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idle thought #81
May. 29th, 2019 08:40 pmPeople are getting super up in arms about angel vs spike and I'm sitting here just...meh about the two? I like them as characters but I don't think either Stalker McBroodyFace or BSDM Without Safeword are really good for Buffy. (Before you yell at me, no, I don't think Xander really qualifies as a good alternative. I like the karma of Buffy never getting with the Sorta Whedon Self Insert, and I think Xander [male Xander, anyway] would be a little too insecure with her to really be supportive (you know, kinda the same issue Riley had). I think him accepting that she doesn't love him like that but they could be amazing bffs is a redemption point. I qualify 'male Xander' because as with every other universe exclusive exception for
whatever reason I kinda ship XDH!Alex with Buffy. Like, 'honey hand me the axe' and they would be super supportive and girl
power with each other? I think if most universe Xanders would start dating Buffy they'd stagnate. The motivational arc of
'worthy of her love'->'worthy of her friendship'->'be okay with who I am as a person'->'keep this up' would be gone. And if he
stayed with Buffy, he'd only drag her down with him.) I'm actually meh about all of the canon universe pairings with Buffy (minus the comics because I don't really read them like I watched the series other than stealing a few things for Shadowed Suspicion, muahahaha, so I can't comment on them) because they all display unhealthy relationship behaviors and when she wasn't in a relationship anymore she wasn't like "oh, thank God I got out of there" or "I deserve better" or even "well, we just weren't good for each other", it was "there's something wrong with me" and I have the urge to sit her down and say, "Honey, honey. Look at me. Yeah, you're a jerk sometimes. Guess what, everyone is. You don't have to change yourself for a relationship. You don't have to put up with everything. You are a soldier. It is okay to have PTSD. It is okay to cry. It is okay to ask for help. It is okay to not put up with abuse of any kind." (I mean...it's been a while, but I think I liked Pike because he just seemed so shocked that the popular girl was talking to him, and he was a nerd and he was supportive? But I could be remembering that wrong.) I do think Willow and Buffy would have been good for each other and helped each other through a lot of their issues, but I also think there would probably have been some screaming fights. They'd make up because they love each other very much, but they're both really hot-headed, and neither accept help very easily.
EDIT: also I feel like solely basing your entire redemption arc on a single person realistically is too much for a relationship to take. one person plus other stuff works, which is why faith's redemption arc (even though I still don't like her the most and wish they'd actually addressed some of the stuff) and angel's away from buffy work.
whatever reason I kinda ship XDH!Alex with Buffy. Like, 'honey hand me the axe' and they would be super supportive and girl
power with each other? I think if most universe Xanders would start dating Buffy they'd stagnate. The motivational arc of
'worthy of her love'->'worthy of her friendship'->'be okay with who I am as a person'->'keep this up' would be gone. And if he
stayed with Buffy, he'd only drag her down with him.) I'm actually meh about all of the canon universe pairings with Buffy (minus the comics because I don't really read them like I watched the series other than stealing a few things for Shadowed Suspicion, muahahaha, so I can't comment on them) because they all display unhealthy relationship behaviors and when she wasn't in a relationship anymore she wasn't like "oh, thank God I got out of there" or "I deserve better" or even "well, we just weren't good for each other", it was "there's something wrong with me" and I have the urge to sit her down and say, "Honey, honey. Look at me. Yeah, you're a jerk sometimes. Guess what, everyone is. You don't have to change yourself for a relationship. You don't have to put up with everything. You are a soldier. It is okay to have PTSD. It is okay to cry. It is okay to ask for help. It is okay to not put up with abuse of any kind." (I mean...it's been a while, but I think I liked Pike because he just seemed so shocked that the popular girl was talking to him, and he was a nerd and he was supportive? But I could be remembering that wrong.) I do think Willow and Buffy would have been good for each other and helped each other through a lot of their issues, but I also think there would probably have been some screaming fights. They'd make up because they love each other very much, but they're both really hot-headed, and neither accept help very easily.
EDIT: also I feel like solely basing your entire redemption arc on a single person realistically is too much for a relationship to take. one person plus other stuff works, which is why faith's redemption arc (even though I still don't like her the most and wish they'd actually addressed some of the stuff) and angel's away from buffy work.
