Welcome to the 20th Buffy Summers and Cordelia Chase Thread

This is a Friendship and Shipper Thread.

"God! What is your childhood trauma?!"

Why Cordelia and Buffy?
by Buffonia

Buffy: I-I'm not going with Angel. I'm going with -- ye gods -- Cordelia.
Willow: Cordelia?! ...Did I sound a little jealous just then, 'cause I'm not really...Cordelia?!
Xander: Cordelia's much better for you than Angel.

Buffy/Cordy in a nutshell? It's the witty sarcasm that's a little too vicious and a little too cruel. It's the underlying sameness of Cordelia being fitted for a May Queen gown as Buffy stares on in longing. It's Buffy pumping a shotgun and saying "I look cute in a tiara" as Cordelia smiles to her knowingly. It's two strong, beautiful women kicking ass and oozing sex appeal.

Like sisters, with really different hair
As different as these characters are, witness my borrowing of a clich?ere, they are actually quite similar. Cordelia is sometimes considered the Anti-Buffy: superficial, self-centered and completely lacking tact. However, it has also been stated, by Buffy herself even, that she was Cordelia. Pre-destiny, before the demands of her calling, Buffy was the popular, prom queen cheerleader.

Apocalypses, and the stopping of them, tend to change people. Buffy's priorities were dramatically altered from "make boys drool" and "buy new shoes" to "save world" and "don't get killed." She fell in love, made quality friends and got hit by a major dose of reality; these being the catalysts in her transition from superficial to superhero. Funny, it seems a very similar sequence of events happened in Cordelia's life from season 2 BtVS and beyond.

Rollercoaster of love

The heart of the Buffy/Cordy relationship lies in their unique chemistry, which is rooted in their not-so-unique love-hate relationship. Or, well, like-hate. After a difficult starting point, they finally managed to attain a mutual respect and understanding for one another, despite the jabs and undercuts to each other.

"Buffy! Did you lose weight? And your hair... Alright, I respect you too much to be dishonest. The hair's a little... (smiles widely) Well, that really isn't the point here, is it?"

Cordelia gravitated to Buffy since day one. Honestly, it can be brushed aside as the ritual New Girl Inquisition. But she was willing to adopt Buffy into her circle of Cordettes based on first, physical impressions and the passing of the "coolness test."

In Invisible Girl, we see Buffy's understanding of Cordelia's quest for queendom. They even share a moment, through a locked a door, before Cordelia is kidnapped by a homicidal student. Cordelia, even though she ostracized Buffy from time to time, turned to the Slayer for help in times of crisis.

After becoming part of the group in Prophecy Girl (her help in vanquishing the legions of undead acting as a Scooby initiation) Cordelia soon began her own personal growth. Thanks to Buffy's semi-friendship.

Cordelia often approved of Buffy's opinion. Even going so far as to admit that Buffy was the reason she lowered her standards to that of Xander Harris, saying that she never would have looked twice at him had Buffy's presence not made him "marginally cooler."

Get by with a little help from your friends

Cordelia's tendency to see and say things as they are is a useful complement to Buffy's habitual denial. When Buffy wigged out during I Only Have Eyes for You, Cordelia bluntly stated "Over relate much?"

In their own ways, they have tried to help each other out in times of emotional distress. Attempts that were usually met with sarcasm and a side of cold shoulder from the other party. Cordelia's snarky yet well-intentioned advice to Buffy in When She Was Bad proved that Cordy did give some thought to Buffy's well-being.

After Cordelia and Xander's all-too-public break up, Buffy returned the gesture in an almost exact scene in The Wish. Same alley. One girl following the other out of the Bronze. And both talks ended with Cordy almost becoming vamp food. Although Buffy's attempt at friendly advice was, well, friendlier, we can mostly credit that to Cordelia's bitterly sarcastic self-defense mechanism.

Life's a song

Worth mentioning are the lyrics to the song that plays during the music montage of Buffy and Cordy smugly competing and exchanging looks during Homecoming:

Well, I don't wanna be president
Superman or Clark Kent
I don't wanna walk 'round in their shoes
'Cause I don't know whose side I'm on
I don't know my right from wrong
I don't know where I'm going to
I don't know about you
And I may not be the man you want me to
I can be myself
How 'bout you?
I don't wanna make you mad
I don't wanna be your dream come true
'Cause I don't know just what I've found
I don't know my sky from ground
I don't know where I'm going to
I don't know about you

It's all about power

Despite their inhabiting separate ends of the social spectrum, there was always a kind of rivalry between Buffy and Cordelia. When it came to boys (i.e. Owen and Angel), Buffy came out on top...of the competition. But Cordelia was given many an opportunity to push back, demeaning Buffy at every chance in front of their peers.

Their mutual jealousy and quest for power in their respective circles came to a head at Homecoming, when the fight for a crown became a fight for survival. They were forced to push aside their petty differences (and some might argue, similarities) to work as a team. Because nothing, and I do mean nothing, shows you who your true friends are like a nice, hard battle to the death. Cutely enough, it all ends with both girls tying for a crownless non-victory.

From tiaras to boys to heartbreaking break ups, these girls can always relate to each other. With similar tastes and backgrounds, they can count on one another for advice or a helping superhuman hand.

Buffy and Cordelia have the classic potential for love according to Jossverse code. And current developments considered, there is a lot of room for romance. There is Angel and Los Angeles, just to name a few common ties that bind. Not to mention the Slayer's supernatural attraction to white hat demons.

Maybe it won't be cuddles and puppies, maybe it will just be the white hot battle for a metaphorical crown in the back of a limo. But one thing's for sure, these two jaded heroines have the kind of chemistry that kills.

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