If Buffy stayed in LA

bespangeled

bespangeled

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or if she decided to leave once again, after the douche-fest in Dead Man's Party, would Faith have been welcomed?

Buffy left Sunnydale for good reason - there's no reason that she couldn't continue her slaying in LA, and every reason why she might not return to a place with such bad memories. Even if she did return, if she had actually left again during Dead Man's party, instead of being caught packing - or even after the Buffy hate-fest pile on - she could have gone anywhere and still slayed demons. After all, her friends and her mother weren't all that interested, and Giles certainly wasn't a major source of support. So Buffy goes off to be the rogue slayer - the one with no watcher.

Faith shows up in Sunnydale in the next episode. How much would that have changed Faith's trajectory. Would all the tales of Buffy have driven her away - or would the acceptance that came from the scoobs actually having a slayer kept Faith from going rogue? If Giles had accepted the responsibility the council gave him when they made him her watcher, instead of really giving her up as a lost cause, would she have settled down or fought back against being controlled?

How much is Faith a rotten apple, and how much was the barrel involved....metaphorically?
 
I think that Faith would have done better myself. A big part of Faith going bad was her thinking she had to live up to Buffy standards.
And if Buffy was gone then once she provide herself I think they would have taken her in .
 
I've often wondered, basically the same thing. If Faith didn't have to be constantly compared to, and felt that she was somehow in competition with, Buffy, would her story have turned out better? Almost certainly, it would have. Even the incident with accidentally killing Finch, if it had still happened, would probably have ended better, since, in my opinion, it was Faith's trying to put the blame on Buffy that kept Giles from giving her the proper support.
 
Giles for one would have paid a lot more attraction to Faith then he did when Buffy was around.
 
If Buffy hadn't been there then Faith wouldn't have stacked him since there wouldn't have been any distractions I think.
 
I don't think the Scoobies would have accepted Buffy leaving so easily. But for argument's sake, let's say Buffy flat out refused returning and stayed in LA with her father.

Giles will be completely depressed and won't function very well until the younger Scoobies decide to do an intervention on him. Willow will be all sweet and understanding, Oz will be silent, Cordelia will crack a few insensitive jokes, then Xander will explode and give it to him like it is: Wake up and smell the blood here, Big Guy, Buffy isn't coming back! So, either pick yourself up and dust off that tweed or do us all a favor and mope somewhere else! Giles just notices the bruises on the kids who have been picking up the slack since Buffy had left. The first time. And decides to stop moping around and be useful.

The Scoobies will keep fighting the fight until Faith shows up. Other than Cordelia who is not impressed with Xander drooling over Faith, everyone seems to like her. Giles will keep unconsciously comparing her to Buffy, but tries so hard to get past this and pay more attention to Faith. He'll probably help her out financially or ask her to move in since he's not distracted with Buffy anymore.

Faith will teach Willow how to be wild 😀 She's more flattered with Xander's drooling than uncomfortable, but knows he's taken, so she won't do anything about it.

Oh, and Angel would be staked the second the Scoobies will realize he's back without Buffy protecting him.
 
thetopher
thetopher
This.
bespangeled
bespangeled
Wake up and smell the blood here, Big Guy, Buffy isn't coming back! :)
Good Summary there. I think that what would happen & I think that Giles would have her move in so as to keep a eye on her .
I like the idea of Faith teaching Willow to be wild & if Buffy not there would Angel even have a reason to come back ?
 
sosa lola said:
Giles will be completely depressed and won't function very well until the younger Scoobies decide to do an intervention on him. Willow will be all sweet and understanding, Oz will be silent, Cordelia will crack a few insensitive jokes, then Xander will explode and give it to him like it is: Wake up and smell the blood here, Big Guy, Buffy isn't coming back! So, either pick yourself up and dust off that tweed or do us all a favor and mope somewhere else! Giles just notices the bruises on the kids who have been picking up the slack since Buffy had left. The first time. And decides to stop moping around and be useful.
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The chances are quite good that Giles would not remain in Sunnydale if Buffy had left permanently. At that time, he was still under the authority of the Watchers' Council, so, with Buffy gone, there would be no reason for him to stay there when his Slayer was elsewhere. He would either follow her to wherever she wound up staying, or been reassigned entirely. Remember, at that time, Faith's Watcher was still alive and taking care of her in Boston, or wherever they were. It wasn't until several weeks later that Kokistos killed her.

In fact, with no Buffy in Sunnydale, there wouldn't even have been any reason for Faith to go there, since she came there in search of Buffy in the first place.
 
S
sosa lola
Good points!
But it still a Hellmouth so I don't see the Watcher Council leaving that alone .. Plus Faith could have been sent there because of that.
That would have started things off totally different I think.
 
bespangeled said:
How much is Faith a rotten apple, and how much was the barrel involved....metaphorically?
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I believe if Buffy had stayed in Los Angeles she could have gone a lot of good, but I don't think it would have affected, in the end, what Faith ended up doing.

I guess it depends on whether you think Faith is just a bad person, or if her behavior is a result of the psychological trauma she has due to seeing her Watcher get killed.
 
Plus we don't know what she went through to get to Sunnydale as well.
 
Its so unfortunate that Faith came to Sunnydale thinking she was meeting a sister slayer in Buffy but ended up just being disappointed and neglected. I would have told Faith to get back on the bus when she stepped off at sunnydale she would have been the chosen one in Cleveland.
 
ChaseRules said:
But it still a Hellmouth so I don't see the Watcher Council leaving that alone .. Plus Faith could have been sent there because of that.
That would have started things off totally different I think.
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As far as we know, no other Slayer has ever been permanently assigned to guard/patrol one specific spot before, and I'm sure that the two hellmouths in Sunnydale and Cleveland aren't the only ones ever discovered. Plus, Faith wasn't sent to Sunnydale, she ran there looking for help, specifically, help from another Slayer, when her Watcher was killed. If we're going to assume that Buffy has been absent from the hellmouth for several weeks, at least, if not several months, we also have to assume that Faith knows that, even if she doesn't know Buffy's exact whereabouts. With no Buffy there, there is no help, therefore, no reason to head for Sunnydale.
 
Just one question . Who would be her Watcher up their in Cleveland.
 
ChaseRules said:
Just one question . Who would be her Watcher up their in Cleveland.
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Assuming that you are referring to Buffy, Giles would probably still be her assigned Watcher, just like he was while she was away between the end of Season 2 and the beginning of Season 3. He might not have a clue where she was, just like he didn't during that time, but he would still be trying to find her.

If you mean Faith, her current Watcher had been killed by Kokistos, so she had no assigned Watcher when we first saw her.
 
white avenger said:
As far as we know, no other Slayer has ever been permanently assigned to guard/patrol one specific spot before, and I'm sure that the two hellmouths in Sunnydale and Cleveland aren't the only ones ever discovered. Plus, Faith wasn't sent to Sunnydale, she ran there looking for help, specifically, help from another Slayer, when her Watcher was killed. If we're going to assume that Buffy has been absent from the hellmouth for several weeks, at least, if not several months, we also have to assume that Faith knows that, even if she doesn't know Buffy's exact whereabouts. With no Buffy there, there is no help, therefore, no reason to head for Sunnydale.
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How would Buffy know Faith is absent? And wouldn't having a watcher be at least as important as having a fellow slayer?
 
mackenzie99 said:
Its so unfortunate that Faith came to Sunnydale thinking she was meeting a sister slayer in Buffy but ended up just being disappointed and neglected. I would have told Faith to get back on the bus when she stepped off at sunnydale she would have been the chosen one in Cleveland.
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It certainly made more sense than keeping her in Sunnydale - particularly since Giles neglected her even after she was assigned to him.

Given what we saw of Wesley in Angel, he might have also grown quickly and adapted, much as Giles did.
 
white avenger said:
The chances are quite good that Giles would not remain in Sunnydale if Buffy had left permanently. At that time, he was still under the authority of the Watchers' Council, so, with Buffy gone, there would be no reason for him to stay there when his Slayer was elsewhere. He would either follow her to wherever she wound up staying, or been reassigned entirely. Remember, at that time, Faith's Watcher was still alive and taking care of her in Boston, or wherever they were. It wasn't until several weeks later that Kokistos killed her.

In fact, with no Buffy in Sunnydale, there wouldn't even have been any reason for Faith to go there, since she came there in search of Buffy in the first place.
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Faith arrived in the episode after I proposed Buffy leaving - and the Council assigned her to him almot immediately.
 
So you saying that Faith would have been sent to Giles as soon as Buffy ran away then ?
Makes sense since they need a Slayer on the Hellmouth .
 
ChaseRules said:
So you saying that Faith would have been sent to Giles as soon as Buffy ran away then ?
Makes sense since they need a Slayer on the Hellmouth .
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Faith wasn't sent - her watcher was killed and she ran to Sunnydale for protection from Kakistos. But once she was in Sunnydale and the council was notified, the assigned Giles as her watcher. It wasn't until Wesley came along that things changed.

Odd really - to assign Giles to be faith's watcher after he had been fired....
 
bespangeled said:
How would Buffy know Faith is absent? And wouldn't having a watcher be at least as important as having a fellow slayer?
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Buffy certainly knew that there must be another Slayer somewhere after Kendra was killed, but I'm sure that she knew neither who nor where she might be located. Faith, on the other hand, obviously knew who Buffy was, and that she was located in Sunnydale with her Watcher. Wouldn't she also know, assuming that Buffy had never returned to Sunnydale, that as well, even if she didn't know where Buffy was at the present time? Also, permanently no Buffy on the hellmouth means no reason for Buffy's Watcher to be there, hence, no reason for Faith to go there in the first place.

bespangeled said:
Faith arrived in the episode after I proposed Buffy leaving - and the Council assigned her to him almost immediately
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The thread title is "If Buffy Had Stayed In LA," so I was assuming that she left at the end of Season 2 and never returned. In that case, I think that Giles would have either found her eventually and they would have finally assumed the traditional Watcher/Slayer partnership, where he provides her living expenses while she does the Slaying, of, being unable to locate her, Giles is reassigned to some more useful post than posing as a high school librarian.

Assuming that Giles never relocated Buffy, and the Council were somehow able to locate Faith, wherever she might have gone (again, assuming that, with no Slayer or Watcher on the hellmouth, she would have no reason to go there), he might, indeed, have been assigned as her new Watcher, but there would have been no real reason for them to return to the hellmouth.
 
Giles didn't leave the whole summer Buffy was gone. Faith ran to Sunnydale the whole Summer Buffy was gone.
I'm assuming Buffy skipped town during dead man's party - and in the series Faith arrived in town within a week of that episode.
 
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