#giles has learned to not ask questions

[coraniaid]

I complain a lot (although not as much as I could) about Season 7's awful "is Giles really the First Evil [and were the Scoobies just all too stupid to check for weeks]?" and "now that Spike has a soul, we can finally ask the important question: what if he was hypnotized by a mean ghost?" subplots, and about the show's dreadful treatment of Robin and Nikki Wood (culminating in the abominable Lies My Parents Told Me).

But, for balance, it's worth pointing out that this season's long running joke about Chao-Ahn, the Chinese Potential who the Scooby Gang can only ever communicate with through crude drawings and gestures and speaking English slowly -- since, despite the fact that half the Scooby Gang speak fluent Latin and Sumerian and Ancient Egyptian and Etruscan and any number of other dead languages, some of which they must have taught themselves in literal weeks, none of them could possibly lower themselves to learn some basic conversational Cantonese in order to communicate with somebody they've been sharing a house with for months -- is ... well, it's also really really shit, isn't it?

[ofmdrecaps]

10/26/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; S2 Finale Anniversary! Rhys Darby; Taika Waititi; Con O'Neill; Kristian Nairn; Samba Schutte & Damien Gerard; Rory Kinnear; Other Fandom Petition; Fan Spotlight: Cast Cards; AMuseOfFyre; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Today's Taika;

== S2 Finale Anniversary ==

It's been a year since the finale of S2 aired crew! What a year it has been! Our friends over at @adoptourcrew asked some important questions and would love to hear from you on their various socials!

Source: Adopt Our Crew Twitter

== Rhys Darby ==

Rhys is announcing his Midwest Comedy tours going on in Indiana and Missouri! The Helium Comedy Club in Indiana information is here and Missouri is here!

Source: Rhys' Instagram

== Taika Waititi ==

Taika out and about!

Source: Instagram

== Con O'Neill ==

Con was so appreciative of everyone coming to join him and the folks of The Men out at Alnwick Playhouse!

Source: Con O'Neill's Instagram

Deepest thank yous to the super sweet Radical Hysteria on Instagram for being kind enough to share these adorable shots with Con! It looked like everyone had such an amazing time!

Source: radical_hysteria on Instagram

== Kristian Nairn ==

Kristian was out at MCM Comic Con in the UK-- and god to meet up with none other than Dogpool!

Source: Kristian Nairn's Instagram

Kristian's also got a new event happening in Dundee, UK on November 29th! For more info, check out Progressia Events!

Source: Progressia Events

Annnnnd if that wasn't enough, Kristian's also going to be at Beastly Books in Santa Fe, New Mexico on October 31 from 7pm -8 pm! To learn more, checkout Beastly Books!

Source: Kristian's Instagram

== Samba Schutte & Damien Gerard ==

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 released on the 25th-- and guess what? Both Samba, and Damien voice characters in the game! Yannick and Harry Stone!

Source: Samba Schutte's Instagram / Damien Gerard's Threads

Oh, and just by the way, Good Dead Entertainment has reported Advanced Chemistry has a 100 on the Popcorn Meter! Great job everyone! If you're still looking to help get Samba recognition, you can still do reviews on Amazon and other sites! For help on where, you can visit the repo for more info.

Source: GoodEntertainment Instagram

== Rory Kinnear ==

Our favorite Badminton Twins, Rory Kinnear..and well Rory Kinnear is going to be playing in the latest season of The Diplomat on Netflix! It premieres October 31st!

Source: Netflix Articles

== Other Fandom Petitions ==

Some other fans are hoping to get a full 6 episode series after the latest news about Good Omens only getting a 90 minute movie! They were so kind over the past year in sharing petitions for OFMD renewals, if you have a moment, and are willing, can you do a quick signature for them?

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Cast Cards =

More Cast Cards tonight from the ever-wonderful, sweetest person ever, @melvisik! First up is Rhett Giles! One of our Segment Producers! "Segment producers exist in television programs such as morning news shows. They produce the various “segments” in the show, such as a cooking, local news, or special weather report segment. They’re typically responsible for writing about stories assigned to them in. their production system from their Executive Producers, who get their stories from their news source like CNN." - The Film Fund

Next up is just a PLETHORA of awesome Stunt Performers! James Gerardi, Kieran Gallagher, Matthew Lorenceau, Raw Leiba, Tait Fletcher, and Steve Brown!

Source: @melvisik's Twitter

= A Muse of Fyre =

Another absolutely stunning muppet by our dear friend @amuseoffyre-- this time featuring Calico Jack! I am floored at how that mustache turned out!

Source: amuseoffyre's Instagram

== Love Notes ==

Hey lovelies <3 I hope your weekend ended up treating you well. Sending some mini-love notes your way tonight. Good luck on the week ahead!

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Source: NewHappyCo Instagram

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

No theme, just hair! Gifs courtesy of some of our Gif-Maker Extraordinaires, @fandomsmeantheworldtome and @fuckyeahworldoftaika <3

[blackbutlerfandomnerddomain]

In "Kalim's Harem", if our Sunshine Boy was a Trans Boy, what do you think each of the boys would react to when they found out?

AWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

So I have a lot of TWST trans headcanons so first off I'll name my personal ones (reminder everyone these are my headcanons if you don't agree or like then that's fine, you have your thoughts I have mine)

Riddle is FtM transgender who I sometimes swap in headcanon as nonbinary

Ace if FtM transgender who just got his top surgery before NRC

Cater's Cater and we all should be happy for it ^w^

Both Jade and Floyd are Intersex

Azul's nonbinary to me (I dunno octopi's anatomy is weird and I love it)

Jamil's Nonbinary but didn't come out until after Chapter 6

Vil is a genderqueen GOD

Epel's FtM transgender

Neige's in the closet of questioning (I have always been open with headcanons of him from him being trans, aroace, vegan, secretly a bitch, so that's why I wrote it like that. He's still learning things outside scripts and knowing himself)

Idia I always view as questioning but doesn't really care about pronouns, just doesn't want to deal with the whole thing of picking where he is and coming out

Same for Ortho but Ortho's just happy being Ortho

Lilia's a nonbinary bad-ass FIGHT ME

And sadly I'm not going to use my OCs Arie and Giles in this or @gay-salt-amber's OCs Esther and Amyir for this ask since the tags are glitchy for me but Esther's a beautiful wonderful enby vampy and Amyir is one hella fine and sweet Genderfluid demon

NOW ONTO THE HEADCANONS!

I think it's safe to assume Jamil knew for years

Unless you want to go the route Jamil started as Kalim's servant "friend" after he started going by he/him

In Night Raven, Kalim was very happy to be himself, but that didn't stop the slight fear of changing and someone comments on his body somehow or if someone finds his T-Shots or binder

Once he started attending classes and club activities, he started to learn he's not the only one who's different, which ease his heart and mind a bit

If Jamil knew, Jamil helped Kalim is so much of the transitioning and being carefully, even being the one who'd have to tell the teachers about it for Kalim after Kalim gave him permission, just so something comes up they can know how to handle it (periods, a malfunction with his binder or packer, someone said something, etc.)

If Jamil doesn't know, Kalim feels HORRIBLE hiding such a huge thing from his best friend

Once he started dating his lovers he became very aware he needs to come out to them properly

He does at his dorm

They all hug him and thank him for telling him

They all make sure Kalim's comfortable and not being harassed or feeling discomfort

The main protectors: Jamil, Riddle, Leona, Floyd, Rook, Sebek, and Lilia

Silver and Deuce are the worrying partners over every small thing

Ace, Riddle, and Epel are always prepared for any form of discomfort and dysphoria when it comes, also Trey and Cater but that's thanks to being here so long

Malleus once threw a dude who commented on Kalim's binder one hot day. He didn't know what it was and was confused why he was yeeted

Rollo's a bit confused by the term but he does lots of research and Kalim's open for any questions he has

One time Kalim got a few whiskers on his chin and he eagerly showed it off and was showered by so many compliments

Lowkey inspired by a real thing with my friend, Kalim had to use the foam version of his T-Shots and luckily hasn't ran out yet

When Jamil came out Kalim went shopping with him to help ease him and show he has an ally

Kind of saucy but Chenya once felt bolt and ask Kalim what sexual things are okay with and that unlocked like 10 to 20 minutes of a deep conversation of the subject cause turns out Kalim never thought of that before

The explore it safely and done very scary yet strong search results on the internet, communication is key in the end my friends

[specialagentlokitty]

Giles x teen!reader - the family you need

Part 3:

Walking into the library, you looked around and made your way to the table, setting the papers down on it, making the librarian look up.

He smiled at you, setting his cup down.

“(Y/N), how are you? What can I do for you?”

You gestured to them.

“Did you write these?”

He picked up the papers, flicking through them and nodded, setting them back on the table.

“Indeed I did, I thought perhaps they could offer you some guidance in what it was you needed to do for your work. Did they help.”

Shuffling through them, you handed one over.

“What does this mean?”

Giles took it, and you sat down in a chair opposite him.

“Ah yes, it is pretty straight forward when you know what the symbols mean, here.”

He got up, pulling the whiteboard over and began to explain everything to you in great detail so that you were able to follow along.

He turned around, stepping aside so you could see the board.

“Once you understand the basics, everything else starts to become a little more clear.”

You nodded, looking at the papers.

“What about this?”

He took the paper from you.

“Ah, that’s just some equations that will aid in the tests that you’ll have to take at the end of the term.”

“Tests?”

Giles chuckled, sitting back down in his chair.

“You needn’t worry, with plenty of revision I have no doubt you’ll do perfectly fine.”

“School is hard.”

“That it is, I agree.”

You looked at him, and you turned away again, tugging at the hat on your head.

Giles smiled softly, handing the papers back at you.

“I know you study with Willow, but if you’d like if you bring me your work at the end of the day, I can create more papers like these for you.”

“Why?”

“Because I would like help you if I can.”

You thought for a moment before nodding your head, it did make the classes a lot easier for you.

“It’s settled then, I can create some extra revision notes for you, all I’ll need is is an outline of what you go through in your classes.”

“Thanks.”

Giles sat forward a little, resting his hands on the table.

“Buffy has asked me if I will talk to you about last night, about what happened. Are there any questions you have?”

“No, it makes a lot of sense really.”

“It does?”

You nodded quickly.

“All the weird things going on, why they’re all in here so much, it makes a lot more sense. What’s your part in this?”

“I’m her watcher, I have information and help her learn about the creatures she slays.”

You nodded again, and he smiled slightly.

“It is extremely dangerous (Y/N), and not to be taken lightly, if there is anything you want to know, or anything you see or you know about, you can always tell us.”

“Okay.”

You got up, taking your papers back, and Giles handed you one.

You reached out to take it, and his gaze locked on your wrist, and he could see the scar that went all around it.

He didn’t say anything about it, and he watched as you left.

Every day you would go there and tell him what you were learning, and the following morning he would have detailed explanations of everything for you.

Then after school, willow and the others would sit with you and you would all study or at least an hour.

You became involved in everything about slaying, and you finally felt like you belonged somewhere.

You loved the research, learning about new creatures you usually didn’t handle, but you knew they were researching demons.

They were trying to learn more about them and there was nothing you could do to stop them, but thankfully they didn’t have much.

You would listen to them talk about locations, you would turn up and deal with them, it made your life easier.

Sitting down at the table, you sat on your knees on the chair, turning your text book before sliding it over.

“Explain please.”

“You know not every student is eager to skip class to come to the library.”

You shrugged a little.

“You explain things better.”

He chuckled, looking over the work.

“I am glad to see you are more comfortable here now, how long have you been here?”

You thought briefly.

“About 5 or 6 months now I think.”

“Do you enjoy it?”

You nodded your head.

“Yeah, it’s definitely better than the last place, and a lot more fun too which is a bonus I suppose.”

“I don’t think you ever told us where you’re from, you’re not local are you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it…”

Giles noticed the dark tinge behind your tone, something he couldn’t place, it was either fear or anger, he couldn’t tell.

“Alright, I do apologise for bringing it up. But it is nice to see how you’re more comfortable around everybody, and you don’t seem to be quite as scared of me now.”

You looked at him.

“I was never scared of you Mr Giles.”

He looked at you confused now.

“No?”

“No it’s just… you reminded me of someone I guess, it felt a bit unnerving, but it wasn’t fear.”

He smiled brightly.

“Well, that is nice to know at least.”

He set the book back down, and he walked over to the whiteboard to begin his routine of explaining things to you.

You were only half listening, math wasn’t interesting to you so anything was a much welcome distraction, like Buffy walking in.

“Hey, you’re supposed to be in math.”

“So are you, why’re you ditching?” You asked.

Buffy took a seat next to you.

“Hell rising, the normal. What about you?”

“It’s boring.”

Giles turned around.

“Buffy, what is it? What’s wrong?”

“Well, I was doing some digging on those demons, and I went to talk to Willie, he said that there’s talk in the underground.”

Giles set the pen down, sitting in his seat, and you turned to look at your fellow student better.

“What about?”

“They say there’s something else here, something powerful and extremely dangerous, but they don’t know what.”

You swallowed the lump in your throat, knowing exactly what she was going on about.

“The vampires and demons can see these new demons because well, evil, but other things like witches and werewolves, Oz or Willow they can’t because they’re still human.”

“So, why can you see them?” You asked.

Buffy shrugged a little, but she showed you a tiny scar on her arm.

“I was attacked by one, it was only little but since then I’ve been able to see them clear as day. But the others can’t.”

“You don’t know why?”

“No, we’ve been trying to figure it out but there isn’t much on these sorts of things.”

You nodded your head.

“Right, I see.”

The bell went and you looked up before looking at Buffy.

“We’ve got gym, we should go.”

She agreed and you both went to your next class.

You waiting outside while everybody else changed, and when you were sure the changing room was empty you walked in.

Buffy was standing guard at the door waiting for you, and you grabbed your gym clothes.

Pulling your sweatpants on you pulled your shirt off, pulling on a sweater and made your way outside.

“Do you know what we’re doing?” You asked.

“Dodgeball I think, have you played it before?”

“No, but I know how it works. Throw the ball, don’t get hit, right?”

She grinned a little.

“You nailed it.”

So, that’s what you did, Willow hide behind you scared of being hit too hard with a ball, and you did what you could to protect your friend.

Throwing the ball in your hands, you cheered as hit somebody on the other team.

You turned around to grin at willow.

“See? You’re safe!”

“(Y/N)!” Xander yelled.

You spun around and you stumbled back as a ball connected with your face.

You stumbled back, hand covering your nose, and Willow stood in front of you.

“Are you alright?! Oh god I’m sorry!”

You chuckled a little.

“Not your fault, I just.. I need to go wash my face.”

You left the gym heading back to the changing room and you washed your face, the wound already healed and now the blood gone.

There was blood on your sweater though and you sighed.

Walking to your locker you opened it and pulled your sweater off, throwing it over the locker to find your shirt and hoodie.

“I’ll go check on them…” willow mumbled.

She walked to the changing room and began to look around.

“(Y/N)?” She called quietly.

There was no reply and she looked down the rows of the lockers and finally she found you.

You tossed the hoodie on the bench, along with your shirt and she froze in her spot.

She could see the huge welts on your back, large jagged scars that seemed to go in all directions.

She quickly left the changing room, hand covering her mouth as tears burned her eyes.

“Oh god.. oh god..” she whispered.

Willow rushed down the hallway and ran straight into Buffy and Xander.

“You were taking a while, what’s wrong?” Xander asked.

Willow looked at them.

“Willow what happened?” Buffy asked.

“No! Nothing! I mean.. nothing recent…”

“Then what?”

Willow grabbed their hands and began dragging them down the hallway.

“We need to find Giles, or.. or any teacher now!”

“Willow what’s going on?! We need to change!”

“Oh! Change fast!”

Willow ran into the changing room just as you were leaving, and you smiled at her.

“Hey willow.”

“Not right now!”

You looked at Buffy and she shrugged.

“Okay? I’m going home, see you later?”

With that you left, a little confused but you brushed it off, assuming they would fill you in later.

You were on the hunt for demons, and it wasn’t hard to find them.

Willow rushed everybody into the library, and looked at the door.

“Good heavens Willow, what on earth is all of this about?” Giles asked.

“I.. I.. saw something… I.. I didn’t… it was horrible..”

She began to tear up again, and Xander helped her into the chair.

“What did you see?” Oz asked.

“We.. we need to call the police.. we.. we have to help (Y/N)…”

“Willow?” Giles asked.

She turned to him, and sniffled a little.

“Oh it was horrible Giles! All over their back!”

“What was?”

“Scars! Huge scars! Deep scars! It.. it looked like.. it.. I can’t even say it!”

Giles slowly took his glasses off, sitting down in a chair, clasping his hands together.

“Scars? As in…?” Cordelia trailed off.

Willow nodded her head.

“How old did they look?” Giles asked.

“I.. I don’t know… they were still fading…”

“So it’s safe to assume they happened within the past few years, does anybody know if they live with anyone else?”

Everybody shook their heads.

“We’ve been a few times, never saw anybody, or anything that suggests that someone else lives there.” Oz said.

Giles slowly nodded his head.

“I believe I may have seen one, though I cannot be too sure it was only a glimpse.”

“What do we do?”

The room fell silent.

“Nobody say anything to anybody, right now we don’t want to scare them off, I’ll find a chance to talk to them.”

Everybody nodded at Giles.

It confirmed his suspicions, but right now if they called the police with nothing to go off there wasn’t much they could do.

It wasn’t long until they all left, and Giles spend half the night trying to figure out how to bring up the subject.

The following morning like every other day you walked into the library.

“Ah, (Y/N), wonderful, I was wondering if we could perhaps have a chat if that’s alright?”

You shrugged a little and he gestured to his office so you followed him, sitting down in a chair.

He closed the door, and he sat on his desk, taking his glasses off to clean then, trying to distract himself.

“Yesterday it was brought to my attention that uh.. well… somebody saw something, and it has us all rather concerned.”

“Who? Saw what?” You asked confused.

Giles sighed, putting his glasses back on.

“I know about the scars on your back (Y/N), and I’m sorry, but I need to know who did that, I need the name of the person or person’s responsible.”

You clenched your jaw, and you stared at the wall.

“I don’t know what you’re on about…”

“I saw one too, on your wrist. Please, whatever is going on I can help.”

“I said it was nothing, there’s nothing there.”

He sighed.

“Talk to me..”

You stood up, knocking the chair over.

“I said there’s nothing!”

Giles stared at you in shock, and he watched as you stormed out.

He sighed, standing up to pick up the chair, and he saw the small burn mark on it, furrowing his brows, he stood up.

He wasn’t sure that was there before, but he’d never paid all that attention to the chair, but he definitely saw something, some sort of spark come across you

[coulson-is-an-avenger]

One of my favorite things about Incarceron as a duology is how candidly it refuses to answer so many of its own questions. It's cool worldbuilding on its own, and past that, I love that the narrative point isn't knowing the ultimate truth, it's the interpretation, and the choices that causes.

Was Finn really the Prince Giles? Did Jared actually meet kind Sapphique in the woods? Did Rix truly harness and perfect the Art Magicke? How deep did Incarceron go into Keiro's biology? Was the Prison ever actually in the charm?

It is as The Warden says: If you are my daughter, you will not ask me.

further rambling beneath here:

On Finn being Giles - all of Sapphique is Finn and Claudia trying to prove that truth, a truth that neither of them are fully convinced of. There's clear explanations given both for and against Finn being Giles, but at the end of the fight, when Protocol falls and the kingdom is in ashes, the only thing that matters is Finn's conviction of his crown, and Claudia's support. It doesn't matter if the real Giles was killed, and the tattoo on Finn's arm is recycled biomatter from Incarceron. The Giles that stands to claim the title is all he can possibly be.

On Jared and Sapphique's meeting, and possibly my favorite scene in the whole duology - is impossible to have occurred, and yet impossible to have not occurred. What Jared saw could not have been real, but he would not have survived had it not been. The reality is not the point. Even in Jared's own description: "For him it had happened. That was what mattered."

Rix is a fascinating puzzle to me, especially his involvement with The Winged Man at the end. His magic to the Prison is half ruse, half real, fully unclear as he claims to bring Sapphique to life, and Jared does the same. Was it ever actually his influence, or just sheer lucky timing? What was the point of his presence in the final scene if not? Was he truly possessed in his earlier performances? What IS his Art Magicke? What is his deal? It matters not: the show succeeds, Sapphique returns, Rix no longer needs an apprentice. We are the audience, and the Dark Enchanter never reveals his tricks, even to us.

For Keiro, the Prison taunts him with knowledge he refuses to learn, over and over. How much of him is his Father, how little is flesh? For Keiro, the ignorance is the point. The unknowing is the choice.

And finally the Prison's location is probably my favorite unanswered secret. The door is Opened, and thus the location doesn't really matter, but furthermore, what the books have been telling us all along is true: both Inside and Out are prisons. The doorway doesn't matter, as the whole world is one now. It's such a shellshocking secret in the first book that it's instinctively recoiling to see it challenged in book 2, but like the characters, we have no way of knowing. Is that faith or folly? The question of trust and the holders of information are always shifting, especially with The Warden, who first revealed the secret.

All of that to say, it is, as Sapphique very plainly puts it: "The word truth is like a crystal, like the Key. It seems transparent but it has many facets. Different lights, red and gold and blue flicker in its depths. Yet it unlocks the door."

[nordleuchten]

Do you have any favorite books about Lafayette or recommendations for someone wanting to learn more about him but isn't ready to jump into primary sources?

Dear Anon,

thank you for the Ask. I get questions like these quite often and if you go through my posts, you can find different recommendations for different people/questions/topics/ levels of depth/etc. Since you do not seem to look for some incredible detailed analyses of some niche aspects of La Fayette’s live, we will focus on the more general books.

Here I can recommend Hero of two Worlds by Mike Duncan and Lafayette by Harlow Giles Unger. They are both good and comprehensive overviews about La Fayette’s life from cradle to grave. Unger has a few more information and Duncan gives better sources and is more neutral, if you were to ask me, but both books are good starting points.

Then there also the books written by Louis Gottschalk – he was and likely still is *the* authority on La Fayette. He published a multi-volume work detailing his life as well as numerous papers and books about smaller, more specific aspects. He was also one of the driving forces behind the publication of La Fayette’s letters and papers.

If you are looking for books that are still rather general and broad, but with a bit more focus on a special episode of La Fayette’s live/ a special topic, I can recommend For Liberty and Glory by James R. Gaines (one of my personal favourites), a book about La Fayette’s and Washington’s relationship, and their different approaches to Revolution. I can also recommend The Marquis – Lafayette Reconsidered by Laura Auricchio for new perspectives.

Lastly, even if you say that you are not quite ready to jump into primary sources, let put in a good word for primary sources. They can easily look a bit intimidating and overwhelming, especially when you are still looking for the best way to access and handle them – but they are also so much fun. I found La Fayette an interesting character when I started reading about him but in the end my enthusiasm was lackluster, he was one of many dead people I was reading about – taking a deep dive into more primary sources made a difference for me.

Anyway, I hope some of these books work well for you and happy reading! I hope you have/had a wonderful day!

[valleyg0th]

I know joss said the cheese man has no meaning but the cheese is love. Love is cheesey. Death of the author. The cheese means love.

At the play Cheese Man tells Willow "I've made a little space for the love slices." The series has made pointedly little space for her and Tara’s love, mostly represented in witchcraft by this point in the series, and even Willow herself first compartmentalized & hid that little space from her friends. But space is being made and a little more space will be made yet.

Cheese Man appears to Xander when he’s running from his dad and says "Love… will not protect you." Love will not protect Xander from becoming his father, a fear later manifested in Hell’s Bells.

He appears to Giles in the crypt where Olivia cries over a baby carriage & after training a childish Buffy on carnival games saying "I wear the love. It does not wear me." Giles is unable to commit to either a family with Olivia or an unconventional family with Buffy as a daughter because he’s being too logical, not letting love move him but rather moving love, weighing a cost benefit analysis.

And since all the characters represent an aspect of Buffy and they each made up a part of her in their spell in the last episode, let’s look into how the cheese’s message relates to each aspect of herself:

Buffy’s spirit has a question about how much space she has for love, one which she asks throughout season 5. But Buffy’s spirit has made space for love. However it’s an interesting question just how her lovers each handle the amount of love space she can offer from moment to moment.

And Buffy’s heart is afraid it will let her down again. Xander’s situation mirrors Buffy’s in that they both don’t have good role models or experiences with love and are afraid of fucking up. They have seen and experienced love causing hurt & pain so they are afraid of the danger zone of vulnerability & affection.

So Buffy’s mind wants to keep the love in check, she has learned to be wary. I guess you could say this relates to Buffy keeping Riley at arms length. But it may also be meta commentary that the swept-away-by-love Romeo & Juliet angst of the Bangel era was over & school girl Buffy can’t come to the phone right now because she’s dead— and as the mind I think there’s a case to make it would be most self aware and referential.

Buffy sees the cheese guy in her dream right after she reasserts the importance of her friends and her world. The first slayer speaks for the first time and says “no friends, just kill,” and the cheese guy leans out in front of her with his slices as the first slayer says “we are alone.” The absurdist interlude of a bald guy waving American slices on such a dark & serious thesis from the first slayer caused me to reflect on the oxymoronic nature of WE and ALONE being in a sentence together. Buffy was not alone, she had the cheese with her, her love of the Scooby gang, the core of the show. And so she awoke to the room where she and all her friends were napping together on the couch. (I also couldn’t help but think of the first slayer’s continued wrong & absurd messaging in season five that su*cide is a gift and the don’t kill me total cheese factor of how it all culminates with her ~“heroic martyrdom”~ in the season finale why are you booing me I’m right)

[jvstheworld]

The Buffy Re-watch: S2E11 (part 2)

Ted

Trigger/Content Warning still in effect for this episode just in case.

Buffy, Joyce and Ted have dinner, Buffy is sent to her room, then Buffy goes out to patrol. She was probably out for about an hour at the minimum, maybe up to 2. So how long as Ted in her room for to be able to read her diary before she got back? Also, 'Vampire Slayer' kind of explainable there Ted.

The threat of being in a mental institution is something we kind of see happen in the comics. During the transition between LA and having just moved to Sunnydale. We see in 'Normal Again' in season 6 what it would have been like if she did end up there.

Buffy in shock after killing a 'human'. It's a massive difference between her reaction and Faith's next season.

I don't like the questions the police ask Buffy during the interrogation scene. If her hit her first, which he did, couldn't that be grounds for self-defence. My knowledge of criminal law is lacking since I haven't done it in a while (I was originally a law student at university before switching to journalism. Still had to learn law for journalism but it was less intense and more focused on legal matters like defamation and copyright).

Yeah, Giles would understand the guilt that comes with murder. I'm surprised Buffy even went to school, I would have just avoided everyone.

The gang wants to help while Giles takes over patrol. Luckily Willow notices Xander's change in behaviour after eating the cookie and knows that something is sus with it.

Ted drugged it. How much of the food he cooked did he drug? PSA: don't drug people or their food. It's illegal. I talked about this before in 'Reptile Boy' this is just a different circumstance, but it still stands. Just don't do it.

Cordelia coming through with the research on Ted. We appreciate her help.

Jenny may have been harsh to Giles earlier in the episode, but she needed to do what was best for her at the time. Her apology just comes at a bad time when vampires are around.

Where did Ted come from? Seriously. He comes from the side of the room where Buffy's bed is. It would have made more sense if he came from the side where her closet, because he could have been hiding in there, but the implication is that he was hiding under her bed waiting for her.

Jenny, use the stake, not the crossbow. Because you could hit Giles.

Ted is a robot/android reveal!

Cordelia's sense of style coming in to hep find hidden doors to secret basements of horror.

Ted has literal skeletons in his closet, from his first four wives. That he kept locked in there. And probably could never leave. Holy fuck.

After seeing Ted glitch, Joyce gets wise to Ted's weirdness.

Cast iron skillets- they make good weapons, just watch Tangled.

Joyce forgives Buffy for what happened after finding out about the other wives and the attempted kidnapping. Does she not know that he was a robot yet? Because Joyce knows by season 4, but it seems like she doesn't know here and Buffy is trying to cover that up.

jenny and Giles are back together again. We like to see this, but it won't last long unfortunately. It makes Cordy and Xander happy too, at the very least.

Robo Ted is a nightmare of a character. His victims deserved better than the life they were subjected to because of him. The terror they must have suffered knowing that one wrong move and he could hurt them or kill them. The worst part is knowing that things like this happen in real life. The only fantastical element to this episode is the fact that he is a robot. How many horror stories have you heard of women being in abusive relationships and not being able to leave because the man they are with won't let them, because they control so much of their lives. Not being believed about the things you have suffered due to them because they put up such a good front of being the nicest guy around to everyone but when you're alone with him, there is nothing stopping him from showing you his true side. Joyce was lucky that she had Buffy to see through Ted's bullshit and to stop him before she ended up another one of his victims. Not everyone is so lucky to have that support behind them. I know in my own circumstance, while nowhere near as extreme as this, or many other stories you might find out there, I didn't have the support needed to be able to get out of it quick enough before plenty of damage was done. And years later I am still dealing with what happened. I hope any of you reading this never have to suffer this, and if you have, I am sorry that happened to you and I hope you are able to get to a better place in your life.

I'm going to leave it here. This turned into a heavier episode that I thought. Tomorrows episode will be a bit lighter.

[isagrimorie]

We’re just a few hours before episode 50 and its nearly midnight* where I am and I’m feeling restless enough with worry that I just wanted to articulate my thoughts, for the past two weeks I’ve been watching earlier episodes of Campaign 3, and before then I don’t think I’ve noticed how Imogen really is tormented, and its because I think Imogen tries to downplay how much being around people affects her.

(* I’m very sleepy so I apologize if this is incoherent!).

In the last two years traveling with Laudna seems to have helped strengthen her mind shielding. But Imogen’s powers are terrible and isolating, and she has mentioned dropped more than one hint that she suicidal thoughts.

I won’t be surprised if Imogen was just as touch starved as Laudna before they met. And going through this, I realize that Imogen pre-Laudna might have been on her way to becoming how debilitated Buffy was when she got the mind reading powers in Earshot, especially considering how her powers just keeps growing and how frightened and confused she was with everything happening to her.

In the above scene Giles learns the other person who has the ability to mind read had to isolate themselves far away from civilization just to stay sane.

And the way Buffy gets overwhelmed is how I imagine Imogen dealing with her mind powers the first time they manifested. At first it was fun and then it started to get worse as more and more voices entered her mind.

Because apparently even in Exandria, especially if they’re far away enough from cities, magic users are still dealt with some suspicion.

Imogen seemed to have put Liliana on a pedestal and idealized Liliana. The certainty she based her life on was that her mother was the best especially given the distance Relvin has put between himself and Imogen.

Imogen then gets a one-two combo, pushing Imogen off center: Learning Liliana is alive and willingly working with the enemy must have rocked Imogen’s world. Personally, I feel Imogen questioning if they were on the right path felt natural because of the aforementioned body blows but also it feels like Imogen was processing out loud, working through her thoughts. In a strange way this reminds me of the moment in Grey’s Anatomy where Cristina and Bailey had a heart to heart about having a baby in the midst of their careers. I know its not an apple to oranges thing but it was what Bailey said that made me go… oh.

About how Bailey and her husband tried to have a baby for years and yet when she realized she was pregnant that she can’t work the hours she worked and the career she wanted to have and not take pause.

And Bailey took a pause for a very long time.

I know the scope and scale is different from the Apogee Solstice and a typical Grey’s Anatomy episode but I think, in a way, this was similar in mechanism to what Bailey did. She took a pause to process everything she thought about and the carrot Liliana dangled in front of her, except Imogen’s process is talking things out. Get it out of her head.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it Orym was there and before she could even work through her thoughts, about what she saw and experienced, Imogen processing is shut down.

Of course Ludinus and rest of the Vanguard are evil, of course!

But god killing beings are also too nebulous a concept and the world Liliana showed Imogen was tantalizing— living pain free and alone in her head.

The dream world is how Liliana and possibly many Exaltant Ruidus born fell prey to the Ruby Vanguard propaganda. Isolated, alone, looking for answers and a purpose.

(Another thing most of Bells Hells share with each other, the desire to have purpose and meaning).

So, while shutting down the line of doubt and questioning is a good thing it still left Imogen bereft. And now she’s also left with a sense of just doubting might mean she was evil.

And through all this I do like Laudna was a silent observer except for the one question where Laudna asked: “Why do you need to be convinced?”and Imogen threw a hurt but also annoyed glance at Laudna and answered in the negative.

But also, Imogen sought Laudna out and they finally had a talk and honestly I do think out of everyone, even without their bond Laudna was the perfect person to talk to because she approached their conversation without judgment.

Apart from the romantic overtones, Laudna’s walked a similar path Imogen is considering walking: The What If I give in, what if its not all bad? It’s also not the first time they had a conversation where Laudna commiserated with Imogen about something that was potentially dark. Before Delilah derailed their conversation in episode 23, what Laudna said struck a chord:

LAUDNA: You know I can understand this feeling quite a bit, actually. →

IMOGEN Really? →

LAUDNA A false sense of security and power from an ungodly source. → That doesn’t… → You don’t have the control.

[SNIP]

It can be intoxicating, borrowing from a power beyond you. → Just be careful of the moments that you can no longer separate yourself from it. →

And of course, in episode 50, Laudna reminds

LAUDNA: We still have the chance to live a normal life. If you wish to have a quiet life in a cozy cottage in a field, raise horses, and just be. No gods or fates or destiny can keep you from that. Can keep us from that. The gods have never kept us from our ability to have choice.

[SNIP]

And you don’t have to make these choices alone.

And that’s the crux isn’t it? Concept of choice and also the reminder that Imogen isn’t alone.

Imogen maybe similar to Liliana in a lot of ways but she’s also different from Liliana in very definitive ways: Imogen has friends, and Imogen has Laudna.

Imogen saying: “You have to love it all.” Feels like an underrated breakthrough.

Imogen learned to love the weird and everything that comes with being born different.

Because after everything, after all the pain and heartbreak that came with her powers, at this point, I don’t think Imogen truly wants to give up her powers, when having her powers led to meeting Laudna.

(But also, Bells Hells truly are the X-Men/Doom Patrol team, huh?)

I don’t have a sense that Liliana ever learned to love her powers, nor embrace the weird. Instead Liliana chose to leave her family behind and stay out of contact. And its just so easy for a group like the Ruby Vanguard to swoop Liliana up.

Imogen chose to leave Gelvaan with Laudna and formed new attachments and friends. And having friends too is a super power all on its own.

[panther-os]

Okay okay so here are questions for your bastard children au.

1. How does Ghost find out that Cam is a half brother? How did that conversation go? What did Cam react to realizing Simon Riley isn't dead and actually a scary mf in the 141? And how did Simon react to learning that his basterd father was more of a basterd than he thought?

2. Will the other siblings learn about Giles = Simon? Or is it a secret between Cam and Simon? I cant imagine it would be safe to tell all these people he barely knows. But also, they are family...

Probably more questions to come, but these are the main ones for now 💕💕

So there are several ways I'm playing with the reveal going! But basically it boils down to Cam is not ashamed of Simon, he is proudly open about who his older brother is and what he means to him. He doesn't go around announcing it, but when talking about why they wanted to join the military, he just very clearly goes "My older brother, Simon Riley, was in the service, and I want to be like him and make him proud of me. Yes, that Simon Riley, no, I don't think he's guilty. I never met him, but everyone said he was sweet, if grim, and he was very protective of his family, even and especially after he came back on leave. I don't believe he could've done it - killed the American? yes. killed his brother and mother and baby nephew? absolutely not."

Cam also talks to "Simon" out loud sometimes. Like a mission will go well, and he'll sigh and look up at the sky or into thin air and go "We did it, Simon. We made it through." (And Ghost will nearly break his own neck doing a double take if they were paired together for it.)

Cam is just glad Simon's alive and glad that he and all the other siblings were right and he was innocent. Though, he is a little sad he can't tell the others, especially Jambo. I forgot to say in the last ask, but Jambo is a computer nerd obsessed with proving Simon's innocence. He has maybe gotten in trouble for hacking government records (mostly because he's bad at it). Not even he thinks Simon's still alive, though.

Ghost is scared as fuck for Cam and the others. He's lost all his family before, he's almost certain it'll happen again. Cam gets in his face about it when the avoidance gets extreme though and is like "I chose this life, too. You only get to dictate the risks I take in my professional life, as my mentor and superior officer, not in my personal life as my brother. We are both adults." After that, things get smoother, and he agrees to be added to the groupchat with the best cyber security Laswell can set up on his end.

As far as learning about his half-siblings' existence... he's disappointed in his dad but not surprised. Or surprised that his dad is a disappointment. 🤷‍♀️

Keegan for sure finds out eventually, when the Ghosts and 141 finally team up. I think the others will start to suspect after a while, but they're not saying nothing. If Giles is Simon, they don't want to get him in trouble with the authorities, and if he's not, they don't want to upset him by treating him like someone he's not. So they all know but they're not talking and they don't Know. Not even Jambo. And this is 100% to keep them safe, Cam and Keegan and Simon all chose to enlist, the others did not. And Kitty is roughly the same age Joseph was when he died, which makes the feelings More Complicated for Simon. He got PTSD up the wazoo.

One thing that is related to it being family, though, is that Ghost's maternal grandmother - his Mamó Caoimhe (pronounced sort of like Mamaw Keeva), who he was super close to - is still alive. The Bastard Children in Manchester all take turns checking in on her and bringing her food and giving her company. They've never said they're her son-in-law's offspring, but she definitely suspects. But Ghost cut off all contact with her for the same safety reasons and supposed to be dead reasons after the massacre, and it gives him peace to know she has people looking after her. Specifically, being able to get regular updates on how she's doing without putting her in danger by showing up himself or straight up hiring a stalker - or begging Laswell - does his mental health a world of good.

I think that answered all your questions? 😅 Let me know if I missed any!

[jon-withnoh]

Finally answering this question from @gayvillainera (from an ask game a while back).

“🍈 Who’s your blorbo and what are some of your favorite headcanons/ideas about them that repeatedly show up in your fics? Free pass to rant about blorbo opinions.“

I‘ve decided to go all out for this and will be giving you my opinions on Danny, Rebecca and Beatrice, since they‘re all POV characters in my current fic.

1) Danny: No fictional character has had this much of a chokehold on me since I first listened to Wicked in 2018. I don‘t think it‘s possible for me to get enough of this character. Every single actress, acting choice, (un-)official sequel or fic delights me. I love seeing what other people make of her. Personally, I see Danny as a person who knows what it‘s like to be extremely lonely. She has some interesting parallels with Ich in this regard — I imagine her as someone who probably grew up pretty isolated / did not have many friends or family, so when she started working for Rebecca, she was all too ready to pour all of her affection and devotion into her. Another interesting parallel between Danny and Ich is their lack of first names. Both Mrs Danvers and Mrs de Winter are names that almost double as (job) titles. What‘s devastating about Danny‘s name is that the more intimate name we do have for her is a nickname given to her by Rebecca. Almost every aspect of her life is defined by Rebecca and later her absence. In terms of writing her, I adored writing soft, stoic, traumatised Danny for Was Wird Aus Uns. As you‘ll see, Danny in Nie Wirst Du Mir Ganz Gehören is quite different — she still has that tenderness that I think comes through in almost all versions of her, but I‘m leaning into her jealousy and possessiveness over Rebecca a lot more. Bottom line, I adore Danny. I love her complexity and all-consuming yearning.

2) Rebecca: Rebecca fascinates me. I have trouble with readings that paint her as purely evil. The novel is a lot more subtle than that. Another thing that irks me about one-dimensional interpretations of Rebecca is that they have a tendency to leave out important context — for example that Rebecca would have had a much harder time divorcing Maxim than he would have divorcing her. In terms of my own reading of the character, as with Danny, I enjoy Rebecca‘s complexity. I like reading her and Maxim as two people who are actually quite similar in temperament, but have very different approaches to tradition and morality. For my current fic, I‘m trying to figure out Rebecca‘s motivations — what does she want? Does she love Danny and if so, in what way does she love Danny? I like playing around with the idea that putting on the mask of Mrs de Winter would have put quite the strain on Rebecca, no matter how proficient she was at it. She feels like a person who has never fully learned to identify and deal with her emotions, at least partly because Danny is so ready to deal with everything for her. I have a lot more thoughts but they‘re difficult to put into words, so you‘ll have to wait for my next few chapters :)

3) Beatrice: Darling Beatrice. I love her. My favourite Beatrice headcanon is that her marriage to Giles is purely platonic (I like to think of Giles as ace) and that these two are devoted life partners. Part of this headcanon is that Giles actually was the one to introduce Beatrice to her romantic life partner, a woman named Grace (stay tuned for my Beatrice backstory fic). Furthermore, I love Beatrice‘s ability to have chemistry with every single woman in the narrative. I can see her with pretty much everyone. In my current fics, Bee is about 8 years older than Maxim and since I mistakenly assumed Maxim is 45, that makes her 53. I wouldn‘t write Beatrich with this kind of age difference, but I can see it in different contexts. I don‘t want to spoil too much about my current fic, but I‘m in love with the idea that both Danny/Beatrice and Rebecca/Beatrice have hooked up/are hooking up and the messy dynamics this could lead to between the three of them.

I am not writing this on my phone so I‘ll probably post it and then be shocked by how long it is… Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my rambles, I‘m always happy to ramble more! I love these sad messed up women so much.

[coraniaid]

I was thinking about how Kendra really should've been mentioned in Fool For Love given its an episode where Buffy wants to learn about previous Slayers' final battles so Top 5 episodes in which Kendra should've been mentioned in?

Ignoring the episodes I'd have liked to actually see Bianca Lawson return in (either in flashback or some alternate dimension or in a dream sequence or as the First) and ignoring Fool For Love as well since you mentioned it already (but I agree that's a good call otherwise).

S3E07 Revelations -- obviously Angel didn't personally kill Kendra, but he played a very major role in her death (she came back to Sunnydale to stop his plan to wake Acathla, he lured Buffy away from the library so she wasn't there to protect her, he sent Drusilla to kidnap Giles and Kendra tried to stop her). So it would have been nice, in a way, if anybody had thought to bring Kendra up during that scene in the library where they're arguing about Buffy keeping Angel's return a secret and how he killed Jenny Calendar and tortured Giles. Especially when they're doing so mere feet away from the spot where Kendra was murdered. It would have nice to suggest that Buffy wanted to talk to Faith about Kendra at the end, too (even though I think Faith still brushes her off the way she does in canon).

S3E08 Lovers Walk Relatedly, it would have been nice if -- while Spike was busy feeling sorry for himself and remembering all the nice spots in Sunnydale where he and Dru had murdered people in better times -- the writers had remembered Buffy had reminded him that one of the people his ex had fun murdering was Kendra. Or that, way back in Becoming Part 2, the very last time Buffy said Kendra's name out loud in the show came with a threat to kill Drusilla ("Forget about Drusilla. She doesn't walk. She killed Kendra.")

S3E15 Consequences. Don't think this even needed Kendra to be mentioned by name, but it would have been nice if the show had acknowleged that this is in the third time in barely a year than Buffy has been questioned by the police in a murder investigation. And by the same guy all three times! Detective Stein doesn't seem to be part of the town-wide conspiracy to cover up the supernatural, so what does he think really happened to Ted and to Kendra? I get that the show at this point wasn't trying to be too serialized (but Ted, at least, will get brought up at least one more time in Season 4's Fear Itself), but ... I dunno, I just think it would have been a nice bit of continuity to have Stein tell somebody (Buffy? the Mayor?) that not only does he think Buffy was involved in Finch's death but that he still hasn't ruled out her being involved in Kendra's death too (whatever his bosses told him to make him drop it).

S5E14 Crush. This isn't actually a very good episode (as indicated by the words 'written by David Fury' that appear on the screen at the beginning) so we can't expect too much from it, but ... look! It's Drusilla! Back in town for the first time since Becoming! And Spike's talking about killing her, even. "Why do I care?" Buffy asks him, which would be a perfectly fine way for Buffy to express her disinterest in Spike and demonstrate her refusual to be swayed by his attempts at coercing her to 'admit' her romantic feelings for him if this were any other random vampire, but this is meant to be a vampire Buffy has a strong preexisting personal grudge against. She killed Kendra, David. That's why Buffy should care. You could, I dunno, at least have Spike bring that up again? ("If you don't admit there's something there ... I'll untie Dru, let her kill you instead. Just like she killed that other Slayer.")

S7E17 Lies My Parents Told Me. I mean, not the canon version of the episode, which is basically unsalvagable, but in some other better version of this episode where Buffy finds out that Robin was Nikki's son it might have been nice to contrast Robin's years long quest for revenge with the fact that Buffy didn't allow herself to leave town and hunt Drusilla down for revenge. Not because she didn't care about Kendra (at least, she cares about Kendra in my version of the show...), but because she had a responsibility to everyone alive in Sunnydale. That would, at least, be a better way to echo Nikki's "the mission is what matters" line than the gross way the episode settles on ("You're trying to get revenge on a man who doesn't exist anymore! Also, isn't it cool and fitting he got 'his' coat back?")

[rubyroth]

a monster whom neither gods nor men can resist

Summary: It's a new year. Cupid and Briar talk during True Hearts Day preparations, and Briar learns an unexpected truth.

Notes: This is a bit of an unfocused Cupid/Briar oneshot inspired by this post (and its comments) by @rappled. Don't worry too much about canon. But do brush up on the story of Eros and Psyche, otherwise the things Cupid says will make no sense.

OSP has a decent video summary. If you want to dig into version from around the same time as when many other classic fairy tales were popularized (i.e. the early to mid 1800s), try the one in The Age of Fables by Thomas Bulfinch. (TL;DR: Eros and Psyche has the same folkloric classification as Beauty and the Beast)

---

Celebration of True Hearts Day is technically still forbidden at Ever After High, but Headmaster Milton Grimm's vigilance has waned now that the Storybook of Legends is no more, and his brother Giles has a soft spot for minor rebellion. It's all the excuse Briar and Cupid need to plan a party even bigger than the last.

They're working in Briar and Ashlynn's dorm, when conversation takes a turn to romantic gossip. Nothing serious, of course. Just harmless stuff: speculation on if Ginger's swooning over the White Knight has transferred over to Darling; debate how one of the cheerhexers and Humphrey started dating; cooing over how sweet Ashlynn and Hunter are together. Harmless, until it's not.

"What about you, Briar?"

A lance of cold dread spikes down Briar's spine. "What about me?"

Innocent, guileless Cupid smiles, unaware of the emotional bear trap she dances around. "Any romance in your life?"

"Nah, I haven't had the time to even think about it." Liar, liar, liar. Thoughts and nightmares of her destined prince circle around her head endlessly.

"Love can't be rushed," Cupid says with a nod. They go back to planning. And that should have been the end of that.

Except Cupid must of had some sense of Briar's lie because Cupid starts looking at her like a puzzle that needs to be solved. Not overtly. Not all the time. Only when the topic of love comes up, but it comes up all the time with True Hearts Day on the horizon.

And, worst of all, something strange and unfamiliar blooms in her chest whenever she feels the weight of Cupid's pretty sky-blue eyes on her.

---

Briar finds Cupid in her studio after her Mirror Cast, head on her desk and groaning. "That bad of a show?"

"Too many callers asking if I can just magic their love life together in time for True Hearts Day." Cupid sighs. "They should know by now I don't condone that sort of thing. Love happens, when it happens!"

Or when destiny demands it, but Briar isn't going to add her angst to the page here.

"Besides," She gets up and stretches. Her wings flex and Briar wonders if they would be soft to the touch. "I don't know if my arrows would have any unexpected side effects if mixed into a fairy tale."

"Like, you think I'd fall asleep instead of falling in love if I pricked a finger on one of your arrows?"

"Hmmm." Her blue gaze heavy on Briar's shoulders. "You're a Beauty both by name and appearance"--(Cupid thinks Briar is beautiful?)--"so you'd get written into my story, I think. Though my mom is way more mellow than Aunt Aphrodite, so I'm not sure--"

"Wait a spell! What do you mean, I'd 'get written into your story'? I thought your whole destiny was just making people fall in love. That's what Maddie saw during Thronecoming last year!"

"I guess the Storybook of Legends didn't want to attract the attention of the gods by recreating their likenesses. Or maybe it couldn't handle a Beauty and the Beast-like tale for someone who isn't Rosabella?" Cupid shrugs, as if she's not completely upending Briar's world on its axis.

Endless questions bubble in Briar's throat, only for the chime of a MirrorPhone to remind her why she had come to Cupid in the first place. "Oh hex, we have to get to the main hall to get our order before Headmaster Grimm has a chance to see it."

But the thoughts take root, and begin to grow.

It's unfair, she knows, but Briar didn't think highly of Cupid's love advice, before. How could Cupid advise the students of Ever After on how to pursue love despite destiny, when she couldn't possibly know the feeling of being in destiny's snare? Of knowing destiny's match-making ways?

Briar turns around the information she learned today over and over. But Cupid does know, and Briar doesn't know what to make of it.

---

Briar blurts it out while they're putting up decorations up at the Red Shoes club, like an idiot. "What is your story, anyway?"

Cupid laughs. "I'm surprised it took you this long to ask. It looked like you were going to burst all day!"

"Sorry! But I couldn't stop thinking about what you said and--it's not secret isn't it?"

"Nope! It's pretty simple. Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess, who was destined to love a monster neither the gods nor mortals could resist."

"Are you saying…you would be the monster?" Oh Godmother this makes her head hurt. "But you're like, super pretty! One of the most gorgeous girls in school!"

"Aw, I'm happy you think so Briar." Cupid leans in close. Briar's heart hammers in her chest. Then pretty, gorgeous, mischievous Cupid plants a kiss right on Briar's cheek. "Flattery will get you far."

[wolfstrong]

buffy q and a…. what happened in the latest episode? what was the mamotw (monster as metaphor of the week)? interesting character or plot developments?

Okay thank you.

The last episode I watched was s6e18 entropy and honestly not too much happened. It was mostly just centered around the fallout of Hells Bells and Xander and Anya’s botched wedding. Anya and Xander speak for the first time, and we learn that Anya just really really wants to vengeance demon Xanders ass. But she can’t do it on her own, she needs someone else to wish for Xanders demise so that she can grant the wish. She asks Buffy, Dawn, Tara and Willow to wish that Xander was cursed, but they all like hi to much to do tha. So then she gets the idea that she’ll ask Spike. They hang out in the magic box and have a few drinks together, and eventually they end up having a sad self pity hookup with each other. I think this is great, like really perfect you know. Like it’s just so messy and bad and in a weird way Anya and Spike are really good for each other. The only reason they both can’t actually date in canon is because they would just be bad guys. They are tethered to humanity by their respective partner and without that I think they’d just kinda be too unstoppable. But their hook up is good. Also plot twist that is like so extremely funny to me, the “trio” (incel gang) had set up cameras in multiple location to spy on Buffy. Just as Willow was hacking into their camera footage, Anya and Spike start hooking up, so literally Buffy Willow Xander and DAWN watch Anya and Spike have sex on willows laptop like jaw drop. It’s so funny man like bro what a way to discover your sneaky link or woman you left at the alter is out fucking someone else. Also the whole trio watches for no reason too. The writers were on crack at this point. Like lines in the Writers room like every day “fuck it! Let’s have dawn watch the Spike and Anya sloppy hookup over spy cam too!” They didn’t care they were just doing anything. Anyway the episode ended with Tara and Willow making out thank god

As for the monster of the week, people were just fighting their own personal demons in this episode. There was no metaphors, it was literally just like what if you got your heart broken so bad you rebounded on a scumbag. Like okay

And our interesting plot development is that FINALLY Willow and Tata are back together. FELT LIKE SO LONG. Also Buffy has to come clean to everyone that she’s hooking up with spike which I guess is a pretty big conflict of s6 but like… man I’m so sick of the spuffy crap in this season. I don’t really care! I miss Giles. Okay thank you for asking the question I typed this on my iPad so if there are any weird typos it’s cuz it’s so hard to type on an iPad

[beheadedcousins]

oh this is really great with answering a question i had

(transcript in the read more if you can't read the photo)

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Anyone who's asked me about TIGERS knows how quickly I can go from "It's a teen horror comedy!" to an in-depth discussion about the debiltating pressures put on young women to succeed. I always circle back to its teen horror nature, but I do take this show pretty seriously. After all, l experienced firsthand how challenging it is to be a teen girl. For me, it turned out to be quite difficult because I eventually realized ľm a trans guy, but that's an entirely different musical.

As much as TIGERS is murder mystery,it's also about nine young women who are at extremely formative places in their lives. They want to feel hopeful about the future but are afraid that their greatest weaknesses could become what define them, especially after a failed stunt goes viral. The show opens as the Tigers cheer team is gathering for their annual sleepover- but their attempts to appear effortless around each other are painstaking, and each gir is contending with her own secrets and challenges.

Riley, the new captain, is determined to stay positive. She's still working out how to be a strong leader, but she refuses to let her team down. Cairo prefers partying over responsibility and doesn't see the harm in having a little fun, though that often comes at the expense of others.Chess isstruggling to recover from a knee injury that ended her lifelong dream of being an Olympic gymnast and led to an addicton to painkillers. Kate tries to help Chess recover,but their relationship has become complicated as Chess prepares to go off to college and Kate realizes she's falling in love with her distracted, spiraling best friend.

Annleigh relies heavily on faith to guide her, but ends up overwhelmed by unexpected urges, especially when it comes to her boyfriend, Clark. Annleigh's stepsister Farrah no longer feels supported after the botched stunt put her in danger, and her habits have slipped from playful partying to a dependency on alcohol. Tigers mascot Reese has faced a long history of bullying by her classmates, but she's learning to believe in herself even when no one else will. Freshman Mattie is optimistic that she'll have a great year and has no idea how wrong she's about to be. Eva, a flyer from a rival school, is used to not getting what she knows she deserves, but still takes a chance on a new experience. Soon,one of these characters reaches a breaking point, and three Tigers don't make it through the night.

And that's the team: desperate to connect but terrified to communicate, just trying to get through a single sleepover/party/practice (in a social context) alive. I could get sentimental about how many years I've spent with this show and how much these characters mean to me,but l hope that speaks for itself.I hope the honesty and empathy that's gone into telling this story comes through as powerfully as the screlting (and there's a lot of screlting). I hope it's sometimes very funny and sometimes quite devastating, and that some of it stays with you for a while.

As you know, the sleepover has been a Giles Corey High School tradition for 38 years now. And I'm honored to carry that on here with all of you.

-PRESTON MAX ALLEN

[moonlight26posts-blog]

In Baltimore City, MD: Shy, skeletal dog surrendered to the shelter is still so trusting and resilient despite everything - BARCS, Baltimore MD

- Rescue Needed -

Bethany- 2 years, altered female, 38lbs

"Oh, hello, I’m Bethany! Are you a new friend? I’ve met many of those at BARCS. They speak to me in quiet, kind voices, and they don’t mind when I seem a little shy. I think the word is slowly getting out that I can be quickly won over with a snack or two.

I have been told I have almost impeccable leash manners. I’ll walk by your side at a steady pace, and will look up at you every few seconds to make sure you’re still there. Anytime I pass by an agility bench on a BARCS trail, I hop on top of it. My new friends seem to be very impressed by my skills. They tell me I’m a good girl, and give me lots of treats and scratches. I like to nuzzle up to them and ask for more.

One of my favorite things to do on walks at BARCS is to slowly make my way to a quiet, still part of the trail and sit with one of the nice humans who work here. It was a bit chilly on a recent day, but it was sunny, and I closed my eyes as I felt the breeze on my coat. Around me, I could hear squirrels scurrying over leaves, birds tweeting, and so many other wonderful sounds."

When tested off-leash in our shelter's play yard, Bethany was nervous around other dogs, but tolerant. She is not recommended to live in a home with small animals, however, as she did previously kill a stray cat after getting loose from her yard.

Bethany was recently brought to BARCS through Animal Control when her owner reported that she would not gain weight and they could no longer care for her, although the history is questionable and our vets believe her emaciation is due to lack of resources/food. She was also dehydrated and weak, but with time and consistent, small amounts of food, she has gained a bit of weight so far.

The world can be a scary place, but Bethany is starting to learn that it can be a beautiful one, too, and she would love to do it outside of the shelter and instead in a loving foster home.

Bethany is available immediately for rescue pick-up.

Please let us know if your organization can help!

Thank you,

The BARCS Rescue Team

Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter (BARCS) ​New Address! 2490 Giles Rd, Baltimore, MD 21225 rescue@barcs.org| (410) 396-4695

Rescue pick-up hours: Monday-Friday: 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m

Adoption hours: Monday-Friday: 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, Inc. (BARCS) | 2490 Giles Rd, Baltimore, MD 21225