frelling_tralk: (Empire Cookie purple by spectral-color)
frelling_tralk ([personal profile] frelling_tralk) wrote2017-01-19 10:37 am

Meme

Give me a character and I'll tell you:



Why I like them

Why I don't

Favourite Season:

Favorite episode:

Favourite Line:

Favorite outfit:

OTP:

Brotp:

Unpopular opinion:

A wish:

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen:

[identity profile] frelling-tralk.livejournal.com 2017-01-19 03:11 pm (UTC)(link)
I like Xander because he's basically a good guy who always does his best to do the right thing

I dislike Xander because of his attitude to the women in his life, he could be very judgemental in a way that he had no right to be, especially considering that he was in his own relationship with a former vengeance demon who had a lot of blood on her hands

Favourite season for Xander would probably be season 7, there wasn't as much of him that year, but it did feel like he had grown up finally and was becoming less judgemental

Favourite Xander-centric episode would be Bewitched Bewildered And Bothered actually, although it doesn't show him in a good light to put it mildly lol, but it's one of the more fun Xander episodes.

I know that Xander has tons of funny quotes, but none are really standing out to me at the moment I'm afraid

Favourite Xander outfit would be the swimming trunks in Go Fish!

I always liked Xander/Cordelia together, I used to find them a lot of fun in season 2 especially

Xander didn't really have many guy friends, so I guess my Brotp for him would be Willow

And unpopular opinion would be that I think that Xander gets a lot of unfair hate in fandom, especially with the younger fans on tumblr. No he wasn't always perfect, and yes he absolutely could be an entitled "nice guy", but all the fans acting like him and Willow are the scum of the earth are a bit much.

I dunno what wish I have for Xander really, it would have been nice if him and Anya could have worked things out towards the end of season 7, but there's not much chance of that now!

I never want to see Xander paired up with either Buffy or Dawn

[identity profile] infinitewhale.livejournal.com 2017-01-19 03:51 pm (UTC)(link)
No he wasn't always perfect, and yes he absolutely could be an entitled "nice guy", but all the fans acting like him and Willow are the scum of the earth are a bit much.

What always gets me is the elaborate back stories people are willing to create for side characters, no matter how bad. Yet Xander is worse.

[identity profile] frelling-tralk.livejournal.com 2017-01-19 04:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Yep, honestly the hate for Xander and Willow has gotten so OT in recent years that it's only made me more sympathetic to them. They're flawed sure, but still essentially well-meaning characters, and it doesn't make sense to me to see them torn apart, while fandom makes every excuse for characters like Spike, Faith, and Cordelia (It's probably a bit unfair to include Cordy in that grouping, but well she was introduced to us as a very elitist bully, and yet today's fandom loves to talk about how she's twice the hero that Xander and Willow ever were)

[identity profile] infinitewhale.livejournal.com 2017-01-19 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)

My frustration with them was always more about what I felt were lapses in the narrative than them as people. In some ways I think the writers were a little unfair that they oft used Xander to kind of gaslight the audience like in Dead Man's Party or Into the Woods. Like Dawn, I get why the dislike is there but it's one thing to dislike a character, it's another to spin every single thing negatively.

fandom loves to talk about how she's twice the hero that Xander and Willow ever were

Pfft, yes. The whole there-should-have-been-a-crossover-so-the-Scoobs-can-be-awed-by-Cordy's-awesomeness thing makes my eyes roll.
hamsterwoman: (Buffy -- Willow is callous and strange)

[personal profile] hamsterwoman 2017-01-20 06:02 am (UTC)(link)
We are largely in agreement on your Xander answers, yay! :D (Except I actually haven't watched season 7 yet, so I can't judge/appreciate s7!Xander)

Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered is probably my favorite Xander ep, too -- I feel like it just showcases both his weaknesses and his strengths as a character -- I like that he screws up big-time for very petty reasons (though I do feel sympathetic at the start), but then does the right thing at the end, when it counts.

Favourite Xander outfit would be the swimming trunks in Go Fish!

I like the way you think! XD

It took a while for Xander/Cordelia to grow on me, but I really liked it by the end, and was sad when it ended. And Xander's BROTP with Willow is my favorite relationship on the show, period.

but all the fans acting like him and Willow are the scum of the earth are a bit much.

I knew Xander was disliked by a lot (sometimes it feels like the majority?) of fans, but Willow? Really? What has Tumblr got against Willow?

[identity profile] frelling-tralk.livejournal.com 2017-01-20 10:29 am (UTC)(link)
Willow doesn't get as much hate as Xander, but there are definitely a sizeable number of fans today who really hate the scoobies, and are always talking about what terrible friends they were to Buffy. In general the side characters like Tara, Anya, Cordelia etc get a lot more fandom love from what I've seen

I always liked Xander's friendship with Willow, it was a shame that it got dropped a bit in the college years in favour of Buffy and Willow's friendship, although they did still get some nice scenes together from time to time.

And I used to be a big shipper of Xander/Cordelia when I was younger, it was a shame how abruptly it all ended, I thought they worked well together. Xander/Anya were fine, but I never felt like they had the same chemistry
hamsterwoman: (Default)

[personal profile] hamsterwoman 2017-01-21 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
I have to admit that they were occasionally terrible friends to Buffy, but I can't hold it against them because I feel like all those moments were pretty clearly there to help generate TOTALLY UNNECESSARY additional Buffy relationship drama -- 'cos it was stuff like riding Buffy about not telling them Angel was back in season 3h, taking Riley's side in season 4 (and I say this as someone who actually really likes Riley, for the record), etc. But those bits always felt out of character to me, so I've mostly ignored them.

I find Xander and Anya cute, too, but agree that he had more chemistry with Cordy. And the immaturity made more sense in a high school relationship, too... (I like Anya as a character, individually, but her relationship with Xander is the least interesting thing about her to me, whereas Xander and Cordy played off each other nicely.

[identity profile] frelling-tralk.livejournal.com 2017-01-21 11:19 am (UTC)(link)
Oh yeah, I don't disagree that they weren't always the best friends, particularly when they gang up against Buffy in Dead Man's Party or in Empty Places, but then at other times they were very supportive towards Buffy and were good friends to her. They weren't always perfect, but they were realistic portrayals of teenage friendships

And Xander/Cordelia felt more equal to me when they sparred, I liked how Cordy would give as good as she got, whereas it grates on on me at times when Xander was constantly correcting Anya and acting embarrassed by her