his quest, Narti back in S3 or S4) while Allura tended to sacrifice *herself* from early on (healing the Balmera, getting Shiro out of the Galra ship)... I think that draws a pretty clear line between their characters and the paths they were destined for.

In general, I wasn’t wincing near as much through the “comedy” episode and didn’t have to fast-forward at all. (Which I do with parts of “Space Mall” and I do not intend to watch “The Voltron Show” ever again.) I was delighted to see Pidge uncover a little Blade of Marmora when her dwarf was smashing pots and looking for treasure “Zelda” style. Yes, it would have been fun if Coran had chosen for Keith to turn up as an NPC, but I can understand why they decided to keep it simple.

I also liked that, although this was a Keith-heavy set of episodes, they did give plenty to the other characters. Hunk got to shine with leading the repairs on the shield. The revelation that Pidge had created something to take out Shiro’s arm? Logical and devastating. And I don’t think I rolled my eyes at Lance even one time this season, which is quite an accomplishment. I loved seeing him be honest with himself about his feelings for Allura, and even examining them with a maturity that has been slowly developing over time. I love how Allura went all in to save him in the first episode - I hope that’s pointing toward an endgame ship, because those are two characters that I think would be good for one another.

I liked the use of what few background characters we had, although I was getting dizzy from all the twists and turns from Axca’s loyalties and (until the last time) impatient with how quick to accept said turns Ezor and Zethrid were. I am very curious to see what Haggar/Honerva is planning next - I expect her to be the final big bad to defeat in the last third of the show.

And while I need to go back and watch S5-6 back to back to be sure, I get the feeling that the entire team went full throttle here. The writing was tight overall, the characterization mostly logical, the animation incredible, the music fantastic, and the voice actors had some tour-de-force moments in what was already a set of strong performances.

And now we’re going back to Earth, something that was legitimately deflected by the showrunners when asked several months ago. I was not expecting that - I figured Pidge was about to say they needed to go to Olkarion to get a new castle built. But now we’ve got Earth in the picture again, and my husband is letting himself hope just a little for Vehicle Voltron to make an appearance. I am pumped and eager to see what happens next even as I savor everything that this season gave us.

#voltron #vld s6 spoilers #voltron spoilers #my thoughts on the season #including some sheith

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marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer · 7 years

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MTVS Epic Rewatch #156

BTVS 6x07

Obligatory soundtrack to make your reading expeerience better :)

Stray thoughts

1) I have to be honest, this was probably the most difficult recap I’ve written so far (other than The Body, which I skipped altogether and asked for submissions instead.) OMWF was the episode I was most looking forward to rewatching. It’s my favorite BTVS episode. It’s my favorite episode of anything/everything ever, period. I’ve watched it probably more than 50 times (I watched it three times just as part of this rewatch, just so you know.) And as much as I love this episode, I was really clueless about how to write a review about it. Like, what can be said about one of the most talked and written about episodes in the history of television? What can I say about it? How can I honor my love for it and what it means to me in my review? Do I write my recap in a different format? What am I bringing to the table? The truth is, I didn’t have the answers to any of these questions so that’s why I’ve been kind of quiet on Tumblr lately. I just couldn’t get around to writing this recap. At the same time, I wanted to move forward and I wanted to rewatch this episode again and gif the hell out of it. So I said fuck it. Let’s just write a regular recap and be done with it. Anywho, I tried to break down the episode by scenes/songs but you’ll also find fun quotes and the usual stupid things I do with screenshots and whatnot.

So on with it!

TL;DR: I love this episode a whole lot and I didn’t know how to write a recap about it.

2) Opening Credits

When watching TV, there are certain clues that let the viewers know they’re about to watch something different, if not special or momentous. The first of these clues is very straightforward: if a TV episode starts with a “previously on” clip, you know something’s about to go down. If the storyteller is purposefully reminding you of events that have transpired in the show, there must be and there usually is a good reason for it. It typically means that said past events will bear a certain relevance to the episode’s plot. It may also serve to remind you exactly why everything is going to shit at present? Either way, as a TV viewer, whenever I start watching an episode that begins with a “previously-on”, it kind of makes me go “Oh oh, something’s up.” A second clue is the lack of a teaser (i.e. that short clip before the opening credits that literally teases what’s to come and makes the viewers want to continue watching the episode) because that breaks the standard structure of a TV episode and it kind of raises a red flag: if the writer didn’t want to tease anything about what I’m about to watch, then it must be huge. There’s also a third clue: the opening credits may be somewhat altered, which has written “special episode” all over it. And if that weren’t enough, the episode may get a special title card just to finally hammer the point home that this is not your typical episode. These techniques serve to raise the viewers’ expectations. OMWF implements all of these, and it succeeds not only in raising the viewers’ expectations but also in exceeding them. Suffice to say, when I first watched this episode I was pretty much freaking out by this point (even though I watched the show as it originally aired, or rather a few months after it originally aired because that was when it aired in my country, I didn’t consume any media about Buffy other than what I watched on my TV, so I wasn’t privy to the fact I was about to watch a musical episode.) But I hadn’t lost it yet, that was just a couple of minutes away...

3) Opening scene

The opening scene has no dialogue and yet it is extremely effective in conveying Buffy’s depression. We see what “A Day in the Life” is for Buffy, and it is not pretty. The first scene says it all, actually.Buffy has clearly been awake for hours – if she has been able to sleep at all. And then the alarm clocks starts blaring, and she stares at it because it is basically reminding her that she has to start pretending all over again. It’s yet another reminder of everything she’s lost and how hard it is for her to just be alive. She picks up the clock and continues to stare at it, but she never turns it off. She just lies there, staring at the blaring alarm clock. This is exactly how Buffy has been feeling since she came back: just there. No emotions and no feelings other than pain and sadness. Sometimes not even that. She’s mostly numb.

Meanwhile, everything around her is life and movement and happiness. We see Tara making the bed (and finding the little “present” Willow had left for her the previous night…), Willow getting dressed and Dawn hurrying her so that she can take her turn to get ready. And Buffy…

After a few minutes, Buffy is still there. Barely. This shot is relevant not only because it depicts Buffy’s state but also how everyone around her was pretty oblivious to how she was feeling. Yes, Buffy did pretend to feel fine. But a person can keep up the happy façade for so long, there are always cracks, and others can notice those cracks if they pay enough attention. Unfortunately, it was easier for the Scoobies to buy the “I’m happy and grateful” discourse than to own up to what they had done to their friend.

The scene at the magic shop is pretty much the same: everyone is going on about their own lives, and Buffy is barely there. And worst of all, no one even notices how barely there she is.

I’d said this before and it’ll probably be the last thing I say with my dying breath: Buffy’s depression was the best arc in the whole show. Fight me.

4) Going Through the Motions

Buffy’s day ends, as per usual, with her patrolling the cemetery. And this is the moment I lost my shit and never got it back...

I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing! Buffy was singing a song? About herself and how she felt? What was this and what had I done to deserve it? Was I in heaven? (of course, naive me thought: “a musical episode! this should be fun!”)

Season Arc Relevance: “Going Through the Motions” is your typical Disney princess song, which works perfectly in that it is a juxtaposition of how Buffy thinks life should be (music/style) and how life really feels to her (lyrics). She should be the princess in her own story, except she has kind of lost her will to live? In this song, Buffy is addressing her depression, acknowledging it to herself more than anything. She knows she’s been playing the part, going through the motions in her personal life and her “work.” Buffy is suffering from PTSD and depression, and it has affected how she experiences her slayerness. Throughout the prior 5 seasons, Buffy had gone through different stages as regards her status as a slayer and what it meant to her. She had quit more than once, run away from it, almost gave herself up to its darkest side, tried to figure out what it meant for her, and finally embraced it. It is expected, considering it was such a huge part of her identity. But never along the way had she ever felt indifference or apathy towards her slayerness, which was how she was currently feeling. She didn’t see it as a burden, she kept doing it because she knew how to and it was just something else to do. But the purpose had been lost the moment she lost herself. The rest of the season will be a quite painful journey till Buffy finally feels alive, and, more importantly, rejoices in being alive.

What I love about this song: even if Buffy has lost that drive and motivation, even if she is just going through the motions, she still yearns to feel otherwise. And that just goes to show how strong she is, you know? She could be curled up in her bed, crying about everything that she’s lost or was taken away from her. She could so easily let herself die or be killed. But even if she doesn’t really know how to get that drive back, she keeps trying, she never gives up.

What I hate about this song: is the fact that Buffy gets the sympathy and understanding she’s been looking for in her friends from some demons. I mean, the fact that the freaking demons get precisely what Buffy’s been like lately shows exactly how oblivious her friends were.

Foreshadowing: By the end of the episode, Buffy would look for a way to feel alive...

Favorite lyrics:

I don't want to be Going through the motions Losing all my drive I can't even see If this is really me And I just want to be Alive!

And you gotta love the Disney-princess-like finale, right? I do :)

5) At the Magic Shop

BUFFY: So, uh, no research? Nothing going on? Monsters or whatnot? Good! Good. Uh, so, did anybody... uh... last night, you know, did anybody, um... burst into song?

XANDER: Merciful Zeus!

WILLOW: We thought it was just us!

GILES: Well, I sang but I had my guitar at the hotel...

TARA: It was bizarre. We were talking and then it was like...

BUFFY: Like you were in a musical!

TARA: Yeah!

GILES: That would explain the huge backing orchestra I couldn't see and the synchronized dancing from the room service chaps.

WILLOW: We did a whole duet about dish washing.

ANYA: And we were arguing and, and then everything rhymed and there were harmonies and the dance with coconuts.

WILLOW: There was an entire verse about the couscous.

XANDER: It was very disturbing.

This whole dialogue actually proves Giles’s point that people tend to rationalize what they can’t understand or explain. I mean, here we have a group of people who have been dealing with the supernatural for years - one of them for centuries - and when confronted with an out-of-the-ordinary situation their first instinct wasn’t to go “hey, something supernatural must be going on!” but rather to dismiss it as a weird, isolated incident. Instead of thinking “It must be a demon” they thought “It must have been a gas leak” (after all, it’s always a gas leak in Sunnydale. Or a PCP gang. Or both.)

So far, Buffy seems to be the only one affected by the “sing your secrets out” part of Sweet’s spell. It is implied that the Scoobies weren’t really singing about any existential stuff (I mean, I don’t care how much you love couscous, I don’t think couscous is on the same level of “I just wanna feel alive”, you know?) Giles immediately picks up on Buffy’s silence as everyone shares their musical numbers and questions her about her song. Of course, Buffy claims not to remember...

6) I’ve got a Theory

What I love about this song: I mean, what is there not to love? It’s the first ensemble song, it’s fun and upbeat and even if each character gets only a couple of lines, all of them shine and show their essence in those few lines. It’s also worth noting Buffy’s role in this song, or more precisely, her lack thereof. Even if Buffy is the one who brought up the issue, she immediately takes a step back when everyone joins in throwing theories around. They are having fun, this is the “fun” part of hunting demons. Buffy, yet again, is dettached not only from her friends but also from her duty. Oh, she will patrol and slay. But she’s not invested in it.

I also love the callback to Nightmares: “I've got a theory / Some kid is dreaming / And we're all stuck inside his wacky Broadway nightmare.”

What I hate about this song: We never got to hear Tara’s theory :(

Foreshadowing: Giles figured out what was going in the first line of the song.

I've got a theory That it's a demon A dancing demon! No, something isn't right there.

7) Bunnies

What I love about this song: It’s a fucking heavy-metal song about bunnies. How can you not love it? And it’s so Anya because she may lack finesse (although she disagrees) and tact and she might have trouble with the whole range of human emotions sometimes, but at the same time she often gets hang up on the silliest things and blows them out of proportion (like this song, or the fact that she’s worried about her songs not being hits...)

What I hate about this song: there’s nothing to hate about this song, how dare you?

8) If We’re Together

Season Arc Relevance: Buffy falls right into the role she’s been playing so far in the season: pretending. She plays it perfectly because this is exactly who she used to be, and she remembers it. We can see that Giles is not really buying her optimism, so she picks it up a notch and does a very Buffy joke (”Hey’, I’ve died twice.”) and ropes him in.

What I love about this song: Even if on the surface this song is about Buffy taking her role as a leader and bringing everyone together, there’s a dark depth to it. Buffy’s theory is, after all, “it doesn’t matter.” And she reinforces this idea by saying “Why should we care?” Even if Buffy is pretending, you can still see the cracks there. She indifferent, apathetic, she doesn’t see a purpose to any of it all. She’s making a point about how it’s always the same, and that’s not necessarily an optimistic view considering it usually ends in death and occasionally it’s her own.

What I hate about this song: the Scoobies not reading in between Buffy’s lines, as per usual.

Foreshadowing: In hindsight, this song is rather ironic considering they’re singing about how they can face anything together and well, everything goes to shit this season precisely because they don’t trust in or rely on each other. Also, Anya’s line “There’s nothing we can’t face / except for bunnies.” sort of foreshadows what happens in Tabula Rasa with Giles and Anya at the magic shop.

Favorite lyrics:

We have to try We'll pay the price It's do or die Hey, I've died twice.

9) Giles is not completely sold on Buffy’s optimism, however.

BUFFY: So what is it? What's causing it? GILES: I thought it didn't matter.

She contradicts herself immediately, and Giles picks up on it. But yet again, Buffy is quick to keep up the pretending and she makes a great point about why they should figure out what’s going on (and delivers one of my favorite lines in doing so...)

BUFFY: Well, I'm not exactly quaking in my stylish yet affordable boots, but there's definitely something unnatural going on here. And that doesn't usually lead to hugs and puppies.

10)

ANYA: Well, is it just us? I mean, is it only happening to us?'Cause that would probably mean a spell or...

11)

DAWN: Oh my god. You will never believe what happened at school today.

BUFFY: Everybody started singing and dancing?

DAWN: I gave birth to a pterodactyl.

ANYA: Oh my god, did it sing?

12) Tara and Willow awkwardly pretending they’re not about to have sex is everything.

TARA: Tha-That's right! The, the volume. The text. GILES: What text? WILLOW: The volume-y text. You know? The, the (mumbles) report. XANDER: The what now? TARA: Oh, there's just a few volumes back at the house that deal with mystical chants, bacchanals.

13) It’s Tuesday. Dawn is:

A) shoplifting.

B) in danger.

C) all of the above.

14)

WILLOW: ...those guys are checking you out. TARA: What? Wh-What are they looking at? WILLOW: The hotness of you, doofus. TARA: Those boys really thought I was hot? WILLOW: Entirely. TARA: Oh my god. I'm cured! I want the boys!

15) Under your Spell

Season Arc Relevance: I think the most significant line in this song - other than “I’m under your spell” - is “Something just isn’t right” because it sums up where Tara and Willow are at the moment. Underlying the romantic theme of the song, there are some issues regarding their relationship. Tara is admitting that Willow and her relationship with her have given meaning to her life. There’s a bright side to this, of course (“how you’ve set me free, brought me out so easily”), but there’s also a negative side to it. Tara’s whole existence revolves around Willow, and Willow has – quite literally and for different reasons – taken control of Tara. (“I’m under your spell, nothing I can do, you just took my soul with you.”) That’s not healthy, to say the least. And I think it’s yet another reason why Tara and Willow needed to spend some time apart. Tara needed to find herself, to know that all of this that had come to the surface since she had started dating Willow wasn’t only Willow’s influence or power but it was all Tara’s, beautiful things that had been buried beneath the surface waiting to be freed. And as much as the fandom likes to focus on how abusive Spike was in this season, which I agree with, we tend to overlook the fact that Willow was pretty abusive of Tara as well.

What I love about this song: It’s the typical love song in any Disney movie, except this time is not about a prince and a princess but about two princesses and I fucking love that. Amber’s angelic voice dear lord!

What I hate about this song: This song gets a whole different meaning once it really sinks in you that Tara is literally under Willow’s spell and that by making Tara forget their fight, Willow has removed her consent and agency. Willow has abused of Tara twice: the first time when she wiped her memories, and the second time when she had sex with her. After all, if Tara remembered their fight, she wouldn’t be exactly singing a love song to her girlfriend, let alone be having sex with her...

Again, I’m not a fan of how the show uses magic as a metaphor for anything to serve the plot. And this song sort of piles on the magic = something metaphors. Here magic means love and lesbianism and sex.

For the longest time, I was in awe at the fact that Joss had gotten away with having a FF couple having oral sex on mainstream television. And that he had even included the “you make me COMplete” bit to top it all off. Now, tbh, I really wish the first FF oral sex scene in mainstream television wasn’t one of dubious consent… I have to hand it to Joss, though. If we remove the whole “are they really having consensual sex?” thing and just focus on the synthesis of the images and the lyrics, this is probably one of the most sensual sex scenes in TV history.

Foreshadowing: “Something just isn’t right” because duh!

Favorite lyrics: (disclaimer: I’m a dirty pig)

You make me COMplete

15)

DAWN: Come on! Songs, dancing around. What's gonna be wrong with that?

(I’m Sweet)

16) I’ll Never Tell

Season Arc Relevance: It’s quite obvious that this song explores the relationship problems that will lead to Xander leaving Any in the altar. Even though they mention a lot of issues ranging from the ridiculous but relatable (Xander’s snoring or Anya’s skeezy cheeses) to the potentially problematic (Xander always relying on Buffy, Anya being clingy and greedy), the real issue is their well-founded fears and insecurities. Anya starts singing about how she has basically given up her whole identity and how now she’s mostly defined by her relationship with Xander. She’s embracing it, but it makes you wonder if she had really considered what would happen if Xander was no longer a part of her life. What would there be left? She didn’t really have a life of her own. Xander’s first lines are about his physical attraction to Anya, which justifies her own insecurities when it comes to Xander loving her once she’s old and no longer beautiful and how long-term their relationship actually is. Xander, on the other hand, fears Anya thinks he’s ordinary and that him not becoming successful (i.e., making big money) may be a problem for Anya. It is Xander, though, the one who admits to being petrified...

What I love about this song: This song marks a change in tone in the episode and the songs. So far, they were mostly upbeat and other than Buffy’s “Going through the Motions”, one had to read between the lines to get to the underlying themes and understand their true meaning. It’s halfway through this song that that changes and the lyrics start matching the characters’ true feelings. They start revealing their inner secrets and fears, in spite of themselves.

I really like the old-school musical style both in the song and in the scene, and it does really fit Anya and Xander’s relationship. They do love each other, but they are constantly bickering and picking on each other’s flaws.

The callback to Pangs! (”His penis got diseases from a Chumash tribe!”)

Also, this:

What I hate about this song:

Foreshadowing: Anya literally describes what will happen in Hell’s Bells:

I've read this tale There's wedding, then betrayal I know there'll come the day I'll want to run and hide.

Favorite Lyrics:

BOTH: You know... XANDER: You're quite the charmer. ANYA: My knight in armor. XANDER: You're the cutest of the Scoobies With your lips as red as rubies And your firm yet supple- Tight embrace!

(I do love all the sweets things they say to/about each other)

17) The Parking Ticket

18)

SPIKE: Oh. So that's all. You've just come to pump me for information. BUFFY: What else would I wanna pump you for? ...I really just said that, didn't I?

19) Rest in peace

Season Arc Relevance: This song marks the change in Spike’s attitude towards Buffy in this season. So far, he had been nothing but supportive and understanding (yeah, yeah, you may say his intentions weren’t good - even though I disagree - but the bottom line is he was there for Buffy in a way no one else could/would.) Here, however, Spike starts showing his true colors. “Rest in Peace” sums up perfectly Spike’s approach to “love” and women: confessing his feelings and undying love one minute, and acting aggressive and petty and abusive the next. He feels Buffy has been teasing him, which is not the case, and very a la White Male™ he feels he’s been “patient” enough and that Buffy should either give him what he wants or leave him be - but not really. We should also bear in mind that this is literally the only kind of relationship Spike knows - abusive and unhealthy. This, of course, does not excuse his behavior, it simply contextualizes it.

Spike gives Buffy an outlet to feel something, he’s willingly offering it so why not just take it? It would make everything so much easier. And it won’t take long for Buffy to take him up on his offer.

What I love about this song: First of all, I love the fact that both Buffy and Spike feel exactly the same way about Spike breaking out into song.

Even if Spike is, to quote Buffy, such a pig there’s one thing that you have to admit: he tends to read Buffy quite well, sometimes even better than her own friends: “ You're scared / Ashamed of what you feel / And you can't tell the ones you love /You know they couldn't deal. - You know, you've got a willing slave / And you just love to play the thought like you might misbehave” Of course, this “ability” is something that he will use to his own advantage later on in the season, making her believe he’s “reading” her when in reality he’s manipulating her...):

What I hate about this song: It’s not so much about the song but about the scene. Spike pushes and throws people around, what about the freaking chip, writers?

*falls to her knees and shouts at the skies*

WHAT ABOUT THE CHIP??!!

Foreshadowing: They will misbehave indeed...

You know, you've got a willing slave And you just love to play the thought like you might misbehave

Favorite Lyrics:

I know I should go But I follow you like a man possessed There's a traitor here beneath my breast And it hurts me more than you've ever guessed If my heart could beat, it would break my chest But I can see you're unimpressed So, leave me be

20) Can you imagine as a fangirl breaking up your OTP?

DAWN: I'm glad you guys made up. TARA: What? DAWN: That fight you guys had about magic and stuff? It gives me belly rumblings when you guys fight. TARA: Dawn, Willow and I never fought about- DAWN: It's okay. It's just... you guys are so great together. I just hate it when you... But that was the only fight I've seen you guys have anyway. But I'm still glad it's over.

21) Dawn's Lament

What I hate about this song: it’s cut short and we never learn what Dawn would’ve sung about.

22) Dawn’s Ballet

Tbh, I’m not a fan of this scene. It’s pretty much the only moment of the episode in which I’m kind of waiting for it to be over. There, I said it.

23) What You Feel

What I love about this song: Best Big Bad introduction ever! And I think it ties with Giles “Exposition Song” from Restless as the best, well, exposition song.

What I hate about this song: Why do villains insist on dressing Dawn up in gowns?

Favorite lyrics:

Something's cooking, I'm at the griddle I bought Nero his very first fiddle

24) “ I'm just worried this whole session's gonna turn into some training montage from an 80's movie.” - that is quite literally what happens.

25) Standing

Season Arc Relevance: Parenting is hard, especially if you’re not really a parent and your child has died twice. Giles is torn and is trying to figure out what’s the best role he could play in Buffy’s life to allow her to become an adult. He reaches a decision with the information he has so far and how he interprets Buffy’s behavior, and it’s his decision to leave her when she needs him the most that pretty much leads to Buffy’s downward spiral.

What I love about this song: I like that it’s kind of bittersweet because it’s about how much Giles loves Buffy and how deeply he wants to help her but how at the same time he feels the only way to help her is to leave her. I love the fact that this song shows what I already knew: Giles is the only one who is not completely oblivious to Buffy’s plight. He doesn’t fully grasp it, but at least he knows Buffy well enough to know that something is off.

This is probably my favorite scene in terms of how it was shot. I just love how Buffy’s movements are in slow motion as Giles walks around and sings her out because it clearly shows the distance in their relationship and it conveys the fact that he’s singing to himself.

What I hate about this song: There’s nothing I don’t like about the song, it’s its implications and consequences I have problems with. Giles feels he’s standing in the way of Buffy growing up but the thing is, this wasn’t a case of Peter Pan syndrome. There was a very valid reason for Buffy’s apathy and lack of drive, as he would learn towards the end of the episode. And that’s why I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND GILES LEAVING AFTER LEARNING BUFFY WAS IN HEAVEN AND THAT SHE WAS SUFFERING FROM SEVERE DEPRESSION. It’s one thing to take a step back because you feel you’re preventing your child from making her own decisions and growing up. It’s quite another leaving your child to fend for herself when she’s clearly suffering from depression and PTSD. Buffy wasn’t relying on Giles just because she was lazy and didn’t want to grow up. She was relying on him because it was all too much for her. She could barely deal with being alive, let alone with taking care of others and the fucking world. So yeah. Forever angry at this.

Foreshadowing: Giles leaving, obviously.

Wish I could stay But now I understand I'm standing in the way

Favorite Lyrics:

I wish I could lay your arms down And let you rest at last Wish I could slay your demons But now that time has passed Wish I could stay your stalwart, standing fast But I'm standing in the way I'm just standing in the way

26) Uh-oh...

27) Under Your Spell/Standing - Reprise

Season Arc Relevance: It’s the breaking point for both Giles and Tara in their relationships with Buffy and Willow respectively.

What I love about this song: Anthony and Amber should sing together in everything ever okay?I love how Giles’ song is basically repeating some lines and Tara’s “Under your Spell” has acquired a whole new meaning now that she knows the truth and the lyrics match exactly how she’s feeling.

I love the fact that it’s a break-up love song, but it’s about two different kinds of love, fatherly and romantic.

I appreciate the fact that Whedon chose to reprise “Under your Spell” and give it the literal meaning implied in the original version in the lines “I’m under your spell” and “You made me believe.” I would’ve liked Tara’s lines about Willow’s transgression (to put it mildly) to be more unsubtle... (”Playing with my memory / You know I've been through hell / Willow, don't you see? /There'll be nothing left of me”)

What I hate about this song: the fact that I can’t sing both parts at the same time fucking sucks.

Foreshadowing: Giles leaving and Tara breaking up with Willow.

GILES AND TARA: Wish I could stay Wish I could stay Wish I could stay Wish I could stay

Favorite Lyrics:

TARA: Wish I could trust that it was just this once But I must do what I must I can't adjust to this disgust We're done and I just

GILES AND TARA: Wish I could stay

28) I love how anti-climatic this moment is…

SPIKE: Works for him. Has a nice little story for the Slayer, don't you? Come on, then. Sing.

29)

BUFFY: So. Dawn's in trouble. Must be Tuesday.

30)

BUFFY: Oh, it's not your fault. So what's the plan? XANDER: Plan, schman. Let's mount up. GILES: No. ANYA: Uh, Dawn may have had the wrong idea in summoning this creature, but... I've seen some of these underworld child bride deals and, and they never end well. Well, maybe once. WILLOW: We're not just gonna stay here. GILES: Yes we are. Buffy's going alone.

Buffy’s going alone?! What? Why? How would this accomplish anything? It’s not the monsters that she has problem facing, it’s her own inner demons!

31)

WILLOW: A little confusion spell could- TARA: No! I mean, I don't think it'll help.

I included the screenshot because I can’t help but read Willow’s expression as if she were thinking “Tara’s not acting the way I programmed her to act…”

32) Walk Through the Fire

FYI, if you don’t sing all the parts at the same time, you’re not a true Buffy fan. Your membership card will be removed. I’m not kidding.

Season Arc Relevance: Just like “I’ve got a Theory” at the beginning of the episode, “Walk Through the Fire” conveys how distant Buffy feels from her friends and how hopeless and apathetic she feels in general. While in IGAT she is reluctant to join her friends in song but is physically there and ultimately chooses to play the part, in WTTF she’s both physically and emotionally distant from them, which allows her to drop the facade and sing her true feelings into the void. Even if she claims to want the fire back, ultimately she still doesn’t care (To save the day or maybe melt away / I guess it's all the same.) Winning the battle or dying, it’s all the same to Buffy. And it will be a long time before she feels otherwise.

What I love about this song: E V E R Y T H I N G. The way is shot, the juxtaposition of voices and images, “I think this line’s mostly filler”, the Scoobies marching to the rescue, the fire trucks in the background as the Scoobies finally complete the line “let it burn”. It’s pretty epic, don’t you think?

What I hate about this song: that Riley is not there so he can go up in flames as the Scoobies sing “let it burn.” JK. Sort of. I hate this:

WTF SPIKE?! I’ve always found this so funny because like dude, how many times have you been to the Bronze? You’re telling me you don’t know how to get there?

Foreshadowing: Spike saving Buffy at the end of the episode:

First, he'll kill her, then I'll save her

The whole season, summed up:

Everything is turning out so dark

Favorite Lyrics:

And we are caught in the fire The point of no return So we will walk through the fire And let it Burn Let it burn Let it burn! LET IT BURN!

33)

34) Something to sing about

Season Arc Relevance: This song and Buffy’s revelation that she was in heaven will be the breaking point - to a greater or lesser extent - for all the events to come: Spike and Buffy’s relationship, Willow’s downward spiral with magic and her break up with Tara, Giles leaving, and Buffy distancing herself from her friends.

What I love about this song: This and “Going Through the Motions” are my two favorite songs from this episode. To begin with, I love the contrast between the upbeat rhythm of the song with the ironic lyrics. During the first part of the song, Buffy’s is seemingly gleefully repeating all the cliches about life she’s learned are not true. You can see her frustration building up at the lie behind the words as she beats up the minions, until she kind of glazes over...

...because there’s no number of demons she could possibly beat to a pulp that would make her stop feeling miserable. From this point onward, she drops the happy act and while the song is still upbeat in rhythm, the lyrics get gloomier and gloomier. It’s the most honest Buffy’s been in a long time. Until she finally opens up and admits what she’s been hiding from her friends all this time:

There was no pain No fear, no doubt 'Till they pulled me out Of Heaven So that's my refrain I live in Hell 'Cause I've been expelled From Heaven I think I was In Heaven

Now, my knowledge about music is pretty much non-existent, but I know that the score in this song works perfectly because every time Buffy’s voice rises and falls as she says “heaven”, I die. Every single time. (seriously, I just watched it again and I’m crying.) It’s a fucking punch in the gut because it reminds you everything she had earned with her sacrifice and which her friends took away from her because they couldn’t live without her, they couldn’t move on. And then she begs Sweet one last time to give her something to live for, and he swiftly shakes his head no. That’s the breaking point for her, I think. She has just opened up about how she’s been feeling and why to her friends, and she knows that now there will be endless questions and more burdens she can’t take, and she knows there’s no easy way out. Except dancing till she burns...

And then Spike stops her and delivers a heartbreakingly honest speech. It’s not encouraging per se, and it’s not really uplifting. But it’s real, and it’s telling her she’ll get over this with no void-of-meaning cliches.

Life's not a song Life isn't bliss Life is just this It's living You'll get along The pain that you feel You only can heal By living

Of course, Dawn had to deliver the final blow by quoting Buffy’s own words back at her… (”The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.”)

What I hate about this song: The fact that none of the Scoobies thought of stopping Buffy from combusting.

Favorite Lyrics:

There was no pain No fear, no doubt 'Till they pulled me out Of Heaven So that's my refrain I live in Hell 'Cause I've been expelled From Heaven I think I was In Heaven

35) And in another episode of “Guess who fucked up AGAIN!”...

36)

37)

What a lot of fun You guys have been real swell And there's not a one Who can say this ended well All those secrets You've been concealing Say you're happy now, Once more with feeling Now I gotta run See you all in hell!

38) Where do We Go from here?

Season Arc Relevance: This song pretty much sets up the tone for the rest of the season in that they are all kind of lost and don’t really know how to relate with one another anymore. Giles’ sentiment in the line “The battle’s

What I love about this song: it’s a great ensemble song to finish the episode. I love the choreography and the way it was shot.

What I hate about this song: that it’s kinda short?

Foreshadowing: Buffy and Spike’s kiss

The curtains close on a kiss

Favorite lyrics:

The battle's done and we kind of won

GILES AND TARA: So we sound our victory cheer Where do we go from here?

I love A) the fact that Giles admits they “kind of” won because they didn’t really defeat Sweet, he just decided to leave on his own, and B) the fact that their “victory cheer” is rather depressing.

Understand we'll go hand in hand, but we'll walk alone in fear

39) Coda

This isn’t real but I just wanna feel

40) It’s really not that difficult to understand why this episode has such an impact on viewers. It definitely has to do with the songs and the fact that it’s not the expected genre for a TV show, let alone a TV show of the characteristics of Buffy. But the songs in themselves are not great. They are good, and somewhat catchy. And not all of the actors are exactly what one would call gifted singers. But what makes it all work in the end, what makes the songs and the lyrics resonate so much with the fans, is that OMWF is about the characters and characterization. This episode wouldn’t have worked so effectively if it hadn’t been for the fact that Joss had been laying the groundwork for these characters to reach this point for six seasons. Because, you see, Giles leaving Buffy wouldn’t have the same impact if we didn’t know how their relationship had grown from strictly business to friends to father/daughter. Willow using (or abusing of) magic to manipulate the person she loves the most wouldn’t make any sense if we still didn’t remember and love season 1 Willow. Xander and Anya’s relationship problems could be regarded as shallow if we didn’t know these characters so well and why they fear the things they fear. All the jokes and references to previous episodes and events would fall flat. And Buffy’s revelation that she had been torn out of heaven by her friends wouldn’t make us cry every time if every time she sang those lines we didn’t remember everything that led her there and all the sacrifices she had made and how much she fucking deserved her heaven. So yeah. OMWF is extremely rewarding for viewers because of the kind of in-depth knowledge that it takes to comprehend the scope of this episode. You can’t get this episode without getting everything that transpired before. Ultimately, it highlights the show’s main strength – its characters and their arcs – and it does so in the most marvelous, unexpected and unforgettable way.

#Buffy the Vampire Slayer #BTVS #Joss Whedon #Once More With Feeling #television #OMWF #MTVSepicrewatch #BTVSrewatch2015 #recap #mine #btvsrecap

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