Fan Fic

Willow Goes Blonde

Buffy just seemed to look good in everything; the baby blue tank, the liquorice red leather mini-skirt, the suede 3 inch pumps.

“She just suits every darn thing.” Willow though to herself as Buffy shimmied her way in and out of every trend so effortlessly. The fact that Buffy looked an image of perfection just 12 hours after pulverising a group of soul seeking demons posing as frat boys, made it all the more remarkable. Buffy seemed to have the essence of life situated in between her warm honey blonde streaks. From her boundless energy to the handful of exotic letharios lining up outside her window, Buffy was certainly slaying it in every sense of the word.

“This is totally cute, like Britney Spears if she was an IRS officer.” Buffy smirked.

“Willow don’t you think it’s perfect.” Buffy asked while running her hands up and down a blue-steeled skirt-suit she was now wearing.

“Willow” Buffy snapped.

“Whaddya think?” she pressed

“Yea, it looks good Buff.” Willow responded still half entrenched in her previous train of thought.

“Xander I think this is the one.” Buffy exclaimed, with one eye checking her reflection in the dresser mirror and the other one on Xander who was sitting a little uneasy on a puffy pink sitte.

“Yes it reeks of gothic corporate espionage... can we get out here now?’’ Xander pleaded.

However something sparked inside of Willow, why couldn’t she get a cute outfit and whoop can like Buffy?

“I can be a hero...” she thought, albeit tentatively to herself. She then sprung out of her slumped position and marched over to where Xander was sitting.

“Tell Gilles that his credit card will have two suits booked on it, Buff I’m coming out on stake out tonight”.

Buffy quickly mulled the idea over in her head, a slight twitch of her nose the only part of her body suggesting any concern

“Okay then Willow” she shot back with clarity.

“You’re a size 8 right?”

Willow and Buffy found that Blanco Incorporated wasn’t as hard to infiltrate as they had first imagined. Both were paired in an immaculate grey-blue skirt-jacket combo, and had found their way into the head office of the organisation. Now all they had to do was obtain the file on operation ‘Valley Dolls’.

“Valley dolls, valley dolls... it’s gotta be here somewhere” Willow sighed as she flicked through a silver cabinet filled with beige office files. Buffy looked at her friend who despite initial fears she may get in the way, had actually helped to make this night out a smooth ride.

“It was a great idea you coming out tonight Will, it must of have been that new dye job”. Buffy ribbed alluding to Willows new blonde locks which replaced her normally burning auburn red colouring.

“I told you buff, it’s just a wig... I thought it would complement the whole corporate espionage theme.” she reassured Buffy while at the same time flicking her hair out with the same conviction of a shampoo model in a TV advertisement.

As they both rummaged through the cabinets, they heard a quiet buzzing from the corners of the room. They both looked at each other, before hunching low underneath a nearby desk. The noise steadily got louder and louder before they heard the office door suddenly slam open. The dark room suddenly filled with light, as a man with a nicotine strained voice spoke over a static riddled walky talky.

“Two blondies...? Well I’m sure they’ll pop out before the sun comes up...you boys get some rest, leave them to me!” he signed off his voice rippling with a menacing snigger. Willow suddenly felt her nose starting to twitch, it seem the blonde wig she was wearing was starting to make her allergies play up. Her whole body seized with silence as she tried to hold her sneeze in, Buffy also chimed in trying to calm Willow down. But as quickly as this ordeal started, it ended. Willow let out a shrieking sneeze that burst the still room into chaotic action.

The table they were under was flipped over by a pale purple arm which had yellow flesh wounds sewn around it. The creature suddenly came into view; it was a zombie that exuded death from every pore. It stood just over six feet tall and was wearing the remnants of what looked a black trouser suit. A blue chequered tie dangled from this neck, shredded to a pulp as he grabbed Willow by the leg.

“Mmmmm... two new vessels for the project, I think I’ll call you blondie number 23 and blondie number twenty four.” He snickered spitting green foam on to Willow’s blonde wig which had started to fall from her scalp. However as quickly as he came into Willow’s sight, he disappeared as Buffy got him in a chokehold and hurled him into the steel cabinet.

“Willow, I’ve got him down... you know what to do.” Buffy calmly instructed as she held her knee over the zombies head as it screeched inane babblings. Willow quickly regained her footing and threw the blonde wig to one side. She took six heaving strides towards the creature, stood over top of it and raised her heels. The black leather platforms had a six inch spiky steel heel that Willow dangled over the zombie’s forehead.

“Is this angle right, Buffy?” she purred

“Yep, perfect, now let’s get this done now okay”. Buffy commanded as Willow obeyed, thrusting the spiked heel directly into the Zombie’s skin and through the back of his head. A single stream of blood dripped from the edge of her heel as she quickly pulled it out. The zombie screamed in agonising pain as his body thrust from side to side, jerking in a sadistic rhythm before finally coming to a sharp crescendo and falling flat to the floor.

“Right in the brain Buff, Right in the brain.” Willow declared as Buffy quickly got up and looked down at her victim.

“I think my brain felt like that when I had the blonde wig on” Willow then chuckled.

“Shut up!! I thought you looked super-heroine chic” Buffy rebutted.

“Just like you” she hissed sweetly as the two quickly picked up their file and scuttled off into the early dawn light.

Commentary

For my fan-fiction I wanted to play on the character role of the hero or in this case the heroine in accordance to the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. However I decided to come from the viewpoint of the character of Willow who would normally be derided as a side-kick type of character. In terms of the character of Willow, she is normally cast to the side as a point for comic relief. Jung refers to these kinds of characters as tricksters and Willow does fit many of the characteristics. However in this narrative I’ve tried to give her the hero’s sheen and I’ve used Buffy as the example of a hero she is aiming for. The blonde wig also symbolises the archetypal hero that Voegler (1998) talks about which emphasises the ‘unique’ over the stereo typical, that sense of the hero being extraordinary. Willow is quite ordinary in comparison to Buffy and doesn’t quite act out the way Voegler (1998) prescribes the archetypal hero should. But when she throws the blonde wig to the side, Willow in a sense is declaring she is a new kind of hero, who might be a little more introverted than the archetypal hero.

In terms of narrative structure the story comes with a beginning, middle and an end. This story is about Willow finding more affirmation in her life, and this story acts like a start to that journey. In terms of adapting some of the narrative guidelines presented by Voegler (1998), the story most closely explores the first act where Willow is re-imagined as a ‘’Buffy-esque” heroine type of character. The whole first half of the story sets Willow up in this new environment where she is trying to fit into her new role. However I think one of the main differences is that Willow thrust herself into this new world and this in contrast to Vogler’s (1998) first act where there is first a general “refusal to call”. Willow is also lined-up with her mentor who in this situation is Buffy, who has all the experience in playing the archetypal hero. Although Willow is the one tagging along with Buffy, it seems like this is her test and Buffy is her mentor ensuring she passes it.  Earlier on in the story Buffy doesn’t shoot her down when she asks to join her and when she asks if she is a “size 8” it is sort of like crossing the threshold for the first time. Willow now has an entry point into her new world.

The turning point and where this narrative could perhaps be seen as heading towards the second act is when the second challenge comes, the zombie. The narrative is speed up until the point where the second challenge arrives. When it is time for Willow to kill the zombie, she does not hesitate. I wouldn’t say the narrative quite sets up the third act that Voegler describes but it does explore the extreme scenario that defines the hero’s journey. This story is seen as a beginning to Willow’s re-imagining as a bold hero that is the equal to Buffy.