What would Buffy do?

[cordelianne]

Today I was exercising with the tv on the station which plays Buffy the Vampire Slayer repeats, and "The Freshman" was airing. It was great background for working out, until the scene when Xander gives Buffy his Dadaist pep talk, because it made me cry. I've seen every BtVS episode a ridiculous amount of times yet there are certain moments that get me every time, even if I'm in the middle of Pilates. I just love this speech so much:

Xander: Buffy, I've gone through some fairly dark times in my life, faced some scary things, among them the kitchen at 'The Fabulous Ladies Night Club.' Let me tell you something, when it's dark and I'm all alone and I'm scared or freaked out or whatever, I always think, 'What would Buffy do?' You're my hero. Ok, sometimes when it's dark and I'm all alone I think, 'What is Buffy wearing?'
Buffy: Can that be one of those things you never, ever, tell me about?

For some reason this got me thinking about the various fandoms and obsessions that I've had over the years, so I thought I'd list a few of my favourite fan obsessions and embarrassing fan activities (some of these are from when I was very young). Feel free to tell me your shameful fan moments!!

- Anne of Green Gables (books & movies) and L.M. Montgomery - I was Anne for Halloween once, and did an essay on L.M. Montgomery in high school. I have read every single published work by L.M.M. at least once. In a zine of mine, I had a section in which I quoted (out of context) lesbian subtext moments between Anne and Diana.
- Annie (the movie) - I actually made an Annie costume for myself and would act out the movie.
- Little House on the Prairie (books & tv show) - I was Laura TWICE for Halloween, I love her so much. I can discuss the differences between the books and the tv show, and why the books are better.
- Baby-sitters Club books - Oh the shame! I saw the movie when it came out even though I was much older. I still own #1 through #40, and the first 4 Super Specials.
- The Sound of Music - I know all the words to the movie.
- Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High (those amazing Canadian teen soap tv shows) - So good, so addictive.
- My So-Called Life and Jordan Catalano - I actually had a picture of him up in my high school locker.
- Dawson's Creek - I was a Joey/Pacey shipper. Katie, why have you ruined my memories of Joey and Pacey with your antics with Tom?!
- ani difranco - I would go to all her concerts, I own all her albums and used to have posters of her on my walls.
- The Lord of the Rings - I went to all the movies on opening night, and then watched them at least 2 more times in the theatre.
- BtVS/AtS/Firefly/Joss Whedon - Other than my entire LJ? I have a clipboard which I use at work that is decorated with pictures of Spike. Seriously.

There are likely MANY more, but I'm trying to restrain myself so I don't reveal anything else shameful!

I also did that Birthday meme, and the answers for September 2nd are here:
The instructions: Go to Wikipedia. In the search box, type your birth month and day (but not year). List three events that happened on your birthday. List two important birthdays and one interesting death. Post this in your journal.

Events (I avoided the distressing massacres):

1666 - The Great Fire of London breaks out and burns for three days, destroying 10,000 buildings including St. Paul's Cathedral. This is still distressing, but I'm fascinated that the fire started on my birthday.
1901 - Vice President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" at the Minnesota State Fair. I'm highly entertained that the exact date & location of this phrase's orgin is remembered.
1998 - In Canada, pilots for Air Canada launch the first strike in company's history. Yes, I picked this one because it's a Canadian entry.

Birthdays:

1850 - Albert Spalding, baseball player and sporting goods manufacturer (d. 1915)
1964 - Keanu Reeves, American actor Dude!!!

Death:

1973 - J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer (b. 1892) Yes, gotta go with Tolkien.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday night!!

Comments

[tkp.livejournal.com]

The Sound of Music - I know all the words to the movie.

Me too. I was really active on an SoM fan board. When I went to study in Europe my friends made me a box with pictures of them and Captain Von Trapp on it. I went to the SoM sing-a-long in London and met my online friends there. We sang Julie Andrews songs on the subway. Then I went to Austria, expressly for the purpose of taking the SoM tour in Salzburg. I had to sing on the bus. Then I made it to Holland in time to meet another online SoM friend, stay at her house, and go to the Dutch SoM Sing-a-long. She gave me a pic of Julie Andrews printed on photo paper so it looks like I have a real photograph. I still have all the sing-a-long paraphenelia (Dutch and English). And I find none of this as embarrassing as writing SoM fic.

I don't really have any stories for any other fandom I've been in. I'm not so much with the tangible objects and paraphenilia--I never know what to do with stuff like that so I don't collect it, and I've never found much of a venue outside of the internet to participate in the fan activities I'm interested in. I did take a class in Jane Austen, my first fandom, but somehow that doesn't feel so fannish...I guess because many not so nutty as me were in the class. I did, however, win the trivia contest our prof gave us (because I knew that the cheese served at the Box Hill picnic was Stilton.)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday night!!

My BFF stood me up! I'm stuck trolling around lj. Not that that's a bad thing!

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

Wow! I'm so impressed by your SoM love!! I've always wanted to go to a sing-a-long, but I missed it when it was in Toronto. They sound amazing! My experience isn't quite as fandomy as yours, my family and I used to watch it together every year at Christmas, and I still watch it at least once a year. My poor brother hated the SoM watching.

You've been to Salzburg?!! I'm very very jealous. I love that you were singing on the subway (in London) and on the bus. You've written SoM fic?! Oooh, I'm very intrigued!

I'm a big fan of Jane Austen as well. I've studied her a lot in my English classes (even did a presentation on Northanger Abbey), but have never taken an entire class on her. I also adore many of the movie adaptations, particularly the Pride & Prejudice miniseries (I love Colin Firth as Darcy). I doubt I could have won that trivia contest. I know the picnic's in Emma but I'd never remember what kind of cheese. Kudos!

That's too bad about your BFF. Fortunately LJ is all kinds of fun!

[lillianmorgan.livejournal.com]

Then I went to Austria, expressly for the purpose of taking the SoM tour in Salzburg.
Teee-heee! I've done that too.

[drakontaskyria.livejournal.com]

Hey dude! On a commercial break, but - we're both Virgos. Huh! I still have to do the birthday meme thing...

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

Both Virgos?! Very cool! The birthday meme is fun, I enjoyed finding out what happened on my birthday. Although I must admit that on the births and deaths list, there were few names I recognized and I like to think I'm not completely culturally void (hee!).

[drakontaskyria.livejournal.com]

I had to look up some stuff, too. Don't feel too bad. *g*

My horrible and/or amusing old fan obsessions? Hmmm....

Well, when I was a kid I was heavily into:

Batman with Adam West. I even named my pet canary Batman. SHUT UP! I was like 5!
Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys were a fav. I like the older ones. Although, after examining the publication date on one, I went to my grandmother and asked her what a running board was. *g* Actually, the older ones were better written. The Hardy Boys had a little more violence, so I read those, too.
Trixie Belden was always being read. Mystery girl here.
Sherlock Holmes was discovered at 11. I even dressed like him and did an oral book report in middle school. I still adore him.
Shakespeare was found by me early on via my grandmother. And who wouldn't still be a fan?!

I was very bookish as a girl. Lots of alone time in my room reading. And media-wise? All the stuff listed in my bio. I was a little too early for Babysitters Club.

The only REALLY embarrassing thing to admit? When I got hooked on the original Star Wars, I got a blanket. Blue with Luke with his light saber on and Darth and Chewie. I was a little old for it at the time, but...hey, fangirl. Well, I still have it and when it gets really cold I use it as an extra blanket on my bed. Hey! It's very warm. And soft. So what if it's almost 30 years old? Oh. My. God. It's almost 30 years old! Holy hell...

I also *shakes head for admitting this as well* named my last dog after a tv character. It was a Celtic name and he was an Irish Setter and so it actually fit him really well. Mac. Thank goodness I didn't name him after my fav character from that show. Even I realized it didn't fit. I really thanked the breeder for pointing that out. Also, unfortunately, I was nowhere near 5. *hangs head*

So, there you go.

[amybnnyc.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh, fandom things. I can think of the big two (I'm really not that much of a fannish person, recent events aside):

New Kids on the Block: There was very, VERY little of the merchandise that they put out that I did not own. I was in LURVE. And it makes me laugh still to think just how loudly I screamed the one time I saw them in concert.

BtVS, AtS: Um, a hundred billion plastic vampires in my apartment, being a very very out loud and proud fannish person to pretty much everyone, I write fanfic, have a site, and go to cons. So yeah--BIG with the fannish on this one, in a way that surpasses the NKoTB behavior. Only now I don't squeal like a terrified kitten when I goto these things and meet fandom people. (Thank God.)

BabySitters Club is love, man. I was also really big on the Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine books--it was always the incredibly-supportive best friend waiting to murder you heinously, so that may have impacted my social development somewhat, but they were still fun to read. *g*

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

New Kids on the Block: I was too geeky and unhip to really be seriously into them (or know who they were for a while). Although, I remember that my dad got me their cassette tape (at the suggestion of the record store employee) and I was delighted!!

BtVS, AtS I also have a bunch of action figures and am VERY open to everyone about my obsession. I've never been to a con though. Writercon sounds very fun, so I'm thinking about going next year. Yay for not squealing anymore!

BabySitters Club I was very embarrassed to include that on my list, so am glad you shared the love. I adored Kristy, and think I had a bit of a crush on her! I used to also read the Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine books (as well as those horrible dying young books)! it was always the incredibly-supportive best friend waiting to murder you heinously, so that may have impacted my social development somewhat hee! You are so correct about that! Although if I think back to when I was in junior high, friendships could be like that. I'm so happy not to be in junior high anymore!

[amybnnyc.livejournal.com]

I was too geeky and unhip to really be seriously into them (or know who they were for a while).
I was pretty desperately geeky and unhip back then, too (I still kinda am, actually. Heh.), but I think a friend had a tape and introduced me to them, and from then it was obsession. Posters, trading cards, the little dolls and the stage, the bedspread and the curtains *cough*... I had a bunch of stuff. So it really only channeled my unparalleled dorkitude into something new. ;)

Cons are... interesting. The first one I did for the experience, the others I've mostly done because they serve as really good ways for fandom friends to get together (and stare at hot people, besides). WriterCon should be fun... femmenerd is my prom date, so we should have reports when we get back and shall find ways to entice you into attendance next year. *g*

I adored Kristy, and think I had a bit of a crush on her!
Kristy was awesome, and she was one of the few who seemed to have sense consistently, you know? The others could all be so flaky... although if memory serves, I liked Stacy, too. Claudia drove me bonkers, but her grandmother was cool. *flies dork flag higher*

Although if I think back to when I was in junior high, friendships could be like that. I'm so happy not to be in junior high anymore!
LOL--you and me both! That was one thing that always amused me about early Buffy, and it all being allegorical--some of it seemed fairly literal to me. That is a bad, bad age for mankind.

[lillianmorgan.livejournal.com]

Awwww, I love that speech from Xander. How cool would it be for someone to say "You are my hero". Awww big awwwws for Xander and his heart.
Well, I've always been obsessed with music - biggest obsessions Blur ::points to icon:: I have spent untold amounts of money on all things Blur for about ten years. It's started to wane a bit though. Perhaps that's what getting old does to you? Also the Clash, Patti Smith, Jeff Buckley, PJ Harvey, Radiohead and David Bowie have taken large amounts of cash off me.
I'm also a fangirl for Wong-Kar Wai and Jim Jarmusch films. I have written two University essays on Dead Man. Heeee.
Yay for Virgos! :)

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

It is such an awww moment, I adore Xander's big heart!

I have spent untold amounts of money on all things Blur for about ten years. It's started to wane a bit though.
I used to be like that with ani difranco, and it has also waned. You have awesome musical taste! The only reason I ever know about good or hip music is if friends point me towards it, I'm hopelessly unhip otherwise.

I'm also a fangirl for Wong-Kar Wai and Jim Jarmusch films. I have written two University essays on Dead Man. Heeee.
I LOVE Won-Kar Wai and have seen all of his films! I took a film class in which he was one of 3 directors studied which helped me see the last ones I hadn't seen. So I got to write some essays on him for the class! Chungking Express, Ashes of Time, In the Mood for Love, and Happy Together stand out as my favourites. I haven't see many Jarmusch films, but I've loved what I've seen (Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai).

Yay for Virgos! :) Oh yes!! :)

[lillianmorgan.livejournal.com]

I LOVE Won-Kar Wai and have seen all of his films! I took a film class in which he was one of 3 directors studied which helped me see the last ones I hadn't seen.
::clings to you::
Actually that reminds me I took a Chinese Film class way back when and I studied him too - plus Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.
::ani difranco love::

hero

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I found an unfinished essay one day in which my youngest daughter said I was her hero. Good thing she wasn't home at the time ... daughters aren't supposed to see their heroes cry. :->

But I never saved the world, not even a little. I'd have remembered doing that.

Re: hero

[lillianmorgan.livejournal.com]

Oh wow. That's lovely :)

[crazydiamondsue.livejournal.com]

- Little House on the Prairie (books & tv show) - I was Laura TWICE for Halloween, I love her so much. I can discuss the differences between the books and the tv show, and why the books are better.

*snuggles you*

Did you know that Stoney has written LHOP slash? Yep. Andy/Albert. Hah!

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

Yay for Little House on the Prairie love!! *snuggles you*

I didn't know that Stoney had written LHOP slash, but I am not surprised! I have read her Anne of Green Gables fic with glee!!!

book vs video

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

The books are almost always better. I've spent hours lecturing about the Oz books to people who only know the Land of Oz from the 1939 movie. Usually I manage to stop myself when their eyes start spinning around in their heads.

You could do a lot worse than to be Laura. Not only were the books great, but she was a real person and a strong role model. Did you know that she was the first woman to fly in an airplane? (You probably did!)

Re: book vs video

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

Did you know that she was the first woman to fly in an airplane? (You probably did!) I didn't know that! Or if I did, I'd forgotten. That's really neat.

I agree that Laura is a great role model, she was a very strong person (physically and emotionally). Whenever people talk about violence in school being a new thing, I like to reference the time when Laura had to take the knife away from her huge male student.

And yeah, the books are normally waaaaay better. There's rare occasions when I feel that they're able to capture the spirit and essence of the books into film. The Anne of Green Gables movies do a good job of that.

obsessions

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Everyone's had a distressing obsession -- it seems yours were simply focused a lot on dressing like your heroes. (Got pictures?) I had a blue Star Trek t-shirt and -- get this -- a Spock hair cut! Yes, it looked just as bad as it sounds. I also had a uniform shirt with sergeant stripes on it while I was collect Sgt. Rock comic books, and of course there's my obsession with L. Frank Baum's Oz books, which led the the icon you see here -- which nobody likes. :-(

Although I don't have the Sound of Music memorized, it's one of my favorite movies. And -- I was in it! Well, the play, anyway -- I was Herr Zeller. Just my luck, I get to be a bad guy.

Re: obsessions

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

hee! I do have pictures of me in my Halloween costumes, but I don't have a scanner or a way to put them online. I'm also big on collecting stuff related to my obsessions - although in a lot of those cases it means I own all the books by an author.

I had a blue Star Trek t-shirt and -- get this -- a Spock hair cut! Yes, it looked just as bad as it sounds. hee!! At least you can look back with a sense of humour!

I know of Sgt. Rock because of Xander (in "Spiral")!!

there's my obsession with L. Frank Baum's Oz books, which led the the icon you see here -- which nobody likes. :-(
I read a couple of the books when I was a kid and recall really enjoying them. I suspect that they're books which are just as rewarding - or more - to read as an adult. I like your icon because of the old-fashioned picture!

[kittyzams.livejournal.com]

OMG, Cordelianne. This is just too entirely awesome. But first, I just have to say that I love that speech Xander gives. And I love how much it affects Buffy and motivates her to stand strong against the baddies. ::loves::

Here is a quick list of some of the things I was obsessively fangirlish over as a child:

* The Neverending Story- I so wanted Atreyu to be my first kiss, hee! And I totally swore that if I ever had a son that I would give him that most glorificous of names. Hmm, I did end up naming my dog Sebastian...

* Star Wars- I was OBSESSED. Other girls were busy playing with Barbies while I spent hours building elaborate fortresses for my SW action figures to play in. Darth Vader was my first crush. I am sick, I know.

* A Wrinkle in Time series- I spent hours pretending to be Meg communicating with Charles. My best friend and I attempted to perfect the art of telepathic communication for years afterwords. I am still madly in love with this series. ::adores::

* Baby-sitters Club series- Represent! Of course, my friends and I HAD to start one of our own. I always liked that Claudia's sister's name was Janine. Umm, because that is my name too. ;D

* Sweet Valley High series- I don't want to admit that I still have over 100 SVH books stored in my attic, but it might be true. :D

* Days of Our Lives- OMG, my entire Jr. high school was COMPLETELY obsessed. It was right during the time of Jack and Jenn and when Bo and Hope came back on. DOOL was aired right after school got out and we had DOOL parties, forced all the guys in our jr. high to watch, play acted characters. Oh man, I could go on forever. My best friend and I started using the last name of Brady on our assignments. We would send notes back and forth to each other pretending to be characters. We attended fan events where we got to meet the stars. We even had a cemetery in my back yard where we would bury a picture of a character when they were killed off the show. My parents called it "The Fictional Graveyard". Hee. Oh hell, some of my best memories from youth all relate back to Days. I haven't watched it in years, but I still have about 500 VHS tapes of it up in my attic. It will always hold a special place in my heart.

Okay, I think that's enough embarrassment for now. Hmm, maybe I will give you one tidbit of my inanity from nowadays. I just revealed this to amybnnyc on the phone earlier today, so I might as well tell you too. I have a six foot tall standee of Spike. I do strip teases for it. ::hides::

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

Your response had me all giggling and flailing in happiness!! That speech is just so wonderful, and nicely demonstrates how someone like Xander is a necessary part of Buffy's life. *gets all sappy*

The Neverending Story - I loved that movie! And I totally swore that if I ever had a son that I would give him that most glorificous of names. That's so adorable! I used to have similar notions about names that I loved.

Darth Vader was my first crush. I am sick, I know.
Darth Vader is very cool! You clearly had a thing for bad boys early on!

Baby-sitters Club series- Represent! I was so embarrassed including BSC on the list because it seems so very uncool now. So I'm all happy that both you and amybnnyc were also fans!! Yay for sharing the name with the cool Janine!! You probably saw amybnnyc and I talking about how we loved Janine and the rest of Claudia's family, but we weren't that into Claudia. I was a big Kristy fan, and I'm pretty sure that I had a crush on her!

Oh the SVH reading! I used to take them out from the library, and devour them. I recall that some of the SVH books were "very special episodes", oh the fun!

We even had a cemetery in my back yard where we would bury a picture of a character when they were killed off the show. My parents called it "The Fictional Graveyard". That's so awesome!! I'm very entertained by your DOOL stories. *g*

I have a six foot tall standee of Spike. I do strip teases for it. ::hides:: Loves you liek whoa!!!! I have a Spike calendar (and a BtVS one), the Spike trading card collection, 2 Spike action figures (as well as many other BtVS/AtS ones) and a poster of him. I now have this "grown up" and decorated apartment so I'm embarrassed to have the poster up. I have it in my closet (it's really big, so I call it "Spike's room" cause it's probably just a bit smaller than Xander's "closet-room"). *hides with you*

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I've only read the first Wrinkle in Time book, but I loved it so much that I later bought it to read again. Poor, procrastinating me still hasn't taken the time to track down the others ... gotta add that to the list.

[femmenerd.livejournal.com]

I will just say now that I have seen/read pretty much ALL of your obsessions. Heh.

And yes, why IS Katie Holmes doing...anything she's been doing lately.

Incidentally, I read an interview with Josh Jackson where he talks about how much he loves his feminist mom. He basically wins.

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

I will just say now that I have seen/read pretty much ALL of your obsessions. Heh. I know we share the L.M.Montgomery love, so that's awesome about having the others in common!

Katie Holmes recent "choices" (are they choices or brainwashing?) have been very disturbing. I just hope that she's getting some sort of lucrative deal out of this ... because otherwise it's just distressing.

Josh Jackson totally wins!! That makes me love him even more. I wish he was back on a tv show, or in more movies!