#Xander's home life is horrible

[mycatismyfriend]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer | 4x22 "Restless"

[coraniaid]

I guess I'm running the risk of sounding like a broken record at this point, but I don't think I'll ever not be deeply depressed by the way so many people on here talk about Joyce Summers.

I mean, I'm just thinking out loud here, but.  Maybe the reason that Giles was much more immediately accepting of Buffy's identity as the Slayer than Joyce was might have something to do with the fact that Giles has been training to be a Watcher for over three decades when he first meets Buffy? That his family sat him down and explained to him that vampires were real when he was a child, and that he's had over thirty years to get used to that fact? And that he is in fact literally paid to train Buffy and mentor her and prepare her for being killed in the Cruciamentum after she turns eighteen and he helps rob her of her powers her destiny? 

Whereas Joyce learns about the reality of vampires and Slayers and the supernatural for the very first time while in a state of extreme emotional distress, only hours after discovering that her daughter is wanted by the police for murder, and in circumstances such that Buffy simply has no time to sit her down and explain things in more detail in the manner they would both want?  Which is a turn of events that can be attributed in large part to the fact that Giles himself repeatedly told Buffy that she couldn't possibly tell her mother about vampires, even after (1) a vampire attacked her in her own home (in Season 1's Angel) and even after (2) the vampire Buffy had been dating, who had a standing invitation into her house, lost his soul and started going after the people closest to her, people explicitly including Joyce. (And note that Giles never offers a better argument for not sharing this potentially life-saving information than Xander's "the more people who know the secret the more it cheapens it for the rest of us".)

I mean, I know you're all pretty wedded to the popular competing theory that it's because *checks notes* Giles is a perfect dad who Buffy should have been much more grateful and sympathetic towards while Joyce is an evil bitch who never once did a good thing for her daughter (and Buffy must be stupid for ever thinking or saying otherwise), but the problem is that that theory is … uh, bad, actually.  Really incredibly cartoonishly bad. And dressing it up in pseudo-progressive language doesn't make it any better.

Wringing your hands over how poorly you think the show writes middle-aged women as if there's simply nothing to be done about it except conclude that they are indeed horrible people (and maybe give them some completely new flaws the show never did), while at the same time you write endless hagiographies and apologia for the show's canonically terrible (and often just as badly under-written) men is definitely a choice though.

And yes, it is definitely true that Giles matters more to the story of Buffy the Vampire Slayer than Joyce does. It is clear that the writers care about him more as a character than they care about Joyce, and that he is consistently used in a metaphorical way that Joyce normally isn't. At best you can perhaps argue that Joyce exists to vocalize and reify Buffy's own lingering desires to be seen as respectable and 'normal', but I don't think this is a reading the show ever commits to in the systematic way it does the Mind/Heart/Spirit reading of Giles/Xander/Willow. But on a less metaphorical level, thinking about the different characters of the show purely as distinct people in their own right, nothing Buffy says or does ever suggests she cares about her relationship with Giles more than her relationship with Joyce. Quite the opposite, in fact.

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Continuing on "Haru's quest to annoy FF about every character in Milgram because they had the bad luck of getting interested in it basically at the same time he did" (/lh) Next on the list of prisoners is Fuuta. I remember you once said that he's one of your favorites along with Amane, Mikoto, and Muu, so I'm interested to hear you cover him !

Ah, so that’s why you’re doing this, your character motivation. The lore thickens. /lh

Yeah, I like Fuuta quite a bit. I’m always a sucker for protag foils, and since we can consider Es and even ourselves as the protag(s), then obviously I was going to love Fuuta. His views on justice are really interesting when considering we kinda do the same thing he ended up in Milgram for, deciding on people’s fates with horribly incomplete information and trying to justify to ourselves why we’re in the right for causing these people psychological pain. Not like it’s gonna stop me from voting people guilty when I think it’s deserved though lol.

CW: Cyberbullying, mention of suicide and murder.

(T2) Q9: How do you feel about the first trials results?

F: You’re the same as me.

Oh yeah that’s the good shit right there.

That is certainly a huge factor, Fuuta is great as a reflection to some of Milgram’s main themes and I love him for that. Even if his personality is maybe reminiscent of some other characters I’ve seen (when did Xander Matthews and Ace Markey have a secret love-child and why does he have a Bakugo complex), he’s still unique enough that I don’t see it as much of a problem.

And let’s not kid ourselves. Part of me enjoying a character sometimes comes from loving their song, and not only is Bring it On a banger like no other, Backdraft is probably my favorite Milgram song.

There’s also just a certain amount of hilarity that comes with the fact that people in Trial 1 managed to inno someone they believed to be a damn organ harvester then turn around and guilty my guy for having a Twitter account. Truly the most unforgivable of crimes.

It’s especially interesting now with Backdraft the theories around his “murder”, because I actually think it may be one of the more unclear ones in terms of what happened. You might have seen there’s a theory he wasn’t the one to start the witch hunt on the girl that ended up dying, which I find is quite believable even if we still have to explain what was going on with that photo he took of someone’s home in his Undercover silhouette thing. But what’s even crazier to me is the goddamn Undercover kill shot where his victim has both shoes on, unlike Mahiru’s and Kazui’s. Does this imply it wasn’t a suicide? Is it because whoever has the orange spray paint that shoots really straight at the one graffiti’s forehead actually murdered the girl themselves? But Fuuta still got blamed for it?

Hey remember when I said the more headache inducing a character the more I’m going to love them?

Anyways, I also think it’s cool how much Backdraft references the events during Milgram themselves. I love Es appearing in a prisoner’s song, too, especially with the whole “the one shadow from Purge March kinda looks like Es thing”-

Oh yeah Amane! I love her dynamic with Fuuta so, so much. They’re so cool and awesome and great and I hope Fuuta doesn’t get too indoctrinated but also I think it’d be kinda funny. I don’t think it would happen though, I trust big bro Fuuta will help Amane reject her cult’s teachings please I need them to have a wholesome ending where they just eat cake and play video games together you know Amane would beat his ass in any game even though she’s probably never touched a videogame in her life-

I am immensely normal about them, as you can clearly tell.

Anyways, some other things which I find really interesting.

(T1) Q1: What is a friend?

F: Folks you can get hyped over the same thing with

(T2) Q16: Do you have a lot of online friends?

F: I don't know if we were friends or not. There were times when we had fun together. But I don't know if I can call it that.

Am I reading this wrong or did my guy change his definition of what a friend is specifically to exclude his old friends? Because that’s some crazy character development right there.

(T1) Q9: Do you have apologetic feelings for who you killed?

F: I never killed anyone. Didn't you hear me? I thought you were a guard!

(T2) Q6: Do you remember the name of the person you killed?

F: I'm pretty sure I do. I saw it often after all.

So he’s admitting he did kill someone in a way. More character development.

(T1) Q10: Which prisoner do you get along with the most?

F: I'm not anyone's happy friend. Well Haruka's younger, so I take care of him.

(T2) Q2: How do you feel about Haruka?

F: This isn't the time to worry about other people. Plus it's not like he's a kid either.

More changes, my guy really is very different from trial 1 himself and I think that makes him extremely compelling.

Okay I need to stop or I’m gonna be here forever, this guy is just all kinds of silly. Anyways, love him. Please don’t get indoctrinated into Amane’s cult.

(T2) Q14: What are you thinking about now?

F: Maybe because I'm anxious, but I want something to rely on.

Please. Fuuta you’re like the only one there who might be able to reach her Fuuta please.

Anyways, I gotta go before those two rot my brain further. Hope you enjoyed! Take care!

[jvstheworld]

The Buffy Re-watch: S2E15 (part 3)

Phases

I'm going to start this post with a bit of a rant: Willow asks Buffy if making the first move makes her a slut. What the ever loving fuck! Why was this line included? Was it necessary? How would making the first move make her or anyone a slut? It's such a horrible fucking question. There was no need to phrase it like that. There are better ways of asking if she could make the first move than that. It just caught me off guard. I get that Willow is a bit nervous and new to these things, but come on! It does not make you a slut if you make the first move. You are just clearly showing your interest in a person who hopefully has similar feelings as you and wants to reciprocate them. There is nothing wrong with that. Jesus fucking Christ though.

Yeah, Buffy and pals, you sort of jumped the gun on the whole Theresa thing. There are still vampires roaming around. A werewolf might be high priority right now but you can't assume that it killed her. Also Willow can access coroner's reports, she could have looked it up.

It's good that the werewolf didn't kill Theresa but bad that Angel did because he wants to start his reign of terror against Buffy.

How long does it take for people to go from the coroners office to a funeral home? Theresa has only been dead less that 24 hours and she turns in that time too. Yet, some don't turn until after they are in the ground. Do some vampires wake up in the funeral homes, realise where they are and then go back to sleep so they can have the full newbie vampire experience?

Xander coming in with the save and killing a vampire. I should start keeping a tally of him being actually helpful (I won't that is too much work).

Sir, I hope you have some good ventilation in that van if you're using a bunsen burner to make bullets. Also does a bunsen burner produce enough heat to melt silver? And how much time is passing in this scene because there is no way that he can melt down the silver pour it into the mould, then take it out and it be cold to touch in the space of a few minuets like the scene is suggesting.

Also, it is dark outside Cain's van, which means sundown and moon up. Shouldn't Oz be in wolf mode by now? Because other times in the show he changes as soon as the sun is down, yet here he doesn't change until after Willow gets to his house.

Where did Oz get the chains from and where is he anchoring them to stop himself from getting out and attacking people?

Bad time for angry speeches Will. Oz really is going through some changes and you don't want to be around when it happens.

Giles coming through with the tranquiliser gun.

Willow shooting Oz with her eyes closed, that's pretty good aiming. Her 'I shot Oz' was adorable.

Larry has stopped being an ass. We like to see personal growth.

Is Xander worried that because Larry thinks he is gay that Larry likes him now? Or just that Larry might tell people that he is?

Oz is the loyal type, until season 4.

I'm glad nothing is up to Xander, because then life would be shit.

Oz and Willow talking about their relationship like normal people should do. And they get to have their first kiss. Yay for happy endings.

So, the next episode is one that I do not like. It will not be talked about favourably. And it serves to make me feel even more ick towards Xander.

[jennycalendar]

For ship ask: xillow, xander x riley, anya x xander, fuffy, faith x xander and xandelia

(Unsurprisingly, bit of a running theme here)

oh HELL yeah !!!!

xillow: i am always chewing on the excellence of xander and willow as a platonic love story so i tend to veer in that direction myself, BUT i think it's unfairly hated in fandom.

xanya: i want to take them apart like little bugs. something about this very real love trapped within this mutual desire to Be Normal (xander's masculinity complex, anya's anxieties about humanity) is such a compelling narrative! also xander really did love anya and that's that on that. it's just that his version of loving someone is either leaving them or convincing them to leave him, because he does not think he deserves his partners.

faith x xander: .....soured for me by the fact that faith did straight up sexually assault xander. i don't think i can see it.

xandelia: hands down my favorite ship from the high school years after calendiles. i could watch those freaks be horrible to each other forever. i could write a dissertation on why they are a true, tragic love story and why their breakup was inevitable from the very moment they got together. every day of my life i think about that moment in killed by death where he's sitting outside of buffy's hospital room and she sits down next to him with a bag of donuts and they just sorta smile at each other, because i truly think that that isolated scene is such an excellent metaphor for one of cordelia's primary anxieties -- he is waiting to be in a room that he will never be in, and she is meeting him outside of it but knowing that he wants to be inside. wondering if he would leave her outside, given the chance. they are in love. i will bite anyone who says that xander mistreated poor little uwu baby cordy because that girl literally threw his abusive home life in his face post-breakup and bullied him for a DECADE. they're that reddit post where it's like "you're both terrible but it's clearly working for you. just don't involve anyone else in what you've got going on"

[allsignspointtosunnydale]

Series 3 thoughts.

This marks the first post on my All Signs Point to Sunnydale Tumblr blog. So, I've just finished series three and I want to share my thoughts on what was so great about it and what wasn't so good about it. Spoilers, obviously! Don't read if you don't want series 3 spoiled.

What wasn't so good about it:

The more episodes I watch with Oz in them makes me think. "Wow, he really shouldn't have been part of the main cast". This is absolutely nothing to do with how Seth Green was in the role of Oz, it more or less seemed that the longer he stuck around -- the less the writers knew where to go or what to do with him, come to think of it... that could've been one of the reasons why Seth left after series 4.

Wesley, oh dear god, Wesley. He suffers with the Oz problem (being that the writers don't know what to do with him), he gets killed off way too early and we don't get to really know him apart from Cordelia having a crush on him, him being Buffy's (and originally Faith's, before she went rogue) watcher, what was he even doing in Sunnydale High? Maybe he was an assistant librarian if for some reason Giles was absent, none of this was ever explained and then he gets killed off at the end of Graduation Day (pt. 2)*. He returns in Angel, of which I can hope means more development of his character.

*In fact, the original plan for Wesley was to have him killed off in Graduation Day (pt.2). At least he returns in Angel.

The Zeppo: If I ever rewatch the series, I might give this one a miss as I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the episode. I'm starting to think that Cordy had a reason to not like Xander (at least in series' 1-3).

Whatever the hell Buffy and Angel's relationship was (and how most of the quarrels that they had were solved by the end of the episode) and how she rejects her friends help.

Earshot: The weird plot about the school dinner lady being the killer fused in with Jonathan threatening to take his own life, those two things are two dramatically different things and it is sort of a whiplash between funny and "oh god, this is horrible". The timing of the episode was pretty bad, by a saddening coincidence, the original airdate was meant to be a few weeks after the Columbine massacre, but it was held off until September. You might ask, well, what did they replace the episode with on its original run, episode 14: Bad Girls.

Snyder: In a way, I was kind of glad when he was eaten by The Mayor. He was hilarious in Band Candy, though! It does help that Armin Shimerman has fantastic comedic timing.

What I liked:

For as much as I don't get Faith, I understand why she is the way she is. Someone who has been let down for almost her entire life, someone who has had a rather dysfunctional home life, she is bound to try and find someone who gives her that family that she has desperately missed, and she thought she'd found her father-figure in the shape of Wilkins (the Mayor). Well, not quite, seeing as he was the sort to be all nicey-nicey when it suited him meant that, with a father figure like that, who would need one anyways? Maybe I'm coming to like Faith as a character, seeing as she was representative of the path that Buffy could've gone down if she didn't have any positive influences in her life.

Band Candy: One of my favourite "funny" episodes. I thought it was hilarious to see Giles not acting as serious as we were used to seeing him. Who'd've thought that Joyce and Giles had a fling in this episode, and to see Snyder finally let loose!

The Mayor's transformation in Graduation Day (pt. 2) - A fantastic use of CGI for a character that just seemed to be written for the sole purpose of needing a bad guy at the end of the series, series 2 was Angel (as his Angelus side) and series 1 being The Master. I loved how Harry Groener was in the role, he totally made me hate Wilkins and that was what was supposed to happen, he did it so well.

Getting reintroduced to Chantarelle/Lily: In the episode "Anne" where Buffy runs away from home to live and work as a waitress in Los Angeles, we get reintroduced to Lily (formerly Chantarelle in series 2, episode 7: "Lie to Me") and this time, she has a new boyfriend -- Ricky, who is homeless and suffers with Benjamin Button syndrome meaning, he looks older than he really is, by means of body-switching? Chantarelle could also be the homeless woman walking down the street saying that she is nobody too? I think this episode effectively touches on how difficult it is to forge an identity for yourself in your teenage years, where you feel invisible and unimportant.

Favourite episodes: Helpless (episode 12), Anne (episode 1), Choices (episode 19), Band Candy (episode 6)

(PS: Hmm, I really don't think it would've worked out between Wesley and Cordelia).

[afteriwake]

A Picture Tells A Thousand Words (3/?)

So I'm finally somewhere with reliable wi-fi so I can update this! Here's some actual grieving from the people left behind.

A Picture Tells A Thousand Words - Everyone mourns their own way when Buffy and Willow are murdered, but photos help.

READ PART 1 | READ PART 3

Xander looked at the coffee cup. "I can't eat or drink right now."

"I understand," Anya replied, reaching over to take his hand again.

"I haven't even cried yet. That just makes me feel so horrible."

"You will when you're ready."

He ran his thumb over her fingers, lightly. "They were my best friends. They didn't deserve this. Not even Buffy, even if she is...I mean, was, the Slayer." He shook his head.

"She knew it would happen eventually, Xander. She was ready. She lived her life like that day was going to be her last day."

"And yesterday it was," Xander said bitterly.

Anya sighed, then got up, moving to sit next to him. "Tell me what else is wrong. I know you; something else is wrong."

"I was supposed to patrol with her last night, not Willow."

Anya nodded. "But you couldn't help the last-minute gig, Xander."

"But I should have died, not Willow. Not her," he said, guilt and sadness and anger finally getting the best of him, as tears rolled down his face. "I should have died..."

Anya pulled him to her, cradling his head as he sobbed. He needed the release, she knew that. But her heart ached for the only person she'd ever been in love with, to see him hurting so badly. "It'll be okay," she murmured softly. "Everything will be okay."

---

Oz stopped the van. It took him a few moments to realize he'd driven out into the warehouses, specifically the one where Spike had taken Willow and Xander almost four years before. It hurt to be there, but something drew him there. Wandering around, he went to the burned remnants of the place they'd been held captive and carefully made his way down what was left of the stairs.

In the back of his mind he half hoped that the stairs would collapse for him, hopefully making him fall on a piece of wood that could very well kill him. Then he wouldn't have to live without Willow. But rationally, he didn't want that to happen. He just wanted to sit there for a moment. Flicking his flashlight on, he scanned it around.

A glint of something caught his eye. Moving the flashlight beam back in that direction, he saw the metallic gleam once more. Carefully, he went over there and picked up the glinting object. It was the bracelet he'd given to Willow when they'd first started to date. He held the small silver object in his hand, looking at it. It'd always been too big for her wrist but she didn't want a smaller one. She'd loved this one.

Just like she'd loved him.

Slipping the bracelet on, he sat down, turned the flashlight off, and buried his head in his hands.

And started to cry.

---

Spike had drunk just about every nonalcoholic drink in the house. She hated him getting drunk, so he stopped. Most of the time, anyway.

Everywhere he looked, there were reminders of her. Of course there were, he berated himself quietly. She'd lived there too. It was her home just as much as it had been his. But it wasn't a home anymore, not right now, maybe not ever.

He went into their room. It was a mistake; there were constant reminders of her all over the place. Her clothing was scattered on the floor, her make-up on the vanity, her schoolbooks by the desk. It was so normal looking. It'd never be this way again. Spike sat on the bed, clutching one of her shirts, and curled up with it like a comforting blanket. The smell of her was so strong, it overwhelmed him. He finally passed out from pure exhaustion, inhaling her scent even though he didn't need to breathe.

Because it kept her close.

[allthebestcowboyshavedaddyissues]

listing all my extremely unpopular opinions as i remember things that piss me off:

i shipped MSR but also didn’t really want them together? they to me were like THE queerplatonic relationship dynamic, tense, suffocating, comforting, meant to be in every way. couldn’t really picture either mulder or scully in actual relationships, and that’s fine, because who’s to say that is the only important relationship dynamic or the endgame in life is romantic partnership? (but also scully/skinner, mulder/krychek just for fun…)

supernatural in general….i pretty much hate everything about it but i also love it to death and it was a phenomenal show but also sucked really bad. sorry i would have made it grungier and worse and killed more and made it more hbo style the way kripke probably would’ve if WB was into his The Boys style shit back then. hammer home family dynamics , religious horror, add more freaky MOTW eps with a longer overarching story arc of sam’s powers. probably would’ve stretched it past s5 just from that last plot point, would have kept the 2000s sleeze throughout. would redo the s6 soulless sam arc & tied the s7 hallucinations into REAL horror. godstiel arc would’ve had a much larger build up and cryptid freaky shit handled better. unhappy ending for everyone as god intended! or possibly have the series have multiple possible endings in certain seasons, and each seasonal run after the previous ending be called a spin-off and marked as optional canon.

buffy season 6 sucked. not because it was dark and twisty and fucked up. i have always liked complicated character dynamics and messy situations. putting the wh*don bullshit aside because he’s a pos, having such a horrific event be caused by a main character was crazy. many shows now are doing this exact plot (without the horrible cast treatment mind you) because it is POLARIZING. buffy was never scared of exploring awful situations. the domestic violence allusions with the buffy/angelus plot was very hammer on the head and i enjoyed the exploration of that as well. the main issue following season 7 was the shitty writing with no redemption in actual story by romanticizing what should have remained a disgusting plot point. spike’s redemption, if you choose to believe was even possible, should have been long winded and not done as a show of his “love” for buffy. which was made very clear in s6 was not love. his character would have had so much more success going into AtS with this in mind. buffy season 6 = bad because it could have been good. buffy season 7 = bad because…jesus christ you call that a final season?

stop treating buffy like shit. god. the tons of slayers plot??? umm okay. sure. faith’s growth being done ENTIRELY on AtS and then mindlessly transferred over…give me a break.

xander was annoying and a typical 90s nice guy trope. aggravating as shit, sure, but way overhated. there was growth there but they also refused to stop making him and willow be shitty friends to buffy at the WORST moments.

even more controversial. i am an angel s4 fan. and defender. yup. AGAIN the behind the scenes were horrific and inexcusable. i enjoyed the plot though and it’s very common trope to me was not a huge deal. it is supposed to be gross, that’s why it’s called horror. the grooming of connor, his constant abuse, and manipulation were what made this storyline so compelling. yes connor was whiny and got on your nerves. he was not the perfect victim nor was he one you could really cheer for. but GOD his scenes and exchanges with angel were some of the best most compelling works in the series. cordelia needed a much better ending than the half assed coma shit, and if it was better rounded (perhaps split into two seasons or spread out better) this would have been so much higher regarded than it is.

AtS s5 exploring the former main antagonists as the new headquarters was SO much fun and we were robbed of a longer series because they had so much more to explore. yes there was a prominent tonal shift but i think it could have been corrected with a longer show run. would not have killed fred, at least not like that. gorgeous ending though.

cursed to be in the unpopular opinion crowd in every fandom i’m in. born to be in fandoms in the first place.

[zeppc-arch]

thinkin ab how touching it wouldve been for someone to notice the way xander talks ab his home life and ask if he’s okay

[spuffybot]

Ok but like let me tell you more about why the found family vibes on Angel get me every time.

This group of troubled people with so much family baggage managed to build a home together. With trust and love.

Cordelia, for all her privilege never felt like she belonged. Her family didn’t really care about her. The cordettes didn’t really know her. The Scoobies were the closest she ever got to having friends but pride (and Xander’s betrayal) kept her from ever truly letting them in. She only ever had herself to rely on.

Wes has spent his whole life drowning under the expectations of a father who will never be satisfied. His one driving force in life was to prove himself, and he failed. The Council didn’t want him. The scoobies didn’t want him. Faith didn’t want him. He’s probably felt alone for his entire life.

Angel literally spent 100 years isolated and cut off from the world, drowning in guilt. Before that he was an angry, lonely young man who was a disappointment to his family and was killed before he ever got a chance to change. As a vampire he did horrible things. He tried to find redemption with Buffy only to destroy her and himself. He doesn’t think he’s worth saving.

Gunn believes it’s him against the world. Losing his sister was losing his last lifeline, his last bit of hope. He doesn’t know how to be the leader his crew needs and he doesn’t know where he fits in the world. He’s smart and capable in a world designed to tear him down.

Fred is deeply traumatized. Her experiences not only isolated her from her family, friends, and home, but they forced her to wall off her mind in order to survive. She can barely function at times and doesn’t know how to exist in a world that was lost to her for 5 years.

This band of misfit toys somehow manages to find one another, rally around a mission to help people, and slowly become one another’s support systems. This group has seen one another through good and bad and they would die for each other in a heartbeat, but not without a fight.

I love their interactions, their family dinners, they way they bicker and fight and look out for one another.

The show has SO MANY FLAWS but the group dynamic and love was not one of them.

[coraniaid]

Character asks:

Xander, 1 and 21.

1 Why do you like or dislike this character?

Going to focus on the why part and avoid coming to a firm conclusion about the implicit binary choice.

Season 5's The Replacement posits that there are two Xanders -- one suave and self-confident, one a bumbling walking punchline -- before revealing that both of these Xanders are equally real and exist as aspects of the true and singular Xander, with neither having primacy over the other. However, while there are indeed two diametrically opposed versions of Xander Harris, real fans of the show know that they don't exactly correspond to what the show suggests here. The true distinction is between, on the one hand, the Xander who grows up miserable and alone in an abusive household and is determined not to become his father and who loves and supports his friends unconditionally and is maybe/probably/definitely bi but doesn't seem to realize it yet and, on the other hand, the Xander who makes frequent gross sexual comments about all the women he knows and visibly and bitterly resents the ways they outshine him and who considers it his moral duty to give them terrible, patronising, unsolicitied advice about their personal lives whenever he can.

As in The Replacement, both versions of the character have equal claim to be the 'real' Xander. The much more irritating one is perhaps more present in the early seasons (especially when the writers genuinely seem to be trying to set him up in an actual love triangle with Buffy herself, but also throughout much of his 'romance' with Cordelia) but he never really goes away, even after the writers started trying to find new things to do with his character from The Zeppo onwards. He shows up in Season 5 to explain to Buffy how it's all her fault that her boyfriend metaphorically cheated on her while she was selfishly worrying about her sick mother and he's actually a really great guy Buffy never properly appreciated (he doesn't say "can I have sex with Riley too?" in this episode, but he might as well have done); he shows up in Season 6 to sulk about the fact that the woman he left at the altar dared to sleep with somebody who wasn't him and how much she "disgusts" him as a result; he shows up in Season 7 to help kick Buffy out of her own house.

But, equally, the sympathetic, loyal and, yes, even heroic Xander isn't just some post hoc fandom creation either. There are hints even earlier, but Season 3 and especially Season 4 really do make it clear that Xander's home life is horrific. He does risk his life to save Buffy's in Prophecy Girl, even when Angel wouldn't, even after Buffy had been clear she didn't reciprocate his feelings toward her. He does eventually admit to some of his worst behaviour (his jealousy about Angel, his betrayal of Cordelia). His treatment of Anya, while horrible, really does make sense as an attempt to do the right thing for somebody he cares about by somebody almost utterly consumed by self-loathing.

His speech to Buffy in the second half of The Freshman ("when it's dark and I'm all alone and I'm scared [...] I always ask: what would Buffy do? You're my hero.") is, despite what he says immediately afterwards, genuinely touching. The way that, in The Replacement, even the cowardly incompetent side of Xander is willing to risk his life to protect Anya from what he thinks is a demon is honestly kind of sweet. His speech to Willow at the end of Season 6's Grave ("I'm not joking [...] I can't imagine the pain you're in [...] You're Willow [...] I love you") and to his speech to Dawn in Season 7's Potential ("You gave her your power [...] You're not special. You're extraordinary") both feel like genuinely well-earned moments in light of everything we've seen of Xander so far.

The fundamental tension inherent to Xander is that he doesn't smoothly and effortlessly develop from one version of the character to the other. It's not as simple as the grating Xander from the early seasons "getting better". Both sides of his character are present -- and either side can be dominant -- from the very beginning of the show and right until the end.

21 If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

Well, I am a fic writer and I have, technically, written for this character (he is the POV character for one fairly short chapter of Coexist.) I think he is a very hard character to write well (especially in the high school seasons) and I'm not at all sure I managed.

Honestly, I think well-written fanfic takes on Xander that actually treat him seriously as a character are incredibly rare. (Off the top of my head I can think of exactly one example. I'm sure there are others -- and I'm sure part of the issue is that I only really read a particular subset of Buffy fanfic -- but I doubt there are many others.)

I think a lot of fanfic writers really just don't like Xander at all (and so only write the horrible Xander, if that, and only so they can have the characters they like call him out on his worst behaviour), whereas other writers lean too heavily into the sympathetic Xander (and either have him explicitly realize and denounce his own poor behaviour early on or just write a meek and mild 'Xander' who just needs a hug and who has never even thought about saying anything inappropriate to any woman ever, which ... well, that's not the character that appears on screen, is it?).

I think the trick to writing Xander well, such as it is -- and the approach I tried to take myself -- is to try to treat him as sympathetically as possible without pretending he isn't often prone to jealousy and making mean-spirited comments, that he isn't a bit of a massive hypocrite at times and that he doesn't often say "funny" things that aren't when he shouldn't. That's harder than just playing up the angle that Xander's parents are awful and he's trying his best and suggesting he'd be much happier if he just followed Anya's advice to Buffy and found a "nice, boring, boyfriend", but I think if you don't try you're not writing a sympathetic version of Xander Harris so much as you're creating a whole new character.

Yes, Xander (mostly) is trying his best, and his parents (especially his father) are awful, but very often Xander's best is far from good enough. He will say awful things sometimes and he probably won't apologize for it, even if he does secretly feel ashamed by it. You have to try to write both versions of Xander -- both the one that makes sense as one of Buffy and Willow's best friends and the one who really doesn't seem to have anything in common with them at all -- if you're going to write the Xander.

That being said, the absolute worst thing you can do to Xander is give him magical powers or superhuman fighting skills so he can Help Buffy Patrol. That's not who he is! That's not true to either version of the character!

(... sorry, I lied. That's the second worst thing you can do to Xander. The actual worst thing is what the comics do with him and Dawn. No super-powered fantasy fanfic could be more horrible and ill-advised than that.)

[ryanlockheart]

the last thing that xander wanted to do was make things awkward. of course, walking in on alfie in the most intimate of moments would've been, by all other accounts, catastrophic. maybe his tipsiness was emboldening him, but the redhead just knew that he could fix it. maybe alfie would see him in a completely different light, which wouldn't have been completely horrible. he wasn't some innocent little thing that needed protecting all the time — just some of the time. "i was there with this kid from my calc class. i promised you i wouldn't do anything stupid," xander said softly. alfie seemed a tad bit disappointed in him, which made his heart sink a little, but he was still moving forward with his little plan — full steam ahead. "i don't even plan on doing it again. the party sucked. the music's awful," he lamented with a little sigh. atop alfie's bed, which was twenty times comfier and cozier than his own, xander felt right at home. "uh, isn't that obvious?" the redhead replied with a little giggle. alfie was full of surprises, and it showed on xander's innocent little face. was he flirting back? maybe he hadn't be crazy after all. "well, i wanted to properly appreciate the view," the redhead replied with a little smirk on his pink lips. he could tell alfie was watching his every move, and he'd never felt more powerful in his life. "well, take 'em off me then if you're so offended by 'em," xander challenged. the next thing he knew, alfie was on full display — just for him. his wicked grin just grew wider as he inched closer to the older male. he fit perfectly between his thighs, face just inches away from alfie's sac. "definitely never gonna forget this," xander hummed, his tiny feet still kicking in the air. "'s so big. i think 's the biggest one 've ever seen... c-can i play with it? please, daddy?"

alfie was desperately wishing for the earth to swallow him whole. moments like these were precisely the reason he'd asked for a single. what was alfie supposed to do now that his roommate had seen him stark naked? as if he didn't have enough on his plate, now he had to deal with the awkward tension that would certainly arise with xander. great. "who were you drinking with, xander?" asked alfie, brow furrowed. "you shouldn't be drinking with people you don't know, or trust... and even so, you should watch your back." alfie could only watch, stunned to silence, as xander perched himself on the edge of his bed. his cock was as hard as it was when xander entered the room, eyes drawn to the smaller male's feet as they kicked playfully in the air. "are you... trying to hit on me?" he asked, cock twitching beneath the sheets. "pray tell, what fun am i ruining?" he hummed, arms crossed over his muscular chest. "you're the one who's still wearing clothes, after all." alfie slapped xander's pert ass, teeth sinking into his bottom lip as it jiggled in response. there was something so intoxicating about xander — he could lift alfie's spirits simply by walking into a room. before he knew it, alfie let the sheet fall from his grasp. his eyes never left xander's tiny feet, even as his cock bobbed freely in the air. "how's that for fun, xander?" alfie smirked, thirteen inches of hard cock out for xander's viewing pleasure. "maybe now the memory will last longer."

[hello-nichya-here]

Yeah, Whedon definitely used Xander as his in-universe avatar and mouthpiece throughout pretty much the entire show, which leads to me having complicated feelings about the character. I definitely want to like him, and at times I really do. There’s absolutely qualities of his that I enjoy, and moments where I think he really shines. In particular I think his friendship with Willow brings out the best side of his character, and him and Anya were pretty sweet together overall (I do think they really loved each other, even if the wedding debacle soured opinions on the relationship within the fandom).

However, there are also times where he feels like a deleted character from The Big Bang Theory, and I can’t help but think that it wouldn’t have been a stretch for him to have been a member of the Trio in an alternate timeline. That combined with what we know about Whedon definitely puts a damper on the character for me, even if I don’t actually hate him. He definitely gets better with time (his behaviour in seasons one and two and even three is pretty terrible).

At his best, he’s just a goofy guy who makes mistakes but is ultimately decent and cares about his friends. At his worst, he’s a misogynistic Joss Whedon self-insert who’s primary role in the story is to slut-shame Buffy and vocalize all of Whedon’s negative opinions about Spike while providing validation for all the nerdbros who got rejected by their female best friend. There’s just enough redeeming qualities that I don’t hate him, and just enough unaddressed negative qualities that I don’t love him either.

I say this as someone who loves Xander: I completely get people who hate him.

I'm glad you brought up Anya because the whole disaster with their almost-wedding kind of sums up the main problem with his character. There is a very complex, very brilliant arc that practically writes itself there: Xander's family was super dysfunctional and abusive, so he often doesn't know how to behave because he grew up in a home where all kinds of horrible behaviors were fully normalized. He can't properly communicate with his fiance and eventually his paranoia convinces him that he will inevitable turn into his father and ruin her life, so he bails on their wedding.

All we'd need is for him to properly face his fears and start to address and move on from his trauma, and then get back together with Anya once he has his shit together.

Xander had the potential to have one of the best character arcs in the show. Instead we got Joss projecting onto him HARD and not let his story reach it's conclusion that, like I said, basically wrote itself.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Okay. thoughts on some of the Buffy books I finished, but hadn't really had time to review before.

Halloween Rain: I feel like this one or Coyote Moon might be my least favorite ones now (or parts of the Unseen Trilogy). Just because nothing really substantial happened in either one. Like, Coyote Moon, this is another season one book, but this is very early season one (in fact, the wiki might even list this as the earliest tie-in novel, timeline-wise). Like, Principal Flutie is still alive, so "The Pack" hasn't even happened yet. I don't know which novel I like better. I feel like Coyote Moon is probably better, overall, if for no other reason than having a nice twist. Though I do appreciate this early Buffy being super brave and risking her life to defeat the scariest thing she's faced thus far: it's a villain that kind of reminded me of the Headless Horseman (though it had a head: a flaming Jack-o-Lantern one); and this demon had killed a Slayer in the past. And if Buffy hadn't acted, he would have kept coming after her every Halloween and the Slayers after her. I also loved the costumes here: Buffy as a pirate, Xander and Willow as Mulder and Scully from the X-Files, I think (and if I got those names wrong, I apologize. I've never seen that show), and Cordelia as Morticia Adams. There was also some guy dressed as the Phantom of the Opera, that Cordy went off with, and I approve;)

I'm just putting all of the Unseen Trilogy together here. Overall... I really was not a big fan of this trilogy, since it leaned too heavily on the gang and mafia stuff--and not on the magic that I'm here for when it comes to the Buffyverse--and so I was really bored most of the time. I loved the character interactions in this saga, just not the plot. Except for book three. Book three was fire, where Buffy, Angel, and Faith (and somewhat Spike) were in different alternate universes, working together to find these missing teens and go home, and Buffy and Angel even saw some realities where they could have been together (though I wish we could have gotten more of that, because it was sort of tell and not show). I also really love the girl Alina who was involved with that plot. Like, I wish that whole thing could have shown up earlier, instead of mostly book three, but oh well.

Monster Island: Monster Island is the best thing ever. After "Go Ask Malice," it's probably my favorite Buffy tie-in novel so far. This is everything we ever needed, but didn't know to ask for. -cries because I've asked for forever to see all of the Scoobies and Angel Investigations teams together, and this book finally gives it to us- And there are just so many great interactions here! Like some of Fred and Tara's are just inspired. I might ship those two together now... And tying this into Doyle stuff--like Doyle's father wanting revenge against Angel, because he blames him for Doyle's death--just gives me all the feels. I also love all the father talk in here, and everyone examining their relationship with their own fathers (most of our characters, except for Fred, Willow, and somewhat Cordelia) had horrible relationships with their fathers, but they of course realize that it doesn't matter where you come from, it matters what you choose. Just really good stuff overall.

[jvstheworld]

The Buffy Re-watch: S2E6 (part 2)

Halloween

Buffy looks good in her costume, as does Willow.

Correct reaction Xander on both counts.

Cordy is confusing, Oz thinks so too.

Who gives toothbrushes to kids on Halloween? And how many did they buy to be able to give out to kids? Like did they buy a few shop's stock of them? Are they dentists so they are able to get them in bulk, if that's a thing? Just get candy, it would be easier and cheaper.

What was the point of Ethan's plan? Just complete chaos with no actual goal? Just doing it for shits and giggles. Not judging, just curious.

Willow is a ghosty, Xander is an army man, and Buffy is an 18th century noble woman. This is going to be fun.

To someone from the 18th century a car would seem like a demon. Sort of reminds me of the Star Trek: TNG episode where Picard had to convince a group of proto Vulcans that he wasn't a god. Specifically, the conversation he has with one of the villagers about how technology has advanced and how it might appear to others from the past. To an 18th century woman, a car could be seen as something horrible and evil because she can not comprehend the technology, just like in Star trek where Picard was believed to be a god because his crew saved someone's life. Does that make sense? Because it does to me, but I know that not everyone might follow what I'm saying.

And after only a few seconds of 18th century Buffy, Willow is already done with her shit.

'Who died and made her the boss?' Well, Willow technically died and since she was the only one who remembered her own name when she got turned into a ghosty, she got to be the boss.

Spike loves the chaos.

Has Giles been oblivious to the chaos this whole time?

Cordelia is good at recaps, Very succinct. Hey maybe she should do the intro recaps.

How and when did someone get in to the Summer's house basement? That made no sense to me. They just hide in there until someone happened to be around for them to come out and kill them? I know it's a fantasy, horror show, but come on. Because there's no way Angel would have left the door open when he walked in and he would never have let anyone follow him in. And before Angel got there, they locked the place down. So, someone give me a realistic answer to this, please. I'm struggling for one.

Giles is curious as to how Willow's costume makes her a ghosty. It's a fair question since he probably never saw her before the trick or treating started.

Giles goes quite at the name Ethan. He has good reasons to.

Spike rounding up mini demons to hunt Buffy.

Larry the Pirate from earlier is now an actual gross pirate.

Janus- the Roman God with 2 faces. In season 1 episode 3 of Sherlock, this particular god was used as the name of the hire car company that Sherlock and John investigate.

'Hello Ripper.' Damn, Giles has a dark past we don't know about. We'll find out in 2 episodes time.

Xander gets revenge on Larry the Pirate. Okay, but still needs to work on his issue of feeling inadequate.

Cordy still doesn't believe hat Angel is a vampire?

Angel just picks up Buffy, sweet.

Giles has been hiding a lot of himself from Buffy and friends.

Spike, if you're going to kill someone do it quickly, because at any second the tables could turn and you will get your ass handed to you.

'Hi honey, I'm home.' See, I get that you want to savour the moment but if your goal is to kill someone, don't talk, just do. Think of all the heroes who would have died if the villains didn't monologue. But also slight parallel here as Spike will being saying this to Buffy in season 7 episode 21.

Ethan disappears and Spike knows when to get the hell out of Dodge. Self preservation skills.

I like that after this entire night Willow feels confident to wear her outfit without the ghosty costume. It's a great look for her and Oz likes it too. It's the second time he notices her.

Angel hated women from his time. We could have saved so much trouble if we knew this earlier. The scene between Angel and Buffy is cute, I won't deny that. And Buffy is just as pretty in a tank top and sweatpants as she was in her costume.

Ethan is gone for now, but the look on Giles' face, damn that's dark. He really doesn't want people finding out about his past. I mean, you really wouldn't want anyone to find out if your secret was as bad as his is. Which we will find out about in 2 episodes time. I seriously thought that gap between these was bigger for some reason.

Okay, that's it for this episode. Tomorrow, Buffy has an unexpected visitor with some shady shit going on.

[jennycalendar]

it takes so much time and integrity and innovation and love to write jenny well and sometimes i feel like that goes completely over the heads of my readers ANYWAY and everyone just laser-focuses on giles. that man does not deserve shit. i am so tired of having to qualify my takes on giles to say “well actually he was having a hard time too” like you know what? if i give giles this amount of leeway and i STILL get stupid fucking comments i am going to say it outright: giles was a horrible boyfriend to jenny, a horrible father to buffy, and a horrible person in general. we act as a collective like he is this great sympathetic gentle figure when he is constantly actively inflicting emotional damage on people in his life, ESPECIALLY women. he doesn’t respect jenny’s boundaries and doesn’t care about what she wants if it conflicts with his desire to have her in his life. he is openly and consistently derisive towards a teenage boy in a textually abusive home -- and yes he DOES know that xander’s parents are shitty; xander talks about it CONSTANTLY in the form of a joke that is too awful to be untrue, and there is no way at least one of those jokes wasn’t within earshot of giles. he absolutely checks out when it comes to willow’s magic, making a few vague attempts to dissuade her before treating her magic like a useful tool that can help the mission at large, and then when she starts doing fucked up stuff, he comes down HARD with the discipline despite never doing so before, to the point where her first reaction is to be surprised and injured that he isn’t proud -- because that’s what she’s learned to expect. HE DRUGS BUFFY AND BREAKS HER TRUST. absolutely he is a sympathetic character but this fandom as a whole cuts him this absurd amount of slack while coming down horrifically hard on female characters and i am so so fucking sick of it.