Wake up in the middle of life.
[In which we were left unsupervised, and what started as crossover silliness became something a good deal more than the sum of its parts.]
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petra: I must not fall asleep. I mustn't.
hannah: Not yet, anyway.
Amuse yourself with Spike's reaction on learning jumpship pilots *voluntarily* get their brains pierced.Then: Illyan.
Petra: "Do you know how much trouble I go to *try* to forget things?"
Hannah: Angel saying he knows people who would've killed for that sort of thing. Not an exaggeration.
Petra: Yeah.
Hannah: I mean, Giles would've liked to just think for a moment and poof, there's the answer.
Petra: why yes.
Hannah: "Page twenty-three, paragraph four, line five...third word..."
Willow: Now count the commas on the page!
Petra: yeah.
Hannah: She wonders why "never forgetting" is a curse and why Giles went out and got it.
Petra: *shudders*
Hannah: He'd dryly comment that reading books once cuts down on overdue fees.
"Nine out of ten go insane. Lucky you."
Petra: I think he'd be fine.
Hannah: "Do you think I - " "Good GOD, no!"
"Dear lord, Willow, no one should have to remember toilet training." "...so the "never forget" is retroactive?" "Somehow they forgot to mention that part. Ironic, I know." "That's Ted Bundy suicide hotline ironic."
Petra: *whimpers*
Hannah: (Still my favorite definition of irony: Ted Bundy volunteering on a suicide crisis hotline.)
Petra: yeah, I think Giles would have a harder time with it if it were retroactive and he had to deal with having been Ripper every day. // *winces*
Hannah: Next to the woman who helped work with the FBI to track him down.
They became friends.
Petra: Reality is weird.
Hannah: Reality doesn't have to make sense.
Petra: Right.
Hannah: Perfect memory isn't an education, so while Giles would know Mandarin and Cantonese perfectly, he'd sound like a textbook.
"And would you please tell me your name, young lady?"
Petra: *laughs* Fair.
Hannah: A thought: if scent isn't kept in the same part of the brain as the memory chip, that might be true here, too. Would music?
Petra: That would be a small mercy.
Hannah: I can see this easily.
Bumming Spike's cigarettes. For the scent. "Sense-memories aren't so well recorded."
Petra: *sighs*
Hannah: He turns, "What's it like for vampires?"
Petra: But if you have perfect recall of conversation, you have to have perfect recall of music.
Hannah: The best collection of bootlegs and outtake recordings this side of the Sony archives?
Petra: Yes.
Hannah: Buffy says they need something on someone, Giles directs them to the book, page, paragraph. Sentence.
Petra: Terrifying and SO useful.
Hannah: Buffy would be the only one who'd get the real answer when she asks "why."
Petra: Yeah.
Hannah: Did he know he deserved it?
In all its implications?
Petra: What, is this something that happened to him and not something he tried for?
Hannah: Now I'm not sure what *I* meant.
He did go and get this done deliberately. Did anyone around him try at the same time? Ezar tried it out on a bunch of people and managed to get an Illyan.
Petra: It would make *sense* that Ethan is likewise afflicted.
Hannah: Oh, now I'm wincing.
Petra: \o/
Hannah: "Ethan remains...functional enough not to be deemed a failure."
Petra: yeah.
Hannah: Tea being more than British comfort and caffeine but also that scent - true memory, scent.
Petra: *shudders* there is so much wrong there.
Hannah: Buffy gets him an oolong from LA. "I can't pronounce the name but I thought you'd like it."
Petra: *coos*
Hannah: "It means 'iron goddess of mercy.'" "I meant the double O."
They both know what she meant. But it's a fine joke.And a good tea.
Petra: bless.
Hannah: The fanciest of fancy soaps!
Petra: Why *not.*
Hannah: Scents so subtle only a Watcher or a vampire could smell them.
Petra: oh yes.
The gentlest waft.
Hannah: "Yes, Spike?" "Is that bougainvillea?" "A new soap, yes." "Lovely stuff."
Xander: "Is this a British thing?"
Petra: Giles: "No, this is a weird brain thing."
Hannah: Xander looks at Spike.
"Palimpsest," he says as explanation.
Petra: What *year* is it?
Just calculating the odds that Xander knows that word.
Hannah: Low, given his SAT scores. Spike would know it.
Petra: Fair.
Hannah: Giles would look at Xander's face. "Page 848 of Webster's ninth edition, entry - " "You read the dictionary? Of course you read the dictionary."
"Only once."
Petra: <3 <3 <3
Hannah: Spike chained in the bathtub, getting a sip of blood for every question he answers.
Then the sips stop coming and they just talk.
Did Wesley ever get this? Did he leave before he could? Or was it a one-time thing where Rupert and Ethan were the best results?
Petra: Gunn got one.
Hannah: That he did. Though his was specialized.
Petra: With his Wolfram & Hart upgrade. Yes.
Hannah: I think Wesley wanted something, but didn't get the chance for it.
Petra: That makes sense. It also sets him apart from Giles.
Hannah: "Nothing but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." "I'll have you know there were plenty of tears."
Petra: Yeah.
Hannah: Augh Willow's forgetfulness spell augh.
When it comes back in force.
Petra: AUGH
Hannah: He just goes quiet.
Petra: yeah.
Hannah: nrrrrnrrrr yes
Giles can remember each breath, if he tries. Vampires can remember their last breaths - as humans and chronologically - if they try.
Petra: *siiighs*
Hannah: "This mug's a mix of cow and goat. I thought you might like the variety." "Getting attached to the parasite, are we?" "I'd simply thought you'd be more amenable to questioning if.."
And Spike stops breathing for a few minutes because he doesn't have anything to say.
Petra: Hm. Is the memory spell mandatory for Watchers to *try*?
Hannah: It *should* be.
...Giles using a very scaled down version, maybe 1/12th of it, at Xander's begging and honest request to keep that military knowledge?
The most precise cuts.
Petra: oh dear.
Hannah: "If you don't do it I'll ask Willow or try it myself."
"...I'll get the wormwort."
And it works, perfectly, and Xander only gets night sweats twice a year.
Petra: AIGH yeah.
Hannah: Riley wouldn't say "you guys are weird" but boy would he think it.
Petra: ohh yeah.
Hannah: Yeah. Xander knows what *happened* to Giles, and when he feels the military data fading, he'd want a way to keep it.
"What's the basin for?...Oh, that wasn't so - " *hork* "It's for that."
Petra: Emesis.
yeah.Talk about your self-answering questions.
Hannah: "This is why I fasted for three days beforehand."
Why didn't he warn Xander? A scaled-down version, why, it might not even have been necessary.
Petra: He told Xander it would be quite unpleasant.
Hannah: "Downright unpleasant, were my exact words."
Petra: If Xander doesn't know Giles well enough to know which kind of quite he meant by now, he really shouldn't be asking for any spells at all.
petra: I must not fall asleep. I mustn't.hannah: Not yet, anyway.Amuse yourself with Spike's reaction on learning jumpship pilots *voluntarily* get their brains pierced.Then: Illyan.
Petra: "Do you know how much trouble I go to *try* to forget things?"
Hannah: Angel saying he knows people who would've killed for that sort of thing. Not an exaggeration.
Petra: Yeah.
Hannah: I mean, Giles would've liked to just think for a moment and poof, there's the answer.
Petra: why yes.
Hannah: "Page twenty-three, paragraph four, line five...third word..."
Willow: Now count the commas on the page!
Petra: yeah.
Hannah: She wonders why "never forgetting" is a curse and why Giles went out and got it.
Petra: *shudders*
Hannah: He'd dryly comment that reading books once cuts down on overdue fees.
"Nine out of ten go insane. Lucky you."
Petra: I think he'd be fine.
Hannah: "Do you think I - " "Good GOD, no!"
"Dear lord, Willow, no one should have to remember toilet training." "...so the "never forget" is retroactive?" "Somehow they forgot to mention that part. Ironic, I know." "That's Ted Bundy suicide hotline ironic."
Petra: *whimpers*
Hannah: (Still my favorite definition of irony: Ted Bundy volunteering on a suicide crisis hotline.)
Petra: yeah, I think Giles would have a harder time with it if it were retroactive and he had to deal with having been Ripper every day. // *winces*
Hannah: Next to the woman who helped work with the FBI to track him down.
They became friends.
Petra: Reality is weird.
Hannah: Reality doesn't have to make sense.
Petra: Right.
Hannah: Perfect memory isn't an education, so while Giles would know Mandarin and Cantonese perfectly, he'd sound like a textbook.
"And would you please tell me your name, young lady?"
Petra: *laughs* Fair.
Hannah: A thought: if scent isn't kept in the same part of the brain as the memory chip, that might be true here, too. Would music?
Petra: That would be a small mercy.
Hannah: I can see this easily.
Bumming Spike's cigarettes. For the scent. "Sense-memories aren't so well recorded."
Petra: *sighs*
Hannah: He turns, "What's it like for vampires?"
Petra: But if you have perfect recall of conversation, you have to have perfect recall of music.
Hannah: The best collection of bootlegs and outtake recordings this side of the Sony archives?
Petra: Yes.
Hannah: Buffy says they need something on someone, Giles directs them to the book, page, paragraph. Sentence.
Petra: Terrifying and SO useful.
Hannah: Buffy would be the only one who'd get the real answer when she asks "why."
Petra: Yeah.
Hannah: Did he know he deserved it?
In all its implications?
Petra: What, is this something that happened to him and not something he tried for?
Hannah: Now I'm not sure what *I* meant.
He did go and get this done deliberately. Did anyone around him try at the same time? Ezar tried it out on a bunch of people and managed to get an Illyan.
Petra: It would make *sense* that Ethan is likewise afflicted.
Hannah: Oh, now I'm wincing.
Petra: \o/
Hannah: "Ethan remains...functional enough not to be deemed a failure."
Petra: yeah.
Hannah: Tea being more than British comfort and caffeine but also that scent - true memory, scent.
Petra: *shudders* there is so much wrong there.
Hannah: Buffy gets him an oolong from LA. "I can't pronounce the name but I thought you'd like it."
Petra: *coos*
Hannah: "It means 'iron goddess of mercy.'" "I meant the double O."
They both know what she meant. But it's a fine joke.And a good tea.
Petra: bless.
Hannah: The fanciest of fancy soaps!
Petra: Why *not.*
Hannah: Scents so subtle only a Watcher or a vampire could smell them.
Petra: oh yes.
The gentlest waft.
Hannah: "Yes, Spike?" "Is that bougainvillea?" "A new soap, yes." "Lovely stuff."
Xander: "Is this a British thing?"
Petra: Giles: "No, this is a weird brain thing."
Hannah: Xander looks at Spike.
"Palimpsest," he says as explanation.
Petra: What *year* is it?
Just calculating the odds that Xander knows that word.
Hannah: Low, given his SAT scores. Spike would know it.
Petra: Fair.
Hannah: Giles would look at Xander's face. "Page 848 of Webster's ninth edition, entry - " "You read the dictionary? Of course you read the dictionary."
"Only once."
Petra: <3 <3 <3
Hannah: Spike chained in the bathtub, getting a sip of blood for every question he answers.
Then the sips stop coming and they just talk.
Did Wesley ever get this? Did he leave before he could? Or was it a one-time thing where Rupert and Ethan were the best results?
Petra: Gunn got one.
Hannah: That he did. Though his was specialized.
Petra: With his Wolfram & Hart upgrade. Yes.
Hannah: I think Wesley wanted something, but didn't get the chance for it.
Petra: That makes sense. It also sets him apart from Giles.
Hannah: "Nothing but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." "I'll have you know there were plenty of tears."
Petra: Yeah.
Hannah: Augh Willow's forgetfulness spell augh.
When it comes back in force.
Petra: AUGH
Hannah: He just goes quiet.
Petra: yeah.
Hannah: nrrrrnrrrr yes
Giles can remember each breath, if he tries. Vampires can remember their last breaths - as humans and chronologically - if they try.
Petra: *siiighs*
Hannah: "This mug's a mix of cow and goat. I thought you might like the variety." "Getting attached to the parasite, are we?" "I'd simply thought you'd be more amenable to questioning if.."
And Spike stops breathing for a few minutes because he doesn't have anything to say.
Petra: Hm. Is the memory spell mandatory for Watchers to *try*?
Hannah: It *should* be.
...Giles using a very scaled down version, maybe 1/12th of it, at Xander's begging and honest request to keep that military knowledge?
The most precise cuts.
Petra: oh dear.
Hannah: "If you don't do it I'll ask Willow or try it myself."
"...I'll get the wormwort."
And it works, perfectly, and Xander only gets night sweats twice a year.
Petra: AIGH yeah.
Hannah: Riley wouldn't say "you guys are weird" but boy would he think it.
Petra: ohh yeah.
Hannah: Yeah. Xander knows what *happened* to Giles, and when he feels the military data fading, he'd want a way to keep it.
"What's the basin for?...Oh, that wasn't so - " *hork* "It's for that."
Petra: Emesis.
yeah.Talk about your self-answering questions.
Hannah: "This is why I fasted for three days beforehand."
Why didn't he warn Xander? A scaled-down version, why, it might not even have been necessary.
Petra: He told Xander it would be quite unpleasant.
Hannah: "Downright unpleasant, were my exact words."
Petra: If Xander doesn't know Giles well enough to know which kind of quite he meant by now, he really shouldn't be asking for any spells at all.