060 - Smoke and Mirrors

[calendar_woman]

Smoke and Mirrors

Synopsis: When Jenny goes back to work at the university, she signs the gang up to participate in a Casino Night fundraiser just as Buffy encounters a new threat that can't be easily killed. Meanwhile, Angel turns up needing help tracking down Ethan Rayne, who's behind the strange new threat, and Giles and Jenny soon learn that

Comments

[calendar_woman]

Thanks so very much! I know this chapter didn't start out with the most upbeat subject-matter, but I'm glad you guys weren't all grabbing for the torches and pitchforks ;) And I just kinda figured that's a universal kind of situation -- everybody's either dealt with that situation in their own family, with a friend, or themself so it'd be relatable. And, I figure that neither Giles nor Jenny are all that young (in my mind, Jenny's late-thirties and Giles is early-forties), so it's not like they'd be able to have that instant-pregnancy/instant-bliss thing anyway. :)

And hehehe, I just love writing the Dawn/Jenny thing so much. Anything I can do to make Dawn less annoying, lol.

I freaking love Giles and Anya. Anya’s reactions toward Giles are just priceless. They are also two completely different people at opposite ends of the line, but they are still cute together. I have ALWAYS loved Giles/Anya so much. They're a close-second to Giles/Jenny for me because really, their relationship reminds me very much of early-Giles/Jenny, when they just bickered constantly and got on each other's nerves, even though there was an obvious affection beneath the surface. The only tragedy here is, since I've kept Jenny alive, I don't get to hook up Giles and Anya, hahaha. Ah, well. Should make Tabula Rasa interesting.

On this same note, again, I love Anya wanting to perform sexual acts on stage and then mentioning that Giles could have learned something, to which Jenny replied, “Oh, he knows plenty,” thoroughly scarring Buffy. XD Priceless, again. LOL, thanks. That part was fun to do. I love getting to write those moments where any mention of Giles/Jenny kissing/sexing/whatever just traumatizes Buffy. Mainly because of "Ted," when her and Willow were just completely mortified upon walking in on Giles and Jenny making out in the library. Hahahaha. Good times.

And LOL honestly, the LOST thing didn't really occur to me until I pretty much had that whole aspect of the story fleshed out. What actually sparked the idea was Buffy's whole thing with Dracula, where he could just poof! disappear before she'd be able to kill him. So originally, it was gonna be a new kind of vampire. But I couldn't work that out, so I went with smoke demon. :D