NL: Day Seven -- Winifred 'Fred' Burkle (Angel)

[butterfly]

Winifred 'Fred' Burkle
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I fell in love with Fred in the 'Jasmine' arc at the end of Season Four of Angel, when she ran off from the still-spell-bound members of AI and figured out a way to save them. I'd been intrigued by her crazy survival-based self in her introductory episodes and then disappointed when she seemed cured too quickly. The Jasmine arc showed me that she wasn't, that everything that she'd been in Pylea was still there, and that made me look at her differently. Respect her more for still having that fear and pain but overcoming it every day.

Fred's defining characteristic is that she's a survivor (it could be argued that the Illyria arc is a point against that, but considering Illyria's desire for Wesley's companionship, I don't believe that Fred's soul was truly destroyed). Starting with Pylea, Fred is the one who goes through hell and comes out the other side -- not without losing significant things, but still, she survives. She was a modern-day girl placed into an impossible world, where her choices were slavery or death -- instead of allowing either, she managed to escape, to live completely alone in the caves, to become something close to feral and insane, but never forgetting what made her arrive there in the first place. She never stopped hoping that she'd find a way home -- Fred never gives up. "This is my power: to not let them take me."

Five Times Fred Completely Kicked Ass
1. Two words: Bloody hand. One of her first big moments, luring a less in-control Angel away from his friends that he might hurt without wanting to. Her first episode made a really great first impression.

2. Pointing a crossbow at the Lost Boys in That Old Gang of Mine. Pretending that she was willing to shoot Angel so that she could get her hands on a weapon. Lovely.

3. "I'm the bitch." Supersymmetry. I do feel that if anyone took revenge on the professor, in any way, Fred was the person and sending him to a hell dimension was the right way. He did need to be stopped, because he was dangerous, and Fred was the one he'd hurt that had come back and could speak for herself. I resented Gunn for a while for taking that choice away from Fred. He wasn't the guardian of her soul.

4. Shooting through Jasmine so that her blood would get on Angel and break her power over him. Brilliant and brave and very impressive.

5. A Hole in the World. Flamethrower. With her hair up the way it was and the light of the fires, I do think it's the most attractive that I ever found Fred.

Fred had a hell of a lot of willpower and heart, two things that I admire very much. She had a moral code and hope, and, with every breath in her body, she fought against the things that would destroy her.

Note: I've decided that if I miss someone's day as a result of busyness, I'm going to post about them next month instead -- so far, that's Arwen, Tara, Frannie, and Boomer.

Unrelated Note: If you're American and you haven't voted yet, please take the time today to do so. I know that it's frustrating to see the same thing eighty-million times, but this is such an important thing, something that will change all of our lives for years to come. Thank you.

Comments

[ros-fod.livejournal.com]

"This is my power: to not let them take me."

This still makes me cry like a little baby.

I've really enjoyed reading these, although I don't always have time to comment. I love your love for all these characters.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

This still makes me cry like a little baby.

Me, too. Fred is love.

I've really enjoyed reading these, although I don't always have time to comment. I love your love for all these characters.

Thanks. Hopefully, I will actually manage to post all of them before 2006 is over. *grins*

[trepkos.livejournal.com]

Yes, that bit where she gets the crossbow is excellent!

I resented Gunn for a while for taking that choice away from Fred.

Oh, me too!
She should have been the one to do it - and I don't believe it would have damaged her - it would have given her great satisfaction.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Yes, that bit where she gets the crossbow is excellent!

It was such a wonderful moment for her. She was strong and kinda tricky.

She should have been the one to do it - and I don't believe it would have damaged her - it would have given her great satisfaction.

And it really would have been a fair punishment for what he'd done. After all, there was a chance that he would survive, her way -- she did.

[thawrecka]

Fred was so very awesome. So strong and smart and complicated, full of interesting little quirks and fascinating issues. I really adored her character.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

She was such a great character! Amy Acker did a really wonderful job with that part (made all the clearer by not different Illyria was and how different her character 'Andrea' was on Supernatural).

Her strength and her burning desire to survive contrast so clearly against her morality and compassion when I see her now -- she really was a very complex character.

[spiletta42.livejournal.com]

Fred became my favorite character on Angel from the moment she raised that bloody fist in her first episode. That act showed her courage and quick thinking immediately, and it also showed that despite what she'd been through, she still had an open heart. She was willing to trust this strange man who had saved her from the monsters, even when he became one himself. It was really an extraordinary introduction to the character.

I've always said that sanity is a myth, and Fred well illustrates what I mean by that. She's been off the deep end, but even before she's healed, she's functioning as a productive member of Angel Inc, and that's good, because when is anyone ever really healed? Everyone has issues, it's just some people work with them, while others stumble.

A Hole in the World was the most painful episode of anything that I've ever watched. Every moment of it tore at me. I find it inconceivable that Fred's soul was lost. She's still buried in Illyria. One of these days I have to write the fic that does something with my specific theories on the issue, but Fred doesn't give up, and I don't think a soul can be destroyed unless the owner of that soul gives up.

I'm a little bummed to discover I don't have a Fred icon, or in fact any Angel related icons, so I'm off to fix that oversight now.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Fred became my favorite character on Angel from the moment she raised that bloody fist in her first episode. That act showed her courage and quick thinking immediately, and it also showed that despite what she'd been through, she still had an open heart. She was willing to trust this strange man who had saved her from the monsters, even when he became one himself. It was really an extraordinary introduction to the character.

Such a powerful character introduction, definitely. We got to see all the amazing shades of Fred early on.

I've always said that sanity is a myth, and Fred well illustrates what I mean by that. She's been off the deep end, but even before she's healed, she's functioning as a productive member of Angel Inc, and that's good, because when is anyone ever really healed? Everyone has issues, it's just some people work with them, while others stumble.

Indeed -- some parts of her were definitely broken by Pylea, but she figured out how to bypass the non-working systems and function as a feeling human being.

A Hole in the World was the most painful episode of anything that I've ever watched. Every moment of it tore at me. I find it inconceivable that Fred's soul was lost. She's still buried in Illyria. One of these days I have to write the fic that does something with my specific theories on the issue, but Fred doesn't give up, and I don't think a soul can be destroyed unless the owner of that soul gives up.

Yes. If the soul that a vampire steals can be returned, I doubt that Illyria could truly destroy Fred's. The body, that I can easily believed was changed and molded to shape Illyria's presence, but not the soul.

[xander-harris.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

Ah, Fred. How I love and miss her. Next to Buffy, she owns me in the Whedonverse. And Cordy...and Tara...oh damn my minds getting naughty must stop and focus.

Yes. Fred. Lover her. She's the best. Brilliant, attractive and an essential part of the group.

ANd I did vote. Did my civic duty.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Fred was wonderful. So many of the Whedonverse women kicked so much ass.

And yay for voting!

[jic]

*happy sigh* Yeah, Fred's cool.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Ultra-super cool!

*grins*

[fizzyblogic.livejournal.com]

I fell in love with Fred the moment she said the words "I can't talk to you if you don't have a head, okay?" She was just so precious and I adored her instantly. Oh Fred. I still get sad whenever I hear "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me haaappyyyyy when skies are grey" D: