#and also fuck xander harris

[tiredandoptimistic]

Crucial thing about Buffy Summers is that she would rather die than have a conversation. She doesn't want to get other people involved in her business if she can help it, and throughout the series we see her become increasingly self-reliant as she learns to trust in her own abilities as the Slayer. The downside to this is that it weakens her connection to her friends as she becomes convinced that they can't understand what she's going through. By the late seasons, Willow and Xander fit the same role relative to Buffy that Joyce did back in high school. To Buffy, it's not worth opening up to them if they'll never really get it. All she'd be doing is pushing her problems onto people who wouldn't be able to help. In addition, thanks to that self-reliance, she always thinks that she can solve everything on her own. She doesn't like to open up about her issues, meaning that her loved ones often don't find out that anything is wrong until it's too late for Buffy to handle it delicately. For instance, when Joyce finds out that Buffy is the Slayer in season two she has a lot of questions that Buffy doesn't have time to answer because the world is literally about to end. In a desperate attempt to keep Buffy from leaving Joyce threatens to kick her out of the house, which obviously wasn't something she should have said even though it wasn't sincere. By refusing to let her mother in on the details of her life until the last possible minute, Buffy put them both in a situation where she was forced to drop the information and run, leading her mother to hate the Slayer calling in season three. Joyce only gets a peak at Buffy's life when the supernatural gets so bad that it's completely out of Buffy's control, which leads to Joyce seeing Buffy's life as nothing but terrible. We see this especially with Angel. Buffy never tells Joyce anything about her relationship with Angel except for when he's evil and planning on killing her, which means that Joyce never trusts Angel even when he's a good guy genuinely trying to protect her.

Switching back to the late seasons; after Buffy comes back from the dead she feels unable to connect with anyone except Spike. She was obviously going through a whole depression in season six and I'm not going to say that she handled it wrong because frankly as long as she made it through alive she did everything right, but this lack of communication with her friends does cause some problems for her. We see in the musical episode Buffy is forced to finally tell the truth about what death was like and how depressed she's been feeling, and it absolutely crushes all of her friends. Not only does their friend find them responsible for her depression, but she also felt the need to lie to them about it because she thinks they'd rather see her as happy than honest. Buffy tries to protect her friends from her life rather than sharing it with them, so everyone ends up upset and isolated. For the next leg of the season she has the whole relationship with Spike going on that she doesn't tell anyone about, which once again means that no one finds out until it's so bad she can't control it. (This is paralleled with Willow's magic addiction in a way that's interesting but I'm not gonna talk about it right now). Xander gets angry at her for sleeping with Spike when we know he had a much more chill reaction back in season five when the Buffybot made everyone think Buffy was with Spike, showing that the circumstances of him finding out had a big impact on his reaction. If Buffy had been up front about the relationship rather than waiting for Spike to spill the beans mid-argument, her friends probably would have been more understanding. Instead, Xander only sees Spike as the guy who starts fights and tries to rape his friend. By season seven Xander and Dawn don't understand why Buffy wants to protect Spike, because she didn't want them to know about any of the relationship so they only got to see the worst of it. If she was willing to share the parts of Spike she found genuinely appealing, she wouldn't have been hiding the relationship in the first place. Instead, everyone else sees him as an irredeemable asshole and Buffy doesn't take their concerns seriously because she can take care of herself.

I think I'm running out of steam so this post is probably approaching its end, but yeah. I think it's super interesting how Buffy works on a "dude, just trust me" level, and you can see throughout the series that her bubble of trust shrinks dramatically. Her fundamental trait of not wanting to share her struggles stays consistent, but as she grows up and gains confidence and competence she ends up willing to let down her mask with fewer and fewer people. She's a uniquely powerful Slayer because of how she draws on the strength of her friends, but she hates that she has to do it and tries to lock them out of her life as soon as she reaches a point where she thinks she can handle it alone. Once things boil over she's always left with a situation that's far worse than if she'd just been upfront with everything, but despite that the people in her life still always support her unconditionally. Joyce welcomes her back into the house with open arms, Giles respects her renewed relationship with Angel, Xander agrees to let Spike live with him despite his concerns. Buffy has so much trouble accepting the love that constantly surrounds her, but it remains anyways.

[camellcat]

y'all I used to be normal about xander harris. I used to go yeah y'know I like him he's just a totally normal guy. I think he's really sweet actually, but hey I completely understand why some people may not like him

but the way the fandom treats him has pushed me SO far into defense it's like rewired my brain or something. actually he's done nothing wrong ever. I don't even care anymore. I take back every critique I've ever made of him. you don't Get Him like I do. he's written as terribly inconceivably ooc sometimes and you're all treating it like it's NORMAL!!!! when other characters are NOT subject to the same bullshit even when they're sometimes written even worse. we can wave away SO much shit for others, but xander? no, no, no. and when he IS in character, does ANYONE care to perhaps I dunno EXAMINE WHY HE'S ACTING LIKE THAT? oh? no? we're just gonna take it at face value, when we would not do that for any other character??? when he's written off and sometimes even intentionally off, then that's perfectly in line and just Who He Is Actually

I need to talk about the pack specifically because I have GRIEVANCES with the fandom here. what in the actual hell is going on. why are we acting like the possession was who he really is deep down??? it's clear that the hyena spirit is simply taking him at his base sort of thoughts I suppose (e.g., him having a hard crush on buffy, being jealous of angel, secretly knowing about willow but not requiting) and amplifying them to be HORRIBLE. at the end, he's visibly guilty over what he's done despite it being out of his control. he doesn't say anything because how COULD he? what would he even say? these are the most important people in his life, and he was forced to hurt them. and they obviously forgive him and don't blame him for what happened, because he's not exactly subtle about remembering, and I sincerely doubt they'd just let what he did slide if they thought he truly was responsible. these guys are all with the silent communication, and it's not always good, but it's how they roll. also, GUYS. THINK OF SPIKE'S MOTHER!!!! THIS IS AN INCREDIBLY SIMILAR SITUATION!!!!! he has never in the entire time we've known him actively go out of his way to hurt people the way he does in this episode. because that's not who he is or who he ever wants to be

I also want to talk about how brave he is. I keep seeing people calling him a coward and it genuinely baffles me. are we watching the same show? what are you ON about?? even the show points it out: he's completely and utterly human, and standing up to fight evil on the front lines with everyone else anyways. there two absolute standout moments I especially adore and want to point out. and there ARE more moments, but these are my favourite. the first is when xander decides that if no one else will, he'll go help buffy fight the master, and alone if he has to. and he saves buffy, because he TRIED. I honestly don't think anyone else would've tried to save her once they saw she'd died like they were all told she would, but he did. because that's who he is. and the second is one my friend pointed out to me that is just so good, where xander stands up to angelus in the hospital. angelus could snap him in half within a blink of an eye, and xander tells him to leave. he's terrified, because he KNOWS if angelus wanted to then he'd be dead without being able to fight back, but he guards buffy like a little dog facing up against a lion. he wouldn't win, but maybe he could buy her just a little more time, maybe someone would notice and help her, maybe angelus will decide it's too much effort and leave like he desperately hopes, maybe maybe maybe. he's gambling with his life here, just like before by walking into the master's nest, and he'd do it again without a second thought to protect his loved ones. he DOES do it, again and again and again over the course of the show

this isn't to say xander doesn't have his flaws. he's not the best boyfriend for sure, and while those are mostly out of his own insecurities and trauma, it's still not a great. I don't give any of the other characters that excuse to let bad relationship behaviour slide and I won't give him it either, but it is at the least an explanation. that is just a real flaw that he struggles with throughout the whole show outside of anything else. he can also be very snippy and mean when he's feeling defensive, and he's got a bit of a possessive, jealous streak that isn't fantastic, but he's the heart for a reason. in fact I honestly think those traits work really well as cons for the heart

the xander we see in the show is someone who wants to be good and do good. he cares so, so immensely for everyone. EVERYONE who sticks around in this show, does xander latch onto to as one of his own people to look out for. he tries and tries and tries to do the right thing, to protect and take care of the ones he loves in any way he can, and he kind of sucks at it sometimes. he makes the wrong choices even when he means well, and sometimes when he doesn't. but god is he trying harder than almost anyone else on that show to just be A Good Friend. I'm going to go so far as to say I think he is actually a better person than almost every other character on this show (other than buffy and tara of course)

why isn't he enough when there are other characters who are SO much worse than him in this show?

[thatsparrow]

cmonnnn at xander in the s2 angelus arc trying to claim some sort of high ground with his "I've been distrustful of angel the whole time and the rest of you are just getting to the party" as if a) we haven't already established that angel and angelus are effectively two different people and b) that xander had any suspicions or criticisms or negative feelings toward angel that weren't all ultimately rooted in jealousy

[raisedbythetv89]

Me when the manipulative character manipulates irl viewers into ignoring all the bad and only seeing the good and then treating me like I’m the crazy one because I see through the manipulation and see the characters for who they really are instead of how they want to be perceived

[justafriendofxanders]

i try not to be a dick and i understand this article writer probably got paid peanuts to churn out an article for the content mill so i'm not going after them in particular. this is just me venting about meaningless shit

the idea that btvs characters need to be made more "relatable" by turning them into unfortunate victims rather than people culpable for their own misery feels so antithetical to everything about the show. what's "relatable" and interesting about original xander is not his 90s Nice Guy Syndrome it's the conflict between wanting to be liked and being really fucking annoying. it's that he wants nothing more than a handbook on how to be "cool," but if you gave him one, he'd throw it out the window and continue to be judgmental because he can't shut the fuck up. he can be manipulative and cowardly but he can also be brave and loyal. his mouth gets him into a boatload of trouble and causes pain and heartbreak and also it saves the world and his best friend. like i get that the nice guy entitlement is annoying, but turning him into a passive doormat is just. not the same character.

[xaeyrnofnbe]

shoutout to 'The Vampire Slayer' for creating the most likeable version of xander harris in the entire buffyverse. in most of his iterations i do not enjoy his character. there are PARTS of his character that i like, and i definitely like the character he's supposed to be, but he fails at being it most of the time so i don't really like him. i'm not gonna list his faults though 'cause if you get it you already get it, and if you don't you don't.

but i LOVED him in The Vampire Slayer (comics by Boom! Studios). all the characters were really delightfully fleshed out, of course, but i really did find myself enjoying him the most, probably due to how unlike his tv counterpart he is, while still retaining his purpose in the group dynamic.

because xander is, explicitly, the 'heart' of the group. the silly dingus who isn't good at most things but sits right in the center of everyone at all times because while he may not be good at slaying, magic, lore, etc, he does have the power of love and friendship. and making jokes that don't really land. i love character hypothetically, but tv xander kinda falls flat for me in this regard.

but TVS xander succeeds! he's goofy and makes bad jokes that kinda tick off his friends, but he feels bad about it! he's insecure about his capabilities and his role in the group (much like tv xander) but he has a strong core identity, and has interests outside of just sleeping with women. he has lots of house plants, he's somewhat fashionable, he works at the hospital, and most unlike tv xander of all... he's openly bisexual. and though a lot of his storyline relates to dating struggles, his conflict has nothing to do with wanting to have sex with someone he can't have, or being wildly insecure in his sexuality, or him being a cheater, or whatever. nope! he's dating a guy who just kinda sucks and it makes him feel bad about himself!

and then the development of his friendship (?🤨) with spike (nothing is really confirmed but like. there's implications), his affection for Baby Crab, and his highly supportive relationships to his friends all lead to him being really well-rounded and likable while still being decently flawed and still recognizable as himself.

i don't know, i guess i just really liked seeing what could have been when it comes to my otherwise least favorite character in the franchise. it was neat to see

[mortem0]

if you can’t handle powerful women… THEN DONT DATE ONE

[iateabunchofsmartiesandnowimdumb]

so i think what it is is i don't hate xander, i actually can be pretty fond of him sometimes, but i do hate a lot of things j*ss wh*don did with his character

[snakey-sorrow]

I SHOULD'VE HELD OFF

NOT JUST AN EXTRA

Meanwhile, douchenozzle from earlier just said that "if morality was developed under the influence of beer, there would be no good or evil, there'd be "kinda nice, and pretty cool" keep in mind this episode started off talking about id, ego, and superego. Dickpumper here obviously missed that class.

[froggiebi-moved]

a massive indicator of my glow-up is that i used to have the most all-consuming crush on xander from buffy as a teenager. now i can't help but cringe whenever i see the dude. fuck that guy

[firelxdykatara]

One of these days I really do need to sit down and do a full Buffy rewatch. It's been a very long time since I've watched the whole show, beginning to end, without jumping to my favorite episodes and then losing track and trailing off. But part of the problem is that every time I think about doing this, I then think about how much time I will have to spend perceiving Xander Harris' existence (a character whom I loathe a little more each and every time I put on an episode of the show, especially when I do a full season rewatch), and I just feel so tired in my fucking bones about it. I don't know if I am strong enough!

Doesn't help that I just watched a youtube video on why Xander is the Worst with a capital W, which in the process reminded me of some of the things he did which I'd evidently blocked completely from my memory. You mean to tell me (as if I had not seen it with my own two eyes multiple times and each time managed, somehow, to purge it from my memory completely) that Xander fucking Harris is the reason Buffy tries to go after Riley (a character I also hate, but unlike Xander, he's only around for two seasons and is ultimately pretty irrelevant and easy to ignore), only to get there too late and watch him leave in a fucking helicopter, crying over him as if she'd lost something significant.

Instead of leaving it at her choosing to let go of a relationship that was going nowhere, and never had been, because she did not love him (seriously, just, compare the way Buffy behaves around him during their relationship with her behavior around Angel and Spike during their respective relationship arcs and tell me you don't see a diffeerence) and he very clearly did not understand her or her burden and had no intention of trying because being with the strongest woman in the world who didn't need him around all the time to be her big strong protector made him feel like less of a man... she has to stand there and get her heart broken, realizing what she lost just a little too late to do anything about it.

All because Xander had to give her his little fucked up 'you need to go after him and beg him to stay! he's perfect for you!' speech.

(There's something in there about Xander needing her to pick Riley and be with Riley because Riley is the normal everyman and it would be, symbolically, him triumphing over Angel after all if she chose the normal boring human dude over a grr face and angst, but it's been a little too long for me to write that essay, it'd have to come in the course of the full rewatch I keep meaning to start and not getting around to because of aforementioned anger about Xander Fucking Harris.)

This on top of shit like 'Xander has a witch help him do a love spell that backfires horribly and instead of facing any consequences from that he has Buffy thanking him for not sexually assaulting her while she was maigcally roofied by, and I cannot stress this enough, the spell he sought out a witch to perform (because he actually wanted to assault Cordelia in revenge for dumping him, but since he saves her from the situation he put her in she decides to give their relationship another chance)' (and in the very next season he cheats on Cordelia with Willow, who is wracked with guilt over what happened and spends multiple episodes trying to make things up to Oz and fix their relationship but Xander has to do none of this cause it's whatever to him I guess lmao), and also him lying about Angel which Buffy never figures out which sticks in my craw like a really bad rash... gods.

See I'm already writing an essay and I haven't done a full rewatch in years 😭😭😭 I love the show so much but I hate Xander SO much I truly suffer more than Jesus for my girl.

[camellcat]

you think that in s7 wils xand and buffy took just one night to find whatever channel still had silly bollywood movies and threw popcorn at each other and xander made a mess of willow's hair even though all three of them know he knows how to braid better than either of them and buffy accidentally tossed ice cream onto xander when gesturing too aggressively and willow giggled and giggled and giggled until she thought she was dying. and only halfway through the night they fall asleep in a pile on top of one another because they aren't seventeen anymore and their lives are too stressful to not take some rest when they can get it and when are they ever gonna feel safer than with each other. just one night again like they used to

[anakinmoser]

Spoilers for Original Sin and Dexter season 1 cause I need to rant about stuff. I warned you.

I just gotta rant about this cause everyone seems so pleased with Original Sin and how it came out...

The show per se wasn't bad at all, actually I even liked it but there were so many inconsistencies plot-wise that I could've happily ignored if it was a separate work or even an alternative universe, but not since it's supposed to be Dexter reminiscing his past at the end of New Blood.

Imma start off with a simple question: Where in FUCK'S name is Matthews?? Originally that man was at Deb's 16th or so birthday and you want me to believe that now that she's supposed to be 17 (which by the way I dont like since her birthday was december 7th of 1979, thing that would happily explain why Matthews is nowhere to be seen) he's not even shown as part of the police force??

Also, should I ignore the fact that Dex in episode one of the first show used the fishing noose or whatever it was like in the books to lead his victims to their death to then start using M99 at random? And in OG sin they make him find it out by the end of the season which woud completely threw off the plot of the pilot episode Dexter.

Dont even get me started on Brian as a charater and all cause what Xander and epecially Roby did was magical. They perfectly encapsulated Brian's essence as a charater and a person but what the fuck was his storyline even???

I could go on hours long rants about Brian's fluctuating age cause he and Dex weren't even a full year apart in the books and already in Dexter they had made it two to three (since they told us Brian was 6 when the Shipping Yard massacre happened but then they showed us his driver's licence were his birthday was set in 1968, which would've made him 5 but okay) AND NOW THEY PUSHED HIS BDAY EVEN FURTHER?!?! Like what do you mean 1966?? Do they want him to be a full blown teenager when his mother gets killed or what?

Also, have mercy on me but what is this psychopath propaganda they're trying to push on him? Oh yeah, he had morbid curiosity about some lizards and detached their tails for fun. He's definitely evil. Well, lemme break it to you: LIZARDS CAN SHED THEIR TAILS NATURALLY!! So that whole bullshit scene of Harry and Dexter making a funeral for the lizards made no damn sense unless Brian actively killed them somehow offscreen (or if I missed the scene in which he did) And even if he did, he was a poor curious child. Someone could've just gone "you dont do that cause it hurts the lizards" and he would've most likely stopped.

Still on the psycopath propaganda part, I'm tired as hell of hearing people say, and reading comments stating, Brian is a psychopath. I can assure you that if he'd really been a psychopath he wouldn't have cared so much about getting back to Dex. He also wouldn't have had his emotional moments either like when he snapped at Dex because "you cant be a killer and a hero..." in Dexter and his "so I can work at a radio shack for the rest of my life?!" to his therapist. I can go into even more detail about his death and all but that could easily be a separate post.

Back to OG Sin in general... Where did Spencer even come from in the storyline? And btw, was I the only one who clocked that mf in episode 2? I'm sure that the actor who played him did a fantastic job with him if I managed to notice so early on because lord was it obvious that there was something wrong with that man.

LaGuerta is even more insufferable than she already was in Dexter and that alone is saying tons.

What was that whole storyline with Sofia and shit? What was the purpose of it, and even better, if they hadn't been renewed for a new season how did they expect to explain where in hell she went since Deb never mentioned her (to my knowledge) in Dexter?

Also, please, and I promise this is the last thing, can they give Debra a normal relationship? Why does EVERY SINGLE GUY she gets with have to be a drug dealer a serial killer or an abusive entitled bitch? Can't she fall for a normal guy and have a normal relationship ending with a normal excuse like "he snored in his sleep and he didn't know how to do his laundry" or shit like that???

tl;dr: Where is Matthews? Introducing M99 like that seemed very stupid. Why do they hate Brian's story and character so bad? Where did Spencer come from? And I'm not even gonna bother with LaGuerta, Sofia and Deb.

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

I get the suspicion around Larry sometimes, but at the same time, alot of stuff out there debunks alot of Larries theories they are hell bent on sticking too. Like the whole marriage thing on the 28th. Yes, I get Louis has an obsession with 28 and there was some twitter jokes from their friends and family on the 28th joking about marriage, but never once did they say it was about Larry specifically. They were also in Australia that day where same sex marriage was def not legal. Also seeing videos from that concert day, Louis was sick and lost his voice & that was also in them tweets, but he and harry barely interacted during those concerts. Not really a good way to spend a honeymoon/wedding day, pretending to not be friends. lol The other thing is the bandana theory. Why do they say its confirmed he wears the blue bandana for Louis or the peace ring for Louis? Where is the proof Louis bought him the peace ring (or Zayn for that matter cause Zarries use it as their proof too). Did I miss where Harry said Louis got him the peace ring? I'm genuinely curious. I know about the bandana project, but the two things could be totally unrelated, yet they tell it as if its confirmed. And if the peace ring meant that much to harry and was basically his wedding ring, why wear it once in a blue moon? Also Harry never acknowledges 28, so is it one sided marriage?

Harry had one cryptic post about 28 that fandom talked about (21 May 2015).

(Looking through his Instagram I also see this birthday cake for Xander from 2015 lmao. Please don’t make me go through his IG again.)

Other than that, no mention of 28, no mention of Louis giving him the peace ring. Neither Louis nor Zayn ever alluded to Harry’s rings or any of his other jewelry. The anniversary/ marriage posts have been debunked years ago (did they get a legal divorce lol).

Neither Louis nor Harry ever referred to each other with regard to the blue bandana. Louis’ color has not been blue since he left the band in 2015— his favorite color is red (is Zayn signaling with his red microphone? No 😂😂😂).

It’s the same thing as the asinine dog bark in Harry’s pandemic interview. As far as I know, Louis’ dog Clifford has never left the UK. Traveling with Clifford during a worldwide pandemic would be fucking stupid. Louis isn’t fucking stupid.

It’s the same thing as the “Umbro shirt.” Pure fetishistic fantasy.

It’s actually very on-brand for Larries to reduce one of Louis’ trademarks, the number 28, to something related to their fantasy ship. Louis can’t have anything for himself. His music has to refer to Larry. His tour covers are about Larry. The way he dresses is either signaling Larry or trying to piss off Larries. Same with his friendships. Louis can’t have a pet that doesn’t involve Harry. Louis’ house is “his stunt house” because Harry isn’t ever there. See the pattern?

[breezybeej]

I liked Xander. Season 4 and 5 had him really growing on me for the role he played as Buffy's Heart and how that carried through his dialogue and also just the interactions he had with other characters.

I'm 5 episodes into season 6 and i just want to peel his skin off. He is making Anya unhappy. She's ready for you, Xander. she has been since day fucking one. you are squandering everything I have ever wanted, just pissing it away while the best woman in the world is sad about it. You don't deserve her tears you loser. I've watched her beam at your petty insults, I've watched her accept the way you never take her side in any disagreement. Does it not bother you how much she loves your friends and they don't return the feeling? The only scooby who liked her was Buffybot (and probably Tara because Tara is sweet). Sometimes Spike. Cordelia tried to save herself from you multiple times but you teased her along and look what happened.

Alexander Harris you are a scoundrel and loser. Faith should have finished strangling you. Jack should have jammed Katie through your heart. You should have taken Spike's advice and killed yourself. You should have become a fishman and returned to the ocean to be eaten by sharks. Buffy should have killed you when you talked down to her at your jobsite. Dream Snyder was right, you are a whipping boy, Harris. You are nothing, you are beneath her. Every time you are on screen, I see red.

You deserve nothing but you get everything. If you were real, I'd gut you like a fish. You disgust me, Harris. Whatever hardship you face for the rest of the show is not enough.

I hope you suffer, boy.

[overworkedblorbobattle]

Buffy propaganda:

Buffy has: - been informed in no uncertain terms at the age of 15 (!) that she has been made the latest incarnation of the one (1) person intended/destined to protect All of Humanity from the entirety of vampires, demons, apocalypse cults, and sundry other threats that desire everything from wanton murder to causing one of several actual apocalypses

- no pay and no benefits for being the Slayer; the only reliable ally she is guaranteed is one of a succession of variously shady Illuminati people who may or may not be actually helping her or taking advantage of her - if she survives 'too long' the organization will literally lock her in a room for an unarmed cage match against a powerful monster as a fucked-up test of character and/or for shits and giggles

- she is expected to do this in perpetuity until such time as she is killed in the line of duty (again, as a teenage girl expected to fight on her own with at best a small degree of enhanced physicality/durability and extremely rudimentary hand-to-hand training)

- she can't not do it because being the Slayer means she's automatically a target for the things that go bump in the night, which will attack her regardless - also being the Slayer makes her the default inheritor of the grudges of these beings

- again, she is a teenager in high school for the first part of the series; her non-optional job as the Slayer damages her academics (disrupting classes directly, cutting into time for studying, and she's known as a delinquent for accidentally totaling her last school in a fight against a group of vampires that attacked her there), impedes her social life (she has to risk her life fighting monsters in her nominal 'off' time rather than relaxing or socializing, and her friends are also murder targets by association or as a means to hurt her), and is a danger to her health and well-being (the obvious reason of injury, plus reduced hours of rest and recuperation (fighting monsters into the wee hours before and after full school/work days instead of, y'know, sleeping), plus her mom kicked her out of her own home when she tried to confide in her)

- Buffy has literally been killed twice in the line of duty, revived both times(the first time via resuscitation after drowning, the second time via literal necromancy after which she had to claw her way out of her own grave or suffocate), and been forced to continue going as the Slayer

- her mom later dies and (university-age) Buffy has to balance being the Slayer with working a shitty fast food job to make ends meet and being the primary caregiver for her younger sister

- there is a bright spot at the end of the series where she and her allies manage to 'hack' the Slayer system to kickstart every viable Slayer candidate in the world into their abilities, meaning they can build up an actual organizational/support structure so it's not just an endless succession of singular teenage girls being killed… except she's in the position of being one of the primary authorities to a bunch of teenage girls, responsible for their training and future behaviour, and bears partial responsibility for every one of them that is murdered for being a Slayer before she and her allies can get to them to protect/inform/train them to survive

- she had to put up with Xander Fucking Harris (Joss Whedon's Specialest Boy) for 7 years of showtime, and longer in the tie-in comic

To put it in terms of the current bracket: if Luisa fucks up or underperforms, people in her town are moderately inconvenienced. If Buffy fucks up, usually at least one innocent person dies. Talk about being under pressure.

She even gets a musical bit one time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmLSjwam26E

.