Dear Buffy happy Buffy Birthday

Dear Buffy,

Hey Buffy buddy! Happy 20 year anniversary!!!!!! Thank you for everything you've done for me, and for women everywhere!

Here are some things that you (Buffy) have done that have helped me in my life:

1. Taught me that loving others and being full of love and compassion is the greatest strength
2. Taught me that we need friends and family and reaching out to others
3. But also, that it's okay to take alone time
4. Exemplified altruism
5. Gave me the strength to finally wear leopard print
6. Allowed me to make fun of myself, other people, and laugh even when I'm sad (which is often. As Cordelia would say, I'm kinda a "little cry-buffy.")
7. Taught everyone that fighting for what you believe in is the only option, and you always have to try.
8. Reminded us that those with privilege need to stand up for those with less
9. Got me really into witch stuff and werewolf stuff
10. Taught me never to try to control another person, to respect everyone's consent
11. Reminded me that it was always okay to be sad or to be different, as long as you weren't hurting anyone
12. Taught me about relativity
13. Showed the world that super heroes can come in any package.

Thank you for everything.You empower women.That's saving the world. I hope to be like you when I grow up.

love, Babs

Dear Buffy,

Hey B! Happy International Women's Day!

I just want to say thank you for everything you've done to empower women in the last twenty years. Thanks for using the scythe to share your power with all women, instead of keeping the slayer abilities all to yourself. Thank you for being brave, strong, and full of love in the face of both evil and confusing moral ambiguity. Thank you for teaching me that compassion and love are a type of strength and that they give strength to others. I'm sorry that so much terrible stuff has happened, and keeps happening. I'm so sorry you and so many other amazing women have had to survive so much toxic masculinity (Angel, Riley, Xander) and assault (pre-ensouled Spike). Thank you for being one of the most altruistic women ever and letting your light give light to others. I hope in a few years everything is better and you can just chill out on a beach drinking margaritas and eating yummy sushi with (hopefully prophecy fulfilled) Spike.  

I want to be like you for other women when I grow up. (Even though now I'm older than you.)
You save the world a lot.

love,
Babs

Dear Buffy,

Hey B,

I recently watched part of the "Puppet Show" episode, which is so creepy and funny (just like us!) I always enjoyed the episodes where Giles is in danger. (Wait, that came out wrong...) I mean, I think it's really scary to see that even the person who seems the most level headed, the grown up assigned to protect you in some sense, he still is not impervious to harm. Especially right now, it seems like so many people are in danger in our world, and everything is so scary. I guess the only thing we can do is use what little power we do have to protect those who maybe can't protect themselves. That sounds like something Professor Xavier would say. I hope you're doing okay. I have a cold, reminds me of the creepy death demon that stalked the kids in the hospital. I wish you were here to slay it in a flu fever haze.

Keep slaying,
Babs

Dear Buffy,

Dear Buffy,

I recently was thinking about some of Willow's behavior in season six. She grows to become so controlling of Tara, messing with her mind, doing intense memory spells that backfired and almost killed the entire group, fighting when Tara was just trying to be helpful and supportive... I personally have been in relationships with controlling, manipulative people, (also see Spike and Buffy before he got his soul) and so many of my friends have as well. It's so scary because Willow was introduced as such a sweet, awkward, funny, gentle, nerd. (Honestly, she was much more relateable to teenage Babs than you were, Buffy.) How did Willow, who wore red cordoray overalls and baked treats for her teachers, grow into becoming an abusive partner? The short answer is that she became addicted to magic, which is an allegory for drugs. It scares me because if drugs could do that to Will, who's to say that my eating disorder hasn't in the past and won't in the future morph me into someone who can hurt the one they love? I guess in order to keep the people we care about safe, me and Willow both have to put in consistent work on our mental health. We have to take care of ourselves so that we don't hurt or viciously flay anyone. I'm gonna work on my mental health a lot this year.

love you, B,
Babs

Dear Buffy

Hey B,

It's early afternoon on New Year's Day, and right now I'm just staring at my computer the way you started at the tv on the day after you discovered beer in "Beer Bad." You touched the tv and you were like "I like tv, all the tiny people..."

Anyway, I hope this year is better than the previous. 2015 was so bad, and when it was over I was so happy because I thought nothing could have been worse than the year I was assaulted, cut out of a tv show I was in, and hit by a car. And then came 2016, and it was so rough and lonely. ("There's that word again, what you are, how you'll die: alone")

But I am totally going to be proactive girl this year. If I'm lonely, I'm going to reach out to friends. If I'm clinically depressed and suicidal, I'm gonna get on meds. (Even though when I'm depressed the idea of figuring out health insurance seems like fighting a horde of uber vamps.) If people don't think I'm funny, I'll get funnier. If the world is a horrible place and everything I'm worried about in the news comes to fruition, maybe I'll fly to the top of a mountain, erect a satanic temple, and destroy the world. We can dream.

Speaking of which, what's going on in the comics right now is a little on the nose and they've done a registration act plot a bunch of times in X-Men, but I forgive you because you're Buffy.

Keep slaying,
The hardest thing to do in this world is to live in it,
Babs

Dear Bufy

Hey B,

I'm having a really hard time hanging on right now. I feel like Spike in season 7, when he was trying really hard to be a good person, but because of the chip and the trigger, everyone still thought he was a monster. An ex of mine thinks I'm this horrible person, and is spreading rumors about me that I'm hateful, and really I'm trying to be good. I'm constantly trying to help others and to spread love and kindness. I try to volunteer for causes I care about, I make time to be there for my friends and family who need me, I work at a place that hopefully is helping and inspiring young people, and any free time I have I fill with trying to make art that has a positive message, that makes people laugh, and in turn makes the world a better place. I'm really really really fucking trying.

I feel like you in season six, "is this ...hell?"

Anyway, filled with love for people like you who bring love, confidence, and strength to others.
filled with love, burning brighter than the fire,
Babs

Dear Buffy

Hey B,

I didn't realize it was "Women's Equality Day" today! I watched the series finale today, which is perfect for Women's Equality, considering that in the end you empowered every girl/ woman in the world with the potential to be a slayer. Thank you so much for never competing with other women, and always being the kind of person to bring other women up and help them find their own strength. I love that your power stems from the kind of love that makes you believe there's enough power for all women to be "chosen" and none of us have to be "alone." I've learned a lot from you about how to be funny, how to flirt, how to joke when I'm feeling scared, how to be brave for others even when I'm terrified for myself, and how to be compassionate and strong. But mostly, I've learned from you how to love, and I believe that's where the bulk of my feminist beliefs come from. "It's not so much the hating men as it is the loving of women." -Willow.

Happy Women's Equality Day, Buffy! You save the world a lot!

B