In the fifth episode of the third season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Cordy and Buffy fight, and then they hang out and things are really nice? If you’re intrigued, then it’s time for Mark to watch Buffy.
You know, after watching “Homecoming,” I had to actually stop and think about what dances I did go to. Truthfully, I don’t think I once went to homecoming during high school. I don’t think homecoming was that big of a deal to my school back in those days; our football team was rather awful, and the dance was always held in our stuff gymnasium. Out of the four years in high school, I’m pretty sure I only went to our Winter Formal (which was held in this horrendous building that was a museum for ORANGE COUNTY, the least interesting thing imaginable) and our Senior Prom. My date to the prom was a girl who later told me that she thought it was gross that one of my friends came out because he should have kept it to himself, SO THAT WAS REALLY FUN. If I’m not mistaken, I was actually the “King” at Winter Formal and if I still had a photo of the official photo taken that night, all you would see is the fact that everyone there was MYSTIFIED as to how I won. Like, that year’s Queen made a face that said, “What the fuck just happened?”
People knew me in high school, but it was because I was so heavily involved in things. I only had a small group of people I’d call my friends, and most people were nice to me (when they weren’t bullying me) because they knew they could pay me to do their homework. No, for real, that’s who I was in high school. I think that’s honestly why I won that year, because at that point, I had like 30 different essays floating around campus that were being used by lazy kids who didn’t want to study. For what it’s worth, I don’t feel the slightest bit guilty about that. I was supporting myself and trying to pay rent while everyone else lived with their parents. The money was good. THE END.
This is all an extra-long chance for me to give y’all a billion excuses why I don’t like formal dances when I could have just said that I am horrific at dancing and it causes me a whole lot of social anxiety to be expected to dance. Hell, even when I see the characters on Buffy dancing, it makes me nervous just by default. I experience social anxiety through them. I think that when you combine all of this, that’s why I liked “Homecoming” so much. It takes this staple of American school life, and it disrupts it for forty-five minutes. (On that note, I’m curious about any Watchers who don’t live in the U.S. What sort of official functions do you have during school that are similar to prom or homecoming?)
I’m glad that I stated yesterday that I needed a Cordelia episode because then I was promptly handed one. Yes, this episode is more about Buffy than it is about Cordelia, but she has such a large part in “Homecoming” that I’ll just take whatever I can get. I know that I comment a lot about how Buffy tackles awkward situations, but I really just want to state that I am growing to adore the fact that the writers repeatedly make these characters so awkward. This show would not be as interesting if everyone had the most perfect quip available, or if they navigated the social strata of Sunnydale high with perfection. Even if Xander’s jokes are terrible most of the time, I don’t think I’d like him as much if they were good. That’s his appeal to me. He wouldn’t be Xander if he didn’t try too hard, or if he didn’t read the dynamics of a situation properly to discern if maybe he shouldn’t make a joke. The same goes for characters like Cordelia or Willow. While I understand that the writers sometimes make the group excessively witty (WHICH I AM NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT BECAUSE I LOVE WITTY DIALOGUE), I find it incredibly realistic that they all fuck up and overstep their boundaries at times. Plus, every time that Willow goes a bit too far, she does that overcompensating thing (like when Scott walks up in the cold open) that is the most adorable thing on the planet.
The story that this episode sets up is probably the most uncomfortable scenario we’ve seen so far. First of all, Buffy agrees to go to the dance with Scott, and then it immediately cuts to Buffy bringing Angel blood to consume and telling him she’s seeing someone else. UGH WHAT IS THIS SHOW DOING TO ME? I am just so full of feels, and I have nowhere to put them, and no one is telling me how to cope with Angel/Buffy, and I didn’t agree to this when I signed up for this show, okay? It’s just not fair. And now I have to deal with Mr. Trick coming back?
Oh, wait, IS THAT THE MAYOR? WE’RE GOING TO SEE THE MAYOR? Oh my god, WHY IS THE MAYOR SO PLAIN AND HORRIFYING? Why is he obsessed with cleanliness? Why doesn’t it explain anything at all about his involvement at Sunnydale High? WHY IS THIS SHOW GIVING ME SO MUCH TO DEAL WITH AT ONCE?
No, you’re going to have Faith and Buffy go to homecoming together? Did – did I just start shipping Buffy and Faith? Like, I know I desperately want to read a gay subtext into everything, but in that one instance, I was like WOULDN’T IT BE COOL IF THEY WENT TO HOMECOMING AND THEN FELL FOR EACH OTHER AND THEN IT WAS PERFECT? Yes good. This is what I want.
Oh, come on, Buffy. I’m already so distressed at this point in the episode, but now you’re going to point out that since becoming the Slayer and getting kicked out of school, Buffy has no friends aside from the Scoobies and no one, not even the teachers, really know who she is? BUFFY IS SO LONELY ALREADY. This is just too fucking much, Buffy.
Oh, I see what this episode is doing. Cordelia and Buffy are going to battle for homecoming queen. Why am I kind of excited about this? Well, once I understood what the episode was going to be framed with, the only thing I was hoping was that this little competition wouldn’t get too mean. I generally like Cordelia’s cluelessness or lack of tact. It’s entertaining to me, but once she made the crack against Buffy’s family life, she went WAY TOO FAR. I was actually surprised Buffy didn’t just knock her out cold right then and there. Thankfully, though, while the two definitely fight a whole lot for nearly twenty minutes straight, I don’t think things ever got to this level of mean-spirited nonsense.
Of course, right when you think this episode is going to be about the campaigning only, the writers introduce SlayerFest ’98, which sadly has nothing to do with Slayer. I’ll be honest: when Mr. Trick announces SlayerFest, I kind of grimaced. It wasn’t that neat of an idea to me and a bit cheesier than I expected. It was neat to see Gorch back from “Bad Eggs, and that yellow demon looked awesome. But I suppose that initially, the idea of a group of hunters going after the Slayers didn’t seem that interesting.
Oh, how lovably wrong I was.
First of all, the competition between Buffy and Cordy inadvertently causes something else: Xander and Willow. I seriously wish that sometimes I could find a way to just record my reactions to things I watch because I just totally lost my shit once they kissed. I devolved to irrationally yelling at a television show I could not change or affect. I kept screaming NO NO NO NO MAKE IT STOP WHAT ARE YOU DOING OH MY GOD. Look, I actually like the idea of Willow and Xander together BUT ONLY WHEN THEY ARE SINGLE. Willow, how could you do that to Oz? Xander, why do this when you are with Cordelia? Ugh, I am so uncomfortable with all of this, and it’s made even worse by the fact that I can’t deny that they are so goddamn cute together. Willow puts it best later in the episode: the whole group dynamic has been drastically changed. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH ALL OF THESE FEELINGS?
So. I know I’m notoriously bad at figuring things out. It’s been like this for a long time. I swear to you, I did not realize the ramifications of swapping Faith out for Cordelia until their limo stopped. LIKE SERIOUSLY. I mean, they were the only two in the car!!! HOW DID THAT THOUGHT NOT EVEN ENTER MY BRAIN? You know what? I blame it me being totally distracted by their beautiful dresses. THERE. THAT MAKES SENSE.
Sticking those two together, though, is a brilliant method to get them to talk to one another. It reminded me of a version of The X-Files episode in season three called “Quagmire,” where two characters are trapped in a possibly dangerous secret and are sort of forced to discuss one another. It’s not an unfamiliar trope, but I don’t care. I love it!
I enjoy that Buffy gets to tell Cordelia that she is desperate for normalcy, and that she’s sort of sick of people criticizing her for it. Everyone around her, regardless of whether they know she’s the Slayer or not, gets a chance to have a “normal” life in comparison. Why is it fair that she gets shamed for trying to be the homecoming queen? That is what Cordelia needs to hear, and I am so happy that she just listens. She doesn’t say shit during that whole exchange, and to me, that is such a fantastic sign that someone is actually hearing you.
And as serious as this all is, bless the writers for injecting humor into it. Like Cordy not realizing that there’s a telephone that they can call Giles on. Or the fact that she, at one point, legitimately uses a spatula to fight that demon character. BLESS YOU. But even the scene at the Bronze shows us that this show can mix drama with humor. Giles made jokes. He made TWO OF THEM. And I genuinely laughed at both of them. I JUST WANT TO BE BEST FRIENDS WITH HIM! HE IS SO WONDERFUL.
It’s at this point that we need to discuss Cordelia Chase. I like her character. A lot. I feel like this show doesn’t use her enough, and when they do, they give us bits and pieces of her that just makes me want more. As it stands, her monologue to Gorch is my favorite thing she’s ever done in the series, not just because it’s entertaining and hilarious, but because for those few moments, we see a side to Cordelia that’s been hidden all along. Other characters in the show see her as vapid and shallow. It’s hard to deny that she does care about superficial things, but she does so in a way that’s just so fearless. Why can’t she be pretty and popular and fabulous? That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t fuck up along the way, and we can see from this episode that she can be mean in her execution, too. But in that moment when Cordelia confronts Lyle Gorch, she lets go of all of her fears about her appearance to show all of us that she is so much more complicated and aware than we believe she is. It’s like she opens the curtains for us to give us a glimpse of what’s going on inside her head, and it’s just brilliant and wonderful. CORDELIA YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL. You are my queen.
After all the drama the two go through, I found it to be perfectly gorgeous that there’s a tie for homecoming queen, and neither Buffy or Cordy get it. It’s just so beautiful in every way, and I love the look of disgust on their faces. I don’t think this episode was about teaching us that wanting to be homecoming queen was a bad thing. On the contrary, it’s perfectly fine to want to be popular or to be recognized. What’s important is understanding these motivations and empathizing with those around us. Cordelia didn’t see that. Which is of course a bit ironic, since Buffy was Cordelia at her last school. But it’s a neat chance to bring these two characters together.
I can’t close out this review without doing this, though, so please indulge me:
JESUS WHAT THE FUCK WHAT IS THE MAYOR. WHAT IS HE DOING. WHY IS HE LIKE THAT. OH MY GOD WHY IS HE WORKING WITH MR. TRICK. DON’T YOU DARE HURT MY BUFFY. I SWEAR TO GANDALF I WILL END YOUÂ
WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?!?
Death Count: 4Â – The demon guy who exploded, the two German dudes, and Mrs. Gorch. Total: 17
This episode is a lot of fun, and I have a list of reasons why!
•We meet the Mayor and he’s really jolly!
•Mr. Trick is such a different kind of vampire!
•The whole concept of Slayerfest 98
•This bit of dialogue
Mr. Trick: Whether we’re human… vampire… …and whatever the hell you are, my brother. You got them spiny-looking head things. I ain’t never seen that before.
Kulak: I am Kulak, of the Miquot Clan.
Mr. Trick: Isn’t that nice. Point is, you’re all here for the same reason.
•Everyone’s trying to get Cordelia and Buffy to work it out
•Cordelia in the second half of the episode!
•Giles! “We have to find Buffy. Something terrible’s happened. Just kidding. Thought I’d give you a scare. (sees Xander’s sandwich) Are those finger sandwiches?â€
•The spatula!!!!!!!
•There are many more, but these are what immediately comes to mind.
On the other hand, I get really angry at some of the things Cordelia say’s in the first half of the episode. Her line to Buffy about having two parents instead of just one is crossing a line. I’m used to Cordy being somewhat petting and biting, but that line is much more cruel than funny. By the end of the episode I’m back to loving her again, but it still is hard to hear some of those things.
Scott Hope, I have now gone from being bored with you to being angry with you. Who breaks up with someone the day after asking them to a dance and just a little bit before said dance. Grrrrrr
Also, I am not happy with the show for all of the Xander/Willow stuff. I really like Xander/Cordelia and Willow/Oz! Stop ruining everything that is happy, show! *shakes fist*
ONAQ PNAQL VF GBZBEEBJ!!!!! FB ZHPU UVYNEVGL!!!
Official stuff (the first bit of the summary doesn’t make a lot of sense, isn’t homecoming in fall?)
Episode 5: Homecoming
Written and Directed by David Greenwalt
School’s ending and everyone’s under pressure. Buffy misses getting her yearbook picture taken, then challenges Cordelia in the run for Homecoming queen. Scott breaks up with Buffy. Willow and Xander share a passionate kiss, and Mr. Trick kicks off “Slayerfest 98.â€
Mr. Trick: Whether we're human… vampire… …and whatever the hell you are, my brother. You got them spiny-looking head things. I ain't never seen that before.
This, but also more so the sentence he says at the end to recap the differentnesses: I use the 'spiny-headed looking creatures' line overly much
I love Mr. Trick. His whole reaction to the spiny-headed looking creature is perfect.
Cordy does cross a line by going after Buffy's parents. But idk. I feel like Buffy follows her right across that line when she calls Cordelia a vapid whore. They're both really behaving pretty badly in this episode.
Did I forget to rot13 my exclamations? I have a feeling that I did, and I wanted to thank whoever fixed that for me!
I like the idea of Slayerfest, mostly because well, he's getting other people to risk their life trying to take out his main opponent, and getting them to pay him money to do so…
Compare that to Spike having to pay the Order of Taraka to come after Buffy.
Sure, the Slayerfest thing failed,but at the end of the day, Mr Trick still had the entry money the competitors paid him, and he didn't lose any of his own men in an attempt to take out the Slayers.
Mr. Trick: Whether we're human… vampire… …and whatever the hell you are, my brother. You got them spiny-looking head things. I ain't never seen that before.
Love that line. Mr. Trick is such a delightful villain to watch.
And yes, Homecoming is traditionally in fall. That's weird. Maybe it just means "school is ending" as in "it's their senior year," because didn't school pretty much just start?
FINALLY!! THE MAYOR!! He’s not as exciting as I thought he’d be? But it’s entirely my fault; I hyped him up and so far he’s just some guy who sniffs things. And possibly eats children?
I’m really enjoying Season 3 so far! This is fun! BUT WHY MUST EVERYONE’S RELATIONSHIPS BE SO COMPLICATED! I don’t even know if I liked Xander and Willow’s kiss. They’re adorable together, but I like them with their current partners too! *whimper* This won’t end well.
Other notes:
– FAITH IS DONNA
<img src="http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r489/knutiscute/tumblr_lxxim8KgXJ1r0bn7bo1_r2_250.gif">
– OMG GILES PLAYING PRANKS AND GETTING EXCITED OVER FINGER SANDWICHES
GILES IS BARELY IN THIS EPISODE AND YET HE IS THE BEST THING ABOUT IT.
HE REALLY WAS! I loved his suit too <3 MORE GILES IN SUITS! Although preferably not funeral attire. I feel like I need to be very specific about what I ask for or else Whedon will be like “Suits you say? How about he wears a suit to WILLOW’S FUNERAL AHAHAHA” or something terrible like that.
Oh god yes, Whedon feeds off dramatic irony.
Oh Scott, you’re such a evyrl svaa. So not a compliment. Please grow a personality.
Did Angel forget how to button shirts while he was in Hell? Not that i’m complaining.
Faith asked Buffy to homecoming with one of her three lines in the episode. Fuffy (Faith/Buffy) shipper here.
The easiest way to tell if a vampire is important/interesting is if they use their game face constantly. If not, they’re important.
Yay, the mayor! If you look up affably evil on tv tropes you will literaly find a picture of him.
One of Cordy’s weaknesses is Xander
Your vote means nothing Scott.
Ow, Cordelia. Pulling the single parent card is just a little too far below the belt, don’t you think?
I die laughing everytime Cordelia ignores the phone. Same goes for when she hits the demon with a spatula and then fails with the gun. I really like this fight scene just because it’s surrounded by comedy.
Upon rewatching, i realized the mayor wasn’t lying when ur fnvq ur arrqrq gur puvyqera. Ur arrqf gb rng gurz va gur svanyyl. I love it when dialouge takes on a new meaning, especially when I’m watching with people who don’t get it.
Finally, words cannot describe how much i love the subversion at the end. It is easily one of my favorites out of the whole series. Who ever came up with that is BRILLIANT.
Ur arrqf gb rng gurz va gur svanyyl
Lrf, ur ybirf gurz gb ovgf.
Vg'f nyfb shaal jura jr svaq bhg ubj byq gur Znlbe vf. Rirelbar va Fhaalqnyr vf n puvyq gb uvz, rira fbzr bs gur inzcverf.
I think Fuffy is my favorite shipper name of all the shipper names. It's so close to fluffy, which just makes me think of bunnies and ducklings and kittens and then I get really, really happy.
I always get really excited about the subversion, but the last three people I've made watch this episode with me have seen it coming a mile away. I guess people expect the unexpected now
Lbh fnvq "Ohaavrf" URRRRR!
Faith asked Buffy to homecoming with one of her three lines in the episode. Fuffy (Faith/Buffy) shipper here.
Yessssssss~ Buffy/Faith is my favorite ship next to Jvyybj/Gnen!
Oh Scott, you’re such a evyrl svaa. So not a compliment. Please grow a personality.
Cbbe Evyrl. V erpragyl er-jngpurq Frnfba Sbhe naq ur jnfa'g… greevoyr, V thrff. Ohg lrnu, ur jnf fgvyy vaperqvoyl obevat.
svanyr
Yay, the mayor! If you look up affably evil on tv tropes you will literaly find a picture of him.
I did and OMG IT'S TRUE. Spoilers in the photo's caption though.
WBANGUNA!!!
I actually noticed him this time! Mostly because Buffy said his name, but that’s ok! It’s a step in the right direction
Cordelia gave me six bucks. That buys a loooooot of cupcakes.
I laughed at that line. It buys, what, two cupcakes? But I guess they were cheaper back then.
Maybe he's talking about those generic supermarket mini-cupcakes. Those were probably $3 a dozen in 1998. (Actually, they're probably still $3 a dozen. I must investigate this the next time I go grocery shopping.)
Also, why six dollars? Wouldn't it have been more efficient for her to hand out fives?
Not even! A Crumbs cupcake is now $3.95. *frowns*
For my birthday/our superbowl party, my roommate bought cupcakes that were daaaammmnnnn tasty and it was a dozen for $6. A) I was surprised at how cheap they were B) The fact that it was exactly $6 freaked me out. In a good way. I knew I had to come share
I like how he's automatically in every scene where they need a student to say a few lines. Danny Strong just has such a great face somehow, especially when he looks scared :D.
Favorite character, really. After Giles.
Another filler episode, but it’s not that bad, I haven’t watched this for a while so it was actually fun this time around.
Homecoming, another tradition I don’t get. US High schools sure have a lot of reasons to party.
Oh, Angel has a shirt again, damn!
The way Angel says Giles. :'( Poor guy, there comes the guilt.
Yea, good idea Scott, leave Buffy because she seems sad. What a nice bloke.
The Mayor! Yes, finally less rot13 about him.
Sure, German villains, how original. There is nothing like “capital murder” in Germany by the way, capital punishment has been abolished decades ago.
Wow, it’s depressing when even the teachers have no idea who you are. I know the feeling.
I’m glad that there are no popularity competitions at schools here.
A vampire with a lollypop, now that’s new.
Slayerfest, a great way for a vamp to let others do his dirty work.
I love how relaxed Willow and Xander can talk about their love life, there are really close, though a bit too close in this episode.
I never shipped them, but I guess formal wear is quite attractive. V ungr gung gurl xvff ntnva va Ybire’f Jnyx naq ehva Knaqre’f eryngvbafuvc jvgu Pbeql. V thrff vg whfg unq gb unccra naq nsgre gung jr trg Naln, fb ab pbzcynvagf.
“As Willow goes, so goes my nation.” Oz always gets the best lines.
So now we see how Buffy was before she was called as a Slayer, don’t like her, I want the old Buffy back.
Jonathan! And he even gets called by his name!
“A big meteor shower heading to earth.” Oh god, Willow is so cute when she is overreacting.
“We have to find Buffy…just kidding” Giles’ giddy smile is so adorable. (He’s in an unusually good mood. Did he drink too much?)
Bu, fur vf va ybir jvgu Knaqre, fb urnegoernxvat. Pbeql arire trgf n unccl eryngvbafuvc; Pbeql/Natry jbhyq unir orra jbaqreshy.
It’s weird that Buffy and Cordy like to pour their hearts out to each other, but I guess the complete honesty helps.
A vampire arrested by cops, Trick really is a modern guy.
Why are both of the killers so stupid to just keep shooting? Did they believe Slayers use guns?
The ending is fun, especially Trick’s meeting with the Mayor.
“Moist towelette?” So creepy.
Why wouldn't they believe Slayers use guns?
They use RPGs so why not guns?
That…was an extremely strange episode.
Maybe it’s a cultural thing, but I just don’t get the whole concept of ‘Homecoming’ and the Homecoming Queen. I mean, literally, what is Homecoming? What does it mean? Coming home from what? And…do people really vote for the most popular girl in school? That’s so creepy! I’m not sure I really liked this episode actually, it was kind of meh. I think the balance was a little off – too much high school hi-jinks and not enough Slayer action. The assassin stuff was cool, but I got a little bored and irritated with Buffy and Cordy sniping at each other over some pointless contest.
As for Willow and Xander…URG. No, not urg in the sense of I think it’s gross or wrong or anything like that. I just…I don’t really like them together? Xander and Cordy have a great relationship, with lots of snarking and passion. Willow and Oz are very cute and on the same weird wavelength. I’m not a huge shipper or anything, I just think both couples work very well, have believable chemistry and are progressing nicely. Having Willow and Xander realise feelings for each other is just kind of sad. It’s an extra complication just when everyone’s lives were working out. They seem to work far better as friends. But that’s just my opinion, anyway.
However, this episode did have Giles in a rather dapper suit, so it was all worth it.
I have my own priorities.
OH! I almost forgot! The Mayor! We finally saw him! Ok, I have to say I LOVE how they’re setting this whole thing up – I have no idea what’s up with this guy but I’m starting to get a creepy feeling whenever he’s mentioned, and both those scenes he was in this episode? SO NERVEWRACKING. It’s simply because we know there’s something there, but we don’t know what. As far as we’ve seen, there’s just this friendly, if slightly odd, guy in a normal looking office, and yet he manages to scare the crap out of me. WHO IS HE?? WHAT IS HE PLANNING???
And OMG he now has Mr Trick on his team! This gonna be GOOD.
I think Homecoming is when your school’s football team plays at home for the first time? The last time? I have no idea. It has to do with football, but because our football team was TERRIBLE and it’s not that big of a sport up where I am, no one gave a shit.
We did have Homecoming Court, though. Each year had its own King and Queen and float and it paraded around the track during half time. I’m not sure how they were selected, though. It must have been by popular vote, but no one ever campaigned and I never voted.
OT, but I tried your brie and ketchup combination yesterday! It tasted like…brie and ketchup, the way fishsticks and custard tastes like fishsticks + custard. But it wasn’t all that bad!
I am genuinely thrilled that I've managed to pervert your tastebuds in this way. ^^
Though now I feel like I'm not a proper Whovian until I try fish-fingers and custard…oh god, don't make me do it! I hate both of those things so much just by themselves.
Right! He calls them fish-fingers! I didn’t think fish-sticks and custard sounded right. Anyway, I didn’t go out of my way to try it, I just happened to have fish-sticks and custard in my fridge! It wasn’t BAD because I like fish and I like custard, but they don’t really mesh. Instead of becoming one delicious (or disgusting) flavor, it just tasted like 2 separate ones. You could have a liiiiitle, tiny bite if you’re really curious.
Oh, do you not call them fish-fingers? Or are fish-sticks a whole different thing?
Homecoming = returning to school for the alumni of the school. Mostly centered around a football game. And giving money back to the school. It's a slightly bigger deal in schools with huge athletics programs.
Homecoming is when people come home from college around Thanksgiving break and go back and visit their old high school. It is kind of an odd notion, though it serves the useful purpose of letting you know that you don’t belong in high school anymore.
Gur Znlbe vf zl snibevgr Ohssl ivyynva. Gur npgbe jub cynlf uvz, Uneel Tebrare, vf fb sernxva’ tbbq.
This whole concept just boggles my mind. I never knew alumni were supposed to be involved in homecoming. Also: Why would you WANT to go back to high school? I visited mine once after I'd been in college (only because a craft fair thing was happening there) and everything just looked weird and small. It was a surreal experience. I would definitely not go back just to watch some stupid football game though.
Homecoming, in theory, is when the school's alumni return… for some reason. So there's always the Homecoming football game, and I think theoretically you're meant to honor the alumni who return, and sometimes there are ceremonies and things, but mostly it's an excuse for high schoolers to have a big dance and fight for the title of king and queen. (Or just dance. That's what I always did.)
I think it's called Homecoming because the alumni are invited to come back to visit the school on the same weekend. At my school there was a football game before the dance, with a parade at halftime, which representatives from all of the clubs at school and the Homecoming court itself participated in. The court was chosen over more than a month long period and there were all kinds of rules (you couldn't win two years in a row, you couldn't be a cheerleader, football player, or in the marching band because they were needed at the game).
That's interesting that you couldn't be cheerleader/football/band. Our homecoming courts always had at least a couple cheerleaders and football guys on it.
At my high school we had 2 homecomings – one in fall for football, one in late january/early february for basketball. They each had dances, not sure if the winter homecoming had a homecoming court or not… there were always *more* alumni at the fall homecoming football game than the other football games, but still not a lot. Band alumni came back a lot, but whenever they could, not necessarily for *that* game.
In college we had a homecoming football game, but that was it. Occasionally there was a dance after it, there might always be a dance after it, but I rarely heard about them and only went to one (heard about a second one). Alumni that don't have season tickets tend to show up a lot more at this game, and there are a lot of really cool traditions… Instead of king/queen we had Mr & Mrs Georgia Tech, usually the most involved people win this, not so much a popularity thing. Also band alumni form a smaller 'alumni band' that gets to play along with the real thing.
In high school the king/queen thing wasn't ever a huge deal to me, because I rarely knew anyone on the court (it was a pretty large high school). But I think the reason it's such a big deal to Buffy is she wants to feel like she did more in her life than just slay. She wants to feel she had an impact on the school no matter how small, and since her senior yearbook photo was taken away from her, she wanted to have something…
Loss of train of thought. oh well
Ohssl jnagvat gb unir na vzcnpg ba gur fpubby vf bar bs gur znal ernfbaf gur cebz vf fb ornhgvshy!
V nterr! V fgvyy grne hc rirel qnat gvzr. V pna'g gryy lbh ubj sha vg jnf gb jevgr gung ovg bs rkcynangvba xabjvat jung vg erfhygf va, ohg gb aba-va-gur-xabj crbcyr vg whfg ybbxf yvxr V'z abg frggvat hc nalguvat!
The whole thing was so particularly organized and was all set up for the purpose of yearbook pictures, so they wanted everyone to match. Everyone on court wore matching dresses or suits (we had four boys and four girls from each grade, with an extra in the senior class who were homecoming king and queen) and so anyone who couldn't be dressed in those matching clothes at halftime couldn't be on court. As a result, there were a lot of swimmers on the court.
Like someone said either above or below me, our court was mostly people that were popular because they were nice and well liked by most people, not your typical Hollywood popular-type.
Oh, that's so weird that you couldn't be in those activities! My senior year a fellow flute player won Homecoming Queen, and she did the incredibly cute thing of accepting her title in her uniform and then marching in her tiara.
I do believe that one year one of the princesses was a girl who was a cheerleader and then would be running like hell to go join the marchinng band because she also played flute (or maybe she was the conductor). She must have wished she could clone herself for homecoming.
It's weird reading all these homecoming descriptions because at my school, the alumni never came back once for homecoming because everyone hated my high school and when you left, you fucking LEFT. It was always in October, and it was always poorly attended.
That's how it was for me too! This whole alumni thing is blowing my mind. I HAD NO IDEA.
And yeah, no one goes BACK. My school stopped holding reunions a while ago. There was nothing for our 10 year and there's not going to be a 20 year either.
My high school senior class held our 10 year reunion last year. One of the activities was to attend the homecoming game.
I declined to attend any of the activities, because I was not particularly anxious to re-open any part of my high school experience.
I never knew about the almuni thing either because we didn't have any. My high school was too new.
Here, here. The best part of high school was when it was over and I didn't have to go back ever again. Except that I might have substitute taught at my high school a few times several years after I graduated. Wow, that was a weir experience.
Yeah, my high school didn't do the alumni thing either, even though it was a relatively old school. I always thought Homecoming was the last home football game of the season, to 'welcome home' our football players.
I…have no idea if the alumni came back or not? I managed to skip every single dance at my high school during the entire four years I was there, including both the junior and senior proms, and while I vaguely remember Homecoming happening, I know for a fact that I never went.
…Also, as far as I know, my college didn't have a Homecoming. We also didn't have a football team, though. We had the only Varsity Cricket Team in the country, though?
We vote for the most popular girl and guy, then one of each from every class. And the people running really do give out candy and cup cakes like that. At least at my school anyways
It just seems so bizarre to me that there would be a vote like that! Voting on who's the most popular girl in school? It's so creepy and judgemental!
I mean, I guess we voted for Head Girl at our school? But that was more about how organised and responsible she was, whereas in this episode Homecoming Queen seemed to be about being pretty and popular. She didn't actually have to DO anything, did she?
I agree with you. whenever i see an american show with this tradition it feels very gross. I can't remember that popularty was such a big issue at my school in any way. Of course there where different groups of people but nothing like the social hierarchy that I see in those films or shows. I just hope it is exaggerated, because if not US highschool seem very nasty to me. Why wouldn't people change this kind of stuff?
We also only elected the Head Boy or Girl at school and only the class representatives did it. it wasn't a big deal, mostly a lot of work and not many people would like to do it. But we had a nice dance at the end of our schooltime for the graduation class and some parties beforehand that we organized ourselfs.
Our head girl (and prefects too) was basically a vote for the most popular, but then we didn't have homecoming or a ball associated with it. Prefects certainly got props for being organised etc, but Head Girl was pretty much just most popular :S
For us, the student body president and the Homecoming queen (or king, but most of our SB presidents were girls) overlapped a lot of the time. They tended to be very involved in service clubs, have relatively good grades, and were pretty much just the really nice people.
Everyone could nominated 10 boys and and 10 girls for the ballot, and the people with the most nominations (10 of each again) were put on a ballot that you then voted for. There was no real campaigning. Also, four girls and four boys from each grade won, so their wasn't as much fuss about one person winning. I think we had 34 people total on Homecoming court each year.
At least at my school, voting for Homecoming or other formal dance royalty wasn't voting for who was "most popular," unless you consider that every vote for anything is basically that. In ours, senior students could nominate any other senior for the Homecoming Court, and the five-ish guys and girls with the most nominations were on the Court. From that group, people voted for King and Queen.
We didn't have a Prom King/Queen, but we did have a Court for our other formal dance (winter formal). That was more fun because there was a Court for for every class. I remember that as Freshmen, the Court was really predictable – filled with hot athletes – but as years went by and we all got to know each other better, a wide range of people were on the Court. Basically anyone, as long as they were friendly. Student council kids, athletes, orchestra kids, skaters, goths (most would fall into several of these groups). My senior year, the juniors elected this skater/goth couple King and Queen. The guy had a green mohawk and the girl had a shaved head and piercings everywhere, and they seemed genuinely stunned and pleased to have won. And they both looked f-ing fantastic in their crowns.
So I guess I don't see the voting for Court as being gross, creepy, or judgmental. For us, it was a moment to look at your classmates and say, "You know what? I love that guy. He deserves some recognition." Sounds like that's what happened in Mark's case!
I have to agree. Voting for the most popular people seems almost abusive, and certainly incredibly insensitive. Head Girl/Boy is about responsibility, and in most schools the teaching staff have as much say as the students anyway. This Homecoming thing has always struck me as gross.
I don't remember much about Homecoming – I never once attended – but I do remember thinking that even Student Government elections were all about popularity. Okay, not all, but…a lot. It was always the more popular person who won Class President and all that sort of stuff, though they had to at least be interested in doing the work.
I think to some degree all things that teenagers vote for are popularity contests, though Homecoming Queen is more blatant than most.
My school did something a little different – we had Junior Prom instead of Senior Prom so Prom Court was made up of juniors, and that *was* a total popularity contest. But if you were on Prom Court you couldn’t be on Homecoming Court as a senior the next year, so the people on HC tended to be genuinely nice and deserving of recognition, not just pretty/popular/shallow.
Homecoming is when the alumni come back for a big football game. It's the alumni coming home. My school didn't vote for the most popular girl. Like idk. We had a homecoming court, but it was a decent variety of people. My best friend was on it and she was NOT popular. She was just very sweet and kind and it was impossible for people to not like her, so they voted for her. And we had a couple of athletes as well as a cheerleader and the more traditional popular kind of girls. IDK MY HIGH SCHOOL WAS REALLY NOT LIKE THE KIND OF SCHOOL YOU SEE ON TV. There were groups of friends, but no real bitter cliques or anything like that.
And yeah, I am very DNW about Willow and Xander. WILLOW AND OZ ARE PERFECTION. And I love Coredelia so much that I get really angry at the thought of Willow and Xander hurting her like this.
Homecoming is supposed to be, or was originally, intended to be the big game of the year where everyone who had graduated whenever from the school would come back and watch the game and cheer on the team. We'd have a parade, then the game then a dance for the current students. They do it for colleges too. It's really important for the crowd around football/student government but kindof meh for everyone else. And yes, you do vote for the most popular girl (and boy) in school. In fact, we had a whole homecoming court with princes/princesses for each year and then a senior as king and queen. As a nerd I usually cast the protest vote type candidate for someone who wasn't in the crowd that was expected to win.
As a few others have mentioned, Homecoming is when departed alumni return. Additionally – in the area I went to school – the Homecoming game was scheduled the week that the visiting team was expected to have little chance of winning. Losing the Homecoming game was practically unthinkable.
(Also, first time commenting! So, uh, hi.)
Hi! Also, I think you're right about scheduling the game when it was unlikely they would lose… which is why it was pretty sad that my team lost our senior year 🙁 But honestly, way fewer people showed up to that game than any other because the dance was right after and girls were too busy getting their hair done lol.
At my school we won one football game (total) in the three years that I was there, so losing the game was entirely expected. lol
Huh. Maybe the football connection is why my school never had one? I attended a rural K-12 school that was too small to field a football team. We had… like formal dances. And a Junior (11th grade) prom. The prom had a court but it was never a really big deal like with campaigning and stuff, mostly just a popularity contest. Also most people who graduated never left the town so it's not like there was any home-coming going on. Everybody was already home.
I attended a rural k-12 school that didn't have a football team either, but we still had a Homecoming dance for some reason.
Maybe it’s a cultural thing, but I just don’t get the whole concept of ‘Homecoming’ and the Homecoming Queen. I mean, literally, what is Homecoming? What does it mean?
In all honesty, I have never understood this myself and I am American. I know it's something to do with football, that's all. I paid zero attention to it when I was in high school. I think there may have been voting but it was super low turn out. Like only the participants and their friends.
I guess that's what's always super alien and confusing to me — when tv shows and movies display the teens all interested in school activities and invested in school "spirit" and related functions. In all 3 of the high schools I went to, I couldn't picture that happening. It was always just this tiny group of students who did that stuff and everyone else was like LOL whatever. Though sure, you'd show up to a dance.
I know our school was different about Homecoming [we didn't have a King or Queen, nor did we for prom or anything… my school frowned upon popularity contests like that], but it was always around the Thanksgiving Day football game, when college students were home all at once for the first time, and we always played the neighboring town, whom most people were friends with. We had spirit week in school leading up to the Thanksgiving break, so half-days of classes and then the afternoons were full of student/teacher competitions and the marching band performed and stuff, for the two days we actually had school. Then the homecoming dance was Tuesday night, it was a completely informal dance, not like was shown on Buffy, and it was the only dance a year that we actually had a live band [always just some kids who had graduated the year or two before]. A day of rest and then, the football game was on Thanksgiving morning and pretty much everyone attended, and the alumni who were in the marching band were able to take part in the halftime show and stuff. We always won the football game, because the neighboring town was the only team actually worse than us, but more people cared about the marching band than the actual game and most left after halftime. That's what happens when you go to a school known for its music and arts instead of academics, I guess.
For me, a band geek, Homecoming always meant the start of competition season [we had our first competition parade that weekend and continued through winter]. A tenth of our school population was in marching band, and we were the only ones who ever won trophies [and we won first place year after year after year until one competition actually said we couldn't compete anymore because it wasn't fair, haha], so yeah. Homecoming was about the marching band for my school. So it's funny to read everyone else's experiences with it. Art schools. They're where it's at.
"Spirit week"?????
Yeah, it's the best! The week of Thanksgiving is only two days of school [since Thanksgiving is on Thursday, so everyone gets Friday off and a lot of schools give Wednesday off as well for traveling and preparation and stuff] and getting actual work done in a two-day school week is pretty ambitious, so we just… had fun activities instead. I mean, we had classes in the morning but especially for upperclassmen, the teachers gave us free time to go decorate the gym and halls. Also, that was the time that yearbook pictures for sports and clubs were taken so everyone was in and out of class as it was.
Every class had a colour to wear the first day [red for freshmen, blue for sophomores, yellow/gold for juniors and green for seniors] and green and gold [our school colours] for the second day, and it was mostly to foster school spirit and goodwill towards our fellow students. We had relay/wheelbarrow races, contests to see who could walk the farthest on their hands, egg tosses… competing against each class and against the teachers. And the marching band and the cheerleaders put on a show as well, and it was just… a whole lot of fun. I'd show you some pictures from my senior year spirit week but I have absolutely no clue where my yearbook was put after moving.
I loved my high school, probably because they spent time making sure we actually enjoyed being there. I don't know if a lot of schools in the US do spirit week, but I know that it's still common in Massachusetts [my sister's a student teacher and she was excited to do it at her school].
My school used to wear shirts with the color related to the grade the day before Homecoming. Halfway through my High School years the administration banned that because that day was also Freshman Day and their shirt color (white) made them into targets.
The best part about Spirit Week at my high school was that it usually included a pajama day.
I always tried to schedule my orthodontist appointments so that I could get school colors for the rubber bands in time for Spirit Week
*known for its music and arts instead of sports, I meant. We were pretty well known for our academics as well. Not sports.
I've found that Homecoming as an alumni thing is much bigger for colleges than high schools, unless the school is having a big anniversary. A ton of my college friends have gone back for our college Homecoming, but I don't know ANYONE who's gone to our high school homecoming.
My senior year of college there was all kinds of drama in the ~surrounding communnity~ because the junior class homecoming queen was a transgendered student. Why the old people who lived in our town and had no affiliation with our school gave a crap about who we elected to homecoming court, I have no idea.
It’s an extra complication just when everyone’s lives were working out.
This is how Whedon works. When he sees happiness on the horizon, he must destroy it with whatever means necessary.
We don't have anything like homecoming in NZ. But at my university here in California last year as part of Reunion Homecoming we celebrated the 40th anniversary of having a LGBT group, and it was the most lovely and adorable thing ever! And Susan Rice spoke, as did all these amazing activists who were pushing for equal rights and recognition at a time when they could have been arrested for it, and it just warmed my heart and blew my mind.
So basically now homecoming makes me think of adorable kickass elderly gay people 🙂
"Maybe it’s a cultural thing, but I just don’t get the whole concept of ‘Homecoming’ and the Homecoming Queen. I mean, literally, what is Homecoming? What does it mean?"
I didn't know either, until reading the responses above. No one ever talks about what it's for, it's just there. Homecoming. Actually, I'm not sure if my school had one, but you hear about them on TV all the time.
"Coming home from what? And…do people really vote for the most popular girl in school? That’s so creepy!"
Interesting how that surprises you. Popularity contests are taken for granted as a thing that happens here.
OH! I almost forgot! The Mayor! We finally saw him! Ok, I have to say I LOVE how they’re setting this whole thing up – I have no idea what’s up with this guy but I’m starting to get a creepy feeling whenever he’s mentioned, and both those scenes he was in this episode? SO NERVEWRACKING. It’s simply because we know there’s something there, but we don’t know what. As far as we’ve seen, there’s just this friendly, if slightly odd, guy in a normal looking office, and yet he manages to scare the crap out of me. WHO IS HE?? WHAT IS HE PLANNING???
THIS IS WHY I LOVE HARRY GROENER SO MUCH. He's just so CHEERFUL and FRIENDLY and yet there's this sense of WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON the whole time he's speaking. Perfectly played.
Everything I know about Homecoming I learned on television and in the movies. All girl schools in the US don't have them, I guess. From what I've seen, there's usually a pep rally, a bonfire, possibly something getting burned in effigy, a football game, a dance, and crowning of King and Queen.
Oh, and Sandy runs into Danny for the first time since they last saw each other on the beach during their summer of lovin'. (I understand they had a blast)
WHYYY?
I was TOTALLY fine and loving the adorableness of Willow/Oz (Oz, you're the cutest thing) and even cheering for Cordelia and Xander.
I've had totally overcome how I've been sad and furious when Willow and Xander didn't kiss on the first episode of the second season. That was all past now.
And now I find myself divided. I don't even know what to think of the situation Willow and Xander are now. I don't trust my feelings, and might say something stupid, so I prefer to keep myself quiet now. =/
Haha, yeah, I’ve been wanting Xander and Willow to get with each other since Welcome to the Hellmouth, but not like this. And not on dry land!
Community reference FTW! (Also, I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I love your username)
My latent Willow/Xander shipper always pops up here. I love Willow/Oz and Xander/Cordy, but I also really like the idea of Willow/Xander and have since the pilot. But then they're cheating and it's horrible even though they're so cute together.
Did – did I just start shipping Buffy and Faith?
Heck, everyone else does…
*waves Fuffy shipping banner*
*high five*
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Nabgure guvat V xarj nobhg gur fubj jnf gung vg unq n irel snzbhf yrfovna eryngvbafuvc. Naq V'z fher lbh frr jurer guvf vf tbvat abj. V fuvccrq gur yvivat uryy bhg bs Snvgu/Ohssl rira gubhtu V qvqa'g ernyyl pner gung zhpu sbe Ohssl urefrys (fgvyy zl yrnfg snibevgr znva punenpgre bs gur frevrf, bqqyl rabhtu.) Arrqyrff gb fnl, guvatf qvq abg ghea bhg nyy urnegf naq envaobjf sbe zr. Rira gur snxr fuvcf raq va urnegoernx ba n Jurqba fubj.
-slayerfest '98!
-i have SO MUCH IRRATIONAL HATE for those highwater khaki pants that buffy is wearing when scott dumps her. they are so unflattering. and WITH that little pink purse? just…no.
-it's the mayor! FINALLY.
zl snibevgr ivyynva bs gur ohsslirefr (vs lbh qba'g pbhag fcvxr naq v qba'g). uneel tebrare vf raqyrffyl nzhfvat naq sevtugravat va rdhny ghea. uvf cresbeznapr vf cvgpu-cresrpg. v trg fb zhpu wbl bhg bs jngpuvat rirel fprar ur vf va.
-and we come to the second reason (of three) that this season will never be my favorite, even with all its strong points. willow and xander…i…i…just…i can't even stand it. it's an 11 on my personal squick-o-meter. i forced myself to watch THE SCENE last night, which i usually just fast forward through, and my stomach was just doing flips. SO MUCH DO NOT WANT. MAKE IT STOP. i don't even know if i can put into words why it bothers me so much. yes, it's because i have grown to love oz and cordelia so much and to cherish their relationships with willow and xander, respectively. yes, it's because xander never noticed willow until she was happy with someone else (he has a track record of wanting what he can't have). yes, it's because willow loved xander for so long and now it sort of feels like he is taking advantage of her. it also feels…inorganic? like WTF? it's all of those things, but there is something inarticulable that makes it torturous for me to watch them canoodling together. NOW THAT THAT IS OFF MY CHEST. let's move on. please.
-"as willow goes, so goes my nation."
just keep being fucking awesome, oz. you just keep on.
-fastball! i still love this song. i just sit in my room and sing along.
-don't you dare throw away those delicious-looking chocolate cupcakes! i will eat them!
-in appreciation of cordelia chase:
she looks amazing in green. WOWZA. gorgeous.
"i'm never gonna know if it's real between me and xander or if it's just some temporary insanity that made me think i loved him."
HEART SHATTERING INTO A MILLION PIECES.
cordy+spatula=gold
"you get ME mad, what do you think I'M gonna do to you?"
all hail queen cordelia! we're not worthy!
-"i'm gonna go with mud wrestling."
"i'm never gonna know if it's real between me and xander or if it's just some temporary insanity that made me think i loved him." HEART SHATTERING INTO A MILLION PIECES.
That was THE WORST possible timing in the history of ever. aaaaaaaaaaah. I'd forgotten that the W/X happened here. Really thought it was later. DNW DNW.
it makes me so sad 🙁
Incidentally, I can't speak for the entire of England or anything, but the only dance we had at my old school was the Prom, which was held in your last year of compulsory education, called Year 11 (we would all have been about 16/17?)
I went to the Prom – it wasn't a thing that you had to have a date since we were an all girls school, though the Prom itself was held jointly with the boys from the all-boys school across town. We all just went with our friends.
So I went, and I got dressed up in a pretty dress and I was bored out of my skull for five hours or so and then I went home. Total waste of time, especially if you don't dance. And I DON'T. DANCE.
My school didn't really have dances either because it was a Baptist school and they didn't approve. But we did have homecoming and prom- they were just banquets instead of dances. ALTHOUGH, we did manage to get a few "cultural" dances past the school board, but that basically meant we could only do sock-hops (where we did swing dancing) or western themed dances (in which there was a lot of line dancing and ACTUAL SQUARE DANCING involved).
Anyway, my point to this is that instead of dances, at the prom banquets, we'd have entertainment. EXCEPT MY SENIOR YEAR, THE JUNIOR CLASS (who was responsible for planning prom) DECIDED THAT A MIME WOULD BE AN ACCEPTABLE FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT.
A MIME.
WTF?
This has been a pointless story brought to you by the letter W for "Karen went to a really Weird high school" (but she kind of loved it anyway).
Just one mime? Not even…a company of mimes? Or something better than just one dude?
No. It was just one guy. And he wasn't that great either.
(rot13 for Gilmore Girls spoilers, I guess even though Mark has on plans to watch it that I know it, but better safe than sorry.) Gur orfg cneg bs gur jubyr guvat jnf gung zl sevraqf naq V jrer nyy nivq Tvyzber Tveyf jngpuref naq jr xrcg znxvat penpxf pbzcnevat gur zvzr gb Xheg naq uvf nggrzcg ng zvzvat. Ohg jr jrer nyfb ng gur gnoyr pybfrfg gb gur fgntr fb jr xvaq bs unaq gb pbageby bhe tvttyrf fb jr jbhyqa'g or ehqr.
That is so perfect. I am literally laughing out loud reading this at work.
The mime thing actually sounds kind of awesome?
IT WAS NOT.
I did fail to mention that it was actually a Christian mime so perhaps that better creates the horror of the evening. lol. As I mentioned before, I went to a Christian school, but like… COME ON. A CHRISTIAN MIME? He basically acted out redemption history and it was terrible miming and really weird.
IT WAS SO BIZARRE. And my friends and I were sitting at a table near the stage so we had to control our giggles or else we'd be really rude. But we just spent the whole time exchanging horrified looks.
Oh my goodness…I'm sorry, I'm sure it was awful but it just makes for the most hilarious mental image…
A CHRISTIAN MIME! OH MY GOD! Please tell me it was a Southern Baptist school? This story is amazing. Karen, you are killing me. I am dying right now.
I think we got our funding from the American Baptist Association, so I don't think we were Southern Baptist.
OH AND TO MAKE THIS MORE AMAZING. OUR PROM WAS HELD AT THE RONALD REGEAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY WHERE THEY ACTUALLY HAD THE AIR FORCE ONE THAT HE FLEW IN WHEN HE WAS PRESIDENT. SO YEAH. I GOT MY PICTURE TAKEN NEXT TO A PIECE OF THE BERLIN WALL AND WALKED THROUGH AIR FORCE ONE AT MY PROM.
I LOVE THIS STORY SO MUCH. NO OTHER PROM STORY CAN EVER COMPARE. Not even the one where my boyfriend took me Shoney's for dinner before his prom, and then I paid because he forgot his wallet.
Yeah, my prom was a really surreal experience. And then afterwards when most of the other kids went to a parent-paid-for and non-school-affiliated after party (aka a party where the kids could actually dance), my friends and I went to one of my friends house and played Catch Phrase and other games. And then after THAT, I went over to my best friend's house where she and I watched Peter Jackson's classic film, Dead Alive (and other bad horror movies) while snacking on chips and homemade guacamole and salsa.
MY FRIENDS AND I HAVE THE STRANGEST IDEAS OF WHAT IS FUN.
Yeah, my prom was a really surreal experience. And then afterwards when most of the other kids went to a parent-paid-for and non-school-affiliated after party (aka a party where the kids could actually dance), my friends and I went to one of my friends house and played Catch Phrase and other games. And then after THAT, I went over to my best friend's house where she and I watched Peter Jackson's classic film, Dead Alive (and other bad horror movies) while snacking on chips and homemade guacamole and salsa.
MY FRIENDS AND I HAVE THE STRANGEST IDEAS OF WHAT IS FUN.
No, you and your friends have the BEST ideas of what is fun.
This is the best thing I have ever heard. THE BEST. It may have been a horrible and scarring experience at the time, but at least your Christian mime at the Reagan Library story is able to make total strangers on the internet fall over laughing, years later? :D?
AHAHAH! This story just keeps getting better! Where did they find this mime? Does he only act out stories from the Bible? I can’t believe there’s actually a demand for Bible-miming.
This is one of the most fantastic stories I've ever heard. I didn't know such a thing existed!
The Christian Mime at prom reminds me of the Employee Appreciation/Christmas/Holiday Party I went to for one job where they had a really bad Elvis impersonator. And there wasn't even any alcohol and it was mandatory cause it was during the work day.
Hours of Bingo and Elvis. *sigh*
I'm from England and yeah, the Year 11 prom. that's it. I didn't go to mine. Basically cos I knew I'd be sat around watching everyone else dance and cos it's a big waste of money and I'm a guy so it'd be ten times worse if I was a girl and expected to buy a dress! At least suits all look the same!
No dances besides Prom here in Germany either. I didn't go to the actual Prom, because I never finished my A-levels, but their was a Prom in Year 10 because we all left for different schools after that.
It was nice, but nothing formal; a lot of food and alcohol and one of the students broke his leg, that was a remorable night.
In my school (im in america) we had homecoming, a fall dance in november, a winter dance in february called "shake your snow flake" (seriously), a spring fling, and prom, all last year. I went to none of them, since dancing and me dont mix at all
My school was much the same, although mine had a joint sixth-form, so our prom was in the final year of that when people were 17/18. We also had a couple of school discos when we were like 11 – 14, but there weren't any above that age, apparently (according to my at-the-time 13 year old friends) because of the ~terrible things~ that some 15/16 year olds used to get up to at those.
And there was no voting for kings or queens at any of those. Tended to be a massive and slightly boring anti-climax generally, unless you had a big group of friends or a boyfriend/girlfriend and/or loved dancing, all of which I did not. They weren't too bad though, could have been worse, and at least I can say now that I went.
My school didn't have Prom, I mentioned the closest thing we did in my comment, so to me it's always been That Thing Americans Do and not something we had over here. But judging by this thread they're more common than I thought. Huh.
My school didn't have Prom, I mentioned the closest thing we did in my comment, so to me it's always been That Thing Americans Do and not something we had over here. But judging by this thread that's apparently not true. Huh.
My school (in Canada) had prom if you're in your last year, otherwise there were like 2 or 3 dances throughout the school year. I think one would be hosted by us and they sold tickets to ones at other schools? I don't even know, high school feels like a million years ago.
And there was also a father-daughter dance, which is just weird and I have no idea who went to them.
I didn't even go to my prom cause a lot of my friends had either dropped out or transferred by their last year so it made the whole thing kind of pointless. One time I lied and told my mum I was going to a dance and went somewhere else, but I've never actually attended one.
I actually enjoy dancing even though it makes me look like a total dork though! You just have to not care.
Father-daughter dances creep me the fuck out.
AGH ME TOO. Especially the purity ring ceremony ones where the daughters entrust their fathers with their virginity. To keep it safe until they find a husband *shudder*
What the hell is that? Is that something real?
Yes, yes it is.
I… I don't know how to feel about this. My combination of shock that this exists, rage at the implied and ongoing sexism, and the sheer disturbance that… I get that some people still think this way, but there's an actual established freaking CEREMONY?! I- I just- *cries*
Oh what I forgot that those even exist. Not the kind that I was talking about for sure, but on all counts I definitely agree that they creep me out.
I'm so glad that, despite being forced to go to catholic school for forever, I never had that level of creepiness imposed on me.
Father-daughter dances are okay when the daughters are under the age of ten. When they're over ten, it's creepy.
Yeah, pretty much the same here with just the Prom at the end of Year 11. We also had end-of-year talent shows that occasionally included student (or teacher!) bands so there might be some informal dancing around but the Prom at around 16/17 is the only formal one that I remember, and I didn't go to that!
I'm trying to remember if there was one at 18 when finally leaving school but all I remember is the some of the teachers taking students to the pub across the road :p
I went to an all-girls school, too, in the US. We didn't have a Homecoming dance because we had no football team, but the local all-boys schools did. I went to the homecoming game once because my friend was dating a guy from the boys school and she made me go. It was the only football game I've ever been to in my whole life. There was also a dance, but you only went if you were dating a guy from one of the boys' schools.
We had a couple of informal dances every year and two formals. Winter semi-formal and Prom (which all years were invited to since we were so small.) But yes, as most girls schools you didn't have to have a date and there was lots of dancing with your friends. Although having a date gave you status.
And of course there was no election for king and queen of the prom at your school.
Yeah, I kept going to school dances and never having fun. I would get dressed up, go somewhere where they were playing loud music that I didn't like, and sit in the corner talking to my other friends who didn't dance for whatever reason. And then I'd go home. God, what a waste of time.
I still remember the end of the year dance in 8th grade when I snuck in a book in my pocket, because I didn't have to get dressed up and so I had cargo shorts. Of course, I also remember that one because a friend of mine was in charge of the music, and he put the Windmill Hut music from Ocarina of Time on, and we all loled.
Pnag jnvg sbe gnen naq jvyybj gb trg gbtrgure! Znex vf tbvat gb syvc uvf fuvg fb onq. Vf gurer nalbar bhg gurer jub pna fnl gurl pnag jnvg sbe gung?
Oh, you're not the only one. I've been waiting for that ever since Mark started watching Buffy.
Gnen vf fb fjrrg naq V nofbyhgryl ybir gur jubyr Jvyybj/Gnen fgbelyvar. V pevrq jura fur tbg fubg.
Ohg lrnu, V jbaqre ubj Znex'f tbvat gb ernpg gb nyy gung.
YOU ARE NOT PREPARED.
V npghnyyl ynhturq bhg ybhq jura ur jvfurq sbe Ohssl naq Snvgu gb trg gbtrgure.
Whfg lbh jnvg Znex, gurer jvyy or n zhpu zber njrfbzr tnl pbhcyr fbba.
Guvf rknpgyl. V yvgrenyyl pnaabg jnvg sbe gung fb, fb zhpu!! Hetu, V unira'g orra vagb Ohssl sbe NTRF, ohg jura gung fubj qbrf guvatf evtug vg qbrf gurz EVTUG naq V'z fgvyy va ybir jvgu Jvyybj naq Gnen! (Bs pbhefr, Jvyybj/Bm vf nznmvat naq ornhgvshy nf jryy, ohg gur furre snpg bs orvat n fnzr-frk pbhcyr ba GI ng gung gvzr va uvfgbel WHFG chfurf gurz bire va gur BGC fgnxrf!)
Only one death? I thought the two German guys shot each other to death through the wall. Did they survive and I missed it?
Add those two, and also Mrs Gorch, death by spatula
I'm having a hard time buying the idea of a wooden spatula.
Does that bit make anyone else a little sad? I mean, sure, they were trying to kill Buffy and Cordelia… but they were twins! And they were fooled into killing each other! No? Just me?
A bit. Though they were nasty pieces of work.
It reminded me of a version of The X-Files episode in season three called “Quagmire,” where two characters are trapped in a possibly dangerous secret and are sort of forced to discuss one another.
"Hey Scully, do you think you could ever cannibalise someone? I mean, if you really had to?"
Well as much as the very idea is abhorrent to me, I suppose under certain conditions a living entity is practically conditioned to perform whatever extreme measures are necessary to ensure its survival. I suppose I'm no different.
Queequeg 🙁 🙁 (My strongest memory from that episode)
Poor Queequeg.
I have not seen that episode in decades and IT STILL CREEPS ME OUT.
Ah, true about Quagmire.
I like this episode a lot. Buffy-Cordy dialogue is always nice (compare Out of Mind, Out of Sight). The fact that before Buffy became the slayer they were fairly similar gives the whole thing another dimension.
Just want to point out re: Death Count, those two German guys shot each other. So the total for this episode is 3. 🙂
BuffyGuide has it listed as 4. There was also Candy Gorch, with the spatula, in the library.
Candy Gorch, with the spatula, in the library.
That sounds like Clue 🙂
Cordelia's intimidation of Gorch is possibly the single greatest thing in all of history.
Anything else I say is going to be capslocking in ROT 13 so I'll just leave it at that. <3
The summary doesnt make any since because school doesnt end until the season is over, like the last two seasons.
Also, i agree about the two parents line. Its the only thing that bugs me in this episode.
I dunno. My entire senior year felt like school was ending. You start going through all these "lasts" (last yearbook, last homecoming) and it really is like closing a chapter of your life. Of course it takes an inordinately long time for everything to end, but I think that just adds to that whole feeling of Senioritis
This is a good point. I didn't think about it being "school as a whole is over."
Buffy is still helping Angel because she still loves him, but after everything he did, she knows that her friends won’t really ever be able to accept him back like they did before. I mean, he killed Jenny and tortured Giles. I’m not sure that there’s any coming back from that.
Anyway, it’s homecoming at Sunnydale High! And Scott dumps her right before it. COLD, BRO. He cites his reasons as before (aka before everything with Angel happened) Buffy was so full of life, but she’s changed now. She’s not the same person she used to be and Scott just doesn’t think that it’s working out. Poor Buffy though. One more heartache. I think Scott’s words really got to her. She has changed a lot, and I think she misses the person she used to be- before Angel and before she became the Slayer. And so she decides to campaign hard for homecoming queen.
Except of course Cordelia is running too! (Btw, Buffy, I love you, but it’s not Cordelia’s fault you forgot about yearbook pictures. Yes, it would have been nice if she had reminded you, but she got distracted and ultimately that was your responsibility, Buffy.) Cordelia herself has been having a bit of an identity crisis, I think. She’s been hanging out with the Scoobies and isn’t really Queen C anymore. This is about Cordelia trying to regain her former glory. I get that we’re supposed to feel sorry for Buffy that Xander, Willow and Oz are helping Cordy, but really she probably asked them first and Xander IS her boyfriend. And Willow feels guilty about kissing Cordy’s boyfriend which is why she’s helping Cordy.
The fighting between Buffy and Cordy gets nasty. Cordelia starts the nastiness by going after Buffy’s divorced parents, but Buffy quickly sinks to Cordelia’s level by calling her a vapid whore. I do love that the Scoobies devised a way to make Buffy and Cordelia work out their issues by sticking them in a limo together. But of course since this is Buffy and not a 90s sitcom, it backfires and Buffy and Cordelia end up fighting for their lives. There’s fighting and heart to hearts galore as the Slayerfest gets underway.
HOW MUCH DO I LOVE CORDELIA TALKING SMACK TO THE GORCH BROTHER. OMG. I LOVE YOU, MY FLAWLESS QUEEN. She’s perfected acting bold and brash on the outside even if she’s scared on the inside. Bravado is something Cordelia is very good at, and it works. She pretends to be a badass Slayer and scares the vampire off.
That final scene with Cordelia and Buffy in their ruined dressed, waiting for the announcement of Homecoming Queen-which both of them lose is just visually great. My school didn’t have dances, exactly (it was a Baptist high school, so yeah…) but we did have Homecoming Banquets! And there were homecoming queens. But like idk. It was a small and generally friendly school. Homecoming queen was never a nasty thing. Like one of my best friends ended up on the court because she was sweet and friendly and well-liked even if she was in the nerdy group. So yeah, homecoming queen was never a big deal at my school, but it is fun to watch Cordelia and Buffy fight so hard for it, only to both lose in the end.
And now I suppose I should talk about the stuff between Willow and Xander. You guys! You both have significant others! Perhaps it’s time to set up some boundaries. Aaaand of course they end up kissing. NO. BAD. STOP IT. Oh and then later in the episode they’re hanging out alone in Willow’s room again? OMG YOU GUYS. STOP IT. SET UP BOUNDARIES IF THIS IS GOING TO BE AN ISSUE. OR BREAK UP WITH YOU RESPECTIVE SIGNIFICANT OTHERS. It’s really painful watching Cordy tell Buffy how she loves Xander when earlier in the episode he was macking on Willow.
Oh and we FINALLY get to see the mayor!
Cool story bro: I once saw the actor who plays the mayor in a play here in Los Angeles a couple of years back (This play, in fact, which is a really good play.)
Anyway, the Mayor is a very friendly kind of creepy. It’s hard to put a finger on why he’s unsettling, but he totally is. And now he and Trick are going to be working together. Dun dun duuun.
Pointless sidenote: LOL I LOVE FAITH MESSING WITH SCOTT. I think part of it is that Faith just likes to mess with people, but I also think she’s genuinely come to care about Buffy by this point and wants to get a bit of revenge on Buffy’s behalf.
"Btw, Buffy, I love you, but it’s not Cordelia’s fault you forgot about yearbook pictures. Yes, it would have been nice if she had reminded you, but she got distracted and ultimately that was your responsibility, Buffy."
Buffy didn't forget, she was absent on the day that it was announced (likely because of either getting kicked out or slayer-related stuff, neither of which would be in her control). So Buffy actually had no way of knowing. And if Cordy hadn't volunteered, one of the other Scoobies might have gone and told her. So yeah, I find it irritating that Cordy volunteered and then failed to follow through.
Ah I guess I'm just projecting my own high school experiences because senior year book pictures were a big deal and actually something that happened at a photographer's studio and not on campus and we got all dressed up for it and like there were packets sent home to the parents. So I guess it just kind of mystifies me that it would be something Buffy wouldn't know about.
Yeah, the photos plot feels a bit "let's make Buffy feel totally isolated and not at all normal", because how could they not advertise? I mean, they sent us the packets and flyers and had signs up and tons of announcements and had multiple days – they took the pictures at the end of junior year but had make-up dates over the summer and at the beginning of senior year for those who missed and for those who were new to the school. And why is Willow wearing overalls? Not that I have anything against overalls, but who wears them for senior pictures? How come they get only one picture and the guy doesn't tell Willow when he's gonna take it? We had like 15-20 pictures taken for senior pictures (though admittedly only one for the earlier years) and got to choose which we liked best.
I join you in loving Faith messing with Scott. Loyal Faith is the best Faith. (Faithful Faith? Okay, I'll stop.)
Faithful Faith? Okay, I'll stop.
Better do, or I'll mention double Faith, or FFaith, and then make a joke about that letter combo.
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz123nbE881qz5stv.png" />
So except for the big fluking, Xander doesn't do anything that pisses me off in this episode. He's actually quite sympathetic. Nobody, least of all Cordelia, seems to give a shit that he's poor and limos are not something he can afford. Again, except for the fluking. Which Xallow shippers I'm sure don't find a problem. (Is that what they're called? I don't care that's what I'm calling 'em.)
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz1246qr2d1qz5stv.png" />
I just needed to share the caption for this establishing shot.
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz124pGkAe1qz5stv.png" />
Oh my god these five seconds where Buffy tells Angel that she's seeing Scott and he turns around and she jumps a bit because she's still afraid of him and then he steps towards her and FIXES HER collar there is so much amazing here.
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz126l1L3m1qz5stv.png" />
Please check out this coordinated pink monstrosity. Nice touch with the couple walking by as Buffy stands there being dumped.
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz127kV0Rk1qz5stv.png" />
We finally meet the Mayor.
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz12809MEC1qz5stv.png" />
So how do we feel about Mr. Trick saying got and ain't? On the one hand, educated people definitely use improper English so it's not like it's unrealistic. On the other hand, it's kind of… jivey?
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz1295CyQk1qz5stv.png" />
Another classic line. Also, Willow has a damn folding screen in her room? I always wanted one because silhouettes are so sexy.
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz129k8XJg1qz5stv.png" />
Oh wow I hate you both. Come on girls, get it together. I LIKE XANDER SO MUCH MORE THAN EITHER OF YOU RIGHT NOW AND HE JUST CHEATED ON ONE OF YOU. PLEASE STOP BEING WORSE THAN XANDER.
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz12anTEnV1qz5stv.png" />
HELLO.
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz12aztbYA1qz5stv.png" />
This may also come in handy for later in the series (It's from the blackout before the credits)
Transcripts modified from BvA.
Nyna unf nyy gur znlbef snvgu. Vgf abg cuenfrq gb zrna nalguvat ohg v fgvyy svaq vg shaal, pbafvqrevat jung Snvgu qbrf gb gurz.
Bu, ohg vg'f jung Wbff qbrf. Ur cynagf gurfr yvggyr frrqf gung lbh qba'g rira abgvpr hagvy gur frpbaq, guveq, sbhegu gvzr jngpuvat. Lbh pna or ur hfrq "snvgu" gurer qryvorengryl. Whfg nf ur hfrq "or onpx orsber Qnja" va gur frnfba 4 svanyr.
"Or onpx orsber Qnja" oebxr zl zvaq gur svefg gvzr V er-jngpurq gung nsgre frnfba 5.
Erfgyrff vf fb njrfbzr. Nyfb gur Ohssl/Snvgu funerq qernz ng gur raq bs guvf frnfba – 'Yvggyr Zvff Zhssrg pbhagvat qbja sebz frira-guerr-bu', obahf cbvagf sbe frira:guvegl ba gur pybpx va Erfgyrff jura Ohssl vf gnyxvat gb Gnen, naq Gnen cbvagf bhg gung gung'f jebat…(htu fghcvq ahzoref abg nssrpgrq ol ebg13…)
Love all the screencaps. I just wanted to add that in the bit where Angel fixes her collar I think there is another layer. I am pretty sure that is the same leather jacket he gave her way back in 'teachers pet'…. (please no one correct me on this if it's wrong. It's some of my favourite headcannon.)
I was thinking the same thing but didn't have the time to go back and check. I AM WITH YOU. IT'S SO GOOD.
I love this idea too because then his fixing her collar can also be taken to mean "you're dating another guy? But you're still wearing my jacket, so I thought you still loved me." Poor Angel.
That was one of the better scenes in this episode for me – Angel's silent reactions and the body language in that scene. Something else that I've noticed – I tend to notice the fashion in BtVS, especially since it's so often used as a part of characterization: Buffy tends to wear the leather jacket when she's being a Slayer (as in Prophecy Girl, when she wore the leather jacket over the pretty white dress her mother gave her, symbolically converging her two identities). And that leather jacket was, in this episode, one of the few times Buffy wore something non-awful. I was relieved to have a change from her soccer mom fashion from Faith, Hope and Trick. But then in the next scene, when she's talking to Scott, she wears this terrible pink thing with flounces and a pink purse. (And later during the 'homecoming queen briefing' again looks like she raided her mom's wardrobe.)
In a way, vampire boyfriend is, for Buffy, connected to her identity as a Slayer; she's trying to be the normal girl with a 'normal boy' like Scott. Which is probably what the fashion choices were meant to reflect, but OMG, they really exaggerated with the 'girliness' of that awful pink outfit.
I hate all the pink and girliness in Buffy's wardrobe this season. Season One Buffy was way more fashionable.
I don't mind the pink and girliness as much as I mind the hair. How much Sun In can one person use?
V qba'g rira zvaq gur unve hagvy fur phgf ure onatf bss. V guvax vg'f va Gur Mrccb be Nzraqf. Vg'f fb qvfgenpgvat V pna oneryl pbapragengr ba jung Ohssl'f fnlvat. Ohg znlor gung jnf n fvqr rssrpg bs oyrnpuvat gurz fb vagrafryl sbe gur svefg cneg bs gur frnfba.
Which Xallow shippers I'm sure don't find a problem. (Is that what they're called? I don't care that's what I'm calling 'em.)
Just saying, the alternative would be Wander.
So how do we feel about Mr. Trick saying got and ain't? On the one hand, educated people definitely use improper English so it's not like it's unrealistic. On the other hand, it's kind of… jivey?
I think it's a bit problematic that he's the only one using that?
Also, wait a sec
*gets out descriptive linguist soapbox*
*gets on soapbox*
THOSE ARE NOT IMPROPER ENGLISH, PROPER ENGLISH AS PRESCRIBED IS CLASSIST FICTION CONCOCTED BY PEOPLE WHO HAD A BONER FOR LATIN AND WHO DON'T GET HOW LANGUAGE WORKS
*gets off soapbox*
…sorry, we all got our pet peeves.
On the one hand, yes Trick is jives and it made me uncomfortable, too – especially since he's basically the only significant black character we've had so far.
On the other hand, I think that to some extent the speech pattern is a calculated effort on the character's part as a part of his smooth-talker persona. BUT that doesn't make it less problematic hat they chose to have the one black character choose to express his persona that way.
That second screencap is perfection <3. I get the feeling that last one is going to be very useful in the future too.
Man, Xander really does have a lot of potential to be an interesting character if they had played up his background/homelife more and not written him the way they did the last two seasons. It's really too bad that it's stuck in the shadow of…everything else they chose to do with him because it actually is interesting having someone around that's not solidly middle class.
"Man, Xander really does have a lot of potential to be an interesting character if they had played up his background/homelife more and not written him the way they did the last two seasons."
V qba'g haqrefgnaq guvf pbzzrag. Frnfba 6 vf rknpgyl jura gurl qvq cynl hc uvf onpxtebhaq naq ubzryvsr (va nqqvgvba gb Erfgyrff).
V guvax fur zrnaf gur zbfg erprag gjb frnfbaf gung jr'ir jngpurq.
Yep.
PLEASE STOP BEING WORSE THAN XANDER.
THIS WAS MY THOUGHT DURING THE WHOLE EPISODE. That Cordy and Buffy were competing to out-awful Xander Harris.
So how do we feel about Mr. Trick saying got and ain't?
On the one hand, it's problematic, because it's Buffy and race and that's just pretty much ALWAYS going to be problematic. But on the other hand, I think Mr. Trick is AWESOME and I love the way he talks, so I can't dislike it.
So how do we feel about Mr. Trick saying got and ain't? On the one hand, educated people definitely use improper English so it's not like it's unrealistic. On the other hand, it's kind of… jivey?
Huh. I use got and ain't the way Trick does all the time. Could it be a regional thing? Maybe Mr Trick is originally from Philadelphia?
Don't think of it as a filler episode, think of it as a character episode. It might not advance the season arc – although I'd argue that, but it gives us a deeper understanding of Cordy, and an "I've been blind" moment to Zander.
and btw – moist towlettes can be creepy. I have a friend who can't stand anyone even saying the words – strewth
Okay, I know that yesterday I said the late 90s weren't exactly the Dark Ages, but the old school modem sounds kind of proves that statement to be untrue, doesn't it?
It's been AGES (possible since the first run) since I've watched this season. Qbrf gur Znlbe znxr pbafvfgrag ersreraprf gb orvat n tbq, yvxr "pyrnayvarff vf arkg gb tbqyvarff?" V qb abg erzrzore.
Do kids these days even know what that sound is?
I don't know!
ALL OF YOU NEED TO GET OFF MY LAWN.
This was my thought when it showed up in The Muppets.
Also, did you see the video where the guy handed his daughter a record and she was like "…what is this?"
Oh my god.
– School dances. Another thing I don’t really get. Or homecoming election thingies because what is this school sports obsession thing. And related-stuff kinda bores me to tears.
– Ironic segue cut 😀 and woo, the creepy white plot van arrives!
– HELLO MAYOR! I would say glad to finally meet you, but you are too creepy to be glad.
– Okay, I have to mention this: the script gives the German brothers’ last name as Gruenshtahler. That… is not how the admittedly weird thing we’re doing with our /s/ vs /ʃ/ works. Also, capital murder is very much not a possible offense here, what with us not having capital punishment.
– Picture time! We didn’t do that, either.
– Faith! Okay, I kinda ship Faith and Buffy here. JUST SAYING. It’s a hot, queer ship.
– Cordelia, Cordelia, Cordelia. I actually kinda liked you this watch around, and now you are I-don’t-even-know-if-intentionally-or-obliviously-hurtful ("actual friends"?) and I don’t care for it much.
– Mr Trick! You are a very snappy dresser still, but your speechifying gets kinda, uh, old?
– Willow and Xander doing boring clothes stu- EW WHAT IS THIS EW EW EWWW
– I don’t care for this subplot. MONTAGE BLAH BLAH and Cordelia being horribly classist and wow, going for the divorced parents as an insult? Shut your face and sit down and shut the fuck up. And no, that doesn’t make the "vapid whore" insult okay, either. Think about your word choices, Buffy.
– And I don’t care for this subplot, either.
– Buffy and Cordelia look both stunning, I’ll give them that.
– Faith! You’re adorbs. Giles! You’re also adorbs.
– Run! Fight! Run! Climaxy third act things!
– Mr Trick and the Mayor!
– Jr qb arrq puvyqera, bz abz abz abz abz, evtug.
– Long story. Apparently not that long. Okay, is that an intentional callback, or an accidental recycling?
– And the episode is over! Cheap joke 😀
German titile: Die Qual der Wahl – The Torture of Deciding/Choosing/Voting. I actually like the translation itself, as it’s sort of a rhyming idiom, though it usually doesn’t actually refer to a vote.
Only just noticed on my rewatch today that on Cordy's "weakness" list on the whiteboard, there's BRIE and XANDER. which just made me think of the long conversation about brie in a previous review and Xander sitting there not even bothering to go "HEY!"
lolol cordelia trying to hit a demon with a spatula and then taking it with her back to school! So adorable.
Urgh scott, your reason for dumping Buffy makes no sense. When you met, so full of life? Err what. She's been distracted the whole way through what with losing her boyfriend to a Hell dimension, being kicked out of school, her friends ignoring her when she came back, boyfriend coming back in a feral state. How can she be full of life! LOL at faith implying he has an std! awkward!
Maybe…not liking Brie was her weakness?
I mean, everyone knows Brie actually gives you superpowers.
and XANDER. which just made me think of the long conversation about brie in a previous review and Xander sitting there not even bothering to go "HEY!"
This makes me sad too, He's such a whipped whipping boy and Buffy just blithely puts that up and STILL EXPECTS HIM TO BE ON HER SIDE! Cordelia is his girlfriend (ignoring the fluke) too.
Way to treat Xander like a doormat Buffy.
Stupid Damn Clothes Fluke
Here in Austria, the only thing we have that qualifies as a dance are the school balls. Every graduating class of every school organises a big ball (with a polonaise and everything, lol), and usually most of the older students of the school go. You usually end up going to the balls of other schools too, and since we can get wine and beer here when we turn 16, it ends up being about getting drunk and partying in a fancy outfit while running into your teachers. Also, you usually go with friends instead of dates. (And if it's actually your ball, your whole family comes.)
Just wanted to share that, because it's QUITE different than what happens in the US, I guess. (You poor guys have to consume your alcohol sekkritly!)
Similar in Germany: You go to graduations balls either because you are graduating yourself or you know someone who does. Those are usually not held in the school, but in dedicated locations.
Yep, that sounds exactly similar. For us it's actually also a way for the graduating class to raise some money for a trip together after graduation.
Getting drunk in the presence of your teachers and, in turn, seeing them smoke and stuff is one of the funnest parts of that.
Vaguely-related anecdote: When I did my vocational training, one of the teachers organised for some of us to do an internship in Finland; when we got back, he invited us for a "conclusion dinner", and then we got drunk with our teacher and ended up talking about dolphin sex.
Good times.
I just wanted to post in this austrian/german comment to feel at home 😉
I SO don't get the whole homecoming / popularity voting stuff!
At our school the graduating class threw two or three parties during the last year to earn the money for prom and all the other stuff that surrounds ending school (in our case it means also renting the local castle and giving out as much free bear as the cash box of those partiy-earnings allows – one of the greatest traditions of my school ;)).
And most people didn't have dates, I danced the opening dance with my brother, and many of the others came with just friends or classmates.
Isn't the death count 3? The two high-tech people killed each other, right?
Hecubot – spoiler!
Just one thing really..
Heee.. the Mayor… 😀
We only ever had Junior Prom and Prom. No Homecoming (we did have a homecoming court but they were just crowned at the football game I was forced to attend because I was also forced to be in the marching band). *shrug*
Re Willow/Xander: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! So you know that "Now Kiss!" gif where the two characters are being pushed together? My reaction to seeing Willow/Xander together was pretty much the opposite. "Stop Kissing! No More Kissing!"
<img src="http://www.guzer.com/pictures/kissing_mom.jpg">
<img src="http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2009/4/4/128833604101536899.jpg">
I am horrific at dancing and it causes me a whole lot of social anxiety to be expected to dance. Hell, even when I see the characters on Buffy dancing, it makes me nervous just by default. I experience social anxiety through them.
Oh my god, are you ME?
Oh the memories. The awful, awful memories.
Oh god yes. I hate dancing more than most things.
"Come on, it'll be fun!"
"You look like an idiot just sitting there!"
"Everyone looks stupid when they dance, no-one will stare at you!"
"Don't be such a killjoy!"
SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP I HAVE AN INNATE INABILITY TO DANCE.
Just…I don't get how anyone can bring themselves to get up there and just move about rhythmically without feeling like a complete tit. I could no more dance in public than I could strip off all my clothes and run around naked.
Some of my college friends are amazing dancers, and I am deeply jealous of them. One friend, every time I see her (she's about a 3 hour drive away from me now) she says, "Can we go dancing? I reeeeaaalllly wanna go dancing!" And every time, I try to be a good sport, but I also suggest "….Next time?"
The best I can do is sort of bop around in an unfortunate, gangly, jumpy sort of way. It's sooooo awkward.
You are like a weird alternate version of me or something. I always knew the other version of me would be british. Or am I the american dude version of you? Does being a doppleganger or whatever of someone mean I have to grow a goatee?
I am simply physically incapable of dancing. Closest I might be able to get is jumping up and down in the middle of a bunch of people. And I guess I could theoretically slow dance, although I've done it maybe 2 times in my life.
You've lost some weight recently, haven't you?
Is it just me, or did Scott basically pull a "It's not me, it's YOU" on Buffy?
"Before we were going out, you, you seemed so… full of life, like a force of nature. Now you just seem distracted all the time, and…"
I mean, don't criticise her or blame her for the breakup, just end it and make some excuse like "I need to figure some stuff out." Yeah, people know that's just a line, too, but at least it's better than "Everything was fine until YOU changed."
Is it just me, or did Scott basically pull a "It's not me, it's YOU" on Buffy? "
Yep, pretty much.
Before, Scott pulled every other boyfriend cliche in the book. Why not this one? He got all his lines from old romantic comedies that tried to be cute, right? I feel bad for being happy because I was beaming when he pulled this move and Faith called him out on it. Take that poorly-added new character! This means that he is not a romantic interest. Seriously, I love Buffy, and I know she wants a normal relationship because, honestly, her supernormal relationships have not helped, but she can do better. This guy broke up with her in the most painful way possible, and managed to frame it as her fault. Ouch
He's such an asshole. Like, saying "I just feel like your heart isn't in this relationship and I want to be with someone who is really glad to be with me" would have made way more sense to me, but instead he was like "yeah, before I dated you I thought you were awesome, but now you suck."
And some Germansplaining:
I can only speak for my school in my specific part of Bavaria, of course, but we had like an end-of-school party which was some "funny" thematic bull in the afternoon/evening (I can remember one year was the 70s so I did some tie-dying and I think I had incidentally long hair or something?) and then generally bad music and "dancing" in the evening/night.
There was also the "Abistreich", which Wikipedia tells me is best translated as 'senior prank', and I actually can't even remember what we did, except that there was a mini-tractor with which we paraded through town. But, just as we had been freed from class one day a year every year before, we did our duty and liberated the pupils from their scholastic oppression for the day.
Also it was the time when they started to be Serious About Booze, so I wasn't nearly as drunk as I would've needed to be to have fun there.
And finally, something prom-like, for which we needed to wear formal wear and it was the only time in my life I've worn a full suit. We got our diplomas in the morning and then we had to do some "funny bit"; each "major" class had to do something and I still remember vaguely offending my English teacher because my class was lazy as fuck and was all "go on stage Bernie and just tell some jokes to some staged photos we took this afternoon" and don't tell me to talk off the cuff because then I get really insulting >_>
We never did something like vote for homecoming queen/king, so this typically American high school thing is completely foreign and alien and other to me, not gonna lie.
For our yearbook, we did vote on some joke-y titles, and I remember getting voted both Biggest Brain (by one vote!) and Biggest Truant, which was so very true.
We also didn't get 1/8 of a page… we got a double page. One with a little form we had to fill out (I just looked up my "motto", god, I was a precious edgy arse), and the other with a text our friends wrote for us. My friends did mine in the style of a personal ad.
Wow, fascinating.
We did this: "There was also the "Abistreich", which Wikipedia tells me is best translated as 'senior prank', …But, just as we had been freed from class one day a year every year before, we did our duty and liberated the pupils from their scholastic oppression for the day. "
My school was run by the Sacred Heart order of nuns and so we had a bunch of French "traditions" and one was Conge (acute accent on the e), in which the Seniors organized fun activities for the rest of the school for the day. This was for all grades K-12 (so 5 years and up.) The best thing about Conge was it was a surprise, so one day you were planning on boring classes and suddenly around 10AM chaos broke out. Less fun to organize, though.
But still, neat traditions that connect!
Coolness. Yeah, it was definitely more fun to be on the "WOO CHAOS AWESOME SURPRISE" side, though that meant that usually for a few Fridays in a row, we'd be a mass of excitability anyways, always hoping that this Friday would be the day of the Abistreich.
True story: I mostly bought my homecoming dress in school because it was nearly identical to Willows, it just had a bit of gray in there along w/the dark blue. Personally I never got the whole homecoming/prom court thing to begin with but hey, to each their own right?
Daily Buffy Quotable:
"Thanks Cordelia. Humiliation is good for my color."-Buffy
"As Willow goes, so goes my nation."-Oz (that needs to be on a t-shirt or something…)
"Your brain isn't connected to your mouth is it?"-Buffy
"P.S. The limo wasn't cheap. Work it out."-Buffy via letter from friends
"Hello how stupid are you people? She's the slayer, I'm a homecoming queen!"-Cordelia
"Where's a damn weapon?"-Cordelia
"He kind of grows on you. Like a Chia Pet."-Cordelia re: Xander
"Why is it whenever I go somewhere with you it always ends in violence and terror?"-Cordelia
"Cordelia, the spatula!"-Buffy
"In the end Buffy's just the runner up. I'm the Queen. What do you think I'm going to do to you?"-Cordelia
See, I have to admit, I kind of don't get the fascination of Cordelia. To me, she just seems like a very pretty bully most of the time. She has moments, and she does get some good dialogue, but most of the time she just seems mean, entitled, and kind of petty. I mean, if Cordy were less physically attractive, I don't think most people would put up with her. If I'm missing something about her that's a redeeming characteristic, can somebody point it out? Because this mystified me during the original run of the show, too.
I disliked her a lot at first, becaue she reminded me so much of the girls at my school, but she's kind of grown on me.
I don't think it is her looks (not only at least), but her complete honesty.
It's refreshing that she doesn't even pretend to be friendly to someone, but simply admits "You look terrible." She is anything but false and I don't think she is actually a bully, because she is not really intentionally hurtful (or not all the time). She only says what she thinks.
Yeah, I appreciate the honesty thing too, but sometimes Cordy DOES say honest things in a manipulative or malicious way (e.g. to get what she wants or deliberately tear someone down). This episode had a few great examples of that. So I have a hard time rooting for Cordy 90% of the time.
Naln ba gur bgure unaq, vf pbzchyfviryl ubarfg orpnhfr gung'f whfg ure jnl, naq fur'f iveghnyyl arire znyvpvbhf nobhg vg. Juvpu vf cneg bs jul V urneg Naln fb zhpu.
Cordy is offensive a lot of the time, but I think it's because she says everything that comes to mind regardless of how people will react to it.
Of course she can be terribly manipulative and mean and that is when I like her the least.
I'm not sure I would have wanted her at my school.
Fcva-bss Pbeql vf nabgure znggre, V jbhyq unir ybirq gb zrrg ure.
V guvax Naln vf fb vaabprag (juvpu vf jrveq jura gnyxvat nobhg na rk- qrzba), fur ernyyl unf ab vqrn gung jung fur fnl pbhyq or bssrafvir be qvfgheovat.
Fur vf yvxr n irel byq naq fgenatr xvq yrneavat gb jnyx.
This this this this THIS!! 😀
I wasn't a hardcore fan of her during my original viewing of the show, though I enjoyed her dialogue. I didn't need her to be a good person, I just loved her as comic relief. Ohg gura ba gur Natry fcvabss V sryy pbzcyrgryl va ybir jvgu ure punenpgre naq gung abj pbybef zl creprcgvba bs ure n ybg.
She's not particularly likable when we first meet her, but I think she's still an enjoyable character. Cordelia really does say the darndest things, is brutally honest, and has some of the most entertaining one liners. A character doesn't have to be a good person all of the time for me to enjoy him or her. And idk. I find Cordelia entertaining.
But more than that I think as we get to know her better and as she grows, she becomes a fairly interesting character. A lot of my thoughts are spoilery so um yes. SPOILERS TO FOLLOW FOR ALL SEASONS OF BUFFY AND ANGEL IN ROT13. Sbe zr, V ybir gung fur tebjf FB zhpu nf n punenpgre. Va gur ortvaavat fur'f zbfgyl gurer sbe ure evqvphybhfarff, ure nzhfvat oehgny ubarfgl, naq ure shaal bar-yvaref, ohg V qb guvax jr trg gb xabj ure zber nf rneyl nf frnfba 1 jurer jr svaq bhg ubj ybaryl fur srryf. Fur srryf ybaryl nf n cbchyne tvey orpnhfr xabj ernyyl xabjf ure be pnerf nobhg ure. Ohg gura fur fgnegf gb orpbzr n cneg bs gur Fpbbovrf naq vg frrzf yvxr fur'f svanyyl sbhaq sevraqf, ohg gura jura guvatf snyy ncneg orgjrra ure naq Knaqre, fur'f nybar ntnva. Naq yvxr, vqx. Gung ernyyl gbhpurf zr. Lrnu, fur fnlf zrna guvatf naq chgf ba guvf gbhtu rkgrevbe, ohg V guvax Pbeqryvn ernyyl qbrf jnag gb svaq crbcyr jub pner nobhg ure sbe jub fur vf. V qba'g guvax fur svraqf gung hagvy Natry Vairfgvtngvbaf. Natry, Qblyr, Jrfyrl rgp QB orpbzr gung snzvyl sbe ure.
V nyfb guvax fur unf bar bs gur zbfg qenzngvp punenpgre nepf bs nal punenpgre va gur frevrf. Fur fgnegf bhg nf funyybj, frysvfu naq inva, ohg fur orpbzrf fb pnevat naq sbphfrq ba urycvat bguref.
This essay is an excellent analysis of her whole character arc, so again spoiler warnings apply, but it's worth a read: http://eleusis-walks.livejournal.com/16541.html
ALL OF THIS.
Pbeql unf bar bs gur orfg punenpgre nepf bire obgu fubjf. Rira orggre guna rvgure bs gur gvgyr punenpgref.
Cordelia Chase is a flawless human being.
Fur ernyyl pbzrf vagb ure bja ba Natry.
Honestly, I really do agree with you on this. Cordelia is entirely uninteresting, unpleasant, and awful to me while watching this. I never really understood why some people enjoyed her character so much when so much of it is one-note meanness!
Ohg gung bayl nccyvrf gb ure gvzr va 'Ohssl' sbe zr. Bu zl TBQ, V jvyy arire or noyr gb trg bire ubj zhpu V ybir Pbeqryvn va 'Natry', nfxwqunfxwquxwnufq. V whfg — fur'f fb — nuuuu, V ybir ure! V srry nf gubhtu gur jevgref znlor svanyyl fgnegrq gnxvat gung punenpgre qrirybczrag frevbhfyl jura fur punatrq fubjf, be creuncf V jnf whfg svanyyl noyr gb frr ure gur jnl rirelbar ryfr nyjnlf qvq: nf n tbbq-urnegrq crefba jvgu gur evtug vagragvbaf naq n fzneg gbathr, abg na hacyrnfnag vaqvivqhny jvgu yvggyr ryfr tbvat ba jvgu ure.
Anyone else think it's kinda weird that Buffy manouvered those two guys into killing each other? I mean obviously they were hunting a live human so fuck those guys but still little odd.
Rfcrpvnyyl jvgu ubj ure nggvghqr punatrf yngre ba, jvgu Jneera rfcrpvnyyl. Yvxr Rguna Enlar trgf frag gb n fhcre frperg zntvp thl cevfba, gurfr thlf fur trgf gurz gb xvyy rnpu bgure ohg Jneera "jryy jr'ir tbggn yrg gur abezny ynj rasbeprzrag qb gurve wbof rira gubhtu ur cebonoyl hfrq shpxvat zntvp gb trg evq bs nyy rivqrapr."
I AM REALLY EXCITED FOR THE MAYOR. And for Giles and Faith (and kind of Cordelia) because they are wonderful.
I can't wait to see where this all goes with the Mayor, too. I don't think he's a demon? So what is his relationship with demons? Does he report to a big bad, or is he essentially "Mayor of the Hellmouth" as well? I'm leaning toward the latter at this point, but if so, what gives him power over the demons? Who knows? Maybe I'm reading way too much into his character, but based on Snyder's allusions to him, he's got to be deeply involved in the goings-on in Sunnydale…
I also really enjoyed the way Buffy's desire for normalcy is treated. The show's done it before, and I really applaud them for making it okay to want to be popular etc., while also teaching Buffy that she can't forget there IS more to life than that.
What really bugs me in this episode is Cordelia's reversion to her season-1 self, which I found far too sudden and didn't really believe. Over the course of thirty seconds, she lost all of her character growth, and I couldn't help but feel that it only happened for plot convenience and she'll be back to normal next episode. Who knows, maybe Cordelia really hasn't changed that much, but because I like her character so much, I want her to have experienced a lot of change.
…Of course, she WILL experience a lot of change once she finds out about Xander and Willow's actions. UHJSFIUOHSIODJFIOSJDIOFJILSJ WHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. I kind of shipped them in Season 1, but that was before Cordelia got awesome and Oz came in preexistingly awesome. DO NOT WANT, DO NOT LIKE, PLEASE GO AWAY.
And SlayerFest just didn't do it for me.
All in all, not one of my favorites.
I think it's an intentional reversion to season 1 Cordy though. The point is that Cordelia HAS changed, and I don't think she's all that comfortable with it. She's not the queen of Sunnydale High anymore and I think her campaign for homecoming queen is an attempt for her to regain her former status.
I started typing a reply to the above comment before reading yours, and then yours was right under the comment box, and said exactly what I was going to say, so I'll just say "yes, this," and move on, except I've typed way too much already 😉 .
All this talk about not dancing is making me thing of this VERY SPOILERY video
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=angel…
All this talk about not dancing is making me thing of this VERY SPOILERY video
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=angel…
Whoops!!! I meant this link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCYlsFagq_k
Whoops!!! I meant this link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCYlsFagq_k
Never not awesome.
I knew exactly what that was without clicking.
Gur perqvgf bs Fur ner gur orfg cneg bs gung rcvfbqr.
Ordinarily, that would be a cheap way of saying the episode sucked, but it’s actually ~so much more~ than that!
OMG, yes! I can't wait until we get there rira gubhtu gur rcvfbqr vgfrys vf jrveq
yes yes and more yes.
And they bring it back for the credits!
BZT Gung jnf gur orfg cneg bs gung rcvfbqr! Jura V jngpu vg ba LbhGhor, gubhtu, V yvxr guvf irefvba:
uggc://jjj.lbhghor.pbz/jngpu?i=1vDYQaISJDN
Gur cbfgre ercynprq gur zhfvp va gur rcvfbqr jvgu gur "Penml Sebt" fbat, naq V YBIR vg, rira vs gur dhnyvgl vfa'g gung terng naq gur zbirzragf ner fbzrgvzrf n funqr bss.
My, admittedly scattered thoughts:
So in full disclosure, I went to an all girls high school, where we didn't have Homecoming, and there really was no campaign/"running" for Prom Queen – we all just voted for people we thought were best suited. So the whole campaigning for queen is a bit out of my league. I did kinda figure that Buffy and Cordelia would split the vote, although I enjoyed that the other two tied!
The Scott breaking up with her was a bit unexpected (there didn't really seem to be much a build up of Buffy actually being morose around him, especially after the last episode.) I didn't like that they just made him basically a jerk later.
The scene of Willow and Xander getting ready together at her place was just adorable, up until the kiss part, but it gets in the way of my Xander/Cordelia love. I'm too torn to ship on this show! What is going on people! Why when the other two pairs were going so well would you introduce the added Willow and Xander complication!
Giles trolling Willow and Xander will never get old to me.
Cordelia scaring off the Texas vampire was also hilarious. Furthermore, all the advanced "technology" in this episode cracked me up!
The Mayor – we finally get to meet him! His "your hands are dirty" line was so incredibly creepy, even though it seems very innocuous. And now he's trying to recruit vampires to his cause (whatever that cause is).
Gay relationships in TV series from the 90ies? Not gonna happen.
Ernyyl? 'Pnhfr gurer'f n Gnen-funcrq crefba pbzvat nybat arkg frnfba gb punatr nyy gung.
V jnf nffhzvat gurl jrer orvat snprgvbhf. Nyfb, pnaabg jnvg sbe Uhfu. Fbqn znpuvar bs YBIR.
V yvxr gb guvax gur crefba gung jebgr gung jvyy ibenpvbhfyl naq unccvyl rng gur lhzzvrfg pebj bs uvf/ure yvsr. "V jnf jebat! V jnf jebat! Sbe gur ybir bs nyy guvatf tbbq naq ybiryl, V jnf jebat!" UHTRFG FZVYRF RIRE nyy nebhaq.
V pnaabg gryy lbh jung n ybiryl naq zntvpny (nyy chaf vagraqrq) uhzna orvat Gnen ZpYrna unq gb or gb fgrny zl urneg sebz Bm. BM! V pna'g yvr, V purrerq jura Jvyybj pubfr Gnen. Rkgen synzrl? Bu, zl urneg.
V qba'g xabj vs V'yy or noyr gb ernq gur "Frrvat Erq" erivrj. Vg'f whfg gbb gbb zhpu whfg jngpuvat vg, arire zvaq fbzrbar ernqvat n serfu crefcrpgvir jevgvat nobhg vg.
Abg fher jul V jrag jvgu ZpYrna vafgrnq bs Znpynl
Gnen znl whfg or gur zbfg ornhgvshy naq gentvp bs punenpgref ba Ohssl. V nyfb znl birevqragvsl jvgu ure n ovg gbb zhpu sbe ernfbaf.
V yvxrq Bm n ybg, gbb, ohg… jryy, frr, jura V orpnzr n Ohssl sna, V nyfb qvfpbirerq Gur Vagrearg. Naq jura gur Nzrevpnaf tbg nyy frnfbaf n lrne rneyl, V hfrq gb tb bayvar naq whfg ernq gur genafpevcgf. Naq jura V ernq nobhg Jvyybj naq Gnen wbvavat unaqf va Uhfu, zl onoltnl urneg fxvccrq n orng naq gura V onfvpnyyl qvrq sebz fdhrr ng rkgen-synzrl, nf rkgen-purrfl nf gung yvar znl or, ivrjrq bowrpgviryl.
Gunaxshyyl, jura frnfba fvk ebyyrq nebhaq, V dhvpxyl orpnzr irel… havairfgrq va gur fubj, fb V pna fgbznpu gung. V pna, ubjrire, entr nyy bire vg. Naq oryvrir zr, V jvyy bire gung svanyr.
GB OR SNVE, gub, gur sbhegu frnfba qvqa'g ebyy nebhaq gvyy gur arkg qrpnqr.
Nu, ohg Gnen'f vagebqhpgvba va "Uhfu" nverq nf gur ynfg rcvfbqr va 1999 orsber gur arj lrne! Fb vg znl abg unir orra boivbhf gb gur znwbevgl bs gur nhqvrapr whfg lrg, ohg gur jevgref pyrneyl xarj jurer gurl jrer tbvat, naq gurl fyvccrq vg va whfg ng gur jver.
Actually, there was Dawson's Creek. Gay main character who had male love interest and a kiss with a guy the same year this season of Buffy aired. And on the same TV network.
I assume you're being facetious because that is not true. Roseanne had a lesbian secondary character by 1992. Friends had TV's first lesbian wedding in 1996. Ellen had a coming out episode in 1997. Will & Grace started in 1998. Plenty of dramas had gay characters & relationships too, but I'm rather less familiar with those.
I'm not saying anything about the quality of the depictions of gay relationships (I think the fact that I could most easily think of sitcoms and shows with gay women, rather than men, speaks volumes), or how well received they were, but they were there, even on mainstream network TV.
Just a couple more… Homicide: Life on the Street had a bisexual male character come out in about 1998. My So-Called Life had a gay character in 1994. ER had a reoccurring lesbian and a reoccurring male gay character in 1996 (then later a regular – that sounds wrong but I'm just talking about the actor's contract! – lesbian character in 2000).
Elizabeth Mitchell!!
::faints::
me too!!!
No, you’re going to have Faith and Buffy go to homecoming together? Did – did I just start shipping Buffy and Faith?
Um, YES. Yes, Mark, these are the best ideas. I support you in this entirely.
WOULDN’T IT BE COOL IF THEY WENT TO HOMECOMING AND THEN FELL FOR EACH OTHER AND THEN IT WAS PERFECT? Yes good. This is what I want.
There is an alternate universe in which this in fact occurred, and it was the best high school dance episode ever, and then my heart exploded from joy.
I think in the alternate universe they didn't make it to the Homecoming dance. Cordy and Buffy never fought, so it really was Buffy and Faith in the SlayerFest, but they were totally awesome and took out all the bad guys right away because they're badasses like that. And then they just hung out in that cabin for the rest of the night.
And made out a lot.
And possibly did other things. I don't know. I wasn't in the cabin with them.
I never really paid much attention to Scott Hope in previous Buffy viewings because he is Captain Dullpants, but what a shitty reason to dump someone. "Gosh, Buffy, you used to seem so ALIVE, and now you're all distractipated. I think we should break up." No, dumbass, when you're dating someone and their personality changes drastically, the correct response is to ask them what's wrong, and then TALK ABOUT IT.
Well, I mean, to be fair, they didn't exactly date for long. A few weeks, maybe? He doesn't necessarily owe her much more than a polite "no thanks, not anymore."
Naq nyfb, ur'f frpergyl tnl.
While Scott is an incredible douche – I understand that it must be hard to be dating someone with so many secrets. and being too small-minded to want to make an actual effort. Douche.
And poor Buffy – even though they didn't go out for very long, it still sucks to be dumped. And probably to have one of your worst fears realised i.e. the slayer can't date like a normal gal
– Cordelia blunt as ever asking if Scott has asked Buffy to the dance. It's just so perfectly her
– Angel has now managed to acquire a SHIRT! Okay Buffy probably got it for him but it's just fun to joke about his magic clothes-finding powers.
– It's a bad moment for Buffy but I have to lol at the smash cut from her telling Angel about Scott to him dumping her.
– Yay the Mayor! He's just so nice and disarming and yet there's that undercurrent of scariness, the aide's barely contained fear helps to create that feeling.
– lol at the yearbook photos, Cordelia in perfect model pose, WIllow's concerned face and Oz is just…Oz.
– Aww Faith being a good friend and trying to cheer Buffy up by taking her to the dance. also Eliza looks really hot in the work out scene, look I haven't been this shallow in a while. Let me have the moment.
– "You've awoken the Prom Queen within." god help us all.
– "Spiny-headed looking things" hee
– Xander I thought we established last episode that what Willow and Oz do in their relationship is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! And oh crap to the formal wear fluke.
– "As Willow goes, so goes my nation" Oh Oz. One of those details I didn't catch the first however many times: he and Xander bowing their heads in shame as they leave the library with Cordelia.
– I really want the grey dress Buffy wears during the campaign montage. There;s no other thought to go with this, I just think it's really cute.
– Sticking with clothes, I'm never entirely sure about Buffy and Cordelia's Homecoming dresses. The colours are a little too bright for my taste and they're a little too plain, like maybe if there was a pattern somewhere to break up the colour, idk. The styles are really lovely on them though.
– Also I'm pretty sure I saw a guy in a tuxedo t-shirt somewhere in the background.
– Way to cover up the awkwardness Xander and Willow, you're not even really trying, just moping.
– It's mean but Faith messing with Scott and his date is both hilarious and awesome.
– Cordelia's wondering if she actually loves Xander is really sweet, and heartbreaking considering his subplot with WIllow.
– Njjj Ohssl lbh'yy trg lbhe bar zbzrag, lbh'yy unir gb jnvg hagvy gur raq bs gur frnfba ohg lbh'yy trg vg ubarl!
– "Besides, I look cute in a tiara." I don't doubt it.
– So apparently Candy's heart is in her stomach? That spatula was nowhere near her chest and yet…
– "That's an exciting suit" Understatement Mayor.
– "Long story." "Got Hunted." "Apparently not that long." nice callback to Faith, Hope and Trick.
What sort of official functions do you have during school that are similar to prom or homecoming?
The closest we had at my school was the Christmas disco (and possibly an end of year one). It was usually in the afternoon of last day before the holiday, the blinds would be drawn in the Hall (effectively the gymnasium), a few chairs and tables were put out and a local DJ was brought in to play music. I mean at the time it was fun but looking back it was kind of pathetic, everyone was either in normal clothes (yay for non-uniform days) and a couple of people might have worn costumes but it wasn't a formal wear thing.
Its something of a point of pride that I never went to a single school dance, even though we had them like every month (after-school, normal clothes dances) from sixth grade on. The night of our Senior Ball, all but one of my friends (she went) holed up in another friends house and played Mario Kart and ate Chinese food and watermelon for six hours. While I have never been, I understand all the usual tropes and trappings (though I didn't even know our Homecoming Queen and our Homecoming King was an enormous jackass). Especially the awkwardness. I can dance, but the type of dancing at school dances is the mostly the inappropriate bump and grind type that I would be too embarrassed to even try at home alone.
Willow/Xander- Instead of "getting what you wanted in the worst possible way" its "giving you what you wanted in season 1 and you realize you don't want it anymore." Talk about poor timing.
-Everyone needs a Cordelia for a friend. If only to bring up things like that.
-I cannot get this dog metaphor out of my head. The way Buffy is hiding Angel away and bringing him food, how she is talking to him about her day/life, even the way she jumps when he moves suddenly. It all is reminiscent of a kid trying to tame a stray. I am waiting for her to lure him out with a trail of pudding cups.
-All that aside that was a nice moment between the two of them.
-Annnnd, Scott is breaking up with her. I want to call him a jerk but my mom says I do that too much to fictional character. Why would he ask her to the dance if he was thinking about this? And I don't really get his reasoning. She is a less energetic person lately?
-Creeper van.
-Hi Trick!
-Hi Mayor! Why…are you sniffing?
-That is impressive, and creepy, and supernatural?
-As much as I love Cordy, there are some missions she should not be trusted with.
-Oh joy, a homecoming competition, I am so excited. /sarcasm
-Gorch is back! But the Dino Demon is the coolest one there.
-Slayerfest must have been boring in Single Slayer days.
-DNW
-DNW
-Loving the montage though.
-Ugh. Backstabbing and conniving. Joy. /sarcasm
-I have a deep seated hatred for cruelty with words.
-Buffy! Don't you go manipulating Willow!!!!
-Ugh Ugh Ugh Ugh Ugh.
-Hahahahaha, thank you Joss. This looks to be an admirable way for them to sort out their problems.
-Also how does an argument about flowers distract you from the fact you are driving out of town?
-Giles <3
-Giles is the best of weapons.
-Go Cordy, talk that vampire down.
-What do you need the children for Mayor? Are you going to eat them? Or suck out their youth like the Hocus Pocus witches?
hocus pocus reference ftw!
😀
<img src="http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p150/Falcon823/HocusPocusHi.gif">
Yeah, I was also feeling the Buffy/Faith a bit in this. Though probably even more when Faith got so defensive of Buffy and totally messed with Scott. Somehow, that was very aww moment for me. … I have to get my gay ladies shipping subtext from somewhere, folks.
And despite being an American who went to public school with a fairly robust athletics program, the only school dance I went to was my prom. And it wasn't really my prom, because I graduated from high school early, so most people were from the year above me. And also the theme was "Midnight in Morocco" and they had a paper Taj Mahal and played "Arabian Nights" from Aladdin after the prom king and queen were announced. And yes, I am telling this story just to make you wince as much as I am just thinking about it right now.
Naq V nz fcnpvat guvf bhg sebz gur nobir fb vg jba'g or boivbhf ohg – lrf, V xabj V'yy trg vg yngre, ohg vg'f fgvyy yvxr zber guna n frnfba hagvy zl grkghny znva punenpgre tnl eryngvbafuvc
Our prom was supposed to be French-themed. I think it was "A Night in Paris" or something. But then all that ridiculousness with freedom fries and freedom toast and whatnot happened and we ended up actually having a "freedom prom". Despite the theme, it ended up being a pretty awesome night.
I'm glad you enjoyed yours! I wasn't that in to mine, but aside from all the Orientalist/inappropriate things, I am pretty much over it. However, I am now imagining a dance geared toward serving "freedom" fries and "freedom" toast, which sounds like a party I would enjoy.
American here: I also only went to Prom. My date had the flu and spent most of the time we were there throwing up. That's all I remember about it. Actually, it wasn't any worse than I expected — I'm pretty cynical about formal events, especially when they involve teenagers.
Cyhf, rirel gvzr gung Jvyybj tbrf n ovg gbb sne, fur qbrf gung birepbzcrafngvat guvat (yvxr jura Fpbgg jnyxf hc va gur pbyq bcra) gung vf gur zbfg nqbenoyr guvat ba gur cynarg.
Lrnu, gung'f gur zbfg nqbenoyr guvat ba gur cynarg hagvy fur yrneaf nobhg zrzbel nygrengvba naq vg orpbzrf gur zbfg ubeevsvp guvat ba gur cynarg.
Did – did I just start shipping Buffy and Faith?
OMG, I really hope you did. And I bet you can find any fanfic you want about them
Faith's revenge on Scott is probably my favorite part of this episode.
lrnuuuu zl srryvatf nobhg nyy bs gur rneyvre frnfbaf jurer jvyybj vf orvat raqyrffyl phgr ner pbyberq ol ure njshy orunivbe va gur yngre frnfbaf 🙁
Fnzr 🙁 V ybirq phgr Jvyybj va gur rneyl frnfbaf, naq gura fur whfg orpnzr guvf ubeevoyr crefba OHG JNVG AB V pna frr gur frrqf bs ure greevoyrarff evtug urer va gurfr rneyl qnlf bs phgrarff.
nofbyhgryl. gung'f gur jbefg cneg! bapr lbh xabj jung'f tbvat gb unccra, lbh pna frr vg cynva nf qnl, naq vg'f fb qvfurnegravat.
Dear Xander. I am so mad at you! Why did you kiss Willow? Stop it!
Dear Willow. I am so mad at you! Why did you kiss Xander? Stop it!
I’m curious about any Watchers who don’t live in the U.S. What sort of official functions do you have during school that are similar to prom or homecoming?
When I read this I totally thought you meant "Watchers" like people of the same profession as Giles, and thought why would Watcher's have a formal dance? Is this something else Giles wouldn't be invited to? 🙁
Then I realized you were referring to people who follow your blog and felt really dumb.
Now I want a Watcher's Council formal dance fanfic. I think it would involve Giles' past — hmm, maybe right after he comes back into the fold after Eyghon. I think his father, eager to push him back into 'respectability', arranges a hilariously awkward blind date for him. And I suspect that Ethan shows up to crash the party.
I thought EXACTLY the same thing. Feel no shame.
All I want from life is to see a Watcher's formal dance.
Also, Giles in a tux.
Y'know, for…reasons.
Yes. Reasons. Those reasons are very good reasons.
TOTALLY.
LEGITIMATE.
SCIENTIFIC.
REASONS.
You can see the YouTube of the old Gold Blend adverts. At least one of them has Young Giles in a dinner jacket. Well, younger Tony Head, but what the hell.
OH MY GOD THAT WAS HIM???
…IT TOTALLY WAS. HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS???
I'm gonna be stuck on Caps Lock for a while here after this revelation. Clearly I didn't recognise him because he was drinking COFFEE.
BLAHBLAHBLAH whether or not it's a "real thing" prescribed language is still "a thing" that exists and we judge people by so 😛
I know, that's why it makes me so angry. Let me show you my LINGUISTIC MAN!GER.
Nooooooooo!!!!!!
D':
It would've been so beautiful if Queequeg could've made it to the end.
Vg gbbx fb zhpu erfgenvag gb abg cbvag bhg YBBX YBBX VG'F NYYNA NAQ GUR ZNLBE'F GNYXVAT NOBHG UVF SNVGU. Ohg V qvqa'g jnag gb qenj nal xvaq bs nggragvba gb n Znlbe/Snvgu pbaarpgvba ohg orpnhfr lbh erfcbaqrq jvgu guvf V pna tb BZT BZT BZT V jbaqre vs gurl'q unq gung cybggrq ng guvf cbvag be vs vg'f whfg n uhtr pbvapvqrapr.
The handle was wood?
Or maybe Buffy dunked it in holy water?
Like, I know I desperately want to read a gay subtext into everything, but in that one instance, I was like WOULDN’T IT BE COOL IF THEY WENT TO HOMECOMING AND THEN FELL FOR EACH OTHER AND THEN IT WAS PERFECT? Yes good. This is what I want.
Ah, this is the stuff dreams are made of. Well, my dreams, anyway. I WANT IT TOO, MARK.
Ahhh we all want it.
Pbafvqrevat ubj zhpu Znex vf rawblvat Pbeqryvn, ur'f tbvat gb or fhcre rkpvgrq jura ur zrrgf gur Pbeqryvn bs Natry naq jvyy or hggreyl hacercnerq sbe Natry F4 Pbeqryvn, nzvevgr?
Okay, I admit that the first time I watched this episode, and to this day, I make a really weird squelchy-horrified-but-still-shippy sound when Xander and Willow kiss. I don't know what it is about them; no, it shouldn't be going on when they're both dating other people, but I just kind adore Willow + Anyone. Rkprcg Xraarql. Gung eryngvbafuvc arire ernyyl jbexrq sbe zr.
Qvq gung eryngvbafuvc jbex sbe nalbar?
Ubj znal jnlf pna lbh fnl "erobhaq"? :C
Wait, what? I thought fish sticks and fish fingers were the same thing >.<
You are being trolled! Do not listen to the ghost cow!
I am laughing way too hard at this thread right now.
Shh, she'll believe anything I say. I'm AMERICAN. We invented all the things.
*giggle*
My school had about a million dances. We had Homecoming and Spring Fling and Junior Prom and Senior Ball, not to mention pep dances in between. And I went to most of them because I loved dancing and dressing up. I wasn't allowed to go to formal dances when I was a freshman, or to date, but the formal dances were never as much fun as the casual pep dances anyway. Yay, bouncing around with friends and moshing and slow-dancing with that cute guy over there! And the ringing in your ears from the loud music from the time you left until you went to sleep that night.
• I never went to homecoming dances in high school. Skipped the prom, too. And… well, pretty much, if I didn't have to go and I wasn't getting an award or diploma or whatever, I didn't go.
• Never change, Cordelia.
• Wow, dial-up modem.
• Hello, Mr. Mayor.
• "Am I invisible? Can you see me?" Heh. You haven't Marcie Rossed yet, Buffy.
• Okay, Mr. Trick has just become one of my favorite vampires. V'q chg uvz oruvaq Qneyn, naq cer-Pehfu Fcvxr, naq… lrnu, gung'f nobhg vg.
• Willow's too cute in this scene. <3
• "We gotta get out of these clothes!" "Right now!" "I didn't mean…" "Me neither!" Ha.
• "V'z n enovq qbt jub fubhyq or fubg." // "Gung'f Byq Lryyre!" "Knaqre, V ort lbh abg gb uryc zr."
• "Lbhe oenva vfa'g rira pbaarpgrq gb lbhe zbhgu." Dhvgr gur bccbfvgr, nf jr'yy svaq bhg va Rnefubg. 🙂
• Go Faith.
• Looking him up (his voice was familiar because, as it turns out, he's Palpatine on The Clone Wars), Ian Abercrombie died a couple weeks ago. 🙁
• "In the end, Buffy's just the runner-up. I'm the queen. You get me mad, what do you think I'm gonna do to you?" Cordelia wins all the points.
• "Am I invisible? Can you see me?" Heh. You haven't Marcie Rossed yet, Buffy.
Somehow in the… probably three or four… times I have watched this episode I NEVER CAUGHT THAT THIS WAS A CALLBACK. What.
I love this exchange so much. 😀
D:
Sorry, just messing with you.
Fish sticks are when you throw a fish at a wall and you lick off whatever sticks.
That reminds me of the old student adage: if you throw your sock at the wall and it sticks there, it's time to change your socks.
Mark: "all the British Watchers out there…"
Katie: I choose to believe that Mark thinks we're all mini-Gileses sitting around with a cup of tea and a scone while reading the reviews. (which: if there's any actually out there, please report to me promptly)
Umm….I hate to be a stereotype, but I am actually sitting here drinking a cup of tea. 🙂
I don't really like scones, but we do have some in the kitchen I think…
I think I love you 😉
Ask her out for scones and texting, then. She’s already got scones, you’re going to have a hard time topping that.
Ditto, I'm cradling a large mug of tea here.
And am seriously thinking about toast …. and now I'm wishing I had some crumpets in the house.
I'm not drinking tea, but I did just polish my glasses. And if I weren't blind without them, I'm sure I'd take them off occasionally and put the earpiece in my mouth to help me think.
Me, too.
V'z fgvyy znq gung jr arire tbg gur Snvgu/Fcvxr fcvabss fubj gung jnf ehzberq va gur friragu frnfba bs Ohssl
"V'z fgvyy znq gung jr arire tbg gur Snvgu/Fcvxr fcvabss fubj gung jnf ehzberq va gur friragu frnfba bs Ohssl"
Bu zna, V qvqa'g xabj nobhg gung! Gung jbhyq unir ebpxrq fb uneq!
V zrna, vg jnf qrsvavgryl whfg n ehzbe. Gurer'f bar fprar va yngr frnfba frira gung jnf fgnegvat gb rfgnoyvfu gurve eryngvbafuvc naq gel gb trg vg gb unccra. Ohg V guvax gur argjbexf sryg gung gur senapuvfr unq eha vg'f pbhefr.
V gubhtug vg jnf Ryvmn'f qrpvfvba gb tb sbe Geh Pnyyvat.
V oryvrir gur ovttrfg cneg bs vg jnf Ryvmn'f qrpvfvba gb tb ryfrjurer. V'ir frra na vagreivrj sybngvat nebhaq gur vagrearg jurer fur qvfphffrf gung qrpvfvba.
Nyfb, V oryvrir gur JO guerngrarq gb pnapry NgF vs gurl qvqa'g trg Fcvxr.
Htu, lrnu naq gura gurl qvq vg naljnl jvgu jung, 2 zbaguf abgvpr? *entr* Wbffve jnf nyernql jbexvat ba uvf Frnfba 6 cyna ng gung cbvag V guvax…
Lrnu, naq vg nyjnlf frrzrq fb jrveq gb zr. V xabj gurl punatrq gur pbhefr bs gur fubj ol zbivat gb J&U naq xvyyvat bss Pbeql, ohg rira gubhtu V ybir Pbeql svrepryl naq jbhyq unir zvffrq ure sberire, V fgvyy guvax F5 jnf gurve orfg frnfba.
So in Ireland there are no formal school dances. The autumn immediately after final year, it's the last time you're all together before college (unless you live in a big city where there's a lot of schools competing for venues so you get pushed later or earlier in the autumn, I'd already started college by the time of my Debs, and some of my friends who'd gone abroad for college had already left).
There's a fancy sit down dinner and all night dance party called the debs, which I guess stands for debutante ball, but no one ever calls it anything but the debs. It's organised in the school, but by the students and teachers generally don't come, actually I was on my schools debs committee, though I have no idea quite why I volunteered for it, though it did get me a discounted ticket, actually I think that's the only reason anyone volunteers. Anyway it's a big fancy deal, everyone comes over to your house to look at the dress, and we took a limo to the hotel, then it inevitably descends into drunken debauchery, I believe there was a punch up over cocaine in the ladies room, everyone either falls asleep or has sex on a coach home.
Then you never ever have to see most of those people ever again. Which is the best part.
then it inevitably descends into drunken debauchery, I believe there was a punch up over cocaine in the ladies room, everyone either falls asleep or has sex on a coach home.
OMG Ireland is exactly how I imagine it! 🙂 Kidding. Mostly. I wish my prom had had a punch-up over cocaine instead of my dad running a blackjack table.
Oh, the Mayor.
This episode made me love Cordy. I wanted nothing but Cordy. CORDY ALL THE TIME. She really is an intelligent character and everyone tends to stereotype her because she's pretty and popular and rich. Um, guys, she dates Xander pretty sure her popularity card is revoked. Which explains why she wants the crown so bad- that last glimmer of high school glory before she graduates and becomes an "adult". The same thing goes for Buffy- she was pretty and popular and rich and then she became the Slayer and her parents divorced. Things went to hell after that and homecoming queen is so painfully normal.
Xander and Willow. I disapprove. One, Willow and Oz are perfect. Two, I stopped shipping them last season- Xander doesn't deserve Willow as a girlfriend. He never noticed her feelings before and he's with Cordelia!! NO.
All of these are true facts. Cordy isn't Queen C anymore and I totally agree that this is Cordelia trying to grasp at this last bit of high school glory.
And yessss to everything you said about Xander and Willow. STOP MAKING SUCH TERRIBLE CHOICES, YOU TWO.
I love Cordy so much, especially when she's doing something badass. *lovelorn sigh*
On another note, shipping Faith with anything at all is obviously canon. The girl has chemistry with furniture.
And I apologize for the Rickie Martin, but Morgaine's She Bangs really sold me on the Faith/Buffy. Unfortunately, all I can find is this pixellated re-upload: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x80qc_buffy-fait…
oh man, I loved that vid SO MUCH when it came out. Though warning: major spoilers!
My favorite Buffy/Faith songvid of all time is probably "Superstar. Though Come On by Here's Luck is a close second. [both massively spoilery]
Yes, I forgot to say spoilers, sorry! (Though with vids, that's pretty much a given.)
Thanks for the tips, I'm not sure I've seen those other vids. I'll check them out!
Even if Xander’s jokes are terrible most of the time, I don’t think I’d like him as much if they were good. That’s his appeal to me. He wouldn’t be Xander if he didn’t try too hard, or if he didn’t read the dynamics of a situation properly to discern if maybe he shouldn’t make a joke.
This is one reason I identify so much with Xander, I think. Because I'm that guy who's always searching the conversation for an opportunity to insert a witty remark and, like you said, also checking myself to ensure it's not an inappropriate time to make a joke. Sometimes Xander's jokes themselves are inappropriate, but they come from a desire to get a laugh, to entertain, both to bring other people joy and to feel good about having brought about said joy. I think that's what draws me to Xander, the idea of humor to assuage one's own insecurity.
"I think that's what draws me to Xander, the idea of humor to assuage one's own insecurity. "
I know sometimes I see some of Xander in my boyfriend. When I'm upset, or when we're having a serious discussion, he often tries to crack jokes to cut the tension. Sometimes this is helpful, and sometimes it is like "No, not the time, NOT THE TIME FOR THIS." But I can appreciate that it comes from a good-intentioned place.
Nothing bugs me more than dudes who make jokes out of everything and use that to avoid actually talking about stuff. (Well, that's not true, a lot of things bug me more than that. Like homophobia. The lack of a universal health care system in the US. And also smoking. /snyder)
It sucks because my last boyfriend, one of the reasons I was attracted to him was BECAUSE he made me laugh so much, but then he turned out to be very avoidant of any sort of conflict or problem, and eventually rather than work on the problems in our relationship he chose to end it. Over e-mail. Of course. Because he couldn't actually face breaking up with me in person.
I think it's a very fine line between appropriate and inappropriate joking sometimes; and especially with people you don't know that well it can be really difficult to gauge when a or which joke is gonna be well-received. And also a good example for general vs. specific-ness, as in, I joke about things with my BFFs that I'd probably not joke about here.
Also boo for your ex *sympathy fistbump*. Avoidance during breakups can be the worst, if only because it deprives you of some sense of closure, if that makes sense.
My ex was out of town when I found out he was two-timing me and because he wasn't living here, he just chose not to reply to my emails or to, well, come back to Munich.
Ugh, that SUCKS. What a jerk. I hate people who think just ending all communication is an acceptable way to break up with someone. Like, at least have a smidgen of respect for this person you supposedly cared about.
I am STILL dealing with my lack of closure from the end of that relationship, and it was TWO YEARS AGO. The part that gets me is the fact that he never once contacted me after our breakup, even though we had been good friends before dating. Like… did my friendship mean that little to him? But I know there's no answer he could give that would make anything better.
*all the hugs* Jerks, the whole lot of them.
Thankfully, we were only dating for about three months after, uh, a drunk meeting, but I have a tendency to fall hard when I fall (and he was my first ex, to boot, so basically I had all the emotional stupidity of an average teenager there), so it really hit me hard. Feeling like you're just used for free board&food is not pleasant.
But! GOOD THOUGHTS – it basically reaffirmed that my BFF really is my BFF because even though she had a little fucking revolution going on in her country, she was the best support I could hope for. (As a matter of fact, that whole mess went down in the week where Egypt was cut off from the net, so when she came back it was almost literally me going "OMG ARE YOU OKAY ARE YOU ALIVE I NEED TO TALK TO YOU")
I AM THIS SOMETIMES.
Especially with people I went to University with. They seem to tire less easily of me (probably because we only see each other a few times a year now), so I'm on full alert for chances to make witty remarks or put-downs. It's actually quite tiring, and sometimes I feel like I should stop…
I can identify with Xander, because if I'd not been quite so shy at school, I'd have been like that. I pretty much wanted to be like that.
These days I make wholely inappropriate jokes often.
These days I make wholely inappropriate jokes often.
I resemble that remark.
Judging by your comments here, you are great at inserting witty remarks into conversations! Though I know it's different on the internet, when you can think about the joke beforehand.
I'm always ridiculously proud when I can make people laugh, because in middle school someone (my "boyfriend" at the time) told me I wasn't funny, and I was like WHAT DO YOU MEAN I AM HILARIOUS. I've been a bit insecure about that ever since. I mean, there are more important things to be than funny sometimes, but it's nice to be funny too.
I actually had the exact opposite experience in high school. I had personally branded myself as "quirky" because I didn't feel that my humor really aligned with anyone else's. When people laughed when I said or did things, I thought it was just people thinking, "oh Jes, you're so weird." Then senior year I saw that I had been nominated as class clown in drama club and I made an offhand comment to one of the officers like, "I got nominated?" And she said, with a very sincere emphasis, "Yeah, you're like… really funny."
I dunno, I think if I was that funny I would have had more friends? That's kinda how I thought high school worked. Can one be funny, but too socially awkward to befriend? Except I don't think I'm very socially awkward, but my current friends have told me that I most certainly am awkward, so I suppose the lesson I've learned is that perception of self can be VERY different from society's.
Anyways, notemily you are most definitely a witty commenter and I look forward to your posts 🙂
THE MAYOR IS THE GREATEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN, Y/Y?
He is indeed entertaining to watch.
SNYFR. NALN VF.
I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY FOUND HIM. But they should have put him back where they got him. Maybe it was the uncle of someone on the junior class council or something because IDEK.
I was also really annoyed because when I was a junior and it was our turn to plan the prom, WE HIRED A STRING QUARTET FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT. Why couldn't the class of 2007 done something like that? WHY DID THEY GO FOR THE MIME?
UGH.
maybe he was really cheap? Especially if he was someone's uncle. LAZY PROM PLANNERS
CF:
Lnl, whfg LNL sbe gur erfg bs guvf jrrx.
Onaq Pnaql, Eriryngvbaf, naq Ybiref Jnyx?? Fb sha.
At my school, in Berlin, Germany, we have a ball when we graduate, which is very formal with a banquet and formal dancing and the parents attend and everything, as well as the teachers, but we also have a graduation party which is students-only, which is usually held in a nightclub and not in a proper ballroom. We have three levels of high-school, and mine’s the highest, a Gymnasium, so I don’t know about the other types.
At my exchange school in the north of England, which was an all-girls school, the graduating class held a formal ball and the year 12s were invited, so they actually have two balls in their school career. But there we also had socials with the local boys’ schools, and they were more like normal parties.
In completely unrelated news, FUFFY FOREVER!!! <3
This is always an episode I forget about. I have no idea why, it's so much fun!
Oo oo I love the way The Mayor is introduced even after watching it so many times there is… something about the way he's introduced that hold attention (could be the ellipsis?).
I think it's the fact that they take a long time to show his face.
Warning in advance, I will be drinking mulled cider while I watch this episode so I may stop making sense half way through or lose all ability to type :).
– I love you Cordelia. Sometimes you really need someone who doesn't skirt around an issue and just says what everyone's actually thinking.
– Scott really is bland (zber fb guna Evyrl jub V npghnyyl yvxr), ng yrnfg ur'f orggre guna gur znffvir wrex gung vf Cnexre gubhtu. Va nyy bs Ohssl uvz naq Jneera ner cebonoyl gur bayl punenpgref V pbzcyrgryl ungr, Jneera zber fb guna Cnexre bs pbhefr.
– It seems that Angel forgot how to work buttons when he ended up in that hell dimension :).
– I can understand Buffy's motivation for keeping Angel secret but surely it's better for someone to hear it from her than to find out about it some other way?
– Goodbye Scott, I can't say I'll miss you. He does kind of have a point though, in regards to her being distracted and not herself.
– Oh dial up, I can't say I miss you either.
– Mixing the supernatural and technology is always fun, although it usually gets dated pretty quickly.
– THE MAYOR. Now we can finally talk about him properly without having to hint or use rot13 all the time. Excellent.
– ('Lbh unir nyy zl snvgu.' Onunununun. V jbaqre vs gung jnf qryvorengr jbeqvat.)
– Stop being creepy Xander, get over it already.
– More of the lesbian subtext. Go with Faith Buffy, you know you want to.
– Poor Buffy. It's back to the fear of being forgotten again.
– If I haven't said it before I really like Trick. Pragmatic and savvy vampires are always my favourite over the more traditional melodramatic type.
– Alyson Hannigan looks flipping gorgeous in that dress. Nicholas Brendon looks pretty good too but Xander's annoying me at the moment so I say that grudgingly.
– Noooo, don't do it you two. Think of Oz and Cordy.
– I feel like this kind of had to happen to put the 'what might have been' behind them but it still makes me sad every time. I'm not one of those people who ever shipped Xander and Willow.
– I'm so glad that all of this prom queen stuff was never a serious thing when I was at school, not that I would have taken much notice of it even if it was.
– How does the bones as weapons thing work? Do they regrow afterwards or do you have to use other limbs?
– Wbanguna!!!
– I know that Cordy was harsh but calling her a 'vapid whore' seems a bit too harsh for Buffy. Plus I'm not a big fan of the word 'whore' on the whole.
– STOP THAT! Bad Willow and Xander!
– Green is a really good colour on Charisma, not that she doesn't look great most of the time.
– 'Are those finger sandwiches?' I love you and your odd sense of humour Giles. There isn't nearly enough of him in this episode.
– (V ernyyl ybir Pbeql'f punenpgre qrirybczrag. Va guvf fur'f greevsvrq ohg ol gur guveq frevrf bs Natry fur'f n pbzcyrgr onqnff va ure bja evtug.)
– I think Buffy was so focused on winning because she wanted to feel like she could actually control something for once. She has control when she's slaying but for the rest of her life she's as helpless as the rest of us, which she isn't used to.
– And Giles is unconscious again. It's almost a running joke by this point.
– Pbeql'f fcrrpu vf cresrpg. V ybir ubj fur onfvpnyyl znantrf gb cflpu uvz bhg. (Vg'f n terng fvta bs guvatf gb pbzr.)
– I wonder how old Trick actually is. He seems like he might be relatively young for a vampire but it's never really stated.
– Cordy clearly shares the same gift for brevity as Oz.
Well I managed to make sense until the end of the episode, hopefully. This is a fun episode, although it doesn't have enough Giles in it for me and the Willow and Xander thing always worries me. I like how it puts some focus on Cordelia for once and gives her some great character development.
On the subject of proms my school had a leaver's ball in year 11 (when I was 16) and another one after A levels (when I was almost 18) and that was about it. They were both fun in different ways, although the second one was slightly angsty in that the boy I really wanted to dance with seemed to be ignoring me. I don't know, that seemed important at the time. In the end I danced with a lovely guy who went on to do a physics degree and has excellent music taste instead, who I now realise I probably should have jumped on while I had the chance. Oh well, benefit of hindsight and all that :). All in all I don't miss being a teenager.
About your question to non-US watchers (Swiss here): We had nothing like homecoming or formals or whatever you guys have. In my 9 years of mandatory school and five years of gymnasium the only thing we ever had that was organized by the school was the graduation party at the very end but that was pretty much just showing up dressed nicely, waiting until your name is called, getting you diploma and leaving…
If we wanted a dance or a party we had to organize it ourselves and it was usually at someone's home and not open to everybody. So whether you were invited or not showed how popular you were.
Needless to say I was always mystified when I watched American movies, and that was a lot as I grew up in the 80s and saw a lot of high school movies. I could never understand what the big deal was and why a lot of movies dedicated half of the plot to the homecoming or other dances. I always had to laugh when the biggest part of a movie was about who would become homecoming queen or king.
It's complicated, the whole 'end of school year' thing. In the UK, all throughout primary school we'd have discos to celebrate the end of school in the summer. In secondary school we were given nothing because we like adults now, and we had put away childish things like discos. In year 11 we got a prom at my all girl's school that was formally arranged by our head girl. My friends and I all partnered up as each other's dates and ended up watching Wimbledon and QI. I have never been more bored.
The characters with a relatively small part in this episodes but the best scenes are arguably Faith and Giles. They are also the two out of the shipping right now.
~Truthfully, I did see Faith and Buffy subtext, and I firmly decided to stop looking for ships, as my last one ended in death. If I started shipping them, you all better kiss a slayer goodbye because someone is going to die. XP
They are cooler than Buffy/Scott and Buffy/AngelTruthfully, I am a lot more lenient shipper than I used to be, so I am more ambivalent with the ships. Whatever happens, as long as someone doesn't die at the end, I will be okay. I am much more concerned about the Mayor. We finally get to meet him, and he gives me Ted flashbacks! I want to know what his deal is now, and what he has planned! In a way, he is more dangerous than the vampires because he is part of the legal system.
Okay, so it's taken me until the 5th episode of season 3 to finally post. I said over on MW way back when you were reading HDM that I couldn't wait until you got to Buffy, and I've been watching along the whole way! Honest! I bought the DVDs a few months in advance and everything! (I'm also waaaaay behind in LOTR, but that's another story)…
As a mid-twenties British person (I refuse to call myself a 'Brit'; this isn't a fucking Hugh Grant film), I felt the need to answer your question on what kind of official functions we had here when I was at high school.
Pretty much nothing is the answer. I remember there were annual 'discos', but I never went to one, and neither did anyone I was friends with really. I don't think many people did to be honest, apart from a few who wanted to be drunk at the age of 15. I'm sure that was fun. You've got to remember that for many people in the UK, high school ends at 16. You stay on afterwards only if you go for 'higher education', which for me was A-Levels. The high school I was at didn't go past 16, so I went to a different 'sixth-form' centre for the last 2 years of my school life (which was great; in the centre of town, and everyone who was there wanted to be there). Therefore I don't think there's the same kind of feeling of passing into adulthood towards the end of high school that may happen in the US.
We did have a 'dinner dance' organised at the end of high school (most people were 16) and sixth-form (most people were 18 – we were allowed to drink), which I went to both. The first one was pretty pointless, but the second one was fun. At high school, the dinner dance was seen as a kind of nerdy thing, so most people who went were people I liked. By sixth form, I liked everyone there anyway.
I understand that there's a growing trend towards 'proms' now in the UK that's happened since I left school, which actually makes me sad. The bitter mid-twenty in me finds the idea quite ridiculous; it seems to be spoilt teens obsessed with awful celebrity-centred TV shows that push for these things, and I just don't think it's part of our identity as a country. Like with Hallowe'en; that was absolutely nothing when I was a child. I've never been trick or treating, and barely know anyone who did (I have however used it as an excuse for a party as an adult – I like parties). Am I possibly a bit jealous? Maybe, but I don't think I'd have gone either.
Like others have said, I often hope the social make-up of US schools that I see on TV are hugely exaggerated. I honestly think there's a lot to be said for school uniform, like most schools have in the UK; it puts people on a level playing field every day. There's less bullying for dressing in a certain way, or not wearing the 'right' things.
OLD MAN RANT OVER.
"I often hope the social make-up of US schools that I see on TV are hugely exaggerated."
In my experience, this is only true for about 80% of US schools. Possibly (most likely) less.
This episode was so fun!
-Oof I knew Buffy/Scott wouldn't last long, but right after she told angel she had somebody else.
-What is this? What is going on?
-Is that the Mayor? Ooh! Mr. Trick! I didn't know if we'd be seing him again, well at least so soon
-Ahh I guess this is the mayor…hmm I was expecting something a little more President Snow
-Um…I"m super excited about awakening the prom queen within actually.
-Is he a Stegosaurus?
-Oh god I though I was excited before. But Buffy vs. Cordy and a bad guy hunting game? I hope I can handle this
-Cousin Rigsby? In my head Xander and Wayne Rigsby from the Mentalist are now cousins.
-Their parents are ok with the co-ed changing?
-AaHH! I don't know how to feel about this
-They combined the competition montages! It's so perfect I could cry
-He's the limo driver! I was thinking they'd be the guys that Faith and BUffy picked up, but Buffy and Cordy are going to have to work together to beat the bad guys!
-In their pretty dresses!
-It was supposed to be Faith! My glee has just turned into fear. Gleeful fear? Fearful glee?
-The video has a title screen for SLayerfest.
-Omg Giles your sense of humor! FInger Sandwiches!
-Cordy is adorable with the spatula
-Ok I'm getting a creepy vibe from the mayor now. Just why does he need children so badly?
-Solid. That's exactly how I would want to be described as someone's SO (although I definitely know why Buffy wants someone solid, it's just… not exactly a very attractive quality).
-LOL Dial-up sounds.
-Ooooh, Mysterious Mayor finally appears on screen!!! Forgot how many firsts were in this episode. "Dirt, and germs, and mayonnaise." LOL he's hilarious.
-Xander, that face will never be attractive.
-True facts: I bought the Sunnydale High yearbook, still own it, and it is awesome.
-Buffy and Faith going to Homecoming together… yeah, okay 🙂 Oh, right, to use studs… okay I suppose…
-Cordelia campaigning for Homecoming Queen is always going to be hilarious.
-YAY Buffy and Cordelia competing (not over a guy even more yay!!)
-How did Trick know Buffy and Faith would both be going to Homecoming?
-"None of your business" YES, PERFECT RESPONSE. Xander's answer? Not so much.
-Oh, no 🙁 Formal wear 🙁 🙁 🙁 I would have been all for Xander and Willow but OZ! and CORDELIA! JUST STOP
-"As Willow goes, so goes my nation." Hilarious, but still should have stuck with Buffy 🙁 Although the fact that it led to her breaking the water bottle is almost worth it 🙂
-Buffy's campaign is pretty clever not gonna lie. Although the dude with the chocolate muffin needs a napkin SO BAD.
-JONATHAN!!
-Cordelia, you DO NOT insult Joyce
-Buffy, please don't call her a whore 🙁
-'What are we gonna do?" Gee, I don't know, think about your awesome boy/girlfriend??
-LOL Giles making a joke (except it's not a joke you don't know yet).
-LOL ILU Faith
-Awww, Giles, wanting to be there for Buffy… whatever happens. Why so perfect? More importantly, why so fictional?
-Cordelia saying she thinks she loves Xander in THIS episode… Joss hates good timing.
-Inappropriately timed bonding… so sweet. But seriously, maybe focus on the getting hunted thing. Also, does anyone put a corsage on their back like Buffy did???
-Cordelia fighting with a spatula. Priceless.
-Giles Knock Out Count up to 12.5 and I'd say the Gorch's definitely made up for the lack of head trauma in the last episode. That bump looks nasty 🙁
-What spatula is made of wood?
-Cordelia talking her way out of a fight-I LOVE HER SO MUCH
-Way to outsmart the computer, Buff 🙂
-Ugh, totally should have been Buffy and Cordelia. Still, at least it wasn't what you would expect. And them walking away in disgust was awesome.
So, this whole stream of consciousness thing proves I have way too many thoughts lol, but I liked it 🙂 Also, when I was reading this review, I definitely got confused when you asked about Watchers, Mark, because my mind definitely went straight to Giles-type Watchers, and I could not figure out why you thought they had dances (my brain is clearly a little fried from class).
"-How did Trick know Buffy and Faith would both be going to Homecoming?"
He was eaves-dropping on Buffy's conversation at one point where Buffy said that the Limo would be picking up Faith, then herself.
My school's homecoming was always a bit sketchy. For some reason, we voted on individuals, but whenever it came for the results, the two that won were always one of the pairs that had been forced together through randomnicity. I was not of a good social standing, being in a group that prided ourselves in friendly coherent manners, rather than looks. One of my friends, who overlapped in popular groups through choir, got accidently elected to homecoming court due to saying, "It'd be hilarious if I was on Homecoming court," approximately ten minutes before voting.
Needless to say the upper popularity bubble was not very happy. Neither was her partner. But the under appreciated students in school banded together and voted for her… but we still lost our chance to not elect the typical Homecoming Queen, because everyone voted for the atypical King as well, and he and his Queen won. So much for trying to have one of those teen comedy movie moments.
I really enjoy this episode. It's got so many moments of comedy gold, so many quotable lines, and we finally get to meet the MAYOR!
And Mark, I love that you are mixing your references between the Buffy reviews and the LotR reviews! I'm going to start using some of your exclamations in regular conversation- "I swear to Gandalf" is a great one.
Lol. Xander and Willow.
Fb sevttva njxjneq. Erjngpuvat gur gjb bs gurz syvegvat, nsgre univat frra gur jubyr fubj, whfg…yby.
Htu V xabj. V yvgrenyyl pna'g rira jngpu vg. V unir gb fuvryq zl rlrf.
Yaaaaay! A mostly fun episode that doesn't make me [too] unhappy!
-Oh man, Angel's face when Buffy mentions Giles. I feel really bad for him actually.
-Holy awkward everything about this conversation.
-Uh, okay Scott. On an unrelated note, I really love Buffy's top. It's really cute. However, the matching shoes and purse make for way too much pink.
-YES! We finally get to meet the Mayor! I've been waiting so long for us to get to this.
-Oh dear, poor Willow. I remember the days of yearbook pics. My parents never bothered buying prints because they knew they'd come out looking like crap.
-It's okay Buffy, if I was your teacher I would definitely write you a letter of recommendation.
-Nooo, don't fight Buffy and Cordelia! I don't like my characters fighting.
-Also siiiigh, I tend to get bored with prom queen/homecoming drama. I never cared about that in high school and it wasn't really a big deal.
-Oh hey it's the other Gorch brother!
-I am just in love with Trick in this scene and his "spiny looking head things" comment.
-As much as Xander annoys me sometimes, I think it's cute that he and Willow are comfortable enough with each other that they don't feel weird getting dressed in the same room.
-Uhoh. No. Nonono. Don't you two be flirting with each other! Oz and Cordelia, remember??
-Nooooooooooo! NO KISSING! STOP IT! YOU TWO ARE BOTH INVOLVED WITH SOMEONE AND IT'S ADORABLE PLEASE STOP.
-Buffy, you've really gone all out with the dry erase board and all. It's a bit…over the top?
-”Almost friends” hey! Cordelia is awesome, shush you.
-Um Buffy. You're beginning to frighten me just a little.
-Yay, montage time!
-Aaawww, Willow. That tiny little “okay' is cute.
-Whoa, Cordelia, do not go for taunting the fact that Buffy's parents split up!
-BUFFY DO NOT CALL CORDELIA A WHORE.
-Can everyone stop fighting and please Willow and Xander stop doing this it hurts me.
-Aaaaaww, Oz wrote a song for Willow! …….Fuck, that just makes the fluking even more painful! Oz wrote you a song and you cheated on him 🙁
-Cordy, I don't think they care if you're a slayer or not. I'm pretty sure they're just as willing to kill you either way.
-Aaaawww, you're cute when you're fretting over Xander……who cheated on you, GOD I HATE THIS.
-”He kinda grows on you like, a chia pet” I love this entire scene between Buffy and Cordelia. Also, SPATULA.
-GILES! NO! Don't hurt Giles.
-Oh my god, Cordelia, you are awesome. I love you. Please verbally intimidate villains like that every single day. It would really add something meaningful and beautiful to my existence.
-THAT WAS GENIUS! Good thinking, Buffy!
-And now we have the mysterious Mayor teaming up with Trick. Excellent.
Not much else to say here other than: WILLOW PLEASE STOP FLUKING WITH XANDER.
I'm a former teacher in England. When I left school in the 70s there was nothing. No dance or prom or anything. The "Old Pupils" had a dance at Christmas in the school hall with teachers present – the one time we went my friend was told off for sitting on her boyfriend's lap.
The whole "Prom" thing has seeped into schools over the last decade or so, but it's more often a Y11 (16-year-old) thing. Schools with sixth forms often have a Leavers' Ball, in evening dress at a posh hotel, with booze because they are all 18 in theory by then. Apart from that there may be discos organised by older pupils for younger ones, or parties organised by a sixth form committee, usually held in a pub or a hall or suchlike. The teachers stay well out of it, if only to avoid being expected to take legal responsibility.
This whole popularity contest thing freaks me out – it seems gross and almost abusive. The "cool crowd" have quite enough advantages in school life without being offered another official trophy scalp. We do have a rugby match with our rival school across town, but it's only that – no dance or cheerleaders. ::shudder:: (By "we" I mean the school where I taught for 17 years till last summer.)
The Homecoming thing, therefore, really bemused me when I first saw this episode, especially the idea of the school sanctioning campaigning on its premises. I loved the ending, with neither of our girls winning, for all their campaigning; I felt it was saying something about what really matters.
There are some wonderful moments in this ep: Cordy with the spatula never gets old. Willow/Xander is upsetting in its own way, especially when both Oz and Cordy are at their awesome best.
And the Mayor just freaks me out. Wonderful performance from teh word go.
Every single Xander/Willow aspect of this episode just has me cringing beyond belief. :/ Infidelity is a huge personal trigger to me, and the fact that the both of them are doing this when they're both in such lovely relationships? Makes me feel prickly and wrong. 🙁
Other than that, though, I *adore* this episode! It's full of so many wonderful character moments, a compelling plot, and a twist at the end that has me clutching my sides with mirth. Yay!
– Two mind-blowing things happen in this episode: Xander/Willow kiss, and WE MEET THE MAYOR. I remember when I first watched this episode, during my Summer of Buffy when it aired twice a day on FX. I was always kind of a seekrit Xander/Willow shipper, so when they finally kissed, I squealed and flailed a lot. Like, A LOT. Then, I made sure to tape the re-run (LOL REMEMBER TAPE) so I could watch that moment over… and over… and over. Yeah I was kind of obsessed.
It's not that I dislike Willow/Oz or Xander/Cordelia. I'm an equal-opportunity shipper. While I don't think it was a great IDEA for Willow and Xander to get together in this episode, it still filled me with shipping glee. Sort of like Buffy and Spike–I know Buffy wouldn't date a vamp who thinks nothing of killing a dude just for the convenience (as in "hang on, just let me kill this guy" from Becoming II), but I STILL SHIP THEM SO HARD.
[Naq lrf, V xabj gung Ohssl naq Fcvxr qb qngr yngre, ohg ng yrnfg ng gung cbvag ur'f abg pnfhnyyl zheqrevat crbcyr. Naq Ohssl unf punatrq n ybg ol gura. F3-Ohssl jbhyq abg qngr F3-Fcvxr, vf jung V'z fnlvat.]
– "It is our last homecoming." No it's not Willow, the point of "homecoming" is the alumni come back. Does nobody do that anymore? I did, but it was kind of weird.
– "Sure, I do… if you want to." Scott and Buffy's relationship is made of awkward. Especially since she then leaves to hang out with Angel.
– Aw, Angel feels bad about what he did to Giles.
– BUFFY IS STILL WEARING ANGEL'S JACKET
– Yeah fuck you, Scott Hope. I mean, I get where he's coming from I suppose, but… fuck you, Scott Hope.
– Shady dudes in a van watching Buffy!
– MAYOR. RICHARD. WILKINS. Harry Groener is fan-fucking-tastic in this role.
– I love the yearbook pictures! Xander's cheesetastic face, Willow's "huh?" face and Oz's deadpan expression. Can a face be deadpan? Because if so, Oz has that face.
– It sucks that Buffy doesn't get a pic in the yearbook, though. And then the teacher doesn't remember her. I get why she's feeling alienated and really "needs" the whole Homecoming Queen thing, but it's still kind of preposterous. Buffy is better than this. Remember in season one, when she was nostalgically thinking about her old school and how she won those kinds of contests? And now her life was so different but that was okay? Why this sudden need for meaningless titles?
– Do seniors not get Senior Pages in this school? Is this a regional thing? Maybe it's a small-school thing. At both my college and my high school, seniors got a page to themselves where they could put whatever they wanted. A collage or whatever. Or a big picture? Senior pictures are kind of a big deal, right? People pose with special backgrounds and get their hair done and stuff.
(con't)
– Ladies, gentlemen, spiny-headed-lookin' creatures…
– EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
– Here's the thing. I have BEEN Willow and Xander. I have cheated on a teenage boyfriend. It was a stupid thing to do, but I know all about the rush of hormones that overrides all logic and existing relationships. I don't love that I DID that, but I still kind of love watching it. It's so accurate.
– See, now Buffy is making charts and graphs about this homecoming thing. Why would she do that? WHY? GET SOME PERSPECTIVE, BUFFY. YOU USED TO BE AWESOMER THAN THIS.
– "As Willow goes, so goes my nation." I love you Oz.
– OMG. FASTBALL! Remember them??
– I continue to hate Buffy's bleached bangs. Just getting that out there.
– Jonathan!
– "Two of them. Unlike some people." What the fuck, Cordelia.
– XANDER AND WILLOOOOOOOW ajklfsd;afklslksda my feelings on them not being jerks to their significant others are clashing with MY SHIPPY FEELINGS
– Cordelia's homecoming dress is gorgeous. Not a fan of Buffy's dress color though.
– "I took the orchid." As you should, Cordy.
– MR. TRICK MADE A LITTLE SLAYERFEST GRAPHIC. Well, he probably has People to do that sort of thing, but it's still hilarious. I can just imagine him sitting there fiddling with fonts until it looks exactly right.
– I love Faith being loyal to Buffy by ruining Scott's night. LOVE. Because FUCK SCOTT HOPE, I mean seriously.
– Why is Buffy wearing her corsage stuck to her back?
– Aw, Cordelia loves Xander. I'd say she deserves better, but she has been horrible this episode.
– But her delivery on "And hey, it's working! Where's a damn weapon?" endears me to her again. Oh Cordelia. I can't stay mad at you.
– I like Buffy improvising a weapon with the antlers hanging on the wall.
– Jumping through a window would fucking hurt and they'd be bloody all over.
– NOOOO GILES
– Hey, the spatula becomes an actual weapon!
– Cordelia defeats the last vampire dude WITH BLUFFING. Awesome.
– LOL they get the guys to shoot each other.
– Hahaha, the Mayor has Trick dragged out of the house by policemen so he can HIRE HIM.
– "Moist towelette?"
– I love that everyone was so sick of Buffy and Cordy's shit that they voted for the other girls. I also like the guy holding the tiara over each of their heads in turn. FUN TIMES.
[BZT nsgre ernqvat Znex'f ybir sbe Pbeqryvn naq uvf qrfver sbe zber punenpgre qrirybczrag sbe ure, V pna'g JNVG sbe uvz gb frr ure ba Natry.]
Here's the thing. I have BEEN Willow and Xander. I have cheated on a teenage boyfriend. It was a stupid thing to do, but I know all about the rush of hormones that overrides all logic and existing relationships. I don't love that I DID that, but I still kind of love watching it. It's so accurate.
For a while, I had an at-camp boyfriend and an at-home boyfriend. I wish people didn't treat high school relationships like such serious business. Dating at that age should be fun. No one expects you to get married and stay together forever. I mean, some people do, but it's the exception rather than the rule.
"It is our last homecoming." No it's not Willow, the point of "homecoming" is the alumni come back. Does nobody do that anymore? I did, but it was kind of weird.
OK, so I am 33 and American, and I didn't even know that was why it's called "homecoming" until today. I thought it had to do with the football team playing a home game. If my high school wasn't on the same street as my parents' house, I would never, ever want to go back there for any reason.
Do seniors not get Senior Pages in this school? Is this a regional thing? Maybe it's a small-school thing.
I've never heard of it, but then there were over 300 of us in my graduating class.
A whole page? It's got to be a small school thing. With approximately 300 seniors in my high school graduating class, we each got 1/8 of a page, I think, though it did include some space for text below the picture.
…Which is still a LOT more than the other years got – they got maybe, oh, 1/25, 1/30 of a page? With just the picture and their name.
Where I live in Australia we only have one dance in year 12 (the final year of compulsory school) when everybody is around 17. It's called the Formal and that pretty much completely describes it, it's very formal. Parents come and we had to learn specific dances beforehand and we got 'presented' on a stage and there was lots of professional photography taken. Also we didn't really have 'dates' most people just went with their friends. We did get paired up to be presented though, and since there were more guys than girls in my year some guys had to walk together. They were supposed to walk with their hands behind their backs like waiters, but being teenage boys most of them instead opted for walking with linked arms, making one of them 'the girl'.
Also we never had a 'prom queen' or anything like that, our popularity contests came in the form of School Captains and Rugby Captain. Out school took it's Rugby very seriously.
As for this episode…NO WILLOW AND XANDER WHAT ARE YOU DOING WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?!? I love Willow/Oz and Xander/Cordelia, why must all good things be ruined!
Huh. Our school had a year 10 formal and a year 12 formal. They weren't quite as… well, formal as what you described.
We got awards and things, like 'most popular' or 'most likely to X'. There were photos, but there was nothing with specific dances.
For the Year 12 one, the parents came to the dinner part of it, then left for the rest, and we basically just danced however we chose.
I went solo to both of them – actually got jokingly applauded by some of the guys for coming in through a side entrance alone to the Year Ten one, 'cos it was like I was sneaking in.
Year Twelve one I have mixed feelings about. Some of it was nice. I got a 'Most Secretly Admired' award. Find myself thinking 'gee, guys, you could have made it unsecret and actually been friends with me a bit more.'
Besides, one of the guys opted to drop money in my handbag, right in front of me, and tell me to my face he was going to accuse me of stealing it. Oh, the fun of high school!
Well I did go to a private catholic school, so everything we did was quite formal. What you're describing sounds more like what my friend who went to a public school experienced.
We did have a big after party afterwards but my friends and I didn't want to go because we didn't drink, so after the Formal I slept over at a friends house and we had a Buffy and Angel marathon. Much better use of time in my opinion!
Don't often leave a comment, but this time I will, just because of the school functions question. Dances aren't really a part of Norwegian High School tradition, nor are graduation ceremonies and other things that pop up as traditions in American High School shows – we only really have one tradition, this one (it's insane, it's most probably immoral, wouldn't work in any other country, but it's so much fun to be a part of):
Please don't use "insane" on this site.
Loved it when Faith went up to Scott at the dance and told him the doctor wanted him to use the ointment! lol! Faith rules!
This isn't one of my favorite eps ever, but it does have a lot of great zingers (Vapid whore!) and some interesting developments for the overall seasonal arc (what is the Mayor up to?). And who can't love Giles getting to be funny?
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Nyfb, Onaq Pnaql vf arire abg njrfbzr. Tvyrf naq Wblpr nyjnlf znxr zl qnl jurarire V jngpu vg.
I am loving Mr. Trick. I have high hopes for the rest of the season!
I went to an International School in South East Asia. We had school dances every now and then and end of Year 11 we had a Graduation Dance. While the dance was a nice opportunity to dress up and take part in a formal affair, it was book ended by awesome house parties where the girls got drunk and cried.
Qnja Guernq!
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I grew up in England & we never had dances. We had discos (the UK apparently never learning that disco apparently died in the 70s) but I never went to anything like a homecoming dance.
The one "dance" we did have that was close to an American dance was the Leaver's Ball, which was a party the school held for everyone who passed their GCSEs and were finishing compulsory education. It was supposed to be heavily modelled on the American concept of "prom", but I didn't go to mine. 16-year-old me didn't care for the concept. I sometimes regret not going but it's normally fleeting.
I did go to the breakfast party-thing they held the next day so I got to see all the people who hadn't gone home the night before and were still all dolled up, so there was that.
At my high school in Berlin, Germany, we have a really big, fancy ball for the graduating class with the parents and the teachers after the school year ends but before we get our graduating certificates. It's quite formal, with a banquet and ballroom dancing and everything.
We also have a graduating party which is students-only and usually held in a nightclub. Some schools also have financing parties before the ball where people from other schools are invited, and the proceeds go to the ball planning committee, but my school doesn't do that.
During my exchange year I was at an all-girls boarding school in England and the graduating year there also organised a ball with a banquet, but no formal dancing. And they always invited the year below them, which is why I went.
But at neither event was there any necessity for a date or somesuch. It was more about going with your friends, as a really big last party before everyone goes their separate ways. And neither me nor my friends had ever heard of anything Homecoming-Queen-similar before being introduced to it by the internet.
On a completely unrelated note: FUFFY FOREVER!!! <3
No, you’re going to have Faith and Buffy go to homecoming together? Did – did I just start shipping Buffy and Faith? Like, I know I desperately want to read a gay subtext into everything, but in that one instance, I was like WOULDN’T IT BE COOL IF THEY WENT TO HOMECOMING AND THEN FELL FOR EACH OTHER AND THEN IT WAS PERFECT? Yes good. This is what I want.
Right there with ya.
At my school (in the UK), we had the 5th year ball, which was a ball for all the 16-yr-olds who would be leaving the school that year. I went to mine because I felt like it was the kind of thing you'd look back on and regret if you didn't go and, as Buffy says, it was a chance to be a normal teenager for an evening. By the time the ball came around, I'd been off school for 18 months with severe depression and so the ball itself was awful. No one knew how to speak to me, most people wouldn't even make eye-contact because everyone knew I was the girl who'd had a breakdown, and despite my effort to feel normal, being around so many people who hadn't gone through my experiences just made me feel hopelessly alone.
But I looked amazing in my dress, you guys. And I think this is what counts.
Oh, and I hate dancing. Charlie Brooker's views on dancing and people who try and get you to dance even though you're clearly not comfortable, are just my favourite thing ever.
One thing: I love the Mayor. I'm sorry, I just do. (Ba n fvqr abgr, Uneel Tebrare jnf va gur yngrfg Fhcreangheny rcvfbqr. V jnf yvxr BU UNV GURER ZNLBE, XVYYRQ NAL ONOVRF YNGRYL? Gbb onq uvf ebyr jnf fb fznyy. Naq gur rcvfbqr xvaq bs fhpxrq. Frnfba frira, jul ner lbh qbvat guvf gb zr? Lbh jrer tbvat va gur evtug qverpgvba, qba'g trg ybfg ntnva!)
Here in Sweden, we don't have anything quite like American proms. We have a sort-of prom, when we graduate from gymnasiet, which is the Swedish type of high school (although it's totally different). That is mainly an excuse to dress in pretty clothes and eat expensive food. Of course, the ticket costs a shit lot of money, and no one seems to find it worth it, afterwards. I didn't go. None of my classmates did, either. We had our own party instead, going out on an island, getting stinking drunk and having a barbecue. I don't regret it one bit. I'm not into dresses anyway.