Ethan and Eyghon and the Scythe, Oh My!
Oct. 11th, 2013 05:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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dragonyphoenix is writing a "Giles as Big Bad" fic inspired by my post on the subject back in February, when I asked if any such beast existed; since then I still have not come across any such. I still don't understand why, because the bones of the idea are all over the series. Ethan Rayne will be part of it, of course, and the jist of it is at present: Eyghon has been able to influence and corrupt Rupert over the years. Rupert's plan, as he arrives at the Hellmouth and takes over as Buffy's Watcher, is to corrupt the Slayer line by calling Eyghon down into the Scythe. Oh yes PLEASE. I love to draw parallels and comparisons across the buffyverse seasons so bringing together the early seasons, so that aspect alone is catnip. And Ethan? The Ripper backstory? All of it was so underused in the series. Yes, I know, aimed at a teenage audience blah blah....I want this so bad you have no idea. No pressure or anything like that. *shifty eyes*
leni_ba's Buffy/Angelus AU Courting Sin 'verse, in which Angelus gives Buffy the Scythe to make her more powerful, to continue to draw her to him and make her his newest "work of art". The Scythe was dropped into S7 to make the Buffyverse match up to Joss' Frayverse, so it's a deus ex machina and it's "myth"? Pure racist crap and totally up for grabs re: rewrites.
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Date: 2013-10-13 06:04 pm (UTC)I think that's part of the reason I identify with Buffy in the late seasons so so much, along with a thousand other reasons. (her self-confidence erodes over the course of the series until the only thing she thinks she's good at is Slaying - even in S7, Robin Wood and Willow laughing at her when she mentions hopefully getting a raise or promotion doesn't help, or Willow's "sweet girl, not too bright" in Chosen, etc etc; and then the kicker in EP when she's rejected in favor of Faith. It's a repeat of S5 in terms of everything being stripped away. And of course it isn't true but that's what she believes about herself and so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. She has to take back command, follow her instincts to the vineyard; but in real life it's not always that easy.
That the theme is continued in the comics - Willow and Angel laughing about how she "doesn't shut up"; the fact that she can't hold a job and isn't competent at ANYTHING in S9 to the point that one of her roommates is secretly covering her share of the rent, etc (and how does someone not notice that?) is painful. It's not just "she feels like a failure", it's "she IS a failure, full stop".
if it was just playing off the Pagan vibe.
Oh certainly so. Just going back to the '90s as I was saying you had the tv series "Charmed", which was a more "positive" depiction of witches - although all three of them were "babes"; but then also negative portrayals like "The Craft" - more babes, but being unable to handle their power.
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Date: 2013-10-13 10:16 pm (UTC)A MANANYONE! And I hate that she's now the butt of a joke and that all the blame for Twilight has gone on her shoulders. If you ever want to read some snarky feminist take-downs of the comics,It was the Origin Stories vid I was linking to. Have you read some of the links on this page? Lots of good stuff.
I get so excited linking stuff to you! It makes me feel old and wise in fandom, when in reality I'm Iron Age to many people's fandom dinosaurs!
And screw not finishing your masters! That just means you can call yourself an Independent Scholar!
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Date: 2013-10-14 12:31 am (UTC)I thought I was the only one who felt 'shipped those two in S7 who also felt that way! I get that the overall theme of the series has been reversing Buffy's isolation as The Chosen One (re:
But the "Me" moment in Becoming is SO POWERFUL; and as much as my shippy heart adored it I felt the same reservations that you did about it. But then again I have more issues with whose stories get prioritized S5-7 than i could begin to cover here.
Re: Origins I had read some of the meta conversation when I first came into fandom, long before I was able to watch the vid, and the statement someone made that Spike was symbolically wearing Nikki's SKIN blew my mind. I've never been able to look at the duster the same way since I read that. But again we're back to the prioritization of Spike's story over that of his victims....Christ, Joss makes it so hard for us sometimes.
I get so excited linking stuff to you! It makes me feel old and wise in fandom, when in reality I'm Iron Age to many people's fandom dinosaurs!
*hugs* I'm glad, because I LOVE getting and sharing links. There is SO much to read in this fandom, I'll never run out of material. EVER. And I've only been in this fandom a year and a half , ergo newbie, and I get giddy when someone says they've never heard of, for instance,
Of course I've also got ulterior motives; whenever I'm not sure how to express myself when countering an argument or putting forth a POV I can just say "read this".
That just means you can call yourself an Independent Scholar!
*blushes* Thank you! I like this very much and shall adopt this! I can say honestly that I have gotten more intellectual stimulation since I watched Buffy and joined this fandom than I had for the prior ten years! Of course there are other things that theoretically should have accompanied a master's such as status and income but in reality I know that's a friggin' fantasy or PR pitch. I remember doing a menial job in NC grading test papers - everyone had to have at least a bachelor's to get hired, and one of my coworkers had two masters' degrees.
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Date: 2013-10-14 01:09 am (UTC)This is exactly my experience. BtVS fandom (particularly the pro-Buffy contingent of Spuffy fans) got me out of a long period of depression, got me back into school, got me interested in fandom studies, and pretty much set the road I am currently traveling on. I changed political parties because of Buffy fandom. I learned about social justice through Buffy fandom, and became able to articulate the more progressive beliefs I had underlying the inbred conservatism I got from my parents through Buffy fandom. I'll forever be sad that my gaffe lost me so many of the friends who really influenced my beliefs and way of thinking, but I'm still grateful I met them because of the person I became because of them.
Shit. Now I'm crying.
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Date: 2013-10-14 08:56 pm (UTC)Folks here have been incredibly kind and supportive when I've talked about the apartment fire and I hope to pass that on. Whether the source is physical or mental, trauma is trauma. There is no timetable for dealing with the short and long-term wounds and losses.
And I find I am having less and less patience with people who can't find it in their hearts to forgive as I get older, particularly when it comes to something that doesn't amount to a hill of beans, frankly. You read the wonderful post on the subject
To still feel a sense of gratitude for the gifts others have given you, even after they have turned away, is such an amazing and admirable quality of character IMO.
Anyhoo, I'm going to PM you if that's ok.
Now I'm crying too. (But I'm ok with that.)
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Date: 2013-10-13 11:13 pm (UTC)In retrospect I don't get the "Buffy isn't good at school / life" meme. Someone I read recently was discussing how Buffy is the one to figure out the Big Bad in early S1. For example in Witch she puts together that Amy's mother has switched their bodies without even knowing that's a possibility.
Pt 1 of long-ass reply
Date: 2013-10-14 08:02 pm (UTC)Very much so - lupus, epilepsy, now a back injury almost a year ago that makes even sitting painful. Also no access to transportation and NO MONEY. that last is a big thing. 20 years after the fact I'm still paying off school loans for the masters program I started but had to drop out of. (What the HELL was I thinking when I attended on an out-out-state status in NC which is far more expensive? Clearly, I wasn't. Oh Buffy, how I get her - you can be "smart" in all sorts of ways but intelligence in terms of finances? that's a skill you have to learn, and I never did. too much "this will turn out all right" unrealistic thinking.) and most of the grants etc that were available to me as an undergrad are not available to grad students. So getting myself further and deeper into debt, for a career that might not even pay off that loan and I may not even be able to get a job in anyway seems foolish. There is no such thing as walking out of college and being guaranteed that a job will be waiting for you, even in careers that were "recession-proof" (f.ex. the health care industry). I'm sure some people will say I'm being "pessimistic" but here's the thing - I tried optimism for years. I was fucking lousy with optimism. It'll all work out! and I believed that. Because - I'm white? Because I didn't or couldn't consider the alternative?
The notion that there is a fixed destination and if you're white and middle class or even working class you have to go to college because your life will be better thereby and the big house will be waiting for you at the end or else you're a failure is - well, an illusion, and a pretty one. And not a new one; have you read The History of Private Life? in the chapter on the 19th century, the authors talk about how, when compulsory education was opened in France to males beyond the upper class, suddenly there was a huge number of men who had been "prepared" for success but found reality didn't match what they'd been told they'd find.
I get that school is expensive but at the Masters level aren't you also teaching and therefor bringing in money?
If you're getting a degree in K-12 education that also has a program where you intern yourself at a school and teach in exchange for tuition, then sort of. I looked at social work and counseling programs for a time as well, and all of them have you interning at a facility, as well one should, to get job experience but generally you're not getting paid. And there are TA positions that help with tuition; I had one for a year but the amount of money is nominal esp for the amount of work you are expected to do.
And I don't mean to make excuses; I screwed up, I get that. My fault. But it's finally starting to sink in that I know a lot of people who are intelligent and have Master's degrees and haven't followed the track we're 'supposed to'. Some of it's me and some of it's just - having to accept that there are no guarantees.
Ok, so enough about me, let's talk about Buffy....*lol*
Re: Pt 2 of long-ass reply
Date: 2013-10-14 08:03 pm (UTC)I once saw some comments on a forum for TV Tropes in which several people repeated "Buffy's not that creative" to the point I wondered what show they were watching. Creativity, intuition and native intelligence are some of Buffy's most important tools. She's contrasted against the "learned by rote" Kendra (in ways that are unfair to Kendra, I think), which is why Giles doesn't know what to do with her in the early seasons. Lessons from the book are useless when it comes to her.
In some ways her going back to Giles in S4-5 and saying she needed to learn more from him, she needed him as a Watcher, may have been an expression of how much her confidence had faltered, and perhaps did her more harm than good in the long run. I think he needed to be needed by her more than she needed him as a Watcher. What she really needed was a father-figure but was unable to express that outright.
I've seen studies conducted - how "scientific" I have no idea - that say that girls in the US (I don't race or class) tend to lose confidence as become teenagers and become more aware of the standards of beauty they see every day in the media, and aware of boys and sexuality and trying to please and be pleasing to the opposite sex in order to "win" a boyfriend. I'd like to think things are improving but in fact eating disorders are on the rise, which is extremely telling.
So Buffy's loss of confidence is something that fits very well with RL patterns for American teenagers/young women; including the fact that (as I have) she links self-esteem or lack thereof to her failure to finish college, etc.
But I'm not sure the writers of the show are actually making a point about RL and in fact I suspect the opposite. And the comics only push that to extremes: Buffy is good at NOTHING. have you read
http://superplin.livejournal.com/205253.html
http://superplin.livejournal.com/205478.html
http://superplin.livejournal.com/205714.html
Re: Pt 1 of long-ass reply
Date: 2013-10-15 03:09 pm (UTC)I was lucky with finanaces. My Mom paid off my loans after I'd flunked out as an undergrad, which, looking back, suggests she made more at her job than I'd realized. Money was pretty tight growing up; I don't know how she saved up whatever that amount was. Dad helped considerably when I went back. By that time I was on in-state tuition at least.
I go back and forth between optimism and pessimism. It's always been difficult for me to get a new job in my field - even just out of college I had only one offer - and computer skills change all the time and my jobs haven't given me opportunities to update mine. I program in a language called C++ and there is less and less calling for it. I tried taking Java classes at a local university but the focus was more on Object Oriented Programming which I already know from C++. Honestly, I could have taught 90% of those classes. In addition my anemia and mother's death led me to a mid-life crisis. Now I am very burnt out with that career. My therapist is encouraging me to think outside the box and I know there are people who are successful designing their own careers or switching to new careers. I'm definitely afraid. I try to think of it as an experiment (worked for Buckminster Fuller) but I keep getting back to “why should this work for me?” But I don't see me old career being viable long-term. MAYBE if I were really gung-ho and went back for Masters and possibly Ph. D. it'd work out long-term but I'm not even sure about that. Plus I just don't care about programming anymore.
And there are TA positions that help with tuition; I had one for a year but the amount of money is nominal esp for the amount of work you are expected to do. See, that's the information I was missing, that there is a lot of work in exchange for a little money as a TA.
One of the problems with money is that we aren't taught how to be smart about it. I was fed a dream as well although mine focused more on their being loyalty - on both sides - between employee and company. That's not how it works. The company has all the power. If they tell me to jump I'm not supposed to think about whether or not jumping is in my best interests, I'm supposed to ask “How high?” I was also sold the dream that you stay with the company, you're loyal, and you're taken care of for life. It might have worked that way once but it sure doesn't now.
I know a guy who was tremendously loyal, actually I know a number of guys who were tremendously loyal and were laid off anyway, but I'm thinking of one in particular. He was on a management track and then shunted back to programming, which he hadn't done in years and didn't have the skills for given the new programming paradigm. He arranged to take management training through the company while working as a programmer and trying to pick up the new development skills he needed. After a year he was laid off because he wasn't getting the programming skills. Instead of looking at the industry and seeing that it's changing, he's asking the industry “How high?” He's taking college courses to try to make himself a better fit as an employee. Maybe that will work for him but after twenty-five years in the field I think he could be throwing his money down the drain.