#Buffy is basically perfect

[ssaalexblake]

trying to work out what kool-aid you gotta be on to think robin wood was the fucked up one in lies my parents told me, confusion courtesy of this hellsite’s pathetic algorithm thinking i’d fit in with spike apologists :/ 

[raisedbythetv89]

joss's sick obsession with not just causing pain and suffering - but punishment and humiliation to his "pretty popular girl" archetype characters aka Buffy and Cordelia and his favoritism of the most horrible mediocre white men aka riley, xander, and angel is never more apparent than in Into the Woods

The writers opted not for the FANTASTIC call back to season 1 with owen and Never Kill a Boy on the First Date when Buffy says "two days in my world and owen really would get himself killed…. or I'd get him killed… or someone else...."

which set them up perfectly for the road map of Buffy's attempt at a "normal" relationship that angel, her mother, and the scoobies keep trying to push her to have (when she's not normal herself so of course it's gonna be a disaster which is soooooo trying to force a queer person to be straight coded which is why spuffy is inherently queer on top of them both being canonically bisexual because Buffy embracing her love of Spike is embracing her inherent queerness)

But could you IMAGINE how amazing it would have been for season 1 to have foreshadowed riley being turned at the suck house (because literally all that evil in Sunnydale and NO ONE takes the opportunity to turn the slayer's boyfriend into the perfect secret weapon to take her and her whole family out??? PLEASE)

Then vamp riley almost killing Dawn and her mother (because Dawn would be the one tricked into inviting him in as a call back to Dawn accidentally inviting Harmony in and Buffy saying she's gonna get us all killed plus angel tricking his little sister into inviting him in once he was turned)

Buffy is forced to kill him after pleading with him to remember he loves her or any part of who he was (which would further show how exceptional Spike's ability to form a truce with Buffy, keep it, and fall in love with her all without a soul is)

Making riley her second (third if we count ford being left for dead and then having to dust him) turned evil boyfriend she's forced to kill.

Buffy would still be DEVASTATED and it's Buffy so she'd still punish and blame herself even though it'd be all riley's fault (demonstrating how this storyline would still cause immense pain for Buffy and be very high stakes drama for the plot but again joss elected for humiliation having Buffy literally chase after the man who was cheating on her with vampires while she was dealing with a sick mother and a hell god after her sister. Favoring a white man's character over the best plot line)

All while also further setting up her and Spike's relationship because of the "if that's what I wanted I'd be dating Spike" of it all which was her basically saying if I didn't want normal, Spike would be who I'd choose and now she's tried to be normal and he got killed, almost killed her family and then she had to kill him just like season 1 Buffy knew would happen when she broke things off with owen!!

AND the poetic irony of her trying to be “normal” and it ends with the exact same result?? The lesson being that rejecting who you are is not the answer and the only true answer is self acceptance because pain will happen no matter what so might as well love and embrace yourself ???

BUT NOOOOOOO the writers aka joss opted for riley's narrative to be that he's a hero and a good guy always, no matter what because joss has a big fat crush on marc and guys like him, angel and oz all get written off by treating women like shit without being villainized for it at all and then leaving. Getting to go on to live rich and fulfilling lives while Kendra, Tara, Cordy, and Anya are all violently killed off with barely any time spent grieving their deaths by more than one character..... (I haven't ever been able to finish ats so I don't know how much this applies to cordy's but my guess is the pattern didn't change much)

THEY EVEN LOOK THE SAME FOR CHRIST’S SAKE IT WRITES ITSELF

[andthesunwillalwaysshine]

FUCK IF THE TOUCHED SPEECH MADE MY HEART COMBUST THEN WHAT DID THE END OF DAYS ONE DO ???? such a perfect whole scene with the comedic greeting to the awkwardness to buffy basically calling him an idiot in 3 different ways (and using one of his made up words back at him) and then actually being real with spike and telling him their moment wasn’t just nothing but meaningful to her to spike telling her it was the best night of his life (twice he says this) and how he finally felt close to someone (and to her) and he is terrified (because he has loved her for so long and is used to it going nowhere and doesn’t want to push her after what he did) to buffy reassuring him he doesn’t have to be terrified to them actually starting the first real convo about THEM 

this scene is full of love but it rips my heart out and it is so angsty still because with the big battle incoming neither one of them knows who will end up alive after this (if they win) and if they will be both be alive after this  AND BUFFY’S FACE IN THE END (AND WHILE LISTENING TO SPIKE AND HER SOFT ’’SPIKE’’ WHEN SPIKE SAYS HE CAN’T DO THIS BEFORE OPENING UP TO HER)

[hello-nichya-here]

What made you ship Spuffy?

Something Blue. I just LOVED their dynamic in it. Even before the spell, they were already acting like PEAK enemies to lovers.

Spike was a bit too eager to annoy Buffy and just HAD to bring up what he assumed she'd do to please her vampire boyfriend, Buffy was being downright flirty when "tempting" Spike to bite her, and for God's sake, she kept that man chained in a tub.

Then the spell happens. Spike on his knees, proposing to her, and James just has to make it sound like his character is 100% serious and every scene in the show had been leading up to this. Buffy has tears in her eyes as she says eyes and is showing off her ring to Giles (and she never gave Spike that ring back, mind you).

They spend the rest of the damn episode making out, cuddling, holding hands, being cutesy, bickering adorably, and Buffy just refused to get off of Spike's lap.

It was the BEST thing that happened in the whole show, and then the following season, when Spike realized "Oh fuck, I might actually have feelings for her" I was thrilled.

The whole fight scene of him explaining to her how he killed two slayers, with that RIDICULOUS sexual tension... God, I loved it. Not to mention, Buffy is SUPPOSEDLY only there to figure out what she did wrong that led to her getting injured, yet she's basically on a date with Spike? Like, she's playing pool with him, sitting down to talk and grab a bite, asking him about his life and then they're in an alleyway fighting (which Buffy herself said is basically third base for Spike) and when she asks Spike if he thinks this is a "dance" he replies with "Dancing is all we've done" AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

The kiss after he keeps the secret that could have gotten her sister killed, the way Spike vows to protect Dawn until the end of the world, the way he reacts to Buffy's death and how she only seems to start truly coming back to her senses when he shows up, "EVERY NIGHT I SAVE YOU", Buffy only telling him that she has not escaped hell but rather been dragged out of heaven, THE MUSICAL, THEM FUCKING A HOUSE DOWN, Spike getting his soul back for her, "Why does everyone in this house think that I'm still in love with Spike?", the speech and cuddling in "Touched"...

They're just perfect together, I don't care what anyone says.

[coraniaid]

🔥 about tara

OK, so for the record I like Tara a lot. She's definitely in my top ten favorite characters. I am still in the early stages of a (painfully slow) Season 4 rewatch, and one of the things keeping me going is the thought I will get to see Tara again soon.

I think Tara's death is very sad and I can understand why Amber Benson felt poorly treated by the way it was handled (especially with the stupid gimmick of adding Tara to the opening credits just for that episode). On balance -- and especially given the context arround her introduction and her relationship with Willow -- I think that it was probably a fairly significant mistake from a writing perspective for at least a couple of reasons. (It's not really a good look to kill off half of your show's groundbreaking lesbian couple, whatever the context, and the writers didn't really seem to have any sort of coherent plan for what to do with Willow afterwards.)

But it kind of irks me when I see it described as an obvious case of the Bury Your Gays trope because ... it really isn't?

Tara doesn't die because she's gay: she doesn't die shortly after coming out, she isn't targeted because she's a lesbian; she isn't, in fact, targeted directly at all. Her death is basically just a stupid random accident. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Neither is Tara treated as more expendable by the narrative because she's a lesbian. By the time Tara dies, Buffy (and the Angel spin-off) had already killed off (among other recurring and at least occasionally sympathetic characters) Jenny Calendar, Kendra, Larry, Doyle, Forrest, Joyce and Darla. By the time both shows end the writers will have also killed off Jonathan, Anya, Cordelia, Fred and Wesley. Buffy isn't quite a show where Anyone Can Die, but certainly it's one where anyone can die if they're not in the Core Four (and if they're not vampires Buffy has slept with, in which case they can die for a little bit but they'll get over it).

And nor is there some sense that Tara's death affects the rest of the group any less than any of the others on the above list. On the contrary, other than Joyce, who is the protagonist of the show's actual mother and had been a presence in the show for almost twice as long as Tara was, she gets mourned for longer and by more people than anyone else on that previous list. (Xander and Willow's supposed childhood friend Jesse gets mourned so little I couldn't even bring myself to add him to the list.)

Yes, the show is far from perfect. It definitely is, at various times, racist, sexist and homophobic, often in ways that cannot at all be dimissed as the show being a product of its time. I think you could certainly argue that Tara was a victim of the show's persistent narrative misogyny (Willow's first girlfriend, Giles's first girlfriend on the show, and both of Xander's girlfriends die, but neither Oz nor Riley die and neither Angel or Spike die in a way that matters).

But Tara's death isn't automatically an example of the Bury You Gays trope just because she dies and was a lesbian. Even though, as I said, it was a probably the wrong decision for the character and the show and I wish it hadn't happened.

--

Oh, also, a bonus hot take:

In a hypothetical Season 7 where Tara survived, I really don't think I can see her relationship with Willow lasting long. The show sort of forgets about it in favor of advancing the subplot in which Willow becomes a magic addict after her Evil Friend Amy takes her to see a drug dealer and then forces her to relapse, but .... Willow's supposed magic addiction isn't why she and Tara broke up. They broke up because Willow was messing with Tara's memories and consent, well before she'd ever met Rack or de-ratted Amy. Willow hadn't actually done anything to address the things that made her take Tara for granted and consider herself entitled to mess with her mind with magic at all. She'd been sad about the relationship ending, sure, and Tara missed Willow, but ... Willow was absolutely the same person who did this to Tara.

The show doesn't bother to address the actual reason she and Tara broke up, preferring the cheap shock death just when they'd gotten back together again. But after a while I think Tara would have realized this, and without the shock of losing Tara in the first place I think Willow would find it very hard not to fall back into her old habits. Habits which have nothing to do with Amy's supposed malign influence. After all, Willow was trying to use magic to change her best friend's mental state without his consent as early as Lovers Walk, a full year before she ever met Tara. And when she and Oz broke up that same season she very quickly started talking about wishing she had a way to "make [him] trust me". This is much more a part of who Willow is than any addiction to evil magic.

[thepunkmuppet]

have you thought about anyiles because I have Thought About Anyiles. strap the fuck in guys

first question. why does anya like xander?? like obviously anybody can be attracted to anybody, that makes perfect sense and is fine, but WHY does she love him and pursue a relationship with him?? she’s not actually a teenager, they have literally nothing in common! he makes it very very clear that he doesn’t understand her at all, not to mention constantly belittling and undermining her. when he tries to be “helpful” and teach her social skills and cues, he only does it because it embarrasses him, not to actually help her understand, and is just so fucking condescending and rude!!!! (can you tell that autistic/neurodivergent-coded anya in relation to the way xander treats her makes me mad??)

basically, regardless of how much I just don’t really like it, I genuinely never understood why that relationship ever even happened.

anya and giles however. it’s not necessarily my favourite ship in the fandom as it is, but the idea of what the show would have been had it been canon instead of xanya makes me love it more and more by the second.

let’s talk about canon moments. they have a connection! when they bicker, buffy compares them to her divorced parents, he calls her “dear” at one point for literally no reason, and the biggest one is of course tabula rasa. sure they pieced together the context that they ran the shop together and then just ran with it, assuming they were a couple, but tara and willow were fully attracted to each other and seemed to somehow know that they had a connection, as did xander and willow. xander and anya barely even speak to each other, while anya and giles fall into the role of a couple so easily, kissing passionately without even breaking a sweat

so just think about an alternate version of the show, where instead of liking xander for absolutely no reason, anya pursues giles.

they are both incredibly knowledgeable on demons and history, they both have crazy evil pasts, they both have dry senses of humour, they’re both way more powerful than they come across. and just the poetry of it - giles was the one to destroy her necklace and essentially curse her with humanity. him being the one to make her fall in love with humanity and want to be human again is so FUCKING BEAUTIFUL! and just the idea of exploring his trauma around jenny, unwillingness to love again, etc.

also ik it makes perfect sense for xander’s character so I don’t have beef with it from a writers perspective, but it needs to be said. GILES WOULD NEVER LEAVE HER AT THE ALTAR

[orchestraytedkhaos]

Rexsoka. Yeah, it's my ship. Still.

I mainly just lurk here, reading fanfic and enjoying the memes. But the angst of the last few has given me the courage to dive in and say a few words.

First, let me clear the air: Rebels was when I started shipping Rexsoka. Prior to their reunion on that show, it had never ever occurred to me to ship them. Despite having read the novels.

So, yeah, look, I totally get the opposition to shipping early Clone Wars Rex and Ahsoka. She's a child. He's a child too, arguably, although his accelerated maturation makes everything super messy. The military structure and fact that Rex is basically a slave means its got power issues galore. Then for those in the US, there is the whole 18 year old age of consent thing (noting, for good or ill, it's 16 most other places). I get why this squicks people. It's the SanSan of Star Wars.

But people grow up. Even on TV.

Season 7 Ahsoka is 17 going on 18, and effectively an adult. She's commanded armies, and just spent a year living and working independently. She is also obviously mature and, frankly, animated that way. Rex is a long term friend, they love and care for each other, and by the end of the season, she basically risks everything for him, and he for her. The episodes are also written in a very obviously shippy way, with the gazing, the chats, the meaningful converstions, the hand holding and the tears. Not to mention that sad, moonlit reunion in Tales of the Jedi.

And although I dont think it matters much, by this time, even taking Rex at double chronological age, the gap is pretty mild by fantasy standards. 17-18 and about 26, roughly the same as Buffy and age-corrected Angel, and way less than Han and Leia.

Fast forward to Rebels, and we have two mature adults with a shared history and goals, who love, trust and admire each other, share common interests, and are amongst the most important people in each other's lives. It's a believable and natural thing for that to progress to something more. The challenges to their relationship are things like, for Ahsoka, the lingering memory of the Jedi code and Anakin and Padme's destructive passion, and Rex's rapid aging, status and limited life experiences. It is those kinds of emotional and external barriers and their shared trauma that make the romance so interesting.

Season 7 + and Rebels Rexsoka is classic friends to lovers, and one of the nicest, softest and most realistic relationships in Star Wars. The opposition to it, and moraliatic shaming of those who like is, is something I simply don't get. It's bizarre. There are heaps of ships that are far, far more problematic (including Anakin/Padme) that don't get this hate.

Like, anti dudes, what exactly *is* the problem here? I suspect the it's that some people just want to get their hate on.

The recent flashbacks? Yeah, that one on Mandalore complicates thing, but I doubt they had stomping on shippers in mind when they cast Ariana, as I have seen suggested elsewhere. The more likely scenario is that - at about 14 yo when this was filmed - Ariana was totally perfect for the first flashback, and is perfect for playing young Ahsoka going forward. Even setting aside that she is an amazing actress, she's insanely athletic and can duel weild light sabres while knee walking though a twist. She's also already tied to Disney. She wasn't quite right for the part, and, I agree, that does make watching it in light of the fanfic a bit uncomfortable. But, it's not just a shipper issue. Putting an Ahsoka that looks and sounds like that in the episodes with the Martez sisters and Bo Katan is weird af too, and doesn't work. I doubt it is meant to.

Story-wise, the best and only real take is that the flashbacks aren't live action replays. The Mandalore scene doesnt even chronologically match what happened (Ahsoka is so fighting Saxon in that scene, which never happened). They are visions about Ahsoka and Anakin and their relationship, not live action replays. Both remember her as a child caught up in a war. Smoke, the fog of war, flashing lights and dying, faceless clones.

And Anakin and Rex.

What I take from these is that in Ahsoka's mind, and Anakin's too for that matter, Rex is always there for her. Standing in the chaos, calm and confident in himself and in her, and looking badass as heck. With an older Ahsoka it would have absolutely been smoking scene from her pov, and no way was it written otherwise. As an older Ahsoka remembering, it's hot. As younger Ahsoka, he's there as her protector and friend.

Do I do ever think this ship will play out on screen? Not, no explicitly. And, yeah, it probably is harder now because of that vision (although if they ever do film a younger Ahsoka series, they will undoubtedly be casting a young actor for Rex, and Ariana will, by then, be 18). But I don't think that was intentional, and I don't think that much has changed. It was always intended to be an "open for interpretation" relationship, written with the possibility not excluded. And I am good with that. Perhaps I even prefer it. Star Wars has a truly dreadful record with romance and, besides, too often cementing subtle or ust-based ships kill them. I just hope this hasn't, because it's still my ship and I love it.

[drawingducktalesducks]

You make great art!

Your opinions on Vi’s alternate designs?

I could stare at her all day. Perfection.

Design wise? Her final one is (chef's kiss) SUCH a good balance of showing and contrasting Violet’s personality.

And the alternates show why!

She’s a nerd. Shorthand for that is usually glasses, as seen in almost all her alternative designs. (Think Velma from Scooby Doo.) Not a bad trope.

But at the same time, does her character need a visual short hand for smartness?

Just the way Violet SPEAKS tells you she’s a nerd. She uses big words, and calls people by their full names. When we first meet her it’s in a LIBRARY and her and Webby instantly start switching between various ancient languages.

We don’t need glasses to know she smart and a nerd.

So unless the show is willing to commit to some moments or gags where Violet loses her glasses / takes them off specifically not to see something / cleans them regularly as a character tick (think Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Conservation of Character Design says get rid of them.

Which the show creators did.

(also her introduction scene includes Quackfaster, and I appreciate that, instead of them both wearing glasses- a thing that isn't actually about smartness literally it's just wanting to be able to see- the thing Violet shares with the Terrifying Librarian is... hair tie / hair band, including the color thereof.)

(It's a more personal choice. And it's message is "Practical")

Next is clothing style. Most of her alternates have a more fancy, ‘outfit’ kinda look to them. Like this is something she put together to get a specific Look. Nothing wrong with that. Nerds can be fashionable (Ellie Woods queen thereof).

But… there isn’t anything in Violet’s personality, story, or situation that connects to that idea.

Her things are Books, Learning, Forbidden Magics, Honorable Conduct in Contests and Duels, Adopting Stray Shadow Teens Off The Street As Her New Sister, Brining Pie To A Sleepover, Smacking Invading Moon People With A Spiked Mace, and Using Tibetan Breathing Techniques To Survive Eating Three Bowls Of Deadly Hot Spices In A Row.

The closest she gets to caring about her appearance is when her and Webby (and then her and Lena) put on gruesome costume make up and prosthetics for fun.

So a snazzy outfit, while cool, doesn’t really… jive with the vibe of Violet Sabrewing.

Nerd clothes, like a vest, isn’t needed the same reason glasses aren’t. Also the details would be a pain to draw over and over again. Even Webby’s clothes don’t have that much little bits in them.

High collars again look cool… but Lena’s already got that covered. Stand them next to each other, and where’s the contrast?

Violet wouldn’t “pop” next to Lena if they had that on top of Violet’s dark color scheme and Lena’s dark sweater.

Wearing the same thing (to show characters are connected to each other) works best when either the color or the style DOES contrast sharply

(Huey Louie Dewy and May June wearing basically the same thing as their siblings, but in very different colors)

(side note I’ll make a separate thing for someday: Lena and Webby with button down collar shirts worn under something, but with different style, effect, and colors)

The leggings are seen on two of Violets alternates and I think that got picked for Meta Simplicity and also In-Character Practicality.

They’re athletic, the kind of thing that isn’t at risk of snagging on stuff (befitting an eventual Senior Junior Woodchuck), and the dark color balances out with her hair. And they’re VERY easy to draw. Very good!

Sweater.

Sweater with turtle neck (unless it’s one of those very loose ones) usually gets used as shorthand for “Comfort over Appearance” (Velma again, contrasting Daphne)

And in this case it’s a contrast with Lena who LOOKS like she doesn’t care at first glance but actually has put maybe the most effort into her outfit (sweater stolen from favorite band, dyed her hair, wears bright colored converse in a world where most people go bare foot)

and Webby, who is wearing basically a uniform (picked by her Granny or by herself while daydreaming of experiencing Normal School Things???)

So to balance out Lena’s rebel teen punk look, and Webby’s prim and proper look, Violet has a comfort and practicality look.

BUT!

They kept the eyeshadow.

A VERY GOOD MOVE.

See, eyeshadow on someone who wears an ‘outfit’ (Lena, Daisy) says fashion minded and image conscious.

(this includes Beakly the former spy taking up the role of grandmother).

Eyeshadow on someone who wears a non-snazzy turtle neck and legging with her hair tied away from her face in a simple ponytail says something else completely-

It says, Violet likes eyeshadow, and that is the ONLY reason she wears it.

Either she doesn’t notice that it’s unusual to do this, or she doesn’t care.  

THAT is showing her personality.

If it’s that she doesn’t know it’s unusual, then that fits with her in the Woodchuck Challenge not knowing about smack talk until Lena teaches her, and in Friendship Hates Magic brining a pie to a sleepover, and in The Split Sword of Swanstantine wondering in the middle of a fight if she should change in to more occasion appropriate clothes instead of, you know, running.

Smart yes, savvy to social norms? Not so much.

If it’s that she doesn’t care, then that fits with her direct and blunt way of getting what she wants out of situations, never mind others' objections-

-Instantly running to Webby’s loft so she can see the picture of the demon lord and confirm the crookedness of his fang, repeatedly pressing for using the runes to try contacting the shadow realm despite Webby’s nervous boggle deflections, happily employing smack talk so she can learn it properly without stopping to ask what it’s effect on her competitor might be..

So the clothes of her final design all work really, REALLY well telling new parts of Violet’s personality, without just repeating what we’d instantly know from listening to her talk for half a minute.

Hair.

One of her alternates has loose floofy hair, which I imagine is what canon her would look like without the hair tie, and it rocks.

But the hair tie is kinda important.

Violet isn’t a book nerd who never leaves the library- She’s active, she gets in the thick of things, she’s happy to jump in a fight, and she’s a Junior Woodchuck. Practicality, again, makes more sense. Keeping her hair out of her face works with her character.

Her little flop of bangs is really fun to me too because… well…. It reminds me of Lena.  

Again, it’s different enough to pop while the two stand together, but it’s there. Lena has flopped bang thing. Violet has a curly bang thing. They are sisters. It’s cute!

Also helps her silhouette stand out more against Webby and Lena, who’s hair is pretty smooth and down in general. Gives her this sharp thing that moves around and makes her extra easy to pick out, even when you just see part of her head. Important for a main side-character.

If you're going to add detail, add it to the silhouette -> very big visual payoff.

Colors! COLORS!!!!

Already mentioned the pants balancing her hair nicely, dark on top, dark below, but then there’s her eyeshadow and sweater!

They ALSO tie her with Lena!!!!

Lena’s shirt, hidden under her sweater, is pale blue- the same color her friendship magic is later- it’s the color of Lena being happy and being connected to people.

And Violet’s eyeshadow, is also blue? And Lena’s eyeshadow is purple! Like Violet!

Eyeshadow! That thing both her and Lena wear, them the Sabrewing Sisters, but Webby doesn’t!

That’s so cool! That’s a way to show a connection between them AND their personal tastes, before they even become family! And once they ARE family it helps them visually LOOK like one!

Also, Violet’s green sweater?

Again we’ve got the color contrast compliment thing (huey red dewy blue louie green) this time with Team Magic: Webby pink, Lena blue, Violet green. It helps them feel… individual in scenes they’re all in frame together, while also making them look good next to each other.

The choice of all of team magic’s colors to be either more pastel or duller than the Primary Colors Trio also lets all six of them work together visually, like in Nightmare on Killmoter Hill.

But again, LENA.

Lena has two other bright colors tucked into her design, aside from her pale blue.  

The pink in her hair (visual cue to Webby) and her lime green shoes. Green. GREEN. It’s enough of an important color for it to ALSO be in her friendship bracelet.

And it’s the main color Violet, her adopted little sister, wears.

Oh my heart….

Finally, it’s looks like they tested out ideas of Violet being some kind of, parrot maybe, or wren, or such.

I love her being a humming bird for one very queer reason.

Female violet sabrewing humming birds are actually green, not purple.

And Violet.

Is purple.

Just like her dads.

(also name puns for the win yeeeeessss)

So on the whole, looking at the designs Violet could have had, I guess I’d say they’d make nice occasional outfits for her...

but if you’re going to make her an important supporting member of the cast and if you have to draw her over and over again, almost always with the same other two characters… and if those characters are Webby and Lena...

Then they picked exactly the right design to go with <3

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

KATHERINA MINOLA (THE TAMING OF THE SHREW) (CW: Domestic Abuse)

1.) We had to read this for English my senior year. I got so mad at the way she’s treated. She’s the titular “shrew” of the play. She has to be married off before her younger sister can get married, because that makes sense.

Then the most dogshit man imaginable comes along, and everybody thinks they’re perfect. He literally gaslights her and denies her food and water.

Fuck Petruchio and Katherine Minola deserved better!

2.) Literally the whole play is about how she is so awful that the main guy needs to change her entire personality, which he does as a challenge not because he likes her, and then proceeds to her abuse her for the rest of the play. Yet, he is portrayed as the hero, not a villain and she is shown to have “improved” at the end. People will say, oh it’s open to interpretation, it can be played different ways, it’s satire, but i don’t find abuse funny and there is a distinct lack of commentary in the play to count as satire imo. Taming of the Shrew is a tragedy not a comedy, I will die on this hill. Kate deserves better!

3.) The title isn’t joking, ya’ll. She literally gets broken like a rebellious feral animal and it’s treated as a happy ending.

CORDELIA CHASE (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER/ANGEL THE SERIES) (CW: Pregnancy)

1.) (downs an entire bottle of vodka and slams it back on the table) SO. CORDY. Cordy started off as a supporting character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. At the start she was your typical high school mean girl character, but as the show went on we got to see more depth to her character: her insecurities, her courage, her capacity for incredible acts of kindness. Then after the third season she moved into the show’s spin off, Angel, where from the beginning she was basically the show’s secondary protagonist. Her and Angel were the two mainstays of the show’s main cast, she gets the most episodes centered on her out of all the characters aside from Angel (and yes, I’ve checked), and we really got to see her grow from a very shallow and self-centered and kind of mean person to a true hero who was prepared to give up any chance at a normal life to fight the good fight while still never losing the basic core of her character. There were some… questionable moments like the episode where she gets mystically pregnant with demon babies and things got a bit iffy like halfway through season 3 where the writers seemed to run out of ideas for what to do with her outside of sticking her in this romance drama/love triangle situation with the main character but overall, pretty good stuff right? THEN SEASON 4 HAPPENED. In season 4 she gets stripped of literally all agency and spends pretty much the entire season possessed by an evil higher power, and while possessed she sleeps with Angel’s teenage son (who BY THE WAY she had helped raise as a baby before he got speed-grown-up into a teenager it was a whole thing don’t worry about it) and gets pregnant with like. the physical manifestation of the higher power that’s possessing her. it’s about as bad and stupid as it sounds and also is like the third time cordy’s got mystically pregnant in this show and like the fourth mystical pregnancy storyline overall (you will be hearing more on that note in other submissions I’m so sorry). after giving birth she goes into a coma, in which she remains for the rest of season 4 and the first half of season 5. SPEAKING OF WHICH DON’T THINK SEASON 5 IS GETTING OFF SCOT FREE HERE. yeah so in season 5 the show just FULLY starts trying to erase cordy’s existence. she gets mentioned ONCE in the first episode and then never again until halfway through the season where she wakes up, helps out Angel for a bit and encourages him in his fight against evil, and then goes quietly into that good night and dies so it can be all sad and tragic. I’d call it the worst fridging of all time but even THAT feels generous because the whole point of fridging is killing off a female character so a man can be sad, and after Cordy dies basically no one’s even sad about it because the show immediately goes back to pretending she never existed. she is not mentioned ONCE in the two episodes after she dies. in the whole stretch of time between her death and the end of the season she gets mentioned exactly four times. again, I counted. anyway the fun twist to all of this is that all of this happened because the actress who played cordy got pregnant before season 4 and joss whedon was so pissed off about this affecting his plans for the show that he decided to completely fuck over her character and then fire her and write her out of the show. so cordy’s a victim of both writing AND real life misogyny!! good times!!

2.) OH SO MANY THINGS they menaced by giving her terrible hair cuts, making her seem like she’d get together with the guy she loves (and who loves her back) but instead she was killed and when she was brought back, she got possessed by an evil entity who used her body to give birth to itself. afterwards she was in a long coma and died. her character was so throughoutly assassinated

3.) She got demonically pregnant TWICE - there was this real sense of a womb/ability to get pregnant as like, a place for evil to get in. She got positioned as femme fatale and evil mother. The actress basically got fired for being pregnant, and when she agreed to come back for a single final episode she specifically said they could do anything but kill off the character. Guess what happened

[treasure-hwa]

late night ice cream

pairing: mingyu x gender neutral reader

genre: fluff, workmates, friends to lovers (in the future)

word count: 1.839

warnings: mentions of alcohol consumption

synopsis: you have been nurturing feelings for Mingyu, the guy that works with you, for some time now, but what you don't know is that he has the same feelings for you. During a get together at a friend's house, these feelings bloom into something better

author's note: more Mingyu, yes. Did I write this basically in one day based in a 5-second event it happened to me? Yes. Was it anything remotely romantic? No, but that's not the point. Anyway, enjoy and let me know how you liked it!

Working a full-time job in an office was harder than one could imagine, but having fun, kind workmates really made it easier to stay in the office all day. You were lucky you were hired for such a team, where you made great friends. That Friday was an example: the six of you were celebrating the weekend at your friend’s house, with drinks and barbecue in the evening. At midnight, everyone had already changed into their pajamas and had been distributed to the rooms and sofas to sleep — since you all had planned on drinking a little too much, making driving impossible, a pajama party had been scheduled.

In the living room, there were you on one couch, Mingyu on the other and another friend on a mattress on the floor. The TV was on, but you weren’t paying attention; you were on your phone, texting grammatically incorrect words to your friends about how you were sleeping in the same room as your crush and how handsome he was dressed casually and how his laugh was so contagious.

You have been liking him for a few months then, but making a move has sounded scary and impossible. He worked in the same department, for heaven's sake! Of course you had your fears. That day, though, it looked like you both “flirted” with each other a little too much for your good (he winked at you and gave you food and you smiled and laid your drunk, heavy head on his buffy arm. Yes, that was enough to make your heart swoon).

Your friend snored louder than normal and that made Mingyu laugh, the sound got your attention and you laughed quietly along with him. Suddenly, he got up, combed his hair with his hands and asked:

— Do you want ice cream?

You nodded and got up, taking a few seconds to stabilize your own legs and to stop your vision from shaking. You swore you weren’t drunk, just tipsy enough to see the ground moving the littlest bit. Mingyu chuckled at your state and waited for you on the doorstep of the kitchen.

— You alright?

— I am. Never been better.

The man smiled when you walked wobbling ahead of him and stopped in the middle of the kitchen, looking around.

— What’s wrong?

— I don’t know where she keeps the bowls.

He opened the cupboard and took two bowls and three spoons for both. One for you, one for him and one to get the swiss chocolate syrup your friend had bought on her trip abroad, but hadn’t liked, so she had offered it to you all earlier.

— Do you want me to put the syrup on for you?

— That would be nice of you, thanks.

While you poured syrup on top of his ice cream, he served ice cream for you, two perfect spoonfuls.

— Is that enough for you?

— Yes, thanks — you took the spoon and licked it clean.

While there were chairs, you both were standing in the kitchen, he leaned against the sink, and you against the table.

The man wore a loose tank top and sweats, so casual yet so attractive. You preferred to wear the best pajama set you had, which consisted of a soft yellow short sleeved, buttoned shirt and pants. He looked at you, visibly lost in your thoughts, and smiled sideways, noticing how adorable your pajama set was, but keeping that compliment to himself.

— So, did you like it?

You licked your lips clean of any drool and answered, your throat feeling a little dry:

— The syrup? Yeah, definitely, I loved it.

— Me too. She has such a bad taste for not liking this.

You chuckled and finished your bowl with another spoonful, then went to the sink to leave the dirty dish there. Being so close to Mingyu reminded you of earlier, when you were leaning on his arm, trying to catch your breath from laughing and smelling his cologne, and he was telling the group about his worst dating experience as a part of the drinking game you were playing. You were drunk at that point, have losing a couple of rounds already, however, you still made out his words:

"Also, she didn't know where to put her hands, so she put them back? And kept putting distance between our bodies. It was a very weird date and a very weird kiss, I have to say."

An impulsive thought ran from your brain to your mouth to quickly to be stopped and you blurted out:

— Mingyu, how do you like to be touched when kissing?

The man wasn’t startled or embarrassed by your question nor by your proximity. Instead, he took your hands and put them on his shoulders and laid his own hands on the middle of your back, pulling you closer.

— I like it like that, when they are so close I can feel their breathing before we kiss, so close I need to get a little cross-eyed to look at their eyes.

— Yeah? — you tried looking at his brown eyes, getting cross-eyed for a second before looking at his lips and squeezing his shoulders just a bit tighter so that you could feel the muscles there.

He brought one of his hands up to your nape, caressing the place while his head moved to the side to get a better angle and access to your lips. You closed your eyes and waited for the contact. In those milliseconds, you wondered if Mingyu’s lips were as soft as you pictured them, you wondered how he would kiss you, if it would be gentle and superficial or if your lips were going to be smashed or even if he was the eager type of kisser.

You wondered too much, but didn’t get your answer.

— What are you two doing? It’s late.

The house owner, your friend, was standing by the doorstep, watching you both while rubbing her eyes. You had to think quickly to not make this awkward, so, first of all, you took one big step back, looked at Mingyu with an embarrassed look and walked to your friend, turning her around.

— You’re right, it is late, and you’re dreaming and drunk.

— So you’re not kissing Mingyu in real life?

— No, why would I?

She pouted after a yawn and followed you back to her room.

— Makes sense. You know, I’ve been rooting for you two. You’d make a great pair.

— See? That’s your dreamland. Once you wake up for real, you’ll see that nothing happened.

— Real Mingyu should make a move on the real you. It’s getting embarrassing how much you two flirt — she mumbled.

You tucked her back on her bed, and the woman quickly went back to sleep. You rushed out of the bedroom and found Mingyu washing the used bowls and spoons. Did people acknowledge your crush on Mingyu? Did they root for you? How come? You thought you were being discreet this whole time. Well, he seemed to like you too. Or was he just being a player? You didn’t mind for real.

— Hey — his raspy voice brought you out of your thoughts. — Is she sleeping again? — he asked, back still turned to you.

— Yes. But was she awake anyway? — you joked and leaned against the table again, gulping down.

— You thought quickly then. Good job — he told you while drying his hands and turning around, supporting his weight on his arms, propped on the sink. Looking at his muscular arms was inevitable and, knowing Mingyu, he probably did it on purpose (he always did that at work and bragged about his gym routine).

You agreed and looked around, anywhere but his face. Your head was buzzing with thoughts right now, you wanted to blame the alcohol from earlier, but you knew the only thing making you drunk at that moment was Mingyu and his perfect lips.

— So… I think I’ll try sleeping now — but you made no effort in leaving your current position, even less when Mingyu called your name. — Hm?

— You have ice cream on your face.

Then, before you could ask where, he took a napkin and cleaned your cheek, close to your mouth, with one hand supporting your neck. Your breath was stuck on your lungs, you couldn’t get it out despite being in a similar position not even ten minutes ago. The man called your name again, softer this time, and continued after you hummed, showing your other senses were working too apart from your focused vision on his mouth.

— Should we continue from where we stopped?

— If we don’t, I’m afraid I won’t sleep tonight — you rushed to respond, eager to have the answer of what type of kisser Kim Mingyu was.

At that, he threw the used napkin over his shoulder, pushed your hands to rest on that part of him again and angled his face with yours. Finally, Mingyu’s kiss was gentle, but not superficial and shallow; he captured your lower lip between his own and stayed that way for some seconds, before letting go and pecking your moist lips again and again. You pushed your body against his and laced your arms on his neck, deepening the kiss. You had never kissed anyone like that, however, there was something in Mingyu that made you lose some of your famous composure.

If it was beside him, you didn’t mind having a composure anyway.

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

Next morning, when you woke up to the smell of pancakes and headed to the kitchen, you found Mingyu flipping pancakes on a fry, looking as handsome as ever. You greeted him with your heart beating fast, because, suddenly, you remembered what happened on that same spot last night.

— Good morning! Do you know you move a lot in your sleep? I woke up a few times and saw you tossing and turning.

You nodded and poured a glass of orange juice for yourself, mumbling:

— I know, it happens when I drink a little too much. But I also couldn’t sleep right away last night.

He tried to hide his side smile biting his lower lip, and you hid yours with the glass. The cute moment was soon interrupted by your friend entering the kitchen, her hands on her hips.

— Good morning, do you want pan-

— So, are you telling me what happened yesterday night or not?

— Did you drink that much? — Mingyu laughed. — We had drinks, watched a movie, then went to bed.

— No. After that, in the kitchen. You both kissed.

— We did not!

— I have cameras in my house, remember? When I woke up this morning, what I saw in the kitchen didn't feel like a dream, so I checked the camera and you indeed kissed!

— Shit...

[beardog]

It's halfway through the year! Got any favorite albums/books/tv shows/whatever to recommend?

i always freeze up like a deer in headlights any time anyone asks me something like this. i don't know if there's anything i can truly recommend exactly, but i can definitely tell you some of the things i've enjoyed lately

the third and final season of sound! euphonium is currently airing, and it has been so so good. there was a gap of nearly a decade since the previous season, and the improvement in quality (writing, animation, acting) has been astounding to see. episode 12 left me a sobbing wreck, and i'm not ready for the final episode next sunday :')

i feel late to the party on this one, but i just got into chappell roan lmao. been enjoying everything i've listened to

this is EXTREMELY late to the party, but i recently watched utena for the first time all the way through. it cut me open and made me SO unwell!! hoping to watch the movie soon

right now i'm catching up w an anime called girls band cry and that's been a ton of fun. all of their songs slap, too

she loves to cook and she loves to eat is a super wholesome and down to earth manga :)

a few months ago on a whim i watched both seasons of the demon girl next door and was pleasantly surprised. super cute and funny w a surprising amount of heart

i have been very sporadically watching episodes of buffy every once in a while. still on season one. it's very silly

lately been really enjoying listening to media club plus. i've never seen hunter x hunter, but i enjoy hearing keith, dre, jack, and sylvi talk about it while i do chores and stuff

i've been steadily gobbling up all of i'm in love with the villainess (novels, manga, spin-off novel series written in claire's perspective). it's not a perfect series, but rae and claire are so dear to me. i'm constantly rotating them in the microwave of my brain

wife and i went back to some childhood faves. her fave franchise growing up was digimon and she got me to watch the first three series, and this year we finished watching digimon frontier. and then not too long ago i got them to watch one of my beloved childhood anime shows kaleido star. it was cool to go back and analyze and interpret everything as gay

lastly, not a piece of media, but highly recommend: drawing for fun! basically like yesterday, i rediscovered that i actually really love drawing. no worrying if it's good or not - making stuff is fun!!

[ergothereforethus]

Basically my dream buffy/cordelia fic is this. post season 3, cordelia is done with the scoobies. she just wants to get on with her life, which at the moment is being a fashion major at UC sunnydale, and maybe acquiring a sporty boyfriend and cool friends. the problem is, now that she knows about the supernatural, she can't stay away. after witnessing a vampire attack on campus, she starts researching occult materials and designing monster-proof clothing for herself. one night, she's walking home alone in her latest creation and a vampire jumps out at her. buffy is coincidentally out patrolling and rushes over... but by the time she gets there, cordelia is totally fine, not a scratch on her. buffy is friendly to her and tries to get her to come back, but cordelia insists she doesn't need to be hanging out with such losers anymore; she has a life now. but the fact is, she's not really happy. her boyfriend is perfect on paper but totally boring. the clothes she designs for class assignments are okay, but making monster-proof clothing is the only thing that really feels creative. one day she runs into willow in the occult section of the library. and willow is all, "I thought you left this world" which means that buffy never told her friends that she met cordelia. oooooh. buffy has issues perhaps. so anyway they exchange some words. turns out they both want the same book, but willow got it first…. she says she needs to take it out for a few days…. but cordelia can come to her dorm room (or giles' apartment?) to read it also if she wants :) and cordelia of course says no ew I don't need you! and goes home. and then her bf texts like hey do u want to have a romantic dinner tonight? and she's so sick of him (several texts like hey babe how was your day? thinking about you<3 hello beautiful, to which she rolls her eyes) that she texts back spur of the moment like sorry I have plans tonight with some old friends. actually these are voicemails. and her roommate (popular girl etc) is like omg what a sweet bf you have<3 while cordy is rolling her eyes. and the roommate heard the plans so now she actually does have to go out so she might as well go to giles' apartment, nothing better to do!

and well I could go on but the document is like 2k words. you get the picture. obviously cordelia is going to start making monster-proof clothing for the scoobies. and she is going to have to take buffy's measurements for a body suit at some point. and it is going to be homoerotic

[hello-nichya-here]

Just watched final episodes of Buffy and my spuffy heart is insanely happy about Spike's speech in touched and how Buffy finally seems to understand just how much she means to him.

And you right, the Bangel kiss was so forced and Buffy basically told him to get out of her show 'cause she had a new man lmaoooo

Spuffy in "Touched" is on a whole other level of greatness. Everything about Spike's speech to Buffy is perfect.

For starters, Spike told off everyone for being absolute dicks to Buffy and daring to kick her out of her own home and wander through a completely apocalyptic Sunnydale by herself. Not wanting to go along with her plan was one thing, but stabbing her in the back like that was horrible - and Spike calling them a bunch of sad traitors was PERFECT (plus, him giving Giles a piece of his mind after the plot to kill him was so satisfying).

Spike is just so sweet to Buffy during the entire conversation - with the ocasional "You're insufferable for not believing how awesome you are" and "Want me to kill Faith for you? 'Cause I would totally kill Faith for you."

(Compared to the time Angel told Buffy to get out of his show because he had a new slayer girlfriend, and it's just soooo clear who Buffy and Angel should be dating instead of each other XD)

The most important part of the speech is not even how it makes Buffy understand the depth of Spike's love for her, but how, like he said, he truly understands her like no one else did.

"I love what you are, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength, I've seen the absolute best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy"

Spike was Buffy's sworn enemy, reluctant ally, willing ally and supportive friend, toxic boyfriend, sweet boyfriend she mistreated, and now he is her champion, the one that will help her save the world - again. OF COURSE he knows her in a way nobody else did.

Him calling her "the one" - both as in "his one true love" and "the chosen one" - is also perfect, because Buffy's entire conflict is feeling she will never have a fullfiling life, with meaningful relationships, because, like the first slayer said "The slayer doesn't walk this world" and "death is your gift." She fears she's too much of a hero to be a person.

And then in comes Spike. The dude that regularly calls her just "Slayer." The guy she's treated worse than she ever treated anyone else (including herself, which is saying a lot) BECAUSE of her struggly to deal with being the Slayer AND in love with anyone, let alone a souless vampire.

And he just embraces both sides of her. The kind, vulnerable girl longing for connection. The ruthless, powerful hero that doesn't need anyone. He LOVES both sides of her.

But, more importantly, said love is at it's most selfless on that moment.

"I'm not asking you for anything. When I say I love you, it's not 'cause I want you, or 'cause I can't have you. It's got nothing to do with me"

It doesn't matter that Buffy isn't perfect, that she mistreated him in the past, that she feels she doesn't deserve him. Hell, it doesn't even matter if she can't reciprocate Spike's feelings (even though we know she does). He still loves her, and his love will always be hers regardless of anything and everything.

Spike is being incredibly honest and vulnerable in this scene - and it allows Buffy to finally accept not only his love for her, but to give him her heart too.

I've already said over and over that I don't think Seeing Red worked, but my God, it is such a big deal to have Buffy ask Spike to come to bed with her after it, especially since the episode deliberately compares it too all the other couples in the show having sex. It's the proof that she has not only forgiven him, but also managed to fully trust him to never hurt her again (remember her saying to Giles "You sent away the one person who's been watching my back" and her chosing him as her champion instead of Angel).

But THE thing that makes me insane about this moment, and that the Spuffy fandom surprisingly doesn't talk about nearly enough, is the implications of their conversation about their night of cuddles.

Everyone is always going on and on about how that was the best night of Spike's life, and how that would have been his moment of "perfect happiness" if he was under the same curse as Angel - yet I haven't seen nearly enough people going crazy over tha fact that Buffy then confirms to Spike that SHE FELT THE SAME WAY, IT MEANT JUST AS MUCH AS IT DID TO HIM.

Buffy went through hell that night, as being pushed away by all of her loved ones confirmed her worst fears - and it was still what led to her moment of "perfect happiness" just because Spike was there to support her through it all. She even goes as far as saying she only got the weapon that will help her defeat the bad guy because of the strength Spike gave her that night.

Also, the way she gently touches his face during that talk, AAAAAAHHHHHHH!

Anyways, they are soulmates and if you don't agree, you're wrong.

[coraniaid]

3 + Fuffy

(Angst/fluff prompt list)

OK, I'm a few months late, but at least I managed to get this finished in the right calendar year. I couldn't decide which season I wanted to set this in so I went with: well, basically all of them.

I

"I've got you," Faith almost blurted out once on patrol, like the worst kind of idiot. 

They'd been talking, the way they used to back then, about nothing in particular.  Just filling in the time between the next vamp nest, really, as they walked from one cemetery to another. Buffy had been complaining about something terrible her kid sister had done: borrowed her lipstick or torn an old pair of jeans, or lost something she’d been reading for school, or something ridiculous like that.  Faith hadn’t really been paying a whole lot of attention, at least not to anything Buffy was saying. 

“Don’t get me wrong,” Buffy had finished.  “I love Dawn.  I do.  She’s just … she kind of drives me crazy sometimes.  Or all the time, actually.”

(And yeah, years later somebody will explain to Faith that Dawn wasn't ever really there, that some weird old monks just made her think she was for some reason.  This conversation never really happened.  Whatever. It's how Faith remembers it. It’s real to her.)

“Do you … uh.  Do you have anyone like that, back home?” Buffy had asked her.  Hadn’t asked her.  Whatever.

Buffy used to do that a lot, in those early weeks in Sunnydale, before everything had gone wrong.  Ask her about things “back home”, as if Faith had had a home to go back to.  As if she hadn’t counted herself lucky to get out of Boston alive with the clothes on her back.  As if her mom would have even noticed she was gone back when she was alive.  As if the only person in Boston who’d ever believed in her hadn’t gotten torn to pieces for being such an idiot. 

And yeah, Faith hadn’t really ever sat Buffy down and filled her in on things, but she’d dropped plenty of hints.  More than plenty.  They’d just all fallen on deaf ears.  It was like Buffy didn’t understand there were people out there who had it worse than she did.  Like she couldn’t quite grasp that Faith didn’t have some perfect little nuclear family of her own hidden away somewhere.  Like she didn’t realize just how lucky she was to have her Mom and her sister and their perfect house in the suburbs.

As far as Faith was concerned, the Sunnydale Motor Inn was the closest thing to home she had.  Which was … well, it was a good thing she had plenty of vamps and demons to take her anger out on. But there was someone she cared about, sure.  A reason she was still hanging around in town, even with the creep who killed Diana dead and no sign of any new Watcher arriving to try to tell her what to do next. Buffy wasn't exactly wrong about that.

I’ve got you, Faith hadn’t said.  You drive me crazy enough for anyone, but you’re mine.  You’re the only reason I didn’t clear out of town while Kakistos’s dust was still warm.

She’d almost said it, but she'd managed to restrain herself.  Hadn’t quite been that stupid. Hadn't ever been quite that naive. 

Things with Buffy were complicated. Complicated enough that she hadn’t been totally sure they were even friends.  Not really.  It wasn’t like they really hung out much when they weren’t on patrol.  She was hardly inviting Buffy over for sleepovers at her crappy little motel, and she could count the number of times she’d been invited over to Buffy’s place on the fingers of one hand.  On the thumbs of one hand, even.  Maybe they didn’t have much else in common.  Buffy had her Mom and her sister, and her Watcher, and school, and Red and Xander and all her other little hangers-on, and Faith … didn’t.  

Maybe she only wanted to think she had Buffy because, if she didn’t, she had jack squat.

The thought of Buffy staring at her blankly while Faith muttered awkwardly about what she meant to her, before making some kind of excuse to leave and then laughing at her later behind her back with all of her real friends …  she just couldn’t stand that.  Better by far to leave it all unsaid.  Better to be alone than to be a loser.

Besides, you couldn’t trust people.  She’d been starting to forget that, after running a timber beam through Kakistos’s dead and rotten heart.  Getting a bit soft, maybe.  A bit too comfortable. 

No matter.  Buffy had helped teach her that lesson again soon enough.  Her supposedly dead vamp boyfriend had been alive all this time. The other Slayer had been rushing off to make out with him in the dark when she’d told Faith she was heading home, probably laughing herself sick at how easy she was to fool. And all those moments Faith had thought they’d shared on patrol meant nothing after all.

II

I’ve got you now, Faith had thought weeks later, dancing side by side with Buffy in the Bronze,  The real you. All to myself. 

She’s not sure, looking back, why she’d only thought the words. The music was deafening enough that Buffy wouldn’t have heard her even if she had said them out loud.  Probably not even if she’d shouted it.  Maybe that’s the answer.

Maybe she was never going to be part of Buffy’s inner circle.  Maybe she’d never be invited to secret little Scooby Gang meetings at the school library; maybe she’d only ever be grudgingly let into the softer parts of Buffy’s life.  The big suburban house; the dinner table and the kitchen where Buffy still pretended to just be a normal girl.  The kind of good little girl who followed orders and played nice with others and who could ever be satisfied by a craving for low-fat yogurt.

Maybe, for a while, that had made her angry.

But now, with the music loud and the other Slayer next to her, maybe that didn’t matter. The crowd around them didn’t matter.  All that mattered was that, when it counted – in the dark, out on patrol, outnumbered and surrounded, with adrenaline flooding through them, with their hearts racing together in tandem – she and Buffy were the same.  Two Slayers, when everyone said there was only supposed to be one.  It didn’t matter that only one of them got the Watcher and the Mom and the simpering little gang of school friends.  Not really.  When it really mattered, Buffy was hers.

Because she and Buffy were the same, she’d always known that.  She’d been sure of it.  Sure that, deep down, Buffy felt it too.  And now, finally, Buffy was starting to admit it.

She’d not even minded when Buffy had run off to climb all over her pet vampire, wrapping her in her arms the way she never would hold Faith.

(Sure, she’d been kind of pissed when Buffy had abandoned her at Christmas to go and make up with him.  She could admit that much, to herself if nobody else.  But it didn’t matter.  It didn’t. If she danced a little harder with the remaining boys, and smirked in Angel’s direction when Buffy marched back to pluck her out of the crowd … well, she was just having fun, right?  Just trying to make the big guy jealous.)

Days later, on their way to deal with another demon creep, she’d almost worked up the nerve to say it out loud.  To try to put it all into words, the way she wanted to.  She’d been sure, this time, that Buffy wouldn’t be able to deny it.

Just one more vamp to dust, and then, maybe–

(“Faith, no!” she’d heard Buffy shout at her, just a few seconds too late. And she'd keep hearing it  ever since, night after night, year after year.)

III

“I’ve got you,” Faith gloated out loud once, when she thought she’d managed to surprise her.

That was supposed to have been her big moment. Her moment in the spotlight. The big dramatic reveal.

“Bondage’s a good look on you,” she’d told Buffy approvingly once Angelus had gotten her chained up.  “‘Course, the outfit’s all wrong, but …”

She trailed off, waggled her eyebrows suggestively. No point trying to be subtle now.  Besides, she’d have been lying if she pretended not to be enjoying this. She’d never really fit into Buffy’s life the way she’d wanted.  Never been convincing playing the part of the little loyal sidekick.  Always chafed a little at the role of watchdog. Maybe this town wasn’t big enough for two Chosen Ones after all.

It was just like people had been telling her all her life.  She was a loser.  An embarrassment.  A bad influence, a bad daughter, a bad girl.  Why not a bad Slayer too?

Well, she’d show them bad, all right.  She’d show them real evil.   The world had treated her like crap for years before she’d gotten her powers, and maybe she was owed a little payback.  Maybe the next time the Mayor wanted one of B’s little friends taken care of, she’d volunteer for the job herself.  That’d impress him, wouldn’t it?  He appreciated her for the things she was good at, even if nobody else ever would.  If she was going to take orders from anyone, why not him? And that little witch Red had always made it clear how little she respected her. She was practically asking for it, wasn't she?

Thinking about it, maybe killing that poor sap Finch was the best thing that’d ever happened to her.   Sure, kind of crappy luck for the guy himself, but it wasn't like people like him really mattered anyway, in the big picture.  And it had helped to shake her out of her stupid little crush.  Helped her realize that Buffy was only ever going to treat her like shit.  Always going to look down on her, like she wasn’t quite good enough.  Like the other Slayer was just destined to be better than her, all along.

“I am better than you,” Buffy had told her coldly.  “Always have been.”

That was when things had started going wrong, Faith thinks later.  Even before the other Slayer had slipped out of her chains; even before that lousy vamp with a soul had revealed he’d been playing her the whole time.  She’d poured her heart out, thinking it was safe, and Buffy hadn’t followed the script like she was supposed to.  She’d been supposed to be scared.  She’d been supposed to be afraid.  She’d been supposed to be impressed.

Not that Faith could blame her for saying that, exactly.  It wasn’t as if she hadn’t dared her to do it. It wasn’t as if she was wrong.  Buffy wasn’t like her after all.  Not yet.

IV

Now I’ve got you, Faith had thought, as the knife had slipped up past her ribs, in a brief moment of clarity before the pain. You’re just like me after all.

Maybe she’d never matter to Buffy the way she wanted, but this was a moment that would tie them together forever.  Victim and perpetrator.  Murderer and corpse.  They’d both know, now, that there wasn’t much between them.  That Faith could have had it all if she’d just gotten a little bit more luck.  

It hurt, sure – it hurt worse than anything she could remember feeling for years – but it was a good kind of pain.  Because it meant she was right.  Had been right, all along.  It was proof.

Proof that their golden Slayer was a killer too.  Just like Faith.  That she enjoyed it; that she got off on it.  That there was something sick and evil inside her, something bad and dark and wrong.   Just like Faith.

In another life, it could've been Buffy slitting throats on the Mayor’s orders. Buffy lurking in the dark while Faith basked in the adulation of her own little Scooby Gang.  Everyone had to see that now.  Buffy herself had to see it.

(Not that Faith wanted that for herself. She'd been better off this way, whatever anybody else thought. Only … it meant something, that Buffy could've been like this too. That she'd only ever been pretending to be better than this.)

After she fell, she’d had one more glimpse of her – the other Slayer, looking down at her, just she’d always wanted – but she’d known that, whatever it looked like, she’d won.  She couldn’t keep her eyes open, couldn’t stop the world from going dark, but she’d felt herself smiling at the end.  She didn't have to fight anymore.  She’d won, whatever Buffy thought.

She’d been wrong about that though.  Buffy wasn’t just like her after all.  She hadn’t been ready.  She’d missed her heart.

V

“I’ve got you,” Faith had told the stolen face she saw looking back at her in the bathroom mirror.

She couldn’t quite believe it.  It didn’t sound right, coming out of that mouth.  It was missing something, some undertone or accent that she wasn’t quite pulling off.  Didn’t sound like she meant it.  She tried again.  Tried all sorts of things.  Over and over until she was laughing hysterically.  Until she was sick with it.

Because she’d won, hadn’t she?  The police were dragging Little Miss Perfect off to rot away in jail for the rest of her life – and why not, when you thought about it; wasn’t she an attempted murderer too? – the Council was going to leave her alone, and now, finally, she had it all.  The mom, the kid sister, the perfect house.  The perfect life.

And she’d fooled them.  Fooled all of them.  The mom, and the sister, and all of Buffy’s little friends.  They thought she was her.  The other one.  Which had to mean they were the same, didn’t it?

She just wasn’t enjoying it the way she knew that she should be.

Something must’ve gone wrong with the Mayor’s parting gift, she’d told herself. When she’d switched, something else must have come along with her.  Something dark and sick and evil.   It had to be the spell, didn’t it?  It couldn’t be her.  She was like Buffy.  She wasn’t like that.

She’d washed herself, in that stolen bathroom, over and over again.  So many times.  Enough, surely, that she should have washed away the dirt.  But why didn’t she feel clean?  What had Buffy done to her?  She’d infected her, that was it.  Done something to make her weak.  To make her wrong.

And somehow it all got mixed up in her head.  Her and Buffy; strength and weakness, victory and defeat.  When she’d saved that girl in the Bronze, she’d just been doing what Buffy would have done, right?  Just trying to keep her cover.  So why did she feel like throwing up when the girl had stammered out her gratitude?  Why did it feel so weird to have saved a person’s life?  When she’d made it to the airport, why had she turned back?  Vampires killed people in Sunnydale all the time.  That was why the boss had built the town in the first place.  Who had she thought she was fooling?  Had she thought anybody would be impressed if she got herself killed fighting some ugly vampire instead of slinking off into the darkness?

That little voice, telling her that it would be wrong to turn away, that she didn’t really have a choice about what to do: that hadn’t been her, had it?  She was better than that, smarter than that.  Wasn’t she?  She’d only ever been pretending.  Hadn’t she?

It was almost a relief, in the end, when Buffy had tracked her down, however disgusting it had felt to see herself looking at her in judgment.  It had almost felt better when she’d opened her eyes to find herself in her own body again.  She hadn’t been ready either.

VI

"I've got you," she’d whispered to herself in prison at night, one finger tracing the faint scar Buffy’s knife had left behind.  The mark Buffy had made on her, more than two years ago now.  It wouldn’t fade, wouldn’t heal.  She didn’t want it to.  Some things never go away, she’d told herself.

Not every night, of course.  But some nights.  The bad nights.  Most nights. It was … comforting, in a weird way.

Buffy was out there somewhere, probably not even thinking about Faith at all, but that was okay.  She’d made her mark on Faith already.  She’d given her something to remember her by.

There were never meant to be two of them.  She got that now.  She was only an accident.  An afterthought.  Maybe that’s why she was never quite good enough, why she was never able to make herself fit into the story the way that everybody told her she should.  However hard she tried, whatever she told herself, there was only one Chosen One – one girl in all the world, just like Diana had told her back in Boston – only it wasn’t her.  It never could have been her.

“This isn’t about Buffy,” Angel had told her, more than once.  He didn’t get it.  

Maybe it was true for him.  Sure, he'd loved Buffy, she knew that – hell, probably still did – but he’d been alive (or undead) for centuries before he ever met her, had done most of his most evil fucked up shit before ever laying eyes on her.  For him, maybe redemption really was more about brooding and posing in the shadows and thinking about the past and all the other things he told her about when he came to visit each month.  

But for Faith, those two things – the way she felt about Buffy and the way she felt about herself – were pretty much inseparable.

She’d thought they were going to be inseparable, for a while.  The two of them: her and Buffy.   And in a way, she was right.  When it got bad in prison – whenever the walls seemed too close or the other inmates seemed too loud or one of the new girls got it into her head to try something stupid –  Faith would imagine the Buffy in her head, and ask her what she would do about it.  That’s what doing the right thing meant, wasn’t it?  That was why she’d let them lock her up.  Because Buffy had said that this was where she belonged.

Buffy wouldn’t want her to hurt anyone else, so she didn’t, however easy and satisfying it would be.  When the guards pushed her around, she let them, and just thought about how she’d disarm them and fight back if she wanted.  When a new arrival looking to make a name for herself came out with a homemade shiv, Faith took the weapon away from her but let her keep the arm that held it.   Buffy wouldn’t want her to do anything else. 

And Buffy wouldn’t want her to leave, so she wasn’t going to do that either.  Nobody here could have stopped her, after all.  Not the guards, not any of the other inmates.  Not even Angel, if it came down to it.  Nobody could stop her.

(Except you, the Buffy in her head had whispered.  You can stop you.)

But sometimes – not too often, but more times than she’d have ever admitted to anyone – Faith let herself daydream about getting out.  Not escaping, but something else.  About showing up for her monthly visit from the outside world one day to see a new face waiting for her behind the glass. A familiar face. Not Angel, but Buffy. She used to let herself pretend that – if she just waited and worked hard enough – the other Slayer might smile at her again.  Tell her that she’d done enough.  That she was forgiven.  

Except that that Buffy – the Buffy she still talked to in her head sometimes, the one who knew anything about what she was going through in prison – wasn't real.  Faith knew that.

The real Buffy – the Buffy living it up on campus still, the one Angel never tells her anything about – she was never going to do anything like that.  She was never going to show up here wanting to talk like old times. She was never ever going to forgive her, no matter what Faith did with her life, and who could even blame her for that?  Faith wasn’t quite crazy enough to think she could ever earn any forgiveness.  Not after everything she’d done.

Still, the scar tissue on her skin was real, wasn’t it?  It proved something.  Maybe Buffy had moved on, but that didn’t mean she’d never cared.  They had a history, even if they didn’t have a future.  

They were connected, the two of them. Always would be.  Bound together by blood and scars.

VII

“I’ve got you,” she’d said without thinking at the end of the world. 

Buffy had been doing this a lot longer than she had by this point – though it hadn’t exactly been her first apocalypse either – but somehow Faith had gotten the sense that this one was different somehow for her.  Not necessarily because the stakes were higher (you couldn’t get much more serious than the end of the world), or the threat was more powerful (she hadn’t been around to see it herself, but Buffy had fought a god two years ago, which had to trump some mean old ghost with delusions of importance).  But just because Buffy was … older.  Tired.  Somewhere along the line Faith had realized that Buffy wasn’t expecting to make it through this one.

She would though.  That was why Faith was here.  Why she’d come back.  Why she’d broken out of prison and gotten herself into trouble with the law all over again.  Because Buffy needed her – because they all needed her – and it was the right thing to do.   The only thing she could do, after everything.

She’d spent so long as a kid looking up at Buffy – wanting her approval, her attention, her life – but coming back to Sunnydale she’d realized that she’d somehow never seen Buffy at all.  She’d seen the Mom and the sister but she’d never seen how afraid Buffy was of hurting them, or doing something that would make them reject her.  She’d seen the garden and the kitchen and the big childhood bedroom, but she’d never seen how fragile they were; how carefully Buffy had to step to stop herself from breaking them.  She’d seen how much Buffy had, and she’d ached with want for it, but she’d never asked herself how Buffy was able to carry it all without collapsing.

She’d tried playacting as Buffy once before – stealing her face, parroting her lines – but it was only this year that she’d tried to really become her.  To do what Buffy did, everyday.   And not because she was taking that away from her – whatever people thought, that little mutiny hadn’t been her idea, she’d never wanted that – but because Buffy had asked her to do it.  Begged her, almost. Whether you wanted it or not, she’d told her, their lives are yours.  Protect them.

So she’d tried.  Tried harder than she’d even tried before.

She’d hated it.  She’d been awful at it.  And she’d failed.  To nobody’s surprise, she guessed, she still wasn’t good enough.  She just couldn’t do it.  She wasn’t built to be a leader, to make plans or speeches or inspire.  That wasn’t her.  It never would be her.  And that was okay.  She didn’t want to be Buffy.  

If she was honest with herself, she’d never wanted to be Buffy.  Not really.  She’d wanted … well, she didn’t have the words for it.  She’d never had the right words to tell Buffy what she wanted.

But when she’d looked Buffy in the eyes, later, in those caves under the world, neither of them sure whether this was the end or not, she’d thought that maybe, for the first time, all of that was okay.  Maybe they didn’t need words.  Maybe they never truly had.

VIII

Now “I’ve got you,” Buffy promises when Faith wakes up in a panic in the middle of the night, briefly unsure of where she is or how many years it's been. “It’s going to be okay.”

She still has nightmares, sometimes.  About growing up; about Boston; about Diana; about prison.  And about all the messed up things she did.  Lester Worth, begging for his life.  Allan Finch, bleeding out in an alley.  If you’re a screamer, feel free and go on then, give us a kiss and  holding a blade to poor Joyce’s throat.  Still remembers the look on Dawn’s face when the kid – the same little kid who'd used to think she was some kind of badass superhero – had seen her for what she truly was.  An animal.  A monster.

And in her nightmares, that’s who she still is.  Who she’ll always be, no matter how much she plays at being redeemed.  Something broken and empty and unloveable.  Something the demons and vampires have their own nightmares about, not because she’s a Slayer like Buffy but because they can tell she’s something even worse than they are.  

In her nightmares – in the worst of them – she wins.  The Council lock Buffy up and let Faith step into her stolen life, and the Mayor ascends and Sunnydale burns, and Mrs Post tells her what a good job she did helping her kill Giles, and she sticks a kitchen knife in Joyce’s back and cuts Wesley's throat and Angel turns to dust in the rain in some dingy little alley.  And nobody dares look at her or question her or stop her from taking what she wants. Nobody tries to stop her. She wins, and none of it comes close to filling up the hole inside of her that grows and grows until it swallows up the world.

But when she wakes up, she’s safe.  Because then the nightmares don’t seem so bad.  Buffy puts her arms around her, in the big soft bed they share, promises to look after her, and she falls asleep listening to the other Slayer breathing.

She still has nightmares, sometimes, but it’s getting better.  She’s getting better.

And "I've got you," Buffy purrs again on other nights, when they make it back home late after patrol.  After she ushers Faith upstairs, arm curled possessively around her waist.  After Faith helps unbutton and unzip the other Slayer’s leather jacket, after she watches her pull her shirt over her head in one smooth graceful motion, silently gazing at the sight of the other Slayer in the moonlight..  Mouth gone dry, not wanting to speak in case she shatters the image of confidence and cool she’s sure at least the younger Slayers still buy into, the illusion a part of her still hopes Buffy sees.

Not that she had much chance of maintaining that image here anyway, kneeling as she is on the floor by Buffy’s bed, half-naked herself, staring up worshipfully at the other Slayer.  Fighting down the urge to pinch herself, not quite believing this could be real.  Feeling just like she had that first night, years ago now, not long after Sunnydale sunk into the desert, as Buffy stands over her and runs her fingers over her bare shoulders.

"I've got you," the other Slayer says once more, almost wonderingly, like she still can't quite believe it either, and all Faith can do is nod, trembling and eager.

Ever since Faith came to Sunnydale she’s been defined by what she isn't.  By not being Buffy. She’s been the second Slayer, the backup, the unnecessary spare.  The reckless one, the sloppy one. The mistake, the murderer. The bad Slayer.  The killer. The monster.

But now, after all these years, things are different.  They make sense of each other now, in a way they’d never managed then.

"Who's my girl?" Buffy asks her, voice low and husky, lips close enough to almost brush against her neck, and Faith can't help but shiver in anticipation. Can't help but be amazed, even now, that Buffy Summers is talking about her like this. That Buffy’s hands are touching her, that the other Slayer wants her the way that Faith’s always wanted - aways needed – Buffy, that she spends her nights after patrol in Buffy’s bed.  In their bed, together. 

 Buffy's hand slides down her cheek, tilts her chin up slightly so they’re making eye contact.  The other Slayer leans forward and kisses her gently on the forehead.  Reminds her, a little sternly now, that she asked her a question.

“Me,” Faith says, voice suddenly hoarse, suddenly almost shy, however ridiculous that seems. “I’m yours, B.” 

For a moment, watching the slow, satisfied smile that spreads across Buffy’s face, Faith thinks about how they ended up here.  About how impossible it had seemed to her, back then, that this could ever happen.  That anybody - but especially Buffy - could ever look at her, and know her, and really want her.  Not just for a quick fuck, not just because they needed her help for something, but like this.  To want her, the real her.  To want to be with her; to build some kind of life together. 

Then Buffy’s kissing her again – hungrily, greedily – and Faith stops thinking about anything else. She leans into the kiss instead, breathing into Buffy all the devotion and desire she’s never quite been able to articulate. 

She’s got her. Of course she does.  She has done since almost the night they met. Since the night they'd killed Kakistos together. She’s got her. She’s hers.  She’s Buffy’s. 

[madeofcc]

➯ Simblr question (not of the day hihi):

↳ Do you have real life faceclaims for your OCs? Share them with us ❥ ҉ (If you dont have an OC, pick a sim you liked the most) feel free to ignore this ask if you dont want to reply for any motive ೃ ✦ ✧ ask round!

Hey nonny :) Thanks a lot for this ask ! I actually never really thought about it, except for Destiny but I took some time for you and here we go ... DH3 perfect cast if it could be real :

Want to know why ? Read below the cut !

Destiny / Zendaya : I always pictured Destiny in my mind as a mix between Rue in Euphoria/Ellie from The Last of Us and Buffy the vampire slayer. Zendaya would obviously be the perfect actress to be Destiny.

Aïssa / Angelica Ross : I highly recommend you to watch Pose and American Horror Story to see her at her best ! She really has a powerfull energy and a lot of style. Though she's a bit older for the character, she would totally slay.

Leïla / Camélia Jordana or Lyna Khoudri : Both of these artists are french and arabic and both of them can be as sweet as super badass so they would be the perfect choice.

Milo / Logan Lerman or younger Jake Gyllenhaal : Both of them have brown hair and bright eyes. Also, totally random but I wouldn't mind seeing them be a gay man :p Jake did it already perfectly once so ...

Hiro and Renji / Manny Jacinto : I know he's not even japanese (but does Hollywood really care ?) but I really love how sweet and tough he can be. So perfect for the both of them.

Chloe / Nicola Coughlan : I know we see her a lot because of Bridgerton lately (and good for her !) but I discovered her talent watching Derry Girl and Barbie and she's absolutly perfect everytime !

Mindy / Jenna Ortega : I actually wanted Mindy to look like Jenna because I couldn't picture someone else for this part. Jenna has become a new horror queen and I can't wait to see what she'll do next. One of my favourite actress from this generation.

Julia / Taylor Swift Reputation mode : I always pictured Julia as Taylor's evil representation of herself. This image actually really amuse me and I wanted to play with the "perfect highschool bitch" archetype for the best of the story. Also, Taylor would totally slay in this part. I forgot to include Emma Robert as Chanel Oberlin in Scream Queens, main reference for Julia's mind and behaviour !

Paul / Glenn Powell as Chad Radwell in Scream Queens : If Julia is Chanel then her boyfriend must be Chad right ? So Paul is basically based on this character but with a sweeter and cleverer side I guess this time :p

And that's all for now I guess :) Thanks a looot for asking ! I will give you more lore about DH3 because I put a lot of references everywhere

[inconsistentlywrittensoul]

Buffy Season One Review

I’m on my first Buffy rewatch in a long time - I think over a decade? I have watched the entire series enough times that the episodes are all still kind of burned into my brain, but I’m curious what my reaction will be now I’m a bit older.

Anyway, I’ve finished Season One, and I thought I might do a quick review of each season as I go. Can’t promise I’ll be able to keep it up, but I’ll give it a go. So…

Season One Review

S1 is… fine. It’s okay. It’s not as good as later seasons, but it’s not bad; it’s shallower than later seasons, but having expected that I found there’s a surprising amount of depth here. (Partly because I’m watching after reading @herinsectreflection’s excellent analyses, which inspired this most recent rewatch.)

I actually don’t think there are many bad episodes in S1 - the problem is, there’s hardly any good episodes either, and none that rise beyond just being ‘good’. They’re mostly just perfectly serviceable - the metaphors are a bit blunt, the humour’s a bit broad, the MIDI soundtrack kind of sucks, the vibes are kind of cheesy and immature, and overall, it’s just…

It’s Power Rangers. It’s a bit deeper and scarier, and the action scenes are worse, but basically, Season One is Power Rangers. And that’s not bad - I kind of like Power Rangers, and it’s not a bad season by those standards - but it’s not what Buffy is trying to be, or what it will become.

Season Score: 5/10 - It’s fine.

Big Bad - The Master:

In some ways, the Master is perfect. It makes sense that Buffy’s first villain is this kind of ancient and powerful vampire - he’s not as interesting as later villains, but it feels appropriate that Buffy has to beat this more generic Big Bad to move on to them. And he has a strong enough presence that he can actually bear the mythic weight that is placed upon him - it makes sense that he’s the one that killed Buffy, that he sired the Bisexual Vampire Squad; it never feels inappropriate that he has this important place in the mythology of the series, and he can carry that weight in his rare later appearances.

Unfortunately, in this season, he’s a Power Rangers villain. He sits in his lair, sending out minions and screaming in frustration when they fail. (Even finally facing the hero directly in the finale, beating them easily before they get a power up and return the favour - classic Power Rangers villain stuff.) He spends most of the season both trapped and sickly - while at full power he’s a compelling, intimidating presence, for most of the season he seems weak and kind of effete, like a homophobic Bond villain. At his best, he's montrous yet civilised, brutal but witty; in his weakened state, he lacks the contrasts that make him compelling.

Still, he is charming, he does work well in the finale, and he’s always a delight in his rare later appearances. So…

Big Bad Score: 5/10 - He’s fine. (... and not in that sense.)

Rewatch Reevaluations

The biggest change in my perspective since my last rewatch is around Angel. When I was younger, I didn’t really think much about the age difference between him and Buffy; now I’m older, I’m extremely aware of it, but also, it seems like the show is too. The episode where he shifts from ‘random mysterious stranger’ to ‘potential love interest’ is Teacher’s Pet - an episode about an older sexual predator preying on teenagers. Then in ‘Angel’, we don’t just see him creepily staring at Buffy, we see him lie to her about it afterwards, in an episode where the age difference is a major topic of discussion.

In general, his obsession with her comes across as way more creepy and pathetic than I remember, and while part of that is just my interpretation, I do think think the series is aware of it; I think him following her around and staring at her from afar is meant to be kind of offputting. I’m curious how I’ll feel about their romance going forward - I remember on previous watches I thought their breakup in Season 3 was unmotivated, and I suspect I’ll feel very differently about it this time around.

I’m also generally more aware of some things after reading @herinsectreflection’s essays. In particular, I’m noticing Buffy’s relationship to death - from her ‘seize the day, because tomorrow you might be dead’ philosophy in the first episode, to her rebelling against and accepting it in the last… and her Faith-like smile as she enjoys mortal combat with vampires at the beginning of ‘Prophecy Girl’. I’m also much more aware of Giles as a very flawed figure torn between paternal affection for Buffy and sending her to her death - which is explicit in a few episodes, but I’m more aware of it as an ongoing arc, rather than just some isolated emotional beats.

Other than that, one thing I’m noticing is how much weight the show gives to the death of minor characters. It’s easy for an action/horror show to start treating death casually or flippantly, but so far the show is careful to give each death an emotional impact, to make every death matter… at least ‘til the end of the episode, at which point they’ll be promptly forgotten about. Sorry Jesse.

And unsurprisingly for a 90s show, I am finding the sense of humour a little mean and kind of misogynistic, especially towards Cordelia. That said, though Xander is often the face of this meanness, I honestly don’t dislike him, even in S1. The thing is, either the show is aware that he’s being an asshole, in which case it’s an intentional character flaw, which is good; or it isn’t, in which case I tend to blame the show itself rather than the character. Maybe that’s a little generous, but it lets me enjoy the character, so I’m willing extend that generosity. I am curious how I’ll feel about him going forward. I'm glad at least Cordelia gets to be more of a character towards the end of the season - it does make the jokes around her feel a lot less mean.

Honourable Mention Award for Underrated or Forgotten Characters Who Deserve to be Mentioned Honourably

3. Zookeeper Furry from ‘The Pack’. Just a really solid one-off villain performance, in an era where performances tend towards the broad and cheesy side of the spectrum.

2. The Black Cat from ‘The Witch’. Looks like stock footage, never shares a shot or even a set with another character, and achieves nothing except slightly startling Giles, after which he just continues as if nothing happened. Yet despite doing basically nothing, it achieves greatness by earning a place in the opening credits. Truly an inspiration.

1. Principal Flutey. With how much he gets overshadowed by Principal Snyder, it’s easy to forget how great Flutey is as a character. From tearing up Buffy’s permanent record and taping it back together again in front of her, to being eaten by Hyena-possessed students, Flutey is a delight whenever he’s on screen - he’s genuinely a highlight of Season 1 for me. Principal Flutey, I salute you, and hearby mention you as honourably as I can.

Episode Rankings

Might not do this for every season, but hey, it’s a short season, so why not. Starting from the top:

'Prophecy Girl' - Obvious choice, needs no explanation.

'Angel' - Strong character work, introduces a bunch of ideas that’ll be important for the rest of the series, and solves the problem of making a single vampire a threat by giving her guns, which I respect.

'Welcome to the Hellmouth'/'The Harvest' - A solid introduction to the series; I wouldn’t call it great by most standards, but it competently introduces everything the setting, characters and the premise of the series, which is impressive in its own way. Luke is perfect in his role - he’s a compelling presence that feels like a genuine threat, but he’s not so interesting that he distracts from the important things.

'The Pack' - A solid guest performance from the zookeeper, Principal Flutey’s last stand, and some juicy thematic and character goodness makes leaves this Monster of the Week episode at the head of the pack. (… I am so terribly sorry.)

'Nightmares' - Character! Themes! Imagery! This episode has it all, at least by the standards of Season One.

'Out of Mind, Out of Sight' - The first episode that treats Cordelia like an actual character. Also, invisible assassin school! Everybody loves invisible assassin school.

'The Witch' - A perfectly competent MOTW episode, this gets a boost for featuring the cat that accomplishes nothing.

'I Robot, You Jane' - Yeah, the 90s hacker schtick is goofy, but this ep’s not bad - I like the goofy robot demon and the surprisingly good demon prosthetics for its non-robot body that barely appears in the episode. I like the idea that scanning a magic book can summon a demon into the internet itself. Also, Jenny’s here.

'Teacher’s Pet' - Another MOTW episode that does its job adequately. I’m inclined to think of this as the Most Typical Season 1 Episode - it perfectly represents the season at its baseline.

'Puppet Show' - I kind of like some of the ideas in this episode, but the puppet’s a creep and parts of the plot feel contrived. (Why are they sure the demon will leave as soon as it has the organs? Why would Giles get into a guillotine under any circumstances?) Overall… Eh, it’s fine.

'Never Kill A Boy on the First Date' - There’s some good stuff in here, especially around Buffy’s relationship to Giles and to her own Slayerhood. Unfortunately, the plot just doesn’t work - even this early on, one vampire just doesn’t feel like enough of a threat to build an episode around, and generic serial killer vamp is no exception - he's certainly no Luke. It’s a plot entirely concerned with setting up the larger arc around the Anointed One, and that would leave this episode feeling empty and boring even if it was for an arc that was actually, you know, good.

So that's Season One. I enjoyed it fine, but... I'm definitely looking forward to the series really getting good. If somehow you've actually read this far: Thank you for putting my words into your brain. I take it as a great compliment, and hope you liked them - or, failing that, that they invoked in you a great fury, such as only the worst opinions may conjure.

In any case - and regardless of whether I can be bothered to write any more of these - I will continue my rewatch into the Actually Good seasons of Buffy.