#buffy bot

[unnaturallybuffbuff]

buffy text posts 🐈‍⬛

[whatshisfaceblogs]

BUFFTOBER DAY 20 - “the Buffy-Bot”

“We’re very pretty!” Xx

[buffysummers]

I’m so thankful that I found the Prophecy Girls Podcast because they articulate so beautifully my feelings and it’s just so cathartic listening to them. I recorded a part of their discussion of “Intervention” about the Buffybot that I’m going to post here if anyone is interested. It’s like 6 minutes but it’s so well said and god… I’m just glad that there’s a Buffy podcast now that doesn’t shy away from the hard topics out of fear of backlash from the fandom.

[spuffyalways94]

[nevergonnabemuchmorethanweather]

Even though her original purpose was repugnant beyond belief, Buffy-bot was adorable (mostly because actual Buffy/Sarah are adorable).

Buffy-bot was definitely amusing and Sarah nailed the performance as always but yeah... her existence was incredibly gross.

[hellyeahbuffysummers]

Tonight on The WB 

[spookyheather]

UHmm so i was complaining about how the final shot of buffy in the intro of seasons six and seven isn’t actually her, it’s buffybot (s6) and then the first evil (s7)

AND THEN my partner pointed out that it hasn’t been her since she died?? absolutely quaking

[ofstormsandwolves]

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, so this is mostly just a load of thoughts written down, but hey...

I know a lot of people aren’t keen on the Buffy Bot because of how it came about, and I totally get that. But part of me wishes we’d got to see a little bit more of the bot in s6. Or at least, I wish we’d got some more information about the Scoobies’ decision to bring the bot back, as well as how much they considered it would impact Willow and Dawn in particular.

Because I feel like that would have been really interesting to explore. I always get the impression that Dawn isn’t thrilled by the bot in Bargaining, and probably finds it a bit creepy as well as annoying. And it’s why the part where she goes to sleep in Buffy’s bed with the bot always gets me- because I kind of feel like she wasn’t really up for having the bot around the house all the time but when she wanted comfort she still sought it out. Like, I feel like Dawn would have preferred to power the bot down at home and only use it for patrol rather than letting it wander around the house. And that’s something that never really got touched on onscreen- we jumped straight to the bot being used for patrol without seeing how the Scoobies came to that decision and who was leading the plan.

And that brings me to Willow. Because Willow’s in charge of the bot, she’s the only one who knows how to wire it or fix it up. Does this mean it was her idea to bring the bot back, or was it a joint decision she went along with? And did anyone stop to consider how Willow being in charge of the bot might affect her? They have essentially put her in charge of a version of her dead best friend that cannot survive without her. The Buffy Bot is programmed to go to Willow when it’s damaged, and that’s probably a large reason why Willow feels so important and confident at the start of season 6. She’s in charge in every way; she leads patrol, she looks after Dawn, she’s in control of their greatest weapon. She’s the new Buffy. 

But beyond that, Willow is given the job of taking out Warren’s programming and reprogramming the bot to be an effective Buffy decoy. Willow, I feel, always looked up to Buffy and was perhaps always a little in awe that Buffy chose to be friends with her. We see in Earshot that she’s worried Buffy wouldn’t want to be friends with her, she lacked the confidence that Buffy would still like her after being able to read her mind. And while season six Willow is much more confident, I think part of that old Willow still remains. And suddenly she’s got the job of reprogramming this bot to be Buffy, convincingly enough to fool anyone- demon or not- who comes across it. But how likely is it that Willow started tweaking the code? How likely is it that she chose to leave out an annoying habit Buffy had that nobody would really miss and so ‘oh I can just skip over that’? Or how likely is it that she instead tweaks Buffy a little to be better in some way? The bot tells Dawn in Bargaining that she loves her because she’s her sister. It could just be the bot reciting facts, or it could be that Willow has actively programmed the bot to tell Dawn more often that she loves her, in a misguided attempt to help Dawn grieve.

I don’t think Willow would have done it to be horrible, though. I think she absolutely would have thought she was doing the right thing. She wouldn’t think much of tweaking the bot, cutting or adding things to make the bot that little bit better, and not realising that she’s actually remaking Buffy to be a perfect version of herself. And I also think that the bot is part of the reason why she’s so baffled that Buffy doesn’t immediately thank her when she’s brought back; because the bot is always grateful to Willow, always understands that it is Willow that allows it to continue to function. And therefore, Willow- perhaps unconsciously- expects the same reaction from real Buffy because she’s become accustomed to having a version of Buffy that is reliant on her.

I’m certainly not saying that this definitely happened, but it would have been interesting to explore this sort of idea, and would have perhaps provided us with a little more insight regarding the Scoobies dealing with Buffy’s death. Particularly in the case of Willow, I feel like the bot started out as a therapeutic thing and quickly spiraled out of her control.