drhadleyaddict

[drhadleyaddict]

I feel like we don't talk enough about how Spike didn't kill Cecily. Think about it. She, very harshly, rejected and insulted him. Then he became a vampire. A vampire so vicious that he became famous. And yet his first move wasn't to murder the woman who dismissed him like his existence was meaningless. It was to go turn his sick mother into a vampire so she could live forever with him. He loved his mother so deeply that it lingered even after he lost his human soul. I believe the same can be said of his feelings for Cecily, despite her rejection. I mean, he wrote poetry for her. That requires some pretty intense emotions. He could've gone and gotten revenge with his hot new girlfriend, who I am certain would have relished watching him violently kill the woman who caused the tears he was shedding when she met him. You could argue that it was because he fell in love with Drusilla and no longer cared about Cecily. And, if that's the case, it means that he loved her so powerfully that it completely erased his emotions about Cecily, even the negative ones. But I don't think that's it. I think the love he had for Cecily was so powerful that despite her rejection, and like with his mother, it lingered even when he became a vampire.

This is, I believe, another example of Spike's unique ability to love as a soulless vampire. Angelus murdered his entire family, including his entirely innocent little sister whom he loved, because his father had been a dick to him. Hell, he murdered the entire village. Everyone he'd ever met. Absolutely no part of him had any love remaining.

Whereas Spike was capable of loving so deeply that even after Buffy died, he protected her little sister because he'd promised Buffy he'd protect her "til the end of the world". He thought he would never see Buffy again, so it wasn't like he was trying to get her to fall for him. He did it because he knew she would have wanted it. It didn't matter that he would get exactly nothing out of it. Can you imagine any other vampire in the Buffyverse doing that?

So yeah, Spike didn't kill Cecily and we should talk about that more.

[drhadleyaddict]

I feel like we don't talk enough about how Spike didn't kill Cecily. Think about it. She, very harshly, rejected and insulted him. Then he became a vampire. A vampire so vicious that he became famous. And yet his first move wasn't to murder the woman who dismissed him like his existence was meaningless. It was to go turn his sick mother into a vampire so she could live forever with him. He loved his mother so deeply that it lingered even after he lost his human soul. I believe the same can be said of his feelings for Cecily, despite her rejection. I mean, he wrote poetry for her. That requires some pretty intense emotions. He could've gone and gotten revenge with his hot new girlfriend, who I am certain would have relished watching him violently kill the woman who caused the tears he was shedding when she met him. You could argue that it was because he fell in love with Drusilla and no longer cared about Cecily. And, if that's the case, it means that he loved her so powerfully that it completely erased his emotions about Cecily, even the negative ones. But I don't think that's it. I think the love he had for Cecily was so powerful that despite her rejection, and like with his mother, it lingered even when he became a vampire.

This is, I believe, another example of Spike's unique ability to love as a soulless vampire. Angelus murdered his entire family, including his entirely innocent little sister whom he loved, because his father had been a dick to him. Hell, he murdered the entire village. Everyone he'd ever met. Absolutely no part of him had any love remaining.

Whereas Spike was capable of loving so deeply that even after Buffy died, he protected her little sister because he'd promised Buffy he'd protect her "til the end of the world". He thought he would never see Buffy again, so it wasn't like he was trying to get her to fall for him. He did it because he knew she would have wanted it. It didn't matter that he would get exactly nothing out of it. Can you imagine any other vampire in the Buffyverse doing that?

So yeah, Spike didn't kill Cecily and we should talk about that more.

[drhadleyaddict]

no! "sapphic yearning" will kill the patient

she needs hardcore lezzing out in order to live

[drhadleyaddict]

something that I think about frequently is how different the ending of angel feels compared to the ending of btvs. yes, the ending of btvs was heartbreaking but it was more bittersweet. they lost people along the way, they had a lot of grieving to do still but they did it; the world had fundamentally changed. it feels like they did what they set out to do.

the ending of angel is devastating. the message to me is that evil will prevail, that all they can do is do their best to fight it even when it doesn’t do anything. and yes, every life saved counts and the struggle is not pointless but they gave absolutely everything (everyone!!) and still in the end there is no sweet, there is only bitter. they don’t have anything or anyone to get back to. and that is just how the world is and how the world will continue to be.

the perfect metaphor for this is that in the last scenes of btvs it is perfectly sunny, while angel ends in pouring rain.

[drhadleyaddict]

The thing that always hits me about season 5 is like... Buffy is just so fucking tired.

It comes on gradually, and of course season 6 is widely known for Buffy's depression arc, but the seeds are well and truly planted in the season before it because I think season 5 is when it truly starts to hit her that... she was never supposed to live this long.

Because throughout history, Slayers have been incredibly short-lived. They make it to adulthood if they're very lucky, and at the age of 23 Buffy is officially the longest-lived Slayer in history. At 20, she had already well surpassed the average, and she's really starting to feel it. It's no coincidence that this is the season when she starts giving up on the life of the normal girl she'd been so doggedly clinging to, refusing to give up just because she's the Slayer, since season 1. She drops out of college, her mom dies, Riley leaves (and she didn't even love him but he was something normal and good and she couldn't help but cling to him even when she knew she shouldn't and no thanks to Xander's terrible fucking advice but ANYWAY), she has nothing but being the Slayer and taking care of her sister--who isn't truly her sister but finding that out doesn't matter because she is in all the ways that count.

And she's tired. Because she's just one girl, one woman, with the weight of the world on her shoulders--and every other Slayer in history was eventually crushed by it, killed by the very darkness they were destined to fight (and die fighting), most of them never even making it this far. So she's standing there, hearing Dawn tell her that she has to let her go, to let her sacrifice herself to save the world because it's what she was created for, it's the only way- and she remembers.

Death is your gift.

And on the face of it, yeah, her death is the gift she gives to her sister to ensure she lives, and to her friends and the world to ensure they are not consumed. But also? Death is her gift. And it's not just realization dawning on her face in the rising sun--it's relief.

Because finally, finally, she can just let go.

She doesn't have to fight anymore. She doesn't have to suffer, or lose anyone else, or lose more pieces of herself. She can just stop. She can just rest.

Because the universe calls for one single champion, one teenage girl in all the world to fight all the powers of darkness and evil. And at the end of it all, the world offers her nothing in return except this--true and final peace. Death is her gift, and she rushes to meet it and she thinks finally, finally, she can just stop fighting. Stop everything. The world will be ok without her, there's always someone else to take up the mantle. She doesn't have to be the one everyone else is counting on. And she's so exhausted and so ready.

And then she wakes up in her own coffin. And all that suffering she thought she'd finally been allowed to escape crashes down on her a hundred fold, and of course she would stagger under its weight. But I think deep down some part of her blamed herself even for that. Because she'd been so ready to give up, stop fighting, end her own torment and then... her friends needed her back so badly that they ripped her from the only sliver of true peace she'd known since her Calling, and how could she say they were wrong for it when she feels so very wrong to her core for being so ready to let go in the first place?

Idk where I'm going with this, just feeling a lot of emotions about Buffy Fucking Summers today I guess.

[drhadleyaddict]

the gang discussing plans for the big bad

spike in the corner:

[drhadleyaddict]

Cordelia Chase could have beaten The First with a single read.

The First Evil was a mean girl who bullied potentials into self harm. Its entire power centered around being able to hurt with words because it couldn’t throw hands.

Upon learning this, Buffy should have remembered that she knows a verbal suitcase nuke and called Queen C down from LA to do damage.

Think about it, how scary could any of the potentials have found the First after ten minutes of Cordy calling it The Ghost of Fashion Victims Past?

The First was Cordelia Chase’s natural prey and they should have let my girl feast.

[drhadleyaddict]

ever since i was a child ive known that i wanted to, someday, be the mutilated corpse on a nature trail that ruins a hikers week

[drhadleyaddict]

a vampire giving themselves a pep talk to a mirror that has a crudely drawn picture of themselves that they drew taped to it

[drhadleyaddict]

the reason buffy summers is a much better protagonist than a lot of the main characters in other teen supernatural shows is that those characters tend to be good people in a passive, boring way. they're generally nice and care about doing good, but they're rarely placed in situations where they have to make difficult decisions with no good outcomes, or pushed to extremes that force them to contend with the ugliest parts of themselves. btvs meanwhile is absolutely obsessed with the idea that passivity is inherently unethical. as such, in order for buffy to be a good person, she constantly has to make active choices. she never gets to be indecisive in the face of a moral dilemma. she always has to choose, to make tough calls, and that makes her genuine heroism and goodness far more compelling than a character who's just kind of passively nice.

[drhadleyaddict]

I honestly love the versatility of sire-childe relationships. Like they could literally have any dynamic. That’s my mom or dad. That’s my lover. That’s my roommate. That’s my best friend. We’re like siblings. We’re mortal enemies. That’s some guy that stops by for a beer sometimes. That’s my mentor that keeps checking in on my progress every night. They saved me. They ruined me. I hate them. I love them. I know nothing about that man. We know everything about each other. See what I mean

[drhadleyaddict]

in season 7 there should have been a scene where Buffy tells Spike "The house is full of people, you can't sleep naked anymore" but he hasn't worn pajamas since the Victorian era and one morning Dawn gets up early and spots him wandering around like this

[drhadleyaddict]

[drhadleyaddict]

Any tips for when trying weed for the first time?

smoke a lot of it and if you dont get high instantly smoke a lot more and if you start feeling scared that means youre about to die

[drhadleyaddict]

maybe i shouldn’t respond to wrong number texts any more

[drhadleyaddict]

wdym they really did hook up during s3 i was watching through my nifty binoculars 😎

If Buffy the Vampire Slayer was made now

Tinder episode where Buffy meets up with a guy from a dating app and he turns out to be a literal monster

Dawn and Spike swindling various demons to get money for Eras Tour tickets

Bisexual Xander

Lesbian Faith

420 episode where the scoobies think Giles is under some kind of spell but turns out he just accidentally ate Spike’s edibles

SUPERNATURAL CROSSOVER EPISODE

Endless “slay” jokes

Willow in a constant online battle with internet trolls that are actual trolls

Buffy and Faith being in love and secretly hooking up throughout season 3

Riley becoming a podcast bro

Festival episode where the scoobies go to Coachella and Ethan Rayne (disguised as a hippie) is up to some new magical fuckery

An influencer is chosen to be a slayer after Faith briefly dies and tries to be an “influenslayer”

Feel free to add more ⬇️

[drhadleyaddict]

The problem is Buffy’s taste is absolutely atrocious but she’s right. Like look at this man he’s supposed to be some stealthy vampire guy but he’s tripping when he walks in the door. He can’t fucking stand correctly. He has social anxiety so bad he hates to talk to everybody but his girlfriends. Oh look at this other guy he’s supposed to be evil and monstrous but he’s crying to your mom about his ex and asking for marshmallows in his coco. He has one dream about a girl and that doesn’t make him think he’s just attracted to said girl, he immediately thinks he’s in love and becomes obsessed. He has to dye his hair every so often and he chooses a neon white for some reason. Oh take a look at this girl she’s supposed to be cool girl tough girl who is down and good with everything but she sits alone all the time in one of the worst parts of town. She’ll only ever tell you that she’s five by five and you or anyone else has no idea what that even means. She’ll lie about stuff that didn’t happen to sound cool, all while walking around saying she has no friends. And here’s the kicker - they all mirror each other, have a history of violent murders, look good in leather and somehow all give off pathetic wet rat and babygirl vibes at the exact same time and no one has any idea where the line is. Plus they’re all some kind of gay and in kahoots with each other.