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darling-i-read-it · 1 year

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Rupert Giles x fem!reader, slight Wesley Wyndam-Pryce x fem!reader

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: younger reader (12 years younger than Giles but super legal ofc), btvs season 3 spoilers, jealousy/insecurity, drinking, light insinuation to smut

Author’s Note: I know this is literally not on the list of things I was supposed to write and I’m going to get to the requests tomorrow I think but the fact there’s so little giles content makes me wanna DIE. anyway here’s this <3 watching buffy season 3 and feeling things for him.

Summary: Set in season 3 when Buffy gets Wesley as the new Watcher. The reader, the assistant librarian and also Giles’ girlfriend, gets hit on a bit by Wesley and Giles gets protective™.

Genre: mostly fluff!

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director/creator

(not my gif)

“They’re sending in the new Watcher soon,” Rupert murmured. He was sitting on the couch in front of you. You could only see the back of his head but you could tell what kind of look he had on his face. Contempt, annoyance, some disappointment lacing his features. He had a glass in his hand, his arm over the back of the couch. He glanced back at you in the kitchen. “I fear I might be a tad unbearable for the next couple of days.”

“You’re always unbearable,” you quipped, grabbing your own glass as you finished pouring it. “That's what I like about you.”

You knew Giles was extremely worried about Buffy’s new Watcher. It had been the topic of conversation ever since Buffy’s test. It had also been a general point of contention; how could he let her go through that? Though now that he was being punished through various other means, you laid off on the argument.

“Do you know who it is?”

“No. They won’t tell me. Fear of my reproach I imagine.” He shook his head a bit. “I can’t believe they’re allowing someone else to come in after Gwendolyn Post.” You stayed silent. It was better to let him just talk through this himself, without any kind of argument or solace from you. “Buffy will never trust someone as she trusts me. Trusted me that is, I suppose. I never should have gone through with it. No, don’t say anything. I’m just conceding to your earlier point, I know.” You rolled your eyes.

“Relax. The Watcher won’t be here tonight…” you put your hand on his arm. “So let’s not talk about him hm?”

“You’re being suggestive. Is it because I conceded to your point?”

“One of the various reasons,” you explained. “Relax Rupert. I have no ulterior motives, I’m not a vampire, I’m not possessed. I’m just a girl in your house with some light alcoholic suggestion.” He nodded slowly.

“You know, I don’t need that much convincing.”

“I know.” You grabbed his drink and put it down on the coffee table. He admired you with an eyebrow raised until your phone rang. You groaned, picking it up beside the drinks. “It’s Buffy.” He let out a soft sigh.

“Duty calls.”

“Hey, it’s my phone. Maybe she just wants to gossip.”

“Moments like these I remember we’re from slightly different generations.” You rolled your eyes and answered the phone.

“12 years is not that many years. Hey Buffy.”

“Arguing about your age difference again?” she said over the phone.

“Always. Ever the straight.” You kicked your legs up onto his lap. He grabbed his glass back from the table and took a drink.

“I have said you have odd taste in men right?”

“Once or twice. What can I do for you?”

“Was gonna ask if you want to go to the Bronze with Willow and I before patrol. I fear this will be my last night Watcherless.”

“Does she know I can hear her?” Giles questioned. You shrugged.

“I would love to come but I think I’ve got my hands full over here. Men's feelings are hard.”

“Tell me about it,” Buffy muttered. You could almost see her rolling her eyes over the neverending Angel ordeal.

“You should go,” Giles said. “I’ll be fine.” “I made plans I don’t like to break,” you pouted. “Rain check Buff?”

“Sure thing.”

“Have fun.”

“I would say you too but that brings awful images to my brain.”

You came into school a little bit late. You were working as library assistant, at Snyder’s hope to keep Giles the least destructive as possible. Giles woke up ungodly early and usually had several cups of coffee before you even saw him.

You pushed open the doors to the library, holding your bag to your side. You slowed at the sight of a man you didn’t recognize by the check out desk. Your eyebrows furrowed as you tried to place the suit. Familiar, but foreign. The man turned around, revealing some glasses and an even looking face.

“Good morning,” he said, just as evenly.

“Good morning…” You craned your neck to look behind him, wondering if you had suddenly entered a world with a different librarian.

“Are you here for the librarian? He’s out at the moment.” He stumbled over his words a bit, making you unsure of his dedication to the sentence.

“Who are you?” He cleared his throat.

“Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.” He offered his hand. You shook it, warily.

“Wesley Wy-” You paused and thinned your lips. Maybe it was the British accent that gave him away or maybe it was the suit. “Are you the new Watcher?” His eyebrows raised.

“I take it you know about the slayer” You shook your head.

“Just a tad. I swear I’m not a threat, just a friend. Y/N.” He nodded once, looking you over.

“What kind of friend?” You scoffed a bit.

“You Watcher’s have a type,” you observed.

“Hm?”

“Where’s Rupert?”

“Out.”

“What was it? Westley?”

“Wesley. Wyndam-Pryce.” You nodded, pointing a finger at him. He smiled shakily, looking down. You opened your mouth to speak when the door opened again.

“Oh man. You’ve met the new Watcher,” Buffy observed. Wesley straightened up and cleared his throat. “Getting along?” “Well,” he observed. Buffy raised an eyebrow at his stiffness and then glanced back at you. “I wonder if the Watcher’s have a book that says what kind of girl they’re allowed to go for. Maybe Giles just stuck a picture of you somewhere and this guy read it wrong.” You rolled your eyes.

“Do you know where Rupert is?”

“Nope. He’s not my Watcher anymore, remember?” she said, defeated. She passed you further into the room. You put a hand up in defeat.

“He could be dying and none of us would know.”

“I’m sure he’s alright,” Wesley promised. “Are you and Rupert…”

“Yeah,” you said curtly. As if on cue, Giles walked into the room, holding a stack of books, looking completely in his natural habitat. “Thank God. Giles.” He halted when he caught sight of the two of you.

“You met the replacement.”

“I did. He’s a little stiff.” You squeezed his bicep. He watched you do it. “I was looking for you.”

“Is everything alright?” He put the books down on the counter. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just wasn’t sure where you had run off to and I like keeping tabs.”

“That’s unhealthy,” Buffy noted.

“Your boyfriend is dead,” Giles retorted. She shrugged with a point taken look on her face. You turned back to him. Wesley gave a once over at the two of you. Giles had put a hand on your upper arm, a gesture that was familiar to the two of you. You took the top book off his stack.

“Whatcha reading?”

“You’re miraculously calm.”

“One of us has to be.” You took the book and walked over to sit beside Buffy. She was eyeing the new Watcher intensely, like the whole world could come down at her mere gaze. Knowing her, you wouldn’t be surprised.

“He’s gonna say something stupid,” she muttered.

“Hm?” you asked. Wesley was looking at Giles.

“Don’t you think she’s a bit on the younger side for you?”

Silence went over the room as the words seemed to hang in the air. Giles stared bullets into his former colleague.

“I don’t think that’s any of your concern,” he said coldly.

“She looks closer to the slayer's age. My age. I have every right to ask, as a proceeding member of the council and part of the investigation towards your extermination.” Giles took a step forward, too close. You were suddenly reminded of the ‘not so booksmart’ person he used to be, the one who would throw a punch before working with words. You stood back up.

“Keep her out of your mouth or so help m-”

“Alright,” you intervened. You stepped between the two of them. “I’m only 12 years younger but you flatter me. Giles, a moment?” You grabbed Rupert’s arm, gently pulling him in the direction towards his office. It took him a moment, not wanting to digress from the standoff. Eventually he followed.

“Don’t leave me here all by my lonesome with this guy,” Buffy pleaded.

“Vetoing your contribution here slayer,” you called back. She let out a huff, returning to staring bullets. You shut the office door gently behind you.

“That’s a tad dramatic,” he pointed out. “I’m fine.”

“I’m not going to put words in your mouth but I’m allowed to observe, yeah?” He pursed his lips, shoving his hands in my pockets. You nodded. “Other Watcher, bad. Wiles Westley Watchamacalllhim is making you, Rupert Giles, sad. You want Buffy to remain under your watch, lack of better word, and this new man is now stepping all over your toes in that regard. Observations correct?”

“Generally.”

“What am I missing?” He shook his head.

“It’s not important. Move on with your speal please.”

“Buffy won’t trust this man the way she trusts you. She never could, you have too much history. You have the upper hand here, despite the council not backing you up. He’ll never be half the Watcher you are,” you promised. You grabbed his hand. “Speal over.”

He nodded gently, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“You do have a way with words.” You laughed gently, shaking your head.

“I’ll try to be more Bronte later.” He squeezed your intertwined hands, a defeated smile on his lips.

There was a knock on the office door. You rolled your eyes and released his hand. You swung open the door to meet Wesley on the other side.

“I have to speak to Mr. Giles.”

“He’s all yours Wes.” You patted his chest as you walked past, back to Buffy.

As the day wound down and everyone started home, you were stuck in the library still. You loved the place but the more you spent in it with two Watchers, the more you were starting to see its lesser qualities. Giles had followed Buffy and Faith out to have a generally mentor-like talk.

Leaving you alone with Wesley.

“So you know of Buffy because of Giles?” he questioned. You raised your head from the book you were reading. You had hardly noticed him watching you. He had a cup of coffee in his hand, standing disgustingly straight. You sat on the steps.

“I was assistant librarian. Almost died by vampire. Happens to the best of us.”

“He fraternized with a colleague?”

“Continues to do so. Don’t look so jealous, Wes.” You put the book to your chest. “You’re ruining the perfect balance of the scooby gang you know.”

“Perhaps it needed to be out of kilter. I don’t see it going swimmingly right now.” He walked over to you. You looked up at him, observing his very even stature. You wondered, not for the first time, if Giles looked like this when he was a little younger. “What are you reading?”

“Rereading.” You glanced at the book. “Wuthering Heights.”

“Classic.”

“Yes sir. One of my favorites. Helps me forget about the neverending impending doom,” you muttered. He looked awkward for a moment and then sat down beside you on the steps. You raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve always enjoyed a bit of light fiction reading.” You opened your mouth to speak, reading the signals he was not so eloquently putting off. You were interrupted by the library door opening.

Giles slowed his walking speed at the sight of you. Wesley stood up, embarrassed. You gave Rupert wide eyes, a gentle I don’t know sign.

“Go do Watcher duties won’t you? The girls need someone to watch them before patrol.” Wesley wanted to argue but noted the look in Rupert’s eyes and decided against it. He gave you a nod and then passed him to leave the room.

You were alone with Rupert. Finally.

“Wuthering Heights?” he asked gently. You nodded, a small smile on your face.

“Am I so predictable?”

“You’re a classic.”

You leaned against the railing, watching him with admiration in your eyes. There was something special about emotions fluttering around the room, knowing there was something to be said and something understood. You softly patted the stairs beside you. He walked over, sitting down without a word.

“You know what I’m going to say,” he breathed. You grabbed his hand, staring down at it as you traced the lines of his palm.

“Wesley will never be you.”

“Are you speaking for Buffy or…or for you.”

“For me.” You wanted to argue aggressively, assure him that whatever he was thinking was wrong. You felt the opposite, you would never love someone like you loved him. That Wesley, no matter the difference in your ages, it would always be Giles. That the age truly wasn’t even that big of a deal. You were consenting adults with fully formed frontal lobes.

Instead you leaned down to him and put your chin on his shoulder.

“I love you,” you whispered. He did a double take with his eyes, not moving his head so as to not disturb you. You hadn’t said that yet. “You don’t have to say anything-”

“I love you too.”

You smiled brightly. You kissed his shoulder and then sat up all the way.

“Can you read to me?” He glanced up at you, wondering how you had moved on so quickly.

“Hm?”

“I just like to listen to you talk Rupert,” you murmured. You handed him your book and slid down the stairs so you were sitting beside each other. He cleared his throat curiously. “One second. I’m gonna go grab one of your sweaters from the office, I like to get cozy. You got any blankets in there Rupert?” You got up and walked away. He smiled to himself.

“Under the desk.”

“Ah ha!” you peeked around the corner. You emerged wearing one of his gray knitted sweaters. “I love that you have blankets in your office. Hm. I love you I think.”

“Oh?” You shrugged.

“Yes sir.”

You sat beside him again and put a blanket over his lap.

“Go on. Heathcliff won’t read himself.”

When Wesley returned he glanced through the door window before walking in. Your head rested on Giles’s, eyes closed in content. You looked rather cozy on that step. Giles kept reading, even as you presumably slept.

Wesley turned back to bother Buffy some more.

#rupert giles x reader #rupert giles imagines #rupert giles x fem!reader #btvs imagines #btvs fanfiction

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worflesbian · 9 months

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I think part of the reason janeway compels me so much is bc i really feel like on any other show she would've been a sympathetic villain at best. like in the last episode I watched she holds a baby while talking about killing it's siblings and it's genuinely only through the thoroughly established context of janeway having to make horrible choices in order to save her crew that we can read that scene as anything but unhinged. and it Does make sense in context bc she's talking about killing adolescent Borg drones to stop them from assimilating hostages, but in most other shows that kind of thing coming from a female character especially would not end up with her being the good guy at the end of the episode.

im thinking about how btvs which aired at a similar time had a whole arc about the pressures of leadership driving buffy to become way too harsh and the consequences of that are she gets kicked out of her own home. avasarala on the expanse does a lot of awful things but being uncompromising and not giving a fuck is like her most notable character trait, she tortures a guy in her first appearance. these narratives have little sympathy for women who do bad things in the name of something greater, either they're punished for it and rejected by those around them or they're characterised as cold and lacking compassion. but janeway for the most part has the full support of her crew and spends the majority of the time being kind and diplomatic, As Well as choosing to sacrifice lives or collaborate with mass murderers when she has to.

and it's conflicting bc although this is almost a one of a kind female character I think part of her existence is due to voyagers unwillingness to challenge the status quo of star trek despite having the perfect premise to do so. everyone wears uniform and adheres to rank despite half the crew being unenlisted terrorists, starfleet is largely unquestioned as an absolute moral good despite the origin of the maquis being designed to undermine and examine that, and the captain is always the hero at the end of the day.

#I think the adult yellowjackets are the most similar examples I can think of where they're fully sympathetic #but even then I feel you're kind of supposed to think of them as awful people whereas janeway is fully framed as a hero still #and obviously there's more nuanced female characters in serious dramas #but then they're pretty much never the main character to the extent that janeway is #anyway if anyone knows some good examples of morally grey women who don't get punished by the narrative id love to hear them #janeway #ghitlhpu'wij

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quietblueriver · 9 months

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More Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU. My take on Helpless from slayer!Bea's perspective. Part 1/2.

Find the rest of the BTVS AU pieces here.

There are runes and symbols painted onto the ceiling of the training room at Cat’s Cradle. Beatrice tracks the deep red lines as her chest heaves, a ward of protection woven artfully around one of the recessed lights. Shannon’s work.

“Beatrice?”

She lifts her head to find Superion in the doorway, arms crossed and tone working itself toward what Beatrice might call concern, if she didn’t know that Superion’s threshold for worry begins somewhere around serious bodily harm and only really hits its stride when, as Ava puts it, death has entered the chat.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re on the floor.”

Whatever shadow of care might have been present before is gone now, replaced by a raised eyebrow and the dry, mocking inflection that Beatrice has come to understand, generally, as begrudgingly fond rather than intentionally cutting.

“Yes. I am.”

The second eyebrow joins the first, and Beatrice pushes herself from where she had been resting on her forearms into a sitting position, bringing her feet together in front of herself and wrapping her hands around them as she leans forward. She relishes in the pull and stretch even as she worries at the twinge of pain in her lower back.

She had fallen. It’s not unheard of. She’s a slayer, but she is not perfect or invincible. Still, this had been rather embarrassing–her enemy a pommel horse and the weapon her own body, a failure of balance leading to the swift shock of breath being forced from her lungs. She raises her eyes to Superion, who is still waiting expectantly.

“I made a mistake in my routine and paid the price. I am…” She hesitates, embarrassed at her own shortcomings, but there’s nothing for it, so she forges ahead. “I am more exhausted than I should be, patrolling without Ava and the others. I’m not certain if I’ve just become too used to…to working with a partner or if I’ve let myself fall behind in my training, but it has become obvious to me over the last few days that I’ve been failing, somehow.”

Superion’s lips pull down, and Beatrice readies herself for a lecture, understands that it’s what she deserves, is grateful, even, that Superion might develop some kind of new training plan to help her to get back to where she should be.

Instead, she says, “I’ve readied today’s meditation,” and turns back through the door.

There’s an unpleasant turn in Beatrice’s stomach. The total disregard is worse than a lecture. Superion cannot be bothered to address Beatrice’s mistakes, and of course she shouldn’t. She’s here to be a watcher, to provide assistance and guidance to the slayer. She’s not here to provide remedial lessons or hold Beatrice’s hand as she figures out how to balance the demands of her life.

She shakes her head and pulls herself to stand, ignoring the stab of pain in her muscles as she follows Superion.

“That doesn’t sound normal, Bea. Are you sure you don’t want to rest a bit? Talk to Superion about it? Maybe there’s, like, a slayer flu or something.”

She’s wrapping her arm, a nasty gash left by a vampire’s switchblade, as Ava’s voice sounds, tinny, on speakerphone. She and Lilith are in Memphis, assisting a coven with an unusual surge in demonic activity.

She feels a twinge of annoyance–unfair and unkind–because Ava is right, but she’s also part of the problem. It’s not normal for Beatrice to be injured this way, to lose her advantage in a one-on-one with a vampire, especially one as mediocre as the one Beatrice had faced tonight, all clumsy swings and brute force. It’s not normal, but it’s certainly not the result of a slayer flu. No, it’s because Beatrice has allowed herself to become distracted–by Ava, by her friends, by life outside of her responsibilities.

“I’ve let myself fall behind in training. I’ve been too focused on…other things.”

“On having a life, you mean.”

She says it the way she always says things like this, assertive and unyielding, as if she’s unquestionably correct in her belief that Beatrice can and should have a life that extends beyond her role as slayer. As though Beatrice is normal. As though she’s ever been normal.

“Not especially useful to have a life if I'm not alive to live it, Ava.”

It’s sharp, a match to the pain in her arm as she tightens the wrap, and she feels guilt for a moment before hardening herself again.

“I’m just saying that…”

“I know what you’re saying. You’ve said it before. But not all of us feel comfortable treating our responsibilities to others as afterthoughts. I have a job to do, Ava, and I owe it to the world, to myself, and to the slayers who came before me to do it well.”

Silence on the other end of the line, and Beatrice winces as she lifts her arms to slip her sleep shirt on, gathering the medical supplies together into piles to be thrown away or returned to her kit. She’s begrudgingly debating an apology when she hears the sigh, a throat clearing.

“Right. Yeah. Okay. I’m going to let you go, Bea. I’ll talk to you later.”

There’s no fight in it, only resignation and, Beatrice is fairly certain, more than a little hurt. The annoyance that had been driving her morphs to guilt, a familiar shift of emotion that leaves her feeling embarrassed and exhausted.

Ava is distracting, but it’s not her fault that Beatrice can’t keep herself together. Ava wouldn’t even be a slayer if Beatrice hadn’t been so careless, hadn’t failed to follow direction and ended up dead. That had been no one’s fault but her own. She has no right, now, to use Ava as a scapegoat when things get difficult.

“Ava, wait…”

But the line has already cut.

She finishes tidying, stares at her phone for 10 minutes before turning the screen face down on her nightstand and falling into sleep.

When she wakes the next morning, there are bruises forming, mottled purple on the skin over her ribs, her thighs, her bicep. The gash from the vampire’s knife has changed, but not for the better, red and swollen in a way that indicates it might be heading toward infection.

Something is wrong.

She doesn’t want to raise the issue with Superion until she has done some research. It’s always best to approach with as much information as she can, and maybe she’ll be able to put together a list of possible issues and solutions to ease her own mind.

She is alone as she enters the library, the campus quiet and bright in the springtime sun. Camila and Mary are out of town for the break, Beatrice having convinced them through a series of forceful conversations and stern looks that she would actually stop speaking to them if Mary gave up her senior spring break plans to help her patrol. She hasn’t told them about her problem, and she won’t, if she can help it, at least not until they get back. Their compromise in leaving, delivered with steely gazes of their own, had been that Beatrice had to inform them of any abnormally life-threatening issue or injury. As of now, she does not believe that this qualifies.

She pushes to the side the small part of her that says otherwise.

Unsurprisingly, she’s unable to find anything in the books or in the digital database Camila is working to compile on slayer flu. Slayers have fallen ill before, but it’s all easily traceable to demonic or other supernatural intervention. When she leaves the library, she has no new information as to what might be happening with her but several new worries; the number of demons that have the potential to produce fluids capable of causing necrosis is certainly going to make her more cautious when evaluating unknown substances in the field.

After a few hours with the books at Cat’s Cradle, she admits defeat and calls Superion, arriving at her house in the early afternoon. The door opens immediately, Superion stepping to the side to wave her in and pointing Beatrice to the kitchen table, her medical kit and new favorite set of crystals already set out next to Beatrice’s chair.

She examines Beatrice’s bruises and her arm with a careful eye and a gentle touch, humming under her breath as she applies antiseptic to the angry wound and wraps it neatly in new gauze before turning her attention to the medical supplies and beginning to tidy.

“I don’t think it’s anything to concern yourself with. Your body is enhanced, but if you fail to sleep or consume enough food to help it heal, then it will begin to struggle like any other.”

She won’t meet Beatrice’s eyes as she says this, and Beatrice’s face flushes with heat as she realizes that Superion’s diagnosis is simply that she cannot take care of herself appropriately.

It has been more than a year since Beatrice was chosen, and the two of them understand each other better now. Beatrice believes, genuinely, that Superion cares for her even beyond her role as slayer, and it makes sense that she’s sparing Beatrice the embarrassment of eye contact as she informs her that she has failed in this most basic set of duties to her body and mind.

“Right. Of course. I…I apologize. I’ll reevaluate my schedule.”

Superion hesitates at the waste bin, closes it before turning back to Beatrice with something softer in her gaze. Pity, she realizes, and she turns her own eyes down to the table in shame.

The legs of the chair scrape lightly as Superion settles again and says, “Meditation will help.”

She looks to the crystals as Superion begins her guidance, grateful for the distraction, and finds her focus.

The windows are boarded, and she knows that she’s not strong enough to break through them. Her arms feel weak already from bruises and wounds old and new, and she’s still slightly dizzy from the blow to the head she suffered in the cemetery, her legs unsteady as she leans against the side of the armoire and evaluates her options.

She has no idea where she is. Whatever he had used to knock her unconscious had kept her that way until she awoke, tied to a rickety wooden chair in a decrepit house, a note pinned to her shirt that read, simply:

11:45. Ready or not, here I come.

The hands of the grandfather clock to her right indicated 11:25, and it took her ten minutes of rocking to get herself free from the chair, bruising herself badly but thankfully leaving her without any bleeding wounds. She had taken five minutes to evaluate as much of the first floor as she could, eyeing the stairs and determining that she didn’t have time to investigate and couldn’t risk a second story fall if she could help it.

The slam of the front door had alerted her to the start of his game. He yelled, delighted, “Ready or not, slayer! We’re going to have fun!” And Beatrice had been doing her best to hide ever since. She doesn’t know how much time has passed, but at this point, she has been through every room on the first floor that she can see. Every window is boarded.

She has a broken chair leg in her hand, a last resort, but she knows her odds are vanishingly small if they reach hand-to-hand. Her best chance at this point, even taking into consideration the injuries she’ll incur, is on the second story, with the possibility of an unboarded window, or even one loose enough that she can attempt to pry it open.

The voice that sounds from the hallway is deep and rough as it sings, “Oh, slaaaayer. Come out and play, won’t you? Rude to leave me all by my lonesome.”

Her heart is pounding and she tries to take deep, slow breaths, doesn’t want him to be able to hear or smell her panic. The floorboard outside of the room where she’s hiding creaks and she resists the urge to press her nails into her palms or bite her lip. No blood, Beatrice. No blood.

The sound passes, and she waits thirty seconds, until she hears the sound of a door opening down the hallway. It’s accompanied by a raspy, “Come now, little one. I’m getting bored of this.”

Carefully, she steps from behind the armoire and toward the door. She can still hear his footsteps, though her slayer senses are gone at this point, the creak of the ancient floorboards providing her with some assistance even as they force her to play a game of memory and hopscotch with each new location. She does this now, following the pattern she had found as she entered this room.

She reaches the doorway and waits, hears echoes of movement faint enough that she thinks he must be searching another room. This is the dance they’ve been doing, Beatrice switching locations as often as she can, doubling back and moving forward randomly.

Her captor is a vampire, clad in an eerie Victorian suit and styled almost to look like a puppet or a porcelain doll, hair coiffed perfectly and makeup applied carefully to give him unnaturally red cheeks and smooth, pale white skin. He laughs and yells in equal measure, seemingly both delighted and infuriated by her ability to evade him. She hears another yell, distraught, from the end of the hall, “Have you picked the bathroom then, pet? So very boring of you!”

And she runs.

She tries her best to be quiet, had taken the risk of removing her shoes earlier in the night, her boots clunky, and now she reaches back to her ballet and martial arts training to remember how to step with light feet. It seems to have worked; he’s still singing somewhere down the hall when she reaches the stairs.

She’s breathing hard, her legs shaking. She’s so weak. It’s unfamiliar and terrifying. Even before she had her powers, Beatrice was exceptionally athletic. Years of martial arts, archery, and the conditioning that allowed her to excel at each left fit and capable. Now, after the briefest period of exertion, she feels as though might lose consciousness.

She takes a moment to evaluate the stairs, looking for rot or obviously uneven spots, but she hears movement in the hallway closer to her and makes the decision to climb before she can take full stock.

It’s this that dooms her in the end. The fifth stair gives way, her leg and ankle falling through rotted wood as a nail shears through the fabric of her sock and into the soft skin of her foot. She does not cry out, even as tears stream from her eyes, but the noise is more than enough to alert him to her location, and she barely has time to pull her ankle free before she feels arms around her, lifting her back toward the first floor. She tries to move her hand but he breaks it, as easily as if it were a twig, the stake falling to the floor. She doesn’t bother trying to hold back her cry this time.

She’s back in the living room, secured to a dusty chair upholstered in worn, red velvet as he moves around, almost dancing, to collect things that he wants. He drapes a dress—similarly Victorian in style, black with a high collar and lace, the fabric nearly worn through—over the back of the twin to the chair to which Beatrice has been tied. A dark, wooden music box, freshly polished, comes to rest on the small wooden side table near her. A patch of embroidery spans the center, cream cloth depicting in neat stitches a rabbit hanging from a wolf’s mouth, red thread dripping blood from its maw. He opens it with a flourish to reveal jewels–a ruby necklace and earrings—and then produces another, larger box, a garish pink plastic thing full of makeup.

He finishes by bringing another table to rest directly in front of her, a kind of vanity, the mirror built into it surrounded by ornate carpentry, now chipped in places. Adjusting the angle slightly, he comes to stand behind her and rests long, spindly fingers on her shoulders as he meets her eyes in the glass. She refuses to look away.

“Now, my doll. Let’s play.”

#warrior nun #avatrice #sister beatrice #ava silva #warrior nun fic #btvs au

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omarandjohnny · 3 months

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SHIPPY SHIP SHIP!

Tagged by @negrowhat <333333333333333333333333333333

1. What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care anymore?

I didn't really have a fixed ship to hang my hat on in those days (aka the before the internet tiemz), but Buffy and Pike (movie BTVS) were the main couple I fixated on back then (still was figuring out why movie Lestat and Louis made me feel funny in my tummy at that time, so Buffy and Pike were the easier option LOL)

2. Which ship would you consider your first one?

Roz and Dan from Night Court; I was 7 and I wanted them married and arguing until the end of time <3

3. Your first fanfic belonged to which couple?

(hops in the wayback machine) Pretty sure I was writing for Greg/Nick (CSI) just a bit before Ennis/Jack (Brokeback). Still so very thankful that those four introduced me to friends I'd still have in my life 20 years later!

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw a fanart over?

I very clearly remember the Spangel fanvids that took more than day to download from our AOL dialup, yes XD

5. Did you ever get into ship discourse?

Attempting to nail jello to a tree would be a far more productive use of my time.

6. Did you used to have any no-otp or have it currently?

Can't say anything comes to mind, really.

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

Had to go through my AO3 history, last time I had a clear enough head to attempt to read anything was early autumn last year (oof) and it was a modern AU of Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang that I don't think I finished because I really can't recall any of it. Ah, well.

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs?

Since I can't engage in fic it's hard for me to keep hold of the newer ships, so my brain tends to fall back on old reliables- Loustat/Loumand being at the top at this very moment because the fandom's waking up again for season 2 in May.

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

Another one that I can't think of anything.

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

Not Really, if I hated them then I'm sure I still hate them now. (keeping your answer here, Eboni, because same)

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, was considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

I'd be cancelled over any ship at any time for anything, such is the nature of this goofball puritanical mindset that has taken over fandom socmed. (I know the problem reaches so much further than that, but I'm not clearheaded enough to write a dissertation LOL)

12. What was your favorite crack ship?

Can't say I've ever had one.

13. Who is the couple you read more fanfics of?

20+ years ago I was slowly killing copious amounts of trees and our at-home printer with Spangel fics that I didn't want to lose (have since lost all of the printouts, and the fics are still online in their respective webrings, yikes) So yeah, Spangel would probably still win. Ennis/Jack, and Wangxian would round out the top three, I'm sure.

14. What most of your ships usually have in common?

Bastard-coated bastards, pastel/goth, grumpy/sunshine.

15. What do you absolutely hate in a ship?

Drawing a blank here. Though, I will have a harder time engaging if the source material is mainly written in 1st person POV, which is why I'd be considered a fake Vampire Chronicles fan XD (forever thankful for my friends that actually read the books and school me on what I don't know)

#memetiemz

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perexcri · 11 months

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stonathan sunday

hi hello this isn’t really a ficlet, but one of the prompts this week fit well with the next scene i needed to write for my stonathan week fic, so here’s an excerpt from that!! it’s gonna be a btvs au where Hawkins sits on a hellmouth, so there’s always some kind of supernatural nonsense going on :)

apologies as it is not very edited and idk i don’t usually write for stonathan so this is new territory for me lol. anyway thanks again @stonathanweek for posting some helpful prompts~

prompt: "Why do you care?"

“I do have one question. Please, just–I need to know,” Steve says, his voice sounding ragged at the edges, pleading for assistance. “I’ll leave you alone after this, I swear.”

Jonathan chews at the side of his cheek, refusing to make eye contact. He only allows himself a single, curt nod to tell Steve to continue.

Clearing his throat, Steve’s eyes dart down to the camera, then right back up to Jonathan’s gaze. Jonathan focuses on a smudge of the gym door window, but he feels those dark eyes boring into him.

“Do you feel any different today? Like, at all?”

Oh, holy shit–not this again.

Jonathan sighs, eyes mid-roll, when Steve adds, “I’m serious, I really need to know–”

“Why do you care?” Jonathan huffs. “Is this just because I broke up with you last night?”

Steve’s mouth opens and closes several times; it makes him look like a beached whale gasping for air. “I mean–it’s tangentially related to that, but it’s not like–”

“Okay, then how about this.” Jonathan gently lowers his hands from the camera, careful to make sure it remains secured to the strap, then throws his arms out. “I feel goddamn wonderful today. Amazing, even. And the only reason today has sucked is because you won’t stop bothering me, and now you’ve got the whole fucking school moping over you because you can’t stand to not be the center of attention for more than two seconds!”

Steve’s cheeks fill with color, looking almost sunburnt. His eyebrows knit together, and he looks pained as he asks, “Is that true?”

Not entirely, an unhelpful voice offers in Jonathan’s head, but he’s been a good liar for a long, long time. His nod is swift, his gaze damning, and his jaw set with tension.

Steve takes him in for a few seconds, scanning his face as if he could find a different answer hidden somewhere in his features, like the truth could be scoured away by the force of his gaze. He blinks a couple of times, shakes his head, then shoves a frustrated hand into his hair. “Okay, fine. Whatever. I need to talk to Chrissy.”

Nerves begin to tighten in Jonathan’s chest, and he opens his mouth to say, “But I need to take her picture–”

But the door’s already closed in his face, and Steve’s already crossing the floor to where the cheerleaders are practicing their chants. Not even the squeak of his shiny new sneakers can hide the choruses of Hi, Steve! coming from the cheer squad.

Some venomous concoction of jealousy and vexation swells in Jonathan’s gut. He glares daggers through the gym door window one last time before he turns on his heels and shuffles down the hall, deciding the cheer squad pictures can wait until the game tonight.

He doesn’t want to be anywhere near Steve-fucking-Harringotn right now; it’s a good reminder that there’s a reason he broke things off between them, that he was right in his decision.

It does frustrate him to know that he’s not the only one who can close doors between him and Steve, though.

#stonathan sunday #stonathan #stonathanweek #stonathanweek2023 #i am only like 1/3 of the way through the plot and it's already 20k so please bear with me for this one :)#it lowkey probably won't be completely in done in time for the au day but i am going to try!

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tuiyla · 1 year

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Buffy season 6!

Okay I finally have a moment to write this out and it’s now or never so here goes, beginning of Buffy season 6 thoughts. Seen up to episode 6.

I knew going into it that it was a controversial season and obviously I’m yet to see most of it but I really enjoyed the tone the opening three episodes set. It was dark and ominous but not in the “for the sake of it” kind of way. BtVS got more saturated, if not substantially tonally more jovial when Angel the Series started but the start of season 6 almost felt like the Wishverse, what with gangs ransacking Sunnydale and Buffy nowhere to be seen. When I first accidentally found out that Buffy would die once again and return yet again, I didn’t think much of it. In that, she has died once and sure, we got an episode long PTSD and Kendra and Faith as a result (sigh, Faith) but the world didn’t feel fundamentally different. Due to many different factors, including the excellence of Buffy’s sacrifice in The Gift, this time it felt different. The Scoobies, while not quite a shell of their former selves are markedly different. Life went on but the absence of Buffy is felt in every corner. Everyone is effected but standing out the most is Willow, now leader and powerful, perhaps too powerful witch.

Willow’s development has been fascinating to follow and though she didn’t have the most to do in season 5, her not so quiet progression was all too clear when she took on Glory. And Willow’s game face when faced with the loss of Buffy is as serious as it was with Tara’s, such is the depth of their friendship. Alyson Hannigan, newly promoted to the special last but least position of the credits portrays Willow as beautifully as ever and brings a whole new dimension to her. This isn’t the same Willow Rosenberg who was too afraid to talk back to Cordelia in the pilot. She knows what she wants and what she wants is Buffy, alive and well and back with her family. Her path this season is set, even if I didn’t have vague (and not so vague) ideas of what’s yet to come. And Willow’s hardened determination is only highlighted when juxtaposed with her more relaxed self after Buffy returns. Hannigan taps more into the old Willow when Buffy’s back: her smile, her jokes, as if the weight has been lifted from her shoulders now that her friend is back. Now that the chosen one is back. But all is not well with Willow, and part of that is all being far from well with Buffy.

When it clicked what they were going for with Buffy at the end of episode 3, I felt a special kind of delight. The one you get when you know you’re about to witness something great. In this case, a fascinating journey and conflict for Buffy. They can never know but they will. Her friends will eventually have to face the fact that they ripped her right out of heaven itself. I wasn’t sure about her initial shock at first, in that I wasn’t sure it was going to be appropriately serious but also adding to her as a character. But the revelation that she’s not just startled, she’s resentful is delicious drama. And already in season 6 we have what I can only logically conclude is the build-up to Spuffy. Buffy is now so emotionally distant from her friends and even, to a degree, from Dawn. This enormous secret that she has to keep comes with having to pretend she’s grateful for something that she actually resents and tries so hard to wrap her head around. And here comes Spike, someone she doesn’t have to pretend with, someone who, if in a twisted and remote sort of way, is the closest to getting it. What an interesting way of building up Buffy’s side of the relationship, how refreshing that they’re putting the storytelling effort in instead of just catering blindly to what would be aesthetically pleasing. Granted, I still cannot yet say whether I will be satisfied with the way Spuffy unfolds but colour me intrigued at this point in time.

I had a few more thoughts after the first six episodes but really Willow and Buffy in the first three was the bulk of it and what excites me most about this polarizing season. I will say three gripes I’ve had just to let it out. One is the coffin of it all, obviously, Buffy’s friends being skilled enough to pull a resurrection off but not thinking to actually dig her body up before returning her soul into it. Also on the topic of the resurrection, why is everyone fully convinced that Buffy, saviour of the world on several occasions, defender of the innocent, hero to all went to hell? Or a version of hell, anyway. I get that so far in the Buffy lore there wasn’t much about any sort of heaven, just the different kinds of hell, but surely Giles or someone would stop to think, gee surely Buffy would have gone to heaven if there was one. I’m fine with the concept of them wanting to resurrect her regardless, fits very well with Willow’s story and of course their grief would be stronger than any notion of Buffy possibly being at peace. But still.

And finally, I really hope the Trio are just a decoy “Big Bad” and will soon be shoved out of the way to introduce... anyone else. They’re played for laughs so obviously they aren’t the actual Big Bad but I don’t think their comedy is funny, at all. Jonathan just pisses me off so much, someone who has SO MUCH to be grateful to Buffy for being a little shit. And as a group they’re just pathetic, not amusing. I don’t see how them messing with Buffy was played for comedy when girl is suffering enough as it is. She was ripped from nirvana and put back into the wheel, and we’re going to spend an episode, potentially more on some little shits inconveniencing her? No, please, get rid of them asap. Continue what the first three eps were building to and I’ll be happy.

#and that is mostly it #phew now i can progress when i get the chance #s6 here i come #btvs lb #buffy the vampire slayer #buffy season 6 #btvs

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ghostwriterofthemachine · 11 months

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will you pretty please tell me about how teen wolf is a shonen??

Oh Griffin you're gunna be so sorry you asked.

I started thinking about this in the first place because I was pondering about the genuinely weird fan reaction to the first couple of seasons of Teen Wolf. Mostly, how people went "this is a concept we like!" and then had no idea what to do with and how to react to the main cast.

To be totally fair, part of this is because the writing of the first season is even worse than you remember it being and the Scott/Allison romance, which is supposed to be the show's centerpiece, is maybe the worst written part of all of it. Another part of it is that the acting talent skewed very young (Dylan O'Brian and Tyler Posey were both only 19/20 during season 1) and their ability to work with this frankly terrible material was a little bit uneven (Posey got WAY better as the show went on and by the end of it was really great imo, but oh man. that first season is not his best work).

But I also think there's a genre and genre convention thing going on here. Let me explain.

(disclaimer because this is a public post on tumblr: this is not that serious and is mostly a thought experiment in genre conventions please don't take it that seriously)

When did Teen Wolf first air? 2011. What were some comparable shows coming out about that time, or that an audience who wanted to watch Teen Wolf might also have watched/been aware of?

The Vampire Dairies, Supernatural, probably something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

What do some of these shows have in common?

Snarky/sarcastic main characters (Dean Winchester, Buffy)

Main characters who are often gray-moral or struggle with a pull to The Dark Side (the moral compasses in these shows are usually part of the supporting cast) (and are always high up on the list to be killed off for drama tbh)

Pre-streaming TV formula (episodic monster-of-the-week builds to a larger plot which is resolved in the last 4th of the season)

Romance that relies strongly on will they/won't they, love triangles, and edgy angsty 2000s vampire shenanigans.

You will notice that Teen Wolf has. basically none of this?

Teen Wolf has:

A painfully sincere main character

That same main character is about as moral and stick-to-his-guns as they come

Said main character gives Big Sweeping Speeches that convince irredeemable bad guys to be on his side instead of theirs.

Structured in clear and well-defined arcs, no episodic monster-of-the-week, where the bad guys keep getting bigger and scott's party keeps needing to power up to deal with them.

Audience knows who Scott is gunna end up with pretty much immediately (even when Scott moves on from Allison because of IRL cast fuckery, he always has one main romantic objective and works toward that)

Liberal application of coming-of-age themes/The Power Of Friendship

,,,,,Hm, I think to myself. That sure is something that feels more familiar to the way a shonen is structured than how a western supernatural teen drama is usually structured.

Scott in particular is an archetype that feels very foreign to the landscape of the western supernatural drama at the time. Protagonists of those types of shows were rarely as good and pure and kind as Scott is, and I think it's a big reason why so much of the audience didn't know what to do with him at first and instead attached to Stiles (who is gray-moral and sarcastic and would not feel out of place in a show like spn or btvs) (yes yes I know the sterek thing is also a big reason but go with it for a second here). However, Scott is NOT an archetype that would feel foreign to Shonen Jump at the time, particularly in an era where Naruto was still ruling the world.

Honestly, the whole cast of characters feels out-of-beat with a 2010s Western supernatural drama. The dynamic of the main cast in early seasons — Pure of Heart-Dumb of Ass hero, Tragic Cold and Competent foil (Derek basically playing the role of Sasuke here, lol), Powerless Childhood Friend, Love Interest with a Badass Weapon to Hide Her Vulnerability — all feels much more familiar with the tropes of a shonen (something like Shaman King specifically jumps to mind) than something that would show up in The Vampire Diaries. In Western supernatural dramas, you usually had a Snarky-Angry Hero, Tragic Brooding Love Interest, Concerned But Useless Friend/Sidekick.

,,,,,,Tbh, in a standard western teen drama, the Derek character would have been Scott's love interest. Which. Honestly, what the hell, now I want that, that sounds like an awesome show. Probably better than the Teen Wolf we got.

Oh. Also, there's a hot murder uncle. which is for-sure an anime thing.

ALSO-also, there are kitsune in this show for one season for like no reason because they're never mentioned again and vanish in the next season which happens WAY MORE THAN YOU THINK IT WOULD in this DUMB BAD NONSENSE SHOW —

clears throat. nevertheless. My thesis:

1: At the time it came out (2011), Teen Wolf was structured more like a shonen than a western supernatural teen drama. 2: That is part of the reason why fans had weird reactions to it — they were expecting one genre and it gave them another one, which a lot of the audience likely wasn't that familiar with. 3: this whole show is batshit bonkers.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk. *bows.*

#ask #granny griffin #useless text post #teen wolf #show: teen wolf #again plz dont take this that seriously I'm being very lighthearted here

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callivich · 2 years

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Hello Gallavich Fandom on Tumblr,

I just want to say how much I love being in this fandom. I only came into this fandom last year but it’s by far the most supportive, talented, kind, creative, friendly, loving fandom I’ve ever been part of. And I’ve been involved in a few over the years (including some big ones - BTVS, Star Wars). I’ve never felt so inspired or so comfortable in a fandom space. This is a special place and I’m just in awe of peoples creativity and their kindness and their love for each other. The way people so cleverly interpret canon or emotionally and sensitively explore ideas or themes, or take AU ideas and create stories that are so different from canon but are also so perfect when it comes to characterisation is rare. Some fandoms have so much content but not enough substance and I can honestly say I’ve never been in a fandom where the majority of content - fic or art or edits or gifsets or headcanons or videos or playlists - is so well done.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Sorry! But if you want to add to this, please do - reblog and add it, no need to put things in the tags. I wanna read your love! 💖

#gallavich #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #ian x mickey

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faithlesbian · 1 year

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can we get ur thoughts on ftm!spike x mtf!angel (they're both butchqueer)

this is going to be way more in depth and serious than you probably hoped for so, sorry in advance

ppl who know me know i rarely consider pairings in a vacuum, i've got narratives and character arcs to think about which makes this ask Very interesting!! i think me and @titsgirlbuffy once joked that spike is transmasc bc he transed from one masculinity to a different masculinity, so considering him as ftm opens a whole new angle to that take. was he living as a man when he was alive? did he know who he was but stayed in the closet until he got turned and decided well, nothing can stop him now? did he slowly figure it out over decades of marauding the globe with Dru? i think that last one could intersect really well with the Trans Angel Reading in which he is Very closeted, bc if spike wasn't out when angel last saw him a century ago, their reunion in school hard would be even funnier while also probably making angel confront at least a few things. an ftm reading of spike would also interact in Ways with how he views and treats women, but that's honestly a whole nother can of worms so lets not be here all day. i think in general tho this reading of spike gives SO much weight to lines like "i know that i'm a monster, but you treat me like a man", "(the chip) won't let me be a monster, and i can't be a man", "to be the kind of man who... to be a kind of man" like that's what we're here for, that's what its About! i also think it lends an interesting aspect to how spike gets along with women as friends a lot better than he does with men if by the time he started living as a man he was already a vampire and therefore cut off from normal society, never learning how to be "one of the boys" except maybe from angel who, as we know, is not a normal example of anything

i'm not gonna cover my thoughts on mtf angel bc we all know them by now. im literally tumblr user transangelus. in the context of ftm spike tho i think mtf angel becomes a lot funnier given their constant rivalry from btvs s2 onwards -- im pretty sure me and @titsgirlbuffy reckoned spike would be Delighted by angel coming out bc it finally proves who's the better man. on that note tho as much as i fucking love their dynamic, i have no idea if they could actually be "together" in isolation. like as part of the polycule they were obviously fucking on the regular and doing erotic joint murders and the like, but idk if in the present with both of them having souls and trying to be better people that a relationship would be possible. it's like when darla was brought back as a human and her and angel spent like, five minutes together in actual understanding before dru showed up and killed her. with the sheer extent of baggage between centuries-old murderers, i think it's hard to disentangle from the worst versions of themselves they were together and what they did to eachother in the past in order to have a relationship that's not gonna implode messily within months at best (despite the fact they're always clearly desperate to fuck eachother). that being said i haven't actually seen ats s5 all the way through and what i did watch, i don't remember -- so maybe i'll eat my words!!

#thank you this was so interesting to consider!!#asks

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darling-i-read-it · 11 months

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Would you be willing to maybe write Giles headcanons from btvs. Like about his love languages and how it would go? Much love 💕! Please and thank you ☺️.

angel? spike? no. giles. it'll always be giles. (ps thank you for this request im knee deep in watching buffy so this is on my mind lots)

this is love language headcanons or alternatively: different scenarios in giles house. (gentle warning for some insinuating jokes lol)

acts of service

Giles appreciates when other people do things without him having to ask. He's very used to be in charge and likes that position; it makes him feel important

but goddamnit it sure would be nice for someone else to shoulder the weight. it would be double nice if it was someone other than buffy who also never gets a damn break.

it also doesn't have to be big things. Setting the tea bags out for him, buying the kind he likes when he's low.

Bringing him books you think he'll like or putting away the ones he had left out.

This also goes for things like helping research or helping Buffy if she needs it. A lot of his life is surrounding helping her so if you help as well it takes some of the pressure of his shoulders.

Giles ran his hand through his hair as he left the bedroom. You had stayed over the night before but weren't in bed when his alarm clock went off. He looked around the corner, seeing only himself in the mirror coming down the stairs. He wanted to call out your name but didn't, out of sheer exhaustion.

When he emerged into the living room he could hear you. You were in the kitchen, gently humming to yourself. His eyes opened wide, the sleep leaving them, when he saw you.

"Mornin sleepy head. You forget to turn your alarm off?" He gave you a confused look. "It's a holiday today. No school." He looked back up the stairs, trying to find what day it was in his head.

"Why are you awake then?"

"Couldn't sleep." His eyes drifted down to your hands. You were making breakfast. You had pancakes on the counter already made. Bacon was sizzling.

"Breakfast?"

"Figured it was the least I could do. You were so generous last night," you teased. He smiled, shaking his head.

"This..this is a lot of bacon." There was a whole stack already made.

"I figured your scoobies were going to be stopping by sometime this morning with a problem. Don't want them to starve." His eyes floated to your face with the most adoring look. You met his gaze. "You okay?"

"I love you. I love you so much."

quality time

Giles doesn't have a lot of free time, at least not in the first few seasons. He was technically always running around and doing something with the library or with Buffy or with the council. Constantly stuck within a losing battle of his free time and his sanity.

Spending all the time he could with those he loves and appreciates is important to him. He attempts to make time.

It's just...not easy.

It isn't actually his fault necessarily but yeah...he can barely finish a book for pleasure.

But when he has that time he does not like to waste it.

"I've taken the phone off the hook," Giles announced. You looked up from the couch where you were sitting. He looked quite proud. "Buffy is patrolling with Angel. She'll be safe for the night."

"You don't have to convince me," you told him.

"I know. I was convincing me." You gave him a sly smile. He sat down beside you. He had a stack of books in front of him on the coffee table. You were cuddled up in the corner of the couch with a blanket and a mug. "Has your tea gone cold?"

You shook your head, no.

"Good." He picked up the stack of books and rested them on his lap. You watched him with big heart eyes. He was about to talk about something he was extremely passionate about. You were excited to listen.

"Which one are you going to read to me tonight Rupert?"

"I have options."

"Naturally."

physical touch

we all saw the episode where they reverted to their teenage selves

growing up, Giles had the tendency to be handsy in relationships. That wasn't something that exactly faded away as he grew older, he just became slightly better at hiding it

It was something you were surprised about when you started a relationship with him but it was something that was simple to ease into. It became natural fast

He likes to have his hands on you whenever you're alone. the whole time. all the time.

in public he's okay, he's sophisticated, he's borderline shy/timid. He does not want to traumatize the children he is constantly around. Even when Xander makes joke after joke after joke after jo-

Will pull you aside privately if he feels the need to though. Stern talking to. You look too good. That's literally not his fault.

but ALONEEEEEE

"Rupert," you muttered. He had his arm wrapped around you tightly from behind as you sat on the couch. He had his book up but was holding it with one hand. Everytime he turned the page he would set the book down and turn it so he didn't have to take his hand off you.

"Yes?" he questioned. You looked up at him. You sat between his legs, your back flush with his chest.

"I need to go to the bathroom," you said. He raised his eyebrows, floating his gaze back to his book.

"Can it wait?" You laughed.

"No." He let out a hearty sigh as though you had just told him grave news.

He moved his arm off you so you could get up.

"Hurry back," he said. You smiled, face scrunching. The warmth in your chest expanded out towards to your face as you walked away.

"I'm hurrying."

#rupert giles x reader #rupert giles imagines #rupert giles x fem!reader #btvs imagines #rupert giles fanfiction #this layout was so fun too. love language headcanons >

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sunnydaleherald · 6 months

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The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Wednesday, November 29

SPIKE: It's kill or be killed here. Take your bloody pick. XANDER: Maybe it's the syphilis talking, but... some of that made sense. GILES: I made a lot of these points earlier, but fine, no one listens to me.

~~BtVS 4x08 “Pangs”~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Promise (Angel, Buffy, G) by badly_knitted

Interrupted Vacation (Xander, Assassin's Creed xover, T) by madimpossibledreamer

Cookie Fever (Buffy,Spike,Dawn, PG-13) by veronyxk84

Movie Night (Spuffy, PG-13) by veronyxk84

On the way to solitary (Angel, Faith, T) by Zouiguy

Second Chances (Buffy/Angel, Tara/Willow, T) by Willow's Promise

[Chaptered Fiction]

the slayer's brat kid sister, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, Dawn, T) by InvisiblePinkToast

Breathe Again, Chapter 15/18 (Angel/Cordelia, M) by Califi62

New Blood, Chapter 13/13 COMPLETE! (Xander, Naruto xover, T) by danu40k

Dawn Rising, Chapter 22 (Buffy/Finrod Felagund, Silmarillion xover, T) by Luna_delCielo

Moments that Make You: The Hero and The Princess, Chapter 96 (Cordelia/Doyle, T) by myheadsgonenumb

The More the World is Changing, the More it Stays the Same, Chapter 3 (Angel/Spike, M) by the_widow_twankey

New York, Chapter 23/43 (Giles/Xander, M) by drsquidlove

Crash and Burn, Chapters 25-26 (Buffy/Spike, E) by NautiBitz

Days of Future Past, Chapter 32/34 (Buffy/OC, Angel/OC, Buffy/Angel, M) by a2zmom

Segue, Chapter 7 (Xander/Cordelia, Ensemble, T) by Francis_Eugene

A Reincarnation in Sunnydale, Chapter 22 (Buffy/Angel, M) by DracoRim98

To Be Hers, Chapter 23 (Buffy/Spike, unrated) by faefawn

1632 Revello Drive, Chapter 12 (Buffy/Faith, T) by Miath's Writing Corner

Her Old Fashioned Boy, Chapter 16 (Giles/Jenny, T) by Bobbie23

Vamp for Rent, Chapter 11 (Spike/Xander, M) by forsaken2003

Crash and Burn, Chapters 23-24 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by NautiBitz

Cherry On Top, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Maxineeden

Spiderwebs, Chapter 44 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Willow25

Amara Time, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Joan963z

the broken gates of kingdom come, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, R) by disco-tea

Old Fashioned Romance, Chapter 4 (Xander/Steve Rogers, Marvel xover, FR21) by calikocat

the broken gates of kingdom come, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, R) by disco-tea

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: can you guys watch him while I go smoke (Spike, worksafe) by yarboyandy

Banner: [about various winter holidays] (worksafe) by NotASlayer

Artwork: Angel, Spike, and Oz in some fun Styles :) (worksafe) by CoffeeMilkLvr

[Reviews & Recaps]

PODCAST: Episode 43: Helpless (w/ Dean Jurhs) by Gym Was Cancelled

PODCAST: HELLMOUTH HOMOS: Amends by Fear Queers

[In Search Of]

[In search of] Fuffy fanfic rec requested by Strange-Equipment400

[Fandom Discussions]

It’s kind of a bummer that The Master was so quickly written out of the Buffy story... by secretlyasummers

Tiny baby S3 Dawn would have thought Faith is the coolest person... by secretlyasummers

BTVS-OG Experience - Watching Buffy as it was originally released by mondaymiddlemarch

[Willow's forgetting spell in S6 "All the Way" and character analysis] by multiple posters

Is Angel [the series] worth it? by FeatheredDrake

Can anyone explain who the Guardians are and what their purpose is in S7E21 End of Days? by Taraisawkward

Just watched the final episode [of AtS S5] by koken_halliwell

What's something from Buffy or Angel you feel fans come down on a bit too harshly? by InfiniteMehdiLove

What was something that you thought had the potential to be something great if the writing was better? by george123890yang

When Ben was a baby? by MixPurple3897

How do you think the first Slayer made it to what is now California from Pre-historic Africa to slay the last Old One by Virtual_Row_8445

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

#btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #ats #angel the series #fan art #fan fiction #meta

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hedgewyse · 1 year

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Tag 9 people you want to get to know better Tagged by @dummerjan, @misspoetree, @letsabandonthisworld (I got around to it eventually!)

Three ships

I love power dynamics in ships, and people who absolutely should not be together. I love people who could destroy one another if they chose to. Whose family or society would be horrified they are together. Bonus points if they are definitely fucking each other up, but continue anyway.

Dongfang Qingcang/Shangque - Love between fairy and devil Ghostship

I love the idea that Shangque is this ancient, powerful dragon but is utterly devoted to Qingcang, knows all his habits, looks after his little mood swings, let's him feel like he's in control even though he probably knows rightly how to manipulate him if he wanted to. Qingcang is the definition of cringefail edgy villain who tries not to show that he's squishy in the middle but only for the right people.

VegasKim - Kinnporsche Ghostship

I really don't care at all about the cousins angle here. When you take a step back and think, our weirdness about that is rooted in concerns around genetic risks and that's uh, not really an issue with same-sex stuff, y'know? Anyway, no, the bit that does it for me is that both families would be outraged, and that they are both utterly tough and unhinged about the family business and absolutely could destroy one another. And they are definitely fucking up each other's lives, ambitions, and self-identity.

Gahan - The Devil Judge main co-stars

Kim Gaon and Kang Yohan are so clearly into each other. So much fascination with each other, how the others operates, what motivates them, the grudging respect. But also just really hot for it. The roaming eyes on both sides when shirts are off. The moments of softness Yohan allows to slip out, the moments of brokenness and anger that Gaon suffers Yohan to witness, how they betray each other but are inexorably drawn together again anyway. I love the moment Yohan risks discovery to save Gaon. I love the moment Gaon risks his life to go down with Yohan. I love both gradually realising the other will come to rescue them, no matter what the risk. I love the age gap. I love how different they are, and how they are two broken pieces which fit together perfectly nonetheless. It's messy and beautiful.

Honorable mentions: WangXian ults, obvs. But I can't put them in every single one of these so I'm trying to branch out.

First ever ship - BtVS: Sprusilla

The second I laid eyes on Drusilla and her graceful, syrupy brand of crazy I was in love, and Spike is such a cringefail dark little villain I was always going to fall for him. They are perfect together. I wish they'd had a spin off series Bonnie&Clyde-ing all over Europe.

Last song

I got this recc from a fanfic. Fucken love when people have fic songs! Set the vibe, queen, I wanna cosy up in your brain.

Last movie - Wandering Earth

Currently reading

Mastering Active Directory by Dishan Francis. Don't even ask, honestly.

But I pretty much read some kind of snuggly fanfic every night to get to sleep - I need my 'literal sleeping together' angst fix.

Currently watching

Just finished Physical: 100 (the women! 👀👀👀) and Moonlight Chicken (this was my first FourthGemini and I am SOLD, holy smokes).

Deciding now between The Glory, Interview with the Vampire (which I'm resuming at ep 5 after the friend I was watching with got distracted by his girl and I am tired of waiting), and I'll probably cave to My School President even though I hate school BLs because of the aforementioned FourthGemini. I'm also still in the middle of Taxi Driver and a rewatch of Magicians with a different friend.

Currently consuming

It's been a really hard month so I've gone back to comfort food; so sweet and sour chicken, pad thai, garlic ramen. And still burning toast every time I come home drunk, lol.

Currently craving

I dunno. Friends who actually want to dance as something more than just pulling at the club? Skinship? An occasional twink to spoil? A deeper conversation? Carrot cake?

Issue declined due to absence of required parameters

Pretty sure everyone has done it already, but just in case, tagging @hilema @negrowhat @dream-thief-forever-amen @cloudburst-ink @eyesof-kkomi @staytotheend @saturnskyline @hoe-for-jihyo @sinistergooseberries

#get to know me tag game

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marvellousinternethideout · 1 year

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BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

Season 2

Ep 12 - Bad Eggs

Something is gonna happen in the mall, isnt it?

Welp. There you go I was spot on. The cowboy hat guy is supernatural. A vampire.

Yes, buffy save the poor girl.

Buffy always has something smartass remark before she kills a vampire. Everytime.

Xander and Cordelia. Kissing in the closet. Still hating each other. Still fighting, saying they dont need this but they can't stay away from each other so in reality, they in fact, need this. Back to snogging I guess.

Lmao, so they are having a sex banter in the classroom. What a foreplay. The sex is gonna be bed breaking.

Taking care of the baby (egg), the classic.

They massacred a village before they became a vampire!!? Buffy do not underestimate them.

"please, like angel and I are helpless slaves to passion, grow up", also buffy passionately makes out with angel on her job, doing absolutely no hunting.

Buffy girl do some hunting and slaying, they're literally sitting on the tree.

What's up with the egg?? What's in it?

Bitch, whatever it's ugly and creepy. Also, Buffy is in danger.

What's with this two killer vampires? They're weird.

What did that egg do to her!? She's fine(I mean not really) but what it did to her?

She's talking funny. Oh, it's both willow and buffy. So probably everyone.

Xander and Cordelia and they know just one word now, closet. Say closet and they're gone.

And its bangel make-out session again.

Ohhhh, its getting awkward and having hard talks. Babies, future. Damn you two poor stars crossed lovers.

Damn buffy. I love the passionate confession and It's lovely and sad but you can't have a life with angel.

It's either Cordelia and xander or a dead body or our security is gonna die.

Yup. Security just died. It's the professor isn't it?

Holy mother of God, the egg broke, in front of buffy and wtf was that? What the hell is that ugly spider thingy?

Yuck, she just killed it and yup, she just killed it.

Nah willow, check your egg. You're not safe, Oh fuck, too late for that. What did the egg do to willow!?

Joyce I get you but your daughter is the chosen one so get a life.

Cordelia just shut up.

Oh so xander got saved because he boiled it.

Oh no not everyone's egg. Xander is also yuck. It's everyone's egg.

Oh, so it's both Cordelia and willow and the rest of the school. Welp, it's a war from insects or whatever tf it's called.

Giles is also fine, right? Oh no he isnt. And neither is joyce anymore. Fuck! It's everyone now.

Oh thank God, buffy and xander are fine. Now go save everyone.

What exactly are these demon children building or well they're not building, they're collecting the eggs and setting their mummy free.

It's time to behave like them. Move like a zombie them. Blend in. Yes, go xander became one of them.

Oh cmon not the right time cowboy vampires, either help her or get the hell out.

Who made Willow the leader of mummy land.

Help buffy you freaky vampires.

YUCKS! WHAT KIND OF CREATURE IS THIS? GIRL RUN!

OH FUCK NOOOOOOO! DID THE MUMMY JUST TOOK BUFFY WITH HER?

Or wait did buffy killed the main mummy? You, she did. Good job slayer.

Joyce, there was a gas leak, ffs, give her a break, why aren't you more worried?

Grounded or not, buffy will get her Angel fix of the day. Alright, girl, we get it, you're horny and in love and he's good.

Also, now I've a question, well lots of it. Who gave schools the eggs?? Like, where did the eggs come from, did the teacher just collected them from the basement because the school is a cheap ass hoe Or did someone deliberately delivered these eggs for this purpose, if yes, then who is it? Damn, how it really happened? Someone tell me.

Well, another day, another episode and again, I loved it. This was a less intense episode then the last one and not the main plot focused, nevertheless I enjoyed it.

We had a lot of bangel, well more like bangel make out sessions, also xander and cordelia's make out sessions. I think this is the episode with most make out and kissing yet in BTVS. Not much of willow, which was weird as she was also possessed.

The plot was cool, ofc couldn't predict it but still was surprise. Gotta say the killing of the mummy in the end was pretty anticlimactic, like that was too fast and easy. I get it that she's the slayer and all but still she just did it like nothing. Also, how did she kill it?

The massacre vampires were a useless addition, they brought nothing to episode and had no point of being there. What the hell was the point of them in this episode? I just kept thinking how would they tie to everything else and nothing, I thought they would help buffy in the end but nothing. Why exactly were they in there? Unless BTVS brings them(or well just him as one died) then I can see but other than that it was just useless.

Joyce is sometimes getting on my nerves. Like, a gas leak and her first thought would be if her daughter is okay, instead it's why weren't you where I told you to be? Like some concern would be good.

I guess that's it, loved the bangel in this episode, we finally have them. Xander and Cordelia are still happening. No spike or drusilla in this episode. No jenny either. No oz either.

Well, that's it, see ya in the next one, cheers 🥂

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wolfstrong · 1 year

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BUFFY SEASON 4 THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS

Okay I’ll start out by saying I LIKED IT. I ENJOYED MY TIME HERE OKAY. it’s BTVS. I FREAKING LOVE THIS SHOW!!!! However, I think my complaints are simular to what I had to say about last season, where the one off episodes were great but the over arching plot was a little UHHHHH. UHHH so let’s just go in chronological order shall we?

This season started off with BANGERS MAN. BANGERS. There was some episodes I kinda didn’t like early on (harsh light of day… too much sex!) but other then that, I’d say we had 10 episodes of straight BANGERS! Like seriously early season 4 was also some of the funniest BTVS I’ve ever seen? They really really hit their stride with comedy having the humor come from the situation and not the lame jokes. See now the show knows that we know it’s character well, and it knows exactly what kind of situation will subvert our expectations and be very hilarious. The “””bad parts”” of this season was about half way through when it really started to get into the main plot. When the Initiatives was first introduced I was actually kinda getting into it because I thought there was gonna be this whole thing where Riley and Buffy had to hide their identities from each other and also maybe Buffy wouldn’t know the Initiatives motives and they maybe thought she was a demon of some kind so they would be fighting without realizing they were on the same side and Buffy and Riley would date without knowing they were each others enemies. But they did this for like one episode. And then we learned everything about the Initiative instantly and they weren’t even cool at all they were just like a big gang of boot boys. Also I kinda liked Maggie Walsh as the main enemy person and it REALLY threw me off when Adam just killed her unceremoniously ??? After all her build up? And then Adam just kinda replaced her and he was the main villain?????? Did Maggie Walsh’s actor want to leave the show or something? I felt weird vibes from that sudden death and tbh the main plot never recovered. Anyway for that short period Faith was back that was really awesome, and I also liked a couple more episode in the later half but eh. Then the ending felt kind of lack luster just cuz I didn’t really care about Adam and never felt like he was that big of a threat for some reason (idk, giant franking stien monster who acts like evil jesus just isn’t really scary to me) so when he died and the collective went away I was like. Yeah okay whatever. Also Buffy going super saiyan by combining with all her friends to defeat the big bad was so cheesy that it was kinda awesome. And to end everything off weird dream sequence episode where we were I guess supposed to use our Freudian-like psychoanalyzation skills to deduce each of the characters insecurities, flaws and strengths. Anyway, at least at the end of the season, they kind of acknowledge the way that the gang had been drifting apart.

It was hard because they were intentionally putting strain on the Scoobies and that was also a big theme of the season. Like thinking back on earlier episodes, I remember Xander would just like show up on campus to eat lunch with everyone or it would cut to everyone chilling in his basement or AT LEAST Willow and Buffy having roomie vibes. But towards the end they never did any of that stuff :( one of the main issues I think is they didn’t have a centralized hang out spot. I really really miss the library, i know that Giles house was kinda a replacement and they spent a lot of time there, but it’s not the same. The library was like a neutral space where they could do demon hunting work but also just hang out in. They only go over to Giles place when there is something bad going on. Also everyone had their respect romantic partners that drove wedges between them, if unintentionally. Anya was a pretty bad offender of this, but I think Riley was the worstest. He didn’t mesh well with the whole group at all, and Buffy spent WAY too much time with him. Even Angel meshed better with the rest of the group!!! ANGEL! I think the thing is you got the sense that Angel cared about Buffy’s friends, at least because he understood they were important to her. He say that and he say them work as a team and he integrated accordingly and helped as he could. I’d be surprised if Riley even knew Xanders last name, or like even his first name for that matter. I feel like he barely gave a shat about the external forces in her life, he was just obsessed with her only and his stupid job. They put on blinders for each other and for a lot of scenes it was just the Riley and Buffy saga and I DID NOT CARE FOR IT!

So in conclusion I think on an episode to episode basis this season was very solid and had some episodes that were the funniest I’ve seen in the whole series. The first half was way better then the second half, and the overarching plot was pretty sloppy, all over the place and a bit boring and lackluster. I didn’t like how the Scoobies drifted apart and I hope that next season is a return to form in terms of group dynamic.

Anyway, my fav episodes:

Hush: number one all time fav of course of course, just like, so good on every level and I could go on and on but I’ll take a page from the episode book and not say more about it

Living conditions: I had assigned dorm mates when I was a freshman who I didn’t exactly mesh with, so this episode just felt so so real.

The Initiative: see this is when I thought the overarching plot was gonna be really good,,, but tbh it peak here. This episode was just kinda a riot and I think often about the scene where Spike tried to but Willow but he can’t cuz of the chip and they treat it like he’s got erectile dysfunction. It’s just too good.

Pangs: I KNOW. ITS BAD. BUFFY HAS TO MURDER NATIVE AMERICAN SPIRITS ON THANKSGIVING. BUT THE EPISODE IS LOWKEY SO SELF AWARE AND ITS SO BAD ITS NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT BUT ITS REALLY FUNNY

Something Blue: … Buffy and Spike in love… I laughed I’m sorry. Also just a good Willow episode me thinks

A New man: Ethan shenanigans and major Giles demon fail… LOL UPVOTE!

Who are you: I know this was a two parter but I thought the first part was kinda boring (sorry I know that episode has a lot of stans) anyway I thought the whole body swap thing was a great way to explore faiths character, literally putting her in Buffy’s shoes and making her see what it’s like to be the good girl. Also Sara Michelle Geller did a wonderful job acting as faith in Buffy’s body, not all actors can pull off the body swap thing (I should know, I’m a Star Trek fan) so I was very impressed.

New Moon Rising: you had me at Tara/Willow. Yeah

Lest favorite episodes: eh none of them really jump out at BAD some just weren’t as exciting as others. Just like any Initiative and Riley heavy episodes were kinda a snooze fest.

I won’t recap the character I’ve already talked about, but the Scoobies really did change a lot this season, I won’t say for better or for worse. They just changed in ways that are realistic to their new situations.

Anya: I know this doesn’t make any sense, but I don’t hate Anya, I just hate everything about her. Lol. No but for real like i said before, when she’s not talking about Xander I actually kinda like her. I think the very dry and blunt but completely uncaring about social cues thing can be very funny. BUT THEY DONT LET HER DO ANYTHING BUT BE XANDERS LAP DOG. All she does is talk about Xander Xander Xander and it makes both of their characters much much worse. I wish they would have switched the roles and had Xander really like her for some reason and her kinda not care much about him. Idk. Sigh. I wish Xander was gay

Tara: I LOVE YOU TARAAA!!!!!! I know i already said this but she reminds me of so many girls I went to school with so to me her presence is just so warm and comfy :) her and Willow are very sweet together and by the end of the season their relationship kinda became what I was most invested in

Spike: I’m pretty sure I haven’t wrote about spike in previous season reviews? But anyway I kinda love what they did with spike in this season, I mean really how can you not. He was just kinda their weird pathetic friend who actually wasn’t their friend and was still evil but everyone forgot cuz it was so hard to take him seriously. The writers wanted him to be a main character but also kinda didn’t know what to do with him every episode, so sometimes it would just be like “yo why’s spike the bus driver?” But tbh I kinda didn’t mind. His wet stray dog presence really added something and was always funny when you remember he was the big bad of season 2. Oh how the great have fallen.

Riley: yeah yeah our white bread red blooded boot boy all American nice guy. Completely doesn’t mesh with the vibe of the show and is way too boring. He’s so an Angel rebound, I’m sorry. Like I just KNOW that’s not Buffy’s type. It’s just not. But I already talked a lot about him so whatever.

Okay and those are my thoughts 😁 I’m not rereading all that rn so typos damned! Looking forward to season 5!

#BTVS #season 4

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