Sunnydale Digest

This blog is run by the editors of the Sunnydale Herald Newsletter with the help of lilithhedwig. We use it to collect tumblr links for the newsletter. Check out @sunnydaleherald for (almost) daily Buffyverse links from a variety of sites! To find out more about the purpose of this blog, our link selection criteria and such, see the FAQ of the Herald.

[sunnydale-digest]

Thanks to fancyflautist and nondenomifan - and do you want to volunteer?

Much thanks to fancyflautist who was a longtime Editor but is currently on an extended sabbatical. Thank you for all of your work over the years!

Thanks also to nondenomifan for re-joining us as an Editor since the end of April. She is a previous Editor and is currently posting the Herald on Thursdays. Note that our posted schedule is not up to date right now, as fatalfaeri has been taking a break but returning in June. I will be updating it before June.

To find out more about volunteering, feel free to contact me (burnhername) by commenting on this post. Or you can reach out via email at [email protected]. You can also send sunnydaleherald an ask on tumblr. If you must, you could also contact us via our contact listed in our Dreamwidth profile.

Being a Herald editor means making one newsletter post a week. After some training and a few test posts, it will generally take roughly 2-4 hours (once a week) depending on one's level of perfectionism. If once a week sounds like a bit too much, you could be a floating backup editor, or a tumblr-only volunteer. (Tumblr-only volunteers help by reblogging things on a particular day to the sunnydale-digest. Those reblogs then get included in the Herald.) Reach out if you are interested, and you won't have to commit to anything until you're sure.

Being a part of our team means being a part of a long tradition of supporting the Buffyverse fandom. The Sunnydale Herald is one of the longest running fandom newsletters, publishing on various sites since 2004!

- burnhername

[readwritewatchrepeat]

As You Were

R: You know, there aren't many people I'd ask to risk their life for me, Buffy. It's really good to see you. B: Thanks. R: You're welcome. And, Buffy? Love the hair.

R: Buffy, none of that means anything. It doesn't touch you. You're still the first woman I ever loved and the strongest woman I've ever known. Now, I'm not advertising this to the missis, but you're still quite the hottie.

B: Riley, that night I never got the chance to tell you how sorry I was about what happened between us. R: And you never have to.

R: Wheel never stops turning, Buffy. You're up, you're down. It doesn't change what you are. And you are a hell of a woman.

Just finished rewatching 6x15, and no one will ever convince me that Buffy & Riley didn't love each other. Look at Buffy's face & hear the wonder in her voice when Riley reappeared after over a year, and see the hurt on her face when she realized he had a wife. Or notice that at points Riley almost seemed afraid to look at Buffy, like he was trying to maintain self-control, and listen to how he used her name in like every other sentence, almost like he couldn't believe she was there.

Riley was never "Mr. Wrong". He was just "Mr. Not Right Now".

[mmhhch]

getting caught stealing not only giles's booze but also books

[miss-am-i-normal]

even though the whole s6 buffy being ashamed of her sexuality plotline is extremely misogynistic, i will say that it has brought me a lot of comfort as someone also with depression and guilt surrounding my sexuality

[starryeyesxx]

[ashlingmizuoka]

BUFFY SUMMERS

Buffy the Vampire Slayer | S1 EP03 : Witch

[buffycaps]

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER - 4.14: Goodbye Iowa + bonus

[movietonight]

btvs has such a good ensemble that I keep getting intrigued by all sorts of possible shipping and/or platonic dynamics

[teatimewithgiles]

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer | Dead Man's Party | S3.E2

[rabbitmotifs]

soulless spike who really quite desperately wants to bite and maul buffy but he's supposed to be trying to be a person instead of an animal so every time shes coy and bares her neck you can see how much spike visibly struggles. eyes flashing claws sharpening fangs just shy of slipping out. its a thrill for them both

[galateaunloved]

The horror of s6e1 buffybot... she looks like your last surviving family member who loves you so much she died for you but unlike your sister she never gets mad at you and always says she wants to be around you and love you but she's not her she recharges in your sister's bed and is programmed to make jokes but there's something wrong she's not her she'll never be her its not enough

[clarkgriffon]

BEST OF BTVS: Angel & Buffy — Seasons 4-7

[briley-shipping-week]

Important Rules Addendum - AI Use Policy

Hello all! I hope everyone is having a good time working on their pieces for the event.

Today, I realized that I hadn't outlined our policy on genAI use during the event.

Simply put, we will not be allowing any works created with generative AI.

This is standard for all events run by @otherworldlychemistry (the Buffyverse rarepair group sponsoring this event) and this event is no exception.

FAQ:

What counts as AI generated? Any text, image, video, audio, etc created by an AI model (including but not limited to: ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, Nano Banana, Midjourney, DALL-E, and many others). Brainstorming ideas with AI and/or using AI tools to check grammar/spelling is discouraged though we really can't feasibly stop anyone from doing that.

What if I want to check my grammar with AI or brainstorm with AI? Well, we really can't enforce a rule saying not to do that, but we encourgage you to find a human beta reader or cheerleader! Feel free to send an ask to this blog seeking a beta and maybe someone will want to connect! Or join us on Discord!

How will you enforce this AI policy? We will remove any works from the collection that show obvious signs of AI use (AI watermarks on images, AI prompts left in text, etc).

What if I see another participant using AI? Please reach out to a mod privately (email: [email protected]) with your concerns. Please have evidence; repeated reports with "too many em-dashes" as "proof" may be considered harassment. Publicly accusing others of AI use, especially without hard evidence, may be considered harassment. We get it; we don't like AI either. But we have seen people use false AI accusations as way of censoring content that they don't like, and we do not want to invite that here.

If you have questions about this policy, please contact a mod! We aren't interested in engaging in AI discourse or having our minds changed on this, however, we do want to make sure everyone understands the policy!

[faith-leheinous]

Willow and Xander thinking Buffy might be possessed whereas Giles explains she's likely affected by the fact she died is a good demonstration of the fact that they are teenagers and he an adult who has more experience but also that they are so exposed to the supernatural that to them it is the most obvious solution. Thirdly, it reflects an earlier version of the pedestal Buffy's friends put her own. She can't have trauma or face emotional consequnces, she's the slayer -> it must be a demon.

[whatisyourchildhoodtrauma]

CORDELIA CHASE in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 - 1999) | 57 episodes "I know what you're up to. You think if you get me mad enough, I won't be so scared. And, hey! It's working! Where's a damn weapon?"

[absolutelyspockedtohearthat]

Okay…a continuation from my last Faith and food post.

This is the exchange that happens IMMEDIATELY after Faith’s insists that she doesn’t need real food she can live off of popcorn. Not only is Faith NOT EATING but she’s talking about paying people back for the little she is accepting.

And I feel like this is framed as Faith learning to not take what isn’t hers (food, men, possessions) but that’s NEVER been Faith’s problem.

Faith’s actual problem is the she has frequently run from the consequences of her actions. Which in the context of Buffy, a show which is fundamentally about accepting that everyone is flawed and choosing to be forgiving anyway (and establishing that forgiveness can have its limits and is about the wrong party, which everyone will be at some point in their lives) is a fascinating flaw to give an anti-hero. But offering immediately to pay back whoever’s food she’s taken? That doesn’t feel to me like Faith accepting her impact on other people or accepting consequences.

Because part of the problem for Faith is that of all of the characters in the Buffyverse, she has the smallest (even nonexistent) safety net. The consequences for her are so much more dire as a homeless teen without a community that it makes sense she can’t have the same relationship with learning to accept consequences as the Scoobies.

The way the writers express her relationship with food up to AND including this scene prove that they don’t get that.

It’s especially poignant that this is centered in Wesley, because while no one deserves torture, and there is no excuse for how she treated him, he of all of the characters failed Faith. His arc in the previous episode where he believed she was worthy of saving? She NEVER learns about that. She never gets a model of an apology or of accepting consequences from him.

I’ll never get over Faith.

[slut-jpeg]

I love anya’s monologue in the body but I especially love the scenes before and after where willow is trying to pick out an outfit and can’t decide and then decides on the blue one but can’t find it… and then when willow gets mad at anya which prompts her monologue. it’s incredible autism representation for me. willow is the high masking autistic person who needs to have set rules and follow them. and anya is the autistic person who doesn’t mask as well/much. and willow has a poor reaction to that because she has set such impossible standards for herself and she thinks that because of this every other autistic person needs to follow them. so when she sees anya not understanding social queues and asking socially inappropriate questions she freaks out because she’s not allowed to act that way, but she kind of desperately wishes she could sometimes.