I don't necessarily have a problem with her dying (and I love Anya); I have a problem with the implication that she's so disposable that if she dies it's still a happy ending but if Xander does, it's not. That's what makes me mad.
Well, you're a redemptionista, then! :D Seriously, there are tons of people out there who agree with you about the soul. But I'm fine with it because of the worldbuilding of the show (which was always wonky, admittedly). The whole "You absolutely cannot be good without a soul" thing that we got hammered into our heads. Joss was never, ever going to write Spike as good without a soul. That wasn't going to happen. And since I wanted him to continue to grow, the soul was the next logical step. He'd gotten as close as he could to being good, now he needed to take the final step.
Aha! I get what you saying about Spike saving the day and the feminist message! I can agree with you there! And I definitely agree about Willow--I see absolutely no textual evidence that she ever recognized that what she did to Tara was rape, and that's one of the reasons I can never like her again. I hadn't liked her for a while, but that just makes me furious at her and at Joss. FAIL.
Dawn was supposed to jump and save the world in "The Gift". On some level she knows that. Buffy did it for her, and so Dawn has been kind of left without a purpose; she's a Key without a lock. I think that having her take the amulet would have been a good way to restore that agency to her, while also letting a woman be the main heroic agent of the episode. Dawn's nature at the Key could mean that it wouldn't have necessarily killed her, anyway.
I love this idea! That would have been awesome; I agree!
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Well, you're a redemptionista, then! :D Seriously, there are tons of people out there who agree with you about the soul. But I'm fine with it because of the worldbuilding of the show (which was always wonky, admittedly). The whole "You absolutely cannot be good without a soul" thing that we got hammered into our heads. Joss was never, ever going to write Spike as good without a soul. That wasn't going to happen. And since I wanted him to continue to grow, the soul was the next logical step. He'd gotten as close as he could to being good, now he needed to take the final step.
Aha! I get what you saying about Spike saving the day and the feminist message! I can agree with you there! And I definitely agree about Willow--I see absolutely no textual evidence that she ever recognized that what she did to Tara was rape, and that's one of the reasons I can never like her again. I hadn't liked her for a while, but that just makes me furious at her and at Joss. FAIL.
Dawn was supposed to jump and save the world in "The Gift". On some level she knows that. Buffy did it for her, and so Dawn has been kind of left without a purpose; she's a Key without a lock. I think that having her take the amulet would have been a good way to restore that agency to her, while also letting a woman be the main heroic agent of the episode. Dawn's nature at the Key could mean that it wouldn't have necessarily killed her, anyway.
I love this idea! That would have been awesome; I agree!