#a buffy reference in MY tags

[moonlitmagicmelody]

@ashortdropandasuddenstop 

Mozenrath was well-acquainted with the undead. His own magic warped the line between life and death to create his Mamluks. But while they made for decent minions and cannon fodder they lacked the acumen for more strategic or delicate work. If he wanted the problem of Aladdin dealt with, it would require an altogether different kind of creature. Hazy recollections of books and scrolls in Destane’s library sent him on a hunt for just the thing. Then all he’d needed to do was listen to rumors from the far-off land that were their favored hunting ground. He’d weeded truth from fiction until he was certain he’d found the ideal specimen.

Which was why he now waited in the large basement room of a less than reputable boarding house in London. Some of the items there-in suggested an acquaintance with a lifestyle far above what the derelict location implied. He only barely bothered to turn when the apartment’s owner returned home. “This is an interesting place to find a man like you, James Norrington.” Mozenrath smirked. “Of course you’re not exactly a man anymore, are you?” He kept his face blank to whatever reaction the vampire might have toward an intruder in its den. “You can kill me of course. But I have an offer that will get you far more than whatever meager sustenance and pleasure you might find in spilling my blood. Tell me, how would you like to be able to see sunlight again?”

[renmackree]

BUFFY. TEEN WOLF. CROSSOVER. PLEASE

Friend, it's been on my desired list since season two of teen wolf. I even made a gif set back in the day....

I'm in love with the Sunnydale /Beacon Hills crew being friends. OK?

[pro-sipper]

"Dead Dove: Do Not Eat"

About the tag, the origin, and why I think no one on either side of the fandom divide knows how to use it

First of all, I'm crosstagging because I think it's a general issue, not just something for pro or anti shippers. I see the tag get misused on both sides and I just wanted to throw my two cents in

So, where did the term originate? Like all culturally significant things online, it started as a meme. More specifically, a meme from the television show Arrested Development. Character A has put a dead dove into a brown paper bag to store in the family's fridge. On the bag, he has taped a sign that reads, in big bold letters, "DEAD DOVE. Do Not Eat!"

Character B comes across the bag, reads the warning, and opens it anyway. When he's met with, you guessed it, a dead dove, he proclaims "I don't know what I expected".

This is an example of (and has since basically become the spiritual successor to) the "Exactly What It Says On The Tin" trope.

If you want to check out the full history and countless examples of the trope, please check out the page on tvtropes. But for a slightly shorter history - it originated in a British commercial for Ronseal's Quick Drying Woodstain, which the tin claimed "dried quickly". And in the commercial they told you "It does exactly what it says on the tin!" So, the tin says what the product does, then the product does it. You get the idea.

In fandom spaces, the trope just means that the title of Thing (be it movie, show, fanfic, etc) tells you exactly what happens IN Thing. If a show is called "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", you already know it's about a girl named Buffy who slays vampires. If the movie is called "Cocaine Bear", you can bet a bear will get into some cocaine at some point. If there's a fanfic called "Fluttershy Has Tea With Jesus"... you get the idea.

While both tags started out with the same intentions and meaning, I don't think it's any wonder that "dead dove do not eat" has been so easy to misinterpret. For one, "exactly what it says on the tin" sounds more straightforward. You don't have to understand the specific reference to infer it means to check the label (in this case, tags) before purchasing (opening) the product (fanfic)

But dead dove is harder to understand if you don't know the reference. And at a glance, it sounds much darker. Doves have symbolism in multiple religions, and are seen as a symbol of peace. A dead dove evokes images of gore, violence, general unpleasantness. It must only apply to something sinister, right?

The thing about "exactly what it says on the tin" is that the tin needs to say something. You can't point at a blank label and say "here's what you can expect". People would be much less likely to engage with your product if that were the case

In the same vein, slapping "dead dove do not eat" on a fic with no other tags can lead to confusion. In this tag's case, it's a warning. But what are you warning about if you don't also put it in the tags? It leaves people's minds to conjure up only grim and upsetting images of what might be in your fic. Especially when, as it's also common to do, the tag gets shortened to simply "dead dove".

And while, yes, the tag is most likely to get slapped onto fics with dark or upsetting subject matter, that means something different for everyone who comes across it.

Most people seem to think it only applies to inappropriate relationships (age gap, incest, etc). But I've seen it applied to a variety of things, from potentially triggering material (like suicide) to things that simply may not be everyone's cup of tea (like excessive gross-out toilet humor).

In the end, "dead dove do not eat" is a tag that, in my opinion, should not be used as a descriptor as to what type of content your story contains. But rather, a gentle warning to say "hey, I'm specifically telling you what you're about to encounter, so whatever happens next is up to you".

After all, if you read the warning and still open the bag to find something you don't like...

I don't know what you were expecting.

[rossisrad]

introduction

★ I forgot I should do one of these, anyways

★ You can call me Anthony or William. My pronouns are he/they/it.

★ I am an otherkin, therian, and fictkin

★ My theriotypes are Nothwestern Wolf, Eurasian Lynx, Common Raven, some type of deer, some type of rat, and some type of large snake.

★ My [other] kintypes are werewolf and some type of dragon.

★ And, I am a fictkin of Spike and Xander from Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

★ I am transmasculine, asexual, and homoromantic.

★ My current hypetfixations are Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Repo! The Genetic Opera, and Pokémon.

★ I draw, paint, sculpt, and write in my free time.

★ I use these tags.

"#spike shit" for just. random shit.

"#spike answers" for answers to asks

"#perchance ai' for things related to the perchance ai

"#spikes ai escapades" for really any ai related posts.

"#spiles" for spiles [spike x giles] related posts

"#spike art" for my art.

[I have no idea what I used to use "#spike chaos" for, honestly.]

★ I support Palestine.

★ I do not support ai art, and I use ai because I am encaptured by it. It's enthralling and entrancing.

★ Use this as a reference image for me [see below image]

[Picrew link below]

★ Important <3 [see below]

[coraniaid]

Principal Flutie is, I think it's safe to say, not particularly consequential to the overall plot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Appearing only in the first half of the show's first season and almost entirely outshone by his successor Principal Snyder, his main claim to fame is the grisly manner of his departure: getting eaten alive by a gang of hyena-possessed students. As I write this, there are 26 works on AO3 tagged with this character's name.

Kendra Young is the second ever vampire slayer to appear on the show, Called as a Slayer after Buffy Summers (briefly) dies in the first season finale. Meeting Kendra helps to persuade Buffy that being a Slayer is a part of who she is and not merely a job she can one day escape from; while the existence of multiple Slayers will go on to become an important plot point in the show's third, fourth and seventh seasons. As I write this, there are 199 works on AO3 tagged with this character's name.

Given the above, which of these two characters do you think:

appears in the most episodes?

is mentioned in the most episodes after their death?

was actually given a full name while the show was still airing?

Here's a hint: all three questions have the same answer.

Here's a less subtle hint: it's not Kendra.

Robert ("all the kids are free to call me Bob ... but they don't") Flutie appears in a total of four Season 1 episodes (Welcome to the Hellmouth, The Harvest, Teacher's Pet, The Pack) before he dies, and is then mentioned again in three episodes (Season 1's The Puppet Show and Season 7's Lessons and Beneath You).

Kendra ("I have no last name") Young [who, despite being very clear on the subject when asked, suddenly acquired a last name when she needed one for the Buffy RPG tie-in] appears in a total of three Season 2 episodes (What's My Line? Part 1, What's My Line? Part 2, Becoming Part 1) before she dies, and is then mentioned again in two episodes (Season 2's Becoming Part 2 and Season 3's Faith, Hope & Trick) before never being mentioned again [at least not on the TV show].

You might think it strange that the show's actual focus seems so out of alignment with both fandom interest and what logic suggests should surely be central to its own mythos and world-building and to its major characters emotional arcs. You might think it strange that, after Season 2, Buffy never talks about Kendra again [the one time Kendra's name is spoken in Season 3 comes when Cordelia says it] despite Buffy having found Kendra's body and being falsely accused of her murder. [Fun fact: after Season 2 those same murder charges are mentioned more times than anybody expresses any sadness over Kendra's death, which is never. Oh, sorry, that's not a very fun fact.]

You might think it particularly strange that in Season 7 -- a season where the Slayer Line itself is a key part of the central plot and we meet many new Potential Slayers who Buffy is tasked with training and keeping alive, a season in which the Big Bad has the ability to appear in the form of any dead person she wishes and there are multiple episodes featuring flashbacks to the life of a former Slayer who was killed by one of the Big Bads from Season 2 [albeit flashbacks that involved recasting the original actor despite her interest in continuing to play the part] -- the Buffy writers thought to include two separate callbacks to the unremarkable and (up to this point) unlamented Principal Flutie (who surely only a minority of fans watching would have even remembered?) and exactly none to murdered Vampire Slayer Kendra.

Was a character who appeared in four episodes six years ago really so much more memorable than a character who sppeared in three episodes five years ago? Did Kendra really make so little impression at the time? Was there no reason to think one of the characters might have brought her up at any point? Was there really no room at all in any of this season's scripts to include even a fleeting reference to the very first girl Buffy met, tried to teach how to be a Slayer, and who then died in a way Buffy could blame herself for? Might Kendra's memory not have been slightly more thematically relevant to this season's story than the tedious ongoing sagas of "is Giles the First?" [no], "will the First ever use the hypnotized Spike as a weapon against Buffy?" [no] and "isn't Andrew Wells funny? doesn't he deserve his own spin-off show?" [no]? Is there any reason you can think of that might explain this puzzling creative choice?

Ah well.

Who can say what the writers were thinking? I guess it's just one of those little mysteries that will never be resolved.

[liamlawsonlesbian]

thanks for the tag, emy @albonoooo <333

1. do you make your bed?

Only if someone is coming to visit my apartment hzhzhjzjzj

2. favourite number?

7, 8, 15, 17

3. what's your job?

I’m an attorney at a small law firm!

4. if you could go back to school, would you?

absolutely not (but it might be less terrible now that I’m medicated for adhd)

5. can you parallel park?

nope

6. do you think aliens are real?

there are too many planets in the universe for earth to be the only one with life! in terms of like….societies, I’m less certain

7. can you drive a manual car?

no, and I actually legally can’t drive at all — I didn’t learn as a kid because my mom was sick and then I tried to learn during law school and failed the test three times so they took my permit away hxhhsjsjjzjj

8. guilty pleasure?

I don’t super believe in the concept but also the reality show Special Forces, bc it’s such naked military propaganda (it’s so fun to see celebrities compete at insane physical tasks, sorry)

9. tattoos?

yep!! five: (1) HP tattoo done by college roommate in ro and my apartment living room senior year; (2) realistic triceratops; (3) matching bouquets with ro [oblique phoebe bridgers reference, we did them to celebrate graduating law school]; (4) childhood home rendered in fairytale/children’s book style; (5) buffy’s “class protector” award from btvs episode 3x20, “the prom”

10. favourite colour?

golden yellow, or forest green!

11. favourite type of music?

I am a pop girlie, but I also enjoy indie rock & kpop

12. do you like puzzles?

I like to do them with family/friends! I get too frustrated on my own

13. favourite childhood sport?

I did one (1) season of soccer as a kid, and like six months of ice skating lessons, but was otherwise fully artsy and did not do sports at all

14. do you talk to yourself?

yeppp (“c’mon jo, stop being a baby”)

15. tea or coffee?

mate 🧉

16. first thing you wanted to be when growing up?

actress 💕 honestly I miss performing so much

17. what movies do you adore?

an incomplete list: the lord of the rings trilogy, school of rock, the philadelphia story, jurassic park, the edge of seventeen, notting hill, 10 things i hate about you, dunkirk, moonrise kingdom, moulin rouge, mulan, enchanted, moonlight, pride, when harry met sally, sleepless in seattle, mission impossible: fallout, spy, birds of prey

***

No pressure tags: @oscarpiastriwdc @omigodyall @bright-and-burning @vegasgrandprix @foggieststars @barbiedemonaco

[that-fruitier-emo]

✨Hello once again my fellow gremlins~✨

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I regret to inform you that my first account got deleted by accident, so I'm starting from scratch.

Hello, I'm Vic. I'm am gay, and Genderfluid. I primarily use he/they pronouns, but will go by any.

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On my previous account I had several mutuals I had tagged on my post. So as we re-figure things out, here's to my mutuals. (Mostly the ones I interact with the most)

@rrcenic @rubeslovesthesmiths @luminary-of-the-marz @todds-diary / @toddreblogslotf @kunfire @stanleyvampire14 @cve-th3mvsic @sobeksewerrat @thatcreepydoll

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Some of my interests are as follows.

Dead boy detectives, Daybreak, Percy Jackson, Buffy the vampire slayer, Lord of the flies, Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss & Fnaf.

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Some of the blogs I'm slowly recovering will be here soon. (Stay updated)

OC blog:

@birds-still-sing-on-stormy-days

Writing blog:

@tfe-writes

Fanfic blog:

@the-racoon-took-the-conch

LoTF superhero au:

@hidden-amoungst-the-rest

Supervillain OC blog:

@united-by-this-darkened-rooftop

Thriller/Escape room oc's:

@not-an-escape-artist

Gay vampire OC blog:

@what-is-imortality-to-you

LoTF Hunger games au:

@lotf-hunger-games-au

LoTF oc ask/rp blog:

@ask-victor-heinsworthy-lotf

LoTF Scooby Doo Ask blog:

@get-a-bloody-clue

My O.C archives:

@tfe-oc-archives

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My other social media accounts

YouTube: that-fruity-emo

AO3: the-racoon-took-the-conch

Spotify: that-fruity-emo

Discord: vic ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

TikTok: that-fruity-emo

Instagram: vitamin_c_05

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I will add more of my mutuals here as they come, again, I'm sorry. I love all my mutuals dearly. But regrettably I can't remember everyone's tags. 🥲

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*Insert witty start to a pop-up add*

If you'd like to support my OC writing and read it when I start writing you can check out this post for me.

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Links to my characters

--------------------------------------------------------------

I've had the conch for long enough, I think it's sombody else's turn.

(/^°^)/🐚

[spnfanficpond]

New Member Spotlight - December 2023

The Pond is always growing and we want to make our new members feel welcome! Here’s a list of recent additions to our fishy family, along with a little info about them!

Guppies, Jellies, and Mutuals, oh, my!

@mayalaen -

Other SM names? - Mayalaen on AO3, Discord, Twitter, Bluesky, LiveJournal, Dreamwidth, etc.

OTP? - I'm a multishipper so no true OTP.

Other fandoms? - Mostly Stranger Things, OFMD, Stargate SGA/SG1, Star Trek, X-FIles, and Angel the Series/Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I'm interested in a lot of fandoms.

Looking for in the Pond? - I like to encourage people to write and create and I like to make friends in fandom. I was referred to the Pond for that by some members.

Something to signal boost? - I run a monthly writing/art challenge on AO3 called SPNColdestHits that you guys have already been boosting (THANK YOU!!). It's multifandom now and accepts art and original fic, not just fanfic. This is the AO3 collection link and of course, we're @spncoldesthits here on Tumblr, but we're also on Discord, Twitter, Bluesky, and Pillowfort.

Pairings you read? - I'll read pretty much any pairing, poly or otherwise. I'm not interested in reader insert, but I've read some.

Genres you read? - I prefer darkfic and/or kink, but I read anything.

Favorite writer(s)? - Xanthe Walter, but they haven't been active in fandom for about 2 years now.

What do you like to write? - My favorite is darkfic, D/S AU, and kink, but I also love writing crack and all other genres.

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - It's newer but it has the least amount of hits from the list of non-crack/non-gift fics and is an SPN/Blacklist crossover. Caging the Mongoose.

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? - I really would like to write some SPN/HDM fusions. I keep toying with the idea, but have never posted any of them. I always work better when I have prompts or ideas from others to spur me on.

.@leatafandom -

Other SM names? - @leatawrites, Leata (AO3 and Discord)

OTP? - Sabriel

Other fandoms? - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Marvel, BBC Merlin, Star Trek, Doctor Who

Looking for in the Pond? - I could use some help with tags and challenging myself to write different things.

Pairings you read? - Ships, Gens, Poly fics

Genres you read? - Angst is my favorite but fluff and smut are always wonderful

Favorite writer(s)? - Yes, @idabbleincrazy on Tumblr or Gabriel_is_my_guardian_angel89 on Ao3

What do you like to write? - Angst, Horror, Smut, Bittersweet/Sad Things

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - My most underappreciated story is probably one of my original horror short stories. My most underappreciated fanfic is probably Becoming One,Two, and One Again.

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? -I really would like to write more horror however I feel like I struggle with expressing fear, scenery/detail descriptions, and word choice

@oganizediguana -

Other SM names? - Oganizediguana on Discord

OTP? - Destiel

Other fandoms? - I tiptoe through many fandoms, but SPN is my home. Good Omens

Looking for in the Pond? - I’d love to get encouragement for writing and the confidence to share my work. But I’d also love to just meet interesting people.

Pairings you read? - 99% destiel

Genres you read? - I read it all, but mutual pining slow burn is what makes me feel all the things. I love a good canon-compliant AU. I’m happy with anything that ends happily. Or at least hopefully.

Favorite writer(s)? - On AO3: NorthernSparrow, tenoko1, saltnhalo, there are so many amazing authors in this fandom!

What do you like to write? - Everything seems to turn into angst.

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? - I’d like the confidence to share what I have written.

@dragonslayer-5fanfiction -

Other SM names? - Ao3- Dragonslayer5

Other fandoms? - haikyuu, daria, lotr/the hobbit, tmnt

Looking for in the Pond? - I just want to make friends and read good fanfic. I like to beta read. Maybe write some fanfic, but I have writer's block rn.

Pairings you read? - Reader insert

Genres you read? - Fluff, crack. One bed, and arranged marriage forced proximity tropes.

What do you like to write? - Reader inserts. Fluff.

Masterlist! AO3 Works list

Most underappreciated fic? - Do You Think About Me? (not SPN)

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? -Honestly, writing two characters from the Fandom. I typically stick to reader insert, and I'm a little scared I won't get the characteristics right or the dynamic.

That's all for this month, folks! (If we're missing anyone, let us know and we'll add them to next month's list!) Make sure to say hi to the newbies and make them feel welcome! Thanks to all from @manawhaat, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @thoughtslikeaminefield, @katbratsupernaturalwhore and @heavenssexiestangel!

[cosmicalart]

Honestly think I'm gonna end up scheduling most of my Six Sentence Sunday and WIP Wednesday posts as I work Tuesday to Sunday every week (I'm only ever off on Mondays) so if you're ever looking towards one of my posts it'll probably be up on the respective days at 6am ADT, so don't be afraid to @ me if I miss a day cause it probably means I forgot to schedule it. Anyways, I've made decent progress on "Baz to The Past", the title started as a joke and as a way to refer to the fic I was working on but at this point it has become part of it and I think I'm gonna stick with that title lol. I've been really looking forward to this post because I REALLY like these sentences and think it gives a good idea of the direction I'm trying to take the idea.

Simon POV There's no point in being quiet as I stomp up the stairs, the wood is so old and worn it creaks with the slightest breeze; the stones click and clack under shoes or when brushed by school bags. Mummers is ancient, with its narrow steep stairways and high ceilings, all of it magicked to keep from rotting and crumbling. No, the point isn’t Watford's shoddy architecture, the point is that at the very top in our room is Baz, and I’m gonna fucking kill him. Throwing the door open it hits the wall with a splintering crack (in this instance I’m glad for the magic, I’d rather not ask the Mage to replace my bedroom door)(that is if he wasn’t seemingly ignoring me). Baz is at his desk shuffling together a stack of papers, not even flinching at my entrance. “Where is it?” 

Tags under the cut

As usual idk who has already posted and there's no pressure and if you aren't tagged feel free to still participate if you want. @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @buffy @thewholelemon @prettygoododds @cultofsappho @fatalfangirl @artsyunderstudy @aristocratic-otter @j-nipper-95 @raenestee @cutestkilla @hushed-chorus @haikuziejacuzzi @larkral @ionlydrinkhotwater @rimeswithpurple @sailor-blossoms @facewithoutheart @valeffelees

[wetcatspellcaster]

Hi, me again. I hope you enjoy being appreciated because a few days back I’ve commented on ao3 under Honest Lie how I’m not sure about reading Pieces (fear of angst) and now I have reached act 3 of it and I have no words for how it kept me on my toes all this time. I love the vampire soul concept and I am also a Spuffy preacher through and through so it makes me even more happy that I can read about it somewhere. Generally, Buffy is one of my favorite fandoms and I believe it to be a pop cultural gem of its times. (also - Angel is such a boring person in Buffy, though he does do way better in his own spin-off. And he has a very high voice? Or is it just me?) I fell in love with Spike when he asked if he can bum a fag, lol. But also - Giles, omg. Rewatched recently and Giles is hnnggg.

I wanted to ask if the general soul-shape was inspired by Howl’s Moving Castle concept? The way Rose held on to it you know when reminded me of Sophie so much. And I loved it of course, I even cried a little!

Second thing I wanted to ask - have you ever seen ‘The Magicians’? It has this amazing plotting that reminds me of someone’s campaign where everything goes wrong and whatever you do you have to fix it afterwards and it of course causes other things to go wrong. I have a feeling you would love it. Also - it’s fucking heartbreaking at times and has amazing characters and archs.

So - again, thank you for all your work, as a fellow ‘I’m sorry that I exist person’ I wanted to tell you that you are precious and must be protected at all cost!

hahaha, thank you so much lovely! I'm sorry that An Honest Lie is currently in a place where Pieces becomes the better option to read in terms of angst (the next chapter of HL is so close, but um... Chapter 26 of Pieces is still my priority) but I'm glad that you liked it!! When I put an 'eventual happy ending' tag on a fic, I do mean it!! I promise!!

So... I did not realise Pieces was Howl's Moving Castle until so late in the game. Truly embarrassing of me. Fake fan behaviour. Picture me at 2am, staring at my ceiling at around the point Chapter 10 came out, shouting "FUCK." But i didn't deliberately lean into the imagery, in the way you think - I'm not saying that parallel is not there (it is and it jumpscared me).

The image of the soul/Jarstarion came during the outlining stage from the fact that everyone at the time was talking about Astarion's name meaning Star (we were that early into the discourse around his character, this is months ago now) and so it left me with this image of the soul looking like starlight, in reference to that. Obviously that means it's also calcifer coded. bc calcifer is also... a star. (HOW DID I NOT SEE THE HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE PARALLELS. HOW? HOW????)

I haven't seen the Magicians! I know the books have a bit of a reputation for being edgelord fodder so it put me off the tv show, but I'll be sure to check it out :)

[take-me-to-valhalla]

Tagged by @ladyniniane, thank you!

Currently watching: Not much, I'm afraid. I still have to finish Buffy. Lupin III is the most recent show I started, I guess? I just know that I have to fit Shogun somewhere in my schedule very quick.

Sweet/Savory/Spicy: Sweet tooth all the way!

Relationship status: Single. I'm enjoying it way too much to consider changing it right now ⭐

Current obsession: Mystery novels from early 20th century took their toll on me. I went from Arsène Lupin to trying Fantomas (alas, it's bad) to reading Case Closed because of the numerous references, and reading books about Lupin...listen, I am thorough.

But since folklore and legends are an old favourite subject of mine, I am re-reading books on the subject too (Matthew Meyer's books on yokai, and Edouard Brasey's Encyclopédie du Merveilleux for European creatures.)

I guess my writing constitute an obsession, as well. But not so much a "current one" than "my default state of being" 0:)

Last thing I googled: Zorijishi (a brand of thermos bottles, among other things...)

I tag @ordalya, @searchingforakeythatdoesntexist, @lafcadiosadventures, and @annonir :p if you want too, of course!

[bakedbakermom]

Stained

Chapter 1: Sanguine.

Read on Ao3; tagging @today-in-fic @ao3feed-msr

But first, a word from the author. I first wrote this fic when I was about 14, circa late 2000. It was very much a product of its time, both of who I was/how I wrote then, and where the respective shows were in their runs. I found it recently in an archive I will NOT share, and was stunned to find that it actually did have some good bones--and, as is to be expected, plenty of cringe, but I try to look on my past self with indulgence and sympathy in that regard; we are, all of us, unfortunately fourteen at some point. There were even a few beautiful lines in there that I lifted entirely. I don't think I've ever gone 20+ years between a first and second draft, but here we are, in 2023, and I am back on my XF/BTVS brainrot for a second pass (and third, and fourth, as editing commands me). This fic takes place in late season 7 of the X-Files, post-Hollywood AD; and season 5 of Buffy, post-Intervention. Do those seasons line up at all? Nope. But let's be real, neither show was all that great at keeping consistent timelines. Besides, time is an illusion and canon is a sandbox; if we're not going to play, what's the point? As for how a crossover like this works when there are references to one work within the other work? Short answer: Don't worry about it. Long answer: I have lost my mind and you can see my spiral into madness here (contains a few minor spoilers/background info for this fic)

Fic is COMPLETE and will be updated Sundays and Wednesdays.

Scully unlocked the door to room 217 of the Sunnydale Motor Inn and slipped inside, hoping the brief spill of buttery sunlight wouldn’t disturb the occupant. The soft snick of the door plunged her into sudden darkness, but her eyes adjusted quickly; she was getting used to the dark. Inside, little light pierced the drawn curtains, and what did filter through was stained a deep crimson, as if a haze of blood hung in the air.

She eased herself down onto the edge of the rumpled bed that filled half the room and prodded the lump of blankets she assumed was her partner. The lump moaned and shifted, and from the opposite end, Mulder’s tousled head appeared. A shock pierced through her when she saw how pale he had become, how dark the circles were under his eyes; she tried not to think about how he had been sleeping upside down, like a bat. He would only tease her for the comparison. “How are you feeling?” she asked softly, hoping she sounded calmer than she felt.

He groaned, his voice barely more than a croak. “Half dead.”

She lifted one auburn brow and tried to smile. “Oh good, only half.”

Mulder sat up stiffly, his bones creaking and popping like the hinges of a haunted house. The sheets fell away from his bare chest, now a sickly white instead of his usual golden tan. He shoved a pillow behind his back to prop himself up, as if the effort of sitting was too much for his withering body. His eyes narrowed into tiny slits and he winced. “Isn’t it a little bright in here?”

“Mulder, I can barely see you.”

“Oh. Right.”

Something shameful flickered in his eyes and she reached out to take his hand; his skin was dry and frighteningly cold, the bones beneath it not quite right. She pushed the fear down with a thick swallow. “Don’t worry about it. The sun will be down in an hour or so.”

They relied so much on touch to communicate these days. A subtle brush of fingers to say I am here. The pressure of his hand on the small of her back, We’ll be alright. A tear thumbed away from a cheek, Your pain is mine too. A kiss pressed tenderly to a forehead, We’re not done yet.

Touching him was different now. Strained. Stained. Death lived in his skin; it was a void she had to force herself across with every caress, because each time she touched him, she was reminded of what lived inside him. 

What it had tried, gleefully, to do.

Her memories of that night in the graveyard were murky at best, flashes of blood and terror glimpsed only through a dense fog like a stormy night at a drive-in, and it was a relief to her that she was spared the worst details. Her body was healing, and though she knew that repressing emotional trauma was an unhealthy coping mechanism, it was the only thing allowing her to function. The reckoning was coming for her, sure as the sun outside was edging toward the horizon; when the darkness came, it would swallow her whole, just as it was trying, now, to swallow her partner.

The darkness was inside him, a part of him, and she could not touch one without wanting to recoil from the other. She hated the relief that filled her as she released his hand to reach into the paper bag she had brought inside with her. “I got you something to eat.”

His eyes lit up as they landed on the small styrofoam container, the kind usually filled with soup or pasta salad to-go, with the name of a local butcher on the side: Sunnydale Fine Meats. Its logo was a cartoon pig holding up a link of sausage speared on a fork, the little speech bubble near his mouth proclaiming it both local and delicious. Scully found the image horribly macabre. “Beef or pork?” Mulder asked, taking it eagerly from her hands and giving it an appraising sniff.

“Lamb,” she said, and when he wrinkled his nose, “Sorry. It was all they had left.”

“Don’t worry about it, Scully. I imagine it’s a popular take-out spot in this town.” He squeezed her shoulder gently, and she fought not to pull away from the chill of his touch. “Thank you. For all of this.”

He stood slowly, accompanied by another symphony of popping joints. He tightened the drawstring on his sweatpants—when had he gotten so thin?—and carried the container to the microwave in the room’s tiny kitchenette. Her stomach lurched as she realized he was heating the contents. Ninety-eight point six.

Mulder glanced up and saw her staring, then looked quickly away. “Tip from Spike,” he muttered. “Says it’s easier to… get it down… this way. That I’ll get used to it faster if it’s warm.”

“Is it really that bad, compared to..?”

A shudder passed through his body, but not of revulsion. She shouldn’t have reminded him about that, but he answered anyway. “It’s like day-old coffee versus a chocolate shake. With whipped cream. And extra cherries.” His voice dripped with a hunger bordering on lust. “I can handle it, but I’d rather have… well.”

Compassion and pity warred with a visceral disgust and the sudden roiling in her gut pushed her to feet. She couldn’t watch this.

“I’ll let you eat,” she said, too fast, nearly lunging for the door. Stupid, she yelled at herself the moment she realized what she was doing. Don’t give him anything to chase. Not when he’s hungry.

His hand clenched painfully tight around her wrist before she even heard him move, and her heart started to hammer beneath her sternum. She knew he could hear it, watched his pupils dilate as the sound reached him, and his gaze fell on the pulse fluttering in her throat.

The dark centers of his eyes grew inhumanly huge, nearly eclipsing the warm golden green, and his tongue flicked out to lick his lower lip.

Scully stood very, very still.

Her blue eyes were cold and hard as she met his stare. Do not flinch.

“Mulder,” she said carefully, threading steel into her voice. “Let me go.”

He held on, breathing harder than he had any need to, nostrils flaring as he took in the coppery scent of her fear, fingers constricting so tightly she felt the fine bones of her wrist grinding together and the tingling static of the circulation failing in her fingertips. She would have a new bracelet of bruises tomorrow. A sound between a moan and a growl bubbled up from his throat.

Scully’s free hand began to inch toward the chain around her neck when suddenly the microwave beeped from across the room, breaking the tension like a splash of cold water. He stepped quickly away and turned his back to her, shoulders hunched and shaking.

“God, Scully, I am so sorry.”

If her hand trembled as she laid it on his back, they both ignored it. “I know, Mulder. It’s okay. I know.”

“No, you don’t,” he said gently, his voice choked and breaking. “And I’m glad you don’t.”

She forced herself to move closer, to cross the death-black void that had bloomed between them; the fear she felt was a small price to pay to erase the pain written so clearly across his face. She wrapped her arms around his abdomen and laid her cheek against the icy expanse of his back. He flinched as the tiny gold cross on her necklace made contact with his skin; she pulled away just enough to tuck it into her shirt, then squeezed him even tighter. “You’re so warm,” he murmured, placing one hand over hers where it rested against his stomach. “It’s so nice to feel warm again.”

Her throat constricted painfully as she fought away the tears threatening to spill from her eyes, and it was a long while before she trusted herself to speak. Her voice came out small, empty of anything but helpless fear. “What are we going to do?”

He sighed and rolled his gaze heavenward. There were water spots on the ceiling. “Shoot me?”

“Yeah, a lot of good that would do.”

Mulder huffed out a barbed little laugh and turned within the circle of her arms. His hands came up to cup her face, and the defeat in his eyes nearly broke her heart. A single tear slid down his ashen cheek, glinting red in the fading light. Red as blood.

“I’m scared, Scully,” he whispered. His thumbs brushed tenderly over her cheekbone for a moment before he folded around her, his face buried against her neck and his arms painfully tight around her. “I’m so scared.”

She held him as he wept, stroking his hair and whispering soothing words neither of them would remember later. It was not really her words he needed, merely her touch, the comfort of knowing she cared enough to brush up against the monster inside him if it meant that the man could feel the touch of her body, small and warm against him. His tears soaked into the collar of her t-shirt until it stuck to her skin.

No, not tears. Saliva. He licked the place where her neck met her collarbone and moaned. His hands came up to thread his fingers through her hair. He pressed himself tightly against her, and she felt him growing hard against her hip. Her gut clenched, and not just from fear.

“Mul—”

His name died on her lips as something sharp pierced her skin, a sudden warmth spilling down her shoulder. She struggled in his grip, a fly in a web, and he bit down harder.

Scully had an unfortunate amount of practice stuffing down her gibbering panic, translating the adrenaline that threatened to paralyze her into action instead; she summoned every drop of strength she could manage, twisting at the hip, and used the strength of her legs and torso to shove him back. Her hand immediately flew up to press against the wound on her neck as she stared at him, blood trickling between her fingers and her mouth open in shock and fear.

A monster stared back at her from the place where his face should have been, thickly ridged brows and serrated teeth dripping with crimson and eyes gleaming the fevered yellow of a jungle cat. It wore her blood like warpaint, like a sacrificial mask. A growl rumbled forth from what had been Mulder’s throat and its hands clenched and unclenched at its sides as it prepared to strike again. It dropped into a crouch, shoulders hunched, muscles rippling unnaturally beneath the surface of its skin. Its features twisted into something like joy.

Scully wondered if she could free the gun at her hip before it reached her; a bullet might not drop the thing, but she could slow it down.

Even vampires feel pain.

A sudden shudder passed through the creature and a high wail of grief tore from its throat. Slowly, the face softened, melted, Mulder’s familiar features coming back to the fore, dazed and afraid. He touched a finger to his chin and revulsion crossed his face as he realized he was streaked with her blood; the stain of it was shockingly dark against his skin. He turned away, shame-faced, but not before she saw him lick his lips clean.

“Get away from me,” he growled as she started to reach for him. She snatched her hand back as if burned, as if he would bite it. He collapsed onto the bed, his head buried in his hands. “I can’t—I don’t want to hurt you again.”

“I’m all right, Mulder,” she said, though her knees threatened to buckle beneath her. “You didn’t hit anything important. I’m fine.”

But her hands shook as she grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on the nightstand and pressed them to her neck; they soaked through more quickly than she had expected, red blooming across the flimsy paper like roses on snow. She dropped them and grabbed another bunch, ignoring the way his eyes followed the sodden ones to the floor. She forced herself to take a step forward, then another, and then to sit beside him on the bed. Her free hand found his shoulder, and though they both flinched at her touch, neither moved away.

“I could have hurt you, Scully. I could have—” He gulped, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. “I could have killed you.”

Her hand on his shoulder tightened and she forced him to turn towards her, not with the strength of her hand—pitiful compared to the strength he now possessed—but with the tenderness of her touch. She cupped his chin and waited for his eyes to meet hers; she held his gaze, blue staring unwavering into green. “You didn’t, Mulder. And you won’t.” She took a deep breath. “You’re just hungry, that’s all.”

“Yeah,” he said, nodding shakily. “Speaking of which.” He pushed himself to his feet and crossed to the microwave, fishing out the container and pulling back the lid. His face twisted and fell as a rancid, metallic smell wafted through the room.

“No good?” she asked, nose wrinkling.

“It’s gone all lumpy.”

“Coagulation,” she explained, the medical doctor inside her rising to the surface. “Clotting factors catalyze plasma proteins into sticky threads, forming gel-like clumps that slow blood loss from a wound.”

“Charming. It looks like tapioca pudding that’s been left out for a few centuries.”

Her stomach turned at that mental image. “I don’t know much about your new… dietary requirements… but I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t eat that.”

He sighed, closing the lid and dropping the whole container into the wastebasket beside the mini fridge. “It’s okay, Scully. I can wait.”

“No,” she said matter-of-factly. “You can’t. Mulder, you’re barely standing. You won’t be able to hold yourself back much longer, and you won’t be any help with research tonight.” She laughed, though there was no joy in it. “You can’t even make it through a single stakeout shift without a sack of junk food, and that was before you took on a ravenous, demonic parasite.”

Her voice grew hollow and detached as she realized what she needed to do. “If you snap and… hurt someone… you’ll never forgive yourself.” And I’ll never forgive either of us. She drew her pocket knife from the front of her jeans and turned it over and over in her palm, hoping she’d cleaned it recently, hoping it wouldn’t hurt too much. “No, Mulder, you have to eat.”

“What are you—?! No—!”

But she had already flipped open the blade and pressed it into the creamy flesh of her forearm, below the bend of her elbow. She pushed a little harder, letting a thick bead of blood well up before slashing firmly downward, opening herself to him with a small whimper of pain. Thick rivulets of red, glimmering like jewels, trickled down her pale skin, pooling in the trembling cup of her hand.

Mulder managed to hold her gaze for a brief moment, his face a silent plea for forgiveness—for what he had become, for the hunger he was powerless to fight, for what he was about to do to her. She smiled her benediction as tears fell from her eyes. “Just don’t take it all.”

As the scent of her blood reached him, the demon’s form bubbled up to the surface—and its face was full of nothing but pleasure. It lunged forward and closed its mouth over the wound, its teeth piercing deep as it suckled ravenously, its tongue probing obscenely beneath her flesh. Its hand closed around her bruised wrist almost tenderly, like an apology, pinning her in place; small sounds of satisfaction came from its throat as it gulped her down. It moved off the bed and knelt before her, its free hand spreading her thighs and gripping her firmly as it settled between them.

Deep inside her heart, in a place she rarely thought of and never shared, she felt a tremulous thrill at the need this monster had for her. She knew all the legends, the place vampires occupied in folklore as seducers and devils. She could rattle off theories about devouring blood being a puritanical metaphor for sex: the penetration of the fang as it corrupts innocent flesh, the blood spilling from the bite the way some women bleed during their first intercourse.

Hell, she’d seen that Anne Rice movie more times than she would ever dare to admit.

But no dusty book of folktales or moody Hollywood film could have prepared her for the desire that flooded in to fill the space her blood left behind as it flowed into Mulder’s mouth. Her heart pounded, her breathing grew rapid and shallow, and maybe she could blame that on the blood loss—but not the way she throbbed between her legs as he tongued her open wound.

Pity it took this for Mulder to finally put his mouth on her.

Through the ecstasy of her pain, she felt him pull away. Her head was swimming, and she drew several deep, steadying breaths, feeling out the weakness in her body before deciding she was mostly all right. Not much worse than the annual Red Cross drive at the bureau. She debated asking Mulder for a cookie; but his refusal to meet her eyes, even as the face of the demon faded away, killed the joke before it passed her lips.

“That’s enough, Scully.” He looked around for a moment, as if puzzled to find himself kneeling between her legs, and dropped his eyes as he moved away. “Um. Thank you.”

“Are you sure? I’m a little dizzy, but you can have more if you need it.”

A small amount of color had returned to his cheeks, but the circles beneath his eyes were still dark as bruises. Even as he shook his head and stepped away from her, his eyes lingered on the still-oozing cut, on the thin trickle sliding down her arm and dripping off the tips of her fingers. It landed on the dingy carpet with a patter like raindrops.

She moved quickly into the bathroom and shut the door; she didn’t want to see him licking the floor.

The face that met her in the mirror above the sink was even paler than usual, her freckles like dark constellations spread across the expanse of her skin and circles under her eyes nearly the same purple as Mulder’s. She would have to return to her room and apply more makeup, and find something to cover the mark on her neck, which she was relieved to see was smaller than she had imagined. She shuddered as she moistened a washcloth and wiped away the crust of dried blood that had formed around the punctures, remembering the heat of his mouth, the way her body had coiled with pleasure even through the haze of pain—and the way his body had responded to the hot pulse of her blood in his mouth. Maybe it was a good thing Mulder couldn’t see his reflection anymore; she found herself unable to meet her own eyes, and she had only been the vessel. How must he have felt, drinking of her very life?

In the medicine cabinet, she found a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide and used it to clean the wounds on her neck and arm. Rummaging under the sink produced only a box of moldy bandages, too small to cover the slash she had made. It was deeper than she had first thought, blood still seeping sluggishly down her arm, and she made a mental note to be more careful next time.

And she knew, eventually, there would be a next time.

They had said the pull of human blood was strongest in newly-turned vampires, and she had witnessed firsthand how he struggled to consume animal blood. If it was a choice between feeding him herself or allowing him to grow hungry enough to snap and prey on a helpless stranger, she would choose to open her veins every time. At least she had a gun and a cross and her FBI combat training to fall back on.

She grabbed a thin towel from the pile beside the shower and ripped it into strips to clean and bind her cut.

As she worked, she found herself slipping with relief into the cool, clinical detachment of science and medicine, pondering the physical reality of what her partner had become, because the mystical side was beyond her realm of expertise. If she sent a sample of his saliva to the lab, would she discover the presence of anticoagulants, painkillers, aphrodisiacs—chemicals to make the victim more compliant and allow a vampire to feed more deeply? And, she thought with a blush, explain my reaction to his bite? Could his pale skin contain some kind of photo-reactive substance that burst into flames upon contact with sunlight? She had seen vampires bleed; what moved that blood through their bodies, when they had no detectable pulse? What sort of electrical activity would she find in his brain, how did he keep from rotting if his cells were no longer alive, and what was the mechanism of the change that came over him when the demon came out to feed?

By the time she had tended her wounds to her satisfaction, Scully had a long list of questions; even without the answers, she felt more secure in her skin than she had in days. Yes, something horrible had happened to her partner. Yes, she was adrift in a sea of paranormal mystery that she didn’t fully understand. But this was not the first time she had found herself faced with a daunting new reality; she had survived all that had come before, and she would survive this too. She was a medical doctor, a trained FBI agent, and a veteran of more than seven years worth of hauntings, monster hunts, and demons—both personal and literal.

She would face this. For Mulder and for herself. She would find answers, maybe even a cure, if not in the science she held so sacred than in the dusty tomes of mysticism and myth. She took comfort in reminding herself that they were not alone in this quest, that Mulder had somehow stumbled across a band of unlikely allies in this coastal town whose sunny days only belied nights filled with terror and death—allies who had spent years battling the stuff of nightmares and usually won. Even now they waited in town for Mulder and Scully to join them.

She stepped back into Mulder’s room to find that night had fallen completely, filling the room with an inky darkness. The lights were off—he didn’t need them to see in the dark anymore—but she found him by scent and touch just the same and laid a hand on his shoulder.

“You’d better get dressed, Mulder. It’s time to go see the Slayer.”

[coraniaid]

20 questions for fic writers

Thanks to @isagrimorie for the tag!

1 How many works do you have on Ao3?

14

2 What's your total Ao3 word count?

452,732

3 What fandoms do you write for?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and technically Angel, I suppose, but not really), Mass Effect (but not recently)

I've also tried writing some Avatar: The Last Airbender and Farscape and Person of Interest works over the years, but nothing that I've finished yet.

4 What are your top five fics by kudos?

Coexist: Season 3 Buffy AU in which it was Giles, and not Jenny, who was murdered by Angelus in Season 2 [27 chapters; 277,084 words; various POVs but mostly alternating Buffy/Faith]

Last Year's Rain Didn't Fall Quite So Hard: Season 4 Buffy AU in which Faith wakes up from her coma having forgotten about killing Allan Finch and everyting that happened afterwards [one shot; 16,904 words; Buffy POV]

Together: Season 3 Buffy AU in which the Homecoming Dance goes a bit differently [one shot; 2,711 words; Faith POV]

Done: post-canon Buffy fic set a few years after the end of Season 7, with Buffy having mostly stepped back from being an active Slayer [one shot; 4,312 words; Buffy POV]

Mixed Signals: post-canon Buffy fic looking at Faith's changing relationship with Buffy since first meeting her [one shot; 4,919 words; Faith POV]

5 Do you respond to comments?

Not often or promptly enough. I try though: I really do appreciate the comments I get a lot.

6 What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Think this is a toss-up between two different canon-compliant Faith POV one-shots: One Girl In All The World and Calling.

7 What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Together is the happiest and fluffiest thing I can imagine ever writing.

8 Do you get hate on fics?

I don't think so? None that I can remember anyway. (I do use the block and mute features on Ao3 though, so maybe I'm just blissfully ignorant.)

9 Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No. Just don't have the talent for it.

10 Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I don't have any published crossovers but I do have very vague ideas for a Buffy/Farscape crossover that I sometimes play around with in my mind. (Largely inspired by the joke of taking the couple of times Crichton makes references to 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' which his crewmates don't get, and pretending that they're right to assume he's talking about a person he knows rather than a TV show he used to watch.)

11 Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge (and honestly I'm not sure I'd want to know if I had?).

12 Have you ever had a fic translated?

If I have I don't know about it (and I would love to know if I did!).

13 Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. I think it might be fun, but I'd probably have to change the way I write a lot.

14 What's your all time favorite ship?

Moya!

I mean, look at her!

(Oh, okay, it's Buffy/Faith, if that wasn't obvious.)

15 What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I'd love to finish either of my uncompleted Mass Effect fics (the first and longest, Residuum, is actually fully planned out and has been for years: I just got stuck on writing a particular chapter and never managed to come back to it; I had a fairly detailed plan for Night Winds in Nos Astra when I posted the first chapter but then I decided I hated it and never figured out how to fix it.)

16 What are your writing strengths?

Dream sequences. Internal monologues. Foreshadowing. Planning. Quoting bits of canon back at the reader in hopefully interesting ways. Hopefully getting the characters' voices sounding reasonably accurate.

17 What are your writing weaknesses?

Deadlines. Brevity. Physical descriptions. Titles.

18 Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I haven't really thought about it much before, honestly.

19 First fandom you wrote for?

Mass Effect is the first fandom I submitted anything for anywhere online. I wrote some Avatar: The Last Airbender fic before that though (a long Azula POV AU that I would kind of like to come back to one day, though I'd probably have to rewrite it from scratch).

20 Favorite fic you've written

Realistically, I think popular consensus must be correct that Coexist is the best thing I've ever written (though I sometimes wish I'd spent more than a minute thinking up a title). It's definitely the work I'm proudest of, and I think it contains some of my best writing (and ... well, most of my writing, based on the numbers I just posted). But I have a bit of a soft spot for some of my earlier Mass Effect fics, which aren't incredibly polished but I learned a lot from working on, and for Last Year's Rain Didn't Fall Quite So Hard as well.

Tagging: @juanabaloo @beatriceeverytuesday @explosionshark @bodytoflame-ao3 and anyone else who wants to do this.

[buffysummers]

hi! those are my tags on your xander gifset. i have followed you for a long time & am pretty familiar with your opinions and the things you make (and am a massive fan of the vast majority of both!!!) and i know you obviously dont just pick the most memeable moments for the alphabet sets!! but i did just wanna message you to kinda stand by what i said -- the xander set specifically (and ive seen most of them!) i think does excessively highlight his negative qualities. more than half of the gifs are from the first three seasons and almost all the rest are from the seventh--i think xanders flaws (the misogyny, the toxic masculinity, insecurity, possessiveness, etc) are important and you should show them! i love xander so much because of how he grows. but when i say you have his best and worst and your opinion on him shows, i mean i think you chose to dwell on his early shittiness and then add in his best late moments, at the cost of using the gifset to show the growth that happens over the course of seasons 4-6. and i didnt really mean it as a criticism just an observation! and im not trying to fight, just wanted to explain what i was thinking, please take this in good faith. i love your blog and your thoughts and gifing talents make the buffy fandom a better place.

Hi! Thanks so much for saying that 🩷 I definitely did not think you meant to fight, so don't worry! I can be overly sensitive because the Buffy fandom tends to be overly critical of people's work, and often their criticisms are not based on the actual text of the show.

So, I just want to defend why I did that for his set, if you don't mind?

So, Xander's gifset is 18 gifs. Which, is a lot. I am not sure if you make gifsets yourself, but this takes a very, very long time. As you noted, Xander is not my favorite, but I also don't hate Xander. Having said that, I did not particularly enjoy making his set because 1) he is not a fav of mine, and 2) I knew it would flop because a lot of people do hate him. So, it did feel a bit like I was wasting my time because I knew very few people would appreciate the hard work and time I put into making the set.

As for the reasons why I chose those scenes for the set, I will walk you through it since I know you actually like Xander and would perhaps be interested in knowing my thought process behind each gif. (for anyone else who is reading this, I am referring to this set)

I start off every set with an introduction to the character, and more than likely, it's the character's introduction to Buffy, as she is the titular character and it's her show. The only exception is Tara, because while Tara is most definitely important to Buffy (especially in season 6), their development comes later on, and Tara is Willow's girlfriend. (Tara was the only romantic interest character set I did that was not for Buffy. I should also note I only did Angel for Buffy. So, two romantic interests in total.)

I chose this gif for a couple of reasons. The first was to display Xander's willingness to help Buffy, which also displays his bravery. The second was to show his toxic masculinity, how he appears to not only struggle with the idea of a woman being more important/powerful than him, but this is also a deep-rooted issue that we see a lot in the show. Given how important he is to the show, I did not feel the need to show several gifs concerning this trait because it would be overkill.

Xander's main function in the narrative is to serve as Buffy's friend, but he's also the classic "pines over the main character" trope. I thought this moment with the bracelet was sweet. It shows that he cares for her, but it also shows how awkward and nervous he is about potentially displaying those feelings.

Well, this is just a big moment for both characters. Xander, after pining for Buffy for the entire first season, finally admits to his feelings for Buffy. This takes a lot out of him.

A huge heroic moment for Xander, especially since she just rejected him. There were a lot of scenes I could've chosen, like him showing up to Angel's apartment, or him not caring about potentially dying as long as he could help Buffy. Ultimately, I chose what resulted of his bravery, ie: saving Buffy.

I chose this scene for a few reasons. The first is to show his loyalty to Buffy. Out of all the Scoobies, he is the only one to stay with Buffy the entire time she's in the hospital and he guards her room in case Angelus shows up. But, as is the case with a lot of his decisions in the first three seasons, his actions are motivated by his romantic feelings for Buffy. He hated Angel long before Angelus, and he even admits as much. This scene shows Xander's feelings and loyalty to Buffy, while also highlighting his hatred for not only Angelus, but his jealousy regarding Buffy and Angel's relationship. There is a reason why Angelus says this to Xander. He knows this will get under his skin and hurt him the most.

This is perhaps the first gif that truly just highlights his toxicity. Again, his feelings regarding Buffy/Angel and Angelus is his main narrative function in season two. There are (almost) no layers to this scene, in my opinion. He says this because he's jealous. I don't truly believe he cares all that much about Jenny for a lot of reasons, but mostly because of what happens in 7.05. Also, Buffy would never, ever want to simply erase or forget about Jenny's death, especially because of how much she loves Giles. She's also just a very compassionate person. What he says to her is simply untrue, and he only says this to hurt her because, once again, he's jealous.

I mean, this moment is too important to not include in the set. It is the worst thing he does in the entire show. So, even though it piggyback's off of the previous gif, you could say this is him putting his money where his mouth is. Before, he merely voiced his disdain for Angel/Angelus. This is him acting on it. This is him taking his jealousy to an entirely new level. This is pure selfishness.

The Scoobies really, really suck in "Dead Man's Party." They are super dismissive of Buffy's feelings and they minimize her trauma. They are all too concerned with how Buffy's disappearance impacted them, while overlooking where she's been and why she felt the need to flee to begin with. That is not to say the Scoobies's feelings shouldn't be factored in, but this scene perfectly encapsulates the messiness that is this episode. And Xander is by far the worst in this episode, so that is why his set gets the gif. Also, as stated above, Xander's character is very deeply tied to Buffy. He has a richly developed arc, but it mostly revolves around her, unlike Willow.

I tried to include more of the dialogue from this scene, but it covered his entire face and looked ugly. But I do think "I like the quiet" is powerful enough on his own. An outstanding moment for Xander. Such a great episode, overall.

This is so, so sweet and also shows you how much Xander has grown. It also highlights his emotional intelligence, which we haven't seen a lot of at this point in the series. Could this have to do with Angel leaving? Maybe. But he sees that Buffy is down, and takes the time to pick her up and support her. It's a wonderful friend moment.

I don't think this needs to be explained much. He saved the world. A courageous moment and this also displays his emotional intelligence and his ability to reach people.

I included this gif because 1) it's funny and 2) it's a good piece of exposition.

This is him reflecting on his years in high school and showing appreciation. A very good moment for him.

Supporting another Summers sister while also providing good exposition on his narrative purpose.

We all know he's the comic relief, so I thought it was best to include at least one gif that states that.

This shows his bravery once again. He lost an eye, he has no special powers, but hey, he still wants to go down fighting standing next to the woman he loves. (I still believe he is in love with Buffy. Fight me!) This scene is also reminiscent of when he followed her in 1.02, 1.12, and when he and Willow wanted to look for Buffy in 2.14.

This is a cute moment between them, and also very true. He brought Buffy back to life twice, and he also played a huge part in why she survives after Warren shot her.

So, while I agree that there's a lot of gifs from seasons 1-3, and 7, I think this set accurately encapsulates his function within the show's narrative. I did not include any gif from season 5, it is the only season that did not get a gif. And I thought a lot about that season. I could have included his relationship with Anya, or maybe his career taking off, but I just don't think that is as important as his relationship with Buffy and Willow.

If you look at Willow's set, for instance, there's a lot from season 6 because that's her season. I think Xander serves the narrative more in the early seasons, and in the final season, which is where he's at his best.

I did my best with the set, and I think I did a good job, even if you maybe don't agree with me. I hope you have a better understanding of the set now!

[ignitingthesky]

🌟 get to know people game 🌟

tagged by @stressfulsloth @anotherdapta

Current time: 16:18

Anything you've been doing lately: reading reading mostly reading! recently completed pjõl, currently on webnovels. I've also been collecting references for my art wips but not really working on them ....

Anything you intend to do later: more reading, this one's neverending. really really want to finish my wips in fact I'm setting a goal for finishing one in the next few days 👀. in the time I've spent not working on them my vision has been updating. also... it's probably time to start planning and preparing for school to begin again :'(. some admin to be done, and uh I also have ask/tag games I haven't completed xD

Anything you recently watched or played: for movies, other than ATSV, The Addiction (1995) which I watched with my friend <33 (hi I'm gonna tag you later too). Sexiest visual language for metaphorical vampirism I've seen so far. as for games, I'm still iterating different routes in Disco Elysium which means it's hard for me to fully get into other games atm even though I've a few waiting for me to continue?

Anything you want to watch or play: after Disco Elysium I want to finish Portal 2, Night in the Woods etc. Hades doesn't feel complete to me until I get the last statue on 32 heat but because of trying the mod on a new save I'm... stuck playing a new save? or something? I got Pathologic and haven't tried it yet and I have .... many other games in my steam... I've a real backlog there because of steam sales. I wanna finish watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer but I forgot which season I stopped at. Also want to keep up with the wild news of Riverdale. And I have a whole list of movies I want to watch by the end of this holiday! You may be surprised to know, (and I swear this list existed prior to recent events 😭) I haven't watched Titanic yet.

this is going to be a real mixed bag between like. mutuals I know well and mutuals I know nothing about. I can't tag everyone nor no one, so I'm randomising.

@roxyandelsewhere @iheardyourprayer @moonsun2010 @zscribez @rollstoast @birdy-bird27 @koloocheh

[carinavet]

Dracula movies, rated

After doing the Dracula daily readings last year, this year for my birthday I’ve been going through and watching all the classic (and not so classic) Dracula and Dracula-esque movies and such. The original plan was to do a movie marathon with my friends that led up to us going see Renfield in theatres yesterday, but, well, life happened and so we only managed to watch a few of the ones we intended to. Thus far I’ve seen Deafula (though I watched that one years ago, not recently), Dracula (1931), half of Nosferatu, Vampire’s Kiss, and Renfield. I’m going to go through and fill in the gaps as best I can but as I’m not marathoning the way I intended, it’ll take me a minute. But I want to give a little blurb on each one, and I’ll be doing that in order of production (and potentially rewatching things to catch references I didn’t get before). I’ll tag for spoilers, but I’ll be tagging for minor ones as well so read at your own discretion. Here’s my current overall watch list, and I’m open to suggestions for additions:

Nosferatu (1922)

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1931)

Horror of Dracula (1958)

Deafula (1975)

Count Dracula (1977)

Vampire’s Kiss (1988)

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

Buffy - Buffy vs Dracula (2000)

Van Helsing (2004)

Supernatural - Monster Movie (2008)

Dracula (2013)

What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Dracula ballet (2018)

Dracula (2020)

Renfield (2023)

The Voyage of the Demeter (?)