Slayerhood
First, a quick thank you to Kathleen and Emmy for the virtual VDay gifts. Sorry for the delay, but had a bit of the VD blues...
Anyway, poll beneath the cut. No one can view the answers but me. I suspect this will cause some interesting discussion...but I don't believe I'm going to participate. Was only curious.
Poll Slayerhood
1) I had to go with the (so far) majority and wimp out with the "depends on the Slayer" answer.
2) Yeah, I had to do that again.
3) I had to choose 'not sure' for the retirement question. In theory, I'd agree that she should have that right... but on the other hand, as we've seen through Buffy and Angel, some bad guys are too bad to allow to bring their plots to fruition. In those extreme cases, I'd say that the Slayer should have a 'draft clause' when things are world-threatening dire. On the other hand, with the multitude of Slayers I would say that Buffy does have more right to retirement than Nikki had, even if an Apocalypse is nigh. Ugh, I'm confused.
4) I'd agree with the other comments that Nikki wasn't portrayed in such a good light as a mother. I understand her need to slay, but to throw herself in danger over every random vampire? Well... she could have tried harder to deny her calling. On the other hand, I did get the impression that this wasn't so much Nikki choosing to BE a Slayer, so much as a Slayer is WHAT SHE WAS first and foremost. This question actually harks back to Kendra's observation about Buffy at the end of "What's My Line" ... the difference between what a Slayer does and what a Slayer is... still, the comic wasn't very positive on Nikki, in my opinion.
5) But, was Nikki a good mother regardless of the portrayal? I don't think we can know enough, so I had to go with 'not sure'. We only have Robin's memories and feelings to go on and a few brief flashes of her activities.
6) I believe Buffy would be an excellent mother. She's already proven that she can prioritize personal relationships over the 'crush, kill, destroy' desires of Slayerhood. And, she has cultivated and maintained a strong network of family to help her. I think she'd also find it easier to back away from the Slaying than Nikki did, just from what we've seen of their differences in personality and viewpoints.
7) I chose that Buffy should have the baby and raise it, because I see her choice as being about her not feeling like she could do a good job of it, and I don't believe she's correct for the above stated reasons. But, ultimately, this is Buffy's choice and I support her ultimate decision in this, whichever way the comic takes it.
8) I'd be that 1-vote hanging out there in the wind ... I believe that Buffy's first obligation is the Slaying -- but I have a major caveat about it. As mentioned above, I don't think Buffy's obligations would extend to the nightly patrols. Motherhood would come before the usual stalking dark alleys. But, I do believe that she is obligated to 'drafting' for the world's sake when another apocalypse is on her doorstep. I don't think she'd be obligated, under my view, to jet-set around the world putting out minor monster mayhem, but I think she'd be obligated if Faith phoned up and said, "Look, I need you on this one, for reals" because she IS a Slayer.
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