#thelexicrowd

So the metaphor is growing up and the “canon” lore is vampires are incapable of growing up, right? Not in the physical way, the mental way, the spiritual way. A vampire remains an undeveloped entity in every way. That’s the “canon” lore for vampires.

But then you have a vampire character that is literally written to contradict that lore. Forced to by the network or not, Whedon wrote him like that to begin with. He’s the one that planted the seeds of goodness in Spike in the first place only to stomp all over the flower when it bloomed specifically because it bloomed. It’s petty and just shows how much of a dick he is that he blames everyone else for that regretful decision of making Spike be the outlier in the “canon” lore. Personally I believe Angel is but that’s another topic for another day.

The fact of the matter is that Spike is not like other vampires. ‘Fool For Love’ directly contradicts the “canon” lore point blank by showing us how a human informs a demon and a demon informs a vampire. It IS a development - a cycle. Some random demon has not set up shop in Spike despite William’s soul leaving his body. Spike gets the demons instincts but retains William’s psyche. So if he was just a soulless monster, he wouldn’t immediately feel guilty for his actions the same way Angel wouldn’t as Angelus. He is just evil to be evil. Nothing more, nothing less. But I’m sorry because that’s just not what they show with Spike. They show he is capable of good just as much as evil and they show that it’s through choice rather than through nature. So the question becomes - does Spike CHOOSE to rape/sexually assault Buffy or does the demon in him compel him to as it’s part of his NATURE as a vampire? This is the debate.

My insistent stance is he doesn’t and it doesn’t. He wouldn’t choose to do it and it’s not against his will. It’s a contradiction. Neither argument works. The debate is irrelevant. It’s character assassination.

See this is the problem with the split-divide identity/personality of Angel/Angelus. His CHOICE means nothing because IT’S NOT HIM! It’s a random demon. They don’t do that with any other significant vampire in the show. And so Spike is rendered “faulty” instead of the former. I honestly think it’s insulting. I prefer flawed characters. Not faulty ones. Because faulty ones can’t grow from and through their flaws without an external source.

The concept of this episode really intrigues me but they don’t go far enough with it in my opinion. I’ve expressed my thoughts thoroughly to @Faith Victoria on this. There is such a story there that could have been combined with further Willow-centric scenes coming up to really address issues with Willow’s pathological insecurity. Something I feel that they don’t focus on at all for her character when they should have given it’s the last season and given it’s the main reason why she is the way she is.

There really is one hell of a character arc for Willow with what they set up here and the fears she has that we learn about the last two episodes. But they don’t do anything with it. They just drop it. WHY does Willow subconsciously manifest a “you don’t see me, I don’t see you” spell? What’s the reason for it? You can safely assume it’s guilt and regret but I just don’t feel that that’s enough to answer the question. Magically manifesting something is a willing of a particular goal or effect. Even if only subconsciously. And I feel like the writers didn’t really understand that. They wanted a cool idea for Willow’s return into the Scooby Gang fold but weren’t prepared to deal with the conclusion.

Yes, Willow is a power/energy/life sucker. We’ve known that ever since her Dark Willow arc. Kennedy thought it would be “cool” to see that. Maybe even get her hot. But now she’s tasted Willow’s dark side and she understands that there’s nothing fun about it.

Willow tried to tell her all this before they became a thing but she wasn’t listening. It took Willow having to take from her to understand how dangerous magic can be. Especially dark magic.

Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one that truly understands this “magic is a drug” metaphor given there is such a controversial take on it by the majority of the fandom.

People need to understand that it’s actually not about the magic. That’s just the tool. The addiction is on the power Willow can accumulate through using magic. But the reason why it’s magic specifically that is the substance she’s addicted to is because that is what Willow is best at. That’s her most useful and valuable skill and Willow wants to feel that use and value as much as she can.

It makes sense because when people use drugs and go through substance abuse, it’s not actually the substance that they’re addicted to, it’s all about what they can avoid or escape from in using that substance. Emotions, anxieties - all kinds of internal struggles. What’s poorly communicated about Willow’s addiction arc is that she’s using the power of magic to offset her insecurities. Using them as an emotional crutch. And internal struggles can manifest into external ones when you’re that deep into it. So I don’t think it’s for shits and giggles that they turn the metaphor to literal. It’s not supposed to be in your face or on the nose. It’s supposed to be making it apparent that Willow is so in deep with it that it’s become an external problem.

I don’t know. It makes complete sense to me. I’ll admit it’s not written as well as it could be. But then I also think and believe that the intention is for it not to be because the arc isn’t playing out from the inside-looking out. We’re not following Willow’s arc this season through Willow’s eyes. But we are following Buffy’s arc this season through Buffy’s eyes. I genuinely feel that the point is for it to be mixed signal-ly because people that are not familiar with addiction don’t actually understand it - what it is, what it can lead to, how destructive it can be, the working relationships that can be destroyed from it.

No, I think the artistic intention is for us to be confused and even frustrated by the writing of it because then that means WE can learn something from it along with the characters.

Power corruption and addiction and then a further theme down the line puts it all into perspective. It’s not two completely different and random things going on with Willow. It does make sense. You just got to think about it deeper to understand the intention behind it.

Look - I’ve said this before

Metaphors can have multiple meanings or representations that work together to progress the narrative or develop a character’s arc.

Yes, magic is a metaphor for sex in Season 4.

Yes, magic is a metaphor for drugs in Season 6.

Yes, magic is used as a date-rape drug specifically for sex. It makes sense. Just think about it deeper.

In an upcoming episode they literally do the same thing with technology. Use it as a way to rape/sexual assault. I’m starting to think that what people really have an issue with is that the sex as magic metaphor was portrayed as something sweet and romantic and cute but the drugs as magic metaphor is portrayed as abusive and manipulative and horrific. What they have a problem with is the tonal change, not the metaphors being changed.

But there was nothing sweet or romantic or cute about THAT scene. It’s framed that way because Whedon didn’t understand the implications behind it. That Tara being literally under a spell that would negate her consent to have sex means that Willow took sexual advantage of Tara because she knew and didn’t care about being physically intimate with Tara all the while she was unable to truly consent.

There’s no mixed metaphor really. What’s actually happened is the metaphor has evolved into something negative because the character the metaphor is used with has and people don’t like it.

Lexi. I totally understand how you feel. To me also the way they go about Tara’s death is all wrong. I really think that they should have gone about it in a different way. I actually would have much preferred it if Tara had died in ‘Tabula Rasa’ instead of ‘Seeing Red’. Yeah, she’d have a significantly shorter appearance in the show but least her arc into becoming autonomous wouldn’t have been undermined.

I feel like Tara dying while she had no idea who she was would have been quite poetic for her and I feel like this was the way Whedon originally wanted to kill her off in Season 6. I don’t think she was ever supposed to make it passed the break-up stage of her and Willow’s relationship. I don’t think Willow and Tara breaking up and then getting back together a few episodes later was ever really the plan for Tara’s character arc. Just for Willow’s arc.

The problem with creating this autonomous character arc for her and then killing her off in this way is that they’ve started something they never really intended to conclude. Giving us something substantial just to take it away. And this is much of the problem I have with Season 7 as well. Where they set up and build significant character theme and narrative structure only to just neglect it or even dump it in the end. Putting off addressing and dealing with it properly for as long as they can before deciding discarding it completely is what they should have done all along. Tara should have died when Whedon initially wanted her to die. He should have never listened to the fans because instead what has happened by doing so is he has insulted them by starting to build something with her character that he never really meant to finish off because her death was always what was going to happen in her arc anyway. And what little character development she had in the season was now just completely pointless because they don’t do anything substantial with it. All they did with it was show us that the character refuses to be mistreated any longer but when push comes to shove, their feelings of loneliness and emptiness are stronger and because the character is more about forgive and forget, they just let that happen without reason. They should have never written that storyline for her if all they were going to do with it was just undermine it. Make it feel as if it’s not as important as they originally made it out to be.

And people keep saying that that’s the point of her death happening when and where and why it did. The whole point is for her death to hit so harshly and so suddenly. But all it does for me is just lands hollow because the character themselves has nothing really to do with it. So it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to killing her character off like that in my opinion. The reason why Tara died should have been because of Willow abusing magic and her through it. That would have sent her on an even worse destructive spiral than she went on during those last 3 episodes, culminating in the finale hitting even harder. Much like with Season 4, the Big Bad came in too late and therefore there wasn’t much you could do with them. The only reason why it still works is because we already know who Willow is. We have known for the whole show. And they play that card. The “I can’t believe this is Willow. This is not the Willow I know.” When actually, yes, we have always known that Willow. We’ve just never had a proper exploration of that side of her character before. The Dark Willow arc is that exploration. But I say that the arc is not long enough for it to be really impactful and for Tara’s character to be more than a plot device in it. Yeah, her death is the catalyst for it to happen in the first place. But it always would be no matter when or where or why. So long as it was her that died, Dark Willow would have always emerged from the shadows. I believe that Whedon made the wrong call with it and should have just stuck to his plans from the get go. Should have killed Tara off earlier in the season so that the purpose of her death had to do with her arc too and so the Dark Willow arc could have lasted longer. Tara should have never died from a gun shot. One that she had no awareness was ever coming her way. Nor one that was accidental. I think the unfairness of it all would have hit just as well had her death been purposeful to Tara’s character as well as to Willows. They’ve already told the story of an unpredictable death before and it hit hard enough then and there. They did not need to repeat that same story with Tara. With a Scooby. Who meant more than a plot device. That’s what really grinds my gears about Tara’s death. It’s not that it’s her death. It’s that it is HER death.

It’s not her death that matters. She would have died anyway. It’s the character that does. Does that make any sense? It’s that her death doesn’t feel purposeful to HER as a character. Only Willow’s character. And the reason why it lands so hollow for me with it happening after the breaking up and making up is because they built the whole arc for her character to leave and then come back of her own volition. So her agency is made out to be all important and then it’s not. So they built all of that just to take it all away. It hurts. But it doesn’t hurt in the way it’s meant to. It’s a dull ache. It’s an empty ache. It’s an unsatisfied ache. You don’t feel upset about her death. You just feel angry. I know that’s the point of it. But the point is pointless if there’s no meaning to her death other than “Oops”. Because SHE deserves much much more than that. If all you can feel is anger about it, then there’s no catharsis. There’s no hurt that makes you cry. Makes you grieve. Makes you release. There’s only an ache. And the ache never goes away.

It’s not demonic possession or incarceration. I originally thought Dark Willow was a vengeance demon but just not one under D’Hoffryn’s control. With all the hints about it I thought that’s what they were going to do with her dark phase. But nah. It’s ‘Just Willow’ as Xander said with the themes of power corruption, addiction, vengeance, rage and hatred all rolled into one. Willow is more animal than monster. Capable of being redeemed as Giles said.

There’s lots of people that feel it went too far with the addiction storyline and feel that Willow is OOC for it but for me it made perfect sense and I’m glad they went there because internal problems can and do manifest externally when they’re that that concealed. Emotional addiction can turn into physical addiction. The metaphor can become literal. For me it was a very brave choice to go there. And you really gotta love the way Willow’s magic-addicted mind works. Her way of “fixing” the destructive and violating shit she does is to do something even more destructive and violating.

I mean observe the last three episodes: ‘All The Way’, ‘Once More, With Feeling’ and ‘Tabula Rasa’ for example:

Willow has constant fights with her girlfriend about her abuse of magic. Her way of “fixing” their relationship breaking down because of their constant fighting is to erase her girlfriend’s memories of their fighting about her abuse of magic with magic and then have sex with her while she can’t remember the memories about the recent fight they had that would immediately negate her consent to have sex or any physical intimacy with her at all. Then when that whole incident gets involuntarily exposed, Willow then decides it’s a good idea to erase Tara’s memories about that whole incident and now Tara can’t even remember who the fuck she even is at all. I don’t know about you guys but I would say that’s grounds for a restraining order, never mind just a break up. I mean fuck me, if she carried on any further with that mindset of “magic will fix everything” she’ll probably end up killing the woman out of just being incredibly reckless and careless with her.

Oh, Willow…

Like sweetie, this method to sweep your addiction under the rug never worked the first time. What makes you think it’ll work this time? Keep crossing this never-ending dangerous road and you’ll get either yourself or someone else seriously fucking hurt. Honestly, every time something difficult or traumatic happens to you or even just something you don’t like, you pull out those magic books. Magic is not gonna fix yours or anyone else’s overwhelmingly hard life darling. It’s gonna be the reason why somebody you love and that loves you loses theirs! Likely your girlfriend. You know the woman you claim to love and care for but can’t seem to stop abusing. She’s literally begging you to sort your extremely toxic shit out or she’ll leave you! I mean she really kinda has to considering you doing the insane immoral shit you’re doing with your beloved magic puts her life in danger! And yours! And everyone’s else’s! Girl, stop or you’re gonna end up the thing you desperately do not want to be. Alone and uncared about! You’re gonna end up wrecking your love life, your friendships and your mental health in one fell swoop m’dear. You really need to quit now ‘cause this addiction is going to ruin your life.