Scottish castle, 500 girls, 1 man, Can you say duh?

[Forgotten Conscience]

Okay so, I've been really thinking about this whole situation lately. What happened in the latest comic, the implications and reactions of fans, and to be completely honest on one level I have a problem with it.

Satsu is a young, impressionable girl who put her trust in Buffy to make the adult, morally justifiable decisions that is best for her and all the other girls. Yes, Satsu is mature for her age and she went into what happened between them with her eyes relatively open about how far it probably wouldn't go, but that doesn't negate Buffy's responsibility towards Satsu and the questionable decision she made by letting it become physical.

Buffy may have done the right thing by talking about the kiss with Satsu and explaining to her the reality of what's going on (or not going on) between them, but she still ended up sleeping with Satsu. Yes, she did talk about it with Satsu afterwards and make sure that they were both still on the same page about everything, and for the most part they were. But again, that doesn't remove the morally irresponsible decision that Buffy made by sleeping with her.

This is exactly the problem that Twilight has with Buffy and the slayers. They have too much power and none of them is using it responsibly. Not even Buffy who has the experience of seven years with her powers and her age. To err is human, and so I understand that people don't always make the right decisions that they probably should and I don't believe in "crucifying" people who make those types of mistakes so I'm not going to the way Twilight wants to with Buffy. I make the co-relation between Buffy and the kind of story Spiderman tells, and I don't have a problem with any of the decisions Spiderman makes no matter what the consequences, and I won't for Buffy either.

But if you take away the lesbian aspect and how hot it is to see Buffy in bed with another woman, and think about the situation with your head, then maybe Twilight isn't the evil, bad guy some people might want him to be. One of the recent issues mentioned how the apocalyse happens because the world is trying to change, and saving it means protecting the status-quo, then maybe this apocalypse actually being apocalyptic isn't such a bad thing?

Still, when it all comes down to it with me and the whole "lesbian issue" that so many people seem to be making the recent events in the comic about, I always come back to one inescapable truth which is summed up in the title of this post. Buffy is living in a Scottish castle completely cut off from the rest of the world, with 500 women, 1 man who she doesn't think of in a sexual way, and along comes a girl who actually loves Buffy and cares about her. What did you think was going to happen?

[Barnabas]

Just one minor correction to that: I think it's only 100 girls in the castle, not 500 (that was just a mistake by Scott Allie in the post he made about the Buffy/Satsu thing). Pretty sure it's 500 around the world working with Buffy, in 10 separate squads, with 100 of those being based at the castle in Scotland. Which actually kinda seems like overkill, when you think about it. Wouldn't it be better to break them up into squads of 10 or 15 and have them based many more places around the world? But that's getting off-topic...

Anyway, I agree with most of what you said, but it does seem like people are coming down a little too hard on Buffy, and letting Satsu off the hook with this whole thing. Satsu's probably 19 or 20 (not some 16- or 17-year-old kid), and she says both before and after that she's knows Buffy's not gay, so she clearly didn't go into this with her eyes closed. Joss has said that they're both going to be worrying now that they used the other for selfish reasons, and I think there's a lot to that. Hey, like probably everybody else here, I loved it, but when you really stop and analyze it, it wasn't exactly the greatest decision by either of them. I don't think either one is deserving of any more blame than the other one gets.

And as for 100 girls, 1 guy in the middle of nowhere... do we really believe Buffy/Satsu is a wholly unique situation within the castle walls? I'm guessing it might've happened once or twice in some of the other slayers' rooms, too...

[Forgotten Conscience]

You're right that people are probably being too harsh on Buffy, but they kinda have a right to be. Satsu may be mature enough to recognize the problem before, after and possibly (but unlikely) during the event, and will probably have the same general thoughts Buffy will have about whether or not she used Buffy for her own personal reasons or vice versa, but there's one problem with putting blame on Satsu which is probably the reason people don't come down so hard on her and put it more on Buffy.

There's a reason why people say "Love is blind", and it's because it clouds the judgement and makes you make decisions you wouldn't normally make if you weren't in the presence of the "object of your desire". She has that problem, which may in a way be used as a scapegoat for not coming down on Satsu, but it still has to factor in. Buffy, as it has been stated, doesn't have that problem though. She may be lonely and horny, but she's not in love with Satsu, and because of that Buffy has a responsibility to be the bigger person and the adult of the situation by not letting things get as far as they did.

This is not a new problem for Buffy to face though, and it's not the first time she's made a bad decision. She's repeatedly made a decision that's not morally responsible or better for the world. It's a pattern she's gotten into. Doesn't make it right, but at least it's in character.

It's probably not a unique incident that Buffy and Satsu are the only slayers to have gotten it on in that Scottish castle. Heck, it's probably likely that Satsu has gotten it on with one or two of the other slayers. If and when they actually find out, they may be kinda pissed off at Buffy for it. That'd be an interesting dynamic to explore I think.

This post has been edited by Forgotten Conscience on March 14, 2008 09:18 pm

[Barnabas]

All good points.

I'm sure it'll never happen, what with the limited space in the comics and the fact that Joss (and Drew) would probably consider it not essential enough to take time away from other stories, but tho we got to see the 'after' scene, I SO wish we could see the 'before' one, too. Exactly how did they end up in bed together? Seeing that would surely give us a much better idea of what kind of expectations Satsu had, going into it, and how much blame they each deserve...

[Forgotten Conscience]

Well, actually, I think it's possible that some details if not a "re-enactment" of the before scene might be forthcoming. Buffy will almost assuredly be seen having a conversation with Dawn in the next issue if not at some point during the arc, and possibly her other friends like Xander and Willow as well. At some point, one of them will have to ask "How did this happen and why?"

An answer would be almost necessary for the story I think. Joss has said that he will reveal important details about "when, where and how" things happened between Chosen and The Long Way Home only when it's relevant to the story. Surely the same will apply to current happenings that haven't been elaborated on.