🖤 THE PROBLEM WITH BANGEL 🖤 Note- ik i have a lot of moots who are big bangel fans, this isnt hate to you guys in any way. I dont like this ship but i have nothing against people who do. I mean, im friends with someone who ships xander and willow and i get along with him great 😭 Alright. Everyone knows the age thing. She’s 16 when they get together, he’s 26. Yeah, i know he’s technically a hundred and whatever, but I think phrasing it that takes away from the point. When we say ‘oh, hes an immortal vampire who has lived forever,’ age gaps like this dont seem to matter as much. But when you look at it as the fact that his brain and body is that of a 26 year old man, its more disturbing. Now, the age of consent in some places is that low, but in California, its 18. Which makes what happened in innocence, statetory. And i know, i know. ‘Its a vampire show, there’s always going to be weird age gaps, no one cares, twilight or whatever.’ And you’ve got a point. I mean, buffy does illigal stuff all the time, right? So lets set that aside for a moment. Because my real issue with them as a couple isn’t so much LITERALLY the ages, as it is the power imbalance. ‘Power imbalance? But buffy is mature for her age and is a slayer and can kick butt, ect.’ Well.. yes and no. Yes, thats true, but no, thats not the point. First of all, lets look at buffy in season one, or hey, even before it. Lets look at when angel claims he fell in love with buffy. Because if we’re calling her mature for her age then, that simply isnt true. And even if we do go to season one, sure, shes been through some more stuff and shes definitely matured. But.. is she really THAT mature for her age here? I’d definitely say she is in s2 and 3, but when she first starts talking to angel, when they first kiss.. i truly don’t believe she is. But theres more to it than that. Because although buffy may be more responsible and mature in certain ways because of being a slayer, a) her brain is NOT fully developed and b) angel has life experience she does not. Buffy has dated before angel- but she’s never been in love, or in a serious relationship. And she’s never had sex. And yes, this does create an imbalance. Buffy is put in a situation, as a teenager with this man, who automatically has a sense of authority in her eyes. But id go farther. Because in my opinion, the way angel treats buffy is desigmed to nurture this imbalance. When we first meet angel in s1, he’s hanging around with the goal of ‘helping and protecting buffy.’ … yes, he does give her some valuable information and protect her at times. But he also WITHHOLDS information, for seemingly no reason, which in many cases puts her in a lot of danger. Not only does this make buffy now rely on angel for information, she HAS to come back to him for more. Now she’s the one going after him, the one who NEEDS him, giving him even more authority in the relationship. And sure, there is a difference between angel and angelus. But as we KNOW, as is canon, a lot of the vampires intrests and desires, overlap. And if you look at Angelus’s obsession with drusilla, especially with the purposeful parallels the show draws between buffy and dru.. it feels weird. Angelus was obsessed with Drusillas INNOCENCE. and angel fell in love with buffy when she was 15, when he veiwed her as also innocent. But the real problem here, the reason their relationship can never be truly healthy, isnt about that. It’s about BUFFY. It’s about the fact that she is a child who has been through trauma, and is put in a relationship with someone who she can never truly be an equal with. And as mature as she is, she’s too young and too attached to understand that it isn’t healthy. And it was angels job, his responsibility- yes, as the ADULT- to keep that relationship from happening. #buffythevampireslayer #bangel #buffyedit #buffyandangel #btvsedit #btvs #ats #buffysummers #fypシ゚viral #fakesituation⚠️ #capcut - @hellbitchinorbit