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ozlic normality Oz. It seems a large, possibly disproportionate, number of the people here like to write about him. Some of us would even admit to obsessiveness bordering on mental illness. Kate, in one of our many conversations about the nature of Oz (well, more precisely our conversations about how Seth Green is so very gay, but that's a whole different discussion) wondered why it was that, "Oz lends himself to being in more...eccentric surroundings." In other words, why it is that in fic Oz can be found as a Thai ladyboy, a Cajun God, a pet of vampire Giles, a vampire pet of vampire Giles, carrying Willow's head in a plastic bag, sleeping with Tara in a schoolhouse surrounded by vamps, as Faith's best friend, as Ethan's lover on a road trip, in Las Vegas, in a bohemian art apartment, as an exhibit in a Mexican travelling freak show... well, you get the idea. People seem to like putting Oz in weird places. And it seems to work. Why? We thought about this, and I came to the conclusion that it was because he is so unflappable. Put, say, Xander, as a lady boy and we immediately think of him panicking about his gender identity and the fact his thighs look fat in those tights and basically being all insecure. Oz, on the other hand, shrugs and gets on with it. Because there'll be a reason for him being there. I think also that it's partly that one of the themes of Oz's life on the show is to fit in but not. Like, he keeps trying to find the place where he belongs but he never quite manages it, there always seems to be something not quite right. He drops back a year and that means he's different from the band, he never quite fits in with the Scoobs, his relationship with Willow is never quite secure through both their infidelities, despite being a werewolf he doesn't fit in with Veruca, travelling the world wasn't right - and what we fic writers are doing is taking it s step further and putting him in wild and eccentric situations to see what does fit. And it seems the more unusual the setting the more he seems to fit. What Oz wants is normality - but it seems he can't find his normal until it's someone else's weird. Or is that just us? |
