#there are a lot of losers in buffy

[leftoversludge]

if next season of sandman isn’t season of mists and the game of you… idek man… i’m gonna go crazy. like i wanna see all hell literally break loose and get sold back to the angels. like that’s literally the most beautiful concept it’s crazy.

[roryfrommybabysittersavampire]

I think one of my favorite little details about spike's character is how he treated drusilla. he wasn't just "patient" with her disability, he actively treated it as just another thing about her to love. he verry rarely coddled her or tried to get her to be more present in a situation when she wasn't capable. (I can't think of a single time that he did but i feel like there were some when he was already upset at other people?). he learned to understand what she was saying even when it sounded like nonsense. when she was upset he comforted her, no matter how often it happened. when she started dancing he danced with her.

and we see in buffy 5x20 that it wasn't just his love for dru that made him act like that. when tara was incoherent and opened the window in the van, he didn't just immediately forgive her for burning him, he never got upset in the first place. he yelled, of course, because he was hurt, but as soon as willow started apologizing and trying to explain he just nodded. because it's no biggie! he already understands. some people are just like that, and he doesn't see accommodating that as the big deal that the people around him are making it out to be.

[jjmorelikeotp]

Okay so I am watching BTVS for the first time in my life & I'm currently on season 6 E 14, and one thing I really really love is how Spike is just so...comitted.

With Angel, I personally had the feeling he was grieving the person he could be, all sad and sappy in his misery that kinda clung around him all the time (ik we're calling spike a drama queen but. THAT MAN? Depressed himbo vibes. No offense.) Even though he had a soul, there was this feeling of self pity in him - and it makes sense considering the fact he probably knew that one true moment of happiness would turn him back into a monster, and that is rly depressing tbh.

Does not change the fact that Buffy being underage when being with him is totally absurd and predatory, there, I said it.

He is kind of the big scary monster guy and sometimes she does seem like a normal 16 year old, and by that, naive or simply, young.

It made me feel like she was prey, not gonna lie.

It is what stopped him from truly comitting to Buffy. I mean yeah, their love was pure and they definetely are soulmates in some way. They truly affected each other's fate.

But this is where Spike is different than Angel as well. He is truly COMITTED to what he's doing, he is all in for buffy. Like, the way he offers to make money for her when she needs it? That offer is NOT a deal-kind-of-offer. He truly wants to help her and it is so casually because he already is in full partner mode, in whatever way she needs. Offering comfort when she has to work a double shift (yeah by fucking outside, mkay, just the spuffy way ig) like that because he is actually afraid she will lose her sanity? Even though they drive each other insane? Yeah these scenes are not talked about enough.

In that same scenario, Angel never even would have showed up. He would have waited in front of the building after Buffy ended her shift, maybe. He never even offered to be in her life like that, while both of them found a million excuses for it. But Spike does not. He just simply does stuff that COULD be the solution if he ever even thought of them being a problem.

And I think that is also why he's so pissed about Buffy going on and off about him - to Angel, she seemed so comitted, but to him, he just does not seem to be able to.

And again, it make sense, but I also think we don't talk enough about the fact that Buffy did indeed kill Angel, when it wasn't even necessary as in "he was soulless and a monster" anymore. Even though she loved him. But only when she had a really really good reason/purpose.

So one thing that might be also pushing her away from spike is the thought of having to do that again, and desperately trying to find the purpose without being able to.

He makes her choose wether she wants to be the prey or the hunter in this. On purpose. To show her her options and her power because she never really got to experience both sides / perspectives with Angel OR Riley.

So while she tries to figure out 1. Her reason why she should kill him (which should be a very very valid one so she can bring up the power to do so) 2. Her life's purpose in general, he just ... delivers purpose, not to her, but as in, her being the purpose. That's what he acts like and That's what she can't handle. Yes, she is the reason he is trying to change, but also, he puts her in the Position of being the purpose of him doing that.

Showing her the self responsibility and ability to be her own purpose and make her own decisions. (After her friends all kind of screwed up that kind of SELF responsibility.) He really does man up in this show, and like I said, these are just my thoughts watching it for the first time (did not see angel the series yet).

He is also holding her accountable even though he has a soft spot for her, and she is not used to that. She treats him like a man, yes, but he treats her like an equal as well and always has. She is used being looked down upon by adults or the council, enemies, blablablah, also her friends who "saved" her earlier this season, or being the superslayer hero and leader who has to do everything. She is always in positions. Even with angel, she was, it kind of stopped when they broke up but even then, he treats her like she does not know SHIT. Something is standing between them and always has been, and while Angel kind of used that as an excuse to keep distant and keep their walls up, Spike uses these exact walls as a reason or challenge to tear them down. Spike never acts like things are not his fault even if they are horrible, he just simply accepts his dark side while still having a normal one, with passions on tv and card games and whatever. He *subconciously* takes responsibility even before having a soul, for stuff he did, he doesn't blame his vampire side or whatever for it.

I think in subtext, Buffy always had a slight commitment to angel, as in "maybe, one day, it can still happen" while angel cut off all those hopes for himself (not his desires, maybe. But his ... solution oriented search or smth) as we can see when he visits her at her mom's funeral.

And one other reason why Buffy is so terrified of that whole Spike thing is because it makes her stop that hope for angel or resolve that feeling of being owned by (her feelings for) him.

And don't get me wrong, Spike is kinda possessive too, but as I see it he is trying to commit to a relationship where she can own herself and that is what terrifies her truly.

(That's what we see him do with drusilla from the beginning)

You understand what I mean? If you got thoughts on it let me know!

[coraniaid]

buffy/faith for the ask game

(Reverse unpopular opinions)

Easily my favorite Buffy ship and one of my favorites in any work of fiction. I think the main reasons it works so well for me are:

The way it resonates so strongly with what's going on in the rest of the show the season Faith arrives. I mean, Buffy comes out to her mother (as a Slayer), which is treated by the show as ... well, as Buffy coming out ("it's because you didn't have a strong father figure, isn't it?" / "have you tried ... not being a Slayer?" / "I've tried to march in the Slayer Pride Parade...") and a handful of episodes later Buffy meets another girl who is also a Slayer and who she starts spending a lot of time with (because they have a connection -- "it's kind of a Slayer thing" -- which she doesn't have with her other, non-Slayer friends). And while they're busy patrolling cemeteries and looking for vampires every night, this other Slayer is keen to (1) talk to Buffy about sex and quiz her on her love life; (2) repeatedly tell her that "all men are beasts" and "losers" who can't be trusted; (3) suggest that Buffy should be more open to having sex with the people she spends her nights hunting vampires with (like ... who, Faith?); and (4) is delighted when Buffy breaks up with her boyfriend (and later furious when she gets back together with her previous ex) and immediately suggests that she could replace him ("You're still going to that dance, right? [...] Why don't we go together?"). If this was deliberately laying the ground work for an explicitly romantic arc, it would feel pretty heavy-handed. The fact that it apparently wasn't (at least not on the part of the showrunner or of most of the writers) almost makes it work better, in some ways.

The way that Faith is, from the very beginning, very deliberately written as a foil for Buffy, a person Buffy might have been if things went just a little differently in her life -- because she goes through things very much like things the audience has already seen Buffy go though (living alone in a small place in a strange town with no friends all season the way Buffy did in Anne, panicking and starting to pack to run away in Faith, Hope & Trick in the same way Buffy was accused of doing just the episode before, killing a person the way Buffy thought she had in Season 2's Ted, the way her fear of Kakistos mirrors Buffy's fear of the Master in When She Was Bad) and because she is so aware of the fact that she's always being compared to Buffy and coming up short, either by other people or herself ("you get the Mom, you get the Watcher ... what do I get?") it's very easy to tie Faith's arc across the show back to Buffy and to her feelings about Buffy. Faith wanting Buffy to accept her becomes Faith wanting this idealized version of herself to forgive her failings. And likewise Buffy recriprocating Faith's feelings and admitting to herself that she is attracted to Faith becomes Buffy accepting that Faith (and the things she represents) really are an integral part of Buffy herself; that Faith isn't entirely wrong when she says that Buffy enjoys being a Slayer and that being a Slayer is something she should be proud of (or, again, being "a Slayer").

Apparently this wasn't the original plan for the character (if there ever was anything like an 'original plan'), but the fact Faith's arc in Season 3 so clearly mirrors Angel's in Season 2 -- and the fact she is so very weird about Angel all season (and that Buffy is equally weird about how attracted to Faith she just keeps insisting Angel must be) just naturally suggests that Faith might have a similiar role to Angel in the narrative beyond just the circumstances of her betrayal of (and later not-quite-being-killed by) Buffy. And Angel is -- for the first three seasons of the show at least -- primarily cast in the role of Buffy's doomed tragic love interest who she has to (metaphorically) kill but will later be reunited with. Which makes Faith ... well, something.

Even if not all the writers were on board, the fact that Eliza Dushku was deliberately playing Faith as attracted to Buffy (and that SMG was playing Buffy as alternately frustrated by and protective of and tempted by Faith) gives their scenes together a chemistry that I don't think most of Buffy's (or Buffy's) canon relationships ever managed. Whether that's the Amends porch scene or Buffy kissing Faith in the hospital in Graduation Day or any and all of their various fights across the show. And those fight scenes are all great, which is another thing I love about the ship: is it really a proper enemies-to-lovers arc if one of the people in it hasn't tried to kill the other one and left them in a coma for months?

Faith's return to Buffy in the last five epsiodes of the show is one of the last season's saving graces, and it helps that by this point the writers definitely seemed to be playing up the ship deliberately ("Willow said you needed me: didn't give it a lot of thought" / "Defensiveness and weird mixed signals ... I've got Faith for that" / "Deep down you've always wanted Buffy to accept you. To love you." / "It feels like it's mine ... I guess that means it's yours"). Even without ever being canon and without wandering what happens post-Chosen, it feels like there's a real narrative arc to their relationship, from their initially rocky start through to "just good friends" to bitter enemies through to Faith seeking (and finding) some measure of redemption and Buffy cautiously letting her back into her life. Faith isn't in the show much (or even mentioned in the show in most episodes), but it feels like she has a genuinely meaningful connection to Buffy that most characters who appeaer in less than a season's worth of episodes can't manage.

The thing that made the ship work for me, rewatching the show after several years back in 2020, is the fact that Faith is -- even at her worst -- incredibly sympathetic precisely because she is such a loser and hates herself so much. She boasts about being a great actor despite the fact we see her awkwardly telling the sort of transparent lies that ... well, normally only Buffy manages (compare "There's this big party ..." in Amends to Buffy trying to tell her old crush Ford that "there was a cat ... and then there was another cat, and they were fighting"), she wants people to think she's cool so badly but only manages to fool Xander and Willow, she tries to act as though she's happy without friends but we only ever see her alone sitting watching old tv shows or lying listlessly on her bed, she insists she doesn't need a Watcher and "has a problem with authority figures" but she is so openly desperate for any sort of parental guidance in her life that she sides with first Mrs Post then the Mayor. She ties Buffy's mom up so she can have someone to listen to how sad she is that Buffy's moved on to a new guy in college and "dumped" her. The scene in the church in Who Are You? where Faith-as-Buffy furiously attacks Buffy-as-Faith while screaming through tears that she's "nothing ... disgusting ... murderous bitch" is, I think, a strong contendor for the best scene the show ever produced.

As Doug Petrie said, the reason Faith works as a character -- and the reason that Buffy/Faith works as a ship -- is that Faith is incredibly unhappy. If Faith was the cool loner she tries to pass herself off as -- and which some of the fandom seems to think she is -- the ship wouldn't be nearly as compelling to me. Faith isn't just the part of Buffy who loves Slaying and pushes back when other people give her orders, and she's not just another verison of Angelus. She's the part of Buffy from Becoming who lost everything and ran away from home, only unlike Buffy she never got to go home again. As Angel asked Buffy in that episode: "no friends, no hope ... take that away, what's left?". Well, Faith is what's left. Of course Buffy would see herself in Faith, right from the beginning. Of course Buffy would want to protect her. As Buffy (Sunnydale Class Protector 1999) tells Angel, Faith is in pain ... she's somebody who "some people ... protective-type people" are naturally drawn to. The show is very consistent about the fact that Buffy's type is friendless losers who look good in leather and can fight alongside her in battle (but not quite as well, so she can protect them and look after them when they're hurt). And what bigger loser in the show is there than Faith?

[kvothbloodless]

Okay, I realize I'm mostly talking out of my ass, saying how I would fix a 20 year old tv show (and thus I'm sure I'm not gonna say anything new), but having finished season 6, I'm still standing behind my position that the show would've best been served ending after s5, and if they wanted to do more story, do a sequel set like 6 months to a year after Buffy's death, about how the Scoobie Squad is coping with that and dealing with the Hellmouth without a Slayer. THAT could've been a workable, darker and sadder show, focused more on character drama and personal flaws.

You could even keep a lot of plot points! Giles leaving because he feels he failed Buffy, and there's no point in him sticking around because what use is a failed Watcher without a Slayer.

Willow going off the deep end magic wise, because if she'd just been a Bit better, maybe she could have saved Buffy. Maybe she Does try to bring Buffy back, and that quest is what drove her over the edge, rather than Tara randomly getting killed for angst with no build up.

Spike maybe going bad not because Buffy rejected him for the upteenth time, but wrestling with Why he's sticking around and helping these people when Buffy's gone. She's not around anymore, she's never gonna sleep with him (and thats all this was, of course, just lust. He couldn't Actually have loved her), so why keep playing pretend instead of leaving these losers who were his enemies behind.

Hell, you can even keep Anya and Xander's failed engagement plotline! Anya, who's grieving in her own way, but doesn't show much outward sign of it, like always. Xander, crushed by Buffy's death, not able to move on, not feeling ready for marriage because hes still in mourning. And then them fighting because how can Anya just get over it so fast, she barely even seems upset, does she really care about anything/is Xander gonna give up everything else in his life out of grief, did he care about buffy more than her, etc.

Dawn's storyline from s6 transposes perfectly with almost zero changes; upset and not coping well, with all her caregivers trying to deal with their own grief and problems, getting neglected and feeling left behind, etc.

Anyways, like I said, I know this has all probably been said before, much more eloquently, but wanted to write it all down anyways. I was initially gonna write how I would theoretically do season 6 if I Had to continue the show and bring Buffy back, but honestly I think I've gotten myself too invested in this hypothetical sequel show lol.

[theoverlookedoneedits1997]

Some Thoughts on Nightmares (1x10)

There are so many great things about Nightmares. It is one of the first episodes where we get to explore the fears of the characters (which I love). We get to see the little common fears like public embarrassment, academic failure, and nonsensical things like not being able to read. Things that characters dread or worry about.

Then we get to see the deep, painful fears that have a real impact on who the characters are. Xander's recurring nightmare that represents his childhood trauma and his need to overcome it. Willow's terror of being seen and perceived shown through extreme stage fright. Giles' fear of failing to protect Buffy and losing her because of his own shortcomings. Buffy's layers upon layers of fears about her father, about herself as a daughter and her self-worth, about dying young, and about the question of if a slayer is just a killer, and the possibility of becoming a monster herself.

The characters are vulnerable and show sides of themselves that are nuanced and deeply personal.

Then we see Cordelia's greatest fear, her biggest nightmare: being a total loser.

Her nightmare is clearly comic relief with her desperate cries that she's 'not on the chess club' sounding as pained and fearful as any of the times her life has been in actual danger. It's funny and shows Cordelia's lack of depth, but it also sets her up for incredible character development. This episode cements her fear of being a social outcast/nerd/loser and that fear is built upon in Out of Mind, Out of Sight and we see this fear drive a lot of her decisions in the following seasons.

Season one shows us the two-dimensional version of Cordelia that makes the fleshed-out, nuanced character that she becomes even more impressive, amazing and frankly empowering.

[gumtreegargoyles]

✨💀**You ever feel like fairy tales lied to you?**💀✨ Because in Gumtree Gargoyles, they totally did.

Beneath the gumtrees of Canberra, myth bleeds into reality. Katie didn’t ask to become the new Gargoyle Guardian—but when ancient creatures start crawling out of exile and war stirs in the shadows, she doesn’t get a choice.

Shapeshifters. Vengeful fairies. Forgotten beasts. 🗝 Secrets. 🩸 Blood. 🔥 Rebellion. It’s all here—and it’s not waiting for permission.

This is urban fantasy with bite: ✔ Fast-paced action ✔ LGBTQ+ rep ✔ Dark twists ✔ Found family & enemies-to-something-complicated ✔ Magic vs power, and the price of truth

Think Buffy meets The Witcher, but in Aussie bushland and with a lot more attitude.

👁 Legends are true. Fairy tales were warnings. And monsters walk among us. Get in loser—we’re rewriting reality.

📚 Book 1 now FREE on Wattpad.

[bloomfish]

there are obviously a lot of intended parallels in season 2 between buffy and drusilla, the most obvious of these being that they share a birthday (although I always wonder if what drusilla calls her 'birthday' isnt really the day angelus turned her, which still works given that it's the day angel loses his soul and leaves buffy for drusilla basically) and that they both have prophetic abilities.

but thinking about this more I honestly think that buffy as a vampire would be pretty similar to drusilla. it's implied that angel's end goal was to do to buffy what he'd done to drusilla... before he got randomly sidetracked by acathla (which the more I think about it the more out of character the acathla plot seems, idc though its good drama). and obviously buffy's great loves and drusilla's great loves are the same two losers lol. it makes me wish there had been... any real interaction between dru and buffy. I rly wish she had returned to the show, what a waste of a great character not to bring her back except in flashbacks/the first.

anyway i think it's significant that drusilla as a human begged to stay "pure and good" before angel turns her and takes her "innocence", the name of the episode in which he does the same thing to buffy. he was drawn to them both for the same reasons and ended up ruining their lives. And then spike is just a sub who is drawn to powerful women who treat him like dirt but that's his problem/mommy issues. Dru and Buffy have veeery similar relationships with both Spike and Angel now that I think about it. and I'm willing to bet that Drusilla has a very Buffy-ish sense of loneliness and isolation due to her powers, which is why she's so obsessed with getting her family back together.

capricorn aquarius cusp

strengths: Determined, creative, entertaining, idealistic, witty, empathetic weaknesses: Detached, chaotic, selfish, aloof, critical, judgmental

hmmmmm

[hersterical]

Being the change I want to see in the world by posting Faith and Angel friendship/sibling headcanons (ignoring the comics cause I’ve never read them and some of the parts of ats that I don’t like):

Barring apocalyptic or other comparable season finale-esque events, Angel would call her in the prison every single week without fail

Faith is embarrassed by this in the same way a teenager is embarrassed when their friends find out that they have parents who love them

Every single one of these phone calls begins with a long, awkward silence as both of these losers struggle to find something to talk about. Eventually these long pauses become comforting to both of them

What they usually end up talking about (other than the progress of Faith’s redemption arc) is Angel venting about the annoying/mildly uncomfortable things he had to do during a job (the guy could literally be stranded in a hell dimension and what he spends the most time talking about is how itchy the clothes were) while Faith keeps him updated on the petty relationship/political drama happening around her like it’s a soap opera

After everything goes down and they have the occasional time to hang out, their time together is almost always spent watching their guilty pleasure chick flicks. Angel prefers the more serious, tragic, tear jerkers while Faith is more into rom-coms. They’ve sworn to never reveal this to anyone ever

A viewing of But I’m a Cheerleader leads to their first in depth discussion of both of their love lives.

Spike worked his way into a movie night once and they ended up watching Rocky Horror Picture Show. Angel refuses to admit that he loves it just as much as the other two did

Angel and Faith occasionally patrol for vamps and other demons at night clubs. On nights with less demonic activity they end up spending a lot of time people watching. Sometimes they’re petty and judgey and sometimes they try to get the other to break by telling the most ridiculous backstory possible while still maintaining a dry delivery

Whenever Faith is traveling she’ll send Angel a postcard. She’ll also occasionally call him. Faith claims to hate all of his worrying and mother-henning but secretly loves it. Angel doesn’t call her because she always forgets to give him her phone number

If Faith goes for more than a month or two with no contact then Angel will contact one of the scoobies so he can be not mad, just disappointed with her for worrying him. He’ll avoid contacting Buffy about Faith because the dynamics between all of them are still kind of weird even though she’s the one most likely to know where Faith is at any time

Angel is unaware that he’s dating both Cordy and Spike until Faith asks him about it

All of Faith’s singing abilities fly out the window whenever she’s hanging out with Angel and his gang

Lorne and Gunn make occasional cracks about how it makes sense that Faith and Angel get along, considering their names. The only ones who find these jokes funny are Lorne, Gunn, and Fred

Eventually Faith begins to show some small signs of aging. The only acknowledgment this receives is a silent, bittersweet smile shared between the two of them because who ever thought that they’d be alive long enough for Faith to show signs of aging? and Angel will never have the chance to grow old

They tend to forget to hold back with each other whenever they spar. This is both a source of concern and entertainment to the different members of the Fang Gang

Angel gets into the habit of fondly messing up Faith’s hair as a sign of affection. In return, Faith punches him in the arm or chest hard enough that no one else, not even a fellow slayer, would consider it to be playful. This is the most reliable way anyone has found to make him laugh

Angel has yet to approve of anyone Faith has dated and will occasionally try to convince her to at least try to ask out Buffy. Those conversations usually end in an impromptu sparring session

They both order huge meals when they go to their favorite 24-hour diner after patrolling or working a case together where Angel will then give Faith all of his food. There’s a demon friendly butcher not too far away that they usually hit up for blood anyway since the owner is still grateful that Angel helped them out one time

They. Are. Siblings.

[zestyjesty]

Season 1 recap

Overall very deeply charmed by the whole thing, some of the best banging monster of the week ones are there

I like how Cordy is very consistent but just gradually becomes someone you warm up to, none of her genuinely unlikeable traits have gone away but she's also got a lot going for her as you learn more about her, what good character writing. Also in the finale she takes on vampires and a big fight despite having not been involved in that before, and is just dope chill vampires cool lemme smack em

Mr Angel I'm so sorry David cannot act at all at this point, Sarah giving the performance of her life in the finale and he can barely muster up a face that displays any real emotion. Its also funny when I was little little I had such a thing for Angel and that has utterly vanished

Willow so underrated and a bit underutilised this season, excited for when she gets more to do later on

Xander actually really grew on me, like he's just a loser who makes too many jokes but really tries and it was nice to see him get braver and braver in the fighting stuff, allllllllll the way up the finale and then he fucked it totally by being so utterly selfish, you literally knew Buffy would reject you and she was so nice about anyway and he just had no grace about it at all.

The scoobies being regular flavour losers and learning about a cool new girl at school and just throwing themselves headfirst into being her work assistants for no pay and life threatening tasks are banging characters

Buffy baby girl i will fight anyone whos ever mean to you again, please let me

Giles knocked unconscious tally: 4

[girl4music]

Angel: "What?"

Cordy: "What?"

Angel: "What do you want to say?"

Cordy: "Ah, me? Nothing. What makes you think I wanna..."

Angel: "'Cause I know you.”

Cordy: "Well, it's really… none of my business."

Angel: "And that always stops you?”

Cordy: “Actually, it is my business, *our* business, because we're trying to do a job here, and what affects you affects me, and anyway, I don't like to see you suffer more than you have to. I don't think you should blame yourself, or feel guilty for her death."

Angel: "I don't."

Cordy: "Good. Glad to hear it."

Angel: "I didn't even know who she was when I killed her."

Cordy: "Not her! Angel..."

Angel:

*After a beat*

“Oh... you… you want to talk about..."

Cordy: "She was the love of your life and she died.

*Angel sits down on the stairs, facing Cordy*

*Steps closer*

And you weren't there when it happened.

*Sits down next to him with a sigh*

You couldn't help her fight. You couldn't save her. You couldn't die with her."

*Angel doesn’t answer*

—————————————————————————

Cordy: "And how about you?"

Angel: "I'm o..."

Cordy: "And don't say 'okay.' Angel, please. I know you. Ever since you've come back from your grief trip I can tell that something's not right. And, and *obviously* it's not. Buffy's dead, and I don't mean to diminish that. I miss her too. I just wanna say… I know that James with all his Romeo and Juliet madness, opened up a lot of wounds for you, but you'll be okay."

Angel: "I am okay."

Cordy: "Then what's the problem?"

Angel: "That I'm okay. That losing Buffy didn't kill me. That I could deal with it. In all those years no one ever mattered. Not like she did. And now she's gone. Forever.”

Cordy: "And you're still here."

Angel: "Yeah. I just feel like I'm betraying her somehow."

Cordy: "No! If you were a loser, if you were some sick obsessed vampire, you'd go to a Snod demon, or whatever, and get your heart cut out. But you're not! You're a living, breathing... Well, living, anyway, good guy, whose still fighting and trying to help people, and that's not betraying her, that's honoring her."

Angel: "You think?"

Cordy: "I'm Cordelia. I don't think. I know. Okay?"

*Cordy gives him a big grin, which draws a small smile in response*

Angel: "Okay."

So I’m on to Season 3 of ‘Angel the Series’ and this first episode was dealing with the aftermath of Buffy’s death in Season 5 of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. How it affects Angel and specifically how he keeps the grief of his loss to himself but Cordy can see through him.

But listen - Everything I’ve just quoted above showcases how much better of a relationship Angel has with Cordy over what he ever had with Buffy. All of THIS is what a RELATIONSHIP is. The way they just know each other that they can’t lie to one another. The way Cordy draws information out of Angel like no one else can and is so perceptive in figuring him out. The way he opens up to her with a minimum amount of prodding from her. The brick wall of non-communication that was Bangel is nowhere to be seen in Cangel. This entire conversation is about Buffy specifically and what Buffy means to Angel. Yet through it I can see that were it in reverse and it was Cordy that died and it was Buffy giving this speech….

There would honestly be nowhere near the breakthrough on revealing Angel’s emotions because they’re both one in the same when it comes to communication. They both hide away from each other in moments of being in need of someone to talk to. Maybe it’s just because they have more time and purpose to do significant character interaction in Angel’s own show when it comes to drawing out information from Angel’s psyche, but I just see so much more between Angel and Cordy - just friends - then I ever saw between apparent “love of their lives” Angel and Buffy. This level of intimate relation to one another is on the level of Spuffy or Tillow. This is what you’re supposed to have in a relationship where the people in it are actual partners. Honest and open communication. Buffy and Angel never had this… really ever. I mean I brought up the interaction and conversation they had in ‘Forever’ as the only time where I truly saw Bangel as genuinely relating to one another and this was well passed their heydays.

I really love what I’m seeing in this dynamic. This is what makes Angel - the character and the show - interesting to watch. He finally has someone who KNOWS him to the point where he cannot always brood away in silence and pretend like no one cares. Because that’s not interesting to watch. It’s just sad. Thank fuck Cordelia is in this show as a main character because not only is she better for it. But she makes HIM better for it as well! That’s precisely what was needed for either of them to be considered even half as interesting of a character to me as Willow or Spike. And okay - there’s still a lot to live up to there. But it’s a start! This is what I wanted to see in Bangel but I never could because they were so incompatible when it came to being each other’s sounding board. It was like they were trying but they were never breaking through that communication barrier between them so as much of a whirlwind romance that they had - that was written… there was just nothing holding it up other than all the physical intimacy that they shared. And that’s just shallow. There was no depth to it. Not like there is with Cangel. With what I can see in them.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, April 24

Cordelia: Well, all I know is, my cheerleading squad wasted a lot of pep on losers. It's about time our school excelled at something. Willow: You're forgetting our high mortality rate. Xander: We're number one!

~~Go Fish~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Stumbling Towards Redemption (Angel, PG) by badly_knitted

Sugar Baby (Angel/Connor, M) by Greensword101

Paranormal Introspection (Spike, T) by xaeyrnofnbe

[Chaptered Fiction]

Ready for it...?, Chapter 6 (Wesley/Fred, T) by Philp_and_Tablet

Twelfth Labour, Chapter 8 (Angel/Spike, T) by xaeyrnofnbe

No Rest for the Wicked, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Faith, NR) by TargaryenPug

Once More Without Failing, Chapter 1 (Willow/Tara, M) by storiwr

Shadow Over Hellmouth, Chapter 130 (Ensemble, E) by Tuxedo_Mark

Something Borrowed, Chapter 10 (Buffy/Spike, M) by Geliot99

Better Things to Do, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, T) by BeneficialAddiction

Corrigendo Tabulam, Chapter 46 (Willow/Tara, NR) by lyrical_echoes

mr. domestic, Chapter 3 (Spike/Reader, E) by EmWritesStuff_Sometimes

spike and the stakes, Chapter 30 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by jewelram

The Pryce of Tyme, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Joan963z and Ragini

Mile Markers and Blood Moons, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, R) by JamesMFan

What It Means to Be a REAL Savior, Chapter 6 (Crossover with The Walking Dead, FR15) by Buffyworldbuilder

Heart's a Mess, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by splendidchapette

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork:glowy Dawn by flootzavut

Gifset:Buffy the Vampire Slayer | 2x06 "Halloween" by mycatismyfriend

Gifset:(2x19) ɪ ᴏɴʟʏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴇʏᴇꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ by likeafantasy

Video: Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress shares what sport Drusilla would play by CBC Sports

Video: Rest in Peace — Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Clara Huckeby

Video: Drawing Buffy Summers! | DRINK & DRAW (& karaoke) by ArtLife with Leanore

[Reviews & Recaps]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 7x3 & 7x4 REACTION | "Same Time, Same Place" & "Help" by The Horror Bandwagon

"Entropy" (6x18) | *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* Reaction by cass reacts

[Community Announcements]

James Marsters to Attend GalaxyCon St. Louis 11-12 October 2025 by DontKillSpike

A Buffy-themed Burlesque Show in Santa Monica, CA! by datingishardcomedy

Buffy Event in Winnipeg, Manitoba by Stargazermillenial

Thursday: Money by Comment Fic

hursday, April 24 - Free for All by Fic Promptly

Bots, bots, bots! by TTH Archive

[Fandom Discussions]

if i had a nickel for every time Buffy wasn’t herself... by summershq

When did Spike and Buffy fall in love? by bloodyhellgranger

[Pangs cameo criticism] by femmedefandom

more evidence of anya being a "self-less" character by koriand3r

Has anyone else noticed this shot of Angel cheesing during opening credits? by multiple authors

I've just watched Buffy S1E1. Spoil the rest of the show for me - wrong answers only! by multiple authors

Poor Graham by multiple authors

Vampire Personality Theory. by multiple authors

Carpe noctem by multiple authors

What would Angel have done instead of Spike? by multiple authors

Super-speed: a healthy Drusilla in BtVS S5 could have probably beaten the entire Scooby Gang sans Spike. by multiple authors

I miss her... by multiple authors

Buffy S2 by multiple authors

"Buffy vs Dracula" is the only season premiere where Buffy wasn't dealing with trauma from an event before by multiple authors

The Body by multiple authors

Was it reasonable of the gang to assume Willow started skinning random people in Same Time Same Place? by multiple authors

If any Buffyverse character(s) could've had a song like in ‘Once More, With Feeling’, who'd you want it to be and what type of song do you think they would have? by multiple authors

Buffy Sequel Series Rumors (Back to Sunnydale) by multiple authors

Can vampires be warlocks? by multiple authors

Vampire Nature: Reconciling the Showing and Telling by multiple authors

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

Publication: Buffy: Yes, Sarah Michelle Gellar Will Be Slaying in Revival Series via Bleeding Cool

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[tomb-of-flora]

Introduction Post (V3)

It's officially been one year since I joined Tumblr and made my introduction post, so it's time for another small update to my pinned intro. Shoutout to Tumblr for being the only social media site I've been able to stick with for a full year!

I'll start by sharing a bit about myself: I am a writer! I write a ton of poetry and am working on a couple larger prose projects. One day I hope to put out a series about monster hunting trans women, but for now, I mostly write poetry dripping with angst and sapphic yearning. I also hope to start branching into fanfiction soon, which is something I've wanted to try for quite some time. I'm a Dungeon Master who has been playing D&D (and other TTRPGs when the fates align) since I was about 12. I'm in my mid twenties now, and I reblog a lot of stuff that contains nudity and gore so be advised. I consider this an adults only space.

My vibe as a person is somewhere between Princess Peach and the narrator from the short story "The Fall of the House of Usher". I love all things feminine, cute, and bubbly, but am also obsessed with all things gothic, rundown, and vicious. If I ever find something that sufficiently blends the lines between a magical girl/princess story and full blown gothic horror I will be over the moon. I also really love the vibes of rotting post-apocalyptic cities (especially if they include a theme park) and traveling monster hunters.

This account is mostly reblogs of cool fanart and funny/interesting texposts (things I reblog from the most often include: The Locked Tomb, Dungeon Meshi, Slay the Princess, Hades, and Madoka Magica), but I do occasionally also share my own observations, anaylsis, or jokes if I'm feeling particularly bold.

If you want to see my original posts you can find them at the tag #entombedposts

If you want to see reblogs where I actually remembered to say something you can find them at the tag #entombedreblogs

I DO ALSO POST MY WRITING ON TUMBLR, I JUST DON'T DO IT FROM THIS BLOG! IF YOU'RE INTERSTED IN SEEING ANY OF MY WORK THERE'S A FEW PLACES YOU CAN DO THAT!

If you want to see poetry, scraps of prose, and anything that I manage to get published you can find that here: @myovergrowngarden

I am going to try to be more active on there in 2025.

If you want to read through the lore and events of my current D&D campaign, you can find that here: @yeehaw-in-magic-space

As of writing this, the first arc of the campaign has just reached its conclusion and the last recap was posted a couple days ago, so now is a great time to catch up.

Some of my favorite books/short stories include: The Locked Tomb series, The Poet X, Clap When You Land, Family Lore, Any Other City, The Honey Month, This Is How You Lose the Time War, The Hunger Games Trilogy, An Education in Malice, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death, The Cask of Amontillado, (insert a bunch more Edgar Allan Poe stories here), Mexican Gothic, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole, Orientation, Bartleby the Scrivener, White Smoke, The Iliad/Odyssey.

Some of my favorite shows include: Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Midnight Mass, Black Sails, Game of Thrones (seasons 1-4), House of the Dragon, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Firefly, Chernobyl.

Some of my favorite cartoons/anime include: Steven Universe, Over the Garden Wall, Arcane, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Cowboy Bebop, Delicious in Dungeon, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Noragami, Hunter X Hunter, Simoun, Chainsaw Man, the old DCAU (Batman TAS, Superman TAS, Batman Beyond, Justice League, Static Shock, JLU), Teen Titans, Star Wars Rebels, High Guardian Spice, Gravity Falls, Amphibia.

Some of my favorite video games include: The Last of Us PT II, Get in the Car, Loser, Hades/Hades II, Darkest Dungeon, Fallout: New Vegas, Celeste, Ace Attorney, Dark Souls, Dead Cells, Epic Mickey, We Know the Devil, Slay the Princess, Long Live the Queen, Shovel Knight, Princess Peach Showtime, Monster Prom/Camp/Road Trip. I also love a lot of card/board games, but I think that would push us over the text limit so I'm just going to mention that briefly.

Some of my favorite movies include: I Saw the TV Glow, Tick Tick Boom, Star Wars (particularly VI, VIII, IV, V), Lord of the Rings, Whisper of the Heart, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, (insert a bunch more Studio Ghibli movies here), Look Back, Birds of Prey, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snowpiercer, Annihilation, Prospect, Sorry to Bother You, Banshees of Inisherin, Knives Out, Glass Onion, the Fear Street Trilogy, a bunch of the Saw movies, Us, Get Out, Nope, Nosferatu (1922), Nosferatu (2024).

[coraniaid]

Also sorry second unpopular opinion but this one's a lot simpler, for the longest time the only thing about Buffy that had crossed over to me was the term Spikeification from TVTropes now named Badass Decay I think, broadly the term for a character who is introduced as strong and gradually becomes weak. Even today I see people talk about how Spike was introduced as the Slayer of Slayers was cool and strong in s2.

Anyway Spike was kinda always a loser? Like yeah we're told he killed two Slayers but in his first episode he gets sent packing by Buffy's mother? I'm pretty sure his greatest onscreen accomplishment for the longest time is when he manages to overpower a child in the Annointed One. And like he didn't even manage to hold onto Big Bad status in his debut Season he had to pass that over to Drusilla and then again Angel before the end.

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

("Strongly agree but with a very specific minor caveat" isn't an option, alas.)

So, I think this is more or less completely right. I think "Badass Decay" is a pretty silly concept to care about to begin with, and I certainly don't think Spike is an example of it happening.

Yes, while Spike is initially introduced as being a uniquely dangerous vampire ("worse than any other creature [Buffy has] faced") and while School Hard does mostly play that straight (up until Joyce rescues Buffy), this status really isn't something he keeps for long. As early as Halloween, just two episodes later, he's teaming up with a gang of literal children in costumes and is only a threat to Buffy because she has no powers and no memory of being the Slayer; he runs away the minute Ethan's spell is reversed and he isn't even worth chasing after. In the climax of Lie To Me he is outwitted by a door. And as you say, he quickly loses the status of Big Bad (after ... what seven episodes, several of which he wasn't even in?) and never gets it back again.

The Spike of the second half of Season 2 isn't quite comic relief, but he's not presented as particularly dangerous or imposing either. He exists mostly to hang around the real Big Bad (be that Drusilla or the Judge or Angelus or Acathla) and make catty remarks about their plans ("It's a big rock. I can't wait to tell my friends: they don't have a rock this big.") And then the Spike of Lovers Walk is pretty clearly explicitly written to be some kind of drunken loser (which, to be clear, is not particularly meant to be derogatory -- I'm a Faith Lehane fan, I like losers). And -- at least to me -- the Spike of Lovers Walk feels very consistent with the Spike we knew in Season 2. Yes, if Dru dumped him for a chaos demon ("all slime and antlers") and told him they could still be friends, I think Season 2 Spike would be reduced to that. That fits.

I don't think "Badass Decay" makes sense as a description of what happens to Spike on his time on the show at all, and going back to read the TVTropes article I'm not at all persuaded otherwise.

However -- and this is the caveat I mentioned -- I do think it's unarguable that something about how the narrative treats Spike changes between Season 2 and Season 7, in ways that can't be explained solely by Dru leaving him or getting chipped by the Initiative or falling in love with Buffy or spending too much time alone watching Passions or regaining his soul or any combination of all those things.

And well, I mean, of course it does: it changes when Spike becomes a regular on the show. The Spike of Season 2 wasn't ever meant to last for that long. (There is a persistent rumour that Spike was originally going to be killed off after just a few episodes: as with the very similar rumour about Faith I've never seen any source to back this up and I am rather inclined not to believe it in the absence of any compelling evidence.) The Spike of Season 4's The Initiative and beyond necessarily has to occupy a different space in the narrative. Everyone -- the audience and the rest of the cast -- have to relate to him differently. He can't just blow through town and causes problems then drive off into the sunset anymore. He can't just be a catalyst for character development in other people. He has to become a real character; not just from that point going forward but also retroactively: he has to have been a real person all along. (Which is why we start getting Spike flashback episodes and the change to his backstory about who first sired him.)

Spike doesn't magically start being less competent or successful in Season 4, but the show itself increasingly expects you to feel sorry for him when he suffers setbacks. If you're not really paying attention, you can watch Season 2 and think Spike really is the dangerous badass he wants to convince people he is, because at this point of the show Spike is not one of the characters you're meant to take that seriously as a person. You can't so easily ignore how badly things keep going for Spike and how pathetic he often is in the post-Season 4 seasons, precisely because he is now a much more significant character in the narrative (and has correspondingly much more screen time).

Spike being kind of a loser never changes, but how much attention the show expects you to give him does.

And that is, I think, a pretty fundamental change that deserves some sort of name: a character is introduced into a long running show, initially only meant to be there as an antagonist for a few episodes, but for various reasons they end up becoming a core member of the show and start being treated more sympathetically by the narrative than when they were just a random villain. Who they are doesn't automatically change, but the way we are expected to feel about them does. (See also, among many other examples, Root from Person of Interest.)

If I'm being honest, for quite a long time I thought this was what the term "Spikeification" actually meant. The idea that this word and "Badass Decay" were meant to describe the same concept confused me quite a lot when I figured it out.

But since apparently there isn't a word for this idea after all, maybe we need a new name. Perhaps we could go with Anyafication.

[kendelias]

love her already! can you tell me what's her relationship with the scobbie gang like?

its been ages since i've opened my ask box this was so long ago im so sorry LKDNFKLNFKN BUT yes indeed here's a lil bit ab margo and the scoobies!

buffy - margo... loves buffy. so much. that's her bud. when no one else wants to talk to her besides oz buffy's like "!!! but you're so cool and your fashion style is iconic and why do you hang out with these loser dudes who don't appreciate you." she meets her through oz and then brings her into the gang. buffy is always trying to get margo to come out of her shell and love herself the way she is so loved. meanwhile margo kind of recognizes buffy's fundamental... brokenness? it's kind of recognition of the self through the other. like oh we are both extremely fucked up in different ways but nonetheless we are both broken. so they kind of bridge that gap of like. one of them trying to normalize and one of them trying to recognize. you need both!!

willow - it's kind of hard to dislike willow... for a while anyway. no but like margo has always been pro girls supporting girls so even when the guy she's in love with starts dating willow she's like. alright well im gonna like this girl if oz likes her. so she and willow are friends!! at first! and then when willow cheats on him with xander... oh boy hell hath no fury like margo scorned. perma-ice queen from then on out. the girls are fighting and buffy is putting them in their get along shirt (spoiler: they do not)

xander - xander is... fine. she thinks xander is fine. at times she finds him very annoying but ya know sometimes he's funny. she has a lot of things going on with cordelia (we'll get into it <3) so when they're dating she kind of withdraws from him a little bit but like. they're never really beefing. until the whole cheating scandal he gets it just as bad as willow.

giles - loves him. that's dad dude. she hates her parents so she needs some authority in her life. thank god for giles.

angel - basically 'buffy why is this weird angsty dude hanging around you. how old is he. oh he's a vampire. hm. oh he took your virginity and it made him evil. yeah let's kill this guy.'

cordelia - okay.... look. childhood friends to enemies back to ???. that's it. that's the whole thing. like they were besties and then they fell out when margo was diagnosed and then cordelia started bullying her. so they really fucking hated each other and then buffy also forced them into their get along shirt and it KIND OF worked. like cordelia was gradually becoming a better person and eventually even kind of apologized so like. i would never call them friends but they work their way into normalcy.

oz - her soulmate, her best friend, her forlifer. she loves that mf. best friends first (the only person who would talk to her and who totally accepted her for who she is) to lovers later.... i adore them sm

[covetyou]

get to know me tag

thanks for the tag @palioom ���

top three ships: legitmately none other than character x reader (digging, joel, frankie, dieter, dave, marc spector, and tess recently), and 99% of the time I see "reader" just as some random other person that isn't even me.

fave color: yellow 💛

last song: cobra (rock remix) - megan thee stallion ft. spirit box

last book: fiction was the green rider by Kristen Britain over a year ago. lots of NF since.

currently watching: on a Buffy rewatch. I watch an episode and walk on a treadmill like a loser.

current fixation: making pancakes (I've had to resort to making banana oat pancakes for the sake of my health). joel miller. frankie fucking morales, god damn.

currently working on: dieter x f!reader, cuck!joel and doing the last re-reads of tess x f!reader for tomorrows upload. SHOULD be working on whiskey x f!reader

country you want to visit: Scotland (I'm British with Scottish family yet have never been looool), Greece (I'm heading back next year), Norway in summer, New Zealand. so many others too.

(changed obsession to fixation because your girl has OCD and is having a shitty brain day and I kept thinking over and over again about my OCD triggers and habits instead of the actual question because loooool)

I'm tagging @sp00kymulderr @rhoorl if you folks want to partake :)