#riley finn

[garlicbreadmustdie]

only two posts besides mine that are tagged with #fuck riley finn

lets get those numbers up, ladies

[garlicbreadmustdie]

whats it called when you're like a sadist for only specific people because whatever that is that's what i am for riley finn

angel threw his ass into a shipment container and he fell in a pile of glass AND THEN buffy told him his best friend was kebab'd and now he's fucking dead and i haven't laughed more in weeks

[garlicbreadmustdie]

goodnight everyone except riley finn

[garlicbreadmustdie]

STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME LIKE RILEY FINN I HATE RILEY FINN IM HAPPY HES IN THE FUCKING HOSPITAL WHATEVER

[benvolio-the-dinosaur]

Riley hate AND benvolio from r&j? My two favourite things!!

same!!! i hate that guy so much. omg. also, my shakespeare phase from when i was like 13 will never end

[benvolio-the-dinosaur]

oh my god. i hate riley soo much. just fuck off. why is he STILL here?

[readwritewatchrepeat]

I am a masochist

Warning: fan heartbreak ahead

I have watched (and rewatched) so many Buffy episodes over the years, but one I'd always stayed away from was the Season 5 Riley & Buffy breakup. I had literally never seen it ... on purpose ... until tonight. When I apparently decided to make myself a big ugly crying mess just because. Damn, that brutal! The breakup and how awful Riley was acting (he'd been written OOC the whole season tbh, and this makes it so much worse, a real gut-kicker) was so hard to see. Then at the end we get a quick dash of hope when we see Riley waiting hopefully and looking down the lane, with in-route Buffy running to catch up to him. But he boards the helicopter, and when she arrives, he doesn't hear her shouting his name. My big handsome dummy just leaves! Of course, I knew all this happened thanks to recaps, but seeing is believing. And seeing it was so sad.

Cue the tears.

The pic above of Riley in fetal position (from S4) is so relatable. Too bad there's no one as awesome as Buffy to tuck me in and reassure me that everything will be okay.

Cue the sobs.

Shipping is not rational. I am too old for this shit. I can't explain the way I feel. But it hurts. It just does.

Cut the fetal position.

[readwritewatchrepeat]

Boyfriend #2

Confession. Full stop. Riley Finn, the so-called 'Boyfriend #2', is my guy now and consumes my brain 24/7, but I honestly didn't always like him. In fact, when I was younger, I was against his character. Not because I thought he was "boring" or "toxic", as seems to be the popular complaint, but because I was a major Bangel fan and couldn't stand to see anyone else with Buffy, but Angel, and vice versa. It's why I also resisted supporting the amazing Cangel pairing for so long, because I always thought Angel and Buffy should be endgame, or I would just die.

Well, spoiler alert: I didn't die. The world kept spinning, the grass grew, and the calendar pages flipped more times than I care to admit. My interests shifted; I left the Buffy fandom for a long time and developed new obsessions, while RL drama intruded as well.

Then Covid rolled around, and I started dipping my toes back into the world of Sunnydale bit by bit. And now, here in 2026, in what may be the most personally challenging, upsetting, exhilarating, scary, insane, and hopeful time of my life, I needed an escape, an outlet for my chaotic feelings. Rewatching old BtVs episodes has become both of those things for me. It's been almost like a homecoming.

Sometimes opinions can change over time. Things happen in your life that make you see things differently than you did before. What you thought you could never like before, you can see with new eyes if you have an open mind. In recent years, Cangel became one of my favorite Buffyverse ships (Cordy's unhappy ending still hurts me!), and alternately, I tried watching S4 of BtVs again, and found it just what I need in my life. It's fun and unique and weird and outrageous, and I love that for me because it fits the person I am today, not the one from 15 years ago, or even 3 or 4 years ago.

I'm not going to delve into all the reasons I love Riley (his eyes! omg! it's his eyes! Okay, but I digress!), or how I think he got hung out to dry by the writers, nor am I going to try to convince anyone else to like him. I just want to celebrate him, as every fan should celebrate their faves.

Because there's the other thing that time taught me: love is more powerful than hate, or at least it should be. It's better to share positivity than to entertain negativity. Hating takes far too much energy. It will also give you wrinkles tbh.

Long story short: I believe we should all support our faves far more than we give energy to focusing on what we don't.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have shitty fan art to make. Because that's one thing that will never change: I still can't make art!