#rare off brand non spuffy post

[littlenastieswewhispered]

it drives me insane when people say season six is bad because it’s too much about real world problems and the early years weren’t like that. seasons 1-3 are about buffy struggling with wanting to be a normal girl with a successful high school career and a boyfriend who’s good to her and a parent who understands her. that’s as “real world problems” as it gets when you’re sixteen. it’s just kid problems.

pretending the high school years weren’t about buffy struggling with real life as well as monsters manages to invalidate the unique experiences of both teenagers and adults.

the only difference is in s6 buffy is smacked with the reality that now shes an adult, she has to do these things on her own (because giles can force her to and she isn’t guaranteed a legal guardian) and if it gets fucked up the consequences are much more long term and devastating. she can be over not being crowded homecoming queen even though that was very upsetting at the time, because now she has to grapple with maybe losing her house and custody of her sister if she can’t pay bills and that will affect her deeply and forever.

that’s by design. that’s growing up. life was always the big bad. life just isn’t that big when you’re a teenager.