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)