The Two Kinds of Andrew

[deird_lj]

So – Andrew being gay.

I get a little sick of the constant assumption throughout fandom that he is (Mainly because I’ve never seen him as gay, and everyone has to agree with me. About everything.), but I can deal with that.

The problem is, I don’t actually like gay!Andrew. The guy sucks.

Normally I wouldn’t say making a character gay/straight/whatever would have too much impact on their personality. Ship away! I’ll still like the character! But with Andrew it’s not quite that simple.


See, Andrew is obsessed with Xander and Spike. Obsessed. (For proof, please watch Storyteller, Damage, or just about any other time Andrew is on-screen. Ever.) He is utterly nuts about them.

Which, if he’s gay, would probably mean that this is how Andrew deals with guys he has a crush on.
[ETA: I really don't mean to imply that he couldn't be gay and obsessed with them for non-crushy reasons. I'm just talking about the way I tend to see him portrayed in fanfic.]

Gay Andrew is obsessed with guys, and moons over them all day, every day.

Here’s an excerpt from a fic (not mine), demonstrating what I mean:

“I thought you guys like Andrew,” Angel said, confused.

Xander shrugged. “He’s alright. I just get a little tired of him-”

“Pining after you relentlessly? Mooning after your fine ass night and day? Doodling ‘Mr. Andrew Harris’ on the back of all his notebooks?” Faith suggested.

“Two words, Faith: singing telegram. He sent me a singing telegram on Valentine’s Day.”

I do not like gay!Andrew. He’s a pain.


However…

If he’s straight (or asexual), and yet still obsessed with Spike and Xander, then the obsession has nothing to do with him having crushes on them.

Why is he obsessed with them? Because he’s obsessed with heroes. Andrew is nuts about stories, storybook heroism, larger-than-life people… they’re just wonderful.

Straight Andrew is obsessed with stories, and finds heroics much more exciting than girls.

Here’s an excerpt from one of my recent fics, demonstrating what I mean:

Dawn closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and plunged right in. “So… when it comes out, do you want to go see it?”

“Well, yeah! Of course! It’s Green Lantern!”

“I sort of meant… um… with me.”

Andrew paused, and looked at her, a slightly confused expression creeping onto his face.

Any moment now, he was going to say “of course” again and she was going to have to spend the next half hour trying to explain that, actually, she’d meant something romantic rather than just seeing it as friends. And Andrew was going to be completely baffled, because really, why on earth would you want to be romantic when you could be watching Green Lantern instead, and the conversation was going to get lengthy, and confusing, and why had she decided to do this, again?

Straight!Andrew is dorkish, and cute, and kind of adorable.

It’s not that he doesn’t like girls, he just doesn’t think they’re nearly as interesting as all the other stuff he’s into…


So, yeah – I think that’s why I get so annoyed by people writing Andrew as gay. If you work on the assumption that he’s gay, he actually becomes a character I’m much less interested in reading about. And that’s kinda sad.


Questions? Comments?

Comments

[rahirah]

Why couldn't Andrew be gay (or bi, or asexual) and still be obsessed with heroes? He seems to crush on Anya and Buffy, too.

[me-llamo-nic.livejournal.com]

I can see either, though I think I prefer straight Andrew. I don't think he's very sexualized at all, but is simply childish/child-like in his view of the world. Sex is one of many complicated things that Andrew just doesn't care to have in his life. It seems to me like Joss probably meant him to be gay, but I like him better straight asexaul.

[deird1]

Well, he could, but I've never seen him written that way. People tend to assume Andrew is gay and has a huge crush on Xander - which is why he acts the way he does.



(ETA: I've added an in-post ETA to that effect. I really hope this post didn't come across as at all offensive - it really really wasn't meant to be...)

[deird1]

I don't think he's very sexualized at all, but is simply childish/child-like in his view of the world.

*nods* Absolutely.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

If he’s straight, and yet still obsessed with Spike and Xander, then the obsession has nothing to do with him having crushes on them.

Why is he obsessed with them? Because he’s obsessed with heroes. Andrew is nuts about stories, storybook heroism, larger-than-life people… they’re just wonderful.

Straight Andrew is obsessed with stories, and finds heroics much more exciting than girls.

I can agree with all this. You've convinced me!

I've always seen him as asexual, actually. He fixates on specific people (Warren, Spike, Xander, Anya), not for any sexual reason, but because he's drawn to the narratives they let him create.

[deird1]

I think I'd probably see him as asexual, if not for the fact that I ship him with Dawn...

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Understandable. :)

I can ship him with Dawn during S7/shortly thereafter, but I think Dawn would become a whole lot more mature than he ever would. Eventually, she'd need a grown up. But it would be cute/sweet for a first romance!

So I write them as BFFs instead!

[deird1]

Have you seen my meta on them as a couple?

I think they would work fairly well together, all things considered. (But they also work wonderfully as BFFs.)

[angearia.livejournal.com]

I view Andrew as a boy with an unrealized and unexplored sexual naivete who is obsessed with stories and heroes. I just don't know what his orientation is and I think he doesn't know either. I think he just knows that guys are supposed to find 'girls hot' and he is enamored of heroic showman like Spike and more down-to-earth heroes like Xander.

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

Yep. Word.

[deird1]

*nods*

Quite possibly.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

He's very much a Peter Pan without his Wendy.

[deird1]

Oooh...

Fabulous way of putting it.

[spiralleds.livejournal.com]

For me he pinged as attracted to men way before he began his stay as a guestage in Buffy's home and hero worshiping the Scooby gang. Particularly around his relationship with Warren and First!Warren. To me the vibe was Warren recognizing Andrew's attraction to men and using that knowledge to manipulate Andrew into doing what he wanted him to do.

I also think Andrew's overriding characteristic is his desire to escape reality and the responsibility it brings by framing everything in larger-than-life stories.

[deird1]

To me the vibe was Warren recognizing Andrew's attraction to men and using that knowledge to manipulate Andrew into doing what he wanted him to do.

Interesting.

I can see what people are talking about when they see him as gay, but I've really never seen him that way. Angel, on the other hand...



I also think Andrew's overriding characteristic is his desire to escape reality and the responsibility it brings by framing everything in larger-than-life stories.

Absolutely. I really loved how that was addressed in Storyteller.

[next_to_normal]

I have no opinion on Andrew's sexuality (I think he could go either way, or both ways, or maybe he loves penguins), but this:

Why is he obsessed with them? Because he’s obsessed with heroes. Andrew is nuts about stories, storybook heroism, larger-than-life people… they’re just wonderful.

is spot on.

[next_to_normal]

Awww. And now I want to read a fic with that theme. And maybe Dawn could be his Wendy?

[deird1]

Oooh. *likes being spot on*


What would the Andrew!penguin be like?

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Dawn could totally be his Wendy. :)

[next_to_normal]

He'd chase after the Spike!penguin and try to nuzzle him, and Spike!penguin would say, "Kaaark!?" in a really annoyed voice, but Andrew!penguin wouldn't get the message, so Spike!penguin would have to kick him into a snowdrift.

And then Dawn!penguin comes along and pulls him out and offers to share her fish with him, and Andrew!penguin is so touched that he doesn't even complain that she put peanut butter on it, even though penguins don't eat peanut butter.

[deird1]

Hee!


That's just wonderful.

[rahirah]

Andrew has serial man-crushes - on Warren, on Xander and Spike, and later (I would argue on the basis of "Damage") on Giles. It's even possible that his Rico Suave schtick in TGIQ is the result of an infatuation with the Immortal. He seems to attach himself to and attempt to emulate the nearest strong, charismatic figure.

Now, whether there's a sexual component to any of this... maybe, maybe not. I don't think there's strong evidence either way. Andrew strikes me as someone whose sexuality would probably be bi if it ever matured, but at the moment it's either completely repressed or has never developed at all.

[next_to_normal]

Thanks! :) This was my first foray into penguin!fic. Apparently, I was waiting to be inspired by the right ship. :)

[mabus101.livejournal.com]

Huh.

I started writing Andrew in a gay relationship simply because everyone I knew in fandom seemed to think he was gay. (Also, there were those Klingon love letters...)

[deird1]

So, who do you think the Klingon love letters were addressed to? :)