What if Xander moved in time and was shot instead of Buffy?
ILLYRIAN
As long as Warren shot Tara, I'm happy
What If: Xander was shot?
- Thread starter nightshade
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NotASlayer
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It is possible that Buffy would then have been able to stop Warren before he got any more shots off.
Cohen
Hellhound
I don't see much changing, except for Willow saving Xander instead of Buffy? In my opinion, the "who" of who was shot first (Buffy or Xander) didn't matter, because Warren was so far away that I don't see Buffy stopping Warren before he turned and fired the other rounds. Though, if Xander was hit and Buffy didn't push him down, maybe Warren wouldn't have turned, rattling the shots that hit Tara? Because they would have been directed in the direction of the backyard instead of the second floor window.
So maybe Xander dies, and Anya goes FULL demonic on Warren? She was hurt by Xander, but she clearly still loved him, and to lose him that quick after the wedding fallout could have pushed her over the edge. Then, she may have been set up to be the Big Bad of season 7, seeing Buffy and the other Scoobies as the issues in her relationship with Xander?
That would be a cool storyline and Altfic.
So maybe Xander dies, and Anya goes FULL demonic on Warren? She was hurt by Xander, but she clearly still loved him, and to lose him that quick after the wedding fallout could have pushed her over the edge. Then, she may have been set up to be the Big Bad of season 7, seeing Buffy and the other Scoobies as the issues in her relationship with Xander?
That would be a cool storyline and Altfic.
burrunjor
Imagine being Warren and having the full fury of Willow and a vengeance demon on your head? Normally I like being dominated by female villains but not in that case LOL
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AlphaFoxtrot
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Okay, there's an episode of Yu-Gi-Oh where Dark Yugi wins a penalty game, and in response, sets a character on fire. Pretty dark, right? Well, did Willow do that to Caleb after Xander lost his eye? No? Then it's likely that Willow wouldn't have fallen.
I mean, at the very least, Caleb doesn't get to keep the hand, or in turn, loses an eye.
I mean, at the very least, Caleb doesn't get to keep the hand, or in turn, loses an eye.
silvermoon
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I was reading an interview with Marti Noxon and was surprised to read that apparently (according to this journalist) Xander was supposed to be a representative of the "male gaze".
I wonder what you think about Xander, and whether or not he’s a good guy — another divisive subject on Buffy message boards. To me, he seems like both a perfect distillation of the male gaze — always watching Buffy and judging her — as well as a stand-in for Joss. It feels like that’s how he’s positioned on the show.
That’s what’s interesting, at least for me as a creator: Every character is you, and in some ways, Xander is impotent male anger. He’s not “super,” and everybody else in the show gets powers, right? He stands on the sidelines feeling left out of the revolution. (vulture.com)
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So yeah, that was an interesting hot take. And in some ways it makes sense, so if that's true, he was needed more alive than dead to I guess keep Buffy in check. Looking back on some of the episodes, he does do a fair amount of watching and judging, but to be fair, a lot of it seemed to be about protecting and helping Buffy. Joss Whedon is certainly a controversial figure but I'm feeling it is maybe a bit of a stretch to say he was a stand-in. He paid for his loyalty to the gang in season 7 big-time.
I wonder what you think about Xander, and whether or not he’s a good guy — another divisive subject on Buffy message boards. To me, he seems like both a perfect distillation of the male gaze — always watching Buffy and judging her — as well as a stand-in for Joss. It feels like that’s how he’s positioned on the show.
That’s what’s interesting, at least for me as a creator: Every character is you, and in some ways, Xander is impotent male anger. He’s not “super,” and everybody else in the show gets powers, right? He stands on the sidelines feeling left out of the revolution. (vulture.com)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
So yeah, that was an interesting hot take. And in some ways it makes sense, so if that's true, he was needed more alive than dead to I guess keep Buffy in check. Looking back on some of the episodes, he does do a fair amount of watching and judging, but to be fair, a lot of it seemed to be about protecting and helping Buffy. Joss Whedon is certainly a controversial figure but I'm feeling it is maybe a bit of a stretch to say he was a stand-in. He paid for his loyalty to the gang in season 7 big-time.
ILLYRIAN
Druish Pervonian Wizard
Kendar
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To quote wikipedia (you can never go wrong this way...)
"n feminist theory, the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world in the visual arts and in literature from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer."
In simple terms, it's making sure your female cast members look good (from a sexual perspective) to your straight male viewers.
"n feminist theory, the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world in the visual arts and in literature from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer."
In simple terms, it's making sure your female cast members look good (from a sexual perspective) to your straight male viewers.
silvermoon
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Moptop
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hoponlilmama
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Xander in the place of Buffy - I think people would still care, being he's part of the core four. But the injury would have to be more severe for dramatic impact, like maybe being shot by two bullets.
Xander being shot and killed - that would've been a big shock, considering the series hadn't ended. I think that would send Willow over the edge - and it would be Tara (or Giles) who saves her.
AlphaFoxtrot
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I'll accept criticism about the male gaze as soon as Sarah is allowed to have a healthy weight.
But frankly, Xander dying to save Buffy would be the best death the character could get, better than being "Martel'ed" by Caleb. The series was out of ideas for the character.
But frankly, Xander dying to save Buffy would be the best death the character could get, better than being "Martel'ed" by Caleb. The series was out of ideas for the character.
NotASlayer
𝕮𝖍𝖔𝖈𝖔𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖈𝖊𝖘𝖘 🍫 👸🏻
Noxon had very excellent ideas for S6. The audience just rejected them.
And, as Whedon and Noxon said at the time, it was the audience's fault for not understanding the sublime excellence of the stories they were telling.
Remember, in American English, "Give the audience what they need NOT what they want" actually means: "fxck those people if they don't like the stories I want to tell".
NotASlayer
Although from what I can tell other writers have stated that the season was cobbled together out of rejected scripts with no sense of a plan! :D
@NotASlayer - You are correct - there was a plan. That plan bombed with test audiences so Whedon-Noxon tried other things while sticking to the overall idea of "Life Is The Big Bad" which failed so horribly that they went with Dark Willow.
Yay?
Yay?
NotASlayer
"Life is the big bad," a completely original idea that you would likely find in any miserable teen/young adult/soap drama - I don't know for certain, as I would rather wash my hair than watch them - and so completely unfitting Buffy's premise.
AlphaFoxtrot
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Re: Xander; They were out of ideas for him since Season 4, unless he was intended to be a cautionary tale about why you go to college after highschool.