#I had an incident occur to me and I became so obsessed with Giles because I kept saying “he's just like me fr he's just like me fr”

[yarboyandy]

Gethan won the poll now hand over the risque artwork

I'm sorry I'm low key a puritan so I'm scared to post it...it's giles pouring blood into Ethan's mouth. Something came over me when I was at my shitty wage slave job but I'm normal now

[buffster]

Earshot (BTVS 3.18)

This is part of my ongoing Buffy Project, where I write notes/meta for every episode in an attempt to better understand the characters and themes of the show. You can find the full list here. Gifs are not mine.

If you’re going to do a show about high school in America, it’s not a bad idea to do an episode on school shootings. As Oz says, it’s “bordering on trendy”. The plot wasn’t exactly the typical school shooter scenario but the message was there.

Buffy and Angel are still dealing with the events of Enemies. Buffy is worried Angel liked being with Faith and, being Buffy, won’t just ask him about it. When she acquires the ability to mind read she tries to go to him, but apparently his thoughts can’t be read because he’s a vampire and it’s “like the mirror”. 

Angel: What do you want to know about? Faith? How I felt kissing her? Pretending to have no soul? Watching you suffer?

Buffy: Well, since you want to talk about those things...

Angel: I hated hurting you. It cut me deeper than I've ever been cut. More than I can stand.

Buffy: Thank you. Um... and the Faith part of the question? I mean, I guess I'd understand... she's got this whole "bad girl" thing going on...

Angel: Kissing her meant nothing. I don't want a bad girl. I've done that before. I've lived a long time, Buffy, and I'm past that. I've been with dozens of girls like her. More.

Buffy: Oh, this honesty stuff is fun.

Angel: There's no comparison. In 243 years I've loved exactly one person.

Well, they’ve definitely got the epic love thing going on. They remind me a little of Edward and Bella...not in personality, just in the sort of vibe their romance is intended to give off. Like no one else in the world will do for them except this one person. It’s a larger than life love story. It’s strange, because that’s usually my thing. But for some reason I always liked her better with Spike...I think because of the moments when he made her question herself and shook her thinking up a bit. But there are definitely moments where I’m moved by Buffy and Angel and I wouldn’t have been furious if they ended up together or anything.

Buffy is able to read some Scooby thoughts. To no one’s surprise, Cordelia’s thoughts are exactly what she says aloud. I admire that about her. Xander panics but his thoughts aren’t exactly surprising (SEX!). Giles comforts Buffy but is far less hopeful internally. Oz and Willow were the most interesting. Oz is such a blank slate on the outside, but his inner thoughts are deep and contemplative. Willow says it’s great Buffy has this new ability but internally worries Buffy is far too powerful to want little old Willow anymore. It gets me thinking about how often Willow outright lies to keep her mask up. 

Buffy also learns that Joyce slept with Giles twice on the hood of that police car. I’ve seen some people say they wish these two had gotten together, but to be honest I don’t see them clicking that well. Giles is very cerebral and I always read Joyce as not being that way at all. She seems more involved in the sensory world. I have this image of a stressful situation occurring and Giles wanting to talk it out/consult his books and Joyce runs to the kitchen to make a gourmet meal. And Giles is like STOP BAKING, WOMAN! THIS IS SERIOUS. And Joyce just flees.

I’m going to call it early: my favorite minor character is Freddy Munson. With headlines like “Apathy on the Rise, No One Cares” and “Teen Wins Senseless Contest”, it’s clear he knows hardly anyone is reading this stuff and he’s having fun with it. He mentions he occasionally gets hate mail but obviously the school staff isn’t reading. He wrote a bad review of Dingoes Ate My Baby that Oz calls “fair”. 

Willow: But sometimes the fantasy isn’t enough, is it, Jonathan? Sometimes you have to make it so people don’t ignore you. Make them pay attention. 

My favorite thing about this rewatch is moments like this. This peek into Willow’s thinking just sets her up perfectly for an obsession with magic. Just as in Go Fish, Willow interviews Jonathan as a possible suspect for murdering everyone. The Scoobies are the worst at being proactive. He keeps coming up as a likely candidate for badness but they do nothing (since they’re young I’ll put more of the blame on Giles for this one? I guess?). 

Buffy: I don't think about you much at all. Most people here don't. Bugs you, doesn't it? You've got all this pain, all these feelings and nobody's paying attention.

Jonathan: You think I just want attention?

Buffy: No, I think you're in the bell tower with a high powered rifle because you want to blend in. Believe it or not, Jonathan, I understand. About the pain.

Jonathan: Oh, right. 'Cause the burden of being beautiful and athletic, that's a crippler.

Buffy: I'm sorry, I was wrong. You are an idiot.

Buffy: My life happens very occasionally to suck beyond the telling of it. Sometimes more than I can handle. And not just me. Every single person down there is ignoring your pain because they're way too busy with their own. The beautiful ones, the popular ones, the guys that pick on you... everyone. If you could hear what they're feeling -the confusion, the loneliness... It looks quiet down there. It's not. It's deafening.

She’s got a point about the attention thing. It’s not like he decided to do this in his bedroom--seems like he might have had a revenge fantasy type thing going on. And the point about everyone having problems was also a good one. Playing Pain Olympics is never a good idea but I understand why he finds it impossible to imagine her life is difficult (similar to Faith). Most of the time people who look like Buffy do have it far better than a nerd like Jonathan, but that doesn’t make it okay to resent them or hurt them. Ironically he says he’d never hurt anybody. 

I love that Xander warned them the lunch lady was going to take them all out but no one listened. And, as in The Zeppo, Xander is quietly saving people from rat poison as Buffy goes after the guy with the gun. Kind of forever terrified to eat cafeteria food now. 

Character Notes:

Willow Rosenberg: She’s been enjoying basketball (to her surprise). She’s shocked it appears Buffy understood Othello.

Xander Harris: Xander is resentful of the star basketball player’s popularity even as he’s awed when he knows his name. He is still jealous of Wesley and Cordelia’s growing interest in each other and calls her “my Cordy”. He says he’s idly thought about taking the school out with a semi-automatic.

Jonathan Levinson: He’s suspended and his parents are “freaking” after the incident. Buffy thinks he’s looking at her like he’s going to ask her to Prom.

Cordelia Chase: She doesn’t think having shame is something to be proud of.

Larry Blaisdell: He’s out and proud and still thinks Xander is gay. I appreciate them not writing Larry as having a crush on Xander.

Angel: It really threw me when they opened the door and there was a smoking blanket. My mind went Spike?? That became such a constant image of him.