The Buffy Bitca Syndrome

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SoulBond	The Buffy Bitca Syndrome	Lead	[-]
Posts: 260 (07/30/01 10:38:52) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None Do you know this character? She's blonde and she's very pretty. She's the Chosen One, the one girl in all the world (yadda yadda yadda). She had the tragic love affair of all time, a Slayer fell in love with a vampire. But not just any vampire, but the vampire Angelus, cursed with a soul and now trying to make amends. She is the center of the universe, the diamond in everyone's eye. Her Watcher is there for only when she needs him, and then he's just stuffy, stupid and old. Her best friend Willow is annoying and clingy and so god awful unattractive that why would a boy ever look at her? She's rude to everyone, including her mother, and she even treats the love of her life, Angel, like a second hand toy. No one, especially not Willow or Cordelia will ever be as wonderful as she, and anyone who can't see how wonderful she is, well they have to be an idiot. Um, if you think that's Buffy Summers, then you clearly have not been watching the same television show that I have been for five years. Yes, this is another one of my peeves in fan fiction, that I have dubbed "The Buffy Bitca Syndrome." For those who despise Buffy, and rather than write her realistically, strip away everything positive about the character and basically re-create her from "When She Was Bad." This is the Buffy who will sleep with Oz because Willow isn't woman enough (and let's not even follow the Oz thread on that one); this is the Buffy who has sex with Xander behind Willow's back, or tries to, and then when Willow catches them, says they were protecting her. This is the Buffy who chases Angel into Willow's arms (because he wakes up and realizes how horrible she really is) and then vows to kill Angel and Willow both because Angel is hers forever. This is the Buffy that makes me want to take away computers and word processors. Is anyone else driven to insanity by the Buffy Bitca Syndrome? And, do any other universes fall prey to this?
AmethystMaiden	Re: The Buffy Bitca Syndrome	#1	[-]
Posts: 110 (07/30/01 11:40:02) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Oh ick. I just wandered over here from the Mary Sue discussion, and just, ick. I've had the good fortune not to run into any instances of Buffy Bitca, so all I really have to say on the subject is how can they do that to Buffy? I'll be the first to admit that she can be a litty wiggy when she's upset, but let's be fair here, that's not her entire character. But I'm preaching to the choir, so we'll just cut that rant short. It does happen in other fandoms, usually as a companion to the Mary Sue makeover one of the minor characters on a show has just gotten courtesy of a vengeful writer. (Or perhaps of that brand spanking new Mary Sue designed to teach a real character a lesson the writer seems to think they need to learn.) Nothing makes me give up on a story faster than bad characterization, and to demonize (no pun intended) a character just because you don't like them is just bad writing. The only thing I have to say when I stumble across fics like that is what-EVER. Thank god for that back button.
EstiRose	Re: The Buffy Bitca Syndrome	#2	[-]
Posts: 32 (07/30/01 11:50:18) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I, too, have been fortunate to miss that (mostly because I don't read a lot of Buffy Fic). But, probably tangentally, I have my own peeve of sorts. Back in the ancient old days of Power Rangers (Mighty Morphin' and Zeo) there was this character named Tommy. He was in love with one of his teammates, Kimberly. The actress playing Kimberly left the show, and for some reason TPTB decided to hook him up with Kimberly's successor, Kat. For some reason, some Tommy/Kim and Tommy/Kat fans don't get along overly well in fanfic. One particularly infamous (at least in my mind) had Tommy and Kim get back together again because someone was trying to assassinate Kim. It turns out to be a future, evil version of Kat that's responsible. No other coupling in the whole fandom seems to produce stories like this, and there have been quite a few in the show's long run! If nothing else, this seems awfully similar to the Buffy Bitca syndrome, even if it's not really related. Villify the characters you don't like, make the characters you do like angels (not literally).
sauscony	Re: The Buffy Bitca Syndrome	#3	[-]
Posts: 30 (07/30/01 12:13:09) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Oh yes - I've read Buffy Bitca stories. Or to be more accurate, I've started them. I usually don't bother finishing them. I don't deny Buffy has her bad moments. But she has a lot of good ones too and a lot of crap weighing her down. (Chosen One, Destiny, gonna die young, Angel etc etc etc). She's not perfect, but she isn't totally bad either. And she's growing up and learning and maturing a LOT. Something some authors manage not to see. Why oh why oh why can't people actually try to write the characters they are writing, instead of some person with the same name and some of the same qualities? Okay, I'm going to take a deep breath and go out on a limb here. I hope I don't offend anyone, because that's not my intention. I am beginning to believe that there are two types of fanfic authors. There are the people that are writers. They are writing because they have too, because they have a story to tell (and perhaps they are blessed with a certain inbuilt skill as well). If they write fanfic, they try to write the characters as they perceive them to be, if they introduce original characters they try to make them well rounded, have a proper place in the story and that there is a sensible reason for them to be there. If they want to be totally original then they go and write original fiction instead of fanfic. Then there are people who write. They write whatever they like, do whatever they like and call it Buffy or Highlander or whatever, even if the characters seem to bear little resemblance to what they are like o the show. So of this is good, some of it is a fun read, but wouldn't be considered fine literature. But there's a difference between the two types of writing. And the kind of peeves we're talking about tend to come from authors in the latter category. Okay, two more quick peeves from me. I really dislike the tendency a lot of peole have to make Joyce evil. She's screwed up a lot and she totally never got the whole Slayer thing, but she was a mother trying to protect her daughter in a situation where that was impossible. Please give her a little credit and try to write a balanced portrayal. For the other, I'm going to quote something (removing any names) off the top of a fic that came through my email over the last couple of days. SUMMARY: Not set in the Buffyverse. B/A are in the middle of ending their relationship, but is it really over? She's called it an "Elseworld" fic. No slayer, no vamps. Nothing to do with the Buffyverse, but it's a Buffy story? I'm sorry, but... A. Isn't that a contradiction in terms and B. What's the point? I'll stop now... Soz
redwulf50	Re: The Buffy Bitca Syndrome	#4	[-]
Posts: 19 (07/30/01 14:18:17) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I like this topic because all the answers so far make you think and I have seen a few of all of them. The Buffy Bitca is one of the main reasons I seldom read Buffy fic even though I love the show. And as far as the Power Ranger thing Go into Babylon 5 fandom and write either Susan/Talia or Susan/Marcus and you'll get flamed by some just for the pairing. What I hate worse though is if you want to start naming syndromes is what I call the Patridge Family Syndrome ( I know seriously dating myself now) where the whole story is sweetness and light. Everything works out perfect and everyone loves everyone. For instance in my honest opinion Susan (from B5) is a strong willed intelligent woman, no matter who you pair her up with this isn't going to change, but both sides seem to want turn her into a lovestruck teenager as soon as she admits she loves one or the other. Face it people that is why she wound up without either. She is my favorite B5 character, but relationships aren't something she deals with very well. Jesse
Slayervick	Re: The Buffy Bitca Syndrome	#5	[-]
Posts: 60 (07/31/01 12:39:29) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	ooh, you wanna know my big pet peeve? This would go under the Partridge Family Syndrome, or just the general Ugh Syndrome, but I hate when writers do stories about Buffy getting pregnant with Angel's child, moving in with him, giving up the Slayer deal, and, like, passing it down to Willow or something. OOOh, that's sooo wrong! I read a great one where Buff runs off to LA with Angel's child in her belly and slays right up until her third trimester. It was pathetic. I was depressed. I don't know WHAT I was reading. So yeah. That and the Buffie and Angle thing. Ooooh. Irks me.
SoulBond	Re: The Buffy Bitca Syndrome	#6	[-]
Posts: 260 (08/01/01 09:22:41) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Gagging on the notion of the "Patridge Family Syndrome" and I know exactly what you're speaking of. Which clearly amazes me when you consider the universes that we are speaking of - Buffy, Angel, Babylon 5, these are not happy pretty everyone lives happily ever after worlds. These are dark places with dark rules, where sometimes you don't know if you can trust your best friend. These characters are not meant to live happily ever after until they're dead. (And in the case of Buffy...evidently not then either...) ----------------------------------- ~SoulBond~ "If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do." -- Angel, "Epiphany"
Tabby	Re: The Buffy Bitca Syndrome	#7	[-]
Posts: 9 (08/01/01 10:59:05) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Ok.. I'm flinging myself out in the street to be stoned.... I agree that the buffy Bitca is out there and thriving. BUT.... I have sat and watched every episode from the premiere to the end of S5. I think that Buffy is a very complex character. She has her funny moments, her good ones and her awful ones, too. In my opinion that lately, Buffy has not been the most compassionate person. Whenever any of the other characters had a personal problem, Buffy was too involved in her own pitiful feelings to give a care. But: if and when Buffy had a problem, then all the others characters were supposed to stop the world and be there for her to cry on. So that said: I can see why the buffy bitca thing happens.
AmethystMaiden	Re: The Buffy Bitca Syndrome	#8	[-]
Posts: 110 (08/02/01 11:04:59) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	We're not saying that Buffy isn't a little self absorbed at times, (All right, fine, she's been beyond self absorbed this season with all the melodrama...) but that doesn't mean that permanently villifying and trashing her in a fic makes for good writing. Ignoring all but one aspect of a character, good or bad, just makes for bad plotting, and torture for fic readers. (And not the good kind. ) -Kristin "There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'." -Dave Barry
redwulf50	Re: The Buffy Bitca Syndrome	#9	[-]
Posts: 19 (08/05/01 12:07:05) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	A lot of the last season, both in Buffy and Angel were more character development than we have seen before. kind of like that dull chapter in a book that if you skip it you are lost the rest of the story. Also look at all Buffy went through last season. She may not have reacted well, but put yourself in the characters place, not only did she lose her mother, she lost her boyfriend, found out her sister wasn't real, and then found out it didn't matter.

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