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fandomweekly2025-08-01 01:08 pm
badly_knitted) wrote in fandomweekly2025-08-01 01:08 pm
Entry tags:
[#269] Treating Herself (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Theme Prompt: 269 - Self-Indulgence
Title: Treating Herself
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating/Warnings: PG / None
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 898
Summary: Buffy has money from her birthday to spend, but is it a good idea to spend it on such an impractical self-indulgence?
It’s self-indulgence, and Buffy knows it. As the Slayer, it’s also totally impractical, a waste of both time and money, and she really ought to save her money for things she actually needs, like replacing the clothes that frequently get ruined by blood, and rips, and demon gunk whenever she fights the forces of evil.
On the other hand, she’s a teenager, and a girl, and she never, EVER gets to be properly girly, and right now, thanks to getting money for her birthday, she can afford this… Why shouldn’t she treat herself to a birthday makeover?
Just thinking it makes her feel guilty, which is inconvenient. She can think of half a hundred reasons why this is a terrible idea, and they’re good reasons, the sheer impracticality being at the top of the list, along with the fact that there are other, more important things she could do with all this money, like putting it in her savings account. Really, there’s only one reason on the side of actually doing it: Because she wants to. Because just for one single day, she wants to feel like a normal teenage girl, and do the kinds of things other teenage girls do, when they can afford to.
How many pairs of shoes could she buy for the same money? How many cute outfits? Probably not all that many, prices being what they are, but still, those are things that would last, at least for a while. This is something that might well wind up being ruined the next time she goes on patrol, which will be tonight, and is it really worth the cost for a few brief hours of feeling pretty, almost glamorous? She can’t even answer that, not in any way that would be one hundred percent honest, and she should walk away, save her money, be responsible Buffy, but…
She’s responsible Buffy every time she patrols, or does her homework, or her chores, or hands her completed assignments in on time, or does her training exercises. In other words, she’s responsible almost every day, to varying degrees. When does she get to be just a little bit irresponsible?
Then again, the last time she did something completely irresponsible, it cost her boyfriend his soul, and the time before that, she almost got sacrificed to a snake demon, so her track record with being irresponsible is… not good. But this isn’t the same thing, not at all. This isn’t about sex, no one’s going to lose their soul over it, and it isn’t even about partying, having fun, and maybe meeting boys. It’s about being pampered, and there’s nothing wrong or evil about that, is there?
Yes, she could go home and pamper herself with a long, hot bubble bath, but that’s a minor self-indulgence she enjoys at least once a week. It’s nothing unusual, and doesn’t turning eighteen, officially becoming an adult, sort of, deserve something a bit more special? If it doesn’t, then it should.
So, should she go ahead or not? How often is she likely to have the money for this kind of extravagance? The opportunity might never come her way again, she could be dead by her next birthday, and she’s been dithering out here too long already, trying to make up her mind. Passers-by are starting to stare. Yes or no? Make up your mind, Buffy! No one else can do it for you.
“It’s just once!”
Oh, now people are REALLY staring. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Nevertheless, it’s true, and even if the effects last less than a day, won’t it still be worth the cost? Okay, she’s not sure about that, but… Well, it might be, if she doesn’t go for the most expensive option, which she doubts she can afford anyway.
Cordelia probably gets to do this every week, but Cordelia is rich, so it’s not a fair comparison. For Cordelia, it’s routine, not remotely special, but for Buffy… Taking a deep breath, she moves to the door, pushes it open, and goes inside.
“Can I help you?” the woman behind the desk asks.
“Buffy Summers. I called earlier for an appointment.”
“Ah yes, Miss Summers. You’re lucky we could fit you in on short notice. If you’ll come this way.”
She could have chickened out, called and cancelled, saved her money, but Buffy knows if she did that, she’d only regret it. Better to regret something she does than something she didn’t have the nerve to do, right? And so what if her professional manicure and the rest of the beauty treatment package only last until tonight’s patrol? Right now, none of her nails are even chipped, which is almost unheard of. What better time to have herself made all pretty?
For once she’s doing something entirely for herself, something that can’t harm anyone else, and she’s not going to feel guilty about it. Well, okay, maybe a little guilty, but not enough to make her change her mind. She deserves this.
Keeping in mind how much money she has, she sits down with a manicurist to decide on exactly what she wants done, the colours of the nail polish, all the wonderfully girly details. For a few hours, she’s not going to be the Slayer, just a normal teenage girl pampering herself and feeling pretty. What price can be put on that?
The End
On the other hand, she’s a teenager, and a girl, and she never, EVER gets to be properly girly, and right now, thanks to getting money for her birthday, she can afford this… Why shouldn’t she treat herself to a birthday makeover?
Just thinking it makes her feel guilty, which is inconvenient. She can think of half a hundred reasons why this is a terrible idea, and they’re good reasons, the sheer impracticality being at the top of the list, along with the fact that there are other, more important things she could do with all this money, like putting it in her savings account. Really, there’s only one reason on the side of actually doing it: Because she wants to. Because just for one single day, she wants to feel like a normal teenage girl, and do the kinds of things other teenage girls do, when they can afford to.
How many pairs of shoes could she buy for the same money? How many cute outfits? Probably not all that many, prices being what they are, but still, those are things that would last, at least for a while. This is something that might well wind up being ruined the next time she goes on patrol, which will be tonight, and is it really worth the cost for a few brief hours of feeling pretty, almost glamorous? She can’t even answer that, not in any way that would be one hundred percent honest, and she should walk away, save her money, be responsible Buffy, but…
She’s responsible Buffy every time she patrols, or does her homework, or her chores, or hands her completed assignments in on time, or does her training exercises. In other words, she’s responsible almost every day, to varying degrees. When does she get to be just a little bit irresponsible?
Then again, the last time she did something completely irresponsible, it cost her boyfriend his soul, and the time before that, she almost got sacrificed to a snake demon, so her track record with being irresponsible is… not good. But this isn’t the same thing, not at all. This isn’t about sex, no one’s going to lose their soul over it, and it isn’t even about partying, having fun, and maybe meeting boys. It’s about being pampered, and there’s nothing wrong or evil about that, is there?
Yes, she could go home and pamper herself with a long, hot bubble bath, but that’s a minor self-indulgence she enjoys at least once a week. It’s nothing unusual, and doesn’t turning eighteen, officially becoming an adult, sort of, deserve something a bit more special? If it doesn’t, then it should.
So, should she go ahead or not? How often is she likely to have the money for this kind of extravagance? The opportunity might never come her way again, she could be dead by her next birthday, and she’s been dithering out here too long already, trying to make up her mind. Passers-by are starting to stare. Yes or no? Make up your mind, Buffy! No one else can do it for you.
“It’s just once!”
Oh, now people are REALLY staring. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Nevertheless, it’s true, and even if the effects last less than a day, won’t it still be worth the cost? Okay, she’s not sure about that, but… Well, it might be, if she doesn’t go for the most expensive option, which she doubts she can afford anyway.
Cordelia probably gets to do this every week, but Cordelia is rich, so it’s not a fair comparison. For Cordelia, it’s routine, not remotely special, but for Buffy… Taking a deep breath, she moves to the door, pushes it open, and goes inside.
“Can I help you?” the woman behind the desk asks.
“Buffy Summers. I called earlier for an appointment.”
“Ah yes, Miss Summers. You’re lucky we could fit you in on short notice. If you’ll come this way.”
She could have chickened out, called and cancelled, saved her money, but Buffy knows if she did that, she’d only regret it. Better to regret something she does than something she didn’t have the nerve to do, right? And so what if her professional manicure and the rest of the beauty treatment package only last until tonight’s patrol? Right now, none of her nails are even chipped, which is almost unheard of. What better time to have herself made all pretty?
For once she’s doing something entirely for herself, something that can’t harm anyone else, and she’s not going to feel guilty about it. Well, okay, maybe a little guilty, but not enough to make her change her mind. She deserves this.
Keeping in mind how much money she has, she sits down with a manicurist to decide on exactly what she wants done, the colours of the nail polish, all the wonderfully girly details. For a few hours, she’s not going to be the Slayer, just a normal teenage girl pampering herself and feeling pretty. What price can be put on that?
The End