#chloes shitposts

what i love about their relationship (or lack thereof) is that it isn't one of disdain, but it's a little awkward and uncomfortable. let me explain.

now, as we see in the beginning of season two, buffy IS encouraging of giles pursuing jenny. she's not overly excited about it, but she does her best to advise him on how to ask jenny out. at this beginning of the jenny/giles relationship story, she's very much an entity that exists outside of the scoobies and giles' work as a watcher.

while joyce summers is obviously fondly remembered for everything she's done for her daughters and her love for them, the beginning of the series is way more focused on how cut off she is from buffy's life. buffy cannot share really anything with joyce, and hank is uninvolved following the divorce. giles has started to become a paternal figure, and this is emphasized in how he navigates the news that buffy and angel had sex - buffy is distressed that he's disappointed in her actions, and giles only voices his support, which buffy has not received in honesty from a parental figure in a long time.

even though joyce is detached from buffy at this time, jenny is hardly a maternal figure or role model for buffy, despite her involvement with buffy's new father figure. jenny is caught at the crossroads of representing youth, vitality, and newness (her expertise in computers), but she often aligns with adult ideology in the way she treats the scoobies (ex. in 2x14 when she scolds rupert for panicking in front of "the kids," as she refers to them).

where i think she could have been a really interesting conduit for helping giles understand what buffy is going through, and she DEFINITELY could infer that buffy and angel had sex right before he lost his soul, we don't see jenny comforting or supporting buffy in any way. i wish we did, because i think it would have been golden, but it also speaks volumes to me about how jenny and buffy are so detached from each other, too. jenny is probably a little bit afraid of buffy - afraid of how giles prioritizes her, afraid of the power that buffy has.

additionally, buffy doesn't know how to feel about jenny because she's probably like a weird stepmom to buffy. will she distract giles from his responsibility as buffy's watcher? how will she handle magic and demons? buffy appears to be unsure of jenny's authority in various situations, and has very little to connect with jenny over. out of the scoobies, jenny has the best relationship with willow, because they share passions in computer tech and magic; while buffy is more aligned with giles in literature (we learn later how buffy enjoys poetry) and fight strategy. buffy also loves shopping, which the fashion-challenged willow definitely is not passionate about at this time, and jenny, being romani and likely a traveler/nomadic type, is deliberately outfitted to re-wear the same staple pieces in different styles.

when jenny's omission of the truth has been revealed, buffy blames it almost entirely on jenny. which is understandable. but her and jenny have zero closeness, so buffy's anger is easy!!! if her and jenny were tight, this would have been more of an emotional conflict, and buffy probably would NOT have tried to choke jenny out against her desk (this is one of my favorite scenes ever btw it's so crazy). there was always a tension between buffy and jenny, so when this reveal occurs, rage is a no-brainer!!! buffy is ready to say "see!! i was right in not opening up to her!!" and cut jenny out completely, an act in which giles follows suit and buffy does not gaf if it hurts him, too, because her father figure chooses her over his girlfriend.

i would also like to say that i LOVE how jenny does not bow to buffy's power in this scene where buffy confronts her. jenny does not beg for forgiveness or cry or plead, because she's not that girl. she's that bitch. between jenny, buffy, and giles, they ALL have been unwillingly forced into a position to uphold ancient generational powers/responsibilities. and jenny tells buffy as such - and straight-up says she can't fix it. she owns up to her lie, but is brutally honest about her position, and i LOVE THAT-

because jenny still tries to fix it, she understands in this moment how her mission is flawed, and takes agency to restore the relationships that she cares about. and buffy does not truly appreciate jenny until she is gone.

while i obviously bitch on this app every day about how brilliant jenny's character could have been if she'd only been kept in the series long-term, i really mourn the loss of watching a dynamic develop with buffy. in the same way that buffy inevitably accepts tara as family, i believe that she would have done the same with jenny, and that jenny would step into a role of comforting and supporting buffy in situations where giles was not equipped to do so, especially after joyce dies.