#willow rosenburg

[laufeysons]

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER REWATCH -> Inca Mummy Girl (2.04)

[brutal4you]

btvs text posts

[this-thing-saved-me]

This Show Saved Me - BTVS 7x22

7x22 Chosen

I will never not find it funny that to stream Buffy I have to go to Disney+. Or the fact that the most recent episode I’d watched (whenever that was) was this one. Since I’m pretty sure I left my rewatch mid-season 3.

But that’s the thing about this particular episode. It’s practically a perfect finale. And felt like the right place to start, because who says everything should happen in order. That’s not always how life works. 

THERE WILL LIKELY BE ABUNDANT SPOILERS FOR A FINALE THAT AIRED OVER TWENTY YEARS AGO. There, that was your warning. And now for some Cole's notes “Story so far.”

Okay, so Buffy’s been through it by this point. The First has annihilated her self-confidence and Caleb has been on the warpath. Spike has told her she’s the one (!!!), whether she fully believes in herself yet or not. (SIDENOTE: yes, I ship Spuffy. Yes, there are very, very valid reasons not to. However I am a big fan of redemption arcs and where they land by the end of the comics feels like as healthy a place as possible with a very real love.)

And Angel shows up trying to be all tall-dark and forehead. Which I get, he’s Angel, he needs to be in the finale. But ultimately he's a delivery boy and he didn’t need to do it in person other than to prompt the first on my list of loves for this episode. 

Which is what I lovingly refer to as the "Cookie Speech." Buffy knows she has more growing to do and she’s self-aware enough to share that with the first love of her life. She’s come a long way from the season of post-resurrection depression, but she’s still not quite ready for what Angel might like her to be (granted he’s JUST lost Cordelia so the fact that he is back at Buffy’s door is a rant for another post.) The idea that things aren’t working for her romantically because she’s not done baking. She hasn’t figured out all that she wants to be. While I love love LOVE this analogy, I wonder if there’s ever really a time in our lives where we are done baking? Besides the end of course. We’re supposed to evolve. We’re supposed to grow.

Spike is her Champion, not Angel. They’ve seen the best and the worst of each other, remember? He knows she needs someone strong, someone with a soul, and despite the bad, she knows he’s earned the right to the title through growing and atoning. Motivated people can change, and that’s something I believe that Spike has shown.

“He had to split” - the joke is LHF and I love it. Does its utterance deserve a place on this list? Yes. Because it's very me-coded. I’d have a very hard time not making the same joke if I had just rendered a man from stem to stern. But I digress. This episode is serious and still silly. It’s the epitome of BTVS episodes. I mean Spike waking from a dream yelling “I’m drowning in Cool Whip,” come on. It’s akin to “the cheese wears me” in off kilter nonsense. Plus Anya later finding her strength in her hatred for "floppy, hoppy bunnies" will never not kill me. (Or her, again spoiler.) I adore Emma Caufield.

Willow is afraid to use magic because of her history with the darkness. Not knowing if she’s stable enough. I can identify with her at this moment after clawing back from my own mental health blip a couple years ago. She went dark. (I went, arguably, nuts) She’s regained her balance but how secure? It’s going to turn out to be really secure because “Oh my goddess” she’s got this. AND…

The fact that Kennedy is there for Willow to help keep her grounded. Her very presence supports Willow but isn’t the deciding factor for victory. Willow needs to believe in herself that she won’t go back over that edge. She touched the darkness and it freaked her the f out. (Once she came back down from the overwhelm and shock of her grief.) I lived in that fear for a long time. And I’m grateful for the grounding I’ve found outside of the support of others, but within myself.

Just for fun, let’s chat about the DND session. Even the scoobies needed to disassociate before the big thing. And self-permission to have fun during challenging times is key. It can’t all be doom and gloom. Sometimes you recharge that nervous energy through Trogdor the Burninator references and that’s more than okay.

Ultimately we have the’ shared power’ speech. “Here’s the part where you make a choice” more specifically. Because they could easily choose to let the First and its legions overwhelm the world and finally be the apocalypse they couldn’t handle. It’s easier to stay down. It’s easier to say I can’t. But where does that get you? Making that choice to take your power back and say I am more than what wants to overwhelm me is a beautiful moment. This moment, where all the Potentials get their piece of the power pie is tremendously moving. I get shivers just thinking about it. Male or female, we don’t need the permission of Slayer power to take back our own. To say ‘no more’ and get back up off the ground. (Although Slayer strength would be badass, let’s be real.)

The bottom line, this episode epitomises what I love about Buffy and the Whedon-verse. Real characters in a fantastic world who battle larger than life caricatures of the demons we fight in our daily lives. This show saved me in a lot of ways. My very first boyfriend got me to watch it back in 2005, which he may have regretted as it CONSUMED my brain for most of grade 12. It was the perfect time for me to experience this show. I credit it for helping me find my voice offline. I was always a nose-in-a-book girl or heavily distracted with FanFiction. I was one of the quietest in my friend group, not really feeling like there was a value to what I had to say. The message that we can choose to be strong and fight back? That’s one that I’ll eternally be grateful for and will carry with me, always. What’s your favourite episode? And why is it “Once More With Feeling”? ;)

(Honourable mention goes to this eye contact where my headcanon is convinced he sees she really does love him despite him telling her otherwise seconds before. THOSE SMG EYES! I can't.)

[forgotn1]

You know, we make a lot of jokes about Imogen being Phoenix and potentially going Dark Phoenix, but what if she's actually more of a Willow? They both snapped when they saw the person they love killed, but Phoenix was the one to kill (a psychic image of) Scott while Tara was killed by someone else. And when it happened, the full power of the Phoenix Force took control of Jean to become the Dark Phoenix while Willow had a mental break and dove into a set of powers she'd dabbled in but generally avoided. Jean was used by her power while Willow used hers.

Imogen doesn't fully understand her powers, but she does generally have control of them. There was the time when Laudna died and Imogen lost control, but it was still something she did. She didn't lose control of herself, she just didn't know what had happened. Outside of that, she has always been in control of her powers and there have been times when she specifically chose to get extremely dark with her use of them because someone she loved was threatened.

So if Imogen is more akin to Willow, just imagine what the Dark Willow form of Imogen would be. Like, what if Ludinus kills Laudna at a time when she can't be brought back and Imogen just snaps. Whatever she unleashes could level not just Ludinus, but also Ruidus.

[just-about-nothing]

does s.3 ep. 16 doppelgangeland answer the question would willow fuck her own clone? hm. solid maybe thus far. (also s/o line to ‘that’s me as a vampire? i’m so evil and skanky. and i think i’m kind of gay’)

[fairydust-stuff]

I have been re watching Buffy and there is so much abusive parent behavior that is not ok. Some of it actually comes from so called good parental figures who are praised. 

TV TROPES [abusive parents] Parents are supposed to be the protectors of children, but these parents are either so damaged themselves that they can’t do the job, greedy or villainous to the point that they never had any interest in doing the job properly, or would rather use the child as a means to an end. Sometimes they’re just sadistic assholes. This includes parents who are emotionally, verbally, physically, or mentally abusive, or who neglectfully allow their children to be abused by others if they don’t abuse the child themselves.

[classicsapphicships]

[drevnian-smol]

for fun i looked up theories on BtVS personality types and found that buffy and faith are either a one sided match, not ideal, or a perfect match. no i don't have a life. they are not good, they're not terrible- it either doesn't work out or it's soulmates, and that's the summary of every fuffy fic ever.

estp for buffy and esfp for faith are my head cannons for them but whaddo i know. i could get how my take on faith could be kinda questionable, but i think a lot of her problems stemmed from her lack of social ties to begin with (no mention of her family). tbh guessing with faith is just a shot in the dark, but i think it explains why she took everything so personally and was terrible at managing herself. i think it's entirely possible buffy was an esfp as well, but her f tendencies seem to fade as she gets older and she seems more critical of facts as an adult. otherwise they're both extroverted (i think buffy was just getting tired of having to do her job every time she went out) , very in the moment people, and not so much for planning (tho more so faith than buffy on that one), so e, s, and p.

so no. despite shipping them, i don't think they're an ideal match. what i enjoy most abt the fics is faith's character being explored and the sapphic undertones being acknowledged and dealt with in a healthy way. and yes i spent almost two hours researching this.

also i think willow is an infj. she's an introvert, she's sentimental (she had a blog for books and poems, we all know it), she acts on her feelings (*cough* season six *cough*), and she plans ahead.

and that is all i will say bc i might spend 10 hours thinking into this deeper.

[sageswirll]

I have recently decided that im going to stop trying too hard. im going to stop pretending that i don't only listen to musical soundtracks, im going to stop dressing while constantly wondering if they'd like it, and im gonna stop trying to act cooler than i actually am, because in the end, what is the point? i miss wearing dungarees

[femaledaily]

BUFFY SUMMERS & WILLOW ROSENBURG Buffy the Vampire Slayer - "Same Time, Same Place"

[laufeysons]

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER REWATCH -> I Robot, You Jane (1.08)

[susandsnell]

Not to rehash discourse going on from another website but I say this as the gal who sees misogyny baked in here, there and everywhere -- I don't think statements that Anne Rice didn't seem to understand what she wrote at times/intend how it came off or came together are inherently misogynistic. I'm sure in some cases it is, and certainly everyone has some misogynist beliefs to unpack by virtue of living under patriarchy, but idk, on its own it's a valid and fair response to her commentary/framing being frequently at odds with what she'd written. Then again, i'm coming at it from the perspective of being someone who frequently says the same about male writers -- Peaky Blinders buddies know I'm always saying this about Steven Knight, I'm frequently astonished at the dissonance between what King's written in Carrie vs well, other depictions of/comments towards women, I have a lot of thoughts on the accidentally really coherent arc of Willow Rosenburg's lesbianism/comphet. So maybe at least personally it's not that I don't respect women as serious and intentional artists, it's that I don't respect writers as a whole.

And like, in fairness, I really don't.

[secretsofthewilde]

Sexual intimacy in seasons 1-3 of Buffy The Vampire Slayer - continued

@girl4music asked me to write a section on Willow, so here is my very quick initial look into Willow's relationship with sexual intimacy in the first three seasons of Buffy. okay wow this ended up much longer than intended

The original post with my points briefly covering Buffy, Faith, and Cordelia is here (x).

Willow Rosenburg

As I touched upon in my actual essay, I think that the introduction of Tara marks a difference in how gender norms come into play in the depictions of sexual intimacy in the show. For this section, as with the others, I am going to be sticking to the first three and how they depict Willow's relationships.

When first introduced to Willow she is a shy and often meek character, who we know has a heart of gold and are supposed to sympathetic towards. Comparatively to Buffy and Cordelia, Willow could be seen as the true "good girl" of the Scooby for the most part. While she attempts to emulate Buffy's confidence or more risk taking tendencies, when it comes to her role in relationships in the first two seasons she still defaults to gendered stereotypes for the most part.

Upon the very first episode of the show we are introduced to her as having an unrequited and rather hopeless crush on Xander. Despite the fact that it's puppy love she feels for him, we are meant to still view her love for him as pure and good. When Buffy urges her to try seize the day in those first episodes, she then decides to go against her heart and goes out with a boy she just met at the Bronze, who is then of course revealed to be a vampire. This first attempt of Willow's to seek an intimate relationship is one she is punished for (though it may not stick out to us, it is an important moment for her), because it doesn't have the emotional connection that the show requires of it's female characters to have.

I'm not going to get into Moloch (the demon that possesses a computer) too much, but I will just quickly say I think that an argument could be made that the relationship between them was punishing Willow for attempting to form a relationship with someone through means that went against the norm for teenage girls at the time. Obviously the key theme of that episode is a sort of 'Online Stranger Danger' but at the same time it's interesting that Willow's key strength (the supposedly feminist aspect of her early character) lies in her computer skills in these early seasons, but she is unable to use those skills in order to establish an intimate relationship.

Her relationship with Oz is arguably presented as the most healthy of the Scoobys' relationships at this time. He respects her and routinely informs her that he doesn't want her to feel the need to change herself or present a certain way in order for him to remain interested in her. His more mellow personality and constant praise towards Willow often makes us forget the dominating traits he has in the relationship - i.e. his age, experience, and the fact that he is a werewolf. I also think it's interesting to note that due to his werewolf status that we see her falling into a more submissive feminine lover role; she is a beauty who loves the beast and believes that the power of her love is strong enough to perhaps tame him one day. When she does initially attempt to initiate sex into their relationship, Oz rebuffs it, suggesting that they take their time with introducing sexual intimacy, as he believes she is primarily initiating it out of her personal insecurity at her lack of experience. He primarily makes the decisions in how they move forward in their relationship, but because we know that Willow is intellectually superior to many of her peers and Oz presents himself as not at all domineering, we don't question whether it's right for him to speak for her as to whether she really feels ready to have sex yet. 

When it comes to Willow and Xander cheating on their respective partners for one another... I'm not going to rewatch that story line just for this post, so this will be based off of my memory (about a year a two since I've last rewatched). While we are made to understand that Xander and Willow are both in the wrong for their emotional affair, the show does constantly remind us that Willow has held love for Xander for several years and in doing so it tries to make us more sympathetic towards her actions. While Willow is (from my memory at least) the one who initiates and pushes them to continue their behavior, she is the one the show expects us to be forgiving towards. This brief dominance she displays with Xander breaks her usual passiveness and in doing so also appears to be playing against gender roles in their relationship. However, when the pair are caught kissing by their respective partners they quickly revert to their expected roles; Willow becomes a passive and submissive partner to Oz again, wracked by the guilt of her actions and wanting to repent. While she isn't granted instant forgiveness by Oz, it's relatively quick that the two resolve their conflict and go back to being the Scooby's representation of a "good relationship". It is very interesting to note that the show forgives Willow for her cheating behavior, whereas it could be argued that Cordelia is punished for not forgiving Xander for his behavior. This reinforces the idea that Willow is supposed to be a passive participant in her relationship, as we see Cordelia, who refuses to do so, gets exiled from the Scooby gang and narratively punished.  

The first time that Willow has sex in the show is with Oz and it's one of the rare times we see sexual intimacy being portrayed as both loving and without punishment for the women during these early seasons. As Buffy and Angel's first time was presented as being a reflection of their love, so too is Willow and Oz's. One could argue that the show even rewards Willow for returning to Oz and submitting herself to him sexually. At the end of season three their relationship, the one which appears to fit gender roles, is the only one that remains. From this we can see that though Willow attempts to contest gender roles through the same strengths that grant her position in the Scooby gang, when it comes to relationships and intimacy she is often pushed into the role of being the token "good girl" of the group; even when she does navigate contesting this role, such as in the case of cheating with Xander or expressing the desire for sex casually, we will see her revert back into a more submissive characterization afterwards.  

To draw this all back to my original post; the female characters are able to challenge gender roles in many ways in the first three seasons, however this isn't extended to sex. Willow is allowed to desire sex and even enjoy it, however it is on the provision that she fulfills certain heteronormative conventions, or is at least perceived to do so during these times.

[angelus-scripturae]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

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ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : Album: BTVS

William ‘Spike’ Pratt

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Angel/ Angelus

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Masterpost★

Introduction<3

[graveyard-gal]

No one understands the CRUSH I have on Willow Rosenburg

[wereoz]

i literally don’t think i can explain to you how obsessed i am with willow rosenburgs character. she was so sweet and soft- except she wasn’t, really, she was “callous and strange” and nobody noticed because she couldn’t do anything about it, she was stuck in highschool where she was at the bottom of the food chain. but as down trodden as she was, there she got her first taste of power. with magic. it wasn’t her area of expertise, they didn’t want her because she knew anything, she was just there. but she was amazing. and it stuck with her until she twisted it and she was told she was the best too many times to count, and she killed someone with no hesitation. i loved that episode more than anything because it was the most amazing pay off for a character i have seen show how deranged they are more and more. she is selfish. she is so selfish and it’s one of my favourite things about her. she resents cordelia for taking xander away because she wants him all to herself -even though she’s almost completely over him, because it’s not that she wants him, she just doesn’t want cordelia to have him and she wants to be finally validated- and once they start up a mini relationship she wants to keep oz, as well. and she doesn’t want tara to leave, so she drugs her. and i love how it started off- a bullied kid makes fun of the popular girl sometimes. well, she’s being bullied, how can we fault her? but then she starts taking it farther and farther until she can’t take it back and we can’t make any excuses for her and i just. i just love willow rosenburg