Questions Post #1

[lettered]

Usually I don't ask questions in public settings. I'm shy and also very arrogant; I like to think I know stuff or can find out on my own. But these things have been bothering me, and while I think a few things might be answered by digging through people's old entries or some FAQs, I'd love some answers (and opinions. Some are about opinions. Not the one about Buffy's natural tufted treasure, though. That has to be fact).



General

What does RPS stand for?
I'm aware OTP means pairing of choice, but what do the letters stand for?
Where did the term 'squee' originate and how come so many people use it?

LJ

What's a meme? Does it mean memory?
How do you tag someone? What does it mean?
What does the term "gak" mean?

Fanon

-How do people feel about using fanon? For instance, some fic writers use the name "O'Connor" for Liam (mostly in all-human AUs, which I don't really read, but whatever). Do you frown upon writers who use this name? Does it throw you off when writers don't use this name? Do you yourself consciously just avoid ever getting anywhere near the characters' surnames just to avoid the issue?
-From where did O'Connor-as-Liam's-surname originate, anyway?
-Does Spike have a commonly used last name? What about Faith? What about Darla, whose first name we know isn't hers, and Drusilla, whose first name is almost certianly not hers?
-This is a much debated topic, but is there even a marginal consensus regarding the age of Spike?
-Buffy smells like vanilla in a lot of fics. What's up with that?
-Does canon make Buffy out to be a natural blonde? I.e., is her altar of love, her carnal trap, her eye that weeps most when best pleased, her bearded clam, her garden of eden, her nest of curls blonde in most fics? What? Just asking.
-Is there a generally accepted explanation for how vampires get it up?
-Is the idea that vampires "pretend" to breath in order to look natural a fanon thing, or was it on the show?
-Does nobody use the fact that Angelus wears eye-liner in fics?
-Is Andrew ever a heterosexual in fics?

General again

-Whatever happened to Miss Kitty Fantastico? Did Dawn really shoot her with a crossbow?
-Do vampires sweat?
-What're some (slang) words for the dominant partner in a D/s relationship? I.e., some for the sub are: bitch, punk, sister (in prison), et al. I've just been drawing blank on their counterparts for about a week, now.
-Does anyone besides me hate Joyce Summers' guts in a visceral, it's-even-alright-to-character-bash sort of way?
-Have you ever not been able to find relatively common words for weeks at a time? (I once spent a month looking for the word 'conceited')
-Am I the only (character) Angel squeeing fangirl who didn't find David Boreanaz convincing as Angel at times? (don't get me wrong; most of the time he was great.)
-Can David Boreanaz sing better than Angel?
-What is the IQ of David Boreanaz? Is it really as low as it seems sometimes?

Comments

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Maybe all her good qualities except "sticking around" are from Hank? *is hopeful*

Joyce is clueless, and there are things to not like about her... but for the most part, she did make Buffy feel like she was loved and she made Buffy feel like she could take care of or provide for the non-supernatural aspects of her life decently well. And she could be pretty tough. (Witness Joyce backing Buffy up with Snyder in S3, or standing up to Faith in S4...)
Which is a huge improvement over most of the other Jossverse parents. (Truly, faint praise...)

And Buffy's own fixation with making a perfect Thanksgiving in S4 indicates that she's probably grown up with a mother who could make and run a proper family meal.

[tkp.livejournal.com]

It's true, I almost got in touch with my Joyce-tolerance not only at the moments you mention, but also when she went at Spike with an axe.

However, I always felt it non-sequitur, almost out of character, that Buffy felt loved by her mom. I was glad she did because I wanted her to feel loved by her mother, but I personally saw very little love for Buffy in Joyce. Part of it was the actress, though. There were some moments that I think were supposed to by mother/daughterly, and came off to me stilted. KS and SMG had NO chemistry, imo.

Also, I always felt Buffy's fixation on the dinner in S4 showed signs of a manic mother who stressed out and made everyone's life hell for "events." I come from a long line of women who like to cook and throw fancy parties, and while I think my mom (and my granny) are very good mothers, their preoccupation with having everything perfect for "family get-togethers" has been dreadful for the families involved.

Lastly, I'm probably really biased against Joyce because of how I feel about my own parents. I kind of...idolize my parents, and liked to think they'd never treat me the way Joyce treats Buffy. I'm aware I probably make my parents about to be larger-than-life, so I might be holding Joyce to a standard of perfection that doesn't exist. Still, I watched BtVS with my parents and they hated Joyce as much (or more) than me. (My dad wouldn't stop cheering during "The Body," which was really tasteless and annoying, since that's such a heart-wrenching episode, even if you detest Joyce).

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

There were some moments that I think were supposed to by mother/daughterly, and came off to me stilted. KS and SMG had NO chemistry, imo.

There were very few moments where I didn't buy whatever SMG was trying to portray. Joyce sometimes came across off... I never didn't buy Buffy in those scenes.

I always felt Buffy's fixation on the dinner in S4 showed signs of a manic mother who stressed out and made everyone's life hell for "events."

Perhaps - it seemed self-contained to me. Part of my sense of Buffy's manic-ness is that she was trying to live up to a standard she thought others had set, without really internally knowing what her own goals were. (See Buffy try to be an 18th century noblewoman to impress Angel in Halloween...) In my own family, my mother always goes nuts over making things perfect, while my siblings and I are very laid back.

[tkp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that it was SMG's fault at all. The way SMG played Buffy made Buffy out to be a person who really loved her mom, and even respected her, even though she didn't always agree with her. That's the way the writers wrote Buffy and SMG played it to a tee. But since I thought the writing and the acting for choice were so flawed at time, I found Buffy's affection unbelievable, sometimes. If I were her I'd still love my mother, but I'd feel much more conflicted about it.