#gotta give credit to this game for making it's evil characters actual pieces of shit

[palettepainter]

You know what I think is the most fucked about Doey's character?? Not only is it the idea that his headspace is constantly being split three ways constantly, with one personality fighting to remain in control while keeping the others calm, it's the fact that through out the game (I don't think anyway) we are not given any explanation as to WHY Doey is made of three kids.

He could have easily been made with one like all the other experiments, Doey, by all accounts, was simply a trial run to see if it was possible for Playtime to make an experiment with more then one kid. For all we know, Playtime Co made Doey from three kids because they where bored

[queen-of-deans-booty]

The Real Ghostbusters: Part Two

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 2,056

Warnings: typical supernatural violence, language, angst, blood, you know the usual

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Any and all comments on these are appreciated. I really want to hear what you guys think about this one!

Feedback is the glue that holds my writing together.

Tags at the bottom

After the conference was over, everyone shuffled into the main room to chat and have a good time until the event was supposed to start soon. Chuck and Becky were sitting at a table drinking cocktails in tall glasses with many straws and slices of lime. Seeing him sitting there with a smug smile on his face bothered you so much that you decided to talk to him about this. When he saw you coming, he grew worried about what you were going to do to him. Grabbing the front of his jacket, you pulled him close to you, but none of the threatening glares were there. They were all painful.

“What the fuck, Shurley,” you growled.

“Excuse us,” Dean smiled at Becky who only nodded. He turned to Chuck, and he removed your hand away from his jacket. “In case you haven't noticed, our plates are kind of full, okay? Finding the Colt, hunting the devil, you know the usual stuff. We don't have time for this shit.”

“Hey, I didn't call you!” Chuck defended himself.

Becky was giving Sam “come hither” looks, and he tried to ignore her advances.

“He means the books, Chuck. Why are you publishing more books?” Sam asked.

“Um... for food and shelter?”

“Who gave you the rights to our life story?” you asked, leaning in real close to try and intimidate him. You weren’t at your best, but he was clearly scared. “Because last time I checked, it wasn’t us.”

“An Archangel, and I didn't want it!”

“Well, deal's off, okay? No more books. Our lives are not for sale.”

“Becky, would you excuse us for a moment?” Chuck asked his number one fan who could only nod quickly and excitedly.

“Uh-huh!” Chuck lead you three into the hallway where there were much less people to overhear your conversation.

“Do you guys know what I do for a living?” the writer asked.

“Yeah, Chuck, we know,” you sighed, holding two fingers to your temples.

“Then could you tell me? Cause I don't, alright? I'm not a good writer. I've got no marketable skills. I'm not some hero who can just hit the road and fight monsters, okay? Until the world ends, I gotta live, alright? The Supernatural books are all I've got. What else do you want me to do?”

No one had time to answer because a woman screamed from the second floor, and you three wasted no time rushing up the stairs to see if she was okay. Chuck reached out to grab you to stop you, but he couldn’t get a grasp.

“No, guys, wait!”

Running up the stairs, you saw a man crouched in the corner of the hallway over a woman who seemed to have fainted. Thinking this was real, you leaned over the woman dressed in a maid’s outfit and helped her to her feet.

“Are you okay?” you asked.

“I think so.”

“What happened?”

“I saw a ghost,” she shivered.

A group of people dressed as you, Sam, and Dean gathered behind you. The skinny guy from the conference, and the larger man that greeted Dean when he first walked in were right in the front. This time, they had a woman with them who looked just like you.

“A ghost? Could you tell us what it looked like?” the tall skinny guy said in a fake deep voice.

“Why don't you leave this to the grownups pal,” Dean shrugged him off.

“A woman. She was in an old-fashioned dress. Really old. Like a school marm, or something?” the maid explained.

“Did she say something to you?” the woman who looked like you said.

“Okay,” the maid grinned, raising her voice so that everyone could hear her, “gather close everybody, for a terrifying tale of terror. I saw, a ghost!”

“For fucks sake,” you sighed, walking away from the group when you figured out this wasn’t real at all.

Dean watched you go off to a secluded area where there wasn’t anyone around, and he grew worried for your emotional state.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Dean asked when he approached you.

Sam followed behind him. Looking up, you noticed a woman standing on the far end of the hallway just staring at you. She looked exactly like Amara, but Chuck never wrote her in so why would anyone dress like her? Then, you realized it was her, and you were just seeing what she wanted you to see. Blinking, she disappeared in a split second, and you sighed deeply.

“No, I’m not.”

“Oooo, the LARPing's started!” Becky interrupted with a screech.

Dean wanted to know more, but he could tell you weren’t up to talk about it.

“The... what is that again?” he asked.

“Live Action Role Playing? It's a game. The convention puts it on,” she said, handing Sam a piece of paper. He opened it and began to read it out loud.

“Dad's Journal. Dear Sam, Dean, and Y/N, this hotel is haunted. You must hunt down the ghost. Interview witnesses, discover clues, and find the bones. First team to do so wins a $50 gift card to Sizzler. Love Dad.”

“You guys are soooo gunna win,” Becky grinned.

“Yay, can’t wait,” you sighed.

All the people who were participating in this game were gathering around the fake manager who was hired to play the role. They were all wearing suits with fake-fake FBI badges as they gathered the clues.

“Well yes Agents Lennon and McCartney, as manager of this fine establishment I can assure you that it is indeed haunted. This building was once an orphanage, run by mean old Leticia Gore. 100 years ago, this very night, Miss Gore went insane, and butchered four little boys before killing herself. Now folks say that the souls of those poor little boys are trapped here and the evil spirit of Miss Gore punishes them to this very day.”

“Well that's just about all the community theatre I can take,” Dean shivered.

“Yeah, this cannot get any weirder,” Sam agreed.

The tall skinny guy, the larger guy, and the woman all began passing by you three as they spoke.

“Barnes, we have to stay in character. You’re ruining it,” the larger guy said to the tall man.

“He’s right. We need to win this,” the woman nodded.

“Tasha is right. I’m sorry, Demian,” Barnes apologized to the larger man and Tasha.

He got into character before Demian spoke in a much lower voice.

“Dad said... he said I may have to kill you.”

“Kill me? What the hell does that mean?” Barnes asked, in character.

“I have no idea what the hell is going on or what I’m supposed to think of it,” Tasha sighed, in character of, well, you.

“How could you two not have told me this?” Barnes asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

They trio walked off so you couldn’t hear what their answer was, but you had a guess on what it could be. After all, you lived through it.

“I need a drink,” you, Sam, and Dean said at the exact same time.

Without waiting for them, you walked to the bar, took a seat, and ordered the strongest whiskey they had. Sam and Dean joined you, and Dean ordered shots and Sam just had a beer.

“Want to tell us what’s wrong?” Dean asked when he saw you downing the whole glass of whiskey when it was only meant to be sipped.

The alcohol helped your headache just a little bit, but not by much. This was a magical headache, so there wasn’t really any cure for it. Maybe you just had to let it pass or sleep so you can dream it away. Ignoring Dean’s comment, you ordered another round when Sam hasn’t even touched his beer. Dean drank his shots, but he decided it was enough for him.

“Come on, sweetheart. We want to try and help you.”

“You look like you’re in a lot of pain,” Sam commented.

“For the last time, I'm not making this up, okay? She's upstairs, a real live dead ghost,” a man playing the game panicked to his friend.

That caught your attention, and to try and shift your focus off the headache, you got up and decided to investigate what this man was trying to say.

“This is frustrating,” Dean groaned.

“Now you know how I feel when you do it,” Sam muttered.

Both brothers got up and followed your lead.

“I'm sure it was just one of the ghost actors,” the guy’s friend shrugged it off.

“Who beat the hell out of me and then vanished?”

“You saw something?” you asked.

“This isn't part of the game jerk,” he scoffed, turning back to his friend. “Look, I'm getting out of here and you should do the same.”

“Alex, wait. Hey, come back!” his friend urged when Alex stormed off.

“What do you think?” Sam asked.

“I don't think that guy's a good enough an actor to be acting,” you sighed, leaving their side to approach the real manager of the place.

Maybe he might be able to tell you something that the game wouldn’t. As you passed by the fake hotel manager, he was giving off the same speech you heard the first time. Ignoring him, you walked to the front desk where the real manager was.

“Excuse us, mind if we ask you a few questions?”

“Look, I don't have time to play Star Wars guys. Go ask the guy in the ascot,” he rolled his eyes. Reaching into your wallet, you produced a $50 bill and slid it across the desk.

“Actually, we really want to talk to you.”

“Okay. You guys are really into this,” the manager nodded, but accepted the money.

“You have no idea,” Sam chuckled.

“What do you want to know?”

“All this stuff they're saying about this place being haunted and Leticia Gore. Any truth to it?”

“We generally don't like to publicize this to... normal people... but yeah. In 1909, this place was called 'Gore Orphanage'. Miss Gore killed four boys with a butcher’s knife, then offed herself.”

“And is tonight really her anniversary?” Dean wondered.

“Yep, guess your convention folks want authenticity.”

“There been any sightings?”

“Yep, over the years. A few maids have quit saying they heard the boys or saw them. A janitor even saw Miss Gore once.”

“Where did Miss Gore carve up the kids?” you asked.

“Look, I don't want you stomping all over the joint. A lot of this place is off limits to nerds,” he groaned. Taking another $50 bill, you slid it to the man which seemed to influence him enough. He grabbed the money and leaned in so that no one else could hear him. “The attic.”

“You’re a good man,” you smiled tightly, leaving the counter.

Sam and Dean followed you, but neither of you noticed Barnes, Demian, and Tasha listening from behind. The hotel has three floors, so it didn’t take long to get to the attic which was covered in dust and spiderwebs. Sam had the EMF and a flashlight out, Dean has his flashlight out, and you illuminated your way with your magic. As soon as you entered the attic through the crawl space, the EMF started going off like crazy.

“The EMF's going nuts.”

“Great. We got a real ghost, and we got a bunch of dudes and gals pretending to be us poking at it,” Dean sighed.

“No way this ends well,” you muttered.

“Yeah well serves them right.”

“Dean…”

“I'm just saying,” he shrugged, continuing his search.

The light reached every nook and cranny the attic has to offer, but you weren’t finding anything that might tell you what was going on.

“My mommy loves me,” a young child said. Turning around, you noticed a really small boy about the age of six or seven crouching in the corner of the room, his hands holding his head. Sam and Dean approached your side to look at the little boy. “I said my mommy loves me.”

“I’m sure she does.”

“My mommy loves me this much!” the little boy removed his hands, revealing he has been partially scalped, then disappears much like spirits do.

“How many children are there?”

“The manager said four,” Sam answered you.

“Okay, one down, three to go.”

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[rogue-rook]

many highlights from The Suffering Game from a first-time TAZ listener

also featuring bits from the Lunar Interlude IV: The Calm Before the Storm

that’s a fucking ominous combination of names, THANKS MCELROYS!!!!

griffin: “kravitz, who’s the bounty hunter for the raven queen, who’s the goddess of the natural passage of life and death” that’s an awesome title, wayyy cooler than just “goddess of death”

kravitz and taako is a good ship, im glad its a thing people ship

the BOB opened a wine and pottery place and i gotta give them credit for being so considerate of their employees and also being on top of the best hipster ass trends…justin named it the Chug and Squeeze. its the rowdy one

kravitz: "how much more dying do you think is gonna happen?" taako: "us dying? or like other regular dying?" kravitz: "any dying at all" taako: "there's gonna be some"

kravitz getting all agitated by the umbra staff and the probable lich inside it is making ME nervous

sweet angus macdonald, boy detective, is easily my favorite non-dead or death related npc

i cannot believe merle has kids

also merle called them the tres horny boys and im like my nickname of grubby grifters is way better and much less likely to horrify young children

sweet ango: “you can swear in front of me, its okay" merle: “oh shit thank god”

aw shit magnus has been having sleepless nights over the shit he doesn’t understand, poor sweet magnus

aw shit he’s gonna confront the voidfish!

a voidfish memory!!!! THERE ARE MULTIPLE VOIDFISH! aw shit there’s some big bad evil out there! AW SHIT THERE’S A BABY VOIDFISH!!

leon the artificer: "oh god, just put it in the machine, please god! im in hell and YOU'RE SATAN!"

garfield the deals wizard: “ah, angling to make a DEALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL” merle: “that was 42 L’s”

garfield: “i know what I want! YOUR SIDEBURNS!!!” everyone: “ohhhhhh”

garfield: “how about a tiny little scraping?” yall WHAT THE HELL DOES GARFIELD WANT WITH HIS HAIR???

OH NO!!! TAAKO IS GETTING THE FUCKING SWORD OFF OF GARFIELD!!!! HE BOUGHT A PERSUASION OBJECT AND THEN AN OBJECT THAT HE CAN USE TO CONVINCE A PERSON TO TRADE THEIR MOST VALUABLE ITEM! AND HE’S GETTING THE GODDAMN SWORD!!! HE METAPHORICALL LAUNCHED HIMSELF THROUGH THE METAPHORICAL HOOPS REQUIRED TO GET THAT FUCKING SWORD WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT!!!!!!! I AM SHOOK!!

griffin: “holy shit that was funny. as soon as I realized what you were doing, i was sent into a panic spiral!”

griffin: “i wish it hadn’t taken me 40-some episodes to discover the power of the epilogue”

the director: “taako, are you okay?" taako: "yeah, i’m fine! you're not my mom"

oh no the director lost 20 years of her life to a wager in wonderland and im like aw fuck this arc is gonna fuck ME UP

justin: "taako went on a date with death and now that i say this out loud, that sounds soooo cool!"

justin: “its not that taako is embarrassed about his sexuality, its just that he doesn’t think its anybody's goddamn business, especially these fucking clowns!”

magnus: "and you are?" sweet ango: "im angus macdonald, boy detective and your very good friend!" magnus: "um, sounds familiar...nah i tousle his hair and say ‘of course i remember you!’"

merle: "we're just jumping right in?" the director: "would you like to take 20 minutes to buy shorts again?" merle: "they were good shorts"

griffin "well now you have....CAPTIVES? you have now pokemon-ed these two boys!"

im like pretty sure griffin called magnus “madness”

merle: “please be hawkeye!” griffin: “yep, its the guy himself, hawk-guy, uh, no”

damn yall this twisted horror movie wonderland shit popped off magnus’s pinkie and stole merle’s dark vision

“welcome to the monster factory” YOOOO CROSSOVER!!!! MY SECRET WISH FOR THE FINAL PAM TO STEP IN TO THE ADVENTURE ZONE MIGHT ACTUALLY BE REALIZED!!

griffin: “you guys are basically fucking demigods right now. you're basically benicio del toro's character in the marvel movies” i had to google what the fuck griffin meant by that and i have seen almost al the marvel movies so i would easily label that as the Deepest Cut

taako: “do you think that wet ropes are conductive?” magnus: “more so than dry ropes!" [sounds of justin dying of laughter away from the mic"

oh god taako’s finally gone back to the ethereal plane and these glowy-eyed creeps are back!!!!! im so creeped out!!!!!

griffin: “damn, you're the danger squad!!” taako: “well, somebody dropped a washing machine on me and i got squished into a ghost!! so its not foolproof” well now ive got this mental image of taako as like a smushed goomba

griffin: “there’s NO healing in wonderland!” man griffin is getting just a tad TOO into this whole Playing God shit

griffin: “the severed head is just laying there...cuz its a head”

cam the body-less head: “im sorry i can't greet you with a formal hand shake, but i seem to have misplaced my...my everything”

 cam: “what brings you to wonderland?” magnus: “looking for a bell” cam: “must be a pretty good fucking bell”

cam: “what do you know about liches?” magnus: “they get stitches, i think!” justin: “LICHES GET STITCHES! okay” aw shit yall liches are becoming a plot point and the one single spoiler i know about (lup) is getting mE HYPED!!!

justin: “i know what you should give up! your B-I-B-LE!” and then justin fucking SANG AN IMPROVISED SONG ABOUT MERLE’S DUMMBO BIBLE

lydia the evil elf lich bitch: “are you three heroes ready for your ONLY chance at love??” magnus: “uh, pass” i feel like somewhere julia’s just laughing and cheering her grubby hero husband on

justin: "is it, griffin? is it real low? is it almost like some liches of your imagination sucked my hit points away from me?! would that account for the low-ness???” griffin: “that’s like real low” justin: “IT’S LIKE SO CRAZY LOW, HUH?”

travis: “yeah, merle’s a deeply religious person, when he needs something!”

griffin: “taako’s arms shrink into his chest, and his head gets real long, and he grows a tail, and he turns into a tyrannosaurus rex!” travis: “meanwhile magnus is setting mannequins on fire” yall this fight got real real real wild super quick!!!

oh god magnus’s SOUL GOT KNOCKED OUT OF HIS BODY

“I’ll be having my body back, you undead fuck” YOOOOO THAT SHIT WAS SO DOPPPPEEEEEEE

griffin: “i've reached a point where when i hear justin say 'im going to cast' i assume the next words are a thing that's going to break the sequence of the shit that you've written down”

justin: “im going to cast Animate Objects on the mannequins, and I can animate up to ten of them” griffin: “HOLY FUCKING SHIT, WHAT? HOLY JESUS FANTASIA!”

HOLY SHIT WHAT?? magnus’s kid memory has a different sky than the one he’s in now, and im like WHATTT???? THATS SOME MORE PUZZLE PIECE SHIT!!!!! MULTI-PLANAR PUZZLE PIECE SHIT!

clint: “i want to change Divine Word into Divine Wood" griffin: "and you pop the most righteous boner”

the fact that the umbrella ATE edward the magical evil elf shit even though taako is unconscious as hell is AWESOME

LYDIA THE EVIL ELF LICH DESTROYED MAGNUS’S BODY!!!! that’s some GARBAGE luck my dude

merle: "i have a spell called Raise Dead" magnus: "he's not dead" justin: "he's only mostly dead!" griffin: "OH MY GOD" justin: “we got monty python, we got princess bridge, this podcast has it all!

griffin: "just have somebody heal you! don't act like you got revived from the power of your cool catchphrase!" justin: “i can’t say a cool catchphrase twenty minutes after we won!” griffin: “okay what are you astrally projecting into the atmosphere???” taako: “LICHES.....GET.....STITCHES!”

jesus, magnus’s great life goal and plan is to be reunited with julia, that’s some tragic heartbreaking shit

rowan: “my day was pretty shit” magnus: “oh, are you a mannequin?” rowan: “oh my god is that MAGNUS??” magnus: “yeah, so, maybe like keep your shit to yourself, unless you’re a fucking mannequin”

justin: “hey, i have a question, among like retrieving our belongings, did magnus, he did get himself a new arm, right, he got his arm back?” travis: “yeah, plugged it back in like G.I. Joe”

“you made something, and you’re terrified of it...[..]..you removed your uniform, and its a bright crimson uniform with an insignia patch...[...]...you decide they’re the ones who are going to be able to keep this cup safe” PUZZLE PIECES!!!! PUZZLE PIECES!!!!! HOLY SHIT YALL!!!

they’ve come back around to the start, where wave echo cave is and the gerblins arc took place, and im so EXCITED!

“sturdy. denim. blue” I CALLED IT AND I WAS SOOOOOOO FUCKING RIGHT AND IM SO HYPED TO BE RIGHT!!!!!I IT WAS BARRY THE WHOLE FUCKING TIME!!!!

this arc felt like a million goddamn years, cuz of all the, ya know, SUFFERING, it actually felt more tedious and exhausting than fucking petals to the metal, but it was pretty good, i liked it. i also feel like the grubby grifters have earned a new nickname: the grubby heroes

[kevoreally]

#BuffyAt20 - S03E07 “Revelations”

Wow so this is the first time I’ve been able to do my #BuffyAt20 on the actual date all season! Been a hectic couple of months. And what an episode to be caught up for! Let’s dive in.

> There’s way more Dingoes this season than I remember there being the last time I watched.

> Oh god I forgot it was this teaser. “Oh it’s so crowded, why won’t Xander go near Willow?” Aren’t jokes about cheating in front of your partner funny?

> No one gets it when I say “I’m here through Saturday, enjoy the veal.”

> I love Willow noticing Buffy is acting strange.

> Cordelia almost comes across as empathetic in this scene, talking about Buffy’s trauma, except for the horrifying phraseology.

> I’m guessing Buffy/Faith shippers loved the “really, we’re just good friends” bit in this teaser?

> The look on Giles’s face when Gwendolyn says she’s the new Watcher, you have to assume some part of him wonders “Is this finally it? Am I finally fired?”

> Can I take like five seconds to talk about how great this show was? Like, it was serious but never hyper-dramatic, funny but not over-silly. It paved the way for so many teen-aimed sci-fi/fantasy series we have today. I just love it.

> I love that Eliza got an “as Faith” on her credit.

> WHY WOULD GILES NEED THE LABYRINTH MAPS OF MALTA WHEN HE LIVES IN SUNNYDALE?

> “Hmm. academic probation’s not so funny today, huh, Giles?” Forever loving that moment.

> This woman is such a beautiful sociopath. She literally gives Giles five seconds to produce an image of demon she just mentioned before belittling him. If he was thinking rationally, he would recognize that she was being impossible, but she’s got him so frazzled that he’s just getting more and more agitated. This woman should have been a recurring villain who teamed up with Ethan Rayne.

> 12 cemeteries in Sunnydale?? Dayumn!

> “Interesting lady. Can we kill her?” “I think the Council might frown upon that.” is another exchange that made its way into my vernacular.

> Huh! Same “Thai Chi” theme this week that was introduced last week in “Band Candy.” Not a complaint.

> Oh good lord, Angel, you knew coming near her was a bad idea.

> And Buffy’s the one to pull away. Gosh, she’s just so strong. He’s so friggin’ weak.

> I gotta say, the difference between Buffy and Twilight is at least Buffy doesn’t try to pretend that the protagonist is some plain blah who people are all bizarrely attracted to. Buffy’s outside matches her inside - she’s pretty freaking gorgeous.

> Okay, Giles still hasn’t found info about Lagos hours later? That’s pretty fail there, Giles.

> I don’t find Xander’s “you’re not the Watcher of me” jab as annoying as I usually would, he’s already starting to soften. And Giles’s “then go home” is both fair and soft. Great exchange all around.

> Hey, Xander actually did stop during a speech about “no means no.” Mitigated by Willow then grabbing and kissing him, but it’s something.

> As an enormous Christophe Beck fan, I don’t even like the Xillow music theme. That’s how much I hate everything about this story and like to pretend it never happened.

> There’s some Faith spin-off book that shows all the boyfriends Faith mentions in this scene. Just a note.

> I don’t find the “life with Angel is - was complicated” slip to be as sloppy as I’d normally find stuff like that. The wound is still fresh. Makes some amount of sense.

> Is this, like, the first time we’re seeing Faith get her own scene without any of our regulars in it? Apart from her ragging on Scott in “Homecoming,” I think it might be. Interesting.

> And of course it’s Xander who first learns Angel is back FROM SEEING HIM AND BUFFY MAKE OUT. That really feels like a Season 2 idea that they kept but Xander had grown beyond by now. I really get no jealousy over Buffy and Angel from his character anymore, so all of this stuff making him an antagonist to them feels very forced.

> I really wonder who initiated this first re-kiss between Buffy and Angel. It was very smart to never show us.

> Ooh, actually, the way they take makes it sound very much like Angel did it. Yet they never showed us that. Very interesting choice.

> Also I always forget that Angel hadn’t shown her the Glove yet. In my head, I always make it that they’re celebrating him finding it. So, what, she showed up and he just went for it? HOW DID THEY GET THERE?

> “A person slips up on the little things and suddenly everything’s gone to hell in a handbasket.” She’s belittling Giles for every minor thing he’s doing wrong while he’s missing the most glaring minor thing he’s forgotten to do: CHECK WITH THE COUNCIL.

> You know, if anything, it makes sense that he wouldn’t want to check with the Council the more she belittles him. She’s the voice of the Council right now. Reaching out to them would mean hearing it from more people. GOSH, why am I fascinated by this episode today??

> Written by Doug Petrie, by the way. His first!

> I appreciate that they didn’t go for a joke of Giles shouting “WHAT?” or something while Xander is whispering in front of Post. That would have made him look really bad.

> They’ve literally set up an intervention circle for her, this scene is so intense.

> Cordelia hasn’t even spoken yet and I’m already dreading it.

> “I feel worried - about me!” Oh right, there it is.

> I love Willow in this scene. I always think about her during arguments when I try to focus on “I -” Statements.

> “But you were kissing him.” Oh Oz. But y’know, he says it so non-confrontationally. It’s a statement of fact. Making sure to say it before anyone else can lob it like a weapon, too.

> “I think lots of dead people actually constitutes a reason.” I’m, like, surprisingly pretty on board with Xander in this scene. I think he’s being a little more spiky than he needs to be but I know I do the same.

> I love Giles deescalating the scene. I forgot he does that, and he does it SO well.

> Oh but then Buffy thinks he’s on her side. Dude, NO.

> I really appreciate Giles not weaponizing Jenny’s death against Buffy in this scene here in his office. He comes pretty hard but he is entitled to go so much harder, honestly.

> “Vampires rarely knock. Especially in daylight.” No but really, Faith.

> “Wild stab, a bunch of guys from Spart?” Lol. Also this was where I and most of my friends first learned about the Spartans.

> Gwendolyn offers to train with Faith but then we don’t see it. I find it hard to picture this granny-ishly dressed woman doing physical training. But maybe that’s me.

> Willow works so hard to keep her friendship with Buffy normal over the years, it makes Buffy’s instant acceptance of Willow on her return from England in Season 7 all the more lovely.

> This pool scene where Xander talks about killing Angel was in the commercial. So was Faith saying it in the Library later.

> See, she hasn’t even changed her clothes! How did she train in that skirt??

> Does Gwendolyn Post ever change her clothes in this entire episode…?

> I can’t remember if I was surprised that Post turned out to be evil. Probably not.

> Willow making Buffy’s pain about cheating on her own boyfriend with their best friend right now is pretty gross.

> Also, asking if the secrecy made it sexier is a weird level of psychology to give Willow at this point in her character’s journey.

> I actually wish Willow had told Buffy about her and Xander here. It’s the obvious choice to make Buffy remain in the dark but imagine the dynamic if Buffy becomes the only other person who knew. Maybe Willow doesn’t even tell Xander that Buffy knows. Hm.

> Willow’s little cheer-dance when Buffy slays the demon is what this show is truly about.

> Xander and I have similar taste in weapons.

> Also Xander slowing down and realizing Angel can’t have done this is a big moment for him, tbh.

> Omigod Buffy THROWING THE SWORD away when she sees the cops is hilarious.

> Do you think the reason these EMTs are so testy is because they’re constantly being called to this location?

> Oh and here Xander ruins that moment of earlier growth by being a child at Buffy. At least Willow’s not having any of it. She knows what’s up: always follow Buffy.

> Okay, maybe Gweny can throw down in that skirt after all, with the way she turns that shove into a stake.

> “I can’t believe how much I’m gonna kill you.” “You’re not gettin’ that glove.” Wow. Angel and Faith meeting for the first time. It’s wild how linked those characters have now become.

> Plus, Buffy sort of emotionlessly shutting Faith down when she’s trying to do good also sets an ongoing tone for these two.

> Fun fact: the Glove of Myhnegon is one of the game pieces in my self-made Buffy Monopoly.

> How many Buffy/Faith fights are there this season? 3? I think it’s here, “Enemies,” and “Graduation Day, Part I.” (Or is there even one in “Enemies”?)

> Stopping Willow must’ve been all the more cathartic for Xander after years of stuff like trying to stop Buffy and Faith from fighting only to get slapped into a wall.

> The lightning was supposed to take the form of a falcon and land on the glove and it was gonna be all this cool stuff, but it was 1998. That shit would’ve been expensive AF back then. They could probably do it now.

> Gosh, that one shot of Post using the Glove from the credits! Love it.

> Ugh, but then Buffy and Faith come together to stop her! So lovely.

> “Sounds like I missed a lot of fun.” That’s a really interesting choice, having the characters absent from the scene commenting on their absence. I don’t know why.

> Omigosh I just remembered the time I watched this episode on DVD with the French language track and English subtitles. Like. Just for the experience. ...It is not one that I repeated.

> “But I trust you.” “I don’t. Just for the record.” NO ONE CARES, CORDY.

> “They swear there was a memo” is one of my favorite commentaries on bureaucracy ever.

> Giles actually composes himself fairly well throughout all of the Angel stuff, I never really give him much credit.

> UGH. Okay, one of my least favorite things about the Buffy/Faith dynamic is how many times it feels like they should break new ground and don’t. Like here or Christmas. So annoying.

> LIKE THIS. “Buffy?” “Yeah?” “Nothing.” YOU DON’T NEED TO BE SISTERS, but would it have killed you to JUST say “thanks”? Ugh. This episode is portent for the fact that they were doomed to never connect, and it just makes me sad.

ON THAT NOTE. Next week is, on the one hand, a hilarious guest spot from Spike and, on the other hand, finally the awkward choking death of Xillow. Fun times all around!