A few cool non-Buffyverse customs.

I felt like showing some custom figures that I found on btvsfigs

Inara from Firefly (link or link)

Sam & Dean from Supernatural(link)

Alice from Twilight(link)
Re-painted 12" Lara Croft Tomb Raider Legend(left side of face is re-painted, right side still not done. Click here to see her finished)

MY THOUGHTS Weekly feature: Excerpt from original script

To keep the ending of The Gift(Buffy, Season 5) from leaking, there were several different scripts with slightly different endings circulated. Here is the aired dialouge and below is how the script for one alternate episode ends;

ANGLE: IN THE SKY

A rift opens and a huge dragon flies out, screaming

as it sails past the girls.

DAWN(cont'd): Buffy-

BUFFY: I don't care! Dawn, I won't lose you-

DAWN: You have to! You have to let me go! Blood starts it, and until the blood stops flowing, it'll never stop. You know you have to let me....

ON BUFFY

As she takes in Dawn's words, knowing it's true.

ON DAWN

As, slowly at first, she takes a few steps away from her sister, toward the end of the platform.

ON BUFFY

Who does nothing to stop her

ON DAWN AGAIN

A few more steps, faster this time, gaining speed until until she is running toward the edge of the platform.

ANGLE: ABOVE THE END as Dawn reaches it and SWANDIVES right out and down toward the ball of energy.

CLOSE ON: DAWN

As she starts down

CLOSE ON: BUFFY

As she watches, crying...

ANGEL: THE BALL OF ENERGY
As Dawn's body sails down into and disappears in a white light, causing the energy to go even wilder.

CLOSE ON: The group, as they look in vain to see what has happened.

CLOSE ON: DAWN'S FACE

As she floats in the center of the maelstrom, being hit with the equivalent of a million jolts of electricity-

BUFFY- unable to leave the platform....

DAWN-her eyes slowly closing...

THE ENERGY BALL-exploding and suddenly contracting out of existence...

Dawn disappearing with it.

CLOSE ON BUFFY'S FACE

BLACK OUT

END OF SHOW

This script, even tough it's a fake, might give the answer to the question; "What killed Buffy? Magic, heart attack, hitting the ground? Was it a mystical death or not?" I would say that death by electricity is a natural death, but since Buffy could be returned to the living, it's mystical, isn't it? Maybe the writers didn't think it trough(or maybe it's different in the real script, or it's mystical electricity).

You know, by this episode I had already (kinda) forgiven Dawn for being a brat earlier in the season. She'd found out she was a key, she'd lost her mom, yet over all she's been... nice. More mature. Likable even.

Okay, I still loathed her a bit, but I also felt sorry for her, you know? I wonder if I could have stayed mad if it was her that jumped instead of Buffy. She would have acted selflessly and brave(even tough her her wish to see Joyce/and or, make everyone around her stop getting hurt might have made her suicidal) and since she would be dead, we couldn't really whine about her, could we? The dead often get glorified.

But it's not exactly like she wasn't less brave and selfless just because Buffy jumped, was she?(Okay, if my sister wanted to jump instead of me, I would hopefully have tried to outrun her, but I assume that if given a second chance, Dawn would have tried to outrun Buffy, chock, fear, slayer-speed or not)

I think something many people forget when they discuss Dawn's maturity, is to add this scene to the equation. She was ready to jump. She might not have thought she deserved to live, she might have jumped another day on her own accord(although I don't believe that), but point is, she was ready to jump.

Dawn's a hero. I think we should remember that when we whine about her.

Beat sheets for Death's daughter.

Amber Benson shows us her beat sheets for her book Death's Daughter(kind of the original plot for the book). Don't read thsi before you've read the book(unless you want huge spoilers).

I think it's interesting to see what she changed.

LINK

Buffy's fear to hurt Xander.

vampmogs over at slayalive.com made some good points about Buffy and Xander's relationship in Season 8, and how Buffy's afraid that Xander will get hurt.

We we're talking about Buffy dream in The Long Way Home, the one where Xander's head pops of.

I actually think the whole dream has pretty big significance to Buffy's arc this season so you're not alone :)

A while ago I was actually arguing it from a Buffy/Xander POV. In 'A Beautiful Sunset' Buffy breaks down sobbing over the guilt she feels regarding all the people who have loved her and suffered because of this. It got me thinking back to the Buffy/Xander dream and how she knocks his head off when she kisses him. She states "I'll be gentle this time" and whilst at first I thought this hinted at a possible previous dream or actual real sexy encounter with Xander, I now think it's a reference to how she feels about all her past relationships. She thinks all the people who love her get hurt and in her dream this anxiety is evident by how Xander gets hurt and how Buffy was aware of that possibility but unable to prevent it.

I theorised that this is why she pushed Xander towards Renee in ‘A Beautiful Sunset’ because she didn’t want him to suffer like Angel, Riley or Spike did. She was pushing him towards the safer option because she feared if they got too close he’d be in danger and she couldn’t bare that.

Time for some art.

Sueworld over at slayalive.com has made some beautiful fan-art, her design ideas for issue 1-3 of Angel After the fall.

Issue 1

Issue 2

Issue 3

Another Wedding variant on ebay.

Another Wedding variant on ebay(third that's put there by Brain, I think). Click here for more info on the comic , click here for the auction. And as mentioned on Brian's blog, he will throw in a few surprises.

Weekly feature: Excerpt from original script.

A line cut due to length, from the first episode of season 7(of Buffy, duh) Lessons.

Xander: I forgot high school's unwritten rules of hallway etiquette. Of course, no one ever explained them to me. They'd just stuff me in a locker till I drew my own conclusion.

David Boreanaz can't keep his hands out the Cookie Jar!

A nice (but dirty) light-hearted look at David Boreanaz and the sexy characters he plays!

Find more videos like this on BuffyTube

link

Another Paley disc

Remember the Buffy panel at the Paley center? Best Buy released a disc with the whole panel which quickly sold out. I'm not sure if you can even find them on ebay buy now. Maybe Best Buy made more. However, Paley center has released their own disc with the panel from the Paley reunion, but it also has extras, unlike the Best Buy version.

"It's the reunion that had to happen... and it did happen at PALEYFEST08 in Hollywood. Here's the place to get the entire uncut, Paley Center–produced DVD of the event featuring Joss Whedon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, James Marsters, Seth Green, Michelle Trachtenberg, and others talking and laughing about this legendary show. This exclusive DVD contains extras you cannot find anywhere else, including backstage video and photos!"

Clicky

But it costs too much for me. Great for those of you who haven't gotten a hold of the Best Buy version tough.

Eaglemoss Buffy on ebay.

Eaglemoss Buffy is finally on ebay. Cheap compared to the price on Forbidden Planet(I haven't heard back from them about shipping tough).

Click here for more info on the figurine or go to ebay.

I think I've decided not to buy it. Money's tight, and I'd rather wait for it to be even cheaper.

Help me.

If any of you who read this is a member on whedonesque, please link to my petition on there.

The link to my petition.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-spike-statuette

And in case you don't want to come up with a description for the link yourself;

"Help us save Electrik Tiki Spike from getting cancelled."

Hardcover news.

You might know that the third hardcover for Angel After the fall is out? Anyhow, amazon.com & amazon.co.uk(the british amazon) has lowered their price of the HC with 34% (maybe because on amazon.co.uk, other sellers has way lower price, which I myself have taken advantage of). Not sure when they lowered it, so maybe this is old news.

Something else of interest is that the first hardcover will get a second printing, released this week(the second hardcover already has a second print).

I've ordered the third hardcover and the Spike After the fall hardcover, and for you comic-readers who don't know yet if the HC's are worth getting in case you already have the single issues, I will write a list of all the extras and take some pictures.

How I Met Your Mother -CSI: Style

Another How I Met Your Mother video that even non-fans can enjoy.

It's hila- wait for it- nevermind, I can't spell it.

Clickeliclick

Try not to laugh, I dare ya'.

Whether you're watching Alyson Hannigan's(Willow's) show How I Met Your Mother or not, if you don't laugh or get horny at 3:27(maybe both) for this gag reel video, there's something off about you.

LINK

Save Spike.

Please save the Electric Tiki Spike statuette by signing this petition. And tell your friends.

Pretty please?

SIGN HERE

Have you heard of the Electric Tiki statuettes, specifically the Buffy ones?

If not look here Electrik Tiki for photos. They have released a few(Buffy, Willow) and are planning on doing more, but it seems like the Spike design will get cancelled(btw, it's probably not the same design as on the page I just showed you, I read it's been changed a lot).

To save Spike, show that you care.

Sign.

Btw, please link to this petition on whedonesque (we're not allowed to link to our own stuff).

Weekly feature: Excerpt from original script

I got a real treasure for you this week. The mute dialouge, according to the script, between Buffy & Dawn in The Body, from the scene when Buffy reveals to Dawn that Joyce died. The white dialouge is what we hear on screen, and the yellow is from the script(not sure if it's exactly the words the actors used or if it changed).

Buffy: Dawn. I have to talk to you.

Dawn: Um...

Buffy: What?

Dawn: Can it wait? I'm in the middle of a class.

Buffy: I know. Please come with me.

Dawn: I thought Mom was picking me up.

*Buffy closes the classroom door behind them as they exit into the hall.*

Dawn: What's going on? Something's going on.

Buffy: Let's go outside.

Dawn: No. Tell me what's going on.

Buffy: It's ... bad ... news.

Dawn: Well, what is it? What happened?

Buffy: It's bad. Please, can we-

Dawn: (loudly) Where's Mom?

Buffy: (teary) Mom ... had an accident. Or, um... ...something went ... wrong from the tumor.

Dawn: Is she okay? Is she ... but she's okay? But ... it's, it's serious, but...

Buffy: Dawn...

Buffy: Mom died this morning. While we were both at school, she-

Dawn: No...

Buffy: I don't know exactly what happened, but, she's dead...

Dawn: No. NO NO no no you're lying you're lying she fine she's FINE and you're lying oh no no please please no you're lying she's fine, she's fine...

Buffy: Dawnie...

Dawn: It's not true it's not real it's not real ohhhhh noooooo... no...

Xander custom

A new MsBig custom.

It's Xander (duh) from the Halloween episode "All the way", in the scene where he is celebrating his engagement to Anya at Buffy's house.

LINK

BOOK REVIEW Undead and Unwed.

I usually don't ever write something non-Buffy/Angel on here, but I love this book. The main character reminded me of a young Buffy. Only ten times sassier.

Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson.

Read the amazon product description here, or my review below. Maybe you my fellow Buffy lovers will like the book as much as I did.

"First of, yes, this book does remind me of many other feel good vampire books.
The heroin is very attracted to the main male jerk (sorry, character) and she isn't exactly Xena (here's name Betsy btw) but she can take care of herself.

Here's the plot(skip this stanza if you don't want to be spoiled).Betsy dies. Betsy deals with that she's a vampire and tells her family and friends she's back from the grave(most of her family deals with it). The head vampire, Nostro, wants Betsy to be on his side, kidnaps her and tries to make her one of his minions. Betsy refuses, and since she is the vampire Queen, she has special powers and can unlike other newborns defends herself. She just wants a normal life. She goes back home, tries to get everything back to normal, but being a vampire isn't so easy. Specially since Sinclair, the main jerk, is very intrigued by Betsy and her powers(he wants to sleep with her and keep her as his lover, kinda like a trophy). He also wants to take the control from Nostro and rule. He convinces Betsy to fight on his side. Since Sinclair is a lot nicer than Nostro, Betsy agrees. They fight, save the day(night) and fuck(this book has a few graphic sex-scenes, but they don't take away from the plot) which means that Sinclair becomes Betsy's consort.(Something he "forgot" to mention.)

The character:

Betsy. She's ten times sassyer than Buffy the vampire slayer, loves shoes, is vain, but has a golden heart and a very sensitive consience. Also, to her, no means no. No swooning when Sinclair kisses her(okay, some swooning). She doesn't like to be used. But, since the plot of the book isn't all that original(but amusing), I think they will eventually fall in love.

Sinclair. He does use his vampire pheronomes(vampires are pretty much unresistable to some humans) but he does care about the people he bites, and will be a much better leader than Nostro(I haven't read the other book(s) yet), he has sexually assulted Betsy(kissed) and is a old-fashioned guy, and he really looks the part. He's Harlequin hot and knows it and uses it, but as we get to see inside his mind in the end of the book, he does care for Betsy's wellbeing(okay, they're having sex while we read his mind so maybe he doesn't usually care so much). He has a conscience(to go with the Buffy anology, he's more like Spike from season 5 of Buffy, not season 6, urgh) but he needs to learn manners. I'm not a hundred per cent sure that just because his lady freidns are happy, it means it isn't some sort of rape. After all, the vampire pheromenoes does take a strong hold and is addictive. But since I'm very sensative about sexual abuse, other readers will probably not find this a big problem. Also, the guy did manipulate Betsy and he is selfsih, but hey, he's not evil.

There are other interesting and funny characters(this book is a laugh, I smiled pretty much all the time) who you care about. I love Jessica, Betsy's best friend, a rich black chick, fiercly loyal, but sadly, a racist.

To sum up; The main character is lovely and strong, the main jerk isn't a complete ass, the plot isn't extremely original, humans are being used by vampires, but in a ... almost acceptable way(the humans & vampires get superhorny during feeding). The dialouge is great and like I said, the books a laugh. Also, there's graphic sex in ... I think it's two scenes.

I recommend it."

Btw, thanks secretscoobie for making my day (over at livejournal).

Vampy cats

Two members over at slayalive.com have been creative. Don't you just want to hug these little fellas (but watch the fangs).

BuffyFanOne's

Sagewoman's

Here's a fun fact; Sagewoman won the interaction subscription contest for Angel After the fall #5, which meant that her cover-concept were drawn and used for issue 5. It's the cover below.

REVIEW Death's daughter

I just read Death's Daughter, Amber Benson's new book, and I can't wait for the other books in the series. Not to spoil you too much, but the main character, Callie, is forced to leave her life on Manhattan and return to her old life to save her family. You could find amazon's description in the link above, so no more plot details is needed. I just want to point out that in this book we see how Callie struggles to finish tasks, gains both enemies and friends, while trying to deal with being around her family again. As a matter of fact, she has to deal with simply remembering her family again.

She put a memory spell on herself (I don't know how exactly how it worked, but I think she must have lost all memory of her family, since in the end she mentions how she now will come home for Christmas, like she didn't do that before) and during her adventures on earth and in hell, she must deal with repressed memories and low self esteem, combined with disgust for her father's job.This isn't the "heaviest" book I've read, it's light and fun and has a happy ending, but you do feel for the characters and their lives.

The book does leave me wondering about many things, both about the characters and about how magic works in Callie's world and many questions are unanswered, but hey, it's the first book in a series, it's not suppose to spell everything out to the reader. I can already say that I will be very sad when the third and final book is released.

It's well written, easy to read, not to descriptive but with enough details to let the reader "see" clearly what they're reading about. We read from Callie's perspective, our heroin, who is a bit of a clutz(?) and whiner, but definitely champion material. Through the whole book she's complaining about how she wants to return to her normal life on Manhattan, but she never gives up. True, she breaks down and cries several times in the book and once she actually lied down, not even getting up when her little sister begged her, but considering what the girl had to go through, it's no wonder. I really hope that in the next book some loose ends will be tied(you know, questions answered), because there is some serious family issues that needs to be dealt with, grief-wise. You will know what I mean after you've read the book.

In case you want a signed and/or personalized copy, read Amber's blog.

I would get a signed copy if I didn't live on student loans and already bought the book.

Interviews with Amber(btw, she's adorable), where she talks about Death's daughter and other projects:

Part 1

Part 2

If you've read the book, write a review on amazon and we might see Amber doing the Macarena.

Weekly feature: Excerpt from original script

This weeks episode is Conversations with dead people, when Buffy has a heart to heart with a vamp, Dawn fights of a poltergeist(kinda) and Willow talks to Tara through a ghost. Well not really. She's just talking to the First. But in the original teleplay Tara was suppose to come back and visit Willow in person. However, according to The Watcher's Guide vol. 3, Amber Benson couldn't or wouldn't come. I heard that it's wouldn't. I read that Joss wanted her back as the First (I assume in this episode) but she didn't want to hurt the fans who had already suffered enough through Tara's death. I'm pretty sure I read that in a interview somewhere.

Anyway, here's a brief piece of the original exchange;

Tara: I'm sorry to wake you.

Willow: Ha...

Tara: Ha-what?

Willow: Is that like a dream joke thing? You're sorry to wake me, but I'm clearly not awake and if I was awake and you really were here, would you be sorry to wake me? I mean, after all this time and - oh God, I'm babbling. I'm dream babbling and it's the best dream of my life and I'm wasting it and-

Tara: I just meant, I liked watching you sleep.

Also, although the new big bad has yet to be mentioned by name in dialogue, the script already refers to it as "The First". And in case you don't know, it wasn't Joyce, it was The First. I'm not sure if all the ruckus was The First, maybe a magician helped with the "storm" inside the house, but Joyce didn't talk to Dawn or Buffy in season 7. Jane Espenson (or another writer) has confirmed this. But since I don't have source right now...

A sketch a day keeps the boredom away.

Stephen Mooney, awesome artist of Angel After the fall, and a few other Irish artists have gathered together to bring us one sketch per day on this site.

MY THOUGHTS Missing heart to heart.

Here's a short fanfic. Sort of a "missing scene".

In End of days, anyone think that there's a huge "I told you so" waiting to happen?

Buffy's back in the house, but the Scoobies don't really have a talk about what went down when Buffy got thrown out? I want to think that after Chosen, they had a talk. This might be how it went down;

*Buffy, Willow, Xander, Anya, Giles & Dawn are together in a big hotel room. Buffy is facing the others, arms protectively crossed, a uncomfortable silence is in the room*

Buffy: I think we need to talk.

Xander: Buffy we know we were wrong...

Willow: We're sorry.

*Giles is cleaning his glasses*

Buffy: No. I won't say 'I told you so'. Because you probably think that it's luck. Luck that I was right. Luck that I didn't die, luck that...

Giles: No. It's wasn't luck.

Buffy: Maybe you don't think that. Still... We have problems, don't we?

*they look at each other, insecure, not knowing what to say, and the screen goes black*

I hope they had a talk. Otherwise, some issues are unresolved. That Buffy was right about the schyte might not mean that Willow and the others are confident in Buffy. But, since about 18 months passed between Season 7 & Season 8, I think they worked things out.

Smile Time cover for issue 3

I loooove David Messina's cover for issue 3 of Smile Time. That's the picture to the left, which was inspired by the ad to the right, which was a promo pic for season 5 of Angel.

I "borrowed" the pictures from Chris Ryall's blog, and if you want to read a little more about what he has to say about the Smile Time-covers, click here.

Below are some of the other covers for Smile Time.

Covers for issue 1:

Cover for issue 2:

MY THOUGHTS I can't stay away from original scripts.

On this site a fellow fan shared the original Buffy-get-out-of-the-house-scene from the Drew Z. Greenberg full-white draft for the episode Empty Spaces(so it's not a absolutely sure source)

Here's the aired version and in this thread's first post you find the original.

Here are my views on the changes;

I think I like Willow's ”She's tired”-approach more in the original script than the quieter nicer way on screen. Of course, Willow treating Buffy like a 7 year old would be strange.

I'm not sure if I like Xander's blame in the original script or not(okay, he lost an eye, crankiness and blame is expected) but it's great that he says;

"Even when you get mad at us for not working hard enough at a plan which doesn't exist, because you don't know what you're doing. We keep following you, even then.”

Because it's true. Buffy has put a lot on them all this season.

****

I love that Buffy mentions Ben to Giles. Even tough it didn't make it to the screen, this for me settles the question if she knows that Giles killed him or not. I heard from a fan that in the original script for Lies My Parents Told Me, Giles tells Buffy about Ben in the graveyard, to show her that sometimes you have to make the hard decisions(he's trying to make her see why Spike has to die).

I don't get what Giles means by this tough;

"GILES (more intense) Or Molly? Or Xander? And it goes even further back than that, doesn't it?

BUFFY Giles.

GILES (seething) You act alone, and people get hurt, right? People like Jenny.”

He's the one who got involved with Jenny, he's the one who told her about the Hellmouth and let her into his life. Sure, Jenny was sent there by her people to watch Angel, so she wanted to be there from the start, but still. Sure, it was Buffy's ex that killed her, but it's not like Giles told Jenny to go somewhere safe.

I'm glad this part didn't make into on screen. Man, I would have loathed Giles(even more than I did after he tried to kill Spike that is.

***

This part, from the screen but not in the original script, is gold;

"BUFFY: No. You don't get to vote until I've had my chance to pal around, you know, get everybody drunk. See, I didn't get this was a popularity contest. I should have equal time to bake them cookies, braid their hair?

FAITH: Learn their names?

BUFFY: You're just lovin' this, aren't you?

FAITH: You have no idea what I'm feeling.

BUFFY: Come in here, take everything that I have... You did it before. Did you tell them that? Did you tell them how you used to kill people for fun? Hey, you guys think that's nifty?"

Buffy's a bitch in this scene, but I think this adds to Buffy's character, her loathing for Faith that just won't go away. It isn't pretty, but it's real.

***

I think that over all, the aired scene is better. Because it makes me less pissed of than the original script. More sad than annoying. Anya's Stargate line should never have been cut tough. There must have been time limits that made them not air it. Of course, a joke might not be fitting in such a emotional scene, but I love the line.

Weekly feature: Excerpt from original script

I found this funny piece of direction in The Casefiles volume 2 and decided to show it to you guys, even tough it's not exactly a line cut due to length(and I don't understand it completely).

It's from the episode Billy (Angel, Season 3) when Billy makes men go mad(but not in the sexy way. Unless you're into that, which is a personal choice, I guess).

"Angel's penchant for quick exists is exemplified in this piece of stage direction from the shooting script:

WHOOSH-Angel's off into the night.
WESLEY'S POV
The dark figure of Angel just disappearing over a roof (or around a corner. Point is, he ain't Superman, but we get that the cat can cook when he wants to.)"

*googling "the cat can cook"*

I feel so Swedish right now. What does it mean?