Fandom Survey, Part I: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Alright, here's that Buffy the Vampire Slayer survey I wrote about last time. This probably goes without saying, but the survey will contain spoilers from all 7 seasons of Buffy (not the Season 8 comic, though). Read and enjoy!

1. The first character I fell in love with: Giles

What can I say? He was a handsome older man with a British accent who loved books. It was love at first sight.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Andrew

Even though he was introduced as an erstwhile “bad guy”, I started to LOVE Andrew when he was held hostage by Buffy and the Scoobies. Thanks to Andrew, I have to say “vam-pyre” every single time.

3. The character everyone else loves that I don’t: the Potentials

Ok, I'm not sure that everyone loves the Potentials, but I wasn't a huge fan of that whole deal.

4. The character I love that everyone else hates: Dawn

Not that I love Dawn or anything, but I certainly don't hate her. I completely understand her behavior – she finds out she's not “real”, her mother dies, and she feels abandoned by all of her parental figures. She reacts like a 15 year-old would, making her realistic. Annoying, but realistic, and I respect that.

5. The character I used to love but don’t any longer: Anya

When she was first introduced, Anya was wonderful. Her off-color commentary on human nature was amusing, insightful, and surprisingly refreshing. After things with Xander fell apart, though, I didn't like her as much. Not that I'm blaming the girl for going a little evil after getting left at the altar, but I missed the old Anya.

6. The character I would shag anytime: Giles

Don't be creeped out, okay? I mean, honestly, have I mentioned the book thing?

7. The character I’d want to be like: Faith

Not that I want to be evil/crazy/a murderous bitch or anything, but I admire Faith. She understands the rules, but chooses to ignore them. I wish I could be more like that sometimes (though committing murder might be going a bit too far).

8. The character I’d slap: Caleb

Aside from the part where I kinda dig him (Nathan Fillion makes a great bad guy), he's mean and hates women.

9. A pairing that I love: Spike/Giles

Not a romantic pairing, but some of my favorite moments of the entire series come from Spike's tenure living with Giles during season 4. Case in point:

Spike: Passions is on! Timmy's down a bloody well, and if you make me miss it, I'll...

Giles: Do what? Lick me to death?

10. A pairing that I despise: Buffy/Riley

It's no secret that I'm not Riley's biggest fan, and I think his effect on Buffy has a lot to do with my feelings. At first, it seemed like Riley might be good for her – a nice, normal, old-fashioned dude. Turns out he was an Initiative commando, doomed to feel impotent compared to Buffy's Slayer ability. Not the best relationship, for either of them, and it went on too long.

11. Favorite male character (add a quote or favorite line): Giles (is anyone surprised? Anyone?)

While Giles has hundreds of amazing moments, this has to be my absolute favorite: “Now wait a minute. You think I'm evil if I bring a group of girls on a camping trip and don't touch them?”

12. Favorite female character (add a quote or favorite line): Willow

I really like her a lot. No particular reason, but I think she's probably my favorite. And while Willow has lots of amazing memorable moments and quotes, my favorite is one about her, spoken by Xander in the season 6 finale: “First day of kindergarten, you cried because you broke the yellow crayon and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far. Ending the world – not a terrific option. But the thing is? Yeah, I love you. I loved crayon-breaky Willow and I love scary veiny Willow. So, if I'm going out, it's here. If you wanna kill the world? Well, then start with me. I've earned that.”

13. My five favorite characters: Giles, Spike, Willow, Buffy, and Xander

14. My five least favorite characters: Riley (if I could count him as all 5, I would), Travers, Darla, Anya (post break-up with Xander), and Warren

15. Which character I am most like: Willow

While I am neither a witch nor a lesbian, I see a lot of myself in Willow, mostly in the early seasons. Willow excelled academically, but was afraid to “be herself” and didn't really come into her own socially until she accepted who she was. I think I'm the same way in many respects. It wasn't until I “gave up the ghost” and admitted that I'm a HUGE nerd that I found a core group of friends, so I can relate.

16. My deep, dark fandom secret: I don't really have one. Honestly. All my deep, dark secrets lie in other fandoms.

This survey was harder than I thought it would be! I kind of like it, so I think I'm going to apply it to other fandoms as well and make a series out of it. If you have any suggestions for a show/book/etc you'd like to see featured, leave it in the comments section.

Mischief Managed,

Slim Pearl Silver-Feather

Currently Reading: Blood and Chocolate

Books Read in 2011: 5 (I was off by 1 last time, but it's 5 now)

Characters I love and Loathe, Part I

Like most people in today's media-centric society, I love fiction. TV shows, films, and books (among other forms of media), have the ability to draw us into made-up worlds with made-up people and make us care. Most people don't watch a TV show week after week for analytical reasons like good writing, believable acting, and excellent production. We watch shows and cry over movies because we care about them. We care about what happens (albeit that's usually because of good technical aspects like acting, writing, and producing) to these fake people and their fake lives, so we have to tune in or turn the page to answer that age-old question “What happens next?”

Now I lumped myself in with “most people” when I said I love fiction. I am not, however, most people. I am, in fact, a freak. Fiction does something to me that's difficult to describe. When I get invested in a TV show or novel, it's a visceral experience. It goes beyond just wanting to see where the story goes – it's about experiencing the fictional world as though it were real, in a way. For me, fiction sometimes transcends the immediate experience and actually effects my life in a not altogether healthy way.

I don't have this problem/addiction/oddity with everything I watch or read (thank goodness. I think I would explode if I felt that much emotion). I can regularly watch many shows and read lots of books without forming any deep attachments. Take Grey's Anatomy or House, for example. I do not believe I have ever missed an episode of either, and I really enjoy those shows. However, while I am an avid viewer of both shows, I don't feel any kind of deep connection with either of them. It's hard to explain – it's almost like I have different levels of feelings when it comes to TV shows and books. I don't love House or Carrie the same way I love Stargate or Harry Potter.

Now, we've already established that I'm a freak for fiction. But, unfortunately, it doesn't stop there. Because my real problem isn't the way I experience and connect with fiction – the level to which I feel these connections may be abnormal, but I don't think it's an altogether unusual experience. That's why we love reading stories and watching shows. My real problem is that I'm in love with characters. Now I know the characters aren't real – I'm not crazy – but the way I react to some TV shows and books, you'd think I didn't know the difference.

I don't know why it happens and I can't really explain it, but I can't help but have incredibly strong reactions to certain characters (either positive or negative). Now I'm not talking about the feelings most people have towards characters. I think it's perfectly normal (healthy, even) to have a favorite character in a show or book. And there are plenty of shows and books that I can say that I'm “normal” about. What interests me, though, are the characters that elicit such strong reactions from me. Because, honestly, there are 3 characters (4, if I'm being truly honest with myself) that I am head over heels in love with and 3 characters that I absolutely detest.

Therefore, dear readers, I decided to start a series of blogs exploring why I have such strong reactions to these 6 (well, 7, really) characters. We'll examine each character in detail and try to figure out why I love or loathe them. For now, I'll just tell you their names to whet your appetite.

Characters I love – Sirius Black (Harry Potter), Daniel Jackson (Stargate: SG-1), Gale Hawthorne (The Hunger Games), and a special Mystery Guest (I may not be ready to reveal this love to the world just yet)

Characters I loathe – Ron Weasley (Harry Potter), Vala Mal Doran (Stargate: SG-1), and Peeta Mellark (The Hunger Games)

And, finally, because I've been assuring you that I'm at least somewhat normal, I'll leave you with a list of my favorite characters that I'm not unhealthily attached to (including some of the shows/series mentioned above). If I have a least favorite, I'll list that as well.

Books (FYI: I'm limiting this to book series. Otherwise, I'll be doing this forever)

Harry Potter – Hermione Granger (and if I had to pick another least favorite, Bellatrix Lestrange)

Discworld series – Sam Vimes

Bartimaeus trilogy – Bartimaeus

Lord of the Rings – Faramir (least favorite: Boromir – I love the coincidence there)

TV Shows

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Rupert Giles, with Spike as a close second (least favorite: Riley)

The X-Files – Alex Krycek

Stargate: Atlantis – Ronan Dex, with Carson Beckett as a close second

Avatar: The Last Airbender – Prince Zuko (least favorite: Toph)

Firefly – Mal or Wash

Stargate: SG-1 – Ba'al (and if I had to pick another least favorite, Kinsey)

Coupling – Jeff

Sanctuary – Will Zimmerman (I'm worried this is bordering on unhealthy) or Big Guy

Stargate: Universe – Dr. Nicholas Rush

Well, I believe that's it for now. There's a Buffy survey another blogger I follow posted a while back, and I think I might steal that and post my answers later this week. I'll try to have another part in this series posted by the end of the weekend, along with a whirl-wind summary of what I've been reading.

Mischief Managed,

Slim Pearl Silver-Feather

Currently Reading: Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, Part IV)

Books Read in 2011: 5, I think (I'll have to check on that)