Which BtVS character are you? (or, "What am I, twelve?") - and a fic rec

[red_satin_doll]

I found this personality quiz i ozma914's LiveJournal.  


http://www.buddytv.com/personalityquiz/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-personalityquiz.aspx?quiz=40
I shoulda known.  Willow was the first character I actually identified with on the show. Well, her and the Invisible Girl hose name I have shamefully and ironically forgotten. ETA: Velvetwhip reminded me that her name is Marcie Ross.)  As it turns out, ozma914 s Tara.  Or was in '08.  I wonder if that makes him my soulmate? (Which might be complicated, as I am actually a lesbian but, unlike Willow, I can't do magic.) I'm kind of dying to see wh local_max urns out to be, just for fun.

Speaking o ozma914, I've got recs for three of his marvelous short btvs fanfics, out of many:
"She Would be Thirteen".  Superb. Xander, sometime post-Chosen, deals with one of the most difficult aspects of being a new Watcher. I'm trying to branch out a bit in my fanfic and meta reading because I'm pretty well burned-out on Spuffy fics for the moment, and it's a challenge to open myself up to understanding the boy a bit. This story is sad (angsty?) but not bathetic or sentimental; very true to canon characterization - I can imagine NB in this - which is one of my biggest criteria for fanfiction; and packed with layers of meaning and subtext in a very short pace of time. It reads somewhat like a prose poem; not a single wasted word here.

For something on the lighter side: Did you think that Joyce (the lovely Kristine Sutherland) was hideously underused on the show? Did you want to see more of life in Sunnydale from her perspective?  Or wish they had bothered to tackle some of the realities of being a single working mom?  I know I did.  "To Start the Day" s one of the few, and like "She Would be Thirteen", it's spare and lovely, humorous, very much true to character. There's just not enough Joycean fanfic, IMHO.  (See what I did there?)

And from "light" to damn downright cracky, his Dawn-centric fic "A (Somewhat Less Than) Forever Love" has one of my favorite Dawn/Spike reunions in fic, in two short lines of dialogue. Meanwhile, Dawn and Buffy deal with all of Buffy's past boyfriends. Xander, Willow, Giles and Faith make brief appearances.  Giles cleans his glasses. Xander (almost) drools. Faith wears leather. Dawn snarks and fumes; Buffy chooses her words poorly. Angel, Spike and Riley are pretty damn petty, just the way I like them.

Happy holidays, everyone - whatever you observe, if you observe anything at all.  Peace and blessings to all.

Comments

[kikimay]

You know, I also don't relate too much with early Willow!
I was really much more like Buffy in young age (But Buffy from Season One!). I was much more extrovert and a little bit masculine. I always think that I should be more emotional connected to Willow because we both are quiet, shy people but I feel emotional understanding for Buffy, I feel like I know how she feels. I think I'm also very similar to Tara: I'm very maternal, I love to take care of my little cousins and I'm very protective with them. Still, Buffy is much more in tune with my neurotic, a little bit masculine and stoic side. :)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

It feels like the more I think about it, the more I find I have a Willow-side and a Buffy-side.

I was thinking today that Buffy S1 is not as "happy fluffy sunny" as a lot of mainstream fandom would like to think. Watch WTTH - the "I'm fine" mask slips in her first interaction with Giles (when she backs away from the Vampyr book) or her second one, where she bursts out angrily over the ways being a Slayer has already changed her life. (Also, see "Becoming" - young Buffy listening to Hank and Joyce argue. God knows, I've been there with her.) She's already playing a role - the deconstruction of her psyche in the later seasons is already set up in S1. Which is part of why I love this show.

I always think that I should be more emotional connected to Willow because we both are quiet, shy people but I feel emotional understanding for Buffy

I know what you mean, and I think that's true for a lot of people (for me, it certainly is); there's a gap between "who I think I am" and "who I think I should be." But really, there are no "shoulds", or oughtn't be? It is what it is - easier said than believed.

Buffy is much more in tune with my neurotic, a little bit masculine and stoic side.

That's a pretty good description of her!

[kikimay]

I totally agree!
God knows how Buffy was sad when she had those horrible nightmares about being rejected by her father and killed by the Master, how she was pissed by the slayer-stuff and her parents' situation. And I understand all of that. So I'm really emphatic with her, while I think I supposed to be also emphatic towards Willow but I'm not. I can be understanding, but I don't feel this identification thingy.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

That's cool. I don't "identify" with xander per se, but I'm starting to (allow myself) to understand him. Or explore him, so I can understand better?

I think you have compassion for Willow (or understanding as you say); and that's fine, it's impossible to to identify with every single character! The heart wants what it wants.

I know a lot of fans hate a particular character or another; and like ever_neutral said in a meta, that doesn't work for me. I can wince and cringe at times, I can hate actions or decisions that occur, I can hate the writer's/ME's decisions, (I can hate Joss for being a pompous jerk at times - and for the comics) but I can't hate any character anymore. (Maybe Synder? I hated him at first, and I haven't watched the early seasons - but his recreation of the Marlon Brando character in Restless is fantastic and I love him for that alone.) It just doesn't feel right. the main characters here are working through their own "sins" and errors, right in front of me. If I fail to at least try to understand, then that failure is my own.

[kikimay]

Actually, now I feel like I understand or try to understand almost all the characters. I used to dislike Faith, for example, and now I'm fascinated by her development. I'm nothing like her and still I think it's great her evolution. Maybe the only character I really hate is Justine, from Angel? She kinda represents somethings I really hate about people. And I also want to slap Xander many times, when he's too judgmental and slut-shamingful, but I also understand his emotional journey. It's just that, like you say, the heart wants what it wants.
It's prefectly true!