No Future for You
So... volume 2 in the season 8 Buffy comics. I read it in one sitting, I seriously could not put it down (and my nephew and the hot weather tired me out today, so I was in the mood to just lounge around tonight and read something). This one was SO MUCH BETTER than The Long Way Home. It actually had a coherent arc, Giles was very prominent, and I just really love Faith, so naturally I dug the arc that was from her POV. Her turmoil over her relationship with Buffy is so damn beautiful. Buffy so does not deserve Faith's love, and yet Faith continues to be ridiculously loyal to her and gets punished for it. OH, MY HEART! Also, I really enjoyed the Faith/Giles, and yes, it was mostly because I still managed to insert all kinds of Buffy/Giles subtext into every single one of their interactions (there are only three people who could truly understand the depth of Giles' love for Buffy, and Faith is one of them). Also, the ONE Giles/Buffy interaction sent my heart straight into my gut. Oh god. I can't even remember the last time I had that strong of a reaction to something fictional. It was both horrible and utterly glorious. OH ANGST, HOW I LOVE THEE! And yet, you frustrate me to no end and will send me into another rant about how both Giles and Buffy are complete idiots when it comes to their relationship and they didn't used to be so idiotic so what the heck happened to them? And how on earth did 4 little drawings so thoroughly break my heart?
1. Rogue slayer was out to kill Buffy. Giles says NOTHING about this to her, he just keeps sending random slayers out to try and kill rogue slayer, then he goes to Faith and fails to tell her that his main concern was Buffy and not the world. It's always about Buffy, for both Giles and Faith.
2. Giles completely cuts himself off from Buffy and the scoobies, but mostly Buffy. Buffy never even mentions his name in the first volume of comics, just refers to him in passive aggressive ways and fully embraces Xander as her new watcher while Xander is still saying, "Hey now, I'm not Giles. Remember that librarian dude?" Then Buffy calls him "our librarian friend" in volume 2 and Xander says that he's been unreachable for weeks, and he reveals jealousy on Buffy's behalf for Giles' neglect of her and trading her off for the new slayers, which means this is exactly how Buffy has been feeling about Giles and Xander picked up on it.
3. Buffy thinks Faith was trying to kill her again but really she saved her, and Faith mentioned that she was working with Giles, and BOY did that set Buffy off. She couldn't believe that he'd choose Faith for an important job over her, and she couldn't believe that he wouldn't tell her about it, so she refused to believe Faith, even though a part of her knew it was the truth. Giles was already hurting Buffy by not keeping in touch with her (although I have a feeling that she was ignoring him), and now he's working with Faith. Faith. Oh, that hurt Buffy.
4. What hurt her even worse? That blasted phone call. First off, interesting that she used Willow's phone instead of her own. He must have been ignoring calls from Buffy. Secondly, I love that he got all befuddled when he realized it was Buffy and not Willow. Gaaaaah, I could feel his heart singing at hearing her voice, quickly replaced by ABSOLUTE DREAD at hearing her voice. I love Buffy for finally growing up and, you know, trying to COMMUNICATE with him to get some answers out of him, and he just blows her off. She tells him that Faith just tried to kill her but Willow zapped her out of the location, and he replies with an admonishing, "And you left Faith there?!" No worry for Buffy whatsoever. None. It was all for Faith. Just stake her in the heart, why don't ya? AND THEN, to top it all off, he refuses to tell Buffy anything. It was hard for him to say "no" to her, but he did. Sadly, he ended it with "I don't want you to be any part of this," and he just completely ripped Buffy's heart out. He's just trying to protect her, but he won't COMMUNICATE this to her, and instead makes her feel like he doesn't want anything to do with her anymore. She just hands the phone to Willow without another word to Giles and tells Willow to do what she can for him, and she walks away, making a comment implying that she's truly alone in the world.
5. Giles decides to continue fighting alongside Faith. Just willy nilly, he doesn't even consider any other option, and when Faith is like, "What? Dude, go home to your beloved Buffy," Giles is all "Buffy and I are... [takes off glasses] not on speaking terms as of late." He's not even trying! He doesn't even make one single attempt to repair this incredibly huge chasm between himself and Buffy that has apparently been there through the entirety of the comics, and more is happening between them than we've seen. I'm not sure who abandoned who this time, but it clearly didn't help to repair the damage that was done during season 7.
OH MY GOD! WHY DO THESE TWO NEVER LEARN? WHY DOES GILES NOT SEE HOW MUCH HIS LOVE MATTERS TO BUFFY? WHY DOES BUFFY NEVER SEE THAT EVERYTHING HE DOES HE DOES BECAUSE HE LOVES HER MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD? ARRRRRRRRGH! I am convinced that he's only going off with Faith because he is desperate to have a connection with someone again, and he's too afraid to get it back with Buffy. He's scared of losing her, he's scared that she won't want him back in her life, he's scared that she'll keep him around for old time's sake but he won't really matter to her. Mostly he's scared of losing her, which is causing him to lose her. Remember when Buffy and Giles used to tell each other EVERYTHING and were each other's main source of salvation? Remember how they never felt alone because they always had each other? How did they go from that to being each other's main source of angst? They hurt each other so deeply, and they know full well that they do it. They almost compete with each other sometimes in seeing who can shut the other out the longest. UGH! And then they are both so self-defacing that neither one of them thinks they are worthy of the other's love. GOSH DARN IT, JUST KISS AND MAKE UP ALREADY! AND STAY TOGETHER FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER!
Okay. I think I'm done ranting. By the way, I've come to the conclusion that every Rascal Flatts song ever was written about Giles/Buffy. Seriously. I will prove it to you tomorrow. I didn't even start liking Rascal Flatts until every single one of their songs started reminding me of Giles/Buffy.
1. Rogue slayer was out to kill Buffy. Giles says NOTHING about this to her, he just keeps sending random slayers out to try and kill rogue slayer, then he goes to Faith and fails to tell her that his main concern was Buffy and not the world. It's always about Buffy, for both Giles and Faith.
2. Giles completely cuts himself off from Buffy and the scoobies, but mostly Buffy. Buffy never even mentions his name in the first volume of comics, just refers to him in passive aggressive ways and fully embraces Xander as her new watcher while Xander is still saying, "Hey now, I'm not Giles. Remember that librarian dude?" Then Buffy calls him "our librarian friend" in volume 2 and Xander says that he's been unreachable for weeks, and he reveals jealousy on Buffy's behalf for Giles' neglect of her and trading her off for the new slayers, which means this is exactly how Buffy has been feeling about Giles and Xander picked up on it.
3. Buffy thinks Faith was trying to kill her again but really she saved her, and Faith mentioned that she was working with Giles, and BOY did that set Buffy off. She couldn't believe that he'd choose Faith for an important job over her, and she couldn't believe that he wouldn't tell her about it, so she refused to believe Faith, even though a part of her knew it was the truth. Giles was already hurting Buffy by not keeping in touch with her (although I have a feeling that she was ignoring him), and now he's working with Faith. Faith. Oh, that hurt Buffy.
4. What hurt her even worse? That blasted phone call. First off, interesting that she used Willow's phone instead of her own. He must have been ignoring calls from Buffy. Secondly, I love that he got all befuddled when he realized it was Buffy and not Willow. Gaaaaah, I could feel his heart singing at hearing her voice, quickly replaced by ABSOLUTE DREAD at hearing her voice. I love Buffy for finally growing up and, you know, trying to COMMUNICATE with him to get some answers out of him, and he just blows her off. She tells him that Faith just tried to kill her but Willow zapped her out of the location, and he replies with an admonishing, "And you left Faith there?!" No worry for Buffy whatsoever. None. It was all for Faith. Just stake her in the heart, why don't ya? AND THEN, to top it all off, he refuses to tell Buffy anything. It was hard for him to say "no" to her, but he did. Sadly, he ended it with "I don't want you to be any part of this," and he just completely ripped Buffy's heart out. He's just trying to protect her, but he won't COMMUNICATE this to her, and instead makes her feel like he doesn't want anything to do with her anymore. She just hands the phone to Willow without another word to Giles and tells Willow to do what she can for him, and she walks away, making a comment implying that she's truly alone in the world.
5. Giles decides to continue fighting alongside Faith. Just willy nilly, he doesn't even consider any other option, and when Faith is like, "What? Dude, go home to your beloved Buffy," Giles is all "Buffy and I are... [takes off glasses] not on speaking terms as of late." He's not even trying! He doesn't even make one single attempt to repair this incredibly huge chasm between himself and Buffy that has apparently been there through the entirety of the comics, and more is happening between them than we've seen. I'm not sure who abandoned who this time, but it clearly didn't help to repair the damage that was done during season 7.
OH MY GOD! WHY DO THESE TWO NEVER LEARN? WHY DOES GILES NOT SEE HOW MUCH HIS LOVE MATTERS TO BUFFY? WHY DOES BUFFY NEVER SEE THAT EVERYTHING HE DOES HE DOES BECAUSE HE LOVES HER MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD? ARRRRRRRRGH! I am convinced that he's only going off with Faith because he is desperate to have a connection with someone again, and he's too afraid to get it back with Buffy. He's scared of losing her, he's scared that she won't want him back in her life, he's scared that she'll keep him around for old time's sake but he won't really matter to her. Mostly he's scared of losing her, which is causing him to lose her. Remember when Buffy and Giles used to tell each other EVERYTHING and were each other's main source of salvation? Remember how they never felt alone because they always had each other? How did they go from that to being each other's main source of angst? They hurt each other so deeply, and they know full well that they do it. They almost compete with each other sometimes in seeing who can shut the other out the longest. UGH! And then they are both so self-defacing that neither one of them thinks they are worthy of the other's love. GOSH DARN IT, JUST KISS AND MAKE UP ALREADY! AND STAY TOGETHER FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER!
Okay. I think I'm done ranting. By the way, I've come to the conclusion that every Rascal Flatts song ever was written about Giles/Buffy. Seriously. I will prove it to you tomorrow. I didn't even start liking Rascal Flatts until every single one of their songs started reminding me of Giles/Buffy.