And I think this is why her story speaks to so many people. The "changing the world to her liking" is particularly will-to-power-y, an expression of an adolescent fantasy.
It's interesting; you mentioned in a post wayback (and God I should actually like, comment on people's posts when they make them and not save it all up for conversation in my lj) about how insofar as she had that power, Dawn was your self-insert, and how maybe that's not quite how I felt about Tara, which made me giggle and go yeah, maybe not. Then I got to thinking about how I identify with Willow and Tara and Fred (and all my characters to some extent but those most frequently) and how some of the very first Buffyverse fic I wrote was "A Teeny Tiny Temporal Fold," where one of the major themes is that Willow can have a person she's had a crush on for nearly her whole life, and that while he's always had power over her and been older/wiser/more mature, now she has the knowledge and the power to intrigue him as he did her when she was in high school. And hey, that's pretty will-to-power-y.
OTOH, and SoLS!Fred would spank me for saying this (snerk), I feel as though the particular power-themes that work through my fics are only peripherally power issues and more about love/desire proper. Or rather, the fics of mine that most speak to my adolescent fantasies are things like "Never Was Cool," (which I can't remember/don't know if you've read) where, minus the reciprocity of the feeling, was my middle school experience.
So. Um. The reason Matilda spoke to me is not so much she-had-power-over-grownups as she-won-the-day-and-got-the-girl, though I'm not sure how I articulated that when I was younger (maybe when I was first introduced to the text, it was just "ooh, she reads books just like me!")
My canon is at home; I never thought to bring the movie to school with me.
Local library? (I checked, because I am becoming more like Elizabeth every day, and it's not in your school library, which is funny, because I'm reasonably sure it was in Baldwin's collection, which was low on actual academic stuff but good with chick flicks and Disney's animated. *g*)
Any good crossover candidates?
I asked my brain this question, it spat out "River!" and I (metaphorically) spat out my drink. According to Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) this means it's a good idea - good ideas are the ones you react to physically. And if River and Matilda bonded over braininess and magical powers, just think of the angst from both Jenny and Simon, who love them so but can't connect on that same level!
I have my own plans for an HP crossover, though I can't decide which 'verse to set it in - or rather, there are clear disadvantages to each. The bookverse doesn't really work because [whited out just in case; spoilers for the end of the book] Matilda loses her powers and so wouldn't get a Hogwarts letter, but the movieverse doesn't work either because it's set in America, so Matilda wouldn't get a Hogwarts letter. Other than that, I'm enjoying the idea of Matilda-at-Hogwarts but don't have any particular ideas - and since she's sorted differently in book and movieverse, the Luna-or-Hermione question depends on which 'verse it's in. Yes, I've been thinking about this far too much!
no subject
It's interesting; you mentioned in a post wayback (and God I should actually like, comment on people's posts when they make them and not save it all up for conversation in my lj) about how insofar as she had that power, Dawn was your self-insert, and how maybe that's not quite how I felt about Tara, which made me giggle and go yeah, maybe not. Then I got to thinking about how I identify with Willow and Tara and Fred (and all my characters to some extent but those most frequently) and how some of the very first Buffyverse fic I wrote was "A Teeny Tiny Temporal Fold," where one of the major themes is that Willow can have a person she's had a crush on for nearly her whole life, and that while he's always had power over her and been older/wiser/more mature, now she has the knowledge and the power to intrigue him as he did her when she was in high school. And hey, that's pretty will-to-power-y.
OTOH, and SoLS!Fred would spank me for saying this (snerk), I feel as though the particular power-themes that work through my fics are only peripherally power issues and more about love/desire proper. Or rather, the fics of mine that most speak to my adolescent fantasies are things like "Never Was Cool," (which I can't remember/don't know if you've read) where, minus the reciprocity of the feeling, was my middle school experience.
So. Um. The reason Matilda spoke to me is not so much she-had-power-over-grownups as she-won-the-day-and-got-the-girl, though I'm not sure how I articulated that when I was younger (maybe when I was first introduced to the text, it was just "ooh, she reads books just like me!")
My canon is at home; I never thought to bring the movie to school with me.
Local library? (I checked, because I am becoming more like Elizabeth every day, and it's not in your school library, which is funny, because I'm reasonably sure it was in Baldwin's collection, which was low on actual academic stuff but good with chick flicks and Disney's animated. *g*)
Any good crossover candidates?
I asked my brain this question, it spat out "River!" and I (metaphorically) spat out my drink. According to Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) this means it's a good idea - good ideas are the ones you react to physically. And if River and Matilda bonded over braininess and magical powers, just think of the angst from both Jenny and Simon, who love them so but can't connect on that same level!
I have my own plans for an HP crossover, though I can't decide which 'verse to set it in - or rather, there are clear disadvantages to each. The bookverse doesn't really work because [whited out just in case; spoilers for the end of the book] Matilda loses her powers and so wouldn't get a Hogwarts letter, but the movieverse doesn't work either because it's set in America, so Matilda wouldn't get a Hogwarts letter. Other than that, I'm enjoying the idea of Matilda-at-Hogwarts but don't have any particular ideas - and since she's sorted differently in book and movieverse, the Luna-or-Hermione question depends on which 'verse it's in. Yes, I've been thinking about this far too much!
CJ Cregg. I'm just sayin'.