Last Voyages Application
Character Name: Willow Rosenberg - vampire version from “Wish” and “doppelgangland”.
Series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Age: 18 (It isn’t explicitly stated, but it fits the basic time period; and considering her sexual attitude, I’d prefer to app her as 18.)
From When?: The end of “Wish,”/the start of “dopplegangland” - when she was being staked. (This would be instead of being drawn into the normal universe.)
Inmate/Warden: An inmate - At this point, Willow is a soulless and demonic entity - among the more depraved of vampires, she greatly enjoys torture and death.
However, time with a warden could help to bring her to a point where she would be willing to accept re-ensoulment, and deal with the emotional impact of what she had become.
Abilities/Powers: Increased strength, agility, speed, and endurance - equaling a grown man who’s fit. (She can bench press about 250 pounds, run a 7 minute mile, and dodge or take the majority of punches without bruising - though she lacks the supernatural abilities she once had.)
Increased senses - perfect vision, hearing, taste, and smell - but again, nothing supernatural.
Intelligence - Willow had the best academic record in sunny dale high, and was an accomplished computer hacker during her life time, though she has shown little interest as a vampire.
Speedy healing: Willow can heal about twice as fast as a normal human. She is capable of healing any wound - though limbs must be surgically reattached in order to take.
Immortality - unless beheaded, staked through the heart with wood, or burned/exposed to sunlight, Willow will not die (although she can be hurt like a normal human.)
She does not require breath, although she does require blood flowing to the brain to remain conscious. (This is accomplished without a heartbeat, but the veins can be blocked, as Spike once did to Drusilla.)
Immunity to mind reading: It takes an extremely powerful telepath to read a vampire’s thoughts. Descriptions indicate it’s less an inbuilt immunity, and more the fact that a vampire’s brain, like the rest of it, is technically dead - as Angel describes it, the thoughts are still there but (like with mirrors) there is nothing to be reflected.
Turning: By feeding on a human to the point of death, and then giving them blood, Willow can turn a vampire - although this is currently difficult for her to do, considering she lacks the strength to force the issue in most cases.
Vampiric face: Willow can shift to a vampiric face, either to show aggression or to feed from a human by growing her fangs. In this case, her forehead crease, creating bumpy ridges, and her eyes turn yellow.
Fighting ability: Willow maintains a superior fighting ability, gained from working alongside the Master, although her former strength will occasionally lead her to overestimate her abilities.
Personality: The demons responsible for a vampire’s possession/creation appear to have no real intelligence or personality of their own, at least to start out with - they are dependent upon what the human hosts leave behind in death. As a result, Vamp!Willow’s personality is a twisting of what her human half had been, with some features drawn out from her human side, and others mockeries of her hidden desires and or potential.
When alive, Willow (at this point in canon) was often shy, unwilling or unable to stand up for herself when she thought things were unfair. By contrast, vampire Willow tends to be outspoken - though she didn’t generally use words to communicate. When pleading with her world’s version of Xander, for example, she preferred whimpers in lieu of an actual argument. Similarly, when she wanted another vampire to work for her (in “doppelgangland”), she did not tell them to shift allegiances - she asked them who they worked for, and broke a finger each time they asked her wrong.
This isn’t to say that she's incapable of normal speech, or even that she necessarily disliked it - she had relatively normal conversations with both Cordelia, and her own human alternate. But she seems to enjoy cultivating a playful - often childish - personality, somewhat like Drusilla, if less insane. (The similarity may even have been on purpose, due to her fondness for tormenting her “puppy,” AKA Angel.) Regardless of her other intents, however, her “playful” side served to offset the sadism Willow portrayed as a vampire, on level with some of the worst from her race. Between pouting facial expressions, and calls of “puppy,” she would playfully drop matches upon Angel’s chest to watch him burn.
Fueled by the predatory nature of her inner demon, Willow claimed to love the thrill of chasing down a human, seeming to relish it just as much as the kill - her love of the latter reminding the Master of his younger days. Where some vampires were content simply to feed, and others seemed to treat pain as an art, to Willow the entire package seemed to make up her drive. The moment she was denied any of these, she seemed to lose all interest - becoming moody and despondent at any obstacle. For example, when presented by Wesley’s rather weak attempt to stop her with a cross and holy water, she made no attempt to get past him to her prey, but rather declared that she was “bored now,” and walked out.
Unlike Angelus, for whom pain seemed a form of art, Willow has historically treated it as simple entertainment - good so long as nothing is in her way, but not worth the trouble of struggling for. When actually ordered to kill Cordelia, for example, she simply did so - with no attempts to play along the way. However, when presented with a slayer - even one who had killed her boyfriend - she mostly wandered away in disgust. Where some have been willing to cut out their own hearts for the chance at revenge, Willow marks self preservation first and foremost, causing trouble only when she feels like she can get away with it.
For that matter, she was also willing to go forward with the Masters plan of “mass production” - which would remove the hunt out of most drinking, leaving them with easy access to blood. (While she enjoys the hunt, took drive from the hunt, she also values utilitarian benefits of access to blood, particularly when it involves less obstacles - and not getting on the Master's bad side.)
Although the vampire’s traits do not always directly connect to their human half, Willow’s own vampire self seems to be a twisting of her own desire for confidence, to better express herself; as Willow occasionally wanted freedom from the responsibilities often thrusted upon her, vampire Willow echewed all responsibilities not connected to her own preservation (following the Master's orders, as stated, but otherwise following a generally care free lifestyle.)
Her playful and carefree personality, her absolute openness when it came to taking what she wanted - her general disregard for consequences, such as when she allowed Coredellia to escape her without a thought upon their first meeting (despite the girl bringing up the slayer), all reflect Willow’s resentment for being seen as the reliable and responsible one.
This is further emphasized by her occasional vindictiveness. Although it was not a major part of her personality, Willow enjoyed knowing that Giles was in a cage, unable to look away while she drained Cordellia; and she made a point of mentioning to Angel that the people he tried to save would soon be killed.
Another side effect of her newfound openness - as seen when she goosed her human self - was Willow’s sexuality. Her human side shifted from straight to lesbian, generally forming few relationships, all high in emotional content as much as physical. Her vampire side, on the other hand, was openly bisexual - and seemed to experience things mostly on a sensual level.
This is probably connected (in part) to the differences created by the wish that made her world. In mainstream buffyverse, Willow had friends who loved and cared for her, Buffy among them. In wishverse, she had parents who most likely (as in the mainstream verse) ignored her, and a Xander who (while human) probably continued to view her as nothing more than a friend, despite her occasionally obvious crush on him. This undoubtedly contributed to the shallow, overly-sexual relationships she formed.
In the course of two episodes, she touched and kissed Xander, licked her human self’s neck, and even straddling Angel during their torture sessions, in many cases playfully mixing her playful/childish actions with her sexual touches, in the same way she did her sadism - emphasizing it to the world, as part of her emancipation from her formerly geeky self. (Her confidence in herself may have also led to some minor narcissism - although she didn’t generally show any adoration with her own personality or reflection, she seemed actively turned on by the thought of pairing up with her own duplicate. In fact, human-Willow was among the only ones she spoke to in a mostly adult fashion, actively trying to bring over to the dark side, showing a fascination most likely fueled by her own rejection of her former humanity.)
This history also seemed to create a slight possessiveness; human Willow was generally willing to lend out to others - she didn’t seem to have too strict a sense of what was hers. Vampire Willow did not seem to get particularly jealous - she would share food, for example. But she would it subtly make clear that someone was hers, touching Xander in front of Cordelia while looking at her.
When it comes to being on the barge, she is likely to play innocent at first - pout, and act childish, with no idea why anyone would react badly to her; eventually she is bound to try and bite someone, however - if she sees a chance to do it, and a way to get away with it. This version of Willow is a hunter after all - but she likes her food consequence free. She was much less willing than most to take risks, likely to walk away when she saw vampires.
Knowledge that she will punished for misbehavior, however, is likely to turn her off biting, for the most part, and thoughts of rewards may keep her in line. The desire to hunt will be a more and more powerful temptation for her, but Willow will keep the cons firstmost in her mind unless her instincts are actually trod upon.
Besides which, for the most part, she will be content with the blood rations on deck - it isn’t much different in effect than the Master’s plan after all, to drain blood from living humans. (Although she’d probably prefer to imagine it was being drained from people somewhere on deck.)
On the way to redemption, though, she is likely to turn more sulky - alternately irritated over the “fun” she can’t have, or thinking about the “fun” she used to have and regrets. The true shifts, however, will occur if she gets her soul back.
Spike and Angel both prove that just because a vampire has their soul returned, does not mean they revert back to their former selves; their humanity is restored - they can feel guilt, and other emotions are reestablished (a more honest ability to love rather than just obsess for example), but the demon doesn't leave, and neither do the memories.
Willow would still retain the desire to hunt; the desire to hurt may be lessened (Sexual sadism might still be there, but it will be heavily tainted by the knowledge of what she had done, so she's likely to resist it.) Most importantly, the core being of Willow will emerge, somewhere between her demon and human self.
A girl who doesn't want to face up to the responsibility around her, tempted by the desire to hide away in playful speech and pretend that nothing going on truly affects her. Who feels responsible for fixing things, but half thinks she can escape that responsibility if she tries hard enough.
At this point, the biggest temptation would be to ignore her guilt, and live without causing any more harm, but without fixing things either. That, however, is not who Willow is - with careful encouragement, she is likely to try and fix things, at least a little (First and foremost by becoming a warden, since there is little she can do on her own world right now besides die, and in all honesty - with Xander a vampire, and dead besides - there is little for her on her own world.)
The core traits that will stay with her are most likely her intelligence, and drive - no longer taking from hurting herself, but from within herself as when she was human (an internal strength her demonic self seemed to lose when it rid itself of true connections to other people.) It may not be put into books or computers again - though she retains her knowledge, she isn't the shy geek she used to be. Magic will probably be beyond her, as well - and, like when Willow became involved in dark magic, she will probably not trust herself with power any time soon. Instead, again like after the dark magic incident, she is likely to direct that drive inward, trying to better herself and make things better by resisting the internal troubles that plague her.
In the end, however, there is something to remember about Willow that differs her from Spike and Angel both (although it does resemble their own feelings at times.) Though Willow will feel guilt, the defining shift in her personality will be self-disgust and fear. A hatred for what she became, and a fear that she could revert, because the urges won't simply disappear. This, as much as basic determination, will honestly be a big drive in her daily life, as she remembers the people she harmed - and is, in many ways, simply the other side of the coin when compared to how she felt about herself previous lack of power when it came to expressing herself or altering how people saw her (magnified many times over, of course, by what she actually did.)
Path to Redemption: Again, I will note that Willow tends to get easily bored when faced with obstacles. However, she showed an ability to take orders, when it was in her best interest. In order to get her to behave - along the path to redemption - simple incentives may work, so long as it doesn’t cause her too much trouble; it would be recommended to work slowly if choosing this path, remembering that Willow is largely predatory; she does like causing pain just for the sake of it, but she’s willing enough to leave it off if she doesn’t think its worth the struggle.
In terms of actual redemption - While vampires are soulless, they do maintain some ability to express human emotions - particularly love and affection, albeit in generally more twisted and obsessive forms. This can be applied to humans, or to objects - to books, for example. The best way to get through to Willow would be to get her attached to something - books or computers are her human vice and could be useful.
Spike fought for a soul, just so that he could be with Buffy - who he had obsessed with; similarly, if Willow can grow attached to some form of goal, she would be willing to behave -even willingly accept a soul - in order to reach what she wants.
Once given a soul - regardless of how willingly she receives it - the struggle won’t be entirely done. Even with a soul, the demon would still be present - the urge to drink, perhaps even to hunt, still there (it is said Angelus is always there even when Angel has his soul.) She would most likely not act on it, but her guilt would still war with the desire to slip into the blissfulness of not caring.
To bring her back from that edge, careful assurance that she can make a difference - that she can make up for damage done - will be required.
Things to remember: This Willow experienced a world without Buffy Summers; her friends are generally either dead, never knew her, or vampires themselves. Bringing up things from her old life is therefore most likely to annoy or depress her, rather than encourage her. (Although she would want to go back, the closer to redemption she becomes, she becomes the less appealing this is likely to be.)
Xander in particular is a no, considering she watched his vampire self die.
Instead, it would be better to emphasize her potential on the barge - the chance to be a warden, for example (initially this would appeal to her as a chance to be in authority, later as a chance to fix things.)
History: Drawing heavily from http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Willow_Rosenberg and http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Willow_(Wishverse)
Willow was born to Ira and Sheila Rosenberg, both of whom were largely uninvolved in Willow’s life - another factor that may have been responsible for her playful attitude as a vampire, not to mention her confidence issues as a human.
A relatively shy nerd during her early high school years, Willow maintained high grades while participating in science, math, and computer classes. She also maintained a crush on her childhood friend Xander.
As a result of Buffy never coming to Sunnydale, Willow was at some point turned into a vampire, along with Xander himself. The two of them rose high in the Master’s inner circle, Order of Aurelius, apparently taking the place of Darla and Luke.
She was eventually staked when Oz and Larry pressed her into a wooden board. (In her unbroken canon, she was retroactively saved by a spell in “doppelgangland,” brought into mainstream Sunnydale, and then sent back - to die in the exact same way. So far as this version of Willow goes, she was drawn to the barge after the first killing, instead of being drawn to mainstream sunnydale.)
Sample Journal Entry: [5-10 sentences, 1st Person POV]
[Willow whimpers lightly, making puppy dog eyes into the screen of her communicator.] This place is boring..... Can't bite humans. Can't kill wardens... [There weren't even any humans to whimper when she drew blood from the kitchens.]
Doesn't anyone want to play?.
...I won't hurt you. [She smiles, licking her lips.] Unless you want me to.
(Since Willow can be somewhat passive when speaking, I was also hoping to include a few actual samples, to give you an idea how she relates to others:
here, and here
And for 3rd person, here (though this should NOT be taken as a sign of how she's likely to act with the barge's Dracula, considering the different situation he has been facing.)
Sample RP: [3-5 paragraphs, 3rd Person POV]
Willow dropped the body, watching it fall to the ground with a small thunk; there was a small pout on her face. She knew no more would be forth coming - that there were no more humans about for her to hunt. Only cups of blood fresh poured. Running a hand through her hair, she allowed the pout to deepen, her lips to pull further down.
“Bored now,” she declared, loudly; there was no response; there were no other vampires about - they were too content to suck at blood through a straw; so was she, normally - but there were times when she wanted to watch their little legs flash through the night air… “I like it when they run…”
A familiar phrase; it had been a while since she’d whispered of that to Xander. Her favorite part was when they ran. Little legs pumping so fast, hearts pouring blood through their veins so fast she could watch it; chasing after them, her true face out, watching the fear slide across their features as they realized that they couldn’t escape…
She felt her face shift to bumps; felt the smile spread across her face, fangs showing as she licked her lips; maybe the Master would let her borrow a human. Just to hunt; She wouldn’t even need a taste… she just wanted to watch them run. “It’s more fun when they run.”
Special Notes:
Vampires are weak to wood through the heart and beheading; they can also be hurt by crosses, garlic, holy water, and sunlight - the last of which can kill them. Although not generally listed among their weaknesses, vampires can be burned to death.
Although some vampires can hypnotize humans, Willow never showed this ability; it is uncertain whether it's possible for all, or only those with other supernatural connections like Drusilla (although it's worth noting that Angel and Spike said only that they "never got the hang of it.")
Fun fact: vampires are drawn to bright colors.
I’ve discussed this with Buffy’s-mun, since she’s the most likely to be affected by Buffy’s presence - but her character is likely to react badly to Willow’s presence at the start; she will probably attempt to stake Willow at least once, maybe more - and Willow will make use of that to play the innocent. (But we hope that the character development, and the potential CR, will be worth their initial friction.)
Since vampire Willow version has never met Faith, and Faith has never met her - and since human Willow never really liked Faith anyhow - it'll be easy enough to keep them apart from one another for the duration. (Faith will leave it to Buffy, and vampire-Willow expressed little interest in slayers as a whole, mostly attempting to ignore even Buffy in doppelgangland, despite Buffy's role in the destruction on her world.)
Series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Age: 18 (It isn’t explicitly stated, but it fits the basic time period; and considering her sexual attitude, I’d prefer to app her as 18.)
From When?: The end of “Wish,”/the start of “dopplegangland” - when she was being staked. (This would be instead of being drawn into the normal universe.)
Inmate/Warden: An inmate - At this point, Willow is a soulless and demonic entity - among the more depraved of vampires, she greatly enjoys torture and death.
However, time with a warden could help to bring her to a point where she would be willing to accept re-ensoulment, and deal with the emotional impact of what she had become.
Abilities/Powers: Increased strength, agility, speed, and endurance - equaling a grown man who’s fit. (She can bench press about 250 pounds, run a 7 minute mile, and dodge or take the majority of punches without bruising - though she lacks the supernatural abilities she once had.)
Increased senses - perfect vision, hearing, taste, and smell - but again, nothing supernatural.
Intelligence - Willow had the best academic record in sunny dale high, and was an accomplished computer hacker during her life time, though she has shown little interest as a vampire.
Speedy healing: Willow can heal about twice as fast as a normal human. She is capable of healing any wound - though limbs must be surgically reattached in order to take.
Immortality - unless beheaded, staked through the heart with wood, or burned/exposed to sunlight, Willow will not die (although she can be hurt like a normal human.)
She does not require breath, although she does require blood flowing to the brain to remain conscious. (This is accomplished without a heartbeat, but the veins can be blocked, as Spike once did to Drusilla.)
Immunity to mind reading: It takes an extremely powerful telepath to read a vampire’s thoughts. Descriptions indicate it’s less an inbuilt immunity, and more the fact that a vampire’s brain, like the rest of it, is technically dead - as Angel describes it, the thoughts are still there but (like with mirrors) there is nothing to be reflected.
Turning: By feeding on a human to the point of death, and then giving them blood, Willow can turn a vampire - although this is currently difficult for her to do, considering she lacks the strength to force the issue in most cases.
Vampiric face: Willow can shift to a vampiric face, either to show aggression or to feed from a human by growing her fangs. In this case, her forehead crease, creating bumpy ridges, and her eyes turn yellow.
Fighting ability: Willow maintains a superior fighting ability, gained from working alongside the Master, although her former strength will occasionally lead her to overestimate her abilities.
Personality: The demons responsible for a vampire’s possession/creation appear to have no real intelligence or personality of their own, at least to start out with - they are dependent upon what the human hosts leave behind in death. As a result, Vamp!Willow’s personality is a twisting of what her human half had been, with some features drawn out from her human side, and others mockeries of her hidden desires and or potential.
When alive, Willow (at this point in canon) was often shy, unwilling or unable to stand up for herself when she thought things were unfair. By contrast, vampire Willow tends to be outspoken - though she didn’t generally use words to communicate. When pleading with her world’s version of Xander, for example, she preferred whimpers in lieu of an actual argument. Similarly, when she wanted another vampire to work for her (in “doppelgangland”), she did not tell them to shift allegiances - she asked them who they worked for, and broke a finger each time they asked her wrong.
This isn’t to say that she's incapable of normal speech, or even that she necessarily disliked it - she had relatively normal conversations with both Cordelia, and her own human alternate. But she seems to enjoy cultivating a playful - often childish - personality, somewhat like Drusilla, if less insane. (The similarity may even have been on purpose, due to her fondness for tormenting her “puppy,” AKA Angel.) Regardless of her other intents, however, her “playful” side served to offset the sadism Willow portrayed as a vampire, on level with some of the worst from her race. Between pouting facial expressions, and calls of “puppy,” she would playfully drop matches upon Angel’s chest to watch him burn.
Fueled by the predatory nature of her inner demon, Willow claimed to love the thrill of chasing down a human, seeming to relish it just as much as the kill - her love of the latter reminding the Master of his younger days. Where some vampires were content simply to feed, and others seemed to treat pain as an art, to Willow the entire package seemed to make up her drive. The moment she was denied any of these, she seemed to lose all interest - becoming moody and despondent at any obstacle. For example, when presented by Wesley’s rather weak attempt to stop her with a cross and holy water, she made no attempt to get past him to her prey, but rather declared that she was “bored now,” and walked out.
Unlike Angelus, for whom pain seemed a form of art, Willow has historically treated it as simple entertainment - good so long as nothing is in her way, but not worth the trouble of struggling for. When actually ordered to kill Cordelia, for example, she simply did so - with no attempts to play along the way. However, when presented with a slayer - even one who had killed her boyfriend - she mostly wandered away in disgust. Where some have been willing to cut out their own hearts for the chance at revenge, Willow marks self preservation first and foremost, causing trouble only when she feels like she can get away with it.
For that matter, she was also willing to go forward with the Masters plan of “mass production” - which would remove the hunt out of most drinking, leaving them with easy access to blood. (While she enjoys the hunt, took drive from the hunt, she also values utilitarian benefits of access to blood, particularly when it involves less obstacles - and not getting on the Master's bad side.)
Although the vampire’s traits do not always directly connect to their human half, Willow’s own vampire self seems to be a twisting of her own desire for confidence, to better express herself; as Willow occasionally wanted freedom from the responsibilities often thrusted upon her, vampire Willow echewed all responsibilities not connected to her own preservation (following the Master's orders, as stated, but otherwise following a generally care free lifestyle.)
Her playful and carefree personality, her absolute openness when it came to taking what she wanted - her general disregard for consequences, such as when she allowed Coredellia to escape her without a thought upon their first meeting (despite the girl bringing up the slayer), all reflect Willow’s resentment for being seen as the reliable and responsible one.
This is further emphasized by her occasional vindictiveness. Although it was not a major part of her personality, Willow enjoyed knowing that Giles was in a cage, unable to look away while she drained Cordellia; and she made a point of mentioning to Angel that the people he tried to save would soon be killed.
Another side effect of her newfound openness - as seen when she goosed her human self - was Willow’s sexuality. Her human side shifted from straight to lesbian, generally forming few relationships, all high in emotional content as much as physical. Her vampire side, on the other hand, was openly bisexual - and seemed to experience things mostly on a sensual level.
This is probably connected (in part) to the differences created by the wish that made her world. In mainstream buffyverse, Willow had friends who loved and cared for her, Buffy among them. In wishverse, she had parents who most likely (as in the mainstream verse) ignored her, and a Xander who (while human) probably continued to view her as nothing more than a friend, despite her occasionally obvious crush on him. This undoubtedly contributed to the shallow, overly-sexual relationships she formed.
In the course of two episodes, she touched and kissed Xander, licked her human self’s neck, and even straddling Angel during their torture sessions, in many cases playfully mixing her playful/childish actions with her sexual touches, in the same way she did her sadism - emphasizing it to the world, as part of her emancipation from her formerly geeky self. (Her confidence in herself may have also led to some minor narcissism - although she didn’t generally show any adoration with her own personality or reflection, she seemed actively turned on by the thought of pairing up with her own duplicate. In fact, human-Willow was among the only ones she spoke to in a mostly adult fashion, actively trying to bring over to the dark side, showing a fascination most likely fueled by her own rejection of her former humanity.)
This history also seemed to create a slight possessiveness; human Willow was generally willing to lend out to others - she didn’t seem to have too strict a sense of what was hers. Vampire Willow did not seem to get particularly jealous - she would share food, for example. But she would it subtly make clear that someone was hers, touching Xander in front of Cordelia while looking at her.
When it comes to being on the barge, she is likely to play innocent at first - pout, and act childish, with no idea why anyone would react badly to her; eventually she is bound to try and bite someone, however - if she sees a chance to do it, and a way to get away with it. This version of Willow is a hunter after all - but she likes her food consequence free. She was much less willing than most to take risks, likely to walk away when she saw vampires.
Knowledge that she will punished for misbehavior, however, is likely to turn her off biting, for the most part, and thoughts of rewards may keep her in line. The desire to hunt will be a more and more powerful temptation for her, but Willow will keep the cons firstmost in her mind unless her instincts are actually trod upon.
Besides which, for the most part, she will be content with the blood rations on deck - it isn’t much different in effect than the Master’s plan after all, to drain blood from living humans. (Although she’d probably prefer to imagine it was being drained from people somewhere on deck.)
On the way to redemption, though, she is likely to turn more sulky - alternately irritated over the “fun” she can’t have, or thinking about the “fun” she used to have and regrets. The true shifts, however, will occur if she gets her soul back.
Spike and Angel both prove that just because a vampire has their soul returned, does not mean they revert back to their former selves; their humanity is restored - they can feel guilt, and other emotions are reestablished (a more honest ability to love rather than just obsess for example), but the demon doesn't leave, and neither do the memories.
Willow would still retain the desire to hunt; the desire to hurt may be lessened (Sexual sadism might still be there, but it will be heavily tainted by the knowledge of what she had done, so she's likely to resist it.) Most importantly, the core being of Willow will emerge, somewhere between her demon and human self.
A girl who doesn't want to face up to the responsibility around her, tempted by the desire to hide away in playful speech and pretend that nothing going on truly affects her. Who feels responsible for fixing things, but half thinks she can escape that responsibility if she tries hard enough.
At this point, the biggest temptation would be to ignore her guilt, and live without causing any more harm, but without fixing things either. That, however, is not who Willow is - with careful encouragement, she is likely to try and fix things, at least a little (First and foremost by becoming a warden, since there is little she can do on her own world right now besides die, and in all honesty - with Xander a vampire, and dead besides - there is little for her on her own world.)
The core traits that will stay with her are most likely her intelligence, and drive - no longer taking from hurting herself, but from within herself as when she was human (an internal strength her demonic self seemed to lose when it rid itself of true connections to other people.) It may not be put into books or computers again - though she retains her knowledge, she isn't the shy geek she used to be. Magic will probably be beyond her, as well - and, like when Willow became involved in dark magic, she will probably not trust herself with power any time soon. Instead, again like after the dark magic incident, she is likely to direct that drive inward, trying to better herself and make things better by resisting the internal troubles that plague her.
In the end, however, there is something to remember about Willow that differs her from Spike and Angel both (although it does resemble their own feelings at times.) Though Willow will feel guilt, the defining shift in her personality will be self-disgust and fear. A hatred for what she became, and a fear that she could revert, because the urges won't simply disappear. This, as much as basic determination, will honestly be a big drive in her daily life, as she remembers the people she harmed - and is, in many ways, simply the other side of the coin when compared to how she felt about herself previous lack of power when it came to expressing herself or altering how people saw her (magnified many times over, of course, by what she actually did.)
Path to Redemption: Again, I will note that Willow tends to get easily bored when faced with obstacles. However, she showed an ability to take orders, when it was in her best interest. In order to get her to behave - along the path to redemption - simple incentives may work, so long as it doesn’t cause her too much trouble; it would be recommended to work slowly if choosing this path, remembering that Willow is largely predatory; she does like causing pain just for the sake of it, but she’s willing enough to leave it off if she doesn’t think its worth the struggle.
In terms of actual redemption - While vampires are soulless, they do maintain some ability to express human emotions - particularly love and affection, albeit in generally more twisted and obsessive forms. This can be applied to humans, or to objects - to books, for example. The best way to get through to Willow would be to get her attached to something - books or computers are her human vice and could be useful.
Spike fought for a soul, just so that he could be with Buffy - who he had obsessed with; similarly, if Willow can grow attached to some form of goal, she would be willing to behave -even willingly accept a soul - in order to reach what she wants.
Once given a soul - regardless of how willingly she receives it - the struggle won’t be entirely done. Even with a soul, the demon would still be present - the urge to drink, perhaps even to hunt, still there (it is said Angelus is always there even when Angel has his soul.) She would most likely not act on it, but her guilt would still war with the desire to slip into the blissfulness of not caring.
To bring her back from that edge, careful assurance that she can make a difference - that she can make up for damage done - will be required.
Things to remember: This Willow experienced a world without Buffy Summers; her friends are generally either dead, never knew her, or vampires themselves. Bringing up things from her old life is therefore most likely to annoy or depress her, rather than encourage her. (Although she would want to go back, the closer to redemption she becomes, she becomes the less appealing this is likely to be.)
Xander in particular is a no, considering she watched his vampire self die.
Instead, it would be better to emphasize her potential on the barge - the chance to be a warden, for example (initially this would appeal to her as a chance to be in authority, later as a chance to fix things.)
History: Drawing heavily from http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Willow_Rosenberg and http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Willow_(Wishverse)
Willow was born to Ira and Sheila Rosenberg, both of whom were largely uninvolved in Willow’s life - another factor that may have been responsible for her playful attitude as a vampire, not to mention her confidence issues as a human.
A relatively shy nerd during her early high school years, Willow maintained high grades while participating in science, math, and computer classes. She also maintained a crush on her childhood friend Xander.
As a result of Buffy never coming to Sunnydale, Willow was at some point turned into a vampire, along with Xander himself. The two of them rose high in the Master’s inner circle, Order of Aurelius, apparently taking the place of Darla and Luke.
She was eventually staked when Oz and Larry pressed her into a wooden board. (In her unbroken canon, she was retroactively saved by a spell in “doppelgangland,” brought into mainstream Sunnydale, and then sent back - to die in the exact same way. So far as this version of Willow goes, she was drawn to the barge after the first killing, instead of being drawn to mainstream sunnydale.)
Sample Journal Entry: [5-10 sentences, 1st Person POV]
[Willow whimpers lightly, making puppy dog eyes into the screen of her communicator.] This place is boring..... Can't bite humans. Can't kill wardens... [There weren't even any humans to whimper when she drew blood from the kitchens.]
Doesn't anyone want to play?.
...I won't hurt you. [She smiles, licking her lips.] Unless you want me to.
(Since Willow can be somewhat passive when speaking, I was also hoping to include a few actual samples, to give you an idea how she relates to others:
here, and here
And for 3rd person, here (though this should NOT be taken as a sign of how she's likely to act with the barge's Dracula, considering the different situation he has been facing.)
Sample RP: [3-5 paragraphs, 3rd Person POV]
Willow dropped the body, watching it fall to the ground with a small thunk; there was a small pout on her face. She knew no more would be forth coming - that there were no more humans about for her to hunt. Only cups of blood fresh poured. Running a hand through her hair, she allowed the pout to deepen, her lips to pull further down.
“Bored now,” she declared, loudly; there was no response; there were no other vampires about - they were too content to suck at blood through a straw; so was she, normally - but there were times when she wanted to watch their little legs flash through the night air… “I like it when they run…”
A familiar phrase; it had been a while since she’d whispered of that to Xander. Her favorite part was when they ran. Little legs pumping so fast, hearts pouring blood through their veins so fast she could watch it; chasing after them, her true face out, watching the fear slide across their features as they realized that they couldn’t escape…
She felt her face shift to bumps; felt the smile spread across her face, fangs showing as she licked her lips; maybe the Master would let her borrow a human. Just to hunt; She wouldn’t even need a taste… she just wanted to watch them run. “It’s more fun when they run.”
Special Notes:
Vampires are weak to wood through the heart and beheading; they can also be hurt by crosses, garlic, holy water, and sunlight - the last of which can kill them. Although not generally listed among their weaknesses, vampires can be burned to death.
Although some vampires can hypnotize humans, Willow never showed this ability; it is uncertain whether it's possible for all, or only those with other supernatural connections like Drusilla (although it's worth noting that Angel and Spike said only that they "never got the hang of it.")
Fun fact: vampires are drawn to bright colors.
I’ve discussed this with Buffy’s-mun, since she’s the most likely to be affected by Buffy’s presence - but her character is likely to react badly to Willow’s presence at the start; she will probably attempt to stake Willow at least once, maybe more - and Willow will make use of that to play the innocent. (But we hope that the character development, and the potential CR, will be worth their initial friction.)
Since vampire Willow version has never met Faith, and Faith has never met her - and since human Willow never really liked Faith anyhow - it'll be easy enough to keep them apart from one another for the duration. (Faith will leave it to Buffy, and vampire-Willow expressed little interest in slayers as a whole, mostly attempting to ignore even Buffy in doppelgangland, despite Buffy's role in the destruction on her world.)