The "Empty Places" Revolt

[white avenger]

This isn't a discussion about the wrong or right of what happened here. Mistakes were made by all concerned. Instead, I want to ask which side of the argument, and why, the following characters would have been on if they had been there at the time. These characters, specifically: Buffy's three boyfriends, Angel, Riley, and Spike.

As for myself,

Spike..would have backed Buffy, 100%, no questions, no hesitation, no regrets. And he would have been very vocal, as well as physical, about it. (Okay, that one's a given, because that's exactly what he did when he did get the chance)

Riley...I think that he would have supported Buffy, but he would have also taken her aside to discuss and advise her on strategy before the entire thing got out of hand.

Angel...is the difficult one to predict, mainly because by then he was used to giving the orders himself, not following others. He would have been quite capable of opposing her decision "for her own good," and coming up with his own plan. I don't think, however, that he would have allowed the others to throw Buffy out of her own home.

 

[sosa lola]

Spike: Buffy said he was the only one she trusted, why would he not side with her? Though Spike was against Buffy's plan in Dirty Girls along with all the characters, so I can see him being against her plan again, but he'd follow Buffy out of the house in the end.

Riley: He'll try to reason with Buffy, tries to get others to relax, but I see him siding with the others, though he'll be gentler with Buffy.

Angel: I can see him looking at the situation objectively, but he won't approve of Buffy leaving.

 

[Icarium]

Riley (points his gun at Faith and Andrew): Shouldn't you two be in jail? I called the police, they have come to gather you. Now, Buffy, you seem tired, why don't you leave my wife to take over? We know she is much more capable than you so go take a nap or something, when we kill the First Evil we will wake you up.

Okay, I am kidding and I actually like Riley but this probably would have made as much sense as what I actually happpened.

Angel: Only Spike is watching your back? Are you insane? Here, I have a trinket that might help but I won't tell you where I got it from.

 

[Black Eye Guy]

Yep Spike would have backed Buffy, because he knows it would win him points and he wouldn't do something for the greater good if he could win points with Buffy. He would eventually been all "Come on Buffy, lets leave, we can defeat the First together, all we need is eachother" (he would then Slip on Willows vomit, as Spike would have been so sickening)

Riley would have tried to diffuse the situation, but I think would have failed.

Angel if we're talking about the Angel in the same timeline (not one that stayed in Sunnydale) I think would have sided with the Scoobies, I don't think he would have let her be kicked out, I could see him turning it back on them when it got to that point, but then Buffy would have left anyway.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

I believe Riley would have sided with the group. He was never one for individuality. His soldier mentality would have made it difficult for him to speak against the entire group.

As for Angel, who knows? He's so unpredictable. I could see him being very quiet during the confrontation, and then following her. I imagine she'd be more angry at him for not standing up for her publicly in front of the group - even though he'd undoubtably support her in private.

 

[frankie]

Spike would have been on Buffy's side. I think Riley would have been too. The phrase that Spike and Riley share in regards to Buffy " you're a hell of a woman " I think that says a lot. There's love and devotion from Spike and I think there's respect and admiration from Riley. Even in season 6 when he seen how far Buffy had fell, he still saw her for who she was. Angel I think would have sided with the group, for him it would have been about the mission, love would have come second. The first needed to be stopped, there was a team available to do that and Buffy was putting them at risk. I think his love would have been obvious but more so in a sympathetic way, he would have worried that Buffy was dealing with too much, was tired and needed to take a break from it all.

 

[caitaintdead]

Spike Definitely wouldn't have allowed Buffy to be thrown out - more likey he would have incited a physical argument after giving a similar speech to what he gave when he found out Buffy had been kicked out. After a nice physical argument between Spike, Faith and Wood, Willow would have used magic to split them up. The scoobies, or perhaps just Faith, Buffy and Giles would have gone somewhere private to have the discussion. In my opinion the revolt against Buffy wouldn't have been anywhere near as bad if it had have been done in private.

Riley I can see him backing Buffy. He is a soldier after all and understands that sometimes people need to be sacrificed for the greater good. I can see him being the type that would have encouraged a private conversation between the scoobs. Knowing Rileys behaviour in the past though I can see him saying something along the lines of "Why didn't you discuss this with me/the gang first. I'm the soldier. I know what the score is with this kind of thing"

Angel Difficult to predict. I can see him siding with Giles on this one. I find it hard to imagine him siding with Buffy and Spike. Especially when they're so couply. He would feel left out and jealous. But at the end of the day it would be about saving souls. Including potentials.

I know we're going for a Buffy boyfriend theme here... But thought it may be interesting to look a step further...

Wesley Would back Buffy all the way. He is ALL about the greater good no matter who it means sacrificing. Having said that I believe that if he was around in Buffy Season 7 he would have researched and researched, and possibly found some more solutions. Ultimately though, I think Wesley, especially at the time, would have been happy to risk the consequences to try and achieve something.

Lorne "Buttercup, I think we all need to take some time to think about it. Lets all have a siesta and reconsider in an hour"

TaraWould have calmed the situation down and unlike Kennedy, would NOT have encouraged Willow to question Buffy. I can't see the situation unfolding quite the same with someone like Tara, or possibly Fred in the mix. Willow used to be a calming effect on the team, but by Season 7, she wasn't. That role was taken by Tara in Buffy, and Fred in Angel.

 

[Kana]

Spike

I think this one doesn't even need to be explained. Spike's loyalty is virtually unrivalled. Nuff said really.

Riley

Let us not forget in Superstar, Riley was the first one to back up Buffy without any proof, this gets overlooked a lot. I agree he wouldn't be as vocal as Spike but he'd definitely support our girl

Angel

He's a difficult one because, he's certainly more objective than Spike and he has disagreed with Buffy in the past. I think that Angel would look at the situation rather than simply support her blindly. Even if she was thrown out I believe he would have followed her out like Faith did.

Off Cait's post

Wes

I don't think Wes would have supported her. It's not simply about the greater good but going in without enough intelligence. Giles is arguably about the greater good but without enough research, he wasn't willing to risk more casualties. Wes would have been the same. Greater good is fine but uncalculated risks are not Wes' thing.