Re: Re: Scooby Most Likely to Become Pregnant in a B/W fic?

["Howard Russell" <howardrussell2000@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Everybody!

--- Andy Stoffel <see2go4me@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> On May 4, 2005, at 3:19 PM, Alexis Dagwood wrote:
> > --- Andy Stoffel <see2go4me@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > Random thought... why is Willow usually the Scooby
> > > who ends up pregnant (if it happens) in a Buffy/Willow fic?
> > I think there are a couple of reasons.
> Okay. I was looking more for a "why do fic writers do this" than in a'Buffyverse context' reason.

Well, the writers are writing in the Buffyverse.  We/They have to take that into account.  I've seen Buffy pregnant in total AUs.  That's a separate issue.



> > First is buffy is the slayer, and who needs an additional burden of
> > pregnancy besides that?
> Would being pregnant really be a burden for someone as physically fitas a slayer? Considering the kind of physical mistreatment her bodygoes thru already... pregnancy for a slayer should be a walk in thepark.
> Of course, I've been only an observer of how pregnancy affected myex-wife. So my opinion is based on that.

The early stages of a pregnacy, sure, but the late term effects?  First off, she'd need to constantly protect her torso and avoid any body-blows throughout the pregnacy.  So hampered, she'd be likely to take even more damage to her limbs and head than normal as her focus would be--as a mother's naturally would be--on protecting the baby first and foremost.  In later months, her constantly shifting center of gravity would destroy her combat abilities.  Add in her protruding stomach and she'd soon lose her kicks even sooner.  You'd also have to ensure the pregnacy avoided coinciding with any of the Big Bads.  Can you imagine an eight months pregnant Buffy confronting The Master?  Angelus?  Adam?  Glory?  The First and its Turok Hans?



> > Not to mention it would cut down on your agility and stuff like that.
> That would definitely be a concern but if she's pregnant, why is sheout there fighting anyway?

Into each generation a Slayer is born.  One girl in all the world--a Chosen One--one born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires.  She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness.  She is the Slayer.

Who else is going to be out there fighting?  Kendra or Faith?  Kendra'd do it but then you've got a pregnant 16/17 year old Buffy in high school.  That's not a fic, it's an ABC afterschool special.  Faith?  She might've in Buffy's senior year...then again, she might still have been made to feel like a second-rate slayer substituting for the real one.  That leads to an evil Faith that a pregnant Buffy would've lost to.  After the coma?  Sure, she's got the redemption kick going...eventually.  And also police problems and trust issues with the Scooby Gang.  Would she stay in Sunnydale and protect Buffy?  Take into account the not-very-subtext Fuffy vibe and that leads you to wonder whether she'd even want to be around a happy Wiffy scene.  The only time it becomes even possible is post series.



> > Plus, slayers and having kids don't mix.
> Where do we see that? It certainly isn't canon. Other than one slayer,we have no evidence one way or the other.

It's never directly stated, no.  But it seems reasonable.  After thinking about it, I've developed a theory that slayers are incapable of bearing children.  I'm serious and it makes sense.  I think that that they can have children before they're called, but not while active.

Think about what I said earlier about her fighting skills.  Would the PTB allow their champion to be so hampered?  A pregnant woman continuing to fight demons would certainly lose the baby before it's born, if not die herself as well.  Pregnancy, to a slayer, would be akin to a death sentence for herself, her child, and/or the world.  Seems reasonable that the PTB would simply avoid the whole issue of a pregnant slayer.

It's also reasonable from a biological point of view.  A fetus is scentifically described as a parasite, living off the mother; it robs its mother of resources and energy.  The early stages of a pregnacy are described as flu-like symptoms.  How would the slayer healing factor react to this?  There's a rare condition where a woman cannot bring a child to term because her body rejects it as foriegn body.  Would the slayer's body react any different?  It makes sense that the slayer would automatically reject a pregnancy, probably even before she was even aware that she was ever pregnant.

Also, it would make sense that the PTB would even prevent her from even having periods in the first place.  I mean, what would a woman smell like to vampires during that time?  Like blood in the water to sharks, I imagine.  Would a slayer be able to survive if, for three days every month, she attracted every single vampire for miles around?  The fights she had on those days would be brutal and endless.  Vamp after vamp, singly and in groups, fight after fight, from dusk to dawn.  They'd lose a slayer every month if that were true.

And as a side issue, can you imagine a woman with slayer strength and skills going through PMS?  Mood swings and the ability to literally tear someone's head off don't mix.  I think the fact that Xander survived the entire series is proof enough.



> > Look at prinicpal wood, he was screwed up by it...
> Huh? You mean the whole "revenge kick" he had going? Why does that makehim screwed up? Except for the conflict with Buffy of the fate ofSpike... he seemed a lot saner than some characters when it came tovampires.

No, but he did have to live with the trauma of losing his mother at a young age.  That's the inexorable truth of ANY child of a slayer.  Slayers die young.  That's a fact.  There is no retirement age, no pension plan, no 401k.  The child of a slayer WILL lose its mother.  Only post series can this be untrue.



> > not to mention she'd be hungrier than before after slaying.
> Not sure what that has to do with this...

Me either.



> > Plus, willow is just more nurturing and stuff, I think.
> I guess I don't actually see her that way. Tara gives off thatearth-mother vibe. Willow is more of the "seeker of knowledge andpower" A nurturing person wouldn't have imploded like Willow did inSeason 6. A nurturing person wouldn't have worked well with Buffy as apartner. A nurturing person... well there are so many things thatWillow did throughout the series that go against that idea.

I think Alexis meant more nurturing than Buffy.  And that point is arguable.  Buffy and Willow each have had their nurturing scenes in the series and I'd be hard pressed to say who is more and who is less between the two.  Gut feeling, I'd say Buffy was more nurturing, by a little bit.  But that's just a feeling.

But how someone acts to others and how they'd act to their own child are two different things.  With Willow's parents, you could write her either way.  Her parents were so absentee, she'd either overreact and be supermom or follow suit and be even less attentive.  Joyce was a good mom, and Buffy would have a good role model to work from.

Plus, I think it's interesting to imagine Buffy's reaction to being the father.  Willow is more scientific and would be able to accept that role far more readily, I think.  But Buffy would have difficulty even grasping it.  It's just a more fun idea to do that to Buffy.

> >  Those are my thoughts...
> Thanks for sharing them.

Well, some of these are my thoughts, the others are yours and Alexis's forwarded thoughts.  So...these are our thoughts.

Your fellow 'shipper,
Howard

--
'I don't want a nice Jewish boy, I want a pretty gentile girl that burns down school buildings!'

http://www.geocities.com/howardrussell2000/


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease?
Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/rkgkPB/UOnJAA/Zx0JAA/RoMolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 

Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
Buffy:  "I kinda love you."
                     --'Choices'

Community email addresses:
     Post message: buffywantswillow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
     Subscribe:    buffywantswillow-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
     Unsubscribe:  buffywantswillow-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
     List owner:   buffywantswillow-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shortcut URL to this page:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow

Official archive for the list:
     http://www.ikoly.com/fanfic

Other links to Buffy/Willow fics:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow/links  
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
   buffywantswillow-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
   http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/