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jennycalendar · 3 years

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ok you know what i think it’s actually really vital that i talk a little bit about tea time. buckle up kiddos.

first off, a brief and relatively spoiler-free summary: the premise of the issue is very simple. the kiddos (aged up, if willow’s mention of being engaged is any indication) are hanging out in the library to help giles with research, swapping stories about what it would be like were giles a vampire. each of them, save giles, gets a chance to tell a detailed story -- xander tells two! -- and each story plays out in a way that says a lot about the scooby that’s telling it AND the way they view giles.

obviously this is a VERY character-driven issue, and it’s a really really interesting look at giles and how he is perceived as well! shit like that is my bread and butter, so this has honestly become one of my favorite things that boom has put out -- possibly my ACTUAL top favorite issue if we’re being real here.

below the cut is a spoilery dissection of every story told -- a literal summary of Every Single Thing that happens in this issue, as well as what it has to say about the scoobies and their perception of giles, so definitely keep that in mind.

as can be seen in the preview, xander’s first story is about giles rising from the grave as an ineffectual british caricature, who is easily defeated by smoldering, sexy xander harris (and xander in turn walks off with buffy and willow draped all over him, cooing about how amazing he is). it’s more of an intro to the premise than anything, but it still sets the tone pretty clearly wrt how xander handles this situation: there’s some laughter and levity, and he’s center stage. obviously a lot can be said about xander’s self-esteem issues and how he overcompensates by casting himself as the main protagonist both in canon and here. however, i wanna save my more in-depth xander analysis for his second, longer, story, so i’ll stop myself there.

willow immediately responds with skepticism: she’s of the mind that giles would be an incredibly serious big-bad level threat. the tale she spins involves giles as a dangerous vampire cleric with access to a cryptic altar, killing xander almost immediately and slaughtering buffy as a sacrifice to create eternal night. her view of giles is more clinical than anything -- and, i would argue, the most perceptive and realistic from a threat standpoint. the guy knows a fuckton of magic and he is incredibly well-read and powerful. he’d have some kind of terrifying master plan. where xander goes for comedy, willow goes straight for logistics, already looking at the battle like it’s a battle rather than laughs aplenty.

xander and buffy have a bone to pick with willow’s story (xander is indignant that he’s immediately and brutally killed, buffy is of the mind that she would easily defeat giles in hand-to-hand combat even if he IS a vampire), so (after one more teasing story where buffy lives and xander dies) willow gracefully alters her narrative to reflect her friends’ objections: after a dramatic tussle, xander helps willow and buffy unceremoniously stakes giles in the heart. still pretty straightforward and plausible. willow sees vamp giles primarily as a threat -- one not easily neutralized. one who could easily wipe them out.

buffy, about to tell her story, is interrupted by xander, who “had an even better idea!” the web he weaves is this time purported as realistic and entertaining: while partying at the bronze, buffy and co. are interrupted by a bunch of balding, greying vampires in curlers and bathrobes, led, of course, by giles -- who is wearing a hair bonnet and disapprovingly informing the bouncers how late it is at eight PM. a knockdown brawl breaks out at the bronze -- old people feeding on and decimating the young -- and culminates in giles and the geezers taking over the band to sing “some terrible song” that’s “probably something really old and bad!” the rest of the story descends into b-movie chaos, with buffy throwing a broken guitar neck up at the stage lights to send the whole thing crashing down onto vampire giles and his vampire old person band. it’s categorically absurd.

the thing that really sticks with me about this story is how dumb it is. xander’s take on giles is not even slightly serious and wholly underestimates him. fandom at large talks a lot about how giles dropped the ball with xander, but i think tea time explores an easily overlooked factor: xander constantly, consistently underestimates giles. in canon, xander’s view of giles is not often challenged: to him, giles is a bumbling, british librarian who regularly gets his ass handed to him by vamps and demons and the like. certainly part of his story’s intent is about laughingly entertaining his gal pals, but there’s a very real and consistent thread involving giles being hilariously nonthreatening.

giles, taking umbrage at this particular tale, calls out both xander and willow: xander’s story, in giles’s opinion, emasculates vamp giles and turns him into a ridiculous caricature -- and willow’s story, though much more flattering, lacks the kind of imagination that vamp giles would clearly have. he then offers a suggestion of his own. it’s worth mentioning here that both xander’s and willow’s stories get gorgeous multiple-page spreads depicting the vampy action, but giles’s is a simple and chilling little thing: this is his vampire story. this meeting, called to ostensibly “research” a vampire altar, is really an excuse to get the scoobies to do his dirty work and find the thing for him. they’re tired and silly because the tea and donuts he’s given them are drugged, and their library location is to keep them out of daylight. he laughs it off when he sees they’re bothered, and the meeting is then adjourned when willow finally finds what they’re all looking for.

buffy’s left her phone in the library, so she doubles back, and accidentally wakes up a dozing giles. just as she’s about to leave, he inquires, casually, “...you never did tell your version of the story.”

and good god here is where it gets interesting.

see, buffy’s take is simple: she’s fighting giles in a cemetery, she’s given the chance to kill him, and she is entirely unable to do it. they share a tearful embrace as she sobs about the unfairness of it all -- “you’re giles! and you’ll always be! ...how will i do this without you? without your guidance?” and as the sun is rising, giles turns her into a vampire, with no resistance whatsoever from buffy. the next handful of pages depict bloody, indulgent violence on the parts of giles and buffy, the two of them cuddled up together as they watch the world burn.

buffy’s tale is the most emotive, the most loving, which makes me so damn soft! i love this girl so much! she is unable to even joke about giles as a foe to be taken down -- he is her watcher. he is her friend. she loves him endlessly and that does not change when he’s a vampire. vamp giles as she portrays him is gentle and understanding, holding her as she cries, because he knows that they’re connected. it’s easily my favorite part of this whole issue.

notably, there is a definite buffy/giles bend that the comic itself tries to contradict. the art is sensual in nature -- vamp buffy all dolled up in a way somewhat evocative of drusilla, giles tenderly caressing her face as he waits for her to wake up. “watcher and slayer connected forever” being the quote chosen to describe the situation. i think it’s kind of what naturally happens in a vamp giles sitch, especially if he turns buffy -- the childe/sire bond is incredibly sexual in nature, especially in canon, and a lot of frustrating human sentiment gets translated into something sexual as well. sex is a big BIG part of the relationships between vampires we see in canon; it would make a lot of sense for that to hold true for buffy and giles.

the comic is reticent about Going There, which i can understand -- though buffy is decisively aged up in this issue (willow mentions being engaged to a woman, later revealed to be tara), the buffy/giles bond is always seen through a father/daughter lens in canon. i do think it’s also important to always recognize how desperately giles wishes to escape the label of father in reference to buffy, pretty much entirely because there is no way to parent a child soldier who you’re also training, but that’s a whole other kettle of fish. point is, buffy very pointedly refers to vamp giles as her father not once, but twice -- once as a human, once as a vampire herself. it’s a very clear attempt, imo, to un-sexualize the vampy experience. the reason it doesn’t totally work, at least for me, is the fact that -- like i said -- the childe/sire bond is VERY sexual (spike and dru, angel and darla, angel and dru) and it seems just totally implausible that vamp buffy/vamp giles (two people who, as human were both VERY repressed) would chastely remain within the socially acceptable version of their relationship.

i can definitely understand why they did their best to blur that line, though. the idea of buffy and giles being romantically involved as vampires is 1) Kind Of A Lot and 2) not exactly the target demographic that i think this comic is going for. but the subtext is there, to the point where the issue itself has to actively obfuscate it, which i think is .... so interesting? especially as a counterpoint to the way i often see buffy/giles in fandom, wherein the father/daughter subtext in canon is at times actively obfuscated in fic in an attempt to push a preferred reading.

the ending i particularly enjoyed: after buffy leaves, it is lightly and ambiguously implied that giles might really be a vampire. works GREAT as a standalone, imo, and the end is like the cherry on top. it’s a really REALLY interesting issue and i highly recommend it for any giles fan.

#meta #btvs comics #buffy and giles #''a little bit'' they say. and write a full fucking essay #anyway i love this issue it's my prized possession i am dying for at least one (1) person to read this insane summary and talk to me abt it

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kittenshift-17 · 4 years

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that whole is ‘i love you’ ‘you don’t but thanks for saying it anyway’ UGH I HATED THAT. GOD it was just so patronizing! like thx for sacrificing urself! could’ve given this to my ex but i chose you! bc ur in love with me and will do anything for me! like that was just a slap in the face. she clearly never saw him as an equal even with a soul. with angel she would’ve given him a million chances even if he killed more people she loved but spike was just a punching bag. (4/multi)

Actually, for my own thinking (which I confess has been wildly influenced by the amount of Spuffy fanfic I’ve devoured) I do think Buffy meant it when she said she loved him. I think that SMG did a really bad job delivering that line, but I do think she loved him. Maybe not like we would hope, but she realised when she was about to lose him that she loved him and liked having him in her life. We see that in the way she says “I’m not ready for your to not be here” and we see it depicted through the eyes of the others, like Giles, “There’s a connection. He relies on you. You rely on him.”

There’s no denying that they do feel something for each other. I think it’s just that Buffy spent so long fighting it - so long being determined to hate him, and to want nothing to do with him even when she lusted after him, that even then - even when he’s about to die after proving once and for all that he IS the good guy, despite a lifetime as the Big Bad - it’s hard for Buffy to accept, and harder for her to admit. The human animal is conditioned to believe that we’re never wrong, and to feel shame and anger when it’s proved that we are, in fact, incorrect about something. Buffy is stubborn and prideful and self-righteous and to have been so wrong about Spike, and to have made him suffer for it - to have made herself suffer for it by resisting him when she could’ve been loving him - had to be a bitter pill to swallow.

Spike’s evil. There is no doubt about that. He’s without conscience for the majority of the series, and he proves time and again that he’s in it for himself first, and everyone else as an afterthought. Even when he admits that’s he’s a Grey Hat, or even part of the Scooby Gang, he is begrudging and childish and immature about it. You spend a century being evil and ruthless and a killer, having been trained in it from when he first rose at Angel’s knee, and it’s a hard habit to break. He plays Kitten Poker, don’t forget. He eats kittens. He eats babies and little children. When he first comes to Sunnydale, he kills a man who he claims is too old, because he prefers lamb to mutton. He’s not going to eat him. He just kills him for kicks. Like... Spike is a bad guy. He’s a Big Bad and he’s proud of it because in the world he’s come to know, that’s the thing to be. The demonic underworld is where the biggest and baddest are the best off and the most popular and Spike covets that and acts in whatever way necessary to be that and maintain that for a long time. He pitted his will against Buffy. Stalked her. Studied her. Learned everything he could about her in an effort to kill her - and he didn’t have any good reason for wanting to kill her, other than to improve his reputation as the Slayer of Slaryers and an extra oomph for his Big Bad image. He didn’t need her blood. He didn’t need her soul. He didn’t need to kill her. He just wanted to. Okay, yes, so did Angel, but at least with Angel it was because he claimed she made him feel human and without his soul, being/feeling human is a despicable weakness. Humans today kill people for that very reason. Spike just wanted to kill her because he thought it would be fun, and because he wanted the thrill of the fight and the rush of tasting her blood.

So, yeah. I do understand Buffy being a bitch to him all that time, and I understand Buffy hating herself and beating herself up for wanting him even despite knowing what a bad guy he was, had been, is, and could return to being. Don’t forget that when Spike came back to Sunnydale and got chipped in the first place, he came back with the Gem of Amara, intending to kill Buffy. He still tried to kill her and to hurt her friends several times even after he was chipped. He wasn’t all sunshine and puppies. That said, neither was Buffy, and the older and more mature she gets, the more we see of that.

The show did a fabulous job of depicting the hard knocks that come amid the transititon from idealistic teenager into cynnical young adult and I commend all of the writers for the way they portrayed that. Buffy grows steadily more bitter with age, not just after being ripped out of heaven, but right from the beginning. We see the idealism and hope of first love, and the crushing pain when it’s dashed. We see the fear and despair of learning someone we love has betrayed us and wants to hurt us. We see the betrayal of a father figure turning on us for the sake of doing his job, and the misjudgements our parents make. We see the transition from high school into the real world, and the way it can warp and twist friendships we’d relied so heavily upon into something that becomes a chore. We see the way friendships change as we grow apart, and the way the choices our friends make impact not just their lives, but ours too. We see the way it feels to want someone you know is bad for you; someone who is bad, period. We see the trials of losing a parent, and takcling motherhood, and the tribulations of needing to find work to have money, and the wretched disappointment when the good things we were all promised don’t pan out that way. Watching those scenes as an adult, having lived a number of them myself, those things are bang on, man.

There are definitely things about the show that I hate; that “I love you” “No you don’t, but thanks for saying it” scene among them, but there is so much richness there, that how can you not love it? Even in that scene, those words from Spike scream so much. They show that he’s been pushed away one too many times. That he doesn’t trust easily anymore, not even himself, and especially not Buffy. I truly think in those moments, when Buffy says she loves him, she can barely beleive it herself, and she doesn’t want to say it at all, but she says it anyway because she knows this is her last chance to do so - her only chance to do so - and we also see how Spike’s been bitten once too often to beleive her. He wanted so long for her to love him, and she spurned him every time. Never said it. Refused to feel it, even, perhaps, when she did feel it just the same way she felt lust for him. He doesn’t believe her because he’s spent a lifetime, it seems, listening to her tell him what a monster he is and how she could never love something like him. He refuses the words because he thinks she’s only saying them out of pity. And in a way, she kind of is. Were he not about to save the world by sacrificing himself, she likely never would’ve fully, truly beleived it herself that she loved him, and even if she did, she would never say it. She only says it because he is dying, and so he thinks she is only saying it to make him happy in his final moments. But there’s too much pain and too much bad blood and bad feelings and hurt and anger and betrayal there for it to feel like more than a platitiude to Spike.

As a fangirl, as a viewer, a reader and a writer, the whole scene is a kick in the gut and not the HEA we all so desperately wanted for the two of them. But as an adult, as a person with understanding of everything Joss was trying to portray - everything that is so much bigger than fanciful romance - I do completely understand the purpose and maybe even the necessity of that scene playing out exactly as it was written. No matter how painful and ugly and disappointing. That’s life, after all....

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ifeveristoday · 4 years

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team Slow Burn/Burn it All Down

“Real monsters don’t announce themselves or present opportunities. Not here. They enter your head, your heart, tear at you from within.” -- Angel, Hellmouth #2

Are we talking about the demons underground or the demon walking around with Angel’s face?

Hellmouth leans heavy on foreshadowing and having unspoken/underlining meanings that differ from the actual words on the page. It continues using elements from Egyptian and Roman/Greek mythos but the main draw of this issue - and I’m assuming the rest of the series, is the reluctant partnership of Buffy and Angel. I don’t agree with the criticism that taking Buffy and Angel away from their respective apocalypses ruins the flow of the overall arcs. It’s a vast story to tell and the pace of the reboots (which is something I have criticized) makes it difficult to include in the main storylines without sacrificing important character development. There are just so many characters, especially in Sunnydale. Jordie’s writing excels at the character and emotional beats rather than plots, and while we have had some great strides in Willow, Xander and Jenny’s personal journeys, there remains some distance from the namesake characters, which I feel like it was intentional to get to the place that Hellmouth occupies.

Love it or hate it, the Buffy and Angel relationship is a huge part of both of their stories and character developments and we’ve had inklings of how Buffy is going to change/possibly wreck Angel’s life in Angel, but he’s remained a shadowy figure in Buffy’s story. Hellmouth changes all of that while retaining some of the original canon’s flaws/trademarks but also poking gentle fun at them.

Spoilers from Hellmouth #2 below the cut.

Buffy and Angel are slightly different from their canon selves - Angel is independent of Buffy’s journey at the very beginning and already has his purpose set in Los Angeles. Buffy is a newly minted Slayer, living with her secret for a whole three weeks before wacky Slayer hijinks puts her in the path of Willow and Xander. Their initial meeting/relationship is reminiscent of the very early episodes of Season 1 Buffy - with a reasonable amount of wariness on Buffy’s part and Angel’s dry/slightly cocky attitude with a 2019 update of their anxieties. There’s also a flip in roles as Angel asks Buffy how she’s feeling and what she wants to do in the future at the start. It’s just the feeling of a connection with no romantic overtones.

The comic recognizes the fucked-upness of Buffy being a child and fighting the forces of evil and sympathizing with her via the character of Jenny. While there is an obligatory nod to Buffy’s desire to be normal, it also makes a point of isolating her from the Scoobies and her frustration at knowing how to be the best Slayer she can be. Giles tells her that he’s to direct her, but not tell her explicitly what she has to do sounds an awful like parents preparing their children for adulthood. There is no handbook. While Buffy is welcomed into Willow and Xander’s circle (and that’s another flip - it is Willow who reaches out to Buffy first and invites her into being social), they’re very much a unit while Buffy sort of floats between their friendship. But I feel due to them being so young, it’s easy to claim best friendship, because - the intensity of feelings and hormones.

This makes Buffy’s character kind of harder to read, and less sunshiney than her OG counterpart. But it’s a shared facade - TV Buffy just hid it better underneath girliness and bouncy hair, while Boom! Buffy is focused, for better or worse to her duty. This is a Buffy that hasn’t quit Slaying before, who gets slightly conflicted guidance from her Watcher and who needs Willow and Xander more than they possibly need her to be a connection to being sixteen. Everyone has their own stuff to deal with.

Hellmouth gives Buffy the spotlight and also drops her into an immediate partnership with Angel. It very pointedly is not a romance - they both get on each others nerves actually, and it inspires A+ bantering while revealing the most of each character so far. Buffy’s venting to Angel (Buffy #8/Hellmouth #1) implies that she’s worried about her friendships and failure to connect, that she’d rather tell a complete stranger this than confide in her friends/Watcher.

Angel listening and not judging shows an immediate empathy for her - and his actions during Hellmouth show a more vulnerable/less closed off Angel. He doesn’t occupy the same caretaker vibe he has with Fred and Gunn that he does with Buffy, namely because Buffy refuses it. She calls him out on trying to be the mysterious weight of the world Loner who takes on all of the responsibilities.

Angel quickly realizes he just can’t be That Guy with Buffy, and it makes his character hilariously resigned/looser in response. He warns her about dangers in the Hellmouth but accepts Buffy’s way is different from his, but that doesn’t make it wrong. He’s willing to admit he might have been wrong about demons being upfront when the slithery shapeshifter demon confronts them - and Buffy’s snarky response “Cool, cool. Won’t rub that in.” lightens the tense moment.

Notably, Angel is the one that gets injured/dragged by the demons while Buffy runs to save him. The fighting sequences are highlighted and Buffy’s scenes, in particular, are very smooth and highlights her Slayer grace. They fight beautifully together and despite their prickly banter, feel a shared responsibility to each other’s well being. Their separate confrontations with the shapeshifter shows their fears - Buffy ‘abandoning’ her family and friends and failing to protect them, Angel seeing the ghosts of the people he’s failed to save. Buffy reacts strongly to how her family and friends need her, while Angel angrily tells the shifter to stay out of his head and that it doesn’t know anything about him. Circling back to Buffy saying she doesn’t know what she wants, the Ominous voice implies Angel doesn’t really know what he’s doing and who he is.

Ah, vague accusations of something evil and upsetting, how I haven’t missed you.

After Angel demands to know who’s blood is needed for the further escalation of Evil Plan, and the Voice doesn’t reply, he immediately realizes Buffy is in danger and runs to find her.

Buffy’s still fighting the shifter and it mentions she could put an end to her family and friends’ suffering with her sacrifice - namely, that her blood will save the world.

While Buffy logically knows that the shifter isn’t her mom (because of course, the shifter would take on the form of Joyce), this emotional blackmail breaks her out of the illusion and she kicks it’s ass. Almost punching out Angel in the process.

Angel is less emotional about his ordeal and Buffy lets him have it again, telling him that it's unfair that she’s the only one being vulnerable - “I opened up because we need to work together, and you haven’t said a thing.”

Instead of being defensive and defaulting to Sir Mopes a Lot - Angel sincerely apologizes and tells her that his fears were also centered around his friends and him not being able to save them in time.

And it’s Buffy’s turn to reassure him/pass on wisdom - she realizes that the Hellmouth wants to separate them to make them weaker and that Angel deserves a little more empathy from her.

THEY’RE COMMUNICATING THEIR FRUSTRATIONS AND CONCERNS WITH EACH OTHER, Y’ALL.

Angel does have a moment of saying, “Silent suffering is more my cup of tea,” and Buffy’s quick response of “And how’s that working for you?” showcase their differences/similarities nicely. Angel despite making friends doesn’t tell them what he’s thinking because he’s used to being alone, Buffy with her very loud opinions isolates herself (un)intentionally because she’s new to Slaying and being a teenager at the same time. They can’t talk to the people who care for them--- but they can talk to each other.

When they face hurdles, they take turns reassuring/pointing out the Obvious Evil, and then a tiny moment - Angel adds onto Buffy’s observation of not getting surrounded by the demon horde by saying, “Just like Thermopylae.”

As with each issue of the Boom!verse, when names I don’t recognize I obviously google them - and Thermopylae is a reference to both the battle of Thermopylae (think the 300 comic and uh, history) and the “Hot Gates,” and is the cavernous entrance to Hades.

Is my theory/wish that there’s going to be Persephone/Hades parallels and Eurydice/Orpheus vibes in this story going to play out? God, I hope so.

Anyway, back to the moment - when they inevitably get surrounded by the demon hordes, Buffy remarks, “Well, there goes thermometer.”

The. Classic. Buffy. Malapropism.

My heart.

Angel gets slashed in the fight, and Buffy worries about him, but there’s a bigger problem -

narrated by the Voice - “Are you sure everything is as it seems? You’ve been wrong before.”

“Blood is spilled...vessels are filled...every pretender killed.”

Shot to Drusilla as Prometheus in chains, spouting some of the worst “Dru-esque” dialogue I’ve read. Sorry Jordie, this is up there with the clunky faux Whedonisms of the early issues.

So Dru isn’t the major Big Bad, but rather the unseen Voice, who we, of course, don’t know.

Is she ultimate sacrifice, the vessel (after all she is of Angel’s bloodline) and oh, Angel Still Hasn’t Told Buffy He’s A Vampire which...

Boo.

All of the voice overs hint that the confession when it happens is going to cause Buffy Big Mad - after all, Angel knows more about her than she does of him, AGAIN.

The art and coloring is stunning as ever in this issue - Carlini really knows how to draw action sequences, and the varying light/color schemes really make the sense of Buffy and Angel descending into the Hellmouth feel vivid and real.

tl;dr I loved this issue and each issue the stakes definitely seem higher. The bantering and a slow reveal of their personalities are also excellent. The foreshadowing/double meanings of the dialogues.

The stuff I don’t like - the Dru dialog at the end, Angel being secretive about his Vampire self.

#hellmouth #thoughts and reactions #reactions and reviews #my review #buffy comics #angel comics #boom! studios #boom! verse #disaster grumpy bats #the ballad of buffy and angel #buffy summers #angel

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yetanotherbuffyblog · 5 years

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What a ride, guys

So, uh, that finale…

The end is here, and Buffy and Friends are working things out on how to stop Glory from destroying the world via dimensional rifts and killing Dawn. Buffy refuses to take killing Dawn as an option, despite Giles being quite insistent on it. Anya suggests using the Orb of Dagon from earlier in the season, and also the hammer from the troll.

I’m going to skip a lot of character moments to get to the actual fight, like how Dawn was made out of Buffy because she wasn’t born like a normal person, and how Buffy can’t bear to lose Dawn and talks about quitting after this apocalypse, but we’ll talk about some of it in the notes.

Tara is the one who leads them to where Glory’s working her ritual (around a giant construction tower, I guess?), because the insane people seem to be drawn to it. Once there, Glory recognizes her and Willow uses that distraction to undo the magic Glory did to Tara, which weakens her enough that Buffy can attack, while the rest of the Scoobies go for the minions. The fight seems to be pretty even between Glory and Buffy, until Glory decapitates Buffy… only to reveal that the Buffy she’s been fighting was actually the reprogrammed Buffy Bot. Real!Buffy starts whaling on Glory with the troll hammer.

There’s a lot of fighting, but Buffy actually manages to beat down Glory, and manages to have her change into Ben. She makes Ben swear to make sure Glory leaves them all alone while she goes to check on her sister. Ben agrees to it, which is when Giles rolls up, and is all like, “Yeah, I get it, she’s a good guy, she’s not going to kill you because she’s a good guy. But, uh, let’s be real here: if Glory survives we’re screwed, so…” And Giles STRANGLES BEN TO DEATH! HOLY S***!

So Glory doesn’t bleed Dawn for the ritual, but that creepy demon dude who survived being stabbed? Doc? Yeah, he does because he’s the Jerk of the Week. He manages to repel Spike, but by the time Buffy gets up there he’s already cut Dawn to start her opening portals. Buffy chucks him off the tower for his troubles, but OH NO! Portals have started opening! Dawn argues that the only way that to stop the end of the world is to let herself die. So she offers to jump off the tower.

But Buffy thinks about how Dawn is made from her; the ritual’s kind of vague on how it works, exactly, but she knows that there’s something important about that connection? And Buffy remembers that thing she’s been told: that Death is her gift. So she realizes that Dawn doesn’t have to die, but someone does, and so Buffy throws herself off of the tower, dying, but also closing the portals.

So the world is saved! But Buffy is dead.

Huh.

Notes!

-I am… not thrilled with the idea of the solution to saving the world being suicide. TV Tropes’s recap page for the episode mentions a review of the finale that had a similar, but more extreme, mindset, and TV Tropes’s reaction is like, “You missed the point! Did you want the world to be destroyed?” And no, of course not. But I’m not exactly happy with any plot situation where the only way to solve it is by suicide. I don’t think we should be writing stories that frame suicide as a heroic act. I sort of give this one a half-pass, because we know she won’t stay dead, and I realize this is a completely unrealistic situation, but still. It’s one thing for someone to save the world by putting themselves into a fight they can’t walk away from; it’s another to save the world by literal, unambiguous suicide, and that’s not something I’m okay with.

-Although Buffy did tell Spike that not all of them were going to come out of this alive. And the one who dies is… Buff. That’s some foreshadowing, Joss.

-When they go to the Summers house to get ready, Spike tells Buffy that he knows that she’ll never love him, but she treats him like a real person and that means something to him. Which is a cool character moment, I think.

-Willow having a spell that reverses Glory’s Brain Drain feels a little… too convenient? It’s not so out there, and of course she hasn’t done it before because you have to get within reaching distance of Glory for it to work, but it’s handy that there’s a counterspell for it? Just when they need it!

-Reminder that Anya’s afraid of rabbits! When she and Xander are in the storage room looking for the Dagon Sphere, they happen across a plush rabbit and Anya screams. I’d forgotten that they bothered her.

-They also find the Buffy Bot, which Anya explains is being studied by Willow. Xander wonders if that’s a lesbian thing, but Anya reinforces that Willow’s interest in the Buffy Bot is purely academic.

-Also Xander proposes to Anya? She accepts except that she says that they’ll save it for after this battle. Which is kind of nice.

-Doc’s a pain in the butt. But is he dead? He survived being stabbed, so I don’t know if a fall off a tower would kill him.

-And Spike survived being thrown off the building, but Buffy didn’t. And I get that he’s a vampire so that probably counts for something, as he can only be killed in specific ways, but it felt a bit annoying. Not that I wanted Spike to die, it’s just… y’know.

-This dialogue! Heightened by knowing that Whedon’s a fan of Shakespeare!

Buffy: Hey, everybody knows their jobs. Remember, the ritual starts, we all die. And I'll kill anyone who comes near Dawn.

Spike: Well, not exactly the St. Crispin's Day speech, was it?

Giles: [wryly] "We few, we happy few..."

Spike: We band of buggered.

-Was this a fauxnale? Was the show going to be cancelled and then saved at the last minute? [shrugs] I dunno. You guys tell me.

-At one point Glory gets hit with a wrecking ball. That was cool.

-Tara gets her sanity back! I was worried about that. That being said… are the other crazy people going to get their sanity back now that Glory’s dead? Probably not. So I feel pretty bad for them. But at least Tara’s doing well.

-Also crazy!Tara calls Giles a killer before they get going, which is great ‘cause it foreshadows when he kills Ben.

-Oh hey, yeah, that? That was crazy. We get this line:

Giles: She's a hero, you see. She's not like us. [suffocates Ben]

-And it makes sense! We know that Giles used to be really hardcore, and he’s the one advocating that they kill Dawn to save the world. He’s willing to do these underhanded dirty things, especially if they protect Buffy. He knows that Glory’s going to come back if she’s allowed to survive. I think Buffy knows that too, on some level, but she’s really tired of all this Slayer business and just wants to save her sister more than she wants to kill Glory or Ben, so it’s kind of secondary in her mind. But not Giles! Nope, Glory’s gotta go, and if that means killing Ben, then he’s gonna do it.

-When Glory “kills” the Buffy Bot, she assumes that the Slayer was a robot the entire time. Oh Glory, you moron.

-You know, Glory’s funny because she’s so… emotionally stupid? When Buffy’s beating her down, she basically begins pleading that Buffy just doesn’t understand the pain she’s going through of… not being an almighty deity. That’s it. As if “Oh woe is me, I’m not an evil demon god!” is really a sympathetic position to take here when you’re plotting to murder someone’s sister.

-The beginning of the episode has a flashback of Buffy helping some rando in an alley being attacked by a vampire. It’s a cool moment, with some good dialogue (especially because the vampire doesn’t seem to realize who he’s talking to), but it ends with Buffy agreeing with the would-be victim that she’s “just some girl” and it reinforces the idea that Buffy really just wants out of this game. She never asked to be the Slayer, and she would very much like to just be a normal person.

-One of Glory’s minions calls her “groove-tastic one”? What’s up with that guy?

-What do the minions do now that Glory’s dead? Go sulk, I guess? Find new jobs?

-A freaking dragon flies through the portal?!

#5x22 #Buffy Summers #BtVS #Dawn Summers #Spike #Xander Harris #Rupert Giles #Glorificus #Anya #Willow Rosenberg #Buffy The Vampire Slayer

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ettadunham · 5 years

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A Buffy rewatch 3x07 Revelations

aka subtext and secrets

Welcome to this dailyish text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and rant about it in 10-3k words. What you can expect: long run-on sentences and disjointed observations, often focused on one tiny detail about the episode. What you shouldn’t be expecting: actual reviews that make sense.

And today marks the third 7th episode milestone of this rewatch, so the deal should be obvious by now: big reveals and set ups for the season are in order.

As far as big season themes go, Revelations combines explicit Buffy/Faith subtext, the will-they-won’t-they dance of a post-season 2 Buffy/Angel, and Faith being turned to the dark side by an authority figure showing specific interest in her. So yup. There’s definitely a lot of set up here to delve into.

But before that, I once again have to talk a bit about Willow and Xander, and how they’re handling the reveal of Angel being alive in light of their own little secret transgressions.

On a surface level, Willow seemed the most understanding and supportive towards Buffy. Which I was glad of, because I once again felt like there was a disproportionate blame leveled against her, and that gives me all these bad feelings in my tummy.

On the other hand... Willow’s mentality stems from a ‘who am I to judge when I’ve been secretly cheating on my bf’ mindset, and that’s not always the healthiest way to deal. It’s certainly not a bad thing - it’s a chance for self-awareness and empathy -, but for one thing, it leaves the door open for not holding other people responsible for their actions due to your own guilt. (Which doesn’t necessarily apply here, but will be relevant a few seasons from now.)

There’s also the issue that if you’re too wrapped up in that guilt and your own head, you might not actually be able to empathize with and support others properly through their own issues. (Once again though, I’m pointing this out mostly for future reference.)

In any case, I did like that Willow tried to use the opportunity to come clean to Buffy about her own secrets at that point, even if she chickened out post-demon slayage. Her reactions during that fight were adorable though.

And then we got Xander on the complete opposite side of that spectrum.

That’s not to say that Xander isn’t overcompensating for his own guilt here though. In fact, the reason why he ends up finding out about Angel is because he volunteered to go the cemetery... alone. Just to bring Buffy and Faith up do speed on their findings.

I actually was with Xander more than I expected during this ep. It was logical and understandable for him to follow Angel, and then tell Giles about what he saw. As usual, he did go over the line during Buffy’s intervention, but I also liked how Cordelia debunked Buffy’s jealousy comment and that, as an audience member, we were aware of the circumstances of him ‘spying’ on them.

At this point, it does certainly feel like Xander’s dislike of Angel has nothing to do with jealousy... but then again, as I pointed out many times, Xander is a rather emotional character. So if his gut is telling him that Angel is the worst, there’s no way of discerning how much of that is leftover sulkiness back from season 1.

In any case, he certainly believes himself to be justified in his rage, which is why he has little care as to how his ramblings will come off to Faith. Who then decides with a lack of context that Angel slayage is in order, and Xander even volunteers to accompany her in that.

See, this is why I’m having trouble blaming Buffy for keeping Angel’s reappearance a secret from the gang. Sure, keeping it a secret made the reveal definitely worse, but come on! Look at their reactions! And then Giles said that she must have known that it was wrong or otherwise she wouldn’t have kept it from them, and... Here’s a hot take.

Just because you feel guilty about doing something, doesn’t mean that it’s actually wrong. It wasn’t wrong of Buffy to care for Angel after he was brought back, and it was damn reasonable that she didn’t think that the rest of the gang would understand. (Which again goes back to the “Kick his ass” moment.)

So while I understand where the gang is coming from, and can sympathize with their distrust of Angel, and them feeling betrayed by Buffy... I’m with my girl on this one.

#Buffy’sDoneNothingWrong

But then we get to the main attraction of this episode. Faith.

Again, I love that the episode starts with some pretty explicit subtext hint at Buffy and Faith’s relationship. The gang is theorizing about whether or not Buffy’s dating someone new. Buffy appears and says that she wouldn’t use the word ‘dating’, but she’s definitely going out with someone tonight. And that someone is Faith.

It’s all very subtle.

And then Gwendolyn Post appears, and announces herself as Faith’s new Watcher. She also makes some great effort at making Giles feel inadequate in the process, but that’s beside the point.

Faith immediately says that she doesn’t get along with authority figures... mostly ‘cause they tend to die around her. Besides, she’s already got Giles, and they’re fine with the gang.

But then Gwendolyn manages to get under her skin, when she comments on the secret meeting the rest of the Scoobies had. Now, from an outsider perspective, it might seem understandable why Faith wasn’t invited to the Buffy intervention meeting. For her however, this just served as a wake-up call about her place in the group.

Giles isn’t her Watcher. He’s Buffy’s. All of the gang... they’re Buffy’s friends. And apparently, Faith hasn’t even earned her stripes to be in Buffy’s inner circle yet.

So when Gwendolyn offers to train her and asks for her trust in return... Faith accepts, despite herself. Sure, she isn’t as cozy as Giles, and doesn’t approve of having a social group, but at least she’d be her Watcher. And it’s not like Faith has a lot of friends, or trusts anyone to let in to begin with.

And yet, Faith going after Angel... That wasn’t Gwendolyn’s influence. That was Faith thinking that she was helping Buffy, that she was perhaps even saving her from herself.

You can also add the subtext here to Faith’s motivation, even if it’s only on a subconscious level. And the fact that Faith and Xander are planning to do this together - after the latter was accused of still having some jealousy goggles on, no less -, could actually support that claim.

Once Gwendolyn betrays her though, Faith’s at a low point. Despite her bravado, it’s obvious how much Faith craves a support system; but now not only did she learn her lesson about trusting people once again, she also came to the conclusion that she’s not really part of Buffy’s family either.

Buffy: I'm on your side. Faith: I'm on my side, and that's enough. Buffy: Not always.

That scene at the end between them, as short as it is, is still probably my favorite of the episode. Buffy comes offering an olive branch after everything, reassuring Faith that they were all fooled by Gwendolyn, and that despite their fight earlier, despite keeping secrets from her and everyone else, she’s still in her corner.

But Faith is lost in her own head. She doesn’t feel like she can trust Buffy anymore. She knows that she isn’t the most important person in Buffy’s life and fears that she’d choose her friends or Angel over her in a heartbeat. (Which kind of reminds me of how maybe Faith and Willow are more similar than they’d care to admit...)

And yet, at the end of the scene, Faith still calls out to Buffy. She considers one last time to open up, to let her in...

...And then retreats back into herself. In her cheap motel room that someone should really get her out of. But the fact that not one adult cares to do so, is emblematic of the validity of Faith’s issues.

People will let you down. So why not let them down first?

#buffy rewatch 2k19 #btvs talk #btvs

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buffster · 5 years

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This Year’s Girl (BTVS 4.15)

This is part of my ongoing Buffyverse Project, where I write notes/meta for every episode in an attempt to better understand the characters and themes of the shows. You can find the BTVS list here and the ATS list here. Gifs are not mine.

Now seems as good a time as any to admit that Faith is one of my favorite Buffyverse characters. Every episode with her in it seems more exciting to me and she was massively underused and underdeveloped in my opinion. There were many aspects of her I identified with and I wish we’d gotten to see her transform into a true hero. Yes, she had a redemption arc of sorts, but I would have liked to really confront her childhood issues and see more of Buffy confronting how privileged she was in comparison to Faith. I’ll talk about it more (and perhaps change my mind) as I rewatch Angel but it felt more like Faith gave up then that she truly transformed into a hero. It felt very going through the motions. But let’s get back to This Year’s Girl.

One of my favorite things about this episode is how we get to see the difference in perspective between Buffy and Faith. For Buffy, Faith is an old problem. The forefront of her mind is Riley and the Initiative. I remember when this first aired I wondered how Faith would act--had she moved on from her antics back in season three? There’s a sense that Buffy is wondering the same thing at first. Of course, Faith hasn’t. She has stayed frozen while time has moved on for Buffy. Faith comes at Buffy as if they just had their rooftop fight.

While she was in a coma Faith dreamed of a stone-faced Buffy viciously chasing her and the Mayor again and again. I thought it was a great insight into Faith’s perspective. Buffy is, objectively, the warmer of the two characters--she certainly hasn’t traveled the dark road that Faith has. But there’s a sense of wild emotion to Faith at all times. Even when she’s murdering someone she’s full of passion and rage. Buffy, though she makes better choices, seems cold to Faith. Always under control and dispassionate.

It also shows how misguided Faith can be. The Mayor wanted to devour Sunnydale and had world-altering goals, but to Faith it was always about their insular little world where he was kind to her and she was indispensable to him. The rest was small potatoes. You can’t help but partially understand her perspective. Buffy tells her later in the episode that everyone wanted to forget about her. The Mayor was the exception to that.

Riley’s return to the Scooby fold is a small part of this episode.

Riley: Give me an order. That's what I do, isn't it? Follow orders?

Buffy: Don't have to.

Riley: Don't I? All my life, that's what I've been groomed to do. They say jump, I ask how high, and I get the job done. But I don't know if it's the right job anymore.

Buffy: I know how you feel. It's like, Giles is part of this council. For years all they did was give me orders.

Riley: Ever obey them?

Buffy: Sure. I mean, the ones I was gonna do anyway. The point is, I quit the Council. And it scared me, but now it's okay.

Riley: See, we're different that way. I just suck at the whole gray area thing.

I felt like this conversation really laid out some of Buffy and Riley’s core issues. The thing is, she doesn’t really understand. Buffy has never been one to follow orders without thinking. It’s not who she is.

Faith sort of wanders around aimlessly until she arrives at Giles’ and hears a pretty bad conversation. Everyone is very excited to “beat the crap out of” and lock up Faith. They call it the “funnest coma ever”. We can’t say for sure that that informed her subsequent actions but it certainly could have. Side note: Willow is pretty viscous about Faith during the group conversation and later when talking to Tara. There’s clearly some leftover jealousy from the time Faith almost replaced her as Buffy’s best friend.

When Faith and Buffy finally come face to face Faith tells her about her dreams. Faith explained away Buffy’s nearly killing her and then forgetting about her by telling herself love for Angel was the reason. It threw her when she saw Buffy had moved on to Riley. Once again, she sees Buffy as cold.

As we all know, The Mayor left Faith a little goodbye present. I have to admit I found his video a little strange. The realist in him thought he would fail? Overconfidence is the only thing that explains his not trying to kill the Scooby gang while he was human and invincible. If he thought they were going to win it makes no sense. Anyway, he kind of manipulates Faith here by telling her it’s over for her but she can go out with a bang. Was this his caring for her or his revenge from beyond the grave?

Coming back to my earlier statement that Faith is underdeveloped...we see clearly here that she doesn’t understand Buffy at all. She doesn’t really know how to. Having never been shown a loving family, she doesn’t know how they work. She assumes Buffy has moved on and forgotten about her mother because she would do that (in fact, was probably desperate to). But Buffy and Joyce don’t have a relationship Faith can understand. On the flip side, neither Joyce nor Buffy know what it’s like “to sink a little deeper every day, and nobody even sees”. Until perhaps season six.

Faith: Don't tell me you don't see it, Joyce. You've served your purpose. Squirted out the kid, raised her up and now you might as well be dead. Nobody cares. Nobody remembers. Especially Buffy, the fabulous super hero. Sooner or later you'll have to face it - she was over us a long time ago. Too busy climbing onto her new boytoy to give a single thought to the people that matter. You're her mother and she just leaves you here to die.

Buffy busts in to save her mother at this point, but of course Faith wasn’t talking about Joyce anyway. This is the real tragedy of Faith: all she wanted was Buffy’s acceptance and attention. But Buffy isn’t exactly the type of person or in a good place in her life to play mother hen. Next episode: Faith finally gets a chance to be Buffy Summers.

Character Notes:

Spike: “Can’t anyone in your damned little Scoobie club at least try and remember that I HATE YOU ALL?” There’s the narrative sort-of-acknowledging the groups weirdness in forgetting about Spike as a threat.

Buffy Summers: Buffy makes a big mistake here in not telling Riley about the history between herself, Faith, and Angel. It makes Riley vulnerable next episode when Faith-as-Buffy is on the loose. In fairness, no one could have predicted that was coming.

#thisyearsgirl #Douglas Petrie #faith lehane #buffy summers #spike #xander harris #riley finn #willow rosenberg #buffy/riley #joyce summers

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stargazer1682 · 3 years

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Buffy Season 6 was terrible

Season 6 is a dumpster fire and far from anything I'd describe as "well planned," let alone immaculately written.

The plot is heavily contrived, starting pretty much with the Scoobies plans to bring Buffy back. Why are they bringing her back? Because.

Don't get me wrong, the argument that Buffy's soul MIGHT be in a hell dimension isn't wholly without merit, given that they saw all number of hell dimensions open up before their eyes and Buffy had to sacrifice herself to close a rift between these dimensions in much the same way Angel did, for essentially the same purpose. Knowing the lives they lead, everything they’ve experienced and how cruel they know their universe to be, there would be a very distinct probability that Buffy was in hell. In fact the only reason she wasn't was arguably because being in heaven and pulled out by her friends is the only worse possible fate.

But, Buffy's body was barely cold when they started hatching plans to bring her back; they didn't really even try to move on without her. And as it turns out, bringing someone back isn't actually all that difficult. I maintain that they should have done a time jump; like 5 years, which would have at least established that they TRIED to move on without her before bring her back. And the effort could have been said to have taken more time than a summer vacation. Plus it would have better aligned the majority of characters with their real world ages, while create an added facet for why Buffy might feel disconnected from her friends if they’ve literally moved on with their lives. Even Dawn, who be closer to Buffy’s age, would be a practical stranger to her at that point; adding to the isolation.

But this is a minor criticism in the grand scheme of the season though, because the show always cut to the chase; and for the most part I can appreciate that. So let's do the same and really get down to the less excusable contrivances.

Practically everyone’s livin’ in casa de Summers, yet is anyone apparently contributing anything to the expenses? Not by any indication. Buffy’s back barely a minute, doesn’t even take time to readjust before going patrolling, and soon after that they say, “welcome back, you’re drowning in debt. Get a job, deadbeat.”

And this leads to a couple of ridiculous plots. The first of which is Giles’ sudden and inexplicable inability to tell Buffy “no” and establish clear boundaries between them; you know, one of the key essential traits of his character five years running. And yes, I know, Tony Head wanted to move back to England and that’s fair, but the excuse they gave his character for his absence was, simple put, stupid. Lots of parental figures have to deal with the transition of a so-called child that they’ve looked after and been responsible for and help usher them into independent adulthood; and they’ve done that, remarkably enough, without moving clear across the flippin’ planet. This is to say nothing of the conventional dynamics of a Slayer and her support system; which we don’t know enough about, in terms of how previous Slayers that lived into their early 20s managed to get by financially. There’s been a lot of speculation and the consensus typically leans towards an informal understand that their Watcher supports them. This arrangement may not be fair and Giles may want Buffy to lead a less restrictive life than the average Slayer had before her, but there are certain practical realities that Giles of all people should understand in this regard. The first and foremost of which is that, as Slayer, Buffy must put those responsibilities ahead of all others and it’s simply not feasible to expect her to burn the candle at both ends, working a full time job during the day and be a full time Slayer at night. On top of that is this inane idea he develops that Buffy was somehow shirking her responsibilities, when, again, she doesn’t miss a beat after coming back from the dead before going on patrol. The thing she struggles with, apart from how she’s going to support herself financially without it interfering with her Slaying duties, is being and adult in her VERY early 20s with a mortgage and single mother to a nearly fully grown teenager; all while dealing with the trauma of coming back to from the dead. This goes beyond the pale of the normal responsibilities of someone going through Buffy’s stage of life in season 6; and any adult going through anything even remotely comparable should not be expected to do that single handedly on their own. Giles even admits later that being an adult means knowing when to ask for help, which just goes to show that his reason for leaving in the first place is complete and utter BS.

Giles demonstrated greater understanding for what Buffy was going through in season 3 when she merely had to send the man she loved to hell, after being thrown out of her house by her mother; yet here he seems to be utterly clueless. There are countless ways that Giles could have helped Buffy find her footing, without her being dependant on him, while still explaining Tony’s departure. But they wanted to set up a story that perpetuated Buffy’s hardship and isolation – hence the reason the writers felt the need to undermine the most obvious and practical solution for her need for a job, working at the magic store.

Then there’s a crux of the season’s conflicts. And yeah, I guess “life” as a big bad is… something… but decidedly not as effectively well done as the earlier seasons did with the allegorical struggles about adolescence and coming of age during the high school seasons.

Buffy is isolated from her friends, depressed, emotionally abused by a man taking advantage of her state of mind, drowning in debt (and not taking any of the realistic steps to address it, like dumping the house she can’t afford in favor of a small apartment for her and Dawn.) Eventually it ceases to be a story arc and just crap on Buffy day. There’s no joy here; and that’s one of the quixotic things about life and depression, it’s ability to make you think for a second that if you’re able to laugh in this moment, maybe things aren’t all that bad, right before they go back to being terrible.

After Tabula Rasa, once Giles leaves, the quality of the episodes takes a sharp downturn; and subsequently improves upon his return. There isn’t necessarily a correlation, especially since I’d say opposite is true with Giles’ presence with season 7. But right off the bat we’ve got Smashed and Wrecked, two incredibly stupid episodes, with equally terrible plot points that redefine the direction of the season.

Buffy starts screwing Spike, and… Amy’s suddenly a creep who could give her mom a run for her money? Oh, and now apparently Willow’s problem with magic is that she’s actually addicted to it, like a drug, and not the abuse of power and lack of moral forethought that they’ve been making it out to be ALL THIS TIME. No, now she’s suddenly doing ambiguous “magics” in back alleys that have no other apparent purpose than to make her trip.

Now, don’t worry, I didn’t forget about Xander… like the writers seemed to do after season 4… He’s still there and he’s going to marry Anya; which is going to be is sole defining arc the rest of this season and probably the next; even when the wedding doesn’t happen. The wedding episode was ALMOST interesting, but the fact is, while I’ve come to not like Xander overall, in the course of multiple re-watches of the series; he was put through a seriously traumatic ordeal in Hells Bells that they just gloss right over by the end of it; and expect him to still get married. And when he’s not in the right frame of mind to do that, they decide that he’s the AH for it….. Worse still, he accepts that title, deserved though it may be for a variety of other reasons from over the years; this instance is not one of them. But Joss has to Joss, which means everyone and everything sucks.

And then there’s the “Trio”…. (sigh)

I mean, they even went to the trouble of acknowledging how pathetic a “challenge” they were in contrast to previous big bads, with a doctor commenting on it during Normal Again. (Augh… Normal Again….)

Warren bordered on a comparatively compelling antagonist, by virtue of him being a complete bastard, but they had to blunt his arc with the nerd shtick; and I’m not sure why I hate it so much, because with the likes of Dick Wilkens’ “gee golly, I just want to be a big snake” attitude or Glory’s valley girl god demeanor, this shouldn’t have felt at odds for a big bad, yet it just doesn’t work.

The bigger problem I think I have with it all is that, ultimately, Warren’s not even the big bad; Willow is – which would be fine too, if her arc leading up to that break wasn’t so terrible. And here’s the thing, they had all of the pieces to make it work; it was all there. Willow’s story of where she was at in her life and the things she was doing and why she was doing them, closely parallel Warren’s story. Both characters had the smarts, the power and ambition to do whatever they set their minds to; and neither of them were stopping to ask themselves, “just because I can, should I?” and as a result were seriously abusing the power they had. Both of them undermined the free will of the women they loved, without consideration of the ramifications. Willow KINDA got it and tried to change, whereas Warren didn’t. But by trying shoehorn a drug analogy into Willow’s story, while just making Warren an AH, they undermined that parallel and the collision of wills they were ultimately on.

Don’t even get me started on killing off Tara. That was the wrong decision, full stop.

It should have been Xander. It would arguably have set off Willow at least as much as Tara’s death, and Xander’s spirit could have still appeared to Willow on the cliff to talk her down.

Then bring Nicky Brendon back for season 7 as the primary embodiment of the First.

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headlineawards · 6 years

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2018 Headline Winners [Fic Awards, Giles]

Giles Fiction Awards

The Watcher Watch Award [Best gen., Giles]

Winner - Second Sight by Il_mio_capitano “A wonderful story that grips you right from the start and doesn't let you go until you've read it all. Delightfully sarcastic humour paired with an original and suspenseful plot, what's not to like? But even more praiseworthy are the outstandingly three-dimensional characters. There's Randall - hilarious, irresponsible, infuriating, inventive, a loyal friend and an absolute moron, he practically jumps out of the page straight away. There's Giles' dad, not simply grumpy but with so many nuances and unobtrusively scattered background information, he too feels like a complete and real person. His obsession with the exact time sort of bookends the story instead of just being a random meaningless quirk. And, of course, Giles' glorious grandmother, obviously the source of the family sarcasm and such a force of nature despite her blindness - which is in itself another example of the endless richness of details in this exceptional work. Amazing.”

Runner-up - The Uxbridge English Dictionary by DHW “The Uxbridge English Dictionary affectionately captures the Season 3 Giles/Wesley rivalry in all of its obnoxious glory. Wesley’s pompous interior monologue is perfectly rendered in his battle of wits with Giles. It’s a delight to see Giles’ playful side come out in the course of the game, only to be met with unexpected comeuppance.”

The Twosome of Cuteness Award [Best romance, Giles]

Winner - Believe it Or Not (The Courtship of Rupert Giles Remix) by Thecarlysutra “What made Rupert different than Wesley? We know Rupert left home and took up with a bad crowd, but what was the impetus? Thecarlysutra's ‘Believe It or Not (The Courtship of Rupert Giles remix)’ gives us a convincing answer. We're impressed by the slow transformation of Rupert's character, from a boy excited to study the Slayer close up who, as Veronique notes is “not to me like the type that gets in trouble” to a kid who's willing to take actions that might get him into trouble with his father, and finally ending up as a young man who punches the Council leader before walking out the door. Veronique turned him into a man; the Council, by killing their Slayer, made him into Ripper. That's really well done and we can see it happening that way. The characterizations are excellent. The Council ignore Veronique but she's obviously thinking for herself right from the start. Her first words dress down the head of the Council for calling her Veronica rather than Veronique. What we found most impressive were the differing worldviews. The Council sees Slayers as temporary, like milk or fruit. Veronique describes herself as something that might not last long but improves with age, as cheese and wine. Rupert fears her impermanence and denies it. When his father confronts him, saying he'll be a widower before twenty, we see the first hints of Ripper's rage: “Rupert could feel the rage pumping through his veins, spreading through his body like disease. His hands shook.” Rupert, changing, is caught halfway between her viewpoint and the Council's but, lacking her fear of loss, is caught up in rage. Wow! We also adore the descriptions, particularly of the first sword fight between Rupert and Veronique. How his style, more like logic than fighting, is no match for Veronique who “began like a flamenco dancer, her body curving, drawing into the air, spinning away. Her bare feet were soundless on the teak floors, and the gauzy material of her dress blurred the silhouette of her body; it was like fighting a ghost.” That's an amazing description and we can see where Ripper got his fighting skills from. Veronique's time may have been short but she changed Rupert, as a fighter, as a lover, as a human.”

Runner-up - Kids Today by Quaggy “We adore how the feelings that Buffy and Giles share for each other are revealed slowly but lead inevitably to the ending. At the start, we learn that Buffy had been made younger, taken back to a pre-Slayer age, in the middle of a battle. Giles, thinking she was dying, had been first to her side and she'd calmed when she saw him before passing out. Giles had been so devastated by the thought that he'd seen her third and final death that he'd killed everyone who'd had a part in it, but Buffy hadn't died. Giles cares so much that he leaves the details of giving Buffy a new identity to the rest of the Scoobies so that he can remain at Buffy's side while she's in the hospital. He brings her daisies and reads from her favorite books. Buffy's comment that Anne wouldn't have thought Cordelia was such a romantic name if she'd met their Cordy is a lovely detail as is the idea that the Scythe reinstates Buffy's Slayer powers, allowing her to heal from a death wound. The Scoobies are surprised when Buffy asserts herself, saying that Giles has to be at high-school with her – for training purposes of course – but Giles thinks he's put himself at a disadvantage by showing Buffy that he's her most loyal ally. In fact, he's shown her that he cares and to be by Buffy's side is not a disadvantage at all. He's thrilled that she wants him there. What a sweet story.”

The Good Squirm Award [Best smut, Giles]

Winner - Crossing Lines by Littleotter73 “Buffy and Giles are both perfectly characterized in ‘Crossing Lines’. It is extremely well written from beginning to end, starting off with a power struggle between the two of them as partners in the office. It isn't long before a bold move by Buffy leads to a discovery of their mutual desires to be partners outside of the office as well, leading to a steamy office hook up. At the conclusion they find a resolution both personally and professionally, solidifying their relationship.”

Runner-up - Confluence by DHW “There's a lot going on in this part of the "Sanctuary" series! We get of course a sizzling D/s scene, in which Giles proves once more that he's the world's classiest Dom. But we also see a very different kind of sex - without rules and without hiding behind their made-up names it's new and strange for both Buffy and Giles, but no less enjoyable for the reader. The characters' voices are especially well written. Their banter is delightful and feels just really "them". Conflict sneaks in when Giles, typically, resolves that Buffy would be much better off without him, but she's having none of it. The dispute culminates in a powerful scene in which Giles literally strips (and metaphorically too), displaying a heartbreaking mix of vulnerability and defiance. So good!! We can't wait until the last part of this captivating series is out.”

The Dark Age Award [Best dark, Giles]

Winner - All Set Down by Destoto-hia873 “We are thrilled to give the award to Destoto-hia873 for ‘All Set Down’. This story is amazing. First, the mislead works incredibly well. You think you're reading about things you already know, just embellished with more details and more insight than the series offered, and that would have been a great fic in itself, but then the subtle hints that something's different, something gone even more wrong than in canon can no longer be ignored and suddenly this is no longer simply sad but alarming. Second, the build-up of suspense works well. Alternating the scenes between past and present is a brilliant move. It allows the story to drop small clues, Giles' actions after the event, and keep the reveal of what went before until the next to last scene. For example, Giles is covered in her blood, which isn't canon. Washing his “reddened hands” can't help but bring up shades of Lady Macbeth suggesting guilt. Giles hanging crucifixes and performing the uninvite spell is a fascinating clue. Obviously, he's keeping out both Angel and Spike, but we know that Spike's very protective of Dawn. The pair of caskets might be the most exceptional of the clues. We know someone has died and the clues are there, but we don't want to accept that it's Dawn. Wow! Third, the characterizations are spot on. This is exactly what Giles would have done in this situation. Every thought, every word, every movement, every action, it's all perfectly him. Watching Dawn's growing realization, that Buffy's death has not closed the portal and what must happen next, is heart-wrenching. It's devastating to see her come to the conclusion Giles has already arrived at, especially seeing her bravery and watching Giles be undone by her trust. I cried then.”

Runner-up - Epilogues by DHW “’Epilogues’ is a well-crafted story with a bittersweet heart. The writing style offers a rich background of sounds and smells and descriptions, but in a very natural way that never distracts or stops the flow. We adore how the first and final scenes bookend the story, how the similarity of structure in the language of the two scenes frame the story and highlight the change that has taken place in Giles' life. We love how the facts are uncovered bit by bit by bit, never revealing too much, but never drawing it out for too long either. For example, when we first meet Mr. Edmund Fairweather, there is nothing to tie him to Giles other than the fact that Buffy is happy to see him. In the next scene, the description reminds us of Giles and we're told that the three translators working there, although the same age, are “former students of one era or another” and that Fairweather “has the air of an ever so slightly unkempt Professor, though much too young”. However, it's not until he recognizes Buffy, until he slams his hand on the desk when she starts to say his name, that we're sure he's Giles. It's tough to see Giles depressed and downright suicidal. The night Faith was killed - a truly traumatic experience - appears to be the origin of his mental state, all the clues seem to point towards it, the nightmares, the guilt... So, the shocking reveal that it's actually the other way round, that he felt this way all along and his attempt to end his life was what caused Faith to die in the first place, feels like a kick to the gut. The hints of Giles' attraction to Buffy are fantastic. A fave is when she first comes to his office. He doesn't see anything but her. He misses the tome she's holding until she hands it over. We like how the story plays with the idea of fate. At the start, a quote from Aristotle sums up the author's point: Choice, not chance, determines your destiny. But throughout the story both Giles and Buffy think of their choices as fate. For example, Buffy, thinking of the passage that led her to Giles, assumes it can have only one meaning, that “Giles is to come home, and she is to guide him.” However, her very next thought comes up with another option: “Or, should she fail, he will sink into his new life and forget there ever was a man named Rupert, or a girl named Buffy.” Giles comes up with a third meaning: fate is calling him to his death. Both Buffy and Giles feel as if they're being pulled by fate until after he's suicided, until after she knows what he's been fleeing all those years. And then she makes a new choice, to let him die, at least on paper, so he can finally be free of the Council. But at the end, the prophecy has been fulfilled: Hysminai, the Slayer, guides. Peace follows.”

The Rather British Award [Best characterization, Giles]

Winner - The Need to Believe by Anyjay “Very well written. The author does a fantastic job of portraying Giles's sadness and remorse for not only what was done to Buffy, but for what had happened in the past. Leading to a very touching moment between Giles and Buffy in which they reconcile after the cruciamentum.”

Runner-up - Believe it Or Not (The Courtship of Rupert Giles Remix) by Thecarlysutra “This story is full of love and heartbreak. The author does a fantastic job of getting inside Giles's head as a youth when he meets his father's slayer. It also helps to fill in the gaps as to why Giles chose to disobey the council and interfere with Buffy's cruciamentum.”

The You Were the One I Loved Award [Fan favorite, Giles]

Winner - Second Sight by Il_mio_capitano

Runner-up - Dénouement by Quaggy

#headline awards #Headline winners #Headline winners 2018 #anthony head

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marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer · 6 years

Text

MTVS Epic Rewatch #180

BTVS 7x02 Beneath You

Stray thoughts

1) I’ve always got some strong Run Lola Run vibes from the opening scene of this episode…

It’s the setting, the music, the pace, the fact that the girl is – duh! – running, and her look and outfit. It’s all very Run Lola Run, right?

So, do you think this was an homage to the movie, plagiarism, or Joss’s idea of what Germany is like based simply on one movie he’d seen?

That aside, these scenes bring up a lot of questions about how potential slayers are treated in other countries. We know that Kendra was raised and educated as a potential slayer, knowing that one day she may become one. I think Kennedy was, too. We also know that Buffy and Faith weren’t. But the two girls shown in the opening scenes from episodes 7x01 and 7x02 seem to be aware they should run away and they’re not asking for help in the regular way any citizens would do, you know? Like, they’re not screaming for help or going to the police? So it kind of feels they knew what their deal was and why they were being chased…

It’s all the more interesting because Buffy was having a prophetic (or live action?) dream about the German girl. I’ve always loved Buffy’s prophetic dreams, and I wish her connection to other slayers through her dreams would’ve been explored more in depth in the show.

2) Spike’s chasing rats just like his dad did back when he got his soul back...

3) I love how excited Dawn is to have Buffy around school!

4) This was sweet…

XANDER Those kids are damn lucky having a slayer and a friend on campus there for 'em. I hope they appreciate it. I know I did. Days gone by, huh?

It really takes you back, doesn’t it?

5) Dawn made a good point. And I guess she was officially one of the Scoobies...

DAWN You guys need to really to ease up with the whole dating demons thing.

BUFFY Uh, hello, I'm sorry. Wasn't that you having the smooch-a-thon with teen vampire last Halloween?

DAWN See, this is why I don't want you talking to my friends.

6) This season is super heavy on the self-references and I love it.

PRINCIPAL A little authority can be a wonderful thing. Just remember that while you are here to help, you're not here to be their friend. Trust me, you open that door, and these students will eat you alive.

BUFFY You heard about Principal Flutie, right?

7) The cutest!

BUFFY I was, uh, just curious, you know, uh—not that I'm not grateful or anything. But, uh, I guess I was wondering why I—

PRINCIPAL Have this job?

BUFFY I still haven't finished college.

PRINCIPAL I know.

BUFFY Was it my sparkling personality? Or maybe you enjoyed my work at the Doublemeat Palace?

In case you were wondering: no, Wood didn’t provide a satisfying/convincing answer,

GILES Willow, we could spend another two years here training and practicing and learning to hone your powers and still there'd be no way of knowing for sure that the friends you left behind you are still your friends.

WILLOW Well, sure. I mean, if you put it that way, duh.

GILES I'd love to offer you some guarantee that you'd be welcomed back to Sunnydale with open arms, but I can't. You may not be wanted, but you will be needed.

So… are we supposed to believe that neither Xander nor Buffy cared enough to check up on Willow? To know how she was holding up or if she was doing any better? That they didn’t call Giles IN MONTHS? I mean, he MUST have known something about how they felt about the whole Willow-going-dark thing, right?

9) LITERAL NIGHTMARE! NOT WITH THE DOGGIES, YOU BASTARDS!

10) This is sad…

DAWN Should we round up the gang?

XANDER Good thinking, except... this is the gang.

11) Explain this…

Why hadn’t Buffy bothered to do the spell that removes Spike’s ability to get into her house without an invite? Why hadn’t Dawn or Xander? Yes, he was gone, but they couldn’t know if he would be back and they were giving him free access to do as he pleased. And yes, Willow and Tara (*cries*) were not around to do the spell, but I’m sure the Scoobies could’ve managed somehow if they wanted to.

12) I can understand Buffy’s nonplussed reaction to seeing Spike again in Lessons because she was caught off guard. But when she sees him again here, she had had some time to mull it over and to come to terms with how she wanted to deal with him. I have to say, I hate how they wrote the - delayed - attempted rape aftermath. Buffy facing Spike again after what he had almost done should’ve been written with more care and respect towards her character, considering she was the victim. Instead, the focus was shifted and it became about Spike’s pain with little - and even that is an overstatement - regard to Buffy’ trauma. Regardless of how I feel about Spuffy in general and during the course of season 7 in particular, I have to be unambiguous about this: this is bullshit. All of it. The whole attempted rape scene and what they did with its fallout. How they didn’t address Buffy’s pain. How the would-be-rapist became the victim in the narrative. Bullshit.

BUFFY Do not start by saying you're sorry.

SPIKE I didn't come here to atone.

BUFFY Then what the hell do you want?

SPIKE I'm here to help you.

BUFFY Help me what?

SPIKE I was hoping you'd tell me. You're the slayer.Connected to the visions. Long line of worthies, right? I'm just a guy with his ear to the ground, and even I can feel it. Something's coming. I don't know what exactly, but something's brewing. And it's so big, ugly and damned it makes you and me look like little bitty puzzle pieces. I mean, if I'm wrong, say so. Lovely. No hard feelings. I'll go out that door and you can lock it behind me with any spell you like. So, am I wrong?

BUFFY Everything about you is wrong, Spike.

Something big coming or not, Buffy should’ve sent him off the minute he set foot in her house. She shouldn’t have wanted to engage in casual conversation with him. Not yet, at least. Not before they had addressed what he almost did to her. It feels wrong, and I hate they did this to my Buffy.

13) FORESHADOWING, though.

BUFFY Since when did you become the champion of the people?

14) It just doesn’t make any sense for Buffy to be accepting Spike’s help so easily. It just doesn’t. No no no.

15) Bless you, Dawn Summers. At least someone was reacting somewhat appropriately...

DAWN Spike. You sleep, right? You. Vampires. You sleep.

SPIKE Yeah. What's your point, niblet?

DAWN Well, I can't take you in a fight or anything, even with a chip in your head. But you do sleep. If you hurt my sister at all... touch her... you're gonna wake up on fire.

16) And then we get this moment…

SPIKE Hold the torch, would you? (Seeing Red Flashbacks...)

BUFFY Look, this... us working together—it's not a way for us to get back together, if that's what you want.

SPIKE It's not. Look, I can't blame you for being all skittish.

BUFFY Skittish? That's not a word I would use for it. You tried to rape me. I don't have the words.

And while I do appreciate the fact that we finally have Buffy saying it out loud and calling it for what it was, it feels too little. She shouldn’t be hanging out with her would-be-rapist, especially not so soon and without addressing her trauma in any other way than this.

17) Of course Xander even thinking of daring to go on a date would end up in utter terror. OF COURSE.

18) I love how Anya just uses the word “penis” as a cuss word.

19) Okay, so Spike was present when Anya revealed that the worm-monster was, in fact, the girl’s ex… This will be relevant later.

20) I’m Anya.

BUFFY Anya, that thing you created burst through solid pavement and ate her dog.

ANYA Ooh, puppy!

XANDER Wait, that gets your sad noise? People's lives are in danger, and you give it up for the Yorkie?

ANYA You never understood me, Xander.

21) There’s not a single thing that I don’t love about this whole exchange…

ANYA Hey, hands off the merchandise. Spike, you don't get to go there again.

SPIKE Please. I've already forgotten about our little time together.

NANCY I thought you were Xander's ex-girlfriend.

ANYA I am.

NANCY But you and Spike...

ANYA Had a thing.

SPIKE Didn't last.

NANCY But weren't you Buffy—

SPIKE Briefly.

BUFFY Never serious.

NANCY Is there anyone here that hasn't slept together?

22) I love Anya’s reaction when she realizes Spike got his soul back…

ANYA Oh, my God!

SPIKE What are you staring at?

ANYA Oh, my God!

SPIKE Right. Let's go.

ANYA How did you do it?

BUFFY Spike, what is she talking about?

ANYA I can see you.

SPIKE Nothing. Let's go. Got some worm hunting to do.

ANYA How did you do it?

SPIKE Shut up.

ANYA You shouldn't be allowed to.

SPIKE Shut your mouth!

ANYA I mean, how did you get it?

23) Anya vengeance make-up looks a lot different but in a good way.

24) So, we Spike fans can agree that this moment has given us all fantasies, right?

25) And he was clearly trying to piss her off so that she would take it out on him, right? I mean…

BUFFY You haven't changed, Spike.

SPIKE Working out some personal issues, are we? Hey, I guess this would be first contact since, uh, you know when. Ooh, up for another round up on the balcony, then? Right you are, luv. I haven't changed. Not a lick. And watching your face trying to figure me out was absolutely delicious.

It’s almost as if he saw what we see - the fact that Buffy wasn’t reacting properly to him showing up again. She should be angry, scared, repulsed, outraged. And yet here she was, patrolling by his side and saying she didn’t have any words for him. Spike said he wasn’t looking to atone, and I believe that. I think he was looking for punishment.

26) Why were Buffy and Spike running on the rooftops, though? Wtf

27) He was attacking a man who had been turned into a giant worm, which he was fully aware of, so how surprised could he be that he turned into the man again?

28) James Marsters really nails the breakdown, doesn’t he?

SPIKE Right. Wrong. All wrong. Wrong maneuver. Not hardly helpful.God, please help me. HELP ME!

BUFFY You're not the one who needs help. He's going into shock.

SPIKE No. No. Too much. Too much. Too much. Too much. Too much. Too much. Too much...inside me all the way. (...) Deep, deep, deep inside me.

BUFFY Look, Spike, whatever you're doing—

SPIKE Get away. Get. Uhh—

BUFFY Do it somewhere else. I am through with this.

SPIKE Oh, oh, lucky girl. Call it quits. Now, there's an option. If only it were so easy. If only— If only— If only— What the hell are you screaming about? I can hear you. No need to SHOUT! I get it. The joke's on me. Lots of laughs. Yeah. Hey, bring the wife and kiddies. Come see the show 'cause it's going to be a circus. This... just the beginning, luv. A warm-up act. The real headliner's coming, and when that band hits the stage, all of this... all this... will come tumbling in death and screaming, horror and bloodshed. From beneath you, it devours.

The circus references remind me of his part in Giles’s dream in Restless.

29) I appreciate Xander supporting Anya and acknowledging what she did was courageous. Credit where credit’s due and all that.

XANDER You did the right thing here.

ANYA Tell him that.

XANDER You reversed the spell. It took guts. I know this is bad, but it could be worse.

ANYA Oh, it will be.

And Anya knows there will be consequences for her actions...

30) And then the scene… so beautiful and heartbreaking, so dark and twisted and sad…

SPIKE I tried to find it, of course.

BUFFY Find what?

SPIKE The spark. The missing... the piece that fit. That would make me fit. Because you didn't want... God, I can't... Not with you looking. I dreamed of killing you. I think they were dreams. So weak. Did you make me weak, thinking of you, holding myself, and spilling useless buckets of salt over your... ending? Angel—he should've warned me. He makes a good show of forgetting, but it's here, in me, all the time.

SPIKE The spark. I wanted to give you what you deserve, and I got it. They put the spark in me and now all it does is burn.

BUFFY Your soul.

SPIKE Bit worse for lack of use.

BUFFY You got your soul back. How?

SPIKE It's what you wanted, right? It's what you wanted, right? And—and now everybody's in here, talking. Everything I did... everyone I— and him... and it... the other, the thing beneath—beneath you. It's here too. Everybody. They all just tell me go... go... to hell.

BUFFY Why? Why would you do that—

SPIKE Buffy, shame on you. Why does a man do what he mustn't? For her. To be hers. To be the kind of man who would nev— to be a kind of man. She shall look on him with forgiveness, and everybody will forgive and love. He will be loved. So everything's OK, right? Can—can we rest now? Buffy...can we rest?

I know this doesn’t make up for the fact that he attempted to rape her. Nothing would ever make up for that. And even if his intentions in going after the soul may have been rooted in selfishness, what stands out is the fact that he did it in an attempt to be the kind of man worthy of Buffy’s forgiveness - even if getting his wish meant he wouldn’t see himself in that way.

#Buffy the Vampire Slayer #BTVS #Buffy Summers #Spike #Spuffy #Beneath You #MTVSepicrewatch #BTVSrewatch2015 #mine #recap #180 recaps #that's...#I don't know what that is #but it's something #btvsrecap

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whitewolfofwinterfell · 4 years

Note

Another Ranking game Buffy edition - Rank all the original Scoobies (Giles, Buffy, Willow, Xander) in order of your favorite to least favorite. Again no ties allowed ;) Rank these Buffy ships: Buffy/Angel, Buffy/Spike, Buffy/Riley, Willow/Oz, Willow/Tara, Xander/Anya. Rank the relationships: Buffy/Dawn, Buffy/Joyce, Buffy/Giles, Buffy/Willow, Buffy/Xander, Xander/Willow. And, finally, rank the seven seasons from your favorite to least favorite. Have fun!

Sorry about taking a while to respond to this, I’ve been crazy busy at work and like to take the time to properly consider my responses to asks like these.

The original Scoobies

1. Buffy - I love Buffy so much. She’s one of my all time favourite characters. There are few characters that are as well written as Buffy; she’s so complex and multi-layered. I love her strength, courage and resillience, and that despite being the Chosen One, she’s deeply flawed.

2. Giles - I love Giles’ wit, sarcasm and intellect. He can always make me laugh with his one-liners. I like that despite being a cerebral type that’s always got his nose in a book he’s also the kind of man that wears and earring and likes to play his guitar. He’s just a very lovable character.

3. Xander - I really like Xander and think he gets a lot of unfair hate. He’s not perfect, but none of the Buffyverse characters are, that’s what makes them so amazing. He’s funny, loyal and a genuine hero.

4. Willow - I’m not in love with Willow’s character, but appreciate the journey she goes on across the series. She undergoes huge change from season 1 to season 7 and seeing her transform from a nerd who lacks in confidence to a powerful witch is interesting to see.

Romantic ships

1. Buffy/Angel - Obviously Bangel were going to take the top spot. They’re one of my greatest OTPs and I’ll always love them. Their relationship is the definition of star-crossed lovers and it’s portrayed so well. Their connection and chemistry will always blow me away. There is simply something profound about their relationship which trumps any other relationship on BTVS.

2. Willow/Oz - They’re so adorable and a genuine partnership. I don’t agree with or like what was done to them in season 4 and find it to be completely OOC for Oz to cheat on Willow. Oz was the first person to genuinely like Willow for who she was and to boost her self-esteem. They were on the same wave-length, they knew how to laugh together and they were always united. They’re not an in-your-face type ship, but they’re the kind that are always there in the background holding hands or exchanging a loving look, and I really like that about them.

3. Willow/Tara - I love how Willow and Tara started out; how they bonded over magic and Willow saw herself in Tara who was somewhat of an outcast and painfully shy and unconfident. I love how they came to develop feelings for one another so authentically just by simply spending time together as friends and how their romance blossomed naturally. I have issues with certain things that happened between them in season 6 and I do think that overall, the relationship was really unhealthy for both of them particularly towards the end, but I see the love and connection between them and I believe it.

4. Buffy/Spike - It may surprise some that Spuffy are so high on this list because I don’t actually ship them at all, but I still enjoy their dynamic. Buffy and Spike are very strong as individual characters, so when they come together they’re compelling to watch. I don’t ship them because I think the relationship was incredibly unhealthy and damaging to Buffy, however, I’m able to see the allure of the ship and think that it’s actually a very unique and authentic relationship considering it follows the enemies-to-lovers trope.

5. Buffy/Riley - I’m pretty indifferent to Buffy and Riley. I don’t ship them but I don’t hate them either. I think they had some sweet moments and weirdly, Riley was probably the best relationship Buffy had in regards to being able to live a relatively “normal” life with him. I also think that he was a positive influence in Buffy’s life, particularly in the beginning. However, Riley was always intimidated by Buffy’s strength and powers as the Slayer and he let his insecurities get in the way as a result. I also think that Buffy, despite loving Riley a lot, was never able to open her heart to him completely because of her history with Angel. By the time Buffy realised how much she loved Riley and was prepared to fully open up, Riley had already decided to move on. Buffy and Riley aren’t and never will be epic love, but I think they loved each other a lot more than people recognise and that Riley was definitley more than just a rebound relationship for Buffy.

6. Xander/Anya - Once again, I’m indifferent to Xander and Anya. I don’t find anything appealing about them as a ship, but I don’t dislike them either. I don’t think they were ever really well-suited and that they only got together because Anya pursued Xander and was pretty forceful with him. In the end, the relationship was never going to work because they were too different. However, I appreciate that they really did love each other and they had some pretty funny scenes together.

Platonic ships

1. Buffy/Dawn - Buffy and Dawn’s relationship is one of the relationships that is the heart of the show. The fact that Dawn was created and in a sense was never truly Buffy’s sister meant that Buffy could’ve easily rejected her. Instead, Buffy accepted Dawn as being her own flesh and blood; a part of her. They argued and disagreed on occassion, just like all siblings do, but they were fiercely protective of each other and loved each other deeply. After Joyce’s death, Buffy took on a parental role and not only had to be Dawn’s sister, but also her mother, father, teacher, guide, friend and everything else in between. Dawn looked up to Buffy as her role model and Buffy allowed Dawn to grow into a strong, beautiful and compassionate young lady. Buffy said that Xander was her strength, but so was Dawn. I think without Dawn in her life she wouldn’t have had the same will to carry on after Joyce’s death.

2. Buffy/Giles - I just love Buffy and Giles’ dynamic. Giles was assigned to be Buffy’s Watcher and had a professional obligation to guide her, but their relationship became so much more than that. Giles saw Buffy’s strength, courage, vitality and compassion; he saw beyond her being the Slayer and understood that she was a girl. His greatest fear was failing her and he did everything he could to guide and protect her for as long as he could, even after his official duties as her Watcher ended. Giles fulfilled the father-figure role in Buffy’s life since her biological father was absent from her life, and Buffy greatly benefitted from that. There were so many people in Buffy’s life who she couldn’t have made it without, and Giles is certainly one of those people. It’s not just his knowledge as a Watcher that made him so needed, it was the wisdom and guidance he provided Buffy with whenever she was in need as a Slayer or as a girl.

3. Xander/Willow - Xander and Willow remind me of the relationship I have with my best friend. When you have a friend that you’ve grown up with and that has been there with you all your life you bond in an inexplicable way. That person almost becomes a part of you. That’s the kind of bond Xander and Willow have. They know and understand each other better than anyone; they accept each other completely and everything is effortless with them. Because they’ve known each other for so long they’re naturally on the same wave-length and get each other. The scene where Xander brings Willow back from the darkness always makes me so emotional and proves how strong their bond is. There’s no one else in the world that could’ve brought Willow back in that moment.

4. Buffy/Joyce - I’m a sucker for mother/daughter relationships. Buffy and Joyce’s relationship is so endearing. Joyce is a devoted mother who always does her best by Buffy. She accepts her being the Slayer and does anything she can to try and make Buffy’s life easier. It’s not a relationship that’s exactly given a lot of focus, but when Joyce dies you immediately feel the significance of that relationship in a way you don’t before then. Joyce is Buffy’s everything and without her Buffy feels like she’s floating in space and completely alone. I think the fact that Buffy’s parents split meant that Buffy and Joyce developed an even closer relationship than before. Joyce most likely felt like she had to try and make up for the absence of Buffy’s father and try and be both parents at the same time. Initially, their relationship wasn’t ideal because Buffy was always having to lie and keep secrets from Joyce, but once Joyce found out Buffy was the slayer they seemed to become closer than ever before.

5. Buffy/Xander - Their friendship is sweet and understated, but it doesn’t stand out to me as being one of my favourite dynamics on the show. I think maybe because Xander has an unreciprocated crush on Buffy in the early seasons it meant that they had a slighly unbalanced relationship initially. However, their friendship was consistent and Xander was fiercely loyal to Buffy and by far the most consistent male presence in her life.

6. Buffy/Willow - Again, Buffy and Willow’s friendship is sweet. I like that on paper they’re unlikely friends with Buffy being the stereotypical popular pretty girl and Willow the stereotypical unpopular nerdy girl. But actually, they were able to connect beyond that and their differences meant that they complimented one another and worked together well. The only reason they’re ranked last is because I feel that Willow massively betrayed Buffy with her actions in season 6 and although it was understandable given the circumstances and Buffy forgave her, I do think that created some ongoing friction between them which simmered beneath the surface from that point on.

Seasons

1. Season 2 - I love this season and my latest BTVS rewatch reinforced my love for it. Spike and Dru are an epic pairing that are intruiging and fantastic villains; Oz and Willow are adorable and their relationship is fresh; Xander and Cordy are an unexpected but again fresh dynamic; we finally see Giles meet someone who genuinely connects with in Jenny; Buffy and Angel’s relationship is compelling and the Angelus arc is fantastic. All of the characters develop so much more in this season in comparison to season 1. The stakes are raised and there are some major moments with Jenny and Kendra’s deaths, and Buffy sacrificing Angel to save the world. All in all it’s a strong and consistent season.

2. Season 3 - It’s a strong season. The Mayor is a great villain, Faith is a complex character who is fresh and intruiging, Buffy and Angel’s relationship is compelling and it feels like there’s a coherent arc and build-up with a strong ending with The Graduation two-parter.

3. Season 5 - The first time I watched BTVS I wasn’t a fan of season 5, but I think that’s because I wasn’t a fan of Dawn. Now that I love Dawn I also love this season. Dawn is a fantastic addition to the show, her entire arc as The Key and Glory as a villain is one of the strongest of any season. Joyce’s death is shocking and heartbreaking resulting in one of the most powerful episodes of television ever made. Willow’s magic grows, Buffy’s character grows more complex and the premiere with Dracula shows that immediately and despite the immorality and to be frank, grossness, of Spike creating the Buffybot, she’s a humourous addition to the show. But the Glory and Dawn plot is definitley what makes this season so strong.

4. Season 6 - Despite the fact that this season breaks away from the humour that BTVS was built on, I really like the change in direction. This season shows the characters going through real hardships in a way we’ve never seen before. BTVS is known for using metaphors to portray the different stages of life and growing up, and this season does the same and shows how incredibly hard life can suddenly become when you enter adulthood. Buffy’s resurrection and consequent depression is hard-hitting and powerful, Xander and Anya’s relationship break-down is sad, Willow’s descent into dark magic is difficult to watch and Tara’s death is shocking and traumatic. And the Trio as villains defy the general expectations of what villains should be. There’s no denying it’s the darkest season of the show, but I appreciate the new depths this season goes to and how far the characters are pushed.

5. Season 4 - This season has grown on me a lot over the years. There are some really great episodes (Something Blue, Hush, A New Man) in this season and I enjoy the humour and lightheartness of it. Spike as a season regular works and I love the humour he brings and the complicated and contradictory nature of his relationship with the Scoobies whereby he’s their enemy but also their ally. I also think that the transition from high school to college is done pretty well considering how important the high school setting was for the show. We see Buffy, Willow and Xander all change and mature as they enter the next phase of their lives. Willow and Tara’s blossoming relationship is a joy to watch and Tara is a nice addition to the group. However, Adam as the Big Bad of the season and the Initative storyline generally massively lets the season down.

6. Season 1 - It’s not a bad season, but I just find season 1 generally slow and a bit dull. It took me about 4 attempts to actually get through the whole season and I didn’t actually fall in love with the show until season 2. It’s a safe season and a good introduction to the series but is pretty forgettable and doesn’t stand out in my mind.

7. Season 7 - This is a bad season, and lets be honest, probably shouldn’t have happened. Willow’s entire development and arc from season 6 is dismissed and it does her character a huge disservice; the Potentials are so dull and it just doesn’t work; The First as the Big Bad is a poor one to finish with; the Buffy and Spike relationship doesn’t work for me and overall it’s a pretty meh finish to an otherwise brilliant series.

#answered #the-tv-shows-became-my-haven #my meta #btvs meta

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oveliagirlhaditright · 7 months

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One thing that annoys me about some of the ships in the Buffyverse, is how a character will start dating someone who bad mouths a previous love interest of theirs that they still clearly care about.

And I just... maybe this is just because I don't like anyone putting other people down, ever. (And, for instance, I remember one time when one of my RL friends was insulting another one of my friends that she didn't like, and I kindly asked her to stop.)

But for me personally, this would not endear me to the new love interest and make me want to date them. The opposite, actually.

But we see this with Angel and Cordelia. Eventually, these two form a romance, but Cordy had often put Buffy down in the past.

(Also, I feel like Cordelia and Wesley mocking Buffy and Angel's romance--when the two were meeting each other right after she'd come back from the dead!--was not good, even though they were just teasing and it was all supposed to be in good fun.)

Likewise, Bangel somewhat starts up again in the comics after Cordelia's death. And Buffy wasn't really around when the Angel/Cordelia stuff was happening to be saying hurtful stuff about Cordelia really at all, or around Angel. But there is a moment in the comics where Buffy dreams that they're all back in their high school years and that Cordelia is bullying Willow. And to cheer Willow up she tells her something along the lines of, "Some day you might be a super powerful witch and she might be dead." :( And I feel like if Angel ever found out about that, he wouldn't be happy, of course. (To be honest, I think Buffy in the comics is pretty OOC, and this is an example of it. Though that really isn't the point here.)

We have Spike putting down both Riley and Angel when he's wanting to get with Buffy.

And also Angel saying bad things about Spike when he clearly still wants to be with Buffy when she's later with Spike.

Sheesh.

In a similar vein, friends of the Scoobies putting down one of the Scoobies' love interests also happens quite a bit.

Xander cutting down Angel because of his jealousy. And after the Angelus stuff, no one is really comfortable around him. Which is definitely justified. Though one might argue that at some point it's like, "Why are you willing to forgive X character for this, but not Y character for that?" And Giles letting Fred die because of what Angel did is just... too much. And in the books, some of the way Giles treats Angel after the Angelus stuff--even if you do get it's because of the trauma there--is quite petty.

Spike... to be honest, I feel like Buffy and the Scoobies are justified in how they treat Spike, for the most part, when he doesn't have a soul. And I think after he gains one, pretty soon they accept him and start treating him pretty well (like in the comics) Maybe the closest I can think of of when they maybe went too far, is when he wanted to give Buffy flowers after Joyce's death.

Cordelia with Xander: this one is really quite sad. Both Buffy and Willow really didn't like Xander dating Cordy (even while somewhat becoming friends with her during it? So it kind of feels a little bit back-stabby, maybe. Though, to be fair, I think maybe some of this dies down as they do spend time with Cordelia and befriend her more and more). And I do get it: Cordy bullied Willow for years and Cordy's also been mean to Buffy for most of her time in Sunnydale thus far. But still. What's even worse is that Xander even seems to agree with them, and even badmouths Cordelia some himself, while dating her!

Anya. Poor Anya. Buffy and Willow really don't like her at first and say some mean things, really just because she doesn't understand what it's like to be human again, which isn't her fault (people have even argued this about Xander. And if you think that, that's fair. But I think it's moreso that Xander is trying to help her understand the human world that she doesn't quite get. I really don't think he's talking down to her. But if you do, I definitely understand your side). Eventually, however, I do think they do become friends... but when Xander leaves Anya at the altar, Buffy and Willow mainly take Xander's side. And this must have really hurt Anya, since Buffy and Willow were her bridesmaids. She then even confronts them about is, saying in an angry and hurt tone that she gets it: Xander is their friend and she isn't. But in season seven, we see how this isn't true, when Buffy informs her that it's really dangerous and she doesn't want her friends out there right now. But then- but then we get a scene where Anya tells Buffy she's not her friend. And why? Ugh, some of the S7 writing with Anya and in general. I find that hard to believe, when earlier she was hurt that Buffy and Willow didn't think of her as her friend: it clearly seems to indicate she saw them as friends and wanted to be their friend. Is it that she maybe didn't believe Buffy when she said she was her friend? Does she think that bridge has burned now? What?

When Oz starts dating Willow, Xander at first doesn't like it... because Oz is in a band and stuff, and he thinks he's too dangerous or something. LOL This is added to when Oz becomes a werewolf. This is largely because Willow and Xander have been friends for years and he's so protective of her. And also because Xander is starting to get romantic feelings for Willow at this point and is somewhat jealous. But he does get over this quickly and the two become friends.

...These are all the ones I can think of off the top of my head. But I wouldn't be surprised if I'm forgetting something.

#buffy the vampire slayer #angel the series #long post

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jennycalendar · 5 years

Text

imperfections (54/?)

read it on ao3!

in which the scooby parents have a conversation.

Upon arriving at home, Jenny shepherded Willow and Xander into the kitchen (Faith, off to get milkshakes with Buffy, gave Jenny a quick, awkward hug before leaving), and Rupert made them hot chocolate. Xander took his mug up to bed, but fifteen minutes later, Willow was on her fourth mug and going strong.

“Giles, can I have another one after this?” she asked absently, wrapped in a flannel blanket Jenny had pulled out of the hall closet.

“Five mugs and you’ll have had more than everyone else in this house combined,” said Rupert, placing a gentle hand on Willow’s shoulder. “It’s getting late, Willow. I think you should head up to bed after this.”

Willow nodded, eyes unfocused. “I keep on thinking about, about how maybe my mom might be worried,” she mumbled. “On account of me not being home, and after all that stuff that went down—”

“Do you want me to call her?” Jenny asked.

“No,” said Willow.

Jenny uncurled Willow’s fingers from the mug, handing it to Rupert. “C’mon, sleepy,” she said, pulling Willow carefully up from the chair and into her arms. “Come here. It’s okay. How about you go up to bed and I make you that last mug of hot chocolate at breakfast tomorrow?”

“My mom says hot chocolate from a mix is cheap and tacky,” Willow said into Jenny’s shoulder, “but she never makes me hot chocolate with syrup ‘cause she says she never has enough time—”

“Okay, honey,” said Jenny, focused primarily on getting Willow to go to sleep. “It has been a long night, huh?”

“I wanna go home,” said Willow, and sniffled. “I mean, I don’t wanna go home, I just want to not be at home right now. I want my home to be where it’s supposed to be.”

Jenny decided that now probably wasn’t the time to start a conversation about home and family with an exhausted, upset Willow. Momentarily, she buried her face in Willow’s hair, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head. “Let’s go to bed,” she said, and was gratified to find that Willow had relaxed when she pulled back.

To Jenny’s surprise, Rupert, who had been tentatively following them both, stopped them in the foyer. Without a word, he tugged Willow into a hug, wrapping the blanket a little more securely around her shoulders as he did so. “Do you need something to sleep in?” he murmured, squeezing Willow’s shoulder. “I have a few t-shirts if you need to borrow—”

Stunned, Jenny watched as Rupert steered Willow the rest of the way up the stairs, speaking to her in a low, comforting voice as she leaned against him. Up until his decision to quit the Council, Rupert had been visibly uncomfortable whenever one of the kids was going through some kind of emotional turbulence, leaving Jenny to make sure they were okay. Up until right now, Jenny hadn’t realized that, ever since that decision, he’d been making an effort to support the kids in the same way she did.

Rupert came down the stairs just as this realization was sinking in, and ended up getting the full brunt of Jenny’s touched smile. He looked wrung-out and sad, but his face relaxed at her expression. “I’m glad I could at least help someone,” he said, giving her a self-deprecating grin in return. “I worry I’m not all that good at providing the sort of comfort Willow needs.”

“You’re lucky you make idiocy look sexy, because that’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever said,” said Jenny, and stood on tiptoe to hug him. She meant for it to be a quick hug, because they really did have to get to sleep, but all of a sudden, she remembered the hollow, painful loneliness of that summer without him. Her arms tightened around his waist. “You did good, Rupert,” she whispered, pressing a hard kiss to his shoulder; she wasn’t sure how else to articulate how much his helping the kids meant to her.

Rupert seemed to get the gist. “Terrible as it is that her mum can’t provide her with one, I think our home is right where she’s supposed to be,” he said very softly.

“Yeah,” said Jenny. “Me too.”

That was when the doorbell rang. Startled, Jenny jumped, then reluctantly pulled herself away from Rupert, crossing the room to open the door. In response to his worried expression, she reminded him, “Vampires don’t generally use the doorbell.”

“They could have learned,” said Rupert, but he seemed appeased.

Opening the door, Jenny stared. “Joyce?”

“Hi, Jenny, Rupert,” said Joyce, in a shyly earnest way that made much more sense than crazy-witch-burning lady. “Can we talk?”

When they entered the kitchen, Giles busied himself with clattering around in the cupboards pretending to make tea. This was, he knew, a conversation that he should probably be involved in, but the look in Joyce’s eyes suggested that it was Jenny she had come to talk to. Being in the same room seemed like a compromise of sorts.

“It’s a little late for a social call,” Jenny was saying, a light laugh in her voice. Giles well recognized that laugh: it only ever surfaced when Jenny was worried. “Is everything okay? Is Buffy—”

“Oh, Buffy’s fine,” said Joyce immediately. “I think she’s still out with Faith.” She let out a wobbly laugh of her own. “I came here because…”

“Because?” Jenny prompted gently.

“God, this is awkward,” said Joyce ruefully. It took her a few seconds to continue. “I understand Rupert’s involvement in my daughter’s life,” she said. “Buffy’s explained the whole Watcher deal to me, and while there are some parts of it I don’t necessarily like, I can at least respect it. But you…this isn’t something that you have to be a part of, and yet I think your being here has helped my daughter and her friends in so many ways.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Jenny began.

“Now’s not the time to be modest,” said Joyce firmly. “Buffy talks about you a lot at home. She says you’re the reason that Faith isn’t staying in that seedy little motel downtown, and I’m inclined to agree.” She paused, then said, “You’re clearly an important factor in making this part of Buffy’s life something a little less…”

“Horrible?” said Jenny helpfully.

“Yes,” said Joyce. “That.” She swallowed, then said, “The things I said under the influence of that demon…it hurt to know that Buffy believed me so readily. I know so little about being a Vampire Slayer, but I want to be able to support my daughter. And I can’t do that if I’m not there for her in every part of her life, not just the ones that I feel like I can handle.”

Giles stilled. The statement resonated with him, but he didn’t know how to express that in front of Joyce.

“So what are you saying?” Jenny asked.

“I’m saying…” Joyce trailed off. “I’m saying I’d really like a crash course on the life of a Vampire Slayer from someone else who hasn’t always been a part of it,” she said. “Preferably not by stumbling across a dead body or two. I know that that demon did things to my mind, but I don’t know if it’d have been as easy for it if I’d known at least a little bit about…I don’t know. Protection symbols.”

Jenny laughed, this one a low, warm sound that made Giles smile softly at the kettle. “I’ll say,” she said, and when Giles turned to look at them, he saw that Jenny had reached to touch Joyce’s hand over the table. “Look, there really isn’t a lot to the supernatural. If you want, we can call you in for the next Scooby meeting and you can watch how we work? I’m sure Buffy’s not gonna be over the moon about the idea initially, but merging the supernatural aspects of her life with the, uh, natural ones…I think that could be good.”

“I rather agree,” said Giles tentatively. As Jenny and Joyce looked up, he continued, “If these last few years have taught me anything, it’s that treating Buffy solely as a Vampire Slayer is…” He trailed off. “Cruel,” he said. “She’s a talented, capable girl, and the Council’s determination to use her as a weapon is utterly reprehensible. I think having you involved in her supernatural responsibilities might help remind her that being the Slayer is not the only thing she has to focus on.”

Joyce smiled slightly. “It’s good to see that you have Buffy’s best interests at heart,” she said. “I must admit, Rupert, hearing about this arrangement for the first time, I had my doubts about you.”

“You had every reason to,” said Giles, thinking of the man who had flown to Sunnydale, economy class, thinking of bloody course they assign me a secondhand Slayer who’s due to die in a year or two anyway. “Buffy is a remarkable girl to have changed me so thoroughly.” He smiled too, glancing over at Jenny, who blushed. “Though I don’t think all the credit lies with her.”

“No, I don’t think it does,” said Joyce warmly, squeezing Jenny’s hand. “You two are doing incredible work, taking care of those kids.” She hesitated, then said, “If you ever want any adult company, I do attend a neighborhood book club, and they’re always happy to welcome new members.”

Giles tried to remember the last time he’d been in the proximity of adults he actually liked (excluding, of course, Joyce and Jenny). “We might have to take you up on that,” he agreed.

“Is there anything else we can help with?” Jenny added.

“Thanks, but I should really be getting home,” said Joyce with a small, tired smile. “I don’t exactly like the thought of Buffy coming back to an empty house.”

“I’ll walk you to your car,” Jenny suggested, standing up. Joyce followed her out of the kitchen, leaving Giles to contemplate this development.

Even as recently as a few months ago, he might have been comparing Joyce’s request with what was and wasn’t accepted by the Council, trying to decide whether involving the Vampire Slayer’s mother was Council-sanctioned, perhaps even attempting to dissuade or ostracize Joyce if he believed that it wasn’t. The concept of the Council being an infallible, trustworthy source of information had been one that had comforted him after Eyghon: their rules, he had felt, would keep him in check.

But that was a man who hadn’t seen what the Scooby Gang looked like under the guidance of Jenny Calendar. Willow, Xander, Faith…all of them, Faith in particular, had desperately needed care and attention. Though the Council rules did provide a baseline, they also required one to look at human beings as chess pieces, and Giles was beginning to find that concept more and more distasteful.

Jenny reentered the kitchen, yawning. “I think this could be good,” she said. “It’s really nice to know that at least one of our kids has a parent with a brain.”

The phrase our kids, coming from Jenny, sent a fierce twist of want through Giles, one that more than surprised him. He filed this information away to process at a much later date. “It is fortunate,” he agreed. “Gives us a bit less to worry about in terms of Buffy.”

Jenny hesitated. “About that,” she said.

“This is about the Cruciamentum, isn’t it?”

Jenny nodded. “Her birthday’s approaching,” she said, “and we really need to tell her about it before the Council shows up with the drugs and the vampire.”

Giles wavered. “Jenny, I don’t at all like the idea of telling Buffy anything about this,” he began.

“Look, I know it’s not going to be a fun conversation—”

“It’s not that,” said Giles. “I can very easily see Buffy deciding to take on the Cruciamentum so as not to jeopardize my job. She is a reckless girl, but her impulsivity is almost always motivated by compassion. Hearing that I might not be her Watcher if she doesn’t comply to this test…”

“You don’t get to make that decision for her prematurely, Rupert,” said Jenny firmly. “Whether or not you and I agree with what Buffy wants to do, the fact remains that this is still something that’s gonna really affect her, no matter how it plays out. She deserves to have a say in its outcome.”

Giles exhaled. “I don’t like it when you’re right about these things,” he finally said.

“I know,” said Jenny, grinning. “But if you sulk every time I’m right, you’d be sulking in perpetuity.”

“Debatable,” said Giles, letting her tug him out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

#fic #imperfections #lots of non-episode-rewrite chapters coming up i think!

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sulietsexual · 7 years

Note

I'm the same anon who asked you if you could write a Faith meta a month ago. I just read what you were looking for. I want a meta on why Faith acts the way she does, what attracts her to the "darkness" inside of her, why she compares herself to Buffy, why she is so sexually aggressive, and how she deals with her redemption and trying to be a better person.

You know, Nonnie, thereason this meta has taken so long to complete is because I have reallystruggled with it, and I have no idea why. Faith Lehane is a character I knowinside out, and yet every time I have attempted to write this meta and answeryour questions, I’ve gotten stuck. So, I’m just going attempt a method I usewhen I have writers block, and that is simply to write and see where I end up.So, apologies in advance, because this meta may not end up covering all of yourquestions, but at the very least, it will finally be done and will hopefullystill be a good read.

I don’t think I’mexaggerating when I say that I have never identified as deeply with a characteras I once did with Faith Lehane. This girl was everything I was in my youth –lost, guarded, self-destructive, promiscuous, aggressive and above all ridiculously broken. When she firstturns up in Sunnydale, she is initially presented as a light, carefreepersonality, but within that very first episode we see that all is not as itseems with Faith, as she ends losing control and pummelling a vampire into abloody mess while patrolling with Buffy. The revelation that her Watcher wasbrutally murdered in front of her goes a way to explain her behaviour, but aswe see over the season, there is something verybroken in Faith.

We know little aboutFaith’s background other than she was raised by a single, alcoholic mother, whopassed away at some point before Faith arrived in Sunnydale. From her overalldemeanour and attitude, it would be safe to say that Faith suffered some sort of abuse as a child, as sheprojects a very tough and invulnerable front to the world, and clearly hatesfeeling or being perceived as weak, something a lot of abuse victims have in common. Herattitude towards men suggests some sort of sexual abuse or, at the very least,sexualisation from a young age. When girls are sexualised from young, they cancome to both loathe and grow attached to their perceived attractiveness and“sexiness”, believing that not only is it theirfault that they attract unsavoury and/or older men, but also that this isall there is to them, that their sex appeal is their only weapon and that noman could ever see past this and actually want them for who they actually are.

We certainly seeevidence of this with Faith through many of her interactions with malecharacters. She attempts to call The Mayor “Sugar Daddy” indicating that shebelieves that he will demand some sort of sexual payment for her new digs.Later in the series, we see her seduce Robin Wood, then rebuff him the nextday, only for him to actually persist in his romantic pursuit of her, throwingher off-guard when she realises that he may actually want to get to know herand start a relationship. And then there is her rape of Riley, after which hesays “I love you” to her while believing that she is Buffy, and her reaction tohis words, which shake her so badly that she immediately tries to escape thesituation, tearfully asking Riley “What do you want from her?”.

Faith’s disconnect fromemotion-based sex is, I believe, another indicator of possible sexual abuse orassault in her past. Victims of rape often detach from the act of lovemaking,unable to associate the act with positive emotions, because it was turned intosomething violent and ugly. This is one of the reasons a lot of women who wereabused/assaulted as children/teenagers enter the sex industry, as sex becomessomething unemotional, something easily given and forgotten about. We certainlysee this with Faith, who speaks of men in terms of things to be used anddiscarded, never allowing her emotions to get in the way.

Faith is also a verysexually aggressive person, once again indicating that she may be a victim ofsexual assault. Abuse is like a cycle, with many victims growing up to beabusers due to the deep psychological scars they carry, and Faith certainlyseems to fit this pattern, attempting to rape Xander and later actually rapingRiley and possibly Buffy too (it’s unclear as to whether she did rape Buffy,given that Buffy’s consciousness was not actually in her body at the time ofthe rape). But this aggression, coupled with her general aggression and sadism,could definitely indicate sexual assault or abuse.

Outside of her sexualactivity and attitude, there is still so much to unpack when it comes to Faith.Like Buffy, she suffers simultaneously from an inferiority and superiority complex, both sides of which drive her over the courseof Seasons 3 and 4. When she arrives in Sunnydale she and Buffy are equallyjealous of each other, but while Buffy’s jealousy (mostly) disappears after oneepisode, Faith’s jealousy of Buffy follows her through pretty much the wholeseries, and is a major driving factor in her hatred towards and victimization of Buffy.

Part of this jealouslycomes from her romantic feelings for Buffy, but I believe the deeper reasoning forthis jealousy comes down to everything Buffy has versus everything Faithdoesn’t. When Faith first arrives in Sunnydale she is confronted with a lifeshe could have had – a Watcher, aloving mother and a close friendship group. She sees how all these people adoreBuffy, how they are all there for her and support her. Faith, never having had any of these (bar the Watcher part, andeven then, only for a short period of time) naturally grows extremely jealousof Buffy, wondering why Buffy gets everything Faith has ever desired while sheis left out in the cold. And, to be perfectly frank, Buffy doesn’t exactly domuch to sway Faith from this frame of mind.

In-Universe (and evenin the fandom) everyone (including Faith once she starts her redemption) claimsthat Buffy was always there for Faith, that she tried so hard with her, that Faith was so lucky to have Buffy as afriend. Except, this isn’t really true. In my opinion, Buffy never really tried with Faith. She wasopenly jealous and distrustful of Faith when Faith first turned up, she keptFaith out of the loop when Angel returned, made a half-hearted attempt to talkto her after the Gwendoline Post incident, but gave up before even reallytrying (even though it was painfully obvious Faith wanted to open up but didn’tknow how), talked about hanging with Faith but never followed through, andreally only genuinely tried with Faith when she had Angel try to talk her downafter the murder of the deputy mayor, an event which I feel Buffy herselfshould take some responsibility for, and an action which I suspect was fueledpartially by Buffy’s own guilt.

When you add all ofthis together, the jealousy, the inferiority complex and the lack of friendshipand reciprocity from Buffy, it’s easy to see why Faith turns on Buffy (and byextension the Scoobies) so completely, especiallywhen you compare their treatment of her to the way the Mayor treats her.Where the Scoobies and Giles never seemed to much care for Faith, treating herwith apathy and even downright mistrust (even before she had done anything toearn said mistrust), the Mayor not only instantly accepts her, but makes itvery clear that he cares about her. He moves her out of the flea-bag motel theScoobies and Giles were happy to leave her in, makes her feel welcome and lovedand, above all, special. In theMayor, Faith finds the parent she has always wanted, the love and acceptanceshe has always craved, and the feeling of belonging she has been striving toachieve ever since she arrived in Sunnydale.

Now, I am in no waycondoning Faith’s actions towards Buffy and the Scoobies, nor am I trying toexcuse the evil that she has done. Faith alone is responsible for her actions.However, given her history with the Scoobies and their treatment of her, it iseasy to see the reason why she turned on them so completely. She sought loveand acceptance with them, and instead received distrust and disdain. When shefalls into her coma, they barely give her a second thought, and upon waking,she finds that everyone has moved on without her, a fact which greatly distressesher and puts her back on her path or darkness.

Post-coma, however, somethinghas changed in Faith. Possibly tied to the fact that the world has moved onwithout her, possibly influenced by her grief over losing the Mayor and possibly tied to the nightmares and psychological trauma she underwent while in her coma,the Faith who emerges in Season 4 is far more self-loathing and suicidal thanwe have ever seen her. While Faith was never a great example for self-esteem,the Mayor’s love and support gave her enough hope and light that she was ableto overcome her suicidal tendencies (which are evident almost from her firstappearance) and learn to accept and even moderately like herself, even despiteall her evil. Without the Mayor, she is lost, with no one in her corner, and soall her old issues come to the surface, not to mention several new ones.

The Faith who comes outof the coma is not the same girl who fell off the roof at the end of Season 3. The Faith who comes outof the coma is lost, self-loathing, weighted down by the guilt of her pastactions and unable to see any solution except death. She still goes after andseverely victimizes Buffy (and by extension Riley), but this time around she’snot driven by hatred or jealousy or even her own sadism, but by a desire toescape herself. She steals Buffy’s body and identity, and through this, startsto realise that there may be more for herself out there, the opportunity tohave love and acceptance, to do good the way Buffy does, and this exacerbatesher self-loathing, culminating in her brutal beating of her own image beforeshe escapes to L.A.

Her appearance in thetwo-parter AtS episode is Faith at her lowest, most broken and most self-hatingand suicidal, as we see her kidnap and brutally torture Wesley. Wesley’storture is probably one of Faith’s most heinous crimes, showing just how farshe has fallen. While Faith is and always has been a dark person, her tortureof Wesley is less about her own sadism and more about her self-loathing anddesire to end her life, as she uses Wesley’s torture to try to push Angel intokilling her. The weight of her guilt, her darkness and the memories of hercrimes have pushed her to a place where she believes death is not only the onlyoption for her, but also the most fitting punishment, evidenced as she screamsat Angel “I’m bad, I’m evil” and begs him to end her life.

Luckily for her, Angelrefuses to do so, recognising a soul who needs saving and identifying with thedarkness that lies within Faith’s heart. Through Angel, Faith is able to takeher first step towards redemption, because Angel offers her safe haven andsanctuary, while simultaneously making sure Faith knows that she must makeamends, that she can’t outrun her past and that she must face the consequencesof her actions, and through all of this, Faith finally realises that she willnever find peace or happiness unless she makes a genuine attempt at redemption,until she truly faces the repercussions of all her crimes. As she sits in thejail cell in the final shot of Sanctuary, we see, possibly for the first time,an accepting Faith, a Faith ready to face consequences, a Faith who mightfinally find some inner peace.

While Faith doeseventually find some peace and learn to accept herself, she continues tostruggle and fight against the darkness within. While Faith is, in part, shapedby her circumstances, the abuse she has suffered and the rejection she hasdealt with, there is a part of her which is just dark, part of who she is at her core. This innate darkness is whatFaith struggles with on a day-to-day basis, an inner demon she must learn tocontrol and live with. Similar to the darkness which resides within Angel,Faith’s more sadistic side genuinely enjoys inflicting pain, and the fight tokeep it under control will probably follow her for the rest of her life, especially since she gave in to it, letit free and got a taste of it. Because she let the beast out, it tasted blood,liked the taste, and keeps demanding more. Similar to the way alcoholics mustresist liquor, Faith must resist her darkness, which we see her do time andagain when she returns to AtS and BtVS in later seasons.

I feel like there ismore to write, as Faith is such a complex character that she could probablyinspire novels of meta, but I alsofeel that I have rambled on long enough, so I am going to tap out here. Icannot apologise enough for how long this meta has taken, and I also apologisethat it may not have covered everything you asked for, but hopefully it hasprovided you with a good read and a greater appreciation for the amazinglycomplex character that is Faith Lehane.

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #btvs meta #faith lehane #Anonymous #answered #long post #meta

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yetanotherbuffyblog · 7 years

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Oh hey a Beatles reference that didn’t make me mad

We’re winding up to the finale! The home stretch! We’re getting there! And boy are things getting interesting.

While the people from DC request that the new colonel in charge of the Initiative get Riley back, we also see that Adam and Spike are coming up with a plan. We don’t know precisely what Adam’s plan is, but Spike points out that Buffy has a habit of ruining bad guys’ plans. If they want to disable Buffy, the best thing to do is separate her from her friends. Adam assumes the best way to do that would be to kill or physically hurt them, which Spike can’t do; but no, Spike has other ideas.

See, this whole episode is about tearing the Scoobies apart. It’s quite simple. Because while Spike constantly reminds the Scoobies that he hates them, none of them take him seriously. And he has helped them out from time to time. So he comes in to Giles’s place, tells him he’s got a plan to get some information on Adam out of the Initiative, and meanwhile hints that Buffy doesn’t need him anymore and that he’s useless as an ex-Watcher.

Xander’s of course easy to play with too, as he just mentions that he heard from Buffy and Willow that Xander’s joining the army or something because he’s nothing without the college life like they’re having. Willow he gets upset by saying that Buffy called her “Wiccan thing” (read: relationship with Tara) was just a phase. And Riley he doesn’t have to do anything about, because after hearing about Angel, when Angel actually rolls into town (after Buffy went to LA in what was presumably the then-most recent episode of his show) Riley’s envious about their relationship.

And because they were things that they’ve been bottling up all season (Xander’s insecurity over not being in college, Willow’s fear that her friends won’t accept her being in a homosexual relationship, Giles being lost without being an official Watcher or Buffy not relying on him as much, Riley competing with Buffy’s past life), rather than nex conflicts, Spike’s been able to see it all this time. And because none of them take him seriously as a threat anymore, and they’ve been thinking it might be the case anyway, it never even occurs to them that Spike’s lying to screw with them.

And so the episode ends with them pretty much at each other’s throats. Also the last scene has Riley showing up at Adam’s place, presumably as his ally.

WHAT.

So some notes:

-Spike has a purpose in the Plot! Hooray!

-Oh also Buffy while on patrol runs into Forrest. They don’t like each other, but decide not to murder each other. They go into a cave and Adam is there. They fight, Adam assassinates Forrest with his biological Hidden Blade. So he’s dead. Buffy barely escapes.

-Buffy told Riley about Angel, but not about how having sex with Angel is what made him lose his soul (that “one moment of happiness” thing). Xander is the one who tells Riley, who isn’t thrilled about it.

-So Riley and Angel fight, but that’s because he hears that there’s an Initiative squad nearby that needs backup, and goes to find Angel knocked them all out. And when Riley finds out who he is and asks him what’s up, Angel is aggressive and refuses to explain himself, like a doof. So of course Riley assumes he’s gone evil, and Angel goes so far as to imply that it’s the truth and that he slept with Buffy just to screw with Riley.

Not cool, Angel. Not cool.

-Ugh watching Spike tear the Scoobies apart was painful to watch but it’s good writing guyz I mean holy Father Francis.

-This episode confirms that Xander was completely unaware that Willow and Tara were dating, as when it’s brought up in the argument at the end of the episode he’s blindsided. Giles, who is drunk and just went upstairs, yells “Bloody hell!” but I don’t know if we are supposed to interpret that as he already knew, he already figured out, or he was just as clueless as Xander.

-Giles got drunk. It was hilarious.

-Also he sang again! It was great.

youtube

-Although he really should lock his front door.

-This episode has Angel visit Buffy at her dorm, and he implies that she specifically has to invite him in, yeah? So how does Spike get away with always popping in through Giles’s front door.

-Also while he’s there he says he left a pack of blood in the fridge, he pulls it out and microwaves it while talking to Giles? Is that a thing you can do??? I suppose vampires would prefer it warm, but...yeah.

-When they fight Adam, Forrest and Buffy have those really fake-looking stun gun taser things? And of course they don’t work, Adam seems to just absorb the electricity. You’d think if they were told they need to destroy him completely to kill him, they’d pick a weapon that did a bit more? Or at least try to contain him rather than kill him?

-Hey if he’s got computer/electronic parts, shouldn’t there be some way to damage those? Virus? Overheat? Something???

-Buffy having to break up a fight between Angel and Riley was good; she’s desperately trying to keep everything sane but it’s not really working out so well.

-Yeah since I haven’t watched any of Angel, I have no idea what happened when Buffy went to LA. So all their references to how horribly that went shot straight over my head.

-Oh and Tara got that cat! It’s cute.

-Spike does point out that Willow’s ‘computer thing’ which was her main contribution in the first season is no longer her trait? She still does it every now and then, but it’s not as big as her magic. It probably didn’t help that the encrypted files on the computer this episode looked suspiciously like the code from The Matrix.

-Giles laughs at the notion of Xander “doing push-ups at Fort Dix.” And so did I. Really Xander, you fell into that yourself.

-Spike explains the title of the episode (“The Yoko Factor”) as a Beatles reference: the Beatles broke up, and tons of people blamed Yoko. But it wasn’t her fault, she was just in the center of a bunch of tensions that had been building for some time. Of course people are willing to lame blame anyway.

"They were once a real powerful group. It's not a stretch to say they ruled the world. And when they broke up everyone blamed Yoko, but the fact is the group split itself apart, she just happened to be there."

-Buffy and Angel’s interactions and dialogue do actually sound like exes, so that’s cool. They’re still very fond of each other but there’s still the notion that it’s never going to work so dating’s off the table.

#4x20 #Buffy The Vampire Slayer #Buffy Summers #Riley Finn #Angel #Willow Rosenberg #Tara Maclay #Xander Harris #Rupert Giles #Spike #review

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kidsviral-blog · 6 years

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Community Post: Ranking The Seasons Of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" From Worst To Best

New Post has been published on https://kidsviral.info/community-post-ranking-the-seasons-of-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-from-worst-to-best/

Community Post: Ranking The Seasons Of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" From Worst To Best

See who lands on top. Warning: Spoilers abound.

1. Season 7

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Pros: Spike with a soul is a joy to watch (and not only because James Marsters was arguably at his most gorgeous here). His struggle highlights the fine line between sanity and madness and also touches on the shock of change and depression. Marsters is probably the finest actor of the season. Xander hits full maturity and becomes the true hero we all knew he could be. Andrew Wells makes for some pretty quotable one-liners (“Where have you been? This funnel cake is kicking my ass!”). And finally, we got one of the greatest, most moving series finales in television history. Ladies, we know we have the power. Cons: With the exception of two or three actors, everyone felt very bored and tired. It’s understandable, especially from Sarah Michelle Gellar’s point of view, but it still hurts to watch a show that used to be filled with such joie de vie fade out like that. Plus, “The Killer in Me” and “Him” were actual episodes. Best Episode: “Chosen” (7×22)

2. Season 1

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Pros: Lots of fans are really down on Season 1 and often call it the worst season, but it’s really not that bad. Buffy and her new friends tackle vampires and demons alike, but the stories are representative of things much greater than fantasy adventure. By episode three, we’re deep into mentally abusive parent-child relationships, and by the season finale, Buffy performs her first Christ-like sacrifice to save the world. It’s a solid foundation for the series to come and contains great bits of clever writing. Plus, Buffy’s dress in “Prophecy Girl” is legendary. Cons: The makeup for the demons is pretty bad, and the soundtrack is the musical equivalent of Velveeta macaroni. The quality of the film is worse than even season two, which premiered only a few months after this season ended. “I Robot, You Jane” was an allegory for Internet safety so obvious, it may as well have been a public service announcement. Best Episode: “Prophecy Girl” (1×12)

3. Season 4

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Pros: Buffy’s in college! This transition was handled realistically – well, as realistically as a show about slaying vampires could be. The drift among the Scoobies was written and performed so naturally, it feels like you’re drifting right along with them. That’s how it happens in real life, too, isn’t it? This is also the first season in which Spike is added to the main cast, and his sudden inability to harm people is one of the show’s best bits. Willow and Tara got together this season in the first female-female romance of network TV, which is still a colossal deal in television history. This was also the only season where the writing was nominated for an Emmy. Cool stuff! Cons: The way Buffy acted around her new boyfriend, Riley Finn, felt a little hollow and un-Buffy. Seth Green’s Oz departed from a show in a terrible cheating scandal. The overall arc of the Initiative and Franken-esque Adam was a little weak and underdeveloped. Of course, the reason behind this was probably because no one wanted to apply that much makeup to the guy… or look at the finished product for very long. Best Episode: “Hush” (4×10, the series’ landmark silent episode), but “Restless” (4×22) is an honorable mention.

4. Season 6

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Pros: THERE WAS A MUSICAL EPISODE. Better, there was a musical episode that actually tied in with the themes and character hardships and strengthened the sentiment that where words fail, music speaks. Also, the stages of grief and depression that Buffy went through were written poetically and portrayed beautifully by Gellar. The theme of addiction was addressed in Willow using too much magic, which is probably the best and most honest performance Alyson Hannigan gave on Buffy. The fact that Willow turned out to be the Big Bad of the season was shocking yet natural, and it’s still in the top ten most heartbreaking moments on the show to me. Spike and Buffy made for some pretty hot stuff. And the overarching theme that sometimes, the scariest demons are inside you was handled in a way that felt real, not cheesy or forced. Applause, applause! Cons: TARA DIED. Worse, she got shot by Warren Mears, a villain more horrible than Caleb the preacher (Nathan Fillion) from Season 7. She died, and nobody really reacted to her death except for Willow and Dawn, which was a rude testament to the lovely character. Spike tried to rape Buffy in the same episode that TARA DIED. Xander left Anya at the altar when that seemed like the last thing he would ever do. Honestly, Season 6, it’s just depressing. Best Episode: “Once More with Feeling” (6×07)

5. Season 3

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Pros: Enter Faith, dark Slayer and one of the best examples of character foil I’ve ever encountered. Eliza Dushku has to be one of the best actors the show ever had because when you hate Faith, your blood boils, and when you love Faith, your heart swells. That’s performance, baby. This season featured Mayor Richard Wilkins, the coolest and perhaps funniest villain of the seven seasons. It was also the culmination of the show’s main message: High school is hell. The show was starting to explore more mature themes while also staying in touch with its light, funny reputation, and it was executed well. Cons: Does anyone remember “Bad Girls”? The episode where Buffy embraced her darker side, and she had to try and defeat McDonald’s… I mean, that really fat demon in a Jacuzzi? Yeah, that’s probably season three’s weakest point. That, and Xander and Cordelia broke up when they could have been a Lily Evans and James Potter-type romance. RIP, Xandelia. It’s 2014, and I still have strong feelings about this pairing. Best Episode: “The Wish” (3×09), but “The Zeppo” (3×13) and “Doppelgangland” (3×16) come very close.

6. Season 2

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Pros: Although not the first season, season two of Buffy was where it all really began. The Scoobies became stronger friends and better fighters of evil. Romances heat up when Willow met taciturn musician/werewolf Oz and Xander and Cordelia finally gave into their sexual tension. Giles fell in love with technopagan Jenny Calendar (RIP). Plus, this was when we were introduced to Spike, who would eventually make the show the legend it is today. The dialogue is on point this season. It’s both witty and emotional, with just as many Buffyspeak quips as truly heartfelt moments (Let’s talk about Whistler’s speech at the end of “Becoming, Pt. 1”, for instance.). The overall plot of the season about Buffy sleeping with Angel and consequently losing his soul is both terrifying and a hyper-realistic portrayal of accuracy. Seeing Angel turn to Angelus is scary, but it’s also kind of fun – props to David Boreanaz in this character. Cons: Because it was the second season and many things were still rough, there were some filler episodes where essentially nothing happened. “Killed by Death”… Buffy gets sick and can only fight while sick. Counterproductive! “Reptile Boy”… Buffy and Cordelia get taken advantage of by a bunch of fraternity boys when they should have been able to tell they were bad news by their frosted tips. I would say “Go Fish”, but at least that was kind of about how attractive Nicholas Brendon is/how well he can pull off a Speedo. Amen. Best Episode: “Becoming, Pts. 1 & 2”

7. Season 5

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Pros: All of it. Primarily the writing. Season five was the season Joss Whedon and Co. was meant to write. While not my personal favorite season, I can still argue that season five is the most finely crafted year of Buffy that ever was. Everything on the show led up to this season. Let’s zero in on the foreshadowing, shall we? In season three, Faith says to Buffy in a dream, “Little Miss Muffet counting down from 730.” In 730 days, Buffy would willingly give her life to save her sister, Dawn (who in 5×02 is referred to as “curds and whey”). In a season four dream, Faith and Buffy make a bed for “little sis” and in another dream, Tara carefully remarks, “Be back before dawn.” The scrutiny and the detail of this are insane. If anyone tries to tell you that Buffy was just a silly action show, point out these careful details and how well they actually played out. Additionally, season five gave us “The Body”, which according to some critics might be the finest hour in television history (and yet neither Whedon or Gellar received even nominations for their brilliant work). Bravo, Buffy season five. Your writing and acting are phenomenal, bordering on flawless. Cons: Very few, but it was a little difficult at first to accept the Dawn thing. It was that shocking. Once the show made it clear, it was all too easy to hop on board with little Summers. Also, the fact that Riley turned out to have a vampire bite fetish was, for lack of a better term, really gross. And Xander’s hair. It just seemed mean to wear it that way. Best Episode: Since “The Body” (5×16) is TV’s finest, it’s “The Gift” (5×22).

Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/bprofitt/all-the-seasons-of-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-ranke-v954

#All The Seasons Of Buffy The Vampire Slayer #buffy the vampire slayer #Ranked From Worst To Best #ranking the seasons of buffy

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