cordelianne | What would Buffy do?

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!!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I kind of liked it myself (it's from one of the original Baum Oz books), but I stopped using it regularly because it was causing confusion over whether I was a male or female. Which is strange, now that I think about it, because lots of women use males for their icons -- Spike and Angel, for instance. :-)

When I was a kid I collected a few things from my obsessions, such as action figures and starship models, but I never had the money to collect a lot. Like you, mostly it meant books -- I had several boxes full of Star Trek related books, for instance. And, of course, I was a comic book collector.

My parents bought me all 14 of the original Oz books when I was too young to really appreciate them, but now they're one of my greatest treasures. The irony is, I had kids of my own before I realized more Oz books were written after Baum died -- over 40 of them, last time I checked, and on occasion a new one pops up. A new odd, magical character -- or more -- turns up in each one, so Oz is becoming quite a crowded place, indeed.

Which is strange, now that I think about it, because lots of women use males for their icons -- Spike and Angel, for instance. :-)
Very true!! Particularly since many of us don't look anything like most of the icons we use. *uses one of my favourite Spike icons that resembles me only in that I'm short!*

hee! I actually collect BtVS/AtS action figures currently!!

That's neat that you're still able to enjoy more books in a universe that you love. Recently they published a whole bunch of L.M.Montgomery's short stories in collections, and I was overjoyed about new works of hers to read!

Boy, I sure hope you don't look like that icon ... ;-)

I bought Jillian a Willow/Tara action figure set last Christmas, so you're not only in the action figure business. Back about two infatuations ago, she collected every Sailor Moon collectible she could get her hands on. Runs in the family.

Boy, I sure hope you don't look like that icon ... ;-) hee! Well I would have a lot of girls crazy about me, so there'd be an upside!

That's awesome that you got your daughter the Willow/Tara action figures! I have them as well (but mine are separate, I didn't get them as part of the set). *g*

I guess the action figure people figured those two characters just belonged together!

It's actually interesting that the lesbian couple was paired together in a box set, I can't recall them doing that with other couples. It's nice that their relationship wasn't dismissed, especially since it was so well done on the show.

Absolutely. I consider that to be the second great pairing on BtVS, after Angel/Buffy. (Spike fans will hate me! Come to think of it, so will Oz fans.)

hee!! I'm not really a "shipper" per se, I do have certain pairings that I like more but there's very few on the show that I don't love. I tend to be partial to Buffy/Spike over Buffy/Angel, but I really do love the Buffy/Angel storyline especially in season 2. I also love Willow/Oz and Willow/Tara equally. The same with Xander, I loved him with Cordy and Anya. I'm also a fan of the slash pairings in fanfiction especially Spike/Angel and Spike/Xander. Um, yeah so clearly I just love most of the characters and their relationships.

I'm not fond of Buffy/Riley and Willow/Kennedy but I can understand why Buffy and Willow dated them (in my mind Willow and Kennedy broke up shortly post-Chosen).

Poor Xander ... his luck with women ...

I've kept Willow and Kennedy together, mostly for the same reason I kept Faith and Robin together -- I'm a romantic at heart who really wants to see a happy, romantic ending. In reality, both those couples would probably be doomed. But it's given me some interesting storylines, since I've managed to kinda/sorta bring back Tara. That's quite a triangle: witch/slayer/ghost. Hm .... time to bring Oz in, huh? I'm so cruel.

I also love to see happy, romantic endings!

IMO Kennedy wasn't right for Willow, in the long term. I really didn't like her character but could see why she appealed to Willow; very strong and assertive. My belief is that Willow used (but not in a bad way) Kennedy to help get over Tara and move on. My hope is that they would have eventually broken up post-Chosen - I guess I'll have to write a post-Chosen story in which that happens!!

Sure, that's what fanfiction is all about! My Kennedy has matured some since her appearance in the series, due largely to the influence of Willow and her experiences; but she's not perfect. And really, all the characters can't be likeable -- there has to be somebody to stir the proverbial pot.

What would Buffy do?

The icon

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Willow/Tara

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writing your own story