Just J

This is the blog of a writer who has a few staple obsessions and tends to hyperfixate on new stuff every once in a while. Welcome :) Find me on AO3 / Twitter

[astrangeenchantedboy]

spike's introduction is literally so telling abt his whole character arc like he walks in fangs out bragging abt all the violence he's done and then his girlfriend literally just walks through the door and he's like "yes baby whatever you say my darling queen light of my life" like just very much who he is as a person

[spvffys]

Spike vs. the two times his hand was on fire ❤️‍🔥

[scullys]

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1997 - 2003) —7x10: "Bring On The Night"

[exorciqsmgrl]

[cheddar-baby]

i could smell your boytoy coming from down the road. Wretched little rotted morsel of a thing, may he fall to time and become carrion

[spvffys]

[spvffys]

#SPUFFY: Time is a Bomb by Metric

(I worked for a whole month on this 😩)

[justjstuff]

ANYTHING spuffy by SummerFrost

I literally just read don’t look much like a lover (doesn’t mean I won’t try) and it genuinely changed my life. Oh. Wow.

[justjstuff]

Guys, it’s over I finished watching Buffy. Now it’s your turn to send your Spuffy recs my way please and thank you

[landscape-suicide-deactivated20]

It is really funny how much some tumblr users build their understanding of what is taboo in a degenerate immoral fashion vs what is taboo in a subversive radical fashion exclusively on aesthetic appeal so they’re willing to drastically alter their moral stances based on what media they’re obsessing over currently

[landscape-suicide-deactivated20]

Blogger obsessed with posting about sexual cannibalism and toxic doomed yuri complaining about incest fetishization… you’re two Ginger Snaps gifsets and a Flowers in the Attic excerpt away from trying to recreate Single White Female with your mutuals

[adhdavinci]

[fishdogma]

Chapter 135 thoughts, MICE and Twilight

Chapter 135 thoughts, MICE and Twilight

Alt title: Overthinking a fictional character on my day off while sleep deprived and stressed. (MANGA SPOILERS)

“A double life is not an easy life as evidenced by the number of agents who burn out, break down, or simply decide they cannot continue, particularly in high risk environments.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about the latest chapter. I think my first initial thought was frustration (at Twilight). To be clear, I really enjoyed the chapter and I found the overall situation to be endlessly fun. I forget sometimes that Spy X is a comedy, that so happens to be based loosely off of the Cold War. And as someone who does not generally enjoy comedies it’s easy for me to fall into the trap of expecting a dark, serious thriller with this fiction. (Hence the creation of Scission). So this morning I was thinking, “I should probably not take the comedy too seriously. “ But. As an over thinker I can’t help myself...

It’s one of those manga that I think has balanced the comedy with the serious tones very well. I often take Loid very seriously (too seriously) so my reaction to his ‘plan’ was frustration. But I think actually, this chapter treaded on a major theme of the story that is: Letting go of the past.

Twilight has mentioned from chapter one that he’s been losing his edge. And I’m pretty certain throughout the story this has been a constant point that he’s not what he used to be, that is: master spy, Westalis’ greatest and man of a thousand faces.

I think this is mainly due to the fact that two-hours sleep and working like a robot for over a decade takes a lot out of a person. If you look into any research regarding spies that have remained for long periods in a host country, it gets harder and harder for them psychologically to continue their work. And since we have not seen or been shown, or told that Twilight has returned to Westalis since the war — then I am going to assume that he simply has not been home for a very long time. (And you know, it’s doubtful now that he could recognise it being a vagrant Spy in a host country). So why is he losing his edge? Well I think it’s best to consider why any spy loses their ‘edge’ after so long in service and we should cover the framework of Spy recruitment that I think is important here. That is: MICE! Money. Ideology. Compromise. Ego. Money Money (simple one), doesn’t really fit Twilight here, he never seems invested in money other than bellyaching over expensive keychains that Anya brings home. When it comes to himself (the trabant!) he seems happy to live frugally. Ideology Ideology is the core of Twilight’s being, so I will be leaving this for last as it will be the spine of my thoughts on this. Compromise or Coercion

Compromise or Coercion is a curious one. If we consider specifically recruitment, when [Redacted] was recruited by Westalis’ Military intelligence (WISE was not founded until post war). I’ve seen posts discuss how he was blackmailed, but while it’s true there was a threat made, the blackmail of being ‘court martialed’ was never something that stirred any real threat within [REDACTED].

“People coerced into espionage rarely make ideal agents” and coercion is generally discouraged when recruiting.

Twilight would not have stuck around, as intelligent and adaptable as he is, for over a decade if his Ideology did not embed him within the beliefs of being a spy for the West. SIDE NOTE: just ignoring the fact that while in theory someone could be court-martialed for lying about their age to enlist, especially if the lie counted as fraudulent enlistment, in practice during WWI and WWII, underage soldiers were often simply discharged or quietly sent home once discovered, especially if the only issue was age. [Redacted] was not underage by the time he was discovered either. By then his friends were all legally recruited. He was also a lieutenant at this point. He suggests this rank was obtained by everyone else dying but I’d disregard his self flagellation and consider more that he was a competent soldier and earned the rank because he is ultimately a competent and intelligent person (one of the reasons MI scouted him). So it’s highly doubtful he’d have been court martialed anyway and he was probably well aware of this. (Of course I am speculating here). Compromise comes back later as MICE is not just a framework for recruitment but considering the viability of a Spy. Ego and Excitement For this section I take an excerpt straight from the article: An Alternative Framework for Agent Recruitment: From MICE to RASCLS (LINK)

“Spy fiction may portray espionage as an exciting world of gun battles, explosions, car chases, and sexual adventures, but anyone who has lived in this world knows the truth is very different. For every hour spent on a street a case officer will spend many hours more writing up the results of the last meeting, preparing for the next meeting, and endlessly evaluating current cases and constantly looking for new assets. For the agent’s part, the life is usually equally dull and demanding. Successful agents must continue to perform in whatever jobs provide them the access for which they were recruited in the first place, all the while meeting the tasks levied by case officers.”

Anya was a great instrument in gauging this thread of Twilight’s life not being as glamorous as the work of an agent might appear. She is often portrayed as bored with her papa and loses interest in his antics. She considers him an over thinker and mentions that he is always working hard. I think this is a way of portraying the grind of Spy work as one that is hard and does not come with rewards or pats on the back.

In fact, if you consider the Cold War, and the difference between East Germany and West Germany, the idea of reward is something Twilight would not consider at all. He is bluntly told this:

East Germany in the Cold War, the GDR was a soviet-aligned socialist state ruled by the SED. While West Germany became a parliamentary democracy tied to the Western Bloc. Reward in the GDR was used as a social control; medals, titles, bonuses, and public accolades were systematic tools of socialist discipline and loyalty-building. (Think about those gaudy, ceremonies put up to inflate the egos of dictators, all while the populace is starving. Pageantry is a form of ego stroking and control) Consider the use of Tonitrus Bolts and Stella Stars and Imperial Scholars, how very public and privileged it is to be awarded one. How your social status (even amongst children) changes. How getting a Stella or a Tonitrus often captivates and controls the children of Eden. Anya’s friendship group grew exponentially with her Stellas. Even dropping into a different class due to her grades has not changed her standing with the other children. (Merit usurps worth academic intelligence). You can also consider how Twilight concludes that Yor being single would not actually be an issue where Yuri’s title/role within the SSS is concerned. Though of course she doesn’t know about this. This is not to suggest West Germany did not have such honours but there was less ideology surrounding them, it was more a consideration of civic recognition. All that to say that Twilight’s work does not come with the expectation of anyone recognising his efforts. He’s accepted his thankless job. Though, I do think Twilight has an ego. And I think to some extent this comes from the very evidence based fact that he’s been instrumental in evading catastrophe and that his peers often over bloat his abilities and successes (again not really without evidence).

This of course creates a pressure vacuum and an echo chamber in the mind. He’s just that good. And I think this is why, when he questions his abilities he tries to self-soothe by asserting his position as "Twilight, Westalis’ Greatest spy…"

it’s because any bump in the road or failure is a huge hit to the one part of him that is him… and that is that he is reliably over competent.

Not being competent, terrifies him just as much as not having all the information because to Twilight: lack of information is not just a direct threat to himself and everything he cares about.

Its a sin.

So here we come to IDEOLOGY. Religion is not really discussed much (I don’t recall at least) in Spy X family. So When Sin is used here, I take it less as a religious concept and more of a core belief expressed in the most vitriolic way possible. To be ignorant is contemptible, the worst thing possible to him in a way that — someone who never expresses religious beliefs — only refers to them here. Because religion is also an ideology.

Ignorance is sin.

So he has fastened himself to becoming a master. Of cooking, flying planes, lock picking, tennis, psychiatry... horse riding If you’ve read my fic… whatever it is... and In his downtime, he’s often reading, studying (something he hated as a child) because relaxing doesn’t cross his mind when there is knowledge to be attained and knowledge makes him feel in control of things, anything else is just the failure of the mortal body (his stomach).

To not have knowledge is to not be in control. If he doesn’t know something it makes him feel sick. This is why the stomach tearing is so prevalent throughout the manga. This is the core of Twilight’s being; the spy, [Redacted] and Loid Forger.

It’s often discussed in fandom that Twilight, Loid and [Redacted} are separate people/masks. While of course, Loid is an alias, I’d suggest that as he’s embedded himself in the role of Loid, the name is just decoration at this point. These are not separate people. Now I may lose you here but I’d like you to stay with me as I challenge a widely considered concept of masks.  I’m going to invoke Erving Hoffman here and the concept of the mask becoming the self. Anecdote: In high school, I was bullied a lot. I remember watching Robert Downey Jr’s portrayal of Tony Stark in Ironman. The nonchalance, quippy, thick skin and water off a duck’s back attitude beguiled me. Being an angry and meek kid, I looked up to his ability to amuse even his adversaries. He’s an asshole but you kind of like him. I decided to study the character and wanted to embody that confidence. Force myself from being an introvert into an extrovert. Now it worked and I quickly became someone who could bounce between groups of people with this mask. But that was a decade (OH MY FUCKING GOD) ago and I am not really introverted (despite hating group situations). I notice, sometimes to my chagrin, that my colleagues look to me to make light of a situation or pull a funny story or give guidance. And, unfortunately, I am a bit of an asshole too (working on it). At some point that mask just became part of my face. Goffman’s theory challenges the idea that a mask hides the “real” person. Instead, social roles are partly how an identity is formed. And so if you perform a role long enough, sincerely enough, and with real consequences… that role eventually becomes who you are. Twilight isn’t a role. [Redacted] is not a role. These are just titles of the same being. 

He only changed his name to Twilight because his old self could not be traced. Nothing changed other than the gathering of trauma, knowledge and experience over that period and the fact we saw within a few pages a little, scared boy become a big, traumatised and cynical, man. And being a little boy, [Redacted] was a blank slate to adapt to the world and society as he grew up. Unfortunately the world was war torn and suspicious and cruel to him. So as a result he adapted to live within it.

When people say that [Redacted] is peering through and the Twilight mask is slipping, I actually disagree. The name is arbitrary, he could be called Leon, Leonard, Bob, Johnny... whatever.

The person is what matters. He’s still: Competent, thoughtful, analytical, gentle, cynical, cold, stoic and bloody bull headed, Etc. When he is Twain Honey, Robert, Lionel, Lawrence or henchman #2: These are masks. He is not embodying these characters. When He is Loid Forger, initially this is a mask, but he has been embodying this for (as of writing) about seven months now. He allows the non-perfect husband cover to drop because the mask is hard to keep up 24/7 with a six year old. He’s grumpy, quippy, impatient, stern and standoffish but remains competent, thoughtful and analytical in that role. So to me, Loid (now), Twilight and [Redacted] are all the same man. His ‘bad’ attributes are just as much [Redacted] as his good attributes.

“Agents who serve for reasons of belief are the only agents that most officers can truly respect.”

The best agents spy for ideology. This is why Compromise is such a dangerous aspect to Twilight’s career and why he is so shaken by the concept of having feelings for his fake family. Being a spy and knowledge gathering is a core aspect of who he is. While WISE certainly has had a hand in some part of Twilight’s outlook, especially with encouraging his already bloated beliefs about his skills and necessity in the stratagem for peace between East and West. His Ideology is easily simplified to the fact that he considers lack of knowledge dangerous and wanting to make the world a safe place for ALL children where they do not need to cry.

He does not care about anything else, material or sovereign. 

WISE did not have a hand in training any other mindset into him. They are an intelligence agency and there is an important aspect that should not be missed. Straight after the chapters revealing Loid’s past and how he came to develop his ideology we were given a chapter where a rookie agent thinks in black & white in regards to his information gathering. Sylvia actively guides this agent away from pointing fingers over minimal information.

This is exactly how she guided Twilight:

I think Endo laid this chapter straight after to hint to the reader that while there was guidance from his Handler, first and foremost... he has his own ideals and they are not constructed by anyone but his past and self. (along with other reasons but we're discussing Twiguy here). WISE is dedicated to keeping the peace between Westalis and Ostania. They are of course a government agency and I want to be careful of not falling into the trap as seeing them as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. But in regards to Twilight, an agent with agency, his ideology aligns with the goal of peace between both countries. As above you see Twilight himself considers that he does not know who started the war. He is no longer purely aligned to Westalis and seeing Ostanians as devil as he did when a boy. And Handler instills into her rookie's the mistake of black and white thinking and the need to evade falling into the trap of propaganda (which was prevalents and a real danger when agents are stationed long term in an authoritarian host country). WISE benefits from Twilight’s ideology and not trying to indoctirinate their agents. As the psychology of recruitment does not stipulate coercion or control as being effective measures of recruitment. Twilight does not receive from WISE, no decent pay or accolades. He doesn’t owe them anything so it is purely his aligning ideology that keeps him in their corner. In fact, in reality some of the best known spies in the world were purely driven by their ideology. And so we return to one of the themes of Spy X family:

Letting go of the past and creating a better future. Twilight values above all his intelligence and the ability to predict situations and act upon them, this ultimately comes from the trauma of losing his friends, joining the war and still not being able to make a change. He was wrong and his dad was wrong. People he loved still died, towns were still destroyed and children still cried.

Intelligence gives him a sense of control.

Yet no one makes him feel absolutely clueless and out of his depth more than Yor — and Anya. All the information he gathered, all the knowledge, the 864 date plans, the schemes… do not account for the fact that those two aren’t normal. The fear of being thrown out of his depth, especially portrayed in the latest chapter has caused him some irrationality and a (lot) of belly aching. I think his character will come to some revelations, and it is starting to happen in some cases, when he finally learns to switch off the mind, the paranoia, the fear… and just let go. Then he can finally stop pretending he has any masks at all. (But of course re: latest chapter, he's going to slip up on the way. It is hard to break from one's ideology hence why ideology makes great spies... but speaking for myself, I'd like to see a husband and dad come out of this).

I re-read all that and cringed at myself. If you did too, I don't blame you. I am going to go touch some grass and wonder why I spent hours on this...

If you did read all that... I am so sorry. Thank you.

[justjstuff]

The funny thing about having really selective memory is that I get to be surprised by spoilers I probably already saw online. I’m watching Buffy: The Vampire Slayer for the first time and I just gasped out loud when Angel turned out to be a vampire

[justjstuff]

Gotta be honest, I just watched s1, I really thought there would be more vampires in Buffy: the vampire slayer

[justjstuff]

Also I hate Xander

[justjstuff]

Also also I thought Spike would be cooler

[justjstuff]

Also also also I will kill anyone who hurts Willow. Or Buffy.

[justjstuff]

It’s kind of funny that it took two and a half seasons for there to be werewolves when there’s a wolf howling at the beginning of the theme song lmao

[justjstuff]

Guys, you guys were right Spike just needed to be a lil pathetic first and now I’m into him. He’s just a loverboy!!!!!!!!!!

[justjstuff]

Correction! He’s a pathetic loverboy looser and he has been from day one. Amazing no notes I knew I could trust you guys on this

[justjstuff]

I hate Xander

[justjstuff]

Why do they do my girl Cordelia so wrong??? She doesn’t deserve any of thissss pleaaase

[justjstuff]

Gotta be honest this Initiative thing is boring 🙄 also Riley! Begone soldier boy begone

[justjstuff]

Also, Buffy is a surprisingly good protagonist, she’s my baby but BOY is she annoying when it comes to guys at this point I just really wish she stays single forever

[justjstuff]

Oh god not Faith again I thought we were finally done with her

[justjstuff]

BI WILLOW? WE NEVER LOSE OH MY GOD

[justjstuff]

First of all who the fuck is Dawn I’m not amused

[justjstuff]

Also, I’m neverminding the Spike post! I did think he would be cooler! Or like! Badder!! He’s just a lil pathetic cockroach by god I kinda love him

[justjstuff]

Btw guys what happened to Willow and Xander???? They were suddenly all over each other and then nothing??? They didn’t even talk about it properly! I waited a few seasons to complain but we’re almost done w season 5 and it wasn’t even mentioned!!!

Not that I like the ship oops I just wanted it to have more follow through

[justjstuff]

Guys, I’m hating what they’re doing to Spike!!! Wth!!!!!!!!!! I’m kind of done with him now wth this is actually surprising lmao

[justjstuff]

Oh wow Joyce’s death was pretty graphic!!! Kudos to BTVS honestly this is probably one of the realest depictions of it I’ve seen in TV like the whole… bureaucracy of it, the quiet, the stillness. Just wow

[justjstuff]

Buffy kissing Spike after he was tortured was actually the sweetest scene so far in BTVS.

[justjstuff]

I kinda hate how they treat spike ngl it’s getting to the point where the scoobies feel like bullies lmao and kind of idiotic too… idk I’d like to know what my moots think about this but tbh I’m getting a bit annoyed with the whole “he’s a thing bc he’s a vampire” bit. They don’t even mention the very real bad things he did in the past, they sound like a broken record saying “he’s a vampire, he’s a vampire”…. It’s been like two seasons or something!!!!!

[justjstuff]

Also, I’m a bit annoyed with how they treat Dawn! She’s 15! The same age Buffy was when she became the slayer. And like yeah 15 is young but I mean this particular group of people (20yos + a guy who since he was 10 was trained to accept a 15yo girl as the slayer) look a bit ridiculous treating her like she’s 10. If I was aware of everything that they are and had gone through what they had, I would never let my baby sis be defenceless esp in a world that weapons and spells work like that! Come on!

[justjstuff]

Also! I held it in for a season and a half. Dawn was a REALLY weird choice to make in season 5 of a series. Buffy’s whole character, to me, gets really impacted by her being an only child of divorced parents, putting a little sister in the middle changes a lot of who she is as a character. There were consequences too, about her being the way she was which completely fall through when you add a sister in season FIVE. It would have been okayish if she had died but now it’s just… idk, the big sacrifice the big Important now is not her friends anymore and the people she loved throughout five seasons, it’s always gonna come back to Dawn who’s… well she’s a bit unimportant in the great scheme and a character we only had a season to get used to. There’s no emotional connection there for the audience, we just have to accept at face value that Buffy loves her and would do anything for her but we as the audience don’t have the same connection to her character. It was a really stupid decision.

Plus they missed the chance for a really cool arc about Buffy untethered when her mum died and all the consequences of it.

[justjstuff]

Didn’t we already go through this accidental slayer killing extensively with goddamn faith?? Must we do this again?

[justjstuff]

Not fucking Riley again gdi

[justjstuff]

Guys what the helllllll this whole thing is so ridiculous lmao Buffy’s life is kinda shit bc she’s depressed but the whole problem is fucking Spike?? Get out of heeere

[justjstuff]

They let me forget about it for a while there but I hate Xander

[justjstuff]

Can we be done with this Geek squad alreadyyyyy and I thought the Initiative was annoying

[justjstuff]

GUYS????? What the ACTUAL fuck.

[justjstuff]

I hate that Willow keeps being punished for being powerful. Just… let her be a powerful witch! Please!

[justjstuff]

Btw where are the other slayers? There should be two more, no?

[justjstuff]

Forgot to say it before but it makes no sense for Anya to have become a demon again, like, that guy D’Hoffryn said that she wasn’t his problem anymore and then all of a sudden he comes back and doesn’t even mention it lol

[justjstuff]

If this Principal Wood is supposed to be Buffy’s next guy I will have to stop watching guys I can’t take another romance

[justjstuff]

I looooove a good training session that gets hot heh

[justjstuff]

Why do they keep saying Spike went to get his soul back? Like…. He said very clearly he wanted to go back to how it was before the chip… no? They just retconned it into something that I kinda don’t like lol

[justjstuff]

PLEASE not Faith again lmao

[justjstuff]

Stop fading to black on the Spuffy scenes gdi not even a lil kiss????? 😭😭😭😭

[justjstuff]

Guys I finished it. Oh my. Lmao. I…. Whaaaat. Okay. A thought? Hmmm I’m sad lol

[justjstuff]

The funny thing about having really selective memory is that I get to be surprised by spoilers I probably already saw online. I’m watching Buffy: The Vampire Slayer for the first time and I just gasped out loud when Angel turned out to be a vampire

[justjstuff]

Gotta be honest, I just watched s1, I really thought there would be more vampires in Buffy: the vampire slayer

[justjstuff]

Also I hate Xander

[justjstuff]

Also also I thought Spike would be cooler

[justjstuff]

Also also also I will kill anyone who hurts Willow. Or Buffy.

[justjstuff]

It’s kind of funny that it took two and a half seasons for there to be werewolves when there’s a wolf howling at the beginning of the theme song lmao

[justjstuff]

Guys, you guys were right Spike just needed to be a lil pathetic first and now I’m into him. He’s just a loverboy!!!!!!!!!!

[justjstuff]

Correction! He’s a pathetic loverboy looser and he has been from day one. Amazing no notes I knew I could trust you guys on this

[justjstuff]

I hate Xander

[justjstuff]

Why do they do my girl Cordelia so wrong??? She doesn’t deserve any of thissss pleaaase

[justjstuff]

Gotta be honest this Initiative thing is boring 🙄 also Riley! Begone soldier boy begone

[justjstuff]

Also, Buffy is a surprisingly good protagonist, she’s my baby but BOY is she annoying when it comes to guys at this point I just really wish she stays single forever

[justjstuff]

Oh god not Faith again I thought we were finally done with her

[justjstuff]

BI WILLOW? WE NEVER LOSE OH MY GOD

[justjstuff]

First of all who the fuck is Dawn I’m not amused

[justjstuff]

Also, I’m neverminding the Spike post! I did think he would be cooler! Or like! Badder!! He’s just a lil pathetic cockroach by god I kinda love him

[justjstuff]

Btw guys what happened to Willow and Xander???? They were suddenly all over each other and then nothing??? They didn’t even talk about it properly! I waited a few seasons to complain but we’re almost done w season 5 and it wasn’t even mentioned!!!

Not that I like the ship oops I just wanted it to have more follow through

[justjstuff]

Guys, I’m hating what they’re doing to Spike!!! Wth!!!!!!!!!! I’m kind of done with him now wth this is actually surprising lmao

[justjstuff]

Oh wow Joyce’s death was pretty graphic!!! Kudos to BTVS honestly this is probably one of the realest depictions of it I’ve seen in TV like the whole… bureaucracy of it, the quiet, the stillness. Just wow

[justjstuff]

Buffy kissing Spike after he was tortured was actually the sweetest scene so far in BTVS.

[justjstuff]

I kinda hate how they treat spike ngl it’s getting to the point where the scoobies feel like bullies lmao and kind of idiotic too… idk I’d like to know what my moots think about this but tbh I’m getting a bit annoyed with the whole “he’s a thing bc he’s a vampire” bit. They don’t even mention the very real bad things he did in the past, they sound like a broken record saying “he’s a vampire, he’s a vampire”…. It’s been like two seasons or something!!!!!

[justjstuff]

Also, I’m a bit annoyed with how they treat Dawn! She’s 15! The same age Buffy was when she became the slayer. And like yeah 15 is young but I mean this particular group of people (20yos + a guy who since he was 10 was trained to accept a 15yo girl as the slayer) look a bit ridiculous treating her like she’s 10. If I was aware of everything that they are and had gone through what they had, I would never let my baby sis be defenceless esp in a world that weapons and spells work like that! Come on!

[justjstuff]

Also! I held it in for a season and a half. Dawn was a REALLY weird choice to make in season 5 of a series. Buffy’s whole character, to me, gets really impacted by her being an only child of divorced parents, putting a little sister in the middle changes a lot of who she is as a character. There were consequences too, about her being the way she was which completely fall through when you add a sister in season FIVE. It would have been okayish if she had died but now it’s just… idk, the big sacrifice the big Important now is not her friends anymore and the people she loved throughout five seasons, it’s always gonna come back to Dawn who’s… well she’s a bit unimportant in the great scheme and a character we only had a season to get used to. There’s no emotional connection there for the audience, we just have to accept at face value that Buffy loves her and would do anything for her but we as the audience don’t have the same connection to her character. It was a really stupid decision.

Plus they missed the chance for a really cool arc about Buffy untethered when her mum died and all the consequences of it.

[justjstuff]

Didn’t we already go through this accidental slayer killing extensively with goddamn faith?? Must we do this again?

[justjstuff]

Not fucking Riley again gdi

[justjstuff]

Guys what the helllllll this whole thing is so ridiculous lmao Buffy’s life is kinda shit bc she’s depressed but the whole problem is fucking Spike?? Get out of heeere

[justjstuff]

They let me forget about it for a while there but I hate Xander

[justjstuff]

Can we be done with this Geek squad alreadyyyyy and I thought the Initiative was annoying

[justjstuff]

GUYS????? What the ACTUAL fuck.

[justjstuff]

I hate that Willow keeps being punished for being powerful. Just… let her be a powerful witch! Please!

[justjstuff]

Btw where are the other slayers? There should be two more, no?

[justjstuff]

Forgot to say it before but it makes no sense for Anya to have become a demon again, like, that guy D’Hoffryn said that she wasn’t his problem anymore and then all of a sudden he comes back and doesn’t even mention it lol

[justjstuff]

If this Principal Wood is supposed to be Buffy’s next guy I will have to stop watching guys I can’t take another romance

[justjstuff]

I looooove a good training session that gets hot heh

[justjstuff]

Why do they keep saying Spike went to get his soul back? Like…. He said very clearly he wanted to go back to how it was before the chip… no? They just retconned it into something that I kinda don’t like lol

[justjstuff]

PLEASE not Faith again lmao

[justjstuff]

Stop fading to black on the Spuffy scenes gdi not even a lil kiss????? 😭😭😭😭

[xiaq]

One of the best things about being a writer is thinking of something small you can add to your work that’s just. Devastating. Like you’re sitting there going. Oh. That would be diabolical. People would get really riled up about that. Exquisite. Let’s do it.

[faustique]

the damage has been done (overshared)

[shunyz]

I think I'm done with this drawing!! Thank you for all your likes and reposts, it made me so happy 🥹🫶

[red-garden]

The thing is, in order to have a healthy and robust fandom, a piece of media NEEDS to leave some questions unanswered. Some relations unshipped. Some plot holes unfilled. Some backstories unwritten. Some lore unexplained. You need possibilities that will keep people up at night. The beautiful thing about an empty lot in a neighborhood is what people make in it

[ideksams]

🤍