#xanderbuffy

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Did Cordelia ever have a line to Xander, similar to Anya's one about Xander always hiding behind Buffy? Because I feel like she did (but I can't think of what it was exactly and when it happened if it was a thing), but I may also be crazy.

I know one time I tried to Google it, and the closest I could find was Cordelia's line about how Xander was too busy rushing off to die for his precious Buffy. And how he'd never die for her (which is a line I love. But definitely not the kind of one I'm thinking about here. Haha.).

Today I'm trying again, and weirdly all I'm seeing is something about Cordelia asking why they're hiding, and Xander saying she isn't hiding. She's bait. And her then demanding why she has to be bait. Which definitely isn't close (maybe the Google search just really focused on the "hide" and "Cordelia and Xander" parts of my Buffy ask).

[theveiledduchessseries]

I always hated how quickly Xander and everyone dismisses Buffy's feelings in this episode. And even by the end she was still expected to apologize. Xander lied, Angel could be saved, and for that I put Xander at fault for Buffy's greatest pain, second to her mother's death. Don't get me wrong I like Xander and the rest of the Scooby gang but I feel like this was one of the moments where they forget Buffy isn't just a hero she's human like them. I just don't think she needed to apologize she did nothing wrong, but reacted to horrible pain. And in the end she still came back on her own and put others first. I just hated how they dismissed that. #buffythevampireslayer #buffysummers #xanderbuffy #willow #xanderlied #Angel (at Santa Cruz, California)

[nattensijus]

summrsbuffy btvs holiday icon pack time!! - 10 buffy icons - 5 coffy icons - 3 faith icons - 12 xanderbuffy icons find them HERE.

[ifeveristoday]

Thanks for keepin up your Boom! Coverage, I was surprised to see how much Xander's storyline is pulling from Angelus- its interesting even if groan Robin implied XanderBuffy is more than friendship. I had always assumed any buffy version would feature the tragedy of Buffy and Angel - hellmouth, early Angel issues indicated that, but VampXander combined with the soul Mara-Kate silliness has me doubting. What new ground would be covered with an Angelus Buffy crossover?

I can't be the only one yelling into the void about how much I enjoy the Boom! Verse, so I figured I'd take you all with me. 🤣

I've posted before while I'm not excited about the Xander - Buffy storyline, I knew by all the clues that littered past issues that they were going to have to do *something* about it. And yes, Robin pressing Buffy on her 'true' feelings for Xander seems rather out of left field for him. Especially on a date - why is he so intent on pushing the girl he likes into admitting she has secret buried feelings for her as-far-as-he-knows, dead best friend? Way to stall a potential romance. (Though he was right to call her out on her martyr complex.)

Then Buffy extrapolating from Kendra's conversation that she would know when she knows re: Xander - I'm interpreting it as Buffy being in a particularly vulnerable position. A lot of traumatic things have happened within the span of a month - the Hellmouth opening then closing, Xander's apparent 'final' death, Willow leaving, Rose getting hurt, Kendra's arrival and disruption of Buffy's status quo. And she can't talk to anyone about it - her mother can't know her secret, she believes Giles is more impressed with Kendra, and Ms. Calendar is out of the loop. And Rose and Cordelia aren't really *her* friends. She's really alone like she said she wanted to be at the start of the series, and she tries to fix that by throwing herself into a relationship with Robin, because he assures her he's on team Buffy. (And Buffy wants to be liked and needed.) And then that stops before it even could start.

And with her unsettling slayer dreams and reluctance to share ("It's personal"), it's a very lonely place to be for Buffy. Xander coming back from the dead, sort of - well he's a charter member of Team Buffy, so I can see why she's conflicted. He's one of her best friends and even though his feelings for her are terribly twisted by the demon, he's a reminder of when she wasn't lonely. Willow is gone, but Xander is back.

Buffy's loneliness is something that hasn't been brought up much in the Boom! verse. At least not in conversation with the other characters directly. Willow and Xander had their mini arcs dealing with depression and their childhood bond, but Buffy was absent for a lot of that, as she was fighting on another plane of existence. Angel had some camp counselor like advice about loneliness, but then got possessed by the personification of an ancient evil, oh and omitted telling Buffy he was a vampire until the worst possible second, so her tentative trust in him is gone.

Which brings me to your point about how Vamp! Xander's obsession with Buffy is reminiscent of the Angelus story line (and boy is there a whole essay that could be written about how in TV canon, Angelus adopts Xander's nickname for Buffy, "Buff" and his manipulation of her and Xander's feelings and how eerily similar the toxic aspects of the men in Buffy's life can be drawn back to Angelus, etc.) and how it seems like the early hint of Buffy and Angel now feels like a red herring. I think while there are similarities, it's more aligned to the Jesse/Ford plots.

I can only wildly theorize from what print canon says - Buffy and Angel had to meet, and Buffy is going to change Angel's life. Just not now. The timing is off plus they have so much other stuff going on, though Buffy's got more internal chaos while Angel's is more focused on external forces.

And just by the characterization and consistent reminders that Buffy and her friends are sixteen and seventeen year old children - not CW/WB sexy 20 something teenagers, but awkward, messy, traumatized, occasionally shitty to each other children. Angel clearly is not a child.

In Jordie's interviews she's been clear that she wants to bring Buffy into a more modern time, embellishing what we loved about the show, and updating stuff we didn't - Jenny is a character outside of being Giles's girlfriend! Kendra exists and is shown to be a capable and dedicated slayer without Buffy needing to be all white savior about it, the queerness is explicit (Willow, Rose, and Kendra), Black and POC characters get to have lines and motives of their own, mental health is portrayed mostly sensitively and with compassion, and oh, Anya is a full adult demon woman and doesn't have to fit in with the gang to their comfort. And have I mentioned Dolly the cat?

Having an Angel and Buffy romance in that timeline now doesn't make any emotional sense. Also, Buffy seemed less than enthused with him by the end of Hellmouth, and we never get to see Angel's opinion about her at all. Buffy only exists as a prophecy in Lillith's convenient magic 8 ball of foreshadowing - and I also get the feeling that the creative teams just weren't talking that closely. With the new creative team coming in, it's another unknown quantity.

And yes. Kate as Mara/Marius just feels lazy and a complete scuttling of any attempt to make Kate a character of her own and one that isn't tied to Angel by some prophecy. Angel. Use Demon Craigslist and undead tindr or something. Just because Lillith is an omniscient power who can see what could be doesn't mean she's always right.

I think the only Angelus coverage will be in regards to Mara, because Buffy has no emotional connection to Angel. There's no devastation/conflict possibility for them currently, and honestly, Buffy would probably stake Angelus easily.

I can only speculate that these initial relationships are setting the stage for a future rematch between Buffy and Angel, but for now their writers are content to build their separate journeys.

Sorry I took so long to reply! It’s been in the mid to high nineties here in California and I mostly want to sit by a fan and disconnect.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

There’s a weird part of me that somewhat ships Xander and Buffy now.

I have no idea why! I used to hate the idea of that pairing. Just because I never felt any romantic chemistry between them (at least from Buffy’s side), and preferred the idea of them just as friends/family. 

And also because if Buffy were to ever fall for Xander... it would just be too much. I love the guy now, but just too many girls fell for him when he was really an Average Joe (I say that with love). It just didn’t feel realistic to me... which was why I was kind of annoyed, when I found out Buffy finally reciprocated Xander’s feelings for her in the comics, and was glad it didn’t go anywhere since Xander was finally over her.

But now, all of a sudden, I’m thinking they had potential? I have no idea why. I don’t like it more than any of the other Buffy pairings or Xander ones. But maybe it’s because Buffy always fell for the bad boys, so maybe it would have been nice to see her fall for a good one once, who was always there for her? Xander makes quite a few stupid mistakes--and some big ones at that--that I actually hated him for, the first time I watched Buffy. But now I realize that Xander was actually a sweet boy, for the most part, and his heart was mostly in the right place. And even though he really fucked up some, to me it doesn’t outweigh the good about him... I still wish he hadn’t done those things, of course, and had learned more. But oh well.

And I’m rambling now. Anyway.

Edit: Though if this would have happened, it almost might feel like Buffy was Xander’s prize. So if a Buffy/Xander relationship were to ever happen, and I’m still not sure it ever should, it would have to be careful to not run into the above issues. But it could maybe do so, and be good.

[nattensijus]

buffy vs dracula is an episode for xanderbuffy bestieism enjoyers!!!!

[nattensijus]

the freshman is an episode for xanderbuffy enjoyers (me)

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Man, I love this one Buffy Hunger Games AU. I love everything about the story so far, actually.

But right now, I’m thinking about how Oz and Willow pretended to be in love--as part of their strategy--like Peeta and Katniss. Though for them, it was actually fake, since Willow is a lesbian. But the two of them were besties, so they were able to sell it well.

Meanwhile, Willow’s of course in love with Tara, who she’s trying to keep a secret from the Capitol.

And this is all backstory, too. Willow is actually one of Buffy and Xander’s mentors (who are the real Katniss and Peeta in this. Buffy volunteered for Dawn. Xander has always had a crush on Buffy, I think, etc.). Though I don’t know if the fic is going to end up shipping XanderBuffy, like PeetaKatniss is shipped in THG canon, since that story was already kind of done with OzWillow, even though it was fake.

Anyway...