#xander walsh

[magicdwells]

Alexander was born the elder of two twins to Lenora and Ward Walsh, a well known Ifirt family in Romulus. His life was fairly normal (as far as normal goes, especially in Romulus) at first. He learned to control his powers and exactly what they meant surrounded by a supportive family. Soon after he and his twin brother, Julian, had turned 15, their family left Romulus to go camping for the weekend. It was going to be a fun trip, it was going to be time for them all to have a change of scenery and spend time together. It only took less than a minute for their lives to change forever during that weekend. Xander had been tending to the fire with his father, listening to his brother and mother banter back and forth and then her sentence cut off and a shot rang out. He had looked up just in time to see her body crumple, another Ifrit standing behind her with a gun. It was an immediate response; Xander had charged him and attacked him himself even as the man managed to shoot her again. It was only after that that he finally succeeded disarming the gun but not before another shot got him in the shoulder. He hardly felt it, even as he proceeded to be beat badly before finally gaining the advantage. He was in a fit of rage, hardly even there at all, when he killed the man who had murdered their mother. It was only a minute after that that he had passed out himself. 

Xander refused to use his powers to heal himself, instead determined to scar, to have a reminder for how he had failed to save his mother. He began to close himself off to everyone outside of their family, maintaining his friendly exterior but shutting off the personal details, the things that made everything feel dark. Their dad’s mental health dissolved quickly after their mother’s death, and the boys were forced to care for him and run the business as best as they could. When they graduated, Xander was furious to see that their dad hadn’t come, particularly knowing what it had meant to Julian. But when they got home, Julian went upstairs to find him before coming back down. Xander had gone upstairs himself then, fully prepared to yell at their dad, but had only found a body on the bed. Stricken and stunned, he allowed himself a few moments to panic, to feel it, to stare. But he didn’t break down, instead walking out of the room and calling 911. 

After their dad died, Xander found himself struggling against the mentality that he had to take care of things, angry that he and his brother had been forced to grow up so fast and so young. He began to rely more on the parties he went to, fell into that lifestyle even more, even as he was helping run the auto shop and going to community college to study business. Every day felt like a struggle, but he refused to tell anyone, to seek help or to even admit his problems to himself. When they did come up, he got angry instead and would tell whoever had mentioned it to drop it. When he finished community college, he reluctantly left his brother and went to a university just two hours away, studying business so that he could better run the shop. When he returned, he took over the business side of things, allowing Julian to return to the mechanics part. After that, he joined in the mechanics when he found himself able to, but for the most part didn’t mind doing business even as he complained about it. He continued to party as a way to cope with everything he had seen and experienced, and acts as if he doesn’t have a care in the world in an attempt to convince himself of that very thing. Even as others tried to tell him that he needed to behave like an adult, he stayed set where he was, determined that he already grew up enough and he wanted to keep what irresponsibility he could have.

It was only recently that an accident occurred at the auto shop. Clark Vogel had been there overseeing handiwork when Xander’s trauma was triggered and he accidentally started a fire in what he thought was self defense. The fire consumed the shop and Clark succumbed to it even as Xander tried to save him but was pulled from the flames. Since then, he’s been even more closed off than normal. He doesn’t even go out to party, though he does drink and use weed inside the house, relying on others to get food and even his drugs and alcohol, only leaving when he has to. His depression got bad enough that it was one of the reasons that his father’s brother, Balthazar, came home to Romulus, but nothing has quite pulled him from his depression yet.

#taken #taken male #alexander walsh #xander walsh #taken ifrit #pam character

[notforemmetophobes]

The Killing Jar (1997) - M. Emmet Walsh 

I too would like to sneak up behind Walsh and leave something in his gut.

Not a knife like this guy. My goo.

[photoset #2 of 2]

#The Killing Jar #actor #xander berkeley #m. emmet walsh #american actor #movie #screenshots #police uniform

[coraniaid]

Top five Buffy characters who only appeared in one episode? Or if you want just top five Buffy characters you'd want to have seen more of

I think any list of the top five Buffy characters I'd liked to have seen more of would be pretty predictable: Faith, Amy and Kendra for sure. Probably Jenny Calendar too (although this requires the Season 2 writers to actually care about her enough to make her an actual character with a personality and motives). Not sure who the fifth would be. Ethan, maybe? Drusilla? Mr Platt?

For best one episode characters though, I'm a bit more confident on my list.

Billy Fordham [from S2E07 Lie To Me]

Lie To Me is a great episode, setting the tone for the rest of the season to come, and while Ford isn't the only reason it works so well he is definitely one of the reasons it does. There's a trend in the first couple of seasons where the show will introduce a character we've never met before, claim they have some important connection to the cast, only for them to die that episode and never be mentioned ever again. Ford is definitely in that tradition -- and I think later seasons of the show would have given him the Scott Hope or Parker Abrams treatement, introducing him a couple of episodes earlier before the big betrayal -- but in his case suddenly appearing out of nowhere works in a way that Xander's various former bullies and Willow's constantly changing intellectual competition don't always manage to do. The impact of his actions on Buffy by the end of the episode doesn't seem unearned at all.

Ted [from S2E11 Ted]

Arguably one of the show's best single episode villains ever from a consistently under-rated episode. An episode which asks deep questions that the show will come back to again and again; questions like "what if the Slayer accidentally killed a person? can she justify that to herself?" and "how would Buffy's mother react if she told her she was the Slayer; would she think Buffy was crazy?" and "what if there was some kind of freaky robot? that'd be weird, right?". But for all the goofiness of the end of the episode, there's something genuinely unsettling about the way Ted veers between John Ritter's usual sitcom dad persona and the controlling, abusive figure that only Buffy ever sees. If anything, the reveal that Ted is an unkillable monster with a string of murders to his name makes him significantly less scary than he was before.

Gwendolyn Post [from S307 Revelations]

Mrs Gwendolyn Post has so much fun being evil and making everybody's lives a little worse that I'm willing to forgive her for the fact her actual plan is laughably short-sighted and was obviously never going to work for long. Of all the Watcher-affiliated characters we actually see on screen (so, not counting Faith's first Watcher or Kendra's Watcher, both of whom I wish we'd seen as well), she's the one I wish we'd seen a little more of in the show.

Fun fact: depending on where exactly you draw the line, Gwendolyn Post is arguably the adult human woman with the fourth most speaking time over the show's entire run (after Joyce Summers, Jenny Calendar and Maggie Walsh). And yet she's only in this one single episode. Bonus fun fact: that sucks, actually.

Sunday [from S4E01 The Freshman]

Bizarrely, Sunday is one of the last named vampires the show would introduce, despite her sole epsiode falling in the first half of the show's run. I think there are ... what, maybe half a dozen more after this episode? (I understand the various factors behind it, but I think it's a shame that there are fewer and fewer actual vampire villains in the show as it progresses beyond the high school seasons.) Sunday is really fun though; I like The Freshman a lot (as I've said in another post recently), and she's a big part of why. She should have been in more episodes, frankly.

Cassie Newton [from S7E04 Help]

I've talked before about how much I like Help (and the early episodes of Season 7 more generally). I like the human level focus. I like the idea of Dawn getting to go to a new school and make new friends. I like Buffy having the chance to metaphorically go back in time and try to save her younger self. I like all the callbacks to the high school seasons. I like how unsubtle the name 'Cassandra' is. I like Cassie. She was great.

(Yes, the actor returns later this season but the character herself doesn't, so she counts.)

#asks #thanks! #btvs

[evilwickedme]

Adding every character I've seen people complain about even if I find it baffling

#my vote is for connor fyi but xander and riley are not far behind #ats #btvs #polls #gail speaks

[breezybeej]

Okay so I did crack the Spike Buffyvampire nut:

All it took was actually seeing the spike and Giles episode (the fyarl demon or whatever).

so -> Spike is the voice of the Scoobies.

He takes what they feel and feeds it back to them in words. Usually harsh truths OR most often just breaking the barrier of social etiquette. The first time I noticed him specifically doing it was everyone awkwardly avoiding the subject of Riley because they knew it would hurt to hear. All the Scoobies say something to Buffy but avoid that subject. THEN Spike steps in and says "Yeah your boyfriend sucks and is mad suspicious. I told you so." He says it and now the hard part is out of the way. They can all communicate freely again.

Watching him get to this point was so cool.

He spends time with Willow discussing each other's romance woes. They both feel unwanted. Willow gets to see first hand that the only reason she is alive is because of the brain chip. She sees firsthand why Oz would leave her and understands now.

Xander: Spike starts to wear his clothing, they both have an addiction to TV, they feel like they are worthless (Xander says Spike isn't worth it but right now Spike is embodying Xander)

Giles: Spike can't harm people but wants to. Giles is the opposite. Spike tries to get vicarious thrills out of him but Giles stays true to himself while also allowing a little fun (scaring Walsh). Spike learns a new way to get thrills without resorting to violence (the obvious joy on his face during the chase scene).

And Buffy: let's play a round of jeopardy. Remember to answer is the form of a question

This blonde character was dumped by the same vampire twice, goes to Willow when their spirits are low about their ex, goes to Xander to talk about their sad existence of not fitting in, discusses the unfairness of relationships with Joyce. They also have homoerotic tension with their taller brunette rival

Ain't that fun. The wedding stuff first, though. They both have visions of extremely devoted partners they will marry but there are things that still don't work. They still get testy about their exes, they clash over big decisions . At the end Buffy said "I loved him but... It wasn't even good. We didn't even like each other" they both have histories of toxic relationships THIS SEASON and they both come away from their false wedding with a lesson learned.

So Spike has a strong connection with each of these characters now, he understands them in a way that is surprisingly deep. He can read their insecurities and then he insults them about it which lays it bare for the rest of the team to see.

I'm going to revisit the Spike Buffy parallels in a later rant. It's going to come with an examination of the relationships each character has romantically up to this point. Also, a lot of this has been oversimplified. There are a lot of tidbits I left off just to keep this a reasonable length and also because I haven't finished season 4 yet. It's just so fun fitting all these little puzzle pieces together.

#btvs #buffy summers #spike btvs #rupert giles #willow rosenberg #xander harris

[idle-flower]

Maggie Walsh should have stayed the Big Bad of season 4.

And not just because Adam is boring, but because there was so much potential for better conflict between Buffy and Riley and her friends and it all kinda went out the window.

There's a moment early in the season when Walsh is challenging Giles over being Buffy's parental figure, basically saying that he's been a bad teacher and stifled her growth. And of course that's not fair, but there also were times when Giles served Buffy poorly, and he's struggling to maintain his relevance in the post-high-school era.

What if Maggie had kept that actual interest in Buffy, in legitimately wanting to bring her on board and improve her potential, instead of trying to bump her off the second she asked questions? What if she'd seduced (non-sexually) Buffy the way the Mayor seduced Faith, bringing her into the organisation and giving her power and leadership and unlimited toys and promising her a secure pathway into adulthood with a paying job doing what she does best?

But of course it means distancing herself from the shady magic side of things, which means giving up a lot of her friends... except Xander (the Heart?) who can also be tempted by a job offer in the Initiative, if he gives up Anya.

Giles, Willow, Tara, Oz?, Anya, Spike? on one side and Buffy, Riley, Xander, Walsh on the other, and the rift deepens and eventually it comes to a head.

Riley having torn loyalties was never interesting in s4. First, we just weren't that invested in Riley or what he actually got out of his membership so there wasn't much sense he was LOSING anything by leaving... second, they rarely actually tested his loyalties so much as made it really obvious the Initiative were bad so that he had to leave. Buffy having torn loyalties is much better dramatically, especially if we've been sold on her WANTING it.

Perhaps Walsh's big project would have been Riley rather than Adam and Buffy would have to eventually fight all her new friends to save him? (Of course trying to develop this plot further in my head might require actually caring about Buffy/Riley, but it's better than a wasted season...)

#buffy the vampire slayer #buffy meta #professor walsh #btvs #buffy summers

[centrally-unplanned]

I have been rewatching Buffy recently btw, part of a sickness recovery tactic; I haven't been blogging about it because It Be That Way sometimes, my executive dysfunction strikes with its own will.

But one cache'd thought I have (likely through talking about it with friends) is that Season 4 is a good deal better than I remember. Season 4 of Buffy is often maligned; its probably considered the worst season except Season 1. The reason for that is two-fold; one, Riley sucks. Two, the 'arc plot' is poor. Season 4 revolves around The Initiative, a government operation to kill, research and weaponize demons. Its head, Dr Walsh, is essentially built up as the arc villain - a compelling one, a human being with real motives and ideologies that can clash with Buffy. Until she is murdered by her own Frankenstein creation, Adam, who becomes the new villain but to Buffy is just a tough dude to either whack or be whacked. This is a bad choice - Adam is probably the worst final villain of the entire show.

However, this is also the wrong lens to put on Season 4; its arc plot is also the least important an arc plot has ever been. Season 4 is not a full comedy, but in fact it is deliberately trying to shake up the often-maudlin formula of Season 3 for a new tone. Ever-brooding Angel & stone silent Oz are written out as main cast members, to be replaced by Spike, objectively the funniest character in the show, and Anya, a far more zany romantic partner for the Scoobies than Oz could ever be. The college episodes are full of the ridiculousness of that environment, and a lot of social mockery of college mores. Episodes that could be scary still have a ton of laughs - Hush (which, hey, one of the best episodes of the show, in Season 4!) is in fact very funny, with famous Buffy gifs from it.

What makes this all work beyond "being funny" is tonal alignment - the theme of the season is everyone being "adrift". Giles is fired from both his jobs, Xander has no career path, Willow is drifting apart from her friends, and Buffy is struggling to find a way to be "normal". These are themes that are way better done farcically; they are, in a certain sense, a little bit pathetic. In one of the final episodes of the season, the "plan" to defeat the Scoobies is Spike just...casually drops fake gossip about them in convos and they are start tailspinning, because they already are tailspinning. And you can do that kind of social implosion really funnily, in a way Angel & Buffy's relationship could never be.

And note how that is one of the final episodes, and it barely has anything to do with the Initiative or Adam. Those plots definitely eat up screen time and have their moments, don't get me wrong, but its given a good deal less focus. Its not fight-riposte with the Initiative; instead a background hum complicating the new lives they are building. The last episode of the Season isn't even the Adam fight finale! Its a dream sequence lore-building episode instead. So yeah, its worse, but its almost intentionally worse; if the villain was an Angel-tier threat it would be impossible for it take the backseat to the thematic elements.

So while Season 4 still has its weaknesses, Adam was a mistake in the end, I see a lot better why it is the way it is and the good stuff it has going through it. As I have been watching I have been following along with this old review blog of Buffy, Critically Touched, which was one of the biggest "comprehensive" analyses of the show in the 2000's (its comment section is a time capsule gold mine). And it gives every episode a letter grade, and even displays the whole season as a graph. And if you look at Season 4:

Its pretty solid! For sure, it has clunkers, I think the opening ~5 don't nail the tone right. And Where The Wild Things Are is...yeah, you can skip it. But Hush, The Yoko Factor (the aforementioned Spike episode), Who Are You (Faith's return), Restless (the dream finale), are some of the best in the series. Also this reviewer doesn't love Superstar, the Jonathan-alters-reality-so-hard-he-inserts-himself-into-the-theme-song episode, but its amazing - his complaint is that it isn't about the arc plot? But the arc plot is boring! Its not the point. Its an A+ comedy episode for sure. This is too many home runs to be a down-and-out season. You just need to take Season 4 as it is, and not as something trying to be a repeat of Season 3's stakes.

Riley still sucks though.

#buffy the vampire slayer #mini essay

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Monday, January 15

BUFFY: Ms. Barton? MS. BARTON: (stops and faces her) Buffy? Whoa! WILLOW: Are you okay, Ms. Barton? MS. BARTON: (smiles widely) Oh, I'm cool, Willow. (realizes) Willow... That's a tree. (giggles) You're a tree! Willow and Buffy exchange a look. MS. BARTON: (looks around) Yeah, uh, uh, are there any nachos in here, little tree? BUFFY: A-are you sure you don't need some fresh air, Ms. Barton? MS. BARTON: (laughs hysterically) Okay... (goes into the crowd)

~~Band Candy~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Hostile 17 (Spike/Maggie Walsh, E) by CoffeeHunt

Kiss With a Fist (Buffy/Spike, Not rated) by L0zerEmz0

Practicum (Darla/Spike, E) by CoffeeHunt

[Chaptered Fiction]

The Witch's Gift Chapter 31 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by RavenLove12

Truth and Consequences Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, M) by JamesMFan

Destiny or Choices Made? Chapter 42 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by charmed4lifekaren

What Happens In Quarantine... Chapter 22 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by bewildered

Not Just a Boy and a Girl (It's Just the End of the World) Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by noctilucent

What If Love Was Enough? Chapter 13 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Spikelover4ever

A Vampire and a Slayer Walk Into a Park... Chapter 10 (Buffy/Spike, Adult only) by holetoledo

Love Lives Here Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Passion4Spike

Other Chapter 5 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Grief Counseling

A Waxy Gent Chuckled Over My Fab Jazzy Quips Chapter 15 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by violettathepiratequeen

Mirror, Mirror Chapter 17 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by scratchmeout

Pack My Box with Five Dozen Liquor Jugs Chapter 17 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by honeygirl51885

Ready for it? Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Lilacsandorangeblossoms

What the Drabble? Chapter 70 (Buffy/Spike, R) by VeroNyxK84

Family Issues Chapter 33 (Gen, FR21) by cmdruhura

Blasphemy Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, Faith/Robin, T) by wickedrum

Let me rest in peace Chapter 5 (Spike/OC, E) by cauliflower666

[Requests]

I need a beta reader for Buffy fanfic by goodandpure

[Reviews]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Harvest, S01E02 by ravenya003

[Fandom Discussions]

Would Buffy and Faith Stay In The Police Force? continued by multiple posters

Spike in season 8 if the show had continued what direction they would take him continued by multiple posters

Elimination Game : Writer's Best BtVS Episode continued by multiple posters

Buffy going to Spike’s crypt after AR by ICE

The Bewitching Hour Tara novel by Ashley Posten

Should I watch Angel? by debujandobirds

Also, I ship this cute teen romance that never was. by PotentialLanguage685

I'm still anxious... by PotentialLanguage685

How do you feel about Sarah's performances in her other non-Buffy projects by QuaPatetOrbis641988

how do we watch Passions? by ThumbPianoMom

Glorificus's Home Dimension Is Quor'toth. by Electrical_Big_906

Spike, Robin and Xander have something in common by sadhungryandvirgin

SMG should have been nominated for an Emmy for season 5/6 by QuaPatetOrbis641988

To get the look of punk Ripper, ASH's head was photoshopped onto a photo of Sid Vicious by alrtight

Why does Buffy say this to Faith in 7x19 Empty Places by Son114

If you had to pick a favorite episode from season 7, which one would you pick? by george123890yang

Wesley/Fred and Giles/Jenny by milkmamasilk

Never made sense. (The Initiative) by loki2002

What crimes have the characters openly committed that should, realistically, get them arrested? by Tuxedo_Mark

These Outfits by RemrysIIV

You have to fight to the death with a character, which one would you choose? by debujandobirds

Losing my mind laughing at 3x6 rn by neighbourhood_gayboi

What is the worst thing this character has said or done? by Buffster13

If you had to pick one episode to show someone to get them into the show by xboxg4mer

Age to Watch "The Body" by newraistlin613

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#buffy #btvs #Buffy The Vampire Slayer #angel #ats #angel the series #Sarah Michelle Gellar

[bestepisode]

Vote on more episodes here!

Episode descriptions below the cut.

Out of Mind, Out of Sight: When an invisible menace starts attacking students and faculty at Sunnydale High, the Scooby Gang traces the problem back to Cordelia.

Forever: With some help from Spike, Dawn attempts to bring Joyce back from the dead.

The Gift: As Glory prepares Dawn for a bloodletting ritual that will open a portal to another dimension, Buffy and her friends prepare for battle.

Goodbye Iowa: Tension erupts between Buffy and an ailing Riley as they pursue Professor Maggie Walsh's killer.

The I in Team: Buffy teams with Riley after she is allowed access to the Initiative; Spike is targeted by commandos.

First Date: Buffy accepts an invitation to dinner from Principal Wood, and the secrets of his past are revealed. Xander impresses a beautiful girl with his knowledge of rope, and she seems to be interested in tying him up. Meanwhile, the First contacts Andrew in another attempt to destroy the Potentials, and Giles finds himself tongue-tied with the new Potential, Chao-Ahn.

Help: Buffy begins a new job as school counsellor at Sunnydale High. On her first day she encounters a troubled young girl who is convinced she is about to die.

Get It Done: The Scoobies use a spell to transport Buffy into a shadow world, where she meets the men who created the first slayer. However, in order for her to return home, the gang must find and slay a ferocious demon

Smashed: Willow turns Amy the Rat into her old self; Jonathan, Warren and Andrew steal a diamond; and Spike discovers something unexpected about Buffy.

Fool for Love: After being bested in a fight by an ordinary vampire, Buffy asks Spike to explain how he killed two Slayers many years earlier.

The Yoko Factor: After joining forces with Adam, Spike drives a wedge between Buffy and her friends. Meanwhile, Angel's return to Sunnydale leads to a violent confrontation with Riley.

I, Robot… You, Jane: Willow's new Internet chat buddy turns out to be a powerful demon electronically unleashed from a centuries-old, newly digitized book.

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #btvs best episode #btvsr1

[doggirlbuffysummers]

🔥 kendra!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My fully honest take is that I would not change her dying when she did if I had the option to.

What I would change was the other casting decisions. A fair amount of main characters like Willow and Xander are minimally impacted by their race and could easily have been played by a black actor.

It's bewildering to me that there are so few people of color on this show given that it is supposedly modeled off of Santa Barbara which, from what I have read, does actually have a fair amount of people of color.

It's also interesting (tm) that all of the named people of color in Buffy (not talking about Angel here) are individuals from outside of Sunnydale who travel to it. We don't see any named POC who grew up there at any point in the show.

I think if you can access my "Which Angel character would you choose to move over to Buffy" @titsgirlbuffy, @transangelus, and @punksouthie all make a good if apparently unpopular point about moving Gunn over.

Back to Kendra.

Why would I still have Kendra die?

I think firstly, by the end of Becoming II, Kendra has outlived her usefulness as a shadow self to Buffy. Secondly, the death of Kendra and introduction of Faith is a reminder of the perpetuity of everything. Regardless of what Buffy does there will always be more vampires and demons, the slayer will always die in the line of duty, and there will always be another to replace her.

But, here's the thing: who says Faith (or like, almost any character on this show to be honest) needs to be white?

I feel like Kendra is definitely portrayed as this victim of patriarchal violence. The council have taken everything from her to mold her into this sort of a perfect soldier to "fight their war" as Quentin puts it in checkpoint. Riley comparisons I feel are particularly interesting here.

Riley, like Kendra, is a 'triumph' of nurture over nature. Riley is molded by Professor Walsh to be a good and obedient soldier who never asks questions. Similarly for Kendra. There are differences (I feel Professor Walsh was not as heavy handed) but the comparison is apt.

Also like to make comparisons between Kendra and Gunn. Gunn struggles over the course of Ats with grappling with the realities morally grey world he exists in. In just two episodes we can see Kendra do the same.

It's rough that she is in the show for so little time but there are other characters who have much more screen time than her that make a much less distinct impression. Kendra is a character that, despite her minimal footprint in terms of physical time in the show, has a huge footprint in the way she haunts the narrative.

Graham from season 4 is definitely remembered by a lot of fans and he shows up very frequently over the course of the season, but nobody really cares about Graham because he doesn't have the same emotional impact as Kendra does. Holland Manners on Angel is in a similar place.

If I get around to writing more meta style stuff about my transfemme buffy headcanon I think I definitely want to flout the poll results and talk about what's my line and Kendra because I think that from the lens I have established, What's My Line, an episode where Buffy is provided an Out from a life as a slayer that will certainly kill her, and voluntarily chooses not to take that out in order to help improve the life of someone else suffering from a patriarchal institution, becomes such a fascinating episode.

#kendra #buffy summers #faith lehane #xander harris #unpopular? opinions #asks answered honestly #btvs

[juanabaloo]

hey i figured out how to fix the whole Buffy - Riley arc! let's retcon / fixit shall we? [partial insp <- agree with all of that] (I do think in canon Buffy loved him and hate how terrible Riley was to her.)

S4 starts with Buffy in college. UC Sunnydale. Have Riley be a slightly older student than her, maybe a junior while she's a frosh. He's NOT her TA, but he does give her tips on how to survive Prof. Walsh's class since he took it. They flirt, somehow they keep running into each other at lunch. Buffy's breakup with Parker goes poorly (same as canon).

After a healing period Buffy swears off "intense / real" relationships. Triggered partially by Willow's frequent overnight stays with Tara, Buffy has - for her - a little ho phase. Zero judgment, in fact I'm cheering her on. She makes out with a lot of guys! She does more than that with several of them. (Personally I want her to hook up with girls too but honestly either way works. Faith is sadly still in her coma though, out of the picture.) Sometimes Buffy starts feeling too connected to the guy / person, so then she drops them.

She still struggles with feeling whole. College Buffy is having fun and doing well in her classes, while The Slayer is still going out at night and getting worried about (what turns out to be) Adam. She never tells her hook ups about how she is The Chosen One. She is doing great in Prof. Walsh's class and really admires her.

Riley starts out as just another guy, just a fun no-strings-attached hook up. They meet up several times. He immediately falls VERY HARD for her. She doesn't fight it when he takes her out for a picnic, but to her he is just another fun time. (She's still seeing a couple other guys at this point.)

Then she figures out he is part of The Initiative. Then she learns Prof. Walsh is part of it too. She doesn't know about the demon torture (yet), and now she thinks Riley could be more than just a hook up. She tells him she is The Slayer. He accepts it, and is excited that they can patrol together. (He's way less of an asshat about competing with her than in canon, he acts towards her like he acts towards Sam in that episode when he comes back.)

They start acting like more of a couple with Buffy finally accepting he is more than a friend she hooks up with. She has feelings for him, breaks it off with the other hook ups. Buffy and Riley become an official couple and Riley accelerates things immediately. Talking about living together, talking about her joining The Initiative. He admits to Xander that he plans to propose. (Boy you've only known each other for like 6 months! And hooking up for like 3 months.) His whole identity switches from Initiative Guy to Guy with Buffy. (Things have started deteriorating with The Initiative drugging being revealed and him having withdrawal.) Riley has become way too intense and Buffy pulls back, trying to set some boundaries. There's no way she's ready to move in with him. They've only been officially dating for 1 month.

Riley starts becoming really antagonistic. He goes ballistic when he "realizes" she was hooking up with other guys / people when they first started hooking up, even though they talked about not being exclusive and seeing other people. Even though she was honest with him before.

Then we dip back into canon. Buffy's Mom, Riley's being terrible, etc etc, etc.

This makes S4 Briley make more sense to me. Although I would still delete Xander's stupid little "go run after him" speech. Even though I can see Xander saying all that, Buffy would NOT run after him.

#btvs #my headcanons #let Buffy sleep with more people #let Buffy make out with more people #she deserves to be happy and in this HC it makes her happy #Briley #buffy x riley #anti Briley #anti Riley Finn #Riley Finn #btvs S4 #long post

[wolfstrong]

BUFFY SEASON 4 THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS

Okay I’ll start out by saying I LIKED IT. I ENJOYED MY TIME HERE OKAY. it’s BTVS. I FREAKING LOVE THIS SHOW!!!! However, I think my complaints are simular to what I had to say about last season, where the one off episodes were great but the over arching plot was a little UHHHHH. UHHH so let’s just go in chronological order shall we?

This season started off with BANGERS MAN. BANGERS. There was some episodes I kinda didn’t like early on (harsh light of day… too much sex!) but other then that, I’d say we had 10 episodes of straight BANGERS! Like seriously early season 4 was also some of the funniest BTVS I’ve ever seen? They really really hit their stride with comedy having the humor come from the situation and not the lame jokes. See now the show knows that we know it’s character well, and it knows exactly what kind of situation will subvert our expectations and be very hilarious. The “””bad parts”” of this season was about half way through when it really started to get into the main plot. When the Initiatives was first introduced I was actually kinda getting into it because I thought there was gonna be this whole thing where Riley and Buffy had to hide their identities from each other and also maybe Buffy wouldn’t know the Initiatives motives and they maybe thought she was a demon of some kind so they would be fighting without realizing they were on the same side and Buffy and Riley would date without knowing they were each others enemies. But they did this for like one episode. And then we learned everything about the Initiative instantly and they weren’t even cool at all they were just like a big gang of boot boys. Also I kinda liked Maggie Walsh as the main enemy person and it REALLY threw me off when Adam just killed her unceremoniously ??? After all her build up? And then Adam just kinda replaced her and he was the main villain?????? Did Maggie Walsh’s actor want to leave the show or something? I felt weird vibes from that sudden death and tbh the main plot never recovered. Anyway for that short period Faith was back that was really awesome, and I also liked a couple more episode in the later half but eh. Then the ending felt kind of lack luster just cuz I didn’t really care about Adam and never felt like he was that big of a threat for some reason (idk, giant franking stien monster who acts like evil jesus just isn’t really scary to me) so when he died and the collective went away I was like. Yeah okay whatever. Also Buffy going super saiyan by combining with all her friends to defeat the big bad was so cheesy that it was kinda awesome. And to end everything off weird dream sequence episode where we were I guess supposed to use our Freudian-like psychoanalyzation skills to deduce each of the characters insecurities, flaws and strengths. Anyway, at least at the end of the season, they kind of acknowledge the way that the gang had been drifting apart.

It was hard because they were intentionally putting strain on the Scoobies and that was also a big theme of the season. Like thinking back on earlier episodes, I remember Xander would just like show up on campus to eat lunch with everyone or it would cut to everyone chilling in his basement or AT LEAST Willow and Buffy having roomie vibes. But towards the end they never did any of that stuff :( one of the main issues I think is they didn’t have a centralized hang out spot. I really really miss the library, i know that Giles house was kinda a replacement and they spent a lot of time there, but it’s not the same. The library was like a neutral space where they could do demon hunting work but also just hang out in. They only go over to Giles place when there is something bad going on. Also everyone had their respect romantic partners that drove wedges between them, if unintentionally. Anya was a pretty bad offender of this, but I think Riley was the worstest. He didn’t mesh well with the whole group at all, and Buffy spent WAY too much time with him. Even Angel meshed better with the rest of the group!!! ANGEL! I think the thing is you got the sense that Angel cared about Buffy’s friends, at least because he understood they were important to her. He say that and he say them work as a team and he integrated accordingly and helped as he could. I’d be surprised if Riley even knew Xanders last name, or like even his first name for that matter. I feel like he barely gave a shat about the external forces in her life, he was just obsessed with her only and his stupid job. They put on blinders for each other and for a lot of scenes it was just the Riley and Buffy saga and I DID NOT CARE FOR IT!

So in conclusion I think on an episode to episode basis this season was very solid and had some episodes that were the funniest I’ve seen in the whole series. The first half was way better then the second half, and the overarching plot was pretty sloppy, all over the place and a bit boring and lackluster. I didn’t like how the Scoobies drifted apart and I hope that next season is a return to form in terms of group dynamic.

Anyway, my fav episodes:

Hush: number one all time fav of course of course, just like, so good on every level and I could go on and on but I’ll take a page from the episode book and not say more about it

Living conditions: I had assigned dorm mates when I was a freshman who I didn’t exactly mesh with, so this episode just felt so so real.

The Initiative: see this is when I thought the overarching plot was gonna be really good,,, but tbh it peak here. This episode was just kinda a riot and I think often about the scene where Spike tried to but Willow but he can’t cuz of the chip and they treat it like he’s got erectile dysfunction. It’s just too good.

Pangs: I KNOW. ITS BAD. BUFFY HAS TO MURDER NATIVE AMERICAN SPIRITS ON THANKSGIVING. BUT THE EPISODE IS LOWKEY SO SELF AWARE AND ITS SO BAD ITS NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT BUT ITS REALLY FUNNY

Something Blue: … Buffy and Spike in love… I laughed I’m sorry. Also just a good Willow episode me thinks

A New man: Ethan shenanigans and major Giles demon fail… LOL UPVOTE!

Who are you: I know this was a two parter but I thought the first part was kinda boring (sorry I know that episode has a lot of stans) anyway I thought the whole body swap thing was a great way to explore faiths character, literally putting her in Buffy’s shoes and making her see what it’s like to be the good girl. Also Sara Michelle Geller did a wonderful job acting as faith in Buffy’s body, not all actors can pull off the body swap thing (I should know, I’m a Star Trek fan) so I was very impressed.

New Moon Rising: you had me at Tara/Willow. Yeah

Lest favorite episodes: eh none of them really jump out at BAD some just weren’t as exciting as others. Just like any Initiative and Riley heavy episodes were kinda a snooze fest.

I won’t recap the character I’ve already talked about, but the Scoobies really did change a lot this season, I won’t say for better or for worse. They just changed in ways that are realistic to their new situations.

Anya: I know this doesn’t make any sense, but I don’t hate Anya, I just hate everything about her. Lol. No but for real like i said before, when she’s not talking about Xander I actually kinda like her. I think the very dry and blunt but completely uncaring about social cues thing can be very funny. BUT THEY DONT LET HER DO ANYTHING BUT BE XANDERS LAP DOG. All she does is talk about Xander Xander Xander and it makes both of their characters much much worse. I wish they would have switched the roles and had Xander really like her for some reason and her kinda not care much about him. Idk. Sigh. I wish Xander was gay

Tara: I LOVE YOU TARAAA!!!!!! I know i already said this but she reminds me of so many girls I went to school with so to me her presence is just so warm and comfy :) her and Willow are very sweet together and by the end of the season their relationship kinda became what I was most invested in

Spike: I’m pretty sure I haven’t wrote about spike in previous season reviews? But anyway I kinda love what they did with spike in this season, I mean really how can you not. He was just kinda their weird pathetic friend who actually wasn’t their friend and was still evil but everyone forgot cuz it was so hard to take him seriously. The writers wanted him to be a main character but also kinda didn’t know what to do with him every episode, so sometimes it would just be like “yo why’s spike the bus driver?” But tbh I kinda didn’t mind. His wet stray dog presence really added something and was always funny when you remember he was the big bad of season 2. Oh how the great have fallen.

Riley: yeah yeah our white bread red blooded boot boy all American nice guy. Completely doesn’t mesh with the vibe of the show and is way too boring. He’s so an Angel rebound, I’m sorry. Like I just KNOW that’s not Buffy’s type. It’s just not. But I already talked a lot about him so whatever.

Okay and those are my thoughts 😁 I’m not rereading all that rn so typos damned! Looking forward to season 5!



#BTVS #season 4

[notforemmetophobes]

The Killing Jar (1997) - M. Emmet Walsh as Sheriff Foley

[photoset #1 of 2]

#The Killing Jar #american actor #Xander Berkeley #M. Emmet Walsh #actor #police uniform #movie #screenshots

[coraniaid]

(Answering @badwolfwho1's questions for this character ask game; four of four.)

Willow

5 What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them

(Honestly, this was a surprisingly hard question to answer and I don't really know if I think this song fits Willow at all or I just subconciously gave up and picked a song I liked. It's a good song though?)

12 What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Not exactly a fully developed headcanon (so much as it is a stubborn refusal to accept a fictional character I like is not actually Just Like Me) but ... I'm rewatching early Season 4 now and it is honestly so hard to persuade myself that Willow would be content to sit in this (objectively not very good!) pysch class (where they are teaching Jung and Freud as fact!) when the show had previously established her as somebody who was hacking into government computers for fun before she ever met Buffy, and who talks about liking math, and who regularly competed in her school's science fair, and started work on trying to rebuild Ted the robot when she was a teenager, and who was headhunted by a company that was not quite explicitly mid-1990s Microsoft, and who taught her high school computer class while a high school student. Let Willow be computer science student you wrote her as, you cowards!

Yes, later in the season the show will use Willow "not being as interested in computers any more" as a(n honestly not very coherent) metaphor for her coming out as a lesbian, but we aren't at that point yet! (And besides, why would getting into magic make Willow more interested in outdated pop pysch? As opposed to, say, quantum mechanics or category theory or anything else that more closely resembles the show's take on magic?) We haven't even met Tara! It feels very obvious to me that the writers just want Willow to go to classes with Buffy and don't particularly care that the character they created in the first three seasons wouldn't want to go to those classes.

At least, Willow wouldn't want to go to those classes unless her best friend was also going. (And, actually, why is Buffy apparently majoring in pysch now, anyway? What happened to her previously established love of English literature? I know the writers bring that up again next season; it feels a bit pointless they ignore it now.)

So my current headcanon is that Willow is going to a bunch of computing and math classes this semester (or at least she will be until gets distracted by magic/Tara), on top of Maggie Walsh's pysch classes, she just pretends she isn't because she doesn't want Buffy to think she's showing off by taking such a high course load. Whenever there's a college scene with Buffy present and not Willow, I assume Willow is somewhere off-screen learning about the axioms of Zermelo Fraenkel set theory or about assembly language or about crystal oscillators or ... you know, something I would she would actually care about.

13 What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

Willow started using the internet in the mid- to late 90s, which I think would have had a big impact on the sorts of symbols she’d use.  That’s a bit too early for emoji, I think: I don’t see Willow using them. I can see Willow using the old classic of :/ a lot though (especially if she also introduced Xander to IRC at some point)

#btvs #asks #thanks again

[becomingbuffypodcast]

While not fully fleshed out, “Primeval” brought a few storylines and characters full circle, while also setting up for the next episode, “Restless.” The theme for season 4 was identity, and how a person’s true nature cannot be controlled or changed. This was represented through the very masculine Initiative, who strove to control not only the impulses of demons, but those of their own men. From all the way back in episode 7, the show subtly compared Spike and Riley through blocking, dialogue, and framing—and here the metaphor becomes reality as it is revealed that Riley also has a chip. Yet, just like Spike in “Doomed,” Riley realizes that while he may be physically controlled, he still has free will. Just as the chip doesn’t change Spike’s impulses, as we see him hurting the Scoobies with his words, so it doesn’t change Riley’s, and this is something the Initiative doesn’t understand.

Ironically, Adam seems to know this on some level, as he has broken free from Maggie Walsh’s conditioning. He should know that he can’t change Riley’s mind, yet he’s convinced that he can force him to take part in accomplishing Maggie Walsh’s plan of forced uniformity.

In contrast, Buffy and the Scoobies represent what happens when we embrace the things that make us unique—both in ourselves and others. Instead of conforming to those around us, we use our strengths to challenge and build up one another in a way that promotes growth and creativity. The use of magic and feminism as a metaphor for life and flourishing is shown through “super-Buffy,” as she turns bullets into doves.

The twist in all this, is that the Scoobies combine with Buffy in the final fight through channeling the essence of the Slayer—a role that is defined by its singularity. In doing so, once again, Buffy is defying her own conditioning and making her own path. After all, as Buffy reassures her metaphorical heart (Xander), just before facing Adam--she won’t be alone.

#buffy summers #buffy the vampire slayer #buffy btvs #tv: btvs #buffy watching #becomingbuffypodcast #alyson hannigan #sarah michelle gellar

[ao3feed-spuffy]

Initiative Soldiers Suck

by cosplayermadness

Buffy was being set up, there was no other reason for why she was dropped into this dangerous mission with a faulty weapon. She may have several spiral fractures and an eye so swollen she can’t see, but she’s not that easy to get rid of. Especially not after Spike was the one to find her and drive her to the ER before her fractured rib popped her lung like a helium balloon. But… now what? Her ‘perfectly normal’ boyfriend was neither perfectly normal nor answering her calls, a monster scarier than anything Mary Shelley could have slapped together, and the guy who saved her who used to be her once archnemesis was being really, REALLY nice to her all of a sudden. What’s a girl to do?

Words: 5887, Chapters: 4/24, Language: English

Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen

Characters: Buffy Summers, Joyce Summers, Willow Rosenberg, Spike (BtVS), Anya Jenkins, Rupert Giles, Riley Finn, Maggie Walsh, Adam (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Daniel "Oz" Osbourne

Relationships: Spike/Buffy Summers, Xander Harris/Anya Jenkins, Riley Finn/Buffy Summers, Tara Maclay/Willow Rosenberg

Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Hospitals, Hospitalization, Broken Bones, Sewage, Slow Burn, References to Drugs, Intoxication, Sexual Content, Human Experimentation, Human/Vampire Relationship, Blood and Injury, Blood Drinking, Blood and Gore, Torture, Blood and Torture, Graphic Description, Smut, Fluff

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/48192013

#ao3feed #ao3feed-spuffy #spuffy #buffy x spike