Birthday! :)

[elisi]

Stopping by to wish a Very Happy Birthday to stormwreath! Can I take the credit for luring you onto LJ? It's something that I'm very pleased with! ;)

I sadly did not have time or inspiration for any sort of present - not even a drabble. So instead I'll bring a couple of recs...

You're probably already familiar with sdwolfpup's vids, but just in case you aren't she has made the only Willow/Kennedy vid I've ever come across (Lemon Parade) and also an awesome vid about Willow's seduction by Rack and all her issues with magic (Red Oyster Cult).

And a long time ago now, when we ran our very first challenge in lateseasonlove spuffyduds wrote a fabulous and very insightful Willow fic And I Will Therefore Fix It, set the night before the Scoobies' resurrection spell.

And that's all I have time for! Have a brilliant day - and I hope the sun shines as brightly where you are as it does here!

Comments

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

Thanks - and yes, I think you pretty much can take the blame credit for me being here. I've just been reading the spuffyduds fic and it is good... coincidentally enough I was re-watching 'Grave' last night, and it was interesting to see both ends of Willow's S6 journey in succession like that.

(And thinking about it, the scary thing about Willow in 'Two To Go' and 'Grave' is that not only is she physically stronger and a better fighter than Buffy - something Adam and Glory also managed - but she can also manipulate her, out-think her and punch all her buttons to get her to do what she wants - even more so than Angelus or The First. Not to mention being able to cause the Apocalypse on a whim and at a moment's notice, without needing a hundred years of preparation like the Mayor...)

And the sun's shining here all right, but unfortunately the pollen count is high...

[elisi]

Thanks - and yes, I think you pretty much can take the blame credit for me being here.
:)

it was interesting to see both ends of Willow's S6 journey in succession like that.
Mmmm... if I had the time I'd do the same. Which reminds me of something Willow-unrelated - an essay comparing 'Life Serial' and 'Dead Things'. Very good!

but she can also manipulate her, out-think her and punch all her buttons to get her to do what she wants
Ah now that's a good point. Both Angelus and The First wore the faces of people Buffy cared about, but neither *was* that person (Angel is Angelus, but Angelus isn't Angel). But Willow (however much she tries to deny it: "Willow doesn't live here anymore") is Willow, and knowing that everything she says in some way comes from Buffy's actual real friend is far more unsettling. I love S6 I think for daring to show us the very worst of every character! (And I *am* looking forward to seeing what Joss is going to do with Willow in S8!)

Darcy has hayfever also... the elderberry flowers are particularly bad!

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

But Willow (however much she tries to deny it: "Willow doesn't live here anymore") is Willow, and knowing that everything she says in some way comes from Buffy's actual real friend is far more unsettling.

Especially since you know that everything hurtful and hateful she says has obviously been brewing in her mind all along; it was just being censored by her superego/conscience - which is why fic showing us the dark depths of her subconscious in earlier times is so interesting. Remember how she was already resenting being 'the sidekick' in S4 'Fear, Iself'?

Of course it's not just Willow who's like this - she's just the one where the show chose to lay all this out for us... probably because she originally seemed the 'nicest' and 'cutest' of the regular characters, so it was more of a contrast...

[elisi]

Especially since you know that everything hurtful and hateful she says has obviously been brewing in her mind all along
*nods*

probably because she originally seemed the 'nicest' and 'cutest' of the regular characters, so it was more of a contrast...
Yes, I think so too - we knew that Xander could be a jerk from very early on, but Willow was so *sweet*!

she's just the one where the show chose to lay all this out for us...
You know this made me think of Angel(us) in S4, and how Angelus used Angel in the same way. Wait, let me get a quote to illustrate:

ANGELUS: Especially after what happened to her old professor. Come on, even Angel's not that stupid. The way things changed between you two... the furtive looks, all that guilt. Mm. There's nothing like your first murder. Don't worry, I won't tell what our little girl did.
GUNN: She didn't—
ANGELUS: Yeah! (claps once) So, it was you—stepping up and being the man!
'Calvary'

Angel worked it out, but never said a thing - but Angelus does, happily. Hmmm... which all works very well when looking at the soul as superego/conscience. I wonder if any fics have explored the similarities between Angel and Willow.

[spuffyduds.livejournal.com]

All these comments are popping up on that old fic now, which is so awesome! Thank you.

[elisi]

Hey, my pleasure! And the fic certainly deserves it! :)