Today's post brought to you by the need to throw SOMETHING on this journal no matter how silly...

[red_satin_doll]

And also, to remind everyone to vote in the otherworldlyric icon challenge contest #162.
ETA: dragonydreams just let me know that voting is closed and winners have been announced. Congratulations to winners spikesredqueen and chic_c !
(While I'm here I might as well send more kudos to wickedbish for being such an awesome icon beta.)



Now go get some sleep - tomorrow's a long day, sweetie.

Comments

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Kara did have one big advantage over the other new slayers: Her father, a former teacher, not only supported her once he found out, but actually came along with her and became a teacher for all the young slayers. But I think that sense of community is a big factor in why the slayers in my universe are relatively happy with their lot -- there's something to be said for being in a group, rather than a lone warrior with the odd always stacked against you.

Overall, I suspect some of the new slayers are better off than they were before, and some worse off ... which doesn't take away the question of whether the spell should have been cast against their will, of course.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

But I think that sense of community is a big factor in why the slayers in my universe are relatively happy with their lot -- there's something to be said for being in a group, rather than a lone warrior with the odd always stacked against you.

Which was the point I think the entire series was trying to get at. You have one girl (then two) who are under the thumb of an institution that has remained frozen in the way it operates for who knows how long. Information is doled out according to the needs of the Institution - which includes controlling the girls. And I think the point of the lone girl, the lone warrior, is something that can't be emphasized enough - compared to Riley in the Initiative, who is one of many soldiers and can count on back-up, on supplies, on a good paycheck (and if my brother's experience is any indication, health bennies, housing etc.)

I think post-series Buffy and Faith would have a lot of ideas of how the new organization should be run, with an eye to the well-being of the girls, and a team of watchers and support staff so no girl is alone, and no one watcher has the entire burden on their shoulders either. The other fic series I like in this regard is The Girls in Question series by the wife/wife team TigerDragon (Fuffy shippers). Dawn is a Watcher for instance and it's a very different dynamic to that of a young girl and a much older man. It's also just a damn good read and a real adventure story (and wonderful OC's.)
http://archiveofourown.org/series/14394

(I haven't read the sections that happen "in canon" yet, I started post-Chosen: "Mornings After" but then "Reentry" is where we first see the workings of the organization itself; then "Investigations" and "Women, Fire and Other Dangerous Things".)

which doesn't take away the question of whether the spell should have been cast against their will, of course.

It does take away the problem of being hunted down and killed like dogs in the street without a way to fight back until the First has killed off every Potential, which was supposedly the plan in-canon. (I'm not saying the plan made any sense, mind.)

So yeah, I can definitely see both sides of the issue because it's complicated, and I think there are legitimate arguements to me made on both sides.

Rather than just say "oopsie" and dump the whole thing as the comics do (so we can, what, rehash the same story arc Buffy already took?), I'm more interested in the notion of actually dealing with the consequences and outcome of having power, individually and collectively, in a new way and having to learn how to use it.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I gave up on the comics at the end of Season 8. My own fanfic canon doesn't count them, mostly because I started up my universe long before they came out.

My slayer organization is run by a Council that's half slayers and half watchers, and mostly Scoobies at the moment. Some of my watchers include Giles, Xander, Dawn, the Buffybot, and ghost Tara -- long story! Between them and the leadership of Buffy and Faith, it's safe to say the slayers will be more protected and more in the loop. I had plans to bring other canon characters in to help with the organization -- Clem the cook, for instance -- if I ever get a chance to write more stories.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Clem the cook? THIS MUST HAPPEN!

OMG, I started visualizing Clem in this role and - I don't think he has to wear a hairnet but long sleeves, definitely (or maybe he would wear a hairnet - to keep the ears back?)

And then I started visualizing Bottie peppering him with questions and comments like the ultra-rational super-cheerful five year child that she pretty much is *hugs Bottie tight* and Clem just rolling with it all in his laid-back way and I just DIED laughing. THIS FIC MUST BE WRITTEN.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Yes, Bottie's so awesome! I had a heck of a time figuring out the best way to bring her back to life in a way that more or less fit the Bufftyverse. (Although it was even harder with Tara.)

It's a great idea for a fic! He's only popped up a little in my stories so far, and as far as I can remember he and Bottie haven't interacted ... I'll have to keep that in mind. I actually do have a crossover fic half completed in which he has a larger role, but my original fic writing started picking up and I haven't had time to finish it.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

(Although it was even harder with Tara.)

Most fics I've seen that bring her back in some fashion use a variation on the idea Joss supposedly had in mind - that Buffy would be granted a wish in S7, and would choose to bring Tara back for Willow's sake. Which really doesn't make any sense to me: 1) Buffy knows damn well the danger of "wishes" by that point in the series and 2) having been resurrected without "permission aforehand" herself, I have a hard time seeing Buffy doing that without an iron-clad 100% guarantee that that was what Tara wanted.

It's a great idea for a fic!

And now I'm wondering why no one's thought of it before (heck, why didn't I?) Because it seems like the perfect odd couple pairing: hyper-rational, hyper-cheerful& childlike Bottie and laid-back "stoner" or slacker/hippie Clem? COMEDY GOLD, BROTHER. (I always see him as a kind of stoner - not that he smokes or uses recreational drugs but it's just his nature. So says I.)

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I agree, that's a great description of Clem ... I wonder if his race is that way in general, or if it's just his own personality? In either case, if I ever get to it I'll have as much fun with Clem as I have with Bottie.

I brought Tara back in the traditional way: As a ghost. I'd never intended to write a second fanfic after "Where Do We Go From Here?", but as time went by and I wrote more stories I had her and Bottie change some, in ways I hope to expand on at some point in the future. I've had a lot of fun keeping most of my fanfics in one continuity.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I wonder if his race is that way in general, or if it's just his own personality?

Good question, and that's entirely up in the air isn't it? He's basically thrown into S6 as a two-plot device 1) as a friend/ confidant for Spike (Tara functions similarly for Buffy in DT & OAFA so it makes sense that the two of them meet in that latter episode); and the whole "shades of grey" thing going on in the later seasons (demons can love, heroes can do awful things, humans can be monstrous, etc.)

I've had a lot of fun keeping most of my fanfics in one continuity.

I like the developments because it's allowed you to have some real fun with the characters. I have a fondness for the idea of continuous verses anyway and some of my favorite fanfic works are "verses". If I like the characters, I want to spend time with them.

the story in your verse where everyone pulls the wool over Riley's eyes and Bottie is JUST SO THRILLED to have finally passed as Buffy? Love that. Especially since it was my intro story to Four Friends so I was just as confused as Riley and had no idea what was going on and you pulled the wool over my eyes as well, and, 2) I'm not fond of Riley in general (I've already written about this).

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I vote all of Clem's people are nice: He's like a big, cheerful, overgrown puppy.

I don't dislike Riley -- but I'm easy to entertain -- but I'm well aware that he's one of the more disliked characters on the show, so I had some fun with that. I can only imagine how confusing it was for you, coming in to the Four Friends stories at that point! And of course, that's one problem with an ongoing continuity.

At the moment I'm working on a series of short stories introducing the main character from a novel that's coming out in October, "The Notorious Ian Grant". Since I'm not selling the stories, I decided to work some crossovers into them, and the Four Friends will appear in one.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I vote all of Clem's people are nice: He's like a big, cheerful, overgrown puppy.

And now I'm really laughing hard at the image of Bottie and her very own (overgrown) shar-pei. Every girl/robot/Slayer needs a puppy! http://www.123rf.com/photo_4643761_three-shar-pei-baby-dogs-almost-one-month-old.html

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Baby Clems!

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

OMG! YOU ARE TORTURING ME!

Because now I've got a headpicture of Bottie with a lapful of Clem-puppies and imagine her brain (neural net) thinking several distinct things:

1) reeling off encyclopedic facts about what newborn specimens of this species eat and sleeping habits and the gestation cycle.

2) "He licked my face! (I know he's a he because I carefully examined his undersides first.) That feels good! It makes me giggle!"

3) "Wow, his mouth leaks a lot of fluid! I wonder if I it needs to be fixed - maybe I should take him to Willow. I hope it doesn't short my circuits because he's doing it again."

4) "My programming tells me that infants don't like to be separated from their families. Therefore I think I should keep all of them. I would be a very good caretaker because I have a lot of information in my neural net about newborn demons."

Dare I ask who the parents are? (For about two seconds I had a weird Clem/Bottie brainflash...and best not go THERE.)

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Maybe you should be the one to write this fanfic -- you sure know Buffybot!

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Oh god how the heck did I know that you were going to say that? ("But I'm not a fic writer!" she cried. - which actually may lead to me writing a fic. Kind of the opposite of how it works with those "say it and manifest it" positivity folks.)

Actually I'm fascinated by the darker implications of Buffybot's in canon but your 'verse lets me focus on the fun side!

*ponders*

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Well, the fun side is where I go (usually).

I suppose fanfic writing is like any other kind of writing, with the obvious exception that you can't profit from it. I've found it to be just as hard as original fic in its own way, but generally more fun.