#mine: buffybot

[starryeyesxx]

[silkspectred]

— twisting your mind and smashing your dreams metallica, master of puppets

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Friday, March 22nd

ANGEL: "What's the game exactly, Faith? Boredom? Revenge?" FAITH: "Dude, I'm getting paid. They hate you almost as much as I do." ANGEL: "Ever occurred to you this might be more fun for me?" FAITH: "You think? Because what if you kill me - and you experience that one true moment of pleasure? Oops! I'd get off on that."

~~Five by Five~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Universal Remedy by badly_knitted (Giles, Willow, PG)

Weekly Drabbles #101 — Bets and Unicorns by veronyxk84 (Spike, Dawn, PG-13)

this is a love song in my own way by cosmicloveletters (Angel/Spike, G)

Eyes Forward, Monster by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Royal Flush - Ch. 1 by Xyex (Buffy, Wishverse Buffy, Buffybot, M)

Onward, Spuffy, Ho! - Ch. 1-5 by the_big_bad (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

COMPLETE!

Breaking Illusions - Ch. 1 by RavenLove12 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Dawnster Drabbles - Ch. 21 by Passion4Spike (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Dead End - Ch. 19-20 by all choseny (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Glimpses of the Cellar Dwellers - Ch. 22 by Maldorana (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Bizarre Double Life - Ch. 22 by violettathepiratequeen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Lie to Me - Ch. 17 by In Mortal (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

Afterburn - Ch. 27-28 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Goodbye to Everything That I Knew - Ch. 26 by fortes775 (Buffy/Spike, R)

Rise - Ch. 29 by CheekyKitten (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Going Home (to a place we’ve never been before) - Ch. 16 by curiouslywombat (Dawn centric, LOTR xover, FR15)

The Guardians of Magic - Ch. 17 by MarcusSLazarus (Angel focused, multi-xover, FR13)

A Little Poet in Her Monster - Ch. 1 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, R)

What the Drabble? Vol. 2 - Ch. 1 by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Bang - Ch. 17-20 by scratchmeout (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Slowly At First - Ch. 15-18 by Gabby (Buffy/Spike, R)

We’re Having a Baby! - Ch. 22 by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

Bad Idea, Right? - Ch. 15-22 by scratchmeout (Buffy/Spike, R)

Out of the Wasteland - Ch. 22 by Harlow Turner (Buffy/Spike, R)

Boyfrenemy - Ch. 14-17 by Lady Emma (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

I love you. - Ch. 22 by Lilacsandorangeblossoms (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Left on Read - Ch. 21 by ashcrashed (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Truth or Dare - Ch. 22 by Chelle (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Dawnster Drabbles - Ch. 21 by Passion4Spike (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Pick Me Up - Ch. 20-21 by Dusty (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Dead End - Ch. 20 by all choseny (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Accidental Casualties - Ch. 19-20 by Julikobold (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Forever and Always? - Ch. 22 by scratchmeout (Buffy/Spike, R)

The Dreaded Lurgi - Ch. 22 by SomeKindOfADeviant (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

30 Ways to Say I Love You - Ch. 22 by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

X.X - Ch. 21 by Rea (Buffy/Spike, R)

How Could I Not? - Ch. 22 by simmony (Buffy/Spike, R)

Glimpses of the Cellar Dwellers - Ch. 22 by Maldorana (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Tag, You're It! - Ch. 22 by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Embrace - Ch. 22 by Harlow Turner (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Bizarre Double Life - Ch. 22 by violettathepiratequeen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Lie to Me - Ch. 17 by In Mortal (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

Ready for it? - Ch. 7 by Lilacsandorangeblossoms (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

I remember who you are - Ch. 10 by Desicat (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: Portraits of B (9 of ??) Xx by whatshisfaceblogs (Buffy, worksafe)

Artwork: I have improved so much in 2 years! by cinnamontoastcoreyart (Spike, worksafe)

Gifset: BUFFY SUMMERS IN BECOMING PART I by detectivedawnsummers (Buffy, worksafe)

Gifset: 2.14 Innocence by bangelgifs (Buffy, Jenny, Giles, worksafe)

Gifset: It's Summers blood. Just like mine. by 5bi5 (Buffy, Dawn, worksafe (some blood))

[Reviews & Recaps]

PODCAST: 1.11 Out of Mind, Out of Sight by Once More: A Rewatch Podcast

[Fandom Discussions]

me making different e-mail accounts to get free streaming [Willows] by firewolf

[small detail] by aphony-cree

How well does Tara remember her time brainsucked? updated by RachM and thetopher

Would you have tried to rehabilitate Faith after Consequences? by various

POLL: Which female villain would you be the most afraid of running into in a dark alley of these choices? by jdpm1991

POLL: Ethan Rayne's best episode? by jdpm1991

Buffy’s Earrings by Lov2500

Which part of the series gave you the most existential dread/horror vs traditional horror? by ahbagelxo

First Watch Episode [which ep to hook someone?] by Shoebill-Enthusiast

Xander Summoning Sweet (the Dancing Demon) for Anya by Usernamelesses

Was Liam a bad guy? by FoxIndependent4310

why are all the Dawn centric episodes bad? by debujandobirds

How Effective would Anti tank Rifles be against Vampires? by novavegasxiii

The chronicles of Rupert the Ripper by BusinessResource5324

Everyone talks about Spuffy, but honestly, Angel and Cordelia also had so much more chemistry than Angel/Buffy... by That_Hole_Guy

Rewatched OMWF and I’m still blown away... [Giles question] by Kindofaddictedtotv

Cordelia’s Attitude in “Offspring” by burnmeup82

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

James Marsters to Attend German Comic Con Berlin in October by jamiemarsters

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[willowrosenboob]

BTVS 5.18 At least it's not a very good copy. Look at it.

[atlasshrugd]

Buffybot’s death was surprisingly traumatic considering she was just a robot. She was so innocent and "died" in such a gruesome way without knowing what was going on. I shouldn't be feeling so weirdly sad about a robot, but still...

[tellhulla]

Anyone interested in reading a fic in which the Buffybot "accidentally" gets a Soul, Willow's magic produces some weird stuff and Dawn's Key-nes gets explored?

Because I'm writing one.

[buffy-slays19]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer + favorite one-liners

[emmathompsonegot]

Not to be extremely literal, but Build a Bitch as Buffybot anthem

[sunnydaledaily]

You guys couldn't tell me apart from a robot? She's very well done.

[burningbruise]

“That'll put marzipan in your pie plate, bingo !”

[starryeyesxx]

[scoobygangs]

[herinsectreflection]

I want to talk about this scene, from Bargaining when Willow kills the fawn. You might guess from my icon that I am a big fan of this scene. It's pretty short but it sets the stage for Willow's arc throughout S6 excellently.

It opens with her in this gorgeous riverside greenery, dressed in pure white, the very picture of fairytale innocence, bathed in bright sunlight. It's such an unusual shot for the show, which almost exclusively either has shots inside or at night (for obvious reasons of being a vampire show), and that immediately makes it quite memorable. Especially as the rest of the episode is almost entirely set at night, filled with demon bikers, dismemberment, fire, broken down towers and digging out of graves. It's like this little meditative moment of peace in between all that.

Or, it would be if it didn't include a teensy little animal sacrifice.

WILLOW: Adonai, Helomi, Pine. Adonai, Helomi, Pine. The gods do command thee from thy majesty. O Mappa Laman, Adonai, Helomi.

Willow says her words and summons forth a young fawn from the trees. The fawn is another symbol of innocence, like Willow's white dress. As she reaches out and and touches the animal gently, we're reminded of the soft innocent Willow of S1, who shied away from any conflict and seemed incapable of ever hurting a fly. She's like a disney princess, sitting in the woods singing to woodland animals. Only Snow White never stabbed Bambi in the heart.

The entire plot of the previous season revolved around the blood sacrifice of a child. This is what Glory was trying to achieve, and it's what Buffy has to stop. Buffy gives her life in order to stop it. And now, Willow recreates the same event, performing the blood sacrifice what is specifically an animal child. She steps into the role that the previous season's Big Bad performed, and so tells us that this season, she is stepping into the role of Big Bad. The fawn fills the role of Dawn - the situations rhyme as well as the names do.

Fun fact - the words that Willow uses are taken from The Book of Ceremonial Magic, a 1910 book that compiled various grimoires. In this passage, describing an invocation to request something from God, Adonai/Helomi/Pine are the names of angels - specifically the angels of the East, who appear in human form dressed in lily white according to this passage - another link to Willow's costume here. The invocation seems to involve requesting these angels to appear to the caster in an intelligible form.

ADONAI, HELOMI, PINE, Whom you obey, do invoke, conjure and entreat thee, N., that thou wilt appear forthwith. By the virtue and power of the same God I do command thee from thine order or place of abode to come unto me and skew thyself plainly here before me in thine own proper shape and glory, speaking in a voice intelligible to mine understanding.

In this case, Willow is symbolically killing an actual angel of heaven, which is probably pretty high up on the villainy scale. Just drives home the fundamental Wrongness of this scene. It's also good to remember that the idea of killing one to save other(s) is a theme returned to again and again throughout the show, and the first major example of that theme in action is a certain Angel.

(Credit to this user on BuffyBoards for finding the source of these words.)

So the fawn is Dawn, and the fawn is an angel. But most importantly of all - the fawn is Buffy. Willow, in her attempts to bring Buffy back to life, first has to kill "Buffy".

WILLOW: Come forward, Blessed one. Know your calling.

The fawn is described as having a "calling" that it must "know", just as Buffy has a calling of her own, which over the course of many seasons she learns to know and accept (and eventually revolutionise and reject). It is also described as "Blessed", which in some definitions is taken to mean "one who is with God in heaven". Buffy at this point is literally in heaven (or at least some kind of heaven dimension, the theology is gratefully vague). The structure of the phrase "Blessed one" also reminds of the more relevant phrase - "Chosen One", which again would be Buffy. The spell ingredient, which we know is the fawn's blood, is called "vino de madre" - wine of the mother, implying a feminine source of power, just like The Slayer.

WILLOW: Accept our humble gratitude for your offering. In death ... you give life. May you find wings to the kingdom. In death, you give life. You might say that death... is your gift... yeah, so this really drives it home for me. Using death to give life is literally what Buffy has just done. It was core to her arc last season. And finally the "wings to the kingdom" line again plays into that heaven imagery. S6 loves this kind of imagery for Buffy, even giving her angel wings in one of the most delightfully on-the-nose shots in the show.

Buffy gave her life to give Dawn one, and with it gave a warning about the struggles of life - "The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.". This is sad but lovely advice that Buffy herself must now spend S6 gradually learning to understand herself. She learns how to deal with the crushing despair of day-to-day existence. Willow, as the Big Bad of this season, doesn't understand this advice at all. For years now, Willow has used magic as a short-cut to avoid actually dealing with her emotions (see Lover's Walk, Something Blue, Tough Love). This goes into overdrive in S6, and it starts with her desperation to bring Buffy back to avoid really dealing with the reality of her death.

In fact it goes beyond magic - Willow is also the one who uses her tech knowledge to bring the Buffybot back online. She uses all her skills to desperately fill in the hole that Buffy has left behind. This is what Willow does, magic or no. And it's sympathetic - my heart breaks every time she talks about fearing where Buffy might have ended up - but it's not totally rational or healthy either. The main problem is that Willow, in doing this, is ignoring Buffy's final words, and misunderstanding the central theme.

As said earlier, by performing this blood sacrifice of a child, Willow is betraying the memory of Buffy, who died to stop one. (Symbolically of course. Morally there are light years between killing an animal and killing a teenager). Buffy gave her life to stop a blood sacrifice, and so Willow reverses the process - causing a blood sacrifice to give Buffy her life. And she betrays Buffy's final words with her refusal to accept the pain of life and live with it. And finally, she betrays Buffy spiritually.

Remember that Willow is Buffy's metaphorical Spirit, as shown in Primeval. It is a special kind of betrayal that Buffy's Spirit breaks her spiritually in this season. She literally rips her soul out of eternal bliss and contentment, causing an existential break within her. She beseeches the fawn/Buffy to find "wings to the kingdom", but in doing so robs Buffy of her wings.

Buffy suffers brutal depression this season, and describes it many times as feeling dead inside. This kind of emotional deadness is caused directly by her ressurection (though severely exacerbated by her unresolved trauma, grief over Joyce, and generally just living under capitalism). Willow has tried to give death to bring life, but because the action is a betrayal of Buffy on many levels, the act is tainted, and perverted, like a wish on a monkey's paw. She literally kills metaphorical Buffy, and so metaphorically kills literal Buffy. Buffy has life, but said life is causing a kind of death within her.

And what does Willow get for all this? Her pain isn't fixed by all this. She just gets blood on her hands (and later on her face). It sets off a chain of events that will end with far more blood on Willow's hands. She dips a toe into a darkness, but because she doesn't understand fully the emotions that have taken her there, she can't exert any control over it. She doesn't learn a lesson here that she shouldn't try to shape the world to deal with her emotions. Instead, she learns that she has power over life and death.

Willow is clearly deeply shaken by this, but it's not nearly enough to make her change her path. She ignores the very obvious foreshadowing here - her hands literally coated in blood - and carries on anyway. She takes the wrong lessons from this moment, which she clearly demonstrates in her argument with Giles in Flooded, where she ignores his anger over how she's warped the rules of nature, and instead focuses on how awesome she is ("The magicks I used are very powerful. I'm very powerful. And maybe it's not such a good idea for you to piss me off.")

This is a small scene, but it sets up so much for Willow. It shows how far she has come from the meek girl of S1. And it shows a glimpse of the future, how she has far to go but is now on a path to become the villain she is at the end of S6. She starts it by killing metaphorical Buffy in order to save her, and will end it by trying to kill actual Buffy in order to emotionally "save" her. At every point she can justify the blood on her hands as serving some greater purpose - but the blood is still there.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Monday, August 29 - Tuesday, August 30

XANDER: (swallows) People? BUFFY: Xander, you ate the burger?! XANDER: Well, first you say it's cat, then you come in and hand me a burger, blah blah blah, five minutes later 'oh and by the way, it happens to be hot delicious human flesh'! BUFFY: I needed that burger to analyze it. Now I'm gonna have to get another one. XANDER: *That's* your problem with this scenario? You getting seconds?

~~Buffy Season 6 Episode #112: "DoubleMeat Palace"~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Redirected (Buffy, T, SGA xover) by 3am_moonlight

Demonology 101 (Buffy, T, MCU xover) by glitterangelem

Fashion Show & Tell (Dawn, T, LotR xover) by jerseyfabulous

Are These Goons Yours, Mine or Ours? (Buffy, T, SG1 xover) by beri_fanfic

Escape Plan (Joyce, T, Multiple xovers) by acswatwst

Flowers of Life: Valerian (Buffy, T, MCU xover) by mmooch

A Cascade of Echoes: Leaving the Blue Marble (Buffy, T, SG1 xover) by 3am_moonlight

Flying True (Faith, T, Firefly xover) by jedibuttercup

Something Wicked (Buffy, Willow, T, Wandavision xover) by glitterangelem

Mrs. Bruce Wayne (Ensemble, T, DCU xover) by beri_fanfic

The Runaround (Xander, T, Dresden Files xover) by madimpossibledreamer

If it Purrs Like a Kitten (Angel/Spike, M) by Gabriel_Is_My_Guardian_Angel89

An Eye for an Eye Leaves the Whole World Blind (Buffy, Spike, Drusilla, T) by LadyLustful

Season of Rituals (Buffy, unrated, LotR xover) by Liloldme

Buffy Summers and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Cable Bill (Buffy/Spike, T) by ifonlyiwaswittier

Wildfires (Buffy/Spike, E) by cawthraven

Untitled (Buffy, Willow, G) by purrpickle

Untitled (Buffy/Spike, Dawn, unrated) by

Cheese (Buffy/Spike, T) by myrabeth

[Chaptered Fiction]

A Night Without Day - Chapter 10: It’s Got to Be More Than Flesh and Bone (Buffy/Spike, E) by orea_domina

Body Language Chapter 6: Castle (part 1) (Buffy/Faith, E) by explosionshark

Bound Chapter 14 Out For A Walk (Buffy/Spike, M) by spnae

Who Watches the Watchers, Chapter 17-18 (Buffy/Spike, E) by blue_sweater_spike

Willing Slave, Chapter 17 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Sigyn

A Night Without Day, Chapter 12 (Buffy/Spike, E) by HappyWhenItRains

If Only, Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, E) by MixSaysRawr

Why Are There 26 Letters?, Chapter 21 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Indi_Shaw

Marriage, Sunnydale-Style, Chapter 12 (Buffy/Spike, M) by scratchmeout

Talkative Minds, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, E) by Jws1993

Her Vampire, Chapter 13 (Buffy/Spike, E) by AmyAndrews20

Living is Easy…Being Happy is Hard CH. 20 (Buffy, T, Mercy Thompson xover) by Luna

[Images, Audio & Video]

Manip:Drusilla and Giles () by emmatheslayer

Artwork:Buffy tattoo () by Anya Gladun

Manip:Drusilla and Giles () by emmatheslayer

Artwork:Buffy & Spike () by boopsterliv

Artwork:Spike () by threewordsorless

Artwork:BTVS “Every Outfit” “Angel S1E8 I Will Remember You” Xx () by whatshisfaceblogs

Artwork:Buffy & Faith () by xxacidcloudxx

Artwork:Buffy & Faith (NSFW) by vanitasmorgue

Manip:Cover Art for MEET ME AT MIDNIGHT by Dusty () by l0veisntbrains

[Reviews & Recaps]

We’re Like Sisters, With Really Different Hair (Homecoming) by herinsectreflection

Buffy Rewatch 2k22 3.2 Living Conditions by handsofabitterman

Buffy Rewatch 2k22 4.1 The Freshman by handsofabitterman

[Fandom Discussions]

The insane thing about Buffy confronting Spike as the Buffybot by babygirlgiles

Surprise/Innocence by herinsectreflection

some folks act like tara can do no wrong by buffyandwillow

by

I don’t agree with the idea of The Gift being the last episode by disco-tea

i know crush is supposed to be anti spuffy by smellingwormholes

Top 10 Spuffy fics I’ve read (Aug 2022) by mcgnagallsarmy

a big reason behind my dislike of buffy only saying “i love you” right as spike is sacrificing himself: by silvermars

just thinking about buffy in 2022 by biggestthighestgeminiest

God season 5 is so good by wikiangela

when the monks made Dawn human by simplyaiden-blog

one of the funny similarities between Spike and Dawn by disco-tea

Discussion of 4.21 "Primeval" by TomatoLover97

Fred or Illyria? by Multiple Authors

I’m rewatching Buffy, and I just got back around to What’s My Line. by no-lo-lo

Discussion of The Vampire Slayer #5 - Released 8/31/22 (Boom! Studios) by Buffy Summers

Cliche Arguments by Miss Muffet

Are the comics canon for you? by Joshua

BOOM! The Vampire Slayer # 5 Preview Pages.(spoilers) by BAF

Fic recommendation - In Retrograde by wroth_and-ruin by bespangeled

Angel Season 5 rewatch - #11 Damage continued by Stoney and Nina

Comparing scenes from the unaired pilot with the original Willow (Riff Reagan) against Alyson Hannigan by InfiniteMehdiLove

Why are there only Vampires in sunnydale?(SPOILERS) by Formal_Fix_5190

Upgraded my Buffy model (from Slayerverse animation) - still working out some kinks by tmcarlee

As weak as the initiative plot is, this is one of my favourite moments in the show by tommygun1945

The Pack & Herbert the Pig by nicollexo

Enemies by mushabo0om

I never realized until this moment that Oz's name isn't Oz by Mysterious-Try-4723

"Listening to Fear" is one of the creepiest episodes of the series by jdpm1991

New slayer born as result of previous becoming a slaypire? by Ezekiel_Says_Grace

The Master by chemeli888

Charisma Carpenter! by Formal_Fix_5190

the frat house from “fear itself" by LieTo_me

Theory: Dawn was created by some unknown being as a weapon to destroy all dimensions and existence by iceswordsman

Trying to remember a scene in the later seasons by murdochi

Thoughts On Season 5? by Defvac2

Where can I read or preview the comics? Mainly Season 8 by ginime_

Let's talk about The Master by Mr_McGigglepants

How do you feel about the Angel and Cordy ship? by Almighty_Push91

Soul Searching… by Channon-Yarrow

If they made another Buffy video game by ThatKoffeeBurns

Unpopular opinion: Riley would have been good for Buffy by PecanSama

What would you think about the other male/female friendships if they had become romantic by LightBlueSky55

Commander Buffy and the boycott by icanneverthinkofone1

oldschool fansites? by deadxair

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[dimples-of-discontent]

Shapeshifter villains and relationship exposition: a trope in 3 shows

(I made a long post in response to this post from @tinkdw but then realized that it should probably maybe be its own post so I am putting it here too.) Villains, particularly ones that look like one of the protagonists, are so often exposition for the “unrequited love” trope. And the beautiful thing is that it can work either way. Either Potential Lover #1 cantell that it isn’t Potential Lover #2, in which case we have confirmation of how well they know one another on a level that will accept no substitutes (as with Dean’s response to Cas’s first phone call) OR Potential Lover #1 cannot tell that it isn’t Potential Lover #2 and reacts in a revealing way to something that is out-of-character and often provocative (sadly haven’t had this here yet…I actually expected it from Casifer who did, at least, mock the way Dean and Cas say each other’s names with alternate gravity and desperation, like, even if they are going to the grocery store…but I digress).

Here, have an example of each from The X-Files, my first fandom and a mine of tropes. The first is from 4x20 “Small Potatoes” where a shapeshifter (yeahhhhh!) looking like Mulder attempts to seduce Scully only to be stopped by real!Mulder.

mmmm, both such beautiful people! The mood in this is a little off; Scully can tell that something is weird about “Mulder” and has a line beforehand about how this is a “whole new side of [him]” but she’s not entirely objecting either. This gif doesn’t have Mulder’s reaction shot but he’s pretty surprised/nonplussed but what he sees. Her reaction is to freak the fuck out because, well, duh. Here’s a second example from  6x04 “Dreamland” where, quite honestly, I forget how this dude ended up in Mulder’s body. (It’s a comedy body swap plot like “Swap Meat.”) The dude ends up pretty convinced that Mulder and Scully are together (and this is the season after the movie and its almost-kiss) and tries to treat Scully like a sort of douchebag white guy would treat his girlfriend and gets this:

Yeah, no, you don’t talk like that to Scully (and Mulder would never call Scully “baby”…he won’t even call her “Dana” except if someone is dying). Partly, it’s a mark of their deepening relationship that Scully can tell it’s not Mulder in the first instance but not in the second and, partly, it’s because she reads one thing as far more out of character than the other: Mulder might try to kiss her but he would never treat her with that lack of respect.

This is already long but, just in case you need other examples, rewatch any post-S3 Buffy and keep an eye on things that look like her. The best example is in 4x16 “Who Are You” when evil!Slayer Faith swaps bodies with Buffy. The episode is a great take-down of the kind of rote morality that Buffy favors at this point in the narrative with, Faith-as-Buffy parroting “Because it’s wrong” to herself in the mirror as a way of learning her part.

The line returns later when Faith-as-Buffy goes out to the single bar in the entire town and encounters Spike (who at this point has a goverment-issued chip in his brain that keeps him from attacking people…yeah). At this point, Spike is an awesome character but they hadn’t yet figured out what to do with him as a series regular. This episode actually sets the stage for the relationship arc that will become one of the most important through-threads of the later series. While Buffy sees Spike still as an occasionally useful enemy, Faith-as-Buffy can tell immediately that he’s attracted to her and exploits it to taunt him:

( “And you know why I don’t?” [Spike’s face says “why the hell not?”])

So, Spike is all WTF-turned-on-but-furious-about-it but can’t quite tell at this point that it’s not Buffy. Once again, the villain-looking-like-a-protagonist makes subtextual feelings textually obvious both to at least one character (Spike, in this case) and to the audience as a way to prepare them for an in-text relationship that does happen eventually.

So, that was a lot about two shows that are not SPN but which maybe you guys like too but both lean heavy on the relationship tropes and both have supernatural elements to them too. (I didn’t even talk about the Buffybot…of all the things SPN has done at least no one has yet had a robot double.) My speculation for S13 is that it will be borrowing from the same playbook. Maybe Asmodeus-as-Cas will appear to Dean at some point to “prove” that Cas is ok (omg stop with the phone calls, worried husband Dean!) and say something OOC cruel to imply that Cas is aware of his feelings but doesn’t requite them. This would be similar to The Empty voicing Cas’s worst fears because it knows that’s where he’s vulnerable, perhaps spinning him out into the “adultery” that Tink predicts. It would make the full misunderstanding textual and perhaps eventually force real!Cas to refute it. Maybe Asmodeus-as-Cas makes the same mistake as body-swap-Mulder and talks to Dean like a lover so that Dean, like Scully, can confront him about obviously not being real!Cas (like we got with Cas’s code for “SOS TROUBLE” being “I miss you baby”). I seriously doubt we could get anything as juicy as the Buffy example so save it for fanfic.

Tl; dr: SPN is using the same trope playbook as other popular genre shows and will probably feature a villain disguised as a potential lover to reveal and make textual (to us and maybe to Dean or Cas) the feelings that the lover fears are unrequited. We’ve already had this once, let’s have it again with Dean watching!

(p.s. if you see your gif here let me know and I will update this to credit you!)

[buffy-slays19]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer | 6x01 - Bargaining, Part One