5 Reasons “Buffy Summers” Is My Hero

I will refer to the show as BTVS throughout.

1. She’s Hilarious

She is gorram funny my friends. Let’s be honest, BTVS was comedic gold. While each character had their own uniquely humorous personalities, Buffy held her own. She often came out with zingy one-liners, pop-culture references, and wonderful puns.

“Cordelia, your mouth is open, sound is coming from it. This is never good.” – Buffy

“Harmony, when you tried to be head cheerleader, you were bad. When you tried to chair the Homecoming committee, you were really bad. But when you try to be bad… you suck.” – Buffy

“If the apocalypse comes, beep me.” – Buffy

“She irons her jeans, she’s evil!” – Buffy

“Well, in that case, I won’t wear my button that says, ‘I’m a Slayer. Ask me how.’” – Buffy

“I’m not exactly quaking in my stylish yet affordable boots here” – Buffy

2. Girl Power

Buffy Summers is surrounded by equally amazing, truly compelling female characters. Yet she neither outshines or pales in comparison to them. The cast of BTVS had real women, with unique traits, flaws, and stories.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Let’s be honest the show is built on girl power. The strongest person in the room was usually a woman. Buffy endures not in spite of her feminity, but because of it. Her emotional intelligence coupled with her growing wisdom makes her a sage to the potentials by season 7.

She also proves you can be a true feminist, who believes woman are equal to men. She loves men but has equal space for the women in her life. She reinforces other women and they reinforce her, which is what we need to do. Women need not be in competition with one another but see our individual wins as a win for all.

“Are you ready to be strong?” – Buffy

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Buffy Tattoo!

3. Multi-Faceted

Although she is strong, she is in touch with her emotions and is not afraid to show her soft side. She’s a wonderful role model for young girls. She went through breakups, betrayals, and death, never once shying away from crying or showing the pertinent emotion.

She goes through the complete rainbow of emotions throughout the span of the show, and she also is not afraid to make mistakes. The world often tells women that if you are soft and cry, that you can’t be strong too. Well, Buffy proves that is false. She even says:

“…my emotions give me power. They’re total assets!” – Buffy

4. Embracing Life

Sometimes life isn’t fair, and we are not all born into equal opportunities. Buffy spends a huge part of the show fighting her calling as a vampire slayer. However, she finally embraces this part of herself. This lesson is something we all can use. It allows us to see that we must accept all parts of ourselves and life. We need both the light and the dark for life to be truly meaningful.

She taught us that the people we love sometimes act out irrationally when they are hurting. After her death at the hands of The Master, she showed signs of PTSD. When she was shown kindness and compassion she figured out how to deal with the situation. After her mother died, she really stepped up to the plate. Although it wasn’t easy, and she made many mistakes, Buffy became a mother to Dawn.

After Finding Her Mothers Body

Buffy may have gone through endless trials and tribulations, from killing Angel to losing her mother (pictured above). Yet she persevered throughout finding her strength from within. During a fight with Angelus, he taunts her, all of her friends are gone, her weapons, and hope. He asks her what’s left. She simply says, “me.”

5. Facing Her Fears

If we stay within the bubble of our comfort zone we will never grow or learn. Buffy provides us with the wisdom, that the only way through your fears is to face them.

In Season 1 even though she knew she was going to die, she still went down into the Master’s lair. In Season 5 when she realised that only her blood could close the portal, and save the world, she jumped. In Season 7 when The First Evil was taunting her she took to fight to them rather than wait to be killed off.

In her personal life, she started over again in a new school. She took a job she hated at the Double Meat Palace to provide for Dawn after her mother’s death. She even kept trying to fall in love, although she had been hurt in the past.

She was not afraid to make a mistake, dust herself off (no pun intended) and start over. She takes charge of her life and her role. The book stops with her. Giles might know more than her, but she has generations of slayers giving her authority.

“I’m Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, and you are?” – Buffy

In the end, I couldn’t have asked for a better role model in my teenage years. When female characters were often only the love interest or damsel in distress, Buffy kicked ass in her stylish yet affordable boots.

“The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. Be brave, for me.” – Buffy

Can do Ms Summers.

References:

https://thoughtcatalog.com/laura-libert/2014/07/how-buffy-showed-us-why-its-ok-to-have-emotions/

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 1-7, The Warner Brothers, 1996 – 2003.

https://www.hypable.com/20-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-quotes/

December 28, 2018 19

2018 in Review – Support

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my fellow Christmas celebrators.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to those who opt out of Christian celebrations.

Here’s to the future.

Friends, this year has been stupendous regarding the blogs I’ve discovered and followed here.

I had an idea. Why don’t we each find our own favourite post from this year or the one we’re most proud of and share it in the comments below, with a short synopsis.

Then we can all click on each other’s links and leave a like or comment. This will help each other out, and we may find new blogs we didn’t even know about.

It will also make us think about what post (or posts) we are most proud of so we can actually pat ourselves on the back for once.

Also if you are feeling isolated as a writer or creator and you’re a member of Twitter check out the #writerscommunity hashtag. It’s a wonderful community, people are so supportive, and it’s a mix of agents, publishers, and writers.

Here is the post I’m most proud of this year. It’s my first anxiety post. It got such a wonderful response and people were so supportive.

I look forward to reading (or re-reading) your most cherished post.

Jaycee

xxx

https://thinkingmoon.com/2018/03/23/introducing-my-anxiety/

December 25, 2018 15

10 Favourite Albums From 2018

Music is so wonderful. There are albums that I’m obsessed with and I’ve been listening to for over 10+ years. However, I indulge in new music every now and again. For fellow music lovers, I’ve ranked my top 10 albums of 2018.

Before we begin, let me know about your favourite albums/bops from this year in the comments. Also is there any new music coming in 2019 that you’re so excited for? I want to know, please!

10. Biosphere – “The Hilvarenbeek Recordings.”

Albums 2018

One of my most beloved ambient electronica albums is by ‘Biosphere’. He is a Norwegian artist called Geir Jenssen. He creates incredulously atmospheric, chilling albums through sampling and loops. His album ‘Substrata‘ will always be my favourite of his, but he really delivered with his 2018 album, “The Hilvarenbeek Recordings.” It quickly became an anthem for my writing and studying this year.

If you’re looking for music to work to, I recommend any of his stuff. Other great albums include “Departed Glories,” “Patashnik,” “Substrata,” and, “Man With A Movie Camera.”

9. Scotty Sire – “Ruin Your Party.”

Albums 2018

Viner turned YouTuber turned musician Scotty Sire surprised me this year. While there have been many attempts by YouTubers to transition to music I think Sire really pulled it off. Genuinely I was a fan of his self-deprecating humour, as the sad man in David Dobrik’s vlogs. Somehow he translated this very well to music.

Not only can he sing and rap, but he also’s a pretty decent songwriter. The best parts of his personality shine through. This is not novelty music, it harkens of real modern pop. Notable tracks that really caught my attention were:

“American Love.” – Elijah Blake & Myles Parrish.

“Take Me Away.”

“Stick Around.”

“Get Better.” – The Weekend Riot.

8. Louis Cole – “Time.”

Albums 2018

While Louis Cole is better known for his work with ‘Knower’, (and silly music videos), you can’t deny his solo musical chops. This recommendation from Le’Boo quickly became one of my favourite albums to listen to while reading or chilling out.

His groovy style and high voice is soothing in an unexpected way.

If you’re into music videos you should check out some of Cole’s they’re pretty strange, albeit attractive. Like a train wreck, you can’t look away. Notable tracks:

“When You’re Ugly.” With – Genevieve Artadi

“Things.”

7. Vulpeck – “Hill Climber.”

http_liveforlivemusic.comwp-contentuploads20160620160402_Fools_Paradise_Vulfpeck_Jeremy_Scott-8564

Albums 2018

Look if you haven’t heard of Vulpeck yet… haha you thought I was going to go full hipster, didn’t you? Acting.

No seriously though yet another recommendation from my musician “I went to jazz school,” Le’Boo. I couldn’t pretend to dislike them if I tried. Their inexplicable rhythms, lyrics, and grooves actually vibrate into your organs. The resulting dancing is a side effect of their brilliance.

I’ve seen them in Dublin twice and both times came out exhausted yet elated from singing and dancing. Stand out tracks you ask? All of them. If I had to choose a couple I suppose:

“Half of the way”

“Lonely Town.”

“It Gets Funkier.” With – (That’s right) Louis Cole.

Also if you are a Christmas music fan, they have one of the best Christmas songs out there.

6. Fall Out Boy – “Mania.”

Albums 2018

I’m a huge Fall Out Boy stan (that’s what the kids are saying right?). Ever since I picked up a copy of “From Under The Cork Tree,” in 2005 I’ve followed their evolution as better pop punk than Blink 182, superior lyrics to Greenday and musical chops The Ramones might raise their eyebrows at.

This is just another fantastic album, like their last and the one before that. It spawned 5 singles and all those songs were great. They appeal to my inner ansty teenager that still refuses to give up hope of becoming a rock star.

“I lived so much life I think God’s gonna have to kill me twice.”

5. Christina Aguilera – “Liberation.”

Albums 2018

There was Britney Spears, and there was Christina Aguilera. People took sides, it was a whole big thing. In fact, some people like to compare it to the Blur / Oasis fiasco of the 1990s. It wasn’t like that. One of them had a message, the other just wanted to be a pop star.

Aguilera comes back swinging with singles like “Fall In Line” featuring Demi Lovato, soothing tunes such as “Twice,” and mooning love songs like “Unless It’s With You.”

This was a great album, arguably better than Ariana Grande’s “Sweetner” (yes I did listen to it for fairness) even though the latter did better commercially. If you want to hear some fresh Aguilera give this album a chance.

4. MGMT – “Little Dark Age.”

Albums 2018

In 2007 I listened to “Oracular Spectacular” over and over again. I then promptly forgot all about MGMT until their album “Little Dark Age” appeared on the lists of 2018’s best albums. Right between “EVERYTHING IS LOVE” by The Carters, and “Scorpion,” by Drake I almost missed it. Thinking to myself what harm could it do, and how charming the cover was I gave it a spin.

(Well no I didn’t I don’t have a record player sadly, I just went to Spotify).

The album blew me away. The soothing tones of the ’80s incorporated with the unique vocals both harkened back to their 2007 album, yet detached from it too. A difficult task to say the least. I danced around the kitchen to “One Thing Left To Try,” like a maniac.

Standouts:

“Me and Michael.”

“James.”

“One thing Left To Try.”

3. The Crystal Method – “The Trip Home.”

Albums 2018

Whatever happens, do not drive while listening to this album. It will cause speeding and possible death. Electronic music is one of my fever highs and The Crystal Method have been sweet sweet providers of that for a long time.

I can’t pick out standouts. This album has a coherence that demands you listen, and you will have no choice. They have a way of grabbing you by the proverbial cojones and bringing you along on their crazy ride with them.

When the album is over, you’ll feel a mixture of fatigue, euphoria, and a little hungover.

2. A Perfect Circle – “Eat The Elephant.”

Albums 2018

This was a gift this year I’d been waiting for since “Emotive” in 2004. Yes, that long of a hiatus. Then they came back with this gem. There was divisiveness with this album among fans, yet I loved every drop of it.

The musical side of the album has a distinctive eerieness to it (like the original Doom 3D game) coupled with precision production. It very nearly took my number one spot.

While the whole album was, in my opinion, one great song after another, “Get The Lead Out,” will be one of my favourite’s for the rest of time. I implore you to listen to that song, if not the whole album.

1. Janelle Monáe – “Dirty Computer.”

Albums 2018

I mentioned this album earlier this year in a post about female musicians I adore which you can read here. Regarding our girl Monáe I said the following:

I stand by what I said, except listen to “American” because that song really draws the album to an almighty crashing close.

December 21, 2018 12

New Tattoo! Reveal!

Hello friends. It’s been a mad couple of weeks. I overdid it and now I am sleeping over 12 hours a night. Does that happen to any of you with mental illnesses? If I don’t look after my energy levels I crash completely.

I also am a divil (Irish Slang) for over-committing. As you all know I’m doing my Ph.D., maintaining this blog, writing part-time. Don’t worry I’m not complaining I’m blessed with my work, but I have to learn to say no better than I am already.

However on to greater things, here is a picture of my tattoo when it was first revealed. I love it so much, I am so grateful to my tattoo artist Pat, owner of Tattoo Heroes in Dublin, Ireland.

Also a huge thank you to Le’Boo for a wonderful Christmas present.

I promise to show you more when it has healed better but until then:

“Are you ready to be strong?”

Jaycee

xxx

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/TattooHeroesDublin/

Instagram:

@tattoo_heroes

December 18, 2018 21

Sustainability 2018 Review

My friends, it’s been a year. Yes, 2018 was a year. I’m trying to find something nice to say about 2018 but politically, environmentally, and humanitarian-ly ( it was a bit of a disaster. Not that great things didn’t happen, but equally mental things happened too. So when I tell you I had a productive year, it was against all odds. On the last Friday of this year I will recap and tell you about all the things I’m grateful for. However, we have some housekeeping to do before then.

If any of you have been following me since at least January of this year, you’ll know I set out to achieve sustainability goals each month of 2018, and I think I’ve largely followed them. However, as an accountability session, I’ve decided to revisit them here and really delve into what I managed to achieve in regards to it.

January 2018

So we must start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.

It was a simple goal, and that was basically to recycle more. My bedroom is my office and a lot of paper/recyclables go through there. I put in a second bin for ‘office’ waste and it was hugely beneficial. It was crazy to realise how much recyclable waste I went through in a month.

It could then be directly emptied into the green bin outside. It also reduced how much ‘waste’ went in my normal bin and I was really happy to notice the difference. It was only a small step but became hugely beneficial.

February 2018

This was tough at the beginning but I got into a good rhythm of it. I mentioned in my half-year update that I would add meat-free meals throughout the week if I couldn’t make the whole day meat-free. I had forgotten to account for meals I eat at other people’s houses and I didn’t want to be awkward, so if I ate meat for dinner after a meat-free breakfast and lunch, I would swap out the meat in the next night’s dinner.

Make allowances for yourself, but make sure you are accountable. It was genuinely beneficial to my life and health, and I learned a few new cooking tricks that I can take with me into the new year.

March 2018

Still, have my keep cup and I’m loving it. Most coffee places will give my a discount, but even without it I’m still glad I got my keep cup. I have never been refused and I get complimented on it all the time. I would recommend a glass one if you’re getting it because Le’Boo got a plastic one (BPA free) at the same time, and the coffee tastes better from the glass one. Even if this is psychological, glass is more sustainable in the long run.

April 2018

Sadly I had to disband my national geographic subscription. They weren’t able to provide me with a soft copy subscription because of where I live. At the moment it’s only available to US and UK residents. Perhaps in the future, if they make it available to Republic of Ireland residents, I can sign up once more. Until then, I will need to find other places to discover new things.

May 2018

I’ve done really well with this one. Clothing for me has become something to treasure not discard. I’ve reworked so many of my old pieces in different styles and combinations. You will honestly surprise yourself if you try this out. Buying second hand and from sustainable companies is totally fine, but even then I really think, “Do I need this? Will I wear it more than 10 times?” Trust me you’ll save yourself a fortune.

June 2018

I have my bamboo toothbrushes now and I’m loving them. I use a subscription service called The Bam and The Boo and their website can be found here. They send you out your toothbrushes so you’ll never forget. They come in different colours, and in children sizes. They are completely biodegradable even the bristles, and packaging. I couldn’t recommend them more and they are lovely to deal with.

July 2018

Plastic reduction was the game in July and boy was this tough. I drink so much water that I would almost always have a bottle of water in my bag. To combat this I simply bought a reusable metal bottle from Zero Waste Republic and their website can be found here. There are plenty of outlets that sell them, if you google them they are easy to find. It keeps liquid hot or cold for quite a long time and you can get them in your favourite colour.

Other ideas included cloth bags for when you’re buying bread/pastries. Bringing my own cutlery everywhere so I don’t have to use plastic forks. Loose tea instead of tea bags (sadly most tea bags have traces of plastic).

August 2018

So this is tough because I still live at home, and I can’t expect my loved ones to change their habits because I do. We, of course, try and encourage if we can, but ultimately people should make their own decision.

For me, though I’ve made up some natural cleaning products by simply googling them, and they work just as well as the store bought ones.

September 2018

This one was tricky, and I’m still working through it. I had to wash my hair with normal shampoo again. However, once I use up everything I already have I’m going to try out more shampoo and conditioner bars.

November 2018

Amnesty International Ireland is my preferred charity for a number of reasons. They encompass so much of my own values including human rights, climate justice, and peaceful protesting. They have taught me some hard lessons this year in regards to so many things, and I’m sure I will learn more in the years to come.

If you are interested in their literature have a look at this.

December 2018

Locally sourced gifts. This had a 50 / 50 mix of being easy and tough. Some stuff I could easily get locally. I can’t talk about most of the gifts here because I haven’t given them yet, but if I couldn’t get them here I had to get some online. However even then I really tried to buy online from Irish stores, and largely this worked out ok. Again I can’t list them here just yet, but I will update it after gift giving on Christmas day.

I will publish my 2019 sustainability goals at the start of January. If you guys have any ideas or suggestion, or even just thoughts please let me know.

Alright friends, stay sustainable! Talk soon. Jaycee. xxx

Click here for other sustainability posts.

December 14, 2018 5

Reality’s Fault

Could I restart my heart?

Some awakenings are too painful to be true.

In dreams, we quarrel thick, and I wake to pounding pain.

An anger so powerful, I’m not sure it’s mine.

If it is, may I use it? Transformation through proclamation.

Mirror mirror on the wall who’s the rightest one of all?

None of us are.

Stop talking so I may speak.

Listen to me, I have earned that right.

It’s in my bones, my ratiocination.

You have sublimation, and I have the rath of God.

He is the God of truth and perspective.

Still not one of us is real.

Reality is as reality does. Performance through pain.

My weakness, is my fragility, is my nightmare.

Please do not make it worse by your facts.

There are too many for this world to be sincere.

Therefore thought is existence, and that is our adversary.

Not differing points of view.

In the end, we are a balance of passion and faults.

I am Invisible

December 11, 2018 17

Message #8: A new year dawns…

Hello friends, just a quick message today about some thoughts I’ve been having. This year has been so inspiring for me. I’ve met some amazing human beings here. You are all so talented, kind, and humble. It gives me hope for my future.

I’m really close to 250 followers when this time last year I had around 10. I can’t wait for 2019 I have so many new things coming for you all, so many fresh ideas, concepts, and stories.

I’ll be updating you properly in January on all the fun things you’ll be able to expect. Until then I want to thank you all for your unending support and kindness. To all my loyal followers who like everything I write, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Have a wonderful Monday and happy writing.

Love,

Jaycee.

xxx

December 10, 2018 6

Kilkelly – Musician

*update: Connor is a fellow WordPresser! You can find him here.

Preamble

Welcome back to Moon Interviews my friends. This month I sat down to talk with Berlin-based artist Connor Kilkelly. Born and raised here in the old country (Ireland), Connor moved to Berlin to pursue a music career.

We talk about loads of things. His debut album, ‘The Prick & The Petal,‘ is in post-production, and is out in the spring of 2019. We talked about the music scene in Berlin, and what inspired him to seek out music in the first place, and we had giggles about the music genres we love.

Kilkelly writes really great music and his info can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/kilkellymusic/

I’d like to thank Connor for his time and I hope you enjoy the rambly chats with two very artsy friends.

https://kilkelly.net/

December 7, 2018 0

My Hogwarts House – Ravenclaw

Hello friends, any fellow Harry Potter fans on here? I myself am a Ravenclaw, which makes sense in certain aspects of my personality. However if I were a blend of two houses I would be a Huffleclaw (Ravenpuff?) for sure.

I was thinking the other day about Hogwarts houses, and obviously, no one fits into their house completely, but I thought it would be fun to go through the traits of the house according to Pottermore and see how well I do fit.

“Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you’ve a ready mind,

Where those of wit and Learning,

Will always find their kind.”

– The Sorting Hat

So we will start with the colours of the house which is blue and bronze. (They were blue and silver in the movies I’m afraid). My favourite colour is blue so it was truly meant to be. Not really much to say about the colour bronze though, but it’s meant to represent the wings of the house animal which is an eagle. Blue was chosen to represent the sky and bronze for eagle feathers.

Harry Potter – Ravenclaw

Speaking of the house animal, I love birbs (yes birbs) and the eagle is a majestic bird. It represents broader vision and strength of mind and heart. I think this reflects who I am as a person. As a writer, I can see beyond the conventional and have been blessed with an overactive imagination. The strength of the mind and heart is also something which I feel I have. I may not be physically strong but I know I’m mentally strong, and I love freely.

According to Rowling all the houses represent or correlate to one of the four elements, which creates balance when they are together. Ravenclaw is related to the element of air… I’m sure there is a quiz for this hold on.

So I got water…

Ravenclaw prizes wit, learning & wisdom. Other traits include; intelligence, creativity, originality, individuality, and acceptance.

Wit: Le’Boo says his favourite thing about me is my sense of humor.

Learning: I love learning, I’m doing a PhD, I’ll have completed 9 years of university when I’m done.

Wisdom: Mmmm I suppose I’m wise beyond my years, but I definitely don’t know everything. In fact the more I learn the more I realise it’s impossible to know everything.

Intelligence: People think I’m smart…

Creativity: Well this I agree with I’m a writer but I also draw/paint/write music etc…

Originality: Aren’t we all?

Individuality: Again yes I would say so. I’ve found my path through life to be tough as I don’t like to do things conventionally, and people often distrust me or find this weird.

Acceptance: Unless you’re being a complete a$#wipe to other people I don’t mind what you choose for your own life. You do you, friend.

“Wit beyond measures is man’s greatest treasure.”

– Etched on Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem.

Some interesting thoughts.

According to legend, Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem was meant to increase the intelligence of the wearer.

An eagle-shaped door knocker asks you riddles before you can enter the Ravenclaw common room, and while this sounds amusing at first, imagine coming back after a long day studying in the library?

“Ravenclaws tend to be curious about the world and pay attention to the world around them. Ravenclaws are known to be logical and rational.” – Fandom Wikia

Professor McGonagall and Hermione Granger were both almost Ravenclaws, but ultimately the hat decided on Gryffindor.

Clearly, Luna Lovegood was one of the best characters in the series, and she was a clever, albeit strange Ravenclaw.

—

So shout out your house below in the comments. I want to see the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin homies! Also where are my fellow Ravenclaws? If you don’t know your house yet that’s ok, I’ve linked Pottermore below. Go treat yourself to the sorting ceremony.

Have a great day guys!

Love,

Jaycee

xxx

http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Ravenclaw

https://www.pottermore.com/

http://www.playbuzz.com/arielb10/what-element-are-you

Also more fun Tuesday stuff!

https://thinkingmoon.com/category/tuesday-fun/

December 4, 2018 23