Re: Re: OT: Xander ambivalence and his place in B/W Life?

In a message dated 12/12/2003 10:33:59 AM Pacific Standard Time, o163210@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

> Mike's request for feedback on Xander made me realize something as
a writer. (Yes, Ann Marie and BHV, I now consider myself a writer.)
>
> Anyway, back to Xander and my Ambivalence. You see one the one
hand I find him to a true friend to Buffy and Willow, the brother
that they never had. He fits in their lives like no other person.
But on the other hand I think he's a bloody ***hole. Some days he's
my yellow crayon man, other days he's The Yellow Crayon MAN ... if
you get my meaning?
>
> To me he is the hardest scoobie to write because ... take the "lie"
for example, he lied to Buffy and that forced her to kill Angel. Or
he lied to Buffy so she wouldn't hold back which helped her save the
world?
>
> I would really like to hear other people's ideas about Xander in an
open and frank discussion, on list if it is allowed, but off-list if
not.
>
> Bright Blessings,
>
> Ivy

*-*-*-*-*-*

This is definately something I'm gonna pass to Tony tomorrow to reply
to. When it comes to Xander's place in B/W life (or ANY Scooby in any
other Scooby's life) Tony is the person I defer to. I seriously doubt
there is anybody who has thought about/wrote/studied/debated about
this as him.

Kirayoshi, Dan, and TheBear all have their finger on the pulse of the
Scooby Gang as well.

Mike McD

Aw shucks!

Me, whenever I write Xander in a story, I ask myself one question; What would I do under the same circumstances? Xander can be an A--Hole, true. And he can be the one person in the team who sees things as they really are. Sometimes(as was the case with the Big Lie) at the same time!

Xander, IMO, is best treated as a POV character. He's like the stand-in for the audience. When I watch an episode of BtVS, he's me. He does what I would probably do, or at least hope I would do.

That said, I truly enjoy stories where Xander rises above his limitations(including the ones he wrongly places upon himself) and proves to be a hero. One story I discovered by chance over at fanfiction.net while hunting for non-Spuffy stories, a B/X piece by Rabid Squirrel called "Murphy's Law", expands Xander's character very well. An alternate season seven, the story explores Xander's feeling of betrayal after learning about Buffy and Spike, and his fear of losing Willow after the events of "Grave". But events ranging from the return of Spike to his former evil self to a prophecy involving fallen angels and Buffy's death to both the US Government and the Vatican becoming involved in Buffy's life slowly lead to Xander rising above his self-pity and emerging as Buffy's true champion. Check the story out here; http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=983488

Buffy's the Slayer, Willow's the Witch, Angel's the muscle, Riley's the Commando, Oz's the werewolf, Spike's the badboy, Cordy's the seer, but Xander's just the scared guy with the rock. He's imperfect, he's all too human, but he genuinely gives his all. As he said once to Cordelia, "At least I'm lameness that cares!" Sometimes he's the sounding board, sometimes he's the team's conscience, sometimes he broadcasts the emotions that everyone else is feeling but keeping under their hats. And sometimes he just does the donut runs. Above all else he cares. Even when he feels betrayed and vents angrily at Buffy, he cares.

Kirayoshi

God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of his own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of the players (i.e., everybody), to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.
--Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: Good Omens.

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