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buttercupjosh · 1 year ago

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The Journey of Loving You

(Gif credit to @mattymartin)

Word count: 4,376

Genres: strangers to lovers, fluff

Warnings: none

A/N: I've had pieces of details of this fic in mind for a few months and I had a difficult time figuring out who to write it with so I ended up choosing to give Josty another fic. It is not intended to be a sequel to star-crossed (which you still read and check out and if you want this to be a sequel to that, you can interpret it that way). It did take me awhile to get this fic done because I decided to write other stories before completing this one. This story is based off of the songs “Not a Bad Thing” and “Mirrors”, both by Justin Timberlake and the title is something I came up with. It did take me awhile to get this fic done because I decided to write other stories before completing this one. I also have a bunch of other songs linked throughout the story and I highly recommend listening to them when you come across them during reading. It’s not set at a specific moment in time (It's taking place in a fictional future but you could also say that it's set in the future and this season. However, the season is still ongoing at the moment and anything can happen or change so don't hold me to what occurs in the fic and if things do change (ex. Tyson goes to another team), I'm not going to update this fic to reflect that). It’s written with a female reader in mind because I’m a female of color but the reader doesn’t specifically have to be a POC or a woman and there’s little dialogue. As always, I’m open to any and all feedback, comments or questions; just put them in my inbox or dm me. Thank you so much in advance for reading, I appreciate it😌

(P.S. I have other stories (linked here) that I have written for other players as well if you want to check it out)

“I want it all with you and if I'm coming on too strong, it's 'cause I've waited far too long for someone just like you” -“Share Your Address” by Ben Platt

In your role as the social media manager for the Buffalo Bills, you got to interact and meet with many different types of people. You would have never imagined that something as simple as doing your job would lead you to meet the love of your life. During the Bills season, some of the Buffalo Sabres players had come by to watch a game and you were responsible for capturing their experience at the game. Through mutual connections in the industry, you knew the social media manager for the Sabres but you only watched hockey occasionally. Before the game started, the guys were given a tour of Highmark Stadium and you were trailing around as the guys made their way around your workplace. Throughout their time there, you had noticed that a particular curly-haired hockey forward named Tyson Jost kept being close to you; as one of the few single guys left on the team, his teammates were shifting around and nudging him to talk to you. Tyson walked at a much slower pace to keep up with you instead of with the guys. He asked you a lot of questions and it was a bit odd to you that Tyson was more interested in paying attention to you than the football stadium tour was occurring. Tyson seemed curious about you, which you thought was cute, but you couldn’t quite be as flirty with him on the clock. The tour was only for an hour and concluded at the sidelines before the game officially started. You still had a lot of work to do since it was gameday so before going back to your office to review the content you acquired and what the team photographers captured, you discreetly exchanged numbers with Tyson to talk to him later on. During half-time, you checked your phone quickly and saw a text from Tyson that read “Thanks for answering all of my questions back there, I appreciate it. Can I ask you some more over coffee sometime?”. You were slightly taken aback by him asking you out so soon but you weren’t going to let that opportunity slip away so you agreed to go out with Tyson.

On your first official date, Tyson forgot to bring flowers because he was nervous. You didn’t mind that he forgot and understood his nervousness. Over drinks and pastries from Five Points Bakery, Tyson asked you a lot of questions because he was so enamored by you and you got to ask him a lot of questions in return: you even made each other laugh a few times. The conversation flowed so easily and effortlessly from topic to topic. As you chatted, for some reason, it felt like you had known each other for so much longer. The time that you spent together went by so fast that you ended up closing the bakery. Neither you nor Tyson wanted the date to be over so you ended up strolling around the leaf-riddled streets of Buffalo, making a stop for some additional fun at Lock and Key Escape Room and popping into Mythos for a last-minute dinner date. After dinner concluded, you mutually agreed to call it a night. You learned a lot about each other in the hours that you spent together that day. By the time the date officially ended, all Tyson had wanted was to see you again the following day and whatever days he could after that; you felt the same way. He walked you to your car and before going your separate ways, you shared a long goodbye embrace; a kiss would be saved for the next date. Speaking of which, on your next date, Tyson brought you flowers for the first time, and for the rest of your relationship, he would never forget to get them for you ever again.

With the both of you working in sports, your schedule was never really consistent but despite that, you and Tyson still kept in constant contact and made time for each other whenever you could. You would go to some of Tyson’s games and some team events and Tyson would always hype you up on Bills gamedays. You even surprised Tyson once at an away game; the Bills had a bye week so you flew out to Boston to cheer him on. Whenever your schedules aligned in Buffalo, you and Tyson would go out on different dates around the city and suburbs; these dates were always guaranteed to be an enjoyable time and all of those dates eventually turned into a deeply committed romantic relationship.

Being loved by Tyson and loving him was like your dreams coming true; your relationship worked well because you admired each other so much and neither of you could imagine being with anyone else. You were both used to people making promises to you and turning around and breaking them, used to giving your heart to others and they just cut you and leave you bleeding all over the place. However, this relationship was different and all you had to do was try; this time, trying paid off well because being together made those realities not true anymore. The relationship you shared was determined to heal you both from those who had hurt you in the past and you both felt safe with each other. You were worth the challenge of mending together a broken and tender heart for Tyson; his heart was ignited for you and he would do everything in his power to continue to pursue you and you only. Your relationship also had no moments of wasted time or any broken promises and you were always honest to each other. You both had waited so long through dating around and heartbreak for the right person to come along into each other’s lives but the wait was worth it because you ended up together. Falling in love wasn’t a bad thing at all; as expected, it was scary to give your heart to someone else but like a rollercoaster, it was also thrilling and exciting and you got to fall into the arms of someone amazing. Of course, things weren’t always sunny and there were some setbacks and struggles while you were dating. You and Tyson did disagree and argue sometimes but you could compromise when needed; you also had to balance your relationship with the demands of your job and Tyson constantly being either home or away but being with him was worth those challenges. Like anything in life, there would be a moment that would test how strong your relationship is.————————————————————One Saturday afternoon, you and Tyson decided to get ice cream after Tyson was healthy scratched from that afternoon’s game. Unfortunately, the person who served the ice cream used the same scooper that was used to scoop ice cream with nuts in it and you had an allergic reaction. Thankfully, you had an EpiPen in your bag and used it to help you. Your symptoms began to slowly subside but the instructions mentioned that you should visit the ER if used so Tyson took you. The ER doctor put you on an IV and decided to keep you overnight for observation. Tyson begged the doctor to let him stay in the room with you and they surprisingly agreed, even though you weren’t married and common law marriages weren’t a thing in New York. You were so grateful that Tyson stayed with you instead of leaving to go sleep in his comfy bed and just picking you up whenever you were discharged, not having to deal with the nurses and doctors coming in and out of the room throughout the night, interrupting whatever rest he got in that uncomfortable hospital chair. You were awake and observant for a while but you eventually drifted off to sleep. Tyson was tired but he couldn’t bring himself to sleep because he was so worried about you. As he saw you lying in the hospital bed, Tyson thought to himself that you should never have to go through any sort of health crisis alone. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to be there all the time but he would be there for you as much as he could. This whole experience opened up Tyson’s eyes to realizing that he wanted to share your address and move in together and also to be your emergency contact.

To say that Tyson was in love with you was a bit of an understatement; he was so smitten about you and everyone around him could pick up on that immediately. Tyson would see things that would remind him of you and his heart would swell with so much joy and the light in his eyes shined differently whenever he talked about you. Tyson truly and deeply loved you so much that he couldn’t lose you. His heart would beat so fast whenever you were around or if someone mentioned you and you were the one that he adored. To him, it felt like days would go wasted without you in them. He wanted a house with kids running around that shared both of your traits, to travel across the world, and grow old, all with you. In that moment, Tyson privately vowed to himself that he was going to marry you one day.

Months down the line, after waiting for your lease to be up and for the hockey season to be over, you and Tyson rented a house together. Living together meant that you got to see each other a little bit more frequently, which you both liked. You settled into a comfortable routine with Tyson and had mild complaints about your cute roommate; sharing a space wasn’t so bad. Tyson got to cook for you, serenade you on his ukulele, and slow dance in the kitchen with you as often as he could. You got to taste all of Tyson’s recipes, annoy him with your purposefully bad singing, and wake up next to him on the rare days you were off together. You and Tyson even began hosting a monthly trivia night at your home with your friends and some of Tyson’s teammates. Moving in together also meant that you were around to help Tyson whenever he was injured and always there to comfort him after a disappointing healthy scratch or game loss as well.

Combining your lives together meant that your families would mix at some point. Tyson’s mother, Laura, visited frequently and came down for the Sabres’ Moms’ Trip and stayed for a week afterward so you got to know her more and she got to know the person her son was so lovestruck about. You also got to meet his sister, Kacey, when his mother returned for Christmas and also brought Grandpa Jost along. You had a good relationship with Tyson’s family; they adored you and liked you with him. In regards to your family, your parents only came to Buffalo once in a while and you would go back to your hometown for holidays but your parents talked Tyson through video calls and knew how much he meant to you.

While you were still dating, your parents ended up contributing to a significant memory for Tyson and you weren’t even there. When the Dads and Mentors Trip came around, for some reason, Grandpa Jost couldn’t be there for his grandson so your dad flew out to Buffalo to accompany Tyson on the trip. This was going to be your father’s first time meeting Tyson in person and it was intimidating at first but that intimidation faded away as your dad and Tyson got to know each other. Tyson was so thankful that your dad took the time to be there for him. Before returning to Buffalo, Tyson had asked your father for your hand in marriage and your dad agreed to let his little ray of sunshine shine their light into someone else’s life. If there was anyone else in the world that he would walk his precious child down the aisle to, your father was glad that Tyson would be the guy on the other side.————————————————————After getting your father’s approval, calling your mom to get her blessing, and telling both of your family and friends about it, it was time for Tyson to propose. Tyson arranged a fun scavenger hunt for you around Buffalo during the NFL off-season and at the end of the NHL regular season. This scavenger hunt was bittersweet because Tyson was going to be a free agent that upcoming off-season and there was no full guarantee he would return to play for the Sabres so you both prepared for the likely possibility that you would have to move away for Tyson to play with a different team. It was going to be hard to leave behind the place that you both called home and also your job but you would follow Tyson wherever he would go. Thankfully, you still had some time left to hang out with your friends and former co-workers before leaving for the off-season.

The scavenger hunt started with an index card on the fridge that read: “Good morning, my love. Look for the next clue inside our home on a masterpiece hanging above.” Tyson had gone golfing with his teammates for what could be the last time so these little notes were the only communication you had with him that day and you read all of the clue cards in his voice. You found the next note that read on top of a painting you made: “Remember when we went to that art class and you painted the most beautiful sunset? Go to the visitor’s desk at Buffalo AKG Art Museum to find out the rest.”

You headed to the Buffalo AKG Art Museum and the guide at the visitor’s desk handed you an envelope with a prepaid admission ticket inside; there was also a sticky note inside that read “Your reflection is a work of art. Go to the mirrors exhibit and see how your beauty captured my heart.” The heat rushed to your face as you read Tyson’s note; he wasn’t there but he still made your heart skip a beat through his words. You headed straight to the mirrors exhibit and took a bunch of cute photos while you were there. After the mirrors exhibit, you continued to look around the art museum and ran into Danielle Okoposo, Kyle Okoposo’s wife, while you were there. She mentioned that she was visiting the art museum because her kids were taking an art class there and told you to stay with her until the class was over because one of her kids had the next clue for you. You didn’t wait long for the kids to come out and all of the Okoposo children showed off to their mother and you what they had created in class. Livia, the youngest Okoposo daughter, gave you a personalized drawing of you and Tyson with a lot of hearts on it. Written in Livia’s youthful handwriting, the back of the drawing read: “As you can see, we are surrounded by lots of love, and no matter what happens, that will always be true. Head to Five Points Bakery for a snack pickup and your next clue.” You departed from Danielle and the Okposo children and headed to the spot where you and Tyson had your first date.

The bakery wasn’t as busy when you went to pick up your order; although Tyson had already placed the order for you, you still picked up a sweet treat for your sweetie as a reward for all of the things he’d done with this scavenger hunt. Your next clue card was inside the bag with your order that stated: “After my snack has had their snack, don’t be perplexed by my request for you to ask your parents for where to go next.” You followed Tyson’s instructions and your mom texted you: “Summer is approaching and we can’t wait to see you soon so go to the Botanical Garden where the flowers bloom.”

The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens was a special place to you and Tyson; it’s where you celebrated your first year of dating with a cute couples photoshoot and also had membership to the space. Your favorite part of the Botanical Gardens was the koi fish pond so of course, you would find your next clue taped to the back of the bench near where the pond was. “I know you’ve been out for hours but I have you running around for a reason. Now, go home, there’s something fun that we need to do before we go to Canada for the off-season.”, the clue card read.

You went back home; all of the nostalgia from visiting some of your favorite spots around Buffalo made you feel both happy and sad at the same time. Even though the scavenger hunt was a final trip for you to go to the places you enjoyed in Buffalo, you wished deep down that Tyson would have been there to experience them with you for one last time. Tyson still wasn’t back yet and his location indicated that he was at a restaurant near the golf course; you tried to call and text him throughout the day to check on him but he didn’t answer at all. You walked into your bedroom and saw a note on the closet door that read “You’re going to want to dress your best for this next part (as the kids say, make sure your look serves) and when you’re done, meet me at Tifft Nature Preserve.” The last part of the note confused you because the nature preserve would be closed by now but you showered, got ready, and went there anyway.

Inside the Tifft Nature Preserve Education Center was a trail of lights that led you to a projector with a Kahoot game, ready to be played. Tyson, looking handsome in a crisp polo and jeans, was surrounded by blankets and snacks. You hadn’t seen or heard much from him the whole day so it was nice to see the face of the man that you loved.

“Tyson, you did not ask me to dress up and drag me all this way to play trivia when we could do it at home or go to trivia night at the bar.”, you stated.

“This might be our last time playing our monthly trivia game in Buffalo so why not go all out?” Tyson responded.

Trivia was amusing as expected and you won the game so you asked Tyson what your prize was; your prize was Tyson was going to sing you a quick song on his ukulele. The notes sounded familiar to you and then you recognized what your lover was serenading you to.

“Cause I don't wanna lose you now, I'm lookin' right at the other half of me. The vacancy that sat in my heart is a space that now you hold. Show me how to fight for now and I'll tell you, baby, it was easy, comin' back here to you. Once I figured it out, you were right here all along. It's like you're my mirror, my mirror staring back at me. I couldn't get any bigger with anyone else beside of me. And now it's clear as this promise that we're making two reflections into one.” Tyson sang during the chorus of Mirrors by Justin Timberlake. The lyrics were right for describing your relationship with Tyson; you were separate individuals but your relationship intertwined you together and also allowed you to change for the better as people. Music was something that was important to both of you and Tyson had sung to you several times before, including love songs, so this wasn’t much of a surprise to you. After he concluded singing, Tyson handed you over one final clue card that simply read “Will you marry me?”.

Tears of joy began to fill your eyes and Tyson was down on one knee, holding out your dream ring. The sun was going to set soon so the golden hour sunset hue coming through the windows was a nice natural touch to the proposal. You had thought Tyson was going to propose on your planned trip to Banff that summer so this was definitely a huge surprise. You were both speechless because there just weren't enough words to describe the feeling of love that was flowing between the two of you at that moment. After over a year of dating, you were moving on to the next step of getting married and like the lyrics of the song said, merging your two reflections into one. After your engagement/farewell dinner with some of the Sabers players and their families, you and Tyson returned home and had an impromptu dance party in the living room with your new fiance to “Let’s Get Married” by Bleachers, “Slow Dance” by Saint Motel, and “Just The Two of Us” by Grover Washington Jr. featuring Bill Withers. Your time in Buffalo was coming to an end but it ended in the best way.————————————————————Just as you both suspected, the Sabres did not choose to offer Tyson a contract so he ended up signing on a short-term NHL contract elsewhere as a free agent and you moved away from Buffalo. Tyson was used to moving away and starting over more than you were but you both knew that home would always be wherever you were with those that you loved. The move and the wedding planning did add some additional stress to both of you but it wasn’t anything you couldn’t handle. You both adjusted well to your new life in your new home city; you had good relationships with the other WAGs and their families and continued your career as a social media manager for a local sports team. Tyson meshed great with his teammates, got more ice time and his play improved. You and Tyson rented a house again and added a dog named Maverick to your little family.

The wedding planning time went by in such an exciting and enjoyable blur and before you both knew it, it was time to marry the love of your life. You and Tyson decided on a destination wedding at a Four Seasons Resort in Florida. Both of your families helped out with the wedding in the many different ways that they could and were delighted to unite together on behalf of your love. It was also nice that all of your friends and some of Tyson’s former teammates were there for your special day as well.

The details of your wedding day were so beautiful and perfect; your something new was a diamond necklace given to you by the Jost family, your something borrowed and something blue was a blue bracelet from your mom that she wore on her wedding day to your dad. You floated down the aisle with your father by your side to meet with your soon-to-be husband, waiting for you in his black tux. Tyson saw you, walking towards him, and he got a little emotional. Tyson’s parents’ relationship didn’t work out and he was terrified to face a similar doom in his life but being with you restored his faith in relationships and marriage. Seeing Tyson cry made you tear up too but everyone knew that those were happy tears. Even though there was an audience of other people in the room, it felt like you and Tyson were the only ones there. Your vows to each other were like the most poetic song lyrics and were sealed with a sweet kiss. You had dreamed of your wedding day for a while, unsure who would be the one to greet you at the altar but finally, you knew.

Your first dance as a married couple was to the Mariah Carey and Luther Vandross cover of Endless Love (originally performed by Diana Ross featuring Lionel Richie), which was considered one of the greatest duets of all time. Like the vocals in the song, you and Tyson debuting as a married couple to a duet made sense because you were complementary to each other and brought out each other’s strengths. The rest of your wedding was spectacular. You danced the night away to a variety of tracks from a carefully curated playlist, enjoyed delicious food, took plenty of photos, laughed, and happily cried a few more times too. You also both mixed and mingled with your guests and were swept into all different directions around the venue.

Towards the end of your wedding and before you walked out to say goodbye to all of your guests, Tyson pulled you away for a surprise private dance as newlyweds. You and Tyson would get plenty of time alone together on your honeymoon in Greece but the private dance without the pressure of any other eyes on you was much appreciated. You swayed back and forth with your husband to “All My Life” by K-Ci and Jojo, “You’re Still The One” by Shania Twain, and “This I Promise You” by *NSYNC, and sang along to all of them together. Just like the lyrics in the songs had said, “All my life, I’ve been waiting for someone like you” (“All My Life” by K-Ci and Jojo), “we’re still together, still going strong” (“You’re Still The One” by Shania Twain), and “and with this vow, forever has now begun” (This I Promise You” by *NSYNC), all that you had been waiting for, for so long was right in front of you and it was true that your forever love was just getting started. In a whisper, you asked to play a song and chose “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion as the final song for your private dance. The song served as a thank you to each other by summing up the journey of your relationship so far and how your love helped you both grow as people. Getting married allowed you to write a new chapter in your love story. You made it this far as a couple and there was so much to look forward to in your future together.

#tyson jost #tyson jost x reader #tyson jost imagine #tyson jost fic #buffalo sabres #hockey fic #my writing #hockey writing #please read my story

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xsoulxsilencex · 3 months ago

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I feel like we have to talk about Yuna especially after the episode 136 spoiler dropped.

But first of: Whatever I say here is NOT character hate. If anything, I'm criticizing the way Yuna's written. I feel like her character could've worked but the way it's executed is just meh. (also I don't think it's too early to judge her writing when we're like 4 months away of Go Rush's ending)

(post might get updated when we get the subs for the rest of the episodes of this arc)

Yuna started off as a girl Yudias and the Ohdo twins had to find in arc 2. Someone who was very into Rovian (the main antag of arc 2), basically her right-hand woman and getting angry (and sometimes violent) at anyone who didn't appreciate Rovian and her space poems.

But there were also signs that she cared about someone else a lot too considering how pissed she was about Yudias having a duel disk she somehow seemed to recognize that it didn't belong to him. After Yuga properly showed up at the end of arc 3 and Yudias explained that it was him helping him out with cards and a duel disk, it's clear that he's the one Yuna cares about.

In Season 2, we get to know that Yuna doesn't just care for Yuga but is in love with him. Up to the point she's also ready to leave Rovian behind, the one she used to be so crazy about. Ngl, I found her pretty annoying in that season since she randomly yelled at (and assaulted) Manabu for not letting her see Yuga despite Manabu told her she can do that after Yuga helped them. And there was also her accusing Asaka for not helping her because of her own crush on Yuga. It kinda sucks that this is how they went with Yuna considering at the start of arc 8, she was also worried about the Velgearians but one episode later, she was already thinking more about Yuga (while being aware that she should help her friends instead) and another episode later, she was just all about Yuga. Like why? From arc 8 on, she was really like "screw the Velgearians, Yuga is all that matters".

With season 3, Yuna takes a turn that's kinda hard to watch for me. So she sides with Dark Meister aka Yuamu, takes over Mutsuba Town and then it turns out she just pretended to be on Yuamu's side so she can reach her own goal - which is to see Yuga again. She even made Time Machine to make her dream come true. There's also her being heavily delusional about a married life with Yuga (?) in the episode where the writers tried to bait us with random af Zwijo/Yuamu which eventually was just Zeyet pushing Yuamu into this idea. I really thought after the stupid episode about Yuna being married to Yuga and having Yudias and co. as babies during Kuaidul Spacetime, we wouldn't have to deal with this kind of delulu again but here we are now and Yuna doesn't have an excuse like back in arc 7...

I've said at the beginning that a character like Yuna could've worked but Go Rush does a bad job with her. Why? Because we barely know Yuna. All we know from her is that she runs Goha Company (now Goha Corporation) and she probably didn't do an amazing job at it since it was about to get bankrupt if Yuga hadn't showed up and helped her out. (which was likely one of the reasons she fell for him) But that's it? We don't know anything about Yuna's family. Does she have parents? Grandparents? Anyone else who could be her guardian since she's a minor? Like sure, we already had kids in Sevens running business but Asana had her grandfather and the Goha Siblings had at least Proprietress? A drone grandma is better than nobody. (same with Sebastian being there for Neil) Meanwhile Yuna's never shown with someone who checks on her.

Us not knowing anything about Yuna's (family) background makes it hard for me to understand why exactly she's willing to throw everything away for Yuga. I'm sorry but a simple "she's 13 so just a teenager who can be selfish when in love" isn't a good enough reason for me for her actions and I've seen that excuse too many times. You can have a big crush without taking over your town and likely messing with time. Antagonists doing bad things for love do exist but they get explanations for their (wrong) doings. Yuna has nothing but her crush on Yuga - a guy with whom she wasn't seen spending time together outside of flashbacks or a delusion; a guy we don't even know about how he feels about Yuna. (probably nothing but friendship since I can't see Yuga actually admitting to love someone romantically rn)

And I have to mention that too but it's honestly weird to see some people saying that you must be a misogynist if you dislike/criticize Yuna? I've never seen anyone saying you must hate guys if you criticize male characters. (and the amount of shit Yuhi got for simply getting more focus than Yuamu in s2 was already insane like dude wasn't even an antag there but people shittalked him worse than actual GR antags)

So yeah, that's all I have to say for Yuna rn. I'm pretty sad about her "development" since starting off as annoying/mean can be fine if you get better later but she doesn't in my opinion. She goes from obsessed with Rovian to obsessed with Yuga. Rovian saying in ep 128 that Yuna is now following nobody and basically doing her own thing (which is treated as positive development) feels like a bad joke when her own actions lead to some big problems and that's all just for Yuga.

My wish for Yuna was to eventually grow out of revolving her life around a specific person but Idk if I will get that before GR ends. And no, her having a crush on Yuga isn't the problem - the real problem is what this crush causes her to do now. And I wished more people would understand that instead of just defending her with flimsy reasons. I don't hate Yuna or any other GR character but dang, I really wished she got better writing.

#yugioh go rush #ygo go rush #goha yuna #long post #again NOT hate but some criticism #like yuna deserves better writing than what she receives for a while now #same goes for other characters too like what are they're doing with yuamu #heck what's going on with zwijo???#pretty sure manabu called him a dog and he's so right for that #because he does nothing but follow orders rn

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kaelinlikespeas · 4 months ago

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Kaino and Rosie HCs again!! (Supa Strikas)

Everything platonic except Ja Nein,Miko and Tiger !!

'Kaino Lin' (She/They)

She's Malaysian-Chinese(even though her name originated from Finland)

Her parents taught them English first,which was troublesome in her later stages in her life. She struggles a lot in Chinese,but she knows a few words and sentences in her dialect (Hokkien).

She's a minute and 20 seconds older than Rosie.

They usually had some As and frequent B's when grades were shown.

Their handwriting is really good,somehow.

Hates vegetables with all of their heart.

She used to be an errand girl (intern) for Hydra when she was 19 and couldn't describe the experience properly,but she's on good terms with Skipper. (They're friends, your honour)

Her favourite Super League teams are either Supa Strikas or Nakama, there's no in-between. (They're basic,she knows)

When she arrived at SS,she was shocked when she saw Twisting Tiger. They've been a fan of him,even before he joined Supa Strikas.

She mostly watched on TV,even when it was super late at night,she'd turn the volume down and continued watching matches.

But, during their internship,she was mostly awkward around him due to the fact that they'd be working with the Twisting Tiger.

But they grew closer together and became good friends when Tiger noticed her nervousness.

He also got them matching outfits.. (As you have seen in the arts, I post ..)

But back to their hcs,she really loves art and photography and joined many photography competitions. (And got participation medals,trophies,and a few 3rd place medals.)

She would spend their late nights drawing and sketching,which would get Rosie annoyed since they stayed in the same room together. So they had to leave the room to let Rosie get some sleep.

Her side of the room is really clean here and there. But their closet is a huge mess.

She prefers to be alone but wouldn't mind a friend or two to accompany her.

A secret fan of Croccie the smile-dile..

They have the same type of humor as Klaus,a bad one at that. She'd pull a quick joke and have the room turn silent immediately.

She dresses up nicely for some important stuff. (Formal,dates..whatever yada,yada) otherwise you'd see her in their supa strikas singlet,jacket,baggy sweatpants and slippers. (Only wears sneakers whenever she's around ss)

Likes drinking their drinks in those plastic bags that you ikat (tie) and drink out of.

It'd be a miracle if you saw her improve her sleep schedule.

When friends send her gifts,Kaino feels really appreciated. They do,but feel undeserving of them,so she tries to get them better ones.

She can remember the small details of people.

A huge nerd for certain stuff like jellyfish,Inspector Von Spector, and a lot of cartoons she'd remember at the back of her brain.

Randomly can sync the timing of what her and Rosie are saying at the same time.

She's Bisexual in terms of sexuality.

They like savoury things rather than sweet things.

Has a secret collection of beanie boos she would never let go ever in their whole entire life. (She showed it to Tiger,Miko, and Klaus once)

Miko let's them talk about photography mostly to him and really likes it when she yaps about different photos she took on one of their trips.

She has an itabag of Miko and Twisting Tiger but hides them whenever they visit her after the season.

Likes talking to herself for some reason,if you're next to them while they're thinking,you might hear some incoherent mumbling coming from them.

Hates the cold temperature with all her might but loves the air conditioning,they just can't stand the cold winter temp while she was at the Fortress Stadium.

They can fall asleep anywhere,they're just really talented like that.

Sometimes, she envies how easily Rosie could be so social because whenever she tried to,Kaino was just considered really awkward.

'Rosie Lin' (She/It)

Actually really bad at speaking Chinese too,like it's sibling.

Younger and gets annoyed whenever Kaino pulls out 'I'm the oldest' card.

Really likes doodling,would doodle everywhere when she was younger,and still loves it to this day,and surprisingly rlly good at it.

Gets away with practically anything,it's like magic. (Aswell during her internship,but it's a 50/50 chance if she gets scolded by Colonel or not)

The happiest person you can be around!

Yes,her side of the room is also clean too,and her closet is also neat too.

Was a huge straight B student back then,Kaino and her would always compare grades.

It applied to Iron Tank due to wanting to impress her sister.

She's randomly good at translating bad handwriting,give her a crumpled up note with smudged ink and smudged letters,it would have the message figured out in no time.

Has really, really,good handwriting.

Her favourite Super League teams are Iron Tank (of course!!) And Technicali... (IT'S BEST FRIEND IS ON THERE OF COURSE ITS HER SECOND FAVOURITE.)

She's pansexual !!

She loves vegetables,except for yam..it can't stand yam.

It really loves sweet things! Usually sneaks in a snack or two.

Is really brave to defend a friend if she needs to. Literally doesn't care if they're tall and huge,she's still defending it's friends.

The other Iron Tank members except for Ja Nein treat Rosie like a younger sister, which includes practically annoying her a lot.

Rosie and Ja Nein usually work together and would spend sleepless nights to think of plans (totally not cheating dw) (it is cheating.)

Rosie likes leaning against practically anything or anyone whenever she wants to nap for a bit,she mostly does it to Ja Nein,but not that he doesn't mind. (JaRosie real)

Loves to cook for others,randomly whips up anything in the fridge, and feeds it to her friends,which always end up for them asking for more.

Rosie also makes tea and hot chocolate for Ja Nein and her whenever those sleepless nights happen again.

Likes yapping abt dinosaurs,especially the Velociraptor. (Ja Nein has heard her speak abt it a dozen of times)

She can yap abt random things and be so inconsistent with its topics to the point she flips through everything and literally just talks randomly.

Hates it whenever a room turns quiet all of a sudden,so it'd ask a question and hopes it would revive a conversation (usually works except for her team)

Likes reading a ton of comics,would also yap abt those comics..

Also a fan of Croccie the Smile-dile,but is actually more open to it than Kaino is.

Has an in-progress ita bag of Ja Nein hidden in her room.

Loves badges and bottle caps,she really likes collecting them and keeps them in a small trinket box.

It was not easy for her to immediately get used to the cold temperatures at Iron Tank,to the point where she got a small cold the first week there,but it got used to it soon enough.

Has a random sense of humor,she laughs at everything.

It has a good fashion style,likes wearing cute things when the season's over, and Ja Nein and her have some time to hang out together.

It wears mostly comforting and pinkish colors and loves,loves winter outfits with all of her heart. She also dresses up really well for events and really likes them.

Gets annoyed whenever Kaino does something very late,since Rosie liked it when they both had synced sleeping times to the point Kaino had to go into another room to continue whatever they were doing to let Rosie sleep.

Rosie likes it when someone praises her for her hardwork. And always responds with a smug reply.

Accidentally says something really dumb whenever Colonel,Uber,Ja Nein, and her are discussing plans of totally not cheating, and gets really embarrassed if no one gave her a proper reply.

She envies Kaino's smarts,even though Rosie was a bit above average,it feels the need to be better somehow.

Credit to Pinterest for the photos,what would I do without it..

#original character #oc #oc x canon #oc x cc #supa strikas #supablr #supastrikas #supa strikas twisting tiger #supa strikas ocs #supa strikas oc #twisting tiger #supa strikas miko chen #miko chen #yumeship #yumeshipping #oc hcs #oc headcanons #supa strikas ja nein #ja nein

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being-of-rain · 2 months ago

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Long ago, in the Dark Times of Ancient Gallifrey (aka 2022), I watched all of Classic Doctor Who in one year, and I planned to write my thoughts on every story here on my blog. And I almost did it. I ended 2022 with only the Seventh Doctor’s three seasons left to write about. I decided to take a bit of a break, and a few months later I wrote up my thoughts on season 24. Then I had an accident while doing some stellar manipulating and fell into a black hole.

But it definitely says something about me that more than a year later, I still had the project in the back of my mind, thinking that I should complete it sometime. So I’ve gone back to the Seventh Doctor’s TV run (which I’m always happy to do) and, just a little late, here’s my rambling thoughts on season 25.

You can never trust conventional fandom wisdom. Knowing that, I went into Remembrance of the Daleks with an open mind because this was the first time I'd watched it. But I think maybe more than any other Classic Who story, conventional wisdom was right on this one! Remembrance of the Daleks is fucking fantastic. It easily and immediately became one of my favourite Classic Who Dalek stories, and probably one of my favourite Dalek stories in general.

It's possibly one of the fastest paced Classic Who stories (without being too fast paced), and it fills its four episodes perfectly. It was a natural choice for me to show to some friends who are New Who fans. There’s a lot of action, while also not feeling too repetitive and still having moments to breathe. The introduction to Seven's darker, moodier, and more mysterious side is stellar (pun not intended but appreciated). I also think it’s an introduction to a sub-genre of Seven stories, which is 'Seven wanders from scene to scene doing random things and is the only one who fully knows what's going on,' and I think it's maybe the most successful execution of the idea too. Because you can sort of keep track of the Doctor's plans, and when you don't know them beforehand he gives a good explanation in a relatively short time.

Anyway, I could heap compliments on the story all day, is there anything more specific for me to comment on? Yes, lots. Firstly, the Daleks themselves came with some realistic heft that felt a little more dangerous than their past few stories, which is a good precursor to New Who's terrifying series 1 Daleks. The Dalek civil war is used well, and I like how it's tied into the Daleks' sense of genetic purity. After watching Remembrance, one of my New Who friends said that they hadn't really gotten the comparisons between Daleks and Nazis until watching this. I was impressed with how Remembrance then took it a step further and directly compared Dalek racism to British racism. Realising that the man Ace had befriended was actually rotten made me feel really bad for her.

The little girl is a really creepy character, and I love her for it. One of my few irl friends who grew up with Classic Who knew this story as The One With The Creepy Kid. The trick that the person in the control was her instead of Davros was fun. Her killing of Ratcliffe was quite horrifying, but he deserved it. Ace facing off with the little girl as the Doctor faces off with the black Dalek at the end of the story made for an amazingly tense and emotional conclusion, especially with Ace immediately comforting the girl afterwards.

Ace is great in the serial in general - there was a cheer from my friends and I every time she blew up a Dalek. Though I was amused that at first the military couldn't make a dent in a Dalek but Ace's nitro-9 could blow it to smithereens. That girl is dangerous. The counter-measures team were also great, and I can see why they got a spin-off audio series. I especially enjoyed Rachel Jensen, and that time she tore into Gilmore for dragging her away from Cambridge then complaining she didn't know about aliens. Get his ass. It didn't occur to me until someone pointed it out that they're basically Brigadier and Liz Shaw stand-ins, I wonder if those characters were considered for the story before they figured out the time they wanted to set it. But it did occur to me that Jensen and Shaw could've been friends at university.

What else? When the Doctor warns Ace about future technology he basically describes the plot of Colditz; it's fun to watch Classic Who and see where EU authors might’ve got some inspiration. And naturally the Doctor gets lots of iconic lines. His muttering "it'll be twins" when told that someone is having a baby reminded me of what Eight did in the movie, telling people's futures.

So yeah, a very very good story, and a fitting 25th anniversary celebration on top of it all.

---

The Happiness Patrol is bloody brilliant. It’s one of my go-to Seventh Doctor TV stories, and it deserves it.

We’ve got the tried-and-tested Doctor Who trope of ‘weird human space colony’, and it’s blended well with emerging Seven era tropes. Ace is very much the Doctor’s protégé in this; he encourages her to come to her own conclusions, she deliberately gets arrested and annoys people to gain information, she even plays the spoons. She also insists that Ace is her real name rather than any other sort of name (another win for trans Ace) and gets assigned the same surname of the Doctor’s old Gallifreyan nickname (which is a coincidence, but a cute one). Meanwhile the Doctor himself is in full ‘planning several scenes ahead’ mode. It feels like he’s attempting some sort of speedrun for how quickly he can take down a corrupt government. As he says to Ace at the start- “We've got to put a stop to it, quickly.” “How quickly?” “Tonight.”

The setting is an interesting one. The sets may not quite have lived up to the script’s expectation; the scene with the snipers is obviously fantastic, but it’s clear the characters weren’t supposed to be quite so cramped when the Doctor beckons the soldier to come closer when he physically can’t. The city streets in particular look very much like a studio, or even a stage, which gives the story a slightly surreal tinge. I see the new special editions use CGI to give Terra Alpha a sky, which is a strange concept to me. The story itself gives the setting an unreal feeling by having almost no civilian characters who actually live in the city itself. There are glimpses of the planet’s history with its native population, outside the city walls with the illegal protestors from “the flatlands”, and offworld with the other visitors to Terra Alpha. I think the very first character to appear, who quickly becomes a victim of the happiness patrol, is the only shown human inhabitant of the city who isn’t in government or the patrol itself. I suppose this is natural enough when the whole story apparently takes place overnight- perhaps that lends itself to the surreal vibes as well. As well as the fascist vibes, keeping people off the streets. I’m not really going anywhere with all these thoughts, just thinking them.

Speaking of characters, there’s lots of great ones in this story. Susan Q makes a much better companion of the week for Ace than the nazi last story, and her story when she’s introduced about waking up one day and knowing she couldn’t go on in the world as she had been works really well (and I will read it as queer subtext if I want to). Silas P the happiness patrol’s undercover operative is particularly hateable with how sadistic he is, and it’s clear the patrol think so too with how eagerly they turn on him. That’s the thing about fascism I guess, it cannibalises itself so easily. A similar thing happens to Helen A at the story’s end. (It’s always stated that Helen is an obvious parody of Margaret Thatcher, but I’ve never known enough about Thatcher to see it myself. I saw somewhere that Dr Who audio author John Dorney also never understood how Helen A was supposed to be Thatcher, so at least it isn’t just me.)

Oh and the Kandyman! I can’t understand people who genuinely don’t like the Kandyman, or think he’s out of place. If you think he looks goofy with a stupid candy theme and outrageous colouring… you’re correct! That’s the point of the story! He fits perfectly, and he’s got some fantastic scenes too. Like when the Doctor frees him to fulfil a bargain, then immediately traps him again. And when the Doctor and Ace surround him and work together to baffle him and fight him off. His relationship with Gilbert is fun too. This watchthrough I enjoyed Gilbert’s line “Remember this Kandyman: symbiosis! You need me, and I need me!”

Anything else to say about this great story? Yeah, does the Doctor carry Fifi’s corpse and deliberately place it somewhere Helen would see it? What a guy. Oh and the TARDIS looks great pink. Blue to pink? Trans metaphor.

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If you’re watching these stories in order, there’s a nice thematic link between The Happiness Patrol and Silver Nemesis; going from blues to jazz. Throw in Ace’s boombox from Remembrance of the Daleks and I guess that’s a season theme for her. The Doctor gets themes too; I really appreciate that the entire season went all-in on his new masterplanning & manipulative vibes …although you could almost say it works against this serial. Because it’s remarkable how similar its broad strokes are to the season’s first story - it even calls attention to the parallel itself. Which is unfortunate, because I think Remembrance did it better. Heck, it even worked better as a 25th anniversary special.

I really want to like Silver Nemesis. The idea of several groups of antagonists all fighting to get the same thing is a great set-up for an action-packed story, and indeed a great set-up for the Seventh Doctor specifically. But I think the reason it falls flat for me is that it’s not very action-packed at all. Every faction spends more time talking amongst themselves about everyone else than interacting with each other, and when there is action it’s quite often a rather dull firing at each other from a distance. Lady Peinforte in particular loses my interest when so many of her scenes feel like comedy sketches that don’t quite land for me.

Of course there’s always things that I find to enjoy. Ace and the Doctor’s relationship is always entertaining. They do another Surround And Baffle scene with the Cyber Leader, and while they do it the Doctor keeps up a running commentary like the confrontation is a chess game. As it’s the first time that chess is a theme for the Doctor who would soon become pigeonholed as The Chessmaster, it’s amusing to me that his commentary ends with “illegal move, but checkmate!”

Before this watchthrough I had totally forgotten that the Nemesis statue spoke. Its short conversations with Ace and the Doctor are some of the most interesting parts of the story for me. Certainly more interesting than the fact that it brings destruction by flying near to Earth every 25 years, which felt rather cheap. How exactly did it make Hitler annex Austria? Oh but despite the silver statue, probably the most memorable visual of the story for me is when Ace is facing off against the Cybermen in the catwalks high above the floor of a hanger. The lighting on her from below is so striking.

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The Greatest Show in the Galaxy was categorised in my head as ‘slow and not that fun,’ but after a rewatch I think my issue with it is mostly due to its first episode. And the first episode isn’t even that bad, it just had the most amount of small things that bugged me. So I may as well get those complaints out of the way first. The Doctor and Ace not getting to the circus itself until the first cliffhanger reminded me of the Sixth Doctor’s first season, when the Doctor and Peri were regularly not even landing until a quarter of the way through the story - but the comparison is perhaps unfair. The Doctor and Ace do quite a lot in Part One, and only some of it is pointless to the story. But it doesn’t help that the quarry settings for this planet seem visually particularly dull to me. Perhaps that’s due to their contrast to the colourful circus. I mean, that might be intentional for the story’s themes… but that doesn’t make the endless grey landscapes any more interesting to look at.

Any other complaints? Some action sequences feel badly executed and part one had annoying constant cutting between scenes and locations- neither of these things are particularly rare in Classic Who, but for some reason they both bothered me in this story. Oh, and the Doctor and Ace’s dynamic for the first half hour does not gel with me. The Doctor acts less like a questionable mentor trying to get Ace to face her fears, and much more like an irritated father dragging his kid around on a day out, snapping at her and dismissing her concerns. Of those two types of assholery, one is a lot more entertaining for me to watch than the other.

Okay, that’s all for complaints. Because once I was far enough into the story, I found that I liked a lot more than I didn’t. There were some great characters, like obviously Mags- the revelation of her true nature is one of the scenes that stuck in my memory from when I watched it as a kid. But I think the real stand-outs were the villains. The Gods of Ragnarok are of course fairly iconic, a stoic family complaining about their show (really calling me out) who become literally stony-faced when watching the Doctor’s (really good!) routine.

But the more human antagonists stick with me even more. The employees of the circus- the ringmaster, fortune teller, and chief clown- put on great performances, but they’re given so much depth by the scenes where they have hurried, paranoid, private conversations with each other. You get a glimpse of the fear, greed, and old life goals that’ve led them to luring people to their deaths on Segonax. I sort of get why the story’s author would want to write a prequel about them for Big Finish. Unlike a lot of Doctor Who’s evil human accomplices, I actually felt sorry for them when the ringmaster and fortune teller got their comeuppance. As for the Chief Clown who was selling out others to save his own skin right up until the end; I don’t really have much of a fear of clowns, but he’s definitely a creepy one. The way he goes from his high-pitched care-free performing voice to his normal one is unnerving. And I don’t know why exactly it was decided that he would drive around the place in a modern black hearse, but I know it’s cool as hell.

What else? The story starting with the ringmaster’s opening spiel is neat, I love when the narrative affects its format. The fact that the Doctor couldn’t hear Mags’ scream at the end of part one is hard to believe when it has to be one of the most piercing screams in Classic Who, which is really saying something. Pity the viewer to reaches that moment with their volume turned up. The animatronic clown room is genuinely quite creepy. The moment of surreality when the Doctor and Ace enter the big top for the first time and all the circus noises they were hearing outside suddenly cut out along with all the light was super cool. I appreciate that the incredibly hateable, selfish, proud, racist ‘explorer’ is named Captain Cook. And finally, as is often the case, there’s some great dialogue throughout the show. I enjoyed the Doctor finally getting under Cook’s skin with “You're not only a scoundrel and a meddling fool, but you're also a crushing bore!”

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All in all, I’m not as much a fan of the second half of season 25 as I am of the first half. But to be fair, the first two stories of the season are absolute all-time greats to me. Classic Who really does go out on a high with the Seventh Doctor’s run.

#my thoughts #who knows when I'll post the last season. Within the next month I hope.#seven #ace #daleks #cybermen

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scullysflannel · 7 days ago

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i watched the xfiles episode "young at heart" for the first time a few weeks ago (it wouldn't play on hulu when i was watching s1 for the first time so i just skipped it and didnt go back to it until recently) and it was very fun just being dropped into season 1 and having to remember oh yes so this is where the characters were at this moment and this is where the show was at this moment. i found myself laughing at the episode quite a few times because it was overdramatic in a way that was absolutely not earned. like you can tell that the show has such aspirations and it is just not there yet. and no shade to gillian anderson or david duchovny but they also are not quite there yet. but i love that it is not afraid to aspire! because later down the line the show is able to execute melodrama so stunningly well. they just needed some practice first. also despite the iffiness of the plot and writing it was still so visually beautiful. like no show that's in its first season has the right to look this good and yet it does. it makes me forgive the silly writing a little. who cares about cheap hackneyed writing when you look this good

literally who cares when it looks this good. the mood in season 1 is so all-consuming, and sometimes we give too much of that credit to mulder and scully being young and adorable (which is a big part of it) at the expense of appreciating how much they nailed the cinematography right off the bat. the tone of the show was distilled perfectly in those visuals even when the scripts and the performances were still a little green. you can tell what show the x-files wants to be, and it's so earnest about it. I think those big aspirations are why I feel like being too hard on the mid-to-bad season 1 episodes is like being mean to a baby. they just got here. let them learn! it's so much more thrilling to watch a new show try really hard to be extraordinary and embarrass itself sometimes than it is to watch it settle for being just fine forever

#lesbianmarrow #young at heart #i haven't watched that one in a while but i love the glamour shots of mulder. where's that post

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ravenya003 · 5 months ago

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Prophecy Girl, S01E12

It has taken me SO LONG to get to this episode, so my bad. Maybe on some level I just didn’t want to finish season one, as there’s a unique vibe about it that disappears once we hit season two, and never really returns. Maybe it’s the grainy quality of the film, or the tinkling piano music, or the dodgy special effects, or the cute little baby-ness of the cast...

In any case, “Prophecy Girl” serves as a great finale for the seasonal arc, and would have made for a decent conclusion to the show in its entirety, had it not been renewed for a second season (which many thought might be the case at the time). It’s terrifying to think that these days, the show probably wouldn’t have advanced beyond this season before getting cancelled.

After the “previously on,” which namedrops the Master and the Codex and so on, we open with Xander trying to ask someone out. This is fitting considering his role in the episode (I’d argue it’s just as much his coming-of-age story as it is Buffy’s) and the reveal that he’s just practicing on Willow.

This also neatly sets up Willow’s arc across the episode. Although she’s given less to do than the other two members of this particular love triangle, her development from sappily pretending that Xander is talking to her, to turning down his invitation to go to the dance with him after Buffy rejects him, is an important stepping stone for her.

It’s also incredibly insensitive that Xander is using Willow in this way, as “The Pack” revealed that he’s not completely oblivious to her feelings for him, but hey – they have to start him in an immature place so he can man-up later. Heroism always shines brighter when it comes from someone you know is capable of being a lot worse.

Buffy is out slaying (at this point they’re still calling it “hunting” instead of “patrolling” which is amusing) and a little perturbed by the number of vampires that are out and about. Nearby, Cordelia and her latest toyboy Kevin are trying to make out in a parked car, but she can hear noises outside.

I’m not entirely sure what the point of this scene was, especially since nothing is done with the clichéd “hey, did you hear something?”/“it's nothing, baby” set-up (you’d expect this show to have the male character getting anxious and the female character getting out of the car to take a look around) but hey... Cordelia is here.

Back at Sunnydale High, Giles is studying the Pergamum Codex in the library. There I was, appreciating the moody piano music and the slow panning shot and the reading montage and thinking about how shows back then were confident enough to take their time setting the scene – and then I realized the emphasis on the skylight was to establish it as an important location that the Master will eventually be thrown through.

But that’s not until later; right now Giles is reading the relevant passages and not liking what they’re telling him. “The Master shall rise, and the Slayer shall...” We don’t hear what comes next, as this is the moment that an earthquake hits.

I recall earthquakes being used at least one more time (in season four?) as a harbinger of the end times, but this is really the only apocalypse in the show's whole duration that gets all the ominous signs and portents. I suppose after this, the end of the world became a little ho-hum given the gang were dealing with one in every season finale (and sometimes in the mid-season finale).

We get a montage of everyone reacting: Giles in the library, Buffy in the park, Cordelia and Kevin in their car, Willow and Xander amidst panicking patrons at the Bronze. Random note, but I love montages of character reactions to big events across a large area. Remember in the first episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, when people all over the world were reacting to the signs of Aang’s return? That was cool.

The best response comes from the Master, who is ranting and raving about his coming glory... and then asks the Anointed One: “what do you think, a 5.1?”

HAHAHA. I honestly think that’s one of my favourite gags in the entire show, and definitely a quintessential Master line. I know he’s considered one of the least interesting Big Bads, but I’ll always love that excitable droll humour.

That said, an earthquake that causes cracks and fissures to appear in the library walls would have been much bigger than a 5.1. Take it from a Christchurch girl.

Buffy arrives at the library the following morning and Giles reacts oddly to her appearance. Yup, whatever he read in that Codex was pretty bad. It’s kinda crazy to consider they were all worried about an invisible girl just last week.

Later that day the trio emerge from class and Xander makes his move, instructing Willow to leave. She really is a saint for putting up with all this nonsense.

His invitation to the dance ends about as well as you’d expect: Buffy lets him down as gently as possible, but it’s obvious (and has been from the inception of their relationship) that he’s just not her type. It hurts, but for my money, he handles the rejection reasonably well... until the subject of Angel comes up. DUDE. That is none of your business. The “I can wait” comment doesn’t go down too well with me either.

Now look, I’m not going to defend Xander for his behaviour here, but I do think what we see is a. the realistic reaction of a teenage boy, and b. an interaction that was not as bad as it could have been. He’s honest and straightforward with his intentions. Buffy makes herself clear, and he accepts it. Not very gracefully, but he does.

I’ve said before that I think Joss Whedon doomed Xander when he revealed that he considered this character to be the one most based on himself, which means that a lot of the later revelations about Whedon were retrospectively projected onto Xander. But Xander Harris is a much better human being than Joss Whedon, and it’s important on a narrative level that he feels the sting of rejection and responds with a level of petulance and entitlement. It serves as a contrast to his later behaviour when he seeks out Angel for assistance AFTER Buffy has refused him, without expecting anything in return.

In any case, I feel bad for him in this scene, and I think he avoids the worst of the Nice Guy tendencies that are often attributed to him. If it weren’t for him bringing up Angel, I wouldn’t have had a huge problem with anything he does in the scene.

Giles is on the phone, and as we later find out he’s talking to Angel, I think it’s amusing that he identifies him as “Giles” and then clarifies “Rupert Giles.” Are we meant to infer that Angel knows more than one Giles? It’s also of interest to me that Giles knows how to contact Angel. Did they swap phone numbers at some point?

Jenny Calendar (yay!) listens in on the conversation, and rattles off a list of weird occurrences that she’s noticed on the internet: a cat giving birth to a litter of snakes, a family that were swimming in a lake when it started to boil, and a child born with his eyes in back-to-front. And again – what’s with all these crazy portents? Does shit like this happen every apocalypse? Because we never really hear about stuff like this again, even though that’s a LOT for a relatively self-contained averted-apocalypse that ultimately doesn’t even disturb the dance going on a few blocks away. For most of Sunnydale, it would have just been an ordinary night.

Another iconic line: “I’d say the end is most seriously nigh.” Classic Jenny.

She goes on to say that she’s receiving emails from a monk called Brother Luca, who is sending out prophecies concerning someone called the Anointed One (this is presumably the prophecy from the “Never Kill a Boy On The First Date” episode, about how “the Slayer will not know him, will not stop him, and he will lead her into Hell.”) Giles asks her to contact Luca for more information.

If you’ve been reading these reviews of mine, you’ll know that sometimes I fixate on minutia, and in this case: who is this Brother Luca? What did he know about the Anointed One? Why did he disappear? It’s kind of a shame the writers didn’t keep him in their back pocket, as it would have made for a cool bit of continuity if they’d ever needed an Exposition Guy.

We get a seemingly pointless scene in which Cordelia and Kevin act all cutesy-poo about the upcoming dance, followed by Cordelia spotting Willow and asking her to hook up the sound system at the Bronze, but it does set up a lot of plot-points: that Cordelia and Willow are on speaking terms (which makes her saving of Willow and Jenny less random), that Cordelia has got a good thing going with Kevin (which makes his death all the more tragic), that the AV room is a place that exists (where the massacre happens), and that Cordy is expecting to see Kevin at the Bronze that night (she won’t though).

So much is packed into a brief transitory scene – I mean, that’s actually kind of impressive.

Willow spots Xander in an empty classroom, throwing a ball against the wall. He’s stroppy, she’s mildly sympathetic, but when he pivots and asks her to the dance instead, she refuses him. No way is she going to spend the evening watching him wish that he was with Buffy. Good for her! And Xander, stop taking her for granted!

For some reason, the next scene takes place after dark. I say “for some reason” because the school day is over and yet a handful of students seem to be just leaving, including Buffy, who ducks into the bathroom and turns on the facet to find the sink filling with blood instead of water.

She heads into the library to tell Giles, only to discover him and Angel in a heated conversation. She catches the tail-end of the argument, which is that Buffy is prophesied to meet the Master, and to die at his hands.

Before we get to Buffy’s reaction, there’s a nice line from Giles in which he says: “some prophecies are dodgy; mutable – Buffy herself has thwarted them time and time again.” It’s clever because he’s presumably referring to the prophecy of the Anointed One and the fact that they all THINK she avoided it when she killed Andrew Borba... even though we the audience know that the Anointed One was never Borba at all, but Collin, and he’s still very much alive.

So for us at least, thwarting a prophecy is off the table. It has never actually happened.

This leads to a great scene from Sarah Michelle Gellar, probably the one that made everyone sit up and think – “damn, She Really Can Act.” She goes through hysteria, numbness, anger, tears, defiance. She rejects the call, throws books at Giles, and yanks off the crucifix from around her neck. It’s really beautifully done, and I think my favourite part is her quiet little: “do you think it’ll hurt?” That one hits really hard.

(Quick note: she dramatically throws away the crucifix in this scene, and yet I totally missed her retrieving it again, even though I noticed she was wearing it when she goes to face the Master. I’m assuming she picks it up from the floor when she clocks Giles?)

Her solution to the problem is simple: she quits. Screw the world, she’s saving her own skin. I can’t say I blame her.

A quick scene depicts the Master sending the Anointed One out of the buried church to fulfil his destiny (not that this destiny amounts to much, and it’s a bit premature since another day passes before Collin makes his move. What was he doing for those twenty-four hours?)*

Elsewhere, Willow tries to check in with Xander, but he’s not answering his phone – too busy wallowing in self-pity and listening to country music. Buffy goes home and starts thumbing through a photo album, and hey – remember these things? How each page had sticky lines across them which were covered in a clear film, and it was an absolute nightmare to line up the photos and then smooth down the film without crinkling them?

These things were THE WORST.

Joyce comes in and Buffy pitches a weekend getaway with just the two of them, only for her mum to open the wardrobe and reveal a surprise white prom dress. It’s all very virgin sacrifice, but Joyce encourages her to go to the dance stag.

(Another quick note: Sarah Michelle Gellar can still fit into this thing!)

In another good line, in which Joyce manages to unconsciously tap into the theme of the episode, she responds to Buffy’s insistence she can’t go to the dance with: “says who? Is it written somewhere? You can do what you want.” Then she shares a story about how she went to a dance by herself during college and ended up meeting Buffy’s dad. It’s all very sweet, and a reminder that things at least started out good between Joyce and Hank.

The following morning Cordelia is complaining to Willow about how Kevin never turned up at the Bronze last night to help her with the decorations for the dance, but is uncharacteristically okay about it. They reach the AV room and look though the window in the door to see a group of boys watching cartoons – but on unlocking the door, the reality of the situation is gruesomely revealed: everyone inside, including Kevin, is dead.

Willow steps inside as Cordelia screams, her eyes on a bloody handprint smeared across the television screen, upon which animated piglets are dancing around. That shot strikes me as very Whedon.

So, we need to talk about Kevin. The episode had only a very short amount of time to establish him as a murder victim whose death we would be sadder about than usual, and... well, it doesn’t really work. It’s mostly attained through Cordelia being considerably warmer and softer toward him than she has been toward her other boytoys (her biggest concern about Mitch being hit in the face by a baseball bat last episode was that he’d look terrible in the prom photos) but after Kevin's body is discovered she never mentions him again!

It's a wonder they didn’t just use Mitch, though I suppose he’d already been characterized as a douche and no one would really care if he’d been the one who was killed.

Buffy is trying on her dress when Joyce bursts in, saying: “there’s something on the news – Willow.” I know she’s frantic, but this some weird phrasing: it makes it sound like Willow herself was on the news, even though think the idea is that Joyce has seen the massacre on the television and Willow has just called up on the phone in relation to it.

We get nothing of the news coverage, nothing on the parents of the deceased, nothing from Snyder... yeah, I know the episode has got to hurry along, but sometimes you need to sit with these horrors for a while, or at least get a better grasp of their ramifications.

In this case, we only get to see Willow’s shock and grief, though Alyson Hannigan also plays it really beautifully. If nothing else, you do get a sense that this atrocity is different somehow: "I'm not okay. I can't imagine what it's like to be okay. I knew those guys. I go to that room every day. And when I walked in there, it was... It wasn't our world anymore. They made it theirs. And they had fun."

With that, Buffy’s sense of duty and responsibility comes surging back, and I like that Willow was the impetus for it. Until Dawn came along, I think Willow was the person most emblematic of the people that Buffy was protecting, and as she doesn’t get much else to do this episode, I like that she provides this push for Buffy to step up – and she’s not so distracted that she doesn’t hear the sense of finality in Buffy’s final words: “take care.”

*(Another aside: okay, so I watched the episode last night, but have been writing out this post while referring to the shooting script as well as my own notes. And as it turns out, THIS is the point where the Master sends out the Anointed One on his semi-pointless mission to lead the Slayer into Hell, which does account for his whereabouts on the night of the Master’s escape, eliminating the question of where he disappears to for those extra twenty-four hours.

In the final cut of the episode, he doesn’t leave a day early, though in the shooting script, he spends that time visiting Angel at his apartment, warning him not to interfere with the Master’s plans, and suitably cowling Angel into submission. This explains why he’s just loafing around his apartment when Xander goes to rope him in on the rescue mission, and it’s a shame that scene was cut. It helps explain a lot).

Back at the library, Jenny neatly sums up the stakes, but Brother Luca has apparently disappeared, leaving only a Bible verse as his final missive: “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.”

Giles makes the HUGE leap that this is referring to the Anointed One, and that he wasn’t Andrew Borba after all, but a little child. I mean, he’s right, but that’s quite a conclusion to draw on the basis of a vague Biblical verse from a monk he’s never met before. During all this, Giles has been gathering weapons, now determined to go and face the Master by himself.

But that’s Buffy’s cue to arrive, and we get yet another banger of a line. After she punches Giles in the face and knocks him unconscious, she tells Jenny: “When he wakes up, tell him... I don't know. Think of something cool, tell him I said it.” HAH! (Though it does make we wonder if Jenny did come up with something cool to tell Giles when he regained consciousness).

Jenny reminds her that if she faces the Master, she’ll die, and Buffy responds that perhaps at least she’ll get the chance to take him down with her.

Outside, the Anointed One is waiting with a pitiful little “help me,” but Buffy overheard enough of Jenny and Giles’s conversation to know that it’s a scam. She’s not fooled, and takes his hand to be led away.

And there are still so many unanswered questions about this kid. What if they’d never figured out who he really was and he actually had to trick Buffy into following him? How would that have worked? It could have been quite interesting if her compassion had led her into a trap.

Was this kid even a vampire in the end? If so, why doesn’t she stake him? There’s simply not enough time for a satisfying conclusion here.

Unsurprisingly, Willow noticed there was something odd about Buffy’s demeanour, and Xander is called in. They reach the library and not only find out about the prophecy, but that Buffy has gone off by herself to face the Master. As Giles testily states: “as the soon-to-be purple area on my jaw will indicate, I did not LET her go.”

As Xander rushes out with an idea to assist Buffy, Jenny reminds Giles and Willow that the Hellmouth is due to open with the Master’s release. (Why? Unclear. It’s just end of the world stuff, I guess).

On my initial watch of this episode, I was surprised to discover that Angel is just lounging around his apartment instead of keeping tabs on Buffy. Then (as mentioned above) I discovered that in a deleted scene, the Anointed One visits him and warns him off getting involved. With that explanation gone, I suppose it tracks that the last Angel saw of Buffy was her heading for the hills, so perhaps he just assumed she was safe and chose to wait for the end of the world in the comfort of his own place.

But Xander is here to relieve him of that luxury, demanding that he take him to the Master’s hideout. Angel is initially bemused by Xander’s determination to try and help... and perhaps a little humbled by it as well. This human kid is prepared to go after Buffy, so why isn’t he?

And we get the whole: “you’re in love with her”/”aren’t you?” exchange. As a teenage girl, that was a Big Deal, and we’re witness to the first of the show’s many, many unlikely alliances. They’re doing this for Buffy.

(Still, doesn’t Angel’s ability to reach the underground church negate the role of the Anointed One a little? “He will lead her into Hell,” or through the sewers to a subterranean cave, whatever).

Throughout all this, there’ve been scenes of Buffy following Collin through the expansive sewer system beneath Sunnydale. She’s wearing that white dress/black jacket combo which... look, I know it’s iconic, but it’s also so damn impractical. And she’s armed with nothing but a flimsy little crossbow? Takes some stakes, girl!

Topside, Jenny is asking the sensible questions: like where is the Hellmouth meant to open exactly? And it’s funny because I had totally forgotten that this was a reveal!! Part of me assumed that everyone always knew it was under the library, and that it ended up being a surprise twist was rather mind-boggling.

I like how it’s handled though: after Jenny points out that it has to open somewhere, they come up with the not-unreasonable conclusion that it’s under the Bronze. That’s where the vampires went to gather victims for the Harvest, after all. It’s a wrong but logical conclusion to draw, and as a result, Jenny and Willow head out to warn people attending the Spring Fling.

Meanwhile, Buffy and the Master come face-to-face. After some cat-and-mousing, “feeble banter,” and Buffy trying to get in a good shot, the Master reveals he’s got some hypnosis abilities (er, okay?) and gets her in his grasp.

I love a good old Prophecy Twist/Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, and this is a two-for-one! As the Master says himself: “Prophecies are tricky creatures, they don’t always tell you everything.” Before he drinks Buffy’s blood, he gleefully points out that if Buffy hadn’t come to stop him from leaving, he wouldn’t have been given access to her Slayer blood, which grants him enough power to break through the magical barrier that contains him. (How’d the Master know this though? Did he have a copy of the Codex lying around?)

But more importantly, the Master (and the prophecy) was not counting on the fact that Buffy doesn’t work alone. After the Master has taken his fill of her blood and drops her into a nearby pool of water, he leaves for the surface world... just before Angel and Xander arrive.

Buffy is certifiably dead. Somewhere out there, Kendra is called.

Ascertaining that she’s gone, but also that the cause of death is drowning, Angel announces he can’t give Buffy CPR – he has no breath in his lungs. So that’s Xander’s cue to step up.

Now, a couple of things. As people have consistently pointed out since this episode first aired, Angel does in fact breathe. It’s required in order to speak. Furthermore, there’s no reason why being undead can’t prevent a person from inhaling and exhaling, even if it’s not necessary for them to do so (as established in “Out of Sight, Out of Mind,” when Angel was able to enter the gas-filled boiler room without harm).

This has led some to presume that Angel simply didn’t know how to perform CPR. To which I say no – no, no, no. That explanation is to entirely miss the point of this scene, which is that only a living person can save Buffy’s life. More to the point, only her recently rejected friend can do so, over the superpowered vampire love interest.

This is like, the very crux of the show in its entirety. Friendship is what saves Buffy’s life, not romantic love. She is a special Slayer, who lives as long as she does, because she surrounds herself with worthy friends that care about her. In this case, Xander is a good enough person to rush to her aid after she’s rejected him (I mean, of course he is. He wouldn’t be a worthwhile character if he wasn’t).

And so, I am completely open to a bit of lore that prohibits Angel from performing CPR because he is undead, and therefore his breath has no mystical vitality or life-giving qualities to it. He could have hypothetically blown air into Buffy’s lungs, but it would not have brought her back. The only person who could have done this was Xander; her friend and not her love interest. That was the whole point.

(The whole thing also provides a very neat bookend with the very last episode of Angel, in which his vampirism is the only thing that allows him to get the upper hand over Marcus Hamilton after he drinks the man’s blood and imbibes himself with its power).

While all this is going down, Willow and Jenny have tried to reach the latter’s car, only for them to release that the Bronze is not the target this time around – it’s the school. They’re soon surrounded by vampires, though luckily it’s Cordelia to the rescue! She drives up in her car and they all pile in.

Another favourite trope of mine is when a bunch of characters scream at the same time – which is what Willow, Cordelia and Jenny do when a vampire lands on the roof of the car. Cordelia floors it and drives straight through the school entrance to the library, where they’re soon trying to bar the door against the onslaught of vampires.

Giles joins them (“what’s happening?” “GUESS!”) and they’re all so busy trying to fend the vampires off that they miss the tentacle sliding across the floor...

Above them, the Master steps out onto the school rooftop and looks out over lights of Sunnydale, his new kingdom.

Just when it seems hopeless, Buffy opens her eyes. What happened while she was “away”? Did she have an afterlife experience? I only ask because as she gets up, she states that: “I feel strong, I feel different.” It's interesting line, but not one that’s ever explained in any subsequent episode. Much like Obi Wan Kenobi’s “if you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine,” it’s never given any meaningful context.

(My pet theory is that like the snowfall in “Amends,” Buffy’s newfound strength and ability to sense the location of the Master is something of a gift from the Powers That Be, a little extra oomph that she needs to save the day. If nothing else, it explains why she’s not caught by the Master’s hypnotism a second time, whilst Kendra eventually falls to a similar trick at Drusilla’s hands. From this point on, Buffy is a special Slayer and not just because she’s surrounded by a support team).

There’s a great cut between Cordelia screaming “somebody help!” to Buffy marching towards the school, flanked by Angel and Xander, to the sound of her very own theme music – the first and only time this particular music plays during the course of an actual episode.

Things go from bad to worse when one of the tentacles of the Hellmouth demon wraps itself around Willow’s leg, the monster itself emerging seconds later. Three heads! Rows of teeth! Loads more tentacles!

Things wrap up pretty quickly after this, and I don’t want it to come across as anticlimactic, but... Buffy confronts the Master on the roof, defies his next attempt at hypnosis, notices that a table leg is sticking up from the library floor where the Hellmouth beast has shattered it, and hefts the Master over her head, through the skylight, and down to his death below, impaling him on the conveniently-situated table leg.

The Hell-beast is sucked back from whence it came, the vampires disperse, and our heroes slowly convene on the floor of the library, looking down at the (unseen to the audience) remains of the Master. There’s a nice Buffy/Giles moment, when the latter acknowledges his Slayer’s tenacity, and Jenny is again the only one talking sense, asking what they should do about the Master.

Buffy looks very shaken and tearful, which is only to be expected, and we’ll see a great deal more of the aftermath of this experience next season. But then Xander reminds them there’s a party going on nearby, and they all opt for some cathartic downtime amongst the living.

They file out, chattering among themselves, and the camera slowly pans back to the Master... now just a picked-clean skeleton on the floor of the library.

Finis.

That was that: the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s a solid run of episodes, one that alternated between the “high school is hell” metaphor and the overarching story of the Master and his attempts at breaking free of his metaphysical prison. We were introduced to our five leads, as well as a supporting cast that will stick around for years to come: Angel, Harmony, Snyder, Jenny Calendar, Joyce Summers...

In the grand tradition of final episodes, the story has our heroes break up into groups and then all converge on a single location to fight off the baddies. With that, the seasonal Big Bad is defeated, everyone gets some decent character development (Xander pushes through rejection to do the right thing, Willow is less of a doormat, Cordelia helps out the Scoobies, Angel finds his courage) and the set is trashed.

Out of all the characters, Willow maybe fared the worst in what her character actually did in this episode. Alyson Hannigan got that great “I’m not okay” scene, but after that she just calls up Xander and gets damselled when the Hellmouth creature grabs a hold of her. Angel wasn’t that useful either, his contribution simply being to lead Xander where he needs to go.

But everyone else does great: Giles letting his paternal instincts show, Cordelia’s big rescue with her car, Jenny making important suggestions, and of course Xander’s crowning moment: saving Buffy’s life. Even Joyce gets a really sweet scene, though she remains oblivious as to what’s really going on.

There is an old-school charm to season one; I know a lot of people think it’s one of the lesser seasons, and yet for me, those first three years of Buffy when the show was set at high school was the show at its quintessence. Am I using that word correctly? You should know what I mean. The later seasons had their ups and downs, but those high school years were something special.

Miscellaneous Observations:

The show never again delves into the concept of fate and prophecy after this episode (as stated, none of the other apocalypses come with anything like this amount of omens and portents, let alone any prophecies) but it’s always interesting to see how any given story will handle the subject of “as it is written” destiny.

It’s essentially a golden rule of storytelling that prophecies must be immutable. You can find twists or loopholes in the wording (as they did here) but the basics of the prediction have to be accurate, otherwise what’s the point of even including it in the first place? If a prophecy states: “you will meet your destiny in London” and then the subject of that prophecy never goes to London during the course of the story, it had no narrative purpose whatsoever.

You have a prophecy so you can engage with said prophecy.

Even the Anointed One, which the gang thought Buffy had successfully dealt with back in “Never Kill a Boy on the First Date” ended up playing out exactly as the prophecy stated; perhaps as foreshadowing that this one was also unavoidable. And it was. Buffy died.

(Interestingly, she also dies at the Master’s hands in “The Wish,” which means that the prophecy was going to be fulfilled no matter what timeline Buffy was in).

But what the prophecy didn’t count on was that the Slayer would have a friend that followed her into danger and resuscitated her. And to me, this is the beating heart of the show in its entirety. It is the central theme and core subject of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In any other supernaturally-themed, fairy tale-tinged story such as this, it would have been the broody and tortured love interest that gets to administer True Love’s Kiss to awaken the sleeping princess in a white gown. But here, it’s subverted. It’s the friend who the princess rejected earlier in the episode who wakes her up, and it’s not a kiss that saves her, but CPR.

(There’s also a sort of poetry in the fact that Xander “kisses” Buffy in this episode - the proverbial kiss of life - but it’s entirely chaste and platonic. It reminds me of how Han Solo was the only one to never see Leia in the slave-girl bikini, because he was blind the whole time).

Somehow, this specific example of playing around with the familiar tropes and expectations of how a scenario like this usually plays out is the essence of what Buffy the Vampire Slayer is as a story.

Prophecy wins, because it always wins, and yet it doesn’t win, because Buffy does things differently and surrounds herself with friends that help her.

On that note, Buffy is also spurred to take action by Willow’s personal grief over the massacre and her mother (unknowingly) telling her: “where is that written? You should do what you want.” Again, it is Buffy’s human connections that push her into action.

But while we’re on the subject of prophecy, I’m left wondering (as I always am when it comes to prophecies) about who wrote them. Who was behind the Pergamum Codex? That Aurelius guy? Giles says it contains: “the most complete prophecies about the Slayer in the final years,” so... does it mention anything about Angelus or Acathla or the Mayor’s Ascension? Or did it just stop because it wrongly assumed the world ended with Buffy’s death?

Giles also states: “there is nothing in it that does not come to pass.” Like what? I would have appreciated a couple of examples! Does it talk about other Slayers in the past? And what happens to it afterwards? Look, I know that it’s just a plot-point, but I’m powerfully curious about this sort of thing!

As stated, this was a very self-contained apocalypse, to the point where nobody outside the Scooby Gang even realized it was happening. All those creepy portents, and for what?

Speaking of, I wonder how that boy who was born with his eyeballs in backwards is doing? I think about these things.

I know the Hellmouth monster makes a reappearance in season three, but I was always kind of disappointed that the activated Potentials didn’t fight it in “Chosen.” Tell me that would not have been cool, especially if it had grown exponentially bigger by that point. And yes, I realize it was probably a budgetary thing.

This is not the first or the last time that the subject of a Slayer’s blood and its innate power comes up, so I’m going to have to keep my eye on how it’s used regarding the creation of Dawn and the activating of the Hellmouth seal in later seasons. I’m pretty sure it’s mentioned again, but don’t think they ever delve into it all that deeply, which is a shame.

I liked that the hide-and-seek hunt that Buffy has with the Master in his lair was reminiscent of her dream in “Nightmares.”

So, what exactly was the plan when the vampires attacked the school? They were clearly heading for the Hellmouth... but for what purpose?

Xander confronting Angel in his apartment and brandishing the crucifix would have been a great place for a Jesse reference. Just saying.

I noticed that Cordelia namedrops Aura – she was the popular girl who discovered the dead guy stuffed into her locker in the pilot episode.

Xander tells Buffy: “I want to dance with you.” Be careful what you wish for, dude.

As mentioned, the shooting script had some interesting tidbits that were cut, most notably the Anointed One going to visit Angel’s apartment to warn him against interfering. There also would have been a rain of pebbles directly after Xander’s thwarted attempt to ask out Buffy, more details concerning Jenny Calendar’s litany of portents (notably, that the snake-birthing cat ate its owner, two people were killed in the boiling lake, and that they all happened within three miles of Sunnydale) and the Anointed One watching the Master die from a distance, and then head off into the darkness by himself. I wonder if any of this was shot, or if it was cut early on.

In a season where the tagline might as well have been “high school is hell,” the Master wasn’t really a metaphor for anything; just a Nosferatu-type vampire king who's big and scary and rather impersonal. Technically his greatest contribution to the show was triggering Buffy’s PTSD, which we don’t get into until next season.

Still, I thought Mark Metcalf nailed both the physical threat and the droll humour of the character, and for a Starter Villain, he was exactly what the story required. I’m always chuffed when he pops up in flashbacks later on in the show.

Probably the biggest letdown in the episode is the Anointed One, whose grand destiny (“he will lead her into Hell”) amounts to escorting Buffy down through the sewers. Heck, Angel could have done that. An entire episode was given over to the twist that the Anointed One was actually a child, indicating that he was going to be a big deal, and then... he wasn’t.

Also, the way in which Giles realizes they killed the wrong vampire was very weaksauce. A Bible passage emailed out by a random monk leads him to the conclusion that the Anointed One was a child? Really? They don’t even connect the dots with the bus accident and say: “yes, there was a child called Collin on that bus whose body is unaccounted for.”

If they’d played it differently, it could have been milked for maximum drama – like, say if Angel had figured it out during his little subplot in “Out of Mind, Out of Sight” and broken the news to Giles after he reads the Codex prophecy about Buffy’s death, confirming that prophecies are in fact, immutable.

(Except that the Anointed One prophecy said that: “the Slayer will not know him.” But she DID recognize him when he appeared to her as a lost little boy. Perhaps it was referring to the mix-up with Andrew Borba).

I loved the vibe between Angel and Giles. Even though Giles LOOKS older, Angel has a few hundred years on him, and they talk as equals and peers as a result. I really missed this dynamic when Angel headed off into his own spin-off.

In many ways, this episode belonged to Buffy and Xander. It opens with him trying to ask her out, and ends with him accepting that it’s not going to happen. His feelings for Buffy make him a jerk in the first half of the episode, and those very same feelings turn him into a hero for the second half.

Buffy and Willow are the most important people in his life, and this is an important stepping stone in regards to his relationship with each of them: the former has made her feelings clear, and the latter has decided to stop being a doormat around him.

That’s important for Willow too. At the start of this season she probably would have gone with him to the dance as his second choice – now Buffy (ironically, her love rival) has shown her that she’s worth more.

As for Buffy, I love the fact that even though she summoned her courage and did what was right, she’s not rewarded with moral certitude or a sense of “I did what was right” accomplishment. Instead, the next season takes the opportunity to demonstrate how badly shaken she was by the events of this episode, and the detrimental effect that has on her friends.

Best Line: SO MANY. I suppose I have to go with “tell him... I don’t know, think of something cool and tell him I said it.” A quintessential Buffy quote, though sometimes I wonder whether Jenny DID come up with something cool and passed it onto Giles when he woke up.

Best Scene: Again, so many. I think I covered most of them in the recap.

Best Subversion: Well, I’ve already been over it. When the “fairy tale” ambiance of Buffy’s death is flipped on its head, and it’s not the romantic dark prince but the dorky rejected friend that saves her life – not with true love’s kiss, but good old CPR.

Biggest Disappointment: That the Anointed One didn't really amount to much.

Death Toll: One on-screen vampire, Kevin and the other students (five in total) in the AV room, and finally the Master himself.

Grand Total: Twenty civilians, seventeen villains, one ally.

#buffy the vampire slayer #buffy rewatch #rav's watching log

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galvanizedfriend · 10 months ago

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surprising absolutely no one, second ask of the day!!

this isn't really a question tho, I just wanted to let you know that since I've read Speed Dating, it has been stuck in my mind 24/7.

I'm not kidding when I tell you that I think about it at least once a day (I'm sorry if I sound like a fanatic but I mean it in the best way possible).

it was/is such an easygoing three-shot, but yet it really left me the feeling of having watched a five seasons show! it's like you managed to perfectly compact a long rom-com series in just three chapters and 23k words! idk maybe I'm overreacting but I really want you to know how much of a great job you did, that fic bring me so much comfort I can't even explain it 😭😭

ALSO, I have a feeling there will be a CaroMille moment, and THAT will be the final wake-up call for Caroline. Probably Camille just getting dumped from Klaus and Care runs into her, telling her that she's sorry for them, and Camille would just shrug and be like "I had zero chance against you". So Caroline would look at quizzically because she's a girl's girl and she DOES NOT go after "taken" man, so she would ask Cami what she meant and Cami would look at her with arched eyebrows and say something like "don't tell me you haven't noticed he's in love with you?" AND THEN BAM. (yes, I know, it's creepy and weird that I thought this through a lot, but in my excuse, I had to do something during math class other than sleeping)

This is just the loveliest of messages, omg 🥹🥹

I tend to get messages about The Wolf a lot, and I obviously love all of them (all of your messages about TW and your Eve hadcanons as well!), but it warms my heart so much to know people are reading and enjoying my other fics as well. 🤧

Speed Dating was such an accidental fic, it was never meant to be any longer than that first chapter, but years later I had this crazy friends to lovers phase and I knew I had to keep going with that one.🥹 I love rom coms sm! it's so, so, so nice to know you enjoyed that one so much. ❤️❤️❤️

It's also a good reminder that I need to get back to it. 🥲 I'm so close to the finish line you wouldn't believe, but I have been living in canon-ish universe between TW and NOLA that it's sometimes hard to switch back to human AU. But I gotta do it, I need to finish that.

And honestly, that's not a bad idea at all 😂 Caroline really is a girl's girl. She can call them bitches and be mean AF whilst still standing up for the collective cause. It's not what's going to happen, but I really like the idea.

I had to go back and see where I left off on chapter 3 and I just realized that I posted way less than I thought I had. 😂 Wow, you guys don't know the half of it.

Seriously, thank you v much for this message. ❤️ I've been having a bit of a rough time and this week in particular was not easy, so this has been the nicest lil thing to read. ❤️ It's very kind and very sweet of you and I appreciate you sm! muah!

Here, have a cute Klausy gif as a token of my appreciation

#yokan answers #rosedforbes #nice people being nice!#i rly need to get back to speed dating at some point #SIGH

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fyodoro · 2 years ago

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hi hi!! ^^

So i was wondering if you could do mizuki x reader? (gn if possible + fluff/comfort)

so the reader has like rlly bad allergies/sneezing/is just sick in general and then mizuki sort of takes care of them/comforts them and all is well yay (im making this request since i also feel rlly sick rn :'()

feel free to ignore if you want tho -- no pressure dw ^^

->𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬

With spring coming up, your allergies hit harder than the change of weather. It’s never been this bad before- but thankfully someone is there to take care of you.

With Mizuki Akiyama (they/them pronouns) | Genre - fluff and comfort, headcanon format

Mizuki grew up with the luck of hardly getting allergies anytime during the year. And not having their sister or parents around too often meant they were never exposed to what it was like.

Sure, they had friends with allergies, but they were never too bad.

So when they find out you’re literally sick from allergies, ‘worried’ was an understatement. They were practically freaking out when they saw your sneezing, sniffling freezing frame.

“Oh god, (Name)? Are you okay? What happened to you!” They’d say.

Is pretty over dramatic despite not being the one who’s sick? They let Nightcord know they wouldn’t be online tonight because ;

“My s/o is practically dying right now!”

Gets a bunch of worried responses from Kanade, Mafuyu and Ena, but calms down a bit and says you’re just really sick right now. They definitely got a smack on the head from Ena later for worrying everyone.

Despite reassuring them you’ll be fine, and it’s only your allergies, they don’t exactly back down that easily.

They discover they have a caretaker mode while this happens as well? Never have you seen Mizuki so responsible and on top of everything. And honestly, they never knew they could do this either.

Will run to a nearby convenience store to get a bunch of tissue boxes, way more than necessary. But also makes sure to get your favorite snacks and drinks while they’re at it.

“Do you think you’ll be fine alone for a few minutes? We can call while I run out just in case!” They asked. You reassured them you’ll be okay for a few minutes, and this isn’t the first time you’ve been sick like this because of allergies.

“What do you mean this isn’t the first time!”

Will run to and from the store, for once not caring about their appearance in public. They just wanted to be as fast as they could do you weren’t alone for too long.

Sometime later they finally relax a bit, realizing you’ll be better by tomorrow or the day after and this was, in fact, not deadly.

“What do you think about going out later this week? Well, away from pollen… wait. That’ll be impossible. Let’s just go to mine and binge some shows.” Mizuki said, giggling a bit in between sentences.

You appreciated how considerate they were being, though you wish you could get it through their head that you can still be outside. You might sneeze a lot, but you’ll be fine. Part of you thinks Mizuki understands that, but is just trying to entertain you right now.

“Anything works, Mizuki. Spring is a beautiful season, we can still do some sightseeing you know?” You said.

“Yeah I know that! But would you really be able to enjoy yourself if you have a runny nose the whole time or you get congested?” They replied.

You broke out into a fit of laughter. Of course they’d think that.

“Ah Mizuki, I’ll be able to enjoy myself despite anything as long as you’re around.” You giggled.

Mizuki giggled back, kicking their feet a bit. Even while your feeling sick and terrible, they still manage to find ways to make you feel better. It was like you were falling in love all over again.

#project sekai #prsk #pjsk #pjsekai #project sekai x reader #prsk x reader #pjsk x reader #pjsekai x reader #mizuki akiyama #mizuki #mizuki akiyama x reader #mizuki x reader #mizuki fluff #dor writes

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3416 · 10 months ago

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hi again my favourite mitch scholar! i have a quick question. what line did mitch used to play on in his drbut year? and the few years after and how did the progression to him getting to play on auston’s wing looked like? thanks :)

hi there! disclaimer: i wasn't a fan way back when and it's actually pretty hard to find the lineups before about 2019, but from the couple things i've looked up here... this is the lineup from january 1st, 2017, which is about halfway through his first season.

he spent a lot of time playing with jvr and bozak if what i've read/remember is right. his average toi during 16-17 was a little under 17 minutes, and he was fairly productive, esp as a rookie.

for the 17-18, here's a few lineups i could find.

still playing quite a bit with jvr and bozak, and sometimes getting elevated (or demoted) but babcock really hated playing him with auston like...... ever, lol. even when things went stale, like they never played on the same line. you can go through @1634archive for things back from 2016/2017/2018 and see where they got to be on ice for goals at the same time whether they were out there for a shift or a powerplay, but there's not a TON that aren't warmups bc they rlly didn't play together much despite wanting to. you can also look through this thread i made on twitter about all of the goals they've combined on.. though there are zero their first year in the league bc they legitimately were never out there together.

it seems like the first time they were actually put on a line together on purpose was late january 2019 bc the lineup had gone THAT stale that babcock caved, lol. here's snippets of auston and babcock media availability about them getting to play together.. and also here's a radio interview (@3:30ish) auston did around that time too where he says he liked that he was put on a line with mitch and reiterates that he played w him virtually never at 5v5 the first 2.5 years.

the fact that auston even makes a comment about how much babcock doesn't like it is just so...... telling to me, lol. either babcock hated the fact that auston had a preference or opinions about the lineup and was sticking it to him by never giving him what he wanted or... he hated mitch or both or SOMETHING. they clearly had problems... p sure there are even reports babcock literally flew to arizona to smooth things over with him at some point... babcock was a really stubborn and hardass coach who thought a lot of demented shit so lol ANYWYA.

even after that first time they were allowed to play together.. mitch finished out the 18-19 year on jt's wing and started the 19-20 year on it too.

babcock was fired 23 games into the 19-20 season after they went 9-10-4 and were on a 5 game losing streak. here's an article about it. it only came out later about the making a rookie mitch rank his teammates list but just validated the firing even more.

and here we are into january of 2020 after sheldon keefe takes over and mitch gets back from an injury, lol. he immediately was willing to give them a shot and ever since, it's been something that's always on the table when lines need a shakeup.

there are a lot of conclusions you can come to with all this information i feel like, but i hope it was helpful!! this is why it drives me nuts when people act like mike babcock was valid to "keep them apart" aka literally never play them together for years no matter how stale and bad the lineup got like... it got his ass fired, lol. no it was not a valid way to be with two exceptional players. i'm not saying a coach should just listen to their players wishes 24/7, but the inability to accept feedback or take into account preferences is wild and will get you nowhere. i wasn't around for all that, but knowing what we all know about mike babcock now.... idk, i appreciate sheldon keefe's ability to adapt more. people can think what they want about him relying on parts of his lineup as "crutches" but realistically, we don't know about his relationships with the players and 1634 are consistently the best and most dangerous part of the lineup year after year these days.

mitch and auston put up career numbers playing next to each other, and both of them know it and have wanted it since they developed their little warmup routine as literal rookies, and they're hopefully gonna get to play together for a long long time like elliotte said. :)

#toronto maple leafs #mitch marner #auston matthews #1634 #easks #ref #ANYWAY... SORRY FOR ALL THIS INFO #tis absurd to me when ppl cannot see this is the future flkdjsf #watching maturing auston be like. yeah i love playing w him but my coach must hate it ! lkJDFKLSD like girl get his ass #leafs can mix and match all they want baby but its 1634 all day fucking long #in my mind. on paper. in auston and mitchs minds.#crazy shit #this was a good distraction from impending doom thank u for that #also im p sure one of sheldons first moves as coach was #to bring mitch (who was out w injury at the time of babs firing) on the roadtrip w the boys for moral support #read that somewhere but cant find receipts for now #jsut know that boy is THE HEART AND SOUL ! thanks

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heyclickadee · 1 year ago

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So I forgot that this was in my drafts and has just been sitting in there for a month and a half. Anyway, actual ramblings on “Replacements”:

1. I took notes while watching this one. My first note just says, “Sad whale noises,” underlined four times, with a little frowny face.

2. Hunter’s little lopsided grin as he says, “Well, that doesn’t look comfortable—for either of you,” to Omega and Gonky. He’s stressed and not sure what to do next, but he’s still kind of playful at this point. The depression hasn’t quite set in. And Omega’s little, “We’re fine.” That’s the “We’re fine,” of, “My legs are asleep and I can’t feel my spine but I’d rather die than take up space or admit I’m uncomfortable because I don’t know what I can get away with around you guys,” I swear….

3. Gonky’s little kicky feets!! Also, how did he get down there? Did he fall over while Tech was doing some unnecessary barrel rolls? Did Wrecker put him there? Did he flop over so Omega could use him as a backrest?

4. Again, Hunter’s deadpan shake of the head when Wrecker just *fyoom* inhales that ration bar. Also, can we talk about how much living on ration bars must suck? You probably get your caloric needs for the day, but it’d be like eating one single cliff bar for every meal. You wouldn’t starve or be malnourished, but you’d never feel full, hence why Wrecker, who is lärge and probably has the metabolism of a Bugatti, never has (I want to make him all the treats! He deserves all the cinnamon rolls and pie and plank grilled salmon and burgers and…).

5. I do kind of appreciate that they start introducing the idea that practical needs, like food and ship fuel, are a concern for these guys, and that they’re more or less flat broke. Other Star Wars shows have touched on people having to actually pay for things to survive—that’s part of the point of the Lando episode of Rebels—but’s a constant thread in this show. Clone Force 99 is always a few really bad days from being stranded, because they can’t afford to fuel the ship, and starving, because they’re out of food.

6. I do kind of appreciate that even though Hunter physically pushes Wrecker back to keep him from grabbing Omega’s ration bar (good for Omega for offering it but), he does so pretty gently, and he drops his voice because even though he wants Wrecker to understand that Omega will absolutely inconvenience herself to make other people comfortable, he doesn’t want to call Wrecker out in front of the whole ship. He’s trying to make it as private as he can…in the space RV…with limited space. Besides, it’s not as though Hunter could shove Wrecker out of the way unless Wrecker allowed himself to be pushed. “I’m gonna push you away from someone who doesn’t need to overhear us now, back up with me,” seems to just be the accepted language of private conversation between all of them. And I also appreciate that Wrecker, as fundamentally kind, gentle, and emotionally intelligent as he is, does have a little trouble switching to/considering other perspectives. He never needs reminding once it’s pointed out, but he does sometimes need it pointed out to begin with.

7. Tech says he’s building the brain scanner so that he can double check that their chips don’t work. Bullshit. BULL. SHIT. I mean, okay, not total bullshit—I do think he’s at least partially telling the truth. He’s definitely thinking that Crosshair was acting the way he was because his chip activated, and if Crosshair’s chip activated, then why wouldn’t theirs? It’d be good to check. But I think that’s a secondary reason. Based on how he’s the one who brings up the chip as an explanation for Crosshair’s behavior, the added context of season two, and the way he totally drops the scanner after this episode until Rex shows up in episode seven, I really think he’s building it because he’s under the impression that they’re going back for Crosshair sooner than later, and he thinks they’ll need it to locate his chip so they can figure out a way to deactivate or remove it. Tech just told Echo what he did so he could keep working on it.

8. “It’s not affecting life support. We’re fine.” “Are you kidding me?!” I love them. Also: Shout out to poor Gonky rattling around the back of the Marauder like the last tic-tac left in the pack. Get the poor droid a seatbelt.

9. I love that Wrecker tests his tie-down to make sure it’s locked. The Bad Batch isn’t a perfect show, but I adore little background gestures like these, and it’s full of them, even compared to the other animated shows. They help the characters feel a little more alive.

10. I feel like I need to have a, “That’s one hell of a pilot,” counter for every time Tech does some impressive piloting. The ship isn’t functioning correctly and goes from zero visibility and turbulent conditions to, “OH SHIT, THE GROUND,” and a very narrow window in which he can react, and he still manages to land the ship. Not crash, land. With the landing gear down. And, yes, I’m sure that there is some kind of ILS system on the ship for low visibility landings, since this is a universe where autopilot exists, but still—Tech kind of strikes me as the sort of person who would turn autopilot off. (Also, tell me that if the ship would be in one piece if it was Anakin flying it. I love Anakin, and he’s a phenomenal pilot, but I also think that both Tech and Hera could outfly him.)

11. There’s something endearing about the way that they all spring into doing different jobs to figure out how to get out of the mess they’re in once they’ve landed—Echo’s checking the weather, since it’s knocking out their commas and they can’t call for help; Tech’s checking which parts they need to fix the ship and if they have any on board; Hunter’s making sure everyone’s okay and getting Gonky on his feet; Wrecker…might actually just be recovering because he hit his head pretty hard (STOP DOING THAT, WRECKER. STOP IT)—and Omega doesn’t want to be left out or useless so she instantly starts trying to help out, too.

12. “That’s…Crosshair’s weapon kit.” Hello darkness my old friend….

13. Everything about this moment is a gut punch. The way Hunter just stares at the weapons kit for a moment, the way that Wrecker’s the first one to speak up, the anger on Echo’s face when he counters with, “He shot you!”; the way Tech looks between Wrecker, the kit, and Echo a couple times before speaking up and then looks right at Echo as he finishes saying that it could be Crosshair’s chip that’s making him act the way he is, as though he’s trying to convince Echo specifically; Echo’s disbelief and the awfulness of, “That’s what they were designed to do.” Hunter shutting the conversation down before the debate really gets underway, and turning away from everyone (and us), probably so they (and we) can’t see his face. The way that each of them expresses one aspect of what they’re probably all feeling: the loss (Wrecker); the betrayal (Echo); the need for an explanation or a justification (Tech); and the way it’s all too painful to deal with (Hunter).

Speaking of Hunter, the way he reacts by shutting the conversation down and shifting the focus to the task at hand is a pretty well done depiction of the way some people deal with loss. Finding something to do, something to fix, something to keep your mind and hands busy, having a problem to solve; that’s just how some people are. Hunter isn’t taking Crosshair’s absence well, even at this point, and it’s important to remember that he only really found out about the chips and clone programming a few days ago. He’s probably still trying to reconcile that with the emotional betrayal of seeing Crosshair walk out into that hangar wearing black armor and ordering him to stand down.

Also, listen for a little four note motif in the music that plays under this scene. Then go listen to “Mayday.” I could be hearing wrong, but I could also be hearing right, and if I have to suffer, so do you.

14. Speaking of Crosshair, I really want to know why he needed another chip amplification procedure done. I mean, yes, it’s not definite that that’s what’s just happened to him when we cut to Kamino, but all the visual cues are there. My personal suspicion is that the first round took, as we saw at the end of “Aftermath,” but that it didn’t last the way it was supposed to after the batch left. My other personal suspicion is that this repeat procedure was potentially augmented, or more targeted, and that it wasn’t the only other time it happened to him. As much as a segment of the fandom was (and is) worried that Crosshair was or is going to be turned into another Clone X or proto-death trooper, I sort of think it works the other way around. Crosshair was already a test subject, we saw it happen in “Aftermath” and in this episode, and he might have already been patient zero for the early versions of what was later done to the poor guy who ended up as Clone X and the people who are going to end up death troopers, and his chip either being damaged or having to be removed after “Reunion” might be what saved him from being experimented on further, for a while, anyway. I don’t think being brainwashed again is in Crosshair’s future, just because that seems like the one way to screw up his character arc, but we’ll see.

15. God, the way Tarkin, Rampart, and the rest back up the literal chip-powered mind control poor Crosshair’s under with some good old fashioned regular brainwashing by making him a commander (in name only, apparently) of an elite squad of new recruits and talking about how important these new clone lead units are going to be for the transition into imperial power is just cruel. Crosshair’s brain is all kinds of messed up and they’re doing their best to make sure it stays that way. And Crosshair is so inexpressive through the episodes where his chip is at full strength compared to how he is in the rest of the show. He’s still in there, and it’s still him, but he’s being filtered through GoodSoldiersFollowOrders.exe and I just. What if I crawled into my screen and kicked Tarkin in the shins? What if I did that? (I would get shot, that’s what. But still.)

16. The Echo-Tech banter as they’re trying to fix the ship is fun, as is the Empire Strikes Back homage. Also, I love how Tech kind of downplays the situation by just saying that other systems are shutting down, and that Echo IMMEDIATELY jumps in and explains that SOMETHING IS ATTACKING THE SHIP.

17. So, we get Tech explaining that the creature is probably an ordo moon dragon, a creature that feeds on energy (we’ll get to that), and Echo saying that it would have been great if Tech had said that earlier. This isn’t the first of the last time someone will say something like this, and this next bit is kind of a silly thought based on almost nothing, but I sometimes wonder if Tech occasionally thinks he’s said something out loud or explained something when he hasn’t.

18. I don’t know what to do about the fact that the ordo moon dragon feeds on raw energy but lives on an apparently unsettled planet with no power generators or ships or whatevers, but it’s also not the only creature we meet that does this. The zillo beast also slurps down electricity like a breakfast smoothie. That kind of implies that there are natural sources of electricity around and that a number of creatures evolved to take advantage of is. But also it has teeth. Maybe it’s like the Zillo beast and can also eat other things. Maybe it grabs electric space eels, chews on electric charge for a while, and then eats the eel. Or something. I don’t know, it’s Star Wars, there are star whales that fly and jump through hyperspace, it doesn’t really have to make sense.

19. Omega says, “Then we’ll find a way to get him back—somehow,” and then Hunter looks back at her and smiles. And it kills me. And maybe it’s because we can only see half his face, but it’s the most unguarded smile I think we’ve seen from Hunter the entire show. He doesn’t think they can go back yet, but I think he still thinks it’s going to be possible someday, maybe even soon, and that when they do it’ll all work out and be fine and oh my sweet summer child…

20. That transition from Crosshair jumping down to Hunter and Omega walking though the mist is such a cool transition. You can’t even tell you’re in a new location until you see Hunter’s and Omega’s legs.

21. Crosshair opens fire on Saw’s camp, of course, but he misses. A lot. I think there’s one point where he fires four shots but only lands one. It’s not the batch, but he’s still pulling his shots here, as much as he can.

22. Along those lines, I do think it’s interesting that Crosshair doesn’t kill the civilians himself. They’re going to die, he can’t stop that, because those are the orders and he doesn’t have the capacity to say no to it at this point, but he passes the order along to his men. He doesn’t do it himself, and he doesn’t watch. Which is interesting.

23. Speaking of Crosshair’s men, you know what? Cowards. All except that one guy who had the backbone to say that murdering civilians is wrong. He’s a jackass about clones, but at least he’s not down for murder.

24. So the way Crosshair says, “dealt with,” when he reports to Tarkin and Rampart is brutal and it’s going to live rent free in my head.

25. *screams about the whole ending sequence with Wrecker and the room and the lights and Omega but also it’s the gunners chair and Crosshair sitting on his bunk and Echo patting Wrecker on the shoulder because he did a good thing and how the warmth of the one scene and the emptiness of the other enhance each other this show is going to kill me again*

#the bad batch

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