Buffy talks about the Giant Dawn thing

[beer_good_foamy]

One of the things that have been nagging me about the Kafka!Dawn storyline is that, well, I just don't see how it could ever happen. Not the being cursed bit, but how it could progress to the point where it's at in #1 and continues to be at, unchanged, in #20 when there seems to be a very obvious solution staring everyone in the face. I actually tried to write serious Season 8 fic about Buffy and Dawn, and as with all fic, my approach was pretty simple: start out with a basic premise and then ask myself "What would character X do?" In this case, the character was Buffy. And the Buffy in my head, the one I write in fic, the one I'd like to think is at least loosely based on how she was presented in canon, refused to play along with the plot.

Since the subject keeps coming up, just for kicks, I thought I'd write down the conversation I kept having with her whenever I tried to make her follow the Season 8 story. (Check the tag for previous character interviews.)

Opening credits: "Mystery" by Hugh Laurie

BEER GOOD: So, right, Buffy, welcome back to the show.

BUFFY SUMMERS: Thanks. *glances at watch* Can we make this quick?

BG: Sure, we'll get right to the subject at hand. Your sister has been turned into a giant and later a centaur, and you suspect her boyfriend Kenny, a thricewise, had something to do with it. Now you're stuck with a miserable giant hanging around the house all the time. How do you deal with this? A) blame Dawn, B) brood on your balcony, C) ignore -

BS: I'm thinking a quick trip to Berkley.

BG: *frowns* Wait, that's not one of the options I have here.

BS: You know, "Ding dong. Hi, Kenny. Look, you know who I am and what I can do, and I really don't have time for teenage melodrama right now, so what do you say you break the curse you put on my sister and maybe that's all that gets broken tonight?"

BG: Um... *checks comics* That's not what you've done, though. So far, at least.

BS: It isn't? Why not?

BG: I don't know, I'm not... Wonder Woman! Point is... well, I guess "why not" is the point.

BS: Beats me. Does Dawn like being a giant centaur?

BG: Apparently, she hates it.

BS: Do I like her being a giant centaur?

BG: Apart from the jokes, no. You're mostly annoyed by it.

BS: "Annoyed"? My sister gets cursed and turned into a monster, and I'm just annoyed?

BG: Yeah.

BS: Whatever. Is it wearing off?

BG: Not as far as you know. And Willow can't seem to fix it either.

BS: So if I know who's behind it, why wouldn't I do something about it? That's just silly.

BG: I dunno... what if you're wrong? Maybe Kenny had nothing to do with it?

BS: *checks comics, frowns* Nope, says here I still think it's his fault. Huh. That would mean I haven't even talked to him, which makes zero sense. She slept with this guy?

BG: Actually, no.

BS: Then yay Dawn for at least being smart enough not to sleep with an abusive psycho who uses magic to get back at women who don't do what he wants. He's what we in the business call "the bad guy," and I gotta say – urge to beat him up? Not fading. I'm pretty sure there were a couple of episodes where I dealt with exactly that sort of stuff back in can-

BG: Ssssh. We don't use the "C" word.

BS: Sorry. So why am I not beating him up again?

BG: Maybe you can't find him?

BS: *checks comics* Says nothing here about him being missing or us looking for him. And anyway, Willow can find just about anything. Oh, did I tell you that she found Mr Gordo? And he was supposed to be at the bottom of the Sunnydale crater, but -

BG: Back on topic, maybe you couldn't get to California?

BS: Hey look, I have a castle. I have jets and helicopters. I'm pretty much stinking rich.

BG: I noticed.

BS: Hey! That's just... uh... do you know how hard it is to get sweat out of Kevlar? I dropped by my Rome double's apartment ONCE, and apparently her place still smells like me...

BG: I'm sure it does. Nudge nudge. Know what I mean. Say no more.

BS: *rolls eyes* Fanboys. Anyway, I've got money, I've got shiny shiny planes, and I'm best friends with a witch who can... *checks comics* ...fly? Cool. So if I want to get to California for a few hours, trust me, I don't have to fly coach.

BG: But still... maybe you were busy saving the world from some demon just then?

BS: Just when? Just every single day in all the months I've had a giant centaur moping around the castle? I haven't had 24 hours to spare to help my own sister?

BG: Uh... yes?

BS: You have got to be kidding. I thought I was in charge here?

BG: ...Let's talk hypothetically?

BS: OK, fine... Well, in that case I guess I'd send a squad of Slayers to Kenny's place and have them beat him up until he reverses the spell.

BG: D'oh!

BS: That's not in the comics either, huh?

BG: No. But maybe you don't have any Slayers available to -

BS: Seriously, if there's one place in the world I don't have a Slayer shortage, it's California. You should see the transfer applications. I keep telling them about hellmouths and earthquakes and entire cities getting sent to Hell, and all they seem to hear is "Bla bla beaches bla bla sun bla bla moviestars." I'm stuck here in Scotland, but...

BG: Yeah, why is that?

BS: I... *checks comics* uh... I don't know. But point is, he's a thricewise, and... what is that, by the way?

BG: No idea whatsoever.

BS: Huh. Well anyway, if he's putting curses on teenage girls, I'm pretty sure he falls under my jurisdiction. Besides, it's not like I'd kill him or anything. Oooh, remember that time I beat Ethan Rayne up? And that time I beat Warren up? And that time I beat up that jerk from the swim team? And that other time I beat Ethan Rayne up? And that time I beat Tucker Wells up? And that time I beat up the whole Trio? And that third time I -

BG: Wait a second, we're dealing with sensitive matters of magic abuse, first relationships, heartbreak, emotions, gender relations, and all that messy stuff. You're saying that your solution to this highly complex issue would be... violence?

BS: Hi, I'm Buffy, have we met?

BG: But Dawn's an adult now. Surely she needs to deal with her own problems without her sister acting like some sort of... control freak and telling her how to live her life?

BS: Buf-fy. Slayer, comma, the.

BG: Right. Well, then I guess I'm stumped. Unless... well... *cringes*

BS: Unless what?

BG: Well, there's this line here...

DAWN: … because you act like it’s my fault.

BUFFY: You were dating a thricewise.

BG: ...Which, um, I'm not saying it is, but it sounds a tiny little bit like you're thinking she had this coming for dating a thricewise, that it's all her fault, and that you're not helping her because you think she... well, deserves it. Please don't hit me.

BS: *glares* "Deserves"?

BG: Yeah. I mean, in the show they used this sort of thing all the time as a metaphor for men exercising their power over women, spousal abuse, rape... Y'know, it's kind of like how you deserved what you got for sleeping with Angel, or the ballerina in "Waiting in the Wings" deserved what she got for cheating on her boss, or Katrina deserved what she got for dumping Warren, or...

BS: Hello? Not Cousin Beth here. I'm pretty sure that's exactly the sort of thing I was created to deal with.

BG: You're right, of course. Can't be that, then.

BS: Are we about done here? I'm kinda busy.

BG: Uh... sure. Those banks aren't going to rob themselves, eh?

BS: WHAT?!?

End credits: "Bad Boys Get Spanked" by The Pretenders

Comments

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

And as previously pointed out, Buffy (as presented in TV!canon) doesn't necessarily sit around twiddling her thumbs until people start dying. Especially when it comes to people she cares about. That's the neat thing about a magical, allegorical 'verse: death isn't the only threat that you have to deal with, there are more ways to ruin people's lives than just killing them.

There are plenty of examples where action is called for even when the person at risk stands no immediate risk of dying, but let's take one of the most obvious examples, from "The Gift":

WILLOW: Well, I do sort of have one idea, but, last few days I've mostly been looking into ways to help Tara. I know that shouldn't be my priority --
BUFFY: Of course it should.

But... Tara's not sick. Tara's not dying. There is nothing physically wrong with Tara (well, there's the broken hand, but that's healing fine without Willow's help). Tara's quite insane and as far as anyone knows will remain so indefinitely, but that's not life-threatening in any way. Willow's bravely dealing with the situation, taking the doctors' advice, learning how to care for her. Why should it be a priority to restore Tara's sanity? It's not like Tara's going anywhere; why not, at least, put it off until after they stop this apocalypse (and the one after that, and the one after that...)?

Because the show is not about magic or death but about being human and how we relate to others. If you can't help - if you don't even try to help - those closest to you, you can't possibly hope to (metaphorically) save the world.

Then again, maybe we were supposed to think Buffy was very wrong. Maybe she should have just told Willow to cheer up, maybe someday Tara would be dead, lol.

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

Buffy (as presented in TV!canon) doesn't necessarily sit around twiddling her thumbs until people start dying.

Sometimes in TV canon she looks ruefully at their blood dripping down the window and says that they really should have asked for a foot rub.

And in comics canon she has been known to sit and watch people getting killed because she thinks it will serve the greater good to wait and follow them back to their headquarters. In that light, Buffy putting Dawn low down her priority list - especially when Dawn apparently doesn't want to be helped - seems entirely consistent.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Sometimes in TV canon she looks ruefully at their blood dripping down the window and says that they really should have asked for a foot rub.

Especially when it's people she cares about. Remember her snarking at Giles when Jenny died... oh, wait.

And in comics canon...

Which brings us back to the original complaint: that comic!Buffy isn't acting anything like TV!Buffy, and it's not just Dawn that's affected.

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

Tara's not sick. Tara's not dying.

Tara's not there. Her essence is so lost that Willow struggles to find a trace of it. Dawn on the other hand is all too there, literally and metaphorically larger than life. For once she has an arc that's about her and how *she* relates to others not how they relate to her. She's been the dragon not the damsel in her relationship with Kenny and it hurts to find that out about yourself. It changes how you see yourself.

Having said that Buffy has tried to help but we get some perspective on her perspective in her S1 dream when she reaches out to Dawn only to be told she must be on drugs. She and Dawn have always had a love that only speaks its name in times of world-ending crisis. It's a sibling thing (as I remember it).

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Having said that Buffy has tried to help but we get some perspective on her perspective in her S1 dream when she reaches out to Dawn only to be told she must be on drugs.

Good point - seriously, good point. Though given Buffy's failure to do anything for Dawn that's actually helpful, and her constant mocking of Dawn, I can't say I blame Dawn for pushing her away.

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

I don't blame Dawn either, I hope I'm not coming across as anti-Dawn. I like her but I also like the way this arc is giving her real emotional issues to work through and deal with.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

I hope I'm not coming across as anti-Dawn

Other people are, but not you; I hope I don't take it out on everyone. But yeah, I can sort of see Dawn's POV in this, depressing though it is; it's everyone else's I'm having trouble with.

I like her but I also like the way this arc is giving her real emotional issues to work through and deal with.

That'd be nice. But considering that one of the upcoming storylines they have for her involves her almost getting raped by a horse, which is supposedly a joke, I'll have to reserve judgement on that one.

[elisi]

Maybe Dawn is a metaphor for how wrong comic!Buffy is? The elephant in the room? (That would actually be neat, but I'm not holding my breath...)

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

That would be neat, and I'm sort of hoping that's it; as stormwreath put it over at buffyforums - how can she be expected to save the world when she can't even save her sister?

Of course, ethical conundrums and moral grey areas work best when there's not a very simple solution that everyone is ignoring for no given reason.