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[x]select downtime: Two people were greatly changed by recent events and aren't the most social. Hang out with the two of them together and see about letting them decompress or talk.
-[x]Spend time with Marcie, it's awesome she's finally visible!
-[x]Ask Willow about her Halloween experiences
 
[x]select downtime: Two people were greatly changed by recent events and aren't the most social. Hang out with the two of them together and see about letting them decompress or talk.
-[x]Spend time with Marcie, it's awesome she's finally visible!
-[x]Ask Willow about her Halloween experiences
 
[X]select downtime: Two people were greatly changed by recent events and aren't the most social. Hang out with the two of them together and see about letting them decompress or talk.
-[X]Spend time with Marcie, it's awesome she's finally visible!
-[X]Ask Willow about her Halloween experiences

This combo could go poorly... Marcie probably had a more positive view on the whole thing, Willow... on the other hand probably less so that contrast may be problematic. We should talk to Willow as she probably had the worst night... but also I really like Marcie and her presence as an unknown variable. So I'll concur with this combo push, and also its fine if things get messy.
 
[X]select downtime: Two people were greatly changed by recent events and aren't the most social. Hang out with the two of them together and see about letting them decompress or talk.
-[X]Spend time with Marcie, it's awesome she's finally visible!
-[X]Ask Willow about her Halloween experiences

While I'm worried about Giles, we should probably check on Xander's two best friends. Here's hoping that they don't clash. I don't actually know how they interact. I think Willow tried to reassure Marcie once?

@Blacksheep, great job on the reveal! I like how Xander downplayed it without lying and provided proof that his seer status wasn't reliable.
 
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  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by Blacksheep on Mar 12, 2025 at 3:57 PM, finished with 5 posts and 5 votes.
    • [x]select downtime: Two people were greatly changed by recent events and aren't the most social. Hang out with the two of them together and see about letting them decompress or talk.
      -[x]Spend time with Marcie, it's awesome she's finally visible!
      -[x]Ask Willow about her Halloween experiences
    Click to expand...
     
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    Ford Visibility
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    • It was a good idea to spend some time with Willow and Marcie. Both of them had changed a lot with Halloween. It would be good to catch up with them and talk all about it.

    Both of them were happy to spend time together. Marcie was more withdrawn, with Willow babbling at a thousand words a minute. You had been worried about Willow, but it seemed she didn't remember much from her time as a witch. She did find it much easier to draw on magic, and was talking about bothering Ms Calendar about technomagic. Marcie just seemed to be relishing in not having to struggle to draw attention to herself. She kept looking down at herself like she was expecting it to wear off. It wasn't the problem you'd been expecting when you'd wanted to check in with them. You had thought Willow would be more worried about the experience. But she had always been rather quick to move on. Something that was important when nothing really stopped in Sunnydale. There wasn't time for mourning or dealing with the curve balls the Hellmouth kept throwing at everyone. Perhaps this was a good thing.

    You were more concerned when you showed up to school to see that Buffy's old friend Ford had shown up. You knew he wanted to be turned to survive the cancer he had, and was more than willing to turn on Buffy to get that done. At least, that was how it went in canon. Would it change with what Spike and Drusilla knew now?

    [ ]Try to find proof Ford is lying
    [ ]Focus on self defense
    [ ]Talk to Ms Calendar about magic and Willow
    [ ]Write-in
     
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    • I'm glad that Willow is better off than my worries. As for Ford, the others know that Xander can see a limited version of a future now. Can't we just tell them that his visions have shown him that Ford has cancer and might be willing to go to drastic measures to survive on his terms?
     
    [x]Try to find proof Ford is lying

    Espousing visions builds trust on Xander's visions, if they prove correct. However, Xander isn't the only precog. Drusilla is actively running her own game here. Breaking down trust in Xander's visions only requires making him "cry wolf" a few times. Doing our own legwork also builds our skills in a useful way.

    My preference in this case is not building trust in Xander's visions and instead doing our own legwork.
     
    Tascion said:
    Espousing visions builds trust on Xander's visions, if they prove correct. However, Xander isn't the only precog. Drusilla is actively running her own game here. Breaking down trust in Xander's visions only requires making him "cry wolf" a few times. Doing our own legwork also builds our skills in a useful way.
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    Yeah, that's why I was trying to keep vague exactly what Xander's vision was about. Ford having cancer is unlikely to change, though Drusilla might be creative enough to come up with a way for Ford to not appear desperate.

    I guess it just seems strange to me that after Xander just revealed to his friends that he had been hiding his visions that might have contained useful information, he then proceeds to continue to hide his visions that might contain useful information. I do like the point about building up our skills though so I'll do an add-on to my write-in.

    [X]Write-in: Tell the others that your visions have shown you that Ford has cancer and might be willing to go to drastic measures to survive on his terms.
    -[X]Don't stop there. Try to see if you can find proof that Ford is lying. After all, you've already admitted that your visions aren't reliable so looking for proof is the logical solution.
     
    Some things, revealing someone's diagnosis is rude, even though we know Ford is planning to do anything to live. Also I'm not sure but I do feel that this episode was very important for Buffy and I'm iffy about trying to completely subvert it. Though I could accept its not as developmentally important as it could be argued to more revelatory for Buffy's character and philosophy.

    I'd much rather attempt even though it is likely to fail to speak with Ford, before airing his terminal diagnosis to everyone. If that results in an altercation I feel we're likely to come out on top. Additionally its not about convincing Ford to die, it about convincing him that the ends shouldn't justify the means, magic could have a solution and it probably not as bad as becoming a leech that has to prey on innocent people for the rest of your existence.

    [X] After confronting Ford if he really wants to hold his secrets from everyone, and ask him to consider what existence as a vampire would really entail, loss of self, either a swift dusting, or an eternity of harming thousands of innocent people. Then tell him to inform the rest of the group or you would do it for him.
    -[X] Tell the others that your visions have shown you that Ford has cancer and might be willing to go to drastic measures to survive on his terms.
     
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  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by Blacksheep on Mar 21, 2025 at 4:57 PM, finished with 6 posts and 3 votes.
    • [x]Try to find proof Ford is lying
      [X]Write-in: Tell the others that your visions have shown you that Ford has cancer and might be willing to go to drastic measures to survive on his terms.
      -[X]Don't stop there. Try to see if you can find proof that Ford is lying. After all, you've already admitted that your visions aren't reliable so looking for proof is the logical solution.
      [X] After confronting Ford if he really wants to hold his secrets from everyone, and ask him to consider what existence as a vampire would really entail, loss of self, either a swift dusting, or an eternity of harming thousands of innocent people. Then tell him to inform the rest of the group or you would do it for him.
      -[X] Tell the others that your visions have shown you that Ford has cancer and might be willing to go to drastic measures to survive on his terms.
    Click to expand...
     
  • Voting
    • Blacksheep said:
    Scheduled vote count started by Blacksheep on Mar 21, 2025 at 4:57 PM, finished with 6 posts and 3 votes.
    • [x]Try to find proof Ford is lying
      [X]Write-in: Tell the others that your visions have shown you that Ford has cancer and might be willing to go to drastic measures to survive on his terms.
      -[X]Don't stop there. Try to see if you can find proof that Ford is lying. After all, you've already admitted that your visions aren't reliable so looking for proof is the logical solution.
      [X] After confronting Ford if he really wants to hold his secrets from everyone, and ask him to consider what existence as a vampire would really entail, loss of self, either a swift dusting, or an eternity of harming thousands of innocent people. Then tell him to inform the rest of the group or you would do it for him.
      -[X] Tell the others that your visions have shown you that Ford has cancer and might be willing to go to drastic measures to survive on his terms.
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    Huh. I think that's three votes but all for different stuff. There's some overlap though. Is Xander going to talk to Ford, tell the others, and then look for proof that Ford is lying?
     
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    • You were automatically going to start looking for evidence to prove Ford wasn't meant to be here, before you remembered. Your friends knew you knew things now. You didn't have to act like you didn't have knowledge. It was strange. It made so many more things possible than before, and yet at the same time you wanted to still tread with care in case things weren't like how they had been on the show. Things were changing!

    So you approached Ford and pulled him off to a quiet hall. "Hey, I know you have cancer," you told him.

    Ford paled. "What? What do you-how do you know that?"

    "I know things." You shrugged. "Not all of it's useful, but...anyways, I know you can't have just come here to see Buffy. Not with that."

    "You can't tell her," Ford told you. "She'll just stress about it."

    "She deserves the truth. You should tell her, or I will."

    "Alright, I'll let her know." You relaxed and let Ford walk away. That had been a mistake.

    Buffy pinned you to a wall. "I get that you have issues Xander, but that doesn't give you the right to threaten my friend," she growled.

    "Whoa, whoa! What are you talking about Buffy?"

    "Ford told me that you told him to stop hanging around me, that you didn't think someone like him should be bothering with me. He's my friend Xander!"

    "That's not what's going on!"

    "It's not? So you're not jealous that another guy who knows about vampires turned up? You know I'm dating Angel!"

    "That-that has nothing to do with this!" It was a terrible mistake, but it wasn't related to Ford.

    "Yeah? Then why did you run him off?"

    "I didn't! I just told him to tell you that he's dying!"

    "He's what?" Buffy let go and you took a deep breath. Buffy could be rough when she was upset.

    "He has cancer in his brain. He doesn't have long left. He didn't come to see you, he's looking for a fix," you said.

    Buffy turned and left, not bothering to apologize. You were happy to just take the time to breath.

    Maybe you shouldn't have gotten involved. You had helped Buffy, sure. She would handle the betrayal better this time. She sure hadn't thanked you for it though. You were bitter as you headed back to class. You'd just let them do what they wanted this time.

    It was somewhat of a surprise when you did hear how things ended up playing out. Ford had traded Angel, not Buffy. Drusilla was healed, and Ford had been taken as a new toy for her to play with. Buffy had managed to rescue him but Ford had died from his injuries. Perhaps in some ways it was better. Buffy wasn't personally betrayed, though it was still a type of betrayal. Ford hadn't been turned into a vampire either, so Buffy hadn't been forced to kill him a second time.

    You were worried about what a fully healed Drusilla would be seeking for now. Her madness made her deeply unpredictable. Knowing what she wanted didn't mean knowing how she would try to get it.

    [ ]Focus on the demon that will be coming after Giles soon
    [ ]Ask Willow about learning magic from Mrs Calendar: a proper teacher would be good for her
    [ ]Spend time with Marcie
    [ ]Focus on school
    [ ]Write-in
     
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    • [x]Ask Willow about learning magic from Mrs Calendar: a proper teacher would be good for her

    Willow falls in with bad people in pursuit of power, if I recall correctly. Seems like a good thing to start on sooner than later.

    I think this past update will help eventually clarify if Buffy can deal with her own issues. Flying off the handle on a lie and not asking questions of her friends is not a good look for her.
     
    [X]Spend time with Marcie

    Shipping. Also Marcie is our unknown scooby member and I want to keep up with her. (Cause I expect at some point we'll get a Marcie episode like the rest of the gang gets there own special episodes)
     
    On one hand, I want to have Xander focus on his friends for a bit to recover from the stress of Buffy's accusations. On the other hand, Giles has done a lot for Xander so it feels wrong to ignore a threat to him.

    [X]Focus on the demon that will be coming after Giles soon

    Buffy is grating on my last nerve. I have no idea what to do about her. We've been trying to set up group activities to let her destress, but that hasn't really worked, and she just believed a friend she hadn't seen in ages over a current friend. Xander hasn't even been pursuing her romantically like he did in canon!
     
    Buffy is allowed to make mistakes, we can be upset by her lack of trust, but we shouldn't be angry with her. She'll be angry at herself for both putting Angel in danger (sigh) and failing to save Ford who properly betrayed her trust. However, Ford was both a charmer, and a chance that her past from before being the slayer isn't lost to her, I can get her wanting to cling to that even for a bit.

    Though honestly surprised with Spike there, he didn't follow through with his word, despite seemingly getting them what they wanted. That means we're looking at a more Drusilla leading show than Spike... and that is going to be a problem, because Spike is dangerous but we know what he likes and wants, Drusilla is much more free in her choices because they certainly shift.
     
    ComiTurtle said:
    Buffy is allowed to make mistakes, we can be upset by her lack of trust, but we shouldn't be angry with her. She'll be angry at herself for both putting Angel in danger (sigh) and failing to save Ford who properly betrayed her trust. However, Ford was both a charmer, and a chance that her past from before being the slayer isn't lost to her, I can get her wanting to cling to that even for a bit.

    Though honestly surprised with Spike there, he didn't follow through with his word, despite seemingly getting them what they wanted. That means we're looking at a more Drusilla leading show than Spike... and that is going to be a problem, because Spike is dangerous but we know what he likes and wants, Drusilla is much more free in her choices because they certainly shift.
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    If it was just one incident, I wouldn't be so upset with her, but it feels like she's been treating Xander badly ever since she returned after the summer break. I don't really feel like Xander and Buffy are friends at all.
     
    Mount. Elements said:
    If it was just one incident, I wouldn't be so upset with her, but it feels like she's been treating Xander badly ever since she returned after the summer break. I don't really feel like Xander and Buffy are friends at all.
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    Solely to take up the contrary position...

    Is Xander her friend? Who Xander is now interacts with Buffy regularly, but I can't really say he treats her as other than an adult interacting with a powerful teenager in need of care and guidance. He's closer to Giles in how he acts towards Buffy than treating her as a friend. Xander's main friend is Marcie, with Willow being a distant second.

    Anyway, just presenting a differential viewpoint for consideration.
     
    Tascion said:
    Solely to take up the contrary position...

    Is Xander her friend? Who Xander is now interacts with Buffy regularly, but I can't really say he treats her as other than an adult interacting with a powerful teenager in need of care and guidance. He's closer to Giles in how he acts towards Buffy than treating her as a friend. Xander's main friend is Marcie, with Willow being a distant second.

    Anyway, just presenting a differential viewpoint for consideration.
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    Even if they were just acquainances, Xander deserves better than the way Buffy has been treating him.
    Blacksheep said:
    The dance with Buffy in the Bronze was hot, enough to get you flustered and forget until she ditched you that she'd just been using you. You burned with shame and anger at that. You cared, and you deserved better than being treated like that. Willow deserved better. You'd say Angel deserved better, but you knew how he acted with lovers.
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    Blacksheep said:
    You were quick to volunteer to help watch the bones. Buffy was mean about all of it of course, even Cordelia calling her out on her catty attitude.
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    And, of course, the latest incident of her attacking Xander on the word of someone she hadn't seen in over a year.

    I'll admit that I'm probably biased because Xander is my favorite character, but a lot of my favorite stories in this fandom had the Scoobies as close friends and a team. It's disappointing that our choices feel like they've put even more distance between Xander and Buffy than in canon.
     
    It seems we are at a three way tie, what is everyone's second choice pick?

    I do really like Giles and more directly aiding against this threat against him does appeal to me however he also is capable in of himself and we do know the cheat code, throw angel at the demon. Benefit would be mostly saving his old demon summon druggie friends which is noble but I don't think it helps us as much down the line.

    So my second choice would be Willow and Ms Calendar. Because power leveling Willow's magic feels like a long term gain, and also if(when) Angel loses his soul being more familiar with the ensouling curse may mean we can fix him before he gets sent to a hell dimension. (Though we probably should keep hush about that bit of the goal lest Angelus focuses on us)
     
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