#also i picked the darkest scene in both episodes to start with so everything's easier after this hell

[elialys]

Beneath my hands your small breasts are the upturned bellies of breathing fallen sparrow. [x]

ANNA TORV & ALEX WOLFF as Charmian Clift & Leonard Cohen in So Long, Marianne

[napoleon-usher]

Basic Giffing Tutorial

How I make gifs for a simple scene + coloring + captions under the cut:

I’ll show you how to make this ^^^ gif (including the sharpening, coloring and captioning process).

Okay let’s start with what you need to do this: A version of photoshop with timeline (I use photoshop 2020 but probably any version will work, the program layout might just look a bit different), HD videos to gif from (preferably 1080p, especially for making big gifs, but 720p is also okay if you can’t get anything better, I just recommend making smaller gifs with it), some kind of video player that lets you trim clips in it (I use Quicktime Player because it’s the default for Macs)

1. Start with a video clip of the scene you want to gif. I usually download full episodes and clip scenes from the episode. My computer is a MacBook Pro and the default video player is Quicktime so I just trim my clips directly in that. In Quicktime you can just press CMD+T and it’ll give you trimming options. Most people use the screencapping method to make gifs, but it requires extra software and that’s not how I learned, so I’m going to tell you how to gif straight from video clips. I have no idea if there’s a difference in quality or ease between the two methods, but if you find that my way is too difficult then there are plenty of tutorials on how to do it via screencapping too like this one.

2. Open the clip in Photoshop. Just hit CMD+O and then select the video you want to gif from (or go to File > Open). Then, in the Timeline window at the bottom, scrub through the video and trim it (with the little scissor icon to the left) at the first frame of the scene/shot you want to gif and the last frame. Delete the excess clips. Before the next part, I usually crop off the black borders that some videos have if their original aspect ratio isn’t 16:9 (which most aren’t). For TV shows from Netflix, for example, the aspect ratio is usually 2:1 (or 540:270) so if you set the crop ratio to this you can get rid of exactly the black, no more and no less. I have several preset crop ratios (540:270 for TV shows, 540:225 for most movies, etc.). You can do further cropping after you have made and colored the gif, but getting rid of borders before converting the video to frames makes this easier. If your video does not have these black borders to begin with, ignore this part.

3. Convert video to frames. In the upper right hand corner of the Timeline window there is an icon that is four small lines stacked on each other (time line menu). When you click on it, a drop down menu will appear. In this menu select “Convert Frames > Flatten Frames into Clips.” Then click the button in the lower left hand corner (three small rectangles next to each other; frame animation button) that says “Convert to frame animation” when you hover over it.

After, it should look like either of these. Sometimes, if you crop the video before you start the process, it gives you two frames like in the image on the right above. If this happens, delete the frame with the shorter time stamp on it (as indicated by the number at the bottom). Next, click the dropdown menu in the timeline window again and select “Make Frames From Layers.” It will then turn into multiple frames, as shown below:

Delete the first frame (it will have a number under it, while the rest of the frames say “0 sec”), then use “select all frames” from the dropdown menu so that they are all highlighted and click “0 sec > other” and set the frame delay to “.06 seconds.” Scroll down to the bottom of the layers channel window and click and delete “Video Group 1″ then scroll back to the to top of the window and select all the layers by holding Shift and clicking on the top layer. Click the icon in the lower left hand corner that says “Convert to Video Timeline (video timeline button) and the frames should convert to long purple bars stacked vertically on top of each other. Then, under the “Filters” drop down menu at the top of the screen, select “Convert for Smart Filters.” This converts the layers to a smart object, turning the stack of bars a single purple bar and a single layer in the layers channel. When you press play in the timeline window, the image should move and play through like a video. If it doesn’t, you missed a step. It should now look like this (the left is the timeline window; the right is the layers window):

This seems like a lengthy process, but I have compiled most of these steps into a few Actions. With the actions (starting at step 3 of this tutorial) you use “Part1″, delete the frame with the shorter time stamp on it (if needed), “make frames from layers,” delete the first frame and Video Group 1, select all frames in Timeline and change frame delay to .06 seconds, select all layers in the Layers window, then use "Part2″. I assign my actions to function keys so all I have to do is use a few keyboard shortcuts ( i.e. Part1 is F1, Part2 is F2, etc.). This makes the whole process much quicker. Here is a link to download the actions I created for this process. Once you get the hang of using the actions, it all goes pretty fast. Also, when using the actions you might get messages like this:

Just click stop and keep going with the instructions.

4. Duplicate the frame in the layers window and set the top layer to screen using the drop down menu in the window (it’s the second from the top and should say “Normal” to begin with. That changes the scene from this:

to this:

5. Make coloring adjustments. Everyone colors gifs in their own ways, so you absolutely don’t have to follow what I do. This is just the basics of how I color:

I always start with Levels (some people use curves, some people use both, I never learned how to use curves though). Under the levels adjustment menu, I start by using the black point dropper and select the darkest part of the image. Sometimes it takes a bit of clicking around with the dropper to find what works. Depending on the scene (colors, lighting, etc.) I also move the sliders if needed. There’s no real formula to it, I just do everything by sight, changing things until it looks good to me. For this gif, I selected a dark part of Jamie’s hair with the black point dropper. Then I did some minor adjustments with the sliders on the graph. If you’re coloring a darker scene, the sliders are very useful for brightening the scene, but this is a fairly well lit scene so not much is needed. This is the scene with Levels added:

Next, I usually use color balance to fix the color changes that Levels made. This looks too yellow to me now, so I use the yellow-blue slider to add in blue. You’ll have to play around with what looks best for whatever scene you’re giffing, but I’ve found that most scenes I add blue and sometime add red or cyan, but rarely use the magenta-green slider. With color balance added:

Next I use a series of selective color layer. Make a new layer for every different color adjustment you make, it makes it easier to edit if you make a mistake or want to make changes later. I always start with Black, usually just adding a little to Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow so that it increases the contrast of the whole scene.

From there, you have to pick out what colors you want to accent or correct. You get better at this the more you do it. In this scene, I want to accent the green of the plants and the purple of their clothes. Normally I would do Red next to adjust skin tone, but because I want to increase the green in the picture, I’m going to start with Yellow. This will make skin tones look too yellow-green, but you can correct this with a Red Selective Color layer. The Yellow layer made the plants greener, but the Red returned the proper color to Dani’s skin.

I keep adding more selective color layers to bring out more color in the scene.

To make it even more vibrant, I use several Hue/Saturation layers to increase the saturation of certain colors.

Sometimes I also add a Vibrance layer, but for this scene it wasn’t needed. Lastly, I usually add a Brightness/Contrast layer. I prefer to get contrast out of deepening the blacks in the scene rather than use the contrast setting in this adjustment layer, but sometimes I do use it. Most of the time I just increase the brightness a little, depending on the lighting in the scene.

Really, coloring is all about just messing with different settings until things look right to you. I’m still learning new things every time I make a new gif. There are tons of other adjustments available that I haven’t even tried out, so feel free to mess around with them. Note: The more adjustment layers you add, the more the quality might decrease. I do try to do minimal adjustments normally, but I wanted to make this coloring fairly vibrant so it has a lot more layers.

If you are making multiple gifs from the same scene, repeat the process of Steps 1-4 and then copy the adjustment layers from the first gif to each subsequent gif. I normally group all the adjustment layers together (select the layers and press CMD+G) which makes it easier to copy the layers to another PSD.

6. Crop and resize the gif. You can crop your gifs any way you want. I’m in the habit of making rather large gifs (which is thankfully now possible due to the 10mb size limit) and most of my gifs are cropped at ratios of 3:2, 4:3, or 1:1. For longer scenes I usually use 16:9. Crop your gif at whatever ratio you want and then resize it. For Tumblr, there are specific dimensions that gifs have to be for them to format properly in posts. For “large” gifs (one per row), they must be 540px wide. Height does not matter. For smaller gifs they have to be either 268px (two per row) or 177px (three per row). Resize the gif by either using CMD+OPTION+I or going to the “Image” dropdown menu at the top of the screen and clicking on “Image Size” If you already cropped at your desired ratio, just change the width to 540, 268, or 177, according to the size gifs you want.

7. Sharpen the gif. After you have cropped and resized the gif as desired, you need to sharpen it. Because of the method I used in the beginning (duplicating the layers and setting the top to screen), you will have to add a Sharpening filter and a Gaussian Blur filter. Select the top layer of the gif (not the top coloring layer) and click on the “Filter” dropdown menu at the top then select “Sharpen > Smart Sharpen” These are my sharpening settings (if you’ve ever giffed before, or looked at other tutorials, you’ll notice this is sharper than most people would use. That’s because you also have to slightly blur the layer below it, which dilutes it to a proper sharpness):

Next, select the lower layer of the gif and go back the the “Filter” menu and select “Blur > Gaussian Blur” and set the radius to “1.0 pixels.”

These sharpening and blur settings are also actions I’ve created. If you download the action I listed before, assign them to function keys and you will just have to select the appropriate layer and use the function key to do the work. Additionally, learning the keyboard shortcuts speeds along the process. 

8. Export/save the gif. Go to “File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy)” or CMD+OPTION+SHIFT+S. These are my save settings (I actually have no idea what any of these things mean... I’ve never changed any of them).

The important thing really is that you make sure that under looping options near the bottom (not shown in this screenshot) it says “Forever,” not “Once.” And also check how big the file is in the bottom left corner:

As long as the number under GIF is less than 10M, you’re good to go. Then save the file and name it.

9. Caption the gif (if needed). You can either do this in the PSD you already had open to create the gif or you can open the gif you just saved and caption it there. I find it easier to add captions directly in the current PSD. When it comes to captions, it’s really based on your own preferences. I’ve seen people use all different fonts, sizes, colors, and placements for captions. Some fonts I can recommend are: Myriad Pro, Calibri, Arial Rounded MT Bold, and Keep Calm.

There are plenty of others too. The main thing is that they normally look best when they are bolded and italicized. I have been using Keep Calm for my captions lately. I also add Stroke and Drop Shadow to the text (my text settings are also included in my Actions):

Just make sure the text is centered and has a good margin from the bottom.

This is what it looks like with those effects ( font: Keep Calm; size: 13; tracking: -25).

Anyway, that’s my basic process for gifmaking and coloring. I hope this gives you some kind of foundation to work off of. Just keep experimenting with different techniques and you’ll keep getting better. Read other people’s tutorials and tips and try them out to see what you like and works for you.

[rochey1010]

Hi guys, 👋 i just wanted to make a post about something that i feel is about to happen on the show, like i am completely convinced of this now.

I'm seeing major foreshadowing going on with Elu and what will be the outcome of the spoiler movie plot.

Ok, so something i've noticed with Eliott this season is that he's kinda in his own world. Yes i know they are showing his individualism and i'm happy to see that because i think he's a beautiful and complex character and deserves so much insight.

But certain things i've noticed in scenes and certain things i've heard Eliott say is starting to make me think we are heading for Eliott having his own rock bottom moment. I'm just gonna list some things that seem to connect for me.

• The hiding and lying really been highlighted with Eliott's arc. The almost casual way too. Like it's a habit and second nature. He's done it so much in my eyes to hide his true self that it's basically become a mask now. How he justifies these things to others and how oblivious he really is to how others see it too. How outside perspective is different from Eliott perspective e g. Lola calling him out with the urbex hiding, Lucas's anger when he was blindsided with Lola being in their home.

•For the first time ever with Lucas we see him at Daphne's party monitoring himself in regards to Eliott's mental illness. He's not monitoring Eliott and i have a theory on that. Lucas is so afraid of being a Lucille that he's passive with things that may be seen as controlling. So instead he tries to be cautious and make the situation about it being Lucas's choice and not a choice made for Eliott. I don't think it's an accident at all that Arthur walks up to Lucas and Eliott and wants to share a joint and Lucas who is cuddling Eliott and playing with his hair brushes Arthur off without saying what the audience is picking up on. For the first time ever we see Eliott chafe under this and we are aware that Eliott knows what Lucas is doing. Eliott tells him in an almost biting the tongue way to go and it's ok. And Lucas says these very telling words "Can i?" And Eliott says "yes Lucas" Lucas then happy kisses Eliott on the cheek and goes off with Arthur.

• The argument Lola wakes up to where we see that Eliott impulsive, forgot to let Lucas know what he was coming home to. Now i must say i don't blame Eliott for not doing this as the night was intense. And he'd just saved a girl from attempted rape and was prob up for hours with her and got very little sleep himself. But i also see Lucas's point too. Lucas is passionate. It's not out of character. It is part of who Lucas is. That is why he is a hedgehog. He is simply prickly and reactive. We have seen this throughout the show. He initially acts in a defensive way (hedgehog quills) and then he calms and deals. But again we see Lucas thrown off guard with Eliott and his impulsivity. So they are yelling and then Lucas says "she has problems" and Eliott tells him he has problems too, and Eliott acts offended that Lucas is being judgmental. And again it's a trait with Lucas too, and highlights again the group dynamics and the reaction to outsiders. Lucas accepts Eliott's illness but found it hard to accept his mothers. His love for Eliott changed his perceptive though as we see in S3. Lucas still shows that he has prejudices. He has made comments that are ignorant and unfair throughout the show e.g. mental illness, LGBTQ+, ableism with Arthur, Panphobia stereotypes etc. He just did it again with Lola. Like i said before, i play no favourites i see these characters as complex and when they're messy or flawed they are more interesting to me. So i have no issues when they F up. They're young, insecure, and it feels true to life. But yeah i notice with Lucas (again highlighting insulation in the group v isolation in outsiders) that Lucas has a moral view. If i care and love you i will accept you warts and all. If you are unknown and alien my quills are ready to go. And this is a direct contrast to Eliott who comes in and spreads his arms ready to hug the world. Even adopts furry animals. 😍

Then again something is said that shows how Lucas views his position with Eliott and his mental health. Eliott gives a hypothetical and says to lucas if he were in trouble Lucas would want him to be helped and safe, and Lucas says back. Yeah, but Lucas himself should be that person that should handle it. Now i don't blame Lucas. He loves Eliott so much and he wants him safe but i got subtle control out of that comment and an implication that Eliott can't handle himself. And we see the direct contrast the night before when Eliott, who the last time we saw in that hoodie with the hood raised, he was at his worst and crying in La Petite Ceinture needing rescue. But now he's the one that finds his power and rescues someone else. That he is capable, individual and has 2 feet.

•The mental illness talk with Lola and us learning more of Eliott's past. I loved this because we again see Eliott speak for himself. We get the much begged for past history of Eliott and his struggles. And he gets to impart wisdom and help someone else. That there is power in this friendship with Lola. For Eliott he not only sees the mistakes of his past he can rectify but he can be strong and guide someone out of the darkness he once found himself in. I find that incredibly beautiful and amazing character insight. But again it highlights how oblivious Eliott is to his actions on the one he loves most. His Lucas. Like i could write a huge ass post on Eliott alone and why he does the things he does, but i may get kicked off the tag if i do. 😄 but 2 words come to mind with Eliott and his love with Lucas.

FEAR: The fear of the past repeating and control happening AND the fear of being real and true because it's too much and you are a burden. And it all being rooted in his mental illness.

"i don't know how to control it and it is killing me"

Eliott tells Lola that his bipolar episodes can be quite violent. That there are funny ones (choc labrador thievery) and very sad ones (3 time attempt to take your life) like i knew his past was dark. (anyone that creates a refuge to release in and cry like you're still hiding, even from yourself and uses that as a coping mechanism?) Something horrible must have happened for you to resort to that.

And i've always maintained that Eliott is one of the darkest Even's, and France have not romanticised the portrayal of his mental illness in any way shape or form. He has snapped at lucas during his crash , had episodes where lucas can only watch him helplessly and love him regardless, his insta journal has been quite heartbreaking with his mental/emotional state, he sometimes won't take his meds, he'll hide his bipolar out of fear and run, he has his personal refuge, he's tried to take his life, he needs to get away and breathe, and he still has suicide thoughts even though he has Lucas. You have got to applaud the show with how they've handled Eliott and his illness. It's very real, and you may love someone immensely but depression doesn't care what they mean to you. They will be by your side but they can't fix you and love your mind to better health. You're still gonna have negative thoughts, you're still gonna slip and regress but having the one you love hold your hand makes it easier to navigate those scary moments. 👏

But through this something dawned on me. Eliott is sabotaging his relationship in his pursuit not to. And i gotta say i find that so sad. He's creating this love bubble, actually they both are, and nothing can penetrate the love bubble. That means fears and insecurities stay outside. He's lying and hiding to protect himself, protect Lucas from himself and keep Lucas from leaving him. Lucas is too but that essay is for another time. 😄 and he says to Lola that to love someone is to accept them even with their flaws. But he's lying to Lola too because he won't let Lucas see his flaws because it means Lucas leaves. 😭 we saw Eliott once open up to Lucas in S3 Lundi and the way Maxence played that scene was beautiful, because you see just how heavy being mentally ill is on Eliott. That he believes he'll just ruin everything around him

"things will change, i don't want them to but they will and it'll be because of me"

He can't keep eye contact with Lucas and his entire demeanour is one of wobbly defeat. You have never seen Eliott more vulnerable in this moment. His shame, embarassment, and self loathing is oozing out of his pores. He doesn't even want Lucas to have to deal with it, and his expectation is that the relationship ends here. And to add to that, he shows just how much he loves Lucas by saying how he can't bear to see him hurt or in any kind of pain. Lucas fights for them and Eliott has hope. But we realise that things don't just change overnight, days, months etc. Eliott still has demons inside him that tell him hurtful and toxic things that all people who suffer with mental illness go through. And when Lucas tells him he loves him there's still a voice in Eliott that says " for how long" and "you won't when you see who i am" i'm not exaggerating here. I deal with mental illness and it destroys your self worth. It is a daily fight and you kinda can see yourself as an alien in the world. It really has the power to twist your perception of the world in the ugliest way. FYI and TMI but when i had a severe anxiety episode that had crept up over years of denial and added to a huge life stressor. It lasted weeks before i accepted i needed help. I used to do what Eliott would do, and when it was too much i would up and leave, go to a nearby park and sit on the bench alone and sad. One time i looked up at the clouds and instead of seeing the beauty of nature, i saw mockery. I actually saw clouds laughing at me. 😄 no it wasn't delusions. It was simply a twisted perception of the world where there was self loathing, failure, and the feeling of powerlessness. I don't know why i included this, sorry for the discomfort. ☺️

But back to Eliott. Lola asks if things will be ok with him and Lucas. Eliott is like yeah and just throws out:

"He's worried about me, i have bipolar disorder, do you know what that is?"

Anyone else pick up on the emphasis Eliott does there in his relationship with Lucas. Brings it back to the mental illness and the oblivious nature of other things, like miss-communication and hiding things. Like Eliott's world in this relationship is "I have bipolar disorder" like that's a huge focus for Eliott.

Then they are comparing loves. Eliott telling Lola that "And i have Lucas, I can't lose this" we are actually hearing this from his mouth, and again, the reinforcement of the root of Eliott's insecurities. I can't lose Lucas. He has made my life better and makes the bad stuff not so overwhelming and scary AKA i'm afraid he will leave. So i will use my power to stop that from happening. She's sad and tells Eliott she had a Lucas (Maya) but lost her. Eliott tells her to find her Lucas and if she loves her she'll accept her. Which is obviously going to happen with Maya and Lola. She'll tell her the past which is connected to Lola's addict issues. And like Lucas, Maya's love for Lola will help her to overcome her pain and move forward, and Lola to find her light and not be so scared of her darkness.

• Every single time Eliott is asked by someone about him keeping things from Lucas. His answer is the obsessive "i want to protect him and i don't want to stress him or worry him" We saw it with Imane in S4 and we saw it with Lola recently. We add on the inner insecurities with "It'll be too much and he won't stay" and here's Eliott folks. 😔 We know he has an arc this season. Max said Eliott has a beautiful emotional journey, and that he helps the main with his past.

But one thing that every person who goes through emotional turmoil AKA Skam season main journey. It's called the moment that is the wake up call for the character. The moment that you are at your lowest and you must face yourself. Eliott can't be main as he's blocked but we are seeing that he has a lot of focus. So far he's in the show a lot and very active too.

We know that Elu's seasons long issues are being addressed finally. We know that Eliott himself will be addressed. What's one thing that has remained the same in Eliott and Lucas's love? The hiding things from Eliott and Lucas forgiving him AKA Lucas has never left. What's one thing that could be a very scary wakeup call for Eliott? Lucas leaving.

Now i don't think those scenes are throwaway at all, and i don't think the dialogue is either. They've slowly set this arc up since S5 for Eliott and the relationship with Lucas. Little stressors that just watching S5 you play off but now paired with S6 become very serious. I've mentioned some of them in other posts. We know the spoiler movie is coming. We know how lucas reacts to Eliott being honest and we can almost say how Eliott reacts = impulsivity and rebellion.

But the fallout? And i do think the story is going there guys. Which i'm fine with tbh, along with the conflict and the relationship. Saying it's just drama or out of the blue would be a humongous lie. This has been building for seasons and it is incredibly consistent with the relationship and the characters. Now i'd agree with fans if Eliott and Lucas were eternally blissful and then suddenly boom issues. But that hasn't happened at all. It's been tiny little stressors building up to the eventual crack, or my analogy = the bubble eventually pops.

So the movie happens, and for Lucas it's the straw that breaks the camel's back. His breaking point for him to end the relationship or leave Eliott. And it's Eliott's breaking point. We have his words, we didn't need them, let's be real, but we have them. He needs Lucas and everyone knows how much he loves him. Like that is not even debatable. Eliott is deeply in love with his hedgehog. But it's the wake up call to the relationship, and it's the wakeup call to Eliott. He can't continue this self sabotage and he has to face everything. But guys, Eliott really emphasised his need for Lucas. That ultimately tells me he's put his mental health on this need too. I think Eliott is going to be triggered and spiral. Like i'm sure of it now. And i think that is when S3 main Lucas will have his talk with S6 main Lola. I think she's gonna bring them back together. And i think that's what Flavie meant in her live "she helps him too"

I just wanna say i'm not gonna be in the tag saying Eliott or Lucas is a villain. I think it's sad when stress happens we pit the characters against each other. I wish the fanbase could be compassionate and empathetic. And you may not agree with what a character does but you accept that these characters are not black and white and they make mistakes, mess up and do stupid shit. It's the journey that we all go on and as other fans have said, growth is not linear.

Finally, god these posts are getting longer. I've lurked for so long and now my thoughts are just piling up. 😄 but yeah, i noticed some fans say that this Lucas and Eliott stuff should be over, they're together a year so should have dealt with their issues. Like i just have to say to that what?? Like relationship issues happen. You don't just fix them and bam happily ever after. The same issues can crop up throughout a relationship, because you are not just dealing with you as a unit but you are dealing with you as an individual too. You have the baggage the relationship causes and your carry on's that you yourself bring to the relationship. Your own personal issues and insecurities can continue to crop up causing problems.

Stressors can expose cracks, and that is what is happening. Denying and placing to the side issues like you'll deal with them later but you never do because you're afraid of the response thinking The relationship fails or you lose each other. Like think of anxiety. It's the ultimate result of not dealing with life issues. They build and build throughout life untill they become a disorder. These 2 haven't dealt with them untill now, and that's why they are coming to a head finally. And from a show perspective the format really limits them. Focusing on one main can't explore others and their issues, because the main has to be there. The only way you can do that is breaking format and Skam is quite strict with their narrative. What's happening with Eliott is a case of 'this is the best we can do' he's blocked but they want to give this beloved character the insight the fanbase has been begging for. They don't usually do this. Usually it's the main and his/her ensemble but this time it's the main + 2 part mains in Daphne and Eliott. The ensemble is background this season. And Eliott has an arc since S3 so of course they are going to bring these seasons built relationship issues to the surface and address them. They are wrapping up the old generation and handing over to new now. All these threads are being dealt with.

So what i said about stressors exposing cracks. Well here's a stressor? moving in together. Before Eliott lived alone, with his parents checking in frequently (prob his bipolar disorder) but he could breathe and be, and hide and be alone whenever he wanted. Now he's living with Lucas. And they love each other but there are teething problems. We saw them laid beautifully in S5, and being together only a year is really nothing. Most of that would be a honeymoon period, let's be honest here. And they have such an intense and emotional love. Like they are young (17/18 and 19/20) and have found the life partner they want. Just think about that, and the issues of that responsibility as well. In reality you don't find your life partner at that age. You really don't.

And people mess up. They make mistakes and they grow but it's not a full stop there. You make other mistakes and you mess up. And environmental triggers can happen that can make more mistakes happen, and can even make you regress. You fight in life. You don't sail through it. Does anybody? So yeah, oh sweet the lovebirds moved in together but moving in together has also highlighted issues not dealt with. Couples face tests. And importantly that "minute par minute" scene is now being seen in action. That means the bad times as well as the good. This relationship started in so much fear for both and i'm sorry that level of fear doesn't just poof away. We are seeing that.

Now i'm done. I really don't blame anyone if they don't read this. Even i'm ashamed at the length. But will i still post it? Yep 😄💜

[calliecat93]

The Legend of Korra Rewatch: Book One Episodes 9-12

Out of the Past: This one was so mixed for me back in the day. On the one hand there’s a lot of good stuff. Korra finally making a spiritual connection, Lin bejng a badass, the whole prison break, the entire ending woth Tarrlok and Amon, and Korra being a badass. All of it is fun, exciting, and plants the seeds for the revelations in the final act. The only annoying part is, again, the love triangle. This just was NOT the time when Korra’s safety was in jeopardy. I fully get Asami’s concerns due to last episode and Bolin confirming that Korra and Mako kissed while Mako was dating her and Mako’s behavior makes it clear that he’s pretty violently concerned for her. But it just feels wrong to do this here. They sjould have had Asami just wait until next episode to confront Mako, maybe with a sjot or two of her looking sad or Mako more directly pushing her away to justify doing if here more. Thankfully the rest of the episode’s good points still make this one overall a solid episode as we start heading for the endgame.

Turning the Tides: Full on terror attack. Again, this somehow made it on a Nickelodeon show and this won’t even be the darkest part. But yeah, things are intense. While we have more love triangle drama, I DO like that Asami keeps her anger rightfully on Mako instead lf getting jealous of and hating on Korra. It helped make her even more likable. There’s so much dread in this episode. The Equalists have gained control of everything and no one is safe. Even Tenzin’s family is in jeopardy and Lin sacrifices herself to save them, losing her Bending as a result. All of our heroes get their badass moments here despite it all, and it’s such a thrilling episode. Oh and Lin dealing with children was hilarious XD

Skeletons in the Closet: Penultimate episode, and once more the tension is ramping. It is full on insanity at this point and I am loving it. I fee liem Iroh only exists to have an excuse to bring Dante Basco, but he works well enough plus who can blame them? Despite all the odds and obstacles, our heroes don’t give up and with Iroh there they now have someone who can strategize, giving them their chance. Then we get the big reveal when Korra and Mako find Tarrlok. Originally I wasn’t sure how I felt about it or Tarrlok’s sudden Heel Realization as TVTropes would call it… but not only did the next episode change my mind very quickly buw now that I’m much more capable of character analysis and paying attention, it makes perfect sense. Why Tarrlok became a corrupt politician, why Noatak became Amon, why they each reapectivly act like they do, everything with theor backstory makes sense. Tarrlok’s defeat made him realize he became no better than Yakone, even almost resorting to running away to start a new life which is exactly what lead to his own terrible childhood. It even explains why Amon took Tarrlok isntead of just leaving him in the compund, to keep him out of the way/having at least soem care towards his younger brother still. It made both villains motices make sense, and set the final seed for Amon’s downfall.

Endgame: Season finale. It is exactly as I remembered/felt the last time. The action is great, all the heroes get to really shine in one way or the other, and Amon and Tarrlok’s ultimate fate is still one of the darkest scenes I’ve seen in a kids show. My jaw dropped when I first saw it because the fact that Nickelodeon allowed a blatant murder-suicide shocked me to my core. Then we have Korra. I had found Korra unlocking airbending contrived last tike… but hoenstly now and after hearing other opinions, I think it firs perfectly well. Plus Aang defeating Ozai was contrived and we’s get better final battle’s so it’s not a big deal plus Korra was badass. I also don’t mind her getting her Bending back like she did since after everything, I felt like she’d earned it and S2 showed that she had plenty of growing to do still. Mako and Korra kiss… yeah I was omay with them bejng together but I hated how it happened and I still do. But we know what happens in the enxt three seasons so ah well. Overall, it was a really good if somewhat rushed finale. I couldn’t look away when it premiered and I could still fee that adrenaile again here.

Book 1 is overal a solid season. It was rushed, the love triangle was a mess, and there are a few contrivances at the end. But along with me knowing what happens later mitigating those issues for me, I am very forgiving and was even back the since this was made under the belief that Korra would be a one season miniseries so they had to try and wrap everything up in only 12 episodss. S2 got ordered when it was too late to change anything and that’s not Bryke’s fault. Under all that, I think that Book 1 was fun, had good characters, great action and tension, a good plot with good villains, and was just a really fun watch with plenty to take away that’s still relevant now, maybe even moreso. The show doesn’t spell everything out and it really asks you to ly attention and think, and it was much easier to pick up on everything than in 2012. It made the season all the better for me and I had already enjoyed it before the rewatch. It was a joy to watch it all again after so long, and I still loved it~

Book 2 is next. I was one of those weird people whoa ctually realy liked Book 2. It had it’s issues and is the weakest of the four, but there’s was more than enough for me to still enjoy it. But that was back in 2013. Will that change now? Well we’ll find out soon~

[marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer]

MTVS Epic Rewatch #156

BTVS 6x07

Obligatory soundtrack to make your reading expeerience better :)

Stray thoughts

1) I have to be honest, this was probably the most difficult recap I’ve written so far (other than The Body, which I skipped altogether and asked for submissions instead.) OMWF was the episode I was most looking forward to rewatching. It’s my favorite BTVS episode. It’s my favorite episode of anything/everything ever, period. I’ve watched it probably more than 50 times (I watched it three times just as part of this rewatch, just so you know.) And as much as I love this episode, I was really clueless about how to write a review about it. Like, what can be said about one of the most talked and written about episodes in the history of television? What can I say about it? How can I honor my love for it and what it means to me in my review? Do I write my recap in a different format? What am I bringing to the table? The truth is, I didn’t have the answers to any of these questions so that’s why I’ve been kind of quiet on Tumblr lately. I just couldn’t get around to writing this recap. At the same time, I wanted to move forward and I wanted to rewatch this episode again and gif the hell out of it. So I said fuck it. Let’s just write a regular recap and be done with it. Anywho, I tried to break down the episode by scenes/songs but you’ll also find fun quotes and the usual stupid things I do with screenshots and whatnot. 

So on with it!

TL;DR: I love this episode a whole lot and I didn’t know how to write a recap about it. 

2)  Opening Credits

When watching TV, there are certain clues that let the viewers know they’re about to watch something different, if not special or momentous. The first of these clues is very straightforward: if a TV episode starts with a “previously on” clip, you know something’s about to go down. If the storyteller is purposefully reminding you of events that have transpired in the show, there must be and there usually is a good reason for it. It typically means that said past events will bear a certain relevance to the episode’s plot. It may also serve to remind you exactly why everything is going to shit at present? Either way, as a TV viewer, whenever I start watching an episode that begins with a “previously-on”, it kind of makes me go “Oh oh, something’s up.” A second clue is the lack of a teaser (i.e. that short clip before the opening credits that literally teases what’s to come and makes the viewers want to continue watching the episode) because that breaks the standard structure of a TV episode and it kind of raises a red flag: if the writer didn’t want to tease anything about what I’m about to watch, then it must be huge. There’s also a third clue: the opening credits may be somewhat altered, which has written “special episode” all over it. And if that weren’t enough, the episode may get a special title card just to finally hammer the point home that this is not your typical episode. These techniques serve to raise the viewers’ expectations. OMWF implements all of these, and it succeeds not only in raising the viewers’ expectations but also in exceeding them. Suffice to say, when I first watched this episode I was pretty much freaking out by this point (even though I watched the show as it originally aired, or rather a few months after it originally aired because that was when it aired in my country, I didn’t consume any media about Buffy other than what I watched on my TV, so I wasn’t privy to the fact I was about to watch a musical episode.) But I hadn’t lost it yet, that was just a couple of minutes away... 

3) Opening scene

The opening scene has no dialogue and yet it is extremely effective in conveying Buffy’s depression. We see what “A Day in the Life” is for Buffy, and it is not pretty. The first scene says it all, actually.Buffy has clearly been awake for hours – if she has been able to sleep at all. And then the alarm clocks starts blaring, and she stares at it because it is basically reminding her that she has to start pretending all over again. It’s yet another reminder of everything she’s lost and how hard it is for her to just be alive. She picks up the clock and continues to stare at it, but she never turns it off. She just lies there, staring at the blaring alarm clock. This is exactly how Buffy has been feeling since she came back: just there. No emotions and no feelings other than pain and sadness. Sometimes not even that. She’s mostly numb. 

Meanwhile, everything around her is life and movement and happiness.  We see Tara making the bed (and finding the little “present” Willow had left for her the previous night…), Willow getting dressed and Dawn hurrying her so that she can take her turn to get ready. And Buffy… 

After a few minutes, Buffy is still there. Barely. This shot is relevant not only because it depicts Buffy’s state but also how everyone around her was pretty oblivious to how she was feeling. Yes, Buffy did pretend to feel fine. But a person can keep up the happy façade for so long, there are always cracks, and others can notice those cracks if they pay enough attention. Unfortunately, it was easier for the Scoobies to buy the “I’m happy and grateful” discourse than to own up to what they had done to their friend.

The scene at the magic shop is pretty much the same: everyone is going on about their own lives, and Buffy is barely there. And worst of all, no one even notices how barely there she is.

I’d said this before and it’ll probably be the last thing I say with my dying breath: Buffy’s depression was the best arc in the whole show. Fight me. 

4) Going Through the Motions

Buffy’s day ends, as per usual, with her patrolling the cemetery. And this is the moment I lost my shit and never got it back...

I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing! Buffy was singing a song? About herself and how she felt? What was this and what had I done to deserve it? Was I in heaven? (of course, naive me thought: “a musical episode! this should be fun!”)

Season Arc Relevance: “Going Through the Motions” is your typical Disney princess song, which works perfectly in that it is a juxtaposition of how Buffy thinks life should be (music/style) and how life really feels to her (lyrics). She should be the princess in her own story, except she has kind of lost her will to live? In this song, Buffy is addressing her depression, acknowledging it to herself more than anything. She knows she’s been playing the part, going through the motions in her personal life and her “work.” Buffy is suffering from PTSD and depression, and it has affected how she experiences her slayerness. Throughout the prior 5 seasons, Buffy had gone through different stages as regards her status as a slayer and what it meant to her. She had quit more than once, run away from it, almost gave herself up to its darkest side, tried to figure out what it meant for her, and finally embraced it. It is expected, considering it was such a huge part of her identity. But never along the way had she ever felt indifference or apathy towards her slayerness, which was how she was currently feeling. She didn’t see it as a burden, she kept doing it because she knew how to and it was just something else to do. But the purpose had been lost the moment she lost herself. The rest of the season will be a quite painful journey till Buffy finally feels alive, and, more importantly, rejoices in being alive. 

What I love about this song: even if Buffy has lost that drive and motivation, even if she is just going through the motions, she still yearns to feel otherwise. And that just goes to show how strong she is, you know? She could be curled up in her bed, crying about everything that she’s lost or was taken away from her. She could so easily let herself die or be killed. But even if she doesn’t really know how to get that drive back, she keeps trying, she never gives up. 

What I hate about this song: is the fact that Buffy gets the sympathy and understanding she’s been looking for in her friends from some demons. I mean, the fact that the freaking demons get precisely what Buffy’s been like lately shows exactly how oblivious her friends were. 

Foreshadowing: By the end of the episode, Buffy would look for a way to feel alive...

Favorite lyrics:  

I don't want to be Going through the motions Losing all my drive I can't even see If this is really me And I just want to be Alive!

And you gotta love the Disney-princess-like finale, right? I do :)

5) At the Magic Shop

BUFFY: So, uh, no research? Nothing going on? Monsters or whatnot? Good! Good. Uh, so, did anybody... uh... last night, you know, did anybody, um... burst into song?

XANDER: Merciful Zeus!

WILLOW: We thought it was just us!

GILES: Well, I sang but I had my guitar at the hotel...

TARA: It was bizarre. We were talking and then it was like...

BUFFY: Like you were in a musical!

TARA: Yeah!

GILES: That would explain the huge backing orchestra I couldn't see and the synchronized dancing from the room service chaps.

WILLOW: We did a whole duet about dish washing.

ANYA: And we were arguing and, and then everything rhymed and there were harmonies and the dance with coconuts.

WILLOW: There was an entire verse about the couscous.

XANDER: It was very disturbing.

This whole dialogue actually proves Giles’s point that people tend to rationalize what they can’t understand or explain. I mean, here we have a group of people who have been dealing with the supernatural for years - one of them for centuries - and when confronted with an out-of-the-ordinary situation their first instinct wasn’t to go “hey, something supernatural must be going on!” but rather to dismiss it as a weird, isolated incident. Instead of thinking “It must be a demon” they thought “It must have been a gas leak” (after all, it’s always a gas leak in Sunnydale. Or a PCP gang. Or both.) 

So far, Buffy seems to be the only one affected by the “sing your secrets out” part of Sweet’s spell. It is implied that the Scoobies weren’t really singing about any existential stuff (I mean, I don’t care how much you love couscous, I don’t think couscous is on the same level of  “I just wanna feel alive”, you know?) Giles immediately picks up on Buffy’s silence as everyone shares their musical numbers and questions her about her song. Of course, Buffy claims not to remember... 

6) I’ve got a Theory

What I love about this song: I mean, what is there not to love? It’s the first ensemble song, it’s fun and upbeat and even if each character gets only a couple of lines, all of them shine and show their essence in those few lines. It’s also worth noting Buffy’s role in this song, or more precisely, her lack thereof. Even if Buffy is the one who brought up the issue, she immediately takes a step back when everyone joins in throwing theories around. They are having fun, this is the “fun” part of hunting demons. Buffy, yet again, is dettached not only from her friends but also from her duty. Oh, she will patrol and slay. But she’s not invested in it.

I also love the callback to Nightmares: “I've got a theory / Some kid is dreaming / And we're all stuck inside his wacky Broadway nightmare.”

What I hate about this song: We never got to hear Tara’s theory :(

Foreshadowing: Giles figured out what was going in the first line of the song.

I've got a theory That it's a demon A dancing demon! No, something isn't right there.

7) Bunnies

What I love about this song: It’s a fucking heavy-metal song about bunnies. How can you not love it? And it’s so Anya because she may lack finesse (although she disagrees) and tact and she might have trouble with the whole range of human emotions sometimes, but at the same time she often gets hang up on the silliest things and blows them out of proportion (like this song, or the fact that she’s worried about her songs not being hits...) 

What I hate about this song: there’s nothing to hate about this song, how dare you?

8) If We’re Together

Season Arc Relevance: Buffy falls right into the role she’s been playing so far in the season: pretending. She plays it perfectly because this is exactly who she used to be, and she remembers it. We can see that Giles is not really buying her optimism, so she picks it up a notch and does a very Buffy joke (”Hey’, I’ve died twice.”) and ropes him in. 

What I love about this song: Even if on the surface this song is about Buffy taking her role as a leader and bringing everyone together, there’s a dark depth to it. Buffy’s theory is, after all, “it doesn’t matter.” And she reinforces this idea by saying “Why should we care?” Even if Buffy is pretending, you can still see the cracks there. She indifferent, apathetic, she doesn’t see a purpose to any of it all. She’s making a point about how it’s always the same, and that’s not necessarily an optimistic view considering it usually ends in death and occasionally it’s her own. 

What I hate about this song: the Scoobies not reading in between Buffy’s lines, as per usual.

Foreshadowing: In hindsight, this song is rather ironic considering they’re singing about how they can face anything together and well, everything goes to shit this season precisely because they don’t trust in or rely on each other. Also, Anya’s line “There’s nothing we can’t face / except for bunnies.” sort of foreshadows what happens in Tabula Rasa with Giles and Anya at the magic shop. 

Favorite lyrics:

We have to try We'll pay the price It's do or die Hey, I've died twice.

9)  Giles is not completely sold on Buffy’s optimism, however. 

BUFFY: So what is it? What's causing it? GILES: I thought it didn't matter.

She contradicts herself immediately, and Giles picks up on it. But yet again, Buffy is quick to keep up the pretending and she makes a great point about why they should figure out what’s going on (and delivers one of my favorite lines in doing so...)

BUFFY: Well, I'm not exactly quaking in my stylish yet affordable boots, but there's definitely something unnatural going on here. And that doesn't usually lead to hugs and puppies.

10) 

ANYA: Well, is it just us? I mean, is it only happening to us?'Cause that would probably mean a spell or...

11) 

DAWN: Oh my god. You will never believe what happened at school today.

BUFFY: Everybody started singing and dancing?

DAWN: I gave birth to a pterodactyl.

ANYA: Oh my god, did it sing?

12) Tara and Willow awkwardly pretending they’re not about to have sex is everything.

TARA: Tha-That's right! The, the volume. The text. GILES: What text? WILLOW: The volume-y text. You know? The, the (mumbles) report. XANDER: The what now? TARA: Oh, there's just a few volumes back at the house that deal with mystical chants, bacchanals.

13) It’s Tuesday. Dawn is:

A) shoplifting.

B) in danger.

C) all of the above. 

14) 

WILLOW: ...those guys are checking you out. TARA: What? Wh-What are they looking at? WILLOW: The hotness of you, doofus. TARA: Those boys really thought I was hot?  WILLOW: Entirely. TARA: Oh my god. I'm cured! I want the boys!

15) Under your Spell

Season Arc Relevance: I think the most significant line in this song - other than “I’m under your spell” - is “Something just isn’t right” because it sums up where Tara and Willow are at the moment. Underlying the romantic theme of the song, there are some issues regarding their relationship. Tara is admitting that Willow and her relationship with her have given meaning to her life. There’s a bright side to this, of course (“how you’ve set me free, brought me out so easily”), but there’s also a negative side to it. Tara’s whole existence revolves around Willow, and Willow has – quite literally and for different reasons – taken control of Tara. (“I’m under your spell, nothing I can do, you just took my soul with you.”) That’s not healthy, to say the least. And I think it’s yet another reason why Tara and Willow needed to spend some time apart. Tara needed to find herself, to know that all of this that had come to the surface since she had started dating Willow wasn’t only Willow’s influence or power but it was all Tara’s, beautiful things that had been buried beneath the surface waiting to be freed. And as much as the fandom likes to focus on how abusive Spike was in this season, which I agree with, we tend to overlook the fact that Willow was pretty abusive of Tara as well. 

What I love about this song: It’s the typical love song in any Disney movie, except this time is not about a prince and a princess but about two princesses and I fucking love that. Amber’s angelic voice dear lord! 

What I hate about this song: This song gets a whole different meaning once it really sinks in you that Tara is literally under Willow’s spell and that by making Tara forget their fight, Willow has removed her consent and agency. Willow has abused of Tara twice: the first time when she wiped her memories, and the second time when she had sex with her. After all, if Tara remembered their fight, she wouldn’t be exactly singing a love song to her girlfriend, let alone be having sex with her... 

Again, I’m not a fan of how the show uses magic as a metaphor for anything to serve the plot. And this song sort of piles on the magic = something metaphors. Here magic means love and lesbianism and sex.

For the longest time, I was in awe at the fact that Joss had gotten away with having a FF couple having oral sex on mainstream television. And that he had even included the “you make me COMplete” bit to top it all off. Now, tbh, I really wish the first FF oral sex scene in mainstream television wasn’t one of dubious consent…  I have to hand it to Joss, though. If we remove the whole “are they really having consensual sex?” thing and just focus on the synthesis of the images and the lyrics, this is probably one of the most sensual sex scenes in TV history.

Foreshadowing: “Something just isn’t right” because duh!

Favorite lyrics: (disclaimer: I’m a dirty pig)

You make me COMplete

You make me COMplete

You make me COMplete

 15) 

DAWN: Come on! Songs, dancing around. What's gonna be wrong with that? 

(I’m Sweet)

16) I’ll Never Tell

Season Arc Relevance: It’s quite obvious that this song explores the relationship problems that will lead to Xander leaving Any in the altar. Even though they mention a lot of issues ranging from the ridiculous but relatable (Xander’s snoring or Anya’s skeezy cheeses) to the potentially problematic (Xander always relying on Buffy, Anya being clingy and greedy), the real issue is their well-founded fears and insecurities. Anya starts singing about how she has basically given up her whole identity and how now she’s mostly defined by her relationship with Xander. She’s embracing it, but it makes you wonder if she had really considered what would happen if Xander was no longer a part of her life. What would there be left? She didn’t really have a life of her own. Xander’s first lines are about his physical attraction to Anya, which justifies her own insecurities when it comes to Xander loving her once she’s old and no longer beautiful and how long-term their relationship actually is. Xander, on the other hand, fears Anya thinks he’s ordinary and that him not becoming successful (i.e., making big money) may be a problem for Anya. It is Xander, though, the one who admits to being petrified...

What I love about this song: This song marks a change in tone in the episode and the songs. So far, they were mostly upbeat and other than Buffy’s “Going through the Motions”, one had to read between the lines to get to the underlying themes and understand their true meaning. It’s halfway through this song that that changes and the lyrics start matching the characters’ true feelings. They start revealing their inner secrets and fears, in spite of themselves. 

I really like the old-school musical style both in the song and in the scene, and it does really fit Anya and Xander’s relationship. They do love each other, but they are constantly bickering and picking on each other’s flaws. 

The callback to Pangs!  (”His penis got diseases from a Chumash tribe!”)

Also, this:

What I hate about this song: 

Foreshadowing: Anya literally describes what will happen in Hell’s Bells:

  I've read this tale   There's wedding, then betrayal   I know there'll come the day I'll want to run and hide.

Favorite Lyrics: 

BOTH:   You know... XANDER:   You're quite the charmer. ANYA:   My knight in armor. XANDER:   You're the cutest of the Scoobies   With your lips as red as rubies   And your firm yet supple-   Tight embrace!

(I do love all the sweets things they say to/about each other)

 17) The Parking Ticket

18) 

SPIKE: Oh. So that's all. You've just come to pump me for information. BUFFY: What else would I wanna pump you for? ...I really just said that, didn't I?

19) Rest in peace

Season Arc Relevance: This song marks the change in Spike’s attitude towards Buffy in this season. So far, he had been nothing but supportive and understanding (yeah, yeah, you may say his intentions weren’t good - even though I disagree - but the bottom line is he was there for Buffy in a way no one else could/would.) Here, however, Spike starts showing his true colors. “Rest in Peace” sums up perfectly Spike’s approach to “love” and women: confessing his feelings and undying love one minute, and acting aggressive and petty and abusive the next. He feels Buffy has been teasing him, which is not the case, and very a la White Male™ he feels he’s been “patient” enough and that Buffy should either give him what he wants or leave him be - but not really. We should also bear in mind that this is literally the only kind of relationship Spike knows - abusive and unhealthy. This, of course, does not excuse his behavior, it simply contextualizes it.

Spike gives Buffy an outlet to feel something, he’s willingly offering it so why not just take it? It would make everything so much easier. And it won’t take long for Buffy to take him up on his offer.

What I love about this song: First of all, I love the fact that both Buffy and Spike feel exactly the same way about Spike breaking out into song.

Even if Spike is, to quote Buffy, such a pig there’s one thing that you have to admit: he tends to read Buffy quite well, sometimes even better than her own friends: “ You're scared / Ashamed of what you feel / And you can't tell the ones you love /You know they couldn't deal. - You know, you've got a willing slave / And you just love to play the thought like you might misbehave” Of course, this “ability” is something that he will use to his own advantage later on in the season, making her believe he’s “reading” her when in reality he’s manipulating her...): 

What I hate about this song: It’s not so much about the song but about the scene.  Spike pushes and throws people around, what about the freaking chip, writers? 

*falls to her knees and shouts at the skies*

WHAT ABOUT THE CHIP??!!

Foreshadowing: They will misbehave indeed...

You know, you've got a willing slave And you just love to play the thought like you might misbehave

Favorite Lyrics:

I know I should go But I follow you like a man possessed There's a traitor here beneath my breast And it hurts me more than you've ever guessed If my heart could beat, it would break my chest But I can see you're unimpressed So, leave me be

20) Can you imagine as a fangirl breaking up your OTP?

DAWN: I'm glad you guys made up. TARA: What? DAWN: That fight you guys had about magic and stuff? It gives me belly rumblings when you guys fight. TARA: Dawn, Willow and I never fought about- DAWN: It's okay. It's just... you guys are so great together. I just hate it when you... But that was the only fight I've seen you guys have anyway. But I'm still glad it's over.

21) Dawn's Lament

What I hate about this song: it’s cut short and we never learn what Dawn would’ve sung about.

22) Dawn’s Ballet

Tbh, I’m not a fan of this scene. It’s pretty much the only moment of the episode in which I’m kind of waiting for it to be over. There, I said it. 

23) What You Feel

What I love about this song: Best Big Bad introduction ever! And I think it ties with Giles “Exposition Song” from Restless as the best, well, exposition song.

What I hate about this song: Why do villains insist on dressing Dawn up in gowns? 

Favorite lyrics:

Something's cooking, I'm at the griddle I bought Nero his very first fiddle

24)  “ I'm just worried this whole session's gonna turn into some training montage from an 80's movie.” - that is quite literally what happens.

25) Standing

Season Arc Relevance: Parenting is hard, especially if you’re not really a parent and your child has died twice. Giles is torn and is trying to figure out what’s the best role he could play in Buffy’s life to allow her to become an adult. He reaches a decision with the information he has so far and how he interprets Buffy’s behavior, and it’s his decision to leave her when she needs him the most that pretty much leads to Buffy’s downward spiral. 

What I love about this song: I like that it’s kind of bittersweet because it’s about how much Giles loves Buffy and how deeply he wants to help her but how at the same time he feels the only way to help her is to leave her. I love the fact that this song shows what I already knew: Giles is the only one who is not completely oblivious to Buffy’s plight. He doesn’t fully grasp it, but at least he knows Buffy well enough to know that something is off. 

This is probably my favorite scene in terms of how it was shot. I just love how Buffy’s movements are in slow motion as Giles walks around and sings her out because it clearly shows the distance in their relationship and it conveys the fact that he’s singing to himself. 

What I hate about this song: There’s nothing I don’t like about the song, it’s its implications and consequences I have problems with. Giles feels he’s standing in the way of Buffy growing up but the thing is, this wasn’t a case of Peter Pan syndrome. There was a very valid reason for Buffy’s apathy and lack of drive, as he would learn towards the end of the episode. And that’s why I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND GILES LEAVING AFTER LEARNING BUFFY WAS IN HEAVEN AND THAT SHE WAS SUFFERING FROM SEVERE DEPRESSION. It’s one thing to take a step back because you feel you’re preventing your child from making her own decisions and growing up. It’s quite another leaving your child to fend for herself when she’s clearly suffering from depression and PTSD. Buffy wasn’t relying on Giles just because she was lazy and didn’t want to grow up. She was relying on him because it was all too much for her. She could barely deal with being alive, let alone with taking care of others and the fucking world. So yeah. Forever angry at this. 

Foreshadowing: Giles leaving, obviously. 

Wish I could stay But now I understand I'm standing in the way

Favorite Lyrics:

I wish I could lay your arms down And let you rest at last Wish I could slay your demons But now that time has passed Wish I could stay your stalwart, standing fast But I'm standing in the way I'm just standing in the way

 26) Uh-oh...

27) Under Your Spell/Standing - Reprise

Season Arc Relevance: It’s the breaking point for both Giles and Tara in their relationships with Buffy and Willow respectively. 

What I love about this song: Anthony and Amber should sing together in everything ever okay?I love how Giles’ song is basically repeating some lines and Tara’s “Under your Spell” has acquired a whole new meaning now that she knows the truth and the lyrics match exactly how she’s feeling.

I love the fact that it’s a break-up love song, but it’s about two different kinds of love, fatherly and romantic. 

I appreciate the fact that Whedon chose to reprise “Under your Spell” and give it the literal meaning implied in the original version in the lines “I’m under your spell” and “You made me believe.” I would’ve liked Tara’s lines about Willow’s transgression (to put it mildly) to be more unsubtle... (”Playing with my memory / You know I've been through hell / Willow, don't you see? /There'll be nothing left of me”)

What I hate about this song: the fact that I can’t sing both parts at the same time fucking sucks. 

Foreshadowing: Giles leaving and Tara breaking up with Willow.

GILES AND TARA: Wish I could stay Wish I could stay Wish I could stay Wish I could stay

Favorite Lyrics: 

TARA: Wish I could trust that it was just this once But I must do what I must I can't adjust to this disgust We're done and I just

GILES AND TARA: Wish I could stay

28) I love how anti-climatic this moment is…

SPIKE: Works for him. Has a nice little story for the Slayer, don't you? Come on, then. Sing.

29)

BUFFY: So. Dawn's in trouble. Must be Tuesday.

30)  

BUFFY: Oh, it's not your fault. So what's the plan? XANDER: Plan, schman. Let's mount up. GILES: No. ANYA: Uh, Dawn may have had the wrong idea in summoning this creature, but... I've seen some of these underworld child bride deals and, and they never end well. Well, maybe once. WILLOW: We're not just gonna stay here. GILES: Yes we are. Buffy's going alone.

Buffy’s going alone?! What? Why? How would this accomplish anything? It’s not the monsters that she has problem facing, it’s her own inner demons! 

31) 

WILLOW: A little confusion spell could- TARA: No! I mean, I don't think it'll help.

I included the screenshot because I can’t help but read Willow’s expression as if she were thinking “Tara’s not acting the way I programmed her to act…”

32) Walk Through the Fire

FYI, if you don’t sing all the parts at the same time, you’re not a true Buffy fan. Your membership card will be removed. I’m not kidding.

Season Arc Relevance: Just like “I’ve got a Theory” at the beginning of the episode, “Walk Through the Fire” conveys how distant Buffy feels from her friends and how hopeless and apathetic she feels in general. While in IGAT she is reluctant to join her friends in song but is physically there and ultimately chooses to play the part, in WTTF she’s both physically and emotionally distant from them, which allows her to drop the facade and sing her true feelings into the void. Even if she claims to want the fire back, ultimately she still doesn’t care (To save the day or maybe melt away / I guess it's all the same.) Winning the battle or dying, it’s all the same to Buffy. And it will be a long time before she feels otherwise. 

What I love about this song: E V E R Y T H I N G. The way is shot, the juxtaposition of voices and images, “I think this line’s mostly filler”, the Scoobies marching to the rescue, the fire trucks in the background as the Scoobies finally complete the line “let it burn”. It’s pretty epic, don’t you think?

What I hate about this song: that Riley is not there so he can go up in flames as the Scoobies sing “let it burn.” JK. Sort of. I hate this:

WTF SPIKE?!  I’ve always found this so funny because like dude, how many times have you been to the Bronze? You’re telling me you don’t know how to get there?

Foreshadowing: Spike saving Buffy at the end of the episode:

First, he'll kill her, then I'll save her

The whole season, summed up:

Everything is turning out so dark

Favorite Lyrics:

And we are caught in the fire The point of no return So we will walk through the fire And let it Burn Let it burn Let it burn! LET IT BURN!

 33) 

34) Something to sing about 

Season Arc Relevance: This song and Buffy’s revelation that she was in heaven will be the breaking point - to a greater or lesser extent -  for all the events to come: Spike and Buffy’s relationship, Willow’s downward spiral with magic and her break up with Tara, Giles leaving, and Buffy distancing herself from her friends. 

What I love about this song: This and “Going Through the Motions” are my two favorite songs from this episode. To begin with, I love the contrast between the upbeat rhythm of the song with the ironic lyrics. During the first part of the song, Buffy’s is seemingly gleefully repeating all the cliches about life she’s learned are not true. You can see her frustration building up at the lie behind the words as she beats up the minions, until she kind of glazes over...

...because there’s no number of demons she could possibly beat to a pulp that would make her stop feeling miserable. From this point onward, she drops the happy act and while the song is still upbeat in rhythm, the lyrics get gloomier and gloomier. It’s the most honest Buffy’s been in a long time. Until she finally opens up and admits what she’s been hiding from her friends all this time:

There was no pain No fear, no doubt 'Till they pulled me out Of Heaven So that's my refrain I live in Hell 'Cause I've been expelled From Heaven I think I was In Heaven

Now, my knowledge about music is pretty much non-existent, but I know that the score in this song works perfectly because every time Buffy’s voice rises and falls as she says “heaven”, I die. Every single time. (seriously, I just watched it again and I’m crying.) It’s a fucking punch in the gut because it reminds you everything she had earned with her sacrifice and which her friends took away from her because they couldn’t live without her, they couldn’t move on. And then she begs Sweet one last time to give her something to live for, and he swiftly shakes his head no. That’s the breaking point for her, I think. She has just opened up about how she’s been feeling and why to her friends, and she knows that now there will be endless questions and more burdens she can’t take, and she knows there’s no easy way out. Except dancing till she burns...

And then Spike stops her and delivers a heartbreakingly honest speech. It’s not encouraging per se, and it’s not really uplifting. But it’s real, and it’s telling her she’ll get over this with no void-of-meaning cliches.

Life's not a song Life isn't bliss Life is just this It's living You'll get along The pain that you feel You only can heal By living

Of course, Dawn had to deliver the final blow by quoting Buffy’s own words back at her… (”The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.”)

What I hate about this song: The fact that none of the Scoobies thought of stopping Buffy from combusting. 

Favorite Lyrics:

There was no pain No fear, no doubt 'Till they pulled me out Of Heaven So that's my refrain I live in Hell 'Cause I've been expelled From Heaven I think I was In Heaven

35) And in another episode of “Guess who fucked up AGAIN!”...

36) 

37) 

What a lot of fun You guys have been real swell And there's not a one Who can say this ended well All those secrets You've been concealing Say you're happy now, Once more with feeling Now I gotta run See you all in hell!

38) Where do We Go from here?

Season Arc Relevance: This song pretty much sets up the tone for the rest of the season in that they are all kind of lost and don’t really know how to relate with one another anymore. Giles’ sentiment in the line “The battle’s 

What I love about this song: it’s a great ensemble song to finish the episode. I love the choreography and the way it was shot. 

What I hate about this song: that it’s kinda short?

Foreshadowing: Buffy and Spike’s kiss

The curtains close on a kiss

Favorite lyrics: 

The battle's done and we kind of won

GILES AND TARA: So we sound our victory cheer Where do we go from here?

I love A) the fact that Giles admits they “kind of” won because they didn’t really defeat Sweet, he just decided to leave on his own, and B) the fact that their “victory cheer” is rather depressing.

Understand we'll go hand in hand, but we'll walk alone in fear

39)  Coda

This isn’t real but I just wanna feel   

40) It’s really not that difficult to understand why this episode has such an impact on viewers. It definitely has to do with the songs and the fact that it’s not the expected genre for a TV show, let alone a TV show of the characteristics of Buffy. But the songs in themselves are not great. They are good, and somewhat catchy. And not all of the actors are exactly what one would call  gifted singers. But what makes it all work in the end, what makes the songs and the lyrics resonate so much with the fans, is that OMWF is about the characters and characterization. This episode wouldn’t have worked so effectively if it hadn’t been for the fact that Joss had been laying the groundwork for these characters to reach this point for six seasons. Because, you see, Giles leaving Buffy wouldn’t have the same impact if we didn’t know how their relationship had grown from strictly business to friends to father/daughter. Willow using (or abusing of) magic to manipulate the person she loves the most wouldn’t make any sense if we still didn’t remember and love season 1 Willow. Xander and Anya’s relationship problems could be regarded as shallow if we didn’t know these characters so well and why they fear the things they fear. All the jokes and references to previous episodes and events would fall flat. And Buffy’s revelation that she had been torn out of heaven by her friends wouldn’t make us cry every time if every time she sang those lines we didn’t remember everything that led her there and all the sacrifices she had made and how much she fucking deserved her heaven. So yeah. OMWF is extremely rewarding for viewers because of the kind of in-depth knowledge that it takes to comprehend the scope of this episode. You can’t get this episode without getting everything that transpired before. Ultimately, it highlights the show’s main strength – its characters and their arcs – and it does so in the most marvelous, unexpected and unforgettable way.