#caleb's type is vampiric disasters who are a little too much

[nikatyler]

I love the dynamic between my three main vampires and one of them isn't even in the main story

[clonerightsagenda]

I found your Buffy classpects post and I found it really cool. I was wondering why you chose those aspects?

Ok so that post is four years old and I haven’t seen the show in a while but I’ll do my best to burn through these pretty quickly.

Buffy: Knight of Life

She’s got her bravado as the Knight shield persona hiding quite a bit of vulnerability underneath (Whedon’s favorite female character type : P ), and she’s a defender. She’s class protector! Life includes bodily health and strength, and that’s a major Slayer asset that she uses. She also uses her life itself as a power to protect in The Gift. Life players are often overshadowed by a legacy that may be hostile or unwelcome, and Buffy has to bear the Slayer legacy and all that entails. 

Willow: Witch of Light

I mean, I had to give one of the witches Witch, even if some of Willow’s traits (inquisitive, pushing that too far, falling into addiction) are very Seer-like. But Witches can fall to arrogance and believe their way is the best, which Willow veers toward in season 6. In early seasons she gets them information via research and hacking, and one of Light’s facets is information. 

Xander: Seer of Heart

This was more for ‘those times Xander is a decent human being’ bc let’s be honest, he’s a jerk a lot of the time. But his rescue of Dark Willow was very Heart-based, and since he has no special powers he always has to rely on himself - who he is, how he feels, what he can do naturally. In retrospect though Seer was a bad choice. There’s the thing with Dawn calling him the one who sees and Caleb plucking out an eye as a way to mock that, but he doesn’t fit the personality profile. Page *might* be better, since he certainly sees himself as downtrodden, he’s a demon magnet, and he takes a while to develop.

Giles: Mage of Mind

We don’t see much of Mages but I tend to assume they’d be a bit more methodical, and ofc Giles is a librarian. He’s upheld as one of the more intellectual of their gang and is often thinking about consequences and implications more than the headstrong and impulsive teens. Mind also involves sensory input, and Giles has been shown to enjoy music, the smell of books, and other stuff like that.

Dawn: Heir of Hope

Hope is the most powerful aspect, it’s sought after, and it can be what you want it to be. Dawn is pursued because she’s the key and Glory wants her power. She didn’t ask for it; she just *is* the key, so Heir works. Heirs often seem to feel at the mercy of everything else going on around them, and Dawn spends a lot of time being babied and towed around. 

Oz: Prince of Rage

Bit on the nose, this one. In his werewolf form, he’s destructive, and once he learns to beat the lunar cycle, it’s triggered by him getting upset. This isn’t a very good description of his overall character though. 

Angel: Bard of Blood

Angel incites division (passively destroying bonds) with his very presence - in early seasons he’s not trusted by many of the characters, which causes trouble. But in the end I’d say he also passively incites social change… the gang slowly learns that not all the “monsters” are bad and goes on to form useful partnerships and relationships with other vampires, demons, and the like. I’d note this is not Angelus - he’s more of a Prince, I think. More actively destructive but with his own twisted code. 

Tara: Sylph of Space

Sylphs often have more muted involvement, nudging and guiding… until they suddenly take center stage, anyway. Space players tend to be practical, reliable, and a major source of emotional labor, and especially in season 6 Tara is kind of the bedrock for all the disasters around her.

Spike: Thief of Breath

I read Blood as including bonds but I think Breath also involves networks between people, and Spike disrupts these intentionally near the end of the fifth season and later in the sixth season as Buffy uses her relationship with him as a kind of self harm. I think she also feels a little trapped into their unhealthy dynamic, contrasting with Breath/freedom. As a Thief, he’s fond of showy displays (although most Whedon villains are; can he write any others) but has some inner vulnerabilities that lead the Judge to sneer that he’s nearly human. 

Anya: Rogue of Time

I honestly don’t remember what most of my justification was for this, beyond that she’s from an earlier time and she creates a split timeline in The Wish. I guess the ‘messing up some people in vengeance for other people’ thing is sorta Roguelike.