Just saw someone being judgmental towards Buffy and Buffy ALONE for victim blaming in the Beauty and the Beasts episode…..
GEE I WONDER WHY BUFFY WOULD CURRENTLY THINK EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO VICTIMS IS THEIR FAULT AND WAS THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO PREVENT
Calling out only ONE character in btvs for this behavior, and the one who is victim blamed herself the most is not the call out you think it is…. Like have you been paying attention AT ALL up to this point??? Do you only see the victim blaming when it’s that blatantly obvious???
Btvs has a SYSTEMIC victim blaming problem that obviously stems directly from jw himself as xander is also the biggest perpetrator of blaming Buffy for every single terrible thing that happens to or even AROUND her followed by Joyce, Riley and Faith. Anya, Cordy, and Spike’s (in season 4) are used less frequently to blame Buffy as well with joss pretending they are just being blunt and honest but it’s just furthering the “everything is Buffy’s fault” narrative and that is NEVER countered by the narrative or any of the other characters!!!! Occasionally Willow will advocate for not attacking Buffy or assigning blame but even that is rooted in her fear of conflict and wanting to keep the peace more often than it being about believing Buffy isn’t at fault and just defending her.
It’s not until season 6 and joss is less involved that we finally get Spike telling Buffy “it isn’t her fault” with Katrina and Tara forgiving her for both loving and using Spike and girlie has an entire mental breakdown both times because being forgiven and accepted instead of blamed for mistakes literally DOES NOT COMPUTE and she BEGS to be punished and told she’s wrong because she doesn’t know how to accept anything else because of her treatment at the hands of her “friends”, family and romantic partners for the last five years
Even in fiction we need to practice not just looking at a person’s problematic behavior on an individual level but within the context of the systems they live in and the community they are surrounded by.
If you’re genuinely shocked and confused the parentified slayer who has heard “one girl in all the world” more times than she can count, was blamed by her mother for “not making better choices and having better judgment” when she was the victim of a manipulative and predatory older man and feels responsible for all the harm and deaths ANGELUS caused just because she had sex once AND for having to send Angel to hell and therefore feels responsible for nursing him back to health as well you haven’t been paying attention to the actual dynamics at play or what’s been going on up to that point AT ALL.
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A Comprehensive God!Reader Lore Guide
a/n: with the sumeru storyline completed, i finally decided to create a comprehensive list of lore surrounding the god!reader au. if you’re new here to the god!reader cinematic universe, you can take a look at this masterpost of that compiles everything surrounding god!reader. but tldr, the name god!reader is referred to by mortals is ‘amur’ and they are a dendro deity associated with death.
General
Rukkhadevata, Nahida and Amur are all avatars of Irminsul, the only difference being that Rukkhadevata and Nahida are branches of Irminsul while Amur is a root of Irminsul (1)
As an avatar of Irminsul, Rukkhadevata/Nahida and Amur are two sides of the same coin as Life and Death respectively as such they have similar abilities in terms of Dendro and Dreams but with the gnosis and a higher number of followers, the Dendro Archon’s abilities outpace Amur’s
Amur’s epithets include “God of Festivals” and “Soother of the Dead”, Amur is a god in Teyvat associated with death
A friend of Rukkhadevata, King Deshret and the Goddess of Flowers, Amur’s history dates back to the days of Ay-Khanoum which the four friends ruled together with all of them having their own ideas of wisdom and how to pursue it (2)
Historically had the fewest amount of followers among the four gods and in modern day Sumeru, Amur is not a heavily worshipped deity only really worshipped by a few select tribes in the desert and very few individuals in the rainforest (3)
While their abilities have weakened over the years, Amur is still a god and weak by divine standards are substantially different than the standards of humans
Pre-Rukkhadevata’s Erasure from Irminsul
When posing as the mortal [First], Amur drifts back and forth between the desert and forested halves of Sumeru taking up odd jobs ranging from assisting the desert dwellers with their crops to extra dancer for the Zubayr Theatre
As a god worshipped by few and mostly forgotten and disparaged by many, Amur’s standing and abilities are low and any plots to disrupt the Sage’s control over the nation had to be thoughtful and done at the right time (so thanks for that, Traveler & Co.)
Was unable to alter the Akasha Terminal created by Rukkhadevata with their own abilities.
Kept Nahida company in her dreams alongside the Aranara as a companion and playmate throughout the centuries
Post-Rukkhadevata’s Erasure from Irminsul
Like all beings in Teyvat, Amur’s memories of Rukkhadevata are gone and all memories they have of the previous Dendro Archon are believed to be Nahida prior to becoming a young child
The days of Ay-Khanoum are long gone and Amur poses no threat to Nahida whose domain is the whole of Sumeru, they simply act as counsel from time to time and indulges Nahida in stories of the old days she ‘no longer remembers’
Wouldn’t mind traveling and visiting the other nations now that Sumeru is back in the control of its Archon
Relationship with the Seven
Barbatos: ballads and festivals go hand-in-hand, and with mutual respect for each others philosophies, Amur and Barbatos get along pretty well with one another.
Morax: Due to geographical proximity, the two have had their encounters in the past. Amur finds it a relief that he has become a lot more relaxed over the centuries as they couldn’t stand Morax back in the day.
Beezlebul: Doesn’t agree with the methods she took after the death of Baal. But since it is apparent that the Electro Archon is taking steps to change and release her reins on her people, Amur has a tinge more respect for her.
Folcalors: Acknowledges that the present Hydro Archon is an eccentric, but Amur is fond of eccentrics.***
Murata: A feisty deity, Amur has no complaints.***
Tsaritsa: no comment.***
Trivia Notes/In-Depth Explanations
(1) Historically, branches tend to be associated with life and roots are associated with death. In a specific instance, in Ancient Egypt the Tree of Life’s branches were associated with the heavens and abundance while its roots were symbolic of death an. With Sumeru being a nation based on African, South Asian and Middle Easter geographies and mythologies, I figured this would apply to Irminsul avatars as well seeing as in artifact lore Rukkhadevata’s domain was considered to be life.
(2) Amur’s wisdom concerns death and the cycles surrounding itー No one is above death, not even the divine. Whether mortal or god, plant or insect, death comes for all and that is a truth all must come to accept in order to truly live. But acknowledging that even with that knowledge death would still be considered a grim and taboo subject among mortals, Amur’s epithet concerning festivals came to be shortly after.
Life is a grand festival and should be celebrated thoroughly before one’s end. In Amur’s mind, that would surely make the inevitable end easier to digest by mortals.
(3) Between the four deities that once led Sumeru as a collective, Amur has always had the fewest amount of followers and there are few relics in history associated with them that remains. As such, there is a bit of a divide between those in the rainforest and the desert. In the rainforest, Amur is more well-known for the God of Festivals title and in a land of wisdom like Sumeru, folly was spurned by the Sages that remained in control of the nation for 500 years. As such, a god like Amur was often disregarded by many Sages, leading to dwindling numbers in their following.
A small handful of tribes in the desert worship Amur as a god of death, however, but are often at odds with researchers in the forest about their interpretations of Amur as a whole.
(***) Opinions on the remaining members of the Seven are subject to change as Genshin updates and we get to know them
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