#maybe explore a timeline where dream gets turned into a vampire so they can save him

[llitchilitchi]

Yeah im still around, youre not losing me any time soon LMAO. When I wrote acceptance I think i did cause you mentioned feeling bit off so i wanted to make you happy but only once i finished it i realised you didnt have an ao3. I just posted it in hopes someone would send it to you and seemingly people did, im happy about that

I was thinking about writing a second part to it but i gave up at some point cause the hyperfixation stopped a bit, but people can imagine it ending how they want it to, im proud of it because of the support ive gotten for it, even if im not in the fandom anymore

<3

[skullhaver]

It's 2021, and I'm watching Buffy for the first time.

The Virgil on my Buffy journey is my long-distance girlfriend, who has loved the show for years. We just finished season 4, and I wanted to write about my favorite episodes so far. I suspect some of my faves are beloved by most fans, but others are weird, personal picks. Buffy fandom, please don't come for me.

I thought this post would be short but I was wrong.

Hono(u)rable Mentions: "Band Candy" S3E6 and "Halloween" S2E6

Both these episodes have fun premises where the Scoobies run around Sunnydale after it was upended by zany, chaotic dark forces. "Band Candy" is fun for devil-may-care teen Giles. "Halloween" is fun for 18th-century-ditz Buffy. These are both very good, and are the sorts of episode I can imagine happily rewatching in the future. I just have more to pontificate upon for the other episodes on this list.

10. "Ted" S2E11

I can’t say I enjoyed this episode, but it did take me for a wild ride. Probably nobody else has strong feelings about this weird story where Buffy's mom dates a stereotypical cheesy family man, who turns out to be a controlling abuser, who turns out to be a robot. I remember shouting at the screen, "Did Buffy just kill a human man?? Is it okay in the moral logic of this show for Buffy to kill a human if he's a direct physical threat to her??" I knew Buffy would have deeper stories than the monster of the week formula we'd seen so far, but this early in season 2, I had no idea when or how that would happen. This was the episode that finally taught me that Buffy is largely not interested in moral ambiguity, or in exploring what it means to be good or bad. Except for season-defining exceptions like Faith and Angel, evil characters are simplistically, essentially evil. But it was wild to believe for a moment that Buffy murdered her mom's abusive boyfriend and would have to live with the consequences.

9. "Helpless" S3E12

When Buffy tries to be genuinely scary, it succeeds with aplomb. The premise of this episode is dumb and contrived ("Giles has to remove Buffy's powers without her knowledge for a seeeecret test by the Watcher's Council") but the chase and fight in this episode are some of the most tense and spooky scenes of the whole series so far. Buffy's vulnerability makes the stakes feel real in a way few other episodes manage. And Buffy's victory is all the more satisfying because she can't punch her way out of this problem, she has to be smart and creative. The fridge horror, of course, is that Giles would endanger her like this in the first place, but that gets sorted out over the emotional arc of the next few episodes.

8. "I Only Have Eyes For You." S2E19

Another spooky episode, this one a classic ghost story of forbidden love ending in murder - but with the twist that the ghosts possess people's bodies to have them reenact their final moments. I love stories about breaking a doomed-to-repeat cycle. I love weird shit like the snakes manifesting in the cafeteria. And I really loved the choice to have Buffy and Angel come to understand their feelings about their own relationship by embodying these ghosts - especially how they embodied different genders than their own to better fit the "roles" of the haunting story, thus subverting the expected pattern. I found this episode clever, poignant, and effective.

7. "Who Are You?" S4E16

"Faith and Buffy switch bodies" is a wild premise, but the real joy of "Who Are You?" is watching Sarah Michelle Geller being an extremely talented actress for 45 minutes, portraying a totally different character. Watching Faith confronted by kindness and love from Buffy's mom, Riley, and her friends, then getting launched into an existential crisis over it is so great. Also, I just dig a good church fight.

6. "Hush" S4E10

As stated above, love an episode that reminds me that these people are talented actors! Featuring demons that render all of Sunnydale unable to talk, we get to watch great physical comedy right next to tense, silent fight scenes. The visual creepiness of the Gentleman and their straight-jacketed weird little helpers is hard to beat. "Hush" is such a clever episode that it ascends monster of the week status to become almost Twilight Zone-esque. Also, for the first time, Buffy sees Riley doing his Initiative thing, and Riley sees Buffy being the Slayer, but they can't talk about it?? That's good shit.

5. "The Wish" S3E9

Both "Something Blue" and "The Wish" feel like the writers decided to use fanfic premises on their own show... so obviously I like them a lot. But getting to watch a dark timeline AU with interesting world-building and attention to detail, a hilarious and horrifying Cordelia POV, AND a smirking kinky vampire Willow? Hello?? And the fact that the Wishverse comes up again in "Doppelgänger" (another truly fun episode) only improves my opinion. I imagine this is the kind of episode fans simply love coming back to.

4. "Restless" S4E22

This David Lynch-ass dream sequence was a weird choice for a season finale, but an extremely ambitious and cool episode. I should say up front that I love David Lynch-ass dream shit. There were creative and well-executed scene transitions as characters moved seamlessly from one dream room into another. Several memorably neat shots - Willow running between endless curtains as she tries to get onstage, Buffy alone in a vast desert with a weirdly high camera angle. And I got myself all excited thinking that the First Slayer would maybe become a different kind of antagonist - maybe not even fully revealed in this episode, or maybe an Id-like aspect of Buffy herself. But I forgot Whedon gonna Whedon, so the First Slayer had to be someone Buffy could punch in the end. And the First Slayer is sadly yet another primitive-themed, emotionally-stunted character of color for this show. Most of her lines in this episode are literally voiced by a white woman speaking for her, and of all the dumb quips to make, Buffy had a line about her hair being unprofessional? Also, I'm a lesbian, so the fact that the most explicit act of intimacy between Willow and Tara this show has allowed us to see occurs in Xander's horny dream sequence... it’s unforgivable, Joss. This episode was one of my favorites ever, deeply marred by some bad writing choices.

3. "Lovers Walk" S3E8

Spike, perhaps the best non-Willow character in this show, is back in Sunnydale, a hilariously heartbroken mess of a man, hell-bent on getting his former girlfriend Drusilla back. (Drusilla left him for a fungus demon.) So Spike breaks into a magic shop to get ingredients for a love spell, where he runs into Willow, who is getting ingredients for a de-lusting spell, because she is worried she and Xander will be too thirsty to behave appropriately in public with their actual partners, Oz and Cordelia. This is a hilarious moment just to exist. This is all the episode needed to do to satisfy me. But the fact that Spike then kidnaps Willow, and it ends with tragic stakes of everyone's relationships coming apart, not to mention me genuinely thinking Cordelia was dead for a minute there - wow. Chef’s kiss. The episode is balanced shockingly well between Spike being an ominous villain, and being the sort of lovable semi-evil (more gremlin-like) side character he'll become in season 4. What a wild ride.

2. "Graduation Day" S3E21-22

I'm counting this two part season finale as one because it's my list and I'll do what I want. "Graduation Day" feels like a quintessential Buffy episode executed to perfection. It has Buffy reaffirming her position as a moral heroine, sacrificing her own blood to save Angel's life even when she thought she had to kill Faith to save him. It has Buffy and Faith (or Buffy/Faith, as I prefer to think of them) getting to square off in a dramatic, tough fight. It has a lot of Mayor Wilkins, a character I truly adore for some reason. Nothing like a public administrator who plays mini golf in his office, wants you to chew with your mouth closed, and will kill a graduating class of high schoolers to gain immortality. The catharsis of the whole school getting to fight back against evil, instead of just Buffy against the world - a real joy. This episode misses the top spot for two reasons. "A special vampire poison and the only cure is the blood of a Slayer" is too contrived for me to let slide, and also I had to see Cordelia and Wesley kiss.

1. "Becoming" S2E21-22

Buffy’s season finales really do have good stories and satisfying payoff. First off, Buffy starts this episode by punching a cop and fleeing from the law. Later, Spike also punches a cop. A.k.a., Buffy said blue lives don't matter. Second - I haven't gotten a chance to comment on this yet, but all throughout season 2, evil Angel is such a joy to watch. As regular Angel, David Boreanaz makes exactly one face ("I am a kicked, angsty puppy") and bless his heart, it gets so tiresome. As evil Angel, he is so expressive, dynamic and terrifyingly creative in his badness. And I love his weird threesome energy with Spike and Drusilla. But also, it's so hard to watch Buffy suffer as she deals with her evil boyfriend doing evil things. Her ultimate choice in this episode, to kill Angel even as Willow's spell restores his soul, gave me some real big feels! Also, this episode marks the first moment of Willow doing big, plot-shifting magic on her own, solidifying her transformation from computer nerd to witch! 

Also, shout-out to the many good smaller moments in this episode: Spike making awkward small talk with Buffy's mom, Buffy constantly dunking on Principle Snyder, and Giles being tortured by visions of Miss Calendar (RIP Miss Calendar, I was your biggest fan.)

"Becoming" is an excellent season finale and the kind of Buffy episode I imagine I will want to re-watch in the future just for nostalgia's sake.

[twicelit-a]

wanted  plots,  relationships  &  threads  :

pre  -  hill  house.

supernatural  encounters  :  a.  your  muse  is  not  human.  most  likely  a  ghost,  or  a  spirit  or  demon,  a  creature  of  some  kind,  something  not  human.  olivia’s  sensitivity  draws  you  to  her,  or  vice  versa.  (  the  same  thing  could  happen  post  -  hill  house,  where  olivia  herself  is  dead.  )     &&     b.  i  have  a  wishlist  plot  where  a  spirit  or  demon  meets  olivia  when  she  is  a  child  and  will  visit  her  sporadically  over  the  years,  becoming  something  like  an  imaginary  friend  and  /  or  almost  guardian.  (  or  developing  a  bit  of  an  obsession  with  her.  )  they  visit  her  less  and  less  as  she  gets  older  and  her  family  grows,  until  hill  house.     &&     c.  your  muse  is  dead.  they  find  olivia,  who  can  see  them,  and  she  acts  as  an  anchor,  helping  guide  them  through  limbo  to  what  lies  beyond.

teen  -  young  adult  :  a.  your  muse  and  olivia  went  to  the  same  school  /  college  and  became  friends.  (  maybe  your  muse  has  or  had  a  crush  on  olivia  and  although  she  had  her  suspicions,  olivia  never  brought  it  up.  )     &&     b.  your  muse  comes  across  olivia  as  she  is  sleep  walking.  they  stay  with  her  until  she  wakes  up.

family  orientated  :  a.  literally  anything  with  the  kids  or  hugh  prior  to  them  moving  to  hill  house  for  the  summer  of  ‘92.  cute  things,  sick  things,  soft  things,  angst.  give  me  anything  and  everything.     &&     b.  interactions  with  olivia  while  she’s  pregnant  with  any  of  her  kids.  her  sensitivity  is  heightened  (  or  when  pregnant  with  steve,  negated  )  when  she’s  pregnant.  all  of  her  senses  are  so  much  stronger.

ship  specific  :  a.  liv  and  hugh  things.  all  the  things.  everything  and  anything.  i  love  them.     &&     b.  au  where  liv  and  hugh  never  met,  your  muse  is  in  a  relationship  with  olivia.  i’d  really  love  to  actually  explore  what  that  might  be  like.  liv  and  hugh  are  so  perfect  for  each  other,  i’d  love  to  develop  a  ship  outside  of  them.     &&     c.  before  liv  and  hugh  started  dating,  your  muse  and  olivia  dated.  they  would’ve  been  young,  probably  first  relationship  type  of  dynamic,  during  high  school.

hill  house.

supernatural  encounters  :  a.  your  muse  is  a  spirit  trapped  in  hill  house.  they  interact  with  olivia  (  either  they  try  to  warn  her  away  from  hill  house,  or  they  help  to  lure  her  further  in  to  it’s  grasp.  )

family  oriented  :  a.  olivia’s  migraines  are  getting  worse  and  one  of  the  kids  or hugh  finds  her  in  the  midst  of  a  really  bad  episode.

pre  -  death  :  a.  your  muse  befriends  olivia,  not  knowing  that  she  and  her  family  have  moved  in  to  hill  house.  when  you  find  out,  you  try  to  warn  her  about  the  rumours  but  the  house  has  already  sunk  it’s  teeth  in  to  her.

post  -  death  :  a.  your  muse  moves  in  to  hill  house  years  after  olivia’s  death.  either  hugh  has  lost  ownership  of  the  house  or  it’s  set  years  after  the  events  of  hill  house.  depending  on  the  timeline,  olivia  is  either  still  under  the  house’s  influence,  or  she’s  clear  headed  and  tries  to  warn  them  away.     &&     b.  you  muse  breaks  in  to  hill  house  following  the  news  coverage  of  olivia’s  death  or  after  the  release  of  steven’s  book.  they  don’t  expect  to  find  anything  but  they  end  up  coming  face  to  face  with  hill  house!  olivia.     &&     c.  ghost!mom  haunting  her  family.  could  be  malicious,  the  hill  house  version  attempting  to  lure  the  crain’s  back  home,  or  could  be  comforting.  olivia  coming  to  her  family  when  they  need  her  the  most.  (  there’s  also  the  figment  of  their  imagination  version  of  olivia,  who  hugh  interacts  with  the  most.  the  kids  could  possibly  see  this  version  of  her  depending  on  the  occasion.  )

alternate  arcs.

olivia  survives  :  a.  when  hugh  returns  to  hill  house,  olivia  is  still  unconcious  in  the  red  room.  the  deal  with  the  dudley’s  is  still  struck,  and  they  urge  him  to  get  olivia  as  far  away  from  the  house  as  possible.  in  the  months  following,  olivia  is  still  under  the  house’s  influence  but  the  more  time  she  spends  away  from  it,  the  more  she  becomes  herself  again.  there’s  still  something  that  calls  to  her  but  she  learns  to  ignore  it.     &&     b.  olivia  is  alive  when  nell  goes  back  to  hill  house  and  dies.  the  same  events  transpire  but  when  luke  goes  to  hill  house,  olivia  offers  the  house  her  life  in  exchange  for  theirs,  and  hugh  dies  with  her.     &&     c.  fun  happy  good  soft  things  because  there’s  enough  angst  in  this  show  and  i  think  they  deserve  it.

crossover  arcs.

bly  manor  :  a.  hill  house  and  bly  manor  are  sister  estates.  the  red  room  and  the  lake  are  connected.  not  everyone  trapped  in  either  are  capable  of  travelling  between  the  two,  but  olivia  learns  over  time.  she  can  be  found  wandering  the  grounds  of  bly  manor.     &&     b.  the  crain’s  move  in  to  bly  manor  in  ‘92  instead  of  hill  house.  this  is  set  after  the  wingrave’s  have  left  it,  but  the  dead  there  don’t  disappear.  viola’s  influence  starts  to  affect  olivia  in  the  same  way  hill  house  affected  her.     &&     c.  using  plot  b,  olivia  encounters  peter  quint’s  spirit  and  she  mistakes  him  for  a  vision  of  an  older  luke.  he  uses  that  to  manipulate  her  in  to  helping  him  tuck  away  luke.

apocalypse  :  a.  your  muse  encounters  olivia  surrounded  by  the  dead,  but  they  seem  to  be  almost  afraid  of  her,  or  outright  ignoring  her.     &&     b.  before  the  outbreak,  olivia  starts  to  experience  the  symptoms  of  turning.  your  muse  is  tending  to  her  when  she  starts  to  have  a  very  vivid  and  intense  episode,  waking  herself  from  an  almost  prophetic  dream.

harry  potter  :  a.  marauders  era,  your  muse  and  olivia  are  good  friends.  house  rivalry  doesn’t  exist  for  liv,  so  it  doesn’t  matter  what  house  you’re  in.  it’s  common  knowledge  that  olivia  is  a  very  powerful  seer  and  your  muse  is  with  her  when  she  has  a  vision.     &&     b.  post  first  war  era,  olivia  went  in  to  hiding  with  hugh  after  trelawney’s  prophecy.  as  it’s  well  known  that  liv  is  a  true  seer,  voldemort  attempts  to  find  her  in  order  to  either  finish  what  he  didn’t  hear  or  use  her  to  further  his  agenda.     &&     c.  trio  era,  dumbledore  reaches  out  to  olivia  requesting  that  she  replace  trelawney  as  the  divination  professor  during  harry  potter’s  fifth  year.  

doctor  who  :  a.  olivia  meets  the  doctor  when  she’s  a  child.  they  are  interested  in  her  sensitivity  and  will  occasionally  cross  paths  with  her  over  the  years  as  she  gets  older.  the  tardis  brings  the  doctor  to  hill  house  where  they  find  olivia  either  before  or  after  her  death.     &&     b.  companion!olivia.  because  i  said  so.

twilight  /  vampire  :  a.  your  muse,  a  vampire,  comes  across  hill  house  the  night  olivia  dies.  they  find  her  at  the  foot  of  the  spiral  staircase  before  hugh  comes  back  for  her,  and  they  turn  her.     &&     b.  the  first  thing  happens,  but  it  wasn’t  your  muse  who  turned  her.  olivia  is  a  nomad  vampire  who  crosses  path  with  yours.     &&     c.     your  muse  is  a  vampire  and  the  meet  olivia  before  hill  house.  she  is  still  a  human,  but  her  "gift”  has  already  manifested  and  is  incredibly  strong.

american  horror  story  :  a.  the  crain’s  buy  “murder  house”  in  ‘92  after  it  has  been  repossessed  from  constance  langdon.  after  several  weeks,  the  kids  start  to  have  nightmares  and  olivia  starts  to  sleep  walk.  one  night,  she  wakes  up  on  the  roof  to  a  voice  telling  her  to  jump,  with  the  twins  each  holding  a  hand.  she  jumps,  but  she  lets  go  of  the  twins  and  hugh  can  only  hold  on  to  two  :  he  saves  the  twins,  and  olivia  dies.     &&     b.   olivia  is  a  witch.  she  is  very  strong  with  precognition  and  clairvoyance  and  it  was  almost  believed,  in  her  youth,  that  she  could  have  been  the  supreme.  she  never  wanted  that,  and  luckily  for  her,  it  wasn’t  meant  to  be.  (  this  can  still  follow  hill  house  canon,  in  that  she  dies  in  hill  house.  )

i  will  likely  add  to  this  over  time  but  for  now  this  is  what  i’ve  got.  it’s  quite  long  and  there’s  a  lot  to  pick  from.  if  literally  anything  on  this  list  at  all  interests  you,  please  let  me  know.