Re: Re: :Hi, I'm new to the group.

[danspector@xxxxxxxxx]

Angela,

Ah, joined in the mid-second season (right when they shifted to
Tuesdays, right?), likes Season 2 best followed by Season 3, loves
Faith, loves the slayerhacker site...you and I are going to get along
perfectly, Angela!

Well, okay, Season 1 has just nosed ahead of S3 into my runner-up spot,
but other than that, it's just about the same story here.

Oh, and that thing where you have trouble finishing the stories you
start? Well you're on your own there, because I have never, ever, ever
had that problem...

::ducks heavy objects thrown at him from all corners of the list::

Hmm, the "I can't come up with a plot idea" complaint is a common one (I
remember Kristjan saying that back in the spring). Well, aside from
Challenges and so forth that people send in (thanks again to xenocide
for her story suggestions), there is always the "episode-add-on" fic.

This is where you just select an episode and then logically develop
Buffy or Willow's story in the ep, and work the other one into it.

For example:

1. Pick an episode at random.  

The way I like to do this is to pull two cards out of deck. Disregard
the picture cards, count the aces as 1 and the 10s as "0", and you'll
get a two-digit number from 00 to 99, which neatly correlates to the 100
eps in Buffy's first 5 Seasons (and Season 6 wasn't a lot of fun,
anyhow, IMO), using "00" to designate ep 100, "The Gift".

Let's see what I get for my example here: four, then a seven, so it's
ep 47, "The Zeppo". Hmm, interesting choice.

2. Examine what Buffy and Willow did in the episode.

Okay, roughly:

Willow casts a clouding spell.

Buffy, Faith and Giles fight a Jhe demon (Faith kills it).

Buffy worries that Willow's okay (she's just shaking from the fear) and
thanks her for the spell.

They discuss burning the demon's body to get rid of it; Willow makes a
joke about bringing marshmallows to roast over the demon.

Willow, Buffy and Faith worry about Xander possibly getting hurt.

Giles tells Buffy the demons intend to open the Hellmouth

Buffy and Willow talk about this, Willow mentioning the nightmares she
had from the last time the Hellmouth Muppet attacked (in "Prophecy
Girl"). Buffy is also fearful, and asks Willow's help with extensive
research:

>B: There's something about this one that...scares me.
>(puts her arm around Willow)
>B: I need my Willow.
>W: Oh, you don't have to be afraid...

Buffy and Willow are startled by Xander's new car (Buffy correctly notes
that it's a penis metaphor). They fill him in on the apocalypse, and
Xander offers to help.

In the library Buffy and Willow discuss were-Oz's heightened stress, and
the lack of info on the Jhe demons. Buffy decides to head out.

Giles complains that there are no jelly donuts; Willow finks out Buffy
for eating three of them, and Buffy shoots her a look :) Buffy again
says she doesn't want to endanger Xander by involving him in this.

A badly-beaten Willy the Snitch tells Buffy that the apocalypse is
tonight, that the demons are after her and Angel, and that she should
spend her last night on earth with him.

Outside the magic shop, Willow runs into Xander. She tells him Buffy
called her from Angel's, told her the Hellmouth opens tonight, and that
she's getting supplies for a protection spell. She runs off, saying
Buffy needs the supplies, runs back, hugs Xander, tells him "I love
you", and runs off again.

The Hellmouth is agitating were-Oz, so Giles and Willow decide to
tranquilize and move him. He breaks free and knocks Giles down, and
Willow has to shoot him twice before he falls.

At Angel's, Buffy is tearfully trying to talk him out of doing something
suicidally heroic to give Willow time to do a binding spell. Xander
enters, interrupts, realizes it's a bad time, and leaves.

Willow comes back to the library from moving were-Oz, and Giles has her
help prepare the spell. He insists on doing the spell himself, and
tells her to stay back and stay safe.

The Hellmouth Muppet, larger than ever before, battles Buffy, Willow,
Faith, Giles and Angel in the library.

Buffy gets flung out of the library, giving Faith instructions as she
rushes back in.

Faith and Angel battle a Jhe demon, while Buffy and Giles battle the
Monster. Willow is in the background.

The next day, Giles, Willow and Buffy discuss the battle, as Oz sits
with them. Buffy's arm is in a sling. Buffy talks about how worried
she was when Angel was unconscious. She tells Giles how brave he was.
Willow talks about how scared she was.

Xander comes by and Willow tells him he's lucky not to have been there.
(He doesn't mention his own adventure.) Oz declines food, feeling "oddly
full" (since, while in wolf-form, he ate a zombie).
******************************

Gee, that was nice and long, huh? And I didn't even talk about Xander's
adventure, which is the main plot of the ep.

4. Examine what Buffy and Willow said and did. What were they
thinking? How did it make them feel? How did Willow feel about what
Buffy did, and vice versa? What might they have to talk about, after
all this?

Lots of possibilities here, for example:

It's Willow's first "combat spell", and it's a big success, even though
she's got the shakes. How does Buffy feel about this? Why does Willow
push herself so? Etc.

What about Faith? She killed the demon, yet Buffy and Willow are so
into each other, no one even spoke to her. Does Willow's new skill feed
her inferiority complex? Is "Bad Girls" (the next ep) an attempt to
pull Buffy away from Willow? And how does sleeping with Xander fit into
all this?

Everybody's very worried about Xander (which is silly, IMO, since he's
saved all of them before). Is Willow worried that if she doesn't
"perform" she'll be the next to go? (It practically happens the next
ep.)

The Hellmouth is opening. Last time that happened, Buffy died. How
does she deal with the memories, the fears they stir up? Does this make
her confront her true feelings for Willow? Does she perhaps say more
than "I need my Willow"? You decide.

Willow talks about her fear of the Hellmouth Muppet, yet she knows Buffy
died last time. Is she repressing? How does she feel about Buffy's
possibly-impending doom? How did she feel when she found out about the
prophecy in "Prophecy Girl"? (We didn't see that scene, really.) Is
Buffy actually more worried about Willow than she is about herself?

Buffy. Willow. Giles. (Giles? Maybe not.) Jelly Donuts.= smut ahoy!
:D (Did you know that donuts are supposed to be symbolic of a woman's
sexuality? [Think about it.] Does Buffy's fixation on jellies, with
their red, sticky center, mean that she wants to de-virginize Willow??)

Why don't the demons kill Willy, instead of leaving him alive to tell
Buffy to run to Angel? Bad writing, or a clever plan to distract Buffy?
Why doesn't it work? Maybe because Buffy doesn't love Angel as much as
the demons and Willy (is he in on the plan? he's not really a nice guy,
y'know) thought?

Willow now knows the apocalypse is tonight, and she runs into Xander.
And tells him "I love you" for the first time. (She never EVER says it
to Oz, btw.) Has the disaster made her rethink her feelings, realize
there's someone (or someONES) she loves more than Oz? Why does she run
away rather than tell him at first? Why does she run away again, rather
than have him drive her to school? (Okay, bad writing, but besides
that.) Maybe having realized her feelings, she was too scared of them
to be around Xander?

Wolf-Oz is more violent and out of control than ever before. What if he
had hurt Giles, or Willow? What if this incident made Willow think
twice about Oz's lycanthropy?

Buffy's at Angel's, but they're NOT having that last romantic night
Willy advised them to. (In fact, Buffy took time to call Willow at
school.) Perhaps there's someone Buffy's more worried about than she is
with Angel? Perhaps that's why Angel is willing to sacrifice himself
(to protect WILLOW during the spell)? Perhaps he knows her better than
she knows herself? She begs him not to do this; because she loves him
so much--or because she feels guilty for not loving him enough?

(Remember, Angel and Buffy never have another truly romantic kiss until
they break up [the one next ep is adrenalin, and Angel's a little
freaked by it]. And when Buffy's all worried about Willow in
"Doppelgangland", she and Angel barely talk to each other, and are
hardly even standing next to each other. Hmm...)

Buffy and Angel are certain Willow will cast the spell--but Giles says
HE'LL do it. Does he realize what losing Willow would mean to Buffy?
Is he sacrificing himself for their sakes?

Willow stands apart from most of the battle. Did Buffy insist on her
staying safe, even more than she did with Angel? (Notice at the end
that Buffy and Giles are injured, and we learn Angel was knocked out.
But they all kept Willow safe.)

Buffy's arm is in a sling. Did Willow play nurse, tenderly caring for
her love's wounds? (Awww.)

Buffy frets about Angel (even though she must know that an unconscious
vampire will recover--if he was dead, he'd be dust). Buffy praises
Giles. Buffy does NOT respond to Willow's remarks about how scared she
[Willow] was. Is Buffy focusing on anything but what she was really
concerned about, because she's afraid of revealing too much if she talks
to Willow? Is Willow talking about how scared she was because she
worries that Buffy's neglecting her? Is that what she's truly afraid
of, particularly after she (we assume) saw Buffy run to the unconscious
Angel? Does she feel useless and unloveable because Giles cast the
spell instead of her?

Did anyone find the body of the guy Oz ate? Does Willow know about
this? (Surely she went to collect Oz, right?) Can they tell he was a
zombie, and not a live human? (Xander couldn't for half the ep--heck,
Jack was still going to the school, even though he was dead! [Now
that's dedication!] [Or bad writing.] [Shh!]) Does Willow think Oz is a
killer?  

Is that why she's sitting as far as possible away from him? And right
next to Buffy? Is OZ what she's really afraid of, and why she keeps
going on about the monster?
**********************************

And any ep has just as many things to examine, just as many ways to
start a story.

Of course, while I've been writing this, I see you've already posted
your story (yes!) and it's a future fic that goes AU after Season 4. So
all of this was OT (*sob*, *sob*). But still hopefully of use to anyone
who wants to see if they can discover a plot for ficcing purposes.

Shutting up now and off to read the fic,

Dan