btvsats20in20 ROUND 13: THE PACK (BtVS S1.06)

[red_satin_doll]

My entries for Round 13 of btvsats20in20 - actually ahead of deadline!

Beta: The erudite, eloquent, extraordinary and irreplaceable velvetwhip.
ETA:*Orange and Cat5 (Angel!Pig) reserved for Gabrielle and are NOT snaggable. Sorry.

   

10 Themes
Orange*	Unusual Crop	Truth	Sepia+Profile	Retro
Hot	Crossover**	Contrast	Angry	Yellow+Blue
5 Category |WHITE DECORATION
Cat 1	Cat 2	Cat 3	Cat 4	Cat 5*
5 Artist's Choice
AC 1**	AC 2***	AC 3	AC 4	AC 5

Resources:
Screencaps and movie posters from Bloodqueen, Screencapped and SMG-France.
Textures by colorfilter, scoobyatemysnax and lookslikerain. Angel wing by Kyle Butler



Alts/extras:

   1 - 6


   7 - 13


    14 - 18


  19 - 23


 
I'd love to do this episode another round because there is SO much going on in this episode and so much fantastic imagery that I can't begin to cover it with one round. OTOH, I forgot how CREEPY this episode is, and how emotionally harrowing. REALLY creepy.

I tried as much as possible to emphasize the "victims" here, rather than the perpetrators; but also show how the victims fight back and resist victimization in their own ways. The moment depicting in the Truth icon when she sees through Hyena!Xander's facade ("Now I know") is one of my favorite Moments of Willow Badassery (TM). I remembered that Bob Flutie died terrified, eaten alive; I'd forgotten that before that he chased the pack down in a genuine rage because they killed the school mascot, and dragged them into his office, determined to put a stop to their rein of terror. Buffy manages to fight off Hyena!Xander if just barely escaping being raped or worse; then quips about it to Willow afterwards:

"He tried his hand at felony sexual assault...it's safe to say that in his animal state his idea of wooing doesn't involve a Yanni CD and a bottle of Chianti."

On a side note: it's interesting that in the episode that focuses on hierarchies and bullying in high school, Cordelia and the Cordettes are nowhere to be found. It's interesting to consider where she would have fallen on the food chain if she'd been in the episode. Was Charisma Carpenter unavailable the week they filmed that episode?

                                                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Gabrielle has first dibs on the Orange and Cat5 (Angel!Pig) icons; these are NOT snaggable.

But all other are entirely snaggable or make suitable gifts *lol*. Please give proper credit and do not claim as your own; do not post to other websites or archives without asking first. Comments and feedback are always appreciated!

** Crossover, AC1, Alts 20 - 23: Possession starring Sarah-Michelle Gellar as a woman whose brother-in-law body may or may not contain the soul of her comatose husband after both brothers are involved in a car accident. Think a cut-rate version of Jonathan Glazier's flawed masterpiece, Birth (2003).

***Crossover, AC2: Scream2 featuring SMG in a small role as the trope Buffy is meant to subvert: the helpless blond girl in the alley (or in this case, sorority house). Watching "Buffy" crying and begging for her life while being chased by a psychopathic killer is surprisingly unpleasant, btw. (Just saying.)

Comments

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Wow thank you for all these nummy recs! And don't EVER feel the need to apologize for self-promotion on this journal - how am I going to find out about your stuff if you don't tell me about it? (Speaking of, you might like my CagedHyena!Xander icon at whedon_elite? http://whedon-elite.livejournal.com/446406.html )

And I just read Next Time and - WOW, so good! You don't pull any punches with that story and the language is astonishing.

[sparrow2000.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the self pimp of the caged Xander icon - it's gorgeous!

Thanks again for the kind words about Next Time. I'm grinning like crazy here :) - but not in a crazed hyena kind of a way, because that would be bad...

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

but not in a crazed hyena kind of a way, because that would be bad...

Well we can't have that now, can we? :D

you're very welcome; thank you again for the links to great stories!