#Buffy Season 7

[paperpuzzles]

[thequeenofsastiel]

FUCK I love Buffy. When the Potentials were saying that they got punished for following Faith and that it was the wrong thing to do, instead of agreeing with them and pointing out that she was right about the vineyard and went BY HERSELF after they all turned on her, she stood up for Faith, saying that it wasn't her fault that she got so many Potentials injured and killed. Buffy could have easily been like "Yeah, I told y'all that following her was a dumb idea and I was right about the vineyard so y'all have no one to blame but yourselves". But she didn't. She stood up for Faith because she knew what it was like to lead the Potentials into a trap, and she wasn't going to pretend that she didn't. She was still in the right about the vineyard, but she didn't let that matter. She had integrity, and didn't feel the need to punish the people who had betrayed her in any way. Or if she did, she didn't act upon it. Buffy is brave, kind, and understanding. We love Buffy on this blog.

[90s-kid-sad-adult]

[there-are-many-ways-to-smile]

I think they should have focused on Principle Wood instead of Andrew so much, like hello child of a slayer!

That's so awesome!

I'm sure Buffy always wondered what her life would have been like if she was ever to settle down and do the whole family thing.

Principle Wood just has so much history, why has Giles never talked about how some slayers or at least how Nikki had a child. I'm sure it was dangerous.

Season 7 is supposed to be about the Slayer line, and there's just so much they could have done with it and they didn't.

It's just little hints here and there.

[thepunkmuppet]

thinking about an alternate season 7 wherein instead of every potential slayer being hunted and then activated, every past slayer gets brought back to life. I don’t really like post-chosen content anyway, but when I do read / look at it the whole slayer academy, everyone’s a slayer thing is really stupid to me ngl 💀

previous slayers, though… nikki wood and xin rong interacting with spike, actually finding out about the slayer before buffy, slayers with different backgrounds and situations and personalities, KENDRA?! I just love it so much.

you’d be able to focus on a relatively small cast of slayers, much like the potentials, throughout the season. this would include buffy, faith, kendra, nikki, and some other american slayers from varying time periods with a couple interesting international characters too (maybe a slayer from ancient greece / rome / egypt, or an anglo-saxon one or something). these are all experienced slayers, so no need to focus on training - it would be more about lore, history and their personal character journeys, assimilating them into society (creating some fun bottle episodes, maybe a day out on the town with dawn and a historical slayer) and trying to figure out why they were all brought back. also, if you want to keep the first as the main villain, then it can look like any one of them because they’re all technically dead, which means you can still have that episode with the dead potential revealing herself as the first and all the mistrust that’s threaded throughout the season.

plus with nikki back, there would be no need for the stupid sleeper agent thing with spike or the ridiculous fight between him and robin. all the same ideas (and the flashbacks to spike’s mum) could still be explored, and in a way better way imo.

I reckon the reason they were brought back would probably be the powers that be (tying nicely into angel ofc) trying to defeat the first. and of course the ending would be this huge battle, as all the slayers from around the world come to sunnydale, and maybe to add some drama they would all disappear and die again when the battle’s done as they have fulfilled their purpose (a classic finale knife to the heart that would have everyone sobbing, especially over nikki and kendra).

there’s also the added thing of like,, I appreciate the show was leaning towards a theme of “hope for the future” with the potentials angle, but literally every other aspect of the season is about harkening back to the past. faith, robin, the first taking the form of previous characters, the high school, the slayer origins, etc etc. so I just think this idea would work so much better with the themes of the season, and tie in really nicely.

and the most obvious perk of this concept is kendra! she was forgotten about so quickly, and this season would really give the writers a chance to redeem themselves for the terrible way poc characters have been treated throughout the show (ignoring what they did to robin. FUCK that but that’s another conversation). I think the show really downplayed how much kendra’s death would have affected buffy, and seeing the two of them interact after buffy has changed so much and kendra’s still the same would be amazing. there’s also the interesting concept that, having been brought back from the dead, kendra still be 17, and therefore closer in age to dawn than to buffy, which could make for some really nice interactions between the two of them. also of course the biggest most exciting thing is having buffy, faith and kendra all interact. they all represent places on a spectrum in terms of personality, and I would LOVE to see kendra and faith interact and how much of a unit they would likely become as a trio.

there’s also the theme of buffy feeling (and being) alone in this season that would hopefully go away, as she would now have dozens of people who truly understand her, giving her a proper support system which I would love to see (season 7 scoobies can actually eat shit btw <3)

so. was this born out of my hatred for insufferable kennedy and the annoying potentials? yes absolutely. do I now want them to rewrite and re-film the entire last season 20 years later? yes absolutely I’m so glad you understand

side note wouldn’t it be sick if in the final battle there’s just this one slo-mo shot where buffy stakes a vamp and through the dust she sees the first slayer looking at her from across the battlefield before she disappears amongst the fight. WHAT it would literally be awesome hello?!

also also other side note sorry but Mother(TM) nikki wood would NEVER kick buffy out of her own house. fuck them kids fr

[madeleinelovescolours]

This totally happened in canon

Fight me

[three-blogs-in-a-trenchcoat]

Okay but in the beginning of Same Time, Same Place, there is a joke about Anya not wanting her spellcasting with Willow to get too sexy. The show literally say "remember that two women casting a spell together usually means they're having sex? well we want to make sure you understand that this time it's just for plot reasons." They acknowledge that you might want to read it that way based on previous seasons, but you shouldn't, in that situation.

Anyway in the end of the same episode, when Willow and Buffy hold hand and do it on Willow's bed, that acknowledgement is missing.

[eleven-promises]

so, just finished watching buffy for the third time, and i am SUCH a dawn summers defender. like yeah she starts out a little whiny and annoying, but let’s not forget this girl is a child.

she’s fourteen years old and finds out her entire life has been a lie and just a construct created by magical beings. everything she has ever known is all untrue, and she is just a ‘key’. i honestly think her character seriously improves in seasons 6 and 7, and was needed to give buffy some necessary development in order for her to fully gain her adult responsibilities in growing up to fast, and having to look after someone else.

my only main criticism of dawn in season 7 is the infamous ‘kicking buffy out of her own house’ scene, but let’s be real, she’s not the only person acting out of character in that moment.

[elysianholly]

The First

So I’m in Season 3 of my Buffy rewatch and just passed Amends, and holy cow, is this ever an informative episode.

We have the first appearance of The First, who will go dormant again for four years until emerging as the Big Bad in Season 7. The entire conceit of this episode is The First understands Angel’s desires and weaknesses and tries to manipulate those to its own end.

And what is Angel’s desire? Buffy, obviously.

The First knows Angel has the capacity to hurt Buffy. He's done so already, after all. More than anyone else has at this point in the series.

And in fairness to Angel—he is trying very hard in this episode. He’s being tormented by visions of his victims, most prominently the visage of Jenny Calendar. These visions weaken him to the point where he shows up in Buffy’s room specifically to tell her to “stay away from him.” But he can’t stay away from her—even Buffy points out that he’s not making any sense.

And there is Jenny Calendar in the background, saying:

“She wants you to touch her. What are you waiting for?” “She wants you to taste her. Think of the peace. You'll never have to see us again.”

Essentially making the “she was asking for it” case to goad Angel into SAing Buffy. This wouldn’t be nearly as telling on its own, without Angel’s admission at the end of the episode:

Angel: It told me to kill you. You were in the dream. You know. It told me to lose my soul in you and become a monster again. Buffy: I know what it told you. What does it matter? Angel: Because I wanted to! Because I want you so badly! I want to take comfort in you, and I know it'll cost me my soul, and a part of me doesn't care.

Now, it’s important to acknowledge that despite this desire, Angel did not give in. He did not SA Buffy. He did not try to touch her. He chose death instead. It is equally important, however, to acknowledge that the reason he was so tormented in this episode is because The First was appealing to an existing desire that he was trying to suppress, specifically the knowledge that:

He could do this

He has done this

Some part of him still wants to do this

The “Because I wanted to” admission is everything. Without it, The First has no hold on Angel. Remove the Buffy of it all and The First could taunt him with victims past, sure, but its goal was very specific: get Angel to go bad. And failing that, get Angel to remove himself from the equation. I’m sure it would have also accepted “get Angel to violate Buffy and spiral even further” because, as we see at the end, the Powers need him to believe in himself. The best way to get Angel to not believe in himself is to make him responsible for harming Buffy.

Anyway, skip ahead. Like four years ahead.

We have almost the exact same situation. Spike is newly souled and tormented by both his past victims and especially what he did to Buffy. We have The First now appearing AS BUFFY to Spike, Spike incapable of discerning what’s real and what’s not, and confirmation that The First definitely has plans for him. Plans that will position him in opposition to Buffy, weaken her, and essentially kill any chance that she will do exactly what she ends up doing.

It’s also important to note that Spike is much less mentally sound than Angel was when The First starts fucking with him.

So what does The First do? It brainwashes him. It notably does not try to convince Spike that Buffy “wants him to touch her.” It does not play on an existing desire to cause Buffy harm. It does not attempt to appeal to the part of Spike that assaulted Buffy in the bathroom the way it appealed to the part of Angel that spent years happily assaulting women before he was cursed.

And this is important because if that desire existed, there would be literally no reason for The First not to use it. Are we expected to believe The First evolved in the years since it attempted to goad Angel into attacking Buffy because “she was asking for it?" That orchestrating another assault wouldn’t further isolate Spike, if not drive him to do what Angel nearly did and remove himself from the equation entirely? We know from later in the season that The First is fine with Spike killing himself. Hell, we're shown that if The First can't use Spike, it wants him dead and is willing to manipulate others to see that realized.

But The First literally had to brainwash Spike to get him to do anything it wants, and the second it unleashes him on Buffy, he snaps out of it. She brings him back to the light. She says she'll help him.

And The First is noticeably pissed off. This was not what it wanted. Spike under Buffy's care was dangerous to its goal.

So why didn’t it try to manipulate Spike into assaulting Buffy again? Make sure she'd never invite him back inside her home? Why didn't it appeal to his worst urges the way it did Angel?

Angel: Because I wanted to!

Like I said, Amends is an informative episode. It shows us how The First operates (doubled down in S7 with its manipulation of Robin Wood). Even more, how The First interacts with Angel compared to how it interacts with Spike tells us a lot about who these characters are as men, as vampires, and specifically men who have hurt Buffy.

[faerywhimsy]

This is where we left off (2002-4):

This is where we're picking up (2023):

This is why people are losing their minds over it.

[paperpuzzles]

BTVS brainrot has set in I keep imagining a scene in s7 like the one in Friends where Monica roasted everyone on Thanksgiving, but it’s Giles getting fed up with everyone and Xander says something like “We’re sick of all your quiet judgement!” and Giles goes “Oh, you want loud judgement? (to Willow) Magic junkie, (to Faith) convicted felon, (to Spike) neutered serial killer, (to Anya) left at the altar by XANDER, (to Buffy and Xander) demon shaggers, (to Dawn) klepto ball of light!”

[fxlling-slxwly]

I’m watching Buffy for the first time and I’ve just finished 7x19 and I have some thoughts because people are pissing me off.

1) giles in s7 is really pissing me off. he’s back to treating buffy like a child and he’s acting as though she hasn’t been forced to grow up since he’s been away and that’s not fair. like i’m sorry? giles fucks off when buffy needs him most and then he has the audacity to come back and be surprised when she’s making the harshest decisions because she HAS TO, and he’s surprised and pissed that she’s not doing as he tells her when he literally made it that way? he CHOSE to leave her when she was vulnerable. I adored the Giles & Buddy relationship they had earlier in the show, but s7 has really ruined it for me.

2) i adore faith and i’m all for her proving herself BUT it’s ironic that they’re ignoring the slayer who has fought off SEVERAL apocalypses and has lead people doing so in order to follow the slayer who helped CAUSE one (and she doesn’t even want to lead!!!) Buffy has given her entire fucking life to this shit and people say she's not fit because she isn’t ‘letting loose’ and babying / being nice to the potentials?

3. everyone’s always told buffy she needs to be ‘harder’ and more ready for loss, but the minute she’s like ‘yeah sacrifices need to be made but we need to act because the first is ALWAYS one step ahead of us no matter what we do’, suddenly people can’t handle that and they turn against her?

4. everyone being like ‘yo, spike needs to die’ when he is literally one of the best fighters she has AND (SA aside) he was there for her when literally no one else was?? he was the ONLY one who wasn’t selfish about the whole thing when she came back to life.

5. anya being like ‘you weren’t elected leader, you didn’t earn it. you got lucky’ as if buffy isn’t beaten down by life every single day and longed for having a normal life ??? she didn’t choose this, but she has proven time and time again that she IS skilled and she IS a great leader. she has died TWICE and up until this season, has still managed to be bright and peppy and look on the bright side of things. she literally can’t anymore because she has been forced into this role

anyway, i have three episodes left and i’m really hoping someone actually just gives buffy a hug because holy shit she deserves it

[90s-kid-sad-adult]

He is so proud of her

[there-are-many-ways-to-smile]

TW AND CW mention of Rape

I love Buffy the show, I truly do. But there a lot of ew.. and rape, I truly didn't comprehend until now.

I'm on season 7 episode 6, there's this character named RJ that's basically wearing a jacket that makes people of the female gender fall in love with him.

And Buffy has sex with him, on a desk, in school.

One, it's the spell and if she was in her right mind she wouldn't be doing that.

Two, RJ is a minor, minors can't consent.

In the show, it's unclear if their actually having sex but in the comic book, it's yes that's exactly what's happening.

And that's another reason why I won't be reading the comics ever. Like EW. Why would they even do that? Why do they love the love spell so much?

I think it's also weird that in the same episode, Xander and Willow are checking out the Dawn before they know it's her. Like they know from experience that high schoolers come to the Bronze, so idk why they wouldn't just assume RJ would be dancing with a schoolmate.

This episode is just so gross.

[Even if the slight possibility that RJ is 18, it's still very gross]

[mycatismyfriend]

BTVS - 1x02 → 7x22

↳ “The Earth is (definitely) doomed”

[thequeenofsastiel]

Ugh watching the scene in 7x19 in which everyone turns on Buffy and it's still maddening. Especially Anya, saying that being the Slayer makes Buffy "luckier" than the rest of them. How exactly is Buffy lucky? She's died twice, she's constantly having to save people's lives while getting the shit kicked out of her, and has spent most of her life since she became the Slayer in varying degrees of danger. She's not lucky at all. Luck would be not being the Slayer. I sure as hell wouldn't choose to be a Slayer.

The whole scene is just infuriating. And I wish that the fact that she found the Scythe by going into the vineyard and facing Caleb all by herself was pointed out to all the people who betrayed her. There needed to be a WHOLE lot of contrition that there simply wasn't. People mostly just kind of acted like it hadn't happened. Honestly I disagree with the show going there if they weren't going to put more effort into making people apologize to Buffy. Actually, tbh I disagree with it in general. It made it hard to have any warm fuzzies about Buffy and her friends at the end.

I'm salty.