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Date Posted: 21:32:34 02/06/04 Fri
Author: Maye
Author Host/IP: 68.115.39.234
Subject: In honor of Valentine's coming up, and inspired by wwolfe's review...

A romance rehash!

I have this long commute to work everyday, and I keep finding myself putting together reunion shows, movies, and alternate endings for various characters in my head. Is this because I miss Buffy? Well, sure. But mostly it's just because Joss seems to have this thing against any relationships having a happy ending, and it rankles my sense of innate justice....okay, fine, and a girly need to have at least ONE of the romances have a chance at happy ever after! Think about it:

Xander and Cordy: In turns both bitter and sweet, this relationship was just fun to watch. Until it exploded, and left poor Cordy basically superfluous for the end of Season three. Chances for reunion: zero, as our heroine has thrown off the mortal coil.

Xander and Anya: This relationship gave the show it's anchor for awhile, the one couple truly devoted to each other despite all of the craziness both within and surrounding them...until Xander leaves her at the altar. Chances for reunion: zero, see above re: deceased.

Willow and Oz: I loved them. Loved them loved them loved them, always wanted a boyfriend like Oz. The offhand, under the breath comments he'd make ("She's always cute." "I like it when you do that"), the way they just oozed contentment, always gave me a happy. Until Seth Green decided to leave the show for movies. *sigh*. Chances for reunion: Deeply unlikely. Joss threw Willow into the PC shark pool, Lesbian with a capital L. Still, at least Oz isn't dead.

Willow and Tara: A sweet, different relationship that did well on a metaphorical level but started to get grating once the subtext became text. Still, they seemed truly in love...until she gets shot and turns Willow into big bad Evil Willow. Chances for Reunion: Again, reunions in heaven I guess.

Giles and Jenny: Are you starting to get the picture here? A fun, adult relationship, gave Giles something to do besides be the stuffy old guy...oh wait, that's right, she's dead too.

Giles and Olivia: Barely a blip on the radar screen, she was gone about a minute before I could decide if they were a cute couple or not. Chances for reunion: who cares?

Angel and Buffy: Be still my heart. Can't help it, still want the star crossed lovers together. Joss, Sarah, and David did too good a job at setting up that relationship...it's been years, and I'm still pulling for them to work out in the end. Chances for reunion: Getting slimmer by the minute, as SMG is declining any guest shots. I'm still holding out hope, pathetic romantic that I am.

Buffy and Riley: rewatching season 4, I am struck by a few more moments of cuteness than I remember from back in the day. Still, this relationship never tugged my romantic heartstrings. Chances for reunion: He's married. And sadly, the one person who ISN'T dead. Come on Joss, why is it only the gals who die? Couldn't we have seen him nobly sacrificing himself for Buffy, and dying in a horribly brutal way? Huh?

Buffy and Spike: I'm sorry to the shippers, but this relationship just plain weirded me out from beginning to end. I love Spike, and was glad to have him back with the cast. I didn't even mind him pining for Buffy. But it drug our Slayer way, way down deep into the dark, just when I was hoping they'd pull her back up to the light. Not sad to see this one end. Reunion: there's potential. Technically, they did both die twice, and come back, so there is symmetry there.

Cordelia and Doyle: I really would have liked to see this one take off. I think it would have kept Cordy much more likable, and been a geniunely enjoyable addition to the show. Alas for poor Doyle, and alas for his alter ego as well. Reunion: Well, they are both dead. Maybe they'll meet in a big ol' Shaft O' Light?

Cordelia and Angel: Ugh. Gross beyond gross. See wwolfe's brilliant review below for my exact feelings about this relationship. No reunion potential, thank GOD.

Which pretty much leaves us with....Willow and Kennedy.

THIS is the couple who gets to ride off into the sunset? SERIOUSLY??? Of all these romances, the Slayerette Brat is the only romantic lead I'm left with? Tell me I'm not the only one who sees this as an injustice.

So...what reunions do you guys write in your heads? Or am I the only nut with a long commute? :-)

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Replies:

[> Oh, you're gonna love my upcoming Valentine's story -- Kuzibah, 09:37:53 02/07/04 Sat (68.80.18.137)

And I used to have a long commute, and wrote fanfiction during it, so I did think about similar things. I'm not much of a shipper, though.

That being said, it did always bother me that once Willow became Super-Lesbian, able to leap 10,000 years of patriarchy in a single bound, they barely mentioned Oz again, and I always liked that relationship. I liked Oz's quiet devotion, and that he was willing to work on the relationship after the "Lover's Walk" incident (which broke up Xander and Cordy for good). I could have understood if Willow fell in love with Tara afterward, even if she never identified as Lesbian, because Tara was a lot like Oz in many ways. And they missed a chance to make the point that love isn't about what's in your pants, but about the whole person.

Still, for all that TV is starting to bring characters out of the closet, and despite more and more people in real life identifying as bisexual, TV characters still have rigidly defined boundaries and are either gay or straight, or they flirt once with lesbianism (never male homosexuality) then go back to being Straighty McBreederson. That Willow declared herself a lesbian after a well-established relationship with a man was unusual, but she couldn't go back and remain viable, in the conventional TV wisdom, or even be bisexual. A friend on one of my fic-lists recently pointed out that there's been one bisexual character ever on TV, and he was in an ensemble show (Bayliss on "Homocide.")

But then again, ME has always seemed to spend too much time trying to stir up romantic angsty subplots on its shows. Take Buffy. Here's a woman, supposedly a strong, independent, empowered woman, and yet she's always dating someone, getting over a breakup, or targeting the next potential partner. Sometimes, especially during the whole "oh God, my eyes" time when she and Spike had whatever they had, I kept thinking, Please, just let her slay vampires and deal with her home and Dawn and a job and growing up, and let Xander-Anya-Willow-Tara-whoever fulfill the melodrama quotient.


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[> [> Can't wait to read it! -- Maye, 19:21:16 02/08/04 Sun (68.115.39.234)

I need a little nostalgia for Valentine's Day.

And LOL at Willow, Super Lesbian. I think there's probably a parody fic in there somewhere.


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[> You forgot... -- wwolfe, 11:46:06 02/09/04 Mon (161.149.63.106)

...Riley/Forrest.

OK - Riley probably wasn't aware of this, which could be seen as a stumbling block. But it was always screamingly obvious to me that ol' Forrest was head over heels, crazy in love with Riley. That's why he hated Buffy so much: the Green-Eyed Monster. Further proof would be that, in true Joss tradition, Forrest is dade.

My favorite romances were Giles/Jenny, because they were so cute together, plus it was nice to see two grown-ups hook up on the show, and Willow/Oz, for the reasons you mentioned. In fact, the biggest reason I could never, ever buy the whole "gay now" propaganda was that Seth and Alyson had done such a good job of convincing me of the depth and sincerity of Oz and Willow's love for each other. Sadly, though, despite the fact that both characters are still above the sod, given how irritating Willow had become to me by the end of the show, I honestly don't think she deserves Oz now.

Oh - two others that probably should be mentioned: Faith/Wood and Spike/Drusilla. I actually found the nascent Faith/Wood relationship to have the potential to be a healthy one for both - surprising, given Faith's history. For me, this was one of the grace notes of the last episode. As for Spike/Drusilla, it clearly wasn't a healthy relationship for Spike, but it very well may have been the one that most suited his emotional and psychological needs and weaknesses, sad to say.

Three more, now that I think of it: Wesley/Lilah. Again, nice to see two grown-ups - by this time, Lilah was the only grown woman on either show, making any appearance by her a vast relief (especially when compared with that eternally faux-adolescent, Fred). The snottiest, funniest exchange in the show's history could very well be:

LILAH: Don't think about me when I'm gone.

WESLEY: I'm not thinking about you right now.

But - yet again - Lilah has caught the Big Bus, so there won't be anymore of this romance, either.


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[> buffy n spike 4 evr! -- starlite, 03:28:47 02/10/04 Tue (207.10.54.33)

until I gag. spuffy skeeves me to this day.
my all time *favorite* couple was Xander/Cordy. I lived with the vague hope of a reunion for those two way longer than I probably should have. It's a major injustice that Willow and Irritating slayer are the only couple that got to survive, though I had high hopes for Faith and Wood. That sounds dirty. Faith and Wood. Skeeved again.

I would like to see Angel and Buffy together again, though the presence of Spike on the show, and Gellar's seeming complete unwillingness to return, do indicate that this shall never be.


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