Huh. This was interesting for me cause I had to stop and think.
I surprised myself because for the first question, I chose Buffy and Spike (which was obvious), but then Giles. Giles! But I started thinking about the various characters and their moments of angst and whose angst "gets" to me the most. And after Buffy and Spike, it was Giles. I have no idea why.
I identified most with Buffy, Willow, and Anya, but that's no surprise to me. :)
AtS...I don't care about many of the characters. I just tickied Spike and Harmony for the first one and nobody for the second. I'm largely apathetic about AtS (when I'm not getting rage-y on principle).
I think it's because I've always found the Giles-Buffy relationship to be very poignant and as Buffy came to view him as a father figure, so did I. So seeing his lover killed or him having to kill a man...it just gets to me in a way that few of the other characters do.
I'd like to say that I probably identified with every character to some degree or another, which is part of why I loved about Btvs and Ats but....
I chose Lorne on the Ats part because he's actually the only character that I do identify with. (I picked Joyce as the Btvs character I identify with because I watched the series as it was airing with my daughter so many of my reactions were those of a mother, which sounds odd I know but there you go.)
It was impossible to choose 3 for that question. :)
I picked Joyce as the Btvs character I identify with because I watched the series as it was airing with my daughter so many of my reactions were those of a mother, which sounds odd I know but there you go.
*nods* One of the reasons I most identify with Dawn is because we're both youngest siblings.
Cause I've always been a person who has trouble debating and/or discussing topics with people because I almost always seem able to understand and/or to agree with at least some aspects of both sides of an issue.
I hadn't either until someone-stormwreath, I think-put up a post about self-dentifying with characters. Up until then, I'd have answered a 'who do identify with?' question with Lindsey simply because he's my favorite Jossverse character. But after I read that self-identifying post, I was like...
What if there is only one character you really identify with? Fill the poll out, skip it, try to think of two more than if you squint you could identify with them? Not sure if you were using this for a write-up and I don't want to be the bad apple that skews the results.
As with all my polls, I fully expect some people to be picking at random, or going with "Lorne" purely because he's green, or picking every single option despite my saying three...
Always like to make sure, just in case someone is trying to do some kind of writeup. Can't tell you how many times I've had a report skewed to hell when I used to do survey research. LOL
Oh dear. I didn't realize the first set was strictly BtVS, and that there was an Ats follow up list. If I'd been aware, my initial for the BtVS segment would have been Spike, Xander, and strangely enough...Andrew I guess? And not Angel, Cordelia and Spike. Angel, Spike and Anya, but I would have substituted Giles for Angel on that segment.
Angel, Cordelia Spike and then Angel, Spike, Wesley for the last two questions. While it's true Cordy is in my top three, I don't identify with her much at all, but I admire the hell out of her. Yeah, she got a bad deal several times over with her body being hijacked like three times before it finally killed her, but the character maintained her integrity, and was one hell of a hero. So yeah, I care bout her lots :)
I would have added Darla instead of Kate to the Ats list, albeit her presence on the poll would have made it more difficult for me...In an odd way, I get Darla. I suppose it's odd for me to identify with so many vampires, but *shrug* Angel particularly, cause a lot of people just don't get him, and pigeonhole him. He's misunderstood, and being in fandom, well, I get that lots...
Taking away the whole supernatural element (though I do think my house is on a Hellmouth sometimes), I AM Cordelia. Total Queen Bee in high school, was bitchy to everyone but I was the one you could count on for a ride. Went away from my hometown, got smacked with a rare kind of migraine, turned my whole life around and now I try every day to be as nice to people as I can cause I believe life bit me in the ass for being such a bitch.
So yeah, totally invested in her, her story, her struggle. And when someone attacks her, I'm totally protective of her because it's almost like an attack on me. I can fanwank all sorts of outside motivations for her.
Picked Faith too because growing up, my family wasn't well off, we moved a lot, I lived with grandparents or relatives or friends a lot. I didn't really have a stable homelife and didn't have a lot of stuff other kids had. So I can totally get that outsider, all alone feeling. (Then my dad made bank and we all settled and viola! Cordelia. LOL)
I really try not to say anything that is a flat out attack (discussion is different, naturally) about any chars because out there, there is probably someone who identifies with them and loves them.
Huh. I suppose I knew this subconsciously, but until I actually thought about it for the poll, I didn't realize that I don't identify with anyone on AtS. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not that I am much less invested in AtS as a whole than BtVS, where I can easily name characters I identify with.
BtVS: I care most about Buffy, Spike, and Dawn (with Anya coming in a close fourth). I identify most with Buffy (but only in S5-7), Spike (so much so that it's kind of disturbing), and Giles (until the later couple of seasons).
AtS: I care most about Cordelia, Lilah, and Spike (with Connor and Gunn coming in close behind). I identify with...no one. I have no character to identify with on that show. Which is...strange.
I can't fill in the poll 'cause I'm not on LJ, but... I identify really strongly with Tara, I hate to say 'cause she's gay but that's probably part of it. But also the shyness, the adorable little attempts at jokes that no one gets... "Sorry, just trying a little nasty talk." and the way she's with the gang but never really part of it. I guess the more attractive "outsider" character is Spike, but yeah, don't really see myself there.
That said, Spike's one of the characters I care about most. They really amped up the vulnerability from season 5 on, and I was a major sucker for it.
Never got into Angel though. The character or the series. Just not my style, I guess. Maybe it's just I like the suburbs more than the city.
Tara was my number four, followed by Anya at number five, but then I read the stupid restrictive Nazi rules (GRRR! I WANNA PICK FIVE!), and had to drop 'em. Sometimes being a nice person means you identify with nice people. So . . . yay us for being generically nice?
Okay, this is weird but I identify with Connor on AtS because he had the crappiest parents (sorry, Angel, but Season 4, yikes!). His childhood was just so messed up and not normal. That's also why I identify with Faith. So it's their backgrounds.
But I care for more and identify with Buffy because of how she deals with her emotions. That's totally how I deal. She tends to be emotionally reticent, she shoulders other people's burdens putting them before her own needs. Plus the whole going through depression thing.
And I also identify with the loser in Spike, of his having bad timing and not being the first one picked, not being loved by the one you love sort-of-thing.
You are *not alone* in identifying with Connor and Faith. I pretty much AM them. Except, my background is *nowhere near* as shitty, so my over-identification is even weirder.
Also what you said about Buffy and Spike. I think we're like, the same person.
Neat poll! I went with gut reactions on these, so I'm not totally sure why I picked some of the answers.
I care most about Buffy, Giles, and Tara. I'm still upset over Tara's death, even though it's been almost years since I first saw that episode (possibly this is because the person I'm closest to reminds me of Tara). If Giles died... I think that's the only thing that could still make me *care* about the S8 comics, because that would still hurt. And Buffy? I care about her as a person and The Slayer and the one who holds it all together.
I identify most with Willow, on many levels. This isn't always comfortable, as I see plenty of things in her that I'm not proud of in myself. I also ticked Buffy and Faith. I identify with Buffy because of that over-developed sense of responsibility. I'm not sure why I identify with Faith -- on the face of it, we have nothing in common -- but I do think I understand her.
Spike and Buffy were a given, because I've personally experienced Buffy's S6 depression and my little sister is my world, and Spike affects my sensitivities and personal sympathies like no other male character I've seen. His story gets to me, where his struggle with himself breaks my heart to pieces because he gets shot down every damn time. I'd like to say I identify with him because even after getting shot down in everything he tries, he gets back up and tries again, but I really don't have his perseverance, though I admire it immensely. The funny one was Dawn, who I sympathize and identify with just as I sympathize and identify with my sister. Having the burden of depression is kinda like having the burden of being the slayer (okay, so I'm reaching here), where I get protagonist privilege within my own family because of my illness - and I see Dawn's having to deal with a "special" sister in the same way my sister has had to deal with me. It does hurt knowing I haven't been there for my own sister the way I wish I could, and so I end up projecting those feelings onto Dawn, and being overly protective and solicitous to her as a character.
And once upon a time I promised my baby sister I'd have a boyfriend who'd take care of her just like Spike took care of Dawn. So yeah, it's all a bit muddled.
The big ones for me besides Buffy and Spike (which, duh) are Wesley, Connor and Faith. First time watching, I identified with them so much at certain points it took a colossal effort to get myself *out of their heads* and see things objectively. I still can't re-watch Wesley in seasons 3 and 4 of AtS. That would be the equivalent of like, disemboweling myself and watching my intestines spurt blood everywhere ;D The other characters aren't so bad for me because I know they 'get better', whereas Wesley... there is no light at the end of the tunnel for him. There's no 'getting better'. I also relate a whole lot with Willow, Angel and Anya too. Aaaaand they're all the characters I care about the most. So very narcissistic... ;)
I strongly identify with Joyce because we are around the same age and I have a daughter around Buffy's age. Tara was second, because of her shyness and sweetness. I loved her relationship with Dawn.
I really surprised myself with my answers because they were all so different. There are characters like Spike and Buffy (s4 onwards) who I identify with and also really care about. With Cordy I care for but don't identify with her until she moves to AtS and gets a big dose of reality. I both care for and identify *very* strongly with Kate, but whilst I greatly care for Doyle I find it hard to identify with him in a real world context.
Somehow I completely forgot about Spike on this poll. Woops? :P
This was interesting - for me I think they're sort of separate things, but not totally exclusive. With Ats I don't really feel like any of the characters, except maybe Fred a little, and I don't care about the characters nearly as much as with BtVS, although there are some pretty awesome ones.
Getting to this way late, but I found the Tara results particularly interesting. Almost double the amount of people ticked as 'identifying with' then 'caring about'. Huh.
Also, roughly half the people who 'cared about' Buffy and Spike did not 'identify with' them. Eeeeenteresting.
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I surprised myself because for the first question, I chose Buffy and Spike (which was obvious), but then Giles. Giles! But I started thinking about the various characters and their moments of angst and whose angst "gets" to me the most. And after Buffy and Spike, it was Giles. I have no idea why.
I identified most with Buffy, Willow, and Anya, but that's no surprise to me. :)
AtS...I don't care about many of the characters. I just tickied Spike and Harmony for the first one and nobody for the second. I'm largely apathetic about AtS (when I'm not getting rage-y on principle).
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I think it's because I've always found the Giles-Buffy relationship to be very poignant and as Buffy came to view him as a father figure, so did I. So seeing his lover killed or him having to kill a man...it just gets to me in a way that few of the other characters do.
I totally just fanwanked myself.
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I chose Lorne on the Ats part because he's actually the only character that I do identify with. (I picked Joyce as the Btvs character I identify with because I watched the series as it was airing with my daughter so many of my reactions were those of a mother, which sounds odd I know but there you go.)
It was impossible to choose 3 for that question. :)
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I picked Joyce as the Btvs character I identify with because I watched the series as it was airing with my daughter so many of my reactions were those of a mother, which sounds odd I know but there you go.
*nods* One of the reasons I most identify with Dawn is because we're both youngest siblings.
Why do you identify with Lorne?
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♥Lorne♥
LOL.
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Pick whatever you want. :)
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Angel, Cordelia Spike and then Angel, Spike, Wesley for the last two questions. While it's true Cordy is in my top three, I don't identify with her much at all, but I admire the hell out of her. Yeah, she got a bad deal several times over with her body being hijacked like three times before it finally killed her, but the character maintained her integrity, and was one hell of a hero. So yeah, I care bout her lots :)
I would have added Darla instead of Kate to the Ats list, albeit her presence on the poll would have made it more difficult for me...In an odd way, I get Darla. I suppose it's odd for me to identify with so many vampires, but *shrug* Angel particularly, cause a lot of people just don't get him, and pigeonhole him. He's misunderstood, and being in fandom, well, I get that lots...
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So yeah, totally invested in her, her story, her struggle. And when someone attacks her, I'm totally protective of her because it's almost like an attack on me. I can fanwank all sorts of outside motivations for her.
Picked Faith too because growing up, my family wasn't well off, we moved a lot, I lived with grandparents or relatives or friends a lot. I didn't really have a stable homelife and didn't have a lot of stuff other kids had. So I can totally get that outsider, all alone feeling. (Then my dad made bank and we all settled and viola! Cordelia. LOL)
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I feel the same way about Riley.
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I really try not to say anything that is a flat out attack (discussion is different, naturally) about any chars because out there, there is probably someone who identifies with them and loves them.
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Seriously, I just stared at that question for a long time.
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AtS: I care most about Cordelia, Lilah, and Spike (with Connor and Gunn coming in close behind). I identify with...no one. I have no character to identify with on that show. Which is...strange.
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I identify really strongly with Tara, I hate to say 'cause she's gay but that's probably part of it. But also the shyness, the adorable little attempts at jokes that no one gets... "Sorry, just trying a little nasty talk." and the way she's with the gang but never really part of it. I guess the more attractive "outsider" character is Spike, but yeah, don't really see myself there.
That said, Spike's one of the characters I care about most. They really amped up the vulnerability from season 5 on, and I was a major sucker for it.
Never got into Angel though. The character or the series. Just not my style, I guess. Maybe it's just I like the suburbs more than the city.
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Never got into Angel though. The character or the series. Just not my style, I guess. Maybe it's just I like the suburbs more than the city.
*nods* I don't like it nearly as much as BtVS. But it's still fun...
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But I care for more and identify with Buffy because of how she deals with her emotions. That's totally how I deal. She tends to be emotionally reticent, she shoulders other people's burdens putting them before her own needs. Plus the whole going through depression thing.
And I also identify with the loser in Spike, of his having bad timing and not being the first one picked, not being loved by the one you love sort-of-thing.
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Also what you said about Buffy and Spike. I think we're like, the same person.
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I care most about Buffy, Giles, and Tara. I'm still upset over Tara's death, even though it's been almost years since I first saw that episode (possibly this is because the person I'm closest to reminds me of Tara). If Giles died... I think that's the only thing that could still make me *care* about the S8 comics, because that would still hurt. And Buffy? I care about her as a person and The Slayer and the one who holds it all together.
I identify most with Willow, on many levels. This isn't always comfortable, as I see plenty of things in her that I'm not proud of in myself. I also ticked Buffy and Faith. I identify with Buffy because of that over-developed sense of responsibility. I'm not sure why I identify with Faith -- on the face of it, we have nothing in common -- but I do think I understand her.
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And once upon a time I promised my baby sister I'd have a boyfriend who'd take care of her just like Spike took care of Dawn. So yeah, it's all a bit muddled.
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I also relate a whole lot with Willow, Angel and Anya too. Aaaaand they're all the characters I care about the most. So very narcissistic... ;)
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This was interesting - for me I think they're sort of separate things, but not totally exclusive. With Ats I don't really feel like any of the characters, except maybe Fred a little, and I don't care about the characters nearly as much as with BtVS, although there are some pretty awesome ones.
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Also, roughly half the people who 'cared about' Buffy and Spike did not 'identify with' them. Eeeeenteresting.
Nifty poll!