That was heartbreaking, the section with what appeared to be wedding plans, and Ripper so angry, and then the church and the coffin. Interesting having it go in reverse historical order - and what a great explanation for Giles' history and his nickname! I didn't notice any jarring Americanisms, except that in this bit - "Then he lit a cigarette, took a couple deep drags" - an english person would never miss out the 'of' - "took a couple of deep drags."
I loved the way you created the backstory here and the way it fit with the other two stories ('Come Hither' is one of my favorites). You present a very compelling motivation for Rupert's turning away from the Council after he learns of the circumstances of Ronnie's death. I liked the misdirection with the funeral arrangements with how similar they were to wedding preparations. And I really liked the ending (or technically, the beginning) how you used all the little details we knew about the man who would be Rupert Giles and created a whole other identity for him. This was incredibly well-done!
Wow!! I'm so glad you liked this and I'm so glad "Come Hither" is a favorite.
At first I didn't set out to write the funeral as misdirection. But as they were looking at coffins, Giles' mother said something about white being most appropriate for a young woman and I realized that held true for wedding dresses, too. After that, it was a challenge to see if I write something that would misdirect, but still play fair. I'm glad it worked.
About the ending/beginning, there's a line in (I think) "The Dark Age" where Ethan says to Giles that the scoobies "don't know where you come from." This scene was born out of wondering where Giles came from that would be a surprise to the scoobies and wondering why his accent changed when he regressed to his rebellious youth.
Can you tell me more about what you have in mind with the roleplay? I'm inclined to give permission, but I want a better idea exactly what I'm giving permission for, first. Thanks for asking.
Hi, touching story, and I like the way you see the first meeting between Giles and Ethan.
One small Brit pick about Giles being expelled: do you mean from school or College? If it's school, it would be "the Headmaster", not "the dean" in an English public (i.e. private) school; if Oxford, the term is "sent down" and the heads of Oxford Colleges are usually called "the Master" (with some variations depending on the College)...
I'm glad you liked the story. The scene between Giles and Ethan is probably my favorite, too.
Thanks for the correction, that's very helpful. Now that you mention it, I've certainly heard the term 'sent down,' but I didn't know the head of a college was called 'the master.' (In the US, the head of the college would be the president, but it would be the dean of students who would deal with an expulsion.) Unfortunately I think for American readers of Buffy fanfic, 'the master' is going to immediately mean the big bad from season 1, which may take them out of the story. I've changed the sentence to "Did you think no one would inform me you'd been sent down?" which I hope works for both Brits and Americans.
This leads to me to another question. Was the the season 1 villain being called "the master" as weird for Brits as it would be for Americans if he were called something like "the principal," or are there enough different connotations of master that it still worked?
In answer to your question: no I don't think so, as only a tiny minority of British people have much to do with or much knowledge of Oxford or Cambridge. We might make a slight connection with the running supervillain from Dr Who but in the 90s you had to be of a certain age even for that as Dr Who had been off-air for a while.
I think your correction works well as in fact it wouldn't be the Master of the College who would personally deal with disciplinary matters. Fortunately I never had to worry about it (except for that odd spot of [highly frowned upon] roof-climbing, *G*) but such matters are, I understand, dealt with by a student's Moral Tutor and decided upon by a Committee, fwiw. OTOH, Giles Senior and the Watchers no doubt had connections in high places :-)
Any time you need a Brit picker, I'm happy to help. I certainly have found it invaluable in the other direction.
Thanks! I will certainly call on you in future, if I may.
The fact that this is decided by a committee gave me pause, but I think in the event of a student actually attacking a professor someone would take the trouble to round the committee up pretty quickly. Giles has to take the train home. That gives the committee time to meet and decide -- there wouldn't have been much debate about the matter.
What a wonderful backstory (although heartbreaking) for our Mr. Giles. And awesome way he came up with his name and then 'reclaimed' his own name before!
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Interesting having it go in reverse historical order - and what a great explanation for Giles' history and his nickname!
I didn't notice any jarring Americanisms, except that in this bit - "Then he lit a cigarette, took a couple deep drags" - an english person would never miss out the 'of' - "took a couple of deep drags."
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I'm glad you liked it. The reverse historical order was my beta's idea. I'm glad it works.
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At first I didn't set out to write the funeral as misdirection. But as they were looking at coffins, Giles' mother said something about white being most appropriate for a young woman and I realized that held true for wedding dresses, too. After that, it was a challenge to see if I write something that would misdirect, but still play fair. I'm glad it worked.
About the ending/beginning, there's a line in (I think) "The Dark Age" where Ethan says to Giles that the scoobies "don't know where you come from." This scene was born out of wondering where Giles came from that would be a surprise to the scoobies and wondering why his accent changed when he regressed to his rebellious youth.
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May I use it as a backstory in some of my roleplays with my friend?
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Can you tell me more about what you have in mind with the roleplay? I'm inclined to give permission, but I want a better idea exactly what I'm giving permission for, first. Thanks for asking.
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One small Brit pick about Giles being expelled: do you mean from school or College? If it's school, it would be "the Headmaster", not "the dean" in an English public (i.e. private) school; if Oxford, the term is "sent down" and the heads of Oxford Colleges are usually called "the Master" (with some variations depending on the College)...
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Thanks for the correction, that's very helpful. Now that you mention it, I've certainly heard the term 'sent down,' but I didn't know the head of a college was called 'the master.' (In the US, the head of the college would be the president, but it would be the dean of students who would deal with an expulsion.) Unfortunately I think for American readers of Buffy fanfic, 'the master' is going to immediately mean the big bad from season 1, which may take them out of the story. I've changed the sentence to "Did you think no one would inform me you'd been sent down?" which I hope works for both Brits and Americans.
This leads to me to another question. Was the the season 1 villain being called "the master" as weird for Brits as it would be for Americans if he were called something like "the principal," or are there enough different connotations of master that it still worked?
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I think your correction works well as in fact it wouldn't be the Master of the College who would personally deal with disciplinary matters. Fortunately I never had to worry about it (except for that odd spot of [highly frowned upon] roof-climbing, *G*) but such matters are, I understand, dealt with by a student's Moral Tutor and decided upon by a Committee, fwiw. OTOH, Giles Senior and the Watchers no doubt had connections in high places :-)
Any time you need a Brit picker, I'm happy to help. I certainly have found it invaluable in the other direction.
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The fact that this is decided by a committee gave me pause, but I think in the event of a student actually attacking a professor someone would take the trouble to round the committee up pretty quickly. Giles has to take the train home. That gives the committee time to meet and decide -- there wouldn't have been much debate about the matter.
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