Should let this go. Haven't.

I've been mulling over shipperx's post and here is where I've ended up.

Having your consent taken away is not the conclusion to a story. It's a pernicious misunderstanding of rape that continually paints it at the end point of a narrative where someone goes out/gets drunk/wears a short skirt, when actually it by definition cannot be something you ask for (even) as a consequence of your actions. (Trying) to rape, on the other hand, is (though just look at the way agency on that side of the equation is so often elided away in reporting of rape). That's why, as much as I hate it, I can accept the AR as being part of Spike's story in S6 - that's where he ends up after a whole season of getting gradually more screwed up (and, yes, it's fair to say that Buffy did have a part in that but this does not mean she's responsible for her own victimisation - because being victimised is a forced removal of responsibility and agency - and that's all I'm going to say about the AR so I apologise if that doesn't make immediate sense to you).

As it is, in S8, with Buffy (and Angel?) we have no agent, apparently. (Distorted base urges =/= an agent.) And so, for the last four(? five? fifteen?) issues we have either been shown a story that belongs to/is about somebody we don't know and can't see (unless it's Angel, but things seem to be saying he was still deceived?), where the plot's cogs (mummy and baby universe etc.) slotting into place and porny sideshows are more important than character arcs, or where, if this is still is 'Buffy's story', having your consent taken away can supposedly be (a consequential/conclusive) part of a narrative. I like none of these options.

[And now I vanish for the day!]