I'm not sure what to do with this blog. I used to largely post Buffy the Vampire Slayer content, some Supernatural, and when I was playing Skyrim at a stretch some Skyrim stuff.
But things got... weird here.
Writing a fic or a meta would turn into an argument in reblogs, ship warring. I couldn't write WillOz because it meant I was anti-Tillow/anti-gay/anti-bi (I'm not, I just like the ship and thought it needed more resolution). I couldn't write Tillow because I was anti-bi or bi-erasing or whatever. So I just... stopped writing either ship into my stories (but it was usually in my head, so it was frustrating to try to write the story without that piece). God forbid I wrote meta involving critical thinking and critical analysis of... well, anyone or anything. And this, for me, was New. I've been in the Buffy internet fandom for over 10 years. Yeah, there were always ship wars and character stans. But I never experienced it to the level I've seen it on this site in the past 4-5 years or so. Where I could write a thoughtful essay on a character or a ship, or take weeks to write a fic, only to have the post run away with ship wars and anti-accusations.
So I moved my fic to Ao3 where I can moderate comments and there's generally a more accepting audience looking for the specific thing a person writes, not stumbling on it and getting upset. But there's less interaction there. I feel like I'm writing into a void and then once in a while a scrap blows my way with a comment on it. So it's harder to stay motivated and encouraged to write over there.
My meta is... nowhere. It's in notebooks and journals like it used to be in the 90s when I wasn't on the Internet yet. There are some very nice folks on here who have invited me to forums. I'm just a little hesitant to post my meta into the void due to recent new experiences.
I don't know where to put my stuff. I don't know what to do with this particular blog. I'm curious to know if others feel the same and to know how you coped/adapted.
The original source for this ask has disappeared, so I grabbed it from my own blog.
I answer these like surveys ‘cause I’m nerdy like that.
Favorite fictional characters this year
Annie Wilkes (Castle Rock: Season 2)
Emily Galindo (Mayans MC) – fight me, Tumblr
Edrisa Tanaka (Prodigal Son)
Adelita (Mayans MC)
Nadia Howlwadaag (Castle Rock: Season 2)
Favorite ships this year
Malcom and Edrisa (Prodigal Son)
Jaime and Brienne (Game of Thrones)
Favorite TV shows to watch this year
Shows I discovered/started this year: Prodigal Son, The Mick, Veronica Mars, Chernobyl, Versailles
Shows I continued watching this year: Supernatural, Mayans MC, Castle Rock, 13 Reasons Why, Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror, Game of Thrones, Big Little Lies
Shows I watched just ‘cause this year: Friends
Favorite books read this year
The only one I finished was my re-read of Game of Thrones D:
Favorite song, album, or artist to listen to this year
Song: “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper (from A Star is Born)
Album: Probably “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac
Artist: Taylor Swift
Favorite movies of the year
It: Chapter 2
Us
Favorite TV show episodes of the year
Castle Rock: “The Laughing Place”
Prodigal Son: “Fear Response”
Supernatural: “Golden Time”
The Handmaid’s Tale: “Household” and “Unfit”
First fandom of the year
Prodigal Son, I think
Best new fandom discovery of the year
Fandom community? Not sure yet.
Biggest fandom disappointment of the year
The last season of Game of Thrones. Specifically, The Bells.
Biggest squee moments of the year (For ye youths who no longer use such awesome terminology, that means the fandom moments that made your heart cry out in overwhelming joy. Can y’all believe that “squee” didn’t quite stand the test of time??)
Supernatural: Adam’s return
Game of Thrones: When Jaime finally made a move on Brienne
Favorite main character of the year
Emily Galindo (Mayans MC)
Favorite villain of the year
Chuck (Supernatural)
Favorite m/f ship of the year
Malcom and Edrisa (Prodigal Son)
Favorite f/f ship of the year
Joy and Chance (Castle Rock Season 2)
Favorite m/m ship of the year
Philippe and the Chevalier (Versailles)
Your fictional true love of the year
Angel Reyes (Mayans MC)
Coco Cruz (Mayans MC)
Malcom Bright (Prodigal Son)
Fandom that you never expected to get into
Versailles
Fandom that made an unexpected comeback
Game of Thrones
Last fandom of the year
Probably Versailles
Overall favorite fandoms of the year
Supernatural
Your main fandoms throughout the year
Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, One Tree Hill, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts
The most missed of your old fandoms
Carnivale
Fandom resolutions for next year
Read more books in general, write more Buffy stuff
This weekend I happened to catch and rewatch Alien: Covenant. Right after that I caught and rewatched Aliens. This was sheerly through channel surfing luck that I watched these movies in this order. But, in doing so I connected some dots and had some realizations that gave me a new appreciation for the prequel series.
A Bit of Background
I can’t remember if I saw Alien or The Terminator first, so Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor get equal billing for being “the first” female action heroes I ever encountered. Prior to them I’d seen Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis watching action films with my dad. So seeing not Tom Skerrit’s Captain Dallas or John Hurt’s Kane but Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley take on the role of Action Hero was essential to my development as an eleven-year-old girl. I’m not even exaggerating for the sake of drama. Watching Ripley in Alien was one of the first examples I saw in media of a woman in a role I’d only seen taken on by male characters before. For this reason alone, the original Alien holds a special place in my heart.
The Original Series
I have mixed feelings about the franchise as a whole. I loved Alien and Aliens to me was just as good and is one of the few sequels that measures up to the original. It lost me at Alien 3 when they killed off Newt and Hicks in the opening crash land. Forcing Ripley into the “sole survivor” role becomes formulaic here and… honestly I’ve had no desire to rewatch Alien 3 and completely forget the entire plot other than the fact that it takes place in a prison setting and Ripley had to shave her head. And they killed off Ripley! I remember being very upset all around at Alien 3 and I think I mentally disowned it.
Alien: Resurrection brought me back around because Ripley was back! And there was Winona Ryder! However, Ripley wasn’t the same Ripley we remembered. She was some clone or hybrid or… I don’t really know what they were going for there. But, I looked at this film as a standalone almost AU installment and I’m actually very okay with it. Not my favorite by a longshot, but a slight redemption from Alien 3’s mess.
Alien vs. Predator
No. Just no. Denied. Why? What even? WHY?!
I’ve seen a few of these movies and if you’re a fan of big monsters fighting one another with a bunch of random humans caught in the middle, these movies might be your jam. If you’re a Predator or an Alien fan, though, it kind of doesn’t fit in with either in my opinion.
The Prequels
When I watched Prometheus I hadn’t done any research on it at all, so I had no idea it had anything to do with the Alien franchise. I saw a space-themed action-horror film with Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Noomi Rapace, and Michael Fassbender involved and I was IN, man. Honorable mention to Logan Marshall-Green, who is also awesome but I didn't catch in the trailers. So he was a nice surprise.
The opening scene was unworldly and gorgeous, much like the opening of The Mists of Avalon, which is a weird comparison, I know. But I was enchanted by this opening scene much like I was as I watched Morgaine Le Fey float through the mist that served as a doorway to a magical world. We see an unknown being on an alien planet perform a mysterious ritual and then plummet into the water. The first clue was the title card, which even then I thought “Oh, cool! They did the Alien thing!” but hadn’t connected it as directly related. I’d just thought it was a subtle nod because of the Ridley Scott connection.
I loved Prometheus as a film. I had a very similar reaction to it that I had to the original Alien movie. We had an ensemble of characters, all with their own personalities and enough development to make us care. Noomi Rapace became the reluctant hero as opposed to the expected Charlize Theron, who had been in the Ripley role (“He’s not coming on my ship.”). As the Alien clues dropped, I picked them up and quickly (excitedly) realized the film was somehow connected – it had to be. For me, that was just the cherry on top of a fantastic film.
Alien: Covenant made me feel much like Alien 3 did. The ending of Prometheus had been hopeful, echoing both the endings of Alien and Aliens. Our hero Elizabeth Shaw had survived and would bring android David along to find the Engineers and get her answers. Ridley Scott himself spoke about a possible sequel involving Elizabeth and David trying to do just that.
And then we got Alien: Covenant. Elizabeth and David were nowhere to be found and instead we were (hastily) introduced to an entire new crew of characters whose development was severely lacking in the film. We don’t even know everyone’s paired up in romantic couples until people start dying. When David did finally appear to rescue everyone I was excited. Yes! Finally, a tie-in to Prometheus. And then we learn Elizabeth died suspiciously and the franchise is turned over to David. To say I was infuriated would be an understatement.
I was more excited about the project Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn spoke about at a comic-con panel that would’ve followed Alien and Aliens (and maybe retconned some stuff) than I was about whatever Ridley Scott did next (I still kind of am, if I’m honest). Why would someone take a franchise helmed by a powerhouse female action hero and then make its lead an insane android and his pet virus? Why would I want to follow this asshole instead of Shaw, Daniels, or even Vickers?
Final Analysis
Watching Aliens right on the heels of Alien: Covenant made it easier for me to make some connections and parallels. In Aliens, a group of marines attempts to travel to a space colony that lost contact to see what’s going on. Ripley is brought along (with Burke, that shit) as a consultant “just in case” (even though everyone treats her like she has a case of the vapors when she tells them about the xenomorphs). The premise makes little sense on the outset. However, when we later learn Burke’s true motivation it makes perfect sense. Burke believes Ripley, although he makes a show of the opposite. And he wants to bag an alien to bring home and sell to the highest bidder. When the soldiers start stomping carelessly around blowing holes in things with there big dumb weapons, it’s infuriating to the audience, knowing what we know. However, it’s also infuriating to Ripley and we’re reminded why she’s there. These are soldiers who, of course, have no idea what to do with an alien species and probably aren’t used to exploring alien environments.
This is very similar to what’s going on in Alien: Covenant. Not made clear in the film due to the character development scenes (such as “the last supper” prologue) being cut, this crew are explorers and colonists. They’re not astronauts or scientists. A few of the characters appear to be military escorts or officers. Of course they’re tromping around without a care in the world. They don’t know any better. Their captain, Jake Bronson, dies mid-journey and his second-in-command, Billy Crudup’s Oram, is super insecure about his new position. This is frequently shown in his interactions with Katherine Waterson’s No First Name Daniels, who was also Bronson’s wife. Daniels has a comradery and respect with the crew not present with Oram. So, when Oram has to start making decisions he’s acting more on his insecurity and his need to Do Something and be taken seriously than acting on the information and advice he’s given. Also, once we know the relationships between characters everyone’s bizarre anti-survival behavior makes a ton of sense. After a certain point in the film, everyone has lost a spouse and/or a ton of friends. Everyone is grieving, scared, and not at all trained to be doing what they’re doing, and they don’t have a Ripley on board to help guide them. “Game over, man! Game over!”
Yeah, Alien: Covenant is what happens when you make every character a Hudson.
Watching Ripley’s reaction to Bishop in Aliens reminded me how iffy Ash the A.I. was in Alien. You know, he got all murdery and everything.
Then I remembered – oh, yeah – Alien: Covenant is a prequel. This means David is an A.I. precursor of some kind to Ash… which means he’s a faulty A.I. Also, Ripley encountered creatures and situations no one had discovered before to our knowledge (due to everyone’s reaction to Ripley’s story in Aliens). This ultimately means no one can make it out of these prequels alive or it compromises Ripley’s established story.
David is a faulty A.I., which hasn’t yet been experienced by anyone living who has encountered androids in space exploration if we go by the example of Ash in Alien. Failsafes haven’t been given to androids yet to limit their emotional depths or put rules in place to prevent them from harming humans. He’s creating creatures that are new. No one knows they exist, so no one is prepared for them (just like the crew of the Nostromo wasn’t prepared for the xenomorphs in Alien). Even heavily trained soldiers, scientists, and astronauts will be encountering deadly things they don’t know are out there: a highly intelligent rogue A.I. capable of experiencing emotion and evolution, mutated weaponized creatures unlike anything they’ve ever seen before, and an alien virus that mutates its host and is undetectably ingested.
Guys, ain’t nobody emerging as the lone heroic survivor of anything in this franchise (except the fucking xenomorph).
Having digested and accepted that information, I am grimly awaiting what happens next, and I really hope with all my giddy little heart that theorized Aliens sequel Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn teased is going to happen. I’ll even take a video game version.
Hicks and Newt deserved better and I stand by that.
I have serious beef with Shirley's character arc. Spoilers ahead.
As a whole, I loved The Haunting of Hill House and I have very little to say about it that's negative.
With that being said, I wish they'd done more with Shirl! I've seen Elizabeth Reaser in other things and she's fantastic, but typically plays a more minor character. When I saw the Lost type format of “every character gets an episode” I was very excited in general. There were a lot of talented actors in this show, a few of whom I hadn't heard of. I was glad they'd all get a chance to shine, and for the most part all of them did.
However, when presented alongside raw, powerful arcs like Luke's struggle with addiction and Theo's work analyzing troubled children, Shirley's arc barely registers. I saw a few reviews that off-handedly commented that Shirley was the worst, or the least favorite character. It took me some consideration to figure out why.
Shirley was an important puzzle piece. She was the fixer, the one who wanted to help everyone, but lacked the emotional capacity Nell had to do so. In a lot of ways, she was a foil for Nell. While Nell had “one foot in crazy and another on a banana peel,” she was selfless, always thinking of her family before herself. Shirley had a firm grasp on her sanity and had the capability and the desire to help her family members. But, she lacked Nell's patience and compassion. However, when we got to Shirley's episode it focused largely on everyone else. Shirley prepared Nell's body for her funeral, tried to offer Theo some guidance, and had the task of trying to plan a wake and funeral around her dysfunctional family. Nell's episode focused mostly on Nell, and all that had happened with her. We got an entire lifetime of Nell, and it was arguably the best episode of the series.
What the hell happened with Shirley?
Every other character got a thorough examination of their psyche, their “self,” through their experiences with the house and their relationships with other characters. Even Steven and Hugh, who were the most distant characters of the group, had full arcs and had their characterization fully explored.
What was the deal with Shirley's nightmares? Were they supposed to be premonitions? Why don't we ever get into that at all in this story steeped in supernatural metaphor? Wait, that guy was her husband? I thought he was her business partner. She had an affair? Hot damn, I can't wait to see what horrible shape that takes. Oh. Her ghost is Nathan Scott from One Tree Hill talking to her like she's Jack Nicholson at the bar in The Shining? Wait… that doesn't fit at all with anything else. As much as I love James Lafferty, I felt like he was shoehorned in as an afterthought, maybe as a director Easter egg. They should have either utilized him (he's also a fantastic actor) or cut him out. I was either wondering who this random drink guy was, or I forgot he existed entirely and the payoff fell flat.
I did enjoy the Shirley flashbacks! Those were fantastic. But, her story as an adult fell short and may have been hindered by the size of the cast. I can't even argue it's a part of her character to be closed off and not reveal what she has going on because we don't get to know her nearly as well as everyone else. We know Arthur better! Nell's husband who gets maybe nine total minutes of screen time had a more solid arc than Shirley.
I didn't dislike the character at all, but she's definitely the least utilized and it's glaringly obvious.
Okay. So, I’ve sworn off OTP’ing because I just can’t limit myself to one “true” pairing. However, I do prefer some ships over others. I’m going to rank three sets of top 5’s below.
Canon: A relationship that has been seen on either Angel the Series or Buffy the Vampire Slayer in which the two characters are an established couple.
Semi-Canon: A relationship that was eluded to, hinted at, or an “almost, but not quite” in either of the shows. This includes one-night stands, flirtations, and flings.
Non-Canon: A relationship that never happened and was never eluded to in the shows.
I haven’t read the comics, so I’m not including those ships here, as I don’t know enough about them to rank them. If there’s a ship not listed and you’d like to know where it ranks, let me know.
Note: I’m always up for hearing alternate points of view on ships! Feel free to try to change my mind about a ship, particularly if it’s one you really enjoy that I’ve ranked too low for your liking (or haven’t ranked at all). It has been known to happen (see Fuffy, Spuffy, and Spander). If you want to point out some unhealthy/problematic things about a ship, please respect those with a differing opinion and try to avoid straight up ship bashing. I welcome all shippers to follow/comment on my blog and I’d like to keep things respectful for everyone in the comments. If Tumblr had a better moderating system I wouldn’t have to say that.
Canon
One: Buffy & Angel
These two are one of my top ships ever. The story arc has everything: a giddy school girl crush, forbidden love, murder, Hell, death, redemption, and teamwork. My favorite thing about Buffy and Angel is their ability to work as a team even when they’re not a couple. They compliment each other so well in terms of occult knowledge and strength. From a storytelling standpoint, this was my favorite ship to watch. It was layered, complicated, and heartbreaking. It’s the one that got me right in the feels the most.
Two: Willow & Oz
I’m so into these two. Oz is my favorite and he and Willow were so cute together in the early stages of their relationship. They’re two nerdy, smart kids who bonded over their nerdiness. And I related so hard to Willow when I was in high school, so they were a bit of a vicarious ship for me, which is why it’s one I’m particularly fond of in general.
Three: Willow & Tara
If I could tie Tillow with Willoz I would, but that’s cheating. The only reason Willoz got the edge was because of my personal relation to it. But, I love Tillow! They started with a friendship that naturally progressed into something more. We see an entirely different side to both women when they’re together. They bring out hidden skills and talents in one another through their mutual strength and encouragement.
Four: Fred & Gunn
This was such an unexpected relationship, but a pleasant surprise. Fred was so sweet and Gunn was so tough, but Fred brought out this sweet side to him I don’t think we would’ve seen otherwise. These two were just adorable. Maybe a little mismatched, but that was one of the things that made it awesome.
Five: Wesley & Lilah
Out of left field came Wesley and Lilah! But, it made so much sense in the context of their storylines as characters. On the surface of this relationship, Wesley and Lilah were born out of convenience where each of them needed the other one. But, as the relationship developed further more layers were revealed and they genuinely had warmth and passion for one another. The blurred lines of morality were great here.
Semi-Canon
One: Faith & Buffy
This relationship is under the surface for most of season three. It’s not only subtext, it’s very nearly text. They had a Single White Female thing going on where they were both envious of one another for different reasons. The fact that they’re both slayers gives them a bond and an understanding of one another hard to find elsewhere.
Two: Cordelia & Doyle
These two brought out some lovely aspects of one another as friends. Cordelia made Doyle more introspective and self-aware. Doyle made Cordelia more humble (unfortunately most of that development occurred because of/after his demise). So much groundwork was laid for this relationship only for it to never happen. It had a lot of potential.
Three: Angel & Cordelia
Both Angel and Cordelia evolved so much over the course of Angel and alongside one another. Cordelia gained a lot of humility and became a hero in her own right. Angel continued his redemption arc and found a new purpose outside of Sunnydale. These two were a very good team, always picking each other up and keeping each other going. That’s the heart of a good relationship, isn’t it?
Four: Angel & Spike
The bromance with these two is so strong. They’re like a bickering married couple and I love it. I can’t find the actual evidence to site, but I know there’s context in the shows eluding to a romantic/sexual past with these two. I definitely buy that it happened. Their chemistry is fantastic. Two old, bitter vampires both trying to redeem themselves and never quite feeling like they do.
Five: Faith & Angel
There’s so much Faith and Angel have in common. They both crossed moral lines that can’t be uncrossed, and they understand important aspects of one another (and forgive them). They have so much chemistry and they support one another. They’re each that person for one another where they could call and ask for any favor. “Hey, I gotta dump a body.” “Damn, alright. Let me get my shovel, but we’re gonna have a talk about this later.”
Non-Canon
One: Buffy & Xander
At any point post-season four I would’ve bought these two as a couple. Mature Xander and Owning-Her-Slayerness Buffy were so ride or die for each other. They’re each other’s heart, strength, and discipline when needed. Again, excellent teamwork always.
Two: Faith & Gunn
These two were gritty and edgy and I think they would’ve complemented each other wonderfully. They would’ve been a badass fighting duo, probably would’ve argued like hell, but they would’ve been hot.
Three: Connor & Dawn
Connor and Dawn are both mystically constructed beings who weren’t meant to exist, but they do, and they have issues as a result. They’d probably connect over this aspect of their lives no one else shares. Connor could train Dawn to fight and defend herself (and feel needed, which is helpful). Dawn could give Connor lots of spirited pep talks and be the little ray of sunshine he desperately needs.
Four: Spike & Dawn
This is a little taboo because Spike became almost like a paternal figure for Dawn, but I do love their dynamic. He’s protective of Dawn and he stands by her unconditionally. Dawn trusts and looks up to Spike, but doesn’t take his crap. This would be an interesting romance.
Five: Xander & Oz
These two always had a great, low-key bromance. There’s a mutual respect there and a cute friendship. I’m not gonna lie, I saw a Tumblr post pointing out they sometimes wear the same shirt but never at the same time, implying these two secretly hooked up here and there and, if they hadn’t been dating other people most of the time, I totally would’ve bought it.
I wrote a post about Willow and Oz’s relationship, focusing on the problems within the relationship itself and whether or not they could have been resolved. I came up with “Yeah, if Oz wasn’t so scared of being a werewolf to actually be a functional werewolf” with a sidenote of “But, there is the topic of Willow’s sexuality to discuss.” Here is that topic!
Short and sweet
There is no wrong answer. Willow loves who she loves when she loves them. But, I understand how important the gay label was at the time the show aired (and still is).
The nitty gritty
I have a gripe about how Willow’s sexuality was portrayed on the show. Joss Whedon has said that he’d intentionally tried to write both Willow and Xander so they could maybe turn out to be gay if he felt like it in the future. But, in the early seasons of the show, neither of them was written as questioning their sexuality in a way I consider legitimate. Part of this could have been because that kind of thing just wasn’t written well in TV at the time, and it was usually played for laughs or in a way that was uncomfortably stereotypical (even for shows that were trying to be progressive about it). Disclaimer aside, Willow’s early stage “questioning” was throwaway at best and played for laughs at worst. In Doppelgangland, we had Vamp!Willow - an evil doppelgangar from another dimension - who was very affectionate with Vamp!Xander, and then hit on… well, herself, presumably to make regular Willow uncomfortable. Willow made a comment: “That’s me as a vampire? I’m so evil, and skanky… and I think I’m kinda gay.”
Okay, here’s my gripe with this. Vampire Willow is evil and Willow doesn’t sound thrilled at the idea of herself being evil, skanky, AND GAY!!! Oh, the horror! Now, had this been an intentional foreshadowy breadcrumb we know the writer team is great at planting (see the Dawn plotline), they could have played this as a metaphor for Willow quietly beginning to question her sexuality and finding it scary. But, that’s not what they did. Vamp!Willow groped regular Willow and licked her face, and Willow made a throwaway quip played for laughs. Then it was all evil and gross to think about.
I cannot remember any other example pre-season four of Willow genuinely appearing to question her sexuality. I could make an argument that Willow had some attraction to Buffy here and there, but that would be purely speculative based on the chemistry of Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan. I don’t think it would hold a lot of weight, if I’m honest (though if anyone wants to recommend some Buffy/Willow fanfiction or meta while we’re here I’d love to read it). If you have examples, please share! I don’t have the show handy to rewatch at the moment.
From seasons one through three, Willow is very attracted to Xander, Oz, and even Angel to a degree. That is demonstrated very clearly throughout. We never see her legitimately attracted to a female character without having to dig through dialogue and body language and what have you. If Willow was always meant to be gay, it was not addressed well in early seasons, in my opinion.
If we look at Xander, however, we have a bit more to work with. He has that confusing exchange with Larry in Phases in which he appears to be commiserating with being closeted. This is an entire sub-plot within the episode, so it’s more than a throwaway line, but it’s also highly played for laughs as well. He demonstrates what I would consider boy crushes. The first that comes to mind is Jack in The Zeppo, but that one’s a little lacking in evidence, just my interpretation of their interaction. Others include Riley, Spike, and Dracula (though, to be fair, he was mind-warped by Dracula). I genuinely believe Xander has displayed clear attraction to men throughout the show (mostly played for laughs).
If we compare the way Xander was written with the way Willow was written, there’s far less questioning happening on Willow’s side. This leads me to believe Joss may have originally planned for Xander to be gay when Seth Green left the show and it paved the way for Willow instead. Then the chemistry between Alyson Hannigan and Amber Benson was excellent, so how could you not do something with that?
My other issue was how quickly Tara was written in as Willow’s love interest after Oz left. I forgive this because Seth Green leaving forced them to hurriedly rewrite their story. But, to me, at the time, it felt like an abrupt and out of character change for Willow, seeing how “straight” they’d written her the first three seasons (particularly when you compare her to Xander or even Faith and Buffy).
So, this is where the label becomes a problem for me as a writer of Willow fanfiction and an RP’er of Willow, Oz, and Tara (I’ve written each of them on different RP message boards). I understand that once Willow was with Tara she identified as gay and after Tara she continued to identify as gay. I think, as a character, Willow saw Tara as her endgame, and therefore identified as gay because, well, yeah, if she was going to be with Tara for the rest of eternity, then duh. That was always how I saw her taking that label. I never thought it was the same as her sort of swearing off all men forever. The way she was written throughout the whole run, if you look at the early and late seasons all together, I think it makes more sense that she’s bisexual, pansexual, or to just chuck the label altogether. She loves who she loves and during certain phases of her life, some people are better fits for her than others.
I understand, though, that this opinion offends people. Willow being labeled gay at the time the show aired was a big deal. It was the first time I saw a same-sex couple kiss on screen in a way that wasn’t comical. I believe Willow was one of the first main cast members to come out as gay in a primetime TV show. I genuinely believe that portrayal paved the way for a lot of other shows, particularly in the supernatural and fantasy genres. I also love Willow and Tara once they get going. It was a rocky start that could’ve been done better, but they’re one of the healthiest relationships on the show, in my opinion. I’m not trying to negate that. All I’m saying is, they could have written the lead up to it better.
Switching gears a bit, I’m going to talk about Kennedy.
Kennedy was badly written. There. I said it.
What I mean by that is we didn’t get a lot of background or development for her before she became Willow’s girlfriend right on the heels of Tara. We got time with Tara before she started dating Willow, and we got time with Tara and Willow before Tara became a part of the gang. The same goes for Anya when she started dating Xander, Angel when he started dating Buffy, Oz, Spike, Scott Hope. They cut corners with Kennedy, then they plunked her into a big set of Tara shoes to fill and she clunked around awkwardly in them. I’ve said before I believe Kennedy fell victim to the all-over-the-place that was season seven. There simply wasn’t a lot of room for her to get the amount of story she should have.
Taking what we know of Kennedy, I don’t buy her as a legitimate relationship for Willow. A short-term “let’s try this out” thing, maybe. But, Kennedy is abrasive, spoiled, and selfish. She reminds me a lot of early Cordelia and season three Faith (neither of whom meshed well with Willow). So, I’m still baffled that these two became an item.
In a post-Tara story line, I struggle with what to do with Willow. Because, with Tara out of the picture, to me it’s not out of the question that Willow could fall in love with a man (particularly either Xander or Oz, since they have pre-existing history and wrong-place-wrong-time kind of break-up scenarios). I honestly think she could fall for whoever she wanted and it would be totally in character for her.
My conclusion is, ultimately, I don’t think there’s a wrong answer here. She loves who she loves. If you’d rather label her, cool. You do you. But I’m not gonna.
Warren. Not just because he’s a sociopathic A-hole, but he’s also poorly developed in comparison to other villains.
5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):
Willow & Tara
Giles & Jenny
Buffy & Riley
Buffy & Angel
Willow & Oz
Character I find most attractive:
Spike
Character I would marry:
Oz
Character I would be best friends with:
Willow
a random thought:
I like pie.
An unpopular opinion:
None of Buffy’s canon ships are healthy as written. She’s better off alone.
My Canon OTP:
Willow & Tara
My Non-canon OTP:
I haven’t thought about it much. Probably Buffy and Xander.
Most Badass Character:
Buffy
Most Epic Villain:
Glory
Pairing I am not a fan of:
Spike & Harmony
Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):
Riley. I felt like he was written kind of against character to get all needy and clingy with Buffy, and then to become a vamp ho (???). I think he was written out super clunkily.
Oz. I forgive this because of Seth Green’s hasty exit, but I felt like a similar thing happened to Oz where they kind of villainized him to write him out.
Winter’s a tough time for my muse. It’s cold, it’s dark when I go to work, it’s dark when I get home, and pretty much as soon as I get into my house I want to go to bed. My brain’s not really wanting to write stuff. But, if I don’t write stuff my brain’s gonna be all “Why aren’t we writing stuff?” and get all clogged up.
Anybody else’s brain do fun things like that?
Anyway, I’m trying to write some fanfiction stuff. So far the only solid thing I’ve got going on is this sort of weird Penny Dreadful thing, but it’s current time and will probably have some flashback elements. I haven’t figured it out yet. But if anybody’s into some Penny Dreadful fanfiction let me know. I can guarantee Dorian Gray’s in it. Other than that I’m pretty much flying by the seat of my pants.
tl;dr - Question, though: what do you do to spark your fanfiction muse? Help! I’m drowning, here.
