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cosmictuesdays · 4 years

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So many different places to call home.

I've threatened, and since had requested, that I write up my notes and thoughts on how I'd redo Angel the Series season 5. I already largely outlined them in an email a while back, which simplifies the process considerably. That, and borrowing the good ideas Ginger sent back in her response to that email, I figure tonight might as well be the night for it. I wouldn't redo all five seasons of the show, because I'd rather not rewrite the whole thing from scratch. I'd rather focus on theoretical alterations of certain parts of season 5 for greater narrative coherence. While this does keep some of Whedon's ass-butt decisions, I've been in enough fandoms for enough time to learn how to focus my energy. All right, that's not entirely true. In this version that lives in my head, there'd be a few lines, and possibly a couple of scenes, about Fred moving into Cordelia's apartment in season 4. Then: Spike comes out of the amulet whole, intact, and corporeal at the end of episode 1. Because they didn't do anything worthwhile with it, getting rid of the concept of a vampire ghost smooths things out considerably. Spike spends a good chunk of episode 2 rallying on about making a grand romantic entrance back into Buffy's life, but then something happens, the sort of thing which compels him to be a white hat that has nothing to do with Buffy and all of the work he has to do to grow into his soul, and he realizes that he's got more to do that has nothing to do with her. The final scene of the episode has him showing up in Angel's office: "You're still here," Angel says. "Today, anyway," Spike replies.

"Destiny" is moved to the third episode of the season, where W&H try to pit the two known heroic souled vampires against each other in a bid to simplify possible destines and prophecies. It doesn't work. Spike growing into his soul - the soul he earned, not the soul he was cursed with - would make for a solid ongoing plot thread through the season, in conversation with, and contrast and counterbalance to, Angel's own journey.

The fourth episode has Xander come to collect Spike at the behest of Buffy, all remaining Slayers and Watchers, and the Scooby Gang, which covers the full cold open. Buffy sent Xander specifically because she knows they can't tempt him with anything. Additionally, framing Xander through the eyes of AtS would show what surviving growing up on the Hellmouth and several years of constant apocalypses would do to an ordinary person, which would honestly be pretty fun to see. Lilah Morgan: "Mr. Harris -" Xander: "No, no, please, Mr. Harris was my father." [Lilah smiles. Xander smiles back, sharply.] "You can call me 'sir.'" [Lilah stops smiling.] Because after the Hellmouth, the ordinary human evil of W&H is small potatoes to Xander. He'd comment that as evil as they are, they want the world to stick around to be evil in, and that's almost relaxing to have to deal with. "You guys, seriously, small potatoes, you don't even want to end the world! It's nice, really. Nobody wanting to eat the sun, nobody wanting to make literal Hell out here, just keep on being evil. I can respect that. I don't support it and would rather see all of you give this up and go join a commune up in Petaluma, but I can respect it." I assume the rest of episode 4 is either filler, as was the case with the Mexican wrestler episode, or it's where we get the werewolf girlfriend. "Damage" is next - the one with Dana, the mentally ill Slayer. Spike's sent to Los Angeles to collect her, along with Andrew and a few other Slayers, and gets his hands cut off for his troubles. They're reattached, and the next episode has him stationed at W&H by Buffy to openly spy on the place. Angel is fine with this. "It means she still cares." "That you're head honcho of Evil Inc." "Yeah, but if she didn't care, she wouldn't send you to spy on me." "I'm spying on W&H." "She still cares." "No she doesn't." And so on and so forth, etc cetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. Because the two of them are best when the show remembers they're family. Spike doesn't have the weird sub-plot with the Doyle faker, though Lindsay still tries to play the part. It doesn't work, and he's caught almost immediately, which shifts the power dynamics around enough to give Spike a good amount of stuff to do. Spike's also given freedom to go wherever he wants, and hang out all over the place, and Angel sometimes helps him edit his weekly reports to Buffy in case he missed anything. Everyone knows why Spike is there. This is played for both comedy and drama, because he and Angel grow closer as they keep talking to each other over the course of the season. So we still get moments like "wee little puppet man" and Spike freeing Angel from the parasite that trapped him in those hallucinations because he doesn't care about Angel's privacy. Those kinds of delicious relationship moment which show them as being genuinely close in a way that can't easily be translated to human terms, but the viewing audience easily understands. Out of everyone in the world, they're the ones best qualified to call each other out on their bullshit and when they're indulging their inner blowhard. (Spike leans towards the bullshit, Angel towards being a blowhard. "I know for a fact you spent that decade moping in disco halls." "It was only thirty minutes, and there was just the one werewolf.") "Hell Bound" - the only Angel episode aired with a warning for graphic violence - still happens. It's because of Fred. At some point, someone - possibly Xander, when he collects Spike, or possibly Andrew, when he drops by - comments how few ghosts there are around W&H. How little spirit energy. Magic energy, yes, but the spirits are weak, and few and far between. Unrelated to that, Fred invents some sort of machine to help Phantom Dennis manifest, because they've become friends since she moved into the apartment. It's one of those "gone horribly right" situations, because instead of Spike fighting Pavayne, it's Dennis. He makes Pavayne corporeal at the sacrifice of being able to return to life. He does get a moment of Fred seeing his face, and them being able to smile at each other, before he's whisked off back to the apartment - if he doesn't finally move on from being a ghost and goes into the rest of the afterlife. The back end of the season plays out much as it already did. There'd be a few more lines, here and there, giving reasons and justifications and explanations for why Buffy isn't contacted for whatever reason, and why they're not asking the Slayers for help for one disaster or another. Maybe "they won't get here in time," maybe "they have their own apocalypse," maybe "I have to do this alone and if I come out of it, I'll go see her because I'm Angel and that's what I do." "The Girl in Question" has its plots swapped, so more time is spent on Fred/Illyria and Wesley, and less on Spike and Angel in madcap hijinks in Italy. Also, no Immortal, no casual racism, no Andrew with a bunch of women, no Buffy decoy/fakeout, no explosion destroying Spike's coat. Because this is how I'd do it, and I don't much like any of that. I've read reports Whedon wanted season 6 to be a sort of Mad Max post-apocalyptic scenario, with car chases and big action sequences. I have no plans for season 6, not even theoretical ones. Mostly, I'm fine with Angel being asked how they survived the final battle, and Spike answering, "Heroically!" or "We almost didn't" and not elaborating past that. Because the audience can fill in that part themselves.

#wanton cage aux folles

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jennycalendar · 5 years

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imperfections (66/?)

read it on ao3!

an update!!!! shocking!!!

As of late, Rupert’s nightmares were becoming both more frequent and more difficult to wake him up from, and Jenny strongly suspected that much of it was a whole bunch of repressed trauma coming to the surface. He had still managed to return to work, but balancing his job as a librarian and his extensive supernatural research schedule meant that he wasn’t getting as much sleep as he probably should, which meant that Jenny usually had to stay home and forcibly cuddle him into sleeping at a reasonable hour. And since they were the only two qualified adults in the Scooby Gang, this made the concept of demon-fighting more than difficult.

“Please can we go to the cave by ourselves?” Willow was asking, following Jenny into the kitchen with her arms full of weaponry and magic supplies. “I practiced the clouding spell like seventeen times and Buffy and Faith will be there and Xander knows how to throw a real punch now—”

“Look, I’m just saying maybe hold off on the demon-killing until I’m certain Rupert’s doing okay,” said Jenny thinly, her mind already conjuring images of the kids brutally murdered by whatever the hell was lurking in that cave. “We don’t even know what’s in that cave—”

“Then we can do a recon mission!” Willow persisted. “And not kill anything!” Off Jenny’s look, she deflated. “It’s just that they’re monsters,” she said. “And I know you need to take care of Giles, but somebody needs to take down the vampires while you guys are out of commission.”

“I’m not out of commission,” Jenny objected.

“Monsters can’t be put on hold,” said Willow firmly. “And nearly all of us are adults now. We should be able to make these choices at some point, so why can’t that point be now?”

Jenny exhaled. She recognized the logic of Willow’s reasoning, but she still didn’t like sending her kids off to fight things. Now she was starting to understand the tense, drawn look that Joyce sometimes got when Buffy was on patrol. “Okay,” she said.

Willow stared. “Wait,” she said. “Did that work? I didn’t think that would work.”

“Don’t let it get to your head,” said Jenny with a tired smile, squeezing Willow’s shoulder. “Just know that I do not like thinking about you guys in danger. Make sure that none of you take unnecessary risks.”

Willow gave Jenny a small, soft grin back, then stood on tiptoe, hugging her very gently. “You know we’ll be careful, Jenny,” she said. “We always are. And we’ll be home with some great story about how we took down all the vampires—”

“Be careful,” said Jenny again, hugging Willow tightly. “Rupert has enough to worry about without you all getting seriously injured.”

“Yeah, sure, we’ll be careful for Giles,” Willow teased, pulling back to playfully smooth down Jenny’s hair. “We’ve got this. Pinky swear.”

Jenny smiled, watching Willow exit the kitchen, and reminded herself very firmly that the kids were growing up. As much as she hated the fact that they’d been all but drafted into fighting evil, it was still their choice to make, not hers.

And on the subject of people who had been drafted into fighting evil…Jenny left the kitchen, waving a quick goodbye to Xander and Faith (who were cheerfully following Willow out of the house) and heading upstairs to the master bedroom, where her possible-future-husband was quietly reading one of his derelict old volumes of prophecy. She sat down on the bed next to him, taking the book out of his hands, and pulled him into her arms, enjoying the way he snuggled into her without hesitation.

I love you, she heard Rupert say in the back of her mind.

She wasn’t entirely sure how to express it, but it felt kind of nice to have someone she loved in her head. Eyghon had been painful, taking up space until she was terrified she’d be shoved out of her own body; Rupert took up only the space needed for her to hear him, and made no efforts to take more. It made her feel protected, in the strangest of ways, and she rubbed her nose against his in a sideways attempt to tell him as such. “The kids are heading down to that cave,” she said carefully. “Willow pointed out that they’re all either adults or nearly adults, and that I should get used to them choosing to do things like this.”

They’re not wrong.

“Yeah, I know,” said Jenny, making a face. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Rupert made a little hmm noise and kissed her neck; Jenny smiled, letting her head fall back against the pillows. “I told you about the new Watcher, right?”

He and I still haven’t met.

“Lucky you,” said Jenny. “Wesley’s the worst.”

Has he tried to encroach upon any Scooby meetings?

“Seeing as most of them happen here now, I don’t see how he could,” said Jenny, feeling cheered by this. “Though I guess you’ll probably have to go back to training Buffy, once you’re feeling a little better?”

I’m fine now, said Rupert’s voice with some irritation.

“Look at me and say that one more time,” said Jenny patiently.

Rupert looked up, indignant, and then bit his lip. I’m indulging, he said quietly. I have work to do, Jenny. Important work, and I shouldn’t have to be comforted.

“You hold yourself to a double standard,” said Jenny, tracing Rupert’s jaw with a fingertip, watching his eyelashes flutter at her touch. “Remember when the First was at our doorstep, and we had a boatload of research to do? And Angel hurt me, and I was scared, so you held me until I was ready to handle things again?”

I should be ready to handle things now—

“Rupert, you haven’t had someone to hold you in a very long time,” said Jenny softly. “That has an effect on people.”

Rupert still looked a little doubtful, but he settled himself back into Jenny’s arms without further objection, closing his eyes as she ran her hands through his hair. Love you, he mumbled in the back of Jenny’s head, his words drowsier and running together. Love you love you darling Jenny dearest wife—

He didn’t catch his slip, but Jenny did, and it made her heart jump. Names and words were casual, fluid things to her, but Rupert always chose his words with care and certainty. The fact that she was a certain thing to him meant the world to her, and she smiled a little as she snuggled back against the pillows.

“So that was fun,” said Faith, wincing a little as she dusted herself off.

“Those were not vampires,” said Xander loudly. “Those were something else and I did not like them.”

“But my clouding spell worked!” said Willow brightly.

Faith grinned a little. “Okay,” she said. “Yeah. Silver lining, then. Willow got to try out her cloud spell, and I…” She trailed off. “Got to punch things,” she finished decisively.

“Should we leave them here?” Buffy asked, gesturing towards the demons.

“I say burn them,” said Cordelia, wrinkling her nose. “They were totally gross, and one of them got blood on my nice jacket!”

“Again, Cordy, you didn’t have to come along, and you definitely didn’t have to wear your nicest threads,” Xander reminded her, giving his girlfriend an affectionate kiss on the cheek.

Cordelia huffed. “Like I’m letting you die in some dank old cave!” she shot back, tucking her arm into Xander’s.

“I fall in the camp of not burning them,” interjected Oz. Off everyone’s surprised looks, he pointed out, “Giles and Ms. Calendar are probably going to want to know what we saw, and having a few bodies on hand might help in terms of examples.”

“We could take pictures?” suggested Willow.

“Unbelievably, I have my Polaroid camera on me,” said Xander with a grin, digging in his backpack and fishing the camera out. “Who’s good with setting up a shot?”

As the group clustered around one of the dead demons, Faith stepped back and out of the cave, already looking forward to telling Jen about the latest cool adventure. Jen would probably get her Worried Face on when she saw that Faith was a little banged up, and that’d be fun too, ‘cause then Faith would get to sit really still while Jen patched her up—

“What on earth is going on here?” came a voice, and Faith blinked, then squinted. The geeky new Watcher had arrived, and on his arm was pretty Ms. Jenkins from the grocery store. “Why are you slaying with civilians involved?”

“Uh, you’re one to talk,” said Faith, directing a significant look at Ms. Jenkins.

“Ms. Jenkins,” said Geeky Watcher with dignity, “is already aware of the supernatural. She has kindly offered her services in any arena we may need.”

“You mean you may need,” said Faith. “Seeing as we already havea Watcher.”

“Where is Miss Summers?” said Geeky Watcher. “I was informed that Miss Summers would be going after the demons in this cave—”

As if on cue, Buffy exited the cave, then cocked her head. She wasn’t looking at Geeky Watcher, though; for some reason, her attention was focused on Ms. Jenkins. “Have we met before?” she asked.

“Yes, very briefly, at the grocery store,” began Ms. Jenkins somewhat nervously.

“No,” said Buffy, frowning. “I don’t think that’s it.”

“Miss Summers?” said Geeky Watcher, puffing up. “Wesley Wyndam—”

“Oh, you’re that dorky new guy Ms. Calendar mentioned!” said Buffy, beaming.

“Your new Watcher, yes,” said Wesley Wyndam (Faith wouldn’t remember his dorky, hyphenated last name if you paid her).

Buffy considered this. “Is this like when your mom gets you a new sweater because she thought you spilled chocolate milk on the old one?” she said. “Because if it is, I’ll tell you what I told her: thanks, but I really only need one.”

Wesley Wyndam looked extremely confused by this. Ms. Jenkins looked like she was doing her best not to laugh, and…come to think of it, she did look familiar. Sure, Faith only knew her from the grocery store, but her Slayer-senses were going off like crazy. “Do we know you?” she said, squinting at Ms. Jenkins.

“Kindly do not interrogate my lady friend!” said Wesley Wyndam indignantly.

“Whoa,” said Buffy. “Already dating on the job? What does that say about your work ethic?”

Faith snickered. So did Ms. Jenkins, though she muffled it in her glove. Wesley Wyndam looked genuinely wounded by Buffy’s comment. “My work ethic is nowhere near lacking!” he objected. “Frankly, I find that accusation rather rich, coming from a girl who treats vampire slaying like a social gathering!”

“I so don’t treat vampire slaying like a social gathering!” Buffy objected.

Xander and Cordelia then exited the cave, closely followed by Willow and Oz. “Hey, Buff, check it out!” Xander called, waving the camera. “I took pictures of me with the dead demon!”

“Not now,” Buffy hissed.

“Whoa, who’s that?” said Xander.

“New Watcher,” said Willow helpfully.

“Is he already dating someone?” said Xander. “Didn’t Giles take, like, a year to start dating Ms. Calendar?”

“A year and a half,” said Cordelia, “if my math is right—”

“Your job,” said Wesley Wyndam furiously, “is to slay vampires, not to gossip incessantly about my social life!”

“Well, I’m off the clock,” said Buffy brightly, “so I think I can do all the gossiping I want. Nice to meet you, Ms. Jenkins, if we haven’t met already!” And with that, she skipped past Wesley, heading down the hiking trail that would lead them back to Oz’s van.

Grinning, Faith followed, walking at a brisk pace so she could fall into step with Buffy. “So he’s annoying,” she said.

Buffy giggled. “Honestly?” she said. “Don’t tell Giles this, but Wesley totally reminds me of him when we first met.”

Faith scoffed. “Giles is way too cool to have ever been like that dude.”

“Debatable,” said Buffy. “In fact, I’m not even sure if Giles is cool now.”

“The guy got himself fired to keep you safe,” Faith pointed out. “That’s, like, a billion coolness points in my book.”

Buffy glowed.

#fic #imperfections #posting this Real Fast before dinner

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theclacks · 7 years

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Buffy (Season 4) & Angel (Season 1) Thoughts

Whoo, so watching two seasons at once makes a giant dent in my viewing speed, but it’s kind of awesome. The “new series” rush I had in season two is mostly gone I think, replaced with a steady comfortability, which is good, because whenever a series is short enough that I reach its end/catch up before the rush fades, then I feel incredibly listless.

Anyway. Thoughts below the cut.

Buffy - Season 4

On how it compares to other seasons...

So season 2 is still my all time favorite. I think season 4 is tied with season 3 for me on like-ability. I think season 3 was strongest toward its end and season 4 was strongest towards its middle (hello, Spike pseudo-redemption arc). I think killing Professor Walsh as early as they did was a mistake; she and Buffy had a great antagonistic relationship. The greatness of season 2 was the relationship between the heroes and the villains, especially once Angel turned darkside. My biggest problem with the mayor was that he and Buffy never met until the very end of the season and that’s kind of my same issue here. They traded out an AWESOME antagonist (works for “good” like Buffy, but sees her as a uncontrollable threat! there’s some age/generation issues going on, defined career woman vs unranked youngster! science vs magic and prophecy! they used to hold each other in high esteem but now don’t!)... for, well, Adam. Who was very season one-ish in terms of flat personality and “I SHALL RULE THE WORLD MWAHAHA.”

On Oz leaving + Tara entering...

I read an interview/comment part way through that said Joss’s original plan was to string the Oz/girl!werewolf/Willow drama over the whole season, but then Seth Green nope’d it out of there and thank fucking god. I hated girl!werewolf. I don’t even remember her name and I’m fine with that.

I loved the introduction of Tara. I loved the episode where Oz came back (although I spent the whole episode fearing for his life) and Willow came out to her friends and Tara expecting Willow to leave her and asking if they could still be friends and I WAS CRYING DURING THAT SCENE. I HAVE NO SHAME. I think it was first scene in Buffy I cried at. Willow and Tara’s actresses just knocked it out of the park.

Also, it was weird for me since all I’ve ever heard from people about Willow is that they retcon’ed her sexuality into being a lesbian, and... unless something changes in the future, that’s totally not the case because she’s obviously bisexual. Like mentions loving Oz AND loving Tara in the same episode? And if talking about retconning her into being bisexual, umm... that shit doesn’t need foreshadowing... unless people are talking about something that happens in a later season with Willow saying straight out she doesn’t like men... and you know what? I’ll just see it when I get there.

On Riley...

He’s okay. Like, just, okay. I liked the episode where he told Buffy not to hold back during sparing, she kicked him across the room, and he’s like “it’s okay, i told you not to hold back”, and later she confesses (to Willow?) “.......I held back.”

IDK. I didn’t like the episode where the frat house sucks them into being a kind of sex battery thing... well, I liked the Xander, Willow, Anya, and Spike parts, but yeah.

On Spike...

I think the weirdest character development thing was him hooking up with Harmony. I mean, really? BUT it was awesome seeing Harmony eventually kick him to the curb, so there’s that. I got spoiled for the headchip thing, but I didn’t know it was coming this season, and his conversation with Willow immediately discovering his “impotence” was one of the best things ever. Oh, and “Something Blue” I didn’t know that episode was going to be a thing and it was AWESOME. I also liked how he didn’t immediately turn good and was mostly an annoying hinderance to the main characters; that fit him much better than a straight heel-face turn.

On college vs high school...

It’s weird. I have more nostalgia for college than high school, so I really enjoyed the first few college eps. Like, the way I’ve seen people talk about their love for the high school era of Buffy... I think that was me during this season. (People who used to hang outside the student union delivering flyers for whatever, I MISS YOU.) I did like the episode where they revisited the high school’s ruins. That was a nice touch. And I like Faith a lot better this season, especially when she realizes it’s been months and months since graduation. (Oh, and speaking of the Faith/Buffy bodyswitch episode, their actress did such a good job.)

On Giles...

Nothing too much to report. I do think more than any of the other characters, he’s lost his groove. Hopefully he’ll re-find it in season five.

But enough about Buffy, it’s time to discuss...

Angel - Season 1

General thoughts

OH MY GOD. I think I actually ended up enjoying Angel more than Buffy for these two seasons. I thought it was going to be something I’d slowly have to sit through episode after episode until I grew to like and then LO AND BEHOLD Charisma Carpenter’s name popped up in the credits. And suddenly Angel went from “Angel interacts with random LA strangers I don’t know” in my head to “OH MY GOD CORDELIA IS IN LA BEING BROS WITH ANGEL AND FIGHTING DEMONS AND SHIT.” And it’s been awesome since.

On Doyle and Wesley (and Cordelia)...

I was not expecting them to switch season mains halfway through, and although I’m still sad that Doyle left the show so early, I’m kind of cool with it because it meant Cordelia getting his visions. And honestly, if you’d told me after the first episode of Buffy that Cordelia Chase was eventually going to become bros with Angel in LA and with god-given vision superpowers and a ghost as a roommates, I’d... well, I don’t know what I would’ve thought, but it definitely would’ve spoiled the wild, amazing journey. Of course, Cordelia was already my favorite character about four episodes into watching Buffy, so... yeah.

One of my lesser favorite parts of season three was having Cordelia vanish for a whole bunch of episodes after her breakup with Xander, so seeing her rise like this and be a central character and have AMAZING heart-to-heart conversations with Angel... like, Buffy and Angel have their super love but at this point I feel like Cordelia and Angel are stronger friends? Like they treat each other as brother and sister and it is the best damn thing ever.

Also along that line, the reintroduction of Wesley was great. Probably the best replacement they could’ve gotten for Doyle. It really strengthened the team, especially for the Faith episodes since she was someone they ALL had history with. And since the Cordelia/Wesley UST got resolved in the final season 3 buffy episodes, his friendship with cordelia was awesome too. JUST ALL THE FRIENDSHIPS FOR CORDELIA KTHXBAI.

On LA vs Sunnydale...

If college era of buffy is nostalgic, angel’s LA setting is straight up “THIS IS MY LIFE RIGHT NOW”. I’m past Buffy’s concerns about class schedules and straight in the thick of Cordelia’s concerns about finding a decent apartment for a decent rent, balancing work that pays the bills with the true passions you live for, having to pay bills, be an adult.

And I think Cordelia really is angel’s greatest strength right now because of how much different her life is from all of her classmates’ back in Sunnydale. She’s had to grow up the fastest. Even Xander who’s ostensibly in similar shoes (straight to work/no college) has a kind of flat dotted-ness to him. He picks up random weekly jobs, he stays in his parents’ basement, he feels the world moving on without him because it is. Contrast that with Cordelia, moves to LA, gets a rad (albeit possessed apt), gets a job with Angel’s firm (basically starts Angel’s firm), gains Doyle’s visions, making her an even more integral part of the team... Their respective paths over the course of the same year couldn’t have been more different.

On “I Will Remember You”...

Holy damn that was an awesome episode. I knew it wasn’t going to last because Angel being a vampire is, like, his whole thing. I was like Buffy going “let’s wait before diving into all this” but then they crumbled and then they were in bed eating ice cream together and it was THE CUTEST THING EVER. And then even after Angel decided to turn back, I was like “that’s okay because at least they’ll have their memories and then it was suddenly all NO. NO. NOOOOO. THIS IS NOT OKAY, ANGEL NO. BUFFY MY BB, NOOOOOOOO.” The juxtaposition between Buffy in tears, clinging to him, and then 180 degrees, being back in his office completely tense and cold was traumatically beautiful and well-done.

And a part of me really eventually wants her to remember down the line, but I have no idea whether or not that would ever happen.

On Faith...

So. I’ve decided that my favorite part of Faith is when she completely breaks down into self-loathing. It happened when she was in Buffy’s body and then again when she was squaring off against Angel in the rain. She sold it so well, that I’m cool with her again.

On evil!Angel...

Evil!Angel is my favorite, the humor that just drips out of him while he’s killing everything. And I love that there are hints of it even when Angel’s “sober” so to speak. And while I never want him to turn fully evil again (season 2 played that the best way it ever could), I do like the way the writers are able to tease it back. First with the buffy season three episode where he faked it, and then again in this season of angel where it was kind of drugged out of him. And once again, I’m super happy that Cordelia and Wesley are his buddies because they can recognize that history of his in an instant (granted, Cordelia more than Wesley).

On Gunn and Lesley and Wolfram and Hart...

So Buffy/Angel crossovers excluded, my favorite episode of the season by far was when Angel and Lesley joined forces to infiltrate Wolfram and Hart and they also pulled in Gunn for good measure. Maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for heist episodes, but I think (I hope) that episode marked a turning point. Like “this is the world of angel. these are angel’s allies and these are his foes and this is way it comes together.” I’m looking forward to more with all them.

On Kate...

I have conflicted thoughts about Kate. I like her as a character. She’s been used somewhat inconsistently re: episode and screentime-wise, and still very distant from the main characters. I hope she’s used more in season two.

On LA’s demon sub-culture...

The thing I’ll end with is that I love how angel introduces us to a whole bunch of other demon, both good and evil and somewhere in between. With the exception of Willie’s bar, buffy doesn’t have that? Like I feel half the demons from LA could wander into Sunnydale and Buffy would start beating them up before they could talk. Or like if they put one toe out of line, she’d try to kill them.

Take for example the episode with Doyle’s ex-wife. Her fiance tried to eat Doyle’s brains, but the ending to that wasn’t “kill the fiance” it was just “that’s not okay, demon, and you broke my trust by trying to do it and if that’s a requirement for us to get married, then the engagement’s off.” And lo and behold, they broke off the engagement and thus ended the episode. No killings. And I don’t know, there’s just something ridiculously refreshing about that.

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #btvs meta #meta thoughts #/////#clacks from the clacks

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somanypetals · 7 years

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buffy/angel meme ‘cause I bored

Top fifteen characters?

That’s a lot lmao isn’t that just listing everyone? Ok lol Buffy, Tara, Cordy, Wesley, Faith, Fred, Anya, Dawn, Oz, Willow, Giles, Angel, Gunn, Glory, and sometimes Spike

Favorite minor characters?

I mean I sorta just...did that, in a way. But like, Kendra, the Mayor and Jonathon. Also Harmony.

Ranking of favorite seasons of both shows?

buffy: I have like a critical list and a nostalgia influenced list for buffy favourites lol but I guess I’ll try and combine??? 4, 5, 6, 3, 2, 1, 7

angel: mate do you know how much I cannot do this one because I haven’t finished my rewatch but I’ll try...3, 2, 5, 1, 4 maybe?

Top ten episodes of both shows?

buffy: restless, omwf, hush, the gift, the body, something blue, the wish, halloween, grave, and then probably something ridiculous like band candy

angel: I literally can’t do this list for angel right now I need to finish my rewatch so Ima just make a list that is comprised of: birthday

Least favorite main character?

in buffy it’s xander, soz buddy. in angel though???? like...I don’t even know mate. I love them all, and I love them all differently every time I rewatch because I didn’t grow up with them as much so they’re all still kinda shiny and new in some ways. OH WAIT LMAO connor, it’s connor. I don’t care for connor.

Top ten ships?

these questions ask for so many answers why.................willow/tara, angel/cordy, fred/wes, buffy/tara, buffy/spike (and like, also not, it’s complicated), buffy/angel, buffy/riley before the initiative collapsed, anya/giles idk why that one always stuck with me in a cracky way, buffy/cordy, willow/oz

Do you write fanfic?

not for the whedonverse nah

What fanfic do you read?

I’ve never read...whedonverse fic...wow

When did you start watching?

I started watching buffy in 2000 when I was seven, and angel maybe in like 2005 when I was 12? but I never saw past all of it until I was like 18 in 2011, I’d only watched season one as a kid and a bit of season four, hence why these questions are so much fucking harder for angel lol

Show recommendations for Buffyverse fans?

I mean, it’s hard to do this because the buffyverse style is such a mix of genres it depends what you like buffy and angel for? but I would say if you’ve watched one and not the other you have to stick it out and watch them both

in terms of good shows maybe like, the x files, veronica mars, jessica jones, battlestar galactica, spirited, pushing daisies, leverage, maybe eureka and warehouse 13?

in terms of slightly trashier shows like...lost girl, the vampire diaries, the first three seasons of teen wolf (and then the following seasons if you hate yourself like I do)

Do you own/collect anything related to the shows?

I have some buffy books I found in opshops but I don’t have any of the comics (yet), I have the dvd box sets of course, I used to have like a thousand posters? and I also sort of own action figures of buffy and dawn but they’re not really mine...but I think it was said that I can have them...

How often will you watch an episode?

I tend to do a full buffy rewatch like once a year, either with someone I’m forcing the show upon or just myself. angel is a bit rarer but I’m trying to watch it more because I love it and I want to know it as well as I do buffy!! but as for random episodes I’ll often just end up watching one with tess or when I’m bored, maybe like once every couple of months or sometimes more frequently

How many times have you watched either show all the way through?

btvs probably like five or six times at least lol, and then all the individual episodes would be like 10 or more times like some have gotta be in the 20s or 30s from how many times I watched them as a kid/teen. angel only all the way through like once and a half though :/ but season one of angel a couple times

Five unpopular opinions?

idk what the fandom opinions are these days so idek how to answer that

Least favorite thing about the fandom?

the old discourse that’s kind of been going around in circles for like ten years just because it’s tiring, and the newer discourse that either a) neglects parts of the show/characterisations or b) doesn’t bother to remember that the show started over twenty years ago and some things can’t be dissected with the same lens lol (I’m not talking about seeing red though fyi)

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