#buffy summers we don’t deserve you

[raisedbythetv89]

I genuinely don’t understand how people can watch the body swap episode and enjoy seeing Faith inhabit Buffy’s body and WORSE objectifying (Faith)Buffy being like “omg she’s so hot she slayed so hard I love Buffy in black leather”

Not only is SMG’s FRIGHTENING thinness even more apparent in Faith’s traditional wardrobe showcasing just how much she is practically skin and bone due to her being under immense stress and being so overworked which always just tears at my heart in so many ways but we are witnessing the WORST violation of Buffy’s body and autonomy!!!! I’m genuinely just sick the entire episode.

Bad enough she almost gets Buffy killed and finally gets her wish of (temporarily) stealing Buffy’s life which she has wanted to do since her arrival in season 3 (only to STILL not understand Buffy’s perspective until she does it again in a far less invasive way in season 7 after Buffy allowed her back into her home and she still never properly apologizes she’s like hehe turns our your life is actually pretty miserable and I don’t want it because I can’t handle the stress and constant pressure you’re under…. Oops!🙃) but unlike when Willow takes Buffy’s free will and autonomy away (where she at least still retains all the memories after the fact of everything that happened so she doesn’t have to wonder and can process them when she’s ready) Buffy has ZERO CLUE what all Faith allows to happen to her body while she’s not in it. And Faith isn’t unaware or passive about the power she holds and the things she can do to Buffy’s body in the position she’s in - she literally tells Riley, BEGS HIM - to do all of the nastiest things he’s ever wanted to do “to this body” she WANTS Riley to do things to Buffy’s body Buffy herself WOULD. NOT. ALLOW. it is one of THE MOST insidious lines in the entire series to me because not only is that an absolutely stomach churning, bone-chilling thing to say but then after the fact when angel asks what Faith did to upset Buffy so much she’s like “I slept with her boyfriend” like UMMMM WHAT??? EXCUSE ME???? That is literally the absolute LEAST of your crimes bitch be so fucking for real. This horrific violation is minimized down to oh well Buffy is just insecure about sex and especially sex in comparison to Faith like GROSS GROSSSSSSS. The entire thing is SO DISGUSTING and misogynistic AND it is part of why I genuinely do not give A FUCK about the events of seeing red as far as my love of spuffy goes because while that was absolutely the most traumatizing to watch not only was it so completely out of left field and out of character that it just doesn’t make sense in the narrative and is so obviously joss whedon coming over the loud speaker and going “women who enjoy sex with men I don’t approve of should and always will be punished” but it is the ONLY time someone hurts her in this way and PROPERLY APOLOGIZES AND MAKES THE PROPER AMENDS!!!!

So until EVERY. SINGLE. violation of Buffy’s body is treated with the same level of outcry seeing red is by all the anti-spuffys I genuinely DO NOT CARE. I DONT CARE because I’m just so done with spuffy girlies having that thrown in our faces by the morality police who are listening to the tiny white male puritanical cop in their head.

ALSO the fact that Riley not only doesn’t think ANYTHING is off about Buffy (when Faith is doing an absolutely HORRIFIC JOB of acting like Buffy) so he not only sleeps with her BUT TELLS HER HE LOVES HER FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!??!?!?!? WHILE SHE IS LITERALLY PINNED BENEATH HIM?!?!?!?!? AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!! RILEY FINN I WILL KILL YOU IF IT IS THE LAST THING THAT I DO.

[coraniaid]

I don't know how it's possible to watch Season 3 of Buffy and not notice that Buffy Summers is  consistently the one character most willing to come to Faith's defense, both before and after Allan Finch dies.

I mean, yes, I understand how in-universe it's possible for Faith to not notice this.  It's very natural that she doesn’t: Faith's a traumatized teenager with literally no support system.  She isn’t used to anybody else believing in her or caring about her. 

She’s somebody who is always willing to believe the worst of others (“all men are beasts”, “nine times out of ten the face [a person] is showing you is not the real one”).  And her own sense of self-worth is very fragile and deeply intertwined with her relationship with Buffy, fluctuating wildly between "I am better than everyone else (because I am a Slayer like Buffy)" and "every parental figure I've ever had has told me I was stupid and worthless and they were right (I will never be as good as Buffy)".  

So it's easy for her to interpret Buffy's overtures of friendship as rejections of a deeper connection, to take her suggestions that they should work together as judgments that Faith isn't good enough on her own and that she needs to act more like Buffy.

(And ... okay, yes, it’s also true that sometimes Buffy does judge Faith, and she does think Faith would be better off being at least a little bit more like her.  I think it’s clear that Buffy does care about Faith, and wants to protect her, but I don't think Buffy's perfect.  She's often afraid to express herself clearly or talk about her feelings, especially after what happened with Angelus in Season 2, and she does have a definite inclination to assume she knows best and that other people should just listen to her without question. She's a traumatized teenager too, even if that's not always quite so obvious.)

And crucially, Faith doesn't get to see Buffy defending her when she isn't around.

But the audience?  We do get to see that.  We see how much Buffy believes in Faith and how her first instinct is almost always to stick up for her.

We see it at the end of the first episode Faith appears in, when Buffy is talking to Giles about their fight with Kakistos.

Buffy: "[Faith] really came through in the end.   She had a lot to deal with, but she did it.  She got it behind her."

-- S3E03 | Faith, Hope & Trick

(This is also, as the episode makes clear, an example of Buffy comparing herself to Faith and deciding that she needs to follow the other Slayer’s example.  Which is something that Faith is convinced never happens.  But it does: when Faith isn’t there to see it.)

And after their fight in Revelations, we see Buffy admitting to Xander and Willow that she worries about Faith and wants to include her in the group more:

Xander: "How come Faith was a no show?"

Buffy: "Couldn't reach her ... again.  She hasn't been hanging out much."

Xander: "I detect worry."

Buffy; "A little bit.  Slaying's a rough gig."

-- S3E09 | The Wish

After Finch dies, Buffy is the one to tell Angel that Faith wants to be helped, and urge him not to give up on her:

Buffy: "How's she doing? ... You'll keep trying, right? ... I'll just go to Faith's and I'll get some of her stuff.  That way she'll see that we're on her side."

Angel: "Look, I don't want to get your hopes up, Buffy.  She may not want us to help her."

Buffy: "She does.  She just doesn't know how to say it."

-- S3E15 | Consequences

And at the end of the same episode, Buffy is again the one to persuade Giles that Faith’s actions in saving her from Trick show she deserves a chance at rehabilitation:

Buffy: "She could have left me there to die, Giles, but she didn't. ... I'm not gonna give up on her."

-- S3E15 | Consequences

And in the following episode, we see Buffy defend Faith to Willow and again talk about how similar they are.

Buffy: "[Faith] had it rough.  Different circumstances, that could be me."

-- S3E16 | Doppelgangland

And a couple of episodes later, when Buffy's attempting to talk herself out of the fear that Angel might be cheating on her with Faith, it's Faith who she tells herself wouldn't betray her, not the vampire she's actually dating.

Buffy: I went to Angel's last night and Faith was there.  They looked sort of intimate.

Willow: No way.  I know what you're thinking and no way.

Buffy:  You're right.  Faith would never do that.

-- S3E17 | Enemies

Even later on in the same episode, when Faith's actual collusion with the Mayor is revealed, Buffy's first reaction is to make excuses for her and then to implore her to listen to her:

Buffy: You don't know what you're doing ... Faith, listen to me ... I never knew you had so much rage in you.

-- S3E17 | Enemies

It's only after all of that that Buffy seems prepared to give up on Faith, and only in Graduation Day when Angel's life is on the line that she's actually willing to hurt her (earlier, in Choices, she’s still talking about ‘capturing’ Faith).  And when she does stab Faith, and Faith falls from the roof, seemingly to her death, it’s obvious from her reaction that Buffy immediately regrets this.  Even if she didn’t think she had any other choice, it isn’t how she wanted things to happen.

So honestly it kind of baffles me when I see people agreeing with the take that Buffy’s focus on how Faith might be feeling, when she hears that she’s woken up in This Year’s Girl, and her apparent hope that Faith might regret her past actions and want to change, is somehow something new.  That it isn’t perfectly in keeping with how Buffy’s always felt about Faith.  Or even that the idea of being willing to give people a second chance is something Buffy had to learn from Angel.

Because no, sorry, that's just totally backwards: Angel himself learned all that from Buffy.  

(Also, just logistically ... how would Buffy have learned anything from Angel at this point in Season 4 that she didn't already know back in Season 3, when – from her point of view, at least – she's barely spoken to him since he broke up with her and left town last season?)

Not just in regards to Faith, either, but the whole idea of needing to keep fighting for people and not give up on them, and how you have to keep doing that every day? Angel's whole mission statement (both the character and the show)? That's literally all taken from a speech Buffy gives Angel in Amends.  The show is very clear on this: it's Buffy who teaches Angel to be a better person, not the other way around.

[winterlovesong1]

Buffy Summers for the character ask. 😊

Send in a character and I'll answer the below questions

-/-

do I like them: Having recently watched the show, becoming a fan in the year 2023, I’m going to say, yes – but as with any character, there are moments where you roll your eyes or arch an eyebrow at the behavior exhibited – even by a favorite. But what I will say definitively is, I knew Buffy as an icon before I watched the show, and now, I know that the title was not given out lightly, but with the absolute of pure intentions.

5 good qualities:

In her friendships (for the most part/in general), she’s not afraid to be confrontational, have hard conversations.

I didn’t really know where to place this (good or bad), but I ended up placing it in the good pile…the space for judgment. I think that can be both good and bad…and with Buffy she tended to really see things as this or that in the beginning…and by season seven she’s in a much different place when it comes to this quality, in how it influences her decision making and how she interacts with certain characters…

Tied to the above is also the space for growth – both within herself and in her opinions of others – and I think that’s such an admirable quality to have –to open the space to accept change within ourselves and in others…or just about the world…about our lives.

As much strength as Buffy possessed, I like that she also had this incredibly goofy side – that not all her movements were graceful and that she was allowed the space on the show to be silly.

The girl had style – what can I say I love a 90’s look.

3 bad qualities:

I understand it comes with the job description, but Buffy doesn’t really understand the meaning of self-care…

This is one of those that isn’t necessarily bad because sometimes it was deserved, but Buffy did contain the capacity to really put characters down when she felt she was wronged by or she was frustrated by or whatever malice she had believed was their intention toward her – she wasn’t afraid to utilize her words for cruelty.  Again, sometimes it was deserved, but sometimes, I had to cringe.

Going back to the perils of the job (but let’s be honest it’s not the entirety to blame) is noticing her friend’s problems or emotional state…which I guess means she’s not very observant if the stakes *sorry for the word use* are high – but to me, your friends are a part of your life, maybe have a bit more emotional compassion/observance? (I also think her friends didn’t do a stellar job of this either at times so maybe it was a shared fault all around)

favourite episode/etc: There’s so many outstanding performances, but I’m going to be a bit nontraditional for this specific ask game…

1x01 – it’s not be the best, it’s not even my favorite - at all - but I always argue, if you don’t find something intriguing, one scene, one moment, with the main character within that first episode, you aren’t returning – so within that, with that idea in mind, I think it has to be listed as a favorite for Buffy’s character because otherwise, if there’s nothing intriguing within the framework of the show at the beginning, the story falls apart…and the viewer leaves.

Yes, there are iconic episodes through the series… all deserving of awards and recognition…but for the purposes of this ask…I’m going with that answer.

(also that exempts me from choosing a more iconic episode as a favorite because it’s impossible)

otp: Spuffy (Spike/Buffy)

I need an entire ask to explain why and this has already gotten lengthy, so I’ll leave it simply with the answer.

brotp: Her friendship with Willow…Buffy’s dynamic with Tara (I wish we had more of this on the show)…

And this isn’t really traditionally listed here, but it is a friendship-ish in a sense, and that’s Buffy and her mom…and while we are on the subject of parental figures…Buffy and Giles…even though sometimes it wasn’t seen in the best light at times during the show, for the most part, it was a caring loving supportive dynamic.

ot3: Especially in season seven, I think there was more to explore in the Faith/Spike/Buffy dynamic – I think if there had been another season or more episodes or opportunities in the television format to explore that, it would have been really interesting.

I do also really enjoy the scenes with Buffy/Spike/Dawn in the late season five era of the show…that shift post 5x18 is so special to me as a viewer and I really enjoy seeing the softness in those scenes.

notp: Riley/Buffy. I’m going to say this with the biggest caveat in that on the spectrum of quote safe or normal, he was the closest relationship that could have given her the stability she needed – but – that’s also not what Buffy wanted…and there’s a difference between maybe what’s good for us by definition and what we need, what actually compliments us as a human beyond the ideals or societal standards of good. *heavy sigh*

best quote: “…the hardest thing in this world... is to live in it. Be brave. Live….”

head canon:

Ok this is spuffy related (I can’t help it)

Buffy finds a tarnished silver ring in a thrift store amongst her travels post finale. She buys it and wears it on her right hand, every day, leaving it unpolished, leaving it on through every sunset, sunrise, midnight, and daydream until…

Until he returns to her with a diamond, and she wears it on the left.

[straightbaittournament]

the option with the least votes will be eliminated. propaganda under the cut (and more always welcome!):

kit herondale and livvy blackthorn:

They were literally straight bait. So Kit, Livvy and Livvy’s twin brother Ty were a trio with their own side plots in TDA. And well. We literally meet Kit when Ty breaks into his house and puts a knife to his throat and Kit gets distracted by Ty’s eyes. Then later Kit and Livvy have a few moments and kiss once. Then Livvy dies. There are some necromancy shenanigans. Kit confesses his love to Ty then immediately flees the country. Like Kit/Ty was clearly endgame from the start but Livvy and Kit just made out once.

peggy carter and daniel sousa:

She’s the best secret agent, he’s a hot as hell disabled war vet They get together, but also don’t because apparently Steve Rogers is a homewrecker Peggy moved on after losing Steve, got together with the amazing Daniel Sousa, and then got broken up because the Russos didn’t want Steve to be seen as being gay for Bucky

nina zenik and matthias helvar:

[MAJOR SPOILER] If they were truly straight Matthias wouldn’t have died (submitted also stated that nina is canonically bi/pan)

buffy summers and spike:

Buffy's a vampire slayer and Spike's a vampire. Enemies to Lovers. Absolutely not intended by creators, creators treated it like a joke at first, then some of the writers/producers actively hated it even throughout their canon relationship, they don't technically get together in the end, also he dies (kind of. he's brought back in another show. and the comics. it's complicated). Very queercoded relationship despite being m/f - desire, euphoria, shame, slowburn, keeping it a secret, doesn't think anyone else will understand or accept them, wanting to change for the better.

ellie chu and paul munsky:

Classic set-up where they start off as strangers and become really close. He even has a crush on her! straightmod feels it's important to note that ellie is also canonically a lesbian, so there's a bait and switch element to this one

himmel and frieren:

https://official.lowee.us/manga/Sousou-no-Frieren/0030-015.png https://official.lowee.us/manga/Sousou-no-Frieren/0030-016.png https://official.lowee.us/manga/Sousou-no-Frieren/0030-017.png https://official.lowee.us/manga/Sousou-no-Frieren/0030-018.png https://64.media.tumblr.com/ccb9c16bab47d917d2e11dd22c9b88e7/828182d720d735af-ea/s500x750/210c55d7128139c2ce032383b34ad487df067514.jpg

jean-luc picard and beverly crusher:

They have a number of romantic moments throughout the TNG series from arguably the first but DEFINITELY the second episode. but they only get together (briefly before divorcing) in an alternate timeline episode which is also the season finale. Also they have a kid together in Picard but are still not allowed to be together She was married to his best friend and he was in love with her but wouldn’t say anything because he wouldn’t want to damage his bestie’s marriage and then his friend died and they met again years later and shared a lot of romantic and sexual tension for years. He openly admitted (under mind reading) that he had loved her since his bestie was alive but felt he couldn’t act on it. In an alternate future they got married. In the canon future they got together and broke up repeatedly because trauma makes relationships hard sometimes and they have a kid together who is named after the aforementioned bestie. An episode forcing them to share thoughts makes him openly admit that he loves her and has loved her for years even when she was married to his best friend.

tyler rake and nik khan:

They’re very close, have lots of chemistry, but have never been acknowledged in canon. At this point they are just work friends who save each others’ lives on the regular.

keiichi maebara and rena ryugu:

Fluffy harem romcom twists into yandere horror, but then twists again into a story of friendship triumphing over everything. Really holds for any pairing with Keiichi, but the rooftop battle in part 6 is just too good. A recent manga spinoff has them married to total randos, so their respective sons can have the same kind of relationship.

naoko takahashi and shouta oohara:

this “show” is a 2 episode hentai so I can understand if this doesn’t get in the brackets lol (I would not recommend watching this hentai for the sex scenes, I just remember reading about Oohara getting cucked for a girl and thinking that I had to see this) So, it starts off with Takahashi being in love with Oohara and they do have ghost sex in the first part of the episode 1 but what happens is that even though they have the opportunity to be together as ghosts, Takahashi pretty much IMMEDIATELY forgets about Oohara because she becomes completely infatuated with this ghost girl named Sakurako to the point where even when Oohara turns into a tiny penis in episode 2 but Takahashi doesn’t give a fuck

good luck everyone! now go vote!

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Monday, February 19

ANYA: Come in. Enjoy my personal space. (shuts door) WILLOW: I found a dead body near the high school. ANYA: Yes, that can happen. WILLOW: Something horrible killed a boy. Took his skin right off. Anya and Willow have the same reaction at the same moment, and speak simultaneously. ANYA & WILLOW: Was it you? (shocked) No!

~~Same Time Same Place~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

High Stakes Kitten Poker (Angel/Spike, T) by MadeInGold

Part Time Buffy (Buffy/Spike, T) by firemanwhenthefloodsrollback

Until the Morning Sun Has Risen (Angel/Riley, M) by MadeInGold

eletric twist (Buffy/Faith, T) by doumekiss (odd__girl)

Wine Drunk (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Maxineeden

Dancing Queen (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Maxineeden

It's Gotta Be You (Buffy/Spike, Adult only) by Maxineeden

[Chaptered Fiction]

Lie to Me Chapter 11 (Buffy/Spike, Adult only) by In Mortal

Love Lives Here Chapter 24 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Passion4Spike

Written in the Stars Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by RavenLove12

Beg Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Maxineeden

To All We Guard Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by simmony

I Don't Want to Be the One Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, T) by pommedapi

Switch Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, E) by sunalso

If the timing is right Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Biggestspuffyfan, Glorificuskeyz

Mismash Chapter 1 (Gen, not rated) by Becca12345

an open door, an open heart Chapter 1 (Gen, T) by rimizak

Healing After Heaven Chapter 20 (Highlander crossover, FR13) by Kate

Daryl Decides Chapter 4 (Walking Dead crossover, FR18) by Buffyworldbuilder

[Fandom Discussions]

Do you skip episodes? What's your criteria? by AndHerSymbols

Whose side are you on? by Priceless

Was Wesley right? by The Whirlwind

What is the most heroic thing any character did in the verse? by The Whirlwind

Going to LA … transformation by PuckRobin

Any ideas on what could have been done with Doyle if Glenn Quinn wasn't fired? by The Whirlwind

Best surprise plot twists on Buffy and Angel? continued by multiple posters

Anya and Willow by thegoosemanok

Favorite & least favorite Buffy Summers quotes? by PristineSituation498

Angel by Chrissygirl1978

Such a missed opportunity by Unable_Earth5914

What real life standards or views do people uphold the characters to? by PristineSituation498

Do you think Anya intended to kill Xander if someone had made a wish in Entropy? by aeryn1227

Someone's blondie bear is a musical theatre genius! by alrtight

How do you add more Kendra w/out changing S3? by primal_slayer

Revelations by Neat-Biscotti-2962

How Did You Find Buffy? by CarefullyChosenName_

First rewatch as an adult by kat_katty_katya

“Unproblematic faves” are a trap. That being said… by lnmcg

What character deserved so much better, in your opinion? by the_lightbringer94

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

[buffysummers]

I literally can’t understand watching Buffy and disliking the character itself.

I’ve seen a few people being harsh on her and her decisions/journey and the discourse is often centered around shipping which is where a lot of Buffy criticism/analysis seems to be centered and while I can say I’m disappointed I’m also not surprised.

Buffy is one of the few protagonist that I can wholehearted say is the star/my favorite character of it’s own show. She is one of the most compelling and multi-layered protagonist I’ve seen.

I wish people talked more about her character and her journey and you are one of the few person who do that I appreciate that a lot

Hi! Thank you so much for saying that. Buffy Summers deserves all the love ❤️

Unfortunately, canon makes it too easy to criticize Buffy at times, particularly in season seven. A lot of Spuffy shippers tend to be very harsh on Buffy, but I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the writing encourages it. Season seven frames Spike as a victim, and vilifies Buffy. The writers want you to see Buffy as harsh and cold. They want you to think that Buffy was terrible to Spike and that she did more damage to him than he did to her. It basically endorses victim-blaming and attempts to claim that their relationship was “mutually abusive” in season six. There is no such thing as a mutually abusive relationship. There is an abuser, and their victim. What the victim does to fight back does not make them an abuser, too.

Now, the writing doesn’t ALWAYS support this narrative, but it does it just enough to win back the audience so that they empathize with Spike. It doesn’t help that we as a society tend to side with men in general. Too many women are conditioned to consider a man’s perspective first, and at times they are conditioned to not even consider a woman’s perspective at all.

I assumed that Buffy would be most people’s favorite character, or at the very least crack their top three. But I listen to this podcast where a lot of people write in about who their favorite characters are, and not often enough do people mention Buffy? Like, it’s truly bizarre.

And sure, I can make excuses for people who don’t really think about what they watch too deeply. They don’t have an interest in analyzing the show or peeling back the layers. But if you’re an active listener of a podcast that does JUST that, and you’re still not a fan of Buffy Summers? Like... what show are you watching 😭😭😭

[whoiwanttoday]

I am posting Charisma Carpenter cause guys, it is long overdue. I can't be 100% sure when I last posted her but boy, it's been a long time and I only ever posted her once before and well... I found a collection of four pictures I saved in June of 2012 that happen to be four pictures that would fit the format of a post I would make here and then Amy Acker has four pictures saved a month later and Emma Caulfield has four pictures a month after that and boy, it makes me think that I did a Buffy rewatch in summer of 2012 and they all got posted. Also it reminded me that there was a time when Tumblr didn't let you post three pictures in the middle, just two. Also I am now getting flashbacks of what a pain in the ass it was to organize your pictures in a post back then. Anyway, Charisma Carpenter is overdue because my friend @kat-eleven wanted to watch Buffy and I decided to join her and one thing I told her going in is Charisma Carpenter was always the person I was most attracted to early on in Buffy. In those first three seasons she was who I was into. @kat-eleven acted like I was crazy when I said this and said, "Not Xander? Cause he has these ears that I want to hold onto like they are reigns and just go to town". And I was like, "Uh, no, not Xander... don't want that". And then she said, "What sex act are you imagining would involve his ears like that?" And I said, "I'm trying not to imagine any". And she said, "Bzzzt, wrong you hoser. The answer is all. All of the sex acts. Even the ones you forgot exist". So that was basically the word for word conversation every time I brought up Charisma Carpenter and how much I liked Cordelia Chase. I get it to a degree to be fair, part of what makes Cordy so much fun is that she grows as a character and is interestingly complex. Cause she is always sort of shallow but also had depths and it is never a contradiction. She contains multitudes. But also I have a weakness for characters who are.. it's hard to say. The Scoobs are largely mean to her (and in fairness with reason, we hear she used to bully them a lot) but she never stops helping, even after @kat-eleven‘s beloved Xander betrays her, she is still there to save the world when needed, and I think she also might have been the best partner on the show for anyone, in that she was loyal and devoted in a way no one else is and frankly they don't deserve. Not only was she willing to stay with Xander when she thought he was a fish monster (it took her no seconds to make this decision, she is just all in and fully supportive of whoever she is dating) but also she completely changed around her life and did his thing, the reverse was never true. And all of that is before she becomes full on heroic, she's just a teenage girl we are told is vapid then. So I like Cordy but I get how for some it might take until Angel to be fully on board. That said, she was always hot. Always. Charisma Carpenter is really hot. I will die on that hill. Today I want to fuck Charisma Carpenter.

[bbcmerlinvault]

[Article] “EXCLUSIVE: ANTHONY HEAD TALKS MERLIN, SOLD AND HIS £2000 PHONE CALL”

by Luke Connolly for Shadowlocked, first published 10:05 Wednesday 22nd June 2011

(the following is a copy/paste of the article followed by screenshots from the Wayback Machine. The original article is no longer available.)

Anthony Head talks openly about his remarkable career and generous work for charity...

As one of the most iconic actors ever to emerge from England, Anthony Head really is the definition of a true great. Comedy, drama, live theatre – Head has done it all, bringing his classic style of acting to each and every role. Best known as Rupert Giles in the Joss Whedon vampire classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Head has since diversified into other areas of acting. In recent years, he's guest starred in Doctor Who, found success as the Prime Minister in Little Britain, and at present is portraying Uther in the BBC's smash hit Merlin.

In this intimate interview with Shadowlocked – conducted at the Merlin: The Dragon Tower launch day at Warwick Castle – Anthony Head talks openly about his life, filming with Merlin and his career to date...

Well, while we are here (Merlin launch day), let’s start with this. How’s it all been going?

It’s been going great; very grateful for the production to let me potter over to the other side of the pond; they moved filming dates for me which was great. It’s looking gorgeous, they're now shooting it on a 35 million budget.

Well I think it deserves it considering its success...

Well yes, but these days everything’s shot on digital, thus cutting costs, but I think it loses so much from filming and from acting in general. But yes, I suppose it shows the BBC are 100% behind it, which they should be really. It’s in 183 territories (countries) so it deserves a budget complimentary of this achievement.

They’ve just finished season three in America and, from the viewing figures, they just can’t seem to get enough. On that note, have you been surprised by its success?

Erm, I’m always surprised...you always hope, but you just don’t know. From the very start, it had a good vibe about it, but even when I was offered the part I was concerned that it may limit itself to a young audience only; but the fact that it’s got such a wide demographic has really saved it. In fact, it was with NBC for the first year, and they said – on a number of occasions – that they were genuinely surprised by the numbers it got, especially considering it got little to no advertising or promotion, but it didn’t attract the demographic they were actually hoping for.

Well, duh...it got an older demographic instead of a younger one due to the fact that they showed it in the middle of the summer. Thankfully, Syfy saw the potential and picked it up, and they pitched it just right. It’s – well – one of those shows that has a genuine interest across all spectrums of society; it’s a show that the whole family can watch, with all members getting an honest level of enjoyment from it. A show like that is rare these days.

So many parents sit down and watch shows with their children that they have no interest in – to keep them happy – but there are very few shows that everyone can get into.

Marcus: My twin girls are big fans of the series, and when they started watching it so did their mother and I. I totally agree with what you’re saying, it’s like Doctor Who, you can grow up and watch it, regardless of your age. I think it’s very similar to Buffy really...

Well, it’s not the same writing as Buffy, but it’s got the same vibe. It’s humorous, but at the same time it’s capable of both its dark and somewhat surreal moments...

Marcus: Yes, I know – you are very scary sometimes.

Good – *evil smirk* – I’m glad to hear it...means I’m doing things right haha.

Marcus: You play a great Uther, and it’s a tricky character isn’t it? If you looked at Thomas Mannerie’s Uther, and how he gets off on countless maidens, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot more does there?

Yes, traditionally there is not much about the character Uther, other than the fact that he was a bit of a wino and liked to party. Oh, and he may have been partial to the odd woman or two.

And I’m sure, like any good actor, you researched this in depth for the role?

Haha, oh yes, to play a role well you must experience it for yourself. In all seriousness though, there is not a whole lot to research. I went to see a couple of other actors playing kings, but other than that the research element was fairly limited. For me, assessing the character of Uther, the most important aspect of the role was to make sure I understood his mythology and where he was coming from.

But that’s the point – it was the middle of the dark ages, and he was forever wrestling with his kingdom, holding onto it as best he could; with berserkers on every border. Basically though, he is an old fashioned father, and he’s just holding it together as best he can; whilst in the knowledge that Arthur is going to kick against everything that Uther stood for, and I think that’s what makes it interesting. The fact that he gets it wrong almost everytime – he wasn’t wrong about Mordred though – well that’s just a shame...

I can’t believe it’s been seven years since Buffy left our screens, but I love how you have diversified since. We all know about Little Britain, both a commercial and critical success, but I remember one you did way back...Sold. Unfortunately, that never kicked off – any ideas why?

To be honest, I remember thinking, from my very first read-through and onwards – can they hinge a whole series around estate agents? Well, they did, but that whole concept of them having a fantasy world was, well, a little bit thin...but there you go. I reckon with different circumstances, it could have been great.

Finally, I have to ask. I follow you on Twitter and I couldn’t help but notice a while ago that someone paid just short of £2000 for a 20 minute phone call with yourself...

And, the person who came in second – offering to pay around £1670 – was so eager, we have agreed to do a separate 10 minute conversation with her. It now means that £3670 has been raised for the Mental Health Foundation, so I’m just glad I could help do my bit to raise awareness and support their cause.

So, not to put any pressure on you, but what are you going to talk about? £2000 for 20 mins equates to £200 a minute, and I’m sure you will want to give them their money's worth...

You know, I’ve done it a number of times before, and after the old “wow” “argh” from them, it just kind of runs through. You know me, I could talk for England! It’s actually quite nice, and it’s for a good cause – so everybody wins, right?

Special thanks to Shadowlocked writer Marcus Pullen for his help in conducting this interview.

[melonsmessymusings]

I wanna talk about Becoming Part 2 and the aftermath. One take I often see is that Willow and Xander nursed Giles back to health during the summer. Big brain idea, beautiful sense of family and ways of getting the characters to help each other with their trauma... *chef’s kiss*. BUT with all due respect, I have a different idea as to how it actually went:

First off, you think Post-Drusilla that Giles is going to let ANYBODY near him? Drusilla made him doubt reality to the point he didn’t think Xander was real, probably still didn’t even when they escaped. And you’re telling me that Giles would want Willow and Xander anywhere near him when he can’t trust his own senses? He’d be jumpy and completely convinced he’s still in the mansion. Probably developed a few weird twitches and rituals that he needs to complete in his mind to convince himself that the other person in the room is not only real but not going to hurt him. Can you imagine how terrifying that must be. And there’s evidence in S3 to suggest that he does genuinely get spooked by his own shadow.

Secondly, he would’ve been a wreck. I know what we saw didn’t look particularly gruesome, but the chances are it probably was far worse than it looked. We’re talking lots of injuries that take time to heal. Broken ribs for instance. Been there, done that and it hurt for ages. He wouldn’t have wanted them to see that. Even if he was physically okay, processing that mentally... He can’t shield them from the evils of the world but he can spare them this and he would do everything in his power to do that. Also, Giles is beyond repressed. He would’ve just got on with it because that’s what you do. The whole ‘I deserve this and more’ would rattle through his mind the whole time, but he’d refuse to dwell on the emotional trauma. Giles would shut that shit down post haste. Unhealthy, but he’d see it as necessary. If he actually processed the fact he’d been brutally tortured and sold the secret to end the world because of a ‘hallucination’ of Jenny, he’d be an absolute mess and never move from the corner again. He can’t afford to do that, so he must carry on.

He would want to rush any recovery period to find Buffy. No way in hell is he losing her after all this and if he has to kill himself to do it, so be it. Not to sound like a broken record but he regularly displays self destructive tendencies, throughout the entire series not just after Jenny. He doesn’t give a rat’s arse if he doesn’t change wound dressings every 4 hours as long as he is capable of finding Buffy. He’s not going to take painkillers because they make his brain go mushy and he can’t find Buffy if he can’t think. He’s not going to do the physio for his fingers to make sure they heal correctly because he simply hasn’t got time. Plus he’d likely use the pain as punishment because he’s a bit of a masochist like that, it goes with the guilt complex. He wouldn’t let Willow and Xander see any wounds that aren’t obvious. If they said “oh let me grab you an ice pack for your hand” he’d let them but only to pacify them not because he wants them to. And he’d sit there obediently holding it for just long enough to assure them he’s okay and make them feel better.

Truthfully in the wake of Acathla, I don’t think Giles would even bother to pacify the kids. I think he’d just be so focused on finding Buffy that he disregards everything else entirely because if he doesn’t, he’s forced to face the reality of what happened. And he can’t because he won’t be of use to anyone if he’s hiding under the table in terror. S6 parallels anyone? Two traumatised 17 year olds can cope with that? Of course not. They’d want to help but he would never let them. He might let them make tea but that’s it. He’s not risking endangering or hurting anybody ever again, including them. It’s easier if he shuts everyone out. 

[alecmagnuslwb]

There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise

(Inspired by the Anon request of ‘to the moon and back’)

Read on AO3

“First you drag me to a haunted house that isn’t even the fun kind with actual ghosts and demons and now we can’t even find a decent drink anywhere,” John moans as they walk along the low-lit street, the path decked out for Halloween in purple and orange lights.

Zatanna cackles, fully cackles like the witch she’s proud to be. “You’re just mad that you got scared by that one clown room, don’t think I didn’t hear that girly little shriek you let out,” she teases bopping him on the nose once with the faux wooden stake in her hand.

“First off bird, halls of mirrors shouldn’t bloody exist in any context. They’re tricky and cruel and weird,” John says stuffing his hands into the pocket of his jeans. “Secondly, it was not a girly little shriek, it was a manly bellow.”

Zatanna chuckles and pulls out her phone scrolling as they walk. “Is that what they’re calling that sound these days?” she smirks her eyes moving to him for a moment playfully. He scoffs making a face. “There should be a bar just up the road,” she says shifting her eyes from her phone to the road. Up ahead a well lit building catches her eye and she points.

“See, we’ll get you your drink soon enough my heart,” she says conjuring away her phone since she doesn’t have any pockets.

“Thank fuck,” he says grabbing her hand and pulling her along.

“So eager? Need to ease your nerves after that clown fright?” she says practically running to keep up with his pace. He slows down once they reach the light of the bar, a row of impressive looking motorcycles lined up outside. Zatanna eyes them with interest wishing she’d brought her own even if portaling to all their Halloween inspired hits tonight was easier.

“Enough about the clowns,” he says pushing open the door. Zatanna follows her hand still clasped in his. The room seems to borderline freeze when they walk in everyone’s eyes’ falling to them. Zatanna is in too good of a mood to overthink it though, assuming this crowd of gruff looking bikers just aren’t big on costumes.

Not that their costumes are particularly stand out as anything but regular outfits if someone doesn’t get the reference. Zatanna’s wearing purple leggings, a black sweater tied around her waist with the faux wooden stake tucked into it and a bright green sleeveless crop top hoodie. Her hairs magicked a little shorter and a lot blonder than usual. John to anyone who doesn’t know he usually only deigns to wear the same outfit every day looks pretty average in a white tank top, plaid shirt and jeans. She’d even talked him into growing the little soul patch to complete the look, his hair’s still blonde though despite her efforts. They’re just two people bringing back the 90’s to most, but to the well cultured they’re obviously Buffy Summers and Pike, movie edition.

She sidles up to the bar, John stepping up to it a little slower. The bar comes back to life as the bartender comes up to them taking their order and sliding it over to them quickly. They step over to a table John’s eyes shifting across every inch of the room.

“Something’s up here,” he says as they sit taking a sip of his beer.

“It’s a biker bar there’s always something up,” she says patting him on the hand once before taking a drink of her whiskey. So what if the people all stared when they walked in, they’re a very good looking couple in Zatanna’s opinion they deserve to be stared at. And so what if there’s a weird aura in the air she can’t quite place. It’s Halloween everything feels a little spooky tonight, it’s why she loves it. She lays her other hand on the table wincing when her skin makes contact with something sticky.

She looks down at the sticky clear and yellowy substance and makes a face tossing back her drink with her clean hand.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” she says not waiting for John’s response before pushing back her chair and following the signs behind the row of pool tables. She passes by a group of women smiling at them kindly, for a second their eyes seem to shift color, but then the neon green signs surrounding them flicker off and Zatanna pays no mind to the change.

She shoulders open the door to the bathroom startling a woman standing near one of the sinks. She turns around fast slipping an arm behind her back hiding it from view.

“Sorry,” Zatanna says sliding over to the other sink and running her hand under the cold water scrubbing at the sticky substance.

“The guys are so nasty, always leaving messes like that behind,” the woman says turning back to the mirror keeping her hand firmly out of Zatanna’s eyeline.

“Chock it up to Halloween behavior,” Zatanna says with a smile scrubbing off the last of the goo.

“More like the full moon,” the woman smiles back handing Zatanna a paper towel, the white of her teeth glinting under the fluorescent lights. She shifts just for a second and Zatanna catches sight of her hand in the mirror, furry and long nailed. Zatanna schools her expression not showing that she’s spotted anything out of the ordinary taking the paper towel gratefully and drying her hands.

She tosses it in the trash can and slips around the woman for the door.

“Happy Halloween,” she says her smile glinting even more this time, her canines a little longer than they were before.

“Yeah, Happy Halloween,” Zatanna says smiling back before pulling open the door. She doesn’t rush to her seat, knowing that would draw attention to her. Her perfectly white sneakers slip a bit when she stumbles over another pool of the same goo she’d stuck her hand in at the table.

She falls into her seat beside John as he nurses the last of his beer, eyes locked on the bartenders who’s looking increasingly upset.

“So they’re werewolves,” she whispers even though she knows that everyone in this bar might be able to hear her with their enhanced hearing, especially on a night like tonight. She scrapes her shoe on the tables base attempting to be rid of the goo.

“Yup,” John says slurping at the last of his beer. He wipes at his mouth with the back of his hand sitting the glass down. “That,” he says pointing at the goo still on the table. “Is wolf bile. Males tend to spit it up on full moons. Got close and smelled it and pieced it together.”

“That weirdly makes me feel better about sticking my hand in it,” she says. At least there’s an explanation and it’s not something more disgusting that her mind had crossed to. “Also, ew, you have to stop smelling things.” John just shrugs and Zee lets it go, at least he didn’t lick it. He’s definitely done that before.

“Why’d you bring us to a werewolf bar?” John says leaning back in his chair, stretching out his legs. Zatanna shoots him an annoyed look.

“How was I supposed to know it’s a werewolf bar?” she says whisper yelling under her breath.

“It’s called Hunter’s Moon for starts,” John says right back in the same tone.

Zatanna scoffs. “Hunter’s Moon absolutely sounds like something a guy who likes to hunt would name a bar, not everything is supernaturally connected. It was on Google!”

“Well, so is that blood bank in Nola and we both know it’s not a traditional blood bank, don’t we?”  he says with a raise of his eyebrow.

“Shit,” she says looking around, they definitely know they know now. There are too many eyes on them too many whispered conversations directed their way.

“We need to portal out of here and head to our next destination quickly,” he says pushing up one of his sleeves about to tap into a rune to send them away. Zatanna lays a hand on his wrist.

“And risk one of them following us through? No way,” she says. She won’t be responsible for bringing a werewolf to Ollie and Dinah’s annual Halloween bash, it’ll be cool right up until it eats Plastic Man.

John grits his teeth pushing his sleeve back down.

“Shall we make a run for it, then?” he says eyes scanning towards the exit. Zatanna shakes her head, she tilts her head looking through a nearby window watching as the clouds start to give way and reveal a full perfectly round and bright full moon in the sky. It’s go time.

“I have an idea,” she says standing up from her seat. Around them the howls begin, a line of burly looking men, turned half wolf already blocking the exit. The crack of bones and the snarling of lips join the symphony, the woman from the bathroom shouts with her body hunched over, nose elongated.

“Does it involve us becoming the dog’s dinner?” John says nervously standing up and slipping behind her. He lifts one hand ready for a fight while he slips the other around her waist peaking over her shoulder. She smiles for a second, because unintentionally she bets they’ve almost exactly remade the poster from the movie they’re celebrating tonight.

The wolves begin to descend around them, one by one shifting into their full forms, big hairy beasts standing on the haunches of their hind legs, eyes glowing green, globs of spit dropping down onto the ground when they snarl.

The bartender leaps over the bar standing right in front of them his hot breath caressing their faces when he howls, he’s the last of them to fully form. He licks his lips meeting John’s eyes then hers looking at them like a starved man would a midnight snack.

Zatanna stays steady her eyes locked with the beast, unwavering.

It leaps for her and that’s when she speaks, “Tel gnipeels sgod eil!” she shouts just as his teeth almost make contact with her neck, she doesn’t need to see it to know her eyes glow green for a moment just like theirs, a mean subtle little snapback for trying to kill them. He freezes midair, yelping like a dog whose tail has been stepped on. He slams to the ground as do all the other wolves crashing to the ground at the same time. John lets out a breath dropping his forehead to her shoulder.

“How long’ll they be out?” he mumbles from his place still resting against her skin.

“Let’s just say it will be the most peaceful full moon they’ve ever had,” she says lifting up a hand and patting him on the head. She slips out from his arm carefully stepping over the sleeping werewolves. She spots one curled up in a little ball and can’t help but find it kind of cute.

Cute? She scoffs to herself, they just tried to eat them, they can’t be cute.

She picks her way over the last few wolves using her hands to lift herself to lean over the bar, she grabs an unopened bottle of whiskey and slides off the bar. John steps up beside her and hands him the bottle.

He moves to twist the lid open, but Zatanna stops him with a light slap to his knuckles.

“For the party,” she says in response to his disappointed pout. “The least they can do is provide us with some free liquor,” she says gesturing to the snoozing werewolves.

She and John tiptoe through the last of them. Zatanna just stepping on the backs of the line of burly one’s by the door as John budges the door open and holds it for her to slip through.

Zatanna takes a deep breath of the cool, but not too cool night air once they’re outside, the Hunter’s Moon sign above them flickering in and out. She moves slowly along the line of motorcycles admiring them a little more closely this time, werewolves have damn good taste she must admit.

“Let’s walk for a bit,” she says when she hits the end of the line hopping down off the bars slightly lifted porch.

“We almost just got eaten by werewolves and you want to take a walk?” John says tossing the bottle of whiskey back and forth between his hands.

Zatanna shrugs. “Yeah, I mean it’s a nice night, I could use a bit of a breath of fresh air after all the wolf stench and a big spell.”

John walks up beside her pressing a kiss to her temple.

“That was a nothing spell for you, luv, barely a blip on the power scale,” he says, but starts walking indulging her anyways.

Zatanna smiles catching up with him. They walk in companionable silence for a while following their way back along the orange and purple lights they’d followed here.

“Hey, Zee?” John says after a little while nudging his arm into hers.

“Yeah?” she says playfully twirling the sleeves tied around at her waist.

“I love ya to the moon and back,” he says with a smirk pointing up to the sky as though the pun wasn’t obvious. Zatanna looks up at him and rolls her eyes before smiling wrapping her arm around his.

“You’re the worst,” she says bringing them to a stop. She lifts a hand whispering a quiet spell bringing a bright portal to life in front of them. She moves to stand in from of John curling her fingers into the lapels of his plaid shirt pulling him in. She kisses him once, just a little slow, his free hand finding her waist instantly and his lips responding in kind.

“And yet,” he says when they pull away from one another Zatanna’s fingers still curled in his shirt. He leaves the sentence unfinished for her, knowing she can fill it in. And yet, you’re here with me. And yet, you keep kissing me. And yet, you keep dragging me to haunted houses and werewolf bars when you could take anyone else in the world, but you pick me and I go along willingly, even if begrudgingly.

“Ready to party?” she says taking slow steps back into the portal pulling him along.

“I mean it’s not getting better than the werewolf bar, but sure,” he says with a smile happily being pulled along. Zatanna grips her fingers into his shirt tighter and tugs him tumbling them through the portal and far away from the angry pack of sleeping werewolves.

[dirtydancingdean]

something about how dean so completely parallels buffy summers from btvs like they are two iterations of the same character. i mean, buffy the vampire slayer is an undeniably a big influence on supernatural, even if the show itself wouldn’t exactly advertise that fact. you have sam’s sacrifice in swan song paralleling buffy’s sacrifice in the gift, the borrowing of a lot of demons and (god help me) lore, the weird amount of buffy actors in the show (sometimes playing vampires, which is hysterical), the campiness and horror. hell, even cas’s moment of pure happiness seems like a nod to angel’s moment of pure happiness. (dean and cas did it better though). but the biggest similarity is the way dean parallels buffy. he’s obviously not meant to. he’s supposed to be a gun-slinging, wise-cracking ladies man, but that’s not what he becomes. honestly that’s not even what he comes across as in the beginning. buffy and dean are both meant to be heroes, but buffy is the main character of her show, while that’s supposed to be sam in dean’s. and buffy and sam do share their similarities, particularly in their desire for normality which backfires on them because of their equally weighed desire to help people. but dean is so much more like buffy in so many ways?? like buffy, dean always feels everything is his responsibility (like he says in 7.05, “There’s always something eating at me. That’s who I am. something happens, I feel responsible, all right?”). this is largely in part thanks to j*hn winchester, while buffy’s sense of responsibility comes from the fact that a whole group of old white men have told her she’s the one girl in all the world who can fight evil. both of them kind of know on some level that this is kind of fucked up and even try attempting to fight back against their imposed duties occasionally. dean says it in 2.20: “Your happiness for all those people's lives, no contest. Right? But why? Why is it my job to save these people? Why do I have to be some kind of hero?” which is buffy to a t! that's what buffy is all about! the loneliness and unfairness of having this burden on your shoulders! buffy says this in prophecy girl: “I don't care! I don't care. Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't wanna die.” but they both always, always go back to do their job. they both always sacrifice their own happiness for others. none of the writers would have intended to have dean make a speech that is entirely parallel to buffy summers’s prophecy girl speech, right down to both sarah michelle gellar and jackles’s tears. because ha ha, buffy is a girl hero, while dean is the embodiment of every male fantasy about what an action hero is.

the thing is, though, when you make dean every male fantasy in the world - attractive, good with women, tough, strong, likes rock music, hates chick flick moments, knows how to shoot a gun, looks good doing it, etc - you make him every male fantasy about women too. which is how we get those slow, full-body shots of dean that you normally only get with women, how we get dean being a caretaker, dean being a pacifier between sam and john, dean watching dirty dancing and liking taylor swift, dean always being the bait, dean’s interactions with villains being framed sexually, dean getting called pretty twice a season. we joke about dean being a hot action girl but he is often objectified in the particular way only women in media are. the way buffy is - in the show i think they actually did a pretty good job of not objectifying buffy. but there are times where they do, and it’s uncomfortable, and it’s subtle, the way it is on spn. and buffy and dean are both used to this kind of treatment; they often weaponize their sexuality, using it when they feel threatened. in the first episode of s2, buffy’s just suffered the enormous trauma of being resurrected after having been bitten by a vampire whose violence has sexual undertones. when she comes back to her friends, they talk about how closed off and mean she’s being, culminating in the scene where she goes to the bronze. if you haven't seen that scene then i dont know how to explain the way she absolutely uses her sexuality against xander and angel, just like dean uses his as a front to protect himself against everyone. when buffy’s traumatized she pushes herself away from those closest to her, represses her emotions, and uses fighting demons as a distraction. sound familiar? buffy and dean both make witty pop culture references that monsters don’t understand and self-deprecating jokes about themselves to deal with when they feel threatened and their low opinions of themselves. buffy has a lot of lines that sound just like dean’s! @lazarusr1sing mentioned buffy saying, “I may be dead, but I’m still pretty, which is more than I can say for you,” as a line that dean literally could have said and it’s true! they’re both a fan of quirky banter during fights but they’re both so messed up when it comes to their opinions of themselves. buffy in 7x07: “I have all this power. I didn't ask for it. I don't deserve it. It's like... I wanted to be punished. I wanted to hurt like I thought I deserved. [...] I feel like I'm worse than anyone. Honestly, I'm beneath them. My friends, my boyfriends. I feel like I'm not worthy of their love. 'Cause even though they love me, it doesn't mean anything cause their opinions don't matter. They don't know. They haven't been through what I've been through. [...] Sometimes I feel...this is awful. I feel like I'm better than them. Superior.” yeah, that’s...dean.

and they absolutely dive into self guilt and hatred if something goes wrong, even if it’s not necessarily their fault. faith in 3x15 says to buffy, “In the balance, nobody's gonna cry over some random bystander who got caught in the crossfire,” and buffy says, “I am.” the amount of trauma buffy and dean both go through kind of desensitizes them to this idea - dean especially, i think, though that’s mainly the fault of the sheer amount of writers and episodes supernatural has - but if they get someone killed, they will do absolutely anything to make up for it.

the idea of sympathetic monsters in buffy and supernatural is met with scorn a lot of the time by buffy and dean. for buffy this is a matter of mental self-preservation. her job is to kill demons, and if she lets herself think all demons can be good, then that means she might have been killing sentient beings that could have done good or weren’t doing harm, since she was a teenager. she can’t let herself think that way so she closes herself off to the possibility of demons being good a lot of the time. we talk about how supernatural majorly drops the ball when it comes to empathizing with the monsters (where’s that post, you know, the, “saving people, hunting things, white men with guns decide which is which,” post), but when it comes to dean, part of that is because, like buffy, he doesn’t want to face the idea that he’s been killing things that aren’t evil since he was a child. he’ll make exceptions (cas, crowley, benny, rowena), like buffy makes exceptions (angel, spike, clem, oz, anya), but it’s easier if it’s all black and white. they’re both strangely attracted to monsters too, though, because part of them feels like they are monsters themselves. like @s4castiel said they have romantic or romantically implied relationships with things they’re meant to fight - dean with benny, cas, and crowley + buffy with angel, spike, and faith. and monsters change themselves for buffy and dean’s sakes – cas, benny, crowley, angel, spike, all become better for the sake of buffy and dean! like that leviathan in 7.06 who says dean doesn’t have relationships he has applications for sainthood!

they hate the idea of being seen as just a killer (dean in 3.10, “Daddy knew what you were. Good soldier and nothing else,” and buffy in 5.22, “Guess that means a Slayer really is just a killer after all.”) dean says, “[A killer] is not who I am,” to chuck in 15.19, just like buffy says, “A slayer is not a killer,” through the later seasons. spike’s speech in 5.07 i think, really says it: “Death is on your heels, baby, and sooner or later, it's gonna catch you. And part of you wants it, not only to stop the fear and uncertainty, but because you're just a little bit in love with it. Death is your art. You make it with your hands day after day, that final gasp, that look of peace.” their worst fear is that all they can do is hurt other people. they’ve been brought up to think violence is all they can do. but they both are first and foremost protectors, especially when it comes to sam and dawn, whose roles in both shows respectively is to be a reminder of dean and buffy’s humanity.

dawn, who first shows up in season 5 as buffy’s younger sister, is, represents buffy’s most beloved parts of herself, buffy’s humanity. sam is a lot like her in the respect that their destiny was to end the world; they’re both book-smart too, while buffy and dean act a lot like dumb blondes despite being incredibly intelligent in ways that aren’t clear to everyone. (not to go on a tangent but they’re both really good battle tacticians who make a lot of references to literature and tv shows and can perceive people and monsters’ weaknesses, etc.) dawn is dangerous to the world like sam is dangerous to the world in s2-s5, but buffy will not kill her like dean will not kill sam. you know how in the end 2009 dean realizes just how much 2014 dean has changed when he talks about killing sam as lucifer? sam is dean’s humanity like dawn is buffy’s humanity. they both put their siblings over everything else in the world. they sacrifice things that sam and dawn can’t begin to understand because dean and buffy shield them from it - dean in 2.22: “I had to take care of you. It’s my job,” and buffy in 6.14: “Dawn, the most important job that I have is looking out for you.” in s5 of buffy, if dawn lives, the world ends, and buffy doesn’t care because she can’t kill dawn. in 5.22 she says, “I don't understand. I don't know how to live in this world if these are the choices. If everything just gets stripped away. I don't see the point. I just wish that...I just wish my mom was here. [..] If Dawn dies, I’m done with it. I’m quitting,” paralleling dean quitting hunting after sam dies. they’re both insanely protective over dawn and sam - dean in 2.09: “You make a move on [Sam], you'll be dead before you hit the ground,” and buffy in 5.22: “I’ll kill anyone who comes near Dawn.” when sam dies in 2.22, dean doesn’t hesitate to offer up his soul in exchange for sam’s life; when dawn is about to die to save the world in 5.22, buffy doesn’t hesitate to die to save the world in dawn’s place. this all on top of the fact that sam and dawn are the babies, the ones dean and buffy have to take care of, which means that...no one is taking care of dean and buffy. like, dean in 3.10: “Sam, [John] doted on. Sam he loved,” and buffy’s mom in 5.05 hugging dawn and calling her “little punkin belly” and in response to buffy’s question of, “Did you ever have any names for me?” says, “No, I think you were always just Buffy.” when buffy’s mom gets sick in s5, buffy has to shoulder an incredible amount of responsibility - giving her mom her medicine, taking care of her, taking care of dawn, fighting a hellgod - and can’t break down in front of anyone because she has to be strong for dawn and her mom, the way dean has to be strong for sam and john (john in 2.01: “You took care of Sammy, you took care of me. You did that, and you didn't complain, not once.) they’re both so scared of opening up and being a burden - buffy’s nightmare hallucination of her deadbeat dad in 1.10 says the same kind of stuff about her being a burden and unwanted that zachariah’s projection of mary says in 5.16. it really is about the eldest sister complex in the end!!!

but they didn’t ever really mean to have dean be like buffy! buffy was literally meant to subvert traditional male action heroes. buffy summers is the male action hero, but she gets to have feelings and traditionally feminine traits too. she likes cheese and wearing pink and dressing up and having pretty hair, but she thinks about battle tactics and kills a vampire like every episode. dean? dean is meant to be the male action hero without the part about having feelings and traditionally feminine traits...except that backfires spectacularly. i mean, they give dean traits such as liking nightgowns to be like haha, wink-wink, nudge-nudge, isn’t that HILARIOUS. except it doesn’t come off that way, we know it doesn’t come off that way. so dean’s watched dead poets society and rent and he sings along to air supply and is good with kids and nerds out over cowboys, but he drives a classic muscle car and kills death and carries a gun with him everywhere he goes. dean and buffy both become multifaceted, complicated, human heroes – but it was intentional for buffy. it was unintentional for dean, so the narrative actively punishes him for it. i mean ymmv on how you feel about the ending of buffy, but she does get a satisfying happy ending. dean, on the other hand, is silenced and killed off and gets the worst possible ending for his character, all because they couldn’t control him.

[inkandpen22]

Shared Minds and Shared Souls (11/?)

Pairing: Spike x Female!Reader

Warnings: none

Word Count: 1.2k

Part Summary: Spike and Y/N return to Sunnydale after she sees the ghost of Joyce. 

A/N: sorry this is so short. I’m trying to catch up with everything. I hope you enjoy X

P.S. imagine Y/N and Spike sitting like they are in the gif... so cute! 

Masterlist

Standing outside the Summers's house, Spike and I hold hands. I 'poofed' us back to Sunnydale right after things calmed down. Joyce is dead, everything doesn't feel real. That's the thing about death though, the thing that proves we are alive is the same also makes the living feel numb.

"I'll get you through this," Spike states comfortingly at my side.

I look to him weakly. "I feel so... numb, is that terrible?"

"No, anything you feel right now is fine." He rubs his hand up and down my spine as he brings me into his side.

"Have you wanted to run away? I mean, we just did," I shrug. "I forced you to with me. I lost control, became so vile, and tried to drag you down with me," I face Spike, growing more and more guilt-ridden.

"Love, it wasn't you!" He cups my face. "You wouldn't have done any of that had you been normal."

"I was there. I could see everything. I could feel everything," I recall, starring down at the pavement between our feet. "Yet, I didn't care. It was like seeing the world in 2D."

"Well, we're home now. You can make things right," Spike plants a kiss on my forehead and lingers there.

"Will they even want to talk to me?" I mutter, afraid of what Buffy and the others might say.

I was so horrible to them and now this.

"I think they'll want family," he assures me.

Anxiously, I hardly make it to the porch. Spike has to lead the way. While squeezing his hand, I cling to his arm. Honestly, I hate being so nervous. I know what I'm capable of and I know Spike is right. I just can't shake the guilt for what I've done.

Spike knocks on the front door, something he's clearly not used to doing. Within a few seconds, someone answers the door and Buffy stands on the other side of the door.

"Miss me?" I say lightheartedly, though I don't feel that way.

Buffy switches her focus between Spike and me. "How did-"

"I saw her," I answer before she can finish.

"You saw Mom?!" She pulls me inside eagerly.

"Don't tell Dawnie. She's still kind of spooked by it," Spike warns her, keeping me close protectively.

"I haven't seen a ghost since... Let's just say I only see people close to me," I remark vaguely.

"Could you talk to her again?!" Buffy tugs at my sleeve.

"I can't control it Buffy, it sort of just happens," I explain, truly not wanting to face it again.

I would love to see Joyce and help in any way I can. The hard part is I don't have control over it. It's also frightening when a person you know to be deceased is standing in front of you. __________________________________________ After a day's worth of reunions, I'm exhausted. Dawnie was happy to see me. Everyone else was hesitant to trust me or be around me again which is entirely fair. Tara was the most afraid. She hid behind Willow timidly most of the time. I learned that Joyce died the afternoon I saw her. Buffy had found her, and hours later, she appeared to me. Buffy hadn't even had the chance to call Giles yet.

After Dawnie has gone to bed, we all gather in the living room to discuss the matter at hand. We have to figure out what to do about Joyce and making plans. Spike settles into the armchair and guides me down with him. I sit in his lap and curl up in a ball comfortably. Ever since we got back to Sunnydale, he hasn't left my side. He's practically glued to me. Whenever someone says something mildly sassy toward me, he snaps at them. I figured Spike could be protective, but this isn't what I would have envisioned. He's being clingy even, it's almost comical.

"Buffy, of course, has the final say," Xander states a matter-of-factly about funeral plans.

My cousin's eyes grow wide and she perks up from her rested position on the couch.

"What?! I don't know anything about this!" She stammers. "Y/N should have the final say. After all, she's dealt-" Buffy stops herself.

I snicker lightly, "I've seen the sort of planning that goes into a funeral, I get it."

She frowns, "I didn't mean-"

"I know. You're not wrong," I laugh a little with a shrug.

Spike wraps his arms around me, pulling me closer to his chest if that's even humanly possible. I melt into his embrace as I rest my head on his shoulder.

"Could you... do you think you could tell us a little more about how you saw Joyce?" Tara stutters beside Willow.

Spike starts to object, "I don't think-"

I place my hand over his, "it's okay... it was strange," I describe to the group. "It was though she was there. It was a full-body apparition. It must've required a lot of energy for her."

"How long until she can show herself to you again?" Buffy questions swiftly.

"I don't know," I answer truthfully. "It all depends."

"On what?" She rushes.

"I don't know," I repeat, a tad more impatient than I intended to sound.

At the end of the long day, Buffy offers me my old room to which I take gratefully. Spike decides to stay with me, just in case something were to happen, such as seeing Joyce again. The two of us curl up into a bed for the evening under the warm quilt. Spike brings me to his side and I rest my cheek on his chest.

"Love?" He breaks the comfortable silence.

"Yes?" I yawn.

"Do you remember when we were in New Orleans and you saw a vision in my eyes? You weren't you but-"

"I did?" I question, lifting my head to meet his gaze.

His eyes pour into mine as they glisten under the moonlight pouring in from the opposite windows.

"You said I was hurt or something at one point," he goes on with a hint of worry in his tone.

"I did? I don't remember that," I confess.

"It was the last thing you said before you said 'I'll find you," he describes as his fingertips glide up and down my spine.

"I wish I could remember," I swallow hard. "That frightens me."

Seeing a vision of Spike possibly hurt and not remembering it so more frustration than I can express.

"You also said, "I'll say it first," he adds. "It's probably nothing. You were tired anyway."

"I suppose we'll find out someday," I shrug, still a tad annoyed I can recall it.

"Remember, dammit!" He laughs, poking my sides. "I want to know!"

His attitude lightens the mood and naturally eases my mind.

"Me too, but it doesn't work that way!" I laugh, swatting his hands away from my sides as I wiggle.

Playfully, Spike rolls me onto my back as he hovers over me. I giggle as he continues to tickle my sides, and I squeal for help. Under the moonlight, he appears so angelic. His white hair shines and reflects the light. His blue eyes appear like sea glass. He’s been so remarkable these last few days. I’m seeing a comforting side to him that many have the chance to experience. What did I do to deserve him?

___________________________

Masterlist

Tags: @it-was-all-a-beautiful-dream @hexmancia @mx-pibbles @setsuna-meiou31 @nightowl1115​

[straightbaittournament]

only the option with the least votes will be eliminated! the rest go on to round 3. propaganda under the cut (and more always welcome!):

the option with the least votes will be eliminated. propaganda under the cut (and more always welcome!):

kit herondale and livvy blackthorn:

They were literally straight bait. So Kit, Livvy and Livvy’s twin brother Ty were a trio with their own side plots in TDA. And well. We literally meet Kit when Ty breaks into his house and puts a knife to his throat and Kit gets distracted by Ty’s eyes. Then later Kit and Livvy have a few moments and kiss once. Then Livvy dies. There are some necromancy shenanigans. Kit confesses his love to Ty then immediately flees the country. Like Kit/Ty was clearly endgame from the start but Livvy and Kit just made out once.

peggy carter and daniel sousa:

She’s the best secret agent, he’s a hot as hell disabled war vet They get together, but also don’t because apparently Steve Rogers is a homewrecker Peggy moved on after losing Steve, got together with the amazing Daniel Sousa, and then got broken up because the Russos didn’t want Steve to be seen as being gay for Bucky

nina zenik and matthias helvar:

[MAJOR SPOILER] If they were truly straight Matthias wouldn’t have died (submitter also stated that nina is canonically bi/pan)

buffy summers and spike:

Buffy's a vampire slayer and Spike's a vampire. Enemies to Lovers. Absolutely not intended by creators, creators treated it like a joke at first, then some of the writers/producers actively hated it even throughout their canon relationship, they don't technically get together in the end, also he dies (kind of. he's brought back in another show. and the comics. it's complicated). Very queercoded relationship despite being m/f - desire, euphoria, shame, slowburn, keeping it a secret, doesn't think anyone else will understand or accept them, wanting to change for the better.

himmel and frieren:

https://official.lowee.us/manga/Sousou-no-Frieren/0030-015.png https://official.lowee.us/manga/Sousou-no-Frieren/0030-016.png https://official.lowee.us/manga/Sousou-no-Frieren/0030-017.png https://official.lowee.us/manga/Sousou-no-Frieren/0030-018.png https://64.media.tumblr.com/ccb9c16bab47d917d2e11dd22c9b88e7/828182d720d735af-ea/s500x750/210c55d7128139c2ce032383b34ad487df067514.jpg

jean-luc picard and beverly crusher:

They have a number of romantic moments throughout the TNG series from arguably the first but DEFINITELY the second episode. but they only get together (briefly before divorcing) in an alternate timeline episode which is also the season finale. Also they have a kid together in Picard but are still not allowed to be together She was married to his best friend and he was in love with her but wouldn’t say anything because he wouldn’t want to damage his bestie’s marriage and then his friend died and they met again years later and shared a lot of romantic and sexual tension for years. He openly admitted (under mind reading) that he had loved her since his bestie was alive but felt he couldn’t act on it. In an alternate future they got married. In the canon future they got together and broke up repeatedly because trauma makes relationships hard sometimes and they have a kid together who is named after the aforementioned bestie. An episode forcing them to share thoughts makes him openly admit that he loves her and has loved her for years even when she was married to his best friend.

tyler rake and nik khan:

They’re very close, have lots of chemistry, but have never been acknowledged in canon. At this point they are just work friends who save each others’ lives on the regular.

keiichi maebara and rena ryugu:

Fluffy harem romcom twists into yandere horror, but then twists again into a story of friendship triumphing over everything. Really holds for any pairing with Keiichi, but the rooftop battle in part 6 is just too good. A recent manga spinoff has them married to total randos, so their respective sons can have the same kind of relationship.

naoko takahashi and shouta oohara:

this “show” is a 2 episode hentai so I can understand if this doesn’t get in the brackets lol (I would not recommend watching this hentai for the sex scenes, I just remember reading about Oohara getting cucked for a girl and thinking that I had to see this) So, it starts off with Takahashi being in love with Oohara and they do have ghost sex in the first part of the episode 1 but what happens is that even though they have the opportunity to be together as ghosts, Takahashi pretty much IMMEDIATELY forgets about Oohara because she becomes completely infatuated with this ghost girl named Sakurako to the point where even when Oohara turns into a tiny penis in episode 2 but Takahashi doesn’t give a fuck

good luck everyone! now go vote!

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Saturday, February 11th

LILAH: (laughing) I'm starting to like you, Wes. (serious) Don't go making more of this than it is. I'm not one of the doe-y eyed girls of Angel Investigations. - Don't be thinking about me when I'm gone. WESLEY: I wasn't thinking about you when you were here.

~~Tomorrow~~

The Sunnydale Herald is looking for at least one new editor. Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on! Find out more here.

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Safe by apachefirecat (Joyce & Buffy, G/K+)

Something by Window7 (Angel/Spike, not rated)

Something Real by RollisiCarisi (Willow/Tara, T)

You Do Have a Chance by Kylia (Willow/Amy, T)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion, Chapter 374 by madimpossibledreamer (Ensemble, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure crossover, T)

All That Is And All That Seems, Chapter 89 by MalkMcJorma (Faith/OC, Buffy/Riley, M)

Out of Time: 1942, Chapter 39 by Aynn_Ward (Buffy/Tom Riddle, Harry Potter crossover, M)

Adaptations, Chapter 41 by Echo126 (Buffy/Faith, E)

Different Lives, Chapter 51 by BuffyBot3000 (Faith & Tara, E)

Aphantasia, Chapter 8 (complete!) by TheClowniestLivInExistence (Buffy/Spike, M)

Ultimately Charmed, Chapter 13 by BrennaLynn (Buffy/Kyle Brody, Charmed crossover, T)

Wonderland 1: Down the Rabbit Hole, Chapter 79 by BrennaLynn (Buffy/Angel, Faith/Dawn, Star Wars crossover, T)

Soul Connections, Chapter 2 by decapiitare (Wesley/OC, Cordelia/OC, G)

Grapeshot or Twilight for those who are into women (Isabella SI), Chapter 8 by Ratmor (Buffy/Faith, Twilight crossover, M)

ever waiting airports (full of the love that you deserve), Chapter 2 by womanaction (Buffy/Spike, M)

Mutant Slayer, Chapter 3 by BrennaLynn (Buffy/Rogue, X-Men crossover, T)

Slayer, Chapter 3 by TheBeastofBurton (Buffy/Faith, M)

Shattered Planes, Chapter 1 by Hannah_Girl (Buffy/Angel, multiple crossovers, M)

William the Browncoat, Chapter 3 by CookieDoughMe (Spike, Firefly crossover, G)

The Time We Had, Chapter 30 by Dusty (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Aphantasia, Chapter 8 by ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, R)

Spiderwebs, Chapter 9 by Willow25 (Buffy/Spike, R)

ever waiting airports (full of the love that you deserve), Chapter 2 by MixSaysRawr (Buffy/Spike, R)

His Legacy, Chapter 42 by cmdruhura (Buffy, Batman crossover, FR18)

Out of Time: 1942, Chapter 39 by Jonayla (Buffy/Tom Riddle, Harry Potter crossover, FR18)

A new Quest, a new Fellowship, Chapter 26 by AragornIIElessar (Dawn, Lord of the Rings crossover, FR15)

The Spider, The Slayer and The Key, Chapter 26 by AragornIIElessar (Dawn, Spiderman crossover, FR25)

Hostage Diplomacy, Chapter 6 by Slingshot (Dawn, NCIS crossover, FR15)

Broken Not Destroyed, Chapter 2 by Buffyworldbuilder (Buffy, Arrow crossover, FR13)

The Time We Had, Chapter 31 by Dusty (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: tattood Buffy by sixxesandsevensart (worksafe)

Artwork: Perfect Clarity, Chapter 3 by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17/NSFW)

Tattoo: Buffy tattoo by ComplexDream9870 (worksafe)

Video: Spike action figure singing Let me rest in peace by Eatingleg4pnut

Fanvid: spike + buffy | cardigan by loveisntbrains

Fanvid: Buffy/Angel - Closer by thisyearsgirls

Fanvid: Willow Rosenberg Tribute: Nocturnal by Brittney Quinn

Fanvid: Carrie & Buffyverse || Savages by Angel Productions

Fanvid: Supergirl - Buffy the Vampire Slayer by ramzesochkaneo (Buffy/Spike)

Fanvid: Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Tribute To Buffy by BUFFYNATURALDIARIES

Artwork process video: Let's Draw: Buffy vampire slayer sprites persona crossover Timelapse Procreate Drawing by silvereelve (Buffy & Giles, worksafe)

Video: Buffy the vampire Slayer / Motion Comic / # 4 by VeltRose

Video: Buffy The Vampire Slayer Lost Episode End Credits (My Version) by Yumi Yoshimura

Slideshow: Buffy Summers Agent of S.T.A.R.S (Sarah Michelle Gellar / Resident Evil) (AI generated) by StarTaiger スタータイガー (worksafe)

Video: I forced other Reactors to play Jeopardy: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Edition! by After Show Reactions

Artwork: Spuffy Valentine's Day cover by NMCIL (worksafe)

Artwork: Images of Love banner by NMCIL (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Artwork: Spuffy Valentines TV Guide cover by NMCIL (worksafe)

Artwork: Spuffy Valentine by NMCIL (worksafe)

Artwork: Buffy/Spike Morning Glories by NMCIL (worksafe)

[Reviews & Recaps]

Just completed S6 of my rewatch - loved it! A perfect complement to S5 by FaisalAli_91

Currently Rewatching Season 7 by apollo11keychain

Video: Prophecy Girl — A Viewer's Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Part Two by Kat Taylor

Video: Schools out! Buffy Season 3 Review/Discussion by Bored Now

Video: Angel Season Five by Episodic Analysis

Video: Dakara Discusses - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 3! by Dakara

Podcast: 343 Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Like, Totally) by The Post Credit Podcast

Video: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4 - How To Turn A Villain Into a Comedic Character by Pop Culture Patrician

Video: Slayer Sunday-Hush by Jane Talks Reel

Podcast: 7.9 – "Never Leave Me" by If the Apocalypse Comes, Beep Me

Podcast: Episode 91: The Replacement by Myth Taken: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Podcast

[Fandom Discussions]

[What The Replacement establishes about Anya] by all-seeing-ifer

Angelus should have left a human heart on Buffy’s pillow for Valentine’s Day by bisexualblckcanary

spuffy + dying parallels between the gift and chosen by mulderscully

BTVS 20 years later by fauxindigo

Discussion of 7.20 "Touched" continued by Tj2318h and AlphaFoxtrot

What do you think Wesley's experience with women was before Angel season 2? by LightBlueSky55

Giles is such a dick in Season 7 by OhWowMan22

Here’s to the uncredited supporting cast of Buffy: The Leather Pants edition by Heart_Throb_

What if Faith remained as a main cast ember on either Buffy or Angel? by Seer77887

I have an idea to help the money troubles she had in the later seasons… by 12222023throwaway

Video: The Buffy Tag by The GazillionthYouTuber

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

[comradesummers]

Top 5 buffy characters and top 5 angel characters?

Hi, thanks for asking!

Pretty sure that I’ve answered some version of this before but I’m not going to pretend I’m even remotely consistent about these things, so here we are.

Buffy Characters:

5. Rupert Giles

Giles is one of those characters that frustrates me a lot. He’s part of an inherently exploitative system and I’m not sure that, until the final episode, he ever truly extricates himself from that system. The best parts of Giles are his rebellion against the council and the worst parts of him are his ideological ties to them. But that’s what makes him so interesting. Because the man who defies what he’s been taught and loves this group of misfit children like a father is always at odds with the ruthless utilitarian he thinks he has to be. It’s a fascinating series long conflict, and though it’s not always handled as well as I would like, it does always make for a wonderfully flawed but thoroughly lovable character.

4. Willow Rosenberg

Willow is a character I struggle with because she’s the one that reminds me the most of myself. Some of these similarities are rather superficial: we’re both Jewish lesbians that pride ouselves on our academic merits. But on a deeper level, I find Willow’s insecurity and her desperate need to appear strong and important and worthy at all costs to be so painfully relatable that I have a hard time engaging with her at all. I don’t need to explain how incredible her storyline is over seven seasons, how much she grows and changes and evolves, because you know all that already. There’s no denying she’s an incredible character. And the fact that she resonates so deeply with me to the point that she makes me uncomfortable is maybe the best demonstration of what a good character she is.

3. Faith Lehane

Faith was initially introduced as the dark mirror to Buffy (which is why I believe her to be fundamentally tied to BtVS in a way that she isn’t to AtS). But her great accomplishment throughout Buffy and Angel was her evolution into her own character, separate from Buffy. And that’s also Faith’s character arc. At first, she is only able to compare herself with Buffy. She’s angry and jealous of Buffy because she believes that Buffy has everything that she never had and rightfully deserves. And, in many ways, she’s right to be angry. Yet her choice to direct her anger and resentment towards Buffy, as opposed to the real culprits (the council for one, along with all of the adults in her life) is what leads her to destroy herself. It’s only after she’s able to recognize her own self-worth outside of Buffy that she can truly do good and be good and be with Buffy. It’s a remarkable journey to behold and I love her so much.

2. Tara Maclay

I liked Tara well enough before season 6, but season 6 was when I fell completely in love with her. She becomes the show’s anchor that season as the only responsible adult who’s making good decisions, even when those decisions are extremely painful for her, like breaking up with Willow. And in a season dedicated to every other character fucking up, she’s truly a breath of fresh air. But more than just her function as a contrast to the other characters, season 6 really emphasized for me how beautifully and subtly she had developed throughout the show. Her ability to stand up to Willow is such a stark contrast to the Tara who was unable to stand up to her father (not that I’m blaming her for not being able to confront her abuser, I’m just pointing out how the contrast between these scenes demonstrates amazing growth on Tara’s part). Tara initially has no sense of self-worth, but as she develops, she comes to understand her own value and refuses to allow anyone to diminish it. It’s a beautiful, lovely story, and I will forever be bitter that she didn’t get the happy ending she so richly deserved.

1. Buffy Summers

Buffy Summers is my favorite fictional character of all time, as is evident by pretty much every single post on this blog.

Angel Characters:

5. Winfred Burkle

I have some issues with Fred. This is mainly because Joss Whedon’s obsession with this particular type of nerdy and adorable female characters makes me uncomfortable. But Amy Acker is a great actress and I can’t help but find her charming regardless. I think the episode that really sold me on Fred was Fredless. Like, the idea that she can’t face her parents because she doesn’t want to admit to them or to herself what she’s gone through is really heartbreaking. It’s the first time I was able to see Fred as more of a character than a caricature and I realized that I really liked that character. Also, fuck the writers for killing off their only remaining female character just so that Wesley could manpain about it.

4. Lilah Morgan

Lilah is by far the best villain on the show. She was, with very few exceptions, one of the only bad guys who was actually fun to watch. I particularly love that the writers never felt the need to redeem her in order to make her sympathetic. And she is sympathetic. You feel for her a whole lot, probably because Stephanie Romanov is such a pro. But she’s still a terrible, evil person through and through and I love that for her. Why the writers thought it would be a good idea to kill her off is truly beyond me.

3. Lorne

Another character who deserved better (sensing a theme here). Lorne is such an interesting, layered character with a wonderfully bizarre backstory and an interesting way of seeing the world. Yet, despite how wonderful he is, he was always pushed to the background to further another character’s story. And that’s not even mentioning whatever the writers thought they were doing with him in season 5. Also, why couldn’t he have been openly queer? Anyway, RIP Andy Hallet, who was an absurdly talented man who managed to create this incredible character in spite of all the writers’ bullshit. 

2. Charles Gunn

Gunn was never just the muscle. The man ran a neighborhood watch/vampire hunting ring while he was still in his early 20′s (I assume? Do we actually know how old he is?). He’s a strategist and a leader in his community. He’s funny and charming and a good man and he deserved so much more love and care and development because he’s truly a fascinating character. But all the writers saw was a black guy who made quips and I am still so angry about it. Anyway, I love Gunn, he is, by far, the best man on the show and possibly in the entirety of the Buffyverse.

1. Cordelia Chase

Cordelia was pretty much the only reason I decided to watch Angel. She’s the best part of the whole show, her character growth is absolutely phenomenal, and I love how she grows as a person while still remaining wholly herself. I love her so much and I’ll forever be bitter about what the writers did to her and how terribly Whedon treated Charisma Carpenter.

[erricdraven]

Blood and Bone Didn't Make Our Home

Chapter 2 of 3

Pairings: Tara Maclay & Spike, Spike/Buffy Summers

Rating: Teen & Up

Death indeed does not distinguish between the sinners and the saints, and who knows that better than Spike, the master vampire formerly known as Slayer of Slayers and Tara Maclay, the witch who finds death at the end of many paths traveled for love? After meeting for the first time at a generic Sunnydale-apocalypse Scooby gathering, the beginnings of an unspoken comradery flowers, and through a myriad of catastrophes of varying sizes, lucky happenstances, and potential world-endages, the two find that sometimes family is found in the most unlikely places.

Sliding the pizza box onto the table, Spike surveyed his supplies. Pizza, crisps, ice cream, assorted sodas… “Should be everything,” he said to himself as he reflexively reached for the fag behind his ear. No, no smoking around the Bit. She was already itching to get into a little trouble, and God knew the Slayer didn’t need one more thing to hate him for.

Though lately, she seemed to be hating him a little less than usual, and that almost scared him more. It was one thing to have to contend with the fact that, apparently, he’d fallen for love’s bloody trick so long ago that there was nothing he could do now but be dangerously entangled with her for the rest of his days, but to be teased with the hope that maybe she could care for him too?

Fuck.

Every time he tried to resist it, the hazy memories of the Red Witch’s spell that made them want to get hitched in holy matrimony like a couple of normal romantic sods would float back to the surface in suddenly bright, bold, living color, and it hurt so much he thought maybe his heart was trying to beat itself to dust against his ribs. He hadn’t had a night’s sleep without her featured prominently in what felt like an eternity. Even before he’d come back to Sunnydale, he had occasionally dreamt of her, dreamt of finally getting the resolution of an uninterrupted battle to its final end at last and emerging victorious over her with the taste of her blood on his tongue and burning his throat like rich alcohol. Now, though, he dreamt of something far more dangerous—worshipping her with every bit of himself he had left to give, touching her tenderly and delighting in her surrendering to a need for him that she felt just as mightily.

In light of the Initiative’s retelling of Frankenstein, Buffy had come to him to negotiate a truce that could see them as reluctant allies. Sure, he’d botched things up right good for a moment there when he thought he would finally get the sodding chip out at last, but he seemed to have proved himself somewhat in the aftermath. He couldn’t undo the past, but he’d tried to make up for what he had had a hand in worsening. It was clear that she was still keeping a purposeful distance from him in all respects, but the friendship he had cultivated with Dawn over time seemed to have meant something to her too. He didn’t want to admit the extent to which his heart yearned for her that to be true.

The rumble of the crypt door being shifted provided much needed relief from his wallowing, and Spike leaned back against the sarcophagus casually. “Got all the hits, kiddo,” he said when Dawn popped her head inside with a grin. “Just don’t tell big sis we’re getting cavities tonight.”

To his surprise, Tara trailed in behind her. She raised a hand in greeting and gave him one of those sunshine smiles he didn’t deserve. “Hey, sorry. Buffy asked me to drop Dawn off for her. So-something about a situation with Giles she had to deal with? Anyway, you two have fun.” She brusquely walked over to Dawn and pressed a kiss to her temple before smoothing down the hair she’d ruffled. “Buffy’ll pick you up, sweetie.”

“Well, hey, no hurry to go, dove,” Spike said, looking down at his chipped nail polish shyly. God, when did he become this person that wanted to be near people so badly? It was stupid and…he was lonely. Bleeding hell. “We’ve got enough to share, ain’t we, Bit?”

Dawn looked up in surprise, nearly a whole piece of pizza shoved in her mouth already, save for the crust. “Mm ‘oo sood say Ta’a!”

Tara laughed lightly. “Well, as long as I’m not interrupting, I guess I could stay.”

“Nah, help yourself.” Spike gestured to the offerings he had out on the table and then snatched two slices of pizza from the box Dawn was soon to inhale in its entirety.

They settled in on the couch with Tara watching on in amusement as Dawn attempted to talk Spike into letting her watch a horror movie that he was insisting was too mature for her. Truthfully, it was a starter horror, but letting Dawn feel like she was getting away with something always brightened her mood, so he played along. Just before the last act, though, she was asleep and snoring softly with her head against the back of the couch.

Switching off the television, Spike crept over to his pseudo-kitchen and grabbed a partially-drunk bottle of whiskey. “Time for a bit of grown-up fun. Care for a nip?” He mostly just asked in an attempt at being polite, but was met with a sound of assent from Tara.

“May I?”

Balancing two lowball glasses in one hand and the neck of the bottle in the other, he sat down on the edge of the end table and handed her the glasses. “Rough day?”

“Not exactly. More just…long. I ha-haven’t been sleeping very well.”

“Bad dreams?” Touching the rim of his glass against hers and uttering a soft “Cheers, dove”, he took a long swallow. After all this time, the burn still made him grit his teeth with a grimace, and there was a kind of comfort in that that he appreciated.

Tara hesitated before giving a stiff nod. “I have a feeling that there’s something coming.”

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