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blorgon-schmorgon · 4 years

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btvs rewatch 2k19 (1x04, teacher’s pet)

continuing my weekly rewatch of buffy with my partner (his first time watching), we watched teacher’s pet last week, and it was a surprisingly entertaining episode. in this episode, xander falls in love with a she-mantis, the seeds of bangel are planted, and I try to make sense of what is considered the worst episode in the series.

on adulthood, parallels to future seasons, and masculinity

this episode is correctly received as an early misfire in the show - as The Passion of the Nerd points out, the episode lacks suspense - Miss French is so _obviously_ the villain that the episode is robbed of the tension that The Witch had. One of my favorite writers on the first three seasons of Buffy, morgue, puts forth the compelling case that this episode is Buffy The Vampire Slayer done wrong; while it seems to follow the logic of the show’s premise, it is thematically askew, it mishandles the series’ themes of sexual violence, and lacks the emotional resonance that would characterize the show later. The structure for the episode is also completely off - Critically Touched points out that the audience’s attention is divided between two plots, that of the fork-vampire and the she-mantis, neither of which are treated in any interesting way. Watching it myself, I was surprised at how often flashbacks were used in this episode - it seems like there wasn’t enough here to fill 43 minutes, even with two competing plots.

Of course, one thing all the reviewers I’ve mentioned is that the two scenes that bookend the episode between Buffy and Angel are easily the best parts of the episode. Much as I previously stated that The Witch does important work in exploring Buffy and Giles’ relationship, this episode sets the ground for the future Buffy/Angel dynamic. Angel is much less involved in this episode, but to read Xander and Miss French’s dynamic into Buffy/Angel is not a huge leap - a pivotal moment in the episode has Xander make the connection explicitly. Xander: She's not an insect! She's a woman, okay? And hard as that may be for you to conceive, an actual woman finds me attractive. I realize it's no mystery guy handing out leather jackets, and while we're on the subject, what kind of a girlie name is 'Angel' anyway? Buffy: What does that have to do with... Xander: Nothing! It just kinda bugs me. Look, I really gotta... He walks off. Buffy turns and watches him go. Buffy: Wha...?

This scene is possibly the interpretive key to this episode - albeit clumsily handled. Xander emphasizes woman here, highlighting the age gap between them and making the parallel with Buffy and Angel explicit. This is not the last time an unhealthy relationship between a teacher and a student will be paralleled to Bangel - though, it’s much more thematically complex when explored in I Only Have Eyes For You. Putting the two episodes side-by-side reveals how far BTVS moves ahead by late season 2, stylistically, visually and thematically.

But taking the episode for what it is, it’s fascinating to me that the episode doesn’t take this parallel very far - Xander’s frustration at Buffy’s relationship with Angel is borne out of male entitlement for sure, but his impulse to be involved with Miss French remains interesting. From that pivotal scene where he lashes out at Buffy, to be involved with an older woman seems to be borne out of a desire to be seen as as desirable to the adult gaze as Buffy seems to be, proving that he can match her in attractiveness. Of course, where the show shows Xander’s interest in Miss French to be dangerous and foolhardy, Buffy’s interest in Angel will be mostly validated by the show until mid-season 2. By late season 2 however, the subtextual parallel between Bangel and Xander X Miss French is realized, as Angel becomes the predatory ex-boyfriend, allowing I Only Have Eyes For You to occur. Reading Teacher’s Pet together with I Only Have Eyes For You, the potential danger that Bangel presents to Buffy remains silent in Teacher’s Pet, lying dormant until it can be expressed in IOHEFY.

Partly, it seems to me that the episode’s treatment of Bangel as less predatory and dangerous than Xander’s dalliance with Miss French is a result of Buffy’s status as the Slayer - being the Slayer means that Buffy is already coded as part of the world of adults, dealing with threats and responsibilities that characters like Xander and Willow shouldn’t, and don’t, have to. When Xander is inducted into the world of monsters through his relationship with Miss French, it puts him in danger of having his youth stolen away. In comparison, Buffy is already in the world of monsters and vampires, making her relationship with Angel okay (by the show’s logic at this point). Her adolescence has already been taken away by the responsibilities of the Slayer, and she is forced to grow up fast. In comparison, Xander represents youth untarnished, a ripe victim for predators like Miss French. He is eager to grow up and willing to risk his life in order to prove his maturity, where Buffy wants to stay young, aware of the dangers the world of monsters represents.

This duality between Buffy and Xander is why Xander, for all intents and purposes, is the deuteragonist of the first season. In future seasons, Willow will become Buffy’s main foil, particularly in season 6, as Xander recedes further and further into the background, his narrative purpose more or less fulfilled by the end of season 1. In this season, though, he is as narratively important as Buffy, a fact that the current Boom comics is aware of. This is why Teacher’s Pet is the first episode that begins not with Buffy’s point-of-view, as the past two episodes have, but with Xander - he wrests narrative control through his dream sequence, in which a patriarchal view of gender reasserts itself; Buffy is weak, vampires threaten women, and Xander saves the day, complete with a guitar solo.

This dream sequence is the antithesis to the opening scene of Welcome to the Hellmouth, the show’s mission statement. There, the innocent woman, threatened by the scary man, turns out to be the real danger, and eats the man. In the beginning of this episode, Xander challenges this statement that seemingly threatens to emasculate him, imagining a world in which he is the Slayer and Buffy is a helpless, admiring woman waiting for him. This episode thus attempts to course correct him, playing out the show’s opening subversion over 40 minutes - putting him in danger of a predatory woman who wants to consume him. This continues the themes set up in The Witch, of non-vampire monsters who are nevertheless vampiric, stealing the youth of teenagers for their own nourishment and perpetual youth, as I argued in my previous post. In both these episodes, Buffy, the teenager forced to grow up too fast, has to fight and kill these youth-usurping monsters who plan to take away the youth of other teenagers. Here, however, Buffy is not only saving Xander from Miss French, but also from his toxic masculinity- his desire to be a hero, to be a Man, makes him act in impulsive, foolhardy ways, and almost gets himself killed. Unfortunately, this episode never lets Xander reflect on his lack of trust in Buffy and his desire to prove himself. While it reasserts the show’s focus on Buffy and her journey, not letting Xander usurp the narrative of the show, it fails to bring Xander anywhere, beginning the trend of the show being unable to fully do anything interesting with Xander’s character. This might be the true failure of this episode. Unlike The Warriors of Kyoshi, episode 4 of Avatar the Last Airbender, which successfully begins an arc of Sokka re-evaluating his relationship to masculinity and his acceptance of the power the women in his life have, Xander does not do that here, remaining in stasis. This stasis will by and large persist.

Sidenote: My partner loved the scene with Cordelia at the grievance counselor’s office, as well as the she-mantis going eenie meanie miny moe. I personally found the scene with older Miss French hilarious. What this show lacks in complexity and themes right now, it more than makes up for it with humour. This episode is a riot!

#btvs rewatch 2k19 #btvs rewatch #buffy the vampire slayer #buffy #xander #buffy meta #teacher's pet #buffy teacher's pet #buffy 1x04 #btvs

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marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer · 5 years

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MTVS Epic Rewatch #210

BTVS 7x22 Chosen

Stray Thoughts

You know what? I don’t think I am, Buffy.

1) You know the baddy’s fate is sealed when they dare call Buffy a bitch, right?

2) Watching Buffy ax Caleb right in the balls and then make puns about it fills me with infinite joy.

3) I think you all know by now I’m not a Bangel shipper, so I wonder how Angel shippers feel about Buffy and Angel’s last on-screen conversation being about Spike. Doesn’t it feel a bit like a wasted opportunity? It’s not really OOC for Angel to act jealous and possessive (even though in the universe of the show he’s spent the last two years approximately being in love with Cordelia, so why does he think he has any right to question Buffy’s love life? Anyway, I know that’s the writers' fault – how they always blatantly ignored whatever was happening in each show for the shippy crossover moment – but the end result is that Angel looks like a two-timing asshole who can’t make up his mind about what or who he wants.) But like, the world is ending, this is what you want your last conversation to be…?

He is. He is a 200+ years old man-child-pire.

5) The cookie dough speech, though? One of my favorite speeches in the show…

I'm cookie dough. I'm not done baking. I'm not finished becoming whoever the hell it is I'm gonna turn out to be. I make it through this, and the next thing, and the next thing, and maybe one day I turn around and realize I'm ready. I'm cookies. And then, you know, if I want someone to eat… or enjoy warm, delicious cookie me, then...that's fine. That'll be then. When I'm done.

I think it’s one of the finest messages the show delivered, and it’s especially important coming from Buffy herself, someone who was seldom not in a relationship.

6) Callback #1…

This parallels both Angel’s first appearance in the show in Welcome to the Hellmouth as well as his exit from the show in Graduation Day Part 2.

7) Oh, Xander…

8) Of course, the shipping wars wouldn’t be complete without Spuffy talking about Angel. Guh.

9) Iconic!

You know, one of these days I'm just gonna put you two in a room and let you wrestle it out. There could be oil of some kind involved.

One can only dream!

10) This gives me a lot of feels… It’s such a small gesture but it means she finally trusts him.

11) You see what I mean when I say the First was fucking idiotic? Always giving Buffy the precise information she needed in order to defeat it? I mean…

None of those girlies will ever know real power unless you're dead. You know the drill: Into every generation, a slayer is born. One girl in all the world. She alone will have the strength and skill to— There's that word again. What you are. How you'll die. Alone. Where's your snappy comeback?

Like, seriously, do you even want to destroy the world? You’re not trying real hard!

12) Yeah, you fucking are!

13) See? Cut to the next morning, Buffy is telling the others her plans, inspired by none other than the First itself! I don’t think she would’ve thought of it if he hadn’t mentioned the fact that they needed the potentials to have real power, the power of a slayer.

14) Sweet, innocent Dawnie!

WILLOW This goes beyond anything I've ever done. It's a total loss of control, and not in a nice, wholesome, my girlfriend has a pierced tongue kind of way.

BUFFY I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you could do it.

WILLOW I—I'm not sure that I'm stable enough.

GILES You can do this, Willow. We'll get the coven on the line, and we'll find out how they can help.

DAWN Oh! "Pierced tongue."

15) This line always gives me chills!

16) Although their conversation is cute…

ROBIN Faith—Make me a deal, all right? We live through this, you give me the chance to surprise you.

FAITH What would be the surprise?

ROBIN You do know the meaning of the word, right?

I really don’t see the point in spending precious minutes of a finale on these two. If we needed Faith to get closure with anyone, that was Buffy.

17) I don’t actually hate Kennedy on this episode. Wow. I never thought I’d say that.

18) How the mighty have fallen…

Although I think I missed the part where he was a “highly respected watcher”...

19) And then this scene…

I’ve talked about it before, so I’m going to leave you the link in case your interested to know what I make of it as a Spuffy shipper.

20) Oh, Anya…

ANYA So that leaves me and the dungeon master in the north hall?

ANDREW We will defend it with our very lives.

ANYA Yes, we will defend it with his very life.

XANDER And don't be afraid to use him as a human shield.

ANYA Good, yes, thanks!

21) aNDREW HAD A FUCKING SPEECH PREPARED, I CAN’T!

22) Now, this is what this season should’ve been about…

23) And callback #2…

24) Ok, this is one my greatest movie/tv pet peeves. Why would anyone cut their hands? I get it, you need blood or whatever. I can think of 10 parts of your body you could get it from which wouldn’t be as inconvenient as your hand. Like, how do they continue doing things with a fucking open wound on the palm of their hands? It doesn’t make any sense! And it’s always the fucking hand! WHY!?

25) This is probably the scariest shot in the show, isn’t it? (even if the CGI wasn’t that great…)

26) Oh, man, this speech still gives me chills!

BUFFY So here's the part where you make a choice: What if you could have that power... now? In every generation, one slayer is born... because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men. This woman is more powerful than all of them combined. So I say we change the rule. I say my power... should be our power. Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of the scythe to change our destiny. From now on, every girl in the world who might be a slayer... will be a slayer. Every girl who could have the power... will have the power... can stand up, will stand up. Slayers... every one of us. Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?

I love it. I do. It is an empowering moment, it’s Buffy and the slayers breaking free from the Council, taking back the power that was imposed onto them, choosing that power.

The irony is not lost on me, however, that Buffy is making the choice for – and therefore removing the agency of – every single potential slayer who is not in that room. She did ask the ones living with her, but what about the rest? What if they don’t want that power and its responsibility?

In spite of this, it still holds up as one of the greatest moments in the show.

Side note: I read somewhere (or saw an interview?) about how this speech was much longer, and how SMG delivered the whole speech in its entirety without making any mistakes, and when she ended everyone was so in awe at what she’d done as an actress that they started clapping. She is a great actress, isn’t she?

27) And our Willow has come full circle, hasn’t she?

28) Iconic shot!

29) Bless you, Anya!!

30) …

R.I.P. Anyanka Emanuella Jenkins, former vengeance demon, self-appointed American and defender of capitalism, arch-nemesis of bunnies, hater of subtleties, teller of truths.

I know the way Anya went pissed off a lot of people, especially because it’s almost a blink-and-you-missed-it moment. I do, however, feel that someone had to die in this way. Someone important, I mean. Not every main character death in the show could have a big preamble and a huge aftermath. Sometimes you see death coming, but other times, it happens in an instant and it’s done. That’s especially true in big battles like the one in this episode. There is no time to stop and mourn because if you do, you might end up on the dead pile yourself.

We see later how the only ones concerned about Anya are Xander and Andrew. That makes sense, too, in my opinion. Anya was never a true member of the Scooby gang. She was merely there because of Xander. I’m not saying that was okay, I’m simply stating a fact. In fact, I’ve voiced my annoyance about the way Buffy and Willow treated her several times. (This is proven by how little thought was given to her feelings after Xander left her at the altar…) It hardly matters anyway, because if she wanted to be remembered and missed by anyone, that most certainly was Xander. Her life revolved around him, for better or worse.

But, apart from this, I think this was a fitting way to finish her journey – from vengeance demon, to inadequate teenager, to girl in love, to working gal, to scorned lover, to vengeance demon again, to humanity connoisseur and admirer. She overcame her fear of death and she embraced her humanity, and she died stupidly fighting for what she believed in, just like humans do.

31) I think this is one of the most underrated puns in the show.

32) Have you noticed how they are killing the Ubervamps with… stakes? Retcon much?

33) Oh, bollocks, indeed…

34)It kind of breaks my heart when Spike says that he can really feel his soul like he didn’t really believe it was actually there until now.

35) Oh, god, my Spuffy heart…

Does Buffy really love Spike, though?

36) "I wanna see how it ends.”

R.I.P. Spike. Sort of. Not really.

37) I really like this shot…

Buffy just stares at the open road, her life ahead, her future, thoughts she’d never before allowed herself to indulge in because death was always around the corner. But now? There’s literally a world of possibilities…

38) Callback #3…

You left like you arrived, Spike. Goodbye home, sweet home.

39) Bless you, Andrew.

XANDER So, did you see?

ANDREW I—I was scared. I'm sorry.

XANDER Did you see what happened? I mean, was she...

ANDREW She was incredible. She died saving my life.

XANDER That's my girl. Always doing the stupid thing.

40) I just love the fact that the original cast members are the only ones in the last shot BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT THIS SEASON SHOULD’VE BEEN ABOUT. EHEM.

41) I just…

WILLOW Yeah. The First is scrunched, so... what do you think we should do, Buffy?

FAITH Yeah, you're not the one and only chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel?

DAWN Yeah, Buffy. What are we gonna do now?

Buffy:

ME:

I will try to form a coherent thought because as I write this, I’m still bawling my eyes out. This ending is especially poignant for me because Buffy is my favorite character, so all I’ve ever wanted was her happiness. It’s been seven years. Seven years of heartbreak, pain, mourning loved ones, non-stopping fighting. Seven years of feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders. A girl, alone in the world, fighting the forces of evil. Never allowing herself to look forward because that always leads to disappointment and crushed expectations. But now? Nothing is stopping her now, nothing is holding her back. The open road is right ahead, and she can go and do whatever she wants to.

The show had to end with a final shot of Buffy. This was her journey, and though it’s far from over, that smile assures us that yes, she will be fine.

I guess it gives all of us a little bit of hope.

42) Is Chosen a perfect episode? I don’t think so. I think too much time was wasted on ship moments and side characters. There’s a lot of talk but not the kind I usually enjoy the most. It’s only half-way through the episode – when they get to Sunnydale High - that you really get that feeling of “Oh fuck, this is really the end, this is actually happening!”

But I do think it’s a good ending, nonetheless. There’s an epic battle – although I do enjoy the season 3 battle much more… - there’re callbacks and special character moments, there’s closure and there’s death because it wouldn’t be Buffy if no one ever died. (You lied, Giles.)

More importantly, it does what series finales ought to do – it pays tribute to its characters, and it’s a gift to the fans. I don’t think we should ever measure the quality of a show by how good their series finale is, you know? When I think of this show – and we all know I think about it a lot – it’s not “Chosen” what comes to mind. It’s everything that came before it. Chosen is a celebration of and a tribute to all of that. And as such, it is a perfect finale.

43) Thank you to everyone who has ever read one of my recaps, you are the reason I pushed through even when I felt like giving up. Thank you for sharing my unconditional love for this show. I love you all, too.

44) If you’ve got this far, thank you for reading! If you enjoy my recaps and my blog, please consider supporting it on ko-fi. Thanks!

#Buffy the Vampire Slayer #BTVS #Buffy Summers #Chosen #Sarah Michelle Gellar #MTVSepicrewatch #BTVSrewatch2015 #mine #recap #btvsrecap

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whatdoyouthinkmyjobis · 6 years

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Hunters on the Hellmouth

masterlist

first chapter

previous chapter

AN: Inspired by events in BTVS 7.15 “Get It Done.” This chapter references events that happened in GND 14, mainly, The First tricked a Potential into being his vessel and she later exploded. Here’s a cheat sheet for keeping track of the Potentials. Oh, and sex below.

Chapter 34: F Is For

Buffy had wracked her brain for hours before resigning herself to the hopelessness of her situation. Her head was still pounding when Willow handed her a large caramel latte. “I may have blanked on pretty much everything, but I’m sure I could persuade Professor Yardy that coffee is part of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need.”

Willow nodded. “I’d put it in the safety level. Could you imagine people driving without coffee?”

“This entire semester was a failure. Again. I don’t think I’m college-girl, Will.” Buffy enjoyed her classes, if not the homework and papers. But a deeper worry than grades churned inside of her. A college degree was a key to certain futures, and lately, Buffy felt her desires for her future and the reality of the Slayer crashing against each other.

“Don’t be discouraged!” Willow said. “School has ups and downs.”

“Like that time you got an A minus?”

“Dark days, but no. Take this semester off. Deal with the literal Devil incarnate, and try again next semester.”

The next semester started in nine months, an incomprehensible time frame when Buffy could barely wrap her head around the events of the week.

“Besides,” Willow added, “you spent your big study day dealing with Astrid and Jada.”

After notifying Astrid’s Watcher that she’d been killed by The First, helping Sam’s (ex-)girlfriend and her addled aunt escape to somewhere safer had been practically relaxing.

“That's the problem though. When have I ever had a semester without a Potential-killer or a Professor Frankenstein or a super vamp? A smooth semester is practically Bigfoot.”

As they walked on, Buffy put thoughts of school aside and focused on what she could handle -- grocery shopping for the packed house, the upcoming birthday she hoped to ignore, her newly human ex now crashing in her basement.

“Why so glum, chum?” Willow asked.

“I keep thinking about Principal Wood,” said Buffy. She’d tried to avoid him in the week since he beat Spike. “I can’t imagine spending my life on a Mel Gibson movie-esque vengeance quest, only to discover the bad guy is in another castle.”

Willow scrunched her face and asked, “Is Mel Gibson playing Mario in this analogy?”

“Kinda picture him more as a Luigi,” Buffy sighed. “At least Wood left Spike alive.”

Willow threw disapproving side-eye over her coffee. Spike living in the basement was awkward for everyone. The main argument against him had been his attack on her months prior, but Buffy was certain that monster had been exorcised.

Then there was the lack of space and food. As it was, bedtime changed the living room into a sea of army cots and blankets. And it was a struggle to make sure dinner was something more substantial than cereal.

“How many did Giles say he was bringing back today?” Buffy asked.

“You know how there are numbers the human mind can’t comprehend, like the age of the Earth, the number of atoms in your body, or how many people are living in our house?” Willow sounded tired.

“Xander said he could take a few. We just have to decide on who to move.”

“What about Gabi?”

“Gabi’s growing on me; she’s just...Gabi. Besides, we can’t move her or Cloé will go back to crying all the time. I’ll probably move Naomi,” Buffy added.

“Aw, but she’s sweet!”

“She’s also avoided the porch since Annabelle. She’ll be more comfortable at Xander’s.” Buffy glanced at her friend and asked, “How about Dani? Stay or go? I may be crazy busy, but I’m not blind.”

“She’s not subtle either.”

“Are you crushing, or is this a one-way street?”

Willow sat down on a bench at the edge of campus where they watched pigeons fight over a half eaten bagel.

“I know it was Lucifer, not Tara, but it was still her face. Her voice. I’ve been dreaming about her ever since. The way the sunlight would hit her eyes and make them glow, like she was some sort of sea goddess. I keep smelling her sweater, and I’m worried the scent is going to fade. And if my memories of Tara slip away --”

Holding her friend’s hand, Buffy grasped for words. “Sweetie, you’ll always have those memories. Tara was -- is -- a huge part of your life. But I don’t think she’d want to be mourned forever.”

“I don’t want to mourn forever, but how do you know when the mourning is over? It’s not like we have some calendar of crying with coordinating clothes like in ye olden times.”

Buffy’s worst breakup had been Angel, her high school sweetheart who guided her into Slayerdom. And she’d had to kill him. She still thought about the kiss before she ran a sword through him. She thought about it, but she didn’t cry. “I think mourning is over when you feel it’s over. Do you feel like moving on?”

“The idea kinda makes me woozy, and it’s not the good wooz. Even if I did feel the good wooz, I don’t know if it would be with Dani. She’s okay, and she’s here, but what I had with Tara was more intense than ‘okay’ and ‘here.’ I mean, she was my first…” Willow took a deep breath, then a smile bloomed across her lips. “The thing is, I loved Tara, but I also loved Oz. All of this death aside, I have a lot to sort through before I even know which way to move.”

“As long as all juicy details are provided, I’m there for you.”

Giles sat on the basement stairs with a well-earned mug of tea warming his hands. In the last few weeks, they’d added over a dozen more girls to the house, including the crowd of six he’d arrived with that afternoon. They were currently making themselves comfortable on the training mat while Dawn and Andrew set up their presentation.

The pair was becoming fluid in welcoming new girls and acclimating them to the house. Repetition would do that. Just as Giles was becoming comfortable with altering parents’ memories and ignoring the tears of children whose lives he’d saved by ruining them.

“Hi, I’m Dawn Summers. My sister is the Slayer. You’ll meet her later.”

“And I am Andrew Wells,” he said in an affected accent, “hero-in-training and resident chef at the Summers house.”

“You have a chef?” asked Ju, whose face was mostly obscured by thick, black bangs.

“He likes to be useful,” Dawn sighed, annoyed with already being off-track.

“Anywhoodle, we’re gonna make this quick so you can get on with your jet lag and culture shock,” said Andrew. “There are a few simple rules. One, don’t leave the house at night. The city is infested with vampires and The First will send them after you.”

Bianka, a pale Polish girl with strawberry blonde hair, raised her hand. “Are vee not safe here? Girl upstairs say you kill First.”

“You’re safe inside the house,” Andrew clarified hastily. “All those marks on the doors and windows keep out demons and vampires. As far as The First goes, we cooked some Storm Troopers, but the Dark Father is still very much alive.”

“Vot?”

Dawn jabbed her elbow in Andrew’s ribs before he could add to the confusion. “We’re working on it, which is why you’re here. Safe inside. Speaking of The First, remember that it doesn’t have a body, so it can’t physically hurt you. So that’s a good side. But in horror movie twist, it can appear in the form of any dead person. So if you see someone who you know is dead, tell someone.”

“The list of people who’ve died includes Buffy, Dean, Sam, and Spike,” Andrew added, pointing to three photographs and a stick figure drawing of a blonde in a black trench coat. The girls started to whisper. “Short story: they died and got better. None of them want to talk about it, so don’t ask for more details.”

Ginika, a girl with tiny knots of hair dotting her head asked, “These people are regular to the ‘ouse? How do we know if they’re real or not?”

“If you throw a pencil at them and it goes through them, they’re The First,” Dawn said with atonal brightness. “If they tell you bad stuff like, ‘You’re a loser’ and ‘Why don’t you give up?’, they’re The First.”

“Throw things and be positive,” Andrew repeated with a big smile and rainbow hand gesture.

“The rest of your safety stuff will be covered in training--”

“Hold up!” said a dreadlocked girl in overalls. “I came here for protection. Mr. Giles said I was in danger, and I already knew something was watching me. What the hell you talkin’ ‘bout training?”

Giles had told all of the girls about their calling as Potentials as well as the danger that awaited him, but at his current break-neck speed, he couldn’t promise they’d all comprehended his information dump.

He cleared his throat. “Rona, you are in danger because you are a Potential. You may become the next Slayer, so you need to be trained accordingly.”

“But I don’t wanna be no Slayer. I got plans, an’ they don’t involve vampires.”

“I’m not arguing that the system is fair. I’m simply saying we want you to be prepared,” Giles replied.

Shaking her head, Rona stood up and hoisted her duffle over her shoulder. “Nah, you promised me an’ Gran I’d be safe here. Now you’s sayin’ it’s too dangerous to be out after dark, but you want me to bust up that danger? With what? You want me to poke it with a damn stick? Man, I’d be better off back in Flint.”

Giles scratched his chin as he considered the frightened girl before him. “If you want to catch a bus back to Michigan, you may, but you should have all of the facts first. For example, nearly all of my fellow Watchers are dead -- blown up or cut to bits. As I’ve traveled the world picking up Potentials, I’ve been too late for over a dozen of them. A couple were still warm as they lay in pools of their own blood. The last Potential who decided to leave the safety of the house was returned by The First with her throat missing. Just yesterday, The First intercepted another Potential at the bus station. She died. Now, would you like me to get you a bus schedule?”

Rona sat down.

Dawn tried to salvage her presentation. “Um, Buffy will be back by dinner to talk training with you. She may even take a few of you out on patrol tonight.”

Andrew lit up. “Now let’s talk about my favorite thing: The Wheel of Chores. Me, Dawn, and Willow put it together, so be nice to us.”

Buffy’s afternoon walk with her best friend had relaxed her, but the knots in her muscles returned the moment she and Willow entered the backyard. Where she’d expected to see her three squad leaders -- Grace, Dani and Gabi -- drilling the girls in combat basics, she instead found three Potentials smoking and laughing with Spike. She was only half surprised. New arrivals always seemed to throw off the schedule. Plus, she’d heard the girls whispering about the mystery man downstairs; she hadn’t had the time or energy to explain him to them yet.

She certainly didn’t have the energy or patience now. Buffy marched over to Kate, a sarcastic eye-roller from Ireland, and yanked the cigarette from the girl’s mouth. “Ever heard of cancer?”

“No, but I did hear a story about how we’re all fooked, so why’s it matter?” she asked, smoke curling around her glossed lips. Kate had been high on their success after rescuing Sam from The First, but Astrid’s death had sent her back to her neutral state of doom and gloom.

“You’re not fucked,” said Spike, apologetically.

Buffy grew hot with anger. “He’s right. You’re not fucked. I am. Have you noticed how there aren’t any full-grown, know-what-they’re-doing-with-life, briefcase-carrying Potentials here? Because you phase out. I stay alive, and you get too old to qualify for the Slayer Happy Meal. And I’m a bitch to kill, aren’t I, Spike?”

“Like a cockroach,” he muttered to the ground.

“You die,” said Eva, a pixieish blonde who’d arrived from France a week before.

Tucking her green hair behind her ears, Lys asked Eva, “Étiez-vous en train de lui dire de mourir ou de demander quand elle est morte?”

“Le petit homme n'a pas dit qu'elle est morte?”

“Andrew told us you died once,” Lys explained.

“Twice.” Buffy squeezed her fist and released, regretting her anger. She didn’t need to add her tension to theirs. Calmly, she said, “I don’t want to catch you smoking again, got it? Not a great habit for people who have to run a ton. Now get your butts inside.”

Buffy watched the girls slink back to the kitchen and huffed, causing her bangs to flop into her eyes. “What are you doing out here, Spike?”

He raised his hand to his lips, then dropped it. He hadn’t been smoking with the girls. “Enjoyin’ the sun.”

“Really?”

“Inside’s a sardine can. Given the ‘eightened fear since that girl exploded at the ‘igh school, I thought I’d chat up the mini-yous out ‘ere.”

“They’re not me,” she said coldly. “And they’re also minors.”

Spike stepped back, hurt in his eyes. He peered at her, into her, in his familiar, intimate way. “Test didn't go well then?”

How did he know? How did he always know? Buffy bit the inside of her cheek, ashamed anew at the way she'd lashed out. “I'm just going to pretend F stands for footloose and fancy-free.”

“Or fighter.”

The anger rushed out of her. He was right. She had passed greater tests than Developmental Psychology or a packed camp of teenagers.

“Or flirt. As in don't. The girls don't need you distracting them.” The venom in her voice was gone. Some of the girls, who were otherwise good fighters, were hopelessly boy-crazy. Having the Winchesters as trainers had drawbacks.

“Don't worry. I think we both know Angel’s the vamp into shagging teenagers.” Spike smirked.

“You were all with the sweet a moment ago. Where did William go.”

Spike laughed, low and rich. “William is gone, love. Good riddance. My demon, too. Still sorting out who’s left.”

Spike had been met with trial after trial since getting his soul back. He had been unfortunate enough to be the first creature Lucifer encountered when he rode the angel wave to Sunnydale. He’d become a cosmic punching bag, but she knew another, grander side of Spike.

“You want to help? I need leaders, fighters, people who can train teenage girls to kill vampires. You in?”

“Damn right, I’m in.”

“Be ready at eight,” she said before heading inside.

In the kitchen, Dawn was arguing with Willow about Ella, a techno-pagan from Australia who’d arrived a week prior. Since a few of the Potentials showed magical prowess, Willow was giving them additional tutoring. Ella was gifted beyond all of them.

“I don’t care if she doesn’t want to cook. It’s her turn,” Dawn insisted.

“If she says she can’t, then give her something else to do!” Willow replied, loud enough to draw the attention of several other girls.

Buffy’s stepped in between them spoke quietly so the other girls couldn’t hear. “Infighting is not on my list of needs, like, ever.” She looked over Willow’s shoulder, where Ella stood, arms crossed. “If you don’t know how to cook, Andrew can teach you. We can get another person to help, too. It’s just really important that everyone pitch in, you know?”

The girl sighed. “I know how to cook, but I can’t help with a big meal. Can’t clean up after it. Probably can’t eat it.”

This rang a bell. Buffy had noticed her sneaking away when the other girls were eating, but had yet to ask her about it. “Why? You have to eat to stay strong.”

“I eat! I eat my own food. Your food is too dangerous. I’ve killed two vampires in training no problem, but peanuts or dairy? That’s the end of me. If that means I clean the loo twice as often, fine. ”

Dawn turned away, embarrassed.

Buffy nodded. “Thanks for the compromise, Ella. Dawn, will you rearrange Andrew’s chore chart for Ella’s allergies?”

Buffy pointed at a pale strawberry blonde. “You, newbie, help Andrew.” She left before she could get angry again. Hopefully Dawn and Willow could make up without her.

In the living room, a group of girls were teaching each other their favorite dance moves. Buffy noticed Grace sorting out a squabble between Lili (always Lili) and Verusha over whose shirt was whose. Leticia, Cloé, and Gabi, giggling so hard tears streamed from their faces, bounced on the pillows and blankets piled on the couch. In the corner, Dani whispered with a pretty new girl. The girl (woman? She looked older.) had an explosion of dark curls and a small toy in her hand.

The dining room held a stack of folded cots that reached Buffy’s shoulders. Despite the cramped conditions, three girls were squished in at the dining table attempting to do homework.

Heading upstairs to find Giles, Buffy practically tripped over Mio, Jabulela and Naomi folding laundry on the steps.

“Bathroom’s busy,” Naomi said cheerily. The bathroom was alway busy.

Buffy nodded, catching a glimpse of the two girls from Mumbai, initially chilly towards each other, doing each other’s hair in the bathroom.

Giles was on the phone, pacing in her room, the one place off-limits to the Potentials.

“Miércoles, si. Gracias, Padre.”

“Padre?” she asked when he hung up. “Have you been keeping secrets?”

“No,” he said, swapping the phone for a file, “it seems I need to fly to Spain tonight. Three girls managed to make it to an abbey outside of Barcelona. There were five of them originally…”

“Oh.” Much as Buffy hated being trapped in a house overrun with strangers, she didn’t envy Giles for his nightmare.

“Anyway, I should be back in time for your birthday on Sunday.”

“Shh!” She grabbed the file from Giles’ hand. “We’re keeping that one super secret. No way it won’t add to the weird.

“Tell me about the new girls.” She flipped through the notes. Ginika from London. Ju from Toronto. Bianka from Wroclaw -- the strawberry blonde she’d told to help with dinner. The dossier said her English wasn’t the best. Good luck, Andrew. “Training?”

“Ginika has several year’s worth. Julia, Holly and Rona were completely in the dark, while Ju and Bianka have over a year between them. Julia, at least, runs a dojo with her husband--”

“Her what?!”

Giles gave her his grave news face.

Buffy flipped open Julia’s file, and was greeted by the face of the woman who’d been whispering with Dani. The Potential was twenty-two, married and -- Buffy’s heart skipped a beat -- Julia had an infant. A little girl.

Julia had the life Buffy could never have.

Snapping the folder shut, Buffy swallowed hard. “Spike’s joining my pod tonight.”

“Do you think that’s wise?”

“What else are we going to do with him? I’ll take Bianka, Ginika, Kate, Kimberly, Shakti, Wook, and Udoka. We’ll put our Spanish-speaking girls with Sam. Except Gabi. I need her and Dani to get the latest newbies up on their weapons training.”

“Didn’t Fernanda go out the day before I left for France?” Giles asked

“And she nearly got herself killed. Gotta get back in the saddle or on the bike or whatever non-motorized travel you chose.” Buffy was suspicious that Fernanda had a little crush on Sam, but with the language barrier, he was the best suited to train her. “I know I should know this, but I’m totally fried. Who speaks French?”

“Natively: Jabulela, Lys, Eva. Violet and Shakti speak it as a second language. Ju speaks some, but I doubt you want her out so soon.”

“None of them are Molly-levels of boy crazy, are they?”

“That would be difficult,” Giles sighed. “How is she doing, by the way?”

“At least a week in the hospital. Maybe two.” Buffy hoped Molly’s Potential state would speed her recovery from her burns.

She ran through the names in her head again. “Okay, leave Ju for weapons training. Put the French-speakers with Dean; Vi can translate. Give him Shakti, too. Voila! Three functioning squads.” Functioning felt like a stretch.

Buffy tossed the files on the desk and headed for the door. “You can give the others the destiny speech again, right?”

“Buffy!” Giles called out before she left. “How was your day? Did your examination go well?”

She watched his mouth move but had to hear the words a few times before understanding she needed to respond. She’d already shut the door on school. “Uh, I guess. I have to get downstairs, meet the new girls and all.”

Buffy had only wanted one thing for her birthday, private time with Dean. Instead, they’d spent the weekend moving ten girls into the Winchesters’ apartment and another half dozen to Xander’s. At least it was easier to get time in the bathroom.

As promised, Giles had returned Sunday night with three emotionally -- if not physically -- scarred Potentials. He had forgotten it was her birthday.

Monday morning started with tears. The last time someone had cried so much in Buffy’s makeshift office, it was because their parents were divorcing. Starting a new school barely ranked by comparison, but Magda’s big tears probably had less to do with math class than survivor’s guilt.

Buffy handed her another Kleenex. She’d thought putting Magda in school this quickly would help her, give her something to think about other than the slaughter on the train. Now she wasn’t so sure. “Listen to me, you did the best you knew how to do. It’s not your fault no one from the Watcher’s Council found you. It’s not your fault you were picked for this. Most importantly, it’s not your fault that those other girls died.”

Magda, who had just arrived the night before, was untrained. The only reason she’d survived the Bringer attack was because the girls she was with, Betje and Sophia, had eight years of training between them. Betje and Sophia’s Watchers and two Potentials had died in the attack.

“The-they were def-f-fending me. I do not know f-fighting.”

“But you know surviving. That’s all you need to do today: survive. You have all the same classes as Dawn, Cloé and Sophia, so you won’t be alone, okay?”

The girl nodded and wiped a black streak of mascara under her eyes. “Sophia is nice. She share with me candy bar.”

“If you need anything, I’m here all day. Now, go wash your face, take a deep breath, and go pretend Algebra makes sense.”

Once Magda was off to class, Buffy pulled out a worn journal Giles had brought back from his travels. It was his first journal as her Watcher, and he’d been hesitant to let her see it.

“There’s very little about you I haven’t changed my mind on,” he had explained, “in some cases a few times. Please, do not think this is the entirety of my view of you, Buffy.” She’d taken the journal with a smile, vowing to cry into her pillow and hold every word against him.

She’d asked to see it because she wanted to know how spun always-together Giles had been when he’d started as her Watcher. There were obvious differences. She was already the Slayer by that time, and her first Watcher, Merrick, had been murdered. Most importantly, there had only been one of her. Even so, she felt the journal would give her a peek into Giles’ mindset and methods that memory couldn’t provide.

The first few pages were Giles’ gleeful anticipation of her arrival. He had assumed the Council had been in touch since Merrick’s death, and that she knew he had been assigned as her new Watcher. The day she started school in Sunnydale, his journal read, “I had been lead to believe the Slayer is a paragon of discipline and duty. She is at peace with her destiny and gives herself over to the cause no matter the cost. This is not the case.

“I have spent the entire day surrounded by teenage girls. The Slayer is a teenage girl, a mystifying sort of creature who varies from age to age, continent to continent, culture to culture, and apparently hour to hour. No amount of destiny and duty will change this overnight.

“Though a gifted fighter, Buffy seems wholly uninterested in training. She would much rather run off with her friends in childish pursuits of what they refer to as ‘hang time.’ This adherence to friends and the social structures of the natural world is highly unusual.”

“That’s me, Unusual Girl,” she muttered.

She was deep in the journal when a voice interrupted her. “Miss Summers, may I see you in my office for a moment?”

Buffy looked up to see Principal Wood leaning against the edge of her cubicle, jacket unbuttoned, as casual as a person who had recently beaten an ex-vampire to a pulp could be.

Journal still in hand, she followed him into his office.

“Coffee?” He gestured to the chair across from his desk.

Having been up most of the night with Magda and company, she desperately wanted another cup. “No, thank you.” Though Wood’s story was no longer a mystery, she still found his piercing, dark stare unnerving.

“Two more new girls today,” he noted.

“Three. We have three, but one has already graduated.”

“Ah.” He leaned back in his chair and stared at her as if he was regarding a complicated piece of art. “How many started at Sunnydale last week? Six? Eight?”

“Fuzzy vagueness sounds right.”

“We certainly have the space,” he said. Several dozen families had moved out of town over winter break. “Buffy, do you know why I hired you?”

“You believe I can make a difference? I’m too tired to cliche.”

“I hired you because you’re the Slayer, and Sunnydale High’s death rate is the stuff of legend. In these few months, you’ve saved several students both from the typical evil creatures and from the everyday pressures they face. You’re good at this, at guiding kids.”

All this time, she’d been flying by the seat of her pants, doling out advice with no knowledge of its impact. “You think so?”

“You’re a good leader, which is why I’m firing you.”

“Excuse me?”

“You have a houseful of Potential slayers who need guidance. You can’t give them what they need if you’re here all day.”

“But most of them are here during the day. And you know what teenagers love? Eating. How can eating happen if work isn’t happening?”

“You’re resourceful. Besides, with the sudden downturn in legit enrollment, I can’t justify keeping you on.”

“But I need --”

“You need to be the Slayer.” He opened one of his drawers and handed her a purple sack and three small books. “Speaking of, my mother’s Watcher gave her these when she became the Slayer. I guess technically, they belong to you.”

She opened the bag and pulled out a small metal figure shaped like a man either dancing or writhing in pain. “Modern art? Great,” she muttered.

“I’ll get you a box,” he said, opening the door for her to leave.

Buffy, box at her feet, was sitting on a planter near the parking lot when Dean pulled up. He rolled down the passenger window and called out, “Hey sexy, need a lift?”

Her face flicked between amused and upset as she climbed in with her box and slumped against his shoulder.

“Is that a fired box?”

“Yep.”

“Want me to kick Wood’s ass?”

“Yes, but don’t,” she sighed. “Can I hang out with you today? I don’t want to go home.”

“Do you want a frou-frou coffee before or after you tell me what’s up?”

“Before.”

She barely looked at him as she sipped her latte, her frown sinking into her skin, her bones. He didn’t press. For once, they had hours alone, so he held her hand and waited. By the time they pulled up to his work, she’d filled him in on the details.

“Now do you want me to kick his ass?”

“No,” she said, this time with a half smile. “He’s not wrong. Slayer comes first, but it’s not like being the Slayer means I’m ready to run Buffy’s Halfway House for Protected Teenagers. The electricity and water cost money. They need food and blankets and soap. And dear God, they need deodorant! Did you know that’s not a thing in some countries? Not to mention, some of them have nothing. Last night’s arrivals? Literally the clothes on their backs. And Lili is from, like, the armpit of Estonia and keeps stealing from the other girls because everything she has fits in a backpack. Jabulela washes the same Catholic school uniform every night and wears it again in the morning.”

Dean had grown up poor, poorer than he’d understood as a child, but some of the Potentials were lucky if they had enough dirt to rub together. Not for the first time, he felt being the Slayer was less of a superhero calling and more of a crapshoot punishment.

But anger would have to wait. “Didn’t Giles say some of the Potentials’ parents offered to help?”

“Yeah, and they’ve been sending money, but it doesn’t come close to covering everything.”

“Can you ask for more?”

Buffy sighed. “‘Hey! It’s that stranger who has your daughter. I’m going to need more money for pizza rolls.’ No way that doesn’t sound like a terrible ransom note.”

Dean shrugged. “Pot pie instead of pizza rolls? It’s a comfort food.” A plan to hustle pool in LA all weekend half formed in his mind. “Anyway, I got it covered.”

“Legally?”

“Legally.”

“Safely?”

“Beggars and choosers, babe.” If Sunnydale’s citizens shifted from trickling exodus to pack-and-grab panic, looting would become too easy of an option to ignore.

He lead her upstairs to a recently vacated apartment he’d spent all morning painting. His boss believed all the people leaving town were merely a winter trend, and by spring people would be looking for places to live. Dean disagreed, but he was paid to paint.

“Maybe we could key his car?” Buffy pondered, tossing her purse and coat in the middle of the room.

“What?”

“Wood. The more I think about it, the angrier I get. I don’t need him to look out for me. If work and slaying was too much, I would have said something.”

“No you wouldn’t,” he laughed. “You’d just keep wobblin’ with that globe on your back.”

“Not like I can put it down,” she grumbled. “Besides, if he wanted to help, he could have -- crazy idea -- volunteered to help. But nope. He jumped straight to a backhanded firing.”

“Flaming bag of dog shit,” Dean said as he poured the paint.

“Is that your new nickname for Wood, or your suggestion for swift retribution?”

“Both.”

Loading his roller, he started the second coat of paint. “Can I help?” Buffy asked.

He smirked at her khakis and black turtleneck. “Not really dressed for it, Girly.”

She cocked her head to the side -- her signature I don’t like what I’m hearing move.“Got another roller?” A moment later she was painting beside him, stripped down to only her black panties.

He managed to resist for half an hour before they collapsed into a pile of paint-flecked limbs, their sweat-slick bodies cooling in the afterglow.

Spreading her fingers over his chest, she purred, “Being unemployed isn’t so bad.”

“Told ya work was overrated.”

Before the priest stood a young brunette -- fourteen, on the cusp of womanhood -- with a crushed windpipe and a handprint-shaped bruise on her throat. A handprint that fit the priest perfectly.

Caleb picked up the leftover wine from communion and guzzled it. Some Catholics believed the wine turned into the blood of Christ. He liked the idea of the blood of a deity running down his throat.

He smiled, slick and satisfied. “She was the first little whore I killed. You got a point in showin’ me this?”

“You have a long history of doing God’s work, Caleb,” said the specter.

Caleb pinched out the candles in his sanctuary, enjoying the sizzle and hiss of his flesh. “Keepin’ the world clean of uppity women is God’s highest calling. And who are you, ghosty?”

“I’m one of God’s angels. He has a job for you. There is a houseful of uppity women who need to be put in their place.”

The killing visions had been flooding his dreams. Girls screaming. Crying. Blood soaking through their dresses. He’d wake up from them hard and aching. Surely, this was a sign. “I am a willing servant if you will but show me the way.”

I have a slight plot hole regarding The First and "Amends." I was going to fix it in this chapter with a phone call between Angel and Buffy after she's read Giles' journals, but I feel very crunched for time. Being a new mom (and being sick all the time, thanks winter), I don't have as much time to write. I'd rather get you this chapter with a minor plot hole than hold on to it for another six months.

next chapter

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existentialflirt · 8 months

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Buffy eyed the wand that Faith has handed to her. It was bright pink mascara, which she had protested would look ridiculous. Like she had pink eye or worse, was some try hard scene kid. Faith shook her head and slyly corrected her.

"It's for my hair?" Buffy laughed. "God, like I'm sixteen again."

She shook her head but took a couple strands out of her messy bun. Just as she remembered, it was gummy and she used her fingers to apply the garish substance as much as the wand. Still, there was something pleasantly nostalgic about them sharing a mirror to get ready for a night out.

"So where are we goin' ?"

@wickedlehane

#wickedlehane #MAIN | Welcome to the Hellmouth (BtvS)#;the girl with all the gifts (ch: Buffy Summers)#idek a bit older and wiser yeah?

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existentialflirt · 7 months

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They had gone from the gate to find food in the terminal. Faith was starving (she was always starving, to be fair) and slamming face first into culture shock. She was nearly distraught not see a single bit of familiar fast food. With Willow's coaxing they ended up at a place with a curiously French name that Faith butchered charmingly.

She knew they weren't here for vacation, but she couldn't help but to look into places she might like to visit. Namely, antique book shops. There was something about a city like London, one full of so much history, that fascinated her. It could also prove useful to visit these places, something she'd point out too Faith if she protested too loudly.

As Faith ate, Willow sipped a frankly lovely latte and scrolled from a blog post about rare and antique booksellers in London. Near the end of the list was a description that grabbed her attention.

A.Z. Fell and Co., Soho, est. mid-1800s This bookstore might feature the most thorough and eccentric collection in all of London. Full of comfortable seating and a cozy atmosphere. The organization is byzantine, so going in to find any particular thing is an exercise in futility, but you're sure to find something interesting nonetheless. Do not plan on making a purchase. The owner, while lovely, seems more eager to get you out the door than actually sell you a book.

"We should totally check this place out," Willow said excitedly after reading out the description. "For...for a lead, of course. It sounds kinda spooky, y'know?"

Not to mention the comment under the article, regarding the shop in question. 'If a tall, intimidating looking man clad in black is there, choose a different day.' She left that out, naturally. Faith was a moth to a flame when it came to danger, after all.

@wickedlehane

#wickedlehane #MAIN | Welcome to the Hellmouth (BtvS)#;hex the patriarchy (ch: Willow Rosenberg)#i'll add more tags in time no doubr

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existentialflirt · 7 months

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@sunnydalescoobiies said: "I'll do anything for a woman with a knife." / from spike to cordelia

Cordy made a face, pure disgust. He was the worst kind of person. Spike thought the was very funny and the hottest shit to get bitten. Cordelia Chase wasn't impressed and never had been. She was half tempted to press the blade into his neck, see how much he liked it when his own blood was involved, but the pocket knife was barely sharper than a butter knife and the vampire probably knew it. He was gloating. Asshole.

"I hope I'm there when you say that to the wrong person," Cordy snapped as she pulled the knife away. She really didn't know why she bothered but living in Sunnydale and associating with a Slayer had made her paranoid. So she carried a knife at night, but couldn't ignore the fact that she'd be useless in the face of a real threat. Not that Spike wasn't, but he was like a cat. He liked to toy with his prey first.

"What do you want?"

#sunnydalescoobiies #MAIN | Welcome to the Hellmouth (BtvS)#;I put my high heels on so I'm closer to God (ch: Cordelia Chase)#och I hope this is alright #it reads as clumsy in my dumb thembo brain lmao

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existentialflirt · 6 months

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@gilesian said: “I don't think I've ever met anyone as vexing as you." (for Cordy)

"Whatever vexing means," Cordelia rolled her eyes. Of course she knew what vexing meant, but really, sometimes she thought Giles spoke like he was a character in a nineteenth century just to piss them off. "Okay, but what's your malfunction this time?"

#gilsian #MAIN | Welcome to the Hellmouth (BtvS)#;I put my high heels on so I'm closer to God (ch: Cordelia Chase)

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impalementation · 3 years

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What are the ten most controversial opinions you have heard about the characters of Buffy the vampire slayer? What do you think about them?

oof. you know, i don’t know that i’ve that kept track of all that many controversial btvs character opinions. the btvs fandom is so big and has been around for such a long time that it seems like even more controversial opinions have a respectably large camp of defenders. (say “riley/kennedy/dawn is actually fine”). so i don’t have ten, but these were what came to mind. probably the character opinion that grates on me the most is the claim that buffy is the weakest or most unlikeable character, or doesn’t grow. i don’t have it in me to write a big defense of buffy at the moment, but you could probably just read any of my posts about her to get a picture of how complicated, dynamic and well-drawn i think she is. so that’s one opinion that i think is controversial for good reason. the claim that the scoobies are bad friends is also sort of strange to me. i mean sometimes they are, but on the whole the conflicts in their group dynamic strike me as pretty standard young-people-growing-up stuff. the writing has them fight, and sometimes hurt each other, and grow apart on purpose—because that’s just what people do. it doesn’t mean they’re not also friends. i think it would be weirder and less interesting if they were perfectly supportive and solved all their problems in therapy-approved ways. there wouldn’t be a show. (which isn’t to say that one can’t criticize moments in which, perhaps, the show doesn’t earn something heartwarming it wants to earn, or doesn’t deal with some issue between characters that would make more sense for it to deal with. the thing i think is misplaced is the idea that the scoobies are supposed to be ideal friends, and that the times they aren’t either (a) were automatically bad or unintentional writing, or (b) inherently contradicts all the lovely moments they have.)

in that vein though, maybe the controversial opinion i do agree with is that people talk up giles as a perfect father figure a bit too much. he is, obviously, a father figure. frequently movingly so. but he’s also flawed, and often fails at his father figure role—long before seasons six and seven—and i think it doesn’t quite do credit to his character, or what the writing was doing with him, to claim otherwise. season one, for example, features him learning to care about buffy in a more personal way, so you get the shift from him admonishing her about her duty in “welcome to the hellmouth”, like a complete non-father watcher, to his stubbled desperation over the prospect of her death in “prophecy girl”. or you have that lovely support he gives buffy in “innocence”, or the way he searches for her all summer in “anne”, or his kindness over buffy’s breakup with angel in “the prom”. but it’s contrasted with things like him rushing after angel in “passion”, or “helpless”. and there’s his stabs at thinking buffy should go it alone in seasons four and five, well before he eventually leaves in season six. i think the point of giles being a father figure is not for him to be an ideal, but in fact for him to be someone buffy can lose her innocence about, to some degree. as she says in “the dark age”: “It was scary. I'm so used to you being a grownup, and then I find out that you're a person.” it’s important that giles be lovely and good, to establish him as a father in the first place, but also someone that makes mistakes—so that buffy can see him as someone who makes mistakes. because seeing your parents as human is part of growing up.

in general, i’m not really into the type of opinion that is basically “here is why X character is actually bad and you shouldn’t like them.” and that seems to be the most common type of “controversial” opinion i see these days, when i see them. frankly, i’m just plain not interested in the idea that fictional characters are supposed to be tools of moral instruction, and when they fail to be that, that people should “call it out” like they’re real. fictional characters exist to tell stories, to get at truths, to explore ideas. when they do good or bad things, the main questions that really interest me have to do with why the writing chose to have them do those things. what was it trying to convey, did it succeed? and sometimes the writing is indeed trying to convey a moral point, or it’s informed by a moral attitude, but i’m more interested in talking about that than talking about the characters as if they themselves are moral actors.

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sunnydaleherald · 3 years

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The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, February 4

Cordy: "Hey." Angel: "Hey." Cordy after a while: "Why are you looking at me like that?" Angel: "Ah, no reason." After a moment Cordy gets up and walks past Angel to pour a cup of coffee. Cordy: "Okay. It's getting creepy now." Angel: "I was just thinking about things. - People. You know. How they relate. Take you and me for instance. We're very different. *Very* different. Obviously (points at Cordy) human (points at himself) vampire. (points at Cordy) Woman (points at himself) man...pire."

~~Offspring~~

The Sunnydale Herald is still looking for a couple of new editors! For more information, drop us an ask on Tumblr or contact Rahirah on LJ or DW!

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

In Search of Ashes (Spike/Drusilla, T) by Coldest_Fire

The Slayer and the Twice-Blessed Child (crossover with Charmed, Buffy, G) by Bl4ckHunter

Still better than Riley (Angel & Spike, T) by Bl4ckHunter

Weirded out but all good (Faith/Buffy, Angel&Buffy, Angel&Faith, T) by Aragorn_II_Elessar

when is a monster not a monster? (Dawn/Janice, M) by clytemnestras

your lips, my lips, apocalypse (Buffy/Cordelia, T) by lockheartss

So wrong it's right (Angel/vamp!reader) by prose-for-hire

What Kind Of Party Hats Are We Talking Here? (surprise crossover, Scoobies, FR13) by Manchester

[Chaptered Fiction]

Klaus and the Dark Slayer, Chapter 1 (crossover with "The Vampire Diaries" and "The Originals", Faith/Klaus Mikaelson, Faith&Xander, T) by Buffyworldbuilder

Reordering the Universe, Chapter 16 (Spike/Buffy, Adult Only) by Touchstoneaf

Mortal Allies Series, Episode 3: Postcards From the Edge, Chapter 11 (Spike/Buffy, NC-17) by Passion4Spike

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: Variant cover for BtVS #22 from BOOM! Studios (Buffy, worksafe) by naomifranq

Gif edit: Mika – "Heroes" (Buffy, worksafe) by dykejaskiers

Vid: Mad World (Buffy) by Madsnessa X Edits

Vid: Prepare Me (Buffy) by ZNellyZ

Music: Buffy and Angel Theme by Cristophe Beck - piano and glockenspiel cover by Vonelle Allocco

Artwork process video: Painting Willow Rosenberg | Paint With Me (worksafe) by Tressa Humbird

Animation: Buffy opening - animatic (Scoobies) by Snarky Rag

Artwork: S1 banners of the main cast (Giles, Cordelia, Buffy, Willow, Xander, worksafe) by Puppet

[Reviews & Recaps]

Welcome to the Hellmouth by ourworldofwonders

Thoughts from my Buffy rewatch 4x22 by yesitsterriblysimple

The Harvest and Witch by Charlotte Torkel

Date Night: The Witch by Drive Home Reviews

Never Kill a Boy on the First Date by Reverse Angle

Never Kill a Boy on the First Date by My Girlfriend Made Me Watch

Slayer Talk: I Robot, You Jane by Hellbound Horror Festival

Surprise by LexChats

Go Fish by Flunking the Written

Becoming part 1 by JustDaggers

Faith, Hope, and Trick by Once More, with Ling-Ling

Discussion of AtS 1.16 "The Ring", 1.17 "Eternity", 1.18 "Five By Five", 1.19 "Sanctuary" by RDHWesley

What's your favourite Season 2 Episode? by idiotic_memer and others

PODCAST: Still Pretty 144. Entropy (S6.18)

[Recs]

Tough Audience by badly_knitted recced by petzipellepingo

Xander fic recs and discussion of sparkage/chemistry, lack thereof by darkspook, AstridDante, DeepBlueJoy

[Fandom Discussions]

[Comparing/contrasting Spike with Castiel from "Supernatural"] by angelinthefire, yesitsterriblysimple

Season 4 is underrated by yesitsterriblysimple

[1750s fashion on AtS] by amazighbuffy

I’ve seen a lot of criticism of “Innocence” for essentially punishing Buffy for having sex. by yesitsterriblysimple

Post death a second time around [Why would the Scoobies think Buffy would just come back okay?] by Crober45 and others

Kendra deserved better by Grebnesorwolliw and others

Am I the only person who finds Angel wholesome as Hell? [on r/ANGEL...] [...and on r/buffy] hosted by Sayed64

best episode about friendship? hosted by kingtychrist

What would you expect to happen after Not Fade Away? by TypicalPsychology6, purplemackem

Confusing moments with Angelus (BtVS season 2) by R S Hunter

Celebrity Appearances on BtVS by Girly Gore

Angel vs. Spike by Girly Gore, Those Horror Pals

Most emotional episodes on BtVS by Girly Gore

Man Crush Monday Episode 1 Spike by Jason Rev

The Secret Genius of BtVS Season 1 by Twisted View

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

#btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #angel the series #BOOM! Studios

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marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer · 6 years

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MTVS Epic Rewatch #179

BTVS 7x01 Lessons

Raise your hand if you never thought I’d make it to season 7!

Shame on you, Wallace, I thought you’d always have my back!

Stray thoughts

1) Except for Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest, I’m of the opinion that this show always delivered lackluster season openers. It’s not that they’re bad per se – most of them are pretty solid episodes. It’s just that they don’t hold a lot of promise for things to come, you know? And while they do tend to set the tone for the rest of the season, they are usually far from stellar. “Lessons” is no exception. It’s a good episode, with some very nice moments and a very promising ending (oh, the promise of what The First could be was definitely captivating!) But a good ending does not make for a great episode, you know? And now I get to another point I wanted to make. “Lessons” is probably one of the weakest episodes in an otherwise pretty balanced, quality-wise, season. Yes, I said it. Season 7 is not bad. In fact, it’s rather good? (cue gasps!)

Season 7 is flawed alright, but so are all the other seasons. I think that what probably bugs most of us is the fact that this season’s flaws are more noticeable, kind of always there, and, in most cases, extremely grating (The First, the focus on the potentials, the wedge between the Scoobies…) But – and I hope I don’t change my mind as I proceed to rewatch it – season 7 is an overall good season, with its hits and misses. I’ve found that I’ve grown to like it more and more with each rewatch.

2) The first scene in the cold open is an interesting change of pace from the usual way most seasons start. First of all, there are no Scoobies in sight and we are nowhere near Sunnydale. Then there’s the fact that the chase scene is very suspenseful. We don’t know who this girl is, but you can’t help to root for her. Unfortunately, she doesn’t make it. But it’s clear whatever went down will have some relevance. And it’s all made clearer when the scene cuts right to…

It’s hard to miss the connection when you get such a tension-filled scene leading to our main character delivering the very first line in the season, a line that will basically embody the backbone of the whole season.

4) I love the fact that Buffy has kept her promise to show Dawn the world.

BUFFY Never forget it. Doesn't matter how well prepped you are or how well armed you are. You're a little girl. DAWN Woman.

BUFFY Little woman.

DAWN I'm taller than you.

6) Why would this recently born vamp be afraid of the Slayer, though? How would he know what a Slayer is? (remember how Spike didn’t know about her for a while after being turned?)

7) I love the fact that Dawn missed the heart just like Buffy did her first time. Like mother, like daughter.

8) Where this super-sized scissors store, though?

Oh, yeah, also, Sunnydale High is back, btw. Get it? Because this season is about going back to the beginning… *rolls eyes*

9) Giles needs to stop getting cooler and cooler.

This was also a very gratuitous shot just so that Anthony could show off his horse-riding skills. And I’m very grateful.

10)

GILES Then why aren't you in your lesson?

WILLOW Sorry.

GILES It's alright. She was just—

WILLOW —afraid. Yeah, they all are. The coven is—they're the most amazing women I've ever met. But there's this look that they get. Like I'm gonna turn them all into bangers and mash, or something. Which I'm not even really sure what that is.

Can you really blame them, though? She literally almost ended the world. You can’t hold it against others if they don’t exactly feel like hanging.

11)

GILES This isn't a hobby or an addiction. It's inside you now, this magic. You're responsible for it. (I guess we’ll just cross out all of season 6, then...)

WILLOW Will they always be afraid of me?

GILES Maybe. Can you handle it?

WILLOW I deserve a lot worse. I killed people, Giles. (like, I get that you’re a main character, but you should be in jail, like Faith is...)

GILES I've not forgotten.

WILLOW When you brought me here, I thought it was to kill me or to lock me in some mystical dungeon for all eternity or—with the torture. Instead, you go all Dumbledore on me. I'm learning about magic. All about energy and Gaia and root systems.

I repeat, Giles: too little, too late. THIS MAKES ME SO ANGRY! Please tell me ONE good reason why he couldn’t have done this BEFORE Willow got the Extreme Makeover from Hell and went on a killing spree.

12) “I want to be Willow.” Even though it’s a bit hard – at least for me – to sympathize with Willow at this point, my heart literally melts at Alyson’s delivery of this line and the heartbreaking expression on her face. Alyson is such a great crier.

13)

XANDER I ate. I'm good. How are you?

BUFFY My sister's about to go to the same high school that tried to kill me for three years. I can't change districts, I can't afford private school, and I can't begin to prepare for what could possibly come out of there. So, peachy with a side of keen, that would be me.

14) I do enjoy how domestic Buffy and Xander are with Dawn. Like, yeah, Dawn has a bunch of parents and she deserves it.

15) You gotta love all the callbacks to early seasons, though.

BUFFY Now, remember, if you see anything strange... or, you know...dead.

DAWN I got it

BUFFY And stay away from hyena people, or any lizard-type athletes, you know, or if you see anyone that's invisible.

16)

Now, isn’t this something that would’ve been cool for the show to explore? Like, isn’t this something that should haunt Buffy? All the lives she couldn’t save? All the people she failed?

17) Dawn’s intro is so early 2000s it hurts…

DAWN I love to dance. I like music. I'm very into Britney Spears' early work, before she sold out. So mostly her, um, finger painting and macaroni art. Very underrated.

And… do you think Joss was taking a jab at Britney because they couldn’t arrange for her to be on the show in season 5? In which case, how dare you judged Britney?

18) So… Anya is not that into vengeance anymore. I guess spending a few years as a human and fighting the good fight really did put things into perspective. And apparently, this was their attempt at giving Anya her own arc? Unfortunately, it won’t last long.

19) So why do you think the spirits or demons were targeting Dawn and Buffy specifically? I mean, other than because of Contrived Plot Device. I get Buffy: she’d touched the talisman thingy or whatnot. But what about Dawn…?

20) I do love how Buffy’s conversation with Wood is intercut with Dawn meeting Kit and them getting sucked into the basement by the manifestations. There’s something off about Robin, and we can just sense it as much as Buffy does. I didn’t think he’d be evil, though, it would’ve been too on the nose if he had been. But we immediately get the feeling he’s hiding something. There’s just something about his word choice and his fixation on Buffy that raises a lot of red flags. And of course, the fact that he’s questioning Buffy while her sister and her friends are under attack kind of paints him as supect número uno.

21) And the great reveal… Dawn’s gift/weapon…

That was a bit underwhelming, especially considering it was 2002 and cellphones were already a household item. I get that the show was kind of making fun of itself and its lack of technology awareness. But I find the joke counterproductive. Instead of making me go “Oh hahaha, they have cell phones now!”, it reminds me how little sense it makes for these teens – now young adults – to have NEVER EVER used any type of electronic devices or technology other than the computer. It feels, again, as a Contrived Plot Device. Technology, in some cases, would’ve made the Scoobies lives much easier. They definitely would’ve have avoided some misunderstandings and miscommunications.

22) And then…

23)

BUFFY What did you do?

SPIKE I tried... I... tried to cut it out.

Hm. I wonder what this “it” might be... huh.

24) We can safely say that Joss’s primary focus when writing this scene was Spike, right? Did he even remember the last time Buffy had been in a room with Spike he’d tried to rape her? Why wasn’t her reaction to seeing her would-be-rapist again explored? Why wasn’t that the focus of their reunion? Why have her acting so nonchalantly, as if she wants to pick up things where they left them off (that is, prior to Seeing Red, of course…)? She literally asks him if he’ll come help her...

25) Now, why didn’t we get to see more of these two – the punk/bohemian, and, I’m assuming, bisexual, girl and the troubled yet sweet latino boy – instead of introducing like a dozen new characters – most of which were pretty forgettable - almost halfway through the season when the focus should’ve been placed somewhere else?

26) At least Buffy got a new job out of it. But let’s be real, the only reason she got the job is that she is a fictional character in a fictional world. Like, Joss tries to play it off as “oh, she only got it because it is a crappy position with very low pay.” But even crappy positions at schools require some kind of qualifications. Working at the Doublemeat Palace? Yeah, that’s not gonna cut it.

27) And then the scene that nearly makes the episode…

WARREN Of course she won't understand, Sparky. I'm beyond her understanding. She's a girl. Sugar and spice and everything...useless unless you're baking. I'm more than that. More than flesh...

GLORY ...more than blood. I'm... you know, I honestly don't think there's a human word fabulous enough for me. Oh, my name will be on everyone's lips, assuming their lips haven't been torn off. But not just yet. That's alright, though..

ADAM ...I can be patient. Everything is well within parameters. She's exactly where I want her to be. And so are you, Number 17. You're right where you belong.

THE MAYOR So what'd you think? You'd get your soul back and everything'd be Jim Dandy? Soul's slipperier than a greased weasel. Why do you think I sold mine? (laughs) Well, you probably thought that you'd be your own man, and I respect that, but...

DRUSILLA ...you never will. You'll always be mine. You'll always be in the dark with me, singing our little songs. You like our little songs, don't you? You've always liked them, right from the beginning. And that's where we're going...

THE MASTER ...right back to the beginning. Not the Bang... not the Word... the true beginning. The next few months are going to be quite a ride. And I think we're all going to learn something about ourselves in the process. You'll learn you're a pathetic schmuck, if it hasn't sunk in already. Look at you. Trying to do what's right, just like her. You still don't get it. It's not about right, not about wrong...

There was so much promise in this scene, and it’s beautifully written and masterfully crafted. I think it’s probably one of the most memorable scenes in the show, just because of its jaw-dropping wow factor, the questions it raised, its potential for epic greatness, and the impact of seeing such an iconic group of characters blending together in what promised to be the Biggest Motherfucking Bid Bad Ever. And the biggest question of all…if this thing, whatever it is, is turning into all the Big Bads... then why did he turn into Buffy?

The answer to this question will be, as most things The First related were bound to be, extremely underwhelming. But imagine... imagine if Buffy had been the Big Bad...

28) Oh, just for funsies, I’ll try and keep count of how many times The First did touch something or someone:

29) You gotta love the book ends in this episode, though…

#Buffy the Vampire Slayer #BTVS #Buffy Summers #Sarah Michelle Gellar #Spike #Willow Rosenberg #Dawn Summers #Lessons #recap #mine #MTVSepicrewatch #BTVSrewatch2015 #btvsrecap

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