Buffy Thoughts
Irish has been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer through from Season 1 and I've been watching with him when I'm home. We're started Season 7 last night.
I used to dislike Xander when I first watched Buffy but I read so much really well-written fanfic in which Xander was a decent person that I ended up liking him. On rewatching the series, I remember why I disliked him so much. He's a horrible person. What does Buffy see in him? What does anyone see in him? I know he has his moments (and he improves somewhat as he ages) but honestly? No. Not someone I would enjoy spending time with in real life. He's awful to Anya, condescending to her and continually correcting her in public, them standing her up at the altar and verbally abusing her because she actually moved on; he's hot-headed and irrational; doesn't listen to reason; always putting himself in danger after begin warned not to. He (and Willow - I don't give her a break here) were nasty to Buffy when she returned from LA without ever considering what it was like for her to have to kill Angel and then be kicked out of her house by her own mother. (I know Joyce back-pedaled on that later but she did tell Buffy that if she left the house, not to come back. Heat of the moment and probably not what she meant, but it was what she said to her 17-year-old daughter.) Also, Xander's incredibly self-righteous about Spike's attempted rape of Buffy for someone who'd done exactly the same thing himself 5 years previously. The only difference was, demon-possessed as Xander was at the time, he did have a soul and a moral compass. Spike didn't. I consider Xander's actions far more egregious than Spike's for just that reason. I know he's Joss Whedon's Marty Stu and that's why he can get away with being so awful, but it's still very annoying! In any case, I think I need to go read some fic by nwhepcat, speakr2customrs, ozma914, or the_emu to get the taste of CanonXander out of my brain. Ick.
Dawn - I'd forgotten how incredibly annoying she was in Seasons 5 and 6 (even after making excuses for her because of the horrible things that happened in her life in those seasons). However, I'd also forgotten how much she improved in Season 7. It strikes me, though, that she's a lot like Willow except that she'll voice her resentments out loud instead of holding them in. I suspect she could, if she wanted, become a witch as powerful as Willow - maybe more so - and if, as a witch, something like Tara's death happened to Dawn, she would become much, much scarier than Dark Willow. I also think she'd make one scary vampire!
When I was watching Buffy 10 years ago (watching the current seasons and reruns on FX), I didn't pay much attention to Oz. Turns out, I really like him. Don't like him cheating on Willow, any more than I liked her cheating on him. However, since he didn't have control of himself in wolf from at that time and because he tried to take steps to make sure it never happened again when he did find out, I think it's a different type of situation. Not ok and certainly not easy to get over, but different. I wish Willow had tried to work things out with him. Of course if she had, we probably wouldn't have had Tara. I really like Tara.
I've read that if Willow hadn't been gay, Xander would've been and that if Willow had been with Oz rather than Tara in Season 6, he'd have been killed. I wonder if anyone's written Virtual Seasons 4-7 with gay Xander and murdered Oz?
Finally, if Dr Who was ever vamped, would you have to stake him twice? And if he was turned then staked, would he regenerate as a new Vamp Dr or a new regular Dr. These are very important things to contemplate!
I used to dislike Xander when I first watched Buffy but I read so much really well-written fanfic in which Xander was a decent person that I ended up liking him. On rewatching the series, I remember why I disliked him so much. He's a horrible person. What does Buffy see in him? What does anyone see in him? I know he has his moments (and he improves somewhat as he ages) but honestly? No. Not someone I would enjoy spending time with in real life. He's awful to Anya, condescending to her and continually correcting her in public, them standing her up at the altar and verbally abusing her because she actually moved on; he's hot-headed and irrational; doesn't listen to reason; always putting himself in danger after begin warned not to. He (and Willow - I don't give her a break here) were nasty to Buffy when she returned from LA without ever considering what it was like for her to have to kill Angel and then be kicked out of her house by her own mother. (I know Joyce back-pedaled on that later but she did tell Buffy that if she left the house, not to come back. Heat of the moment and probably not what she meant, but it was what she said to her 17-year-old daughter.) Also, Xander's incredibly self-righteous about Spike's attempted rape of Buffy for someone who'd done exactly the same thing himself 5 years previously. The only difference was, demon-possessed as Xander was at the time, he did have a soul and a moral compass. Spike didn't. I consider Xander's actions far more egregious than Spike's for just that reason. I know he's Joss Whedon's Marty Stu and that's why he can get away with being so awful, but it's still very annoying! In any case, I think I need to go read some fic by nwhepcat, speakr2customrs, ozma914, or the_emu to get the taste of CanonXander out of my brain. Ick.
Dawn - I'd forgotten how incredibly annoying she was in Seasons 5 and 6 (even after making excuses for her because of the horrible things that happened in her life in those seasons). However, I'd also forgotten how much she improved in Season 7. It strikes me, though, that she's a lot like Willow except that she'll voice her resentments out loud instead of holding them in. I suspect she could, if she wanted, become a witch as powerful as Willow - maybe more so - and if, as a witch, something like Tara's death happened to Dawn, she would become much, much scarier than Dark Willow. I also think she'd make one scary vampire!
When I was watching Buffy 10 years ago (watching the current seasons and reruns on FX), I didn't pay much attention to Oz. Turns out, I really like him. Don't like him cheating on Willow, any more than I liked her cheating on him. However, since he didn't have control of himself in wolf from at that time and because he tried to take steps to make sure it never happened again when he did find out, I think it's a different type of situation. Not ok and certainly not easy to get over, but different. I wish Willow had tried to work things out with him. Of course if she had, we probably wouldn't have had Tara. I really like Tara.
I've read that if Willow hadn't been gay, Xander would've been and that if Willow had been with Oz rather than Tara in Season 6, he'd have been killed. I wonder if anyone's written Virtual Seasons 4-7 with gay Xander and murdered Oz?
Finally, if Dr Who was ever vamped, would you have to stake him twice? And if he was turned then staked, would he regenerate as a new Vamp Dr or a new regular Dr. These are very important things to contemplate!