Dazed and Amused

Master J.J.--Queen of Random Questions and Curator of (Mostly) Useless Information A fan, a lover, a writer; intolerably human and fallible. Words are my passion, emotions are my currency- I pluck out my heart and torture sweet music from its strings. Multi-fandom, but mainly Captain Swan. Smut Goddess on CS Discord.

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

Incorrect Societal Assumption (based on watching short dramas): Villains.co and WitlessHenchmen.org are always running a "Hire 2, Get 1 Free" special for sidekicks and teams of experts. They start recruiting in high schools, where antagonists always run in packs of 3's.

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

Incorrect Societal Assumptions (based on watching short dramas): The "loser" spouse is always responsible for the success of any and all business, professional, or vocational ventures.

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

Incorrect Societal Assumption (based on watching short dramas): Security guards will obey any person who talks enough trash loudly enough, so long as they have an invitation.

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

Incorrect Societal Assumption (based on watching short dramas): You can get divorced, and then immediately turn around and get remarried at a Courthouse or City Hall in the space of 20 minutes, but apparently nowhere can you obtain a divorce without the other spouse's signature.

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

Incorrect Societal Assumption (based on watching short dramas): A douchecanoe/cheating husband can always be easily identified by their patterned shirts (most commonly in a satin or silk blend, using an animal or nautical motif).

[exo-raskreia]

[mangio-formaggio]

that's why they called him the champion

[prophecygirly]

remember when spike said to buffy that one day, she‘s going to have a death wish and when that happens he’s going to slip in and “have himself a real good day“? and then buffy comes back from paradise with a death wish and xander says to spike “tell me seeing her alive wasn’t the best moment of your existence“?

just thinking about that.

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

(Hopefully) Incorrect Societal Assumptions (based on watching short dramas): NEVER accept a glass of something to drink from an enemy or your mother... these are the people most likely to drug you.

[victorfreakenste1n]

Buffy’s reactions when she’s done sleeping with Spike are so funny to me. Because I understand why she reacts the way she does (both from her perspective and the writers’ perspective) but she’s like. Oh no! I can’t believe I tripped and fell NAKED into bed with my mortal enemy! AGAIN! This can’t keep happening!

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

Incorrect Societal Assumption (based on watching short dramas): Throw any adult male actor into a school uniform and a backwards baseball cap, and voila!- instant teenager!!

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

Incorrect Societal Assumption (based on watching short dramas): The faintest bit of gray hair--especially a singular curly lock that falls over the hero's forehead--makes a guy "look old".

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

(Hopefully) Incorrect Societal Assumptions (based on watching short dramas): The number 3 is Cursed®️ when it comes to marriage... basically, don't celebrate your 3rd anniversary AT ALL, because that's exactly when any cheating gets revealed.

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

(Sadly) Correct Societal Assumption (based on watching short dramas): Women and girls are either virgins or sluts, and both states of being are seen as shameful.

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

(Sadly) Correct Societal Assumption (based on watching short dramas): Date rape of a man happens with a higher frequency than we would like to believe, and it's never addressed by either society or the victim as a major issue.

[spuffyologies]

rewatching buffy the vampire slayer made me realize that spike wasn't as much of an anomaly as i thought.

the judge tells drusilla, spike and that random scholar vampire that they all reek of humanity so it tells us that monsters can be human too. i feel like a lot of fans just go with what the council says about demons, without realizing that it's straight up propaganda to keep slayers in check.

we see harmony barely change once she's turned. darla seemed to have genuine love for angelus, as twisted as it was. we meet a vampire who's basically buffy's therapist for an entire episode. spike doesn't just feel love, he has empathy, especially for buffy and dawn. we meet two brothers who still care about each other despite the soullessness.

but the council has to make that shortcut and tell those girls that all vampires are pure evil. if they're not, then slayers are hunting people. if the council acknowledges that, then their soldiers have to bear the moral weight of being executioners. it's a necessary lie for the cause.

it's very interesting that a lot of viewers actually fall into the trap and think spike broke the lore when he IS the lore. simplifying it takes away a lot of what makes slaying an interesting moral dilemma and does a disservice to the show imo.

i think a lot of this boils down to a general confusion about what soullessness actually means. for some fans, it appears that soullessness implies a total absence of emotions when it's actually more complicated than that.

the soul gives a vampire objective morality. it doesn't make them good: it only gives them the ability to feel the weight of their choices based on a universal moral compass. but a lack of soul doesn't mean that one can't accomplish things that are deemed "good" for personal reasons.

subjective morality is still possible since they CAN have humanity. spike can do objectively good things despite the lack of soul (protecting dawn from glory, helping buffy save the world in becoming pt2, etc.), because he's got a whole lot of humanity.

his personal moral compass (which points a lot towards buffy) and desires can align with what is objectively moral. for spike to get his soul back, he NEEDS to have a pre-existing sense of morality, as primitive as it was. it wouldn't make any sense if he didn't. he didn't have the hardware necessary for a conscience but his own humanity prompted him to change, to make sense of his own self and reconcile his feelings (guilt, love, devotion) with an objective moral framework.

but angelus can't because he is the exception to the rule. while spike is unique in how heightened his humanity and sensitivity are, angelus IS a self-serving monster stripped of any sense of humanity. he can't be morally grey: there's nothing in him that isn't demonic. he's a purely evil shell of liam the man. he's the prototype of what the council uses to keep the girls in line but not the norm.

saying that spike is the exception also makes no sense in the grand scheme of things: in s6, we're introduced to the trio, all very souled and all very evil. the show makes a point to tell you that you need both your humanity AND soul to be complete. a soul can't save a rotten human like warren. a soul isn't enough for real change and true integration of the selves: liam's humanity was never strong enough so angel always carries his soul like a burden.

humanity is the heart of a person and the soul only serves as a magnifier.

[wordsmith-storyweaver]

All of this!

If BtVS is also seen as an analogy for how high school (and then college, and then life/adulthood) IS Hell, then by extension everyone has the potential to be human and demon, souled and soulless. Liam was an objectively terrible human, so he was a uniquely unhinged, objectively evil vampire; William might have been an awful poet, but he felt and loved wholly and deeply, so his vampire self feels and loves just as deeply but is not constrained by conventional, social strictures. The demonic, generally speaking, shows the audience that chaotic good/lawful chaotic is not just an acceptable alignment- it's actually the norm for the greatest number of people; true villains and true heroes are rare, and should be because of their very imbalance.

Buffy herself still lives not because she's a pure heroine, but in large part because of the self-interested actions of Angel, Xander, and Willow. She dies when she is being her most Heroic, serving her purpose as Slayer and mother-figure and archetypal Savior; she's resuscitated and resurrected because others cannot live without her. This does not mean that Buffy herself is always a perfectly aligned lawful good, which is probably why she survives into adulthood.

The Council also has dirty hands from the perspective that they NEED their Slayers to be young girls. First, the original Council created the Slayer by themselves harnessing demonic energy and binding it to an unwilling girl- all objectively evil things, yet with the stated purpose of creating a protector and champion of humanity. This is a furtherance of the theme that weaves throughout the series, that light and darkness cannot exist without each other; they are tied together by their absence/presence, because one does not exist without the other. So too, Good (as defined by the presence of both Humanity and Soul) has no true meaning without Evil (presence of the Demonic and absence of Soul); The Powers That Be typify this in the Angel series also highlight this, in that their power simply IS- it can serve both Good and Evil, and it's very neutrality is problematic.

Further, the Council needs young girls specifically because of their heightened emotional state. I've heard it said that teenagers are so volatile, so easily to manipulate and so dramatic because they are literally experiencing everything for the first time- all of their previous knowledge and experience has effectively been erased by the hormonal fluctuations of puberty, which itself sharpens the physiological and psychological effects of the emotions. And girls typically undergo more drastic changes, so their sensitivity makes them further malleable; add to this that women and girls are socialized to self-sacrificial behavior via the myths of the Mother (Joyce picking up her life and moving to accommodate Buffy's needs is typical of this), and it makes perfect sense to use a teenaged girl as the ultimate, perpetual sacrificial Protector. (That the Sunnydale seniors nominate Buffy as their Class Protector, giving her an umbrella- both Shield and Shelter images, but also connected to female connotations of magic and whimsy via cultural icons such as Mary Poppins- as her symbol, feeds this idea and also reinforces her internalized role as Savior.)

Lastly, the willingness of the potential Slayers to take on their mantle effectively ensures that they will all die young, not least because the Council actively monitors all potentials. Keep in mind also that, according to Kendra, Buffy and Faith are not the norm for potential Slayers; Faith gets lost in the foster system and Buffy has a more devoted mother than most (Joyce is far from the perfect mom, but she's also not a pushover when it comes to protecting her daughter- Spike, meet Axe). The typical Potential is also found early by the Council and effectively raised by their Watchers, each of them rarely reaching the stage where the Council has to test the Warchers' loyalty and devotion to the cause. This allows them to closely monitor and correct any aberrant behaviors and thoughts before they can become dissent or rebellion. Faith survives to adulthood almost by default, and Buffy only because of the intervention of others; neither SHOULD have lived long enough to have become adults (and thus matured and experienced enough to see through some of the propaganda, as well as self-interested enough to want to keep living).

[helenvaughans]