CHOSEN ONE'S BRIDE

23. She/Her. Dedicated to dissecting different shows that I'm invested in, such as True Blood, Teen Wolf, Young Dracula, Being Human UK, The Originals, Hemlock Grove (and many more, you just have to take a look or ask) NOT MY GIFS, as if that isn’t obvious by now. This is all just innocent fun and for my own indulgence.

[mimi-dracula]

YD rewrite fic masterlist

I'll preface this by saying my version of Season 1 is the show's Season 3, if that makes sense. I start there, so I just call it Season 1, 2 and 3 even though in the show and in canon, it's Season 3, 4 and 5.

Season 1:

Chapter One

Bonus Chapter

Chapter Two

[mimi-dracula]

There’s no surprise I love Anya. I always have.

Her and Xander (initially) are almost exactly like Stiles and Malia.

I just wish Xander was a better person and truly treasured her.

[mimi-dracula]

Oz was so underutilised, especially as a werewolf.

His relationship with Willow was one of the best, despite her indiscretion, and they had to literally force him to cheat on her in a bullshit way in order to break them.

I like Tara as much as the next person, but I only remember her relationship with Willow as dull.

I could change my mind upon my rewatch, but I doubt it.

[mimi-dracula]

I do think the writing for Faith is a little confusing at times, especially in Season 3 of BTVS.

I think with a lot of morally grey characters, the blurred lines can actually hinder the character, as opposed to making them more complex.

I guess I’m just overlooking things, too.

Faith obviously doesn’t enjoy being a Slayer for the greater good like Buffy, she enjoys it because it gives her an excuse to kill and vent. It’s “socially acceptable” for them to die.

I guess I just questioned her morality because initially, she was weirded out and opposed to Buffy dating Angel because he’s a vampire. But she seems to get over that pretty quickly and is even willing to sleep with Angel for a “long weekend” herself.

I think my main issue is a lack of backstory and a lack of answers as to why she’s so high-strung and what her home life looked like. Her childhood. I don’t know.

[mimi-dracula]

I’ll never quite forgive or forget about the fandom who thirst after Five Hargreeves…

He’s got a child’s body… regardless of the fact that he speaks like a grown man and has a grown man soul and mind. HE LOOKS LIKE A CHILD.

He shouldn’t have any romantic ties, either way.

People writing fics, there’s no way to do that. If he’s paired with a child too, then it’s wrong because inside, he is not a child. If he’s paired with a woman, then it’s wrong because why would she want to be romantic with someone who looks like a child and insists on wearing the little Umbrella Academy school boy outfit the whole time?

[kingofscoops]

THE WALKING DEAD (3/?) Glenn & Maggie Rhee • 4.02 Infected

[princesssarisa]

What is your middle name?

The name of one of my parents

The name of a relative or ancestor

The name of a friend of a parent

My mother's maiden name

A religious figure's name

Just a name my parents liked

Other

I don't have a middle name

Voting ended onJul 13

I'm Option #1: My middle name is my mom's name. But I'd like to know if that practice is very common or not.

[happydivorce]

fun moments in s1e4 that i feel normal about 👍

[reborngrace]

angel carrying buffy

[mimi-dracula]

Anya really got the short end of things. She comes in, knows Xander is a cheating piece of shit, and then still ends up with him and is devoted to him…

[icarusofathousanddays]

"Whilst you got everything that you wanted, I got a family who didn't care if I lived or if I died!" — (Kolaus for @philtatosbuck)

[mimi-dracula]

lydia is a pale imitation of cordelia

I've already touched upon this thing before (where I included Caroline in the analysis), but since I'm rewatching BTVS, I figured I'd go into a little more detail.

Upon the rewatch, I realised that the main difference between the two is that while they both dish out slights and insults against everyone around them, Cordelia makes up for it as early as Season 2 because she's an active part of the group and actually throws down for them. She'll whine and complain about the monsters, staying behind school, but she's still pulling up in her car and offering Jenny and Willow a ride, she's out slaying with them when Buffy is gone, she'll stand in front of Buffy whilst she's unconscious and there's a vampire heading to kill her etc.

We also see the cracks in Cordelia's facade pretty early on, when she admits to Buffy that she's lonely. She could be surrounded by people and she's still lonely. We see that her popular group of friends only accept a version of her.

And honestly, Cordelia's bitchiness towards the main group can be forgiven sometimes because Willow and Xander aren't the best people (Xander moreso because Willow only starts to suck post Season 2). They're cheaters, they're hypocrites, they're bad friends sometimes. Her comments towards Buffy are obviously rooted in envy and because it's obvious, I barely bat an eye -- same as Buffy.

Even things like her saying she's good at standardised testing and that she has layers... all of it was implemented with Lydia Martin. And it failed. Badly.

Lydia is praised for her character development all the time and I'm not gonna argue that there wasn't some development, but it doesn't stick out to me majorly because there aren't any concrete moments unlike with Cordelia.

Cordelia has heart to heart's with Buffy. Lydia doesn't really get to have those with any of the girls, especially not Allison, her so-called best friend. The moment where Lydia's jealousy-induced cheater kiss with Scott is exposed to Allison, there could've been a moment where things slow down a little bit and Lydia admits her flaws and that she was jealous. She felt like her boyfriend was all over Allison and he treats her like crap, so she tried to make herself feel better by making out with Scott. But no, there's nothing. So there's no growth there.

Lydia is never, in my opinion, fully part of the group. Not in the way that Cordelia is. It's true that the vibes and the formats of the show are completely different, but it still stands that Lydia spent time with Scott and the others purely in a "saving people capacity". Cordelia went on double dates, she ate lunch with them, she watched Xander when he became part of the swim team etc. Lydia only followed the others in the cross country school bus in Season 3 because Allison was deathly worried about Scott and she was basically dragging Lydia with her. She only ever spends any time with the others because she feels the need to utilise her banshee powers, which is pushed on her by Stiles. In Season 3, we rarely see her unless she's being used for her relationship with Aiden or her abilities.

And even then, she was a reluctant participant.

She's like the groups rent-a-banshee, as opposed to a functioning member of their group who hangs out with them because she likes them as people.

Yes, there is some sense of "trauma bond" between Cordelia and the Scooby gang because she's one of the "outsiders" who was brought into the monsters and the vampires and she wasn't supposed to be, so she might have felt inclined to hang out with them more. But purely evident by her concern for them as people, bitchy comments aside, it's clear she likes them.

Any concern Lydia shows for the group is almost out of a sense of duty. They're a supernatural fighting group, not a real friendship group -- in my opinion, of course. Which is strange because like Cordelia, Lydia wasn't initially part of the supernatural stuff and was brought into it when she was attacked by Peter, so realistically, if the show hadn't isolated her in Season 2, Lydia should've sought out the group for answers and to feel less like a crazy person for what she had experienced.

Later on into Teen Wolf, it's a little more believable for Lydia to be around them in more casual moments, but there's next to no mentions of those moments. She spends time with Kira and Malia when Malia's learning to drive, in Season 5, and that's the only moment I can remember, really.

You could also compare Cordelia and Xander to Lydia and Stiles -- both pairs that should've never happened. And I think that if their fans had got what they wanted and Stydia happened way earlier, it would've ended up like their "counterpart", except worse because Lydia wouldn't have been able to admit that she's dating someone like Stiles. Cordelia had real problems with Xander and the public perception of it, but ultimately, she confronted her friends and told them to deal with it. Then we see her putting pictures of them in her locker. She was the one who got hurt in the end, the one that was cheated on. And I think if Lydia wasn't the one cheating on Stiles for someone she deemed better looking or more apt to be with her, it would've been Stiles cheating on her with someone who is easier to be with and who actually appreciates him.

Where they could've hypothetically developed a real foundation with Stiles and Lydia, somehow, and made it slightly more likeable and well-done, the writers just chose not to.

I'm not a Cordelia and Xander shipper necessarily, but I didn't despise them. She was the only person who seemed to tolerate him. He was the only person who seemed to tolerate her. It kinda worked. Even though it was toxic and worthy of eyerolls, it was a lot better than what Stiles and Lydia got.

[mimi-dracula]

The moral superiority bullshit that everyone pulls on Buffy when it comes to Angel boils my blood. I'm obviously talking about "Revelations".

She’s gone through things none of them can even imagine going through and they still have the audacity to question her ability to prioritise and look out for herself and everyone around her.

She killed Angel even when he got his soul back, to close the portal, for the greater good, for fuck’s sake.

They have the gall to be shocked and outraged when Buffy turns to Angel and goes to him in secret (now that he's back with a soul) even though they spent an entire episode when she returned to Sunnydale ignoring her, being off with her, and then finally, ganged up on her with her own mother, about leaving in the first place. Like, of course she's going to seek time and comfort from Angel's presence because she literally has no one else. Genuinely. They all act like they understand her and that they get the weight on her shoulders, but time and time again, they prove that they don't.

Xander especially -- if I could choke out any character in anything, he would be my first choice. It's the second time he's used Jenny's death as an excuse for his hatred of Angel. Giles has every right to use that. He has every right to feel a certain type of way about Angel and I understood in "Revelations" why he was hurt and scolded Buffy for seeing Angel. But with Xander, it's jealousy, it's possessiveness, it's "nice guy" bitterness. Luckily, Buffy called it out in the moment. But what also pisses me off is the fact that Willow had the balls to admit that she didn't have the right to berate Buffy because she, too, has been keeping secrets and hurting people; cheating on Oz with Xander. Xander, on the other hand, didn't feel the need to admit that little fact.

I'm aware that these stupid fucking "interventions" and gang-up's on Buffy occur throughout the entire show and it's honestly exhausting to even think about.

If Buffy had turned evil, I'd have backed her all the way, to be honest.

So disappointing that Willow can be such a letdown sometimes. As for Xander... he's always been scum.

[mimi-dracula]

Spike is so rapey, it’s insane.

[mimi-dracula]

So, at what point does everyone besides Buffy get a condescending, bitchy intervention?

[mimi-dracula]

Still makes me laugh that Destiel fans RAN with the “I’m your Huckleberry” moment.

They weren’t directly referencing the Huckleberry Finn homoerotic stuff. And Dean wasn’t licking his lips and taking advantage of his “cowboy fantasy and fetish”.

They were referencing Doc Holliday, specifically from the movie Tombstone. Saying “I’m your Huckleberry” in the western era was a way of saying “I’m your man for the job” and Doc says it as a challenge to fight and have a shootout.

Dean wanted Cas to channel Doc Holliday because he was the coolest character in the whole movie. Hands down.

I’ll say it again: just like Sterek, people look for stuff where there is none.

[likeafantasy]

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER      (2x14) ɪɴɴᴏᴄᴇɴᴄᴇ