Not Sure Where I'm Going With This...

[shipperx]

I've been pondering what to write for rahirah 's   "Nertz to you, Joss Whedon!" ficathon (which is take something that irritates the crap out of you in Season 8 and write fic).  Right now I've got three vague and unformed plot bunnies running around.

1) Angel centric -- "nertz!" that Angel isn't a character in Season 8, not one with a history or motivation.  He's just a pawn easily gulled by prophecies.  The plot bunny is a character study of why is he so easily led around by tales of prophecies and being told that he's special.   This bunny goes back to his childhood. I'm just not sure how to tie it together with S8 to make the thing concise and bring it to a point.  So far it's a historical oddity.  Strangely, I've got a title for this one.   "Dispossessed"

2) Spike centric -- "nertz!" that Spike isn't a character in Season 8.  He's just... there.  My idea in that one is to dig around in his head a little while Buffy is in her shower.  This one would just be a quick character study and thus kind of pointless itself.  I have next to nothing for this one except, weirdly enough, another title  "Eroding Fossils"  and another trek to a character's childhood.  So, basically, another historical moment... only it's even more vague than the Angel one.   It's so vague that it's the most likely to not be written.

3) Original Character, a random Slayer -- "nertz!" ... well, basically if you look at Bangel Boink, etc.  from a random Slayer's POV, Buffy (and Angel)  would come off terribly.  Still, I find I'm interested in the view of someone who has no interest in Buffy's love life but whose own life and welfare are endangered by it.

The problem is that all three plot bunnies are small, unformed things and I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with them.  I just know that I don't want any of them growing very big because I have other fic to work on and I'm not up for something major.  Plus, they all need brainstorming. 

Still, these are the bunnies I'm wrestling with at the moment. 

Comments

[elisi]

Well at least you HAVE bunnies. I've got nothing except a vague recollection of a crossover fic I was going to write where Buffy & Satsu showed up in Spike: AtF. Might still have to go with that.

ETA: Actually, I think I might have one now. So far it's no longer than a drabble, but knowing me it'll probably grow...

[cindergal.livejournal.com]

Yes, at least you have bunnies. :-) I know I want to do something with Angel and Connor - you know, that kid he loved and stuff once. ;-) But that's as far as I've gotten. I know it will be short, ignore the comics, and maybe have a holiday theme. Actually, now that I type that, I think I might do something around the idea of Angel trying to make up for all those holidays he and Connor missed spending together. Hey, look at that! I've got a bunny now! Thank you! *g*

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

Your Bunnies sound pretty interesting, especially the one about the random slayer.

I don't really have any that really work with S8, more an alternative version where Buffy goes bad in a more coherent way that evolves from what happened in the series instead of repeating the same angst again.

[shapinglight]

They all sound great, though I think the final one intrigues me the most.

[rahirah]

Number three does sound interesting....

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

It's the one that's most easily producing ideas. Unfortunately, it's also the one that's most potentially upsetting, because the whole concept is about keeping Buffy, etc. at a distance. This would be someone who is just one of the anonymous Slayers and would depend on the more cannon-fodder Slayers such as Renee, the Buffy-doppleganger, and Satsu. This plus the circumstances of the comic means that Buffy will come across somewhat negatively. Given the damage done to random Slayers in the wake of the world-destroying boink with "Twilight"... random Slayer third from the left is...well... going to kind of hate Buffy by the end. That could meet with some unhappy reactions with Buffy fangirls (and I don't mean the story in a 'character bashing' sense but in a 'total outsider view of Buffy's choices' sense).

[rahirah]

I'm having a similar sort of problem with continuing "In A Yellow Wood." If I write the Comics!Buffy character the way the comics have written her, I'd seriously feel as if I were bashing her. I don't want to do that. I could fix it by fanwanking a lot of her motives, but I deeply resent having to put so much effort into making sense of Joss's bizarre characterization.

But either way, I don't think that potential unfavorable reader reaction should scare anyone off telling the story they need to tell. When it comes to meta I'll back off because it's not worth arguing about. But I draw the line when it comes to people telling me what I can or can't put in fiction.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

As part of my research I've gone back and re-read some of the transcripts... and it's shocking how terribly she's been written from the beginning of these comics.