#when he gave the ultimatum i was like 'don't let the door hit ya on the way out bitch!'

[little-niggah-sugar]

The character I hate the most in Buffy is...

Riley. followed closely by Dawn though it’s not that I hate her so much as she has many more infuriating moments for the same reason than Riley has

Firstly, he’s the military, burly, beefcake character, & I don’t normally like that character type. He’s a little intolerant & at least initially sort of looks at the Scooby gang like they’re these weird nerds that don’t know what they’re doing cuz they don’t have guns & computers. 

And while the show doesn’t try to make him seem stupid, he pretty much is. Like when he finds out Buffy went to LA to see Angel (whom he knows has a soul & fights demons so it makes sense she’d go there for a demon-related reason), he assumes Buffy slept with him & he lost his soul after he sees Angel fighting Initiative guys. So not only does he not trust Buffy who is loyal to anyone who doesn’t screw with her, but he thinks the Initiative wouldn’t fight any given vampire, soul or no? Especially when they have no reason to think any vampires have souls?? And he also used to think all demons are evil, so he is intimately familiar with that concept????

The biggest issue I have with him is the shitty reason he gives for leaving Buffy & the way in which he does it. He feels physically inadequate because he isn’t as strong as her. Yeah, newsflash, she is stronger than EVERY HUMAN and most demons! That’s her whole shtick! He knew this since he learned she was the Slayer. Plus, the man in a hetero relationship doesn’t have to be the physically stronger of the two. 

He also says he had vampires bite him at the Bite House to feel needed & to see what made Buffy want to date Angel & be enthralled by Dracula. That excuse works if he only went there once. After doing so, if he somehow got some info on why that would interest her (which it doesn’t), that’s it. But he went at least a few times, so he was doing it for another reason, namely, that he’s a whiny, self-centered asshat. Also, as Buffy says, Dracula had a power over people (including hetero Xander), so that’s a non-issue.

And he says she isn’t emotionally there for him & doesn’t really love him. So, if you were to argue she wasn’t emotionally there for him, there are at least 2 great reasons for that: her mom’s brain tumor (a pretty excellent reason) & Dawn being the Key & the assorted issues with that (the best reason ever). Sorry that having to deal with those at the same time, plus having to deal with what being the Slayer means & all that shit, plus saving the world every week, means she doesn’t devote all of her time to him. And ever since he found out she’s the Slayer, he knew she had been hiding stuff from him from day 1. He was hiding being in the Initiative from her, too, as well as all of his insecurities over being weaker than her, etc. But he’s a Big Ol’ Man, so he can hide whatever the hell he wants from her, but Heaven forbid she doesn’t cry on his shoulder whenever she has a bad day. And he knows she’s the Slayer & a big sister & the leader of the Scoobies, so he should realize she might be prone to acting strong for the group & that she might need a little pushing to reveal her feelings.

And the whole time, whenever he feels inadequate or like she’s holding back from him, he doesn’t say anything to her. Literally the only time he addresses his feelings to her is when he gives her the ultimatum. So let me get this totally straight: you say she’s holding back her feelings from you, so you decide to hold back those feelings and thoughts from her until telling her she’d better pay way more attention to you or you’re gonna leave in 2 seconds? No, you’re right, that’s makes a lot of sense. While Buffy has several good reasons to not be totally emotionally open with him, his reasons are... being a man, I guess? No, really, what else is going on in his life that would make him not be open to her? Nothing.

Consider that he only decided to mention his issues & give her the ultimatum when the Initiative asked him to go to South America. So if they hadn’t, there’s nothing to indicate he wouldn’t have just kept dating Buffy & getting bitten by vampires for money without telling her a thing.