Whedon Wednesday :: the Whedonverse and its declared sociology majors

I’ve been seeing people point out the parallels between The Cabin in the Woods and other Whedonverse material since Cabin’s release (probably even before).  I’m one of those people that both looks for parallels between everything and everything and that loves director/writerverse in-references, though. These things make me smile when they’re done well, and most cult-following-type director/writer/universes do use them to some extent.

One of the ones I see pulled up is “Do not read the Latin!” / Buffy’s 4×17 “Xander, don’t speak Latin in front of the books.”  And yes, that’s reasonable.  There are other parallels, parallels galore really, and I mean that with affection.  But here I want to talk about one I haven’t actually seen brought up before.  This is probably because everyone is so busy comparing Cabin to the Buffyverse, and I don’t dispute that that’s the easiest option, but my parallel pertains to sociology students.

In Cabin, we have Chris Hemsworth’s Curt.  Mid-film, Marty (Fran Kranz) muses, “And since when does Curt pull this alpha male bullshit? I mean, he’s a sociology major, he’s on full academic scholarship and now he’s calling his friend an egghead?”  Curt is a sociology major, but he’s been cast as the athlete; given that the first scene with him shows him discussing textbooks, flirting with his girlfriend, and playing sports only seconds apart, we could believe that he’s one of those hybrid athlete/honor student/socially savvy/whatever people, the kind that really isn’t that rare in real life but doesn’t seem to exist too often in film.

Then we turn back to Dollhouse.  In 2×13, “Epitaph Two: Return,” Mag (Felicia Day) and Zone (Zack Ward) are discussing their lives in the before.  Zone reveals that he was a landscape architect; Mag says that she was at Berkeley studying sociology.  I always found this pretty in-character for Mag, who I have said before that I adore: sure, it’s the thoughtpocalypse and she has to fight to survive, which doesn’t leave a lot of room for sociological concerns on the one hand, but she was thoughtful and inquisitive about the situation they were all in, she clearly had some regard and concern for the ultimate fate of society.

See, and this is such a small thing on one hand: who really cares that two characters in two separate stories were studying the same thing at college?  Lots of people study the same thing at college.

Except… not necessarily.  The other Whedonverse characters to have officially explicitly declared majors are all proper science sorts (Bennett [Summer Glau] with neuroscience and probably boatloads of other related degrees, Fred [Amy Acker] with physics, Jules [Anna Hutchinson] being pre-med, Simon [Sean Maher] being a graduate of MedAcad).  Obviously, Topher (Fran Kranz) would have similar degrees to Bennett; Adelle (Olivia Williams), Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), Wesley (Alexis Denisof), and many other minor characters undoubtedly had degrees that were never discussed, and the rest of the Cabin kids, as well as Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Tara (Amber Benson) and Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), all attended college for varying lengths of time, though Dana-Marty-Holden and Tara died before graduating, Buffy dropped out, and Willow never actually canonically declared a major, I don’t think.  With the exceptions of Wesley and Giles’ inferred degrees, likely in some archaic and intellectual subject pertaining to demonology, and possibly Adelle’s in business or some sort (though I imagine she also held one in some type of science, largely from the comment in 1×09, “A Spy in the House of Love,” about her previous job pertaining to stem cell growth), the properly held degrees are in the “hard” sciences for specific reasons.  They serve some larger function in the plot.

So why do these two throwaway lines about two characters having degrees in something that doesn’t directly affect the plot wind up being so similar?  I imagine it’s because they actually do affect the plot, just not in the same way.

“Sociology is the scientific study of human social behavior and its origins, development, organization, and institutions,” says Wikipedia.

• Human social behavior, which Rossum largely destroyed with their remote wipes and which must be rebuilt at the end of “Epitaph Two.”  Topher’s restoring everyone’s minds served as new origins for human social behavior, the remaining characters do form an institution devoted, to varying degrees, to the redevelopment and reorganization of human social behavior.  And why Mag?  Mag wasn’t even a character on most of the show.  She only appeared in the Epitaph episodes.  Yet for this reason, Mag is suited to studying this: “Epitaph One” was about discovering the reasons for and the story behind what Rossum did, and there Mag was, prompting these discoveries as an observer (not impartial, per se, but someone who was original to the story, which allowed her some degree of detachment from the lives of those in the imprinted flashbacks).  “Epitaph Two” presents a theoretical future fix, which Mag will be there also to observe.
• Human social behavior, which is the very thing that the situation in the cabin revolves around.  This is, in a sense, doing human social behavior backwards: an institution organizes and originates the social behavior how they want it and let it develop in one of many terrible ways.  Curt is mentioned as being a sociology major because the dichotomy between multi-dimensional athlete/honor student/socially savvy/whatever person and intentionally douchey jock boy is easy to illustrate and easy to be startled by.

“It is a social science which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity,” says Wikipedia.

• As mentioned above, Mag was leading the investigation and analysis of the files left behind.  She was willing to explore options, to follow tiny Caroline (Adair Tishler) to Safe Haven, to follow the group back to the Dollhouse to better understand everything.
• Again, everyone running the show in Cabin was doing just this: Curt’s sociology major, being the only one established save Jules’ pre-med (which in turn served to remind us that no, she wasn’t the “dumb blonde” Whore they wrote her as), simply sheds light on the ways that he and his friends are being played.  He is a sociology major in order to deconstruct the absurdity of the social situation at hand.

Mag is a sociology student because she’s part of the resocialization of the world; Curt is a sociology student because he’s part of the unsocialization of the world.  Both Dollhouse and Cabin offer commentary on institutional behavior, abuses, and reform; both characters find themselves unwilling participants in sociological experiments pertaining to the institutions of their canon.  They just happen to come out on opposite ends of it.

–your fangirl heroine.

Television Tuesday :: 5 of the many different reasons for strength found in female television characters

Television women (and film women, and literature women, and theatre women, and real life women, and anything in between) can be strong in a whole variety of ways.  I’ve talked about this before.  It’s not the same as Strong Female Characters, but it’s characters who are strong and oh, look, women.  Tonight I’m exploring some reasons why characters exhibit strength.  This is by no means a comprehensive list, of course, I haven’t seen nearly close to everything there is to see.  But here are a few things off the top of my head.

5. Because of family.
Dear.  Dear god.  There are few things more tiresome than a stock Mother character, whose only purpose seems to be to blandly care for the children and her husband, cook dinner, clean house, and look pretty.  But being a mother does not by any means negate a character’s strength, and oftentimes it motivates it at least to an extent.

• Alma Garret Ellsworth (Molly Parker), the wonderfully flawed adoptive mother to darling little Sofia (Bree Seanna Wall), who I’ve discussed at length in the past.  Does she make mistakes in her life when acting as a mother?  Of course.  Does she love that little girl, despite the accidental circumstances of their becoming a family?  Of course.
• Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley), who… okay, yeah, I’ll own that the show hasn’t always done Catelyn right.  There are plenty of discussions of that on the internet already, so I’ll skip it, and just say: okay, but Catelyn Stark is actually pretty badass.
• Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), who I have to bring up just because of those woe-inducing discussions about loving her children, even if Cersei and family is a much slipperier slope than that as a whole.
• Sarah Connor (Lena Headey), who I won’t say that much about because I’ve still only seen season one of this show (I know, chastise me) but who I would feel wrong not including.
• Joyce Summers (Kristine Sutherland), as long as we’re talking about moms…
• …and Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Dawn Summers (Michelle Trachtenberg) because family strength can be a sisters/daughters thing too.  Oh, the Summers women.  Again: they had their flaws, they did, but in the end theirs was a ridiculously strong family.
• River Tam (Summer Glau), because Simon (Sean Maher) spent the entire series taking care of her, but then it was her turn.
• Priya Tsetsang (Dichen Lachman), because I’m sure that having a baby in the apocalypse isn’t easy, if it doesn’t lead to terrible death (I’m raising my eyebrows at you, Walking Dead), and knowing that said baby’s father is off living on a flash drive can’t be easy, but there she was, looking out for T (Brandon Dieter) with everything she could.
• Gemma Teller (Katey Sagal), because while she has been in a very consistent downward spiral, but family is what she’d like her guiding light to be and that counts for something.
• Tara Knowles Teller (Maggie Siff), who is mother to both of Jax’s sons and even though Abel isn’t hers by blood, he’s her son.  And if you screw with those kids, or with Jax for that matter, Tara is not going to forget it.
• Luna Garza (Janina Gavankar), who has had to actively work to get her Emma (Chloe Noelle) back before, but who loves that little girl, no matter what animal she grows to turn into.

4. Because of friends.
Since as I always say, family ain’t always blood.  I’ve discussed all of this before, basically, but I’m just going to list it out anyway.

• Pam de Beaufort (Kristin Bauer van Straten), Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley), Nora Gainesborough (Lucy Griffiths), Jessica Hamby (Deborah Ann Woll), who are family but aren’t family and did some ass-kicking for the sake of such things to some extent (also for other reasons, listed below).  Special shout-out to Tara (because taking a bullet for someone, even if they misguidedly get you turned into a vampire after, is pretty badass; also because “and you still owe Pam”).
• Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), who regularly kicks ass in the name of her friends (and [former] lovers too, and her brother sometimes but whatever Jason) even when it’s maybe not the best of ideas and especially when nobody else will.
• Echo (Eliza Dushku), and at this point it’s easier if I just restrict this to talking about mid-season two and onward Echo so there aren’t issues of Caroline thrown in there (other people, again, can discuss Caroline much more intelligently than I), who leads her friends into the fight to save the world, then has to deal with the fact that the world hasn’t been saved and continues to fight anyway…
• …and here I’m just going to list off Priya again and Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams) and Mag (Felicia Day) and whoever else, everyone involved in the Epitaphverse.  These guys.  Fighting to protect themselves and those they love and whatnot.  And while Echo is inherently a fighter, these guys are largely not.  Priya fights when she has to, but it is not her default.  Adelle is much more of a fighter-with-words.  Mag, as I’ve previously discussed, probably wasn’t Combat Girl pre-thoughtpocalypse.  Etcetera.
• All of the Scoobies.  Period.
• All of the women of Serenity.  Period.
• Trixie (Paula Malcomson), going to shoot at Hurst (Gerald McRaney) as revenge for Ellsworth (Jim Beaver) with no thought to the consequences, just to her complete rage.  Among other things.
• Also Alma, and Joanie Stubbs (Kim Dickens) and Jane Cannary (Robin Weigert) and everyone else ever on Deadwood.  Period.

3. Because of self-preservation.
Surviving can take special effort sometimes.  And I celebrate it always.

• Yet again Priya.  I’m just going to let the instances of “Belonging” speak for themselves.
• Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), because my darling is literally the definition of this category.
•  Can I just say all of the Scoobies again?  Because all of the Scoobies, in one way or another.  Buffy persevering through countless ordeals, Willow (Alyson Hannigan) struggling her way out of a dangerous addiction at least somewhat, Anya (Emma Caulfield) learning humanity, Tara (Amber Benson) finding a voice amongst everyone, Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) and her personal journey that I am largely unfamiliar with on Angel, and I’m just going to say Fred (Amy Acker) of Angel too even though I’ve seen literally three of her episodes yet but I know she is this kind of strong especially, Faith (Eliza Dushku) fighting to redeem herself, Dawn working to be taken seriously amongst the group, everyone.
• Tara Thornton is getting some extra credit here, too.  Damn, that woman has been through a lot, and maybe it took her being a vampire for me to actually get affectionate toward her for whatever reason, but special points given for literally trying to destroy oneself right off the bat and then learning the reasons why, even if she still isn’t forgiving Sookie for arranging it, being a vampire might actually be working for her.
• Joanie Stubbs, holy moly.  Joanie who could easily have collapsed under the weight of all that was on her shoulders, after her failed business venture particularly, but who soldiered on as best she could.
• Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), because surviving her d-bag brother all those years and finally ending up the stronger for it is the greatest ever, and because self-preservation is also a good way to encompass the fact that I love that my Dany learns from her mistakes.
• Bennett Halverson (Summer Glau), because I can’t get through a list like this without mentioning her somewhere.  Requisite “yes, she made some questionable choices, particularly re: her torturing Caroline-Echo plan” comment, requisite “but holy crap, she was a genius and did not let anything diminish that” comment.

2. Because of injustices that need to be combated.
Injustices of all sorts.

• Joan Holloway Harris (Christina Hendricks) and Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) both, in their ways, combat the injustice that is icky 1960s sexism.  And also the injustices of (in Joan’s case) d-bag husbands/lovers and (in both cases) d-bag bosses.
• Caroline Farrell, who I am mentioning here briefly to note that she was seeking to combat the injustice of animal and then human testing.  Among other causes, I’m sure.
• Echo, on the other hand, joins the abovementioned entire cast to, in one way or another, combat the injustice that is the thoughtpocalypse.
• Nora Gainesborough is getting a shout-out here, because I can’t not, and also because combating the injustice of the Vampire Authority that she had recently defected from after a moral epiphanyis pretty hardcore.
• And yet again, all of the Scoobies.  Combating the injustices of high school, college, demons, vampires, the Watcher’s Council, each other, personal struggles, interpersonal relationships, evil, and anything in between.
• And all of the women of Serenity.  Combating the injustices of the Alliance, d-bag criminals, d-bag clients, interpersonal relationships, and anything in between.
• Margaret Schroeder Thompson (Kelly Macdonald), combating the injustice of poor reproductive health education for mothers in the 1920s (among other things, but the “come talk about your vagina” line is my favorite forever).

1. Because why the hell shouldn’t they be.
This is the part where I point out how many of these listed women repeat.  Because strength is for everyone, for every reason, for anyone, for any reason.

–your fangirl heroine.

Television Tuesday :: 10 (sometimes ridiculously) minor television ladies I have (sometimes ridiculously) latched onto

What it says on the box.  I get weirdly attached to really minor characters, sometimes for legitimate reasons and sometimes for reasons that are somewhat silly.  Which you all should know by now.

10. Nora Gainesborough (Lucy Griffiths, True Blood)
I mean, technically she’s main credits but she’s only been present for three episodes so far and honestly I still have not figured out why I am so attached to her already.  I mean, there’s the capable ladyvampire thing, there’s the British thing.  I think that’s part of it?  I still haven’t figured out what her game actually is, because for all we know she could still be lying right now (since she’s all good at that and stuff, which I also enjoy in fiction sometimes I think) and maybe she is and maybe she isn’t and I’m pretty sure that won’t change that I just enjoy her presence and want her around more.  And I do not enjoy that every episode and next week’s preview so far has basically been an “oh god is she meeting the true death not yet nooo” situation.

9. Drusilla (Juliet Landau, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Yes, she was in more overall episodes of Buffy and Angel than, say, Miracle Laurie was in Dollhouse, but I did the percentages.  Miracle Laurie is not on this list for Mellie/Madeline who I love so much because she was in 57.7% of the episodes in the series.  That’s more than half (barely, but still).  So she was supporting cast.  Juliet Landau was in 11.8% of Buffy episodes and 6% of Angel episodes, or 9.4% of episodes in the overall collection of the Buffy/Angelverse.  SO.  And anyway, yes, I love Dru a lot.  I love Dru because I love the crazy ones and I love the ones who are unabashedly evil and I love the British ones, yes, and I just love her.  And one of my favorite discussions to have is the one with someone who has just fallen in love with Dru because I like to remember when I first discovered how awesome she is.

8. Ruby/Little Red Riding Hood (Meghan Ory, Once Upon a Time)
Granted, she has been present in 77% of the first season’s episodes and has been promoted to main cast for season 2 (YES YAY).  But she’s really only had one episode to actually do anything, and a few moments in others, and mostly she’s just sort of there.  Honestly, I loved her from the start; I think it was the red lipstick that did me in.  Aside from her waitress clothes, she sort of dresses/accessorizes like she came from my everfavorite now-defunct rockabilly/quasi-alternative store.  Also, she’s just very genuine and seems like a good person and I am excited and also terrified to get to know her better (terrified because I don’t want anything strange to happen to her character-wise I guess).

7. Trudy Campbell (Alison Brie, Mad Men)
As I mentioned last week, basically.

6. Aylesh Rohan (Emma Kenney, Boardwalk Empire)
Literally she was in one episode.  Literally I have already discussed every reason I loved her, but oh wow, it was pretty much instant affection for that bookish perceptive little girl who should really be more present.

5. Ros (Esmé Bianco, Game of Thrones)
I do not care.  She was not in the books, and serves mostly for people to have sex with while they talk about important plot points.  I have developed a strange affection for her anyway.  This, I will admit, is largely because I discovered that Esmé Bianco is a burlesque performer and pinup model, and also because of my latent tendency to latch onto what is the obviously-not-musical version of the chorus whore, after my days being such.  I look at Ros and go “oh, yep, that’s who I played in Oklahoma! and Once Upon a Mattress, just in Westeros.”

4. Saffron (Christina Hendricks, Firefly)
I first watched Firefly before I started watching Mad Men, though not by much; even still, “because Christina Hendricks” is a valid reason at play here.  I really do love Saffron for other reasons, too.  A lot of them being the aforementioned “I love when fictional women are really good liars and are unabashedly [somewhat] evil” reasons.

3. Trinity Ashby (Zoe Boyle, Sons of Anarchy)
This is actually just a list of fictional women I have mentioned before, basically.   I seriously have no reason why I love Trinny so hard, but I really do adore her, except for that whole “whoops, almost boned my brother” thing which wasn’t her fault, so.  She’s just all Irish and sweet and I want to know more about her, dammit.  She sparks my curiosity.

2. Mag (Felicia Day, Dollhouse)
(You can all see where this is going, can’t you?  Really?)  “Because Felicia Day” is of course a reason; “Joss’s redheaded lesbians” is also a valid reason, though a belated one as per that was not made known till the second of her two episodes.  And wheelchair!Mag at the end of “Epitaph Two” was also important to me at a point in my life, so there’s that.  I dunno.  I like women who are badass not necessarily because they’re kicking ass but because they’re just sticking it out through tough times and doing what they have to and not giving up.

1. Bennett Halverson (Summer Glau, Dollhouse)
WOW SHOCKER I KNOW.  But seriously, I have discussed before how crazy it is that I am so attached to a character with so little screen time; other than the oft-mentioned “dear holy god it is disturbing to me how much I self-identify sometimes” kinds of ridiculous things, there is the fact that for so little screen time, she actually had a pretty reasonable amount of development.  Backstory, check.  There were fuzzy details, sure, but there were fuzzy details about everyone on this show because of its untimely end.  Also, Bennett is another one of those not-exactly-obvious badasses, in my opinion.  No, trying to kill Echo was not a good idea, and no, the Dollhouse in general and working for it was probably not a good idea.  But damn, I love geniuses who are all geniusy; also despite her various deranged vengeance schemes, she is not someone whogave up.  What happened to her changed her, probably not in a great way, but some people would probably use that kind of thing as a reason to just surrender, and there she is intellectually badassing it up anyway.  I mean.  Headcanon, what?  Irrational, what?  Unashamed, yes.

–your fangirl heroine.

Whedon Wednesday :: the spectacularly speculative Dollhouse minor characters MBTI

I saw an absolutely wonderful Dollhouse MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) chart on tumblr a ways back.  And as I often do, I went to go Myers-Briggs type myself immediately and then match my own self up with someone’s scores.  But then I realized that nobody I usually type out as was on the original chart, and I realized why that was: I have an unhealthy affinity for minor characters.  (Every MBTI I took online varied slightly, but I ended up being either Claire, Adelle, or Tony; this didn’t surprise me much, as far as results could have gone.)  I then swore that I was going to make my own, imitative MBTI chart for the minor characters of Dollhouse.  Because I’m compulsive like that.

(And I had forgotten my letter results when I typed the characters out, so there was no cheating, but now went back to check; yep.  Unsurprisingly, I found that, while it varied, I got “a slightly different result but the I and the J are always the same.  It just varies N/S, F/T,” and that means that depending on the test, I type out a la Mellie or Bennett [or Dom, which I don't see, or Ivy, which I do see].  Je suis predictable.)

So now, I present to you said chart, with analyses of the types quoted out and thanks to typelogic.com.  A lot of the decisions made were severely driven by headcanon, because these characters appear in between 2-15 episodes, and 5 of them don’t even have (canonical) last names.  But hey, headcanon is what I do.

Laurence Dominic (Reed Diamond)
ISTJ.  “ISTJs are often called inspectors. They have a keen sense of right and wrong, especially in their area of interest and/or responsibility… As do other Introverted Thinkers, ISTJs often give the initial impression of being aloof and perhaps somewhat cold. Effusive expression of emotional warmth is not something that ISTJs do without considerable energy loss.  ISTJs are most at home with ‘just the facts, Ma’am’… ‘We’ve always done it this way’ is often reason enough for many ISTJs.”  Dom’s role so often was that of the cranky, all-too-professional guy, the one with a stick right up his ass; I think terms like “initial impression” are key, though, because I’m sure that he’s got other sides, somewhere deep inside.

Ivy (Liza Lapira)
INFJ.  “Beneath the quiet exterior, INFJs hold deep convictions about the weightier matters of life… These are the people that you can rarely fool any of the time. Though affable and sympathetic to most, INFJs are selective about their friends. Such a friendship is a symbiotic bond that transcends mere words… Introverted intuitives, INFJs enjoy a greater clarity of perception of inner, unconscious processes than all but their INTJ cousins. Just as SP types commune with the object and ‘live in the here and now’ of the physical world, INFJs readily grasp the hidden psychological stimuli behind the more observable dynamics of behavior and affect… ”  Once again, I love Ivy.  And I never once got the “difficult time connecting with people” vibe from her like Topher and Bennett both radiate at times; rather, I took her for the type who connects when it makes sense to them.  She doesn’t need to connect with everyone, but she’ll be, well, “affable and sympathetic to most.”

Zone (Zack Ward)
ESTP.  “ESTPs are spontaneous, active folks. Like the other SPs, ESTPs get great satisfaction from acting on their impulses. Activities involving great power, speed, thrill and risk are attractive to the ESTP… To an ESTP, admission of weakness feels like failure. He admires strength in himself and in others.   ‘Shock effect’ is a favored technique of this type to get the attention of his audience… These are the ultimate realists. Extraverted Sensors are at one with objects and experiences now, in the only living, pulsing moment that ever really exists… The ESTP preference for mental, physical and emotional toughness surely can be traced to this detached, rational function.”  I don’t know if Zone was always an ESTP, but years of thoughtpocalypse can do that to a person.  “Spontaneous, active” sounds more like a pre-thoughtpocalypse him (or what I imagine of him) but “ultimate realist” is more of a during-thoughtpocalypse him.  He’s the voice of cranky reason among the Actuals, when he’s not busy being the voice of morbid humor.

Mellie (Miracle Laurie)
ISFJ.  “ISFJs are characterized above all by their desire to serve others, their ‘need to be needed’… (Since ISFJs, like all SJs, are very much bound by the prevailing social conventions, their form of ‘service’ is likely to exclude any elements of moral or political controversy; they specialize in the local, the personal, and the practical.)  ISFJs are often unappreciated, at work, home, and play. Ironically, because they prove over and over that they can be relied on for their loyalty and unstinting, high-quality work, those around them often take them for granted–even take advantage of them… They are capable of forming strong loyalties, but these are personal rather than institutional loyalties… Like most Is, ISFJs have a few, close friends. They are extremely loyal to these, and are ready to provide emotional and practical support at a moment’s notice… ISFJs are loyal to the end; there is no sense of purely objective (i.e., impersonal) judgement of anyone but themselves (and that only by their own standards).”  I considered typing Madeline; the original chart used Dolls’ original personalities when applicable.  But though we get to meet Madeline, we know Mellie much, much better.  So.  Mellie is loyal as can be, and I love her for it.

Cindy Perrin (Stacey Scowley)
ESTJ.  “Being extraverted, their focus involves organization of people, which translates into supervision. While ENTJs enjoy organizing and mobilizing people according to their own theories and tactically based agendas, ESTJs are content to enforce ‘the rules,’  often dictated by tradition or handed down from a higher authority…  Circumstances calling for product invite the ESTJ to supervise or direct other individuals toward production and productivity… As the ESTJ matures, and as situations arise which call for suspension of criticism, Extraverted iNtuition is allowed to play. Under the leadership of the Te function, iNtuition gravitates toward the discovery of broad categories which at worst amount to stereotypes.”  This is mostly based on the personality she exudes; there’s no way of knowing that she’s really that way or if it’s just part of the Cindy Perrin act.  Hell, we don’t even know if her real name is Cindy.  But between Cindy and the glimpses we get of bitter-handler-who-might-be-Cindy, this is my humble analysis.

Kilo (Maurissa Tancharoen)
ENTP.  “ENTPs are usually verbally as well as cerebrally quick, and generally love to argue–both for its own sake, and to show off their debating skills. ENTPs tend to have a perverse sense of humor as well, and enjoy playing devil’s advocate… Both at work and at home, ENTPs are very fond of ‘toys’ — physical or intellectual, the more sophisticated the better. Once these have been “solved” or become too familiar, however, they’ll be replaced with new ones… ENTPs may sometimes give the impression of being largely oblivious to the rest of humanity except as an audience: good, bad, or potential… No games – they’ll win. No ‘pulling rank’ – they’ll just want to put you in your place… Their limitations appear in their relative underdevelopment, diminished endurance, and vulnerability… ENTPs have the need to have areas of expertise/excellence/uniqueness in which one is second to none.”  Holy wow, here’s all the headcanon, I warned you.  Kilo is one of those with 2 episodes; technically, it’s 3, but I figure since 2 of them are Dollstated one-liners, they count each as .5 of an appearance.  And the MBTI analysis is based pretty solely on techhead Kilo, anyway.  How much of that is original to her and how much is affected by the tech and the surroundings is debatable.

Mag (Felicia Day)
ESFJ.  “Strong, contradictory forces consume the ESFJ. Their sense of right and wrong wrestles with an overwhelming rescuing, ‘mothering’ drive. This sometimes results in swift, immediate action taken upon a transgressor, followed by stern reprimand; ultimately, however, the prodigal is wrested from the gallows of their folly, just as the noose tightens and all hope is lost, by the very executioner!… The world is a dangerous place, not to be trusted. Not that the ESFJ is paranoid; ‘hyper-vigilant’ would be more precise. And thus they serve excellently as protectors… At any rate, ESFJs reflect the ‘black and white’ view of reality which is common to the SJ types.” Mag.  I love her a lot, too.  I really, really do.  I mean, this is mostly speculative, but she does seem to be the mom-figure of the Actuals, taking care of them all in her way.  I see her as the type that, pre-thoughtpocalypse, was only shy about things she didn’t want to talk about with everyone, but was pretty outgoing at times.  She was a sociology major for crying out loud.

Daniel Perrin (Alexis Denisof)
ENTJ.  “ENTJs have a natural tendency to marshall [sic] and direct. This may be expressed with the charm and finesse of a world leader or with the insensitivity of a cult leader. The ENTJ requires little encouragement to make a plan… In combination with the natural propensity for filibuster, our hero can make it very difficult for the customer to decline… Improvising on the fly is something many ENTJs do very well. As Thinking’s subordinate, insights are of value only insofar as they further the Right, True Cause celebre.”  This based, obviously, on the fictionalized Daniel Perrin of the imprints, not the original party boy.  We’re analyzing all the imprints tonight.  And by all I mean 2-3.

Bennett Halverson (Summer Glau)
INTJ.  “INTJs are perfectionists, with a seemingly endless capacity for improving upon anything that takes their interest… INTJs are known as the ‘Systems Builders’ of the types, perhaps in part because they possess the unusual trait combination of imagination and reliability… While they are capable of caring deeply for others (usually a select few), and are willing to spend a great deal of time and effort on a relationship, the knowledge and self-confidence that make them so successful in other areas can suddenly abandon or mislead them in interpersonal situations. This happens in part because many INTJs do not readily grasp the social rituals; for instance, they tend to have little patience and less understanding of such things as small talk and flirtation (which most types consider half the fun of a relationship). To complicate matters, INTJs are usually extremely private people, and can often be naturally impassive as well, which makes them easy to misread and misunderstand. Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense.”  Why is this copypaste so damn lengthy?  Because it was so damn relevant.  And because I have all the headcanon.  It fit her so neatly.

–your fangirl heroine.

Television Tuesday :: 11 television ladies that I shamelessly nickname

Well, fictional characters get called by nicknames just the same as anyone else.  I’m just the weirdo who talks enough about fictional characters in conversation (or in blog, I suppose) that I actually feel it comfortable and somewhat right to use the nicknames sometimes.  To be entirely fair, I’m pretty sure that most of these are actually canon at least once.  So that’s got to count for something.  This is a silly list.  I know this.  But I’m sure I’m not the only one who does this.  And (as with many television lists) it’s, you know, approximately 63% Whedon.  (They’re easily nicknamable, okay?)  There are others, though.

11. Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel)
The inimitable Cordy, of course.  I don’t have particularly strong Cordy feelings one way or the other, but I’m pretty sure I nickname her more than I actually call her by her real name.

10. Mag (Felicia Day, Dollhouse)
Gets called Mags at times, because I do that, and Maggie when I’m feeling cute.  (Actually, I’ve done the same thing with Repo! Mag, now that I think of it, but this is a television list, so, irrelevant.)

9. Trinity Ashby (Zoe Boyle, Sons of Anarchy)
Considering she’s called Trinny all the time in canon, I think it’s perfectly reasonable that I go that way, too.  And Trinny just sounds cute.  Which she was, when she wasn’t almost boning her brother.

8. Dawn Summers (Michelle Trachtenberg, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Naturally, Dawnie.  I was nicknaming her before I even felt affection towards her, because it just seems right.  Even when she was a brat, she was a little sister, and little sisters who are easily nicknamable should be nicknamed.

7. Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams, Dollhouse)
This didn’t really start until I got my most recent phone, which I named Adelle (there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this).  I’m the kind of person who talks to her named electronics, and nicknames them in kind (my old phone, Shosanna, was Shosh more than not).  But once I was calling the phone Addie, well.  It caught on.  For those moments where it’s deserved, of course; sometimes she’s ice and polish and full names through and through.

6. Jessica Hamby (Deborah Ann Woll, True Blood)
I’ve gotten very affectionate towards Jess, I really have.  Even if sometimes she’s making terrible Jason life decisions, I just… can’t help but like her.  That’s an easy path to nicknaming.  (That, and Jessica is one of the most readily nicknamable names for girls that I know.  She’s not a Jessie, though.  Nope.)

5. Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin, Firefly)
Less so when typing, but I definitely do drop the I sometimes, so it’s just ‘Nara.  (Then again, I drop all manner of letters [and specific grammatical structures] when I get excited at times, I’ve been told.  Depends on the subject, but.)

4. Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones)
In part because even in the books it’s so, in part because, as pretty as it is, Daenerys is sometimes just too much to type or text or something, and in part because I just like to, she becomes Dany an awful lot.

3. Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Either Will or Wills.  I don’t know what it is about some names and adding that completely unnecessary, adorable ‘s’ on the end.  But either of them.  Often.

2. Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks, Mad Men)
Even though it gets confusing if I’m talking about Mad Men and Deadwood in the same conversation, I call her Joanie all the time.  Usually with some added endearment (Joanie my baby, Joanie my love, just my Joanie).  Now we’re just talking about fictional women I shower with affection all the time.

1. Bennett Halverson (Summer Glau, Dollhouse)
Speaking of affection.  As if it weren’t outrageously obvious, as if I didn’t just do it a few nights ago, as if I don’t do it always.  She gets called Bennie so damn much.  Both ’cause it’s cute and ’cause I love her more than I really should.

ETA, even though it brings it up to 12 ladies on the list, but once I realized I hadn’t included it, that needed to be fixed:

Drusilla (Juliet Landau, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
I think part of why I didn’t think of it originally is that honestly, just Dru feels so normal, not even nickname-y.  It happens all the time.

–your fangirl heroine.

Music Monday :: a love letter to the music of Jed Whedon

Predictably and obviously, I figured out the existence of this man’s musical career through the work he’s done with his brother, the lord my god Joss.  But I legitimately enjoy the music in its own right, too.

The first actual song of Jed’s I heard, not counting Dr. Horrible, was “Remains,” with Maurissa Tancharoen, his wife and my single favorite backstage showmance that was a romance before it was a showmance anyway, on the end of Dollhouse’s “Epitaph One.”  And it broke my heart into a thousand pieces.  (That can be proven by the fact that, once I’d downloaded it off iTunes, I spent an entire morning at my piano teaching some approximation of it to myself.  It’s the only new song I’ve taught myself in almost two years, i.e. a priority.)

Then I started rewatching Dollhouse, because it honestly felt strange not to have watched any of it in almost a year.  (Let’s not even get into the absurdity of that statement.)  And during “Belonging,” 2×04, there was another song of Jed’s.  “Drones.”  Which I realized was also on a mix my friend gave me.  I promptly began listening to it at top volume when I was alone and becoming, again, overwhelmed by the emotions.

And once it got to a point where I couldn’t survive on just that, I went and found his full album, History of Forgotten Things.  It’s under the name Jed Whedon and the Willing, and Wikipedia says that that means, among other people, dearest Mo and Felicia Day.  Which just confirms my theory that I want to be best friends with all of these people.  (Seriously, Mo Tancharoen is my heroine of life.)  And I keep playing it, over and over and over, and I keep being taken aback by how gorgeous it is.

It isn’t folksy gorgeous like I often fall for, and aside from the various Whedonmafia members, I didn’t know the majority of the artists listed in the first five pages of the Last.fm similar artists.  (I did make a mental note to try most of them out.)  Last.fm and iTunes couldn’t come up with a more apt description for the genre than “indie rock” or just “rock,” either; I’m the kind of person who has to internet search and manually enter convoluted combination genres for everything I have on my iTunes, so this doesn’t satisfy me, but I’m not exactly sure how to put it, either.  (Though they weren’t listed in the first five pages of similar artists, I just listened to the Postal Service’s Give Up before turning on History of Forgotten Things right now, and I feel like there could be some level of emotional similarity there.  The Postal Service are classed as “electropop,” “indietronica,” and “indie pop” on Wikipedia.  I think I like “indietronica.”  Not purely, but as part of the classification.)

I swear that this actually has nothing to do with the fact that Jed was one of the writers and I found his music through it, but my best classification for the genre is honestly “music that makes me think of Dollhouse.”  Which, admittedly, is probably my version of “indietronica” in a way (several Postal Service songs do give me that vibe, which is why I use a lot of them on mixes; ditto with Metric, who can be classed as “indie rock,” “New Wave,” and “post-punk revival,” for whatever that’s worth, not that I find Metric particularly similar to Jed Whedon’s music [though now that I think about it, there's a little bit of Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton similarity at times] so that was irrelevant) but hey.

Whatever it means, I think this album is beautiful.  I think Jed Whedon’s music is beautiful, period.  It’s up but not too fast, thoughtful but not too slow, techie but not too processed, melodic but not too flowy, interesting but not too pretentious (actually, not really pretentious at all).  It’s basically perfect.

–your fangirl heroine.

Whedon Wednesday :: and then the Epitaphs arc was finished.

(This is so relevant to my life always.)

Actually, I got and read this last issue of the Dollhouse: Epitaphs comic arc (by: Andrew Chambliss, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Cliff Richards, Andy Owens, Michelle Madsen) last week.  But I took a couple of days to read it, because as excited as I was to, I also just didn’t want it to end.  Even knowing that there will probably be further Dollhouse comic arcs, I just… I still knew I was going to be a complete wackjob when I was done with it.  Because it would be over all over again, and I didn’t really want to deal with that.

But, the above-linked self-definition won out, as did my completist tendencies, and I’m not ashamed to admit that once I’d turned the last page I just sat there staring at my ceiling and laughing nervously and repeating “well crud, why do I feel like I’m gonna cry even though I know I’m not?” to myself.  The comic wasn’t even that sad.  Not compared to the show, which is still the most tragic end on television.  And it’s not the end.  And I know who’s gonna be okay.  But for howevermany months, I’ve had a bit of the world back in my life again, and now… well, thank goodness for re(watch)(read)ing.

I understand that I’m a nerd.  I understand that I’m a sap.  I understand that I’m not entirely sane.  I understand that I’m too invested in these fictional people.  I am unashamed.

I’m not giving away exactly what happened, because I know I’ve got friends who I still need to lend the issue to IRL and that means there are plenty of people elsewhere who need to read it, too.  I will say, though, that there were so many feelings.  Not in the “why did you die??!?!” way that could be expected (though that’s obviously because of its placement in the pre-existing timeline), but in every other way.

(Though, on the pre-existing timeline note, I will mention that when I read the first issue, I thought that maybe Ivy was RL Ivy, and they just hadn’t drawn her very Asian for some reason.  Seeing in one of the issues that the other Ivies discussed Ivy being in Tokyo made me smile: if Topher told Ivy to get out of LA in “Getting Closer,” and in the interim between that and the robocalls she found herself in Tokyo, well, that means that maybe dear little Ivy wound up there with Topher’s big rival Takahashi [he's mentioned a couple times in there and I remember these things] and that may have been passive-aggressive or it may have just been determined to do something or it may have been something I don’t even know what, but it’s still awesome.)

There was the d’awww Alpha.  I feel weird saying that, because of the psycho and the murderer and the creeper thing, but I’ve always enjoyed Alpha as a character.  I mean, I understand that he spends most of the series as a bad guy.  But he’s just so well-written and demented and perfectly so.  This whole “Alpha seeks redemption” thing was much less frustrating than, say, others seeking redemption: he’s still wry and badass and he’s not always succeeding but he’s not running from everything.

There was the hurrah my actuals.  For fairly obvious Felicia Day reasons, I always had a soft spot for Mag, too (that and I decided I should latch onto someone in the thoughtpocalypse since my other two girls were, y’know, very much dead), and someone had actually written in one of the letters in the back:

“When are we going to see Mags be a badass?”

Which was then responded to as such:

I think she’s perpetually badass.

So agreed.  Because really, even if she’s not shooting everyone ever, she’s a tough chick, and she’s doing what she’s got to.  She’s not heartless.  She and Zone and Griff have a good thing going, as much as they snappily banter.  (And the hurried introduction of Lynn just made me tee-hee, because even if it was in the background of a panel and it wasn’t ever show-explicit, I do like to believe that Mag had a little crush on Lynn, and maybe they had covert thoughtpocalyptic romance times once or twice.  And even backgrounded, I could totally read into the art a little smirky smirk of “oh, hello there.”)

There was the sexual tension.  Despite recent fanmixing, Paul/Echo isn’t my big shippy thing.  I don’t mind it, and could obviously find songs that suited it, but there’s the part of me that hung onto pre-OMGWTF-Mellie’s-a-doll Paul/Mellie, and there’s the part of me that occasionally wants to just smack Paul upside the head.  But, theirs is a pretty upsetting tragic-romantic journey, and at the end of the day, even if I don’t ship a thing that much, I still get sad when the characters are interested in each other yet cannot have each other for whatever reasons.  Who the characters ship themselves with does matter at least a little. And that page of “no we cannot, there is still an apocalypse” is one of those moments.  They’ll never be together, and as much as I don’t always spend a lot of spare time caring about if they’re together, they want to be together.  So that’s still upsetting.

I know that the next arcs, if they do end up existing (which they plan to), won’t be for a little while (“not the near, near future”).  But knowing that they likely will come to be is a comfort to me.  Knowing that we’ll get more thoughtpocalypse exposition (Priya/Anthony please?  There is so much I want to know there.  Also metaphorical-tear-inducing crazy!Topher, which will induce more ceiling staring and under my breath muttering) is good.  I mean, it’s not necessary.  We know how it ends up.  But I am a fill-in-the-blanks kind of girl.  And I’m just thankful that the comics are around to do that for us.

–your fangirl heroine.

(Also, unrelated to Dollhouse comics but semi-related to Dollhouse and to the Whedonverse and to things that make me squee embarrassingly like the fangirl I really am, Emerald City’s announced guests.  For fear of seeming creepy, which I’m not, I swear, just enthusiastic and babbly, I’ll refrain from typing out my various exclamation-pointed thoughts.  But.)

Film Friday :: world, make my (and a bunch of others’) fangirly dreams come true?

I first heard about this on tumblr a… couple of weeks ago?  The official Kickstarter page explains it much better than I could:

Lust for Love is a independent feature film we’re shooting in LA this December. We’re a group of friends who have worked and created together over the last few years and want to step up and make a feature. With a little support through the Kickstarter platform we believe we can make a wonderful movie.

Independent feature film: a delicious and underappreciated kind of feature film.
Group of friends: apparently one including Fran Kranz (for whom, as you know, my fangirling knows no bounds), Dichen Lachman, Maurissa Tancharoen, Felicia Day, and Enver Gjokaj.  Otherwise put, a ridiculous amount (something slightly less than 1/3 of) the recurring Dollhouse cast. 

The story: Lust for Love is the story of an innocent guy (Fran Kranz) who wins the love of his childhood sweetheart (TBA), but since he’s been holding out for her his whole life, he’s so embarrassing that he’s quickly dumped. Convinced he needs more experience with women to win her back, he convinces the sweetheart’s girlfriend (Dichen Lachman) to teach him how to woo women.

I’m not usually a believer in the romantic comedy.  It’s a genre I find as frustrating as the inspirational sports film and the speedy car heist.  But when I do like romantic comedies, they’re usually of the strange and, yes, “independent” kind.  The film being actually well-written and not cliché laden helps, as does the film starring people that I am to varying degrees in love with.  Case in point, now watch the video:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/926010713/lust-for-love-feature-film/widget/video.html

It really helps me be optimistic that this is directed by Anton King, someone who was also in charge of my all time favorite music video of all time, the one to “Remains” — which I recently rewatched, again, and was still stabbed in the heart by.  I feel weird even calling it

a music video; it’s not like what a lot of people think of as a music video.  It’s a narrative, it’s a devastating one, it’s freaking beautiful, and I just.  I get overwhelmed by the wonderful storytelling.

Anyway, what they’re doing is they’re getting people to pledge money towards a $70,000 goal.  As of tonight, they’re 93% of the way there, or $65,369, and I’m happy to say I contributed a bit of that (sort of a belated birthday present to myself).  If the project doesn’t go through, you don’t have to pay: you’re just pledging, and if the whole amount gets pledged, you pay howevermuch, and the movie gets made, and then you get cool stuff.  Again, the website explains it better, but I’m trying to do my part by begging you to help.

This is a film that just needs to be made.  It sounds adorable, it sounds funny, it isn’t trying to be all flashy or mass appeal-y, it’s just… friends making a movie.  A good one.  It’s people asking for other people to help out so they can do something great.  And I’m a huge sucker for things like that.

…and I’m a huge sucker for Fran+Dichen+Maurissa+Felicia+Enver.  That too.

–your fangirl heroine.

Whedon Wednesday :: the Whedonverse as Sailor Moon and co. (protagonists)

As we know, the moral line in the Whedonverse is a teensy bit gray, but it’s pretty clear in the land of my favorite childhood bishōjo anime, Sailor Moon.  One of my favorite tumblrs out there, buffy-studies-minor, linked to a pointing out of the similarities between Sailor Moon and Buffy (the original post is here) but having recently done the Whedonverse as Rainbow Brite kids, I couldn’t leave it just Buffy.  I had to throw everyone in there.  As there are far too many villains in Sailor Moon (they don’t just have one big bad per season, they have like… twenty) I’ll save them for a separate post, but here’s the protagonists.

As before, the “quoted” text is copied from Wikipedia, the (parenthetical) text is what was originally there, and the [bracketed] text is the Whedonverse substitution.  There are more … omitted passages of irrelevant details here, but it’s the big stuff that counts most.  And I do realize that there’s lots of the same kids getting recast, but that’s just because Sailor Moon and Buffy et al and Rainbow Brite are all similar in ways!  (I mean that with the utmost love.)

So.  Here goes nothing.

Serena Tsukino.  Tsukino Usagi.  月野 うさぎ.  Sailor Moon.  Represented by Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar).  “At the beginning of the series, she is (fourteen) [fifteen] years old and portrayed as (an immature crybaby) [a flighty valley girl of sorts] who (hates) [is annoyed by] having to fight evil and wants nothing more than to be a normal girl. As she progresses, however, she embraces the chance to use her power to protect those she cares about.”  Also noteworthy of mention are powerful heirloom weapons and the fact that a great use of her power can lead to her death.

Amy Mizuno.  Mizuno Ami.  水野 亜美 . Sailor Mercury.  Represented by Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan).  “(Ami’s) [Willow's] shy exterior masks a passion for knowledge and for taking care of the people around her…  (Ami) [Willow] would also be considered the ‘tech girl’ of the group by using her (mini data computer) [computer], which is capable of (scanning and detecting virtually anything she needs) [doing what computers do, but she's the only one who does it].”

Raye Hino.  Hino Rei.  火野 レイ .  Sailor Mars.  Represented by Faith Lehane (Eliza Dushku).  “She is very (serious) [tough] and (focused) [focused on kicking ass], but although easily annoyed by (Usagi’s) [Buffy's] (flightiness) [do-gooder attitude] and being totally (clueless) [wholesome], but cares about her very much.”  A lot of the nouns and adjectives and  verbs are different, but the power dynamic between Serena and Raye is somewhat similar to the one between Buffy and Faith: Raye was always, if I remember correctly, the other main one, the one who wanted to take charge and do things her way.  Faith doesn’t exactly want to take charge, but she does want things done her way.

Lita Kino.  Kino Makoto.  木野 まこと . Sailor Jupiter.  Represented by Kaylee Frye (Jewel Staite).  “A (sixteen-year-old tomboy) [tomboy whose age is never explicitly given, but Jewel was 20 at the time of Firefly's filming and 23 by Serenity]… She cultivates her (physical strength) [prowess with machines] as well as more domestic interests, including (housekeeping) [prettying up the ship], (cooking) [apparently baking when it's someone's birthday and things can be gotten and I have headcanon that she has a thing for birthday surprises, though Simon's was most special], and (gardening) [being everyone's mèimei or jĭejie)."  Basically, the also-girly tomboy.

Mina Aino.  Aino Minako.  愛野 美奈子 .  Sailor Venus.  Represented by Priya Tsetsang / Sierra (Dichen Lachman).  This is another of those, like Indigo, where she sounds more like a character on Glee or something, so I'm not gonna bother copypasting.  But hey, Sierra gets imprinted as all kinds of wacky stuff, it could happen.  Also, Dichen's just pretty to look at.

Rini Tsukino.  Chibiusa.  ちびうさ .   Sailor Chibi/Mini Moon.  Represented by Dawn Summers (Michelle Trachtenberg).  "At times she has an adversarial relationship with her (mother) [sister] (in the 20th century),as she considers herself (more mature than Usagi) [overprotected but with reason], but as the series progresses they develop a deep bond.  (Chibiusa) [Dawn] wants to grow up to become a (lady) [badass] like her (mother) [sister].”  It is also worth noting that, while Rini was Serena and Darien’s daughter from the future of Crystal Tokyo and sent herself back in time to train and Dawn was a mystical energy blob turned into Buffy’s sister by some monks so Buffy would protect her, the whole “retroactively having known you forever” thing definitely happened with both of them.

Darien Chiba.  Chiba Mamoru.  地場 衛 .  Tuxedo Mask.  Represented by Angel (David Boreanaz).  “A (student) [vampire] (somewhat) [200+ years] older than (Usagi) [Buffy]. As a young (child) [man] he experienced (a terrible car-accident) [a woman named Darla who was really a vampire] (that) [who] robbed him of his (parents) [humanity] and of his knowledge of (his own identity) [human decency].  During the series it is revealed he has a special (psychic rapport with) [redemptive mission to protect] (Usagi) [Buffy] and can (sense) [help out] when (she is) [she and her friends are] in danger, which inspires him to take on (the guise of Tuxedo Mask) [a somewhat lurky but well-intentioned role] and fight alongside the (Sailor Senshi) [Scoobies] when needed.”  Tuxedo actually gets the happily-ever-after with his blonde heroine, though.

Trista Meioh.  Meio Setsuna.  冥王 せつな .  Sailor Pluto.  Represented by Tara Maclay (Amber Benson).  “She has a (distant) [shy] personality and can be very (stern) [obscure], but can also be quite friendly and helps the (younger Sailor Senshi) [other Scoobies] when she can.  After so long (at the Gate of Time) [believing herself part-demon thanks to her crazy father] she carries a deep sense of loneliness, although she is close friends with (Chibiusa) [Dawn and of course her girl Willow].”  Honestly, Tara ended up mostly as Pluto ’cause of her motherly/sisterly thing with Dawn/Rini.

Michelle Kaioh.  Kaio Michiru.  海王 みちる .  Sailor Neptune.  Represented by Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin).  “An elegant and talented (violinist and painter with family money) [Companion]. (A year) [An indistinct amount of years] older than (most of the other Sailor Senshi) [...Kaylee and River]… She (worked alone) [worked out of Sihnon] for some time before finding (her partner, Sailor Uranus) [the space on Serenity and its crew... and Mal], with whom she fell in love.  ⁽Neptune) [Inara] has ultimately given up (her own dreams) [a "normal" Companion's life] for the life of (a Senshi) [one aboard Serenity]. She is fully devoted to this (duty) [way of life] and willing to make (any sacrifice) [more sacrifices] for it [as time goes on].”  Two other points of interest: Wikipedia describes Neptune as the soldier of “Ocean and Intuition,” and while Ocean is irrelevant, Intuition is right up Inara’s alley.  Also, Neptune is technically dating and in love with Sailor Uranus, who just happens to have a physical resemblance to the Councilor that Inara entertains in “The Message.”

But that aside…

Amara Tenoh.  Teno Haruka.  天王 はるか .  Sailor Uranus.  Represented by Zoe Alleyne Washburne (Gina Torres).  (They look nothing alike, I know, just bear with me.)  “A good-natured, [sometimes] masculine-acting (girl) [woman]…  She tends to (dress and, in the anime, speak) [fight] like a man.  When it comes to fighting the enemy she distrusts outside help and prefers to work solely with (Sailor Neptune and, later, Pluto and Saturn) [Mal and the others on Serenity].”  Zoe’s a bit more feminine than Uranus, but hey.

Hotaru Tomoe.  Tomoe Hotaru.  土萠 ほたる .   Sailor Saturn.  Represented by River Tam (Summer Glau).  “A sweet, lonely young girl… Daughter of (a mad scientist) [Alliance supporters, (a terrible laboratory accident) [unwitting enrollment in a school that was really a training and torture facility] in her youth significantly compromised her [mental] health… After overcoming the darkness that has (surrounded her family) [plagued her since the Academy], (Hotaru) [River] is able to become (the Soldier of Death and Rebirth, Sailor Saturn) [a serious badass].  She is often (pensive) [hyperintelligent and thoughtful but slightly crazy], and as a human has the inexplicable power to (heal others) [read minds].”  (Spoiler alert: Doctor Tomoe is the entire Alliance.)

…I swear I did not mean for most of the women of Serenity to wind up Outer Senshi together.

(I will note first off that even Wikipedia points out that Luna’s “role in the series has been compared to Rupert Giles’ in Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” but we’re not just doing Buffy, remember?  And I’m trying to keep it same gender analogies, and Adelle is kind of the bitchy badass Giles of Dollhouse at times, and… yeah.)  Luna.  ルナ.  Represented by Adelle Dewitt (Olivia Williams).  “Luna provides the (Senshi) [Dolls] with many of their (special items) [engagements, particularly early on...  Over the course of the series, (Luna) [Adelle] develops a (close bond with) [tolerance for] (Usagi) [Echo], though early on it is on uneasy terms, as (Luna) [Adelle] often upsets (Usagi) [Echo] by giving her (advice she does not want, often leading to comic results) [strictures she does not agree with].”  Don’t be hatin’.

Artemis.  アルテミス .  Represented by Topher Brink (Fran Kranz).  ” His (memory of the Silver Millennium) [relationship with the Dolls] seems to be more (intact) [realized] than (Luna’s) [Adelle's]… When a technical (problem reveals him) [anomaly arises], (Luna) [Adelle] is greatly (annoyed to learn that he’s been the one guiding her all along) [turns to him, though often with attitude]. (Artemis) [Topher] is more easygoing than (Luna) [Adelle], and has a “big brother” relationship with (Minako) [the Dolls at times], although his (attraction to her) [awareness of their physical beauty and their empty brains]  is sometimes implied.”  I mean, Adelle + Topher =/= love like Luna + Artemis = love, but Artemis’ personality is totally Topher.

Diana.  ダイアナ .  Represented by Vi (Felicia Day).  A teensy bit of a stretch, but hey.  “She is very curious, eager to help, and deeply polite, always addressing (Usagi and Mamoru with the Japanese honorific “-sama” and calling Chibiusa by her formal title, Small Lady) [Buffy and Faith with the utmost respect]. She is also able to help the (Senshi) [other Potentials] on [many] occasion[s], despite her youth [and inexperience with slaying], and often because of the knowledge she has gained (in the future) [through training].”

Phew.

–your fangirl heroine.

Whedon Wednesday :: on Slayer lineage and the activation spell

People seem to have mixed feelings about the Buffyverse’s potential Slayers, and it’s something I understand.  As a group, they’re not always the most inspiring characters.  They serve their purpose, but as individuals I… don’t always know whether or not to like them.

There wasn’t really enough time to get to know each of them individually, so I wound up forming opinions based on silly things: I liked Molly (Clara Bryant) purely because I enjoyed listening to her Cockney accent, and was sad when she died and I didn’t get to hear it anymore.  I didn’t like Chloe (LaLaine) because she was, well, played by LaLaine, who I knew from Lizzie McGuire; that, and she whined.  I wasn’t too upset when the First got to her, and I may or may not have applauded what Buffy said about her being susceptible and therefore too weak (an example of my writer’s callousness, where I can detach from what’s going on just long enough to acknowledge that it does make a logical kind of sense).  I liked Vi (Felicia Day) because she was played by Felicia Day.  I liked Amanda (Sarah Hagan) because she was quirky and awkward, and I was sad when she died.  I liked Rona (Indigo) sometimes, and sometimes I didn’t.

I had strange mixed feelings about Kennedy (Iyari Limon).  As much as I wasn’t keen on the idea of Willow (Alyson Hannigan) rebounding so soon after Tara (Amber Benson), I’ve always been the kind of person that listens to what makes characters happy before I listen to what I’d like, and Willow needed all the happy she could get.  Half of the time, Kennedy said things that sort of made sense.  She wasn’t terribly sentimental or hesitant about her destiny.  Sometimes she seemed to act like she was already at her destiny, though, like she knew it all.  Which annoyed me somewhat.  But as much as her personality grated, she could fight pretty decently.

Once they stopped whining as a collective and after the whole “Empty Places” mess that made me want to slap everyone (even Willow, even Giles [Anthony Stewart Head]) the potentials did pretty well.  They kicked some serious ass, and they made it out somewhat all right.  Smaller numbers, yeah, but they weren’t all outrageously dead.  And bless Vi’s heart with her toughness on the bus, man.

But the issue is really Willow’s spell to activate them.  To activate all the potential Slayers, every girl in the world with the capability to be a Slayer.  I’ve heard arguments from both sides about this and why it is or isn’t good.  But I tend to side with the good, I think.

First off, there’s the obvious bonus of Willow being able to perform such a kickass magick and have it be such a positive thing.  The part of me that cries in my heart when my eyes won’t cry at fiction did so, happily, upon seeing her fall over after the spell and proclaim that it was “nifty.”  It was just exactly what babygirl needed, proof that her power wasn’t always destructive.

But more importantly is how it affects the Slayer lineage and mythology.  They’re changing the game.  That’s always been Buffy’s (Sarah Michelle Gellar) game.  She’s never done Slayer things like she’s supposed to.  How many other Slayers had fired their Watcher and broken up with the Council?  How many other Slayers had co-existed with another Slayer before?  The answer is not many, if any at all.  She’s adapting the lineage to a modern day, where there need to be multiple Slayers doing whatever they can to keep the world safe.

If Willow hadn’t activated the Slayers, the world would probably have been screwed, and in the immediate sense, it’s important to acknowledge that.  And, quite frankly, though some people have seen it as hitting the feminist “every woman is powerful” message too hard, I don’t think so.  Every woman is powerful, but it’s not as if the show ever said that the only way a woman could be powerful was to be a Slayer.  It’s said multiple times that Willow is more powerful than any of them, using magicks, and we’re shown how important everyone else’s less flashy efforts are, too.

For one thing, with Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg).  It was around the season six finale that I started to not hate her.  And it was the episode “Potential” that proved a very good point to me.  Finally, Dawnie is being useful.  She spends all of season seven trying to fight and research and help however she can, and that’s freakin’ awesome.  And Xander (Nicholas Brendon), god bless him, although knowing what I know about the season eight comics made this scene a little different for me.

“They’ll never know how tough it is, Dawnie.  To be the one who isn’t chosen.  To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it.  But I know.  I see more than anybody realizes because nobody’s watching me.  I saw you last night.  I see you working here today.  You’re not special, you’re extraordinary.”

There’s as much power in working quietly and helping in the background as there is in fighting demons hands-on.  Or Anya (Emma Caulfield) and the way she comes to the conclusion that she loves humans and she’ll go down fighting for them.  And she does.  Bravely, selflessly, upsettingly.

I don’t think that activating all the potentials is feminist overkill.  I think it’s simply a means of enabling characters to feel and be more powerful and more effective, like they can do it.  It’s not just the Slayers that prove their strength in the finale, it’s everyone.  Willow with her magicks, Anya with her sacrifice, Xander and Dawn and Giles and Andrew (Tom Lenk) and everyone with their fighting and things even not infused with Slayer strength.  Buffy’s grown as a leader, Faith’s (Eliza Dushku) grown as a woman and a positive force.  Everyone’s grown, and so what if there’s a bunch of Slayers in the world now?  That just means more people who’ll fight the good fight.  More people who can learn about their own power and hopefully help others around them find power too.

God, I need to read the season eight comics now.

–your fangirl heroine.