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cora-writes-things · 1 year

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WLW media plans <3 early 2023 edition

You may have seen my first edition of this post; now that 2023 has begun in earnest, let’s see where I’m at!

Media I’m currently in the middle of consuming:

The 100 (I know that I said that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to watch this show cuz I’m tired of tragic wlw, but a friend suggested we watch it together, so here I am)

Clear and Muddy Loss of Love (an AMAZING web-novel!!! I can’t stop reading it! Clear and Muddy Loss of Love, original title 泾渭情殇 (Jīng wèi qíng shāng or JWQS), is a Chinese GL web-novel by Please Don’t Laugh (请君莫笑). Read and buy the original here (here’s a guide on how to use JJWXC so you can support the author), and the English translation by melts (@meltesh28 on Tumblr / @meltsmelts on Twitter) can be found here (thank you so much for your hard work, melts!))

Nevertheless (solely for the crumbs of Sol/Ji-wan content, and you know what? It’s been worth it, even if the main male lead, Park Jae-eon, makes me want to throw my laptop across the room. Seriously, JAE-EON SUCKS SO BAD. NA-BI, WHAT ARE YOU DOIIIING. DO-HYEOK IS RIGHT. THERE!!!)

Warrior Nun (I started watching this show both because it has wlw AND because Alba Baptista is so gorgeous that I can’t stop looking at her. So disappointing that it was canceled recently :()

Media I plan to start (or continue) consuming:

A League of Their Own (for the canon wlw AND all the wlw vibes)

Arcane: League of Legends (I’ve seen enough gifs and fanart for Caitlyn/Vi that I ship it and haven’t even watched the show yet)

Batwoman (for the canon wlw AND all the wlw vibes)

Black Lightning (ditto)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS was available on Amazon Prime for a while but is now on Hulu, so I don’t have access to it at the moment)

The Expanse (I’m taking a break from watching the show to read the books, but I’m also consuming a lot of other media at the moment, so I don’t know when I’ll get back to it)

The Half of It (the premise sounds so freaking relatable I can’t wait to feel some type of way about the constant sapphic pining I experienced in high school & didn’t even know about at the time because of comphet yay)

The Handmaiden (I’ve been trying to get into more international media lately, as you can see by some of the other pieces of media in this post, and this movie looks too good to pass up)

Killing Eve (up to the finale but stopping before the end cuz my queer little heart can’t take YET MORE bury your gays in the year of our lord 2023. also the book series. maybe)

The Legend of Korra (once I finish ATLA)

The Owl House (currently waiting for the next episode. Also, I’m still so mad this show was canceled by Disney >:()

Paper Girls (science fiction combined with middle-grade fiction and queer characters? Sign me up!)

Sense8 (for the queer vibes in general)

The Wilds (for the canon wlw AND all the wlw vibes)

Yellowjackets (ditto)

Media I might consume but haven’t decided yet:

Huge shout-out to @femslashrevolution (abbreviated as F.R. in this post from now on) for introducing me to a lot of these pieces of media with active-ish wlw fandoms through their reblogs!

Astrid & Lilly Save the World (I don’t know much about it, but the gifs reblogged by F.R. look promising)

Harlem (I’ve heard mixed reviews about the wlw representation in this show, but there’s also a distinct lack of black queer shows out there, so I’m considering trying it out anyway)

House of the Dragon (partially because I haven’t finished GOT yet, but also because I don’t want my heart to be broken by the tragedy)

I Know What You Did Last Summer (this show doesn’t have the best reviews, but the actresses in it are so pretty that I might watch it anyway ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Kevin Can F*** Himself (seems like an interesting premise, I just don’t know if I’ll personally enjoy the show itself or not)

Legends of Tomorrow (Idk what it’s even about tbh, I’ve just seen a lot of wlw-centric and wlw-adjacent gifs reblogged by F.R.)

Lost Girl (it's included on a lot of rec lists of wlw shows, I just don’t know if I’ll actually find it interesting)

Once Upon A Time (a classic wlw fandom, but Idk if I’ll find it interesting enough to actually watch it)

Orange is the New Black (ditto)

Orphan Black (ditto)

Runaways (ditto)

Supergirl (ditto)

Willow (Idk what it’s even about tbh, I’ve just seen some cute wlw gifs reblogged by F.R. recently, so why not?)

Media I've already finished consuming:

Couple of Mirrors (SO GOOD!!! A (sadly heavily censored, but still very well-done) GL-based Chinese drama that is slated to get a second season depending on the support, so please go watch and support it! It also has a manhua (read the original here and the English summaries here))

First Kill (campy with pretty horrid music choices, but I still enjoyed the watching experience even though the show was kinda bad. Who doesn’t like a little bit of camp every now and again?)

Girlfriend Project Day 1 (cute, short little fake dating GL K-drama that is slated to get a second season if they can raise the funds for it! Watch it here)

More than or Equal to 75 Celsius (≥75°C) (short GL K-drama, very aesthetic, and the actresses are beautiful! Watch it here)

Zero Photography (short spin-off GL Thai drama that features Ink & Pa from the bigger BL series Bad Buddy. Definitely worth the watch!)

Have I missed any must-watch/must-read/must-consume pieces of wlw or wlw-adjacent media that y’all love? Please let me know in the reblogs and give me your recommendations!

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quordleona03 · 4 months

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Fic Writer 2023 Review

I got this from @jaelijn, who generously tagged me - 30 questions about my fic writing through this year.

I hope for a better 2024 for all of us.

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? How did it turn out and would you do it again?

I wrote the first three chapters - well, I can hardly say "wrote" - of a fandom fusion - Blake's 7 scripts with MAS*H characters replacing them. To find them funny - even to know what's going on - you would have to be simultaneously a B7 fan and a MASH fan. Judging by the response on AO3, I would say there are about four such. Maybe less. I probably won't finish it - though anything's possible - and I doubt very much if I'll do anything like that again. The problem was that it was not very creative, but even so, it took up a fair amongt of time.

2. How many fics did you work on this year? (They don’t have to be finished or published!)

I wrote about 211,000 words of All We Know - pretty steadily through the year. I was writing the September 1962 section last January, and I'm writing the April 1963 section now. I'm publishing chronologically, so the section I'm working on now will be posted in April 2024 - after being proofread, edited, beta-read, edited, and so on.

I also completed three MASH stories - Crabapple Cove, Major Heart, Under the Apple Tree, and one Star Trek story, Kirk and Spock's First Kiss. M*A*S*H works in progress include Rosary, Nurse Doctor, MirrorMASH, and another strange crossover, Buffy the Vampire Slayer And Her Gay Foster Dads.

And there's Gray-Eyes, which is something else again.

3. What’s something you learned about yourself as a writer?

All We Know is easily the longest story I've ever written. I found that I can hold a story that length inside of my head and my heart, and keep writing it - and be confident I'll finish it. I found, too, that I do a lot of my writing inside my head before I sit down and stare at the screen. This last I always knew, I suppose, but now I really know it.

4. What piece of media inspired you the most?

Well, M*A*S*H, of course. Some lovely soul managed to upload All The MASH Episodes to the Internet Archive in such a way that they went unnoticed for over a year. (They are now gone- helpful people on the very public Mash subreddit started posting links to them, and whaddya know, once declared publicly, they're gone.)

I also watched some few episodes of E.R., most of the first episode of AfterMASH, a couple of episodes of Trapper John M.D., a specific episode of Sports Night, and I read Herman Wouk's Marjorie Morningstar and Kathy Hulme's The Nun's Story, among other relevant material.

5. What fandom(s) did you write for this year?

M*A*S*H. Star Trek. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Blake's 7, a little.

6. What ship(s) captured your heart?

Hawkeye/Mulcahy. Over, and over, and over again. Also, because they're so very sweet together, Sam Pak/Sidney Freedman.

7. What character(s) captured your heart?

Well, besides Francis Mulcahy and Hawkeye Pierce, 2023 was the year I got to like Trapper very much indeed, as I wrote him in October and in December. I saw a very old fanvid, Trapper Never Got To Say Goodbye, and watched a bunch of good Trapper episodes, and - I just got to like him. I also invented/discovered in my heart several newly adorable people: Sam Colquhoun and his daughter Barbara, Martine LeClerc, Pauline Morley and her partner Thea Schwartz and their friend Nadine Royer, Loretta Bradford, Doctor Jerome White and Doctor Aaron Elharar, Sarah Pargeter Pierce and her 12-year-old daughter Mary, Sister Maria Angelica and Sister Raymond, and of course Cathryn Jamieson.

8. Did you write for a new fandom or ship this year?

No. Well, yes: I gave Margaret Houlihan the best possible husband I could imagine for her. I like Sam Colquhoun.

9. What fic meant the most to you to write?

At the time? Gray-Eyes. Ongoing through the whole year: All We Know.

10. What fic made you feel the happiest to work on?

Crabapple Cove. I got the idea and wrote it and giggled most of my way through writing it.

11. What fic was the most satisfying to finish writing?

Well, besides Gray-Eyes, I only finished four stories this year, plus some bits of tumblrfic: Crabapple Cove, Major Heart, Under the Apple Tree, and Kirk and Spock's First Kiss. They were all very satisfying to finish.

12. What fic was the most difficult to write? Did you finish it?

MirrorMASH. I have got to a point in that story where I know how it ends, and yet I am really struggling to write that ending - because when it's done, I shall never write MirrorHawkeye again.

But there was an idea for a story I thought of - "AfterMASH, only like the Golden Girls, Max and Charles and Francis sharing a house…" - and Honoria of course - and I wrote the opener for it, and then realised that I didn't see a way to write any more of it. I could see it in my mind's eye as an endlessly enjoyable TV series - but to write another word of it felt like climbing up the Cliffs of Insanity with Fezzik on my back and Inigo on his shoulders. It was like contemplating a land war in Asia. I just gave up.

13. What fic was the easiest to write?

Kirk and Spock's First Kiss. I wrote it at a writer's workshop at an online K/S con, and the story just unpacked itself into dialogue.

14. What were your shortest and longest fics this year?

Kirk and Spock's First Kiss is the shortest - a perfect drabble of 100 words. All We Know is the longest - 261,000 words in the current document, 143,314 words published on AO3.

15. Rec a fic you wrote or posted in 2023

I'm very pleased with M*A*S*H goes to Pride - thinking through what each of our surviving friends from MASH 4077th would do at the world's first Pride March in New York City in 1970, and whether I think they are LGBT or ally or neither.

16. What were you go-to writing songs?

I was writing the first draft of Christmas in Maine (just posted on Christmas Day) in the middle of a really, really hot August (for Scotland), and I played a list of Christmas carols over and over. I was then writing a chapter from Sister Maria Angelica's point of view and I made a playlist of Christian religious music. Otherwise, usually Leonard Cohen, Janis Ian, Willie Nelson, Tracy Chapman, Johnny Cash, k. d. lang, and so on.

17. What were your go-to writing snacks?

Cashew nuts.

18. What was the hardest fic to title?

Well - All We Know. I'd been calling it "Virtues and Sins" til May, til I realised that if I was going to post the opening chapter in two months time, I really, really had to think of a proper title.

19. Share your favorite opening line

""What do you pray for?" Hawkeye asks: not every time, but often. And when he doesn't ask, he looks: he stares at Mulcahy's rosary sometimes as if he hated it."

20. Share your favorite ending line

"First and foremost: Francis J. P. Mulcahy, formerly chaplain 4077th MASH: without you, this book would not have been written, and without you, I would not have been here to tell it."

21. Share your favorite piece of dialogue

"Doctor Pierce - debauched him?" "It does seem unlikely, doesn't it?" Charles said. "But then whatever else Pierce lacked, it was not persistence or audacity. Good God, did he know the Irishman could write like this? How?"

22. Share an excerpt from your favorite scene

After a moment, Mulcahy laughed. He sounded more tired than amused. "All right," he said. "Should I move this chair?" He got up. Hawkeye caught him by the arm as he was about the pick up his own chair. "Let me." he said. "I know just where it has to be." He moved the chair around, where the light from the central lamp would be falling at the right angle on Mulcahy's head, and waved Mulcahy to sit down again. All Hawkeye had time for, that morning, was to check that there was no indication of a concussion, and no broken bones. He meant to give Mulcahy a haircut, but he wanted to check his scalp for cuts or bruises. "And what can I do for you, sir? Pompadour, bouffant, some stylish Victory rolls?" Hawkeye was gently combing Mulcahy's hair out with his fingers. "Perhaps a little scalp massage?"

23. Share the final version of a sentence or paragraph you struggled with. What about it was challenging? Are you happy with how it turned out?

Winchester folded his hands in front of him. He looked calmer. He also looked pompous, and embarrassed. "It appears I owe you an apology." "Thank you," Mulcahy said, after a moment's effort. "I didn't intend to say anything to upset you. I'm sorry. Is Hawkeye all right?"

It may not look very difficult, but the whole passage of Charles Emerson Winchester and Francis Mulcahy talking in Charles's study in December (in All We Know) was hugely difficult and very painful to rewrite and rewrite and rewrite. I was so hugely on Francis's side that I was having difficulty seeing Charles's side. I am very happy with how it eventually turned out. Jakrar is a wonderful person to work through a story with.

24. What’s something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

While writing the final September section of All We Know, back in February, I realised something about Charles Emerson Winchester's son, Charles Emerson Winchester Jr, that I genuinely had not realised previously, and while it didn't change the story much, it did affect it. (Our Charles's father and grandfather are dead at the time All We Know opens, so CEW III has lost his ordinal number and his son CEW is Junior.)

25. What did you use to write? (e.g. writing programs, paper & pen, etc.)

I use LibreOffice on a Windows 10 desktop. I can and do write on my laptop if I have to, but my favourite place to write is at my desk in the little room with the window that looks out only on the sky, facing the wall. I take notes on Notepad.

26. If you had to choose one, what was THE most satisfying writing moment of your year?

"Please don't worry," Mulcahy said. "We can find our own way out."

(You will find out why, next year.)

27. Did you do anything special to celebrate finishing a fic?

No.

28. How did you recharge between fics?

What is this "between fics" you speak of?

29. If this were an awards show, who would you thank?

I would thank my demonic proofreader Jakrar, who is enabling me to keep writing this story in the best demonic style, Ajay, who has been my closest fannish friend for getting on for forty years, and @rescue-ram whose fabulous pro-Trapper comments (and fic) make me very, very happy. Also, for ideas presented to me in 2022 and 2023 that I stole without conscience and used ruthlessly in my own words in 2023: FaustianSlip for Not A Second Time, @allcanonisrelative for Every time, I think of you, @yeats-infection for What the Thunder Said, and also Crystalrose and @topshelf2112-blog for their very different but quite illuminating takes on Charles Emerson Winchester in particular and his relationship with Hawkeye Pierce, which was not something I'd thought much about before I started planning All We Know.

30. What’s something that you want to write in 2024?

I want to finish All We Know and Rosary and Nurse Doctor and MirrorMASH and I would quite like to write a few more episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's gay foster dads. And I look forward to getting more ideas for something new.

Posted at 31:12:23:23:12:31.

#my fic #i am writing #mash tv #star trek #buffy the vampire slayer #blake's 7 #but mostly all we know #All We Know #review of 2023 #happy new year #wishing all of us many stories finished and read

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ravenya003 · 3 months

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Never Kill a Boy on the First Date, S01E05

I’ve always enjoyed this episode; it’s an important one in the Story Arc, but it also grapples with the whole superhero-esque “double life” drama that Buffy has to deal with.

It kicks off in a cemetery, in which Giles monitors Buffy’s slaying of what seems like a random vampire, but one that leaves a ring behind. This is not something that happens very often (or perhaps, ever again...?) since usually all garments and jewellery on a vampire turn to dust along with the vampire itself. But today it’s an important plot-point, so we’re going with it!

The ring has three stars and a sun on it (which Buffy finds familiar, how...?) and Giles identifies it as belonging to a vampire sect known as the Order of Aurelius.

Meanwhile, the Master is reading a prophecy from a book down in his underground prison. As an aside, I LOVE prophecies and all their permeations: Self-Fulfilling Prophecies, Self-Defeating Prophecies, Prophecy Pile-Ups, Twist Prophecies, Twisting the Prophecies, Either/Or Prophecies... if there’s a prophecy, I’m ready to find out how it’s going to trick the audience and mess up the characters’ lives.

So here’s this one: “And there will be a time of crisis, of worlds hanging in the balance. And in this time shall come the Anointed, the Master's great warrior. And the Slayer will not know him, will not stop him, and he will lead her into Hell.' As it is written, so shall it be. Five will die, and from their ashes the Anointed shall rise. The Brethren of Aurelius shall greet him and usher him to his immortal destiny. As it is written, so shall it be.”

Okay, I have some questions. And if you’re going to be reading these reviews, you need to know that I delve insanely deep into bits of world-building that absolutely none of these writers gave a moment’s thought about beyond using them to crack the story into gear.

First of all, who or what was Aurelius? A vampire prophet? And this sect of his is essentially all of the Master’s followers? Who are committed to standard doomsday shenanigans? And who wrote this prophesy? I’m assuming Aurelius himself. Somehow the Master and Giles both have copies of his work, though the latter is without some crucial pieces of information – namely that the five prophesied to die won’t just happen, but be specifically targeted by members of the Order.

Which is why Buffy and Giles are left sitting in a cemetery, waiting for the Anointed One to rise from a grave, instead of realizing that the brethren have to make the Chosen One they’ve been waiting for.

But then, how did the Master know that he had to deliberately seek out the Anointed One and self-direct the circumstances required to bring about his rise? How’d they know how many people were in the van? Was the little boy deliberately targeted, or could the Anointed One have been anyone on the bus? When a person becomes a vampire they’re infected by a demon soul, so did the Anointed One choose the vessel he was going to be reborn in? In which case, did he deliberately pick the body that the Slayer was likely to overlook?

Because I dig the idea that the vampires turned Andrew Borba as a deliberate red herring, tricking the Slayer into believing he was the Anointed One while they spirited the real one away.

(For the record, I don’t actually expect any answers to these questions, I just like pondering them. If you find it annoying, then definitely don’t read any more of these reviews, because I LOVE doing this).

The other plot that’s going on during all this is that Buffy is approached by Owen Thurman, a guy we’ve never seen or heard of before, but who she’s apparently had her eye on for a while. It was early days of the show – just go with it.

Owen seems to get a lot of flak from fandom, but I think he’s a fairly decent guy, which reflects well on Buffy. This could have easily been an episode about her crushing on an unworthy jock character who proves himself to be a complete coward after that run-in with the vamps at the funeral home, but the story is more bittersweet if he’s not just a cute cardboard cut-out that Buffy can project her desire for normality on.

That Owen is more than that is a credit to Buffy herself, and it’s interesting to see what she finds attractive in a guy: intellectualism, sensitivity, perceptivity... Later on, Willow describes him as “solitary, mysterious, broody” which is hilarious – because who else does that describe? Buffy is an intelligent and observant person, but she’s definitely not a scholar or a poet, so that she finds that appealing in a potential partner reveals a well of romanticism beneath her pragmatism. (Yeah, she was never going to be able to resist Angel, was she).

In a gag I wish they’d used more, Owen comes into the library looking for a book, and Giles is initially baffled that the library can be used for more than just a Slayer/Watcher homebase. In fairness to him, this is the first time any character has walked into this place who isn’t Buffy, Xander, Willow or himself. I was kinda disconcerted as well.

Owen invites Buffy to the Bronze that evening, which sets up our internal conflict for the episode: Duty to the World versus Longing for a Normal Life. Giles also throws in the added issue of “if you tell anyone else about your true identity, you’ll make them a target and endanger their lives” which is kind of funny because neither he nor Buffy factor Willow and Xander into this equation. Seriously, Giles has no worries about either of them whatsoever.

Buffy makes it late to the Bronze due to aforementioned Slayer duties, and spots Owen dancing with Cordelia, who is all over him. Buffy leaves in a funk, and – come on, girl – you didn’t need binoculars to notice that Owen looked very uncomfortable.

That night, a van full of exactly five people (the driver, a mother and son, another passenger, and a guy called Andrew Borba) is attacked by a gang of vampires. It’s a pretty unsettling scene, and Borba throws up a lot of questions. Obviously, his purpose in this episode is to serve as a red herring to the Anointed One’s real identity, but you can’t really blame the Scoobies for targeting him. He’s physically intimidating and even before his turn he’s ranting fire-and-brimstone nonsense about the end of the world.

When Giles brings the news to Buffy, showing her a newspaper that reports five died in a van accident and one of them was wanted for questioning by the police regarding a double-murder, it once again coincides with Buffy attempting to go on a date with Owen. Hilariously, Giles tells her all this at her house, just when Owen turns up to collect her for their date, and Buffy has to hastily cover for his presence by promising to bring back her overdue library books.

Also, Willow and Xander are there. Also also, Joyce is not there, which is kind of weird. Where is she while all these people are having an extended semi-argument at her front door at night?

If your eyes are good enough to read this text, you'll discover it's amusingly incoherent. Five cent refundable deposit? Huh?

Owen and Buffy head to the Bronze, Giles decides to investigate the funeral home by himself, and Willow and Xander are torn on who to follow – naturally Xander wants to sabotage Buffy’s date, while Willow is worried about Giles.

Buffy is enjoying her date with Owen, but who should turn up at the Bronze but Angel, who essentially scolds her for not being out on the streets, doing her job as a Slayer. (As he informs a bewildered Owen, he and Buffy know each other from work). It’s his one scene in this episode, so he has to make the most of it – and it’s probably a good thing Angel is now aware Buffy isn’t just sitting around by herself daydreaming about him.

Giles makes it to the funeral home and in a cool shot, the camera pans from him to the ominous sight of the cemetery across the road, then back to him with a vampire standing right beside him. Followed quickly by another one behind him. He makes a dash for the doors of the funeral home, but unfortunately this isn’t a place of residence, and the vampires can follow him inside.

Like I said earlier, my head-canon is that the reason they don’t just kill him is because they’re here to collect the real Anointed One, and want the Slayer and her Watcher distracted from that objective.

Giles manages to barricade himself in the morgue, and it never fails to crack me up when Xander and Willow give him the fright of his life when they appear at the barred window. Apparently Willow won that argument, and the two of them head off to fetch Buffy. Giles is left trapped in what is a genuinely fraught situation. At any point the vamps could break into the room and finish him off.

Xander and Willow crash Buffy’s date and float the possibility of everyone heading for the funeral home (Willow: “I’ve always wanted to go THERE.”) Owen is surprisingly up for it, but Buffy manages to extricate herself... though not before doubling back and kissing him, right in front of Angel. Her first on-screen kiss – congratulations, Owen!

(Also, is there a reason Angel doesn’t accompany Buffy to the funeral home? I suppose he hasn’t really gotten involved in any physical altercations so far, and there’s a chance the writers still don’t know he’s actually a vampire, but if that’s the case then his reaction to Buffy’s “bite me!” comment is up there with his “I’ll be damned” one in the pilot in terms of unintentional irony.

But I feel that the name “Angel” was chosen for this character as a nod to being someone’s guardian angel, as opposed to the irony of it being applied to a vampire – which as I’ve said, the writers’ room didn’t know yet – in which case, he should be doing some more overt guarding).

Owen tags along to the funeral home anyway, and you can almost hear the Benny Hill music as the gang duck in and out of rooms and down corridors, with Buffy desperately trying to keep her date out of danger and in the dark. She finally manages to corral him into an office while Xander and Willow barricade the door (which hilariously includes a lampshade) only for Owen to notice that they’re in a viewing room, and the dead body on the other side of the glass is moving. The safe room is the opposite of safe.

Buffy finds Giles hiding with a cadaver in a body drawer in the morgue, and it’s almost funny how utterly clueless Giles is about what’s actually going on: “I don't know what these brethren mean to do exactly. Find the Anointed, or, or, or, or give him something perhaps, uh, it's all, all very vague! And the Anointed may be long gone!” Honestly, the vampires kinda deserve to win this one.

Buffy rushes back to the others when she hears the newly-risen Andrew Borba smash the glass between the two rooms (there is some top-tier comedy going on in the background as Willow and Xander immediately start unbarricading the door again) and Owen gets his first eyeful of a vampire.

There’s some running and fighting – which includes Buffy doing a completely pointless backflip off the top of a gurney – but ultimately everyone ends up back in the morgue, where the fires in the crematory accidentally get turned on in the scuffle. Owen attempts to come to Buffy’s aid, only for Borba to smash a body-drawer door into the back of his head, knocking him out.

Thinking he’s dead, Buffy is galvanized into fighting Borba with full Slayer-strength, and eventually manages to throw him onto a gurney, using his momentum to slide him straight into the crematory chamber. Owen comes to, but much to Buffy’s disappointment, decides not to continue their date. Willow and Xander offer to get him home safely. (Aren’t the rest of the vampires still outside? Or did they just grab the Anointed One and hustle?)

But there’s a couple more surprises on the table: the next day at school, Owen approaches Buffy and wants to give it another go! Turns out he loved the danger and excitement of their time together, and is looking forward to more adventures with her. Realizing that this attitude will only get him killed, Buffy commits her first act of noble sacrifice and breaks off their budding relationship.

Giles tries to console her with the story about when his father informed him it was his destiny to become a Watcher, like his father and (interestingly) his grandmother before him. Um... can we learn more about Giles’s grandmother the Watcher? Because that sounds super-interesting.

But it’s cold comfort for Buffy, who only cheers up a little when Giles points out that at least she killed the Anointed One – which is of course, our cue to cut straight to the underground church where the Master is welcoming the very not-dead (undead, in fact) Anointed One into the ranks of his brethren... and it’s the little boy. Dun, dun, DUUUUUN.

Every superhero must sooner or later grapple with the fact that their loved ones are in constant danger if their proximity to super-heroics were to ever be discovered, and this was Buffy’s episode to go through that particular learning curve. It showcases her early frustration with the double life she has to lead, and in seasons to come, it doesn’t get any better – not when it comes to her dating life, her continuing education, or her career opportunities. In the last three or so seasons, she has no life outside fighting evil at all.

Which is why this early interaction with Owen is so interesting. He’s a little condescending to her at times (like when he gives her his watch and points out where the big and little hands are) but it makes a kind-of sense that the otherwise utterly self-sufficient Buffy would respond to something like this. She’s been designated as the tough, weird one by her peers, and this kind of baby-talk flirting probably takes her back to her pre-Slayer days, when she was just a normal (perhaps somewhat vapid) teenage girl.

And I like that Owen is a worthy crush for her to have. Sure he’s a little pretentious, but he’s also completely sincere about what he’s into, puts his foot down when Cordelia keeps trying to interrupt their date, and is brave enough to double-back into the funeral home when he thinks Buffy is in trouble, even decking Borba with a metal tray in her defence. He’s perceptive enough to describe Buffy as being like “two people”, and I think Buffy responds to that – the fact he’s not so clueless that he can’t observe there’s something different about her (and is attracted to her because of that). Heck, he was practically a baby version of Angel. In another life, they would have been good together.

But there were always some cracks in the potentiality of the relationship, from his off-handed comment in the Bronze (“there’s a lot more important stuff than dating”)* to the way he freaks out after getting knocked unconscious at the morgue.

* Buffy has a visible reaction to this, because dating IS important to her as it represents her shot at a normal life. That he’s dismissive of it is ironically reminding her that she’s shirking her duties

I give the writers infinite credit for not taking the easy option and giving him Easy Amnesia after this bonk on the head, as well as avoiding the “it’s all too much for him” cliché. Turns out he’s up for more danger with Buffy... but that only means that she has to be the one to end it for his own safety. She’s just learned the hard way that ignoring her calling puts people like Giles in danger, and (as the audience already knows) she was so distracted by his presence at the morgue that she failed to destroy the real Anointed One.

Avoiding her responsibilities can cost others their lives, and she’s more resigned to her fate than she was at the episode’s beginning. (Which means it’s also beautiful setup for the show’s very last episode. We’ll get there).

Owen could have been a halfway decent member of the Scoobies, but in the end he doesn’t realize that none of what Buffy does is for thrills or fun. The “dating life” that he dismissed is a luxury he’s lucky to have. Real depth is doing what’s required of you, not going out looking for trouble.

So Buffy pulls the “let’s be friends” speech and Owen walks off and out of the show forever. Still, I head-canon him as a guy who is eventually part of the school committee that rewards Buffy with her “Class Protector” award at the prom. Think about it: he got close to Buffy, he saw some weird shit that night, he probably went on to share some stories with the other students... I like to think he figured out some of what was going on and pitched the idea (or at least helped with the presentation) of that umbrella award.

See also: Xander loudly mentions slaying in the school cafeteria and no one cares. In hindsight, this episode neatly encapsulates the idea that people will brush off weird comments and/or occurrences... but like Owen, might well be paying more attention than we the viewers initially give them credit for.

Miscellaneous Observations:

Things get so much more complicated and harrowing with the bad guys later, so in these early days it’s actually rather refreshing to see Buffy just take on some old-school vampires who just want to eat people.

This is one of the rare times in which a vampire leaves behind an article of clothing (or technically, a ring) even though this is something that logically should be happening all the time. I mean, why are jackets and pants and t-shirts turning into dust along with vampire flesh? Obviously, the answer is “budgetary reasons,” though it would have made more sense (and been kinda cool) if a vampire’s clothes were left behind when they were dusted.

In fact, my next-tier head-canon is that on being staked, vamps revert back to whatever stage of decomposition their corpses would have been at if they hadn’t been turned – so the older ones would burst into dust, but the newborns would leave a body to be deposed of. (Again, I can see why the show didn’t go with this).

On the subject of prophesies, the Anointed One is referred to as “a great warrior” and “a mighty ally” and “the greatest weapon against the Slayer”, which... is really not the case in the end. They get the “five will die” and “the Slayer will not know him” bits right, but he’s definitely not a great warrior and ultimately doesn’t even “lead [the Slayer] into hell”, unless that’s just a fancy way of describing “an underground church.” Having him be a child was a good twist, but all things considered, he’s way overhyped.

The show’s other important One-Shot Character was Andrew Borba, who leaves behind some lingering questions. For instance, was he really responsible for that double murder? Who did he kill and why? We’ll never know, but the reason I bring it up is because if it’s true, this guy was more deadly as a human than as a vampire.

He also had some interesting things to say once he’s arisen as a vampire, such as: “He is risen in me! He fills my head with song!” and “I'll suck the blood from your hearts, he says I may!” and “They told me about you while I was sleeping.” Er, so who is this “he” and “they” he refers to? God? The demon that now inhabits him? The Master, somehow? Obviously this guy was crazy-pants well BEFORE he became a vampire, but it’s still something to ponder. That last line in particular, “they told me about you while I was sleeping” fits into my theory that he was deliberately turned in order to provide a distraction for the real Anointed One’s escape, and so knows that Buffy and Giles are coming for him.

Another great moment was when Giles repels him with the crucifix, something this religiously-affiliated guy is visibly shocked by. It’s a shame this sort of thing wasn’t explored further, as the idea of a fire-and-brimstone preacher becoming a vampire and then realizing that his old identity/belief system and his new existence are completely incompatible is a very interesting conundrum to delve into. I’d love to see more religious characters react like this, and it’s kind of an echo to the fact the Master (who has his own twisted religion) is trapped in a church.

There is a strange and pointless scene in which we get a close-up of Xander’s watch, revealing that it’s a Tweety Bird watch from the Looney Tunes. Is it meant to indicate how immature he is, maybe?

It wasn’t a great episode for Xander, who spends most of it just being jealous and trying to perve at Buffy while she’s changing. Though honestly, why was he even THERE while Buffy was getting ready for her date with Owen? Not just in her room, but in her HOUSE? Why would anyone invite him to that??

Cordelia’s first look at Angel is just... wow. She calls him “salty goodness” and then watches in disbelief as he ignores her and approaches Buffy. I know this sounds mean, but in hindsight this simple scene pretty much encapsulates the dynamic of how Whedon will treat all three of these characters when it comes to their romantic entanglements with each other.

This episode is also wonderfully dated, whether it’s Buffy flat-out saying: “this is the nineties, the nineteen-nineties!” or her iconic line: “if the apocalypse comes, beep me.” That grainy, rather cheap aesthetic? I love it.

So, the Anointed One is a vampire, right? I only ask because we never actually see this character with “vamp-face” though I suppose that’s understandable since he was played by a child. Those prosthetics would have been a nightmare to get on him.

Odd that Darla isn't in this episode. As a high-ranking favourite of the Master, you'd think she'd be leading the attack on the bus.

This episode also made me realize that the show in its entirety spends remarkably little time at funeral homes. I mean, you’d think Buffy going straight there would be more convenient than wandering around cemeteries all night, and since Andrew Borba rose well before he was committed to the ground, I imagine that those morgue workers must see a LOT of shit. Surely an arrangement could have been worked about between them and the Slayer...

In short, a solid episode with crucial plot-points, a worthy if not disposable love interest, a couple of good twists and a chance for Buffy to make a difficult, important and thematically resonate decision.

Best Line: Owen to Willow and Xander at the Bronze: “You show up everywhere. Interesting.” He’s trying so hard to understand.

Best Scene: Buffy making the call to break up with Owen. It’s the first of many, many, many difficult decisions she’ll have to make over the years.

Best Subversion: Not the Anointed One reveal, but that they took the hard route with Owen and had him open to a continuing relationship with Buffy... leading to her decision to end things.

Best One-Shot Character: He gets mocked a lot in fandom, but I can mount a reasonable defence of Owen – he’s certainly a better romantic option for Buffy than other temporary love interests like Parker or Scott Hope.

Most Ironic Scene: Cordelia’s first glimpse of Angel. Whew.

Death Toll: The vampire Buffy stakes in the cold open. The five passengers on the bus, including Andrew Borba twice (as a human then a vampire).

Grand Total: Eleven civilians, nine villains. Which means that this episode tips the balance in the bad guys’ favour for the first time.

#rav's watching log #rav's buffy rewatch #buffy the vampire slayer

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bedtimestoriesforbrokengirls · 11 months

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The Daily Dad

Things you might want to know, for May 21, 2023:

Hot Wheels car designer Harry Bradley dead at 84 — Hot Wheels were —amusingly— a giant part of my childhood. I had several plastic storage cases full of them, one of which was molded to look like a Goodyear tire. My brother and I raced them down home-made courses because we used the official plastic strips of track to hit each other, I lingered over them in the toy aisle at Kmart like an art collector at a museum, and sat in my room making up elaborate stories for them akin to what girls were doing with Barbie. Only I never made my cars scissor with one another.

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’: Every Episode Ranked From Worst to Best — Any list that suggests there were 24 episodes of Buffy —an entire season!— worse than “Doublemeat Palace” was created by someone who is both sad and stupid. (Probably an AI.) I’m okay with someone preferring it to, say, “Beer Bad” or “Where The Wild Things Are”, but DP is a top five, all-time worst for the show.

Jim Brown, all-time NFL great and social activist, dead at 87 — It seldom gets mentioned, but he was also an elite lacrosse player in college, a nationally competitive runner in track-and-field, and a decent basketball player… there was pretty much no sport Jim couldn’t have dominated if he’d cared to try.

Can casual sex ever really be casual? — “Yes.” There, I’ve answered this piece’s insipid opening question.

‘The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed’ Review: Joanna Arnow's Hilarious and Clever Debut

The Smiley Face Killers Conspiracy Theory Died Down. Then Came TikTok — PROTIP: the more ephemeral the medium, the less seriously you should take it… TikTok has nothing to teach that you need to learn.

How BDSM & paradoxes inspired director Zachary Wigon to make his new erotic thriller 'Sanctuary'

The Ephemeral Tattoo Studio provides tattoos that completely fade away after 1-3 years — I’m in favor of anything that makes a girl’s dumb decisions less permanent.

Anna Nicole Smith's Father 'Tried to Have Sex' with Her After Playmate Party, Friend Claims in Netflix Doc — Of course he did.

I founded SNCTM, the world’s most exclusive sex club — it ruined my marriage — Of course it did.

Illicit sex parties enjoyed by Silicon Valley's finest at 'warehouses' — Of course they are.

#news

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ryanreynoldsfangirl · 1 year

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Ryan Reynolds' Career

Today's hot topic is.... guess who? Ryan Reynolds! (his career but who cares.)

The charming, affable, and boyishly handsome Reynolds has made his way through everyone's hearts. His captivating personality and his witty humor never fails to amaze the crowd, be it teenagers or people old enough to be his grandmother.

HIS DEBUT ROLE IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

At the young age of 15, Ryan made his debut as Billy Simpson in the Canadian teen soap opera, Hillside, in 1991. The show lasted till 1993. Along with that, his journey in Hollywood began from the movie Ordinary Magic in 1993. He played the 15-year-old Ganesh who was born and brought up in India. Hinduism and Mahatma Gandhi's teachings highly influenced his character in this movie.

(WE KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING. EVEN WE'RE LOSING OUR SANITY OVER THIS!!!!!)

(Look at our lil' floatie-floatie boy <3333)

Anywaaaaay.

Reynolds had a few supporting parts in films and TV shows. Because he no longer wanted to play an adolescent, he declined the role of Xander in Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003). (Terrible fate, we know.) Instead, he was cast in the ABC comedy Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place as medical student Berg (1998–2001).

His role in the comedy The In-Laws marked his entry into the world of high-budget entertainment. He had an appearance in The X-Files episode titled Syzygy. He also made an appearance as the letter 'A' in the A-Team, in the 4225th episode of the popular kids show Sesame Street.

(THIS IS OUR LITTLE ANGRY A-BOY.)

Now the more exciting part,

HIS MOVIES!

When it comes to effortless charisma and wry wit, it's hard to top Canadian charmer Reynolds. But even though the Vancouver-born actor is mostly unchallenged in those categories, it took a while for him to take off as a bonafide movie star. After a decade of hit-or-miss comedies, Reynolds eventually hit the bullseye with 2016's Deadpool, marking the perfect use of his naughty humor and comic delivery.

(Our top G Ryan as Deadpool *rock 'n' roll*)

Deadpool is regarded as one of the best superhero movies of all time and quickly became the highest earning R-Rated film ever, only beaten by Joker in 2019.

A few of his most adorable films include 'Definitely, Maybe' (2008), The Proposal (2009), The Change-Up (2011), and Just Friends (2005).

He's got many spectacular action movies under his belt. A few of them include, The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017) with top-rated co-star Samuel L. Jackson, 6 Underground (2019), Free Guy (2021), Red Notice (2021), and The Adam Project (2022).

Let's not forget his role as Harvey Kinkle (with the bad hair, ew, but he's cute so we'll take it.) in the movie Sabrina The Teenage Witch (1996).

And then there are a few movies which weren't very well received by his audience. These include R.I.P.D. (2013), Amityville Horror (2005), Green Lantern (2011), and Turbo (2013).

Moving on....

AWARDS HE'S RECEIVED OVER THE YEARS.

Our gorgeous superstar Ryan has received many notable awards as his career progressed. The first ever award he received was in 2003, it was the 'Young Hollywood Award for Next Generation - Male'. Then came an award for his role in Green Lantern - 'People's Choice Award for Favorite Superhero' in 2012, even though this movie was met with conflicting reviews, Reynolds managed to win different hearts by doing what he always does. Turn his charm on. (We AREN'T complaining at all.) A huge number of awards followed his movie Deadpool, which was a major box office hit. One for Best Entertainer in a Comedy Movie, and another for Entertainer of The Year.

Here's Ryan accepting the People's Icon Award at the People's Choice Awards 2022. (Look at his adorable smile, we all love him here at Ganesh Lovers' Community.)

Reynolds' has had a total of 60 nominations and 21 wins in his Hollywood career, which is actually quite a lot.

HIS PERSONAL LIFE

Childhood

Reynolds was raised in a Vancouver Irish Catholic home as the youngest of four boys. His parents were police officers and his mother worked in retail. Two of his brothers work in law enforcement, while a third is a member of the RCMP. From 1940 until 1944, his grandfather Chester Reynolds served as a legislator for Stettler, Alberta, as a member of the Social Credit Party.

Love Life

He was engaged to singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette from June 2004 to February 2007, when they called off their engagement.

Ryan with Alanis.

Shortly after, Reynolds started dating actress Scarlett Johansson, with whom he married on September 27, 2008, at a resort in Clayoquot Sound, close to Ucluelet, British Columbia. In December 2010, they divorced and filed for separation.

Ryan with Scarlett.

He started dating Blake Lively, his Green Lantern co-star, in 2011, and the two got married on September 9, 2012.

Ryan with Blake.

Children

Ryan and Blake have three daughters together: James (born in 2014), Inez (born in 2016), and Betty (born in 2020). Betty’s name was publicly revealed by a close friend, Taylor Swift in her song of the same name from the album Folklore.

Them with their three kids. (Our mini Ryan's and Blake's <3)

Personal Achievements

In 2008 and 2009, People magazine ranked Reynolds as one of the sexiest men alive. He was named the magazine's sexiest man alive in 2010.

He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2011, but the event was postponed since he couldn't make it. (Kinda depressing, TBH.) The day of his official induction was October 18, 2014.

But in December of 2016, Reynolds was honored with a star of his on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

(They're the cutest, seriously.)

Let's move on to....

HIS CHARITY AND ADVOCACY WORK

(This is kind of lengthy, bear with us.)

He's a humble and down-to-earth man, at least from what we've heard, and with the help of his super incredible wifey Blake, they make the power duo and set foot on Earth to save a few souls here and there. Here are a few of their contributions:

A half-million dollars were given to the Canadian nonprofit Water First Education & Training Inc. in March 2022 by Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.

In Vancouver, Canada, Reynolds also appeared in campaign videos sporting his recognizable "ugly" red-and-green sweater. By January 2021, according to the charity, $640,000 had been raised as a result of his fundraising efforts.

In March 2021, Reynolds and Lively gave $250,000 to a Canadian organization that mentored Indigenous youngsters, Influence Mentoring.

Reynolds and his wife had also matched donations made to Covenant House Vancouver and Toronto up to a total of $250,000 in a remarkable gesture of generosity to help youngsters who are homeless, victims of trafficking, or in danger, back when COVID-19 had first struck.

Reynolds joined The Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2008 when he participated in Team Fox's New York City Marathon run. Reynolds ran the marathon in his father's memory, finishing in under four hours and raising more than $100,000 for Parkinson research.

And lastly,

HIS ALCOHOL COMPANY AVIATION GIN

As we see his posts on social media promoting his gin company:

Let's give you a brief history on the company and his role in it.

The goal of Aviation Gin was to develop a democratic gin blend with juniper in the background. It was formed in 2006 out of Portland, Oregon. a gin that is suitable for every cocktail. For the next ten years, it would remain mostly unknown.

Fast forward to 2018, when gin use was growing more rapidly than that of any other type of alcohol. This led to substantial changes in the sector, such as Reynolds buying a stake in the Aviation American Gin. Reynolds is the creative director for the marketing campaign, and it is spectacularly successful (Aviation Gin is now the fastest-growing gin brand in America). How could it not? Reynold is a comic genius who conveys important messages about the quality of gin in the funniest, most approachable ways conceivable. Here's one of his advertisements for the company:

youtube

Hilarious! Are we right?!

Ah, sadly we have to end this splendid deep dive into our favorite floatie-boy Ryan Reynold's life here, but! We're not signing off without blessing your eyes with a few photos of his ;)

Your welcome.

Anyway, signing off, it's the dream team, Ganesh Lovers (get it?).

Adios till our next blog!

#ryan reynolds #deadpool #free guy #blake lively #Youtube

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mothman-rewatches · 11 months

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Post Season Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season one.

Hello everyone! I have such mixed emotions as I’m typing this. We have reached the end of season one, which means we get to talk about the season as a whole. I’m sad to have finished this season, but I’m excited for what’s to come. I have a lot to say, so let’s get on with it.

WARNING: This post contains spoilers.

The Good: First, we have to talk about the Master. This might be an unpopular opinion, but the Master is one of the most memorable Big Bads of the series for me. He stands out from the rest of the Big Bads in the same way he is different from the rest of the vampires on the show. I would have loved to see more of him, even just little pieces. His story is something that I am so deeply curious about. Mark Metcalf and the costuming department made him who he is, and I commend them.

Speaking of costuming, it was unexpectedly one of my favorite parts of the season. When I decided to include a fashion corner section in these reviews, I wasn’t sure I would have anything specific to write about. I don’t pretend to know anything about fashion, and there were a lot of times my comments felt a little silly, but costuming made the experience worth it. I loved seeing the small details that set Buffy apart from the other characters, and personally it added so much to my watch through of this season.

Buffy’s character arc is a huge note I have. I felt like almost every episode I brought up her arc, and for good reason. Buffy’s attempt to find normalcy sets her apart distinctly, and it makes some of the underlying themes in the episodes so much better when you look at it through that lens. Slowly, as the season progresses, we watch Buffy learn to accept her fate as the Slayer. She still tries to balance being a normal girl and the Slayer, but the pressures on herself to be normal wane as she realizes she cannot ignore her duties. In the last review of the season, I pointed out that the underlying theme of “Prophecy Girl” was grief through the lens of a teenager, and that particularly ties into Buffy’s arc. She learns she is destined to die, and immediately shuts down. She quits, but is unable to ignore her fate. Her grief is centered around the loss of innocence, the loss of the ability to be a teenager, and it’s heartbreaking. It’s what perfectly ties the arc up at the end of the season.

Again, I loved the themes in certain episodes. They add another layer to each episode, and it’s fun to look through that lens and understand the episode a little deeper. Witch, Nightmares, Out of Mind, and Prophecy Girl pull this off wonderfully, and I wish they had a larger narrative theme for each of the episodes this season. I cannot wait to see this used in later seasons.

Lastly, I loved watching the character relationships grow. Watching how Buffy and Giles’s relationship progressed, or Buffy and Willow’s relationship progressed, and knowing where they end up is something special. You get to connect to these characters this way, and it’s worth it. I am going to love seeing where they go.

The Bad: As much as I loved this season, there was actually a lot I didn’t like. From the overuse of certain tropes, to characterization, I have things I wish had been better.

To start, Xander’s character. I really didn’t like Xander this season, and I will admit I did sort of ruin him for myself early on. Xander Harris is a rough character to begin with, and when you add in the context that he might be based on the creator, it gets worse. I spent a large chunk of the season cringing at every line he spoke, because most of the lines he had this season include sexual and perverse comments about his female friends or about the female classmates around them, or making snide comments because they rejected him. It’s easy to brush it off as him being a hormonal teenage boy, but at some points it crosses a line into creepy -- like the time he “joked” about taking pictures of Buffy through her bedroom window -- and it really feels like you can hear Joss when he says those things. I would like to see Xander move away from this part of his character, but I don’t have a whole lot of hope for it.

Another character I really struggled with this season was Cordelia. I don’t even think I have to say it anymore, I’ve said it what feels like a million times. Cordelia’s characterization was grossly mishandled, and I remember at one point thinking it was some sort of attack on Charisma Carpenter. She has very little growth throughout the season, until the very end when we actually see her character come through. We spend most of the season with the same one dimensional trait, the shallow and vain and bitchy Cordelia. It’s exhausting, and I still wish we had seen more of who she ends the season being. Even then, it took them ten and a half episodes to even try to make Cordelia likable, and it doesn’t feel fair to the character or the audience, let alone the actress.

Additionally, we have to talk about “The Harvest”, particularly Jesse’s character. Twelve episodes later, and I’m still irritated that they spent so much time discussing Jesse in that episode just to never mention him again. I’m not asking much, just a name drop or even a reference to him would be enough to sate me. I just don’t love how they did that, it feels like a waste of time. Narratively, I hope they make strides to change this with other characters, but we’ll see.

Also, it’s the elephant in the room. We all know I’m going to bring it up: the fucking fake outs. It got old by the second episode, but they continued to use it as a narrative tool. I don’t know why they loved it so much, but they did. It really reached a point of irritation for me in “Puppet Show”, and I’ve been stewing about it ever since. They used the fake out at almost every given chance in that episode, and it kind of ruined the episode for me. That being said, I can’t remember any major uses of this trope again in the series, so I’m hoping we can leave it behind in season one.

Lastly, the end scenes didn’t work for me. It’s a mini fake out, but it does nothing narratively for the rest of the series. The only time we see something that actually comes back up in the larger narrative is the reveal that the Anointed was alive. I think the use of the end scenes could work, but in moderation, with things that come up later. Until then, I see no point in using them.

Episode Ranking: This was actually so hard to do, because I didn’t really know where I wanted to put some of these. It was fun though, and it made me think about why certain episodes did better than others.

Twelfth - “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date”

Eleventh - “Teacher’s Pet”

Tenth - “I, Robot…You, Jane.”

Ninth - “Welcome to the Hellmouth”

Eighth - “Witch”

Seventh - “The Harvest”

Sixth - “The Puppet Show”

Fifth - “Angel”

Fourth - “Nightmares”

Third - “Out of Mind, Out of Sight”

Second - “The Pack”

First - “Prophecy Girl”

Reflection: This season has been a journey, in the best way. As the show found it’s footing, I too had to find mine while starting this blog. I know I have a long ways to go, but I am so proud of this blog, and I cannot begin to express how much it means to me.

The opportunity to sit down and watch one of my favorite shows and then talk about it is one I am incredibly grateful for. I got to know the show so much better this way, and my love for it really grew over the last twelve episodes. I can’t wait for the next six seasons, because I get to make this mine.

I was, admittedly, terrified when I started this blog. I didn’t think anyone would like it, or interact with it, but I took the risk anyway and I’m glad I did. I’ve struggled this season to try and find a balance between just analysis and personal experience, and how to find my voice while writing about this. I think I’m getting to a place that I like, but I’m always afraid it’s going to be too personal for anyone else to understand. I’m learning, and that’s all I can ask.

I have some ideas for next season, things I want to add to the reviews, and I’m excited to try them out. I put this on the end of each post, but I really do want to hear other people’s input. It’s not just my blog, it’s kinda supposed to be yours, too.

Out Takes/Funny Notes: These are gold in my opinion and I can’t leave them in my google doc.

Welcome to the Hellmouth:

-Because “try not to get kicked out” is a normal thing every parent tells their child on the first day of school.

-Why Sunnydale has a starbucks is beyond me, but they also don’t actually have a starbucks.

The Harvest:

-I would have staked Darla for the disobedience, honestly.

-Harmony is not as clueless as she becomes later in the series, she even seems sort of sweet.

-Nevermind she’s a raging bitch

-Yes Willow, go!! Sabotage them!

-Doesn’t it seem a little…coincidental you found Jesse, all alone, passed out in the tunnel?

-Is it just me or is Luke a little…damn

-This whole ritual is kinda…sexual?

-I feel like the vampires rolling up with their vamp faces isn’t the best tactical choice. Going in looking normal and then vamping out would have been more effective, I think.

-And it never was the same, good call Xander.

Witch:

-I would have thought something bad happened but no, it’s Buffy trying out for the cheer team

-NOT THE BARBIE DOLL

-”That girl’s on fire!!” Yes she is Willow!!!

-Buffy is the kind of friend I’d want because she’s always good in a crisis. If I caught on fire she’d be the first one I’d call

-Is that a scrunchie she’s wrapping around Cordelia-Barbie’s head?

-Joyce had Gidget hair? Incredible

-They’re all surprised that its witchcraft like?? Obviously?

-It’s a perv thing isn’t it?

-IT IS A PERV THING!!

-Are we about to get a shining reference?

-This whole episode is basically because Amy’s mom peaked in highschool

Teacher’s Pet:

-The whiny music is perfect for a Xander episode

-Oh my god, fork guy is scared of mantis-people

-I love that his name is fork guy

-Serving alcohol to minors is frowned upon, even if you’re a giant bug

Never Kill a Boy on the First Date:

-Giles forgetting he works as a high school librarian is so funny to me

-New game: Take a drink any time the scoobies are in the library and get all in a tizzy because someone else comes in

-What’s with the Master’s voice? He sounds like he’s choking back a cough or something

-The Scooby gang really needs to work on it’s barricading skills

-Why put random objects tossed around? Heavy!! Heavy objects!!

-This episode’s “gotcha”: The Anointed survived…and he’s a little boy

The Pack:

-Why are a bunch of high schoolers going to the zoo for a field trip

-And why is the principal there too?

-This is going to break my heart isn’t it

-It broke my heart

Angel:

-I’m glad the master’s voice is back to normal

-Fumigation night at the Bronze is simultaneously such a fun (interesting?) idea but so gross at the same time

-Okay, I don’t like Xander’s crush on Buffy obviously

-But the ideal situation here is a triad relationship

-They could all date each other

-Has anyone ever thought of that?

-Angel literally tells her that a vampire can’t come in uninvited two seconds after one of the three’s hands was in the house?

-Make it make sense

-God I really like how they dressed Angel this episode

-He’s tastefully slutty with the white v neck

-How awkward to have to explain to your crush that you’re the vampire who killed your family

-So Darla can’t go after Buffy, but she can kill the three? Idk man the Master needs to make up his mind

-The Master really should kill Darla

-He’s one of the oldest vampires alive! He’s her sire! And yet she talks back to him and defies him

-Not through the front window! That’s gonna cost a fortune!

-It’s so weird to hear him be called “Mr. Giles” because everyone else just calls him Giles

-Sometimes I forget his first name is Rupert and not Giles

I, Robot…You, Jane:

-Now that I think about it, Xander gets a lot of flack for dating girls who aren’t human or ordinary by any means, but Willow has a similar history?

-Moloch, a demon. Oz, a werewolf. Tara, a witch. And Kennedy, a potential Slayer

The Puppet Show:

-Giles can handle himself they say as he is about to be killed

-Like have you met the man

Nightmares:

-The guy with the ponytail kinda cute

-Honestly the kid is probably more terrifying than the actual anointed

-Just pops out of nowhere

-Do these kids ever go to class? I’m gonna start a class counter next season where I count how many classes they are shown to actually go to

-No one else notices the little boy wandering the halls?

-Who smokes in the school’s boiler room? I’d be worried it would blow the whole building

-The parallel between this girl literally being beaten to death and the sign that says smoking kills is so fucking funny to me

-No don’t go into the basement the basement has bad vibes!

-The only thing scary about that clown is his laugh tbh

Out of Mind, Out of Sight:

-God what a sexist pig

-I’m glad Marcie beats the shit out of him

-Clea DuVall!!

-A win for the lesbians

-I’m sorry you’re telling me the ceiling is stable enough to support three of you UNTIL you trade blows with Buffy? The math ain’t mathing

Prophecy Girl:

-Earth quake babey!!

-He’s dissociating Buffy, chill

-Go Willow go!!

-Buffy’s getting a little cocky with the stake isn’t she?

-I love when blood comes out of the sink! It’s so fun

-If Giles is the dad is Jenny the cool aunt or the step mom?

-Love how Buffy came back from the dead and said “fuck this it’s game time”

Thank YOU: You didn’t think I forgot my dues, did you?

First and foremost, I want to thank the team at @sunnydale-digest. You have given me a platform, and while I know that’s the point of your blog, I am forever grateful for you all. I have been following your blog for as long as I’ve been on tumblr (or at least, for as long as my main blog as existed), and I can’t tell you how much it means to me each time you reblog my posts. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

A special thank you to Kay (@goblinagenda), who won’t see this. When I told them about wanting to do this, they were so supportive. He pushed me to do make this blog, and I wouldn’t be here without him.

Of course, I cannot go without thanking Li (@voltrontrxsh). Li, mother of my children, my partner in crime, the person who is all but my creative director. Thank you so much, for all of your input and all of your support. You, whether you knew it or not, were a huge help at the beginning of this process, and I am so grateful for you.

Lastly, to the people who interact with my post and this blog. Thank you. I didn’t expect anyone to see this blog, I was fully prepared to be speaking into the void. Each like or reblog makes my heart swell, and it’s what pushed me to keep going. Thank you, I hope you see this blog as yours just as much as mine.

Final Notes: As always, feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, or questions in the ask box!

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #buffy the vampire slayer s1 #mothman rewatches #rewatch

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buffythecomicslayer · 2 years

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La Septième Obsession Special N°10: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (French)

132 pages on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show which celebrates its 25 anniversary this year! Featuring a focus on each member of the Scooby Gang (Buffy, Willow, Xander, Angel, Spike, Giles, Dawn, Oz, Faith, Cordelia...), best episodes reviewed (“The Body,” “Normal Again,” “Hush,” “Earshot,” “Once More, with Feeling,” “Nightmares,” “Ted”...), Sunnydale places (Bronze, cemetery, Magic Box...), monsters, feminism, genre, influences, playlist... + exclusive illustrations by Sara Deck, Elisa Menini, and Brouette Hurlante!

Cover: Sara Deck.

learn more | buy here

#buffy the vampire slayer #other media #buffy summers #xander harris #willow rosenberg #angel #rupert giles #spike #sara deck #elisa menini #brouette hurlante

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marvellousinternethideout · 1 year

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BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

Season 2

Ep 8 - The Dark Age

A visitor for Rupert Giles, well, everything gonna be fine, really, why would he look for him and it not he's gonna die before reaching him.

Oh for fuck sake, put the volume down Buffy, a man is dying outside woman.

Well, I guess he will die.

Now you turn off the music. Oh girl.

Did this green color monster(?) girl turned into green liquid. Perfect.

What was this Giles dream? Was he part of the dark forces cult? Giles is too damn mysterious.

Jenny is gonna die, isn't she...

Jenny make him squirm in another way, not by telling him you underlined in his book.

Welp she will make him squirm other way and she decided to try it on Saturday. Good for you girl, ofc unless you're dead then it's not good idea at all.

God Cordelia, shut up.

Giles was part of some cult wasn't he..?

What's with the tattoo ?

C'mon now even doctors are vampires. No one is safe there.

What's going Giles? Another one of Giles old cult friend is dead, looks like three of them is dead. Well giles is next .

He also has the same tattoo. What kind of cult were you part of giles.

Wait, who's back Giles? More mystery, love it, love the episode .

So the tattoo killed bodies are turning into some kind of monster and killing the next member. So he's coming for giles now.

Lmao xander, i love it when he roasts Cordelia .

Oh, it's Ethan guy, wait why is he here? Oh, yeah he was also the part of cult.

"Mark of wagon(?)" damn it kinda sounds devilish.

The dead body is back and he wants to kill Ethan. So Ethan will kill Rupert.

Ethan called giles ripper didn't he?

Damn giles, he's hot when he gets like this, all serious and strong.

What kind of evil god/demon did they all summoned and pissed off?

Oh no, Jenny is the green monster now. Damn another one is dead. Poor giles. Also, Giles get tf away from Jenny.

Giles love, Jenny is gonna kill you, run.

Good, the gang figured out that Jenny is the possessed demon now.

Oh well the demon came forward on his own, good for giles i guess... Or not.

Rupert Jenny is dead now. Yes "don't be sorry, be Giles", listen to buffy.

What do you mean, you created this monster giles.

Giles was in the band, Damn! He was kinda hot.

We're gonna have to kill Jenny, don't we?

Ethan is kinda hot and a dumb bitch.

Wait, what is Ethan doing? What a fucking bitch. What a coward.

Xander and Cordelia just needs to hate fuck it out of their system. Go find a closet.

Oh damn, willow snapped, you go, girl tell them.

Giles get your shit together, it's time to save buffy.

Kill ethan not buffy you weird green demon.

Oh yess Angel is here to save the day.

Wait, wtf, did angel just got the demon inside him. What's gonna happen to him.

So Jenny didn't die this episode, well let's see when she does.

Damn, so I guess giles and Jenny are over. Feel bad for Giles, he and buffy are so alone, it's sad. They share the same fate.

What happened to angel?

So, phew this episode, this was intense. I loved this one, it's like we are now continually picking pace. Giles dark past, honestly not that dark, I thought it's gonna be more darker and intense. Still, kinda wish we had more scenes of his past.

Whatever that monster was, wygon(?) I think, is inside angel or dead, I didn't quite understand that part. That was a smart move from willow.

Oh and Jenny and giles seem to be over, yeah it's sad but who can blame her, you can't be part of giles and Buffy's life unless you're part of the supernatural world, it's sad but it is what it is. Hopefully he will find someone someday. It has to get so lonely. It's honestly a sad life, minus saving the whole world thingy.

I guess that's it, loved the episode, it was interesting, especially giles past, I still wish we had more angel, as much as I love the chemistry between buffy and him, I can't exactly ship them when he's barely in the show. No spike or drusilla in this episode, no vampires. Also, no OZ, can we have him back.

Oh btw, fuck you Ethan.

That's it, see ya in the next one. Cheers 🥂

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #btvs s2 #btvs s2 review #btvs s2 ep 8 #episode 8 #buffy #willow #xander #angel #cordelia #rupert giles #giles past #buffy x willow x xander #buffy x angel #no oz again #no spike #btvs review #The dark age

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sunnydaleherald · 24 days

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The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday - Friday, April 4 - 5 - PART TWO

(Buffy gives final instructions.) SPIKE: Well, not exactly the St. Crispin's Day speech, was it? GILES: We few... (Giles goes past Spike as Spike gathers up the bag of weapons.) GILES: ...we happy few. SPIKE: We band of buggered.

~~The Gift~~

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: “Out. For. A. Walk….Bitch” by nerdromthenet (Spike, worksafe)

Artwork: [The World tarot card] by isevery0nehereverystoned (Buffy, worksafe)

Moodboard: moodboard: autistic agender tara maclay by purgeshubble (worksafe)

Moodboard: Kendra Young- Buffy the vampire slayer by awinterroseesstuff (Kendra, worksafe)

Gifset: tara & willow as the tarot by daisyssousa (Tara/Willow, worksafe)

Gifset: make me choose - osiriaroses asked fred/gunn or wes/lilah by sulietsexual (Gunn/Fred, worksafe)

Gifset: [Buffy Summers, Class Protector] by andremichaux (Buffy, worksafe)

Gifset: Buffy the Vampire Slayer 6.09 | 7.07 by slayerbuffy (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Valentines: Apparently ten years ago I made Buffy valentines. by aprilthebiqueen (Buffy, Angel, worksafe)

Manip: Spuffy manips I made! Please credit if you use them. by allchoseny (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Manip: I call this manip I did “Broken William.” by allchoseny (Spike, worksafe)

Fanvid: CALLING ALL JAMES MARSTERS FANS TO THE RING by captain-ghost (Spike, fanvid)

Artwork: Willow vs Ulquiorra Page 2 by MattanzaMFedora on DeviantArt (Willow, worksafe)

[Reviews & Recaps]

S01E08 I Robot, You Jane by she-saved-the-world-a-lot

S01E07 Angel by she-saved-the-world-a-lot

Re-watch of show. Season 3 (spoilers below) by bookishowlet

BTVS/Angel Rewatch Chronicles: Seasons 5/2, Part One [Buffy vs Dracula to Family] by QualifiedApathetic

about season 4? by ngbp

I just finished watching Season 4 and wanted to say what I thought about it by UNimAginAtiveuseRn

PODCAST: Don't Trust the Goat - Gravity Falls S01E01 - Tourist Trapped by Pop Culture Role Call

PODCAST: Episode 22 - Don't Warn the Tadpoles! (What's my Line Part 1) by The Sunnydale Diaries - A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast

PODCAST: Season 1 Wrap Up! by Once More: A Rewatch Podcast

[Recs & In Search Of]

Video: Making Riley Finn Interesting (by Pensive Whiskers) recced by riley-summers

[Community Announcements]

REMINDER: It really bugs me when people post stuff about how they don't like a ship or character [but don't tag it anti] by riley-summers

Y'all, come join the Fanged Four ‘Runs In The Blood’ Discord Server. by somekindofadeviant

POLL: Preliminary [round tie] by btvsepisodetournament

[Fandom Discussions]

Why did Willow Rosenberg’s boyfriend just growl at me. by sunnydale-high-school-rumors

Look I totally thought that Scott Hope was just being a bitter ex... by sunnydale-high-school-rumors

dude I swear I keep seeing buffy summers hanging out with some guy in the graveyard by sunnydale-high-school-rumors

[Faith texts Buffy] by scooby-group-texts

Screw it, let's do this... Riley ship opinions, pt. 1, M/F edition by riley-summers

it's so crucial to take the show's tone into account... [giles x anya] by once-more-with-tabula-rasa

i love that buffy and riley's breakup feels like an argument... by joodeegemstone

Ask answered: what was your first fandom? [praise for BTVS fandom] by hils79

Me, when all you asked was what time it was, for the fifth time that day: no you don’t get it— they’re the chosen two. [Buffy x Faith] by fictiongods

As an alcoholic in recovery this scene speaks to me. [Spike] by desicat-writer

Do we see anybody that we knew as a human turned into a vampire after The Harsh Light of Day? [Harmony] by coraniaid

i think people fem spike up cuz of his body type- but based on character... [Angelus] by captain-peroxid3

Imagine, if you will, that you hate someone so much that you want to violently kill them [Spike] by breezybeej

I think Harmony knows that she is a vampire but I don't think she knows what a vampire is. by breezybeej

there are obviously a lot of intended parallels in season 2 between buffy and drusilla by bloomfish

charles gunn, my most beautiful sunshine man, described like this... by bloomfish

... the most relatable character on Buffy? updated by various

What If: Xander Went To College? updated by various

Buffy, Giles and Spike updated by various

Would Faith have threatened to kill Dawn? by Itchy_Initiative6180

Why couldn't Anya "officially, magically" hurt Xander after getting her powers back? by smileliketheradio

Spike/Buffy in season seven: a huge cop out from the writers by SafiraAshai

What to watch after Buffy & Angel? by alwaysleepingg

the Scoobs have always been against Buffy having a proper romance... by zarif_chow

What was the controversy regarding Buffy’s comments to the first slayer? by Scopeburger

Favorite villian/s on the show by kittycat6434

Cordelia the Bad Decision Slayer [and what Cordelia would do if she never left Sunnydale] by Comfortable-Sun6571

I've just started a Buffy rematch... there were signs of Evil Willow as early on as Episode 2's The Harvest by Hotch91

Who do you think should have been endgame loves? by artmalique

What are your favorite Buffyverse moments where a character got exactly what they deserved? by PristineSituation498

Why is Wesley treated so badly by Buffy and the others? by JellyfishDry9464

Amy Acker from Fred to Illyria is thee best acting ever! by symynuk

Other Buffy media to explore? [recs of comics, books, podcasts, etc] by GamallSoro

About Buffy and Anya [in S7] by Dappich

Surprise and Innocence by penny1985

Guilty pleasures? [characters, ships, episodes, or scenes that are considered bad] by Dull_Bumblebee4623

What if Tara had been a demon? by Moonycoves

Watching Angel solo or co-watching with Buffy? by kai1793

I love Harmony in all her unicorn-loving bimbo glory. by Dull_Bumblebee4623

Cordy/Jasmine by Typical-Owl9521

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

James Marsters Upcoming Events List by dontkillspike

James Marsters to Attend Mad Monster Expo in Concord, NC 23-25 Aug by dontkillspike

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

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

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