#are genuinely into buffy. i think faith and giles and jenny all think they have some level of sexual-slash-lusty attraction to her

[tenderjock]

#omfg I LOVE this whaaaat#spike and dru training slayers !!!!!!! and darla keeping everyone alive.... yesss#thinking thinking thinking#angel does his lurker bit yeah. he helps buffy occasionally and tries to sort of kind of be her friend from the sidelines#but he doesn't know how to handle her. how to go about getting properly closer to her. not that he particularly feels like he deserves to#so it's up to spike and dru to connect with her first#because it's not really darla's area either but she keeps the big bads off buffy's back in the background for a little while#buffy gets closer with spike bc I think drusilla would freak her out a bit at first. spike has to coax her into spending more time with dru#but once buffy got past the crazy dru and her would SO bond over just being girls. dru's invited to the sleepovers y'know#buffy's friend are WIGGED but NOT allowed to tell giles. willow has a whole crisis about it. xander grumbles a lot. but they don't#willow sort of gets on with angel. spike and her hit it off in their strange awkward understanding. dru thinks xander is amusing#this takes a while though to happen that's future stuff for now they're just buffy's vampires#I don't think any of them would really connect until s2. in s1 buffy's living two lives here#I think darla and buffy would meet last. she's heard about darla but she's never actually talked to her#I think buffy would appreciate darla being the more pragmatic voice of the four. she's obviously the leader and buffy can respect her#spike and darla would become buffy's nighttime mentors. the ones she looks up to the most#angel is still her first crush however. dru would be her last but when it happens it's BAD. hits her like spike's realization in canon#with spike and darla it's more gradual. they're friends first before they're crushes. it's more a more natural progression almost#but I agree with you nothing happens between these five properly for yearsss. mostly bc I want buff buff to be an adult first lol#lots of oo moments and omg! stuff with buffy and her vamps right but nothing real until probably s5#OH can you imagine a plot of riley being buffy's like last attempt of being a “normal” girl cause she's in college#and the vamps are SO sulky about it. so sulky. the girls hide it better but they're just as upset about it as the boys#OKAY I'm out of tags uh PLEASEEE tag me if you make more about this au. I NEED it I need it haha

@camellcat thank youuu for SEEING my VISION yes!!!!

i think the big reveal where buffy and giles and jenny and everyone meets the whole coven comes right as buffy defeats the master at the end of s1 ... and the four of them are super reluctant to face the master because theyre afraid of his power over them. but they overcome their fear because Their Girl Needs Them, because she's gonna die, because she's gone down to face the master alone -

in s2 angel and buffy sort of have a flirtation going on but its totally nothing serious, buffy is Very Aware that he's dating (?) immortal lovers with (?!) darla and she's, like, not competing with THAT. meanwhile spike and dru pop up like, hey buff you wanna do a SHENANIGAN?? and she's like YEAH. and her vibe with darla is a little bit. i'm imagining like the relationship between andy and nile in the the old guard, like weary, experienced, older mentor and furious, driven, idealistic newcomer.

idk who the s2 big bad is here ... i dont want any of them to lose their souls, at least not this early on tbh, but maybe someone that angel turned/mentored early on in his vamp days should come in and try to raise acathla? and because of [mumblemumble] some prophecy, buffy has to kill angel anyway to keep the world from ending. angel's very This Is My Fate about it, but buffy and darla and kendra try to find a workaround ... they cant, tho. kendra almost dies, darla saves her, buffy has to send angel to hell, she's on the run from the police, she gets kicked out of school, she gets kicked out of her house, she has nowhere to turn. spike and dru find her packing her shit into a duffel bag, with a half-formed plan to take a bus out of town.

"i got a car, luv," spike says. so the three of them head to l.a., leaving a scribbled note for darla.

buffy's living out of a motel room with the two of them for a few months, eating cheap takeout and working off the books at a diner to make ends meet. one day, dru's braiding her hair, singing little nursery rhymes that dont make sense, and buffy looks at the space where her reflection should be in the mirror and she goes, oh.

but its bad, right? because, like, Is She Gay? also, she cant be into someone else's girlfriend - also, she cant be into spike's girlfriend, in particular, because despite appearances spike is a good guy and he's her friend and it would break his heart and violate his trust and and and

so buffy does what she does best and she Represses The Fuck Out Of That Shit. they eventually go back to sunnydale, and she goes back to slaying with kendra, and angel comes back from hell, still ensouled but semi-feral, and it's normal. it's all totally totally normal.

and then this total slutziod named faith shows up, and she says she's a potential slayer, whatever that means, and that she has information that can help them.

theres an au somewhere in which the romani spellcaster that curses angelus doesnt just curse angelus, but rather curses every vampire of the aurelian line in a, say, twelve mile radius to get their soul back.

it's rough, especially for the first few years. spike's the weepiest, but angel takes it the hardest, oddly enough. dru's absolutely nutty over it, but she's always nuts, and anyway, having the three of them to wrangle gives darla something to focus on other than the weight of her sins. they manage.

(one thing she does is research what, exactly, has been done to them. when she finds out about the loophole - even a moment's happiness - there is a gut-lurching second where darla thinks to herself, i can end our agony. and then she thinks of her last kill, a young couple and their toddler. the father had begged darla to spare the little child's life, to take him instead. the mother had clawed at darla, covering her child with her body, screaming as she died.

rather than find that moment's happiness, darla begins new research, looking into ways to secure an immortal soul to a vampire's body permanently. closing the loop, as it were.)

spike eventually gets it into his head that he wants to do the slayer thing - not kill them, like he'd planned, but to help the poor girls. dru gives him the idea. angel leaves them, at that point, in the dead of night, without telling them where he's going. darla lets him go.

there's a girl in peking - xin, her name is, and she's understandably skeptical, but she accepts their help. they fight with her until she dies, a few months later, at the hands of an apocalypse. it breaks spike and dru quite badly - cuts spike's face up, too. darla gets them out, gets them back to europe. leaves them in italy. looks for angel.

she finds him eating rats in new york city, of all places. she shakes some sense into him and gets him some clean clothes, some blood, a place to sleep out of the sun. he's wallowing, which is to be expected, but how does he figure he's going to atone for his sins if he's rotting in the gutter like so much trash?

she's too practical, he tells her. he's too fucking dramatic, she tells him, and makes him eat some more pig's blood, cold.

darla tells him about spike and dru, what they've been up to these past few decades. he shudders when she tells him about xin, her throat ripped out by enemy fangs. angel's intrigued by the concept of helping slayers, but he confesses quietly to darla that he's not ready for that yet.

so they part ways again, with the understanding that they'll stay in touch. darla bounces around the americas, running into spike and dru - sometimes just dru, as spike is off chasing rumors of slayers - until the late 1990s, when she gets a call from angel.

angel's found a girl, and he wants to get the gang back together.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Tuesday, March 11, Part II

[Fandom Discussions]

big fan of bangel as a ship not because anything about it was in any way safe or healthy but because after it’s over they continue to haunt one another like ghosts. by xaeyrnofnbe

ok so illyria isn’t very high up there in terms of buffyverse characters i like by xaeyrnofnbe

As a Buffy fan, are you an Angel/Buffy shipper or a Spike/Buffy shipper lol? by msfbgraves

Something I just realized after watching some of Angel s1 is that Angel and Riley are kind of similar. by evvyyypeters-fics

K, so there's a lot about this ongoing discussion that bugs me by initiumseries

buffy dancing with xander in when she was bad is so excellent because it’s all about POWER. by 711slurpees

SPOILER FOR S6 OF BUFFY by amberkendslacy

So spike can wait almost an entire season to spill the beans about him and Buffy by i-put-the-bi-in-dumb-bitch

buffy IS one of those stories where i love a character so much i genuinely can’t be trusted to have objective interpretations by frogs-in3-hills

The only way I’ll ever accept a Buffy spin off, revival, reboot whatever by lizzie-queenofmeigas

The more I watch AtS the more I am convinced that Angel secretly just wants to be an actor. by bloomfish

Faith and Buffy are like by spellcasting-jester

Inevitably in the shipping discourse, someone will say, "Buffy doesn't need to end up with anyone!" by elysianholly, summershq

Thinking about how Willow's early forays into witchcraft are explicitly presented as something that she picked up because of Jenny by sunnydalelibrarian

faith flees when she can when there's a looming threat approaching and she freezes when she's truly confronted with something that scares her by btvs3x21

Honestly have got to give it up for the angst potential of pre-series Buffy. by duckwnoeyes

BtVS Stages of Development by fauxindigo

Charles Martin Smith on directing David Boreanaz in Welcome to the Hellmouth by NileQT87

Scoobies birthday by Lloronalina

Were there any character(s) you felt that their personality changed (besides character development)? by Big-Restaurant-2766

Which episode had you hooked? by Technical_Rice2532

"In their last moments, people show you who they really are" by AitheriosMist

Amy was wasted. by SoapNugget2005

Angel/BTVS || I'll Be Good by Angel/BTVS || I'll Be Good

One of the things I love about The Wish… by Thisisnotforyou11

What would have happened if Anya had gotten her necklace back in doppelgangland? by Specialist-Law-3951

5 episodes into Season 7 and it feels so off and… bad. by The_Fullmetal_Titan

It's been, what? 2 days without a OMWF post? by tinypabitch

Is Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a staple in pop culture ? by Cailly_Brard7

And so it begins. by Possible-Poetry3832

Name TV characters inspired by Buffy Summers by Cailly_Brard7

How would you describe Fred Burkle’s personality? by Last_Gain_3706

Explain This! by Pookienini

Who do you think Buffy would be if she were just a normal girl pulled into the slayer’s orbit by FaveStore_Citadel

Spike shouldn't have kept the jacket by eden_tantric

Season 6 Giles by loki2002

Why wasn't Harmony at the Harvest? by Tuxedo_Mark

The Trio is just Willow by LiviaDruzilla

Inspirational Buffy Quotes for Those in Recovery by Traditional-Sort2385

The trouble with I Was Made To Love You by Kirstemis

This website is a life saver for first time viewers by Bobert858668

Buffy’s Dad by Decent_Sky8237

The Scoobies, the Trio and Shadow Selves by Honey_Banana1

I can relate to Buffy so much. by ioncee

Souls by loki2002

Help identifying this art from season 6 by RushWalters

Can only skip one by jengafat

Spike and his Soul by echopsocky

[buffy-targaryen]

My issue with Willows arc in season 6 being framed as her use of magic was an addiction and not a quest for power all along is that it fundamentally ignores what made Willow start to actively use magic in the first place, and that was her feeling helpless.

It’s shown throughout s1 and s2 that Willow is incredibly smart, she’s shown as being relied on, trusted, and respected by the smart and accomplished adults surrounding her; Giles, Jenny and Angel which clearly means a lot to her and feeds the growing ego she undoubtedly has. Feeling smart and respected helps build up Willow's confidence in season two, you can see it in the way she can now not only hold a conversation with someone like Cordelia, but can also speak firmly to her like a teacher (The Dark Age).

Up until Becoming Part 1, we only ever see Willow use knowledge to help her friends, she learns quickly and finds it very easy to adapt what she knows the best way to help save the day, but it's not until Willow and Buffy find the floppy disk that Willow reveals she has been actively learning about magic, and she believes she has the ability to use it. This is not easy magic, in fact it has been lost for generations, and Willow clearly feels a lot of pride in her ability to do a spell that would help her best friend, and impress Giles who she looks up to.

Except it all goes wrong. Willow learning all that magic, having all those brains don't really mean anything when Drusilla and her henchmen attack. Having a Slayer and a Watcher there didn't mean anything. Willow didn't get to use her spell, and almost died because she became cornered and couldn't fight the vampire off on her own. Now I believe that at the point when Willow wakes up and is determined to complete the spell (in spite of Buffy telling her not to worry about it, but that's another topic for another day), she genuinely wants to help, but I agree with Giles as well. Completing that spell, especially after being so incredibly helpless against a vampire, opened a door that Willow couldn't close. Power was the only way to avoid feeling that helpless again.

You see this further develop in season 3. Willow is now able to actively help on patrol with Buffy and Faith (The Zeppo), she no longer needs to feel helpless against a vampire, which gives her the confidence to both read and steal (parts of) The Books of Ascension and tells Faith what she really thinks of her (Choices). When Willow begins to feel helpless in Graduation Day Part 1, she immediately decides to find a spell to stop The Mayor. At this point Willow is relying on Magic in a way that entirely feels like a perfect mix of wanting to help, and needing the ability to feel more powerful than the bad guys.

In season 4 Willow again turns to magic again and again when she feels helpless (Fear, Itself. Wild at Heart, Something Blue, Hush) with nearly all examples going wrong in some way, which in turn seem to make her even more determined to master magic and bring it under her control, no matter what anyone who cares about her says (Oz, Buffy, Giles).

In season 5 we immediately see an example of Willow using magic in a way that she doesn't need to - when she creates a fire for Xander on the beach in Buffy vs Dracula, but for the most part in this season (apart from Triangle), Willow has a much calmer use of magic, and I do think that this is because of Tara's influence. Tara grounds her, and helps her learn a lot more slowly, gives her abilities time to breathe and grow.

But then Tara gets hurt by Glory, and Willow immediatly turns to magic to hurt Glory back, and Willow actually succeeds for a time. Glory overpowers her, and Buffy has to save her, and Tara is still gone. Willow is helpless again. It's not until everyone starts falling apart around her, especially Buffy, that Willow finds her control and uses her magic flawlessly to both bring Buffy out of her catatonic state, and bring Tara back from what Glory did to her... but Buffy still dies.

Willow is helpless again. Willow turns to magic again.

I personally grew up with an addict, so I can see in season 6 where they were going with the storyline, but from the moment Willow decided that she would do the spell that would bring Buffy back from the dead it was clear it was all about her being able to complete a spell that no one else could do, and yes, no longer feeling helpless. Willow was now the defacto leader - as voted for by her friends, and for all her power, Willow couldn't take that responsibility. She wanted to be powerful enough to bring her friend back, but not take the responsibilty that came with it, and turning all that development into an addiction fell incredibly flat, especially with how they treated the ��addiction’ in season seven.

After all Willow’s trauma and development, a shy and downtrodden brainiac with an unrequited crush, turned all powerful witch who can successfully support The Slayer and lead her group of Scoobies and you’re going to take all that power from her and make her an addict with no self control? Who was consciously and unconsciously making decisions to meddle with powers she knew were incredibly dangerous since season two?? Come on.

[explosionshark]

I've seen like one episode of Buffy maybe but I've watched most of Angel including the episodes that had Faith in them and I feel I understand the concept of Buffy the show and the character, anyway should I read Faith/Buffy fanfic and if so which ones?

god okay i REALLY think you should watch buffy though. i mean, i'm remarkably biased because it's one of my all-time favorite shows, but if you have the time and even the slightest bit of interest i'd recommend at least season 3 (IDEALLY. season 2 + 3 because they are very much part of one big conversation, but if you can only commit to one thing then i'd say prioritize s3 for the faith arc).

BUT you didn't ask me about that, you asked me if you should read faith/buffy fanfic so - yeah! yes. there's a lot out there that's SO good, of course you should read it.

i think ground-up AUs are good for this bc you can read them with basically no knowledge of the source (i mean. it's enhanced by source knowledge, but you can get by without) for this I'd recommend the no-powers college AU 2001 by @morningsound15, which does an incredible job of translating the important parts of the characters and their relationships and hang-ups and issues to a world where they aren't wrapped up in supernatural shenanigans.

Aside from that, I think there are a few season-rewrites that are pretty accessible if you've got a basic working understanding of the show and the characters. Some of my favorites are:

Coexist by @coraniaid which is a lovely (and recently completed!) canon-divergence AU that explores what would change if it was Giles, not Jenny Calendar, who was killed by Angelus in season 2. It's a rare type of AU that consistently surprises me with how intricate and thoughtful it is in exploring the ripple effects of such a huge change and it does some great character work with both Faith and Buffy.

to hold off the lightning by @episode5s which is a season 3 AU that picks up about halfway through s3. Again we get some really amazing character work (the character voice here is just insanely good) with a lot of amazing fallout from another canon-divergence point - what if Faith was able to be walked back from the ledge after killing Allen Finch? It's a tricky proposition - I genuinely think a lot of the best parts of Faith's character arc are tied into the fact that she has her heel turn and goes dark, but here the author is able to preserve all the best of the tension and trauma of that arc, while still allowing things to play out differently. Incredible slowburn romance here, too.

Finally, I'd be remiss to write a fuffy fic rec list without touching on a truly inspirational all-timer from one of the fandom's best and most prolific writers: the Vengeance verse fics by @aliceinwondrbra. The series begins with Vengeance a Wishverse AU - season 4 Buffy meets an alternate universe version of Faith that didn't go dark and experiences a belated gay awakening in the course of working together. The sequel, Hypnopompia, is where things really take off for me - back in her universe, Buffy is determined to help Faith. There's a ton of great stuff here: shared coma dreams, Faith redemption, a really great exploration of Faith and Buffy's sexuality and related traumas. Alice is one of the best in the biz when it comes to voice - absolute, total pro. I read this fic like two years ago and it changed my brain. Left me feeling like "wow, I want to write something that will make other people feel the way I felt reading this" and I don't know if I've done that yet, but I'm gonna keep trying.

ALL those fics are great and I can't recommend them enough. Luckily for you, if you want to get into this, the fandom has been going strong for years and there's a ton of good stuff out there I haven't linked here. There's plenty to discover. Enjoy!

[coraniaid]

1, 14, 19 violence! For btvs ofc

Violence asks

1) the character everyone gets wrong

Not to be overly sappy but one of the nice things about being on this bit of tumblr is realizing that for literally any character on Buffy there will be somebody posting here who has thought about them very deeply for far too long and now understands them much better than I could ever hope to.

(There will also be a dozen other people who have thought about them for far too long and still don't understand them at all but are convinced they do, to be fair.)

That said, the character I find myself defending more often than not (even if just in the privacy of my own head) is Joyce Summers. Yeah, sometimes she's awful but I simply do not understand the people who actively hate her and wilfully ignore all the times the show or Buffy herself tells us she is a net positive influence in her daughter's life. If the show offers you conflicting takes on a character, why choose the obvious and boring one? Just chalk that up to bad writing and focus on the interesting version of the character.

(And besides, as a fan of the show you simply do not need to hate any of the women in Buffy because the writers can and will do it for you for free.)

14) that one thing you see in fics all the time

I'm pretty good at not reading things that annoy me, I think.

Not really a fan of stories that cast Giles and Jenny as the Dad and the Mom of the Scoobies, I suppose. (There's some truth to it for Giles, arguably, but I don't believe at all that it's how Jenny sees herself in relation to the others or that it's how they relate to her.)

I'm not particularly emotionally invested in Bangel myself but post-high school fics which downplay how important her relationship with Angel was to Buffy tend to put me off (I'm not invested in the relationship, but that doesn't mean Buffy wasn't: it's the fundamental thing that looms over all of her later relationships!).

Genuinely don't understand people who write in strawmen versions of characters they don't like, either. Just don't include them!

Sort of the oppposite of an answer to this question, but I guess I wouldn't mind seeing more Season 5 Fuffy fics. I can only think of a couple of examples (one of them pretty tenuous) but I think there should be more. At least, if you're going to do the Faith-replaces-Spike thing that a lot of S6 AUs do, I almost feel it's more sensible to do that a season earlier (because then you get to keep the "I am better than you" / "you're beneath me" parallels, which is a lot harder to do after Buffy's resurrection when she's a lot closer in temperament to Faith herself and much less confident in her own strength and morality).

19) you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like…

I don't really like Angel the Series anything like as much as I like Buffy -- I think it's substantially inferior right from the start in a lot of irritating little ways, and gets much worse as it progresses -- but I have to admit that I think the Angel theme music (by Darling Violetta) is very good and I probably like it more than I like the Nerf Herder Buffy theme.

[loisfreakinglane]

some further thoughts and opinions!!!!!!!!! ON THIS CAMPY FUN SEASON OF TV 💖

my personal s1 episode tier list:

1.12 prophecy girl was perfect, 1.11 out of mind out of sight has my whole cordy stanning heart, 1.07 angel has my whole angel, angel/darla angel/buffy stanning heart, 1.10 nightmares hit me way harder than i remembered- AND DOWN THE LINE WE GO TIL WE HIT 1.06 the pack, which is not an episode i hate so much as find incredibly boring. (honestly surprised 1.05 never kill a boy on the first date fell where it did on this watch, i remembered it being one of my fav eps of the season years ago)

character feelings rundown:

buffy is BABY. a perfect protag. best mix of girly girl, asskicker, snarky, deeply caring (the way she comforted amy trapped in her moms body, and billy the disembodied 12 year old? I'M SO!). my heart really breaks for her, esp towards the end of the season when we're really seeing much more vividly her melancholy over the life she lost (her fears that she caused her parents divorce, that her father hated her! her grief over her lost childhood, her nostalgia for when she was the popular girl winning crowns). and tbh she could have clawed her way back to it in a lot of ways, turned a blind eye, joined the popular crowd (which was on offer in ep 1!) but she chose to prioritize saving lives.

cordy is my #1 forever, even here when she's a blatantly bitchy bully. even after the scoobies save her life she's insulting them to their faces the second they have an audience. but even in just 12 episodes she grew so much! AND 11/12 ARE SUCH A ONE TWO PUNCH OF CORDY DEPTH AND EXCELLENCE! she's prepared to risk her own life to save willow and jenny! AND we actually see her connecting with buffy and willow in these last few eps, even in nightmares when we see her actually being vaguely nice to buffy over that nightmare test.

angel!!!!!!! i didn't expect all that much from him in s1, his presence is very limited. but by god did the angel episode pack a fuckton of punch. i think it helps that i know him, i know hes a megadork trying to pull off looking cool and mysterious to the youths. he hides in the shadows, not to be mysterious but bc he's a socially isolated nerd. ugh i love him. and his backstory with darla is given SO MUCH WEIGHT and made me so fucking emotional right there. and baby bangel is adorable. i'm not gonna think about how young buffy is lol i don't have it in me to interrogate age gaps in vampire fiction, not today

willow is sweet and she gained so much confidence over the season. i'll be honest tho and say that i still don't personally find her very interesting on her own merit, but i don't have any ISSUES with her at this point (tho i will say her utter lack of response to jesses death was a wild onscreen choice. was he really more of xanders friend than hers??). she's a solid member of the scoobies, i enjoy her as part of the group

giles is so cute! i love how much he still has to learn at this point in his watcher career. genuinely what has he been up to the last 20 years. he barely knows anything lmao. tho ofc i think he might also be flat out lying about some stuff bc of RIPPER PAST. his love for buffy already runs so deep so fast. even in WITCH he was so protective of her.

XANDER. i'm sorry but i love him here. he can be a dick, 100% i will not argue that. and i am deeply uninterested in his crush on buffy. but i'm invested in him and i enjoy him in this season. i love his snarky dick self and his bravery, his complete lack of faith in his intelligence and future hurts me on a personal level. ALSO kay i know we all know of the gay xander timeline but i'm feeling less and less like that's some alternate reality and more like xander is a man that needed to hit 30 before he was ready to grapple with it. maybe my brain is just plastered full of i saw the tv glow but xander reads as so heavily queer, whether thats in a sexuality or gender sense or both. i cannot unsee it! it feels so blatant!

for minor characters: snyder is such a fucking good bad guy. he's so entertaining with his small scale villainy. jenny is such an immediately great presence, she's so sparkly and she brings out such a funny side of giles. joyce is sweet, she loves buffy and is clearly TRYING. i really appreciate her relationship with buffy in this season, they are both busy women with busy lives but they try to make the time for each other (tho i have to say that s6 mental hospital retcon just. doesn't exist to me. it makes NO SENSE with s1 joyce, the two just don't click at all for me personally, and even trying to smash them together hurt my brain). harmony is p wild to behold in this era bc of everyone in this show her personality changes the least??? even tho she literally loses her soul?? i already miss darla SO MUCH. clawing at the walls to get baby princess back. the master was a solid villain! he was def around a lot less than i remembered. i suppose by virtue of his limitations, being trapped in his lil cave.

one season of buffy DOWN!

AND IT WAS DELIGHTFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Personally, I feel S1 is a very underrated season. There's some real gems in the mix! And no episodes I completely hate at all, with only one I am extremely MEH about. So yes! I loved it!!!!!!!!!! 6 more seasons (plus 5 more of angel!!!!!!!) to go 💖💖💖

[takaraphoenix]

I would never want an actual BtVS reboot.

However, I would really like to see a very specific kind of comic reboot. Not what Boom! Studios did with keeping the faces but bastardizing the plot. Keeping the faces and the core outline and elements of the plot but with one change.

Dawn Summers.

I would really genuinely love to read a comic reboot of the first four seasons featuring Dawn. We keep the plot! No changing storylines or bad guys or any of that nonsense! I want to see how the canon plot unfolds with the addition of Dawn Summers. I want to see the fake timeline created by the monks.

What was Dawn’s relationships with Cordelia? Oz? Jenny? Faith? Angel? Wesley?

We got to see that she wasn’t a big fan of Riley, how did Dawnie act during the early stages of Buffy/Riley, did she give him a particularly hard time?

How did Giles handle a much younger Dawn, considering he already struggled with the teenage version? But a clingy kid who thinks she knows it all...?

When did Dawn learn about Buffy being the Slayer? When Joyce did? Or earlier because she snooped around? Or later because Joyce and Buffy were trying to protect her since she was so young?

I’d never want a regular reboot of this show, at all (especially not one with a recast), because I know how the show went and it is brilliant the way it is. But they did this, they created a whole character and put her smack in the middle of the plot and said “yep everybody thinks she’s been here all along” and I would really love to see these fake memories, I would love to see if Angelus would have gone after Dawn, if Dawn would have been comforting about Angel’s banishment to a hell dimension or if she too would have taken it personally that Buffy left, if she drove Giles absolutely up the wall, if she adored Faith and tried to imitate her and if Faith liked the mini Summers, if storylines would have changed - even if the outcome ought to stay the same since all of this is fake - and unfolded in different ways due to the added character.

I’d really love to read a comic run on that.

[chasingfictions]

Who would all of the yellowjackets be in the BTVS universe?

the way i already have a google doc about this. shout out to tumblr user @episode5s who co-owns that google doc . these are rough equivalencies and i Do have detailed backstory to back up each of these statements but also it's 1:30am and i need 2 let myself sleep so the quick run though is:

jackie is buffy. nat is faith. misty is spike. shauna is willow in the nerd way. lottie is willow in the witch way. jeff is xander. callie is dawn but she's shauna's little sister rather than jackie's. laura lee is tara. genuinely i think taissa is cordelia. van is clearly oz. coach is giles. paul is jenny calendar. mari is harmony.

most importantly. travis is angel. they do call him travulus when he's evil

[marigoldbaker]

You’re the Ripper/Jenny writer??? You’re the one who wrote the Ripper punching out Xander’s dad fic??? You’ve quietly occupied a corner of my mind for so long and IT’S YOU

lmao yeah the ripper/jenny writer is indeed me! just so that y'all get a sense of the celia fandom contributions, here's a solid look at a tiny fraction of my passion (rip) projects. because i don't wanna keep everybody here all day, this list is limited to the ones that have had a significant amount of traction (and here is my ao3 -- i am in fact the_eclectic_bookworm in case y'all r wondering what else i have written)

the ripper au, of course (a closer-to-present-day version of the buffyverse where giles and jenny are just a little bit older than the scoobies)

the braveryverse, obviously (series rewrite where jenny lives! at the moment it covers all of season three, plus some of the summer after; i don't think it's going to go any farther after that because it has descended into plotless sugar cookie fluff and there's no conflict to drive the plot forward anymore.)

as day follows night (my nanowrimo 2019 project! i lovingly call this one the "platonic beauty and the beast fic." lots of faith and jenny content.)

the witches, watchers, slayers series (the scoobies attend hogwarts at the same time as the golden trio. basically the buffyverse integrated into the potterverse. i genuinely have plans to complete this, but return to it sporadically, because it is a LONG endeavor.)

that soulmate au (buffy and willow fall in love despite not being soulmates, faith and tara who are THEIR soulmates end up falling in love as well, and giles and jenny are of course there being very cute)

@published-after-1066 (a comprehensive calendiles fanfiction database with fic dating back to the late 1990s when season one was airing)

my youtube channel (i just uhhh keep on making giles/jenny fanvideos plus like this one yuri on ice fanvid that i'm very proud of)

this edit (INCHES away from 1k notes. so proud)

and of course checking the calendiles & jenny calendar tags on my blog (plus committed to job meets commitment issues, my fic tag which often has ask fics, snippets, and extras not seen on my ao3, and precious nineties techno bean which was my 2016 tag for jenny so there's probably a lot of baby celia screaming going on in that one) will likely also lead you to a lot of solid content!

[hamliet]

The Girl Who Gets to Have It All: Buffy Summers

So with @linkspooky​‘s encouragement, I have binged Buffy the Vampire Slayer and relived my childhood culture. And, it's a 10/10 for me. Not that it doesn't have flaws, but it's genuinely one of the best stories I've seen, with consistent character arcs, powerful themes, and a beautiful message. It's also like... purportedly about vampires and demons and superpowered chosen ones, but it's actually all about humanity.

Buffy was able to be a teenage girl, allowed to like the things teen girls are scorned for (boys, shopping, etc), to be insecure about the thing teenage girls are insecure about (future careers, dating, school, parents), and to be a superhero with its good and its bad aspects. The story wasn’t afraid to call Buffy on her flaws (sometimes she got in a very ‘I am the righteous chosen one’ mode) and to respect and honor each of her desires (to be a good person, to be loved, and more). The story listened to what she wanted and respected her desires, giving her the challenges needed to overcome her flaws while also never teaching her a lesson about wanting bad boys or romance is silly or any manner of dark warnings stories like to throw at teenage girls. 

It respected teenage girls--nerdy girls like Willow, jocks like Buffy, lonely wallflowers with trauma like Dawn, and popular/snobby ones like Cordelia, girls gone wild like Faith. It never once reduced them to the stereotypes that were lurking right there: each character was fully rounded, human, flawed and yet with respected interests and goals. This is so rare for a story that I’m still in awe. 

The story as a whole follows Buffy from 15 to 21, of her as she grows from teenager to adult. She acts like a teenager and grows to act like a young adult, wrestling with loneliness and duty. The adults, like Giles, Joyce, and Jenny, are not perfect either, but neither are they “bad parents” or “bad mentors” necessarily. Joyce in particular says something terrible to Buffy, but she tries to do better, and it’s rare to see a parent in YA stories shown with such nuance. Basically, it wrote the long-lasting adult characters as human beings, too. 

Speaking of growing up, I appreciated how Buffy’s love interests mirrored this. Angel was someone Buffy loved and admired, wanted to be like, but who was always either extreme good or extreme bad, and combined with Buffy’s own tendencies towards black-white thinking, made for a beautiful relationship to help her grow, but didn’t necessarily form a foundation for a long-term partner. Spike, on the other hand... they both saw each other at their worst and were drawn to each other even then, and were inspired to become better because they couldn’t bear to be a person who treated the other person so wrongly. They pushed each other to become the best them they could be, and believed in each other. Also, Spuffy is an enemies to lovers ship for the ages. 

(Also, most of the other ships were well-done or at least can be understood. Riley was very obviously wrong for Buffy which paralleled Harmony and Spike in being 100% wrong for each other. Cordelia and Xander were a fun ship even if we all knew it would never last, and Willow and Oz were beautiful and cute. But Xander and Anya and Willow and Tara? OTPs. As were Giles and Jenny, the librarian and the computer teacher.) 

That said, it’s not a perfect series. No story is. All of the characters and ships had problematic aspects to them worthy of critique, and the writing is very 90s in a lot of ways. It’s a product of its time, and in many ways it’s good society has progressed beyond some of the tropes/metaphors used in the show. In other way, though, the show was ahead of its time, and in a good way it wasn’t bound by the fear of purity policing with its takes on redemption (many characters would never fly today). 

So, in order of seasons ranked from my very favorite to my “still enjoyed it very much” (no season was actually bad, imo), here’s my review. I’ll also review my top 10 villains in the show, because Buffy does villains very well in terms of the redeemable and irredeemable.  

Season 7:  Yep, the final season was my favorite. 

Overall Opinion: Buffy's finale is literally "f*ck them men, our power is ours" and while it seems cheesy it actually works (also, f*ck in both a literal and figurative sense). The series strongly hit all the themes: love as strength, and redemption. Buffy consistently shows love as her strength--*all* kinds of love. Friendship w Willow/Xander, familial with Joyce/Dawn, romantic with Spike/Angel. These types of love are also never pitted against each other as is so often the case in current-day media. It's beautiful. Also, Spike’s confrontation with Wood was so powerful in terms of exploring forgiveness, redemption, and reconciliation: where they overlap and where they don't, and what it means to move forward. 

Unpopular Opinion: I have seen a lot didn’t like the inclusion of Potential Slayers, and while I agree they could have been better incorporated/characterized, it was a great way to show Buffy’s final stage of growing up to be ending her chosen one status and projecting/multiplying her powers over the world. 

Biggest Critique: Kennedy was female Riley--the anti-Tara to Riley’s anti-Angel (by ‘anti’ I mean opposite in every way). Kennedy was annoying and immature. Her role, like Riley’s, was less about exploring her as a character and more about her just being stamped as “love interest: lesbian.” 

Favorite Episodes: Beneath You, Lies My Parents Told Me, Touched, Chosen

Season 6: 

Overall Opinion: I said this on Twitter, but I felt like this was Buffy’s The Last Jedi or Empire Strikes Back moment. It is polarizing and dark, deconstructing the tropes it stands on--but by digging to the core of these tropes, it actually makes what’s good about them shine brighter. Everyone’s enemy was the worst versions of themselves. Giles left Buffy, Willow's struggle to relate to the world led to her trying to destroy it, Buffy hurt everyone through her anger, Xander abandoned Anya at the altar, Spike... yeah. It ages well as an integral part of the story, and the Trio were eerily prophetic. 

Unpopular Opinion: Dawn is a great character with a good arc. A traumatized teen acting out and struggling to come to terms with loss and identity? She wasn’t whiny; she was realistic. 

Biggest Critique: Willow’s addiction coding (I’ll discuss this below) and Seeing Red as an episode. I see the argument for both of its controversial scenes from a narrative perspective: Willow starts the season not grieving Buffy but instead being determined to fix it with magic and needs to learn to grieve, but. Still. Bury your gays is not a good look. For the Spike scene... he conflates sex/passion and violence (”love is blood, children” is something he said way back in season 3), but like Tara’s death, it had more to do with Spike (as Tara’s death did for Willow) than with Buffy’s arc, and as for the actual execution... they really botched that. Did it like... have to go on that long or go that far? No. Also, the framing was good, but inconsistent with the rest of the series (Xander to Buffy in the hyena episode, Faith to Xander and to Riley, etc.) 

Favorite Episodes: Once More With Feeling, Smashed, Grave

Season 3 (tied with Season 5):

Overall Opinion: The opening continuity of Buffy meeting Lily/Anne after saving her life in Season 2 was sweet. The Witchhunt episode had really powerful subtext: stories of deaths that aren’t even true are actually demons that possess the town and convince them to turn against their children in the name of protecting the children. It’s a good commentary on, oh, everything in society. Faith’s character arc was fantastic, and her chemistry with Buffy was off the charts (look, I may be Spuffy all the way, but Fuffy has rights). The finale was satisfying in so many ways, seeing the entire graduating class unite to destroy the Mayor and the school with it, symbolizing Buffy et al’s readiness to move on to college. Oz's relationship with Willow was very sweet and meaningful for a first romance for Willow. 

Unpopular Opinion: I actually don’t really have one. Maybe that the miracle in Amends was earned? I think you can make a decent case that Season 3 is the best written of the seasons, but can only truly be thematically appreciated to its full potential in the light of subsequent seasons (which finish Faith’s arc and deconstruct Buffy’s).  

Biggest Critique: It forgot Buffy killed the hyena guy in Season 1, making her continual insistence that she can’t kill people very ????? 

Favorite Episodes: Lovers Walk, Amends, Graduation Day Part 2 

Season 5, which ties with Season 3:

Overall Opinion: The entire season is about family and what it means, from Tara’s to Buffy’s to the Scoobies. I loved Glory aka Enoshima Junko as the Big Bad, I loved Dawn’s interesting meta commentary on retconning (like, the fact that she’s retconned in matters), and most of my ships are still alive. Joyce’s relationship with Spike is one of the most heartwarming aspects, and Spike’s arc’s desire is clearly highlighted: he wants to be seen as a person. The episodes after Joyce’s death are the most honest portrayals of grief I’ve ever seen, and absolutely brutal to watch. 

Unpopular Opinion: Buffy’s choice at the end seems a deliberate inversion of her choice at the end of Season 2 (sacrifice a loved one to save the world), but it actually isn’t: much like at the end of Season 2 where Buffy skips town because she’s devastated after killing Angel and doesn’t want to sort out being expelled, her mom knowing she’s the slayer, and her own trauma, Buffy’s sacrifice here was as much about her wanting the easy way out of relationships, family, college, etc. as it was about saving Dawn. Buffy’s death is coded as a suicide, which Season 6 emphasizes as well. 

Biggest Critique: Like Season 3, I don’t have a lot to critique here. I wish the suicidal coding had been a little more obvious in Season 5 itself, but also I’m not sure it could have been more obvious; it’s pretty apparent if you pay attention. Maybe also that Buffy and Riley’s relationship failing should have been more squarely blamed on Riley, you know, being insecure and cheating. 

Favorite Episodes: Family, Fool for Love, Intervention. 

Season 2:

Overall Opinion: Heartbreakingly tragic but exciting and revealing at the same time. It asked the viewer interesting questions about redemption and forgiveness and atonement through Angel being honest about his past, and then decided to show us his past now reenacted, challenging us. And still, we saw them save him in a parallel to saving Willow in Season 6 (but Season 2 was tragic because it wasn’t enough, while Season 6 was not). Jenny’s death was agonizing, and the scene were Angel watches Buffy, Willow, and Joyce get the news through the window was powerful. We didn’t have to hear them to get the grief. 

Unpopular Opinion: Jenny’s death isn’t a fridging; it works for her arc too when you consider her history. She worked to save the person whose life she was tasked to ruin, and it cost her her own--yet she still succeeded, because Jenny brought joy and wisdom to the show. Kendra’s death, on the other hand... was because they needed the stakes to be high--but we already knew that before she died. So, her death was useless. 

Biggest Critique: The subtext was Not It. It was essentially “do not have sex. Your older boyfriend will lose his soul, kill your friends, you’ll lose your family, your school, your home, and have to kill your true love or else hell will literally swallow earth.” 

Favorite Episodes: School Hard, Passion, Becoming Part 2.

Season 1:

Overall Opinion: I really liked it; it’s just lower on this list because the others are just better. It’s a great introduction to the series and to its characters, from Giles to Buffy to Willow to Jenny to Cordelia. It has great subtext a lot of the time (for example, Natalie French as She-Mantis is a literal predatory bug who engages in predatory behavior with students). Additionally, it subverts the typical YA trope of two guys and a girl, in which the girl is usually the least interesting character. Buffy and Willow were both fully fledged characters from the beginning with distinct strengths (even before Willow became a witch, as she wasn’t one in season 1 yet), while Xander was the more ordinary of the group. 

Unpopular Opinion/Biggest Critique: Xander’s arc showed its first flaws that unfortunately continued throughout the series: his writing was either very good or very indulgent in ways it never was for other characters.  (cough, the hyena episode, cough, in which he gets to skirt responsibility--and acknowledges that he is skirting it--for something the show will later hold others to account for). Xander’s just kind of inconsistent, which weakened his character over all. (Which is why both his love interests--Cordelia and then ultimately Anya--were good for him: they did not indulge him.) 

Favorite Episode: Witch, Nightmares. 

Season 4:

Overall Opinion: it’s still a good season. It’s a good portrayal of college and the growing pains of branching out, the strains of college growth on relationships (romantic and platonic). It shows us the first hints of Spuffy, giving us some serious Jungian symbolism between Spike and Buffy early on, and does well in establishing Xander/Anya and Willow/Tara as beautiful OTPs. Faith and Buffy’s foiling is fantastic. The Halloween episode was very fun as well. However, it suffers because its Big Bad, Adam, is not all that compelling thematically--yet, he could have been. See, the final battle pulls off the Power of Friendship in a really strong way but notably the season does not end there. Instead, it ends on dreams of each character’s worst fears, continuing what we saw in Nightmares in Season 1. Why? Because it shows us that the characters’ wars aren’t against monsters, but monsters of their own making: their flaws. Adam, as a literal Frankenstein, exemplifies this, but it wasn’t capitalized on as well as it could have been. 

Unpopular Opinion: Beer Bad isn’t a bad episode, at the very least because Buffy gets to punch Parker. It’s not one of the series’ best, obviously, but it does give Buffy an arc in that she gets her daydream of Parker begging her to come back, but she has overcome that desire and her desire for revenge. If we wanna talk about bad subtext in Season 4, Season 2′s Not It sex subtext continues in the Where the Wild Things Are episode in this season; it’s a powerful callout of abusive purity-culture churches, until the fact that the shame creates a literal curse undermines the progressive message it’s supposed to send. Also, the Thanksgiving episode (Pangs) is a nightmare of white guilt and Oh God Shut Up White People. 

Biggest Critique: Riley is awful. Like Kennedy, he had “love interest:normal” stamped on him and that was it. The thing is, he could have worked as an Angel foil, representative of the normal-life aspect of Buffy to Angel’s vampire/supernatural aspect, but the writers never explore this and seemed to even try to back away from that later on. They threw all the romantic cliches at the wall to see what sticks, from klutzy “I dropped my schoolbooks, that’s how we met” to cliché lines that had me rolling my eyes. Do you know how bad a romance has to be to make me dislike romantic tropes? 

Favorite Episodes: Fear Itself, Hush, Restless

Villain rankings: 

Dark Willow, the only villain to be truly sympathetic. While the addiction coding was insensitive and, while unsurprising for its time, aged extremely poorly. That said, Willow’s turn to the dark side after Tara’s death worked well for her character and the story: it was believable and paid off what had been building since Season 1's “Nightmares” episode (Willow’s inferiority complex). 

Glory managed to be genuinely terrifying, and humorous/enjoyable too. Her minions and their numerous nicknames for Glorificus were hilarious, as was her intense vanity. Her merging with Ben--a human being who genuinely wanted to be kind and good--added complexity and tragedy to her role. 

The First. A really good take on Satan. The seventh season as well as the First’s first appearance in season 3′s “Amends” had kind of blatant Christian symbolism, and so the First being essentially Satan works. Their disguising themselves as dead loved ones and the subtle manipulation they used to alienate people was really disturbing and well done. 

The Mayor, who was a terrible person but a truly good father. He provided an interesting contrast to the normal ‘bad dad’ bad guy character, in that he provided Faith exactly what the other characters refused to: he saw the best in her and offered her parental support, while the heroes didn’t and wound up pushing her away. 

The Trio, who were villains ahead of their time: whiny fanboy reddit dudebros, basically. The stakes seemed so much lower than fighting Glory, a literal god, the previous season. But that’s why they worked so well for Season 6′s human themes, and were especially disturbing because we all know people like them. I also appreciated the surprisingly sensitive takes on Jonathan and Andrew, who got to redeem themselves, but Warren did not, and I don’t think he should have either. 

Angelus + Drusilla. I’m ranking them below the Trio because Angelus was just sooooo different from Angel that it was difficult for me to feel the same way for him. He was still Angel, so it wasn’t possible to enjoy his villainy, but he also wasn’t nearly as sympathetic as Dark Willow, had no redeeming qualities like the Mayor, and wasn’t as disturbingly realistic as the Trio. However, the emotional stakes were excellently executed with him as the Big Bad, in that you were never quite sure how to feel and it just plain hurt. Also, Drusilla was a favorite recurring character. She was sympathetic and yet batsh*t enough to be enjoyable as a villain at the same time. 

The Master, who was just completely camp and really worked as an introductory villain. He was scary enough to believe he was a threat, and was funny enough to introduce the series’ humor as well. He was, like Glory, an enjoyable Big Bad. 

The Gentlemen, the one-off villains of Season 4′s Hush who were genuinely terrifying. It’s not as if they got a lot of explanation or any backstory, but they didn’t need it. 

Caleb, the misogynist priest. Fitting with the First’s Christian symbolism, Caleb serving as a spokesperson of all bad religious beliefs felt appropriate. He was also a good foil to Warren--being actually supernaturally powered instead of a wannabe--and to Tara’s family in being full-out evil. I despised him. 

Snyder. Okay Snyder is not a Big Bad like Adam is, but let’s face it: Adam is lame compared to the other villains. But Snyder as a principal? He was so irritating and yet really well used in the series to critique overly strict, hypocritical teachers. Like, we all know teachers like him. I loved to hate him, and his ending was so satisfying. 

[morningsound15]

Any buffy/faith fic recs?

YES yes always yes

1) Just A Counterfeit James Dean by impertinence (@stopthatimp)

i’ll talk about this fic until the cows come home! i’d die for this fic! it has all the shit i like, aka post-canon buffy/faith aka older slayers living their best lives aka accidental parents (kind of!) aka mistaken-for-dating !!! i read this story a couple times a year and while i have to admit that some parts of it lag a bit all in all it’s a delight and a joy to read and a really fantastic fic. great writing great chemistry fully believable.

Fic Summary: “Buffy and Faith are living it up in Cleveland, over thirty and regularly trying to convince their neighbors they're really just roommates, not "roommates", no matter what Faith wants. Of course, then things get all fucked up, complete with an apocalypse.”

57k words. Complete. Rating: E

2) even death is a shadow of forgetting by redcheekdays

don’t talk to me about this fic i’ll be curled up in a ball rereading it until the day i die. an alternate-universe season 6 fic that does what season 6 of buffy should have done (but didn’t have the guts to do!) aka what if, just what if, when buffy died someone BOTHERED to tell the one remaining slayer? this is an angsty story with a lot of Drama and a lot of Pining but it’s incredible and so so so worth it. read immediately.

Fic Summary: “A retelling of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 6, wherein someone bothers to tell Faith that Buffy died.”

25k words. Complete. Rating: T

3) Aeipathy by aliceinwonderbra

a quick read for sure, but full of romance and sweet moments. buffy & faith getting together post-canon. not too heavy on the plot, some decent smut, a nice finishing bow on the series if you like happy endings without drama.

Fic Summary: “‘When Angel came to give me the amulet, we talked a little,’ Buffy says, ‘about the future. About our relationship.’

‘I guess his arm isn’t tired yet from carrying that torch,’ Faith mutters darkly.

--

They saved the world. Again. Buffy starts thinking about what comes next. Set immediately post-Chosen. 

14k words. Complete. Rating: E

4) Contrition by AeschylusRex (@aeschylusrex)

i fuck hardcore with this fic. it’s got a great and engaging plot that stands alone outside of the romance, but the romance is tied so nicely into the story as well. it is angsty but ultimately has a happy and satisfying ending. a few loose ends that aren’t tied up, but that’s not to the detriment of an otherwise strong story. the character relationships really shine here. there’s angst & misunderstandings & romance galore.

Fic Summary: “Buffy is sick, five young slayers are dead, and fanatical vampires roam the frozen streets of Cleveland. With his troops stretched thin, Giles is forced to call in reinforcements, but Buffy isn't particularly happy to see her old rival state-side again.”

40k words. Complete. Rating: M

5) Imperfections by The_Eclectic_Bookworm (@jenny-calendar)

i have to admit i have NOT finished this fic!! it is very long pls don’t hate me. but it’s also GREAT. it’s a season 3 AU Giles/Jenny fic (we love Jenny Calendar!) that does an absolutely excellent service to both of those characters, particularly Jenny. the Faith/Buffy relationship takes a secondary role but it’s prominent throughout. this story deals a lot with twisting and reshaping canon in a fascinating and genuinely exciting and clever way. the Faith & Jenny relationship is exquisite and makes my heart hurt for the potential we lost. i haven’t finished it but i’ve really enjoyed everything i’ve read of it so it’s going on this rec list anyway :)

Fic Summary: “‘Cool,’ said Faith. ‘So you’re a witch?’

‘Technopagan is the term,’ said Ms. Calendar, and shared a smile with Giles, as though they were sharing some kind of joke that Faith wasn’t in on. Judging by the looks on the other faces in the room, though, no one else was either, so that made Faith feel a little better. ‘I’m mostly good at practical magic.’

‘Love that movie,’ Faith quipped. Ms. Calendar gave her a newly appreciative look.

(s3 au. Jenny and Faith hit it off.)

148k words. Complete. Rating: T

[headlineawards]

2020 Headline Award Winners

 Fiction Awards  Giles

The Watcher Watch Award  [Best gen., Giles]

WINNER - living, learning, watching, burning by rippergiles “We chose this one as our favorite because all of us who love Giles, at some point, have wished we could be in Willow's shoes staying up all night in the library researching demons with Giles. This is my exact fantasy! I can’t believe someone wrote this. It is adorable and adds to the Giles fanfic community because it is an innocent fantasy we can all relate to. If you have ever crushed on a teacher before, this is relatable. I don't think I've seen anything like it. It is unique. The author does a really good job of capturing Willow’s feelings and portraying it realistically. EVERYONE NEEDS TO STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND READ THIS.”

RUNNER-UP - Bad Habits by il_mio_capitano “This was an insanely hard category to judge because this fanfic was also amazing. This could have easily been the winner. The writing and development of this fanfic was so good. We liked how the author managed to showcase the complicated relationship between Giles and Ethan from Ethan’s perspective. It felt genuine to Ethan’s character. We really haven't seen anyone write such a clear and believable Ethan voice before now and that is something we really appreciated about this story. And a cameo from Faith is always appreciated. This was a small moment in the comic book canon that just makes you chuckle. Our love of Ethan and Giles’s complicated relationship is enhanced by this story.”

The Twosome of Cuteness Award  [Best romance, Giles]

WINNER - Across the Pond by The_Eclectic_Bookworm “This was a lovely story, and it got so much across with really sparse lines of prose and no lengthy explanations, which is impressive writing chops. We thought the passion and honesty from Jenny was brilliant. The perspective of being both angry and loving towards Giles at the same time was nicely balanced, and the end note that love is all about hard work brought it all together. The dialogue between Giles and Jenny was perfect and exactly them. We loved the fact this was as much about their marriage as it was about wanting to help everyone around them.”

RUNNER-UP - A New Name for Everything by punch_kicker15 “Giles and Willow adventuring around San Fran and seeing the sights was very well done, and we could see exactly why her schoolgirl crush came back! Perfect museum buddies. This felt very much like a direction that canon could have gone if it was books and not TV, where main characters temporarily being in a different city can work. The voices were very true to the originals. The way the romance progressed was also seamless and believable, with a nice balance between Giles-voice and Willow-voice. We especially liked how concerned Giles was about "holding her back". And finally, the return of Oz was great and you just knew he would smell Giles on her straight away!”

The Good Squirm Award  [Best smut, Giles]

WINNER - Hurricane Mitch by stuffandnonsense “This story just blew us away (pardon the pun). How can so few words build a world so complete, so rich with background details? The pairing has a ton of potential, and especially under these unique circumstances, oh boy. (It's also one of our favourites, but shhh.) The excitement, the hotness, the magic! And then the shock at the end. Wow that hurt. We don't think we're ever gonna forget this story.”

RUNNER-UP - Amidst the Cherry Blossoms by Littleotter73 “There's so much to love about this!! The masterful writing and impeccable characterization, for one thing. The fun and the banter, the familiarity even after a long time apart, the unbeatable teamwork, the trust! The small doubts but unwavering support, the tension, the passion, the love! The good and healthy decisions, the maturity... we could go on! It's just all so Good, with a capital G. At first, we weren't sure if this was in the right category, but while the sex is only a small part of the whole story, it is very nearly perfect and certainly worth the wait. This fic left us with a warm and fuzzy feeling, and reminded us why we love Giles and Buffy and their dynamic so freaking much.”

The Dark Age Award  [Best dark, Giles]

WINNER - Sting by eurydice72 “We loved this alternative storyline fic, with vampire-Giles teaming up with his tormentor-turned-sire Angelus and them both turning on Buffy and her mom. The tension was well built and the ending unexpected. We only wish it had been longer so we could have more!”

RUNNER-UP - The Scapegoat by kindkit “This story is compelling and drew us in in a way that made us uncomfortable- just as we believe it was supposed to. It has good writing that shows us Giles in a dark place, at a low point. The characterization was great, showing his former ability to resist and his present inner turmoil before giving into his baser desires with the first party who’ll have him. We also loved the comparison of Andrew to a younger, more innocent Ethan. This unusual pairing worked perfectly for this story and this category.”

The Rather British Award  [Best characterization, Giles]

WINNER - Lingering by JackalopingIntoTheVoid “This was our favorite characterization of Giles because we think Giles is more than a man who cleans his glasses and drinks lots of tea. Also, writing a believable version of Ripper is challenging, especially since we only get a glimpse of him from two episodes. However, this author made it through flawlessly.  And although this was an award for the characterization of Giles, we must also point out this is also a cute story to cuddle up and read. Ripper and Jenny Calendar have such a unique and adorable dynamic. Some of our favorite quirks in their relationship we enjoyed include, correcting her Latin, setting 50 Shades on fire, and snuggling up on a sofa to watch Netflix. We could all vibe with this younger Giles. Great job, JackalopingIntoTheVoid, and thank you for creating such a fun and creative read! If any writers need help to improve their characterization of Giles, this is a great story of reference.”

RUNNER-UP - Mamihlapinatapei by Melacka “Another great characterization, but this time of an older (possible) season 7 Giles. We like to applaud the fact that the author keeps a great characterization of Giles, even in a taboo and non-canon relationship. This is difficult to achieve, but this author pulls it off. Your heart melts when he hesitates to take a final step with Buffy and he immediately pulls away when the patio lights came on. This author’s use of gentle teasing was great. Although this award is for characterization, we would also like to point out that this story also replicates the humor from the show and it’s quite enjoyable. Honestly, we love the Buffy/Giles relationships. We want more!”

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

WINNER - Bad Habits by il_mio_capitano

RUNNER-UP - Tea for Two by Fabricdragon

​                           All award banners made by Funforahermit.

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[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Friday, March 15th

XANDER: Arrr! Careful, me mateys! These be fireflies spat from a volcano off the coast of Katmandu. Arr! LITTLE BOY: You're not a real pirate! Real pirates live on boats and don't look stupid! XANDER: (fake laugh) Oh, a salty swabbie! Maybe you be fishin' for the taste ... of me hook! He shakes his hook-hand in the boy's face. The boy is unimpressed. GILES: (calls) Uh, hello, Ahab, a little help please?

~~All The Way~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

take me back into your corner by The_Eclectic_Bookworm (Giles/Jenny, M)

I wish I knew you when I was a kid by Madonnalal (Tara & Spike, G)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion, Chapter 416 by madimpossibledreamer (Ensemble, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure crossover, T)

The Vampire's Daughter, Chapter 19 by PuellaPulchra (Spike/OC, T)

Straight to the Heart, Chapter 9 by QuillBard (Buffy/Faith, M)

A weapon of victory, Chapter 8 by FPBarbieri (Buffy, Tolkien crossover, T)

No Going Back, Chapter 17 by Tru2urheart (Willow/Tara, M)

Keep You Ghosted, Chapter 3 by hydranjenna (Buffy/Spike, M)

A Slayer of Nightmares, Chapter 2 by LJMouse (Buffy/Spike, InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale crossover, not rated)

A Different Path, Chapter 5 by Anaxilea (Buffy/Faith, M)

Horrorshow, Chapter 4 by vampbrat (Fanged Four, AtS Ensemble, E)

Slayer No More, Chapters 1-3 by jsaint34 (Buffy/Pike, T)

Goodbye to Everything That I Knew, Chapter 25 by fortes775 (Buffy/Spike, R)

Afterburn, Chapter 24 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Forwarding Blue, Chapter 5 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, PG)

All Choseny's Lost Drabbles, Chapters 1-7 by all choseny (Buffy/Spike, PG)

What the Drabble? Chapter 98 by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, R)

Glimpses of the Cellar Dwellers, Chapter 15 by Maldorana (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

X.X, Chapter 15 by Rea (Buffy/Spike, R)

30 Ways to Say I Love You, Chapter 15 by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Dreaded Lurgi, Chapter 15 by SomeKindOfADeviant (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Forever and Always? Chapter 15 by scratchmeout (Buffy/Spike, R)

The Dawnster Drabbles, Chapter 15 by Passion4Spike (Buffy/Spike, PG)

We’re Having a Baby! Chapter 15 by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

Slowly At First, Chapter 10 by Gabby (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Bang, Chapters 1-14 by scratchmeout (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Enemies to Ghost Hunters, Chapter 15 by ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

The Balance, Chapter 15 by ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Triangles, Chapter 15 by ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: I Drew Buffy! by parawh0remal (worksafe)

Artwork: William The Bloody - Spike in Peanuts style by MattanzaMFedora (worksafe)

Gifset: “Spikey” by clarkgriffon (worksafe)

Artwork: Tara MaClay by isevery0nehereverystoned (worksafe)

Artwork: practice sketches ft. cordelia by mistyintherivers (worksafe)

Artwork: Summerberg all day every day — Graveyard dates.... by pzyii (Buffy/Willow, worksafe)

Gifset: Spike/Drusilla by andremichaux (worksafe)

Fanvid: Tara and Willow- Unruly Heart by Multifandom_Fanatic (0)

Fanvid: Willow | Willow Rosenberg (+Tara) [BtVS 27 Anniversary Celebration] by Taco_Id (0)

[Fandom Discussions]

Oz fanfic idea by idle-flower

I’m noticing a lot of Faith-in-Buffy on this rewatch by inconsistentlywrittensoul

the scariest assassin in What’s My Line is just Woman With Gun by inconsistentlywrittensoul

Oz is such a slight presence in his first couple of appearances by inconsistentlywrittensoul

american high schools and extensive occult literature by jennycalendar

how male characters are handled in shows like Veronica Mars and Buffy by raisedbythetv89

I genuinely think that faith should’ve hooked up with willow in season 7 by thepunkmuppet

Very tired of the "Buffy didn't have good sex until she was with Spike" take by spangelmybeloved

Spike and the first continued by multiple posters

Groo Should Have Been the Guardian of The Deeper Well by Mr_Wind-Up_Birds

Approaching Seeing Red with first time watcher, please advise! by Vaethe_W

For those who watched the show as it came out, did anyone know that Spike would fall for Buffy early on? by Kindofaddictedtotv

Imagine if Faith and Kendra met by sadhungryandvirgin

Would've been nice to encounter more Watchers w/Slayer experience by primal_slayer

When a Slayer is called by RavenNight789

If Buffy hadn't gotten a haircut... by Tuxedo_Mark

In “Entropy”, how could Willow tell… by hthbellhop76

Xander’s speech to Dawn in a potential by Eagles56

The Body by UKMegaGeek

Anya in Empty Places by sazza8919

How would their human selves [of the Fanged Four] all interact with each other? by Ivy_2535

Into the Woods has weird implications? by SafiraAshai

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[we-pay-for-everything]

Hi! I'[m just curious why you prefer S2 of BtVS to S3? They're both my favorite seasons, but I think I may love S3's Bangel scenes even more than S2's. Though S3 does have the train wreck known as Willow an Xander's "fluke" :)

Hi! I prefer Bangel in season 3 as well, but overall, I think season 2 is a better, more entertaining, more impactful, season than season 3.

For one, the Angelus arc is much better connected to season 2′s character arcs, themes, relationships, and even soundtrack, than season 3′s Mayor arc. Having the good guy transform into the Big Bad mid-season was a stroke of genius, especially since, at that point in the show, it still made a lot of sense for the Big Bad to be a vampire - The Master had been nothing but a joke to the audience. Angelus, a vampire who genuinely messed with Buffy’s emotions and caused her to doubt her skills, was essential in developing Buffy’s character, and the Buffyverse itself. What would BtVS and Buffy have been without Angel turning into Angelus and flipping everything we knew upside down? AtS wouldn’t even exist!

On top of all that, Angelus was directly and indirectly responsible for Willow’s initiation into magic, Jenny’s death and Giles’ transformation, Xander moving on from Buffy (in a way), the Scoobies growing closer, and essential/memorable episodes like Innocence, Passion, Becoming parts 1 and 2. Season 2 was very well put together, and carefully planned from the beginning. The narrative is so cohesive, and the writing so emotional and raw. I think season 3 is more refined in terms of writing, but lacks the punch, and even sincerity, of season 2.

A common criticism of season 2 is the amount, and quality, of filler episodes. Yes season 2 had more filler episodes than season 3, but season 3 had plenty of unimportant episodes (to the plot) - even when they were great, like The Wish.

To elaborate on what I said, the season 2 episodes I consider very important are: When She Was Bad (major for Buffy), School Hard (Spike, Dru, Angelus), Lie to Me (relevant to season 2′s theme of growing up), What’s my Line parts 1 and 2 (Kendra, Cordelia/Xander, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Oz, etc.), Surprise and Innocence (for obvious reasons), Passion (raised the stakes way up), Becoming parts 1 and 2 (again, for very obvious reasons).

Of course I left out amazing, meaningful episodes that were objectively not that relevant to the plot, like I Only Have Eyes For You.

Following the same logic with season 3, we have: Anne (mostly because it’s a first episode - it’s not as big as When She Was Bad), Revelations (Buffy is dating Angel!, Faith and Buffy fight, Faith meets Angel), Lovers Walk (the breakups), Amends (very major for Angel and Ats), Bad Girls and Consequences (because of Faith becoming the “bad” slayer, plus the Mayor), The Prom (for obvious reasons), Graduation Day parts 1 and 2 (ditto).

Episodes like Enemies or Choices are relevant to the plot and characters, but do they really contribute much to the season? The Mayor has no connection to the characters, and his development is so minimal, that his scenes honestly don’t even matter much. Faith’s scenes with the Mayor are obviously more relevant, but Faith isn’t that relevant to the story - she’s not even a main character. I didn’t even mention Faith, Hope & Trick, because Scott and Trick are pretty irrelevant, and Faith’s introduction isn’t a big deal. It’s not like she’s the first slayer apart from Buffy that we meet.

I feel like season 3 is a collection of episodes that are loosely part of the same narrative. If you skip a bunch of episodes, you won’t really miss much. And even the season itself is way less important to the characters, and the Buffyverse in general, than season 2. Buffy’s arc in season 2 was more important than her arc in season 3; Giles, Cordelia, Xander, and Willow didn’t change very significantly in season 3, although Xander and Willow had some growth; and the friendships within the Scoobies didn’t change a whole lot either. Season 3 is honestly a bit bland and underwhelming. It has lots of good moments and episodes, but I think season 6, for example, is much more important as a whole to the Buffyverse (I prefer season 3 though!).

I get that season 3 introduced Faith, which was very important to Buffy, but you can even say Faith had a bigger impact on Buffy in season 4, and that Angel was the one most harmed by Faith in season 3 (she nearly killed him, and so Buffy had to force Angel to drink from her, which was the final nail in the coffin for Buffy and Angel). Season 3 also introduced Anya and the Watcher’s Council, but the latter seasons had that too.

I don’t want to bash on season 3, but I always felt like it was overrated by the fandom. It’s not the most perfect season of BtVS/The Buffyverse, or even the best one, in my opinion. I hope I explained why properly.

Thanks for the ask!

[sulietsexual]

Buffyand Harry Potter

BtVS

Who I will protect at all costs: Dawn Summers, Tara Maclay, Xander HarrisWho deserves better: Buffy Summers, who did not deserve to have her pain and trauma ignored in order for her to coddle and prop up her abuser.Who was killed off too early: Jenny CalendarWho I used to hate but now I love: Xander HarrisWho I used to love but now I hate: Willow Rosenberg (okay, I don’t hate Willow but I do strongly dislike her in the later seasons).Who needs to be killed off asap: Spike, pity it took so long and didn’t stickWho is unfairly hated: Xander Harris, Dawn SummersWho is unfairly loved: SpikeWho needs to sort out their priorities: Willow, Giles, SpikeWho needs a hug: Everyone probablyWho needs to get out of their current relationship: I hear Buffy and Spike are currently together in the comics, so even though I don’t count them as canon, going with Buffy.Who the writers love: SpikeWho needs a better storyline: Buffy & The Scoobies in Season 7Who has an amazing redemption arc: Faith LehaneWho is hot af: Giles-in-Ripper-mode, Faith LehaneWho belongs in jail: Faith, SpikeWho needs to be revived from the dead: Tara

Harry Potter

Who I will protect at all costs: Ron Weasley, Sirius BlackWho deserves better: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Neville LongbottomWho was killed off too early: Sirius BlackWho I used to hate but now I love: No one reallyWho I used to love but now I hate: Again, no oneWho needs to be killed off asap: No oneWho is unfairly hated: Ron Weasley, to ridiculous degreesWho is unfairly loved: Draco MalfoyWho needs to sort out their priorities: Probably everyoneWho needs a hug: HarryWho needs to get out of their current relationship: No oneWho the writers love: Well, the movie scriptwriter was entirely too in love with Hermione. Rowling herself seems fairly balanced.Who needs a better storyline: Remus Lupin, Sirius BlackWho has an amazing redemption arc: I know a lot of people think Snape, but I hesitate mostly because while he did good deeds and ultimately did give his life for the war, he was also unjust, a bully and genuinely enjoyed inflicting mental pain on othersWho is hot af: Ummm .... no ideaWho belongs in jail: So many charactersWho needs to be revived from the dead: Sirius Black

[rahirah]

Buffyverse tagging meme: Tagged by @demadingbillydolls – and just as I was telling myself I should stop getting involved in meta discussions, too... top fifteen characters? I like almost all the characters, and a few exceptions, it's very hard for me to rank them. 1. Spike 2-6 in no particular order: Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Xander, Giles 7-10 in no particular order: Cordelia, Gunn, Fred/Illyria, Angel 11-15 I no particular order: Lorne, Oz, Darla, Wesley, Tara favorite minor characters? Anne (who I think is the most heroic person in the whole damn 'verse), Harmony, David Nabbit, Clem ranking of favorite seasons of both shows? BtVS: 5, 3, 2, 4, 1, 6, 7 AtS: 2, 3, 1, 5, 4 top ten episodes of both shows? NOT EASY Buffy: 1. Once More With Feeling, 2. Fool For Love, 3. Hush, 4. Becoming Part 2, 5. Innocence, 6. Doppelgangland, 7. Selfless, 8. Dead Things, 9. Something Blue, 10. Tabula Rasa Angel: 1. Reunion, 2. Epiphany, 3. I Will Remember You, 4. Darla, 5. Are You Now or Have You Ever Been, 6. Smile Time, 7. Five by Five, 8. Disharmony, 9. Not Fade Away, 10. Rm w/a Vu ats or btvs? Yes. least favorite main character? Mmm, that's changed over time. There have been times when it was Buffy, times when it's been Xander, times when it's been Angel, times when it's been Wesley. Usually it's because the character is doing something I don't like, and not because I dislike the character as a character in the larger sense. In the long run... probably Andrew. I don't hate him, but he never grabbed me, and the vast fannish love for him has always baffled me. To me it seemed like Andrew never really reformed, just glommed onto the person he thought was the coolest guy in his general vicinity – first Warren, then Spike, then Giles, then the Immortal – and emulated them for awhile, until someone cooler and shinier came along. Like Buffy said, he was a mushroom. Him giving Angel and Spike that pretentious lecture in TGIQ that was obviously a proxy for the writers lecturing the shippers was the last straw. I will say that I think that as of S10, Gage successfully put Andrew through some real character growth at last, and I can believe he really is a better person now, as opposed to the writers just telling me he is. But I don't think I'll ever be a huge Andrew fan. top ten ships? (I assume this means canon ships only?) 1. Buffy and Spike, 2. Angel and Cordelia, 3. Willow and Oz, 4. Giles and Jenny, 5. Darla and Angel, 6. Spike and Drusilla, 7. Wesley and Lilah, 8. Xander and Anya, 9. Willow and Tara, 10. Gunn and Fred (If we include non-canon ships, then I have to throw Spike/Xander, Spike/Angel, Willow/Spike, and Buffy/Faith in there, plus of course the hottest yet sadly rarest of OT3s, Buffy/Spike/Faith.) do you write fanfic? Yes, in theory. Doing it practice has been difficult. :P what fanfic do you read? Mostly Spuffy, but if a summary catches my eye, I'll try almost anything once. when did you start watching? Summer of 1999, if I recall correctly. show recommendations for buffyverse fans? Farscape. Yes, I know, it's Muppets in space, but I swear to God you will find yourself gnawing your nails to the quick over the fate of those Muppets. The first season is kinda slow, but stick with it. It is a more hopeful show than BtVS in some respects, but it's got a lot on common with BtVS in that it uses humor to delve into some pretty damn dark stuff, and the protagonists go through hell and do not come out undamaged. For something newer, if you haven't checked out Lucifer yet, it's just on its second season, and a lot of fun. do you own/collect anything related to the shows? I have a few action figures, but they're ones other people have given me as presents. I don't collect fannish stuff much. how often will you watch an episode? I'll catch a rerun on TV now and then, but haven't deliberately rewatched in a long time. I was so unhappy with seasons 6 and 7 that I just haven't been able to bring myself to rewatch the show since; the unhappiness tainted my enjoyment of earlier seasons. I suppose I should give it another try now that some time has passed. how many times have you watched either show all the way through? All the way through, only once. Seasons 1-5 of BtVS, probably 3-4 times. AtS, probably 2-3 times. five unpopular opinions? 1. I don't think we know if Buffy is bisexual or not. If Willow can identify as a lesbian after sleeping with a guy, it's within the realm of possibility that Buffy identifies as straight after sleeping with a woman. Buffy has never said either way. It would be great if she is bi, but until she says something about it herself, she's Schroedinger's Slayer. 2. I think Spike was a more interesting character without a soul. For some reason, people always assume this means that I think Spike wasn't evil without a soul, when... that's the entire point. There's an inherent dramatic tension in an evil being trying to do good which is entirely missing once you give him a soul. 3. I don't think Spike was out of character in AtS season 5. Yes, I do think that the AtS writers couldn't figure out how to write him in the first part of the season, but not to a degree that I can't integrate it into The Compleat Spike. The corollary of that is that I don't think that Spike and Buffy's relationship in S7 was the be-all and end-all of Spuffy. It was better than S6, but that's a low bar to clear. In S7 Spike was deeply depressed, emotionally stripped raw, and generally fucked up. It's only in the last couple of episodes of S7 that he's making any sort of true recovery, and even then, I'd still call him passively suicidal. But he trusted Buffy with that part of him. He doesn't trust Angel. He's not going to be that guy with Angel, and he's out of practice being the guy he used to be, so naturally, he overcompensates. Any time he's interacting with Fred, you immediately see his softer side again. That's the key, for me; Spike has a softer side, but Spike has a lot of sides. And some of his sides are snarky assholes, soul or no soul. 4. I don't think Joyce is an abusive parent. She's far from perfect, but there's a huge middle ground between "means well, but fucks up sometimes" and abusive. 5. I don't think they should have given Willow so much power. It creates a huge problem plotwise; how can you have any tension if Willow can do anything? So they're forced to come up with handwavy reasons why Willow can't snap her fingers and save the day, and it all gets a little ridiculous. least favorite thing about the fandom? That thing where people take a character they already don't like and just make stuff up and insist it's gotta be canon. Like, Riley HAS to be physically abusive off-screen because he punched Parker and that proves he thinks Buffy is his property and... whatever. It doesn't matter how much I may dislike a character myself, if I see someone saying something about them that seems to be unfairly maligning them, I have a mad, quixotic urge to defend them. Every character on both shows has plenty of legitimate, in your face flaws and faults and moderately-crappy-to-genuinely-horrific things they've done. There's no need to make shit up to justify your dislike.