Pure heaven.
I just watched the Buffy ep entitled "A New Man," and I do believe that my brain is now officially broken. IT WAS SO, SO GLORIOUS!!! GILES!!!!!! GILES/BUFFY!!! GILES/SPIKE! GILES/ETHAN! DEMON GILES! DEMON GILES BEING STRADDLED BY BUFFY! DRUNK GILES! INSECURE GILES! JEALOUS GILES! NEGLECTED GILES! GILES GILES GILES! OMG I LOVED IT! Every episode should be like that one. Just cut out the Buffy/Riley scenes and it would be perfection. It made me laugh ridiculously hard, it had kickass action, AND it tugged at my heart strings. Loved it. Definitely my new absolute favorite, and not just because Giles was in more than 50% of the episode. It confirmed my belief that Giles is in fact NOT Buffy's father figure. This episode was all about Giles trying to figure out how he fit into Buffy's life, what his role is now, and he initially thought "friend and equal," but when that didn't work and he felt old, he automatically switched to "father figure", and when Professor Walsh made it abundantly clear that he was neither Buffy's father nor her teacher, he was so ridiculously lost and desperate to find some purpose to be around her, and in the end he figured out that his role is what it always was. He's her Giles, and that will never change. &hearts &hearts &hearts I love that he doesn't really fit into any predestined character role at this point. In the high school era, he was her Watcher, her teacher, and at times her surrogate father (but to be honest, I've never viewed him as a father figure, but I get that the show has repeatedly put forth this idea, but for every time they do, there's always an instance to contradict it). When everything changed, he had to change with it. But in essence, he's always been whatever Buffy needed him to be, and in this episode he was feeling like she didn't need him anymore, and that scared him. But Buffy let him know in her own way that she'll always need him because she loves him, and it just... it made me melt. I keep waiting for them to actually say the words to each other, but I guess they don't have to. Also, I find it odd that they hugged at Buffy's party in that rather non-personal way, and yet in their emotional moments, they barely even touch. Perhaps a hand on a shoulder, or an intense gaze into each other's eyes, but never a hug. And I've been waiting the entire series for a hug, and the first one we see is a "Hello" hug that's just a throwaway moment? *sigh* Them and their silly repressed emotion. It just makes me love them more.
Anyway, seeing as how there was so much Giles, naturally a picspam is in order:
Giles meets Buffy's new boyfriend. He had NO IDEA that she was dating someone, and he looked so crestfallen. And, I'm not gonna lie, I saw some jealousy there.
Especially when he stuck out his chest in the most adorable way possible.
And then Riley assumes he's retired. Bwahahahaha. POOR GILES!
He feels like such a fool for thinking that he was viewed by Buffy and the scoobies as a peer rather than an elder, and to be called old by this good-looking, virile young guy annoys him, and the fact that he's Buffy's boyfriend bothers him even more. It wasn't exactly a big deal for him when Anya and Xander implied he was boring and out of place, but when Buffy came over he had this huge smile on his face and he was expecting to feel a sense of belonging because his connection with Buffy is his most treasured thing in his life, and then she went and cut him off mid-sentence and threw her boyfriend in his face and he feels unwanted, old, and out of the loop. So he decides that he will never be viewed by Buffy in the same light that she sees Xander, Willow, and Riley, so he latches onto the old role of her teacher, the one that she goes to because she has faith in him to always have an answer. He's the brains of their operation.
But then she mentions Professor Walsh and says she's the smartest person Buffy's ever met. He is devastated that she's awed by another teacher's intelligence, because when all else failed him, he always had his superior intelligence. But now there's someone better in Buffy's eyes, and he has no idea what he's supposed to be for Buffy anymore, and he gets jealous and tells her that she should have invited the professor to the party.
And Buffy rolls her eyes and says the professor is in her 40s and has better things to do than hang out with a bunch of kids. It doesn't even register in her brain that Giles is in the same age group as Walsh and that her comment would offend him, which in turn means that she does, on some level, see him as her equal. The only times that she really notices his age is when she needs him to be the adult. Or when he sleeps with other women, then she uses it as an excuse to hide her jealousy, because she most definitely HATES it when she's not the #1 woman in his life. I'm not saying she wants to sleep with him, just that she's territorial over him much in the same way that he is with her. And numerous times Buffy has been intrigued by the sexual side of Giles and she doesn't want to be. And the same thing happens with Giles in regards to thoughts of Buffy's sexual side. You know they think about it. I'm not making this up.
Anyway, Giles is left rethinking his relationship with Buffy and grasping at anything that gives him reason to be involved in her life, so he later goes for the father angle. But first:
FEATHER DUSTER!!!! IN MOUTH!!!
Hurt/anger/jealousy at being neglected by Buffy for Riley and Walsh.
Then we get to the Walsh/Giles scene, wherein he struggles to find a word for what he is to Buffy and he settles on "friend," and Walsh gives him this look like, "Oh really? Friend? Are you sure it's not about getting into her pants?" (hey, she's a Psych teacher, everything's about sex. Honestly though, the look on his face, the way he was fidgeting, that's exactly what I would have thought. I'm not sure what she's actually thinking, but I'm pretty sure she thinks he's a moron).
Especially when he babbles on about his philosophy of independent learning and whatnot.
She totally rips him apart and makes him feel like he doesn't know Buffy as well as he thought he did, but he's still grasping at the fatherly aspect of his relationship with Buffy.
And he takes his glasses off and I swoon. *swooooooooooon* Throw on some black leather gloves and chainmail and he's totally Young Uther.
Walsh thinks he's a hottie, definitely. Who wouldn't? And she can read that Giles is currently unsure of what he is to Buffy, and she pounces on that. Says that Buffy has no father figure and a strong male role model is absent in her life.
Heart breaking, mind racing, anger building, manhood threatened.
"Absent?" Ooooh, Giles. Don't listen to her. You are ALWAYS there for Buffy. She's the one that neglects you, damn it! And you are a strong male role model. You just... let Buffy be in charge all the time. Because you looooove her.
And then Walsh calls him Buffy's friend with dripping sarcasm. AND HIS FACE KILLS ME! HE IS MORE LOST THAN EVER! STUPID, STUPID WALSH! But I love that scene, because it points out that he's not Buffy's father. That's not his job and it never was.
Not only did Buffy not tell him about Riley, she also didn't tell him that she knew about the commando guys and was in fact dating one.
EVERYONE knew about Riley. Even Spike. Buffy is drifting away from him. :'(
And he just looks so defeated and lonely and useless. Buffy is his ENTIRE life. And he's not hers. And that depresses him. He wants her to have a life outside of him, just like he tries to have one outside of her, but nothing gives him the same satisfaction as when he's with Buffy, and he needs to be needed by her. He only feels important if Buffy deems him important. Otherwise, in his eyes, he's just the librarian that gets knocked on the head all the time.
I have to say, the scene where Ethan's talking in an ominous voice with dramatic music after Giles leaves the crypt (or wherever they were) and then Giles pops his head back in asking if anybody's there and the music just stops and Ethan goes, "Oh bugger, I thought you'd gone!" I cracked up so ridiculously hard. I love it when they break the dramatic moments like that.
DRUNK GILES!!! HE GOT DRUNK OVER BUFFY! HE IS SO RIDICULOUSLY JEALOUS OF THE NEW PEOPLE IN BUFFY'S LIFE!
And he feels under-appreciated. :'(
And he gets excited when he thinks Ethan called him attractive. Hee.
And then I suddenly understand all the Giles/Ethan slashers. And I begin to wonder if these two went to boarding school together...
And then Giles is turned into a demon and much hilarious tomfoolery ensues.
But everyone thinks Giles was kidnapped or killed by a demon, and Buffy looks scared/regretful, but she keeps a clear head, because she has to save her Giles. Or avenge him.
Spike is sexy. &hearts And he's in love with Demon Giles. Seriously, he is. By the way, I am completely in love with Spike/Giles and Spike/Xander. And Spike/Buffy. And Spike/Willow. Basically, I'll ship him with anybody. But Spike/Xander is kind of my OTP for him at this point. I do love Spike/Giles though. Especially whenever Spike tells him not to get cheeky with him. &hearts &hearts &hearts
Giles cannot resist scaring Professor Walsh. Funniest scene ever. I laughed like a madman.
Buffy finds Demon Giles and starts fighting him, and Giles tries not to fight back even though he knows she can kill him, but he does defend himself, which makes it look like he's fighting her because he's super strong, and then she gets him on the floor and STRADDLES HIM, and just when she's about to stick him in the heart, she says, "This is for Giles."
And he is SO TOUCHED by this gesture that he looks at her with so much love and says in surprise, "For me?"
And then she looks into his eyes and realizes that it's Giles just as she sticks him.
And she softly caresses him and tells him not to die, and did I mention that SHE STRADDLES HIM? FOR A REALLY LONG TIME! I'm sorry, but straddling, piercing, gazing into eyes, Giles spending the episode wanting to give in to his base needs, panting... that is so subtext.
She's looking at him with much love, and he is oblivious. And he's embarrassed about having to wear Ethan's crazy shirt. And I'm pretty certain Buffy's smile there translates to, "Giles is so adorable." You know it does.
He asks her how she knew the demon was him.
YOUR EYES, THAT'S HOW! YOUR BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL EYES!
She loves me! She really really loves me! I knew she could see into my soul! I knew it! Oh Buffy, let's run away together and get married!
And then Buffy lessens the emotional brevity of the moment by turning it into a loving joke. Something about only he could look at her with that much annoyance in his eyes.
Oh, ha ha! Yes. Um. Right. Forget what I said about the running away and stuff. I...
Oh, who am I kidding? My heart is yours.
ADORABLENESS OVERLOAD!!!! I love it when they subconsciously mimic each other's body language. Also, when Riley came over, they both straightened up and looked at him awkwardly as they slowly moved apart, like they were in their own little world together for a few brief minutes and they were reluctant to come back to Earth. Gah, I love them!
It's love. Love love love. He's her Giles. She's his Buffy. That's their roles. That's all they need to know.
Giles has a But Face. &hearts
Giles is sexy. And he's in love with Buffy. Seriously, he is.
I LOVE THEM! SO VERY MUCH! THEIR LOVE IS SO BEAUTIFUL! I don't even know what to call their love. It's not romantic (in canon anyway. In my head it is, but that's another story), it's not exactly completely platonic, and it's not exactly familial. It's just... love. Some kind of soul matey love. And it's adorable.
Also, I just have to throw these in from Hush, especially since I was talking about their inability to hug during emotional moments:
So, no one can talk, the town is in turmoil, and the gang meets at Giles. Willow and Buffy finally arrive, and Giles and Buffy meet eyes and you see so much relief in both of their faces and Giles rushes to Buffy and then stops and does this:
And it's so strangely intimate without being a big show of emotion and it made me go, "Wow!" and this is one instance where I do see the father/daughter type love, but then:
He embraces Willow with no qualms at all and I'm left going, "Whaaat?" and they look so much more like father/daughter than I thought Giles/Buffy did and it threw me for a loop. It was so effortless and open and innocent and it didn't have any of the emotional brevity that the Buffy/Giles shoulder touch did, and it made me realize how intense Buffy and Giles are with each other. They both insist on holding back around each other when it comes to their love feelings, and I think that's what keeps me from seeing them as father/daughter. It feels like they don't quite know how to categorize their feelings for each other, which is probably why I can't either.
And then, the scene where Giles is showing his adorable overheads, and then Xander asks how they kill the demons, and Buffy makes a stabbing motion, but it looks like a jerking off motion. Xander is obviously turned on, Willow is uncomfortable, and...
Giles is in a daze. The camera stays on him longer than it did the others, and he is most definitely holding his breath. I'd have to say his horniness won out over any feelings of uncomfortableness or propriety, because even when she got the stake to more clearly demonstrate, he was still in a daze.
And then he lets out a shaky breath and is like, "Right... right. Moving on." That last bit would definitely have been said in a high voice had he been able to talk. He was definitely turned on. I tried to look at it differently, but I just couldn't see it any other way.
Anyway, seeing as how there was so much Giles, naturally a picspam is in order:
Giles meets Buffy's new boyfriend. He had NO IDEA that she was dating someone, and he looked so crestfallen. And, I'm not gonna lie, I saw some jealousy there.
Especially when he stuck out his chest in the most adorable way possible.
And then Riley assumes he's retired. Bwahahahaha. POOR GILES!
He feels like such a fool for thinking that he was viewed by Buffy and the scoobies as a peer rather than an elder, and to be called old by this good-looking, virile young guy annoys him, and the fact that he's Buffy's boyfriend bothers him even more. It wasn't exactly a big deal for him when Anya and Xander implied he was boring and out of place, but when Buffy came over he had this huge smile on his face and he was expecting to feel a sense of belonging because his connection with Buffy is his most treasured thing in his life, and then she went and cut him off mid-sentence and threw her boyfriend in his face and he feels unwanted, old, and out of the loop. So he decides that he will never be viewed by Buffy in the same light that she sees Xander, Willow, and Riley, so he latches onto the old role of her teacher, the one that she goes to because she has faith in him to always have an answer. He's the brains of their operation.
But then she mentions Professor Walsh and says she's the smartest person Buffy's ever met. He is devastated that she's awed by another teacher's intelligence, because when all else failed him, he always had his superior intelligence. But now there's someone better in Buffy's eyes, and he has no idea what he's supposed to be for Buffy anymore, and he gets jealous and tells her that she should have invited the professor to the party.
And Buffy rolls her eyes and says the professor is in her 40s and has better things to do than hang out with a bunch of kids. It doesn't even register in her brain that Giles is in the same age group as Walsh and that her comment would offend him, which in turn means that she does, on some level, see him as her equal. The only times that she really notices his age is when she needs him to be the adult. Or when he sleeps with other women, then she uses it as an excuse to hide her jealousy, because she most definitely HATES it when she's not the #1 woman in his life. I'm not saying she wants to sleep with him, just that she's territorial over him much in the same way that he is with her. And numerous times Buffy has been intrigued by the sexual side of Giles and she doesn't want to be. And the same thing happens with Giles in regards to thoughts of Buffy's sexual side. You know they think about it. I'm not making this up.
Anyway, Giles is left rethinking his relationship with Buffy and grasping at anything that gives him reason to be involved in her life, so he later goes for the father angle. But first:
FEATHER DUSTER!!!! IN MOUTH!!!
Hurt/anger/jealousy at being neglected by Buffy for Riley and Walsh.
Then we get to the Walsh/Giles scene, wherein he struggles to find a word for what he is to Buffy and he settles on "friend," and Walsh gives him this look like, "Oh really? Friend? Are you sure it's not about getting into her pants?" (hey, she's a Psych teacher, everything's about sex. Honestly though, the look on his face, the way he was fidgeting, that's exactly what I would have thought. I'm not sure what she's actually thinking, but I'm pretty sure she thinks he's a moron).
Especially when he babbles on about his philosophy of independent learning and whatnot.
She totally rips him apart and makes him feel like he doesn't know Buffy as well as he thought he did, but he's still grasping at the fatherly aspect of his relationship with Buffy.
And he takes his glasses off and I swoon. *swooooooooooon* Throw on some black leather gloves and chainmail and he's totally Young Uther.
Walsh thinks he's a hottie, definitely. Who wouldn't? And she can read that Giles is currently unsure of what he is to Buffy, and she pounces on that. Says that Buffy has no father figure and a strong male role model is absent in her life.
Heart breaking, mind racing, anger building, manhood threatened.
"Absent?" Ooooh, Giles. Don't listen to her. You are ALWAYS there for Buffy. She's the one that neglects you, damn it! And you are a strong male role model. You just... let Buffy be in charge all the time. Because you looooove her.
And then Walsh calls him Buffy's friend with dripping sarcasm. AND HIS FACE KILLS ME! HE IS MORE LOST THAN EVER! STUPID, STUPID WALSH! But I love that scene, because it points out that he's not Buffy's father. That's not his job and it never was.
Not only did Buffy not tell him about Riley, she also didn't tell him that she knew about the commando guys and was in fact dating one.
EVERYONE knew about Riley. Even Spike. Buffy is drifting away from him. :'(
And he just looks so defeated and lonely and useless. Buffy is his ENTIRE life. And he's not hers. And that depresses him. He wants her to have a life outside of him, just like he tries to have one outside of her, but nothing gives him the same satisfaction as when he's with Buffy, and he needs to be needed by her. He only feels important if Buffy deems him important. Otherwise, in his eyes, he's just the librarian that gets knocked on the head all the time.
I have to say, the scene where Ethan's talking in an ominous voice with dramatic music after Giles leaves the crypt (or wherever they were) and then Giles pops his head back in asking if anybody's there and the music just stops and Ethan goes, "Oh bugger, I thought you'd gone!" I cracked up so ridiculously hard. I love it when they break the dramatic moments like that.
DRUNK GILES!!! HE GOT DRUNK OVER BUFFY! HE IS SO RIDICULOUSLY JEALOUS OF THE NEW PEOPLE IN BUFFY'S LIFE!
And he feels under-appreciated. :'(
And he gets excited when he thinks Ethan called him attractive. Hee.
And then I suddenly understand all the Giles/Ethan slashers. And I begin to wonder if these two went to boarding school together...
And then Giles is turned into a demon and much hilarious tomfoolery ensues.
But everyone thinks Giles was kidnapped or killed by a demon, and Buffy looks scared/regretful, but she keeps a clear head, because she has to save her Giles. Or avenge him.
Spike is sexy. &hearts And he's in love with Demon Giles. Seriously, he is. By the way, I am completely in love with Spike/Giles and Spike/Xander. And Spike/Buffy. And Spike/Willow. Basically, I'll ship him with anybody. But Spike/Xander is kind of my OTP for him at this point. I do love Spike/Giles though. Especially whenever Spike tells him not to get cheeky with him. &hearts &hearts &hearts
Giles cannot resist scaring Professor Walsh. Funniest scene ever. I laughed like a madman.
Buffy finds Demon Giles and starts fighting him, and Giles tries not to fight back even though he knows she can kill him, but he does defend himself, which makes it look like he's fighting her because he's super strong, and then she gets him on the floor and STRADDLES HIM, and just when she's about to stick him in the heart, she says, "This is for Giles."
And he is SO TOUCHED by this gesture that he looks at her with so much love and says in surprise, "For me?"
And then she looks into his eyes and realizes that it's Giles just as she sticks him.
And she softly caresses him and tells him not to die, and did I mention that SHE STRADDLES HIM? FOR A REALLY LONG TIME! I'm sorry, but straddling, piercing, gazing into eyes, Giles spending the episode wanting to give in to his base needs, panting... that is so subtext.
She's looking at him with much love, and he is oblivious. And he's embarrassed about having to wear Ethan's crazy shirt. And I'm pretty certain Buffy's smile there translates to, "Giles is so adorable." You know it does.
He asks her how she knew the demon was him.
YOUR EYES, THAT'S HOW! YOUR BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL EYES!
She loves me! She really really loves me! I knew she could see into my soul! I knew it! Oh Buffy, let's run away together and get married!
And then Buffy lessens the emotional brevity of the moment by turning it into a loving joke. Something about only he could look at her with that much annoyance in his eyes.
Oh, ha ha! Yes. Um. Right. Forget what I said about the running away and stuff. I...
Oh, who am I kidding? My heart is yours.
ADORABLENESS OVERLOAD!!!! I love it when they subconsciously mimic each other's body language. Also, when Riley came over, they both straightened up and looked at him awkwardly as they slowly moved apart, like they were in their own little world together for a few brief minutes and they were reluctant to come back to Earth. Gah, I love them!
It's love. Love love love. He's her Giles. She's his Buffy. That's their roles. That's all they need to know.
Giles has a But Face. &hearts
Giles is sexy. And he's in love with Buffy. Seriously, he is.
I LOVE THEM! SO VERY MUCH! THEIR LOVE IS SO BEAUTIFUL! I don't even know what to call their love. It's not romantic (in canon anyway. In my head it is, but that's another story), it's not exactly completely platonic, and it's not exactly familial. It's just... love. Some kind of soul matey love. And it's adorable.
Also, I just have to throw these in from Hush, especially since I was talking about their inability to hug during emotional moments:
So, no one can talk, the town is in turmoil, and the gang meets at Giles. Willow and Buffy finally arrive, and Giles and Buffy meet eyes and you see so much relief in both of their faces and Giles rushes to Buffy and then stops and does this:
And it's so strangely intimate without being a big show of emotion and it made me go, "Wow!" and this is one instance where I do see the father/daughter type love, but then:
He embraces Willow with no qualms at all and I'm left going, "Whaaat?" and they look so much more like father/daughter than I thought Giles/Buffy did and it threw me for a loop. It was so effortless and open and innocent and it didn't have any of the emotional brevity that the Buffy/Giles shoulder touch did, and it made me realize how intense Buffy and Giles are with each other. They both insist on holding back around each other when it comes to their love feelings, and I think that's what keeps me from seeing them as father/daughter. It feels like they don't quite know how to categorize their feelings for each other, which is probably why I can't either.
And then, the scene where Giles is showing his adorable overheads, and then Xander asks how they kill the demons, and Buffy makes a stabbing motion, but it looks like a jerking off motion. Xander is obviously turned on, Willow is uncomfortable, and...
Giles is in a daze. The camera stays on him longer than it did the others, and he is most definitely holding his breath. I'd have to say his horniness won out over any feelings of uncomfortableness or propriety, because even when she got the stake to more clearly demonstrate, he was still in a daze.
And then he lets out a shaky breath and is like, "Right... right. Moving on." That last bit would definitely have been said in a high voice had he been able to talk. He was definitely turned on. I tried to look at it differently, but I just couldn't see it any other way.