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

["Howard Russell" <howardrussell2000@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Everybody!

First, a quick response to James.  Yes, Nikki Wood is Robin's mother.  But nothing says she was the ACTIVE slayer during the conception or her pregnancy.  She could just as easily have been a potential at the time of his birth and been activated after.

It's canon that the slayer is activated somewhere between fifteen and eighteen.  Fifteen, because Buffy was a slayer for "more than a year" before the episode "The Witch."  If the events of that episode did take place in March 1997--arguable because the signage at the auditions say 1996 tryouts--then she'd've been activated on or shortly after her fifteenth birthday.  Eighteen, because the Cruiciamentum takes place on the slayer's eighteenth birthday.  Seems silly to think the Council has a critical test which some could avoid simply by being activated after the testing date.  (Of course, that means that Kennedy was at most seventeen while Willow was twenty-two/twenty three.)

Given that Nikki Wood was an unwed mother--likely, as Robin was raised by his mother's watcher, not his father--is it so hard to imagine that she was a teen mother as well?

My theory grew from the canon activities of Faith.  The "get some, get gone" girl didn't seem to be the "no glove, no love" type.  And she, unlike a certain other slayer, had experiences with the living.  True, there are girls who are as promiscuous as Faith claimed to be who never get pregnant...but there are far more who do.


Howard wrote:
> Andy wrote:
> > Howard wrote:
> > > Andy wrote:
> > > > Alexis wrote:
> > > > > Andy wrote:  (Okay, there aren't any quotes that old, but the thread started then.)

> [Some well thought out things...]

Thanks!



> > Who else is going to be out there fighting?
> [snip]
> > The only time it becomes even possible is post series.
> Hmmm... I would agree that after 'Chosen' is the only time it makespractical sense for Buffy to become pregnant, assuming it was planned.Not sure I agree that, because she's the slayer, there is some mysticalimperative or ethical reason (if I understand your point here) thatmakes it impossible. Not saying it would be a GOOD idea... but wavingthe "She's the Slayer" stick at an issue as an explanation is toosimplistic for the Buffyverse, IMHO.

We are talking two girls here.  If there is a pregnancy, it's almost certainly going to have been planned.  Though, true, several fics have postulated accidental, magically-induced pregnancies.

The ethical reason is that the slayer is a combatant!  A front-line, hand-to-hand fighter without the possibility of maternity leave.  On several occasions, she's prevented an apocolypse under circumstances that a pregnancy would have interfered with if not outright prevented.  Her duties would continue regardless of her health.  As seen in "Killed By Death," she still the slayer, even while hospitalized.

"She's the slayer" may seem to be a simple way to put it, but that's what it boils down to.  She's a fighter, a brawler, and that WILL NOT STOP just because she's pregnant.

True, in canon there are three summer breaks during which Buffy was absent.  But two of them had the Scoobies trying desperately and failing to cover the slack.  If you want to write an adventure piece that has Willow and co. risking their lives to protect a pregnant Buffy, that's your choice.  But that's a choice a lot of slash writers don't want or need to make.

There have been several fics by the non-slash authors which covered the extensive difficulties inherent in a pregnant slayer.  Everything from demons trying to use it to their advantage to council assasins wanting an unhindered slayer at any cost.  Those of us that slash are more concerned with the trials and tribulations of two women in love and making a baby.  Why combine that with the pregnant slayer issue?



> You'll remember that my question was aimed at fanfic WRITERS. Not atthe Buffyverse PTB. I'm asking "Why Willow", not really "Why NOTBuffy". The answer seems to be "Willow makes a better mother" (With noreal proof) and "Because making Buffy a mother isn't practical" (And Idon't have anything invested in the arguments pro or con. I'm justcurious.)

Why Willow?  Because she's not Buffy.  Sorry but that's what it boils down to.  There are a host of difficulties inherent in a pregnant slayer that don't exist with Willow.  So, why Willow?  Because she's easier to write pregnant.

Also, like Strife said, Willow is the femme to Buffy's butch.  She's Gabrielle to Buffy's Xena.  It's fairly natural to assign Buffy to the male role in the relationship.  If not stated directly, at least in the back of your mind while writing the fic.  Fighting, slaying, killing Buffy is the less femme of the two, so it falls on Willow to carry the child.

As for why Faith and not Buffy in Fuffy fics, I think it's the slayer thing again.  Faith may be A slayer, but Buffy is THE slayer.  If you're going to take one slayer out of the fight, Faith is more expendable than Buffy.  Buffy has saved the world; Faith's just killed a few things.



> Well... the PTB didn't actually "create" the slayer... as we learnlater in the series. They just make use of them. They actually seem tobe fairly 'hand-off' - they toss out a prophecy to their "tools" onoccasion and watch things happen. It makes more sense to assume thatwhatever magic transfers that "demon essence" to a potential slayer,making her an actual slayer, changes them instead of saying "The PTBdid this, that, and the other"

Point.  I made the fallacy of arguing from a common fic idea where the PTB took control of the original slayer empowerment.  That made sense to me, as the essence of a demon doesn't seem to be a good basis for a protector.

However, the argument can also made from the canon version as well--that the men who decided that a young woman of child bearing age would be the ideal protector of humanity may have taken that into account.  They wouldn't have wanted their weapon to be sidelined by a child.  They already sacrificed her life for the good of all, would they not do the same to her unborn children?



> > No, but he did have to live with the trauma of losing his mother at ayoung age.  That's the inexorable truth of ANY child of a slayer.
> But that applies to ANYONE who loses a parent at that age. This isn't aslayer thing.

But the *guarantee* of it happening is a slayer thing.  I don't know about you, but my mother survived beyond her early twenties.  But a slayer is certain to end up in an early grave.  At least before the world full of slayers in the post series time-line.

That's what a lot of 'shipper fics are about: pairing Buffy with someone who would complement/augment her slayer skills and allow her to survive far beyond her normal slayer lifespan.  That's why she gets paired so often with a vampire, a fellow slayer, or a witch; so she'll have the opportunity to grow old with someone.  A normal human would only be able to mourn her youthful passing.



> > Plus, I think it's interesting to imagine Buffy's reaction to beingthe father.
> Let's go one step further... I think a fic that uses the idea you giveabove that a slayer CAN'T have children (and isn't a Highlandercrossover with Buffy as an immortal (Highlander style immortals can'thave children - ever)) and applies it to Buffy/Willow (with Willowpregnant) would be even more interesting to read.
> I've only seen one fic that even came close - some pre-slayer reasonwhy Buffy couldn't have children- but it didn't really address that atall.

The genesis of my theory came from such a fic idea...but I'm not going to write it.  I recognize that I'm not nearly skilled enough to do it its proper justice.  It'd be a good angsty piece.  One of the reasons Angel left was so she could find someone who could give her children.  How would Buffy, Willow, and Angel react to that reason being completely invalid?  It's a decent hook for a story.

Anyone who wishes to use my theory in a fic is welcome to do so.  I'd always imagined that the council knew of this but Giles withheld the info from Buffy.  Not to control or limit her sexual activities, but just because he's too squeamish to talk about such things.  When confronted, much stammering and lens-cleaning would ensue.


> > > >  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.
> And more :-).
And still more!

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/


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