#and in s3 buffy saying things like 'i know everything that you did because you did it to me. god i wish that i wish you did. but i don't

[oveliagirlhaditright]

At this point, I honestly do think that Angel and Angelus are the same person (I'll probably make a more detailed post about all this later).

Like, the whole Angel/Angelus debacle--and us fans asking whether they're the same person or not--is because the show first tells us that a vampire is not the human person left behind with a demon in them: instead, the demon takes over the human's body--almost possesses them, if you will--and may have the memories and even the personality of the person they inhabited, but really isn't that human and has nothing to do with them at all.

But later on, things in the show (like how Spike was handled) make fans begin to question this.

So fans then usually come up with the idea that the Watcher's Council was wrong in telling us this first thing that we heard. Or moreover, that that's probably what they want their Slayers to believe, for obvious reasons. But really, vampires are the person they once were, they just have a demon in them now and no soul/conscience.

Like I said: I might get into all of that in another post. But like a lot of fans have come up with, I do now think that Angel/Angelus are the same person, and that Angelus sort of developed split personalities.

And fanfic writers usually give the following reason for this, if they also buy into this idea.

That when Angelus' soul was restored to him--and all the Catholic teachings he believed in and adhered to as a human--he couldn't deal with it, so came up with the idea that it wasn't really him (and in some ways, it wasn't. Because with a soul/conscience and without the demon, he never would have done that stuff). It was the demon. And thus the Angelus and Angel split was born.

I think another idea similar to that (I don't know if I've seen it in fanfiction, though maybe I have) is that when Angelus' conscience is returned to him, he can't handle all of the horrible things that he did--the mind can only deal with so much, after all--and so in order to protect itself, it comes up with the idea it wasn't truly him--and the Angelus and Angel split is born.

But one thing I feel like I've never seen anyone mention (that I was having a discussion about with a friend once)... is the possibility is that the Romani curse itself could have been responsible for the split. Or at least partly responsible for it. Because there's the loophole in the curse, that after Angel gets his soul back, he'll lose it again if he ever knows a moment of true happiness. But doesn't this make it so there will always be a monstrous version of himself that he can turn back into? It almost makes it sound like to me that the conditions of the curse make it so that "Angelus" can never be rehabilitated, even if he got a chip or whatever like Spike did, so there would always be evil for Angel to turn back into, if he had his moment of true happiness, all so the Romani could have their revenge that way. Does that make sense to anyone else, or am I just crazy? ^_^'

#buffy the vampire slayer #long post #angel #angelus #angel(us) #also. i think the real reason for the inconsistent soul writing is (a)the writers didn't have it all figured out from the get-go and made #it up as they went along. and thus there are plotholes #and/or (b) they sometimes didn't care about the soul rules if better character writing could come out of it. so they just did whatever #and i'm not condoning them for that. at the end of the day i'd better have good character writing over consistent lore #like i said. i might make a bigger post about all of this someday #but they def didn't have all of this planned out at first. they didn't even know angel WAS a vampire at first. they thought he'd be a legit #angel. lol #but like... at this point. i just see too many similarities between angel and angelus to see them as different characters #and i think even in s2 we were supposed to see them as the same character (i think writing in later seasons changed this though like as4) #but notice how in bs2 that even when angel has turned evil the scooby gang still calls him angel #i think the tie-in novels (though if you want to see them as canon or not is up to you) has a somewhat similar belief #and in s3 buffy saying things like 'i know everything that you did because you did it to me. god i wish that i wish you did. but i don't #i can't' makes me think this is right. note that she doesn't say 'i know everything that ANGELUS did. because he did it to me' or anything #like that. it's 'you' #i know this might be an unpopular opinion among my fellow bangels though. and i can get why #but to me. this is what i think canon was trying to say. but if you don't agree that's totally totally fine #and i still think you can't really pin angelus' sins onto angel. and i get why buffy thinks that too #but also get why angel thinks he needs to make amends for them #but once again. the lore IS inconsistent. so there may be no real answer here. or we may get different answers. or more than one

[we-pay-for-everything]

I was wondering what your very favorite post-S3 Bangel scene was? (On BTVS only, not AtS!) For me it's the kiss and "I just want to bask" in Chosen. It's so easily the most purely happy I'd seen Buffy in so long and was such a reminder that they'll always love each other!

Oh, it's easily the Forever scene! I love everything about it. I love how Buffy finally shared her thoughts on her mother's death. She had to be strong to get through the preparations for the funeral, and I think she felt she had no one to be vulnerable with, or feared that if she opened that can of worms she wouldn't be able to pull herself back together again, so I love that she trusted she could lean on Angel and be okay. I love how Angel comforted her, and believed in her. I love how Buffy leaned against Angel on a tree in a cemetery. I know it was because of Joyce's funeral but it was very reminiscent of their early days of meeting up at cemeteries and tombs. I love that when Angel arrived he and Buffy immediately held hands without even looking at each other. They fully trusted that the bond they shared remained unchanged. They never lost faith in their love for each other - it was the same whenever they saw each other post-Sanctuary/The Yoko Factor. I love that Angel offered to stay for as long as Buffy liked and she immediately said "forever". "Does forever work for you?" It works for me, Buffy. The kiss was so nice! They looked so pretty. The whole scene was just so tender and comforting - exactly what we needed after an episode like The Body. It was exactly what Buffy needed too. I think it was her time with Angel that finally let herself be vulnerable with Dawn.

Honorable mention to Buffy and Angel's talk in The Yoko Factor. I love that they could laugh at the absurdity of their situation. That was so domestic of them. I love that they cleared the air between them. It's so meaningful that Angel went to apologize to Buffy for how they left off things, and I love that they managed to come to an understanding and move forward. "It means a lot that you came.", Buffy said. This was the scene where they finally came to terms with their breakup and opened a new chapter in their relationship, a chapter in which they knew nothing would ever really change between them even if they did - they could always turn to each other and trust that the other would still be there. The scene proved Buffy and Angel knew how to communicate - duh. They understandably failed to do so in Sanctuary, for many reasons, but they didn't let the resentment brew. Angel personally went to Buffy to make things right and they both acknowledged they'd been wrong and understood each other's pov. They apologized, forgave the other, and moved on. They were on the same page as always. Also, one of Angel's best moments is "Oh, and Riley? I don't like him.". The fact that Buffy replied "Thank you." just backs up everything I've said about them trusting that their feelings wouldn't change. Buffy liked that Angel didn't like her new boyfriend - in the sense that he still wished that boyfriend could be him - and also that it was Angel's way of saying he was still "looking out" for her. I love how Buffy smiled at Angel, how they smiled at each other. I just love the maturity they displayed. I love established relationships the most.

Thanks for the ask! You got a two for one deal lmao.

#ask #btvs #bangel #buffy summers #angel #thanks for the ask! #hadn't talked about them in a while!

[cangelgifs]

Saw some really bad anti-Cordelia/anti-Cangel opinions but I’m being so brave about it. In all seriousness though, what do you say to people who think Season 3 regresses on cordelia’s development for the sake of the romance plot? I think it’s an unbelievably wrong take that clearly has no appreciation for her character whatsoever but I’d like to hear your takes.

So, I do think we lose some of Cordy’s POV in the second half of S3 once she becomes a ‘romance interest’ but I don’t see this as a flaw on Cangel’s part. Moreover, I see it as a flaw of the show itself AKA having too many male writers in the writers room.

However, I don’t think her character is regressed at all. S3 has some of the most amazing growth for her character in the show. "So - demonize me already” is one of the best Cordelia moments across both series.

I'm going to quote Nika_83 here because she said it better than I could:

"I say they also don't know the meaning of the word regression. Which is to go backwards. At no point in season 3 does cordy slide back in to season 1 btvs behavior. So that's pattently wrong. Rather she is way more selfless and giving. This all makes sense given what she has seen and experienced. She literally feels the pain of the visions. She wants to help those people. And selfishly she wants to be important to angel and the cause. And she still maintains that "materialism' she always had with loving nice things, being bought out by clothes, loving being pylea princess, etc. Which is a part of her as a character and can be a flaw but that doesn't override her need to save others, or herself."

I don’t know the posts your referring to specifically but common arguments I see for S3 are:

She’s become a Mary-Sue/Saint Cordy. 

Angel on Top has a good response to that: “She's in this relationship with Groo that we already discussed as being, like, flawed in various ways and has a certain amount of denial baked into it. Like that is imperfect. And she also tries to read what is going on with Gunn and is completely wrong as well. Like, she’s also, like, there’s human error happening still with her. Like I don’t think she is—god forbid I use the Mary Sue word–she’s like not doing that kind of stuff. I do think Cordelia would be inherently less interesting if she was suddenly perfect and never did anything wrong ever in her life. But, you know, she’s still Cordelia. She’s still, like, making some mistakes and being a little too abrasive every once in a while. Like, I don’t subscribe to that.”

“Angel's feelings are the only ones I care about” - The Price; ‘she’s become too focused on Angel’

I think saying ‘oh, all she cares about is Angel’ is oversimplifying it greatly and missing the point. Yes, she cares about Angel and always has (see 1x22 when she buys him art supplies to make him feel better and “Well, he's gonna have to start wanting things from life, whether he wants to or not!”). This is nothing new. I think in the overall context of what’s going on in S3 at that time, it makes sense. I think she is prioritizing Angel and focusing on Angel’s grief over losing Connor to protect herself from her own grief. If she keeps busy taking care of Angel, she won’t have to feel the pain/loss herself. Also we know Cordy is guilty of downplaying her own pain to her own detriment (her hiding that the visions were literally killing her!) so sadly this is in character for her.

Thanks for the ask!

--whatisyourchildhoodtrauma

I also wanna hop in here and say that I completely agree with everything that has been said and I also wanna add that even if you completely strip away the romantic subtext of s3, Cordelia would be the same person that she was in that season because two things are very true. One, that her life would still be very much intertwined with Angel's because that's the nature of him being the protagonist--similar to how Cordy's life was very much intertwined with Buffy's on BTVS--and two, her growth over the last seasons (and arguably since BTVS) would still lead her to the place that she wound up. She didn't grow to the kind hearted, loving person who cares more about the mission than money that we see in s3 because of Angel or for Angel. She grew because she was presented time and time again with a worldview and a mission that was bigger and more important than herself and it shaped her and facilitated her growth into the person she became.

I also gotta point out that the argument in itself feels kind of sexist as if a woman can’t have positive growth unless it’s attributed to shipping her with a man. Not to mention that the "Saint Cordy" moniker also feels sexist because it both diminishes her growth and patronizes her. Essentially it paints her as this super perfect saint of a person instead of talking about how much she's grown or the sacrifices that she's had to make in order to get where she is in canon or even talking about the mistakes she does make/flaws she does have in the back half of s3. Not to mention it also is used to not talk about the real issues of the back part of s3 and how that twisted into the narrative of s4 (which is a very sexist narrative with many flaws). It's just is like "oh she's saint cordelia now" and doesn't leave much, if any, room for deeper discussions. Not to mention it also paints this narrative of "a woman has to be suffering constantly or tormented in order to be viewed as a flawed, complex person" which is both gross and incorrect.

Again, super agree with everything that has been said and this was a very good question, thank you for the ask!

-- someonefantastic

#ask

[explosionshark]

Okay so my trilogy of new Faithwatch episodes starts naturally with Superstar that works great as a followup to Who Are You and gets to be qualified as part of Faithwatch on three great fronts. Firstly tone, it works great as an emotional cool down following Who Are You they had a ton of fun making this episode, great set design, great sound design. Secondly there is follow up between Buffy and Riley from the event of Who Am I. And thirdly and what is the biggest thing for me is that its at its a core a low stakes redo of Who Am I, both Faith and Johnathan effectively took the role of Buffy for their respective episodes but because Buffy's not as close to it and its a lot lower stakes she can actually offer a sympathetic touch to Johnathan in that closing scene and give him advice to get through it.

Also tangents from this episode, love Anya's shrimp metaphor for alternate universes, Willow and Tara's Johnathan collage and Riley's signed poster of him are very strong gags and shout out I guess to Adam for his scene explaining why he's not affected by the universe swap because he's fully aware of every atom of his being. Also something neat from that scene is him explaining that he exists for chaos (which sure I've barely seen anything from him that really suggests that but I'll believe him) made me realise there's an unintended but neat cycle going on with, Master: Order, Angelus: Chaos, Mayor: Order, Adam: Chaos. Alliterative and repeating, I think I know the last Big Bad is The First Evil which alas does not fit this accidental sequence but there's still two left that might fit it. Oh I can't believe I forgot the OP, just as it started I thought oh it'd be great if they filled this with shots of Johnathan and then they did, it was incredible, I can't believe they still prompted me to skip it.

Five by Five is excellent, love how hard it goes into the Angel is Faith parallels. Love the recontexualising it can give the whole episode that this whole thing was Faith's sucide by Angel attempt. Like throughout the episode I was just assuming this was Faith fully unhinged and off the chain, she's not got trying to look like she's not a murderer, she's not got the Mayor, she's not got having to pretend to be Buffy so she's burying everything she'd been feeling as deep as she could and going for whatever makes her feel good. But with the added context she's just proving she's bad so she can prove she has to die which is a perfect continuation from her status at the end of Who Am I and that closing exchange between Riley and Buffy on her "She's had her fun" "Yeah . . . Fun" the dichotomy of Faith. The best one being the scene with Wolfram and Hart hiring her for the Angel hit the way she lights up, the initial first reading is an easy Angel and her have shared history with Buffy this is a great stab at her and she gets paid and she gets away from her consequences, the second reading this is someone who can kill her. Also she looks so sad and wet at the end there, I'd say the saddest she's ever looked but then Sanctuary starts up and she looks even sadder and more pathetic I loved it. But she was also having a great time clubbing I also loved that. Also I totally thought she'd just killed that guy when she got off the bus but good for her Sanctuary lets us know she just mugged him.

So Sanctuary the saddest and most pathetic Faith's ever been in that opening scene of Angel walking her into Angel Investigations (I love her). This episode felt like it was the culimation of a lot of groundwork laid with Angel in s3, the Amends dynamic flipped here where is Angel talking Faith through how she can carry on through the guilt of everything she's done, the follow through of Angel as Faith's murder sponsor as in Consequences and Enemies, there's a lot exchanges I really like in this episode but one of them in particular was the "Right. And you've been doing this for a hundred years! I'm not gonna make it through the next ten minutes." "So make it through the next five, the next minute." which was just before the other of my favourites of "Faith, this isn't about Buffy" before Angel proceeds to get sidetracked about Buffy.

Speaking of I really enjoyed Buffy in this episode it's like it feels there's a different level of range given to her when she's not the protagonist I dunno? Like she's still clearly Buffy but because of the way that the framing is that this is Angel the Series not Buffy the Vampire the Slayer, it's different it feels like a fresh direction. Anyway "Apologise and I'll beat you to death," "Go ahead," Iconic. Along with another of those Angel Buffy communications failures coupled with the Angel is Faith so of course he's on her side she has to be worthy of redemption because otherwise he isn't versus Buffy is too close and too hurt to what Faith's done that she can't be (which I think is a neat contrast to Superstar's lower stakes and that Johnathan obviously isn't as important). Anyway Faith and Buffy's talk on the roof is so good with Buffy so hurt by Faith and Faith so desperate to appease her before she does snap and defends herself when Buffy says "but nobody else has ever made me a victim," which you could read as her just deflecting with a my life was hard too approach (I'll admit I have vague memories of discourse about this along these lines) but that's not really how Faith deflects she deflects away from her trauma rather than with it you know even when she uses it like "You tried to gut me, Blondie" its more playful, so I'm reading as her reaching the actual instrospection that Angel's been guiding her to, she's not so much deflecting she's opening up and being honest especially closing with "Just tell me how to make it better," and how she ends up in jail voluntarily (which I guess this means this is the last I'll be seeing of Faith until the first time I ever saw Faith which I think was in S4 of Angel (That's soooo far away)). Also really enjoyed those closing barbs between Angel and Buffy.

Sanctuary sidenotes, its absolutely not intended but knowing what I know about the future of Lilah and Wesley's trajectories with eachother its fun that they had to back to back handshake deals Lilah with Assassin number 2 and Wesley with the Council's fixers. And while great for Cordelia getting that paid time off, get out of that situation, she's probably gonna come back to an Angel Investigations with the power cut off, Angel and Wesley aren't gonna be finding paying jobs and even if they luck into it they're not gonna chase them up to get paid, it'll be way more work for her to get everything back shipshape. And I'll admit my first thought with Wesley throwing that syringe into Weatherby's (I think) neck was "Really?" before instantly realising they had actually set it up with the darts and resignedly admitting I gotta give it to Wesley (Then he instantly said "180" and my goodwill was squandered).

The one thing that I don't really like about Five by Five and Sanctuary is sort of a nitpick but also like I don't like how it rewrites Faith and Wesley's history. Like I get it he's the only one who can take advantage of such a dynamic so it makes sense they'd change things up to give it to him, but like Wesley's not really Faith's Watcher. They try to use it like Giles was Buffy's and Wesley was Faith's but it wasn't like that, Faith had three Watchers, she had Giles a lot longer than she had Wesley and she had Diana (presumably) even longer than that. Even Gwendolyne Post had arguably more of an impact on her as a Watcher than Wesley did. Like Wesley managed to have one sentence with her before she killed a guy and went rogue, he was Buffy's Watcher for longer than he was Faith's. And like that's not to diminish things he was bad for her and handled a lot poorly that was the final straw in pushing her into darkness but I think it's enough that he messed up that they didn't need to say he was this persistent source of all failures with handling Faith when he was really just the latest in a chain that makes the way they frame their dynamic across the episodes feel a bit unearned. Also it kinda frames Giles' dynamic as Watcher as a bit toothless sanding it down y'know like he was the good one and didn't make mistakes when he did I like that about him and Buffy he's not perfect.

Okay so rapid fire other episodes because I've been typing for too long. Where the Wild Things Are?????????????? Buffy and Riley have so much sex the house becomes haunted????? Good for her??? I think this was the wildest premise in a fair while? But anyway I was kinda expecting from the previously it'd be like a movement forwards for the big three relationships of BuffyRiley, WillowTara and XanderAnya but it was more of a holding position by the end? Fairly concretely putting Willow and Tara into the same type of relationship rather than just magic subtext was appreciated though which goes in with New Moon Rising which was good, they really sell the Oz return great with its impact on Willow it has some good setup for a rift between Riley and Buffy with him having that kneejerk reaction against Willow being with a werewolf (I assume Riley/Buffy is not long for this world, I know she needs at least one series of Spike and I think there's some guy who's gimmick is that he's just a normal guy?). Initiative are dangerously close to having something interesting ne done with them, with moving once more towards the "hey isn't it kinda messed up the military have a bunch of demons in cages underground?" rather than just be there so I assume Adam's gonna open all the cages so they die via demons and we don't have to think about a way Buffy could deal with a government demon program.

I think Eternity is my favourite Angel episode that doesn't rely on Buffy or Faith I think each of the three acts are great and the fact that the premise of the episode only works because of the core concept of Angel really adds to it, like a lot of other episodes you could pluck out and put into a different show it'd broadly be the same, but this one directly plays with the moment of true happiness aspect in a way that it can't really be an episode of another show. Really enjoyed Rebecca Lowell's dynamic with Angel and like I say with the three acts of, Rebecca's being bodyguarded by Angel, Rebecca wants to be turned into a Vampire, Angel gets a moment of happiness via drugging with the undercurrent in the first two thirds of if Angel and her really do hit it off he might lose his soul (which obviously he won't but its still neat). I do think the Angelus performance was a bit hammy (at first I thought it was deliberate because he was playing it up just to frighten her). Oh yeah and I enjoyed the line of "What are the odds he'll find it with an actress" given that Angel/Cordelia is coming at some point.

Oh yeah also I noticed on the episode synopses that it says the finale of S4 is Buffy facing The Cheese Man? Now S1 had this issue where the synopsis for Prophecy Girl was just a different synopsis for Out of Sight, Out of Mind so that could be happening here as well but The Cheese Man? Adam buried.

Also I haven't said it lately but I really enjoy this correspondence, love chatting with you like this, I honestly don't think I'd be enjoying the show to the extreme level that I am if not for these updates of hey this is the stuff that I loved!

Superstar is to TYG/Who Are You as Earshot is to Enemies. Imo. Post Local-Girl Ruins Everything episodes that are kind of all about Faith despite her not being in them. Also hard agree, the shrimp bit always gets me.

(also i dropped the ball when we were talking about the body swap episodes by not linking you to the absolute very best fic that's tackled a different (but still entirely satisfying!) version of those episodes je me souviens by zulu. okay back to the rest of the reply)

FIVE BY FIVE AND SANCTUARY ARE SO MEATY. Top tier Faith episodes, much to dig into, you already highlighted a lot of what I like about these episodes. Just an absolutely brilliant use of the crossover potential of the shows. I think it makes sense that Faith and Buffy are too close to each other's trauma (and especially with the body swap and all the violation that entails being so recent) it would take a third party to diffuse things. Faith's rock bottom coinciding with her hurting Buffy past the point of Buffy wanting anything to do with her both makes sense and is a great opportunity for Angel to actually succeed in getting through to her. It literally took until the options were 'die or try to do better' for Faith to be able to accept that help, but that helped to sell it for me.

The ways Angel, Buffy, and Faith all project onto each other are always fascinating to me, especially the times that puts them in conflict with each other. So much of btvs s3 was Faith trying to become Angel(us) so she could mean what he means to Buffy, and these two episodes are Faith actually doing it, but in a way she never anticipated. If that makes sense. Like her being so off the map that she needs his explicit guidance to figure out how to being a path to redemption felt right for me. Also in funny/fucked up Angel/Faith parallels - the fact that every single thing they do kind of IS about Buffy even when it shouldn't be. I think there's something kind of bittersweet about how that used to be a thing Faith resented about Angel, but it ended up as one of the other things she related to him about. Idk. Their whole relationship is so fucked up and good, I love it.

Agree re: Wesley. It would have been good if they'd pushed that angle more in s3 if this was where they were going - but I think Wesley was honestly meant to stand in more as a symbol for the council at large/authority figures in general who Faith felt exploited/failed by. The torture scene is so fucked up and dark - I gotta admit I love her in the middle of a downward spiral. "Brings out the mother in me" as she's literally pressing on his wounds always gets me. Jesus christ, Faith.

"Demons in cages underground" also highlights one of the biggest ways the Initiative fails for me as a faction - like that is SUCH an ethical horror show. The existence and operation of the Initiative feels like it should change the way the whole universe of the show operates but it... kinda doesn't really? I would nitpick less if they weren't such a big deal all season.

Eternity is definitely one of the stronger episodes in ATS s1 imo. Where the Wild Things are.... is not that for BTVS s4 but that's okay. Points for sheer whackness, I guess.

Anyway dude yeah - Adam's got nothing on The Cheese Man. You're not ready.

I've also been enjoying subletting my blog for your btvs/ats watch updates! very fun for me! you are, of course, welcome to come off anon at any point but no pressure - enjoying our silly little correspondence either way <3

#replies #Anonymous #buffy anon #long post

[becomingbuffypodcast]

S3. Ep8. “Lovers Walk”

In a lot of ways, “Lovers Walk” feels like the second part to “Revelations,” as more secrets are brought to light, continuing the themes of integrity and honesty from the previous episode. Xander and Willow must face the fallout of their affair, Joyce discovers that Angel is back, and Buffy and Angel are forced to confront the fact that they still have feelings for each other. In the end, all relationships are broken apart, and each person is left with the weight of their actions.

Written by first-time Buffy writer, Dan Vebber, “Lovers Walk” was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Sound Editing in a Series, and the episode’s original airing was followed by an advert for the phone service 1800-COLLECT, in which Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz offered a prize of a walk-on part in "The Prom.”

Although he is professional and gracious in talking about his time on the show, in “Slayers & Vampires,” Vebber alludes to being frustrated by the lack of creative room he had to come up with an episode idea, as well as the heavy rewrites that were done by Joss on any script he came up with. He recalls days where he would come to work, only to have nothing to do while Joss juggled everything.

“I remember it being pretty tense on set, but because I had so little experience working on live-action shows, I don’t know how much of that is normal and how much was unique to that show. I didn’t get the sense that a lot of rewriting was being done on set…Buffy was not a very collaborative show. At least not for me. It was very much Joss’s show. So that was my first experience with the idea of a show runner who pretty much will do a page one rewrite of your draft. I’m always reticent to talk about my experience on the show, because people will compliment me about the episodes that I wrote. For the most part, the things that they were so impressed with are purely, one hundred percent Joss and not me. And I don’t want to take credit for it. It was Joss’s show for better or for worse, and for the most part it was definitely for better. I still think it’s the best thing that Joss has done…It was very much a case of him standing at the whiteboard saying, “here’s what our story is, here’s what the outline is, go write it.” Then you would go write it and he would rewrite it. He would take snippets of my dialogue, which was always nice because, you know, in theory, that’s why he hired me, because I got these characters. I could talk in their voices. But when you look at an episode like “Lovers Walk,” everyone always points to that great speech that Spike give about the nature of love and stuff and I can’t take credit for any of that. I wrote a version of that, but the version that’s in the show is one hundred percent Joss’s doing, which he did…in his rewrite.”

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#buffy btvs #buffy watching #tv: btvs #buffy summers #buffy the vampire slayer #btvs meta #tv podcast #becomingbuffypodcast #buffyverse #buffy and angel #lovers walk #buffy anne summers #buffy #angel x buffy #bangel #buffy meta #buffy x angel

[melonsmessymusings]

I keep thinking about the Cruciamentum after seeing a really interesting take on it and why not throw my feral thoughts in? I love Giles, I really do but it's very frustrating sometimes.

The Council designed a test for Slayers to fail, this shocks nobody. We don't know much about the Council but we do know that they generally regard Slayers as 'assets'. The whole point is that once the Slayer has worn out her usefulness, she'll be replaced. The Cruciamentum is designed to eliminate defective assets. That's how they view it. "The Slayer is a tool by which the Council fight". The Watcher to the active Slayer is essentially the asset handler, it's their job to ensure it does its job and when it wears out, it'll be replaced. In some respect, the Watcher is also in a similar position.

Let's look at the Council for what they are. Morals don't matter, only their own agenda. Generally, when you do something that goes against normative morals, your individual perspective shifts. Nothing is black and white, everything blurs to a murky colour and you don't really notice anymore. You are also distracted from what you're doing so you don't realise it, in the Council's instance, it's the idea that you're directly fighting the good fight and protecting humanity. It creates compliance. And when you have the wake-up moment of "holy fucking shit. What am I doing?" you're up to your neck in shit and there's no way you can get out. It seems like Giles was in this position, and probably has been for years.

When you work for someone like the Council and do 'questionable' things, you're automatically lumped in with the beliefs and actions of the organisation and not your own as an individual. Giles is part of the Council. He participated with the best intentions despite his own inner conflicts and participation is seen as complicity by outsiders. The Council are to blame for the whole situation ultimately, but Giles was completely conscious of his actions the entire time. He knew exactly what he was doing, whatever his intentions. That's how Buffy views it when he comes clean with her. And she's perfectly justified in that.

But what if part of Giles' reasoning for participating in the Cruciamentum was because he's still shellshocked about Angel coming back and Buffy not telling him? What if a tiny part of him was seeking retribution in one form or another? Go with me for a moment.

I do not believe Giles would willingly hurt Buffy, obviously not. But everyone is absolutely capable of cruelty, Giles has proven he can be cruel. I do believe that Giles would try and show Buffy how much her hiding Angel has hurt him personally. Before you stab me for saying that, think about it. I'm not saying he'd go to extreme lengths but as we see from later behaviour in S7, he's capable of it. I'm thinking about LMPTM. He wants to show Buffy something, he goes about it in what some argue is an un-Giles way but I really think it's in character.

Obviously, there are differences. By S7, he's absolutely beyond the end of his tether with no time or energy for any pissing about. He takes on the approach of "you know what? I'm sick of you not listening to me, I'll fucking spell it out for you in block capitals on a billboard". This isn't new. What if in S3, he agrees to do the Cruciamentum not just for the obvious reasons but because he knows Buffy will pass and wants to show her that she should value him more? But it's one of those good in theory, not in practice ideas?

The Council is all he knows. He'll be privy to the ins and outs of the test because obviously, he's following orders like a good little worker bee. And he also believes in Buffy and knows that she's incredibly resourceful so she'll be fine. It's likely only as it's happening or when it goes wrong that he thinks "oh cock, this was such a stupid idea."

Another idea is what if Giles did it because of falling back to what he knows? In the wake of learning Angel's back, he's completely done and at a total loss of what to do. And in swoop the Council who always know what to do. As he says in S5, "they may be a bit ham-handed but they get the job done". They saved him after Eyghon and made it all go away, perhaps they'll do the same again.

It's just an interesting idea really. Especially because I really detest the readings of Giles as simply one thing. Like he's the dad, he's the watcher or he's the pure little librarian. No, he's complex and layered and like all human beings, not incapable of cruelty. Give me depth, give me layers.

#btvs #rupert giles #meta #the watchers council suck #but anyways this has been on my mind for a few hours now #so now you all suffer my unhinged madness #apologies for incoherence as usual and the length of this

[buffysummers]

i remember watching seasons 2 and 3 live when they first aired and omg, i swear the stress and anxiety probably knocked a few years off my lifespan but god it was so worth it. i was a huge bangel shipper(still am) and i about lost my mind during those seasons on more than one occasion lmao. i sobbed at the end of s2, and just remember feeling so empty at the thought of buffy leaving town because she felt so alone. like i was actually sick. s3 was peak anxiety from about enemies onward. you had different groups of fans back then, the oddest were the ones that hated buffy and were all sided with faith even after everything she did. and not as many people shipped fuffy back then compared to now, iirc.

I think there’s this little corner of the fandom that just aggressively hates on buffy so I am not surprised that happened. the situation with fuffy is complex bc I really feel for faith even if I don’t think what she did was right. so, i’m of course on buffy’s side, but I always feel so much compassion and empathy for faith. she’s just lost and alone and EVERY TIME I watch season 3 I know what’s gonna happen but I just wanna be like noooo faith don’t do it don’t push buffy away :( like what was faith gonna say to buffy at the end of 3.07?? there’s so many things she could’ve said and I know all buffy wanted to hear was “i’m on your side” or “don’t worry i’m not going to shut you out” or “thank you for being here.” but I am so thankful I didn’t watch seasons 2 and 3 in real time specifically bc I definitely could NOT handle buffy stabbing angel and sending him to a hell dimension or her running away or her stabbing faith like god.... 

#anonymous #answered #THOSE 2 PART FINALES #WHAT A FUCKING SERVEEEE

[mego42]

Writer Asks

Tagged by @sothischickshe, @bourbon-ontherocks and @medievalraven who are all v lovely and for reasons unknown to me, want me to ramble about my fic so like, blame them for this I guess

Tagging @fairhairedkings, @riosnecktattoo, @inyoursheets, @foxmagpie, @pynkhues if you feel like it

ao3 name: ms_scarlet (origin story no one asked for: I came up with it for a creative writing class where we had to submit everything under pseudonyms for anonymous full class critique, which was gr9 and not at all traumatic, and I was deeply obsessed with both the Grateful Dead and Sublime versions of Scarlet Begonias at the time)

fandoms: the only fandoms I’ve written fic for are bellarke/t100 and Good Girls (and Buffy but it was way back in the day, pre-organized archives and has been completely lost to time which is For The Best)

number of fics: 14 (lol, 5 over the course 3 years in t100 fandom and 9 since joining the GG fandom at the beginning of s3, you could say I have been inspired)

fic i spent the most time on: a song inside the halls of the dark for sure, it’s the first multi chapter I’ve ever done and I’m far enough into it that I will be super honest, I was extremely dubious over whether or not I’d actually see it through when I started but huzzah! It’s happening. But yeah, I spend like, a lot of time thinking about it, writing it (lmao obvs), rewatching clips of the show to pick apart characterization and mannerisms, etc, etc. I try to work on it in some capacity every day (sometimes that just means outlining or deleting chunks of my outline and crying about how much I hate myself) to keep up momentum so yeah, def that one.

As far as one shots go, there’s blood in my body (I’m holding on) for bellarke, I think I spent a month, maybe 6 weeks working on that

fic i spent the least amount of time on: as the world turns, the blunt burns, I was doing my usual lazy Saturday morning scroll through Tumblr before I got out of bed and saw a post like I want beth and mick to get high together (I would love to give credit but I haven’t the foggiest notion who said it, I wasn’t intending to write it so I didn’t pay too much attention, I’m the worst, I’m sorry) and then some dialogue popped into my head maybe 10 min later and I think I wrote the whole thing in like, 45 min on my phone. Cannot emphasize enough how little I thought about it (or proofed it tbh, yikes, so many typos) before posting

most hits: overall, I’ve Got You Here my t100 post s3, alt s4 thing. For Good Girls, a song inside the halls of the dark

most kudos: overall, there’s blood in my body (I’m holding on) - bellarke modern au. For GG, still song.

most comment threads:  a song inside the halls of the dark by a M I L E (it twice as many as blood, the next highest), the GG fandom is so lovely and supportive and friendly and I love you guys, I really do

most bookmarks: same as kudos, blood overall and then song for GG

highest total word count: lol song is killing it

favorite fic i wrote: oh man, that’s hard. I love them all for different reasons. Blood was my first ever AU (I am a canon/canon-divergent ho) and it also deals with some stuff that’s important to me so that’s always going to have a special place in my heart. I’ve Got You Here was the first time I tried to tackle something bigger than a missing scene or short one-shot so that’s also significant.

I’m really proud of smoke, fire, it’s all going up because I think I did a p good job with the Rio POV there. I’d give her a HA! And a HI-YA! is special bc it’s my first outside POV and it was based on so little info it was basically OC, so that was a fun challenge.

All of that said, obviously, a song inside the halls in the dark is my fav. It’s been the biggest stretch of my skills (I had NO! IDEA! If I could plot and pace on the level required to sustain the fic I’d originally outlined and it’s only grown from there tbh), it’s also been like, the loveliest experience? I keep saying people’s reaction to it has broken my brain and I’m not actually just saying that. I’m deeply overwhelmed. And last but emphatically not least, it’s how I’ve gotten to know @nickmillerscaulk who, on top of being an incredible editor (seriously y’all, she is Skilled, I’ve learned so much from her), is such an awesome, amazing person and I’m so very glad we’ve become friends.

fic i want to rewrite/expand on: Oh man, idk. Pills N Potions is the easiest because it’s a prompt collection! Send me prompts! I can’t promise I’ll write them right away (my ADHD is so very real and only dubiously under my control during quarantine, so I live in constant terror of losing the thread of song especially this close to the end) but I def want to flex my quick and dirty short fic for funsies skills. I’m super looking forward to @goodgirlsficrecs prompt-a-thon.

share a bit of a wip or story idea you’re working on: ahahaha oh man, my google drive is littered with partially drafted or outlined ideas. I have a bunch of missing scene things I started at various points in s3 that are realistically dead in the water.

In terms of WIP/ideas I’m still intending to work on/finish:

A post 311 Rio POV pwp

A fishing/fencing/flute playing fluff for @medievalraven because I keep taunting her with my tags for song

The Good Guys (Rio, JT and Stan) thing that snowballed in a post way back when from @jazillia007, @nickmillerscaulk, and @inyoursheets

I still low-key want to do the transcripts for the Mick, Annie and Ruby group chat. I might save that for whenever I rewatch and have it running concurrently to s3, idk we’ll see

A Jewel Thief AU that I am wildly hyped about. I outlined the first chapter of it around when I started posting song and haven’t let myself do anything with it because I know once I get started I’m going to abandon whatever else I’m working on

More Annie POV, I don’t have any specific ideas, I just really love writing Annie POV

#tag games #my fic

[ellanainthetardis]

Author Interview

Tagged by @flutteringphalanges​! Thanks!

Name: Karine. Ellana-san. EllanaSan. Ellanainthetardis. That’s a lot of names lmao.

Fandom(s): Mostly I’m hayffie exclusive those days. I’m hoping to go back to Lucifer. I kinda want to have a rewatch and hopefully find my love back for this show that S3 has detroyed... I loved writing fics for this pairing. I’m also anxiously waiting for the 6oC adaptation because I’ve hold off writing kanej fanfics for now but... I love them so much I’m not sure I will be able to resist the show. I am also currently obsessed with Phryne/Jack from Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries but not writing just stalking ao3.

Where You Post: Ellana-san in on fanfiction.net, EllanaSan on AO3 and ellanainthetardis on tumblr. I don’t post anywhere else and if you see my fic elsewhere it’s like been stolen. yes it has happened before. No it’s not fun.

Most Popular One-Shot: On ff, it’s a HP called The Shadow Of Death. It’s a time travel Severus & Harry mentor story I actually was quite proud of at the time. On AO3 it’s a Lucifer story called Redeeming The Devil in which Charlotte/Mom goes after Chloe and Lucifer has to step in so basically devil reveal and all of that. I think it’s one of my fav I wrote for this fandom.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: On ff, according to the stats, it’s Have a Drink Sweetheart but since it’s a collection of one shots I think that doesn’t really count so the next one is “Les Cicatrices du Temps” which is probably the one I’m most known for on the French side of things. It’s a HP story, again with time travel and again with Severus & Harry mentor, and it’s actually part of a trilogy. I haven’t finished part 3 yet but I don’t despair haha.

On AO3 it’s Invictus which is a hayffie story that explore a canon au in which Haymitch’s family never died, forcing him to become the puppet rather than the example. I’m not sure it’s the longest thing I’ve ever written because of the trilogy I just mentioned but it’s the longest in one setting and I’m proud of having finished it. It took a lot of work, an amazing beta, and it was a huge part of my life at one point because it covered I think... close to two years?

Favorite Story You Wrote: It’s difficult to choose because it depends of fandoms. For HP, I would say the Cicatrices trilogy for sure. For Hayffie... It’s so haaard to choose. I think it would be a tie between Invictus, Into That Good Night and April Showers for very different reasons. Invictus because of the commitment it took and also because, as I said, I associated to a specific time in my life. April Showers because I really enjoyed being able to explore post MJ in a more psychological way and it allowed me to explore more characters. I may or may not have fallen a bit truly in love with everlark while writing that one actually. And Into that Good Night because it was so out there, so full of self-indulging angst - like Haymitch being forced to kneel and beg - that I don’t think I would have ever written it if I hadn’t been in an angsty place myself and needed an out. But I’m happy with out it turned out and I don’t know... That one I do have a lot of tender feelings for, I guess.

How You Choose Your Titles: There’s no methods for me. Either I will take it directly from the work or I will try to find something like a theme in the work or I will look up quotes or I will look up songs... I don’t have a specific go-to method.

Complete: stories? I’m not sure how to see that. Everything is on ff and they say I’ve published 188 stories... I know I have two WIPs in SG and HP, 1 probably abandoned in hayffie, 2 currently being posted, HADS though that doesn’t really count does it? One Buffy I never closed but it’s also a os collection... Honestly I have no clue I would say 183? In those waters. I thought it was more haha. Though, I guess if you take HADS alone... XD HADS frightenes me okay? I try not to look at the number of chapters.

Incomplete: Well... There is part 3 of that HP trilogy I have been neglecting for a while. One chaptered story in Stargate I gave up on. The Speed Finding Soulmate story in hayffie I gave up on too although I think about that one often and never say never I might revisit it one day. And obviously the two currently being posted When It Rains It Pours and Katniss The Vampire Slayer.

I always try to have the finished product before posting because I hate WIPs. In the case of the Speed Finding Soulmate story for instance it was supposed to be a one shot and then I added more and more but if I had thought it through, I would have writtten the whole thing first. I have unfortunately a respectable WIP folder XD

If I can’t have the whole thing finished, like KTVS for instance, I try to be comfortably ahead so I never run out of chapters and I can keep a steady schedule.

Basically if I can’t keep to a posting schedule it stresses me out. If I don’t have the next chapter ready, it stresses me out because I don’t want to let anyone down. So... Yeah. I like having everything done before posting.

Which doesn’t answer the question I realize... So incomplete work, not counting os collections, I think might have 5 (2 of which are actually being posted but finished or ahead enough).

Do You Outline?: Never if I can help it. If I write down or break down a story, I will lose the will because it’s all there black on white. If the story is big or complicated I will take notes on a notebook and, maybe, maybe a loose list of events but mostly my way of writing is forge ahead and figure it out as you go. Mostly, the stories write themselves I just type. Everything ends up making sense by itself.

Coming Soon/Not Yet Started: Well, I did finish E10 of KTVS so you know that’s good haha. I plan on writing E11 soonish. Right now I’m kind of in a writing slump of sorts. I should be finished the mind wipe story but I’m a bit tempted by a modern au involving a certain tattoo artist and this former army man... There’s a lot I want to write tbh.

Do You Accept Prompts?: Yes but you have to not be afraid of waiting a long LONG times. I sometimes publish prompts that have been submitted years ago. XD I have a lot of prompts and I tend to write the one that inspire me most but I do try to post the chronologically older ones first.

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited To Write: Well.. there is this idea of a tattoo artist Effie. It would be cute mostly I don’t think lots of conflict. Also the mind wipe story which I was working on before the crack happened, which is basically an au in which they experimented on Effie during MJ and wiped her mind clean so she doesn’t remember anything at all. And there are a few others wips in my folder that might be cool to revisit so idk. I’m telling you right now I haven’t written in 3 days I’m angsty to start again but I’m not sure what to tackle. I want a a tiny break with KTVS before attacking E11...  OH and there’s also a modern au inspired by a prompt about effie ptsd in a modern setting that I thikn would also take chapters but basically I was thinking bodyguard au and YEAH. Lots of angst.

#i got tagged #i had to remove the links #also when i don't write i babble #so yeah XD

[jupitermelichios]

Smallville S3E1: Exile

So much happens in this episode and I am not emotionally invested in any of it. Not even Lex staring in the Castaway x Shutter Island crossover movie absolutely no one asked for.

Apparently ending S2 of a teen genre show with your main character peacing out after major trauma and then opening S3 three months later with your MC living undercover was just a thing. Although Buffy at least had it be her own trauma she was running from not a weird guilt complex thing where she has to make other people’s trauma all about her like Clark apparently has!

So Clark is living in Metropolis, dosed up on Red Kryptonite under the name Kal… and fucking robbing banks for a living! His solution to being sad is to just fucking take loads of magic space PCP and rob banks. You know, like a normal well adjusted person.

Lex aparently didn’t save himself from that plane crash, and is now legally dead. Given I know he’s in every season of this show, I’m really rooting for ‘living undercover as a hardboiled detective while he tries to uncover the truth’ for his s3 storyline

So as well as robbing banks for a living, Clark is also acting as a vigilante specifically stopping people robbing banks. Because even evil!Clark has to find ways to be a hyprocit.

You know a few years ago I’d have been like, why the fuck did the police just open fire on that unarmed man, and why did Clark just murder a load of cops, but it’s 2020 and I’m so tired and everyone involved in this scene is awful so fuck it, let them all kill each other

Holy shit I was right last episode, Clark has been gone for three months and everyone’s lives are better. Martha seems kind of sad and Lex is apparently dead, but everyone else is doing great!

Either they got a massive budget hike between seasons or they used their entire budget on this episode; we’ve had licenced music, CGI and Rutger Hauer all the in the first ten minutes

Apparently in the last three months the Kents have rebuilt their house and repurchased all their furniture. Like the exact same furniture. Like they couldn’t be bothered to get a new set so it’s literally the same kitchen

Okay so Lex just woke up on a deserted island with some other random guy and has apparently been living there for months and also has malaria but turns out malaria is nbd and just gives you occasional weird dreams and i’m pretty sure this is all just an excuse to have Michael Rosenbaum wander around set topless

So it’s Lex’s funeral, and I fucking adore how John Glover is playing Lionel’s speech. He looks so fucking bored. His words say it’s hard for a father to bury his son, but his face says “i’m missing Ellen for this”

Wait, cupboard sex doctor is here. What the fuck kind of explanation did she give anyone for how she escaped a plane crash?!

I think that’s three dramatic shirt rips so far and we’re only like ten minutes in

Holy shit the Kents also rebuilt the fucking barn. Why?! Why did they rebuild the exact same bloody barn?! Also apparently none of this was insured because they’re now going bust and moving into the empty apartment above the Talon. Apparently rebuilding an entire sound stage set is expensive, who knew!

Okay black widow angry cupboard sex doctor vs lionel luthor is the lionel family drama I’m here for. She should definitely marry Lex’s brother next and kill him off next, just as soon as the writers remember they gave Lex a brother

Exactly two people have worn sunglasses like that, Cyclops and apparently Clark Kent. Neither of them can pull them off

Apparently Lana’s solution to Clark going missing is to just fuck off to find him without telling anyone where she was going. Becuase two people going missing instead of one clearly improves the situation!

Wow, so the guy who’s on the same desert island as Lex is the son of a rich businessman who was emotionally abusive and who also has weird queer coding. Clearly they’re soulmates! The fact that the dude wants to murder Lex with a machete is maybe putting some kind of a crimp in the relationship but given Lex’s history I’m sure they can work through it.

Oh wow, there’s coincidence plots and then there’s Rutger Hauer hiring PCP!Clark to break into Lionel’s office to steal Kryptonite

Well then. Apparently Lex’s soulmate is a malaria hallucination, and now this random Jamaican dude is here to rescue him. Was Lex just on Jamaica this whole time? Oh my god, I really fucking hope he was just living next door to a resort full of tourists this whole fucking time, that would be so good, and honestly not even that weird compared to everything else that’s happened so far this episode

I love how every single version of Jor-El is just a complete prick. Do you think that’s a Kryptonian thing or just a him thing?

Oh no, apparently it’s not Kryptonite Clark’s stealing from the safe that was previously full of Kryptonite, it’s a maguffin so generic it’s literally just a featureless metal cube. I kind of love that they couldn’t be bothered to even get a fucking floppy disc or something, they just painted a cardboard box silver and called it a day

I realise Clark being on magical space PCP is real bad for the whole planet, but so far he mostly just seems to want to rob ATMs and pick up chicks, which isn’t great but is honestly probably less destructive than him being a good guy, so I’m really rooting for him to just fucking kill Jonathan in this confrontation and peace out. I mean I’m always rooting for absolutely anyone to kill Jonathan Kent at any given moment, but especially right now.

Wait, it’s just now occurred to me that the episode it over and we still don’t have any explanation for how angry cupboard sex doctor was supposed to have survived that plane crash. Because why would that be important information for the audience to have!

#smallville #smallville recaps #charlie watches a thing #i'm so glad angry cupboard sex doctor isn't dead #she has a name #it's helen #but she's always be angry cupboard sex doctor to me

[cortexifansquint]

                        matching pairings & annotations under the cut!

                                             Youtube (x) Spotify ( x)

Buffy / Cordelia / Willow

*  Cloud 69 // Lowell

I'm like dynamite / need a cheerleader / let me throw you down / while I look at her / I'm like "Oh my god / I think I need a girlfriend"

*  Crazy // Au Revoir Simone

you knew me, wanna love to lose and to lose again / seems we're either giving up or giving in / but, uh, you girls, you drive me crazy

Willow / Tara

* There’s a Girl // The Ditty Bops

there's a girl that you might know / she's a friend at least I tell you so / but it might surprise you to find / there's something going on behind the door

* Horizon // Luna Blake 

you tower over me / you are sky and I am sea 

* Truthfully // Lisa Loeb

truthfully, I really can't explain / I'm floating, I'm smiling again 

* Room // Palehound 

she comes over / growing like a clover / in my room / in my room

* Sugar in a Pie //  Erin McKeown

love me sweet like a sugar in a pie / kiss me deep with a dreamy little sigh

Faith / Buffy

* Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover // Sophie B. Hawkins 

that old dog has chained you up, alright / give you everything you need to live inside a twisted cage / sleep beside an empty rage / I had a dream I was your hero

* Hologram // Katie Herzig

I'm gonna let you down / gonna toss you around / gonna make you want everything you haven't found / I'm gonna hold your hand / then ask you to stand / ten feet away

* Buy her Candy

she's a famous / she's the best / I cannot lay / my heart to rest / she is selfish / she is kind / no one can say / she is mine

* Nights with you // MO

I'll take you out tonight / leave it all at home / don't care about your boyfriend waking up alone

* Portions for Foxes// Rilo Kiley

'cause you're just damage control, for a walking corpse like me, like you (S6 Fuffy edition)

* Last 2nd Chance // Vaughan Penn 

this is the last second chance I’ll ever need / this is the last time you’ll hear sorry from me

Buffy / Cordelia-

* More like you // Hazel English

I could waste all of my time / thinking up ways to catch your eye / and I tried but it just didn’t feel right / and besides I'm just trying to get by

* She // Dodie 

and I'll be okay admiring from afar / cause even when she's next to me / we could not be more far apart  (late S1 - mid S2 coffy, either pov)

* Can’t / Naaz 

in my mind / I can be what we choose / but in life / we can't stand in those shoes

* Midway // Bad Bad Hats 

the shadows you were casting nearly swallowed the night /  but god, I could have kissed you (I imagine this as the night Cordelia drops Buffy home in Helpless or sometime in mid-late S3)

* Touch //  Shura 

I wanna touch you but I'm too late / I wanna touch you but there's history / I can't believe that it's been three years / now when I see you, it's so bittersweet  (if either had showed up in L.A or Sunnydale after Buffy was resurrected)

Tara / Buffy

* If I Could // Sophie Zelmani 

If I could help you with /  this part of life you've got to live /  you could load your weight on me

* Our Eyes // Lucy Rose 

I'm alive / I feel it now / I never knew I'll find it on you / out of line we got ourselves / in a look, wait we are not fine / wait, you are not mine 

* Wire // Alessi Ark 

I'm tired of walking this wire / it keeps me awake for heaven sake / I was made for this girl / I feel lonely / my friends don't seem to know me / like i thought they did

Willow / Cordelia

* Upper West Side // King Princess

I can't stop judging every thing you do / but I can't get enough of you

* Then If I’m Weird I Want to Share // Tender Forever

people told me / that you're too sexy / you're too sexy for me / but actually I just don't care / I think it's bullshit everywhere

Buffy / Willow

* Loners // Maddie Ross

one night alone in the bookstacks / summer to make all the kids sad / next fall we're back in the corner / nice girls love kissing the loners

* Ray of Sunshine // Go Sailor 

yellow hair, fiery stare / nothing's right, 'cause she's not here tonight 

* Explosion // Zolita 

it's a mindless love affair / one hot mess of bleach blonde hair / I could kiss her but your lips taste better / you could kiss him but my words are sweeter

* Sweet Moon // Sundarta 

when the world is big and I’m alone / I call you and I am home

Faith / Tara

* Will You Be My Girlfriend // Alanis Morissette 

I guess I fall and you stay intact is that right? I guess you hear me and won't attack me, is that right? guess I reach out and you reach back, is that right?

* Not gonna Get Us // T.at.u 

soon there will be laughter and voices / beyond the clouds over the mountains / we'll run away on roads that are empty / lights from the airfield shining upon you (teenage runaway mehane)

* Love you Anyway // Jil Nisson & Marlene

I know what you've been getting / coz I sure got it too / don't, don't you forget it / the damage they do

* Walk The Line // Halsey

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine / I keep my eyes wide open all the time / I keep the ends out for the tie that binds / because you're mine, I walk the line

Willow / Amy

* Wherever We Are // Human Life

after the day we're chasing the sun / farther away the faster we run / feet on the ground our head in the stars / finding the sound wherever we are

* When We’re High // LP 

let’s swallow the moon and the stars / let’s wallow just right where we are

Amy / Faith

* Whiskey & Black Leather // Sapphic Lasers

some they want a girl next door / but that ain't what I'm looking for / I first saw your lips across the room / red like a blood moon

* Her Lover // Ally & Stevie 

she is like a cat in the dark / and then she is the darkness

* High Enough // K Flay 

don’t try to give me cold water / I don’t wanna sober up / all I see are tomorrows / oh, the stars were made for us

Cordelia / Anya

*  Only a Girl // Gia

soft touch, warm skin / nothing like my ex-man / slowly falling, I don't want my next man

* I Don’t Do Boys // Elektra 

I don't do boys, I just do girls / just do girls with style and class / I don't do boys, I just do girls / just do girls with kissable ass

Fuffy / Radison

* One More // Elliphant 

stay with me tonight / we can count the street lights / stay with me alright let's bring it all back to life (bad girls & smashed shennanigans)

Dark Willow / Anyanka + Darla / Drusilla + Lilah / Cordelia (Jasmine possessed version)

* Glory & Gore // Lorde

delicate in every way but one, / God knows we like archaic kinds of fun / chance is the only game I play with / baby, we let our battles choose us 

“ Your Lips are Red // St. Vincent

this city's red / this city's red from riding us into the ground / this city's black / this city's black from all the ashes in downtown

Willow / Anya

* Wishful Thinking // The Ditty Bops 

when the cold and lonely hours put your heart to the test / maybe I'll be the one that you like best (S7 Rosekins)

* The Happy Song // Kate Miccuci 

'cause isn't it nice to have the friends that you do? / and isn't it nice that the sky is so blue? / and isn't it nice to say "I love you"? (the cheery & matter -of-factly style of this song reminds me of anya)

Faith / Willow

* So-Called Str8 Grrrl // Gina Young

I think you want me / you know you want me / so why do you talk shit about me

* She’s so Lovely // The Butchies 

she's a rocker dressed like a killer / she's got lips like wine not sugar 

* Sum of your parts // Mary Lambert

I didn't know I was a phoenix till I learned how to speak / even with ashes in my mouth I was still born to breath / I wonder are you like me

* All I Want is To Be Your Girl // Holly Miranda

Well there's ghosts in the night and ghosts in my mind / and if we quit changing we'll be left behind / but I won't take another chance of screwing it up / so I stay where I am / but all I want is to be your girl

Buffy / Satsu

* Cliff’s Edge // Hayley Kiyoko

you turn me on / you lead me on / you got me on / a cliff's edge (satsu’s pov)

* One Night // Charlie XCX 

you are somethin’ special / twenty carats, solid gold / what we had was precious / but I had to let you go

Cordelia / Lilah

* Short Skirt, Long Jacket // Larkin Poe

I want a girl with a mind like a diamond / I want a girl who knows what's best I want a girl with shoes that cut / and eyes that burn like cigarettes

Fuffy + Willow / Kennedy

* We Might be Dead by Tomorrow // Soko

give me all your love / ‘cause for all we know / we might be dead by tomorrow

Kendra / Buffy

* Eleventeen // Kimya Dawson

you may feel strange, well, you are an angel / stuck in tight pants stuck at a high school dance / stuck doing people things not knowing you have wings

* Supergirl // Anna Naklab

you can see in her eyes / that no one is her chain / she's my girl / my supergirl

Cordelia / Faith

* Can I Say Baby // GIRLI 

can I say baby? / I don't wanna be soppy / but I like your style / think you're kinda cool / I'm sort of into you

* Rebel Girl // Bikini Kill 

rebel girl rebel girl / I think I want to take you home / I want to try on your clothes

* Flowers and Rope // Princess Nokia

voices in my head, monsters under my bed / I'm alone again, I lost all my friends / wanna play pretend? hope this never ends

Fred / Faith

* Whiskey // Nicole Reynolds

you accept that i talk too much / i accept that you talk too little / but it's fine / i like a good riddle

In the Margins // Ani Difranco

you are a rare bird / the kind i wouldn't even mind / writing in the margins of my books

Willow / Kennedy

* Pretty Girl // Hayley Kiyoko 

I can tell you’re real smart / world class piece of art / I can see you in the dark / all we have to do is start

* Let it Go // Allie Moss 

darlin' you see / the fear in me / and how I'd finally be / if I were willing to let it go

Buffy / Anne

* Annonymous Club //  Courtney Barnett 

let's start an anonymous club / I'll make us name badges with question marks

* Hideaway // IVY 

under stars and satellites / a thousand miles / from where we've been

Willow/Fred + Buffy/Tara

* I Was Made for Sunny Days // The Weepies

I was made for sunny days / and I was made for you

Faith / Kennedy

* Crimson and Clover //  Joan Jett & the Blackhearts 

ah, now I don't hardly know her / but I think I can love her

“ Honey // Kehlani

I like my girls just like I like my honey; sweet / a little selfish

Cordelia / Fred

* Genius // The Murmurs

she's kinda weird / she's kinda freaky / but I don't know / I think she's a genius

* There she goes // Sixpence None the Richer 

there she goes / there she goes again / racing through my brain / and I just can't contain / this feeling that remains

#BTVS #btvsedit #mine #btvsfemslash #click to expand #lmao this has been in my drafts for 2 years #but I kept coming across more music #and trying to find a fit for the really rare pairs #my personal ships are completely obvious as they have nearly a playlist of their own

[we-pay-for-everything]

(Before asking anything, I'll just say your metas are always quite interesting, especially about "Buffy" & "Angel". I hope you'll continue to write about them.) I just finished "Lucifer" S3. I thought it was a tough watch overall. I really had a hard time with the Pierce plot (though I guess it could've had potential...I don't know...). What do you think about Dan & Charlotte? About Maze's characterization in S3? And what about S3 in general? (So many questions, sorry...) Thanks in advance.

Thank you! I hope I will continue to write meta too!

Lucifer season 3 is definitely an infuriating season to watch. There are too many episodes, some of which are filler-y, the characterization of some characters is pretty awful (Maze, Lucifer, Pierce), and everything regarding Pierce and the Sinnerman is convoluted and absurd. 

I think season 3 is much better on rewatch. The filler episodes are actually quite entertaining and interesting if you aren’t upset that they interrupt the flow of the plot. The season should’ve been a few episodes shorter though. 18 episodes like season 2 would have sufficed, and the Pierce plot doesn’t get any better the second time around.

Before I get to the bad, let me mention the good. Charlotte’s arc is probably the best part of the season. She’s a lot more compelling than the Goddess of all creation ever was. She’s tough, intelligent, morally ambiguous, and her journey is believable. At first, she’s motivated by fear, not regret or empathy, and the show makes it clear that she falls back into her old ways if the threat of hell is removed. However, she also grows through her relationships with Dan, Ella, and Amenadiel. She stands up for Ella, and takes a bullet for Amenadiel. She isn’t redeemed, but she deserves her place in heaven in the end. 

Charlotte is probably the character with the best arc in all of Lucifer. And her relationship with Dan is my favorite. Dan’s my favorite character because he’s grown so much since the beginning of the show. He was lost in season 1, but he made amends, learned from his mistakes, and genuinely improved: he listened to Chloe’s complains, reflected on his behavior, read feminist manifestos, got his priorities straight, etc.. He did everything he could to be a better father, a better friend, a better cop. He’s kind, sweet, hardworking. 

I love Dan in season 3. His relationship with Charlotte is perfect because he can relate to her. He understands that corruption and lies are a slippery slope so he’s patient as she works through her problems, gives her time and space when she needs it, calls Amenadiel when he doesn’t know how to help her. Watching them date and fall in love is lovely, but I’m sad we didn’t get more of them. Towards the end of the season, Charlotte was spending more time with Amenadiel than Dan. It breaks my heart that Charlotte dies and Dan mourns her. I’m comforted that in an alternate universe they live happily ever after. 

As for the bad, Lucifer annoys me so much! He’s incredibly immature, careless, and irresponsible. He figures out Pierce is the Sinnerman but decides not to care since it doesn’t concern him. He does tons of shady things. He doesn’t reveal he’s the devil even when Chloe’s about to marry the world’s first murderer, and has the nerve to use the fact that his devil face is gone as an excuse (as if he couldn’t have shown her his wings!). He lets his friends work with a dangerous criminal without exposing him because it’s more convenient that way. How could he sit by and watch Chloe date a terrible man??? It’s almost unbelievable that after all that he gets away with being an asshole. Again.

And Ella! She annoys me so much in season 3! Shipping two grown ass adults without even knowing with their relationship is like? Not telling Chloe, her best friend, that it’s absurd to marry a dude she’s only been dating for two months on and off? Why did no one talk to Chloe? She was clearly making a mistake.

As for Maze... what a disaster. She’s so unlikable at times. She overreacts when she finds out about Linda and Amenadiel, and acts more like Lucifer than herself throughout the season. Maze doesn’t pout or throw tantrums. She got stuck on Earth but figured out how to live. She got a job, made friends, stopped relying on Lucifer. Why does she care so much about his opinion in season 3? She hasn’t needed him since season 1. Since when does she want to go back to hell? She is a lot more mature than season 3 makes her out to be. It’s infuriating watching her be so cruel to Lucifer and Chloe. Since when is she that person? Her entire arc was about getting back at others for no reason.  

So yeah, season 3, upon a rewatch, is a solid 7/10, but a disappointment after the first two seasons. When I finished season 3 for the first time, I understood why the show had been cancelled. 

Thanks for the ask! Don’t worry, you’ll enjoy season 4 a lot more! Thanks for reading my metas! My grammar is all over the place but I tried :)

#ask #lucifer #lucifer netflix #thanks #Anonymous

[ettadunham]

A Buffy rewatch 3x21 Graduation Day Part 1

aka give us a kiss with a fist

Welcome to this dailyish text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and rant about it in 10-3k words. What you can expect: long run-on sentences and disjointed observations, often focused on one tiny detail about the episode. What you shouldn’t be expecting: actual reviews that make sense.

And today’s episode has a lot of everything, but I guess I’ll mainly just talk about Buffy and Faith. It’s been like 5 days since my last Fuffy rant anyway.

First of all, I wanna give a shout out to the anon namedropping the Still Pretty podcast into my inbox the other day. Congrats, I binged through the s1-s2 discussions already, and while I often don’t agree with a lot of points, it also put me into this weirdly critical headspace now. So there’s that.

But you know what, we’re gonna ignore a lot of that. There’s a lot of cool stuff in Graduation Part 1 that I like, even with some of those positively weird and questionable slices.

I mean the whole argument between Buffy and Angel is basically just reminding me that I too just want this to be done now? And you know what, here’s a hot take - Angel had no business there with Buffy on that crime scene. She didn’t want him there, she didn’t need him there, so of course she was annoyed with him. She doesn’t need to be the mature one when he’s the one adding nothing to this operation.

I also have a lot of mixed feelings about Anya and Xander at this point. The writing just went from 0 to 100 on the whole Anya likes Xander subplot and it’s weird.

Okay, over to some of the stuff I liked.

Buffy and Joyce’s scene here paints a nice picture of how far they’ve come. There’s something sweet about Joyce understanding what her daughter needs. Even if it is her staying away. (Which also somewhat foreshadows Joyce’s minimized role in the upcoming season.)

The difference between where they were at the end of s2 and s3 is also palpable if you look at the ever-present coming out metaphor.

Buffy:  Mom, I know that sometimes you wish I were different. Joyce:  Buffy, no.

Speaking of which, here’s also some delightfully out of context Bi Buffy reference for you all:

Willow (to Buffy):  You can’t do both? Xander:  Both what?

She can and she will, of course. But that’s for when I decide to re-read season 8 comics. I don’t know if there’s enough rant to cover all the nonsense in those though...

Buffy also has a lot of opinions about the Council, and that made me cheer. It’s so weird that we’re even now still treating the Council like this authoritative force, when Buffy pretty much told them to fuck off in Helpless. Now she’s just making it more official.

Wesley: The Council's orders are to concentrate on... Buffy: Orders? I don't think I'm gonna be taking any more orders.

Love that for my girl.

I guess in that context Buffy turning her back on the council isn’t necessarily about them, but about her turning her back on authority in general. Buffy saw the order and the system under which the world operates and she rejects it. She is here to carve out her own way, to truly “graduate”.

Meanwhile Faith has surrendered herself to the system and the Mayor’s authority. But there’s also nuance in that choice, thanks to the relationship the two develop along the way. Faith is following orders, but she’s also doing things her own way, and she clearly craves the direction she has thanks to the Mayor’s tutoring. There appears to be genuine affection between them, and much like between Buffy and Giles, a textual father-daughter relationship.

Faith even opens up a bit, talking about her mother and her childhood. During those moments was when I wondered about the Mayor’s treatment of her the most. He doesn’t seem to push her to talk and open up more about those experiences, and part of me wants to think that it’s because the Mayor has Ascension on his mind, and doesn’t actually have that much of a genuine care for Faith and to connect with those parts of her... On the other hand, pushing Faith to open up is a guarantee for her to shut down, and he probably knows that.

It’s... a tough line. Because I do think that the Mayor loves Faith, but it’s closer to the kind of love vampires have for each other, than truly selfless love. In my opinion, he mostly wants to mold Faith into the daughter he wishes to have in her.

Mayor: You look lovely. Perfect for the Ascension. Any boys that manage to survive will be lining up to ask you out. Faith: It just isn't me, though.

I know, Faith. The Mayor is so weirdly obsessed and heteronormative about Faith’s love life, he really is like any classically hellish parental figure.

Which brings us to Faith’s real obsession: Buffy.

I like that while we’re showing Faith seemingly relaxed about her whole position with the Mayor, we also see her murdering a punching bag, and having those half-finished sentences about her childhood. Despite everything, you still get the sense that there’s a lot of stuff going under the surface that Faith isn’t dealing with.

Having seen Five by Five also changes the entire context of the fight scene between Faith and Buffy. It of course begins with an innuendo, as all fights between the two do, but the end is what truly sets the mood and leaves me with a deep impression.

As Faith stands there at the edge of the balcony after Buffy stabs her, telling her ‘what a ride’ it was... You get the sense that this is how Faith saw it end all along. She’s been falling ever since she betrayed Buffy, and it was only ever going to end one way.

Giles tells Buffy that Faith ‘has her at a disadvantage’, because she’s willing to kill or whatever, but I don’t think that was ever true. Faith may kill people, but it’s not because she’s motivated. She’s certainly not motivated to kill Buffy.

Faith is just... going through the motions. She’s lost all her drive. Nothing seems to penetrate her heart.

Buffy on the other hand is highly motivated to save Angel. And that is the ultimate blow to Faith. Faith being in love with Buffy has been the rapidly textual subtext for the entire season, even if the Mayor of course tried to retcon it into Faith wanting Angel, or some other nonsense. But textual or subtextual, Faith’s actions were always about Buffy, one way or another.

And here Buffy is, ready to kill Faith in the hope of saving Angel’s life. That’s how little Buffy seemed to have cared about Faith in the end.

I’m not sure how much that played into Faith’s mental state, but I do believe that at this point, she was just tired. She was ready for it to end, much like in that haunting, unforgettable scene at the end of Five by Five.

And yet even then, she did one last favor for Buffy. She chose to take that last fall on her own terms.

There is an interesting question of what Buffy would’ve done if Faith didn’t take away that choice from her. When she stabs Faith, you can see the pure shock and horror on her face as it dawns on her what she’s done. Sure, she went to Faith’s place with this exact goal, but she wasn’t truly prepared to kill. And certainly not to kill Faith.

You can see in SMG’s face throughout this whole sequence, how horrified she is. Which definitely makes me think that she probably would’ve taken Faith to the hospital herself after that... but on the other hand, it’s Angel. And we’ve seen time and time again how much Buffy was willing to give up, even of herself for him. That was sort of the point of their whole relationship falling apart - the fact that they were constantly on the verge of losing themselves in each other.

So I find this a fascinating what-if scenario that I don’t know the answer to. Buffy killing Faith for Angel in that moment would’ve fundamentally changed her character. And I can’t say with certainty, that she wouldn’t have gone through with it after the shock subsided.

That’s why I love Faith for taking away that choice from Buffy. Because even if she were to die, her taking that jump meant that she would’ve died for nothing here, becoming a constant reminder and warning for Buffy about taking a life.

Killing another human being should be pointless and horrifying. That’s the lesson Faith chooses to teach Buffy in what could’ve been her final moments.

Meanwhile on Less Fucked Up Relationship Land, we have Oz and Willow “panicking”. I love them and they’re delightful, and I don’t have much else to say about that, other than that’s at least something much lighter to close on.

Sadly, I’ll probably only get to watch Part 2 about a week from now, but at least I’ll have plenty to process up until then.

#buffy rewatch 2k19 #btvs talk #btvs

[flyingcatstiel]

I've never seen Buffy so what scene did spn rip off of them?

First of all, you should watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the spin off, Angel the series. I mean, Joss Whedon is out of vogue now, but, at the time, a lot of fans worshiped him. I’m thinking about doing a full re watch right now tbh. I mean, there’s a reason why fans say that Buffy/Angel and Dean/Cas have a lot of parallels, not only the most recent one. 

okie, and now spoilers for second half of season 2 of Buffy and episode 8, season 1 of Angel, the series. under the cut

Please note this is a very lose retelling of the curse, I tried my best to leave out all major spoilers. I seriously urge you to watch Buffy. Season 1 is a bit grainy and darkish just like SPN, but seasons 2&3 are amazing. This is a coming of age story of a teenage girl. How rare that is? 

So, Byffy is a teenage girl who has been told that she’s the Chosen One, the one who fights against all kinds of monsters, especially vampires. Angel is a vampire, some 100 years, give or take, old. When they first met, Buffy didn’t know that he’s a vampire, he saved her life after all. When she learned the truth, she trusted her gut and kept talking to him. Angel was helping her to fight other monsters and such. I think pretty soon we learned that Angel has a soul and is a good vampire. A vampire who is atoning for his past crimes. So, they fell in love. There’s great chemistry between them, they kissed and it was moving towards the next big step. On her 18th birthday, Buffy and Angel were in a pretty rough fight, they were drenched, and Angel took Buffy home to get dry etc. They did the do. It was all sensual, with nice music and misty lens. Very soft. In the morning Buffy wakes up alone, then she meets Angel and he’s your usual frat boy. He mocks her, breaks her heart. The usual stuff. 

(Now, this is what I mean when I said that SPN better go all the way if they use Whedon’s story. Buffy and Angel had sex. It was her first time and it was good. If SPN writers have no shame to use Agel’s curse on SPN, they better go all the way, aka, make their love explicit. Either with words or a kiss. Otherwise, this is deliberate baiting.) 

Byffy is crushed. Then she learns, that Angel used to be a very cruel vampire, killing young girls left and right until he was cursed with a soul for killing the wrong girl. The idea behind the curse is when you have a soul, you also have consciousness and morals, so killing people to eat them is not the right thing to do. This is Angel’s origin story. He became a vampire with a soul. He resisted the urge to feed on people, he lived on rats or pig’s blood. The curse had a small print tho which Angel didn’t know about. The curse stated that Angel will lose his soul the moment he experiences a moment of true happiness. Even a tiniest moment will reverse the curse.

So, here we are now. The Shadow makes a deal with Cas, and then adds the small print about happy moment. From 14x09 promo it looks like Cas remembers the deal, which is already different from Angel. I mean, this is a well known plot twist in fandom. It is purely romantic. To people who know about it. But if the viewers don’t know about Buffy/Angel and don’t care about destiel subtext, they don’t expect it to be romantic. So, SPN can make it about anything. In the latest seasons SPN has done this already several times. They take a well known romantic trope, use only half of it over the span of several episodes, so the fandom latches on it, and then they make it platonic. In s13 it was Asmodeus pretending to be Cas. 

Ok, back to Buffy. After evil Angelus goes on an evil rampage and kills bunch of people, Buffy fights him. I don’t want to spoil s2 finale, but, at the very end, Angel’s soul gets restored. In s3 they are dancing around each other, afraid to set off the curse again. So, no sex for Buffy. In the end, they decide to give each other space. Angel moves to Los Angeles and gets his own TV show. 

The curse changed their relationship. Buffy and Angel, a human and a supernatural being, are truly star crossed lovers. Buffy/Angel was not an endgame. Buffy and Angel is not a happy love story. Make of this parallel what you want. 

Now, on Angel, the show, there’s episode about Buffy visiting Angel in LA. They fight some monster and suddenly, Angel is turned into a human. He has his soul and he’s human. So, finally some sex for Buffy. ;) After, they go out and now, human Angel is actually kinda weak and Buffy has to protect him. Buffy is fine with that, but since they both have separate shows now, they can’t really stay together, right? Also, because Angel is a protector and without his vampire superpowers he can’t really protect anyone. So, Angel pleads to the Oracles to become vampire again. The price - only Angel will remember this day with Buffy. She will forget everything. Angel pays the ultimate price. I don’t remember in which episode, but there’s a scene where Angel’s friends discuss his curse and what could set it off again. Is it just sex or what. And the answer is no, it is not about just sex. A moment of pure happiness is very rare. 

I mean, this is some serious angst, and romance, and everything. Buffy blamed herself for triggering the curse and releasing evil Angelus. At this point, I’m curious how much SPN will actually rip off of Whedon. If you take into account story lines about sudden younger sister and miraculous super fast aging baby that introduced teenage characters on both, Buffy and Angel shows, just like SPN did with Jack, Whedon could have a court case here. 

So, that’s about it. My prediction is that SPN will find a way to make Cas happy moment No Homo platonic. The best case scenario - it will be about Cas life and goals. The worst case scenario - it’ll be about Jack. They’re smart cookies, they’ll find a way to subvert romantic trope once again. 

#anon #chatty things #flyingcatstiel has thoughts #this is longer than expected #feel free to ask me more #deancas #bangel #parallels are parallely #btvs #s14 #s14 spoilers #s14 speculation

[proofthatihaveaheart]

can i send you multiple shows? i love you and: the good place, b99, and for a good dose of the classics, btvs xxx

b99 done here but i can do the others

the good place

my favorite female character: eleanor, i’m proud of her development in s1 + s2 (s3 has been less satisfying), and i love that she just says whatever she’s thinking, and that she’s actually decent at helping people when she tries??? but also i love all the main female characters on this show

my favorite male character: chidi, i hard-core relate to him and just, how often do you get to see someone with extreme anxiety, what a fantastic character

my favorite book/season/etc: season 2, because i love michael’s arc as well as the arcs of the other characters and team cockroach and the way they all help each other become better + fight through the bad place

my favorite episode (if its a tv show): ‘best self’ - i love how it’s so focused on the group, it feels so intimate and close, i love their little dance party, i love the ceremony proclaiming michael as an honorary member of humanity and how delighted he is by all of it, i love all the little moments where they talk to each other and how clear their love for one another is. there are so many other episodes i love too but this one holds a special place in my heart 

my favorite cast member: kristen bell

my favorite ship: eleanor/chidi, they’re soulmates (although eleanor/tahani is an excellent ship)

a character I’d die defending: tahani!!! she did nothing wrong! i mean she’s flawed for sure, self-centered and attention-seeking, but also she just wanted her parents to acknowledge her accomplishment??? it’s such a low bar and they absolutely failed at being good parents to her

a character I just can’t sympathize with: jason probably? i love him, he’s a sweet puppy dog who doesn’t really know anything but also oh no boy don’t do that

a character I grew to love: jason, lol. i always found him hilarious but those moments when you really see his kindness - like when he tells tahani not to be hard on herself because she’s awesome - made me love him as a character

my anti otp: nada. i have stuff i don’t ship but nothing i feel so strongly about as to say it’s my anti otp

btvs

my favorite female character: buffy, i love her so much, flaws and strengths and everything in-between. also her quips are an inspiration  

my favorite male character: angel if you take the further development he gets in ats under consideration. just within btvs, giles

my favorite book/season/etc: season 5 for sure, it has a beautiful arc with a great villain, some of the most painful episodes in the series (the body is the most visceral episode about death and grief i’ve seen in anything ever), dawn (whom i love), and a lot of really good things

my favorite episode (if its a tv show): ……this is so hard, there are a lot of episodes i love, but probably becoming? i remember sobbing after that episode, the emotional beats in that episode were so good and it was one of the first times a tv show had made me cry. also buffy saying “me” and then proceeding to beat angelus is choice

my favorite cast member: idk

my favorite ship: buffy/angel and willow/tara are equally my favorite

a character I’d die defending: dawn, she gets so much hate and she deserves NONE OF IT

a character I just can’t sympathize with: i think i can sympathize with most of the main characters at least a little at least once throughout the show??? (actually y’know what - riley probably, idk if i ever felt sympathy for him)

a character I grew to love: dawn. ok so at first i was super skeptical about her because the show adding a new character related to the main character seemed like a bad move??? and it often is in fiction but then i quickly grew to love her, just as buffy does. she’s extraordinary 

my anti otp: buffy/riley and also buffy/spike (mainly after seeing red and the way the ship took over the show in s7, to the detriment and loss of focus on other relationships)

#ask box stuff #angiemahtinelli #sorry this took so long! #and i love you too <3

[melonsmessymusings]

Just seen a post about S6&S3 parallels and @rachaeljurassic made some super interesting points in the tags about Giles’ departure and how INFURIATING it is that I really want to expand upon, so I guess this one’s for you :) I get it, the mentor figure needs to be gotten out of the way in order to progress Buffy’s own arc, that’s fine. It narratively makes complete sense, but it was handled badly.

@rachaeljurassic suggested that maybe we could’ve gotten him out of the way with a coma. I vibe with that. Let’s have the head injuries catch up to him and have him totally incapacitated. Big battle, dire injuries, that works. We could still have Buffy spiralling after, but this time she’d be blaming herself because Giles got hurt as a result of her being the Slayer (even though he’d never blame her for it and it isn’t her fault except for like twice). That also works better because it would be more in character than having Giles go “I know you can’t even breathe right now but I’m gonna flake because you need to be a grown up. Even though when I was your age I was raising demons, doing dr*gs and having orgies so like lmao.” Plus, have a couple of gratuitous scenes of a very injured Giles being visited by someone to pepper throughout the season that were pre-recorded so we don’t get confused as to why they wouldn’t be sat there with him at least every now and then to make us cry. Imagine a scene with Buffy in a hospital room watching a ventilator force air into her Watcher to keep him alive and pouring her heart out because she’s terrified with no idea what to do and he always knew and she needs him and just cries. You could even have it where he’s like slowly deteriorating or something and Dark!Willow uses her magic to cure him so that would explain how he just got better and was like... fine.  

I also love the idea of him having a total breakdown after Buffy’s death. I absolutely thrive off him becoming a completely numb droid (he probably was and only bothered to put on façade for the Scoobies but that’s for another day) and the Scoobies decided it’d be better for him to try and find a new purpose in life by sending him to England. We could’ve had like the first episode of them helping him settle with the Coven or something and it’d have been AWFUL to watch, but it would make sense and then when Buffy gets resurrected, they just don’t tell him and they tell Buffy that the grief killed him or something like that? idk... or having them explain that Giles isn’t Giles anymore and he’s doing better (because Tara gets updates from the Coven) but being in Sunnydale was killing him and they never told him that Buffy was resurrected. That wedges the group dynamic enough tbh and would cause Buffy to turn to Spike because he’d have had no clue about anything except that Giles had gone off the bloody rails big time and it was good he was away from this hellhole. 

Family emergency? Let’s be honest, the Giles family are probably scum so I’d buy that way less but it’s still more convincing than what actually happened. 

Another suggestion was having the Council snatch him. I also adore this. That would make sense. But let’s have them make it look like they killed him because I love that. So they send in a team, take him away but make it look like he’s been completely murdered. 

My idea is that they put a glamour or something on a vampire to make it look like Giles (but the audience don’t know this yet) and so Buffy drops by and finds a body that is in every way identical to Giles in a destroyed apartment and just breaks and is like clutching at him or something and there’s blood and its horrendous. Then you could either have swoopy Council guys come in and take Giles away when he ‘wakes up’ as a vampire because “there’s a procedure to this Miss Summers” or have her stake him herself then and there because after Angelus she’s taking no chances. Could you imagine the emotional payoff of that? She then has to go and tell the others, who don’t believe her but they all see the apartment, bloodstains and pile of dust and they all have to cope with the grief of losing him throughout the season in addition to everything else.

But wait! There’s more. Travers ends the episode with a folder in front of him, a report from the team that carried out the operation and smiles saying something evil like “I warned her of dealing with grown ups” so the audience all thinks that Giles got offed by the Council. 

BUT REALLY Giles was taken and held in a like prison facility thing, very much alive. Then we get like a showdown of Giles chained to a chair in this cell being forced to watch the video footage of the whole operation and Travers telling him that it’s over and his oh so precious Slayer will end up killing herself with guilt/grief and the Council can have a new start because they’re going to off Faith too. And the last shot is Giles crying in a dank hole.

As far as the audience goes: imagine having Giles showing up at the end of S6 if THAT had been the departure? It’s already an “AAAAAHHHHHH HOLY SHIT!” moment but it’d be magnified tenfold. Then Buffy being completely confused because “I killed you!” then having that moment when she ends up hugging him and he’s warm and breathing and not dead. And Dark!Willow being really confused but trying to kill him anyway because if he was alive all this time why didn’t he come back? That’s when we get the scene with Giles watching what happened on the monitor. Everyone is confused and Giles explains that the Council kept him in one of their facilities and now Buffy feels sick because she’s like “they tortured you... for months!” and Giles is like “Well yeah but it’s fine because I’m here now and I’m so sorry for abandoning you all.” Still can have Evil Willow being evil and Xander saving the day. I don’t care that much but we could’ve had this worked in.

Because the Council would’ve tortured him for fun. Not necessarily physically but they would’ve paraded him around as the example of what happens if you don’t toe the line. They could’ve completely humiliated him and it caused like cracks in the Council because some of them hate that Travers is abusing his power like this on one of their own and others finding it good that such a strong message is being sent. At which point, Travers would give the order for the Special Ops team to start the beatings. Of course, Giles is used to having the seven bells kicked out of him, but to be used as a training dummy by other human beings? They’d practice on him and that’s as far as I think the physical side of it would go, the rest would be mental/emotional torture. Or having hexes/curses tested on him and all the while, Giles genuinely wants them to kill him because everyone he cares about already thinks he’s dead so it makes no difference if it’s the reality. All the while, he’s being kept vaguely up to date with the events of Sunnydale so that he can hear how his Slayer is edging closer into just giving up and it breaks his heart. So Giles spent a year either being locked in a cell translating texts or being used as a punchbag to teach the S.O. team how to interrogate people. That’s how I see it going anyway. We could’ve seen like flashbacks of parts of it in S7 or something idk.

That would explain why he’s so distant in S7. Because he was kept prisoner for almost a year by the people who practically raised him (because the Council kind of did) and how that would mess anyone up and the First tormenting him about how he should’ve gone through with any attempts to end it instead of being a coward because Buffy doesn’t need him and she already thought he was dead. 

I dunno if this is actually what you were going for but it’s where my mind went and it would’ve given Tony Head something really juicy to do by playing a slightly crazed version of Giles who freaks out if there’s more than five people in the room because a year of living on your own in the dark drove him mad. He would’ve completely nailed it. Way better than sitting there going, “I’m headed back to England, and I plan to stay indefinitely”. Ugh we were robbed.

#btvs #rupert giles #s6 has a few unforgivable moments and this is one of them #rachaeljurrassic this is for you #sorry im such a crackhead #meta #alternative s6 giles departures #i have an armada of them tbh