The Marstersclass

So even tough my James-crush is fading it still stings that I can't attend this event in May;

"Sign up for a day with James including an exclusive acting "Marstersclass" on Saturday, May 2, at The Drill Hall in London.

James will be taking to the stage to offer people a rare opportunity to see how he tackles acting roles and gets under the skin of a character as part of a day and evening that also includes a concert, Q&A sessions, personalised autographs, photos and much more.
The masterclass will see him join forces with Torchwood co-star Gareth David-Lloyd to offer a behind-the-scenes peek into the world of acting followed by a question and answer session about stage, TV and film work.

Tickets go on sale at 16:00 on Friday, February 27."

They're refering to UK time. Go to this site to buy tickets(limited to just 150 people and costs £ 130) or get more info about this or other James events in Europe.

Man, I want to go. Several of my Swedish Buffy-obbsessed buddies will probably go to London in May to see James' shows. We had a blast last May, when we went to see James. We also went to see him and other actors at Collectormania in Milton Keyes. I bought and drooled over so much Buffy merchandise. Good times...

Cover & previews galleries.

I got tired of the cover gallery & previews-buttons taking up space(I had several down to the right) so I made one button for all galleries that will link to this post(look to the right). One more click for you guys, but worth it.




Angel (the new on going series with After the fall, Aftermath, etcetc. Doesn't include all "new" Angel covers, for example the one shots and mini-series)
Cover Gallery
Original art cover gallery
Previews

Spike After the fall
Cover gallery
Original art cover gallery
Previews

Buffy Season 8
Cover gallery
Original art cover gallery
Previews

Fallen Angel

As I hope you've heard, Illyria will guest star in the comic series Fallen Angel.

I thought it would only be three issues, but apparently there will be four (yay!).

Chris Ryall tells (and shows) more over at this blog.

Lynch sells another one.

Another Wedding variant that is.

Go look.

He says on his blog that he will personalize it if asked(Oh wait, it says so on the ebay page too, nevermind).

Want to know more about the Wedding variant? CLICK

MY THOUGHTS Buffy...and Genocide?

A fellow member on slayalive.com asked;

"Is there Genocide within the Buffyverse?

With vampires clearly able to redeem themselves (Angel and Spike) and not all demons being bad...is Buffy slaying actions a form of genocide?"

My answer was;

"Definitely, in the sense that;

'Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group.'(wikipedia definition)

I can't say that it's wrong tough. But I would feel better if all the vamps Buffy killed had to do a lie-detector test or something. Killing vamps that attack you on patrol is fine, but of all those nests that are attacked when found, without further evidence, I wonder;

Did one of all those dusted vamps not deserve to die?

However, I have so far not seen a soulless vampire not being dustable. Spike, the "nicest" vamp around, would probably have made Buffy his love-slave had she not had slayer-powers. It was just because of luck (and his belief that one day he could convince Buffy to accept him) that his love took a less violent way. I bet he had tons of times to turn her in Season 6, and wanted to, but since she might not be able to feel love if she turned into a vamp, he didn't do it. To sum up, I'm pretty sure the nicest vamp in the whole Buffyverse, is still too selfish to not be called evil, so not killing vampires because they might be redeemed is a lost cause.

So I gotta say; Burn vampires, burn.

While having a guilty conscious, of course.

EDIT- I just remembered a thought that's been haunting me since Season 2 of Buffy; Why not put souls in all vampires? Atleast the ones you could afford to catch (un-)alive?

Was the gypsy-curse a one time thing, made specially for Angel? Darla, Spike & Dru did kill a lot of the tribe that cursed Angel. Maybe the knowledge died with them. Maybe every curse has to be individual, made specially for one vampire? So Angel's curse is... Angel's?

And the way Spike used might have to be voluntary from the vampire's side, since there are trials.

So no solution there, but I wanted to point out that genocide might be the only way to go."

Eaglemoss Buffy figurine.

I'm planning on buying this cute little Eaglemoss figure, made of lead and hand painted.

This site, (that normally sells Buffy & Angel DVDs accompanied with a magazine) will release Buffy figurine specials, about 4 per year. I'll definitely be getting the first one of Buffy(see the picture) and probably the Spike figurine and then we'll see. Look here for more photos of the figurines and information. It will be released in March.

Other than the Buffy & Angel collection site, Forbidden planet will also sell the figure(but pricier).

Not sure where it will sell outside of the UK.

Drawing Dru.

Chris Ryall (editor of IDW) has a little to say about the upcoming Dru & Gunn comics.

"We announced at the New York Comic-Con that Brian Lynch and Franco Urru would be returning to ANGEL following Kelley Armstrong and Dave Ross's 5-part "Aftermath" storyline (which starts up this week). Brian is going to be accompanied by Juliet Landau for a 2-part story that explores Druzilla's whereabouts in the "After the Fall" world. And outside of a couple earlier cameos/flashbacks, this will be Dru's first appearance in our ANGEL comics. They'll be co-writing it together but the story is all Juliet's. Here's Franco's cover for one of the issues (for those keeping score, this cover will be for ANGEL 25. Issue 23 will be a standalone Gunn story by Lynch and Urru, and this cover now makes more sense for part 2 of the Dru story, so it'll be issue 25. And what's coming after issue 25, you might ask? We'll be talking about that soon enough...)."

I didn't know that we would get Franco Urro for the Dru comics, which I think is awesome. It took me a couple of issues to like this guy's art but now I love it.

Look at the blog post to see the drawing of Dru. It seems to be the cover for issue 25 of the Angel series. (After the fall(#1-17)+Aftermath(#18-22)+Gunn(#23)+Dru(#24-25)?)

Weekly feature: Excerpt from original script

Time for a Angel episode.

In Forgiving (baby Connor is gone and Angel is trying to get him back) a line is cut where Linwood makes a "implied" threat to Lilah.

"It's not like I'm going to get my feelings bruised and yank your mother out of that very expensive clinic you had her in... Don't worry. She's safe as a baby. Well, not the baby you lost, 'cause that one's gone to Hell forever... you might want to keep me updated in the future. I look forward to that report."

No wonder she cut his head of. Although, I'm not sure if she took more offense to that Linwood threatened her mom or that she was threatened at all. It would have been interesting to see how Lilah would have responded. Maybe even with genuine concern for her mom?

Easter eggs or When Layout People Get Bored.

Easter eggs A.K.A. sneaky evil hidden features found on DVDs. You might have found a few of them on the Buffy DVDs, but I bet you haven't found them all. (Or perhaps that's just me.)

Anyway, search for Buffy here and you might find that you've been screwed by the DVD layout people. It's also possible to find other cool trivia on this site, for example this Jonathon Creek reference.

Fanvideo.

Seven year expertly crammed into one song.

Abridged

Jensen Ackles lipsyncing.

Okay, okay, this isn't a blog about the show Supernatural, but I think Buffy&Angel fans can enjoy this clip of one of the Supernatural actors lipsyncing to Eye of the tiger.

THE CLIP

Lenore(Amber Benson) bust

Have you seen the TV-show Supernatural? It's a great Buffy/Angel substitute. Two hot brothers, Dean & Sam, on the road, fighting the forces of darkness and their personal inner demons while bantering and you know, looking hot. They have that kind of kind playful broody & doomed vs slutty & careless Angel & Spike chemistry, without the hate.

It's a great show, buy the DVDs or try to catch it on TV.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Amber Benson, our sweet Tara, guest starred in Season 2, episode 3, called Bloodlust. She plays a nice vampire named Lenore, hunted by a merciless demon hunter. And although she only appeared in one episode, she got a bust. It's to be released this month(maybe it's already for sale).

Found it here for pre-order for 60 bucks.

I can't say the likeness is spot on, but I see a resemblance.

Weekly feature: Excerpt from original script

This week's episode: Once More With... Feet? Thinking? I can't remember, I guess it wasn't a important episode.

*wink wink*

I'm pretty damn sure this line was cut from this dialouge, when Spike brings the henchman into the Magic Box for information.

In a line cut die to length(the highlighted part), Sweet's (that's the red Lord of the dance-y demon) henchman reveals that Buffy is not the only thing the demon wants;

Henchman: My master has the Slayer's sister hostage at the Bronze because she summoned him and at midnight he's going to take her to the underworld to be his queen.

Giles: What does he want?

Henchman: Her ... plus chaos and insanity and people burning up, but that's more big picture stuff.

Freaky Valentine.

Don't know what to get your boyfriend/girlfriend for Valentine today? Well, I can't really help you with that, it's too late, you're screwed.

However, for next year, if they're into Buffy & Angel, and have a good/creepy sense of humour (or are just simply weird) I have a few of ideas for you...

Does your girlfriend/boyfriend want Spike? Maybe these will please them. Mrs Marsters underwear.

I've actually been thinking of buying them myself but my internal stalker-radar started to beep.

However, if your don't, here's some more "Mrs" items to choose from, both for James Marsters and David Boreanaz fans. Just search ebay for "Mrs James Marsters" or "Mrs David Boreanaz". Car sign anyone?

Now here are some items that might not be creepy at all. It's all relative. However, I don't think I'd ever buy a props like these, to keep or give away.

A bra worn by Sarah Michelle Gellar. Or why not bra AND panties worn by Jenny Mollen who plays the werewolf Nina on Angel? No?

In case you're nodding, thinking these items are awesome, let me direct your attention toward some hair-y stuff.

When I first saw the video, I really wanted it. But my radar acted up again. Watch the vid.(Sorry, the best quality I could find).




So, James hair cost $25 000. I saw some of it on ebay a month or two ago, for a lot less money, but nah. It's hair. It's gross. It's expensive gross hair(no offense to James, I find cut of hair gross in general). Yet, a part of me still wants it.

Time to get a boyfriend maybe?

Comic-related news.

So New York Comic Con gave us Buffy&Angel-fans a lot to be glad about.


From Darkhorse:

One shot ”Tales of the vampire story” - Heard from a Buffyfest blogger that was at the con;
”There will be no Buffy comic in June, The Tales of the Vampire one shot will be replacing it instead. The covers done by Jo Chen and will be about a boy in high school.”

From IDW:

Spike ongoing series – Written by Brian Lynch

Drusilla 2-shots – Written by Brian Lynch & JULIET LANDAU(that's right, the actress that played Dru).

And Gunn might get some sort of one shot. I don't have a good source on this.

Old, yet for some not known, news: Illyria will cross over to the IDW series Fallen Angel for three issues. The writer of Fallen Angel, Peter David says;
"The story is set early in Illyria's involvement with Angel & Co. Having been deprived of her power by Wesley, she is drawn to [the town of] Bete Noire as a potential source for not only becoming what she was before, but even achieving her previous status. Remember, what we see of her in Angel is not her true appearance."

* * * * *

I'm the most exited about the Spike ongoing series. And since Brian has said here that Bek & Tok(from the comics Spike: Asylum & Spike: Shadow Puppets)will return, it's fair to hope that they will be joining Spike.

”I'm excited about the SPIKE series because it will be the first time, really, that Spike can head up long story arcs. That means growth for the character, that means building relationships over time, and that means really delving into Spike and what makes him tick. My goal is have a comic that fans of Spike can read and say "see, THIS is what I love about him" while people that don't dig him all that much can read and go "oh THIS is what people see in Spike."
/Brian Lynch

In many ways, I think this beats Spike getting his own movie or spin-off tv-series, because hey, no budget limits. The page limit is still there, of course, and the lack of actors and any kind of movement and audio(unless you count the sound the pages make when I turn them)... Okay, maybe a movie wouldn't suck, but I'll live with this. A ongoing series is more thah I could have hoped for.

And I heard from a Buffyfest blogger that Lynch said ”We'll keep going until people get sick of it”. Which probably means that this will go on for a looong time. As we've seen in Lynch previous work with Spike (Angel: After the fall, Spike: After the fall, Spike: Asylum, Spike: Shadow Puppets), he knows how to write Spike.


About Fallen Angel. I've read a up until issue 21 of the second series (the first one had a 12-issue run on DC) and I'm confident that Peter David (who has written the great Illyria one shot from the Angel: Spotlight-series) will do her justice. In the Spotlight-series he really nails her way of speaking.

And then there's the Drusilla series. I'm still not sure how much dept a crazy person can have, but as we saw in Season 2 of Angel, she might be crazy, but she still cares about her family. Maybe I won't like the character more after the 2-shot, but I bet I'll still be entertained. I've read a few fanfics with Drusilla, and she was interesting enough, so I think in the hands of Lynch and Landau, we can see some character development. Or comedy. Whichever they're going for.

About Gunn...

I tired of him and his attitude in Season 3. But I'll read it. Hey, I got tired of Angel himself after Season 4, and I'm still reading After the fall. Is that weird?

Nah, I just really like the writing and most of the other characters (Even Connor is growing on me.).

Now, after hearing all these great news, I'm very happy that I wasn't able to go to the con. I would have pied my pants in existement and maybe started singing my national anthem (nothing bad about the Swedish national anthem, but it doesn't sound pretty coming out of my mouth) and jumping up and down like a crazy person.


PS. The Buffyfest bloggers were covering the event and has lots of fun facts and interviews from the convention to share(and there's still more to be posted).

Buffy joke.

I guess I should have written "A Buffy joke" in the headline, because as you know Buffy jokes a lot, but that's not what this post is about. ;)

No? Didn't smile at that little word play-thingy? Well, hopefully this Buffy-joke that I found online will make you grin;

Dracula is walking ( stalking ? ) along, when suddenly out of nowhere a sausage roll hits him in the back of the head. He looks around, startled, but can't see anyone and continues on his way . Suddenly he is struck again, this time by a canape. Annoyed he again scans the area - only to find that again there is no one near him. He continues but is struck a tremendous blow on the back of the head and falls to the ground.

Looking up he sees a petite blonde girl standing over him brandishing a chicken leg .

Dracula: "Who are you?!?!?"

Petite blonde girl: "BUFFET the vampire slayer ".

MY THOUGHTS Buffy-fans vs Twilight-fans: Why the hate?

I'm a obsessed Buffy fan, but I'm still proud to say that when/if the fifth Twilight saga book comes out, I'll probably buy it within days of it's release.

I get sad when I see merchandise like this and read how my fellow Buffy-lovers say "Real vampires have bumps, they don't sparkle, how silly". It reminds me of how prejudiced people spit on the show about a ex-cheerleader that fights vampires.

Sure, I get the joke, Buffy, both as a show and character, is more "kick-ass" than Twilight and the Cullens (although, I think Edward could take Buffy, specially since he got super-speed on his side). But there's joking and then there's harassing.

Yes, Bella is a whimp sometimes.

Yes, the show that had seven seasons on air (and now many comics) does have less of a fairy-tale fell to it than the love-story between Edward and Bella that had fours books to develop.

Yes, I think vampires are more entertaining when they're bumpy and evil, and not friendly supermodels.

Yes, the themes of the book, low self-esteem, first blinding love and eternal happily ever after does appeal to teenage girls.

So what? Joke if you want, I know that such a popular movie and book series will draw both devoted fans and haters, but please, dear (often heckled themselves) fellow Buffy-fans, don't go to war. It's just a book (okay, fours books. And a movie.).

Keep the dislike moderate. Discuss, don't bash, shake your head, don't mock.

There's nothing wrong with disliking the story or the characters, and there's nothing wrong with loving it either.

And yes, thinking that the writing is crap is allowed, but be respectful(I really don't get how people can dislike the writing tough, I think Stephanie Meyer writes very well).

And yes, feel free to snort at Twilight-fans sometimes unreasonable devotion(Robert Pattinson is cute but not a God) but not to their faces.

You don't like it when people mock your Buffy-obsession, often without even having watched half a episode, do you?

But, in case the Twilight-fans say something respectless themselves, for example "Buffy sucks, Twilight rules" feel free to stake them for me.

Peace out.

Weekly feature: Excerpt from original script

This weeks excerpt is from Band Candy(Buffy season 3) when all the grown-ups went wild. Many of them the lame kind of wild.

This is probably from the scene when Buffy saves the babies from the robed bad guys in the sewer.

Buffy cracks wise at the robed figures before avaling herself of a gas pip and their lighting system in this comment cut due to length:

"I love that you guys love torches."

Drinking game

So it's Friday. Time to start drinking.

Here's a drinking game I just made up. I'll do one for Buffy now and one for Angel for next weekend.

Take a sip when...
...a victim dies.
...a vampire is dusted with a stake.
...Xander makes a joke.
...Willow does something cute.
...Buffy jokes with a demon before killing it.
...Xander and Cordelia fights/makes out.
...Xander complains about Cordelia's or Anya's lack of tact
...anyone complains about Cordelia's or Anya's lack of tact.
...someone makes a pop culture referens.
...Giles doesn't understand a pop culture reference.
...Buffy wears something weird, but probably fashionable.
...Xander says something geeky
...Xander does something geeky.
...Xander laughs nervously.
...someone gets saved by Buffy.


Take a gulp when...
...someone other than Buffy saves a victim.
...someone saves Buffy.
...someone/anything gets beheaded.
...Joyce whines about Buffy going out/slaying.
...someone does a spell.
...someone does a ”spell”(if you know what I mean *wink* *wink*).
...Buffy figures out what the bad guys are up to, with very few clues.
...Dawn whines.
...Jenny embarrasses Giles.
...Principal Snyder says something mean about students.
...someone gets kissed/has sex.
...Spike smokes.
...Spike makes a lewd comment.
...Spike tries to convince Buffy to join the dark side. Or atleast sleep with him.
...someone utters a wish to slay Spike.
...Buffy has to lie about her slayerness(her strength, why is she asking about a dead body, etcetc).
...Buffy has a nightmare.

Finish the glass when...
...Buffy moans about Angel (not every time she says hi sname, just when she complains about him or their relationship).
...someone talks about how talk, dark and handsome Angel is.
...Giles cleans his glasses.
...Giles falls down.
...Giles rolls his eyes/is annoyed at Xander.
...a villian offends Buffy's skills, gender or sense of homour.
...a scooby complains about the books' uselessness.

Finish the bottle when...
...a relationship in Buffy ends happily.

If you don't like this drinking game, here's another one (if it takes a lot to get you drunk, combine the lists).

Remember to drink at least one glass of water between every episode and maybe eat something( like Spike-candy my friend makes; Melt chocolate, mix with Wheatabix and marshmallows and let cool).

James' events

I just got this newsletter from James Marsters' European website, and man, the dude will be busy.

"February 15, 2009
Himber Entertainment Presents: Your Funny Valentine at SOPAC, South Orange, NJ, USA
http://www.jamesmarsters.com

April 17 – 19, 2009
FX International, Orlando, FLA, USA
http://www.fxshow.com/

April 24 – 26, 2009
Elf Fantasy Fair, Haarzuilens, Netherlands
http://haarzuilens.elffantasyfair.com/?langswitch_lang=en

May 1 -3, 2009
Himber Entertainment/JM Live Present: A weekend of events including a concert at the
Union Chapel on Friday May 1st - further details to be announced. London, UK
http://www.jamesmarsterslive.com

June 5 - 7, 2009Fangoria Weekend of Horrors, New York, NY, USA
http://www.creationent.com/cal/fangocon/fangony.asp "


Elf fantasy fair? I'm seriously behind on my fantasy reading, but I used to love reading fantasy books, Tolkien, Terry Goodkind, etc etc. I want to go to all events, but this one the most.

I would love seeing a bunch of orcs and Legolas wanna-bees running around. And of course, see James. But no, due to me living on studentloans and saving up for college abroad(USA, hurray!) and I can't go to any conventions, not to London, not to the Neatherlands and definitly not to America. Maybe to Hallowhedon, if enough guests come to make it worth the money.

Stupid empty wallet.

Vampy cat play friend

Another comic lead-in(like Harmony Bites that was a sort of teaser for issue 21). This time for issue 22, called Vampy cat play friend. But be warned, don't eat before you read, it's very... graphic.

Check it out.

Season 8 animated, issue 21.

Joe has made another animated video, this time for issue 21. Sadly, I'm not doing the voice for any character... *grumble, grumble*

If you want to audition for a part doubleclick on the vid and when you're on the youtube page, just send the maker a message.

Weekly feature: Excerpt from original script

You know the Angel episode Reprise(season 2) when Angel & Holland had the little conversation about the nature of evil, while taking a elevator ride? And later in the same episode, Angel slept with Darla?

This line of Holland was cute due to length:

Holland: “For a man who’s turned his back on his mission, you’re awfully scrappy. I do so admire that. No messy moral philosophy no guiding principles to muddle things. Just that pure, unpolluted human drive to win. You would have made an excellent attorney”.

Here's the aired dialouge which I think the above lines where cut from. LINK