(SPOILER CAUTION) A lot of questions about Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[Edena_of_Neith]

To Heretic Apostle

Heretic Apostle posted:

Do all the vampires awake with the ability to do martial arts?

From Edena

That one I think I can answer. I remember them saying in the series that they were created that way, yes.
I'm reminded of the uruk-hai of Isengard (from The Two Towers) They were born, or created, as warriors.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Hey there, Drothgery, Crothian. Long time no see.

I'd love to hear more answers to my questions. I'd welcome any feedback you would give.
I'd also like to add a question, from Season 7 (yeah, all the way over at the other end of the series!)

I saw Buffy evicted from her leadership and her house by the group, excluding Spike.
Don't you sorta think everyone was behaving irrationally in doing this? If you don't think it irrational, what do you believe? If you do think it irrational, do you think the First had a part in it?
What could the group have done, to achieve the result they wanted (what exactly did they want??) without evicting Buffy?

Here is my thinking:

Buffy was the biggest weapon the group had. Faith was the second biggest, Spike the third biggest.
In one stroke the group lost their biggest gun. In the ensuing irrational confrontation with Spike (a direct result of kicking Buffy out) they lost their third biggest gun also.
Had it not been for Spike, Buffy might never have returned to help the group. In which case I am guessing it was sure-fire defeat for them against the First. (Not that Buffy's tactics at the end of Season 7 were good tactics, IMO, but that is aside from the point here. This is prior to that point.)
So, by their own irrational reaction in throwing Buffy out, the group effectively won the war for the First. Only Faith stood between the Dark Preacher and the Potentials at that point.
The group could have insisted on talking, and simply refused to obey Buffy (we will sit here until we starve, thank you!) They could have let her leave, knowing she would later return. They could have had Faith overcome her and tie her up, then talk to her.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

My question is, if Willow could give the essence of Slayer-hood to all the trainees, wouldn't it have been a good idea to, I dunno, give it to them before they confront an army of supervamps?

If they had done so, maybe Wood wouldn't have been stabbed, maybe Anya wouldn't have been killed, and maybe they could have saved two or three of the thus-killed trainees...

At the very least, the axe/scythe would have been available before they opened up the Hellmouth...

***************

Edena, how are you posting? Are you using the Quick Reply at the bottom? Or are you just hitting "Post Reply" at the bottom?

If you're posting a new reply, you can use the QUOTE tags to enclose what you're quoting: [ quote ] and [ /quote ]

If you're using the quick reply at the bottom, you can always use the fourth thing on the right (looks like a comic-strip blurb). Just copy what you want to quote, paste it into the Quick Reply area, highlight it, and hit the thing below the Underline.

 

[Tsyr]

As long as we're asking questions:

Do all the vampires awake with the ability to do martial arts?

Actually, yes. There is a passing comment made about that in the 7th season episode, called "Conversations with Dead People" or something like that. It's called "Vampire Kung-Fu", or simply "Vampire-Fu"

 

[Lichtenhart]

It's difficult for me to post here. Everything is black. I have to highlight everything in order to read it. And I have to keep relogging in. (sighs) Ah well. At least Netscape shows something. MIE shows nothing ... my posts and threads simply do not exist!

About the need to relog: check if you're using the new address (http://www.enworld.org/forums/index.php) or the old address (http://enworld.cyberstreet.com). Using the old address usually did that.

oh and nice to hear from you again, Edena

 

[tetsujin28]

I give tetsu-troll one and a half stars on his first attempt, which was pretty uninspired and unoriginal, and two stars on his second attempt, which, although somewhat obvious, does at least try to compel an emotional response.

Blah. Bite me. Having been a Buffy fan since episode one (and if you had been too, you would've recognized me from the original Bronze -- if you back that far, it was UPN's original Buffy site -- which I joined way before ENWorld), season's 6 and seven did, in fact, suck mightily. YMMV, but calling someone a troll becasue they disagree with you is pretty juvenile.

And for those who are really interested in serious Buffy-age, the heir to the Bronze for the last several years has been the Bronze Alternative: http://thebronzealternative.com/, run by several of the old board members. There used to also be the Bronze Shelter, but it seems to have ceased functioning since June of this year.

 

[stevelabny]

but Season 6 had ONCE MORE WITH FEELING.
and Season 7 had Andrew DMing the gang through an adventure against TROGDOR

 

[tetsujin28]

The musical was great. But it led to an awful season of more whining. And Trogdor doesn't make up for a lousy season 7 and the god-awful finale.

 

[Vocenoctum]

I saw Buffy evicted from her leadership and her house by the group, excluding Spike.
Don't you sorta think everyone was behaving irrationally in doing this? If you don't think it irrational, what do you believe? If you do think it irrational, do you think the First had a part in it?
What could the group have done, to achieve the result they wanted (what exactly did they want??) without evicting Buffy?

They could have simply said "we're not going", the eviction was stupid. More so because they do it to avoid "charge blindly", and the next plan is to "charge blindly".

Basically, Season 7 is a plot hole, a swirling vortex of plot holeness...

They never did beat the First, did they?

 

[takyris]

Blah. Bite me... YMMV, but calling someone a troll becasue they disagree with you is pretty juvenile.

I didn't call you a troll because you disagreed with me. I called you a troll for numerous and sundry other reasons. Entering a polite conversation with deliberately rude comments is trollish. If you don't want people to call you a troll, it would be good to write in a slightly different style. ENWorld might be the place you go to vent those antisocial feelings, but some folks here are actually trying to have polite conversations with etiquette and everything.

I wouldn't want all seasons to be like Season Six, but I liked it as one season out of seven. Good to see things go wrong, good to back away from the more and more powerful bad guys and show that powers don't make things perfect. Putting aside "Once More With Feeling", how about:

- The Halloween episode with the vampire teen that tries to defend going after Dawn to Buffy with "Well, we met at parties..."

- The classic humor of the amnesia episode.

- The Nerds of Doom in general, who provided much needed comic relief in the darkest hours.

- Tara dying despite how powerful everyone is -- cutting right through the metaphor to show that people die no matter how in-control you are. Life happens. Death happens.

- Giles in the season finale.

- Willow and Xander in the big scene on the cliff in the finale.

As for the comment about Buffy's Mom -- it got me. It might not have gotten you, but it got many other folks. Hit me where I lived. Great raw intensity and a complete lack of fear about not doing the hollywood thing, not just cutting to the funeral and the pretty black dresses with a slow violin music-over. Showing all the ugly little details. Hugely good.

And in that particular episode, Anya stole it for me. Watching her get weirder and weirder and finally break down and show a moment of humanity under all the artificiality was a kick in the gut. Just my opinion. Obviously, it didn't impress you. As I recall, it got several other people, however, so coming on with:

"That Joyce. What a pain in the butt. Did anyone really care when (SPOILER!)...she died? Didn't think so."

...gives the appearance of being deliberately calculated to offend.

EDIT: Judging me as a fan based on whether or not I went to your website was a nice touch. Two-and-a-half stars.