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elysianholly · 4 months

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This fucking guy

My villain origin story is people claiming that Riley's biggest crime in the series was being boring. He wasn't just boring. He was a passive-aggressive chauvinist who the show bent over backward to defend. A while back on Reddit, I made a list of reasons why Riley sucks. This is that list, and I'm adding to it.

The only reason he punches Parker is because Parker is mouthing off about a girl Riley likes. Everything about this interaction suggests that Riley has heard him say similar before, and hasn't cared until the woman in question was someone he had a vested interest in.

He calls Buffy stupid for not wanting to date him (if this guy slid into your DMs and called you stupid for turning him down, lbr, this would not lead into a healthy, lasting romance)

He immediately puts himself in competition with Buffy. Even at his most inoffensive, he says things like "I don't even know if I could take you."

He has an inherently chauvinistic view of the world (established in The Initiative)

He is upset that Buffy had a significant relationship before she knew him and assumes Buffy boinked Angel in The Yoko Factor

He uses abuser language to excuse his shitty behavior like, "I love you so much I can't think straight."

He decides that Buffy doesn't love him all by himself

When he decides that Buffy doesn't love him, he confides in Xander and doesn't communicate his relationship issues with Buffy

He wants to help Buffy but only in jobs that are "manly." In No Place Like Home, for instance, he nopes out when Buffy suggests he help with the spell to identify what might be wrong with Joyce. Even if there wasn't a lot for him to do, he could, idk, stick around to be moral support for his partner who is trying to figure out what might be attacking her mother. That seems like a pretty standard partner thing to do.

He gets upset that Buffy "doesn't get all worked up over him" the way she did with Angel when "getting all worked up" in CONTEXT means "isn't constantly miserable."

He is sad boi at Buffy in OoMM for also prioritizing her mother's health after she believes Riley is healed rather than sticking around to play nursemaid

He wants Buffy to show emotion over Joyce at a time when Buffy literally cannot (if you've never had a parent in the hospital with a life-threatening illness, maybe you don't know that there are times/places to break down and "in the hospital" where you're supposed to be strong isn't one of them)

He doesn't care that his girlfriend's mother is sick, possibly with something life-threatening; he cares that he got to be the hero of the piece, the shoulder for Buffy to cry on. His only reaction to any of that was to be hurt that Buffy didn't respond the way he thought she should; no concern for her well-being or Joyce's, just Riley getting his feelings hurt because he wasn't the center of Buffy's universe or the rock for her to lean on when all went to pieces

This is further confirmed by the way he just doesn't mention Joyce's absence at all in As You Were. When he leaves Sunnydale, it's after Joyce has had a successful operation. He returns and she's not there and no questions? No condolences? It's because he doesn't care.

He doesn't ask about Buffy's death when she lets him know she died.

He starts separating himself from the Scoobies and then gets mad for not being included

He literally cheats on Buffy with vampire sex workers (there are people who say they were not sex workers, but in a show where monsters are metaphors, you have to be especially dense or willfully obtuse to not realize this is what they are)

Riley intentionally puts himself in a position where he might be killed or turned specifically to SPITE BUFFY, which demonstrates his lack of consideration for what she might have to do later if things go bad

Riley blames Buffy for being roofied by Dracula (again, monsters as metaphor)

He never apologizes or owns that he was unfaithful

He blames his infidelity on Buffy, actually

The first time Buffy learns Riley isn't happy, she's told she should've seen it, which is classic victim blaming and happens from Xander AND Riley (and a good amount of fans who want to excuse that behavior)

He is fine with torturing sentient creatures, and in fact had a stake made specifically so he could torture vampires without killing them

He goes behind Buffy's back all the time

Riley was not boring. If he were boring, he would be inoffensive. Dull to watch but not rage-inducing. But he is rage-inducing because, despite all the passive-aggressive gaslighting bullshit he gets away with, people in this fandom still believe he was "Buffy's best boyfriend." That she was to blame for the deterioration of this relationship. That he was the healthiest of the Buffyverse men. The show does, too. That's why Xander (Wh*don's mouthpiece) gives that sanctimonious little speech to Buffy (the audience in this case) in Into the Woods to scold us for not treating Riley better. Then they double down in As You Were to make Buffy fawn all over herself to let this gaslighting asshole off the hook for everything he put her through.

Riley's sin is not being boring. It's that he was actually awful. Wh*don himself once called Riley a "healthy relationship" for Buffy, and if that doesn't tell you something, there's no talking to you.

#btvs #buffy #anti riley finn #anti buffy x riley #buffy the vampire slayer #buffy meta #btvs meta

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destielshippingnews · 3 years

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Edvard's Supernatural Rewatch & Review: 1x04 Phantom Traveler

In this week’s analysis, I’ll be discussing the unfortunate introduction of Abrahamic mythology, the lamentable gender politics of Dean in his nightwear, and magic languages.

Supernatural’s fourth offering, 1x04 Phantom Traveler, (not a misspelling, 'traveller' is spelt like that in America) is a solid episode. It’s not fantastic, and Supernatural certainly has better to offer, but it’s still an entertaining watch which introduces demons into the Supernatural universe and continues developing Dean and Sam’s characters, making them more distinct.

It is also the first episode Robert Singer directed for Supernatural. I didn’t see much to particularly comment on in the direction for this episode (my two years of Media Studies were not wasted on me at all), but one interesting choice, however, is the tracking shot of Dean’s sleeping form straight after the title card. EscapingPurgatory podcast had a shrewd postulation: the intended audience was heterosexual educated men between the ages of roughly 15 and 39, but a lot of them would be watching with their girlfriends and wives etc, and Dean is the brother who’s available at the moment.

Returning to the plot of the show, the script does itself a major disservice as early as the cold open. This episode was broadcast in America four years after 9/11 (almost four and a half in Britain) and was right in the middle of the decades-long and still ongoing war on drugs. The atmosphere surrounding airfare has changed fundamentally. The air hostess clearly saw the man’s black eyes and was affected by it, and should have alerted somebody on the plane to her worries, because she would have thought he was on drugs of some variety at the very least, and possibly smuggling drugs on the plane. However, for the purposes of the plot she does not act on her misgivings, but simply gasps and goes about her day.

This raises the question of why the demon revealed its presence like that. Demons are usually incredibly stupid on Supernatural, but this level of dumb is difficult for me to believe. The air hostess could have very easily had the man thrown off the aeroplane, and then its plan would be scuppered. The most likely reason was to show the audience that the man was possessed, but the audience was going to find that out in about a minute’s time anyway, so why reveal it there? It breaks the fourth wall in a bad way.

Whilst on the aeroplane and the demon’s plan, the episode never makes the demon’s motivations explicit. Sure, Sam claims that demons like death and destruction for their own sake, but this doesn’t fit well with how demons behave later in the show. They are, forsooth, as thick as poo, but they usually have higher ups telling them what to do. Was the demon’s repeated downing of aeroplanes part of a higher up’s plan?

Before I go on, it’s worthwhile mentioning that this episode is the first one to introduce the idea of an actual Abrahamic Hell in the Supernatural universe. It’s not the only genre show of its kind to have included something like this, with Charmed having the Underworld where the Source of All Evil resided, and Buffy having various Hell dimensions, but those two examples weren’t Hell as depicted in the Bible.

Joss Whedon specifically avoided the idea of a Hell and employed dimensions ruled by demons and demon gods rather than Archangel Lucifer. Charmed used the Underworld as an equivalent of Hell, but it was not a place of punishment for human souls. While Charmed is definitely my least favourite fantasy/horror/sci-fi genre show (Prue notwithstanding), I appreciated that it took a step away from Abrahamic mythology. Buffy/Angel were even better, having their own mythology that had precious little to do with Middle Eastern religions and more to do with Dunsany, Lovecraft or sometimes even Tolkien.

Kripke, however, took the lazy route with Abrahamic, specifically Christian, mythology, a choice which I believe was to the show’s detriment. It’s supposed to be a show about American folklore and urban legends, but that stuff eventually gets thrown under the bus. Forget Native Americans, screw the Americanised versions of Scandiwegian lore, screw the Old West and the Gold Rush and all the tales revolving around America’s history. And Canada? Pfft. What even is Canada? And don’t even think about Mexico. Let’s just have yet more desert myths from 2-3000 years ago.

My distaste aside, this universe has a Hell (and a Heaven), and demons are made by torturing humans until all humanity is gone from them, or by letting the humans off the torture rack if they agree to become the torturers.

Knowing this, two possibilities come to mind. One is that this demon is repeating its own human death for some reason, and another is that it kills people and drags their souls to Hell to make more demons.

Repeating its own death is entirely speculative, but this episode mixes up demons with traits later associated with ghosts and death echoes. Never again is an EMF reader used to detect demonic activity, and unless I’ve forgotten a certain example, demons aren’t shown to act as specifically as this again.

The second option, that of dragging souls to Hell, doesn’t seem likely as it’s made clear that demon deals or trades are required in order for Hell to get its claws on human souls, at least in usual circumstances. There’s nothing saying that demons can’t just decide to drag certain souls to Hell, and there is an implication at the end of this episode that this might actually be the case, but it’s a stretch. If this were the case, however, it would give the demon a real motive and make the episode less of a stand-alone bit of fun with overt X-Files vibes.

Sticking with Hell events on the aeroplane for now, let’s skip to the end and the exorcism. Whilst trying to exorcise the demon, it tells Sam that Jessica is burning in Hell. Dean tries to reassure Sam by saying that demons read minds and that it was trying to get to him, but demons can only know the minds of people they possess. This then leaves three options: the demon was lying and Jess is in Heaven, it was telling the truth and Jess is in Hell, or the demon was just trying to get to Sam, but unbeknownst to him Jess actually was in Hell.

Technically speaking, Jess shouldn’t be in Hell. She didn’t make a deal (that we know of) and it’s established later in the show that most people go to Heaven anyway. But Kevin didn’t, neither did Eileen or Bobby. Mary did, even though she made a deal with Azazel, and she died under the same circumstances as Jess. As Jess is never mentioned as being in Hell by another demon in the show, and as Dean, Sam and Cas eventually visit Hell and find nothing of her there, we can assume Jessica went to Heaven.

The exorcism in this episode is strange compared to exorcisms in the rest of the show. The Doyle (external to the text) explanation is clearly that the writers didn’t know exactly how they wanted things to work yet, but the Watson (within the text) explanation could be that they used a different exorcism ritual. Later in the show, there is no intermediate stage between being expelled from the host body and being banished to Hell: they just go directly down. This version, though, forces the demon to manifest and thereby makes it much stronger and more dangerous. I personally think the version in this episode makes the demons more of a threat because it’s harder to exorcise them, but I can see why it became streamlined later in the show.

The fact the demon possessed the aeroplane, however, raises the question of why it didn’t do so in the first place. Maybe it’s more fun to possess a human first.

Speaking of the ritual, Jared tells us on the commentary that he had to have a Latin teacher from a local university instruct him in Ecclesiastical Latin because he learnt Classical Latin at school. As a language person, I’m left wondering why. It’s the same language, just pronounced differently. Does the spell need to be pronounced in a certain way in order to work? If so, would the Ancient Romans have been completely incapable of expelling demons with their own language? Would they have had to rely on Greek, Etruscan, Gaulish or Sumerian for the rituals? It’s just completely unnecessary, especially as we later see Rowena casting spells in Scottish Gaelic, Irish witches casting spells in Irish, Celtic ‛demons’ performing rituals in Gaulish…

At least the university teacher got a little bit of extra money, I suppose.

Sticking with the aeroplane a little bit longer, Dean’s fear of flying is a welcome expansion to his character, though it was clearly included with the intent of making fun of him. It could easily have been played as such, but Jensen’s comments on the commentary indicate he saw it as an opportunity to provide more depth to Dean, as his connection with Lucas through their shared childhood trauma did in 1x03 Dead in the Water. In these two episodes, Jensen begins taking Dean away from the writers and making him his own: he was supposed to be the sidekick, but Jensen said nope.

In making Dean afraid of flying, but having him so insistent upon flying in spite of it, The Show perhaps did itself a bit of a disservice in its mission of making Sam The Hero and Dean The Sidekick. Dean was terrified, but flew anyway. That is bravery, and it’s what the audience wants to see in a hero.

Sam, however, does not miss an opportunity to make me dislike him (you knew this was coming at some point, don’t look surprised). Not only is he incredibly unappreciative and derisive of Dean’s talents, such as making his own EMF from an old Walkman, but he was also derisive of Dean’s fear of flying.

Sorry, let me reword that. Derisive of Dean for being scared of flying. It’s perfectly rational to be afraid of being in a giant metal bird suspended miles above the ground, but Dean agreed to it anyway in order to save people. And Sam treats him like a child because he’s scared of take-off and turbulence. Dean’s fear is a rational one, something that a person who hasn’t been sheltered from reality would have. Sam’s greatest fear, however, is…

Clowns.

I get it, they’re brothers, and siblings are supposed to rib on each other like this (the siblings I still talk to aren’t like this with me or each other, so I find it difficult to relate to Dean and Sam’s relationship) but it makes Sam come across as an utter cunny-hole. If somebody is clearly terrified of something and on the edge of a panic attack, you don’t sneer and mock, and then demand he calm down. Sure, Dean needed to calm down and Sam was the only one who could do it, but talking to him like a child just reveals how little Sam knows of taking care of other people. He’s the pampered younger brother, and it really shows.

He also shows a lack of judgement when roughly putting a hand on Dean’s shoulder while he was distracted. Dean’s essentially a war child (and suffers C-PTSD) and you just shouldn’t do things like this to somebody like that. That’s how you trigger panic attacks or flashbacks. Ask a veteran, I’m sure s/he’ll agree.

Aside from that, the middle-aged man on the aeroplane winked at Dean – winked – when Dean was walking down the aisle with his EMF reader. A man winking at a man has sexual overtones nowadays, and has done for a long time. How many men wink at a built guy standing over them like that unless they’re sure they won’t be punched in the face? Dean had his EMF reader out at that moment, but he was simultaneously on somebody else’s radar. Something about Dean set sexual bells ringing in cameo middle-aged man’s head. Regarding Sam, there’s two important moments for him in this episode (Jess aside): when he discovers John talked about and praised him in his absence, and when he exorcises the demon. It’s made clear in a few episodes’ time that Sam never felt like he fit in with his family, and that he believed John was disappointed in him. Exactly how he came to this conclusion is uncertain, since John doted on Sam and afforded him liberties he never would have allowed Dean, but it’s clear their relationship is difficult. Going away to university was Sam’s attempt to run away from the dysfunctional family he felt an outsider in and to escape John (and Dean): that he apparently didn’t speak to either John or Dean during his time there says a lot.

He finds out, however, that John praised him, undermining somewhat Sam’s belief that John regarded him as a disappointment. Episode 1x05 Bloody Mary provides another moment of character growth for Sam that subtly changes the way he perceives himself, but all in due course.

Praise from parents is important for children, and it really shouldn’t be hard for parents to tell their children they’re proud of them, even if they don’t say it in as many words. In spite of his difficult relationship with John, Sam gets that by proxy in this episode (whilst Dean’s happily checking out all the men in the hangar) and it changes the way he sees himself and John, even if only slightly.

The other moment – discussed above – is his exorcism of the demon. I don’t mince my words about disliking Sam, but even I can see he had potential. He’s the weird kid who wanted a normal life, but because of cursed blood had that hope denied him. Series 4 shows us the beginning of what Sam could have turned into when his blood magic arc truly kicks off, and it could have been a riveting plotline if written and handled well. Think for example of Willow in Buffy and the journey she went on with her magic powers: there was real darkness in there, and a gargantuan struggle to overcome it and become stronger.

This exorcism reminds me of Willow’s first steps at witchcraft in 2x22 when she casts the spell to restore a certain character’s soul and we see the potential for true strength as she performs the spell with ease. This exorcism of Sam’s should have been something similar, and his demonic powers should not have been completely removed and forgotten about in 8x23. He could have been Supernatural’s answer to Willow, and the Dark!Sam arc in series 3-7 could have been the first in his descent into darkness and his fight back out to take control of his own powers and become the opposite of what Azazel wanted him to be.

But – and not for the last time – three words come to mind. Such potential, Supernatural.

You might remember I mentioned the tracking shot of Dean (and neglected to mention the revealing shot of his thighs and underwear). Paula R. Stiles’ suggestion that the fact the writers and director for this episode were men doesn’t cheapen it is one I don’t understand. Jensen is in my 100% objective and unbiased opinion one of the finest men alive, but exploiting that in order to draw in an audience does cheapen the show.

To be fair, Supernatural is hardly high culture and commercial television is about revenue, but things like that break the illusion of artistic integrity, just like not making Dean explicitly bisexual does because that’d scare away too much of the audience. If having scantily-clad women in a show or film is there for the male gaze and drawing in money, then so too are Dean’s thighs and buttocks, similarly cheapening the show. If the male gaze objectifies women, stripping them of their power and subjecting them to male desires, then the female gaze objectifies and strips men of any power they might have and subjects them to female desires.

If it’s bad for the gander, it should also be bad for the goose.

Neither do I think it matters one bit that the writer and director are men, or am I supposed to believe a woman has never encouraged or coerced another woman to flash a bit of boob in order to get men to empty their pockets? Claiming that presenting a person as an object of possible sexual attraction turns him into an ‛object’ is strange, and that claim’s only ever made when women are being presented for men’s enjoyment.

But let’s stick to Supernatural because I have work in the morning. To be honest, I never notice if a woman on screen is being subjected to a ‛male’ gaze because I have no sexual or romantic interest in women whatsoever: if a woman is supposed to be portrayed as appealing to men’s eyes, it’ll usually go straight over my head because it just doesn’t register as having anything to do with sex. Interesting, however, is that this begins the trend of treating Dean in certain ways that women are usually treated, or associating him with ‛feminine’ traits.

Some people go overboard with for example Dean’s association with and likeness to Mary, his taking on the parental (maternal?) role in Sam’s upbringing, his knack with children etc, and use it as evidence to suggest that any traditionally masculine behaviour – or masculine behaviour at all – from Dean is a performance to keep up an act so that he can hide how feminine he really is.

My take on this is quite different than the condescending viewpoint that a man behaving like a man is performing and pretending. Dean’s ‛feminine’ traits are not his ‛true’ self in opposition to his feigned masculine behaviour. There is absolutely no contradiction between Dean exhibiting ‛feminine’ traits such as being good with children, cooking, or trying his hardest to fill the role Mary would have filled, and being a masculine man who identifies very strongly with being male.

I do think it’s fascinating, though, and the complexity and depth of Dean as a male character is one of the reasons he is one of my favourite characters. We rarely get to see men who are very manly and also incredibly loving, loyal and paternal and who exhibit a normal range of human behaviours and interests, including ‛masculine’ and ‛feminine’. That’s what normal men are like, something television and film seem to have forgotten.

Regarding Dean in bed, note that he is a stomach sleeper (sleeping on your stomach keeps your tummy safe), and this is consistent throughout all fifteen years of the show. However, this early in the show he takes his trousers, outer shirts and shoes off, in contrast to sleeping fully dressed as he begins doing sometime rather soon. He’s alert and cautious this early in the show, but not yet quite so worn down that he can’t be bothered to get ready for bed.

Note also that both brothers have sleeping problems here. Dean knew Sam was still up at 3am, meaning Dean likely slept for less than three hours, having been woken up by Sam at 5:45.

The end of the episode presents the brothers with something to be hopeful about. John has a new mobile phone number, the first evidence they’ve had so far that he is very probably still alive. It’s not much to go on, and John does not answer Dean and Sam’s call, but it’s something the boys can latch on to and keep them searching for John. Whether or not they should be searching for John is another question altogether, though, but at least it got the plot going in 1x01.,

Phantom Traveler is a strong but flawed episode which builds on last week’s expansion of Dean’s character and role, as well as introducing demons and Hell into the lore. The cut scene where Dean has to remove all his concealed weapons before going into the airport really should have been kept in because it says a lot about his character, as does his sleeping with a blade under his pillow, but other than that, I’m happy to leave this episode now on a positive note.

#Michael's Supernatural Rewatch #SPN Rewatch #spn 1x04 #phantom traveler #sam winchester #john winchester #dean winchester #demons #hell #male gaze #female gaze #christian mythology

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peppyanddeadly · 4 years

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STILL NEEDING BACKSTORY HERE

[ v1; she who hangs out in cemeteries ]

Based on seasons 1 through 5 of BTVS. Mainly canon, with room for divergence. For all intents and purposes, all events include the existence of Dawn (as all memories have been modified by the monks). It goes up to the point of Buffy’s death at the end of s5.

[ v2; i think i was in heaven, and now i’m not ]

Based on seasons 6 and 7 of BTVS. Mainly canon, with room for divergence. Starts off when Buffy is brought back from the dead by Willow’s spell and covers all the way up to the destruction of Sunnydale in the fight against The First. Heavily focused on s6 and Buffy’s struggles with finding herself again after being brought back.

[ v3; tell me that i’m wrong ]

AU starting off on season 6. While Buffy does come back as herself, the spell being interrupted before Willow was finished means part of her soul is left behind. Having to claw her way out of her own grave isn’t just traumatizing, but it’s also the first step to what will be the full splintering of her psyche. No one really realizes it at first, not even Buffy herself. She assumes her detachment and numbness are the result of having to face the harshness of the world, after having experienced absolute contentment while in heaven. It is when she kills Katrina, or rather when she thinks she does, that the trigger finally goes off. The idea that she may have taken a human life doesn’t make her feel guilty. As a matter of fact, she doesn’t feel anything at all. That sets her off. She becomes obsessed with making herself feel, whether it’s good or bad, she doesn’t care. She becomes reckless, hedonistic, thrill seeking, and careless. Completely unraveling, destiny and duty stop having any meaning, she no longer fights for the powers of good, but instead merely serves her own purposes.

[ v4; what are we gonna do now? ]

After the complete destruction of Sunnydale and the activation of all the potentials, Buffy travels around the world searching for the new Slayers. She works alongside with Xander, Willow and Andrew to find and train as many of them as they can. They put together a makeshift organization referred to as the Slayer army. Aside from training the other girls, Buffy organizes and commands operations all around the world. So location can easily be adjusted based on plot.

[ v5; i thought i may try violence ]

Based on early season 11. In a world where the supernatural is no longer hiding in the shadows, but rather out to the public eye, Buffy is living in San Francisco and acting as a supernatural consultant for the SFPD. The gig allows her to have an income while carrying out her Slayer duties on a full-time basis. The Slayer army dismantled, she does stay in touch with some her former soldiers but is back to working mainly on her own, with the assistance of the Scooby gang.

[ v6; goodbye stakes hello flying fatality ]

Harry Potter based AU. Buffy is a Hogwarts student belonging to the Gryffindor house. The year can be adjusted according to plot. Inspired by this post, if you want to read the whole thing.

[ v7; minimal damage of the fighting kind ]

Shadowhunter Chronicles based AU. Joyce Carstairs, younger sister to John, was cast out and stripped of her marks when she decided to marry the mundane Hank Summers. It was evident at a very early age that Buffy had been born with the sight. Despite her being banished, Joyce decided to raise her daughter as a Shadowhunter, as much as she could. It was done in secret at first, until Hank decided to leave the two and then the two Summers women didn’t have to hide their extracurricular activities anymore. She trained her, taught her to fight and about the Shadow World. Except, Joyce left out everything related to the Nephilim and runes. Instead, she called Buffy’s fighting against dangerous Downworlders slaying. After the Mortal War, with their numbers so significantly depleted, the Clave sought out to recover as many lost Shadowhunters as they could. That is how she was found. Joyce having passed away by then, and finding out for the first time she had a younger cousin called Emma, Buffy agreed to move into the LA institute and be trained as another Shadowhunter. While she can easily keep up with all the fighting, she has a long way to go when it comes to runes and the more magical parts of their nature.

[ v8; i’ve reached my quota on someones ]

During the events of The Girl in Question (AtS s5e20) Spike does actually find Buffy. The two of them spend the night together. When morning comes Buffy asks Spike to stay with her in Rome, but because he has given his word to Angel, he says he must go back and help on the upcoming fight. He promises he will come back for her when it is all over and asks that she waits for him.Originally, Buffy intended to wait for him, but a couple months later she finds out she is pregnant with his child. Knowing of Connor and everything that happened with him, Buffy is afraid someone may come for her and her baby or try to hurt them. Plus, leading the Slayer army puts her in way too much risk. So Buffy goes underground, settling down in a small California town of the name of Monterey, near the ruins of what once was Sunnydale. She tells no one the identity of her child’s father, except for Willow, who she asks to investigate into how it is possible for her to be pregnant with a vampire’s child.Eventually, she gave birth to a baby girl, who she named Joyce in honor of her own mother. Buffy made it a point to keep the father’s identity a secret from the entire world, even her own child, afraid that if the truth got out it would put her in harm’s way. When Joyce was around 2, Spike finally finds the two of them. He believe’s the kid to be someone else’s, and Buffy lets him, still in fear of letting the truth get out. However, she does allow for Spike to be as part of Joyce’s life as he wishes, and he is there throughout the entire time she is growing up.When Joyce was in first grade, the first clues to indicate she was an activated Slayer finally showed themselves. This scared Buffy, who realized being a Slayer while also being the daughter of the leader of all Slayers put her child in more risk than she knew how to deal with. So Buffy packed her bags and left, going back to her role as the head of the army, leaving Joyce in the care of Dawn and Willow.It is when Joyce is 18 that Buffy finally comes back to Monterey. While she says she is there for business, she takes every chance she can to make up for lost time with her daughter.

| exclusive connections for this verse; @bloody-peroxide (Spike) @wickedlehane (Faith Lehane) (verse not available for others of these characters) @dhampirslays (Joyce Summers) (no other oc children will be accepted for this verse)

#[ all available verses; ]#[ will be updated as i go; ]#[ human rules don't apply; ooc ]

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whatspastisprologue-blr · 5 years

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Writing Advice, the Completed Version

This is a follow up to this post: https://whatspastisprologue-blr.tumblr.com/post/184968470815/writing-advice. I’d written that on my phone, I think, and goofed somehow, so I didn’t post the entire thing.

Now, to start, I love reading what you guys have to say, and I consider you guys basically geniuses. You spend hours, or what seems like hours, analyzing SPN (and also other works as well, but mainly SPN), and you’re willing to put up with horrible backlash from people too dumb to realize they’re wrong.

And I keep thinking how I would love to write something, be it a novel or a TV show, that people love so much that that they’re willing to write meta for it. Contrary to what I’ve seen around about some creators being upset when their audience figures out what’s going on, I’d be delighted to know that people care so much that they pay close enough attention to figure it out. As for things like subtext, I see myself jumping up and down like, “You’ve got it! I thought you would! I put that in there to see if you’d notice and you did! Yay!” To me, meta has become a high form of praise just by its existence, but from the standpoint of literary criticism and how art both reflects and transforms society, also absolutely necessary. Please, critique art!

Which leads me to part two: how do I actually put stuff into the work for people to write meta about? Like, I’ve seen mini-essays ranging from fictional parallels/references/shout-outs to alchemical practices to entire discussions about, for instance, specific shirts (”x character is wearing x shirt again!”) to various pieces of decor to the meaning of various types of food (bacon, cake versus pie, burgers) and how food is used (Sam and food, or Cas and food). I’ve seen posts written analyzing songs used in episodes and how they inform the episodes or a character’s arc, etc. I’ve watched fascinating yet trippy videos about narrative spiral that make me wish I was approximately 400% smarter so I could properly appreciate and understand what I was watching. I’ve seen meta about colors and symbols, and the symbolism of different types of beer, which means that someone must have thought of it.

Someone, at some point, decided, “let’s have a beer that symbolizes family, a family beer”. And others agreed. And someone else, or perhaps that same person, decided, “let’s have a beer that shows up whenever things aren’t as they seem”, and again, others agreed, so now we have a running list of El Sol appearances.

I’ve seen some truly mind-blowing, fantastic meta that’s been written, but obviously, that analysis works because there’s something to analyze. It wasn’t pulled from nothing, as some mistakenly believe. We can talk about the Red Shirt of Bad Decisions because there’s evidence for it in the text. Someone put it there. Someone made sure to include El Sol enough times in episodes with a similar theme (things being not what they seem/alternate realities/djinn hallucinations) that we can talk about its significance and know, in upcoming episodes, that when we see that beer, it’s a sign that there’s incorrect assumptions being made by characters, that what we see isn’t necessarily real, etc.

So, how do I put content into a work so that people can pick up on it and then write about its meaning and significance?

I guess, relevant to this, is a third question, that could possibly help me figure all this out as well: what makes “Supernatural” worth writing all this meta about? That might not be phrased right to get my meaning across. While, granted, I have fandom lanes that I stay in, so I could just be unaware of meta being written for that work, but I don’t hear of people analyzing, say, “Psych”, or “Bones”, or “NCIS”. I don’t hear of long, in depth-articles about how food is used on “Glee” to give insight into a character’s mental/emotional state or closeted bisexuality. Is that just because there’s nothing to write meta about for those shows, or is it because, even if there is something to write meta about for those shows, “Supernatural” lends itself to that analysis and criticism in a way those other television shows don’t?

On a related note, people have been publishing books and YouTube videos and even teaching college classes at least partially about “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and its spin-off, “Angel”, for 20-odd years. Is all of the meta surrounding “Supernatural” the progression of that phenomenon, with SPN at least partially reaping the benefits of what BtVS helped establish? Does it have something to do with being a paranormal genre show?

Don’t get me wrong, I truly and wholeheartedly believe that SPN is a show worth writing meta about, and I’m always excited to see more of it. So it’s not whether or not the show is worth it that I’m questioning, but what specific qualities contribute to the show’s worthiness that so many other television shows don’t seem, to my knowledge, to have?

As a budding literary critic, meta is fascinating; as a creator, it’s kind of overwhelming, because that’s a lot of analysis of a work, a lot of studying with a magnifying glass. But, as someone who’s starting to see the willingness of people to write meta as a benchmark or grade of how good that work is (because people, I would assume, wouldn’t spend several hours writing an analysis of a show that sucked), it means that I want to do a good job of putting things in there for people to pick at, and I want to do what I can to make sure that what’s being analyzed is something good (as in, the messages are positive and/or useful, no harmful lessons or unfortunate implications).

I’ve been working on the backstory for my series for at least a year now, and I still feel like I’m less than halfway done. I don’t want to start writing without a clear plan of where I’m going, at least for a little while (my idea is to have a few “little endings”, thinking for if this is going to be a TV show one day, and if the show gets cancelled before the “Big Ending”, I still want there to be an ending that’s satisfying, even if it’s not the Big Ending that I hoped to get to, so I suppose I could plan to the first little ending). Sometimes, I feel like I’m behind, drastically behind, that I should have at least one book (or season) planned by now, but then I think about how I’m still in my early twenties, and how I want to write something worth writing meta about (and thus, the work needs to contain something to write meta about) and part of me wants to freeze and is grateful that the going has been slow so far.

But, with “Supernatural” ending, and given my love for the sandbox that it’s helped define and re-define, with episodes that push the bounds of storytelling in so many fascinating and delightful ways, given my appreciation for shows such as SPN, BtVS/Angel, and Wynonna Earp (and also Stranger Things and Lucifer), I’m inspired to write. Part of it is to honor SPN’s legacy by re-defining the sandbox even further, by taking what it’s done so wonderfully and, sort of like a relay race, doing my part to carry the baton a little farther--because that show has been so amazing that, since I truly love and appreciate it, how do I not pay it forward? Pay tribute? How could I just drop the baton? And part of it is because the general sandbox that those shows play in is just one that I love, one that I want to play in and expand on, and help continue to demonstrate that genre shows are (or can be) awesome, transformative pieces of art, not just some semi-obscure show about fighting monsters.

To do all that, however, I’d really appreciate your advice, and if you think of others who should weigh in, I’d be thrilled to hear from them as well.

Thanks!

@mittensmorgul @occamshipper @tinkdw @dimples-of-discontent @drsilverfish

P.S: I saw this GIF, or a picture of it, before I knew it was from SPN. When I saw it in an episode, I was just like, “?!”. (Oh, the things I’d seen from SPN before realizing it, or all the scenes I could recognize/quote that I’d maybe seen clips of at most, because I’d seen GIFs and screencaps so many times--that show took over my life before I ever started watching it). Anyway, as much as I truly love storytelling and I want to do it for my life because I love it and because I want to inspire hope in people through art, I’ll leave with this:

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goose1083 · 4 years

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These are my notes for the second episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’m so sorry these are so long this time. I had a lot of questions and long comments. Also, if you haven’t checked out the first one of these, go do that. I explain some basic things that would seem weird otherwise.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Notes

First | Previous | Next

Season 1, Episode 2: “The Harvest”

There goes the narrator again

Great teamwork, guys

Oh, RIP Jesse. F’s in chat for him, guys

Title still hasn’t changed to the iconic look we know

Quick question: everyone headbands to the theme song as much as I do, right? Cause like, this time, I feared I’d hit my head against the wall when I did it, so I just need to validate my actions

I feel that instead of having that depressed gothic teen, they just have Giles instead

Buffy, was that suppose to make them feel better, cause it didn’t really seem like it

Also, Buffy stole the words out of my brain, Willow you are sitting

Thanks Giles, that made complete sense

So I talked to my dad about Darla and he said that it seemed like they wanted Darla to be a teenager but then made her an adult instead unless that came from group chat I can’t remember

I totally thought the Master was going to say House of Mouse

Okay, but cutting back and forth for info dumps are really effective, especially for me, an adhd person who can lose focus fairly quickly

That right, Xander, don’t be stereotypical. Don’t assume vampires turn to bats. Dracula’s the exception, not the norm

Look at everyone contributing a little to finding the vampires location. See, Xander’s not all dumb, just somewhat

If Scooby-Doo taught me anything, it’s that being bait is just as bad as being food

Also, what’s this advanced technology in the 1990s

Also, thanks Joss for saying mentally challenged. There are so many worse words you could’ve put in but you didn’t👏👏👏👏

Now there’s the reality of public schools

But seriously, who’s he kidding? I bet kids leave campus all the time, they did at my high school

Also, why is the gate open if it’s a closed campus? Why was it left open? Is it so close to the beginning of the day that the custodians hadn’t quite gotten around to closing it yet, and if it’s not, then that raises so many more questions

I thinks it’s cool how Xander’s character develops over time. Like, I can see him struggling with the idea that a man is supposed to be doing the hard work and saving, but later, he’s very content with staying on the sideline for the most part and letting Buffy do all the work

Hi Angel

They already set up the tension between the two, don’t they?

Again, Buffy, do you really think no one is going to notice the door?

I think Angel had friends once but once he got turned, he lost them through fear and time

Ah, of course, the harvest is going to start right under the school

Awww, he already cares so much about her

Wait, did Xander hear the conversation between Buffy and Angel, including his good luck?

Also, how was Xander able to leave but not Buffy? I smell sexism in this thing....and also the fact that Xander has been to the school for a year or two at this point

Also, what was the interaction between Angel and Xander like if Xander followed her?

Xander, don’t you dare disrespect chem class! Chem is the best science out of all of them, excluding computer science. Chem and computer are tied for the sciences

Interesting bonding moment between Buffy and Xander

Hi me

Omg they’re programming and in Linux no less!! Which makes sense cause they didn’t have much in the 90s

Okay, but she wasn’t screaming, the only one who screamed was me

I love how the guy just randomly joined in

Weren’t you just asking your friend to find out what Willow was doing, also she wasn’t talking at all???

Why is other me the complete opposite of actual me. She can’t code, doesn’t know what keys mean versus I can code kind of complicated things, knows how to do basic things like save, etc.

Also, my soul hurt so much watching her hit that delete key smh😔

That’s morbid, Buffy

Round of applause to my boy Jesse who feigned death to get a surprise attack on future attacker, though it didn’t quite work

Yes, I sure someone heard that

Why do their eyes and claws grow in the dark?

Oh, Jesse, you did suck her blood

Why is closing the door so hard for her? She’s supposed to be super strong

Don’t leave the door, Xander, you wait till the escape is ready

Of course, they end up at the power plant

Tbh that whole tunnel segment was pretty underwhelming. You’d think there would be a big fight but no, just some vent crawling

I know that Colin wasn’t gonna go by unscathed but damn, finger to the eye and no response to it. That a strong vampire. Also, thanks for sparing us the image of a finger to the eye. I can handle some gore but it still unsettles me, and many other people are more sensitive than I, so yeah

Only Giles would think murder is great

I rather wish it wasn’t coming together, either

🎵I can see what’s happening, and they don’t have a clue🎵

I’m sorry but isn’t that kind of cannibalism

Hey look, it’s Rafiki putting the blood on simba’s forehead, right? That’s how it goes in the movie?

Xander, don’t take it out on the recycling bin next to the copier/printer(?)

Also, Willow seems pretty non-phased hearing Jesse’s gone. Guess she didn’t really see him as a friend

Really, we’re already doing the end-of-the-world thing?

He has a fidget spinner on his head that or a bad ninja star, seeing as those have 4 points

Of course, the one good place in town, just where I’m gonna be, and all the action and drama is going to take place there, perfect

Oh look, it’s the leather jacket or at least a leather jacket. I mean with her lifestyle, I’m sure she went through multiple of those

But Joyce, it’s literally the end of the world

Is the word I’m looking for “je ne sais quoi–” oh no, it’s cars

Hey, this is kind of a good song

I love how vampirism give you an ultimate swag, even if you didn’t have it before

Hey, this song is also really good

Oh god, the slow mo walk

Apparently, vampirism also gives you the desire for theatratics

See, you can not tell me that was overly dramatic

Why is he groping her while he feeds

Come on, let him have me

How did no one hear the glass?

Buffy’s so cool with those backflips and roundhouses and all of it

Giles, how could you lose that easily to a girl? Granted, he didn’t know she was there but still

Shouldn’t Darla be dead and like not look as pretty in the future cause of that holy water?

Wow, they really just gave Jesse the accidental death, huh?

Nice deception, Buffy

Nice power shot, Buffy

Aww, Angel’s impressed

Is it just me, or is the wrap up of the fight lacking something? maybe singing

You’re right, Xander, nothing’s ever gonna be the– oh okay just cut to a perfectly normal day at school. That’s fine

Why does Willow sound kind of off here? Like, it’s not her voice or they had to redub her lines cause it didn’t pick up right when they recorded I don’t know it’s just seems weird to me

Yup, Giles is the gothic depressed teen

I love these ways of getting kicked out

Omg the mummy! Did they not have that in the first one or is it just me

No, they did. I went back. I guess I just missed it or just didn’t react to it the first time

Taglist:

@highonbandcandy @calraisin @really-really-slowly @towersofsong @morespinach @therealmadblonde @bothersome-bitch

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hannahhostofheaven · 5 years

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Updated rules

I updated my rules, here’s the link: https://hannahhostofheaven.tumblr.com/rules

They are mostly the same with just a few updates. You need to have read my rules before we RP:

* I will follow you as my MUN blog with is @Hannah-deserved-better

* My OTP is always Hannah/Castiel so keep that in mind. My Hannah will always have a thing for Castiel. I am opened to RPing with other blogs but there probably won’t be any romance.

* I am open to poly pairings so if you want to do something with Castiel, Hannah, and someone else, I’m okay with that as long as it’s not Destiel or Wincest. I don’t ship either of those. I am open to Sastiel plus Hannah, Megstiel plus Hannah, OCs, whatever. But it needs to have chemistry.

* Note that I am a demisexual and bisexual person and as such, so is Hannah. Demisexual means I don’t just jump into sexual relationships without there being an emotional and mental relationship first.

* not interested in RPing with anyone who views angels as brothers and sisters cuz as I said, I ship Castiel/Hannah so our views will not be compatible.

* I play Hannah using Erica Carroll as a face claim.

* Caroline Johnson is available to RP with upon request.

* No god modding or making my character act without me. Don’t anticipate or assume what my character is going to do, I retain complete control of her. Also, no time jumps without discussing it first.

* Don’t nag me for a reply. I am very busy and real life comes first, I will try to reply when I can, and if I need another long break I’ll let you know.

* discuss plot with me. I am a plot driven writer and I like to plan things out. I am open to pretty much everything but I like mulling things over.

* It’s my belief that Hannah would be on the autism spectrum if she were human so any Human Hannah AUs will be like that.

* MUN is autistic.

* female vessel Castiel blogs are welcome.

* I play Hannah in character as I see her in the show. How she reacts to things doesn’t necessarily reflect the MUN’s personal views. Hannah is passionate for an angel but she is very stuck on her idea of angel code, law, and justice. The internal conflict can sometimes make her doubt herself and often makes her a bit of a contradiction. When her angel code says one thing and her feelings say another, she can have conflict. She is also impulsive and quick to anger. I am always trying to better my performance of her, but she certainly has a lot of strengths and a lot of flaws and you can expect me to play her that way. If she gets mad at your character don’t take it to mean it has anything to do with the MUN, I am just channeling Hannah.

* I don’t like just jumping into a relationship. I like to establish things first. It can’t be forced. Sometimes our muses get together very fast, sometimes there is angry hate sex first before there is love, sometimes it’s a slow burn, but we definitely have to go at the same speed. I never want to just start writing a situation where our muses are just automatically in a relationship from the beginning.

** ** I’ve eased up on my stance regarding smut lately, but I still tend to be kind of fickle about it, I have to be in the mood for it, so please check first. I am always okay with mild sex scenes and abstract sex scenes where we keep to metaphors and such, and I am not really into hardcore stuff. I reserve the right to fade to black if I’m not feeling it. Also, I do not write porn. My roleplays are plot centered adventures that can INCLUDE sex but nor REVOLVE AROUND sex.

* Also, on that note, if we are writing and I sense that a sex scene might be coming up, I’ll probably PM you (or you PM me) so we can be sure we are both on the same page.

* no child OCs.

* I like angsty, dark themes, hurt/comfort type plots. I really don’t have any known triggers, but check with me first. I am okay with torture and with plots involving rape, though not with children. Also note on rape: I will not RP graphic scenes of rape, I will always fade to black, no exceptions. Also Hannah will not be in any kind of relationship with your character if they are the ones doing the abuse.

* I don’t do the whole ABO alpha omega thing. I don’t understand how it works at all and it’s really just not my thing.

* My stories tend to be heavy on Supernatural lore so if you aren’t familiar with the show, I suggest checking out the Supernatural Wiki. I utilize it quite a bit myself: http://supernatural.wikia.com/wiki/Supernatural

* I’m not really into working outside the Supernatural verse, though sometimes I might be okay with crossing over with related verses such as Buffy the Vampire slayer, but I won't want to work in a verse that I personally don’t know about (and I don’t watch a lot of TV so I am not part of many fandoms) so when in doubt, stick with Supernatural.

* We need to establish which season we are working with. If we don’t, I will assume that we are working with the most current season, in which case, I will default to the idea that Hannah has been dead since season 11, when she was killed by the angel Efram, when she was in her male vessel, and she died trying to defend Castiel, and was somehow brought back to life.

* Please try to play in character and with canon in mind. We will definitely be breaking with canon, but it needs to always be a guideline.

* Mun is over 30. Mun is also married and has a job so the demands on my time can be formidable. Mun is in California so we are dealing with Pacific Standard Time.

* Supernatural deals with angels and demons and a lot of religious lore. I tend to stick closely to canon when it comes to lore and things like that, so if you are religious its probably best not to get offended by things like Lucifer and such because it’s just a show. I personally don’t come from a religious background, though my husband, who is very well versed in Judeo-Christian mystics, helps me in those areas of the show. I also happen to hold a degree in history and am pretty knowledgeable in anthropology, mythology, and world religions. That being said, I suggest we keep to the guidelines and criteria dictated by the show, not the bible.

* I am relatively new to Tumblr roleplays so I am not completely fluent in the lingo and such. I don’t know how to do icon threads and I don’t know what discord or anything like that is so we should stick with thread style format. Although I do like to insert pictures and gifs into my posts once in a while.

Headcanons:

* Hannah is an angel’s angel, she lives by her rules, but she finds inner conflict with her feelings. She believes in law, justice, and order.

* She is a unique angel in that she has emotions. This makes her more intuitive than other angels. She is quite passionate and although she doesn’t always understand emotions, she just knows she has them. She has a temper, especially when someone taunts her or Castiel.

* Hannah has a fascination with Humanity, although she holds and maintains a distance with these creatures she doesn’t quite understand. She tends to find ‘human things’ like eating unsettling and disgusting, at first, but she is open-minded and when given enough encouragement, she will try new things.

* Hannah likes plants and plant life. She has an aversion to things like fences, borders, and barriers. Some things she retained from Caroline was being a bit of a daydreamer, animal lover, and an adventurous world traveler. In RPGs were Caroline was able to have a career, she always pursued something in travel and tourism, or in anthropology.

* In this headcanon, Hannah has given up her vessel’s soul who has gone to heaven, leaving Hannah her body. But she still recalls certain events from Caroline’s life, like living in Montana. Her favorite animals are horses, dogs, and tigers.

* In this headcanon, Caroline and her husband were not on the best of terms. Depending on RPG, Joe can be seen as neglectful at best, abusive at worst, and there was a reason why Caroline said Yes to Hannah in the first place. This may or may not contradict canon, depending on your interpretations of it.

* I think Hannah has cream colored wings with golden yellow tips, see blog banner picture.

* Hannah is considered a relatively young angel. She is perhaps 5-10 million years old which when compared to the archangels which are perhaps billions of years old,is very young. She is older than humanity but wasn’t around to see dinosaurs.

* Caroline Johnson was born February 25th, 1980 in Great Falls, Montana. She is a Pisces.

* Hannah has had limited dealings with humans but she does have a certain bond with Caroline Johnson.

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ramenbyler · 6 years

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big thanks 2 @thinkingabouttyrus 4 helping me and giving me a plot and big thx 2 grammarly for making sure it sort of makes sense! (also this is a fun game called how many meme references can u find... probably too many sorry yall)

AO3

TJ Kippen only loves three things in his life. Those things are Basketball, his Dirtbike, and making a fool of himself in front of boys. OK, so maybe he doesn’t love to make a fool of himself in front of boys, but he does it so much that at this point he might as well love it! The next step would be making a business this from this and making money. You know what they say, take whatever you love and make money doing it! Some might leverage basketball or bike riding. But here TJ sits, in front of Cyrus Goodman - the cutest boy by far - as a fool.

To be fair, TJ couldn’t have seen this coming. But Cyrus saw it all coming. He saw everything. Which sounds incredibly suspicious. But it really isn’t like that.

Understand that TJ Kippen has always seen Cyrus Goodman walk around the halls and melt inside a little. He’s always found Cyrus cute, for as long as TJ’s known of Cyrus’ existence. It only started when Cyrus’ best friend - Buffy Driscoll - tried out for the basketball team. TJ didn’t necessarily take to Buffy but he just let it go and they say everything happens for a reason. This reason is Cyrus Goodman showing up to basketball games with the biggest and most creative signs. Cyrus never really talked and TJ never really understood why he never heard Cyrus’ voice (which he just presumed was angelic, just like Cyrus’ mere presence. TJ was not worthy.) until one of the other basketball teammates mentioned it to Buffy during a game.

It was right before the game, they were all hyping each other up and were ready to take home another win when Will, a boy who was Swingman, pointed to Cyrus in the stands. “Your friend Cyrus would be a great cheerleader, he could sit lower and yell everytime we made a point, with all those frickin’ signs and stuff.” Buffy just raised her eyebrow, “He barely knows how basketball works, I doubt it.” Will chuckled, “Just like tell him! C’mon I can do it. It’s easy.”

TJ might have gotten a bit defensive when Will said this because clearly everyone knew of TJ’s big, fat, gay crush on Cyrus, didn’t they? (They didn’t.) Buffy rolled her eyes, “Unless you’re fluent in ASL or something, I doubt it.” And Will, bless his soul, looked genuinely confused for a long minute. “What do age, sex, and location have to do with this…” The room went silent. “American Sign Language, get off Omegle, dude!” Yelled Sam, another teammate.

And then all of TJ’s previous plans went down the drain. He didn’t know ASL! He only knew how to fingerspell like 10 letters in ASL and very badly. And he only knew this because one night, he got so bored, he committed to learning ASL for fun for like 10 minutes then fell asleep and completely forgot about his commitment.

But TJ took this as an invitation to be pretty careless in how he treated this crush. TJ has only spoken with Cyrus a few times, all times with Buffy as a translator. And they were pretty mediocre meetings. One time after a big win, TJ went to congratulate Buffy on a great game and Cyrus was there, TJ’s heart rate went about a million times up. Or however, you say that. TJ ended up telling Cyrus how much he admired his signs. Buffy interpreted to ASL and Cyrus lit up and gave a thumbs up. TJ’s heart fluttered.

The other time was at The Spoon, TJ was there to give something to his sister who worked there when he saw Andi Mack, Jonah Beck, Buffy, and Cyrus. TJ admits his stomach churned when he saw how close Jonah and Cyrus sat, Jonah’s arm was practically around Cyrus but he shut his trap. He walked past the table and made small talk and made eye contact with Cyrus a few times. It wasn’t anything special and TJ wishes it could have been, just to make Cyrus remember him. Currently, he’s assuming Cyrus only knows him as “that guy that plays with Buffy” which isn’t helpful when Buffy is the only girl on the team.

The only time TJ wishes Cyrus didn’t have to see him, was now, at lunch, in front of his stupid friends. He has a mix, some he’s made from classes and still a few guys on the team. (Not including Will.) All of which, know of TJ’s huge and obvious crush on Cyrus. TJ thanks God that Cyrus can’t overhear them, which on one hand is very sad and TJ feels bad. But on the other hand, he kind of hates his friends so he’s grateful.

He was wrong to be grateful.

See, when Cyrus approached their table with the whole angelic getup, TJ could hear the angelic music begin, he could see the halo and the wings and once again, TJ was enthralled. He was taken out of his imagination when his friend kicked TJ’s leg and TJ was brought to a loud and obnoxious cafeteria and a small boy in front of him in a buttoned-up shirt, a sweater, cuffed jeans, and Vans. So almost the same thing. TJ just nodded and pushed his friend, Lucy, to the side and let Cyrus sit next to him. He’ll be damned if he lets anyone touch Cyrus. Can’t ruin those wings! (No wings here, TJ’s just seriously in-like.)

Lucy, on the other hand, just laughs and starts taunting TJ. The nerve of this girl, TJ thinks. “TJ and Cyrus sitting in a tree-” “Stop!” TJ’s pouting.

“Poor Cyrus, he must be so confused.” Lucy puts on a fake pout. The entire table laughs a little. Ryan, a teammate from basketball finds this especially funny. Lucy just reaches out and pats Cyrus’ back. She then starts signing in ASL. And damn TJ, he now knows how to fingerspell, but whatever Lucy is signing, TJ is clueless. Cyrus finds it funny and laughs. TJ commits to always wanting to hear that laugh for the rest of his life right there and then.

“Careful!” Yells Ryan. “Don’t touch Cyrus, TJ might explode! That and with his big fat crush on Cyrus. No one touches my Cyrus.” Ryan mocks in a voice that sounds nothing like him. TJ covers Cyrus’ ears, “Shhhh!” and the whole table erupts in laughter. Cyrus, too. TJ doesn’t get it but maybe Cyrus understands context or something. The table dies down when Eric, also from basketball, decides to speak. “I feel bad, Cyrus probably has no clue what’s going on.” Cyrus shakes his head.

Then he does something completely earth-shattering.

He.. speaks?

“Nah, you guys are fine. A little fast, maybe. But I can follow.” The whole table is silent. “What?!” Because right now, Eric looks like he’s about to lose his mind. “I can read lips, and I lost my hearing a few years back, so I can kind of speak.” TJ is stunned. Cyrus’ voice is the most beautiful thing he’s ever heard. TJ genuinely cannot form a coherent sentence. He’s stuttering and babbling and the only one who’s unaffected is Lucy, who’s cousin is hard of hearing and knows a lot about the deaf community or whatever. TJ’s staring at Cyrus with the widest eyes and the biggest smile. “Your voice is adorable.” Is the first coherent sentence that falls from TJ’s lips. The table is silent again.

Then, the bell rings and TJ is still sitting there wrapping his mind around how spectacular Cyrus is, he doesn’t notice the table dissipating. Cyrus is still there and that’s all TJ cares about. Cyrus blushes. And there he is, making a complete and utter fool of himself! In front of a cute boy! Scratch that, Cyrus Goodman, the cutest boy! Abort, abort, abort!!!

“Wait! Ok, this is kind of a waste since you can read lips, but,” TJ moves back, against his genuine need to be close to Cyrus and starts shakily and very badly signing to Cyrus. It’s slow and shaky and TJ doesn’t know if it makes sense because Cyrus looks mildly confused but gets over it once TJ finishes signing.

Cyrus has the biggest grin on his face and TJ’s aware that he’s only known Cyrus a short while, but he would kill everyone on this planet earth for him, including himself.

Cyrus laughs and speaks again, “I like you, too.” TJ is grinning like crazy and they’re both so unbelievably happy, it lights up the entire empty cafeteria. Like a loud record scratch, it all falls down when TJ’s face falls. “Wait, did you hear what everyone said, then?” Cyrus laughs, “I mean I read what everyone said, yes.” TJ’s face scrunches up, “Sorry, I’m an idiot.” Then TJ’s palm hits his forehead.

But then Cyrus lifts TJ’s hand from his head and lowers it, intertwining it with his own hand. “Maybe, but you’re my idiot, now, so.” And then he shrugs. Can Cyrus Goodman get any cuter?!

Cyrus leans in and leaves a small peck on TJ’s cheek and giggles in his ear. “Gotta go, see ya!” And runs off. TJ’s genuinely stunned again.

TJ knows he should get up and go to class, but his only brain cell seems to be malfunctioning due to Cyrus Goodman being perfect, so he needs a minute.

He ends up missing classes. He assumes it’s worth.

After basketball practice, Buffy wraps her hands around TJ’s collar and threatens to kill TJ if he in any way, shape or form if he hurts Cyrus and TJ says. “I condone that. If I ever do something stupid and he’s negatively affected, I completely understand killing me and hiding my body.” Buffy smiles and nods, “Glad to know we’re on the same page, Kippen.”

Cyrus Goodman is worth everything.

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little-niggah-sugar · 6 years

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The character I hate the most in Buffy is...

Riley. followed closely by Dawn though it’s not that I hate her so much as she has many more infuriating moments for the same reason than Riley has

Firstly, he’s the military, burly, beefcake character, & I don’t normally like that character type. He’s a little intolerant & at least initially sort of looks at the Scooby gang like they’re these weird nerds that don’t know what they’re doing cuz they don’t have guns & computers.

And while the show doesn’t try to make him seem stupid, he pretty much is. Like when he finds out Buffy went to LA to see Angel (whom he knows has a soul & fights demons so it makes sense she’d go there for a demon-related reason), he assumes Buffy slept with him & he lost his soul after he sees Angel fighting Initiative guys. So not only does he not trust Buffy who is loyal to anyone who doesn’t screw with her, but he thinks the Initiative wouldn’t fight any given vampire, soul or no? Especially when they have no reason to think any vampires have souls?? And he also used to think all demons are evil, so he is intimately familiar with that concept????

The biggest issue I have with him is the shitty reason he gives for leaving Buffy & the way in which he does it. He feels physically inadequate because he isn’t as strong as her. Yeah, newsflash, she is stronger than EVERY HUMAN and most demons! That’s her whole shtick! He knew this since he learned she was the Slayer. Plus, the man in a hetero relationship doesn’t have to be the physically stronger of the two.

He also says he had vampires bite him at the Bite House to feel needed & to see what made Buffy want to date Angel & be enthralled by Dracula. That excuse works if he only went there once. After doing so, if he somehow got some info on why that would interest her (which it doesn’t), that’s it. But he went at least a few times, so he was doing it for another reason, namely, that he’s a whiny, self-centered asshat. Also, as Buffy says, Dracula had a power over people (including hetero Xander), so that’s a non-issue.

And he says she isn’t emotionally there for him & doesn’t really love him. So, if you were to argue she wasn’t emotionally there for him, there are at least 2 great reasons for that: her mom’s brain tumor (a pretty excellent reason) & Dawn being the Key & the assorted issues with that (the best reason ever). Sorry that having to deal with those at the same time, plus having to deal with what being the Slayer means & all that shit, plus saving the world every week, means she doesn’t devote all of her time to him. And ever since he found out she’s the Slayer, he knew she had been hiding stuff from him from day 1. He was hiding being in the Initiative from her, too, as well as all of his insecurities over being weaker than her, etc. But he’s a Big Ol’ Man, so he can hide whatever the hell he wants from her, but Heaven forbid she doesn’t cry on his shoulder whenever she has a bad day. And he knows she’s the Slayer & a big sister & the leader of the Scoobies, so he should realize she might be prone to acting strong for the group & that she might need a little pushing to reveal her feelings.

And the whole time, whenever he feels inadequate or like she’s holding back from him, he doesn’t say anything to her. Literally the only time he addresses his feelings to her is when he gives her the ultimatum. So let me get this totally straight: you say she’s holding back her feelings from you, so you decide to hold back those feelings and thoughts from her until telling her she’d better pay way more attention to you or you’re gonna leave in 2 seconds? No, you’re right, that’s makes a lot of sense. While Buffy has several good reasons to not be totally emotionally open with him, his reasons are... being a man, I guess? No, really, what else is going on in his life that would make him not be open to her? Nothing.

Consider that he only decided to mention his issues & give her the ultimatum when the Initiative asked him to go to South America. So if they hadn’t, there’s nothing to indicate he wouldn’t have just kept dating Buffy & getting bitten by vampires for money without telling her a thing.

#riley finn #btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #when he gave the ultimatum i was like 'don't let the door hit ya on the way out bitch!'

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wishiwasmorticia · 7 years

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Let’s settle this for once and for all: your moralizing about Spike being a rapist is bullshit because...(a rant)

I’ve seen too many rants about this lately to keep quiet for much longer, so here we go. ** DISCLAIMER: I do not hate Angel or Bangel. I prefer Spike and Spuffy, but this does not mean I hate Bangel or Bangel fans. I have lots of nice things to say about Angel; I just like him better on his own show, and I prefer him with Cordelia. But I appreciate that you love Angel/Bangel so much. Rock on. Love them as hard as you can. What I DO hate are double standards, uninformed opinions, and such deep emotional investment in a character or a ship that one blindly puts it on a pedestal and deliberately ignores its flaws, while vilifying a rival character or ship for being “problematic,” and while also projecting that onto fans of the rival character/ship, saying THEY’RE blindly putting their fave on a pedestal and rationalizing. If you are an Angel/Bangel fan and you’re happy to live and let live where Spike/Spuffy fans are concerned, you’re cool - this isn’t about you. **

Claiming that Spike is irredeemable because he attempted to rape Buffy is complete bullshit - projection and rationalization rooted in nothing more than the fact that you like Angel better and wanted him to end up with Buffy. A bold claim? How about we deconstruct the anti-Spike/Spuffy rhetoric for a moment...

Let’s begin with the idea that sexual offenders can’t be rehabilitated. I minored in psychology as an undergrad. In 2013, I took Psychology of Atypical Sexuality. The class dealt with things like fetishes and paraphilia, and went all the way through sex offenders. The first week, we had a guest lecturer from New Zealand, a colleague my professor met when she was on sabbatical. They have a completely different way of handling sex offenders there, and have significantly reduced recidivism rates. What are they doing that we’re not in the US? Mostly, it’s the fact that they actually TRY to rehabilitate offenders, and offer them community support and the tools to change, rather than focusing on retribution and humiliation. Only the highest-risk offenders go on registries, and that didn’t even go into effect until last year. This does not mean that the rest get off scott free, but what it does mean is that they accept that there is such a thing as paying one’s debt to society and once they’ve served their sentence, the goal is to help integrate them back into the community and be productive members of society who don’t sexually offend. It’s hard. It takes a lot of therapy. It takes a lot of community support. But it’s doable...if you actually DO it. Americans don’t like to hear that, though. Even though studies show that our current methods of dealing with sex offenders do NOTHING to prevent recidivism and often actually increase it, but we LIKE the sex offender lists and the laws that keep them away from children, because dammit, somebody did something to keep us safe and it satisfies our need for retribution! So if this is the kind of mindset you’re coming from when writing Spike off as nothing but a rapist, I can’t change your mind...but you’re still wrong. Also, let’s remember that Spike DID NOT have a soul when that happened. You claim that it does not matter - I’m going to debunk that one next - but if we follow the metaphor of New Zealand and community support, that’s pretty much how Spike getting a soul and becoming an integral part of the Scoobies afterward functioned. If you listen closely to his Crazy in the Basement™ ramblings, he knows what he did was wrong and why it was wrong. He learned. He’s capable of change. He can’t operate in the human world the same way he did in the vampire world. The rules are different. Yes, Spike assaulted Buffy in her bathroom. We (Spike/Spuffy fans) know it. We’re confronted with that every time that episode comes on - and every time some of you have to make yourselves feel better by telling us how sick we make you. About that... Now let’s unpack this idea that Angel is somehow morally better than Spike, and let’s talk about souls. And let’s start with who they were before they became vampires. William Pratt moved in high society circles, was not respected by his peers, and wrote bad poetry for a woman who would never love him back. He was a mama’s boy. He may have tried too hard in some ways, but that’s really the worst we can say about him. Liam, on the other hand, was a pretty shitty person. VERY handsy with the women (hmmmm, sounds strikingly similar to certain complaints I hear about Spike), and was otherwise a lazy, entitled drunk. Yeah, Angel’s doing GREAT in our comparison so far. As soulless vampires, Spike had a reputation that ALMOST rivaled Angelus’s in terms of torture, etc., but we know for a fact that Angelus is worse. For one thing, we can tell that Angelus was not capable of love and he enjoyed torture. And you are naïve and deluded if you believe that didn’t include rape at some point in his career as the baddest vampire ever. Furthermore, Angelus never would have chosen to change. He LIKED the hedonism and depravity of the vampire life. The soul was the result of a CURSE, meant to make him suffer. Spike, on the other hand, IS capable of love without a soul. We see that in his devotion to Dru. He also loves Buffy. Yes, it’s a selfish love - BECAUSE HE’S A FUCKING VAMPIRE WITHOUT A SOUL. Duh. But he’s not nearly as sadistic as Angel. He clearly displays empathy from time to time. Even pre-chip (again, I refer you to his relationship with Dru). So let’s talk about ensouled vampires. Angel says he loved Buffy the moment he first saw her. We know that’s when she was a FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL in Los Angeles. I don’t think it says specifically when in the school year that flashback took place, but Buffy could have been as young as FOURTEEN. Ew, much? ENSOULED ANGEL HAS ROMANTIC FEELINGS FOR AN ADOLESCENT CHILD. That’s called an ephebophile since y’all are insisting on sex offender rhetoric. And we’re going to pretend that that’s so much better than what Spike did WITHOUT a soul? Yeah, right. Let’s remember that Buffy was a grown woman of 20 when Spike developed feelings for her, and 21 when they’d began their sexual relationship. Granted, Buffy made some bad choices due to being in a bad place from having been DEAD and all, but somehow we forget to talk about the guy who entered into a relationship with an inexperienced teenager. Or maybe you all do talk about that - but somehow that never comes up when some of you go on the attack against Spike and Spuffy fans. Even if we believe that Spike assumed getting his soul would be a quid pro quo deal in terms of winning Buffy’s affections afterward, the bottom line is, something inside told him that he’d never achieve the impulse control he needed without one, and that there’d be no way he’d be WORTHY of Buffy’s love without one. That to me sounds more like Buffy’s standards being the yardstick for what a good man is than it does a trade for her love, but as I mentioned above even if he did go in assuming the soul would make her love him, he understood the reality of the situation afterward, and his actions were more in line with giving her what she needed instead of taking what he wanted. But! But! But! Spike is back to his old tricks in ATS with Harmony!!! So, what you’re saying is, you’ve never known anyone who’s gone to rehab, who’s had good days and bad days, and maybe has fallen off the wagon, especially after suffering a trauma....maybe like DEATH? And then being recorporialized? No? Well, me either, at least the death and recorporialization part - but if we think about anyone in ANY behavior modification situation, yes, relapse is common. ESPECIALLY when you’re cut off from your support system and surrounded by people who treat you like shit. Just saying. As already stated in the thing about how New Zealand has programs that handle sex offenders differently, community support is crucial to the success of reducing recidivism. Spike didn’t have that in Season 5 of ATS. If we keep up with the rehabilitation metaphor, Season 5 Spike is comparable to what happens to sex offenders who can’t get jobs because of their records and end up homeless because the registries don’t leave them anywhere to live. These stressors often lead to reoffending. But you’re right - they DESERVE all of that. So what if that makes them continue to be dangerous even though there are alternatives that are more effective? So what stopped Angel from reoffending when he had a soul? BECAUSE IT WAS PART OF THE FUCKING CURSE THAT HE WOULD FEEL HIS VICTIMS’ SUFFERING!!!! Spike is under the constraints of no such curse, though he does admit to feeling remorse. Angel’s gypsy curse is the ensouled equivalent of having a chip in his head like Spike did when he was a vampire. Think about it. Too bad it wasn’t enough to stop him from macking on little girls, huh? Double Standards: They’re Not Just for Breakfast Angel Anymore. In the final analysis, Angel isn’t REALLY any better than Spike in a side-by-side comparison. But if we take shipability with Buffy out of the equation, let’s expose some more hypocricy where the rhetoric against Spike is concerned: WILLOW: Gets addicted to magic, gets Dawn hurt in a car wreck, turns evil and MURDERS WARREN BY SKINNING HIM ALIVE. Maybe he had it coming, but if rape is rape, then murder is murder, AMIRITE? Status: FORGIVEN BY THE FANDOM. ANDREW: Member of the misogynistic Trio who went so far as to turn Warren’s ex girlfriend INTO A SEX SLAVE ZOMBIE. Did all kinds of shit to Buffy. MURDERS HIS PARTNER IN CRIME, JONATHAN. Switches sides after becoming their hostage, and lookie there, he’s a fucking JUNIOR WATCHER after helping to close the Hellmouth. Status: FORGIVEN BY THE FANDOM.

FAITH: Murder and mayhem everywhere she went! Literally had no conscience until she checked into Angel’s One-Man Rehab™ and then turned herself in to pay her debt to society in prison. FORCED HERSELF ON ANGEL in order to try to turn him into Angelus. USED BUFFY’S BODY TO RAPE RILEY! Not to worry: she turns a new leaf and helps to save the world. Status: FORGIVEN BY THE FANDOM. (Wait, what? I thought rapists couldn’t be forgiven? Oh, wait - that’s only if you’re a man and don’t happen to be the one you ship with the Slayer.) I could go on, but hopefully you’re getting the picture. If you’ve forgiven/accepted these characters in the face of what they’ve done, your feelings against Spike have NOTHING to do with attempted sexual assault or any other crime he’s committed. It’s time to come clean about that. Really. Those characters have atoned. So has he. Let it go. On the other hand, if you hate all these characters for the unforgivable shit they’ve done, then good for you for being consistent - but your rhetoric had better match your moral compass. The TL/DR version: It’s okay to love something that’s problematic - but ENGAGE WITH THAT! Don’t put it on a perfect pedestal while vilifying a rival character or ship, or the people who love it. Check your own biases. Spike and Spuffy fans know full well what Spike did and have grappled with it, and we still came out on #TeamSpike and #TeamSpuffy. You don’t have to agree. You don’t have to switch sides. You don’t even have to like Spike. Just...STOP IT WITH YOUR MORALIZING AND YOUR DOUBLE STANDARDS, and be honest about the fact that it’s because you think Angel is hotter or you’d rather see him and Buffy together because of the tinglys they give you, or whatever the real reason is. Quit pretending it’s about rape or misogyny. Also, if anyone is going to be a coward and send me anon hate over this, don’t waste your time, because any anon hate is going to be summarily deleted without acknowledgement.

#spuffy #buffy #spike #angel #bangel #meta #critique #analysis #willow #andrew #faith #fandom rhetoric #fight me

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hannah-deserved-better · 5 years

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RPG starter call

Like this or reach out to me if you are a Castiel muse and would like to RPG with Hannah and would like me to send you a starter. Or reach out if you would like to collaborate on a poly pairing with Hannah, Castiel, and a muse of your choice (as long as it's not Destiel or Wincest). I’ll be reaching out via my Hannah muse side-blog @hannahhostofheaven but please read the rules below and some headcanons, I copied and pasted them from my Hannah muse;

They are mostly the same with just a few updates. You need to have read my rules before we RP:

* I will follow you as my MUN blog with is @Hannah-deserved-better

* My OTP is always Hannah/Castiel so keep that in mind. My Hannah will always have a thing for Castiel. I am opened to RPing with other blogs but there probably won’t be any romance.

* not interested in RPing with anyone who views angels as brothers and sisters cuz as I said, I ship Castiel/Hannah so our views will not be compatible.

* I play Hannah using Erica Carroll as a face claim.

* Caroline Johnson is available to RP with upon request.

* Don’t nag me for a reply. I am very busy and real life comes first, I will try to reply when I can, and if I need another long break I’ll let you know.

* discuss plot with me. I am a plot driven writer and I like to plan things out. I am open to pretty much everything but I like mulling things over.

* It’s my belief that Hannah would be on the autism spectrum if she were human so any Human Hannah AUs will be like that.

* MUN is autistic.

* female vessel Castiel blogs are welcome.

* Also, on that note, if we are writing and I sense that a sex scene might be coming up, I’ll probably PM you (or you PM me) so we can be sure we are both on the same page.

* no child OCs.

* I don’t do the whole ABO alpha omega thing. I don’t understand how it works at all and it’s really just not my thing.

* I’m not really into working outside the Supernatural verse, though sometimes I might be okay with crossing over with related verses such as Buffy the Vampire slayer, but I won’t want to work in a verse that I personally don’t know about (and I don’t watch a lot of TV so I am not part of many fandoms) so when in doubt, stick with Supernatural.

* Please try to play in character and with canon in mind. We will definitely be breaking with canon, but it needs to always be a guideline.

* Mun is over 30. Mun is also married and has a job so the demands on my time can be formidable. Mun is in California so we are dealing with Pacific Standard Time.

Headcanons:

* Hannah is an angel’s angel, she lives by her rules, but she finds inner conflict with her feelings. She believes in law, justice, and order.

* I think Hannah has cream colored wings with golden yellow tips, see blog banner picture.

* Caroline Johnson was born February 25th, 1980 in Great Falls, Montana. She is a Pisces.

* Hannah has had limited dealings with humans but she does have a certain bond with Caroline Johnson.

#starter call #spn hannah #castiel/hannah #castiel muse #poly ship #HannahGirl

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yetanotherbuffyblog · 7 years

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Let’s talk about the trippy dream episode, part one

So I finished season four. What was the actual finale? The trippy dream episode.

I’ll not go into too much detail about the dreams until my notes. Then I’ll dive head-first into interpreting what the eff it was all supposed to mean.

So after defeating Adam’s plan and the Initiative being shut down, the Scoobies decide that they’re going to relax with a well-earned movie night at the Summers house. Riley’s going to testify about the Initiative to the government, so it’s just Buffy, Giles, Willow and Xander. Joyce wonders if they’ve slept since the whole thing, but the Scoobies insist that they’re too hyped-up from everything to sleep. So as Joyce goes to bed, the gang puts Apocalypse Now into the VCR and...immediately fall asleep.

The rest of the episode takes place almost entirely in their dreams, going from Willow, to Xander, to Giles and finally to Buffy. Their dreams reveal their insecurities, their fears, and their confusions. But worse than that, there’s something hunting them through their dreams, some kind of monster; it sucks the life from Willow, rips out Xander’s heart and cuts open Giles’s head. It appears as some sort of primal figure, with clawed hands and a painted face. Of the first three, only Giles is the one who actually figures out what it is, but he’s too late.

Buffy’s dream goes much the same, but she is the one who finally speaks with the being hunting them. Turns out that this whole thing is a side effect of the Enjoining Spell they used on Buffy to defeat Adam. The point was to put the attributes of the other four (Willow’s power, Xander’s heart/strength, and Giles’s mind) into Buffy’s body, by calling upon Sineya, the First Slayer. And now the spirit of the First Slayer is haunting their dreams.

The First Slayer confronts Buffy and communicates to her (through simple speech and using a dream version of Tara as a mouthpiece) that the Slayer is meant to be alone, to be a primal killing beast to destroy the evil of the world. But this obviously doesn’t work for Buffy, who is the best Slayer we’ve seen because she’s not alone and has her friends. And Buffy doesn’t overcome the attack of the First Slayer as much as ignore it. By refusing to accept the idea that she’s meant to be alone, she defeats the nightmare, and wakes up.

Oh and there was a weird Cheese Man in all of their dreams?

But the interesting bits aren’t the Plot as much as the dreams. So we’re going to talk about them! What could they possibly mean?

Person: Well I think--

Shut it! I listened to Joss Whedon’s commentary, fool! I have all the answers MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Okay well not all the answers but let’s talk about some things.

Person: You cheated.

Well suck it.

Notes!

-Willow’s dream opens with her in a room with Tara, talking about not knowing the name of something. Willow seems to think they’re talking about their new cat, but they mention something about it ‘revealing its name to them,’ so I have my doubts? But I don’t want to throw that out entirely. Tara is also laying on the bed without a shirt and Willow is painting something on her back. I was curious if she was actually writing anything, as it looks to be ancient Greek letters--in the commentary Joss confirms that it is, in fact, a Greek poem by Sappho; specifically, “Deathless Aphrodite.”

Now Sappho, for you history/literature nerds out there, was a famous female poet from the island of Lesbos that wrote tons of love poetry. Historians assumed Sappho was a man for the longest time because many are directed at female lovers, but nope! She was a woman. And that’s where we get the word ‘lesbian.’

No really.

-The idea, explained in the commentary, was that Willow’s place of comfort was in Tara’s room with her. And that the idea of ‘letting the thing name itself’ is more feminine than the male ideal of conquering and imposing a name on it (which reeks of 80’s mystical feminism to me, but whatevs Joss). I think we could also talk about how Willow is, at this point in her life, still discovering who she is. In fact she’s been doing it the entire show. And instead of trying assert who she is, like Xander (who utterly fails at this), or having who she is handed to her forcefully, like Buffy, she has a better time of it when she lets herself work it out naturally.

-There’s a bit where Willow is in the hallway of the college and is going to drama class, and she talks to Xander and Oz. I don’t think there’s that much to this bit, though it has Xander give a joke about thinking lesbians are hot after Willow walks off, which Joss admitted wasn’t very dream-like, given that Willow’s not experiencing it.

-Willow shows up at drama class, but it’s the opening night for a play. Specifically, Death of a Salesman, where Harmony (their classmate who became a vampire and was briefly Spike’s girlfriend) is in a weird Bavarian costume, Buffy’s dressed as a femme fatale from a noir film, and Riley’s a cowboy. And Giles is director. They make jokes about Willow stepping on cues, and say that everyone Willow knows, including themselves, are in the audience, and Willow’s family looks angry. The bits of the play we do see don’t make sense, because Riley’s character says he’s come to the small town hunting down a salesman to kill. Or something.

Behind the curtains Willow expresses her confusion about it all to Tara (BEHIND RED VELVET CURTAINS GET IT BECAUSE LESBIANS). Then something starts clawing through the curtains, and she escapes, to find herself in an abandoned high school classroom. Buffy is there to help, but demands she takes off her “costume” which is just her normal clothes. Buffy rips it off, revealing...season one Willow, who has long hair, and dresses much more conservatively (read: like a nerd). And everyone is there, Oz, Xander and Tara laugh at her as she tries to read a book report of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and then she’s attacked, pinned to the floor by the First Slayer, and the life is drained out of her or something.

-Joss said something like the play that you haven’t rehearsed is a common dream, but I haven’t had it?

-Also the Cheese Man is there saying he’s made space for the cheese slices, showing a table with a dish and all the slices of cheese laid out.

-Also there’s a lot of hints that Willow is scared about the people around her knowing who she really is, and the red herring you’re supposed to get is that she thinks people will judge her for being in a relationship with another woman. But it’s actually not that at all--it’s that she’s worried people will think of her as the same shy, nerdy kid she was before all her character development. And that deep down, she still feels that she is that way.

-In short Willow’s dreams are all about identity; not knowing who she is, and worried about others knowing who she is. I think there’s also something in that she’s writing Greek poetry and performing a play, both of which are hallmarks of ancient Greek culture. And given that she’s going further and further into the ancient traditions of witchcraft, maybe we’ll see something of that in the future?

-Xander’s dream starts with him waking up on the couch with Willow asleep, and Giles and Buffy watching Apocalypse Now. Except the movie on the screen has crappy green screen and the guy on it exclaims every war movie cliche in the book. And Giles thinks it’s a stupid movie. Xander gets up to go to the bathroom, and goes upstairs, where he meets Buffy’s mother Joyce. Joyce acts like she’s trying to seduce him, asking if he wants conquest, and Xander responds that he’s like a conquistador, though Joyce then says he looks like he wants comfort, and Xander calls himself a “comfortador.” He then finally goes to the bathroom and is about to start peeing but then looks over, and the rest of the bathroom is the underground area of the Initiative, and all the soldiers and scientists are watching him, with the dudes in labcoats writing on clipboards. He decides to go somewhere else and leaves the room, goes across the hall and finds himself...outside in a playground.

-Alright so Joyce’s comments that he wants comfort and not conquest--that’s loaded. Because Xander is explicitly a character who’s way too into sex, but it’s never gone well for him. And he tries so hard to force what he wants, whether it be hating on Angel, or getting a job, or a sexual relationship. He doesn’t want sex, even though he’s convinced himself of it, he wants comfort and tenderness, because he lives in an abusive household, as past episodes have indicated.

-Joss said that the Initiative watching him is just the common dream of someone watching you go to the bathroom, which he says everyone has, but I don’t know if I’ve had it? I don’t remember having that dream. In any case, if we want to we could interpret it another way. The Initiative being an intrusive part of their lives, invading their most private times. They were just some guys, but then it turns out that Buffy’s dating one and they became a huge focus for each of them, even though aside from Buffy, the Scoobies were all very wary of them.

-There’s also a bit where Joyce says something but her lips don’t move, which Joss said was a dream thing. I dunno.

-In the playground, Buffy is playing in a sandbox. Giles and Spike are both wearing tweed suits and are swinging together having fun in the sunshine, and they say that they’re training Spike to be a Watcher because he’s like a son to Giles. When Xander tells Buffy to be careful of the sandbox, as it’s bigger than it looks, there’s a shot of Buffy sitting in the sand of a massive desert, and she says, “It’s not coming for me yet.” Xander looks over to see the ice cream truck he used to drive, and he’s the one in it giving out ice cream, and then he’s driving the ice cream truck with Anya next to him.

-I...don’t know what to make of this? Arguably that he sees Buffy as in over her head as to what she’s doing, or that she’s seeming of the same world as him while being in a completely different place in every way. He might also be disturbed about Spike becoming a sort-of member of the group, thinking that it’s weird and out of place.

Also the ice cream truck he sees himself in is distant from everyone else.

-In the ice cream truck he talks to Anya about where he’s going (which he doesn’t know), and Anya says she wants to get back to being a vengeance demon. Xander opposes, thinks it’s dangerous. Then in the back, Tara and Willow are there, very skimpily clad, and start making out (though the camera doesn’t show it, only Xander’s reaction, which Joss says the network made them cut shorter). They ask if he wants to join them, and Anya lets him so he goes to the back...crawling through an absurdly long back of the truck, over boxes and things that weren’t there before, and when he gets to the back...he stumbles into his parents’ basement, where he lives. Someone is knocking on the door very loudly and angrily. The Cheese Man tells him that the cheese won’t protect him.

-The conversation about not knowing where he’s going is kind of a no-brainer. Skip.

-Joss points out that Xander tends to view all the female characters sexually at some point or another and does not apologize for it. It’s just...Xander. I think it’s also telling that while his dream shows plenty of the female characters, and some of them sexually, he never actually interacts sexually with them. Joyce just walks off while he goes to the bathroom, and Tara and Willow aren’t there when he gets to the back.

-Joss also points out that he ends up in the basement again, which he doesn’t want to be in; he just ends up there.

-Xander takes another door and finds himself at the college, and see Giles. He asks Giles for help, if he knows what’s going on, and Giles tells him to calm down and starts to communicate what to do...which then switches to French. French that doesn’t match with his lip movements. Anya also comes over talking French. Xander doesn’t understand them, and they get increasingly agitated… when the student population swarms him, and drags him away… and he finds himself in front of Principal Snyder.

-the French dialogue, btw, is this (taken from here):

GILES (in English) The others have all gone ahead. Now listen carefully. Your life may depend on what I am about to tell you. You need to get to --

(switch to French)

the house where we're all sleeping. All your friends are there having a wonderful time and getting on with their lives. The creature can't hurt you there.

XANDER What? Go Where? I don't understand.

GILES (still dubbed in French) Oh for God's sake, this is no time for your idiotic games!

Anya rushes to them, worried. And dubbed.

ANYA (dubbed in French) Xander! You have to come with us now! Everybody's waiting for you!

GILES (still dubbed in French) That's what I've been trying to tell him.

XANDER Honey, I don't -- I can't hear you...

[Anya grabs his arm, starts dragging him.]

ANYA (dubbed in French) It's not important. I'll take you there.

XANDER Well, wait. Where are we going?

-The Xander being dragged away scene is supposed to be a shot-for-shot scene from Apocalypse Now, as is the scene with Snyder. Joss said the crew watched the scene over and over to get it right. Not having seen that movie, I couldn’t tell.

-The scene with Snyder is taken from the scene with Kurtz in AN. Snyder tells Xander his time is running out, and that when asks him who he is, Xander says he’s a comfortador. Snyder tells him that he’s neither that nor a conquering; he’s “A whipping boy, raised by mongrels and set on a sacrificial stone.” Xander tells him that he’s glad that Snyder was killed by the Mayor at the Ascension.

-Joss said they explicitly didn’t want this to be a parody, at least not played as one. So the tone is dead serious.

-Snyder saying he’s “raised by mongrels” could be reference to the abusive household Xander was raised in. “Set on a sacrificial stone” is a bit more ambiguous, but possibly in that Xander still thinks that his friends see him as nothing more but a waste of space? To be used?

-Also Xander said to Snyder that one day he’d give him an honest comeback, and he never did. Except in his dream, where he told him he was glad he got killed.

-Xander runs through several scenes: Giles’s house, where the Scoobies are arguing about something, then the dorm hallway, then Buffy’s room. He goes into the closet, digging through and finds himself...back in the basement. The door that someone was banging on finally opens, and it’s his father, who’s angry. Xander’s father insults him and calls him useless. He then turns into the First Slayer and rips out Xander’s heart.

Alright that’s it for Part One! I’ll talk Giles and Buffy’s dreams in Part Two!

#Buffy The Vampire Slayer #4x22 #Willow Rosenberg #Xander Harris #review #Restless #Cheese Man

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theclacks · 7 years

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Buffy Thoughts - Season 6

I’m splitting up my Angel Season 3 thoughts into a different post because I have too many feelings this time to cram them both together. In summary though...

Me at the beginning of season 6:

Me at the end of season 6:

Previous Seasonal Recaps: BtVS S1+S2, BtVS S3, BtVS S4 + AtS S1, BtVS S5 + AtS S2

Previous Episodic Recaps: S6E1-3, S6E15, S6E16, S6E18, S619, S6E20-E21

On Overall Thoughts

The was by far the weirdest season of any show I've ever watched, and that includes season 4 of Battlestar Galactica. A couple people have commented on my smaller, episode recaps that apparently there was disagreement in the writer’s room? And boy does that explain a lot because yeah. Tonal dissonance out the wazoo.

I liked the juxtaposition of smaller villains in contrast with the huge internal problems the characters were going through. And ultimately, had it been executed with a more solid vision, I think this might have been one of my favorite seasons because at the end of the day I kind of love soap operas in the vein of Downton Abbey and Gossip Girl, and season six was a soap opera but with punching. And vampires. And death.

And regardless of me simultaneously hating episodes and loving episodes, it was definitely the most INVOLVED I've been with the show thus far. I mean, I wrote six or seven "per episode" recaps? I POSTED A GIF OF “EVERYTHING IS AWESOME” SAYING “SEASON SIX DO YOUR WORST” AND THEN IN THE VERY FUCKING NEXT EPISODE TARA DIES AND SPIKE TRIES TO RAPE BUFFY. I ASSUME ALL YOUR GUYS’ “LIKES” ON THAT POST WERE MADE IN SAD, CRUEL IRONY.

I think a lot of Buffy’s depression was solid because it really hit close to home, “Going Through the Motions” in particular.

There was a good comment in one of the AV Club reviews in that the season itself is super meta because Buffy died and the show itself was supposed to be cancelled. Her resurrection was the show’s resurrection, so in a lot of ways this season was more like a sequel to Buffy than the next season? And it was a kind of “what now?” sequel, where there weren’t any good answers and life just kind of sucks sometimes.

Well, a lot of times.

But because a lot of it hits painfully close to home, like The Body, it's something that I’m not entirely sure how many time I want to rewatch.

So yeah. I’m going to go through character by character thoughts, then do a thing on general inconsistencies and plot holes that bugged me, and then do predictions for Season 7, and I’ll be done.

On the Trio

I loved them as villains. Their bumbling methods give a perfect excuse for why they're in some episodes and why in others they're not. (Contrast this to Adam in season 4 who just sort of “took a break” a lot of times.)

Plus, there can't always be escalating threats. After Glory, they were going to do... what? An even more powerful God? Going with a more down to earth threat gives room for other emotional arcs to breathe, and at the end of the day they ended up being more deadly than the villains of Season 4 and Season 5 (RIP Tara).

Also, I loved how they maintained their separate personalities. I loved that Jonathan was the most sympathetic, but that also he wasn't "good" either.

On Giles

I get actor contracts and needing to write him out, and the writers tried to smooth it over with him and Buffy sharing a hysterical laugh in the finale, but I still think Giles should've been chewed out

I mean, a watcher’s job is to take care of his slayer. Yes, Buffy’s an adult now, but she’s just come back from heaven. She showed suicidal impulses in Once More With Feeling, she would’ve committed suicide in OMWF if Spike hadn’t stopped her so WHY would Giles be all "i should go so that she can stand on her own feet." Like HOLY SHIT, there is a middle ground between enabling her out and FUCKING ABANDONING HER.

Also, he said he left so that Buffy took better care of Dawn, but guess WHAT? DAWN STILL GOT FUCKING IGNORED.

On Dawn

Dawn is the best. I love Dawn. I don't care if other people think she's "whiny,” I love her. Steal all the shit you want girl, it's not like people will notice until they've been magically stuck in a house with you for 48+ hours.

Which is ironic because I went into season 5 thinking I was going to hate her and now she’s in my top three faves with Spike and Anya.

I love her continued bro-ness with Spike. I think the very first episode of Season 6 was my favorite (more on that later) just because her friendship and brotherly bond with Spike just BLED through the screen... even though their screentime took a major hit when Buffy and Spike started their affair.

Also I like that her character arc was basically "please notice me, i'm still a character even though i'm no longer a plot point.” Because that’s a common flaw in ensemble shows when plot point character no longer become plot points. Also like, yeah, maybe it's annoying but being ignored and feeling inadequate is also a huge part of what being a little sister is like.

And the episode where they all got stuck in the house together was a FUN episode in a sea of NOT FUN episodes, so four for you, Dawn Summers, you go Dawn Summers.

On Anya

My fave, my love.

I like that everyone was banking on her to ditch Xander, for her to have cold feet at their wedding, but it ended up being the other way around.

However my thoughts on Anya’s character arc this season are mixed because although I loved her becoming a vengeance demon again, that pretty much WAS her character arc. Everyone episode leading up to Hell’s Bells was filler for her. Like emotionally she didn’t change from Bargaining: Part One until the altar.

BUT, Anya and Spike drinking together and being bros in Entropy was by far... well, my second favorite part of the latter half of season six. (My favorite being the wedding conversation Spike and Buffy have.) And I still stand by what I said in my episodic reviews that Xander left HER at the altar, so she owned him nothing and deserved NONE of his "how could you do this?!!?" chewouts whatsoever.

Which, speaking of Xander…

On Xander

I appreciate what the writers tried to do with him this season, but I didn't like the execution.

Like yes, he's the guy normal and had RIDICULOUS pressure on him in the sense that he's the ONLY one in the group who never has, had, or eventually received super powers, and there's definitely something to be said for the decision to keep him that way. Also, I liked how he was used in the finale, how he was the one who calmed willow down with their mutual friendship…. HOWEVER

That friendship bond was built on past seasons of interaction, not this one. Willow and Xander didn’t interact at all this season. (Or it was so minor I already forgot.) And, sure, you can argue that that’s the point, that the strength and tragedy of their bond is how old it is despite how neglected it’s become, but it’s my personal view that seasons should be somewhat self-contained? Or at least they should be given the way Buffy handles its seasons.

Because yeah. This season, Xander’s only scenes were worries with Anya, snippiness at Spike, and occasional worries with Buffy. He didn’t interact with Dawn or Willow or Tara or even Giles when Giles was still in the picture. Xander was just flat and rather unlikeable this season.

On Tara

I talked about Tara's death in my Seeing Red recap, so I'll leave this one note here.

I don’t think Tara was ever a fully developed character. She was a really good love interest, but the writers never let her blossom and play off the other characters.

And THAT was the most annoying thing about her death because SHE WAS JUST STARTING TO BLOSSOM.

Through the Spuffy affair, she got her own relationship with Buffy as level-headed confidant. She got her own relationship with Dawn as motherly aunt. And I wish they would've kept going that direction because Tara without Willow was really cool.

On Willow

I loved Willow's arc this season. It was my favorite arc because it was consistent, well-executed (ignoring the brief “drugs are bad, m’kay” episode), had a clear beginning, turning point, dive off a cliff, struggle back to calm floating, and then dive off a EVEN BIGGER APOCALYPTIC cliff.

Like, if all of the other plots lines had been as strong as Willow’s, I think this could've been my favorite season.

Unfortunately Xander/Anya and Dawn's were a little too shallow, so they had a lot of "filler" episodes for their characters. And Spike and Buffy’s were all over the place, bouncing back and forth thematically.

That said, I looking forward to seeing Willow's recovery in season 7.

On Buffy's situation and how it could've been avoided

I really don't know how to talk about Buffy herself, so instead I’m going to talk about her situation and how I think a significant portion of Buffy’s stress and angst this season was on her friends TOTALLY dropping the ball.

Let’s start with finances.

Willow and Tara can start paying some fucking rent, thank you. I don't care if they don’t have jobs, they were obviously paying for their dorm rooms somehow, they can pay for part of buffy's mortgage.

AND IF THEY CAN'T PAY RENT, THEY SHOULD GET PART TIME JOBS ALONGSIDE BUFFY. Lots of college kids have them. Just because they’re going to class and Buffy’s not isn’t an excuse. It's like "SORRY BUFFY, WE’RE TOO BUSY TO HAVE JOBS BECAUSE OUR TIME IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOURS EVEN THOUGH YOU TECHNICALLY ALREADY HAVE A FULL TIME JOB AS THE SLAYER" like jesus christ, Willow and Tara.

But even that, I could chalk up as Willow and Tara not thinking/being immature if it hadn’t been for Giles backing up their mindset. Like Giles gets a stipend for being a watcher. Why doesn't Buffy get a stipend for being a slayer? Have other slayers in history needed to support themselves with minimum wage jobs? WHY DIDN'T GILES GET WILLOW AND TARA TO PAY THEIR PART OF THE RENT?

Also Buffy’s dad and child support. GILES, SHE’S TAKING CARE OF A MINOR. AT LEAST HELP HER GO TO COURT AND CLAIM CHILD SUPPORT.

Like, just, fucking support group some of this stuff people.

Season 6 acted like it was just Buffy's mental state that made everything so shitty, and yes, it was, but everyone else continuously dropping the ball until Buffy got buried in a sea of dropped balls didn’t exactly help things either.

So yeah, on behalf of Buffy, "fuck you, all the other scoobies of season six".

Except Anya. Anya did nothing wrong.

On Spike

Because I've talked loads about him in other recaps, I’m going to move straight past his season six stuff and talk about his arc going forward.

Because OH MY GOD that ending.

HIS SOUL.

I thought I’d gotten spoiled for season 6′s ending. Turns out I got spoiled for season 7′s re: the hellmouth opening. Because yeah, I kept waiting for evil!Willow to open the hellmouth and then she pulled up the temple instead and I started getting SO confused, and then Spike was in Africa and asking to go back the way he was and I'd ALSO gotten spoilered for Spike getting his chip out and I thought THAT'D be the big thing, which didn’t seem like it was big enough for giant Africa sidequest and then boom

SOUL.

But at the same time, I can't see Spike acting much different with it. Like my favorite parallel/difference with Spike and Angel is that Angel does a complete personality flip with or without his soul. Like total good vs total evil. But Spike is already grey. And I really like the idea of his causing him to flip... to more grey.

Like when Spike comes back to Sunnydale, will the other characters even know the difference? I'm predicting they won't. Im predicting he's going to hide it from them and then it's going to be a WHAM moment or something around episode 5… or 6… or 7? IDK, one of those. The show likes its WHAM moments between episodes 5 and 7.

Also, I have no idea if Spike’s going to get back together with Buffy? I'm thinking not based on the tone of posts i've seen, and also because season 6 is THE talked about season, so season 7 will be mellower? IDK.

But then, I've also seen spoiler screencaps of them just chillin' and honestly Buffy and Spike just chillin' and being at peace/trust with each other means WAY more to me than angsty sex and being physically together. Like, I just want them supporting each other and joking and making each other smile and groan and all that fluffy shit… and then occasionally fist fighting themselves into the dirt because Spike and Buffy.

I will though end on one very annoyed Spike rant, which is the writers insisting that Spike’s evil because he only ever did good things because he loved Buffy/wanted to get into her pants, to which I say BULLSHIT.

Go back to Bargaining: Part One. Buffy was DEAD. Stone cold DEAD. And she had been for five months. Spike was still taking care of Dawn for her. He was following her wishes. He knew she wasn’t coming back. He knew he no longer had a “shot” with her. And yet he did the things she would’ve wanted him to do because it was selfless fucking LOVE, and I think that more than anything else was what frustrated me the most about this whole season. Because although I’m looking forward to what souled!Spike entails, I don’t think he needed it.

Anyways.

Results of Predictions for Season 6 Finale

- Willow gets de-evil!Willow-fied (CHECK)

- Clem lives (CHECK)

- Anya lives (CHECK)

- Spike comes back to Sunnydale because otherwise wtf is the point of his mystical quest thing (NO CHECK)

- Jonathan lives (CHECK)

- Giles gets chewed out for leaving ONE EPISODE AFTER BUFFY REVEALED SHE WAS SUICIDAL like come on wtf (HE APOLOGIES, BUT STILL... NO CHECK)

- Dawn and Spike have one more moment of being bros. I don’t even care about Spike and Buffy anymore. Just let me have Dawn and Spike being bros (I COUNT DAWN BAITING XANDER, SAYING “SPIKE WOULD’VE DONE IT” AS A BRO MOMENT. CHECK)

Predictions for Season 7

- Spike comes back to Sunnydale and becomes tentative friendship bros with Buffy with continual underlying UST that's never resolved again because of the attempted rape and also because none of my ships can ever be happy

- Dawn and Spike eventually work through his attempted rape and become bros again

- Dawn takes a level in badassery, will fight things

- Buffy's perma-death/rebirth will be addressed re: slayer chain of dead slayers leading to new slayer

- Anya stays a vengeance demon because fuck Xander

- Willow finds a happy place between using no magic whatsoever and trying to fry the earth

- Giles hangs out in Sunnydale again because Giles

- Anya stays in command of the magic shop because it's her magic shop… even though Willow kind of destroyed it

- Clem continues to have cameos because he's Clem and he's awesome

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #buffy season 6 #buffy #/////#clacks from theclacks

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kevoreally · 6 years

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#BuffyAt20 - S03E05 “Homecoming”

AND HERE WE ARE! I am finally caught up on #BuffyAt20 with this liveblog! Very exciting. Season 3, Episode 5, “Homecoming.”

> It’s weird to see these kids talking about something normal like a dance. Not funny weird. Weird weird.

> Why is Willow talking about this being their “last homecoming” as if they’ve ever been the types to celebrate homecoming? (Didn’t Cordy almost get Bride Of Frankenstein’d at last homecoming or something?)

> Is it homecoming or Homecoming? I’m not going to get it right, that’s for sure.

> I actually don’t think going in Oz’s van is the dumbest idea. It's at The Bronze, not The Plaza.

> Why are they talking about a limo for homecoming anyway?? Is this a thing? I thought that was just Prom. And yet I remember no mention of a limo once we get to the actual Prom.

> Wow, in a rare instance, Cordelia’s tactlessness is actually useful. I mean, she’s not calling out Scott in defense of Buffy so much as from a complete lack of social awareness, but it still proved useful.

> “The judge will accept that as a yes.” Bless Oz forever.

> Okay, Buffy is still a little zoned out, but she’s a fairly decent girlfriend in that first scene.

> Was that Angel dramatic curtain pull really as intense as the music tried to tell us? Probably not.

> I actually loved and still love the “Buffy hiding Angel” arc. I think it makes a lot of sense. I think it could’ve been better executed at times, but I still enjoy it more than, say, XILLOW.

>This smash-cut to the break-up is actually almost laughable. Who wrote this one? … Written AND directed by Greenwalt? Huh.

> This was such a weird three-episode arc, this Scott Hope thing. We literally never see him again after this episode, and he’s only mentioned again I think once in Season 7.

> He barely gives a reason for dumping her! YOU AGREED TO GO TO HOMECOMING WITH HER LAST NIGHT! What a chump. You can do better, B.

> Woof. The Twins. Hello, boys.

> Them watching her is such an interesting note to close the teaser on, because it still yet doesn’t give away any of the SlayerFest stuff, you just think “assassins.”

> No, seriously, every week this theme song gets me.

> THE MAYORRRRRR!!!!!!!

> Also Deputy Mayor Allan. Love him. Was he Deputy Mayor? I suppose I’ll be reminded soon enough.

> The germophobe stuff was such an odd and interesting quirk to add to this villain.

> “Dirt. And germs. And mayonnaise.” This performance, man.

> “You have all my faith.” HA!

> It’s cute that these senior portraits were used in the “official” Sunnydale High Yearbook. (Which I own, of course. (It’s… not great.))

> “Open to all mankind.” There’s that slut-shaming again.

> Xander actually does occasionally show emotional concern for Cordy and it’s… almost nice? But then this is the episode where he starts cheating, so… nvm.

> Eddie’s friend Nicole on #FreshOffTheBoat looked just like Faith and I loved it.

> See, and now here Buffy and Faith are talking about being sexually empowered. Isn’t that so much nicer than slut-shaming?

> UGH, the scene where Buffy’s favorite teacher doesn’t know her. I feel this too hard.

> I find it hard to believe any teacher has not heard of Buffy. THAT NAME ALONE.

> Also hard to believe there’s no make-up dates for senior portraits. And seriously? When Buffy didn’t show up after Cordy said she’d get her, no one else went?? 🤬

> “just because you were Guacamole Queen when you were three” - is that in response to Buffy saying she was Fiesta Queen a moment ago, when Cordelia wasn’t present?

> Yeah, my IG post had me wonder if Buffy should’ve backed off, since this is all Cordy has, but no. This is actually great. I root for Buffy all the way. Go for blood.

> "...and whatever the hell you are, my brother. You got them spiny-looking head things. I ain't never seen that before." "I am Kulak, of the Miquot Clan." "Isn't that nice." Loool.

> “Ladies, gentlemen, spiny-head-looking creatures.” Seriously, Mr. Trick was great.

> OH NO, IT’S HERE. The dreaded Xillow.

> Seriously, can I just blackout during this?

> There’s even a soft pop hit playing in the background. STOP TRYING TO BE #DAWSONSCREEK.

> I’m sorry - eighth grade COTILLION? WHAT? (Meanwhile, I was in seventh grade when this aired.)

> Xander asking Willow how far she and Oz got is only inappropriate because of what comes next. It would’ve been so nice if they could’ve been comfortable opposite-sex friends who could talk about those sorts of things.

> This whole scene is so painfully awkward. Who actually wanted this? STOP DANCING.

> Okay it’s over bye, bye, byeee.

> This whiteboard reminds me of #CabinInTheWoods

> Okay, Buffy. Like. Why do you think anyone is going to laugh at you making fun of Cordy? We all know it’s beneath you.

> “A lot of people came to my welcome home party.” “They were killed by zombies.” “Good point.” HA.

> Okay, you know, Willow and Xander’s guilt pushing them to work harder for Cordy almost makes it worth the moment in THIS episode. But its continuation after this is just dumb.

> Like. At the very least, can’t Willow let Buffy see her database too? Wtf?

> “As Willow goes, so goes my nation” is something I say a lot, except with Nico.

> I straight up thought Buffy was just drinking directly from a bottle of wine just now.

> I like this song during the compaign montage. And hey, it’s Fastball! https://youtu.be/e97XbcKy8ZU

> I liked the Lisa Loeb song from earlier, so I may as well link to that too: https://youtu.be/NDdivQ8n5Ug

> Aww, it was so nice of the promo department to lend Buffy a headshot to use for her campaign posters. 🙄

> Remember last week when Scott’s two oldest friends were both killed, including one by the other? And we were supposed to, like, feel sympathy for him?

> How long is this campaign going on for? Where is Buffy getting the funding for all of this?

> WHY WOULD WILLOW *NOT* HAVE SHOWN BUFFY THE DATABASE? Sigh.

> JONATHAN!!!

> Cordelia only gave Jonathan $6? Even in 1998, that was nothing. At least make it $10!

> Vulcan Death Grip - that’s not the right name, right? I feel like even I know that one.

> “is that any more tacky than your faux ‘I’m shy but deep’ campaign posters?” “...yes.” Ha. And, yes.

> ”How can you think it’s okay to talk to people like this?” SERIOUSLY, BUFFY. I’m finding it hard to understand how liking Cordelia at this point in the series.

> Like right here. Cordelia *purposely* goes to physically push Buffy, assuming the Slayer would never push back. The moment Buffy actually defends herself, Cordelia calls her “sick.” That’s uncanny.

> Okay, “vapid whore” wasn’t great. But. ...Y’know. 🤷🏻‍♂️

> For real, I still keep expecting it to turn out there’s some kind of horny homecoming ghost that’s going to be revealed as the source of this Xillow nonsense. But no. Never.

> “I’m talking about us.” Loooool, of course you are, Willow. Watch out for anvils, everyone…

> “The limo was not cheap, work it out”? What the fuck? 🤭🤣

> Okay, but for real, the setup here of how Cordelia came to be mistaken for Faith? I actually do find that amusing. And it was 1998, so you could still just barely get away with the Germans making that mistake without saying, “Okay, but all that tech and they got it wrong?” It was a magical time.

> Their dresses are gorgeous and timeless, by the way. And the color scheme evokes thoughts of #TRON for me, that orange and almost-teal green.

> Omigod, it’s a TV in the woods, hooked up to a VCR. Maybe it wasn’t such a magical time after all, haha.

> I want a SlayerFest T-shirt.

> I vividly remember “She’s a Slayer, I’m a Homecoming Queen” from the commercials.

> Faith just hanging out at this dance is so cute. There weren’t nearly enough stories with Faith actively involved as a good guy.

> I haven’t ever listened closely to “She Knows” by Four Star Mary, I don’t know how much sense Oz writing it for Willow makes, but believe I’ll be looking into it before I blog it.

> Giles psyching out Willow and Xander is friggin’ adorable. I love that Giles starts to loosen up this season. Is it a response to seeing the change in his returned Slayer? Hmm.

> I love Buffy just lobbing a bear trap at someone.

> I can’t tell if the hunter is cute. I wanna say mostly. I wonder if this was supposed to be Whats-his-name from “Phases”?

> Okay, it’s vindictive, but Faith’s revenge on Scott still makes me giggle. What?? That was a very unceremonious dumping.

> And we never saw Scott again. Who was his date anyway? What became of Scott after this? Other than, y’know. Gay.

> Giles is so on point in this episode. He’s fun and caring and charming. What a wonderful highlight in a lot of mess.

> Omigod, I almost forgot about Cordy’s spatula.

> Hm. This making Cordy realize she loves Xander is… interesting.

> And then her fortifying after Buffy goads her - and being smart enough to recognize that’s what she’s doing. Huh.

> Oh wait, she forgot to mention the telephone, nevermind, she still dumb.

> “No, this is better, for - oh.” Ha, tho.

> Buffy is leaving a voicemail on Giles’s landline. Lol.

> The spiny demon offering to cut off the hunter’s leg is actually kind of a nice gesture. New OTP.

> Wait, Buffy’s voicemail actually went through? Interesting.

> “I spent a year’s allowance on this dress.” And the muffins?

> Loving Buffy’s “pick up a yearbook and prove I went to high school” speech here, tbh. Writing and performance.

> How did this guy not just turn around and stab Cordelia while she was swatting him?

> “Cordelia, the spatula.” Haaa.

> This tech is some real #VRTroopers-looking shit.

> How have I not yet mentioned the Gorch reappearance here? And how much I love it? So fun.

> Wow, Buffy goes down hard when she gets hit with that stand. Damn.

> I do sort of love Cordelia talking Gorch into fleeing. He’s just stupid enough for this to work here.

> “I don’t recall them mentioning corsages” - that’s what tips them off? Sigh.

> “I need some wet toilet paper.” “Yeah! That’ll help.” Okay, lul.

> NOOO, goodbye, hot German twins! RIHotness.

> Seriously, cute plan tho, making them fire on each other. I wonder if their Dad/Handler ever got his money. Also, so like, what happened at school the next day, with this shot-up wall?

> The Mayor immediately offers his hand to Mr. Trick, that’s endearing. He’s a very endearing villain.

> “This is a very important year for me.” “Election year.” “Something like that.” Snerk.

> “The children are our future. We need them. I need them.” Like, does he mean ‘to eat’ here? I don’t think so, actually. He talks in Season 4 about having a children’s museum dedicated to himself.

> HA, SEE, I KNEW IT: “long story,” “got hunted,” “apparently not that long.” And also written by David Greenwalt. Gotta watch those, brother!

> Oh hey Devon!

> This scene does completely make me laugh still, not gonna lie. When he’s switching the crown over the two winners’ heads and our girls just walk off. Classic.

Speaking of classic - next week, a very classic episode, with another character reappearance, “Band Candy!” Looking forward to it. Especially now that I’m finally caught up! :D :D :D

#Buffy #buffy at 20 #buffy the vampire slayer #buffy watch #buffy rewatch #tv blog #live blog #buffy blog #btvs season 3 #Buffy Season 3 #Homecoming

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lilbreck · 7 years

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Title: Chapter 3: The Deals We Make, pt 1 Characters: Anya Jenkins, Buffybot, Rupert Giles, Spike, Tara Mcclay, Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris Rating/Warning: FRT Word Count: 3,735 A/N: Though I list a lot of characters, and some of them actually do get dialog, some of them just pass through.

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Shock raced through Spike. How long had they been planning this? He had thought they were growing close – or at least that he and Willow were. Apparently, he had been wrong. He expected to feel anger. All he could feel, though, was hurt and betrayed. Part of him wanted to turn around, leave, and pretend he had never overheard the conversation. However, the part of him that had watched Willow's back for these past few months came forward. Her friends weren't in the right place to make her stop and think, so he had to.

"No. Giles and Spike can't know. They might not understand." He could hear nothing but conviction and determination in her voice. He only hoped it was all a front and he could get her to slow down and rethink things, maybe get her to explain what was going on in her pretty little head.

He took a deep breath – quickly shook off the random flash of Willow's voice from a few nights after they had started patrolling together questioning why he bothered with the deep breathing – opened the door and stepped into the room just in time to hear Willow start to break.

"Her body, yeah. But her soul – her essence, I mean, that could be somewhere else. She could be trapped, in-in some sort of hell dimension like Angel was – suffering eternal torment just because she saved us, and I'm not gonna let... I'm not gonna leave her there. It's Buffy."

This was it. He needed to step in, calmly and rationally, before her tearful speech convinced her pals to go ahead with this insane idea. He had to. For Willow. After pulling the Buffybot into the room and pointing her to the couch, he leaned against the door jamb like he hadn't just overheard them planning something completely unnatural, dangerous, and foolish. He had to choose his words carefully.

"I'll grant you, she could be in a hell dimension. It happens sometimes," he was not too brainwashed by his time with the white hat brigade to go without a small smirk when Xander and Tara startled at the sound of his voice, but his gaze remained on Willow "and sometimes it doesn't."

When she didn't speak, didn't even turn to him, he skirted the kitchen table. He would have to take his time and be gentle; yelling or talking down to her would only get her dander up. He could do gentle; the question was if she would let him or not.

Spike circled around her until she had to either face him or deliberately turn away. Thankfully, she chose to remain as she was. He decided to go one step further and, placing his hands on either side of her head, raised her face until she was forced to look him in the eyes. He briefly closed his eyes and prayed he could find the right words. Now would be a convenient time to develop some decent poetic ability, not that he had much hope of that.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't worry that she's trapped somewhere suffering. You're a smart girl to worry. And I'm not saying you should pretend it's not possible. I just think you need to be sure that she's not somewhere better than here before you go trying to bring her back."

As he moved to rest his forehead against hers, he was suddenly hit with why she was so determined to go through with this that she hadn't even thought to see where Buffy had ended up. She had gone from being the sidekick and occasional Big Gun to being the one everyone turned to. The person everyone expected to have the answers and the plans and know exactly what to do. His Red was tired.

Spike took a deep breath and, in a soft voice, continued, "I know you're hurtin', Red. We all are. And I know we put so much weight on your shoulders, more than we should most of the time. I'm just asking that you make sure you're doing the right thing before you do something you can't take back."

He shifted his hold on the sides of her head – one hand unconsciously petting her hair as he did – and continued in a whisper, "And if she's better off where she is, we'll find some other way to make this right for you. I promise I will move heaven and earth to find a way."

In the silence that followed, he could practically feel Xander's desperate belief that Spike would pull a miracle out of thin air. He must have been desperate for someone other than him to stop Willow's plan if he didn't make a fuss at a vampire being so up close and personal with one of ‘his girls'. Spike was racking his brain for just such a miracle when Willow lifted her hands to rest gently on his wrists. The look on her face was grim and tired, and he half expected her to keep fighting him. Instead, he and Xander got their miracle.

"We'll wait until we can be sure. We'll all look for a way to find out where she is before we do anything else. And if she's better off… we'll figure out what to do."

Spike was too focused on the witch in front of him to pay attention to anyone else. That was why he missed the anger that flashed across Tara's face and didn't notice how, when he stepped back, the arms she wrapped around Willow were more than a touch possessive. If he had seen it, though, it wouldn't have mattered to him; he had got Willow to wait and that gave him hope he could stop her going down a path that could destroy her.

Last time he'd gone to this much trouble for someone else, he'd been a fool in love. What was his excuse now? Here he was going against the very nature of a vampire to prevent someone he… to prevent a friend from doing something potentially stupid. Was this what being a do-gooder was like all the soddin' time?

The meeting quickly lost steam after that and Anya less than tactfully kicked them all out. Spike, Willow, and Tara's trip back to the Summers' home was spent quietly talking about possible spells while they walked behind the bot and course corrected whenever it tried to go off in the wrong direction. They quickly figured out that they couldn't mention who they were looking for because it seemed to get Buffybot stuck on a logic loop and she refused to move while trying to work out what they were talking about.

Willow was so focused on trying to keep Buffybot walking in a relatively straight path that she missed the tension between Spike and Tara as she tried to subtly exclude him from research plans and he none too subtly included himself back in. Of course, the argument ended when Buffybot's glitch caused her to start spouting some of her original colorful programming again.

While Willow didn't seem phased, Spike didn't miss the almost triumphant look on Tara's face that went so smashingly with the surge of self-disgust rising in his gut. After making sure they made it safely to the house, he made his excuses and left.

The next morning found Buffybot training with Giles in the backroom of the Magic Box. Of course, that only lasted until Anya got bored and intruded on the session. Her blunt words reminded Giles that he wasn't training a slayer and he quickly lost any motivation to continue.

In answer to the bot's ever cheerful voice asking if he would like to test her again, he could only muster a half-hearted "No. Perhaps we should call it a day. Your, uh, your responses are fine."

He turned too quickly to notice the earnest expression that came across her face. However, he was brought up short by her next words.

"I can't call it a day. Willow told me that I had to stay here until she came to pick me up. She, Tara, Xander, and Spike are busy at my house. I told her I could help her look for the spell they wanted, but she used her resolve face."

A sense of unease took root in his stomach as he asked, "What spell are they looking for?"

The bot's smile was vacant and placid as it she told him, "It's a location spell. They want to find out if Buffy went to a hell dimension when she died."

Hurt lanced through him; both at the mention of his slayer and at the thought that they felt it necessary to exclude him. That hurt stayed with him as he mumbled some instruction to the bot and quickly left out through the back door to avoid being seen by Anya. It lasted until just after he started his car and he realized why they would have excluded him. It then quickly turned to an anger which stayed with him for the rest of the trip.

When he arrived at the Summers' house, he didn't bother with knocking. It was obvious that Spike had warned them he was coming up the walk by the fact that they were clearly in the middle of trying to hide their research.

"Don't bother cleaning up on my account."

While both Tara and Xander sat down with guilty expressions, Spike simply leaned back into his chair with a bored eye roll. Giles's eyes went to Willow who straightened up with an expression that was both defiant and defensive. When she made no move to try and explain herself, he broke the silence himself.

"Imagine my complete shock when I learned, from a robot of all things, what you lot were up to! At first I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why you would hide it from me. And then it dawned on me. You knew I wouldn't approve of your plan of action for if she's in a hell dimension."

Willow took a deep breath and smiled at him in what he could only assume was meant to be placating.

"There's no need to think about that one way or another until we find out where she is."

Her obvious disregard for reason infuriated him.

"Have you even put one moment of thought into how reckless and foolhardy this is? I will not stand by and let some arrogant amateur go against the very laws of nature!"

Almost immediately he felt the air in the room get heavier. Giles could feel a knot of dread form in his stomach. Spike was suddenly at Willow's side, hand over her arm as if to sooth her. Willow's face, however, didn't show any of the rage Giles could feel practically throbbing in the air. Her expression was cold as she spoke.

"If I find out that Buffy is in a hell dimension, I will get her out. And I will not be asking for anyone's permission."

Almost immediately the room seemed to lighten as Willow's expression turned pleading. "Giles, I don't want to fight. Let's not. We'll just focus on finding out where Buffy is. Okay?"

Feeling out of his depth, he could only nod. Had Willow become unstable and he somehow missed it? How had she gotten to this point? He was drawn out of his confusion by Spike's voice, obviously not believing silence would keep Willow calm.

"Old Rupes is just in shock, Red. How about I take him into the kitchen and have tea and a heart to heart with him. Brit to Brit?"

The look Willow turned on Spike was full of hope and relief as she quietly agreed. With a quick gesture of his head, he left the room and Giles followed without a word. However, Spike didn't stop in the kitchen; opting instead to head out to the porch where he obviously expected Giles to follow. The door had no sooner closed behind him than Spike was up in his face.

"Rule number one, Watcher, we do not piss off Willow. She is a mighty powerful witch who is buried under responsibility and grief. If she snaps, we're all buggered. When I found out about their little plan, she had already skipped straight to resurrection and her little witch and her friends had rolled right over and were ready to follow her every command. This finding out where the slayer is? This is my compromise.

"If we find out that Buffy is in hell, short of killing her, I doubt there's anything that anyone can do to stop her from getting her friend back."

Spike got impossibly closer and his voice dropped as he finished. "And I don't care how much it fries my brain, I won't be letting you or anyone else touch her."

Having said his peace, Spike went back into the house and began preparing tea. Giles had the sudden urge to find a quiet place to pray to whatever deity would listen that Buffy was in heaven because God help the world if she wasn't.

He quickly dismissed the idea of being able to stop Willow; he couldn't do it himself and even if he was willing to call in for help, the council would take too long to get a man here and there would be no telling if Willow would know they were coming. The only thing he could do was stick with them and try to ensure everything went as safe and smoothly as it could while perverting the laws of nature.

To that end, Giles entered the house and walked past where Spike was lounging against the kitchen counter. Making his way toward the door, he took a deep breath and turned back to where Willow was watching him with confusion.

"I believe I know just the spell we can use. I'll run by the Magic Box and grab the book so you can look it over."

Willow seemed relieved at his words and he did his best to return the smile she gave him before he left.

As Giles was making his way to the shop and returning with the book in question, a few hours ride out of Sunnydale the vampire that had escaped Spike and the Buffybot the night before was in a bar spilling his guts to a demon biker gang. It didn't take long for them to decide that the Hellmouth was ripe for the picking.

Oblivious to the incoming danger, Giles, Willow, and Tara went over the supplies they'd need for the spell while Spike listened from the kitchen and Xander left to go spend time with Anya and update her on the situation.

That night Willow sent Buffybot off to patrol. Of course, she couldn't see a way around telling her where everyone was headed, just in case the bot should malfunction again. As she stared up at the tower where Buffy had jumped to her death, Willow began to think on the possibilities. If they had to bring Buffy back, would that somehow also bring Dawn back?

Spike's voice, a hushed whisper at her side, brought her back to the present. "Everything's set up, pet. It's on you now."

She had no sooner looked at Spike and caught a brief glimpse of understanding and sympathy in his eyes, then Tara was on her other side gently pulling on her hand.

"Are you sure you want to do this so soon? We can always wait until you're ready."

Willow tamped down her anger; Tara was only trying to help and be considerate. Regardless of how it came across, she didn't mean to question Willow's abilities. She mustered up a smile she hoped came across as grateful and said, "I'm ready now."

"Well then, we're ready on our end." Giles voice was a welcome reprieve from the further questions she could see Tara was ready to ply her with. When she walked up to him, he gripped her shoulders lightly. There was comfort and reassurance in the gesture, neither of which she realized she needed so badly.

"This will take a great deal of concentration given the vast number of dimensions Buffy could be in. Calling on the first slayer should narrow down the possibilities, but I need you to focus solely on the task at hand. The rest of us will make sure nothing happens out here, you concentrate on the spell."

Giving a firm nod of her head, Willow said, "I'll keep my head in the game, coach."

Giles didn't smile, only shifted his hands until he held her face between them.

"Remember what you're looking for and why you're looking for it. Do not get lost. No matter what you see or what you are promised, remember that this… Remember that we are your home. Come back to us, Willow."

Her vision blurry with tears and a lump forming in her throat, Willow lifted her hands to his wrists and gave a reassuring squeeze and promised him she would in a barely audible voice. Walking toward the circle they had created, she accepted the hug from Xander and the oddly reassuring bright grin and thumbs up from Anya.

As Willow entered the necessary trance to track down Buffy's spirit, Buffybot was not far from them on patrol. It had been an uneventful night until she caught sight of a large group of demons vandalizing a storefront. Knowing it could simply be a case of a well-meaning demon not understanding the finer aspects of personal property, she informed him that the DVD player that he had just picked up wasn't his and he needed to put it back. She kept her voice firm and authoritative so he would know that it was not a suggestion.

He replied with a screech that seemed to be designed to call the attention of the other demons to her. Soon, she was surrounded by the group. The largest of them, most probably the leader, spoke to her. Banter was part of her programing and so she attempted to implement it. However, he quickly injured her, requiring her to locate Willow so she could be repaired. Hopefully her friend would understand why she had to intrude upon their evening and would be able to repair her soon enough to deal with the pack of demons that followed in her wake.

It didn't take long to find the tower where Willow and the others currently were. Unfortunately, the demons were on motorcycles and able to keep up with her. No sooner had she yelled to Willow that she needed service than the gang appeared behind her. She attempted to disengage from the fight, but there were a large number of demons and they continued to attack. Her friends were greatly outnumbered and were therefore unable to help her. She could not see a way out of the situation.

Perhaps if her friends had been equipped with weapons, the fight would have lasted much longer. However, in a short amount of time, the demons had them all captured and kneeling together. Buffybot found herself circled by four motorcyclists with a chain wrapped around each limb. She was sure that, were she able to feel fear, now would be the time she would. As it was, she chose to mute out the demon leader's speech and concentrate on her friends. Perhaps, if she somehow were to survive this attempted destruction, her memory banks would be all that was left of them. As her focus came to Willow, kneeling in a circle she saw the witch begin to come out of her trance.

Willow slowly became aware of the world around her. It was much louder than when she had left it; disturbingly so. She was extremely confused by the large number of demons, but that was quickly overridden by the sight of Spike, Tara, Giles, Anya, and Xander all being held captive. Looking around, she caught sight of the Buffybot gazing at her with an almost serene expression, highly at odds with the chains wrapped around her. Just as Willow registered what was about to happen, a gunshot went off and then the bot was torn apart.

Grief and rage tore through her, her heart unable to tell the difference between the death of her best friend and the destruction of a robot. A wordless scream ripped from her throat, the precursor to a wave of magic that incinerated half the demons yet left her friends untouched. Willow was so focused on the gang leader that she didn't feel it as she began to rise into the air. She took a deep breath and let out a scream that set fire to those demons left who hadn't already run. The leader remained and, with a snarl, stalked towards Willow. With a growl that barely sounded human, she pushed forward her hands as if digging into his ribcage from a distance. The demon stopped in obvious pain.

"And now you die."

Willow followed her words up by ripping her hands out away from each other and the demon in front of her was brutally torn in half. In the next breath, Willow, spent, fell to the ground. Within seconds Spike was by her side, pushing the hair out of her face and asking if she was okay. Before she could answer, Tara's arms were wrapped around her in a crushing embrace and Spike straightened up to stand beside them as Tara pulled back to look at her.

"Oh, baby! You're bleeding. We need to get you healed."

Limping toward them, half supported by Anya, Xander said "Not hating that last minute save, Wills."

With a pained grimace, Willow looked up at Spike. "We got lucky."

Looking around at their battered friends with a disbelieving laugh, Xander asked, "How is this lucky?"

Spike answered, though his eyes remained on Willow. "Because we're alive and the demons that Willow didn't manage to kill ran away. Those were Hellions. They go after vulnerable places. They obviously knew there was no slayer protecting the Hellmouth. The next time whoever comes might not run away.

With pained grunts and a lot of help from both Tara and Spike, Willow made it to her feet. Looking around at her battered friends and girlfriend, her eyes finally landed back on Spike.

"We need the Slayer."

#btvs fanfiction #spike #rupert giles #willow rosenberg #buffybot #tonya's fanfic #tonya's fanfic:atsbtvs #and yes we say goodbye to buffybot #though i would have loved writing more from her pov #story:hellmouth chronicles #series:the world doesn't end

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msredo · 7 years

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“I could kiss you! I could. I mean, I’d like to. I. May I? We me? I mean, may we? Wait, what?” (Smile.) “We may.” Hell yes. Ask before you kiss someone. (Or touch them, or dance with them, or hug them.) It’s a frustratingly common trope in pop culture that impulsively grabbing someone and kissing them is romantic, a sign of true love and passion. But it’s a lousy model for consent, especially with someone you’ve never kissed before.

“ 5 Amazing Love Scenes Where Pop Culture Got Consent Exactly Right ”, Everyday Feminism, by Greta Christina

5 Amazing Love Scenes Where Pop Culture Got Consent Exactly Right

October 22, 2016 by Greta Christina

Originally published on AlterNet and republished here with the author’s permission.

Pop culture often promotes some lousy ideas about consent.

Persistence and not taking no for an answer are portrayed as romantic. Rape and sexual assault are excused because the victim “wanted it.” Lying and manipulating people into bed, and having sex with people too drunk to consent, are offered as light, prime-time humor. Rape victims stay friends and lovers with their rapists, with rape being trivialized and even denied.

But pop culture does have its moments. Whether it’s because the creators were thinking consciously about consent or simply had good values, here are five times pop culture got consent right.

(Spoilers for Steven Universe, Thelma and Louise, Frozen, The Philadelphia Story, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)

1. Steven and Connie, Steven Universe

In “Alone Together,” Steven and Connie fuse (a magical process where two beings fuse into one, usually temporarily). And when they fuse into Stevonnie, they do something rarely seen in pop culture.

They don’t just check in at the beginning of their encounter. They continue to check in.

The fusion is a surprise to them both – to everyone, in fact, since nobody had imagined it would be physically possible. It’s both fun and scary, exciting and disconcerting. And after they’ve been playing with their new body for a while (running, swimming, and eating doughnuts – yeah, that sounds about right), they touch base: “Are you okay? We can stop if you… No. Don’t worry.”

When it starts getting seriously uncomfortable, they check in again, talk through how they’re feeling, and when a stranger intrudes on them and things get even scarier, they break off the fusion. It’s an amazing example of ongoing, active consent.

Too often, our culture assumes that when you’ve consented to something once, you’ve consented to it forever. But that’s crap. It’s always important to get clear consent, and we always have the right to say no, to people we’ve said yes to before, to experiences we’ve said yes to before, at any time.

We have the right to change our minds, and to stop doing things we aren’t enjoying.

And with new partners, new experiences, or both, it’s a really good idea to periodically check in and make sure everyone’s still happy.

Steven and Connie – Stevonnie – clearly followed the advice of Garnet, Steven’s mentor and mother figure, when she finds out they’ve fused: “You are an experience. Make sure you’re a good experience.”

2. Thelma and JD, Thelma and Louise

There’s a moment in Thelma and Louise, when Thelma and JD (Geena Davis and Brad Pitt) are starting to have sex. They’ve been having a grand time together in her motel room, giggling and romping, horsing around and making out.

But when he moves things forward, gently sliding her onto her back and kissing her belly, Thelma suddenly stops and says, “Wait. Wait.” And JD immediately takes his mouth off her, takes his hands off her, backs away from her, and waits. He says nothing, does nothing, until she reaches out to him to show she’s ready to start again.

It’s one of the hottest, sexiest moments in the history of pop culture sex. It’s a moment that lets her know she can go ahead with the wild romping, because nothing will happen that she doesn’t want.

Being careful about getting consent is often seen as an unsexy buzzkill. It’s a baffling idea for a lot of reasons, including all the ways that clear consent makes sex better. It makes people feel more open, more relaxed, more trusting, more comfortable in their skin, more willing to try freaky new things. That’s not the most important reason for it, of course – not raping people is the most important reason – but it’s one reason, and it’s real.

3. Anna and Kristoff, Frozen

“I could kiss you! I could. I mean, I’d like to. I. May I? We me? I mean, may we? Wait, what?” (Smile.) “We may.”

Hell yes. Ask before you kiss someone. (Or touch them, or dance with them, or hug them.) It’s a frustratingly common trope in pop culture that impulsively grabbing someone and kissing them is romantic, a sign of true love and passion. But it’s a lousy model for consent, especially with someone you’ve never kissed before.

If you know someone well and have kissed them a lot, you can probably read their body language pretty well, but if you just grab someone you’ve never kissed before, you’re not giving them room to say “No,” or “Maybe,” or “Not now but maybe later,” or “Can I think about it?” You’re forcing them into a position where they have to decide right that second, while your lips are on their body.

If you’re thinking that asking first is awkward, unsexy, clinical, or unromantic, ask yourself, why is that?

Why does our culture think it’s weird to talk about physical intimacy and make sure it’s consented to? Why is it seen as graceful, sexy, passionate, and romantic to grab someone and kiss them when you aren’t sure they’d like it?

Asking before a kiss can be sweet, intense, and a great way to show that you care about the other person’s pleasure. This kiss in Frozen is a beautiful example.

4. Oz and Willow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

There are lots of things to like about Oz and Willow’s sexual courtship. It’s moved forward by both of them, with each initiating intimacy at different times. It breaks with gender stereotypes by having Willow be the one who’s generally more eager for kissing and sex, and Oz being the one who wants to take things slow.

But one of the best things about their courtship is that it’s so verbal. When Willow makes her first pass at him (in “Innocence”), she says, “Do you want to make out with me? They have a conversation about how he’s interested, but doesn’t want to just yet.

When she wants to let him know she’s ready and eager for sex (“Amends”), she uses non-verbal cues, but they also talk about it: He lets her know he’s interested, but isn’t ready, and while she’s disappointed, she respects his decision. They even have a hilarious meta-conversation (in “Surprise”) before they start dating, in which they discuss the fact that he’s going to ask her out.

Their relationship does look different when you know that Willow is a lesbian (or possibly bisexual). Their breakup is a disaster, of course. And Oz does lose a few points for his one use of the Impulsive Grab-and-Kiss in Graduation Day, Part 1 (see #3 above).

But even then, they talk (briefly) about what they’re doing before they move forward. And they’d been dating for a while at that point, and she’d made her interest in him clear, so it’s not unreasonable to think he was able to read her body language. Their courtship isn’t perfect, but I’m going to give it a solid eight points out of ten.

5. Tracy and Mike, The Philadelphia Story

Even in 1940, some movie writers were getting it right.

In this classic romantic comedy, Tracy (Katharine Hepburn) is confused and uncertain about her impending wedding to George, and gets very drunk with Mike (Jimmy Stewart). They go for a nighttime swim, kiss twice, and he puts her to bed and leaves her there. Alone.

Afterward, when Tracy asks him why nothing happened between them (“Why? Was I so unattractive, so distant, so forbidding?”)

He replies, “You were extremely attractive, and as for distant and forbidding, on the contrary. But you also were a little the worse – or the better – for wine, and there are rules about that.”

Even in 1940, people knew that. You don’t have sex with people who are so drunk that their judgment is seriously impaired. You certainly don’t have sex with people who are barely conscious. It’s sad that more than 75 years later, this should still be controversial.

I’m not going to call this heroic. Not being a rapist isn’t heroic; it’s a baseline for decent behavior. But it is a good model of consent.

And importantly, Mike doesn’t shame Tracy for getting drunk, or for getting wild and loose. He describes their escapade as one “which I thoroughly enjoyed, and the memory of which I wouldn’t part with for anything.”

Dishonorable Mention: Xander, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

When good models of pop culture consent are discussed, Xander Harris’ name often comes up. After all, in the “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” episode, when Buffy is under a love spell and comes on to him, he refuses her, even though he’s had an intense, unrequited crush on her for some time.

But this overlooks two things. One: The entire reason Buffy was supernaturally hot for Xander was that he’s the one who did the love spell, a spell on Cordelia that misfired. Casting a love spell – forcing someone to desire you against their wishes – isn’t exactly a model of great consent.

Casting a love spell, and then refusing the sex that’s offered as a result, is like putting roofies in someone’s drink and then changing your mind at the last minute. In this case, it’s like putting roofies in someone’s drink and then changing your mind because the wrong person drank it.

The other problem is that Xander’s entire attitude toward Buffy, for years, was one ofentitlement.

When Buffy rejected him, he reacted by getting hostile and sex-shaming her about Angel, the guy she really likes. Long after Buffy rejected him, he continued to hit on her and sex-shame her about sleeping with Angel.

He held a grudge for years against Angel, and even neglected to give Buffy crucial information that might have helped her save his life. And he complained for years about how Buffy only liked bad boys instead of nice guys like him, and took it upon himself more than once to critique her choices in men.

He’s a classic nice guy – a guy who thinks he’s nice and therefore deserves sexual attention from women. So no consent cookies for Xander Harris.

***

You may have noticed that in some of these examples, the encounter ends with no encounter. No sex, no kiss. Being careful about consent sometimes means not having sex you might otherwise have had. Think for a moment about what that implies. When you’re not careful about consent, you’re taking a real chance that some of the sex you’re having isn’t consensual.

I’m going to assume that nobody reading this wants that. If that’s true, a good way to start is to pay attention to what your culture has taught you about consent and think about which messages you want to burn in a fire, and which ones you want to embrace.

Greta Christina’s most recent book is The Way of the Heathen: Practicing Atheism in Everyday Life. She blogs at The Orbit.

#This !#A thousand times this !#Consent #love #fiction #pop culture #problematic 'romantic' tropes #the Impulsive grab and kiss #hate this so much #Everyday feminism #rape culture #Steven Universe #buffy the vampire slayer #Thelma and Louise #Frozen #Philadelphia Story

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