#spike and buffy in season 7? good

[nicollekidman]

time for season seven spuffy

[loisfreakinglane]

i never would have wanted buffy to end with season 5, because i could not have coped with buffy staying dead. but god. in another life where buffy found some miracle save at the very end of the gift that saved the world and kept everybody esp her and dawn alive???? we would have gone out on SUCH a high note. like....... i love pretty much all the characters in this last little arc of s5. even spike is the least annoying he has ever been! giles got a dark moment of doing something terrible(ish??? i don't care about bens life, he was willing to kill dawn) for the greater good, spike was willing to die to save dawn, anya stuck around for an apocalypse for the first time out of love for xander AND came up with some of the best ideas to fight glory, xander used his glorified bricklayer skills to punt glory across the room, buffy was driven by her devotion to dawn and had the most heartbreaking realizations, willow was driven by her devotion to tara, dawn was willing to die to save the world, tara's mind was saved!!!!!!!! buffy loving dawn so much she could not comprehend a world without her. which...... hurts even worse now that we've lost michelle. s5 has been theeeeeee highest point of btvs for me, which is saying something as a person who loves cordelia and angel the most out of the whole assortment of btvs/ats characters. buffy and dawns relationship, buffys love for her baby sister that is capable of annoying her SO BADLY..... UGH MY HEART. so so peak.

[neyafromfrance95]

love how buffy's relationship with spike centers buffy, especially in s6-7.

in previous seasons, buffy had to center others - angel, riley, the scoobies, dawn. in her dynamic with others, she had to be the giver and someone others needed. this affected her as a slayer too. slayer buffy had to be self-sacrificial and accommodating.

but with spike, she is herself. she is both the good and the bad parts of her identity. she does not pretend or try hard. and he is the only one who is the giver for her, the only one who accommodates her and the only one who just needs buffy to be buffy.

i'd say it's partially his support that allows slayer buffy to be a leader instead of a sacrificial lamb.

[sunnydalesentinel]

RANT: It constantly amazes me how Bangel shippers and Spike haters use a different set of rules for soulless Angel. Spike is basically the same thing as Angelus, no soul. Season 7 Spike is the same as Angel, has a soul (ignoring how they each got their soul!)

I've just rewatched Season 2 of BtVS and here's a list of everything Angelus did to hurt or terrorise Buffy and her friends:

- Crushed her by saying she wasn't good at sex

- Stalked Buffy and her friends

- Drew Buffy while she slept and left it for her to find

- Drew Joyce while she slept and left it for Buffy to find

- Tried to enter Buffy's house (to kill Joyce?) but was stopped by Willow's spell

- Killed Willow's fish in her bedroom (he didn't just leave them in the tank, he put them in an envelope so she knew it was him)

- Sent Buffy roses on Valentines Day with a threatening note

- Went to the school to do god knows what to her, but fortunately was possessed by a ghost instead

- Tried to visit Buffy in hospital, but Xander stopped him

- Murdered Jenny, displayed the body with roses and champagne for Giles to find

- Drew Jenny's corpse and left it for Giles to find

- Sent Dru and minions to the library which resulted in Xander's broken arm, Willow in hospital and Kendra's death

- Tortured Giles

- Tried to kill Buffy with a sword through her face

- Tried to end the world

But it's okay because he was ANGELUS and it's perfectly fine for Buffy to forgive him, gloss over it all and be in a relationship with him again in Season 3 because he has a soul once more.

Do those same rules apply to Spike, even when Buffy herself applies them in Season 7 when she finds out Spike has a soul now? No, of course not!

Maybe it's as simple as Spike just having a different name for these people? If he'd shown up in Season 7 and said, "I now call myself Cherub" they'd all be okay with it?

[loseremzo]

been thinking a lot about the original script for season 7 episode 9 “Never Leave Me”.

The scene where Buffy and Spike are talking in the basement and he’s telling her to kill him, the original scripts actually goes a little more onto Buffy and WHY she wont skill him, beyond the soul.

She literally says that she isnt going to kill him because she saw him change BEFORE THE SOUL. that she believed in the man he could be beyond his monster BEFORE HIS SOUL.

They also bring in the attempt r*pe in season 6. Like they kinda talk about it in relation to who she believes he can be and in questioning him. The rest of season seven, if memory serves me correct, they NEVER talk about it. Buffy talks to others about it and its mentioned before but Spike and Buffy never really explicitly talk about it, but in the original script for this episode THEY DID. We get Buffy’s thoughts and a little of her forgiveness AND WHY she forgave him.

Not simply because of his soul, or because he knew it was so wrong that he actually needed the soul, but because she saw he was TRYING to change. Just like she was TRYING all season.

(this is about to become a deep appreciation/analysis for season 6 and 7.)

The entirety of season 6 is about trying. Trying to be better. Trying to be normal and trying to overcome your depression/heal. trying to have control and power. trying not to repeat cycles.

AND in some part failing. Spike tries too hard and ends up hurting the girl. Buffy trying and still it doesn’t feel like enough, trying and failing to get her feet on the ground until the very end of the season. Willow trying to be in control of both the things around her and of her power and failing as she gives in into the darkness. Xander trying to not be his father, not hurt those around him, specifically Anya, and in that attempt he fails and hurts her anyway.

Now, you can come at season 7 for lazy writing or bad villains but im a season 7 apologist and lover (i rewatch it all the time. i love it unapologetically) But it allows for all these characters to heal, to forgive themselves and/or others.

Spike gets to, in some capacity, forgive himself and prove his goodness. Starting the season feeling like the soul changed nothing, was “usless” in a sense because he couldn’t feel it, it couldn’t stop him. And ended the season literally saying “i can feel it” with such fucking amazement cause some part if him thought it wasn’t even there. He became the better version of himself that he wanted to be for Buffy as well.

Buffy was able to forgive Spike (very early in the season if you ask me) and was able to find/heal the softer, more loving part of herself. Was able to open herself up to a romantic interest (Spike). I mean, the look on her face when she tells Spike that he loves him isn’t just love, it’s surprised amazement that she can even feel that. And then at the end of the season, she’s able to be content because she’s got her fire, her passion, her emotions back AS WELL AS her autonomy, in a way, an ability to control her destiny and what she now can do.

Willow gains the proper control over her power, tries to not give into the darkness AND SUCCEEDS. She ends up forgiving herself for everything the year before and comes to terms with her grief, which is a big step in terms of her power and control in herself. She fully harnesses her power in the final to become what can only be described as a being of light, completely contrasting her transformation in the previous season.

Xander this season is full of compassion, protectiveness and kind words. (this is a main overview of Xander’s character. I will not be going into criticisms, just like I didn’t with other characters.) He spends the season breaking the cycle of abuse that he has experienced, he’s apologetic to Anya, he give Dawn his kind words, being protective of Buffy. For the most part he’s not rude to anyone, barely even Spike. He’s put off by him and judgmental/distrusting for obvious reasons but I don’t remember him being outright mean as he was in other seasons, instead, he houses him for a few episodes and, dare I say, bonds with him. Hell I don’t think he even says a lot in the group confrontation with Buffy.

Anyway, this was originally a draft about the original script to the Spuffy scene at the end of “Never Leave Me” and became a big vent/appreciation for all that season 7 does for these characters. There are characters I left out simply because I haven’t read or gathered enough opinion or overview of their character, but feel free to share your thoughts. (please im so bored at work right now)

[wynsummers]

felt like combining two of my biggest interests so this is my ranking of buffy characters by how much they would enjoy the rocky horror picture show

honorable mention - anya. i can't decide if anya would love or hate rocky. the more chaos-loving anyanka side of her would have a lot of fun with it, but i think she might also hate the idea of going to see a movie only to have it talked over by a bunch of hecklers. especially if she went to a theater where they throw/spray props. so i guess it would depend on whether she went to a showing for the experience or the film itself.

9. angel would walk in, sit in the back row, stare with an intense face at the screen for the entire hour and forty minutes of the film and then stand up and leave without saying a word. he would never come back.

8. xander - xander would enjoy rocky for all of the wrong reasons. he is the cishet man who only goes to see the lingerie-clad women. i've met so many xanders in my time. they always have that smug laugh when someone tries to interact with them, but they're too cool to do anything that they can't use to (attempt to) impress a woman

7. cordelia - i don't think rocky is really cordy's scene, no disrespect intended. i think she could have a good time but some of the more extreme traditions might put her off (especially if someone threw/sprayed something at her, i think she would hate that). she would look at it as that fun thing she did once, probably because someone invited her. that being said, though, if she ended up in a shadowcast, she would put her entire heart and soul into playing janet.

6. oz - i can't explain it but oz is both too cool not to be at rocky and too cool to be at rocky. like, oz has been going to rocky every week for two years but the scoobies only find out when they go as a group and everyone in the theater knows him already. i don't think he's ever said a callback in his life but he definitely has a bunch of them memorized

5. buffy - ok now hear me out. buffy needs something like rocky in her life. she needs a place where she can unwind, yell loudly, dance around, and just have fun. i don't think she'd be super into it right away, but i don't think it would take long for her to get into the rhythm of it. i can't see her going so far as to be in a shadowcast, but i can totally see her being a frequent audience member who tells all of her friends about this awesome thing she found

4. tara - listen, tara is a lesbian witch in college. rocky was made for her. season 4 tara is too shy to participate, but i can see it being a place she returns to a lot, and season 6 tara is definitely in the front row of the theater every friday gleefully yelling at the screen. she might even dress up as janet or magenta (shoutout amber benson for performing toucha touch me)

3. willow - this may be controversial, since early seasons willow is kind of reserved and seems like she would be really overwhelmed by rocky. but often that's the exact kind of person who thrives in rocky the most because it gives them a chance to come out of their shell. at her first show, she probably wouldn't participate at all, but something would compel her to come back, and slowly but surely, she'd start doing more. cut to a few months later and she's going full vampire willow in a theater full of people. i think later seasons willow wouldn't have as difficult of a time at first but i still don't think she'd get into it right away. but once she got it, she'd be a regular for life

2. spike - i think spike has been going to the shows for a long time; it's definitely his scene. it wouldn't surprise me if he invented some of the callbacks. yelling stupid snarky shit at a movie screen is so him. i don't know if i can see him dressing up as a character though.

giles - obviously. fucking obviously. in his ripper days he was frank at his local theater and he still goes to the shows all the time. maybe on special occasions they bring him back as frank for a special show. it wouldn't surprise me if he saw the rocky horror show before it was a movie. if buffy and the scoobies found out about his double life they would faint. (if you haven't seen anthony head as frank, do yourself a favor and look it up)

[elysianholly]

Why Spuffy

Decided to put this here so I can find it more easily. Originally answered on r/Fanfic: What is your OTP?

Why? There are a lot of assumptions made about Spike/Spuffy fans. Like, we're just whores for good cheekbones. We're blinded by Spike's abs. We're all just abuse victims waiting to fall in love with the wrong person. And honestly, after 2+ decades of this nonsense, it'd be nice to just say: "read this then get back to me."

So. What is your OTP?

Buffy/Spike from BtVS. They've owned my heart for more than 20 years and show no signs of slowing down.

At first, it was the enemies-to-lovers thing. I've always been a sucker for that. Especially for a villain who turns to mush for a hero in the falling process. That is still true, but my love for them has become more nuanced the older I've gotten. I just turned 39; I fell in love with Spuffy when I was 17. What I love most about them today is that their history as enemies means they know each other better than anyone, have seen each other's faults, have done the worst things they could do to each other, and have a very honest, non-rosy view of their relationship. Spike is also the only man in Buffy's life (on the show; I'm not counting comics) who owns the hurt he's caused without making it her fault or imposing his view of things and convincing her he's right. He shows her that loving her doesn't always mean sacrifice or suffering, the way it was with Angel or Riley, but that she can make someone want to be better. And he also knows her well enough to know she will assume the responsibility of the soul he sought for himself (the most effective and tortuous sentence for the demon who hurt her), so he first tries to hide it from her, then encourages her when she starts dating Robin Wood that she owes him nothing, that she doesn't need to consider his feelings. It's the first time someone she's been intimate with has not been petty or jealous at the thought of her moving on. And because he has seen the best and worst in her, when he says he loves her, it's with a view of the whole person Buffy is.

And for Buffy, loving Spike is about loving herself. He was her outlet for her depression, a representation of all the bad things she thought about herself when she was at her lowest, and she punished him for that. She was conditioned to believe her friends' acceptance of her had strings attached. By Season 7, after she has come to peace with the worst thing she went through, she is no longer apologizing for herself or making excuses. She is unapologetically in charge. Loving Spike means loving the parts of her she always thought were ugly or twisted or irredeemable, going all the way back to how she carried the burden of Angel having lost his soul when she was a 17-year-old girl in love and had no idea what was going to happen. Furthermore, how she was made to feel responsible (side-eyeing Xander here; Giles and Willow get a pass but Xander was the most egregious offender). She also assumed the responsibility for her relationship with Riley falling apart even after he negged, gaslit, and cheated on her. Spike showed Buffy that she is not the problem in relationships, and allowing herself to love him meant an acceptance of self she struggled to find throughout the course of the show. In the end, after bringing out the worst in each other when they were at their worst, they learned to bring out the best in each other. It's just beautiful.

And that's why Spuffy, friends.

[notebooks-and-laptops]

Okay so. It seems I'm in the minority about not liking the Spike-With-A-Soul plot. I've not really interacted with the Buffy fandom before this so its wild to me this is how people view it. Because the thing is...

Buffy is at its best, always, when it rejects the concept of ontological evil Vs good and of all the shows from that era (charmed is a big one that comes to mind) I think Buffy when it got a few seasons under its belt was one of the best shows at rejecting the ontological evil Vs ontological good mindset despite the fact that it's a monster of the week show. Oz, Buffy, Faith, Spike, Buffy, Willow, Harmony, Xander, Riley, Anya, Warren, Jonathan, Andrew - all of these characters are continuously used to show moral complexity, particularly that goodness is a choice and what does it mean to be a harm to others?

And spike epitomises that. He is the monster who suddenly had to deal with not being allowed to kill people; which led him to form bonds (particularly with Buffy and Dawn, but I'd argue he makes bonds with the rest of the Scoobies bar maybe Xander too) which led him into empathy and trying to do good even when it came at his own expense. There is this lingering question by season 6 with spike; if you removed his chip would he go back to how he was in season 2? Would he kill and maime and torture, or would he make the choice to be good just like the rest of the Scoobies have to do daily even when giving in would be easier.

And I think spike would have a wobble sure, very Anya esque in that regard, but I think he'd ultimately just like Anya NOT find it easy to go back to being 'evil' after having his chip removed even without a soul. And the lore implications to that are FACINATING and way cooler to explore than like. Soul = good, not soul = bad.

And also...I know people are like 'he was irredmiable after seeing red so it had to happen so we could like him again' but uhhhh that's actually one of the reasons I DONT like spike getting a soul. It really feels like the writers wanted a cop out, a way for us to go on shipping and engaging with Spuffy and absolve Spike. See he did a terrible thing but he can still be your pathetic little favourite wet man because we gave him a get out of jail free card! And that's just...kinda nothing to me? I mean sure he worked for that soul, did the trials, but it's not the same as actively having to deal with doing a terrible, unforgivable thing and where you go from there. It's just. It feels so cheap. Like they wanted the 'edgy, brutal' scene but they didn't ACTUALLY want the consequences so oops he's got a soul now don't worry about it he can still be your fav little guy. (And yeah, I mean. I do think the writers would have struggled with spike after seeing red if they didn't do something drastic - but if they weren't willing to grapple with it they shouldn't have done it, otherwise it just feels even more ick to me ya know.)

Idk I like season 7 for what it is but I think ultimately it was a backslide from so many interesting things set up in season 6, even willow kinda goes back to having good Vs bad sides rather than just being a complex individual with capacity for both. And spike is the Biggie for me because I'd have MUCH rather had the plot of 'buffy removes spikes chip and trusts that he's become a better person and doesn't need it anymore' than 'spike has a soul now so he's chill'. Also I think it would have made his plot with the first and potential killing waaaaay more engaging if they hadn't been able to write it off with 'but he has a SOUL now'.

(I think a really interesting plot would have been everyone THINKS spike has a soul even spike but it turns out he DOESNT and what the fuck does THAT mean?)

[not-playable-character]

Hot take: Buffy should have ended with season 5. And I will die on that hill. It was such a good stopping place for the series and ended so well.

Not to mention all the horrible things the writers did to the characters in season 6, ie. Xander leaving Anya at the alter, buffy being tortured for the whole season, willow and spike committing sexual assault, Giles leaving for England, Anya's whole character regression. Not great imo, granted there were some good episodes

Edit: I feel as though I should clarify, I DONT like that Buffy died at the end of season 5 BUT, I prefer the bittersweet ending compared to s6 and 7 (I didn't even watch 7 because I disliked 6 so much)

[coraniaid]

🔥 for Drusilla

So, for context, as I'm sure you know: I like Drusilla a lot. She is perhaps my favorite vampire on the whole show, for all that she's only actually in barely a dozen episodes.

I've said before -- and I very much still think -- that in a better world she'd have been the primary villain of Season 7. If nothing else, it's a real shame that she basically ceases to exist after Crush (yes, she appears in some flashbacks in later episodes but her actual arc just abruptly stops on both Buffy and Angel; we don't ever get to see how she reacts to Darla's final death or see her meet Connor or find out about Spike getting a soul). I know the story is that Juliet Landau was reluctant to appear again outside of flashbacks in case her character was killed off, which is understandable, but the practical effect is that ... well, she may as well have been killed off for all the impact she has in the final few seasons of both shows.

But, that being said, my actual hot take is that -- while, granted, I've not ever looked especially hard for the good stuff -- all of the popular Drusilla headcanons and fan takes I've seen on Tumblr are kind of ... um. Well, I'm not sure how to put this tactfully, but to me they are almost kind of insulting? They just don't engage with Drusilla's established character at all.

To me, Drusilla is compelling because of her thematic connection with Buffy as established throughout Season 2 -- yes, pretty much everyone on the show who isn't Buffy has one, but I think Drusilla's is more interesting than most -- and because of the occasional hints that this connection is more than thematic ("I only dreamed you'd come", say) and because she is at one and the same time both a victim and a monster: somebody who remembers weeping that she didn't want to be "an evil thing" and hates the vampire who killed her family but who also sneaks out at night to try to kill small children and delights in being given human hearts to eat by that very same vampire.

And yes, of course, she's in love with Spike and she's got these very complicated relationships with both Angel(us) and later Darla -- she tortures Angel in revenge for murdering her family, but more than any other vampire she talks about siring and being sired as if it is a parental relationship -- but I'd argue pretty strongly she's not defined by any one of these relationships. She isn't just Angel's innocent victim or Spike's doting girlfriend or Darla's wacky sidekick. These things aren't the totality of her character, and the fact she's capable of love -- a fierce, possessive, selfish kind of love -- certainly doesn't make her a better person. Above all, she's not secretly nice.

And yet it sometimes feel like everybody who was posts about Drusilla on Tumblr must have seen some other (much more boring) version of the character than I did.

Because the thing is -- at least in my corner of Tumblr -- everyone seems to like Drusilla. But many people seem to "like her" in a kind of superficial way that flattens her character utterly beyond recognition. I often think that for a lot of people on here, liking a character means pretending they have no flaws or waving away every awful thing they do (because "the writers made them do it!" ... which, while technically true, rather misses the point of ... well, all of fiction) or inventing dubious virtues they certainly don't have on the show.

So the Drusilla headcanons I tend to see are all things that position her as something other than a monster. That shave away all her interesting sharp edges. I've seen people insist she secretly broke up with Spike for his own good despite still being in love with him (which ... well, no? come on), or that she foretold the end of Chosen before even siring him (... Dru canonically wants to end the world; she tries to do that more times than any other Big Bad! if she knew what was coming she'd have been rooting for the First!) or posting various post-Becoming ideas about Buffy and Drusilla and Kendra that just completely refuse to engage with the fact that Drusilla killed Kendra and left her body for Buffy to find in the library (I know Buffy doesn't ever talk about Kendra after Season 2, which is a whole other thing, but I really don't think she'd start making out with Kendra's murderer under any circumstances whatsoever).

And to be honest it's all just a little depressing. As I said, I do like Drusilla a lot, but I like the version of her who actually appears in the show. The one who, yes, remembers not wanting to be an evil thing but also definitely is one ("I'm not a person", as she says in Lie To Me). The one who kills teenage girls and is cruel and capricious and angry; who threatens and tortures her own allies and isn't secretly driven by any nobler feelings or higher purpose even a little bit. And so much of fandom seems determined not to even acknowledge that that version of the character even exists.

(Admittedly I haven't ever seen it in the wild yet, but I would not be completely shocked to one day read a take saying Drusilla was a better friend to Buffy than Willow or Xander ever was. I mean, she does interact with Buffy more than Oz ever does, and there are parts of the fandom that already make this argument for him...)

Hmm. Actually, as I write this I recall there is in fact one good Drusilla headcanon I read on here a while ago (I think a couple of years ago? I'm afraid I can't remember who said it or I'd give credit properly). A take that both perfectly fits the supporting evidence of the show and makes sense with what we're told about who Drusilla is as a person and doesn't distort her character beyond all recognition.

Dru definitely stole Spike's car when she left Sunnydale at the end of Crush, and that's why we never see it on screen in the show again. That is a good headcanon which I completely accept.

It's a shame that she then drove off into the night and was never seen again.

[nicollekidman]

Abby have you given a #take on 6x19 Buffy/Spike? my only knowledge of spuffy really is a huge tumblr controversy back in the day about this ep.

this is one of the most controversial episodes of all time and for good reason sdkfjgh in the simplest, least nuanced, most "done with it" terms......i think it is more than likely that particular plot point was contrived out of a place of malice for both spike/james and sarah, but i don't have an issue with it occurring within context, and don't think it's as out of character as people often say it is. i think it goes on too long (should've stopped when she crashes against the tub), is set at a weird point in the episode, is INSANE to combine with the other horrible event in this episode, and is handled badly by every other supporting character, but i'm not upset that it exists.

the steps leading up to this point have been well established, and the breaking point fits into my view of spike as essentially a wholly unique creature, a man constantly grappling with the instincts of a wild animal, who has built his entire moral code and guidelines for acceptable behavior around a woman who has conditioned him to ignore anything she says verbally and to accept her disdain/hatred as continued interest. it was never going to be analogous to real life because that is not the world they're inhabiting, and i think the way HE deals with being shaken out of the moment says more about his character than the attempted incident itself, so i don't love the idea that it's "out of character" even though obviously i get it (with the HEAVY caveat that i personally do not think that spike was aware of what he was doing as such, and that the Realization of reality is what sparks everything else).

i take voracious issue with how xander handles it (it's fuck xander lives 24/7 in this house) and what it continues to say about buffy (and women's) desire/sex, but i think i have made it make sense to me, both as a culmination of buffy's treatment of spike (and herself) in season six, and a necessary motivation for spike leading into season seven. so like. within the text, i have very few issues with it. as something created and deployed by joss whedon? one of the many reasons why he should kill himself.

[meltedbrains]

Dawn summers - the child that you weren't, the woman that you are

Often overlooked and maligned by fans and the writers (it's not her fault that they didn't know what to do with her until S5).

Nonetheless she is an interesting character and an important part of BtVS. I don't have a lot of anylsis this is mostly an appreciation post. Dawn is often accused of being a whiny brat, and to those accusers I say, so what? She's the kid sister of a literal chosen one, up till age ten(?) she lives in the shadow of her beautiful and popular older sister then Buffy becomes the slayer and the shadow becomes larger and darker than ever. Without meaning to Buffy steals the attention, good and bad.

Imagine finding out, on top of all that, that you're not real, a fake identity created less than a year ago, a magical clone of the sister you've always been passed over for. And then your mother gets sick and dies. All while a ruthless and powerful Goddess hunts you down to kill you. It's a rough life kid.

It's been mentioned before that Dawn represents Buffy's innocence, a tangible manifestation of the people Buffy is tasked to protect and the part of Buffy that she often feels is lost and must be sheltered from the world. But Dawn is an active character, she reminds Buffy of herself, weak and helpless, but also of her humanity; not just a slayer, but also a daughter, sister and friend.

Whether a feature of the spell or a quirk of the writing Dawn and Buffy mirror each other in S5-7. They both grapple with their identity and whether they are loved or just needed. In S6 they both struggle to adjust to a new world order; forced into a world that no longer needs them, Dawn turns to stealing, Buffy to hate-fueled sex. Then in S7 both take on a leadership role with the potentials, inspiring them to take ownership of their power, and shutting them down when needed "shut your damn mouth".

Throughout these ups and downs they remain loving sisters, bonded with blood and experience. Notable moments include Tabula Rasa, "the hardest thing in the world is to live in it", "Summer's blood", 'I want to show you the world', "I missed the heart too", "the hardest thing in the world is to live in it" (reprise), Conversations with Dead People, and Dawn cleaning Buffy after she returns in S6.

Michelle Trachtenberg shines when the writers highlight her insecurities: not as strong or beautiful as Buffy or Willow or the potential slayers, not as useful or funny as Xander, pushed aside by Buffy as either an annoyance or yet another responsibility. Yet Dawn also has an inner strength that she finds over the seasons, she is able to stand up for herself, and for and against Buffy. Standing up to the police in Dirty Girls (obligatory acab) and Tara's family in Tabula Rasa; tasering Xander, returning to Sunnydale and kicking Buffy in the shins in End of Days; threatening Spike in Beneath You. The girl has iron in her.

Both Dawn and Buffy have to grow up fast, they are both thrust into being powerful beings with enormous responsibility before the age of 16, they lose their mother (the only parent they have) and have to learn responsibility while their peers have fun. Even without being a magical construct Dawn's childhood was cut short, even with Buffy, Willow, Tara, Giles doing their best to protect her from the weight of responsibility.

From teenager, to nothing, to adult, she barely stood a chance.

And yet she stands.

[roseraintears]

„ Chosen“, thoughts:

Buffy trying to get Dawn out of Sunnydale before Apocalypse makes Sense considering Glory and Dark Willow almost killed her

Caleb should have appeared earlier in the Season, he`s such a cool

villain but we dont get to see that much of him

Buffy just wanting a stable relationship….honestly its what she deserves after 7 Seasons

Love how we dont get some plot were Spike is jealous of Buffy and Angel the entire episode that would have seemed forced

I kinda wished the whole „Hell army“ was made up of more than just stronger Vampires, they all just look the same

Buffy calling Willow more powerful than the ancient watchers, the trust she has in her best friend, for me thats a Buffy and Willow friendship moment

Willows spell activating, all of the slayers, after Dark Willow claimed that „she got to be the slayer“, going from being consumed by her own power to grantint power to others, plays really well into her redemption

Okay….but wouldn`t it be a good idea to guard the room Willow is in? Especially when shes weak and disoriented from her spell. I know the Vampire army is more focused on the Slayers in the hallway but what if one of them decides check the rooms for more enemies?

Andrew should have died instead of Anya or she should have died sacrificing herself in battle, point is her death felt disrespectful to her character

Xanders reaction also feels off, he yells her name twice and then leaves , he dated her for years and barely shows any emotions over loosing her (Also no reaction from Buffy and Willow who also knew her for years??)

Buffy being in reach of a more healthy relationship with Spike compared to Season 6 just for him to sacrifice himself sucks

[thylilies]

i hate bangel and i hate willow and xander.

i feel like the show never touches on how weird it is that Buffy who is what 16? in the beginning dating this really old vampire. nothing wrong with dating vamps, but their relationship is just icky. Angel was around 26/27 when he was turned and fell for Buffy who was like I said 16 when they dated, but she was probably at least 15 when he first saw her. another icky thing about bangel to me was how his moment of true fulfilment or happiness or wtv was sex with Buffy. Nothing else, but sex? like how fucked up is that.

willow and xander always annoyed me. willow i enjoyed her character a lot in the earlier seasons, but to call them good friends is an overstatement. buffy wasn’t perfect either, but she was a good friend. their whole kissing storyline was just what. i felt so bad for oz and cordelia, cause that was so pointless, if i remember correctly they never even date - cause willow and oz make it work, while xander and cordelia don’t.

my issue with xander is literally just the character he is alone. he has weird lesbian fantasies about willow and tara (while he’s with anya i believe) and then about slayers which many are underage. he was always jealous in a way of Buffy or Angel or just their relationship. he didn’t support it, but not because it was an unethical relationship, but because he wanted buffy to be into him. the whole spell thing he did to get cordelia back (i think?) was also an odd episode and he shouldn’t be praised for not using buffy in such a vulnerable moment.

willow pissed me off mainly in the later seasons, the audacity to be upset with oz after he slept with the werewolf chick ??? they weren’t dating and it wasn’t even fully consensual on his part. she brought buffy back (alongside xander and anya and i think tara) and while their intentions were good no one apologised or felt bad that they took her out of possible heaven or place of peace. only tara brought it up and willow suggested making buffy forget — which is insane, as buffy was nowhere near this conversation and was traumatised from coming back and digging herself out of the grave, she was depressed and hated herself. and we all know willow can and will do spells on her loved ones without their permission — like making tara forget their fight. i think that’s it insane that that was willow’s first response in both situations.

but overall in relation to buffy — they aren’t supportive and while your friends can’t be supportive 24/7, they were never supportive. they were never really there, they didn’t see buffy as her full self, they literally kicked her out of her own house and brought her back to life after spending all her funds ? AND TOLD HER TO GO TO WORK. they constantly shamed her for her decisions.

also the way nobody noticed faith took over buffy’s body??? literally even spike did??? sure he only talks about i when he actually meets faith, but wtf.

[quasi-normalcy]

Thoughts on Buffy, season 7

The frustrating thing is that the first 8 or so episodes are all really good (yes, even "Him", which, admittedly, I primarily like because it shows that apparently Willow can perform a magical sex change)

Really kind of wish that they had stuck with the friends that Dawn made in the first episode, and done more of a "full-circle" type thing with the high school plots

The Potentials are so bad though! Only Kennedy is actually given any personality, and the personality that they give her is terrible

Surprised that I actually liked Andrew this season. I remember thinking he was funny, but then I was completely repulsed by the Trio when I rewatched season 6 given the context of the last 20 years

Except it doesn't stay bad. Caleb is actually pretty fun as a villain. Too bad that this leaves a stretch of about ten episodes in the middle of the season where nothing really happens.

Why did the First need Andrew and Jonathan (and Spike) to open the seal, if apparently anyone's blood, including that of a random pig, would do? Why didn't it just get Spike to kill someone over the seal while he was in a fugue state? I don't usually get hung up on plotholes, but I was wondering it the entire season

Earlier I'd said I don't really "ship" Buffy with anyone. I have to amend that, however, as I had forgotten Robin Wood. Yeah, okay, I ship her with Robin Wood.

Actually, Principal Wood was probably the highlight of the season for me.

...I could have sworn (1) that Faith showed up way sooner, and (2) that her, Andrew, and Robin Wood made it to the opening credits before the end of the season, but no

I guess Faith was off dealing with a different Apocalypse on Angel season 4 (which I also remember as being kinda bad)

Poor, poor Anya

It bugs me how much the finale depended on random plot coupons that got added to the lore at literally the last minute.

Especially that Slayer Scythe, which is supposed to be thousands of years old, but has pretty clearly been riveted with industrial machinery, looks like it's been spraypainted red, and has the overall aesthetics of a '50s diner.

[skyegraves21]

Basically i want the way Buffy is sweet to Spike in season 7 to transfer to season 4 starved and tortured Spike.

Wood dusts spike just in time for Buffy to walk in and see, in her absolute rage and devastation of a betrayal too many and on the cusp of understanding her true feelings as she ran to find Spike in time she is sent back in time to ‘Pangs’ as Spike knocks on the door.

Damn near hysterical with rage still she demands Giles let’s him in and tries to sooth and comfort Spike but keeps getting interrupted.

She finally snaps and starts screaming for Halfrek. When she doesn’t come she looks at Anya and demands she helps do Anya starts yelling for Hallie.

She shows up flustered but trying to be cool. Buffy says she knows she more then earned justice and Hallie owes ‘William’ here a favor anyway. (Cue spike and hallie eyeing each other like oh it’s you 😳)

Hallie agrees and Buffy thinks about it.

She ends up wishing that:

- anyone who purposefully hurts spike because he’s defenseless should earn the same zap as the chip, especially her

- the chip can be removed with a pass phrase she decides in her head at a later time

- Spike to have a new ring that only makes him invulnerable to sunlight

Everyone loses their shit and Buffy ends up calling her mom to shame everyone to treating Spike with respect and agrees he can stay at the house until he’s back on her feet

Buffy feeds Spike her blood

Spike goes with everything cause he kinda just assumes at this point it’s a fever dream

Spike does get mad eventually that Buffy is trying to force him to be her pet. They eventually finagle a truce of one month. Buffy says he can leave and do whatever he wants and she’ll even remove the chip if he promised to leave town but she’d like to spend a little time with him and he needs to recover for a bit anyways. And he can help her take down the initiative since he can fight demons and any of the commandos would get a zap if they tried to attack him

Obviously Buffy would earn Spike’s trust and respect before the month is up and she works really hard to treat Spike better earlier and they are becoming pretty good friends by the end and maybe understand they will eventually become more.

Lots of Buffy, Joyce, and Spike time.

Buffy ripping into the scoobies

-and Angel

At least one scene where Buffy and Spike sit on her porch when they have a heart to heart

The phrase to get rid of his chip is ‘kitten poker’