I think the saddest moment ever for me was when Buffy went to collect Dawn from school in The Body and told her Joyce had died. We see her collapse through the glass. So. Effin. Sad.

I wave my baseball bat (the one I keep under my bed, in case anyone breaks in and decides they don't want an intact ribcage) threateningly in your direction....

Baseball!Slayer pinged me just because I've played it my whole life.

Tangentially, I'll note that I just bought Emmett his first baseball bat today.

I just bought Emmett his first baseball bat today.

See, this has me just as misty as baseball!Slayer. Maybe it's something about the baseball....

I was so ready for the B/A ship to sink that they couldn't have wrung a tear out of me if one or the other died of consumption in the episode.

I'm always surprised by how much IWRY affects me, for that very reason. I know it's manipulative and schmaltzy, and I really don't want any more B/A, evereverever, but "There's not enough time!" makes me bawl. I can't help it.

I don't think I cried (I cried at other points), but when Anya got cut down in CHOSEN - so suddenly and brutally - something broke. I didn't have time to lose it at that point, but later when Andrew and Xander talked about her - oh yes.

Not Buffy, but also get sniffly when Simon talks about River in Serenity.

The Fruitpunch Speech kills me on every watch.

One of the most spiritually resonant moments for me is the end of S6 and we get Sarah McLaughlin's song at the end. It's not the S2 ending by a long-shot, but it was music with the right temperament.

The long stretches of silence in The Body -- caused by the combination of shock, sorrow, fear and despair -- that sticks with me.

I almost tear up when I watch the Gift when we hear what Buffy tells Dawn before she jumps into the abyss. You also feel the visceral pain -- even if we can't hear it -- when we see Spike wail.

Now that I've dragged this thread down by quoting Buffy in "The Gift", let's switch directions. I've been thinking about episode enders that close with maximum impact (not counting season-ending epsiodes). You know, like the end of "Intervention",(..."that was real. And I won't forget it.")

Here's what I come up with on an initial run-through:

The end of "Lie to Me" -
Giles: "The good guys are all stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats and we always defeat them and save the day. Nobody dies -- and everybody lives happily ever after."
Buffy: "Liar."

The end of "Bad Girls" -
Buffy: "Faith, you don't get it. You killed.a.man."
Faith: "No, you don't get it. I don't care."

The end of "Pangs" (for the funny) -
Xander: "Oops."

The end of "Two to Go" (quoted earlier upthread) -
Willow: "And there's no power in the world to stop me now."
Giles: "I'd like to test that theory."

The end of "Storyteller" -
Andrew: "Here's the thing. I killed my best friend. There's a big fight coming, and I don't know what's going to happen. I don't even think I'm going to live through it. That's, uh, probably the way it should be. I guess I'm--" (turns camera off).

[EtFC]

Baseball!Slayer pinged me just because I've played it my whole life.

I only played for a few years, but it pinged me because I love baseball and I'm just that much of a tomboy, for always. And the girl just nailed the transition from scared of the ball, self-conscious in front of everyone watching, to pro just waiting for a fastball across the plate.

And I'd like to order a few extra hours in my day so I can write that fanfic about Baseball!Slayer as a young woman.

I'm afraid I'm also of the not moved by the baseball player. (Those who read my fic may have already guessed that.) "Enemies" was on tonight, and as well as though glorious Angelus moments, you get Faith's "I'm the world's best actor," followed by Angel's very quiet "Second best." I knew it was coming and I still got the shiver of delight.