Monday 3 April 2017

B is for Buffy

This month I'm participating in A to Z Challenge, where 100's of bloggers around the world challenge themselves to write every day for the month of April, working their way through the alphabet.  I'm stitching the Buffy The Vampire Slayer alphabet cross stitch pattern (available from my Etsy store).  Each day I will share that letter's stitching, as well as a bit about the relevant character.

B is for Buffy


Buffy Summers is the Vampire Slayer, and title character of the show.


Into every generation a slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer.


Buffy was born in 1981, and became the Slayer in 1996 when she was attending high school in Los Angeles.  There is a terrible, terrible movie by the same name which tells the story of Buffy's calling and the events which caused her to leave Los Angeles (she burned down a school building).  But as a result of this awful movie (seriously, it's bad) we got a kick-ass TV series.  Anyway...


Buffy and her mother moved to Sunnydale, where Buffy became the protector of the Hellmouth - a portal into hell which demons spent seven years (on and off) trying to open, and which was conveniently located in the basement of the local high school.  


Buffy was unique amongst Slayers - she fought to maintain a "normal" life (in history, slayers had become 'the job') and relied on her friends to help her save the world.  Buffy also died... twice.  But more on that when we get to the letter 'F'.


I loved the character Buffy.  She was a kick-ass female superhero, the first strong female lead I had encountered.  The show first aired when I was 11 so to have characters on TV like Buffy and the Charmed sisters was very powerful.  It showed young girls that women can do anything, including saving the world.  Buffy wasn't perfect - she could be selfish, she could be bitchy, she could be sad, she could be scared, she could be angry, she could be stubborn to the point of nearly endangering the whole world.  But she was also self-less and generous and kind and understanding, and sacrificed so much.  She saved the world... a lot.


Happy stitching!

27 comments:

  1. Great post Roslyn. I have seen this show a few times.

    Linda

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  2. I'm sure you didn't start watching it at 11 - but what would I know I am just the mum. Lovely stitching and I'm glad that you had wonderful strong characters to challenge and inspire you although in your teen years I could have done with a little less character (and attitude)

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    1. Hahaha! No, I don't think I started watching it till I was 13 or so, so not for a couple of seasons. They must have re-aired it at some stage, or I found it on video in order to watch the original seasons. I do remember Jade being right into it before I found it.

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  3. I'm participating in the A to Z Challenge too. I loved Buffy, and I'm avidly following all of the 20th anniversary reporting. I look forward to your posts!

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    1. Thanks Shawna. I'm finding what I can online about the 20th anniversary. There hasn't been much specific stuff in Australia, or not that I've seen anyway.

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    2. I heard about it from a lady I met on the tram into Melbourne last weekend, so there must be something happening locally, or at least we can watch bits online.

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    3. Oooo thanks Sue - will keep an eye/ear out for it.

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  4. What a fun A to Z theme. As for Buffy, It is still my favourite show of all time. She was such a "strong female character" before I started slightly cringing at use of the term. There is a reunion show coming very soon if you Google for it :). And as for the '92 movie, I know it wasn't what Joss Whedon wanted, but I think it's still campy fun. Glad to have found you. - Louise

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    1. Thanks Louise. It has really stood the test of time. To be fair, I haven't watched the original movie since I was a teenager so maybe it will have "improved" with time! I will definitely have to keep an eye out for the reunion show - thanks for letting me know. :)

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  5. Nice to meet you, Rosyln! It's sad to say that I vaguely remember the movie but never got into the show. Maybe one of these days I should catch up and binge-watch the series.

    Sandra Ulbrich Almazan, Science Fiction/Fantasy Author

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    1. You too Sandra :) Absolutely you should binge watch it. I've been re-watching it while stitching and I still love it. It's also really good from a technical point of view - I introduced my drama/film-and-TV teacher-friend to it when we shared a house about 9 years ago - she still uses it in her film-and-TV classes today because of all the interesting techniques they used (episodes without music, episodes without speech, long tracking shots etc)

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  6. Love your cross stitch theme. First Ladyship's wanting to try cross stitching.

    Romance Spinners

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    1. Thanks :) It is a really calming, relaxing hobby

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  7. Great post about Buffy. I liked her qualities as a strong woman and fears like a normal girl. Cheers to you Rosyln

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  8. so true! She saved the world a lot! And she was one kick-a** heroine we all looked upto. I wish Buffy had continued.... :) I wouldn't mind an older Buffy (the VERY SAME ACTRESS only please) series today even.

    "*Ishieta @ Isheeria's*

    AtoZofHealing - B is Bach Flower Therapy"

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    1. Oh absolutely - no one else could ever be 'Buffy' but SMG.

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  9. I remember Buffy scared me.
    I was too young to appreciate it. Of course, Netflix has since helped. I'm in the middle of season 4 now, and now I can understand what I'd been missing out on.

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  10. Buffy has done a lot for female representation on TV :) I'm so glad you're doing this theme!

    The Multicolored Diary: WTF - Weird Things in Folktales

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  11. I watched this show all the time, I really miss it! I loved how they gave her an award at her prom, where they recognized the fact that she had been continually saving their sorry butts since she got to Sunnydale, and finally thanked her for it. I think the truly ironic thing is who presented her with the award---one of the Three Idiots (what did they actually call themselves again, I forget), Jonathan I believe, who then went on to create the Buffy Bot (he should have been decapitated just for that :P), and did nothing to stop Warren from trying to kill Buffy (instead killing Tara and sending Willow on a downward spiral). You'd think he'd have learned his lesson, but he never seemed to.

    I'm having fun with my own theme:

    LINK

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    1. I liked that moment at Prom too. I think the group was called the Trio. Jonathon was one of them (which, given the rest of his character development over the series, was a bit poor), however it was Warren who created the Buffy-Bot (and who got what he deserved when Willow flayed him). :)

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    2. Weren't they referred to as the Nerds?

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    3. Hmmm maybe you're right :) I've been re-watching while I stitched this alphabet but I'm only up to season 5.

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