Why I think Buffy was right in Sanctuary
slayerwarrior.tumblr.com/post/41438454960
slayerwarrior.tumblr.comPosted Nov 24, 2014, 7:16 PM UTC
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slayerwarrior.tumblr.comYeah, but let's not forget the way she treated Faith initially. This is a girl who clearly has trust issues and is on the run from an uber-vampire. Buffy was standoffish if not outright hostile towards Faith in the beginning. She didn't make her feel welcome. For someone who comes from an abusive background, that would feel like a rejection of the highest manner.
Who did Faith turn to in her dark hour? The Mayor. The only person who took any interest in her well being. If that isn't a cry of desperation, I don't know what is.
Also, here's some shit I wrote before on the matter:
The fact that no one was willing to take responsibility of Faith, who was very much a minor at the time.
I mean, come the fuck on Giles. The girl is underage, has some clear childhood/trust issues, questionable morals, isn't in school, and is living in a goddamned motel room. That shit still gets me all fired up.
What kind of adult let's a 17 year old girl run around with a bottle of JD all "Want. Take. Have." in freaking leather pants?! (Though, I'm kinda glad this happened because leather-clad Eliza gets me all twitterpated)
For the record, I'm not excusing all the pain and heartache that Faith caused. Yep, defo not condoning torture with a Pam-lighter combo here. I just think the odds were stacked against her favor from the get go. It's really no wonder she went off the rails in the first place, is it?
Edit: To be clear guys, I don't blame Buffy or the Scoobies for how Faith turned out. Honestly, I thought they were more patient with her than I would've been. I only wanted to point out different events and dialogue exchanges that pushed Faith towards her downfall. Like I mentioned in my original post, and to agree with u/Proserpina, I do blame the parental figures who were around her at the time. Namely, Giles and Joyce.
25
Yeah, but that was the episode they first met. When I meet a person, I don't immediately know what their issues are. Buffy didn't know Faith had an abusive background, and Faith didn't tell anyone about her watcher's death. So yeah Buffy was a little standoffish, but in the end she did help her with the whole Kakistos situation. Not to mention Buffy was going through her own shit at the time.
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That's because Buffy never asked. She didn't make an effort to learn about Faith's past or what she's been through.
Coming from someone who has experienced abuse as a child, I don't immediately blurt that information out to people I meet. Even some of the people closest to me do not know.
I am not saying Buffy is 100% at fault for Faith's fall from grace. Faith made her bed and she's gotta lie in it. But, Buffy didn't go out of her way to connect with Faith. Faith looked up to Buffy. Wanted to be accepted by her. She took that cold shoulder as the ultimate "fuck you."
EDIT: Really guys? Downvotes on opinions. Again, classy.
4
Well yeah but that was literally the first time they met, it wasn't Buffy's job to find out all of Faith's issues. And yet, Buffy and Giles found out that Faith's watcher had been murdered on their own, and Buffy helped her face her fears.
After that episode, they seemed like pretty good friends for a while. I mean, yeah Buffy wasn't as close to her as she was to Willow or Xander, but they still seemed to hang out and bond over slaying.
I'm not saying Buffy was perfect to Faith. I'm not even in saying she was completely justified in Sanctuary (Buffy gets all pissed at Angel for hitting her even though she just hit him, in a glorious display of double standards) I'm just saying she gets more shit for that episode than she deserves.
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Yes, Buffy helped Faith with Kakistos. And again, as I said before, I'm not implying that the blame is all on Buffy and she's a terrible person.
My point is this: Is it so difficult to see how these chain of events pushed Faith into the darkness? Yeah, she was a hard case. So we're just gonna say "Fuck it, it's too hard to help her. She's on her own." That's not the Scooby way. Did Buffy back down when Wilow went all psycho? NOPE.
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I agree completely about Giles but how did Buffy treat her poorly initially? The OP is showing evidence of how Buffy gave her a lot of support and forgiveness until a certain point when it wasn't worth it any more.
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I don't have any images saved of the exact scenes, but when Faith first arrived... Buffy felt threatened by her in a way. She was nervous about how quickly Xander and Willow took to Faith, and maybe a bit jealous.
I know Buffy was all immersed in her Angel shit at the time, but she didn't go out of her way to make Faith feel welcome. Hello, Joyce and Buffy had a spare room at the time. Why was that never offered?
Honestly, I think post-Finch, Faith was beyond help and Buffy did give her plenty of chances to reform. Most of those scenes listed by OP were post-Finch. My qualms are mostly pertaining to when Faith first arrived in Sunnydale.
Edit: And I know this is wayyyy after all of these transgressions, but... holy hell, Buffy.
I will beat you to death.
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Why was it her responsibility to make Faith feel welcome? Just because Faith was another slayer? I don't know why Buffy would have to be gracious or welcoming to a stranger who is very very different than she is. Faith was a braggy, ostentatious and overtly sexual person. Buffy was not and expecting the two of them to be buddies or for Buffy to have to be friendly doesn't seem reflective of how the real world works. When I meet random new coworkers, I'm not asking them a bunch of questions about their background in our field. That's what my manager (Watcher) should be doing. If I feel like finding out any of that information then I may ask, but only if I feel like it.
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Because she's a human being? How about common decency? Never mind the fact that she's another Slayer and will be working with Buffy.
All of Faith's posturing and sexual innuendos were a facade to cover the hurt and lonely person she truly is. Just because she's annoying then she should be discarded?
I'm not saying Buffy should have given Faith a questionnaire of her complete history. Buffy. Never. Asked. Faith. About. Her. Life. Did she treat Willow and Xander that way initially? Negative. She was compassionate, warm, and interested in their lives. I love Buffy to death, but she can be a bit self-involved.
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You might be right, I haven't seen early Buffy in a long time. And you're right about the room situation! You'd think Joyce would've offered at some point. (Though could lead to awkward conflicting memories in s7 with Dawn. 'Hey I used to live in this room!' 'No you didn't...')
Still, Buffys behaviour was pretty understandable for someone her age and by no means excuses amything Faith did.
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Oh, I didn't even think of that. That would've been interesting to see played out!
Admittedly, I do like the Faith/Dawn dynamic. I ship Fuffy, so I feel like Faith is an excellent contrast to Buffy's parenting style. I see her as being the laid back authoritative figure who gets into some shit with her; much to Buffy's chagrin.
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It is kinda unreasonable to expect Giles to take care of another slayer. He had his hands full with Buffy, and each slayer really needs their own guardian. He did the right thing by requesting one for Faith, and stepped in when needed, but she was never his responsibility. It is just unfortunate Wesley was such a fuck up.
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Unreasonable to find suitable housing for a minor on the run? I don't think so. Giles didn't have to babysit her. Just actually give a fuck about her well being.
Edit: Yeah. Wesley's incompetence definitely pushed Faith further over the edge. Especially after he called that Council retrieval team on her. Honestly, I think the only person (minus the Mayor) who took an interest in Faith's future was Angel. If it wasn't for him, she'd probably be dead.
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This is the Ripper we are talking about here. Giles would not be easily dissuaded if he put his mind to something.
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Yet, she accepted help from the Mayor. The only one who offered her a place to stay and gave her a purpose. Do you honestly think she would've told Giles to go fuck himself if he offered her a place to stay? I don't.
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Dude, he had a guest room. He could have just said "come hang out with me. You can watch tv while I read my old stuffy books." He could have said that before she ever bothered to find a motel room. Hell, he could have at least asked.
I took in friends of mine who were in bad situations when I was a kid.. Giles, as a paid professional with a house of his own, could easily have a houseguest.
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twitterpated
Upvote for the use of this word.
Also, I tend to agree with all your points.
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If The Wire taught me anything, she may already have been too seasoned.
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How is that show? I've heard good things, but it's escaped my scope for some reason.
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It's the only show I'd rate higher than Buffy.
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Really now? That's a pretty high honor. Adding it to the list now. Thanks :]
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This is actually quite amazing and powerful. I don't agree with the idea that Buffy didn't give Faith a fair shot and that's why it went wrong. Think back to how Buffy and Kendra met- could it get any worse? Yet, they end up pretty close. Don't get me wrong, I love Faith's character but Buffy really tried to help and there's only so much you can do. Faith was on a path to destruction and sometimes people have to complete that journey before they can be saved.
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I'm going to preface this by saying that I love Faith. She was my favorite character (not sure about now, haven't done a re-watch in a while), but I do think Buffy had a right to be righteously pissed at Faith by the time Sanctuary rolled around. As someone who has had personal experience with a clinically depressed and suicidal friend, it gets to a point where you realize that there's only so much you can do for a person before you have no choice but to let go. The only person who can help you is you. It took Faith a lot longer to realize that than Buffy had patience for. By the time Faith was ready to help herself, it was already too late. Maybe if Buffy had run into Faith under different circumstances than Sanctuary, Buffy would've been there for her and welcomed her back when Faith was ready to get help; but they were always meeting under stressful situations and never really had the chance to talk while BOTH parties were of calm minds.
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I don have issues with how Buffy handled the situation: not only had she not had extensive training in how to help victims of abuse and trauma (duh), but she was a teenager. She couldn't possibly understand the kind of help Faith needed. And while she was occasionally bitchy, she did have sympathy for Faith (even if it was mostly when talking about her when she wasn't there).
No, like u/DigitalBathRx , I blame Giles. I blame the adults that let her walk around and did nothing to actually help her. Joyce invited Faith over for dinner a few times, but did she ever ask where Faith lived? If she had any support? How she could afford to feed herself? And Giles didn't do shit for her. I mean, when the evil-politician-with-aspirations-of-demonry has a clearer moral compass in terms of "this is a kid who needs a place to stay," you know your main characters are really fucking things up.
Let's ask one very simple question and think of its implications: where did Faith get her money?
Let's review:
Crime. That's the only possible answer I can think of. Faith resorted to crime to house and feed herself, while surrounded by all these comfortable middle-class people who keep talking about how much they've tried to help her and how ungrateful she is. Have they actually bothered to find out anything serious about her? If I was Faith, I would certainly feel like "They say they care, but they don't really want to deal with me. They just want me to go away. They pretend they care so they don't have to deal with actually taking care of me. I'm alone."
And then this older man comes along. A father figure who is funny, educated, kind, who makes her feel good about herself, and who treats her like a kid. And not in a simplistic condescending way, but in a "you just relax: you shouldn't have to deal with all this shit," way. Someone who takes care of her like a fucking parent should.
If I was Faith? I would do ANYTHING for that man. Absolutely anything.
Preach. She felt like she didn't matter. My headcanon is also that Faith suffered some sort of sexual abuse/trauma. The way she expresses herself sexually and her desperate need for attention (categorically, from a father figure) are red flags.
My issue is mainly with Giles and Joyce. I mean, this is before Dawn. They have a spare bedroom. Faith was there for Christmas. I'm sure they conversed... why the hell did Joyce not offer up that spare bedroom? They knew she wasn't in school, why didn't someone enroll her? No wonder she latched onto the Mayor.
Edit: Found this on a wikia page on Faith's character (yes, I'm aware it's only a wiki):
Just FYI: I'm very similar to Faith sexually, and I was never molested. Exhibitionism doesn't equal abuse.
It's just my headcanon, bro.
But it can (and the indicators weren't limited to her comfort with herself sexually). I don't tend to throw absolutes around.
http://www.acog.org/Resources-And-Publications/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Health-Care-for-Underserved-Women/Adult-Manifestations-of-Childhood-Sexual-Abuse
https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/sexabuse/sexabusec.cfm
Absolutely. But given her background and other patterns of behavior? I'd guess that it did in her case.
Preach!
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