#the reason I care: buffy is my favorite show

[coraniaid]

Reverse Unpopular Opinion: Season Four of BtVS

[Reverse unpopular opinion meme.]

I’ve been (very, very slowly) rewatching Season 4 on and off all year (and occasionally writing Tumblr posts complaining about this very process about the episodes I’ve been watching), and I think it’s fair to say that this is definitely not the best way to enjoy any season of television.  

That being said, I feel I’d be lying at this point if I pretended this was my absolute favorite season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  In hindsight, the show was in a strange transitory place this year: having lost some of the grounding framework that the high school setting gave the first three seasons of the show – as well as having suddenly lost some of its actors and writers to the new Angel spin-off – and not yet having quite figured out what it was going to do instead.  One can imagine some alternate reality where the show ended up taking a very different direction after this season.

That being said, here are five things I like a lot about Season 4, with as few caveats as I can manage:

I think the opening four episodes of this season – The Freshman, Living Conditions, The Harsh Light Of Day, Fear Itself – are as strong as, if not stronger than, the first four episodes of any other season of the show.  Every other season has at least one dodgy episode in this opening block – in fact Season 3, my favorite season of them all, manages to have two of them! – but where is the bad episode here?  The Freshman is a criminally underrated season opener.  Living Conditions is a fun character episode and a great showcase for SMG to act in ways she doesn’t normally get to on this show.  Fear Itself is the best Halloween episode the show ever did and it’s not even especially close.  The Harsh Light Of Day is my least favorite of the four, for reasons I guess it would be against the spirit of the game to go into, but I certainly wouldn’t say it was a bad episode by any means.  Perhaps none of these episodes would trouble my personal top ten, but they are four very solid episodes nonetheless.

While Anya had of course appeared in a handful of Season 3 episodes, I think Season 4 is the point where Emma Caulfield really makes the role her own.  This season’s version of the character – a blunt-speaking outsider whose romantic struggles are often deliberately contrasted with Buffy’s own [in the aforementioned The Harsh Light Of Day, for example] and who is inexplicably attracted to Xander Harris – could easily have come across as a fairly lazy attempt to replace Cordelia Chase, and I think it’s largely to Caulfield’s credit that she doesn’t.  Anya feels very much like her own person this season, and an increasingly integral member of the group.  It’s a performance that retroactively redefines the character: of course this is who Anya is.  Of course she always acted this way. It's only when you back and rewatch The Wish or Doppelgangland that you realize she didn't. And I think it’s pretty obvious, for example, that when people [e.g. people like me] go back to write Season 3 fanfiction where Anya features more heavily than in canon they [again, meaning me] invariably end up writing the Season 4 version of the character instead.  Anyanka might have appeared for the first time in Season 3, but Anya belongs to Season 4.

I really like how important to the show Willow has become at this point and how much of this season is all about her.  Just go back and look at the first season, in which Willow is arguably the member of the Core Four the writers cared least about – when she existed mainly to nurse a sad unrequited crush on Xander and to be good with computers when the plot required someone to be – and then compare that to this season, where she is Buffy’s best friend and roommate, unambiguously the second most important Scooby, and the center of a – genuinely pretty groundbreaking for the time – .season long subplot about coming out as a lesbian.  And of course Amber Benson is great as Tara too.  I’ve criticized the character of Oz for being very transparently written just to be Willow’s Nice Supportive Boyfriend and never becoming much more than that, and on paper you could level the same sort of charge at Tara.  And sure, obviously she was written to be Willow’s girlfriend and it’s impossible to seriously pretend otherwise.  But I think Tara manages to become a more rounded character than Oz very quickly. Even in this season, when she doesn’t yet have much connection to the others (she will, later, go on to become a key member of the group and a friend of Buffy's in ways I don’t think Oz was) she feels a little more complex than he did.

Faith is in this season!  I don’t just mean in the two parter This Year’s Girl / Who Are You? either. Of course, both of these episodes are great: the scene in the church in Who Are You? In which Faith (in Buffy’s body) breaks down while fighting Buffy (in Faith’s body), -- screaming repeatedly at her own reflection that she’s “nothing”, “disgusting”, and a "murderous bitch" -- is one of my favorites in the whole show.  But Faith feels like a real presence in the show even in the episodes she’s not actually in herself.  Unlike Kendra or Jenny in previous seasons, or even Cordelia the season, the other characters still talk about her and remember she existed when it’s appropriate that they do so (and in a way that they won’t really do again until … well, until Faith comes back in Season 7’s Dirty Girls).

Finally, Restless is possibly the best episode the show ever did, and certainly one of its most creative.  Willow’s dream sequence in particular is fantastically well done. I think this might be my favorite single act in all of Buffy.  Why this all works for me – apart from the fact that the show now has years of history to fall back on and reference – is that it’s an example of the show being utterly unafraid to play to its strengths.  Characterisation, dream sequences, dialogue, foreshadowing, oddly striking visuals, random moments of comedy … these – rather than tightly written plots or rigorously consistent world-building or anything that requires a working knowledge of world history or how the US military functions or what capitalism actually is – are the show’s strengths.  So Restless embraces all of these elements, and just doesn’t bother with anything else.  And the result is a season finale that – by virtue of not really being a season finale at all, at least according to the usual rules – is not quite like any other season finale the show ever did.  Which is, on reflection, a pretty fitting end to Season 4, a season of the show not quite like any of the others. 

[still-a-morosexual-help]

New rec: Choices book I actively avoided for years because the cover art gives "supernatural love triangle between the 'nice guy' & the 'bad boy'" and it's a trope I despise except turns out I'm an idiot because holy shit this was one of my favourite books

For one, the vampire lore is unique? Or at least uncommon enough that it feels like something new. It's even different from Choices' other vampire series

Second? Both LIs are wrong about their view on vampires and actually have to come to terms with this and learn to change and grow throughout the series. If anything, MC's the only one who's got it right. Both LIs have their own flaws & trauma while still being interesting and likeable characters and neither one is pushed above the other as being "the correct choice".

It also doesn't make the "bad boy" so antagonistic towards MC and the "nice guy" so sweet that it makes no sense for MC to pick the bad boy (*cough*choices' save the date*cough* my favourite is the antagonistic LI but also he's so hot & cold towards MC and a jerk to her for no real reason???). MC clicks with both of them in a different way and there's enough reason for MC to choose either one of them. It actually shows why MC needs both of them

Also, MC is initially built up in a way before they interact with the LIs so that all of their decisions throughout the story actually make sense. They're responsible but also insanely competitive. Despite staying in line presumably throughout their life, they're drawn towards anything that'll give them a shot of adrenaline

Plus all three characters get their time to shine and MC's a fucking badass, honestly they're up there with om's MC as being one of the more interesting & fun to play MCs

And MY favourite, absolute favorite thing about this, the main thing that shot this up to one of my favourite choices stories:

MC makes a Buffy reference in this. That means at one point they watched and/or read Buffy and/or Angel, saw her get together with first the tortured ""good guy"" and then later the rebellious ""bad boy"", saw all the love triangle discourse in the fandom and said well that's fucking stupid, watch me introduce them both to the concept of polyamory that's right it's NOT a fucking love triangle

or it can be if you want it to, like you can choose one of the two LIs but the "true" route, the one where you get a charm each from both LIs and complete MC's charm bracelet (usually the indicator of a fully completed story in any choices book is to complete a set of something) is the one where MC picks both of them

There are also frequent instances where the choices are [no romantic option at all] and [romantic option for both LIs eg: holding both their hands]

And yeah the LIs aren't in love with each other and spend a lot of time competing for MC, something they do right until the very end of the book BUT at about the midway point they become a proper team and start talking about the three of them as an inseparable team making it very clear that if this doesn't end with MC choosing both of them it's gonna turn into a me and you and your friend steve situation.

And then when either one of them talks about how much they care about MC they start using "we" and "our" [eg: "that's our girl/boy" when the two LIs are alone together]

And then they start being as protective of each other as they are of MC

Cas screaming "don't touch him" when Gabriel gets attacked + Gabriel throwing himself over and shielding both MC & Cas when they get attacked

I'm not saying they're in love or that they'll ever fall in love but they are much much more okay with sharing a partner with each other than either one is willing to admit

anyway, this is them:

[burningexeter]

Since just like with a certain voice actress on a 2000s Cartoon Network show, there's not a lot of information on in this case writer/director Shane Acker, the man behind the dark, twisted, action-horror post-apocalyptic animated film 9 from you guessed it 2009.

So here's all the trivia that I could find on the guy if anyone's interested in reading for yourself:

• In an interview, Acker cut to the chase on why he hasn't directed a movie since aforementioned 2009 and here's what he said — "Have a lot of the movies I've been attached to as director fallen into development hell, yes. But the bigger reason is mainly personal, I've just been living my own life. I would absolutely love to direct another feature or anything really but at the same time, I'm enjoying what I already have in life. I'm kind of a schlub that way right down to the fact that I'd nowadays rather sit back on a nice Sunday, watch football and eat bacon and pepperoni pizza than deal with modern studio executives who probably get higher pay every time they yell and scream in your ear".

• He's already listed The Brothers Quay, Don Hertzfeldt, Jan Svankmajer and brothers Christoph Lauenstein as influences previously however recently he's named Terrence Malick, Edgar Wright, Gore Verbinski, Jordan Peele and Richard Kelly as some of his favorite filmmakers.

• Speaking of favorites, he's given some of his favorite movies — Donnie Darko, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Dredd, The Watcher In The Woods (1980) and The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian (surprisingly).... then he gave some his favorite TV shows — Tales From The Crypt, Bob's Burgers, Squid Game, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Sons Of Anarchy.

• When asked what was it like working with Tim Burton since he was producer, Acker spoke high praise saying "I would work with him again if the time comes. Tim was a phenomenal producer who allowed for so much creative freedom while at the same time contributing his unique voice and view to the project".

• On the flip side, here's what he thought of the other producer Timur Bekmambetov — "He was very, very, very, very, VERY fucking russian as all hell. I'm surprised he was a Hollywood producer..... he was quite the interesting person".

• He does indeed have an idea for a new project that he not only wants to do but intends on having it be his second film as director, describing it as "The Incredibles crossed with Raiders Of The Lost Ark, it's an animated action-adventure with edge we haven't seen since honestly the early 2010s. I'm still deciding on whether it should be another PG-13 or an actual R".

• On modern media, here's his blatant thoughts on it so tough shit to any dope who reads this and gets offended because of stupid reasons — "I think it's been awful. There's barely any genuine storytelling now and instead it's all politics. It's all about representation, obnoxious wokeness, pandering, subverting expectations and shoving as much modern bullshit themes into them than actually telling stories with characters who you care about".

• He's most certainly not a fan of a certain film called Star Wars: The Last Jedi — "I know this is saying quite a lot since I've only been able so far to direct one feature but honestly I wish Last Jedi was never made at this point. Not only is it a truly terrible movie but it's created so much hostility, so much shilling, so much toxicity that it becomes unbearable. If this is that film's legacy than it's a failure".

• There is however one positive about all of this and it's that the one movie that he's excited for and interested in — what is it....

[cuddlyreader]

I'd love to hear your top 7-10 OTPs! I'm guessing Leyton and Delena are both on the list?

Hello! I'm reusing my answer from an old post for this because I am proud of it. :)

Brenda and Dylan (Beverly Hills 90210) - As I have said before, I love Shannen Doherty. This show is the reason why. Brenda was my favorite character from day one, and her romance with Dylan was so intense and epic. This one has to be the first time an emotionally damaged character stole my heart. He needed her screaming and crying at him to understand that someone loves him because no one did until then. She needed his recklessness to temper her own. They grounded each other with their love.

Buffy and Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - Watching these two fall in love and be unable to resist it was so much fun. They were actually doomed from the start. I mean…a vampire and a vampire slayer…that has tragedy written all over it. She literally killed him, and he came back from a Hell world (sounds familiar). Then, they fell right back in love (hmm, also familiar). They loved so hard, and their world was always in peril, which kept the angst level pretty high. For years, Angel wallowed in the torment of guilt that his soul provided. She gave him a purpose…her purpose. Her entire reason for being was to save people. She made him want to do that, too. He made her realize that not all monsters are evil and not all “good” guys are good. In my mind, they found their way back to each other and lived happily ever after.

Willow and Tara (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - These two had the most beautiful and sweet love, and I am bitter that the idiot writer killed off Tara. Shy, bookish Willow really grew into a powerful and strong witch because of this relationship. She could fully be herself, and it was amazing. Tara, sweet Tara, was so kind and compassionate. She held Willow accountable in her magic, which turned out to be pretty important. I won’t even get into the fact that at this time, there was very little LGBTQ representation on television. Yep, I’m still angry.

Pacey and Joey (Dawson’s Creek) - Dawson’s Creek is my comfort show. I watch it all the way through several times a year. There is nothing that soothes me like it does. When this show aired, there was nothing more enjoyable than watching Pacey and Joey fall for each other against their own wishes. Pacey knew first, and he tried not to act on it for the sake of their friend Dawson (I won’t go into how annoyed that makes me given that Dawson didn’t want her.). Joey fought it with everything she had for the same reason and also because it was so real that it scared the hell out of her. He pushed her to grow and become the person she was meant to be, and she accepted him as is without any expectations other than they would do it together. They had the best dynamic. They bickered and laughed and cried, but they worked at their relationship like you do in grown-up relationships. Even when they broke up, they cared about each other consistently. My favorite episode is when they get stuck in K-Mart overnight. Joyously, they were also endgame.

Max and Liz (OG Roswell and Roswell, New Mexico) - By now, I have established that I love intense love. That’s exactly what og Max and Liz had. Liz was very structured and academically driven. Max was very closed off from everyone including Michael and Isabel. He opened her mind and heart to possibility. She made him feel and be open about it. They loved so intensely that even supposed alien fate couldn’t keep them apart. I was so sad the show was canceled so soon, but I am eternally grateful that they were endgame and that I got to see it. They sort of switched the emotional roles of new Max and Liz, which I like. They would still do anything for each other, so they are still my OTP. Admittedly, I haven’t watched the last season because I’m sad about it being the last.

Peyton and Lucas (One Tree Hill) - Look, they were always drawn to each other, but their timing was awful. I loved how no matter what, they were there for each other, even if it was just as friends. Peyton was the broken one in this relationship. She lost too much at too young an age. Feeling so deeply terrified her. And let’s face it, Lucas was intense. He felt everything and didn’t shy away from it. It was immensely gratifying to see them finally be happy together.

Logan and Veronica (Veronica Mars) - Logan was a real ass at the beginning of this show, and they were full-on enemies. So, I can honestly say I did not ship them at first. The metamorphosis that Logan goes through to be a better man is truly remarkable. To be fair, they both have emotional damage in this one. Veronica copes with her losses by saving others, but her love for Logan scares her. They both had to work out their own stuff before they could successfully be together. Thankfully, we got to see that they made it. I have no comment about the killing of my beloved Logan.

Damon and Elena (The Vampire Diaries) - Anyone that follows me knows that these two are my current obsession. Damon has literally spent over a century and a half being abandoned and rejected by his father, mother, brother, and love. To say that I love him is the understatement of the century. He had no intention of falling in love with Elena. He wanted to save Katherine, and her rejection nearly killed him. He feels everything so much that he can’t cope, and then he snaps. Elena saves him. Period. She makes him feel human because she treats him like one. She expects him to care and makes him want to do better. And he does, starting with her. He loves her so much that it is palpable. Damon makes her look at herself and the world differently. He pushes her to be and accept her true self no matter who that is or who she is with. I am elated that they got their long and happy human life together.

Clary and Jace (Shadowhunters) - I love Jace with every fiber of my being. I just want him to have love and happiness. He did not get that deserved love from his parents, and he never felt like he deserved it after that. Clary brought him to life. She was caring and compassionate for everyone: mundane, shadowhunter, or downworlder. Loving her opened Jace’s heart to everything. I choose to believe that the ending we got means they find their way back to each other and live happily ever after. I know I could finish the books, but I honestly cannot read Cassandra Clare’s writing anymore. Besides, where they are in my mind is good for me.

Magnus and Alec (Shadowhunters) - Magnus is one of my favorite characters ever. He’s loved many times over the centuries he’s lived, but what he has with Alec is so much more. Like all shadowhunters, Alec doesn’t trust downworlders, but for him, it’s more than that. He believes he has a duty to his family, and being with Magnus flies in the face of that duty. Magnus not so subtly or easily pushes past Alec’s defenses. Once they get together, they make each other better, and it’s literally magical. Their wedding was everything I could have hoped for as far as endgame goes.

[jojossweater]

You're right about xander harris and you should say it.

GODS DO I ABSOLUTELY HATE XANDER! FUCK THAT GUY.

So like, I am convinced that the reason Xander sucks so much is that Whedon models the character after himself which is why he's such an egotistical prick.

I'm actually rewatching the series and got to season 3 over the weekend and man . . . the episode when Buffy returned home and they "throw a party for her," like ngjfnsajkbnfdghn THAT PARTY WAS NOT FOR HER! It was for their selfish asses. AND THEN, dude, fucking Xander going off on her, in front of everyone, trying to play her mom's hero by making Buffy feel like shit for leaving. I knew it was coming having seen it before, but I honestly had to walk away while yelling "Fuck you Xander, no one fucking likes you."

He's just not a good character. Like, he has the victim mentality that it's okay for him to call YOU out, but do the same to him and he's all butt hurt.

I also HATE when Riley is a weak lil bitch, about to leave Buffy, and Xander again goes off on Buffy, like it's her fault for not showing him her affection. Like fuck both of you. Riley is a fucking adult man, older than Buffy, and he can't handle being with her or having an adult conversation with her, or being truthful, and Xander has the fucking audacity to put that on Buffy.

The hypocritical shit that gets me is when Anya is back to being evil WHICH IS HIS FUCKING FAULT but then he cries to Buffy "You can't kill her, she's our friend." Dude, shut the fuck up. You hated Angel so much because in your small dimwitted little mind, he's the reason Buffy friendzoned you, and when Buffy was fucking deeply in love with him, you didn't care, he was Evil and had to die. But oh, not Anya.

I could easily go on a longer tangent of why and how much I fucking hate him. My favorite parts of the show are when Angel was with Faith, pretending to have turned into Angelus again and punches Xander in the face saying, "I hate that guy." LIKE YES KING AND YOU SHOULD. And then when Caleb takes his eye.

Anyway. I think Xander should've been the first killed in the series and Jesse given a chance to not be such a weak, cowardly little cunt of a character.

[buffysummers]

hi! those are my tags on your xander gifset. i have followed you for a long time & am pretty familiar with your opinions and the things you make (and am a massive fan of the vast majority of both!!!) and i know you obviously dont just pick the most memeable moments for the alphabet sets!! but i did just wanna message you to kinda stand by what i said -- the xander set specifically (and ive seen most of them!) i think does excessively highlight his negative qualities. more than half of the gifs are from the first three seasons and almost all the rest are from the seventh--i think xanders flaws (the misogyny, the toxic masculinity, insecurity, possessiveness, etc) are important and you should show them! i love xander so much because of how he grows. but when i say you have his best and worst and your opinion on him shows, i mean i think you chose to dwell on his early shittiness and then add in his best late moments, at the cost of using the gifset to show the growth that happens over the course of seasons 4-6. and i didnt really mean it as a criticism just an observation! and im not trying to fight, just wanted to explain what i was thinking, please take this in good faith. i love your blog and your thoughts and gifing talents make the buffy fandom a better place.

Hi! Thanks so much for saying that 🩷 I definitely did not think you meant to fight, so don't worry! I can be overly sensitive because the Buffy fandom tends to be overly critical of people's work, and often their criticisms are not based on the actual text of the show.

So, I just want to defend why I did that for his set, if you don't mind?

So, Xander's gifset is 18 gifs. Which, is a lot. I am not sure if you make gifsets yourself, but this takes a very, very long time. As you noted, Xander is not my favorite, but I also don't hate Xander. Having said that, I did not particularly enjoy making his set because 1) he is not a fav of mine, and 2) I knew it would flop because a lot of people do hate him. So, it did feel a bit like I was wasting my time because I knew very few people would appreciate the hard work and time I put into making the set.

As for the reasons why I chose those scenes for the set, I will walk you through it since I know you actually like Xander and would perhaps be interested in knowing my thought process behind each gif. (for anyone else who is reading this, I am referring to this set)

I start off every set with an introduction to the character, and more than likely, it's the character's introduction to Buffy, as she is the titular character and it's her show. The only exception is Tara, because while Tara is most definitely important to Buffy (especially in season 6), their development comes later on, and Tara is Willow's girlfriend. (Tara was the only romantic interest character set I did that was not for Buffy. I should also note I only did Angel for Buffy. So, two romantic interests in total.)

I chose this gif for a couple of reasons. The first was to display Xander's willingness to help Buffy, which also displays his bravery. The second was to show his toxic masculinity, how he appears to not only struggle with the idea of a woman being more important/powerful than him, but this is also a deep-rooted issue that we see a lot in the show. Given how important he is to the show, I did not feel the need to show several gifs concerning this trait because it would be overkill.

Xander's main function in the narrative is to serve as Buffy's friend, but he's also the classic "pines over the main character" trope. I thought this moment with the bracelet was sweet. It shows that he cares for her, but it also shows how awkward and nervous he is about potentially displaying those feelings.

Well, this is just a big moment for both characters. Xander, after pining for Buffy for the entire first season, finally admits to his feelings for Buffy. This takes a lot out of him.

A huge heroic moment for Xander, especially since she just rejected him. There were a lot of scenes I could've chosen, like him showing up to Angel's apartment, or him not caring about potentially dying as long as he could help Buffy. Ultimately, I chose what resulted of his bravery, ie: saving Buffy.

I chose this scene for a few reasons. The first is to show his loyalty to Buffy. Out of all the Scoobies, he is the only one to stay with Buffy the entire time she's in the hospital and he guards her room in case Angelus shows up. But, as is the case with a lot of his decisions in the first three seasons, his actions are motivated by his romantic feelings for Buffy. He hated Angel long before Angelus, and he even admits as much. This scene shows Xander's feelings and loyalty to Buffy, while also highlighting his hatred for not only Angelus, but his jealousy regarding Buffy and Angel's relationship. There is a reason why Angelus says this to Xander. He knows this will get under his skin and hurt him the most.

This is perhaps the first gif that truly just highlights his toxicity. Again, his feelings regarding Buffy/Angel and Angelus is his main narrative function in season two. There are (almost) no layers to this scene, in my opinion. He says this because he's jealous. I don't truly believe he cares all that much about Jenny for a lot of reasons, but mostly because of what happens in 7.05. Also, Buffy would never, ever want to simply erase or forget about Jenny's death, especially because of how much she loves Giles. She's also just a very compassionate person. What he says to her is simply untrue, and he only says this to hurt her because, once again, he's jealous.

I mean, this moment is too important to not include in the set. It is the worst thing he does in the entire show. So, even though it piggyback's off of the previous gif, you could say this is him putting his money where his mouth is. Before, he merely voiced his disdain for Angel/Angelus. This is him acting on it. This is him taking his jealousy to an entirely new level. This is pure selfishness.

The Scoobies really, really suck in "Dead Man's Party." They are super dismissive of Buffy's feelings and they minimize her trauma. They are all too concerned with how Buffy's disappearance impacted them, while overlooking where she's been and why she felt the need to flee to begin with. That is not to say the Scoobies's feelings shouldn't be factored in, but this scene perfectly encapsulates the messiness that is this episode. And Xander is by far the worst in this episode, so that is why his set gets the gif. Also, as stated above, Xander's character is very deeply tied to Buffy. He has a richly developed arc, but it mostly revolves around her, unlike Willow.

I tried to include more of the dialogue from this scene, but it covered his entire face and looked ugly. But I do think "I like the quiet" is powerful enough on his own. An outstanding moment for Xander. Such a great episode, overall.

This is so, so sweet and also shows you how much Xander has grown. It also highlights his emotional intelligence, which we haven't seen a lot of at this point in the series. Could this have to do with Angel leaving? Maybe. But he sees that Buffy is down, and takes the time to pick her up and support her. It's a wonderful friend moment.

I don't think this needs to be explained much. He saved the world. A courageous moment and this also displays his emotional intelligence and his ability to reach people.

I included this gif because 1) it's funny and 2) it's a good piece of exposition.

This is him reflecting on his years in high school and showing appreciation. A very good moment for him.

Supporting another Summers sister while also providing good exposition on his narrative purpose.

We all know he's the comic relief, so I thought it was best to include at least one gif that states that.

This shows his bravery once again. He lost an eye, he has no special powers, but hey, he still wants to go down fighting standing next to the woman he loves. (I still believe he is in love with Buffy. Fight me!) This scene is also reminiscent of when he followed her in 1.02, 1.12, and when he and Willow wanted to look for Buffy in 2.14.

This is a cute moment between them, and also very true. He brought Buffy back to life twice, and he also played a huge part in why she survives after Warren shot her.

So, while I agree that there's a lot of gifs from seasons 1-3, and 7, I think this set accurately encapsulates his function within the show's narrative. I did not include any gif from season 5, it is the only season that did not get a gif. And I thought a lot about that season. I could have included his relationship with Anya, or maybe his career taking off, but I just don't think that is as important as his relationship with Buffy and Willow.

If you look at Willow's set, for instance, there's a lot from season 6 because that's her season. I think Xander serves the narrative more in the early seasons, and in the final season, which is where he's at his best.

I did my best with the set, and I think I did a good job, even if you maybe don't agree with me. I hope you have a better understanding of the set now!

[doberbutts]

Your post abt how male victim sa is treated as a joke in media really resonates w/ me. like i dont watch drama tv shows, i watch like sitcom/comedy stuff and so its extra apparent to me in a way?

Because while in a drama tv show you can have both male and female sa victims, sitcoms will rarely if ever try to make jokes about female sa (or at least now anyway, i dont watch older sitcoms) they absolutely do make male sa jokes.

For example, in Parks and Rec theres this episode where April and Andy make a lot of doctors appointments in one day and in one part Andy is listing out all the doctors they've seen and Andy says like "One guy looked at my weiner, touched it, that was weird" and April says "And that guy wasn't even a doctor" and Andy says "...What" with an uncomfortable look on his face and then it just moves on.

And its supposed to be a funny haha moment but everytime I see that clip I get really uncomfortable bc like its never clarified if she was kidding or not but also why would you joke abt your husband being sa'd???

And thats just one example, theres plenty of others. (The whole thing with Barney and Rhonda French in HIMYM makes me super uncomfortable even tho its played as consensual, it gives me bad vibes)

But it feels like no one ever really cares to talk abt it, so it was nice to see someone bring it up. Sorry for the long ask 😅

The comedy I watch is normally yes about equal to Parks and Rec or Brooklyn 99 and yes, there's a lot of jokes that fly under the radar because they victimize one group or another that isn't seen as "in danger". The amount of prison rape and prostate exam (hinthint wink wink not performed by a doctor though teehee) jokes really stand out the more you pay attention to it. And maybe it IS time to pay attention to it, because clearly this is a symptom of a bigger issue, one that endangers everyone.

Going back to stuff I watch more of because I haven't seen more than a clip or two of HIMYM, but I remember when I was watching Buffy with my ex [then boyfriend] and he pointed out that Xander had a really good reason not to like Faith and it's because Faith rapes him (forced to penetrate) and how Xander really... never seemed to forgive her for it and always seemed uncomfortable around her after. And while I was not part of the fandom during the show's heyday, being that I am a relatively recent watcher only maybe about 6 or 7 years ago, he told me it was very frustrating to him that the fandom seemed to focus more on the wrongdoing of Spike's *attempt* to rape Buffy, than the *actual rape* Faith did to Xander.

Even with my Witcher example, I'm seeing people shipping Yennefer and Jaskier because they had a moderately improved friendship in season two, while not at ALL touching on the fact that Jaskier's first memory of her is a blatant sexual assault and maybe that's why he's increasingly aggressive to her every time they see each other for the remainder of season one and when seeing her again in season two. It's more than "he's somewhat jealous of her closeness with Geralt" when I know for a fact she pinned and grabbed him by the penis and I wouldn't fault anyone for not liking someone who grabbed their genitals without consent. I'm not yucking anyone's yum but it's really frustrating to me to see people skate right by that.

(again, books/games fans who follow/reblog, your faves are not immune, I present to you one Triss Merigold who rapes *Geralt himself* by means of a love potion in the books and who does it *again* in the games if you let her manipulate Geralt into sleeping with her when he has amnesia, do not even start with 'wehweh this is why the show sucks' when your favorite adaption did it too and Triss/Geralt is a possible romance path in the third game, AND Yennefer is mad at Geralt for... letting Triss rape him while they were together, because she considers it cheating, if you talk to her about it in the third game she dumps you in the lake to punish you for defending yourself)

Big sigh.

[moistvonlipwig]

🔥 Gethan? (or the vagaries of Tumblr fandom polls more generally if you'd prefer)

I don't know that I have a particularly interesting take on Gethan -- I just kind of don't care about it? Giles is not a favorite character of mine and, while I think Ethan is fun (and his fate in "A New Man" is fairly horrific), I'm not compelled by their relationship. Them winning against Dangel in the Buffyverse divorce tournament was a crime against good taste and a testament to this website's obsession with men. (The fact that Spangel of all relationships came third is similarly offensive to me -- those guys are not divorced, they have literally always been like that.)

And I'll also take this opportunity to kvetch about the Angel best episode tournament, which was somehow worse than the Buffy one -- the majority of the Buffy top 8 were episodes that, regardless of my own personal take on them, I think are iconic enough that putting them in the top 8 is at least defensible. The problems with the Buffy top 8 were largely Spike-related: "Something Blue" and "School Hard" did not belong in that group, and while "Fool for Love" is quite good, it should not have beat out half the episodes that it did. Angel's top 8, meanwhile, was nothing short of baffling; "Five by Five" and "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" belonged there, but the rest? "Rm w/ a Vu" is good, but hardly top 8 material. "Disharmony" is similar. "Harm's Way" is a cute enough comedy episode but not one of the show's best. "Salvage" is not a good episode, it just has Faith in it. "Hero" is not a good episode, it just has Doyle's death in it. And "Destiny" is not a good episode, it just has Spike in it. For some reason the real heavy hitters of the show almost all got knocked out far too early to make way for the randomest collection of episodes possible. Is this opinion actually unpopular, given that I've seen quite a few others express this sentiment? Perhaps not, but then again, a lot of people clearly kept voting for "Destiny".

[coraniaid]

I think that Ted is a good episode -- I almost described it as an underrated episode, but actually everyone I know seems to rate it pretty highly – and one that clearly anticipates significant future episodes like Consequences and Dead Things.  The character of Ted himself seems like a decent first attempt at the Mayor (my favorite villain in the show); his actual origin foreshadows April and the Buffybot; and Buffy’s fear of what might happen if her mother reads her diary feels like an early taste of Normal Again. And it's honestly unsettling in a way that most Buffy episodes aren't; there's a very visceral clash between Buffy's (and the audience's) genre expectations and all the creepy domestic stuff with Ted, right from the start of the episode.

So there's a lot to like here. But.  It's pretty odd that the first of several "Hey, what if a vampire slayer killed a human being?  Obviously that would be terrible" episodes aired immediately after What's My Line?, a two-parter in which Buffy Summers rips open a man's throat with the blades of her ice skates, gently kisses her boyfriend while the man bleeds out on the ice and never ever feels the slightest bit bad about it. His death isn't even mentioned again (and, despite the premise of the episode, it doesn’t seem like anybody else is sent to replace him).

Okay, yes, we don't know for certain that the assassin Buffy killed at the ice skating rink was a human, but we do know he definitely wasn't a vampire (we see him walking around in the sunlight and he doesn't turn to ash when he dies), he looked far more human-like than any of the demons we've seen on the show before (and takes the bus to get to Sunnydale, which certainly suggests a lack of any alternate demonic options), and the episode's writers seem to make a deliberate point, after his death, of having Giles tell Buffy that the order of assassins he belonged to definitely does include humans among their ranks.  If they wanted us to be sure he wasn’t human, that’s a weird way of doing it.

(Perhaps the clearest argument against the ice rink assassin being a human is the way he seems equally matched in a physical confrontation with Angel, but the show is very inconsistent about whether ordinary humans can fight vampires or how strong vampires actually are.  Indeed the second part of What’s My Line? will see Giles himself overpower a vampire, “holding him steady” so that Willow can stake him.  He'll also grapple with a vampire later in this episode while patrolling in Buffy's place. Are we to assume Giles isn’t human?)

Even if the dead assassin wasn't "really" a human, Buffy doesn't have any obvious reason not to at least wonder that he might be.  The fact she doesn’t,  or doesn’t particularly care if he was, is because … well, because What’s My Line? isn't about that.

And yes, Buffy was very clearly acting in self-defense in What's My Line? and I don't particularly think she did anything wrong.  A strange guy was trying his best to hurt her, he surprised her in a place she thought she was safe, and if she hadn't had her Slayer strength things would have worked out very poorly for her.  But isn't all of that true for Ted as well?  

Actually, I think that’s the more serious problem with the episode.  Beyond any possible inconsistency with previous parts of canon (obviously you can assume the dead assassin was a demon if you want) there’s a tension between the moral quandary the show wants to raise this episode -- "what if Buffy used her Slayer powers to kill an innocent man?" -- and the fact the writers seem to really not want to show Buffy doing anything wrong, so much so that they kind of forget to make Ted seem anything like an innocent man, even before the big twist.

That is: the show wants to tell us that Buffy has crossed an important moral line and that – if Ted really had been an ordinary human – she’d probably deserve to go to jail for it.  That’s why her friends are so concerned with proving that Ted was not an ordinary human, at least that he was “some kind of crook”. It's why they decide she's "cleared" only when they find evidence of the drugs he was feeding them.

Whatever Ted was doing in her bedroom late at night, the show seems to argue that Buffy is the Slayer and as such “had no right” to hit him. ("He started it only works in six year old court," Buffy rebukes Willow later.) Cordelia tries comes to Buffy’s defense by suggesting there should be “special rules for her”, an idea the show (through Willow) shoots down as “fascist”. And all this plays out almost as though Buffy really had just started attacking Ted unprovoked because he was dating her mother and she didn’t like him.

But that isn’t at all what happened.  It’s very on brand for Buffy to act as though it is, and to blame herself for something that really isn't her fault, but it’s a little much to expect the audience to agree when we've actually seen the whole thing play out in front of our own eyes.  The cops are suspicious of Buffy’s claims of self-defense because she doesn’t have any visible bruises (and because ... they're cops), but we already know she isn’t lying.  Her friends should believe she isn’t lying.  They shouldn't need evidence of "a history of domestic violence". We already saw him hit her. That's not something you get a free pass for. It doesn't matter if he's not been convicted of doing it before.

And so I’m not convinced at all there’s any need to appeal to “special rules” for Buffy.  We see exactly what she did on screen, and I simply don’t think that she did anything wrong.  (Well, except confess to the cops.) Even if Ted had just been a normal human, he's a near stranger who surprises Buffy in her own bedroom, proceeds to blackmail her and to announce he’ll have her institutionalized if she doesn’t follow his orders, and who then hits her repeatedly – hard enough to knock her to the ground on at least one occasion.  How does that scene play out if Buffy isn’t a Slayer?  If she really is just a delusional sixteen year old girl and the diary Ted's gotten hold of describes some sort of fantasy?  Not very well for her, I can guess that much.

Of course, Cordelia’s wrong to suggest that “different rules” should apply to Buffy simply because she’s the Slayer, but equally the show is wrong to imply that the ordinary moral rules that apply to everyone somehow mean a teenage girl has no right to protect herself from being physically attacked in her own home. (Or to suggest, as Buffy herself does, that that right to self-defense somehow ends the minute she turns out to be stronger than the guy hitting her was expecting, even if that doesn't mean he stops hitting her.).  

What if all teenage girls were allowed to kill any strange men who broke into their bedrooms at night, threatened to ruin their lives unless they did “what I say, when I say” and then punched them hard enough to knock them to the floor?  Well, I think that would be pretty good actually.  I'm not really sure what the downside is supposed to be.

[missielynne]

If you had to choose (and I'd love to hear why!)...

Spuffy or Klaroline?

CBS Ghosts or BBC Ghosts?

Jay or Mike?

Sam or Alison?

BtVS or AtS?

Charmed or The Vampire Diaries?

have fun!!

Spuffy or Klaroline? (Although Spuffy definitely had their funny, fuzzy moments, it seemed like Spuffy was much more of a fight than Klaroline was. Like Buffy fought too much re her attraction to him compared to what Caroline did with Klaus, which made Klaroline more entertaining and easy to watch.)

CBS Ghosts or BBC Ghosts? (While I do love both, I prefer CBS because it has the time and willingness to lean into its extraordinary premise more than BBC, which relies much more on ordinary day to day and treats its ghosts by and large more like living people than ghosts in spite of the show's title.)

Jay or Mike? (Similar reasoning to why I love CBS more: it has the time to turn Jay into a real fleshed out character who has his own relationship with the Woodstone ghosts compared to Mike, although my favorite ep of BBC, Bump in the Night, does a really good job showing that if BBC had the time or the inclination, they could do something with Mike and the ghosts that would be so endearing and funny. I wanted more for sure!)

Sam or Alison? (Yet again, love both, and I am prefacing this by saying that I don't think Alison is a heartless or uncaring person and she DOES love her ghosts for sure, but just based on what we see, Sam is just naturally more open and ghost-friendly compared to Alison). I mean Alison and Kitty have the sweetest most caring relationship on BBC, the sort of relationship that Sam has with everyone on CBS. Sam is just allowed to give me more than Alison is.

BtVS or AtS?: Considering how long it took me to watch AtS because I thought Angel would be all broody and sad like he was on Buffy, I am so surprised this is my answer. But not really. I love that they allowed him to be funny and awkward on his own show and his dynamic with Cordy and Doyle at the beginning, and Cordy and the others later is just priceless. He and Cordy play off one another so well and I definitely love him more with her than with Buffy.

Charmed or The Vampire Diaries? Definitely Charmed because it gets to be its own thing to me and I can love it for what it is, whereas I read the TVD books before I watched the show and the changes between the two just didn't really make the show better for me.

This was so fun! Thank you, Nonnie!

[shutupdevvie]

ok so some people have been doing their little mushy end of dig/end of tbagg thing so here i am because i can never pass up the opportunity to be sappy. also this is gonna be long af and i honestly don't expect anyone to read it but i wanna write it so i'm going to.

dig allentown was so many firsts for me. it was my first greta show. my first show ever on the floor. my first time waiting for wristbands. my first time traveling for a show. my first time going on a trip with my best friend completely on our own. what i'm trying to say is that allentown meant a lot to me and it meant a lot that i had tay (who literally will not see this post but i'm gonna say it anyway) with me even though she didn't really care to see them very much. she still stressed with me for MONTHS over this show and sat with me for wristbands and gave me support when i needed it at the show. not only was allentown so important for me, but it was also just such a great show. the setlist was fucking amazing. i don't think i will ever get over it or figure out why they played that setlist in allentown of all places but whatever the reason, i am grateful.

then we have atlantic city. ac was very much an unexpected experience for me. i had plans with other people for months that fell through and at the last minute, tal offered me a place in her room, and i am so glad i took it. spending that weekend in ac with tal and lexi and buffy was something so extremely out of my comfort zone. i had never met any of them before yet i was committing myself to staying with them. i was stressed as fuck but i was so tired of everyone being so surprised that i was willing to do something like this that i forced myself to get over it and have a good time. i think they will all admit that i still didn't talk very much and that may not have given off the best impression but ac was one of the best weekends of my life and i forever am grateful to them for making it as great as it was. spending all night in the hostage room together. watching tal crumble after seeing sam in the hallway (sorry tal but i couldn't NOT mention it in my favorite memories). doing prayer circles together in hopes of having a good show. getting second row, barbs, and stardust chords for night two (plus my rose that i will always cherish). and we also have to mention learning the rival sons claps because that is still one of my absolute favorite memories. anywho ac was also very special to me and it brought me closer to some of my favorite people.

and finally to the battle at garden's gate. tbagg is the reason i'm here right now. "here right now' meaning a) alive, b) on tumblr writing a sappy post, and c) a greta van fleet van just in general. this album and this band has changed my life so so much more than i ever could have possibly guessed. without this album, there would be so many wonderful people that i would never have had the chance to talk to and connect with and i would never be listening to the music that i do now. tbagg was a life-changing album for me in so many different ways, and i am so glad that i found it, especially when i did. there are times that i still feel a little alone in the universe, but then i post some bullshit about josh kiszka and somebody halfway across the world will respond and i'll remember that, maybe i'm not so alone after all.

anywho i guess the tldr is: i love greta van fleet. allentown and ac changed my life and so did tbagg overall. i love @streamsofstardust and @jakewhorecore and @artificialbarbarians for making ac so great and for being some of my favorite people. and i love all of you. also want to say that i love @highdefkiszka because she's like my bff and i would never have met her without these stupid fuckers ! to a new chapter and i'm sorry this is so long and so gushy and everything, i can't help it :))

[gigantomachy1916]

tag people you would like to get to know better

Thank you to both @god-of-this-new-blog and @quicktimeeventfull for tagging me! Not only am I answering the questions, but also I'm adding some gratuitous gifs because I'm extra like that.

1. Three Ships 

L/Misa from Death Note, obviously. Right now I'm also obsessed with Eve/Villanelle from Killing Eve, though I've never written for them because I'm intimidated by all the amazing fics already out there. And finally, Fleabag/Hot Priest from Fleabag, yes I'm still not over them.

Here is a Villaneve gif because I love them.

2. First Ever Ship

Okay to be honest it was Spuffy (Spike/Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) back when I was like 13, and I still ship them. Spike was one of my first fictional crushes ever and I never recovered. I don't care if he's like 60 now, James Marsters can GET IT.

3. Last Song

"Mary Magdalene" by FKA Twigs, I've been listening to nothing but her all day. She's my dream woman tbh. Go watch her KEXP performance of "Two Weeks" on Youtube and tell me you're not in love with her.

4. Last Movie

Nope. It was my least favorite Jordan Peele movie I've seen so far, but that's just a testament to how much I loved Get Out and Us. It was still an okay movie.

5. Currently Reading 

Right now, I'm reading Interview with the Vampire and re-reading A Song of Ice and Fire.

6. Currently Watching 

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, tbh it's very good research for writing Misa, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way. Amazing show. Also 30% of the reason I watch is because Rachel Bloom is hot.

7. Currently Consuming 

Sushi from the grocery store and salt n vinegar chips and a hard cider. Treating myself.

8. Currently Craving

Physical touch tbh. I'm living far away from my partner and best friends for work reasons for a bit, so no one has touched me in weeks. I want a HUG. I want CUDDLES. I want someone to LIE DIRECTLY ON TOP OF ME AND SQUISH MY SOUL BACK INTO MY BODY. I want to get RAILED.

9. Tagging

@dillyfirestarter @litterateur97 @herembers @iamredby @aquaflora17 @rottentiger-art @cherrygirl-28 @dirt-apple-productions @redcrewmate

[mikimeiko]

8 shows to get to know me better

I was tagged by @bookshelfdreams and almost forgot about this but then I didn't and so here are my shows :D

Buffy the Vampire Slayer It was the show that introduced me to the idea of fandom, the first show where I bought dvds, the first show I screencapped and made wallpapers for. My first and only two fanfics were Buffy fanfic. Back then there was nothing like it on tv, and I will always and forever have a soft spot for my slayer <3 I like seasons 4-7 more than 1-3, and season 6 is my favorite of them all (with season 4 as a close second if we ignore 99% of the Initiative plot lines XD).

Our Flags Means Death Jumping straight from the first fandom obsession to the latest. My first engagement in a wider fandom, the first time I was in it from the start. The real reason I started making gifs! Also I've never watched a show so many times in such a short amount of time XD

Community Specialest comfort show. Seasons 2 and 3 are the best seasons of tv I have ever watched in my life. The actors are all amazing. The characters are so real in a slightly absurd way. I'm glad it ended up on Netflix and was discovered by more people because it very much deserved it.

The Expanse Best scifi show, BEST. The science is good, the politics are messy in a very realistic way, the core characters are so precious and especially Chrisjen Avasarala deserves a hall of fame just to herself. The later seasons are a little uneven but still very much worth watching. (there's a small part of me that still hopes it will picked up by another new network to adapt the later books but they did give it a satisfying enough ending as is)

Ted Lasso While season 3 was... a mixed bag, it will always be very dear to me. I love every single character on the show. I love their journeys. I love their connections. Beautiful, beautiful show.

The Good Wife / The Good Fight I'm cheating a little here, but I love both the original and the spinoff and I couldn't choose one or the other. Alicia Florrick! Diane Lockhart! The acting and directing was phenomenal from start to finish, and carried both shows even when the writing got a little weaker.

You're The Worst I don't even know how to talk about it. Every single character is a piece of shit, every single character will steal your heart. I don't know how they made it work, but they really did. Gretchen will always be the little gremlin of my heart.

Legion Ok, so, there are a lot of shows that I like more than Legion as a whole (also I haven't finished watching it yet XD). But there's no other show that has such an interesting, deliberate approach to visuals and soundscaping. It's amazing! I spend the episodes with my jaw on the floor, just constantly astonished by the level of creativity on display. I just wish the same level of care went into the writing? XD But I also wish more studios experimented like this with the medium.

I'm tagging @malvolios-yellow-stockings, @acenita, @invisiblegreendot, @little-orcs-hurrarrumm, @nefarious-sloth, @bisexualtedlasso, @khargaotte, @dailydoseofsquee and whoever else wants to do this :D

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Tuesday, January 9

XANDER: No, no, no. You're not going out. SPIKE: I have to go. XANDER: Buffy was very clear about the not leaving of you. SPIKE: I know what the Slayer told you. It's not true. Now let me go, and I'll find a way to prove it. XANDER: OK, I'm gonna list the reasons that won't happen. One - (Spike punches hi in the nose, knocking him out) SPIKE: Ow!

~~Buffy Season 7 Episode #130: "Sleeper"~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Disaster Avoidance Strategies (Buffy, T, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure xover) by madimpossibledreamer

Up All Night (Buffy/Spike, M) by veronyxk84

finds me unafraid (Xander, T, multiple xovers) by madimpossibledreamer

When she failed her sacred duty (Buffy, Willow, G) by FPBarbieri

Beckoning Beat (Oz/Reader, G) by CasuallyShrieking

It's you that I lie with (Oz/Reader, G) by CasuallyShrieking

Music to my Ears (Oz/Reader, G) by CasuallyShrieking

The Depth of You (Darla/Kendra, T) by MadeInGold

A Sexy Meal (Buffy/Spike, M) by DeamonQueen

Wanting (Buffy/Giles, T) by zombiesam

Untitled (Giles, Buffy, unrated) by

Creature of the Night (Faith/OC, M) by smartycvnt

[Chaptered Fiction]

Vamp for Rent 17/18 (Spike/Xander, M) by forsaken2003

Forgiveness Doesn't Come Easy Ch. 15 (Buffy/Spike, E) by slaymesoftly

What If Love Was Enough?, Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Spikelover4ever

Three Little Words, Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Maxineeden

Ressentir la peine, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, G) by Miss Kitty

Who's Pole ?, Chapter 1-2 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Desicat

Pack My Box with Five Dozen Liquor Jugs, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, E) by honeygirl51885

The Neighbor's Point of View, Chapter 75 (Buffy/Spike, ) by the_big_bad

A Waxy Gent Chuckled Over My Fab Jazzy Quips, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, T) by violettathepiratequeen

Poor Man's Treacle, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, G) by mcgnagallsarmy

The Witch‛s Gift, Chapter 30 (Buffy/Spike, E) by RavenLove12

Constellations, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Maxineeden

Truth and Consequences, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, M) by JamesMFan

Truth Hurts, Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Geliot99

A Second Chance- Their Story, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Loup Noir

Lesson the Second, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Girlytek

Wayward Girl, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, E) by ClowniestLivEver

Love Lives Here, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Passion4Spike

Clean Slate, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, G) by hulettwyo

It's Easy Time, Until It's Not, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, G) by hulettwyo

The Freak Show, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, E) by hulettwyo

Love Ridden, Chapter 4 (Buffy/Spike, E) by scratchmeout

Liquor Good, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Girlytek

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork:Balthazar by drawandpaintbyfire

Artwork:Angel sketches by genericaces

Artwork:Buffy, Dawn, & Willow by pzyii

Video: AtS Women | Rid of Me by mercer-queen

[Reviews & Recaps]

PODCAST: Episode 111: Season 5 Wrap Up by Mythtaken

PODCAST: BTVS 507 - Fool For Love by Another Buffy Podcast

PODCAST: Two To Go S6 E21 by Buffy and the Art of Story

PODCAST: Episode 10 - Chocolate Hurricanes and Chicken Tender Subs (Nightmares) by The Sunnydale Diaries

[Fandom Discussions]

Day 8: Favorite Season 1 Episode. by k0nstantly-tragic

Was rewatching Homecoming earlier for unrelated reasons when I noticed a familiar name on Buffy’s list of likely voters by coraniaid

I find it so funny that in Something Blue, Spike seems to hesitate by hermyohkneegranger

This was fantastic! I picked up on an interesting parallel with watching this video. by girl4music

rating buffy characters for how disproportionate their reaction to buffy’s 3 month absence was by hauntedhikingsociety

Urban Fantasy Worldbuilding and the USA by alpaca-clouds

Two of the most critically acclaimed episodes of Buffy are episodes that I don’t really care for. by wendyliddel

If you think about it in Buffy The Vampire Slayer theres a loophole to create infinite Slayers by takato1993

Another thing that Wynonna gets right that Buffy didn’t. by girl4music

What music goes with Lilah Morgan? by Pumpkins217

What if Lilah Morgan and Jenny Calendar met? by Pumpkins217

AtS Season 4 is the worst by modeyink

Opinions on each season of AtS by Pumpkins217

How would Wesley react if Lilah had survived in season 4 by LightBlueSky55

Best ship of each season? by Pumpkins217

Joyce’s Death. Did she really need to die? by thrasherbuffy

A better villain than the Initiative? by buffysmanycoats

Pylea by pengchod

Buffy killing the knights of Byzantium by SafiraAshai

5x16 and 17 by ZealousidealMiddle13

I started watching Buffy in October, currently in mid-S6. My thoughts so far. by InnocentPerv93

Comparatively, how strong is baseline Buffy? by mbene913

Question on Illyria’s disguise (spoilers) by JellyfishDry9464

Anyone else love seeing the start of Buffy and Riley’s relationship? by Suspicious-Thing5215

Hot take: Dawn wasn't real by vasopressin334

Crack theories. by ZombiePhantom

Is there a term for how characters in BTVS speak? by Inspirational_Owl

Can we discuss the Pylea arc? by Pumpkins217

What is your favorite season? by Pumpkins217

S2E8 The Dark Age by Pumpkins217

What is your favorite season premiere in the Buffyverse? by Pumpkins217

Which seasons did you find the characters most likable? by Excellent-Durian-509

A lot of talk about Riley, but there's one thing that I haven't seen discussed... by RuthlessKittyKat

S2E17 “Passion” by Pumpkins217

“I Only Have Eyes For You” is amazing. by Pumpkins217

Any good long Buffy/Angel fics? by goodandpure

Rent by pengchod

Angel the Series on the Internet Archive by emerald447

Cordy and Angel by pengchod

Did Buffy the Vampire slayer gain any controversy when it was airing? by Toni-Cipriani

Any theories you had while watching that never came true/were proven? by Could_Be_A_Spy

Wesley’s such a heartthrob in season 4 by modeyink

Doctor Xander? by UpsettiSpaghetti16

Fred's voice by BabsLuck

Where do we go from here. by Syn_33

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[cuddlyreader]

Hi friend! What are your top ten favorite OTPs of all time - in order, if possible. You're allowed to select more than one ship from the same fandom :) And I always love to hear the reasons why you love a given ship if you're up for including them! I'd love to hear your top ten female TV characters as well but don't want to be greedy :)

Oh, my. Well, I'm old enough that I can remember rooting for Kevin and Winnie on the Wonder Years. Lol. So, this is going to be fun and all over the place.

P.S. This is in chronological order and not by favorite because there's no way I could put them in that kind of order.

P.P.S. This is super long, so it's under the cut.

Top 10 OTPs:

Brenda and Dylan (Beverly Hills 90210) - As I have said before, I love Shannen Doherty. This show is the reason why. Brenda was my favorite character from day one, and her romance with Dylan was so intense and epic. This one has to be the first time an emotionally damaged character stole my heart. He needed her screaming and crying at him to understand that someone loves him because no one did until then. She needed his recklessness to temper her own. They grounded each other with their love.

Buffy and Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - Watching these two fall in love and be unable to resist it was so much fun. They were actually doomed from the start. I mean...a vampire and a vampire slayer...that has tragedy written all over it. She literally killed him, and he came back from a Hell world (sounds familiar). Then, they fell right back in love (hmm, also familiar). They loved so hard, and their world was always in peril, which kept the angst level pretty high. For years, Angel wallowed in the torment of guilt that his soul provided. She gave him a purpose...her purpose. Her entire reason for being was to save people. She made him want to do that, too. He made her realize that not all monsters are evil and not all "good" guys are good. In my mind, they found their way back to each other and lived happily ever after.

Willow and Tara (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - These two had the most beautiful and sweet love, and I am bitter that the idiot writer killed off Tara. Shy, bookish Willow really grew into a powerful and strong witch because of this relationship. She could fully be herself, and it was amazing. Tara, sweet Tara, was so kind and compassionate. She held Willow accountable in her magic, which turned out to be pretty important. I won't even get into the fact that at this time, there was very little LGBTQ representation on television. Yep, I'm still angry.

Pacey and Joey (Dawson's Creek) - Dawson's Creek is my comfort show. I watch it all the way through several times a year. There is nothing that soothes me like it does. When this show aired, there was nothing more enjoyable than watching Pacey and Joey fall for each other against their own wishes. Pacey knew first, and he tried not to act on it for the sake of their friend Dawson (I won't go into how annoyed that makes me given that Dawson didn't want her.). Joey fought it with everything she had for the same reason and also because it was so real that it scared the hell out of her. He pushed her to grow and become the person she was meant to be, and she accepted him as is without any expectations other than they would do it together. They had the best dynamic. They bickered and laughed and cried, but they worked at their relationship like you do in grown-up relationships. Even when they broke up, they cared about each other consistently. My favorite episode is when they get stuck in K-Mart overnight. Joyously, they were also endgame.

Max and Liz (OG Roswell and Roswell, New Mexico) - By now, I have established that I love intense love. That's exactly what og Max and Liz had. Liz was very structured and academically driven. Max was very closed off from everyone including Michael and Isabel. He opened her mind and heart to possibility. She made him feel and be open about it. They loved so intensely that even supposed alien fate couldn't keep them apart. I was so sad the show was canceled so soon, but I am eternally grateful that they were endgame and that I got to see it. They sort of switched the emotional roles of new Max and Liz, which I like. They would still do anything for each other, so they are still my OTP. Admittedly, I haven't watched the last season because I'm sad about it being the last.

Peyton and Lucas (One Tree Hill) - Look, they were always drawn to each other, but their timing was awful. I loved how no matter what, they were there for each other, even if it was just as friends. Peyton was the broken one in this relationship. She lost too much at too young an age. Feeling so deeply terrified her. And let's face it, Lucas was intense. He felt everything and didn't shy away from it. It was immensely gratifying to see them finally be happy together.

Logan and Veronica (Veronica Mars) - Logan was a real ass at the beginning of this show, and they were full-on enemies. So, I can honestly say I did not ship them at first. The metamorphosis that Logan goes through to be a better man is truly remarkable. To be fair, they both have emotional damage in this one. Veronica copes with her losses by saving others, but her love for Logan scares her. They both had to work out their own stuff before they could successfully be together. Thankfully, we got to see that they made it. I have no comment about the killing of my beloved Logan.

Damon and Elena (The Vampire Diaries) - Anyone that follows me knows that these two are my current obsession. Damon has literally spent over a century and a half being abandoned and rejected by his father, mother, brother, and love. To say that I love him is the understatement of the century. He had no intention of falling in love with Elena. He wanted to save Katherine, and her rejection nearly killed him. He feels everything so much that he can't cope, and then he snaps. Elena saves him. Period. She makes him feel human because she treats him like one. She expects him to care and makes him want to do better. And he does, starting with her. He loves her so much that it is palpable. Damon makes her look at herself and the world differently. He pushes her to be and accept her true self no matter who that is or who she is with. I am elated that they got their long and happy human life together.

Clary and Jace (Shadowhunters) - I love Jace with every fiber of my being. I just want him to have love and happiness. He did not get that deserved love from his parents, and he never felt like he deserved it after that. Clary brought him to life. She was caring and compassionate for everyone: mundane, shadowhunter, or downworlder. Loving her opened Jace's heart to everything. I choose to believe that the ending we got means they find their way back to each other and live happily ever after. I know I could finish the books, but I honestly cannot read Cassandra Clare's writing anymore. Besides, where they are in my mind is good for me.

Magnus and Alec (Shadowhunters) - Magnus is one of my favorite characters ever. He's loved many times over the centuries he's lived, but what he has with Alec is so much more. Like all shadowhunters, Alec doesn't trust downworlders, but for him, it's more than that. He believes he has a duty to his family, and being with Magnus flies in the face of that duty. Magnus not so subtly or easily pushes past Alec's defenses. Once they get together, they make each other better, and it's literally magical. Their wedding was everything I could have hoped for as far as endgame goes.

Honorable mentions:

Isak and Even (Skam)

Michael and Alex (Roswell, New Mexico)

Nancy and Ace (Nancy Drew)

Top 10 Female TV Characters (not in any specific order):

Brenda (Beverly Hills 90210) - I was and still am the "rebel" in my family, so Brenda was me. She fought for herself and to be herself and to live life on her own terms, and I think that is wonderful.

Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - Buffy was destined to be the hero, but she faced death and loss and came out stronger on the other end. Plus, I love the wit.

Willow (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - I was the shy, bookish girl in school. Willow's adorable geekiness was so endearing, and then she grew into this powerful, strong woman. Fantastic.

Joey (Dawson's Creek) - I probably relate to Joey because my mom died when I was four, and my brother died when I was twelve. Joey experienced terrible loss, and she understandably clung to Dawson as a lifeline. Her journey to adulthood is still my favorite thing to watch. She grew into herself and became a self-sufficient woman.

Veronica (Veronica Mars) - Veronica lost her best friend, and her mother left. Everyone that was supposed to be her friend abandoned her. So, she puts on emotional armor and finds a killer. This girl just doesn't stop fighting. She's ridiculously smart and intuitive. Also, I love her wit.

Emily (Revenge) - Emily had bad things happen to her, and she deserved to exact revenge. I love that she is intelligent and cunning and playing the long game.

Blair (Gossip Girl) - Blair put on a good front, I guess, but my girl was broken. Her mom was not nice to her. Her dad pretty much abandoned her. Her best friend slept with her boyfriend and then abandoned her as well. The guy she loves is too damaged to love her back properly. Blair just keeps on doing her best and loving those people that don't love her enough.

Callie (The Fosters and Good Trouble) - I'll probably get hate for this one, but I love Callie. She lost her mom and didn't know her dad. She went to juvie because she was protecting her little brother from the abuse she suffered in the foster care system. How could I not love this girl? Because the Fosters took her in and showed her what family is, she grew into a strong and successful woman. The whole journey was beautiful to me, and I'm not sorry.

Elena (The Vampire Diaries) - Elena lost both her parents, her aunt, her bio parents, her guardian, her own life, her brother (temporarily), and the love of her life (also temporarily). That's a lot for one person to endure even without all the supernatural happenings. She manages to hang on to her kindness and compassion. Through it all, she perseveres. I love her a lot.

Bonnie (The Vampire Diaries) - Bonnie is a badass hero. She saved all their butts so many times, and I'm here to give her the credit she deserves. Bonnie also suffered greatly, and I think that's why she and Elena are bonded. Bonnie struggled to get ahold of everything at first, but she literally became the woman who saved them all in the end.

[buffyandwillow]

Saw you ship Buffy with every minor female character in the show 😂 and, though she isn’t minor by any means (this is just a rare pair) now I gotta ask: Buffy/Anya? 😊

LITERALLY MY FAVOURITE RARE PAIR. *coughs* I mean what I'm totally normal about them. (Here's an obligatory self-rec of my post-series Buffy x ghost!Anya fic.)

Send me a ship and I’ll answer three questions based on if I ship it or not.

What made you ship it?

They're my two favourite BtVS characters and I want them to kiss, that's it, that's all.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

OK, first of all, they're arguably the two scoobies that get along the least well. You could say, arguably, that they often do not get along at all, or even particularly like each other. Does that matter? No.

To point out a few canon tidbits I really enjoy:

one, Anya helps to resurrect Buffy. Of the four scoobs who participate in the spell, Anya 100% seems like the one who be level-headed about it, who would attempt to talk the others out of it. She knows there are risks. She knows, I am sure, that their decision is being fueled by emotion rather than reason. And she goes along with it anyway, because she misses Buffy too.

two, Anya helps to care for Dawn. Yes, at first it's only because of Xander, but she grows to have a real affection for her. When Anya finds out that Dawn has been stealing from the Magic Box, she's hurt - not because of the money, but because she feels personally betrayed. And helping to care for Dawn = helping for and caring for Buffy, by extension. They're part and parcel. (On that note, I also love that Anya grew to care for Joyce - I love that she loves Buffy's family.)

three, Buffy's a bridesmaid in Anya's wedding party. They're not personally close, except that they are. They'll always participate in each other's most important life events.

four, in Restless, in Buffy's dream, she looks over at Willow's bed in their dorm room, and it's Anya there, and Anya tells her to wake up. I DO NOT KNOW THE MEANING OF THIS, but Anya's wake-up call was a warning (the First Slayer was preparing her attack), and I like the idea that Anya can be that for Buffy - a wake-up call, a tether to reality.

five, Anya is a thousand-year-old demon who mains and punishes men on behalf of wronged women. Buffy has been wronged a few times. Basis for ship? Basis for ship. Also Buffy clearly has a thing for demons who've been around the block at least a couple hundred years.

six, all the other little things. Anya is the one who suggests a spell Buffy can use to help her find what's wrong with her mom. She (and Tara and Xander) want to help Buffy in s6 by spending more time with her. They have movie nights together. Dance-y times at the Bronze. Scooby research sessions. Scooby apocalypse sleepovers. THERE'S CONTENT HERE, I SWEAR.

one last thing. There is one quality about their canon relationship that is so indescribably interesting, and I'm going to try to put it into words here as best I can. Buffy is the Slayer, and with that role comes certain duties. Anya is/was a vengeance demon, and with that role comes (very different) duties. In Selfless, Buffy goes to kill Anya, and Xander/Willow are horrified, but Anya... Anya doesn't take it personally at all. Anya doesn't go, hey, we're friends, you wouldn't do this to your friend!. Anya recognizes that Buffy is the Slayer and she's doing what she must. An understanding exists between them. And THEN. In the next episode, they've both moved completely past the fact that Buffy stuck her sword through Anya. Buffy goes to see how Anya is doing, and saves her life from a would-be assassin sent by D'Hoffryn. She tells Anya that she doesn't want her friends ('friends' very much including Anya) alone right now. There are no lasting grudges between these two. There is no jealousy or resentment or paranoia or any of the other little things that lurk in the background of pretty much every scooby relationship. So, in that regard. well. I just think they're neat.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I dream about a world where enough people ship Buffy/Anya that popular opinions exist.

Anyway, I think that the inconsistencies in the writing of both Anya and vengeance demons is a bummer overall, although tbh this opinion is probably only unpopular with Joss Whedon.