Kendra the Vampire Slayer

[shadowscast]

Having just recently re-watched "What's My Line?" parts 1 and 2 ... I've been thinking about Kendra.

I think Kendra may seriously be the least popular re-occurring character in the whole Buffyverse. Not that I've ever met anyone who has a big hate on for her—it's just that most people (including me) don't think about her much at all. I've never seen a fic in which she occurred even as a minor character. I have to keep pinching myself to remember that there was another Slayer in the line between Buffy and Faith.

Okay, sure, she was only in a few episodes—but Ethan Rayne, for instance, appeared just as seldom and yet made a much bigger impression on us all. He sure shows up in fic.

Kendra was important. She was a frikkin' Vampire Slayer! Just like Buffy and Faith! And it's funny to watch how Buffy's conflicts with Faith are kind of foreshadowed with Kendra; as the ultimate by-the-book girl, Kendra is totally the opposite of Faith, and yet like Faith she fights with Buffy over Angel (okay, for a different reason) and raises the 'but I'm supposed to be the only one!' Slayer-envy issues.

I feel like the ME writers failed Kendra. She's interesting in theory, but they failed to make her interesting in practice. Her character comes out strangely cardboard. And where the hell is she supposed to be from?

So what I'm wondering now is, has anyone adopted Kendra and written fanfic about her and made it good, and made her into a real person I can care about?

Comments

[that_mireille]

She's interesting in theory, but they failed to make her interesting in practice.

And that's the big thing, I think. I find the *idea* of Kendra interesting, but... she's just not. And she has such a brief lifespan as Slayer, too, unfortunately for her.

What I'd like to see, honestly--and I'd never thought of this until you made this post, but now I'd genuinely like to see it--is Kendra after she gets home after her first visit to Sunnydale. It has to have made an impression on her. Does it change her at all? Does she start questioning her Watcher, even a little bit? Does she start wondering whether she can be a little more like Buffy and still do her duty as she's been taught to see it? If she'd lived longer, what would she have become as a result?

[shadowscast.livejournal.com]

See, now, somebody has to write that.

Only first they'd have to get a handle on her accent.

I can't remember if she shows any evidence of change when she comes to Sunnydale the second time. My friend and I are watching the season in sequence, so I should get to that ep in a few weeks.

[that_mireille]

If any, not a lot, I don't think. That doesn't mean there couldn't be some small amount of internal change, but it wasn't profound.

Then again, she didn't have that many scenes when she came back, either.

I could not write it, because I could not do her accent. Even if I forswore trying to write words as she pronounces them (which I would), I doubt I could get the cadences right.

[trepkos.livejournal.com]

She's so shy, it would seem bad and wrong to put her in a pairing!

[shadowscast.livejournal.com]

Oh my, I hadn't even thought about her in a pairing! I was imagining a gen sort of fic.

You're right—she was so not ready for dating.

Me say daaay-oh!

[hammiepoo.livejournal.com]

You're so right about Kendra.

What you say kinda leads me to think that her demise wasn't particularly touching, or upsetting; most every other Buffy character has managed to avoid or rebpund from death in fanfic. But Kendra's seems to be a life not worth examining in fanfic. I suspect writing her might be very much like writing original fic, since there is no real yardstick for her characterization.

For instance, we know that in canon, Kendra has the potential to be vain. ('That was me favorite shirt! Me only shirt!'), but we don't really know if this is a throw-away line or not.

And where the hell is she supposed to be from?
The Upper East side? :)

Re: Me say daaay-oh!

[shadowscast.livejournal.com]

But Kendra's seems to be a life not worth examining in fanfic.

And see, that's just sad.

I suspect writing her might be very much like writing original fic, since there is no real yardstick for her characterization.

Quite true, but that's no obstacle for characters who catch our interest, right? For instance I've seen people do lovely things with Larry, Devon (the singer from Oz's band, who gets maybe four lines in the entire series), and Holden (the vampire Buffy talks to and then stakes in "Conversations with Dead People"). What is it about Kendra that she's never inspired anybody to develop her in fic? And is it fixable?

[flurblewig.livejournal.com]

This is a very good point. I've written Holden twice and am planning a third, but it's never occurred to me to write Kendra. And yet, yes - there *should* be a story there.

Maybe it does have something to do with the fact that she's so difficult to ship. Shipfic is easier in the sense that it has an inherent goal, whereas in a genfic you've got to come up with your own 'hook'. And sad though it is, I'm not sure Kendra can create enough emotional resonance with people to make them go to that effort.

You're right - she was done a disservice. The accent makes her *difficult* to write, and her sheltered, sparse characterisation/backstory doesn't offer enough incentive to struggle with it.

Poor Kendra.

[shadowscast.livejournal.com]

Maybe it does have something to do with the fact that she's so difficult to ship.

Yeah, I think you're probably right. The vast majority of fanfic is shippy in some way, and it's really difficult to see Kendra with anyone. The way she appears in canon, she's not even close to ready for that kind of thing.

Poor Kendra.

Word.

[spacedoutlooney.livejournal.com]

Have you ever listened to Marti Noxon's commentary on What's My Line 1/2? She says that there was a dialect coach that helped the actress with some very specific accent from a very specific part of Jamaica. They should have just gone with a broader accent.

I agree, there are so many questions you can ask about Kendra. She was used more as a plot point than given actual characterization.

[shadowscast.livejournal.com]

No, in fact I've hardly listened to any of the commentaries. I keep re-watching episodes in the company of people who've never seen them before, so I never get around to the commentaries!

So, that's interesting. It grounds Kendra in a particular place; that would be a jumping-off point for doing something with her.

To do her dialect, unfortunately, would be damn hard.

She was used more as a plot point than given actual characterization.

Sad but true. And yet, there were moments when she came alive—her joy in geeking out with Giles over chapter and verse of some ancient text, for instance, versus her extremely painful shyness in front of Xander.

Re: Me say daaay-oh!

[hammiepoo.livejournal.com]

What is it about Kendra that she's never inspired anybody to develop her in fic? And is it fixable?
I honestly don't know. But I think yes.

Wrote you a Kendra/Dru gen drabble. It doesn't entirely suck for off the cuff. :) Character death ahead:

"Be in me."

Drusilla sways to the humming, stunted light, crouched low in the colored girl's great pupils, so black with longing. This one would taste of bursting-ripe virtue, of spice and ocean. Of wet, unsullied thighs and cruelly suppressed vanity.

Spike is mistaken, though she will not tell him so. They do not wish for death. And Drusilla is kind in her cruelty, sometimes.

There is a string in Joyce's womb, where her daughter used to be. "You're not Buffy," she says, without letting go the girl.

'Now you know.' Bored, Drusilla finishes and claps her bonny hands.

Re: Me say daaay-oh!

[shadowscast.livejournal.com]

Eeee! ::loves you::

This one would taste of bursting-ripe virtue, of spice and ocean. Of wet, unsullied thighs and cruelly suppressed vanity.

That's so perfect. I especially like "cruelly suppressed vanity"—you've captured her contradictory impulses, made sense of them, and taught me more about what drives Kendra in this one line than ME ever managed.

I have to confess, though, I can't make sense of the Joyce bit. ::Is confused, wonders if it's just too early in the morning for metaphors.::

Re: Me say daaay-oh!

[hammiepoo.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked. :)

I have to confess, though, I can't make sense of the Joyce bit. ::Is confused, wonders if it's just too early in the morning for metaphors.::
Meh. I know. Written at 3am, I believe, so, yeah. Huh.

Kay, extended this into a double drabble. My patois is non-existent, though, so please bear with me...


"Be in me."

Drusilla sways to the humming, stunted light, crouched low in the colored girl's great pupils, so black with longing. This one would taste of bursting-ripe virtue, of spice and ocean. Of wet, unsullied thighs and cruelly suppressed vanity.

Spike is mistaken, though she will not tell him so. They do not wish for death. And Drusilla is kind in her cruelty, sometimes.

Kendra shakes her short plaits from side to side, hiding her Mama’s headwraps behind her back. “You a lie, girl,” her mother sighs, without vexation, and gathers her up. Kendra is stunned by the hug, when she was expecting the switch.
*************
The boy thump fast, selfishly. Kendra waits for him to be done, then she run through the yard to just that corner that the moon and Mama can’t see. Takes a rag, wipes at the cum still dripping down her leg.
************
She find that same boy in her yard, a week after he drown. She scream, and a girl jump over the fence, make him dust, and jump back out again.

Soon she meet a new boy, and forget about the whole thing.

'Now you know.' Bored, Drusilla finishes and claps her bonny hand.

Hee, can't believe I wrote The Accent!

Re: Me say daaay-oh!

[shadowscast.livejournal.com]

::shiver:: Nice. And with the Accent and everything!

Though I'm going to be all difficult and point out that Kendra said she didn't remember her parents.

Re: Me say daaay-oh!

[hammiepoo.livejournal.com]

:) Yay, shivers!
Though I'm going to be all difficult and point out that Kendra said she didn't remember her parents.
Yes, so she 'wished' for a normal life. ;)

Re: Me say daaay-oh!

[hammiepoo.livejournal.com]

or alternately, I give up on this Kendra thing lol

Kendra in fanfic

[colleen-m.livejournal.com]

Kendra has a fairly substantial role in Part 1 of the story Cicatrix by Te, Debchan and The Spike. She's also paired with Xander in a believable teenage way, given the circumstances of the rather complex AU plot, which is based on the premise that Xander was unable to revive Buffy at the end of Prophecy Girl. Te's website seems to have disappeared, however, so the only place I could find the three parts of Cicatrix was through the Wayback Machine archive, at:

http://web.archive.org/web/20041014224712/teland.com/cica1.html

Re: Kendra in fanfic

[shadowscast.livejournal.com]

Oh, lovely! Thanks for the link.

[vureoelt.livejournal.com]

I think one problem with Kendra is that she has no strong attachments to any character. The closest we come is through this Jamaican watcher, which we don't even see or here, which goes through Giles. A very flimsy string indeed. Add the next to impossible to duplicate accent, which happens to be her most distinguishing feature and you've got a dud. I notice some people think she might be vain, but I suspect that line was just a gag since it was her only shirt. Therefore, making it her favourite by default. Har, har. Moving on... Aside from that, I would not be convinced of a characterization along those lines. The only one that really seems solid is her by-the-book rigid attitude and belief in the sacredness of her calling.

[shadowscast.livejournal.com]

Hey, when all you've got is crumbs...

Seriously, I think you've got a good point about her lack of strong connection to any one character. Thinking of the other minor characters I mentioned above, who get brought into fanfic more than Kendra does: Ethan has the connection with Giles, and Devon has the connection with Oz, and Holden was sired by Spike.

Plus, the dialect. I wouldn't know where to start.

[vureoelt.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but there are bigger crumbs out there. :) Like her shyness around boys, too, forgot that one.

Maybe connection isn't the best word... all of these characters also have (admittedly offstage) history together as well. Kendra? Drops in out of the blue, and vanishes just about as quickly. Not sure what made Faith different, but clearly there was something there. We shall have to see.

Yeah, the dialect. You can't really do Kendra without it, and I'm sure it's an obstacle for many. Which relagates Kendra to the backburner, because it's so tough to do it right.