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stormywitcher · 2 years

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look okay, okay okay, I really enjoyed the new season, I did, so here are my honest thoughts.

•ESKEL ESKEL!!! THE WITCHERS WHAT WHAT WHAT- we were CHEATED when it came to the witchers. I wish they had given lambert a bit more oomph if they were gonna kill off a HIGHLY ANTICIPATED FAN FAVOURITE! not going to lie, I was so excited, so HYPED and I feel like they were rushed. rip eskel and rip eskel’s book character, rip eskel’s game character, and rip to any real feeling of brotherhood

• YENNEFER IS A GIRLBOSS. I loved her this season even more than I already did. She feels like the character who at least in my opinion grew the most. Anya Chalrota is a STUNNING actress, and played her beautifully in every scene. I have NO problems with how they wrote yen this season.

• of course, the bard was fantastic as always, but y’a know I had no worries in the first place. Joey Batey and the writers did a great job of kind of aging jaskier without making him old. Like a slightly more grumpy, but still loveable and clear jaskier. 10/10, I loved the bard and still love the bard.

•GERALT! I love love love the his fatherly tendencies. I love how it was portrayed as well. We really really got to see a softer side this season which I think we all really wanted to see. You can also tell Henry Cavill really loved the character and story, and that passion shows through.

• okay ciri, she was pretty cool. Freya played her very very well, and I loved her slightly more comedic elements, we didn’t get that in season 1 very much. I really enjoyed how we got to see ciri evidently transition from season 1 ciri to season 2 ciri, and it didn’t feel too rushed in my opinion.

•rip roach

• I liked vesemir, I didn’t love vesemir. I felt he was too hasty and harsh in the show. Kim Bodnia is obviously a fantastic actor, but maybe isn’t my favourite casting choice. Still, he was enjoyable to watch a I liked seeing the fatherly moments from him.

• I won’t lie, I didn’t enjoy the (obviously very important) storyline with Francesca, and Fringilla, and Filavandrel, but it got the point across I guess. No shade to the actors at all, they played the characters well, but I found the pacing and writing a little unclear and bumpy around those scenes. As someone who has read the books, and played the games, I got lost here and there. Obviously it all made sense in the end but I found parts hard to latch onto.

• Tissaia killed it! I love this character, and I love how they have adapted her to the show from the books. Myanna is so beautiful and perfectly serene while still being emotional. AND I LOVED IT!

• Istress was good, it moved the story along and provided information clearly when he spoke. I look forward to seeing if him and Geralt meet again and seeing where that goes.

• I HOPE WE SEE MORE YARPIN ZIGRIN! and I hope we get some more Rience and Lydia and Vilgefortz too. GIVE ME THAT BATTLE OF ARETUZA NETFLIX!

•Cahir, my love, my misguided evil man. I really enjoyed the character this season! And I feel like we really did get to see some more sides to him more than just ‘evil man’

• I have so much more I can say but imma end it here coz otherwise I’ll never stop.

now, friends, mutuals, fans of the Witcher, these are just my opinions. I enjoyed the season and I am looking forward to the next one! I wasn’t disappointed :)

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travllingbunny · 3 years

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Thank you for the tag, @ryder616!

This tag game has unexpectedly led to an interesting discussion about what exactly an “Endgame Ship” means... which seems to be largely open to interpretation. I’m still not sure how I see that term, but for the purposes of this post, but to narrow it down and not mention way too many ships, I’ll take Endgame in two different meanings: for “Favorite Ship(s) That’s Endgame”, I’ll take it to mean pairings that were together and in a happy relationship at the end of the story. But for “Ship(s) You Wish Had Been Endgame”, I will take “Not Endgame” to mean that the ship was not treated as these characters’ main romance at the end of the show, or at least there was a lot of ambiguity and/or a rival ship for one or both characters was instead the current one at the end of the story. (A lot of my favorite ships have the tendency to end up unhappily in spite of being portrayed as the main romance of the story..)

Warning: this post contains spoilers for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Agents of SHIELD, The Hunger Games, The Leftovers, The Americans and The 100 (though if you’ve spent any time on my blog, you’ve certainly already been spoiled for the ending of The 100) and .

1. First Ship - When I was about 4 or 5, I was obsessed with Lady and the Tramp (I had a book version with a few pictures and it fell apart from how much I was reading it - it may have been my first book that wasn’t mostly a picture book), so I guess my first ship was two dogs (which is really appropriate, since I love dogs). If we’re talking TV, again going back to my childhood, before puberty and before I even knew what “shipping” was, I remember being pleasantly surprised when Raquel first appeared on Only Fools and Horses as a love interest for Del Boy - the show was an episodic comedy where the two brothers, in the early years, usually didn’t have a serious love interest. I thought “oh, he really is in love with her! And she feels the same, and they are so cute together.” I hoped she’d come back and wouldn’t just be a one episode character but a long-term LI. And then I was so happy when that very much did happen. I guess this can be considered the start of my TV shipping (and also an early sign of my love for contuinity and longer arcs on TV).

2. First OTP - Ignoring pre-puberty: at the age of 12, I was really obsessed with Wuthering Heights and Heathcliff and Cathy and read the book who knows how mny times. Regarding TV, I’ve shipped over the years, but I guess the first TV ship I would really call my OTP was in This Life, a 1990s UK drama about a bunch of 20-somethings in London, which I watched on TV in 2001. which now sadly seems almost forgotten. Anna and Miles had an on-off, love-hate relationship throughout - they were sexy, snarky, and it was painfully obvious that they were in love, but these idiots had trouble admitting it to themselves and even more to each other. If it had been a romcom, they would’ve been certain to end up together, but it was a realistic drama.

3. Current Favorite Ship - Bellarke - oh, what an OTP of all OTPs that was before it was stupidly destroyed out of spite. Over the last couple of years, Dark (season 3 mostly) made me really love Jonas and Martha (the first pairing I’ve made gifsets about), and most recently (last month!), I binged Halt and Catch Fire and fell in love with the show and with Joe and Cameron’s relationship (which, I just realized now, shows that my taste in OTPs hasn’t changed in 20 years).

If we’re talking current as in, in current shows rather than finished ones, then Kanej (Shadow and Bone), Harlivy (Harley Quinn), Gereon and Charlotte (Babylon Berlin) and Roy and Keeley (Ted Lasso).

4. Your ship since the first minute - I really rarely ship anything from the first minute (unless we’re talking Morticia and Gomez, who are of course already a perfect couple and nothing ever changes there). It usually takes time for me to fall for a ship. A rare exception is Roy and Keeley - their first one-on-one scene in S1 already had huge OTP vibes.

5. Ship(s) You Wish Had Been Endgame - Do I even have to say it? BELLARKE. A hundred times Bellarke, who were portrayed as endgame before the showrunner decided to retcon and ruin them together with the show overall.

Others: Jessica and Luke in Netfix Narvel shows, May and Andrew on AoS, Willow and Oz; or, depending on how you interpret Endgame, Willow/Tara (some argue that it is Endgame as Tara is definitely portrayed as the love of Willow’s life regardless of everything else). Spuffy (again, there are different opinions as to its status as both the show and the comics ended ambiguously and tried not to have a clear Endgame pairing for Buffy’s character), Xander/Anya (if you take comics into account).

6. Ship You Wish Was Canon - Some would say Bellarke, again, but I tend to consider it canon. It’s debatable, for sure (if you only consider making out/sex and/or “I love you” as markers of canon, it is not canon; if it is enough for the show to make it so blatant in the first 6 seasons that you have to actively search for ways to deny it to make it sound platonic, and for actors to confirm it was portrayed as romantic- than it is.)

So my answer would be: Kastle (Netflix Marvel shows), QuakeRider (AoS), and Octavia and Diyoza (The 100) and maybe Faith and Buffy (mostly in the sense that canon could have explored the nature of Faith’s feelings for Buffy a bit more and a bit more openly).

7. Ship that Most of the Fandom Hates, but You Love - Angel and Darla, May and Andrew, Coulson and Rosalind (hated how it ended though). Miller and Bryan (because they were more interesting than Mackson, and Bryan had a personality), Though “ships that most of the fandom ignores” would be a more apt term. The one that most of the fandom does hate and I like it is Octavia/Ilian - I liked it for what it was, two damaged people finding comfort together in what could have grown into something more - instead of the “we’re ve just met and talked to each other once and we’re already IN LOVE!” trope that the writers of The 100 were so fond of.

8. You Don’t Even Watch the Show, but You Ship It - Why would I ship something from a show I don’t watch?

9. Ship That You Wish Had A Different Storyline - BELLARKE (duh - the ending). Veronica and Logan (the ending, again). Coulson/Rosalind - they had such an interesting and fun dynamic that could have been explored much more; instead, the writers opted for one of the worst tropes there are, and I hated that entire plotline for so many reasons. Tyrol and Boomer on Battlestar Galactica - what they did with Boomer was crap. Baltar and Caprica - all the bad writing in season 4. This is a weird example of a ship that I shipped so hard for 3 seasons and that was given Endgame in every sense of the word, but, by that point, I barely cared anymore, because the writers forgot about their relationship throughout the final season and made it seem like they didn’t even remember each other, and then slapped a last minute happy ending. Plus they retconed/explained their connection in such a stupid and anticlimactic way that ruined it retroactively.

10. Favorite Ship(s) That’s Endgame - Everlark, Nora and Kevin (The Leftovers), Philip and Elizabeth (The Americans), and Josh and Della on Night and Day (a really obscure early 2000s UK show that was watched by maybe 100 people.) Some others worth mentioning: FitzSimmons, Niles and Daphne, Tim and Dawn (original UK The Office), Jake and Amy, Memori (the only bright spot in a rubbish ending). And of course, there’s Morticia and Gomez, though they are less Endgame and more AlwaysGame.

Tagging: @jeanie205 @kizo2703 @poppykru @sheigarche @weareagentsofnothing @sometimesrosy @misskittyspuffy @otp-armada @carrieeve @sexy-zeitreise-detektiv @jonaskanwalds @immortalpramheda @ladyofthefrostfangs @tennyo-elf @fandomkru @natassakar @hadrianvonpaulus @sillier-things @angearia @thekawaiislartibartfast @foolishnymeria @erikiara80 @heartbellamy and anyone else who sees this - sorry I didn’t tag you and please consider yourself tagged. :)

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lonelier-version-of-you · 2 years

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That was a decent episode. I found it a bit underwhelming, though, if I’m honest. Maybe because I was mostly interested in the Iain storyline... and then I couldn’t hear most of the dialogue in said storyline because Keidi’s oxygen mask was muffling his speech, so I barely had a clue what was going on. Sucks for me, I guess.

But yeah, I think the thing about Casualty for me at the moment is a lot of it is just kind of plodding along. Certainly not all of it is - the Paula storyline is incredible, in particular. But maybe it’s just because a lot of the other stories recently have focused on characters I either actively hate (Faith) or just find to be boring and bland (Iain, Robyn, Matthew), but I just find most of the show kind of ‘meh’. Watchable, when it’s not focusing on Faith The Abusive Homophobe, but still just kind of... there.

Having said that, it’s better than Holby. Holby has had some decent highs now and again over the past 6 months or so, but the bad stuff is really bad. Casualty is at least consistent. I’ve found a lot of Casualty’s biggest strengths recently to be the patient storylines, too - patient stories being something that has been lacking from Holby entirely for years now.

Anyway, thoughts, which may not be very coherent because I have a headache today:

So they didn’t mention the hospital being out of special measures. Casualty once again ignores Holby’s storylines, as they should lol. Also I guess it wouldn’t have made much sense to mention the hospital was out of special measures when Casualty-only viewers wouldn’t even know it was in them.

As for the actual storylines - the Iain SL was quite good, if not as much as I’d hoped for it to be. I did find Keidi’s story very sad and was upset by his death. The actor playing him was very good. I’ll certainly be interested to see if this story continues in any way.

I was honestly surprised by how tolerable I found Iain tonight. Usually he bores me but tonight I actually kind of liked him.

The patient storyline with Anya, the disabled woman, was great. Every week I tune into Casualty and see a new disabled guest character along all the already existing disabled main characters, and THAT, folks, is why Holby Barely-Even-Has-Disabled-Patients-Let-Alone-Main-Characters City is cancelled and Casualty is not. (I’m being jokey about the “this is why Holby is cancelled” thing, obsessive Holby fans please don’t start shouting at me. Though I am serious that Holby’s disability rep sucks.) I thought the actor playing Anya was very good, and was glad to find out that they (while the character was female, the actor prefers they/them or he/him pronouns according to their Twitter) are disabled IRL too, as with the other disabled patients recently.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate all the disabled actors this show keeps giving roles to? I legitimately think it’s really awesome.

What’s up with the Robyn stuff? The start of the story, with the little girl Kendra, was very powerful but this week just felt like a letdown. Robyn convinced the councillor to do something about the pollution with just one little speech. And then she kissed Paul The Creepy Receptionist. I despise Paul. He’s so creepy. Get him off my screen.

Other notes (sorry for the short review post - again, I have a headache):

- I liked the jumper Chrissie was wearing.

- Dylan and Faith working together would have seriously worried me... if I hadn’t seen that Kirsty Mitchell interview where she confirmed Dylan and Faith won’t get together. Thank goodness.

- Also, speaking of Dylan, Iain playing chess with Keidi tonight just reminded me of how we deserved a Holby/Casualty crossover with Dylan and Henrik playing a dramatic game of chess against each other. Truly, we were robbed. 😔

#BBC Casualty #Casualty spoilers

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bookwormythings · 4 years

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The 100 Season 7 Specs

I was tagged by @clarkesplaylist, thank you so much !!

1. Which character are you most excited to learn the endgame of:

For sure, Clarke! The 100 Is her story and she is the hero I have been waiting for my whole life. But, right after her is probably Bellamy and then Murphy.

2. Which character are you most excited to learn the backstory of:

I’m not a fan of any of the new characters except Gabriel, but I guess Hope since her story is going to be vital to season 7.

3. One character who deserves a new look:

Oh, that is a tough one...I want Bellamy to get a new look! I also want Clarke to look as great as she did but in a way that makes her look like Clarke. She looked awesome in Josephine's clothes but she clearly wasn’t herself.

4. Two locations you want to revisit:

As someone currently rewatching, I realized how much I loved Becca’s Island. It was such a cool set. I also really miss the dropship for sentimental reasons.

5. Three brotps you hope get more screentime:

Clarke and anyone and everyone. I miss her having actually friends! But to be specific, I want Clarke x Murphy, Clarke x Emori, annd Clarke x Gabriel. I especially want Clarke and Gabriel to be the best friends. I think it would be cool to have him help her through the mind drive trauma.

6. Who will get the happiest ending:

No one at least not in the typical sense. But happiness in the sense of The 100, I actually have a feeling Octavia might get a happy-ish ending. I think she may die, but it will be a good, happy death in a way only The 100 can.

7. Which minor or new characters you want to see more of:

MILLER!!!! I will die on the Miller hill. He is severely underused on this show. Miller is the only correct choice unless you pick Gaia and then I might stop and think before saying, “Wrong, it’s Miller.”

8. Who will eventually snap Jordan out of the funk we see him in, at the end of 6x13:

I am not sure anyone will, but I want it to be Clarke. Marper left her and Bellamy in charge and she died before he went haywire, so... In reality, Madi is a good option and so is Gabriel.

9. Who will be the first to tell Bellamy he can’t immediately run into the Anomaly after Octavia:

Realistically, it will be Echo or Gabriel since they are the ones with him. I don’t think he will immediately want jump into the Anomaly, so I think Clarke may have a chance to freak out on him. But, I do think it will be Echo.

10. To reference Monty’s ‘do better’ mantra:

Clarke for sure because she has been brainwashed into think she is the worst person and the reason for all bad things and needs to make up for every mistake ever made even the ones that are not hers.

11. To say 'go float yourself’:

At this point, it is Murphy’s motto. I would love to have Emori or Echo say it as a sign of them being together on the ring since we didn’t get to see that bonding. It would be cool to see them pick it up.

12. Random object or prop you would bring back for Season 7 if you could:

I miss the rover, but Jake’s watch is the first thing that comes to mind. It was so important and it sort of disappeared. I think it may have been in the mindspace but I would need to rewatch that episode.

13. Book One storyline/reference you want to see back for Season 7:

I want Clarke to talk about her time alone and how traumatic it actually was. Or, just any trauma in general that is never mentioned ever. I especially want someone to apologize to Clarke for literally anything. She needs to hear the word “I’m sorry.” I don’t people have apologized to her since like season 3.

14. Dead character you would like mentioned:

I have so many!!!! Wells, Anya, Roan, Nyko, Atom, Harper, Jasper, and most importantly SHAWN MENDEZ! If he is dead, Macallan might be alive but the point is we don’t know for sure.

15. How do you think Hope and Octavia know each other (from season 6):

They met in the anomaly. I think Octavia helped raise her and care for her and because time runs differently Octavia de-aged when she got back. Hope didn’t because she was born on another planet or something.

16. How do you think it all will end?:

With the society that is actually living and thriving because of all the suffering and pain and sacrifice our heroes did for them. Children running around without thinking about survival.

Tagging (without pressure or anything): @murphamyking @emanandaem @kateschechterxthorwasmyfirstotp @jemleofan

And anyone else who wants to do this!

#the 100 #this was fun #thanks for tagging me

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darthbelle · 3 years

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Hi Sam! About that fandom ask, could u please do Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Hannibal? I'd love to know what u think about those. Thank bye!

Sure thing! Just a note, it’s been a while since I’ve actually sat down and watched either of these, so my memory of the characters might not be the best Buffy The Vampire Slayer: - the character i least understand- I mean, I understand Xander. I just want to kick his teeth in a lot of the time also Giles, a lot of the time, just because there’s a lot of things I feel like he should have noticed or done differently...like, idk, not ditching Buffy when she was having an obviously major depressive episode? Not really how you deal with that, buddy - interactions i enjoyed the most- I really liked Buffy and Tara’s friendship. It’s something that’s stuck with me years after seeing the show. I wish they had explored it more (I wish a lot of things re: Tara) - the character who scares me the most- fucking Angelus. He doesn’t scare me, but I hate him so much (I’m still pissed about Jenny Calendar) - the character who is mostly like me- is it conceited to say Buffy? Or is it like, depressing to say Buffy? Because later seasons Buffy hits home a lot otherwise...idk, maybe Faith? If there was a middle-ground between the two of them, I’d probably fit pretty comfortably there - hottest looks character- again, Buffy. Have you seen SMG? - one thing i dislike about my fave character- honestly I don’t even know who my favorite character is....is it Buffy? Is it Faith? if it’s Faith, I wish she would have used more sense in who she trusted. If it’s Buffy, I honestly don’t know. Her character arcs made sense for her, and I can’t fault her for making bad decisions because like...she was so young. - one thing i like about my hated character - I like how loyal Xander is to Willow, even if he’s a gigantic jackass most of the time - a quote or scene that haunts me- “Mommy?” god, fuck The Body - a death that left me indifferent- honestly, none of them? It’s been a while since I’ve seen the show, but I remember that the major deaths all hit me pretty hard - a character i wish died but didn’t- can I say Xander? I didn’t like wish for his death, but man, if it came down between him and say, Anya, I’d choose his death every time - my ship that never sailed- Fuffy (Faith/Buffy). Gosh, they had a fun dynamic

Hannibal

- the character i least understand- probably Bedelia. Never could figure out why she went to Italy - interactions i enjoyed the most- I mean, Will and Hannibal were the show - the character who scares me the most- Mason Verger - the character who is mostly like me- there was a time where I would have said Will but...hmm. Maybe Alana? - hottest looks character- a tie between Alana and Margot in Season 3 - one thing i dislike about my fave character- I don’t even know who my fave character is tbh....let’s go with Margot, just for the hell of it I’ve never liked the whole “sterilization” storyline, even in the book, but that’s not her fault. - one thing i like about my hated character- I guess that Freddie Lounds is, at the very least, determined - a quote or scene that haunts me- It’s been quite some time since I’ve watched the show but when Abigail realizes what her father had been doing with the bodies? Especially in regard to what the pillows were stuffed with. again, I hope I’m remembering this correctly and not thinking of the book lol - a death that left me indifferent- I can’t say that Abigail’s death left me indifferent but...it didn’t have the impact that it should have? I just didn’t care for her all that much - a character i wish died but didn’t- let’s go with Chilton, just for the hell of it - my ship that never sailed- is...is Hannigram considered canon?

any others?

#asks

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yetanotherbuffyblog · 4 years

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The wedding episode

The wedding!

The wedding is finally here, and everyone’s tense: the bridesmaids because of the bright green dresses they’ve been assigned, the engaged couple because of finally going through with this and all the planning required, the Harris family because they don’t get along well with Anya’s guests, and so forth. But on the wedding day, right before the ceremony starts, an old man appears claiming to be Xander’s future self and shows him a vision of the future, depicting a troubled marriage that ends with a violent disagreement.

This causes Xander no end of grief, and he disappears for a while. Buffy is left to try to stall while Willow goes out to look for Xander and bring him back before anyone discovers what’s wrong. It only lasts so long, and Anya finds out, only to run into old man Xander and discover he’s not old man Xander at all--he’s just some demon that used to be a guy that Anya wrecked in her vengeance demon days, and to get back at Anya he came and ruined her wedding.

They fight him and kill him, but when Xander comes back it turns out that he doesn’t want to get married. He’s decided that even if the future he was shown wasn’t real, he’s scared it might come true anyway, and he doesn’t want anything like that to happen to Anya. So he just leaves, the wedding’s off, and Anya’s old boss offers her a job as a vengeance demon again.

Huh.

Spike also arrives at the wedding with a date, obviously trying to make Buffy jealous, which she does call him out on. She does admit that it works, but while she does still have feelings it doesn’t change the breakup, and he and his date leave before the drama really gets started.

Notes!

-I’m not sure how I feel about the wedding being called off. On the one hand, it’s not like it’s out of nowhere. We’ve had quite a bit of foreshadowing that there’s something off about Xander and Anya’s relationship, something they’re not really facing, even as far back as the beginning of the season. And so getting married with addressing or fixing those issues is a recipe for disaster, which I’m glad Xander realizes. But just calling it off also feels as if the writers of the show wanted to have the drama of a wedding storyline without actually writing a married couple. The drama of a certain kind of relationship without actually dealing with that sort of relationship.

It reminds me of how so many comic book characters have weddings teased, but never get married (COUGHBatmanRebirthCOUGH), or have those marriages retconned away (COUGHOneMoreDayCOUGH) because the writers think it’s too boring for heroes to be in a stable marriage, or like having a bunch of buildup going nowhere because Drama. And it’s a bit frustrating.

-I do feel bad for Spike’s date in this episode, given she’s just being used as emotional guilt tripping. And being used was exactly the reason Buffy dumped Spike--it’s not fair to use someone in a relationship. Spike apparently didn’t learn that lesson? Maybe he did this time.

-The cover story they went with for the demons at the party was that they’re circus performers? That’s… pretty weak, especially since a lot of them have clearly not-human attributes. Given that this is Sunnydale, and Xander’s going to be marrying Anya, I would have thought someone would have told at least his immediate family that Anya’s side were mainly supernatural beings? Then again, Xander’s parents are kind of terrible so maybe it’s not worth telling them because it would have made things worth.

-Like gosh, Xander’s dad is terrible. Which isn’t NEW, per se, but him constantly taking excuses to go and bother the demons and try to rile them up was incredibly infuriating.

-Also, before Buffy stalls by juggling, everyone is sitting there bored? And I though, “Huh, yeah, this was more of a thing before smartphones, yeah?” Because yes, people would still be bored in those situations, but at least nowadays there would be more entertainment in your phones, reading, or socializing or whatnot. YMMV on whether or not that’s a good thing, because you’re not socializing with the people around you.

-This wedding is obviously not in a church, I don’t think? With all the demons around, I guess that makes sense, but it was going to be performed by a pastor, which I would figure might be a bit triggering for the demons? Although again, demons in Buffy seem more extra-dimensional than necessarily Satanic, so maybe they don’t care, or they find the whole thing amusing.

-In the bad future that’s shown to Xander, one of their kids isn’t his? And I’m wondering what the fudge that’s about?

-One of Xander’s uncles has drafted a caterer as a date, a woman who is closer to Buffy’s age than his own, and she’s clearly uncomfortable with this? And this is kind of played as a joke, but it’s honestly quite terrible and horrible and I want to beat this man with a pipe. No! Do not make light of a woman being creeped on by a sleazeball!

I’m just saying this bit did not age well.

-Anya’s boss gives a present, which has some kind of living thing in it with tentacles? Is that a pet? Or some kind of delicacy? More importantly, does Anya get to keep it? Who knows.

-Oh hey, Sarah Michelle Gellar can juggle!

-Xander’s dad suggests to Buffy that they have a quickie? And that’s gross? Thankfully, Buffy threatens to rip his dick off and he backs off.

-Probably should have known that the wedding might not be fantastic since it was thundering outside.

-I watched this episode on the anniversary of my brother’s wedding? Not sure where I’m going with that, but it was kind of weird.

-How does a human become a demon, exactly? Anya did it, and the fake future Xander did it too. Apparently it’s something that can happen, I’m just wondering HOW. And out of curiosity, what if it happened to a Slayer? Food for thought.

-Everyone is remarkably cool with Buffy and Xander killing a demon dude in the same room as the wedding, and perfectly willing to let the ceremony continue with his body getting cold back there (Willow was hoping it would disappear, but it didn’t, so she suggested covering it with flowers).

-Even if we accept Xander’s reasoning for calling off the wedding, he just leaves without bothering to explain to everyone what happened, so that Anya has to tell the crowd that the wedding’s off and presumably explain why they all have to go home. Which is a dickish thing to do.

-I’m currently reading a Gerald Morris book (The Princess, the Crone, and the Dung-Cart Knight), and there’s a line where a character says something like, “Maybe I didn’t truly love her, but I loved her as much as I was able to understand love,” and I’m not sure that applies here, but I just want to throw that in and ask if you think this applies to either Anya x Xander or Spike x Buffy? Or neither?

-Buffy admitting that she saw that couple as a sort of hope spot for what she could achieve with her life is… disheartening, because even before it was clear that they weren’t a model relationship. But they were there, and I suppose that counts for something.

#6x16 #Xander Harris #Anya #Buffy The Vampire Slayer #BtVS #Spike #Buffy Summers

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ettadunham · 4 years

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A Buffy rewatch 7x09 Never Leave Me

aka tired of subtle

We did it, guys! We made it to the last season! Also, hello if you’re new, and stumbled upon this without context. As usual, these impromptu text posts are the product of my fevered mind as I rant about the episode I just watched for an hour (okay, sometimes perhaps two). Anything goes!

And I prefer today’s episode to Sleeper as a post-Big-Bad-reveal kick-off to our season’s main arc in multiple ways. Also, Willow drags Andrew. Literally.

Season 7, as a whole, struggles from the main story arc taking up too much of its time. People often hate on filler episodes, but the truth is, you can’t fill out 22 episodes of television with a singular, focused story arc. And you shouldn’t.

Not to mention that fillers are a great way to explore characters without being bogged down by an overarching plot. (So stop hating on their concept, just because some shows do them badly.)

Buffy at its best realized that these things – your main arc, your character stories and your fillers – can coexist in the same episodes. Some of the best episodes of the show are one-off stories, using a unique set-up or villain of the week while focusing on characters and pushing the season arc on some level.

Unfortunately, the structure of season 7 makes it much harder to tell these kinds of stories. Our Big Bad is ever-present, and the battles and confrontations with it are constant throughout the season, once the reveal happens in episode 7.

I’m pointing this out not to criticize Never Leave Me, but to emphasize how good it is, and why the issue of the season has more to do with trying to keep up with the pace this episode sets.

Oh, yeah. Hot takes I guess about the episode that ranks 98th on iMDB. Never Leave Me is pretty good.

(I kinda wanna look up each episode’s iMDB ranking at this point before writing up on them, just for funsies, but I also don’t want to be influenced by the popular opinions? The struggle.)

To be fair though, part of my fondness for this episode comes from my feelings regarding the previous one. Watching it, I felt like I was seeing a much better version of what a follow up to Conversations with Dead People would look like.

And a lot of that has to do with Spike. And Buffy.

I spent the last time ranting at length about how I just don’t connect with Spike, and that’s okay. Pretty much all Buffy characters are incredibly flawed, and we all relate to and/or gravitate towards different ones, based on our own experiences. I love that. I love that these are well-rounded characters who change and grow in both surprising and consistent ways.

I also like Spike much better in this episode, because his story relates to Buffy much more strongly. Which does seem to be the best way for me to find a connection to Spike in any given episode (see also: Fool for Love).

I guess another aspect is that unlike Sleeper, this episode focuses much less on his romanticism. He instead talks about his past. About the horrific things he’s done. About his and Buffy’s self-hatred. About how he understands it and that she used him now, and how he didn’t back then.

More importantly, Buffy gets to fire back. She did tell him all those things last season. It’s why she ended things with him in the first place. She also challenges his assumptions about that self-hatred as a current motivation in what’s decidedly my favorite scene of the episode.

SPIKE: “Have you ever really asked yourself why you can’t do it? Off me? […] You like men who hurt you.” BUFFY: “No.” SPIKE: “You need the pain we cause you. You need the hate. You need it to do your job, to be the Slayer.” BUFFY: “No. I don’t hate like that. Not you, or myself. Not anymore. You think you have insight now because your soul’s drenched in blood. You don’t know me. You don’t even know you. […} Listen to me. You’re not alive because of hate or pain. You’re alive because I saw you change. Because I saw your penance. […] You faced the monster inside you and you fought back. You risked everything to be a better man.”

I love this scene, because Spike posits something that’s in line with Buffy’s own fears about her relationships, something that she voices as far back as season 4. That maybe she herself seeks out these painful, dramatic romances.

…But this discussion isn’t really just about that, isn’t it? And even if Buffy hasn’t quite landed yet on how to approach her romantic history, she has plenty of self-knowledge. She knows why she hasn’t and won’t kill Spike now.

Buffy sees and believes in the best of people. Even when they don’t. And here she shows the same compassion to Spike that she did to Angel as far back as season 1.

See, she’s a protector, not a killer. And one with a huge fucking heart at that.

That’s why she didn’t kill Spike. At worst, she saw him as non-threatening to others after his chip debacle, at best, she saw a potential for him to become better.

Still. How does one reconcile this characterization of Buffy with what we see in Selfless? Has Anya not proved more than enough times that she can be better? That she’s more than just the vengeance demon she used to be?

Worse, when Buffy and Xander argue about the difference between stopping Anya then, and Willow at the end of season 6, Buffy’s argument doesn’t really make sense once you think about it. She says that they weren’t planning on killing Willow, because Willow’s human. But from everything we know of vengeance demons, there really isn’t any distinction between them and a human with powers. They still have their souls.

So the distinction Buffy makes between Anya’s and Willow’s case feels arbitrary. And so does the decision to not kill Spike at certain points of the story.

But that’s what Buffy says in Selfless, isn’t it? “Someone has to draw the line.” And in a world with no clear-cut black and white morality, that line is arbitrary.

Buffy’s been acutely aware of the fact that the world she operates in is full of grey areas ever since Lie to Me. There are no easy answers or choices, even when you’re fighting literal creatures from hell, but someone has to makes these decisions regardless. Someone has to draw the line. And that’s Buffy.

But I think that’s why she finds it all the more important to choose hope sometimes. She has to be prepared, yes, and she can’t rely on the power of love alone, as discussed before. Her responsibilities come first. But she can offer a choice.

Even in Selfless, one of the most important moments for Buffy is when she implores Xander to find her another way to deal with Anya. Which is what Willow ends up doing, by asking D’Hoffryn to offer up the same kind of choice to Anya, that Buffy felt unable to in this situation.

Never Leave Me is also the episode where the gang meets Andrew again. More accurately, Willow runs into him, and he’s terrified. As he should be.

ANDREW: “Warren killed Tara. I didn’t do it. And he was aiming for Buffy anyway.” WILLOW: “Not making it better.”

In case you missed it, this was a direct callback to another scene:

WARREN: “It was an accident, you know.” WILLOW: “Oh. You mean, instead of killing my best friend, you killed my girlfriend.”

Listen, all I’m saying that if Willow flayed Andrew after that line? I wouldn’t have blamed her.

But Willow these days is less about the murder, so instead she just stares incredulously at Andrew after that little moment of rage-inducing blunder. And they both nerd-monologue at each other, I guess?

(Sidenote: I don’t think I ever got around to mention this with the last season, but there’s an interesting and somewhat uncomfortable interpretation of the Trio, as a mirror to Willow’s own character. Mostly the worst parts of her at that of course, but there are definitely some parallels here; particularly to Warren and his tech savviness, and Jonathan and his magical abilities. Andrew is probably the least obvious example though – unless we take his relentless gay-coding as a nod to that.)

This whole storyline of course ends up being played mostly for comedy, as Anya and Xander take it upon themselves to test their interrogation techniques on Andrew. And it’s fun, too, seeing them work together without the added baggage that was their romantic relationship. It makes me both root much more for them to get back together, and wish that they wouldn’t, because they work so much better like this.

Even if Xander’s speech to Andrew is obviously supposed to be about himself, and how he’s still not over Anya.

XANDER: “There was this one guy, her hurt her real bad, so she paid him back. She killed him, but she did it real slow. See, first she stopped his heart, then she replaced it with darkness, then she made him live his life like that. But he still had to go do his job, and see his friends, and wake up in the morning, and go to bet ad night, but he had to do it all empty. Without anything to look forward to. Ever.”

Honey… I know you know this, but you did this to yourself.

Oh, and isn’t it fun that when the Harbringers attack, one of the first things they do is knock Willow unconscious? It’s almost as if the show is trying not to call attention to the fact, that she could probably take these guys out in a second with magic.

But at least this gives Dawn some chance to kick ass, so that’s always a plus.

Another side-plot that’s happening is with my boy, Robin, who finds Jonathan’s body in the basement. And decides to bury It instead of telling anyone about it.

I’m sure there’s an explanation to this other than making us believe that he’s a bad guy, but I honestly can’t even remember. We’ll see, I guess.

The episode ends with Buffy making the connection that they’re up against the First, and the First itself monologuing at Spike about how it’s tired of being subtle. Which feels very meta in an ironic kind of sense from the show, but also marks a questionable turn in the season arc.

There’s a lot of cool concept and potential (hehe) in the First as a Big Bad, that we’ve seen demonstrated in Conversations with Dead People. It knows things. It can appear as anyone you know who died. It can mess with you in infinite ways.

In this scene though, the First is talking about bringing these Uruk-hai vampires to the surface, and that’s just not as interesting as those other tactics. Even if Buffy gets to have cool fights with them.

But that’s still to come. Who knows, maybe I’ll appreciate the super vampires after all.

Also appreciated – those scene of Quentin and the Watcher’s Council being their usual, holier-than-thou selves, keeping information from Buffy, and relying on empty platitudes... immediately followed by them getting blown up.

Yeah. This show’s anything but subtle, that’s for sure.

#buffy rewatch 2k19 #btvs talk #btvs

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sevens-evan · 5 years

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tagged by @elizadusku to pick five shows and answer the following questions.

1. btvs

2. chuck

3. agents of shield

4. legends of tomorrow

5. teen wolf??? i guess?? i literally can’t think of five shows i like asdkghdklsag

1. who is your favourite character in 2?

sarah fucking walker. literally the love of my life, the beginning of my obsession with female characters with dark pasts and self-destructive tendencies

2. who is your least favourite character in 1?

i mean. there are a few characters i can’t stand and anyone who follows me Knows who they are sjahglksa but most of them have redeeming qualities. i think it would come down to xander or riley for like. the Fewest upsides to their character

3. what is your favourite episode of 4?

mm that’s so hard there are so fucking many great episodes. but maybe the time loop one? where zari is stuck in the fake time loop the whole time. idk man i love zari so much and that one is a ton of fun, plus tala ashe is a great actress and that episode really shows it off

4. what is your favourite season of 5?

season one all the way. when they all still have terrible haircuts and it’s aggressively low budget and campy and just. beautiful

5. who is your favourite couple in 3?

skimmons of course. sweet lil gays we stan even if i never blog about them anymore

6. who is your favourite couple in 2?

chuck and sarah, the Most Valid Hets to ever live

7. what is your favourite episode of 1?

restless. i fucking love dream sequences, especially the ones in the buffyverse, and it makes the fantasy nerd in me Scream

8. what is your favourite episode of 5?

it. has been so long since i watched a significant amount of that show that i do not remember asjkdglksd. um i remember really liking a lot of the 6a episodes, the ones where they’re lydia-centric but with like. hints of stiles in the background? really fuckin good episodes man.

9. what is your favourite season of 2?

season 3. it was the peak of the show imo in terms of plotlines actually making any sense at all asdgkljasdg and chuck and sarah of course and like. casey being around and morgan not being Too involved yet (i do love him but. they did some Questionable things with his character in s4/s5).

10. how long have you watched 1?

about three years maybe?

11. how did you become interested in 3?

i genuinely don’t remember. i think it got recommended to me on netflix and i was like okay the main girl is hot i guess i’ll watch and now here we are

12. who is your favourite actor in 4?

either tala ashe or courtney ford

13. which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5?

btvs in terms of loving the show, but chuck is my comfort show. and i love teen wolf but it’s not even on the same level sadkghalsd

14. which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3?

btvs probably, just because i’ve seen the whole thing and i dropped off of aos like six or seven episodes in season 5

15. if you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

i would probably wanna be...it’s a tough question because everyone’s got a tragic backstory lmao, but maybe ray just so i could be rich i guess

16. would a crossover between 3 and 4 work?

dc/marvel would be a licensing nightmare but God i would Love to see sara lance and daisy johnson meet so. like plot wise it totally would. the legends could accidentally end up in an alternate universe, they’re dysfunctional enough for that to be 100% believable

17. pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple.

i ship Many weird ships from buffy but i Love a good buffy/tara or cordelia/anyone who isn’t xander. ALSO @jenny-calendar has had me shipping jenny/anya recently, and i also kinda love the idea of anya/faith? OOH and anya/willow. i think i mostly just ship xander’s girlfriends with anyone who isn’t xander asdkjghsjkdgh they all deserve better

18. overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5?

neither is coherent or good honestly but i guess in terms of like. Not Sucking aos is probably better just because teen wolf had the dread doctors or whatever the fuck they were called and that shit made No sense. but honestly i like some of teen wolf’s plot lines better? like the ghost riders were cool as shit and the nogitsune was awesome. i would say teen wolf left more of an impression on me in terms of plot with the Maybe exception of the inhumans plotline on aos, although they could’ve pulled that shit off Way better than they did.

19. which has the better theme music, 2 or 4?

does legends even have theme music? either way chuck wins honestly

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jennycalendar · 5 years

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imperfections (64/?)

read it on ao3!

buffy’s birthday! wesley shows up! someone else makes another appearance, and will be playing a bigger, brand new role in this storyline because I Love Her To Death!

For the sake of her own peace of mind, Jenny had begun casting basic protective wards around the new house. Vampires couldn’t get in, she knew, but the incident with Rupert had proven that vampires might not be the only thing they had to worry about. As such, when she and Willow were out buying groceries (usually Rupert’s job, but he was resting at home), she made sure to grab a few containers of ground-up herbs and spices.

Noticing Jenny stocking up on rosemary, Willow gave her a skeptical look. “Isn’t there that thing about herbs losing their magical potency if they’re intended as food products?” she asked doubtfully, picking up one of the glass jars and squinting at it. “If you’re going for a more heavy-duty magic spell, I’d say you might want to just swing by the magic shop.”

“Wow, look at you!” Jenny knocked Willow’s shoulder, grinning proudly. “You’re picking up on this stuff scary fast. Might outpace me soon.”

“Never,” said Willow loyally, leaning into Jenny as they continued to push the cart.

“Your point is a very valid one,” Jenny agreed. “But in this case, I actually want a weaker ritual, because I’m trying to make sure it’ll entwine nicely with the stronger ones I’ve been casting. If you cast two different protective wards, they start trying to protect themselves from each other, and it becomes a whole thing.”

“Magic is weird,” said Willow.

“Magic is weird,” Jenny agreed, taking the jar from Willow and setting it back down into the shopping cart.

By the produce section, a young woman had stilled, hand frozen midway to grabbing an apple. As they passed her, she turned, looking slowly at them as though searching for something. Jenny recognized her, very vaguely—Anya Jenkins, she thought, that lady who’s teaching substitute history—and Anya’s interest in their conversation struck her as a little unusual. “Hey,” she said, giving Anya her best attempt at an easy smile. She didn’t feel like having her family fucked with so soon after the mess that had been the Council. “Just out shopping with my kid.”

Willow beamed. “That’s me!” she chirped.

“Pardon my eavesdropping,” said Anya, giving them both an almost-too-sweet smile in return, “but were you two talking about the casting of magical rituals?”

Willow’s smile faded and she winced. “Was I too loud?” she whispered to Jenny. “I can be less loud!”

“It’s okay, Will,” said Jenny carefully. “What do you want to know, Anya?”

In answer, Anya let out a playful, half-ashamed laugh. “God, I’m such a ditz,” she said, grinning ruefully and stepping forward to lean against their shopping cart. “I misplaced a family heirloom of mine—this beautifully shiny necklace—and I could really use some help finding it. A locator spell would definitely do the trick, but that requires at least one other witch, and I don’t have a lot of friends in Sunnydale—”

“We can help!” said Willow immediately, then blushed, looking askance at Jenny. “Um, I mean—can we help?”

Jenny wavered. On the one hand, she knew she was more on her guard than usual, and that could be coloring the very strange vibes she was getting from Anya. On the other hand, her instincts hadn’t led her astray thus far, and she felt like trusting them might be a good call in this instance. “We’ll get back to you, Anya, okay?” she said. “Right now, we have to concentrate on our own magic.”

“Oh, of course!” sang out Anya, but her smile seemed just a touch more plastic. “No hurry, obviously!”

As Jenny steered the shopping cart away, Willow hurried after her. “I’m sorry,” she began, “I, I didn’t mean to speak for the both of us, or for any of us, ‘cause I know what you said about doing magic with strangers and I—”

“It’s okay,” said Jenny, giving her a small, reassuring smile. “You wanted to help. That’s admirable. Right now, though, I think we both need to exercise some caution, okay? There are a lot of weird people showing up in Sunnydale as of late.”

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce arrived in Sunnydale on January the 19th, the day that his new Vampire Slayer’s Cruciamentum would have taken place, if not for the inefficient bungling of an inexperienced, foolhardy Watcher. Age did not necessarily equal wisdom, Wesley thought smugly, particularly in the case of one Rupert Giles, whose file Wesley had read extensively before arriving in Sunnydale. The Council had also mentioned a Jenny Calendar, Rupert Giles’s significant other, who was apparently both deluded enough to believe herself qualified to care for his other Vampire Slayer and unstable enough to assault poor Travers. The fellow was, thankfully, making a speedy recovery, but he had emphasized to Wesley that Calendar was not to be trifled with.

Wesley had absolutely no interest in trifling with Calendar. In fact, Wesley had absolutely no interest in Calendar at all. Mr. Giles, though he had been unceremoniously fired (or had he resigned? No one in the Council seemed to know), was bound to at least understand that Wesley was the Watcher these girls needed, and he would do a sufficient job in reining Calendar in. Even if this was not the case, Wesley was confident that his expertise would win the Slayers over; he had, after all, faced two vampires. Under controlled circumstances, of course.

“Sunnydale High, good man, and make it speedy,” he informed the taxi driver, already looking forward to the look on Mr. Giles’s face when he entered the high school library. He was looking forward to a lot of things about this job. He was one of the youngest Watchers in Council history, one of the most studious, most dedicated they had ever seen—this was sure to make his father proud. He just knew it.

The taxi took a surprisingly short amount of time to get from the airport to the high school; really, this town was ridiculously small. Getting out of the car, Wesley blinked in the annoyingly bright California sunlight, weaved through the clusters of chattering American teenagers, and entered the high school that, according to Travers, housed a Hellmouth, two Vampire Slayers, and an extremely volatile computer science teacher.

As he rounded the corner to the library, he noticed something of a commotion: a short, bald, red-faced man was all but shouting at a sign. “I hope he knows,” he blustered, “that I won’t be paying him, this many sick days in a row—”

“I’m sorry,” said Wesley, finally registering the firmly closed library doors, “but is Mr. Giles not in today?”

“No, he is not,” said the man, turning his ire in Wesley’s direction. “And neither is that floozy of a computer science teacher. The levels of unprofessionalism, of indecency—”

Deciding that further conversation with this man would get him nowhere, Wesley stepped up to the sign placed in front of the library, frowning at the neatly placed letters. Librarian Out For Health Reasons, it stated. Library Closed Until Further Notice.

“I’m his substitute,” said Wesley helpfully. This might be rather advantageous. The Slayers would undoubtedly show up in search of their old Watcher, and when they entered the library, there Wesley would be, easing the transition from old to new. A clean break, in every sense of the word.

“You are the best Watcher in the history of Watchers, ever!” Buffy shrieked, throwing herself across the sofa and into Rupert’s arms. Rupert made a startled little oof sound, but hugged Buffy back, grinning fiercely. “Thank you so so much, Giles, I love them so much—”

“Seems a pretty big fuss over a pair of skates,” Faith commented, frowning at the patent leather ice skates as though trying to figure out what made them so incredible.

“Buffy always wanted to be a figure skater,” Joyce explained fondly. She looked extremely pleased. “It’s very nice of Rupert to remind her that she can be anything she wants to be.”

Faith frowned some more, then grinned, getting it. “Like, not just a Vampire Slayer?”

“Exactly,” said Jenny, smiling. “Buffy, be gentle with my honey, okay? He’s still getting over that whole almost-got-murdered thing.”

Buffy let go of Giles, dusting him off and straightening his glasses the same way one would a much-loved teddy bear. “Thanks, Giles,” she said, still beaming. “I really love them. And you, obviously.”

Giles beamed, blushing, and made a few vague, British gestures that very clearly conveyed I love you too.

“Open mine open mine open mine!” chanted Willow, bouncing impatiently on the sofa. Jenny placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. “Sorry,” said Willow unrepentantly. “But open mine, Buffy!”

Running a hand over the skates one last time, Buffy smiled, then turned to fish Willow’s present out of the sizable pile. Pulling it out of its bag, she gasped, delighted. “Oh, Willow!” she said, holding up the shimmery purple jacket.

“So I’m gonna be flirting with a disco ball,” said Faith. “Guess I can live with that.”

“No one likes a critic,” said Buffy, still grinning as she tried on the jacket. Standing up, she twirled, modeling it for the group. “How do I look?”

“Am I allowed to answer that with your girlfriend here?” Xander asked. “And my girlfriend here?”

“No,” said Cordelia, and kissed him. To Buffy, she added, “That is definitely your color.”

“Are you lying to me because it’s my birthday?” said Buffy.

“Pretty much,” said Cordelia, shrugging.

“Sounds about right,” said Buffy, and turned to Jenny. “Ms. Calendar?”

“I like it,” said Jenny. “I think it’d go great with that—what was that skirt you wore last week on patrol?”

“Oh, it would,” said Buffy with delight, preening. “I can wear it to the ice show!” Glancing shyly over at Giles, she added, “Um, if you’re still—I mean, if you still want—you could always still come with me?”

Giles responded by scooping Buffy up into a big bear hug, one that made Jenny make an involuntarily anxious noise. Joyce gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder and said, “Hugging won’t hurt him, Jenny,” which, while true, didn’t stop Jenny from worrying. Everything felt different, now, knowing how much they honestly meant to each other.

“Quit freaking,” said Faith, resting her head on Jenny’s shoulder. “We all turned out okay.”

That made Jenny smile. “Debatable,” she said. Faith made a face at her.

“Ooh, hey, cake!” said Buffy, pulling away from Giles to give her mom a hopeful smile. “Mom made this whole ice cream cake thing, y’know, ‘cause ice skates and ice shows and, um, I don’t know, my birthday’s in winter?”

“That doesn’t mean all that much in California, though, does it?” Cordelia pointed out.

“Whatever,” said Buffy.

“I’ll get that cake,” Joyce agreed, squeezing Jenny’s shoulder as she got up.

So then they all had cake, which was amazing, and Buffy got to talk everyone’s ear off about how awesome the ice show was going to be. And she meant it, this time, because last year she’d gone with her dad and it just hadn’t felt the same. She couldn’t talk to her dad about how cool it had been when Willow had tripped up a vampire on patrol, or how funny Xander’s impression of Spike was, or how hard it sometimes felt to have big, scary feelings for Angel. She could talk to Giles about all that stuff, though, which felt kinda important. It made her feel so, so glad that he was okay.

The party ended late, which meant that Ms. Calendar and Giles had to make sure everyone was wearing a cross before they all walked the short distance to their parked car. While everyone was making sure that everyone else was ready to go, Buffy snuck out onto the porch; she’d noticed the one person who had already headed out.

“Hey,” said Faith, looking up at her with a small, crooked smile. “Birthday girl. So I’m, like, totally jailbait now, huh?”

Buffy blushed, smiling back. “I really don’t know how to answer that,” she admitted, stepping up to stand next to Faith.

It was different, her and Faith. Being with Angel had felt magnetic, and almost scary in its intensity. Being with Faith had felt a lot like that too, at first, but something had changed when Faith had said you said you weren’t ready, right? and looked at her with a gentle expression that Buffy hadn’t seen on her face before. Faith was up-front about how she felt—no long, charged silences, no subterfuge—and she was willing to wait until Buffy was really ready.

“Did I ever wish you happy birthday?” Faith asked softly.

“Does it mean you’re gonna kiss me again?” said Buffy, too daring for her own good.

Faith tilted her head, smile widening. “Just to be clear,” she said. “You’re gonna tell me when you’re ready for a real thing.”

“I am,” Buffy agreed.

“But you’re the birthday girl,” said Faith, taking a step closer, “and birthday girls get strings-free kisses. If they want ‘em.”

“This is a total step up from last year,” Buffy breathed, and somewhere between one second and the next, she and Faith were kissing, all soft and sweet in the moonlight, and it wasn’t scary, wasn’t powerful, wasn’t anything but soft and happy and warm, Faith’s lipstick smudging her mouth, Faith’s nose bumping against hers—

“Um, Buffy?” called Xander from inside the house. “You, uh, know we can all see you from the living room, right?”

In answer, Buffy pulled away, tugged Faith back into her arms, and gave Faith a smacking kiss on the cheek, in full view of her entire family. Which felt totally nice.

#fic #imperfections #i have.....so too many plans for this 'verse

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granger--danger · 6 years

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The 100 ask game

Thanks for tagging me @frecklessbellamy, this was so fun!!

1. What would you get arrested for on the Ark?

Definitely stealing medicine, I’m not much of a trouble maker so I can’t see myself doing anything else that would be illegal

2. Would you take off your wristband when you landed on the ground?

I really want to say no but tbh I’m very easily intimidated so if someone like s1 Murphy or Bellamy told me I had to take it off if I wanted to live I probably would just let them and then go cower in a corner somewhere

3. What would the necklace Finn would make for you look like?

Cat!

4. If you could resurrect any minor character, who would it be?

Wells, 100%. I started a rewatch recently and it’s making me so sad for all of the potential he had

5. Create a squad of 5 characters to go on missions with. Who are they?

Bellamy, Clarke, Raven, Murphy, Miller

6. Minty or Briller?

I used to be very into Minty bc that was what everyone always talked about but honestly anyone Miller wants to be with I’m down

7. What would your name be in Trigedasleng?

I have no idea - Breona? I’m intrigued by the language but haven’t spent enough time looking into it to really know

8. Thoughts on Finn?

Finn did a lot of awful things (and I’m never going to get over what he did to Clarke and Raven) but so has everyone on this show so idk, I’m not his biggest fan but I don’t hate him I guess

9. Be honest. How willing would you have been to take the chip without knowing all the horrible things it does?

I don’t like drugs that mess with your brain like that so I definitely would have avoided it

10. What character do you relate to most and what character do you like the least, not including the obvious ones like Pike, etc.

This is one of the questions I had to think a lot about and I think maybe Monty? I’m pretty loyal to the people I care about, I’m level headed, and I tend to shy away from the spotlight but am willing to take a stand/fill a leadership role as needed. As far as least favorite character, I’m so over Jaha

11. Describe your delinquent outfit?

I want black jeans, combat boots, some kind of henley/jersey shirt (probably in blue) and one of the awesome looking statement jackets that everyone seemed to have in s1

12. Favourite type of mutant animal?

The two-headed deer is classic but the glowing butterflies are pretty fun too. So many people have said Pauna but I just do not get that storyline it has never made sense in my mind I’m sorry

13. What would your job be on the Ark?

Something in medical. Do they have a pharmacist on the Ark or did Abby just deal with all of that too?

14. Would you have willingly pumped Ontari’s heart if Abby asked?

I would try my best, and I think if I knew I had to do it to save someone else I’d be able to, but blood in medical settings makes me super sick (hence why I’m going into pharmacy instead of becoming a doctor)

15. If L wasn’t Heda, then who would make the best Commander?

Ummm Anya? Lincoln? Maybe Indra from the later seasons? Idk I would need to finish my rewatch to get a better idea of what their leadership styles would be like before I could answer this

16. If you were a grounder, then where would you live and who would be your mentor?

I’ve never thought about this so I don’t really have a good answer, but I guess Trikru so Lincoln (ugh another death I’m sad about) could be my mentor? I don’t know enough about the different clans right now to really say anything else

17. How would you act if you ate the hallucinogenic nuts like Jasper and Monty?

The one time I’ve been super drunk I was very giggly and willing to answer questions I usually wouldn’t, so I’d probably go around telling everyone my biggest fears and secrets while laughing at a squirrel or something stupid

18. How would you have dealt with Charlotte’s crime? A more John Murphy approach or Bellamy Blake?

Probably Bellamy but we all see how that went (rip Wells ugh) so honestly not sure what the right call would have been here

19. Who should be the chancellor, if anyone?

I’m cool with Kane doing it

20. Mount Weather had a lot of commodities. What would you snatch while there?

Shampoo, conditioner, soap <-- keeping Elly’s answer for this bc I do not understand how everyone survives constantly covered in grime (I guess priorities lie elsewhere, but still)

21. Do you think you would have caught the virus spread through camp or would you have been immune like Octavia?

Yeah, I get sick pretty easily unfortunately

22. What would your grounder tattoos look like? Hairstyle? Warpaint?

Man I don’t have a good vision for tattoos or warpaint but I want it and I want it to be badass bc I’m too much of a wimp to get a tattoo irl. For hairstyle I’d probably just stick with a ponytail that maybe had like a braid or two in it, I can’t have my hair down for more than a few hours without getting annoyed by it so idk how any of the women in this show fight wars like that

23. Favourite quote?

“We all have battle scars. Suck it up and build a brace for yours.”

24. Can you forgive Murphy for his actions? How about Bellamy?

Kind of like what I said earlier, everyone in this show has done something they’re not proud of that seemed like it was the best/only choice (ha) at the moment. While the acts they committed seem awful when isolated, I think we have to forgive them in the end (also these people have really fucked up lives, seriously, they’re gonna do some bad stuff every once in a while)

25. If the characters were in The Hunger Games, who would have the best shot at winning?

Octavia. I would say Clarke or Bellamy but when it came down to the final two people I don’t think either of them would be willing to kill the other participant

26. Least favourite ship? Favourite ship? (Not including BC or CL)

Least favorite would be Finn with Clarke or Raven bc they deserved better, favorite at the moment is probably Memori

27. A song that should be included in the next season, like when Radioactive was? If there had to be another guest star like Shawn Mendes on the show, who would you want to make a cameo?

I saw someone else who did this say they needed to bring back Home II by Dotan and I absolutely agree. Not too picky about cameos, it would be fun to see anyone in a random episode but if anyone does guest star it would be interesting to see them in a more... not important role, but a role that actually seemed relevant to the story line? Idk I haven’t rewatched that ep yet but from what I remember wasn’t Shawn just there to play the piano for like 30 seconds? This answer got away from me, I’m moving on

28. What would you do if you were stuck in the bunker with Murphy for all that time?

Drinking games? Some other kind of game? Idk I get bored really easily so I’d need something to keep me busy, otherwise I’d just sleep all day

29. Opinion on Emori? Roan?

Love them both, very excited to see Emori’s storyline in s5 (and very upset about Roan’s death but it’s fine I’m fine)

30. Would you want to be an extra that is killed off in a brutal way?

Um yes please, if it was brutal I’m guessing it would get me significant enough screen time to meet everyone so sign me up

31. A character you’d like to learn more about and get flashbacks of?

I am so hyped to find Madi’s story

32. A character you’d bang?

They’re all seriously so attractive but I gotta stick with my boy Bellamy

Not sure who has/hasn’t done this because I’ve been seeing a lot of it on my dash the past few days, so consider yourself tagged if you see this and haven’t done it yet!

#tag games #the 100 #wow this was fun but i spent way more time on it than i meant to whoops #have to go to bed now

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womanaction · 7 years

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buffy for the tv series meme?

send me a tv series and I’ll tell you:

my all-time ultimate fave character: i was going to say cordelia but since it says all-time...i’ve loved willow since forever...i loved willow since way before i watched the series through, i loved her off only like one episode and then i read all the tie in novels with her face on them...i don’t talk about her a lot bc i identify with her too much so it’s not the enjoyment kind of fave like cordy (who is nothing like me hahaha) but yeah i guess that’s my answer

a character I didn’t used to like but now do: hmm spike? i didn’t strongly dislike him but i knew everyone raved about him and i didn’t like...Get It immediately even though i was interested in spuffy...

a character I used to like but now don’t: can’t really think of one? in same vein as spike, i tried to like riley? but i don’t hate him or even strongly dislike him he just sort of bores me.

a character I’m indifferent about: already used riley so jonathan i guess? ooh, or scott hope. i always forget about scott hope. so bland.

a character who deserved better: ALL OF THEM but especially tara and anya and jenny. that’s three but whatever.

a ship I’ve never been able to get into: hmm spander i guess? like i see the appeal but it doesn’t really appeal to me.

a ship I’ve never been able to get over: spuffy.......we all know. but also bangel tbh. every buffy ship tears me up.

a cute, low-key ship: uhmm...buffy/willow.

an unpopular ship but I still enjoyed it: is xander/cordelia unpopular? i feel like i like it more than a lot of people do. xander/anya as well but there’s a lot of that as a secondary ship in spuffy fic that doesn’t totally demonize xander.

a ship that was totally wrong and never should have happened: mmmnnnope, can’t think of one tbh. (obviously for angel it would be cordy/connor though)

my favourite storyline/moment: how?? can i answer this??? i’ll just pick one i really like - buffy’s speech in 5x12 checkpoint. actually inspired me to take action in my own life after watching it. it’s just so good.

a storyline that never should have been written: ugh ok...i have no issues with willow’s magic addiction the way it’s portrayed in s2-s5...honestly that’s good writing good buildup...beginning of s6 was great...and then...suddenly it’s a drug. meh. also ofc the use of rape as a plot device (specifically in “seeing red” but honestly every time it crops up it’s pretty bad and not well handled at all)

my first thoughts on the show: so i went a long time knowing that i was going to get really into it some day but that day was not today sort of thing...i read tie ins and caught a couple of episodes and i frequented tvtropes right after it was metamorphosing into being not-just-about-buffy (but a lot of tropes like spikeification still had their buffy names...ha) so i guess i always knew it was something i’d love but i was waiting for the right time. when i actually started watching from beginning i guess i was surprised at how addictive and funny it was - i hadn’t watched a lot of hourlong shows all the way through before then bc they tended to bog me down (still kinda true tbh) and it was just really awesome. plus the music! something i hadn’t heard that much about but was totaly incredible.

my thoughts now: obviously my favorite show of all time...has many flaws but also delivered p consistent quality and the actors are just fantastic. there’s so much in the universe to unpack that it’s just a really good fandom to settle into and enjoy:)

thank you!!! hope those answers made sense i’m really exhausted hahahha

#btvs #rape /#anons #conversations with living people

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ettadunham · 5 years

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A Buffy rewatch 5x12 Checkpoint

aka i can punch a 60-year-old

Welcome to this dailyish text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and go on an impromptu rant about it for an hour. Is it about one hyperspecific thing or twenty observations? 10 or 3k words? You don’t know! I don’t know!!! In this house we don’t know things.

And I don’t really have hot takes about today’s episodes, other than Slayers should get paid. It’s both a fun romp and a big plot reveal-y ride (after all, it was co-written by Jane Espenson and Doug Petrie), but I spent most of it yelling at old fictional dudes to fuck off.

First of all I just want to say that I’m disappointed. No one’s taken on my request to point me to some college AU Buffy/Tara fics and that’s just tragic. Do I really have to do everything by myself here???

I guess we all gotta be our own heroes.

Speaking of which, let’s talk a bit about how much I love Buffy, and how I can’t stand listening to these men trying to put her down.

Her history professor for instance is the fucking worst. I don’t actually have a lot of insight into how college level education of non-STEM subjects look like, but I really hope that it’s not this. These are the kinds of subjects that you should have opinions and perspectives about, and NOT be made fun of for questioning poorly substantiated facts.

I get that Buffy was mumbling in the middle of the class, which is not a good form, and maybe the theory she presented has been debunked by historians and whatnot, but the humiliation aspect was just bullshit. Professor No Hot Takes can get fucked as far as I’m concerned.

And then Quentin and his minions come along, and they have the fucking audacity to pull the blackmail card after they tried to kill Buffy with their “test” back in season 3. Because the Slayer is just an instrument and she’s their instrument. And once Buffy dies, there will be surely another Slayer who’s gonna be more okay with that. So much yikes.

I hate them all so much. When Buffy said that she can’t hit a 60-year-old, I literally just yelled “YES, YOU CAN”. Quentin is the face of old white privileged men who feel constantly threatened by any new power structure threatening their own patriarchal advantage in society. You should feel free to punch that face. Giles even offered up his own fists for the job.

So yeah, it is insanely satisfying when Buffy goes the fuck off on them at the end. Quentin talks big at the beginning of the episode about how Buffy’s dealing with “adults” relating to himself and his company, but Buffy’s the only real adult in this room.

There are moments that Buffy is doubting herself and her abilities. She’s also not sure if she always made the right call or if she’s prepared; but that only shows that she still has the potential for growth and self-examination. And after everything that she’s hit with during the episode, she’s pushed to put those doubts aside when needed, and embrace the power that she knows she has.

That all being said... I have questions about Giles’ Watcher salary. I kind of wish for instance that Buffy also negotiated a salary of her own, as that would actually... make sense? But then again, it would put her under the Council’s control, so I get it. I still think that Giles should just transfer most if not all of the money he gets over to Buffy, but I guess the Council would know about that too, so we’d end up in the same position? I don’t know, it’s all very sketchy if you ask me.

Still, it is ridiculous that there’s this whole institution that’s supposed to help the Slayer save the world, and they offer absolutely no financial or other support. (See also Faith’s entire storyline.) It’s probably an intentional commentary that reflects some of our own societal dynamics, as we see once again from Quentin’s speech just how lowly the Council thinks of the Slayer... But it’s ridiculous nonetheless.

I just hate the entire Council so much. They should all be punched.

But hey, it’s not just men that Buffy’s up against. We’ve also got which might be one of my favorite Glory scenes this episode (jury’s out, I’m probably forgetting a lot) as she visits Buffy. In some ways, Glory too is putting Buffy down, but while all the men insulting Buffy throughout the episode are trying to present themselves as her superior as they feel threatened by her power and intelligence, Glory is pretty much just stating facts.

Buffy has something that she needs and if she doesn’t cooperate, she’ll kill her and her friends. Which she can do because she’s already demonstrated that she can beat Buffy in a fight. Glory isn’t the Spike-type of villain, who gets under Buffy’s insecurities and makes her destroy herself from the inside. She just tells her that she could punch the life out of her and everyone she loves. I appreciate that.

I also love Dawn in this scene. I always read her line here as intentional, as her way of using her insufferable bratty little sister impulses to her advantage to prove to Glory that she doesn’t know anything. But even if it isn’t intentional, I still love that it’s what ends up saving her. We bratty little sisters gotta stick together!!!

The show’s also building the dynamic with Spike and Buffy I guess, with her actually trusting Spike with her family. I feel like there are a few factors that came into here though, like Buffy being aware of how Spike’s been trying to get into her good graces, and maybe just the sheer desperation to keep Joyce and Dawn safe... But then again, it may also be that porch scene, and Buffy expecting Spike to somehow understand what she needs in this moment too.

I expect to have a lot of complicated feelings about this ship with this rewatch, ngl.

Finally, I wanted to give a shout out to the beginning of the episode, and how there are a few call backs to Triangle. Xander still has his hand bandaged for one, but most importantly, Willow and Anya are sitting next to each other on the couch??? Pre-Triangle Wanya would never.

We are only four episodes away from The Body, folks. Pray for me.

#buffy rewatch 2k19 #btvs talk #btvs #i initially wrote 2 episodes away from the body but this time i was smart and checked my episode numbers first #what is it about me and mixing my 4s and 6s when it comes to s5 buffy eps

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