Thursday, March 31, 2011

Buffy and Edward, sitting in a tree...

Click to laugh. CLICK

Troublesome fantastic art

VampTramp(buffy-boards.com) and me are trying to make this piece she made into the blog's background. So if the blog looks weird, it's because we're playing around, trying to make the image fit without being in the way of the text.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Heart/Stake necklace.

If I had a boyfriend, I'd make him wear this. And if he was actually willing to, I'd marry him. BFF necklaces

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Hellmouth... fragrance?

I... want it? It seems like it would smell good, but... CLICK

OMG CUUUUTE!!!

Cute plushies Buffy Spike Angel 1 Angel 2

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Weekly feature: Excerpt from original script

From Older and far away (Buffy season 6).

The ending of this scene with Willow, Xander and Anya were altered from the shooting script to the aired version. CLICK to see what made it onscreen.


This is the original ending:

"XANDER
It's just, Buffy really wants her
there, seems important to her, and I
told her I would ask you.

WILLOW
(overeager)
Oh, yeah, of course, she should
totally be there, it'll be great!

XANDER
You'll be okay with it?

WILLOW
What, me? Of course, why wouldn't I
be? It'll be fun, I'll be fine.

Xander and Anya exchange a glance, a little dubious.


ANYA
This isn't some weird definition of
"fine" that means hiding in your room
and crying?
WILLOW
No.

ANYA
Because we're tired of the crying.

WILLOW
Guys, Tara's Buffy's friend, too,
she should be there. I want her there,
it'll be good to see her.

Dawn walks in.


WILLOW (cont'd)
Besides, I think we can handle a
couple of hours in the same house."

Then Dawn comes in.

Source: buffyworld.com

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Adooooorable!

girl0in0question has some adorable art and vampy cat(season 8 monsters) Linkcustoms over at deviantart.

Season 5 cast of Buffy. So cute! And more here.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Weekly feature: Excerpt from original script

From Older and far away (Buffy season 6).

In the scene were we first see Sophie some lines didn't make it, and some were moved.

From the shooting script:

SOPHIE
(not used to groups)
Hey, um, my mom told me to say thank
you right away for inviting me,
'cause otherwise I usually forget, so
thank you, and also that I can't have
any chocolate or peanuts or egg yolks
or sometimes dairy.
[MOVED]

Beat.


BUFFY
No problem.
ANYA
(sotto to Buffy)
That's your friend from work?

BUFFY
Well... yeah.
(beat)
All the good ones got picked off by
that lady with the wig, lay off.

ANYA
Humm. Our friend is better.

From the aired episode:

SOPHIE: Hey. Uh, my mom told me to say thank you right away, 'cause, otherwise I usually forget. So, thank you. And, also, um, I can't have any, any chocolate, or, or peanuts or egg yolks.

ANYA: (whispers to Buffy) Is this the friend you brought from work?
Link
BUFFY: Yes.

SOPHIE: A-and sometimes dairy.

BUFFY: No problem.

ANYA: (whispers to Buffy) Our friend is better.


Source: shooting script buffyworld.com and transcript from Buffyverse Dialouge Database screencap from screencap paradise

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Color the worlds in pretty colors.

Ryan has colored another comic page, this time for issue 5 of the ongoing Spike series. Here's the un-colored version, and here's Ryan's colored version. I've yet to buy the real thing, so I liked seeing this fan-coloring.

Book out today

New Buffy book out today.

Whedonistas: A Celebration of the Worlds of Joss Whedon by the Women Who Love Them.

Spike art

What I suspect is a never before seen sketch (unless it appears in issue 6 of the ongoing Spike series) by Stephen Mooney.

CLICK

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Weekly feature: Excerpt from original script

From First date (Buffy season 7).

Not all the lines from the scene where Wood tells Buffy about how his mom died made it into the script(and a few lines are re-phrased).

The parts in bold were cut completey. Too bad; they were funny.

"BUFFY
Something got her? A demon or a...

WOOD
A vampire. I went through this whole
avenging son phase in my twenties,
but I never found who did it. So now
I just dust as many of 'em as I can
find. Figure eventually I'll get
him. That's probably why we got
jumped. I'm not very popular with
the bumpy forehead crowd. Bet you
aren't either.

BUFFY
Not most of 'em, no. Are you... do
you have Slayer powers? I mean, I
just... I'm floored by this... I
don't even know what to ask.

WOOD
I don't have powers. No super-
strength or mythic responsibilities.
Just a guy with a few skills because
her Watcher took me in and raised me.

BUFFY
In Beverly Hills.

WOOD
See now, that detail takes the edge
off my Little Orphan Robin story, but
yeah, that was true.

BUFFY
So you decided to tell me."

Source: shooting script from buffyworld.com transcript from Buffyverse Dialouge Database.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Angel raped and no on cares; A act of sexism?

Anyone notice any unfair treatment of raped men in movies and on TV shows? Hell, in society at large?

We see Darla sensually sliding down sleeping Angel's supposedly half-naked body in early season 2 of Angel. In First Impressions I think. Much like Willow did on top of Tara in OMWF. Angel had dreams where they kiss and do more, which are also "implying" that Darla has sex with him in his sleep. Not sure how she covered that up, the smell and stickyness, but I assume it was that dream-spell that was used.

In the episode Darla, we have this exchange, "acknowledging" the rape.

http://vrya.net/bdb/clip.php?clip=3754

I really do want to pretend that Cordelia didn't actually say that in such a light tone, but she did, and it's pretty hard to pretend that she thought Darla was just "sitting" there. I think she knew there was sex things going on, and I think the writers intended us to think that. So it happened. It's canon.

So Angel got raped. Repeatedly. And no one seems to give much thought to it. It's not a "hush hush, it's too horrible to mention, let's move on from it" thing, it's a "It's so silly Angel didn't realize it was happening" thing. Wesley and Cordelia didn't care. Angel didn't seem to care. Which I guess isn't that weird; the guy is used to torture and humiliation, and probably thinks he had it coming. Bur Wesley and Cordelia not making a big deal about it? The writers not making a big deal about it? WTF?

Now, it's very wrong in itself, a character getting raped and no fuss being made, but I want to add another level of wrongness; sexism.

If this had happened to a woman, people would notice, and the writers would have made a big deal about it. Maybe I'm just paranoid, maybe they would have used it was a plot device whatever in that case as well, but seriously, don't we live in a society where it's much easier for us to see and accept female victims? And to ignore, even belittle, male victims?

If a girl gets her a** smacked at work, it's a BIG deal. A guy gets his a** tapped and complains, people tell him to be a man about it.

I saw 40 days and 40 nights expecting a light comedy, but what happens? The main guy gets raped by a his ex, because she want to win a bet. Do people seem outraged at this? The main character in schock, feeling filthy, the audience angry that this happens in a comedy? Nope. Not saying that all guys would take it that hard, being raped, but come on; someone had sex with him in his sleep. It's a big damn deal. But I rarely see that in RL of in pop culture; people caring about men being violated.

We think about how hard it must be for girls to come forward, but we don't think about the boys; the ones who aren't allowed to feel like victims. No, we're always aware that some men can turn violent. But we're not really prepared to deal with them being victims, are we?

Something else worth thinking about is girl on girl violence, and man on man. Now, if a girl raped a girl, how would people react? I think some who normally care about rape would shrug; "There's no *real* penetration, what the big deal? And it's not like girl's could actually have any evil intentions. Girls are harmless." Others might *overreact*; "OMG a girl did what? But girls are suppose to be nice. She's a abdomination!"

In Sweden, we had this guy, who he his junk got grabbed by a gay man in a bathroom and he hits that sexual harrassing jerk. Yay for him, I think, but people called him a homophob. WTF? The other way around is bad as well, when people act like a man hitting on another man, sexual harrassment or not, is outrageous, filthy, wrong, more so than "straight" harrassment.

So, what do you guys think? About the Angel incident or sexist rape in general? Do we need to stop teaching our fathers, brothers and sons that they're not just suppose to be nice to others, but demand that others are nice to them as well?

The true meaning of equality starts with that; equality.

Talk.

-EDIT

Turns out she wasn't sliding down his body, when I re-watched the scene. Did not make me have less icky feelings though. Pretty clear she was about to rape him. Here's a transcript from the scene. LINK

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Big Sister

Screw Big Brother(mind out of the gutter), go for Big Sister.

CLICK

The Buffy fun is in the last few secs of the vid, but watch the whole thing.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Weekly feature: Excerpt from original script

Forgot to do this last week, so this is a double.

First up, Eternity (Angel season 1).

"Cordelia and Wesley deconstructed Cordelia destruction of the part of Nora, in this exchange cut due to length:

WESLEY: I've always regarded Nora ass one of the seminal characters or late-nine-teenth, early-twentieth-century literature.
CORDELIA: Yeah, but I thought I managed to breath a little life into her, anyway - (drinks) - you have to train for a tour de force like this, lots of water, lots of power walking.
WESLEY: Yes, I, uh, don't recall seeing Ibsen's Nora portrayed as a power-walker before.
CORDELIA: I brought that to the part, the director was, like, clueless."

And second, Sanctuary.

"KENDRICK: Come on, Kate. Everyone knows you've gone all Scully. Anytime one of these weird cases crosses anyone's desk, you're always there. We used to be friends - what's going on with you?
KATE: Scully's the skeptic.
KENDRICK: Hunh?
KATE: Mulder's the believer. Scully's the skeptic.
Down at the precinct, Kate gets hassled by fellow officer, but she corrects his X-Files reference."


Source: The Casefiles (more info to the menu at the right).

How to sell Buffy

How would you sell Buffy to people who haven't seen the show? Who might even fins it silly, from hearing that a cheerleader slays vampires in it.

I've never meet any "You watch Buffy? Really?" people, but this is probably how I would sell the show:

"OMG, it's so awesome, you have to watch it! WATCH IT!"

Hopefully I would then go on to say that it's a show with horror, drama, romance, comedy and action, that can make me laugh at the jokes, cry at the painful deaths of beloved characters and applaud the action scenes. That it's a show that doesn't take itself seriously and can be really silly, yet has serious poignant moments that glues me to the screen and make me reflect on the world and the people in it. I really don't know how to sum up the whole thing, since it seems unique. I guess it depends on who I'm trying to sell it too.

A ten year old boy might like to hear it has monsters in it, a teen might like to hear that it uses monsters of the week as metaphors for teen troubles, a horny lonely 22 year old (me *cough*) might like to know it has hot characters in it, female and male, and a feminist on the prowl for a good tv show might like that a woman is the main kick a** character on the show, yet that it's realistic and doesn't paint men as the bad guys.

Trying to say what Buffy is seems hard. Easier to say what it isn't. It's not a show about that vampires are hot. It's not a show about the everyday drama of a a group of friends. It's not a show with a feministic message that has to slam the viewers with morals every episode. It's not a show that depends on good looking actors. But at the same time, it has hot vampires, a group of friends dealing with everyday problems and a feministic message. It's a bit of everything really. Hard and pointless to label.

I got the idea to this blog post from this buffy-boards thread with the same theme.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Spike & Dawn; Could it happen?

What if you favorite non-canon shipping happened? How would that work out?

Not talking about what kind of fanfics you like to read, but how would that have been played out on TV/in the comics, written by professional writers who aren't out to fullfile fan needs, but write a believeable great story.

My thoughts on Spawn:
I can't decide which ship is my favorite, but I pick Spawn(Spike+Dawn) and how it could be played out in the comics (on the show it would have been a bit icky, since she's too young, nevermind that Bangel happened when Buffy was Dawn's age).

I pick that ship since it's not as "unbelieveble" as some of my other favorite ships (one of them Xander+Angelus+Spike). I've never seen them have any chemistry on the show, just some potential friendship going on, but I just like the idea of them together.

I think there would be a huge issue with the attempted rape on Buffy, and also that Spike used to date Buffy. I can also see Xander trying to stake Spike (out of jelaousy or overprotectiveness, in case they feel out of love before Spawn happened).

I think it could be interesting, and pretty good drama. Sure, we've already have a lot of triangle dramas on the shows (Angel/Buffy/Spike, Angelus/Drusilla/Spike, Gunn/Wesley/Fred, Angel/possessed-Cordelia/Connor, Lilah/Fred/Wesley and probably more I've forgotten) but I would like to see this play out. It's kind of a foursome drama actually, in case Xander would still be in the picture.

Here's an idea:
Spike is hanging after Buffy as usually, in season 9. He and Dawn has a talk about the attempted rape thing, and Dawn tries to forgive him. Xander hates that they're talking to each other. Maybe he unconsciously feels that there's something there. Then Spike & Buffy start to date. Angel is in London, being depressed, out of the picture. Buffy still loves him, but can't stand being in the same country as him and doesn't see that changing.

Spike & Buffy stats to date. Spike starts noticing Dawn. And Dawn sees him too (I can see a funny walking-in-on-Spike-coming-out-naked-from-the-shower scene happening). They both thinks it's icky, with Spike having seen her as a child for so long, and his great love's little sister, and Dawn seeing him as a potential monster that hurt her sister(I think this needs to be dealt with, since fans would have the same problems). Maybe they admit the chemistry between them, talk about it, and decides that it's nothing. They are both happy with the relationships they have.

The story moves on (it's not like this would happen in just a couple of issues, the story above should have taken a arc or two) and everything seems fine. Maybe Buffy and Xander sees that there's something between Spike & Dawn and worry a bit (maybe they act a certain way around each, not even knowing it themselves, sharing laughs and becoming friends). Anyhow, let's say something happens. A quick kiss, almost by accident or a event like in Lover's walk with Willow & Xander; a dangerous situation turns romantic. They regret it right away of course. Spike hates the idea of cheating because of Drusilla's lust after Angelus, and Dawn has been down that road before.

Dawn is full with guilt. Spike keeps his mouth shut, not willing to risk Buffy & his relationship, but Dawn tells Xander & Buffy. Hopefully this brings up Buffy trying to seduce Xander. I think Dawn thinks she understands what happened, but repressed her fears, up until now.

The reveal causes mayor drama. Maybe Xander & Buffy want to take a break from Spike & Dawn, and breaks up with them.

Spike is mad at Dawn, they argue, and ops! Angry sex. Then regret. Lots of it. But less than they both expected. Then things go from there, with continued drama, and Spike loving Buffy and Dawn loving Xander, but the chemistry between Dawn & Spike won't go away. Maybe in the end, they stop fighting it. But since it's a Whedon story and there's no happy ending, I'm guessing that either Spike or Dawn moves away from San Francisco and starts anew (spin offs!). Hopefully, they end up together in the last season, or atleast one of them meet someone. I really think Spike deserves a healthy relationship for a change, so if not with Dawn, maybe Buffy, or someone entirely new.

I can see this happening, in case Joss decided the relationship should be explored. Am I being too unrealistic? There's no need to get this deep into the pairing; maybe they just feel attracted to each other, no romance, and Dawn wants revenge for some reason (maybe the Xander seduction) and seduces Spike, who may or may not be dating Buffy.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Things We Learnt From Fanfic

Fanfics of the Buffyverse do have a lot in common. Sometimes those similarities even show up in different ships.

Buffy smells like vanilla in both Buffy&Angel and Buffy&Spike fics. In Spike&Xander fics, Xander is often abused by his parents, who Spike kill, to prove his love. And oh, vampires purr.

Here's a discussion thread about these similarities and many many more. It's quite a amusing read. And here are two different fics, making fun of these similarities.

Ships That Pas Into Type

Spike's Crypt

Wacky art

Two wacky pieces of art.

First William the Bloody. Captain of the Slayer. by Xaphania

And this wonderfully weird bee piece by Vamp Tramp.

Both members of buffy-boards.com