Though as much fun as an idea as that was, I must say I don't entirely agree with you. The battle suits don't bother me as much; it would be way out of character for Buffy in s4 or earlier, but... something did crack in Buffy at the end of s5, and she was never quite the same afterwards. I've always thought that starting somewhere around that fade-to-grey at Joyce's grave in "Forever", and certainly by s6, a little something of Wishverse!Buffy snuck into "our" Buffy too. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and it's not like she was completely transformed (as evidenced by, for instance, her teasing of Riley) but... something shifted, made her a little less of Carefree!Fun!Buffy even after the s6 depression lifted. If it weren't so damn depressing, I'd say she grew up.
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Though as much fun as an idea as that was, I must say I don't entirely agree with you. The battle suits don't bother me as much; it would be way out of character for Buffy in s4 or earlier, but... something did crack in Buffy at the end of s5, and she was never quite the same afterwards. I've always thought that starting somewhere around that fade-to-grey at Joyce's grave in "Forever", and certainly by s6, a little something of Wishverse!Buffy snuck into "our" Buffy too. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and it's not like she was completely transformed (as evidenced by, for instance, her teasing of Riley) but... something shifted, made her a little less of Carefree!Fun!Buffy even after the s6 depression lifted. If it weren't so damn depressing, I'd say she grew up.