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juushikaBuffy s7 as a desert island paradise
When I was watching Buffy season 7, I had multiple intricate dreams about ensemble casts with complex histories all living in a shared space—nothing I could remember on waking, but each of them delightful, id wishful-fulfillment parallels to the S7 Summers's home, crowded and insular and complicated and safe.
S7 is bold, in its way. It ignores a lot of its episodic roots, especially in the monster of the week department, and while S6 is about personal pain and communication breakdown, S7 is about how very small such private struggles are in the face of truly overwhelming odds. It's 7.20 "Touched": intimate, desperate connections made the night before a battle. The soap opera of previous seasons breaks down; what felt so important at the time now seems petty—but it remains valuable to those involved. These personal things are become footnotes, crucial but small, in a larger history.
But it wasn't ever the apocalypse thing that found its way into my dreams, and I never could remember details of social dramas; what I woke up with was that atmosphere of stifling, valuable intimacy, where the fallout of long, tortured relationships shares screentime with breakfasting an army. Juu's Favorite Tropes/Subgenes So Obscure There's No Name for Them #34 is what I call a "desert island paradise," wherein a group of people are forced into unusual intimacy via isolation
(Juu, that sounds interesting! Do you have any examples? Well I'm glad you asked, and you should check out these books.)
and in most examples it's just a few people, like the family units in The Dreamers or We Have Always Lived in the Castle; occasionally, it's a found family as in The Likeness. But intimacy tends to be small. Buffy S7 keeps its core cast manageable, but it grows with intent: Willow's return, Spike's return, Giles's return, Wood's introduction, Andrew's addition, Faith's return, so even if without cluttering the script with the personal lives of dozens of Potentials, what makes that isolated intimacy intimate is the sheer literal mass of it, sleeping bags everywhere, waking Xander to fix a clogged toilet, the busy kitchen, the boarded windows and crowded rooms and people, people everywhere, huddled together and sharing warmth.
These are none of them things I personally desire—I am an introvert to put other introverts to shame: I do not share space well—but that sense of intimacy in dreamland was as delightful as that small intimacy I look for in this most precious of all tropes.
Willow/Tara/Oz fix-it fic
All I ever wanted from Buffy fandom (insofar as I ever engage in any fandom anymore, which I don't) was a fix-it fic for the Willow/Tara/Oz situation. They have between them an excess of love, and it never made sense to me that that becomes divisive, combative—except this is the same world in which telling your star-crossed lover that you hate their new boyfriend is some sort of backward "I just wanted to let you know that I still love you" compliment, where jealousy and competitive monogamy are good things
well did you know, in the 3.5 relevant existing fic there's actually two lovely fix-its:
Inner Daemon by sentientcitizen
which sticks with me mostly because the His Dark Materials crossover works surprisingly well (esp. Anya as mentioned in the notes)
and
Day Settles Into Night by kaberett, recorded by nubianamy
podfic so I almost skipped it and that would have been a mistake; this soothes my soul. The voices are beautifully on point, all three of them; the negotiations have the awkward earnestness that's at the heart of Buffy-speak and the dynamic that develops between the three is utterly convincing. This puts to rest my lingering anxieties. I would love to see the longterm ramifications of this relationship (especially in season six), but to rewrite bi-erasure* and this episode is enough. "New Moon Rising" is all about loving two different people at the same time, but then it makes love competitive and then the narrative erases Oz, from the story and from Willow's experience. This goes back to the root, to love.
* Willow as a lesbian is fantastic (and was groundbreaking) representation—although the frequency with which male homosexuality is used a punchline rather undercuts that—and people are able to define their orientations independent of their relationships, but: I read Willow as bisexual; there is, at least, fantastic energy between her and Oz.
How to write successful poly fix-its
All I want from transformative works is polyamory narratives*, but I'm frequently discontent with polyamory negotiations in fic. But Juu, what about Day Settles Into Night, that Willow/Oz/Tara Buffy podfic you think is perfect? It works because it it gets right what I feel a lot of other fic gets wrong:
"Day Settles Into Night" relies on Buffy-speak and implied dialog; characters do speak (and their voices are so convincing), but a lot of the actual negotiation occurs off-screen or indistinctly. When I went from monogomous-by-default-I-suppose into polyamory negotiations, there were few scenes that would fit a coherent narrative; there was, instead, a lot of discussion, long confused conversations cut into dozens of imperfect fragments, some of them conversations with self, because relationships are complex by nature and learning to polyamory introduces multiple new complications: a new dynamic, and more than twice as many relationships.
That non-narrative dialog was marked by a more coherent narrative arc, moments of emotional confusion and clarity which motivated all the talk. It's those moments that the fic finds, when emotions connect while words struggle to. It's the benefit of its short multiple-vignette form, of the origin media's comfort with broken dialog.
I'm certain that not all polyamory negotiations work that way—but most transformative works are based on media that echos my starting place, people new to polyamory. I grow tired of scenes of immediate group consent, where one person makes the "why don't we just..." suggestion and everyone quickly discovers they're fine with it. (I also grow tired of triads having a single, fixed dynamic that erases the unique relationship between each pair.) It's neat to write, but it doesn't ring true, and so fails to be fulfilling.
* Not actual exaggeration: every fanfic I've felt the need to read in the last [substantial period of time] has been polyamory fix-it fic.
#I rewatched Love Actually and Juliet/Mark/Peter has renewed needs for poly fix-its
On New Moon Rising
so the failure & also saving grace of "New Moon Rising" is literally that the villain of the piece is jealousy.
the episode does key things right:
1) Willow is explicitly bisexual (for a good few episodes in this season!!) (and I support people identifying however they want, regardless of what desires or relationships they have or had, but bi erasure is a thing and it happens in Willow and makes me sad);
2) Willow has distinct, unique feelings for both Tara and Oz, existing simultaneously and not in conflict—and those final notes, despite the intervening ick, are fantastic: the narrative & Oz chose for her whom she stays with, but Willow herself chooses both, Oz with "some part of me will always be waiting for you," Tara with "you have to be with the person you love" / "I am."
it fucks shit up, too, via that old standby of poor communication and the expectation that those feelings must cause conflict (Buffy's "no matter what, somebody's gonna get hurt")—but the real villain is that jealousy and possessiveness turn you into a monster and endanger both you and your relationships. that that's taken for granted and presented as unsolvable is gross—sexual jealousy makes men violent! ah well, boys will be boys. but there's an underlying happy accident, the unconsidered solution of overcoming jealousy. it makes for what's ultimately a ridiculously heavy-handed metaphor, but you know what, I will take it.
this is my OT3 to end all OT3s, and "New Moon Rising" is always something of a stumbling block for me because I simultaneously love and hurt because of it, and put a lot of emotional energy into rewriting it—but for all that, it's surprisingly satisfying, thanks in equal parts to Alyson Hannigan's acting and to what the narrative doesn't resolve—that Willow's feelings don't go away, that she doesn't really pick. she loves them both, and that's complicated and scary, but it itself isn't the danger. that's better than nothing, I suppose.
Re: the BtvS 20th anniversary reunion EW cover
An occult bookstore attracts less street traffic and more practitioners; it's quieter and safer and allows more time for study, which suits Tara particularly well. They do sell some harmless, #aesthetic witchy trinkets, which pays for the lease.
The library itself is half physical and half digital. Some magic is found in book as physical object, some is in the information itself, sometimes a scan is a happy compromise—who uses which books in what format varies depending on a user's needs and the library's best judgement. The library keeps a large digital archive, and even more scans stored offline, preserving every magical book they can find. Willow maintains their website.
Willow works closely with a worldwide coven. It allows them to achieve spells on a global scale—especially useful in a world full of awakened slayers. It also provides her with a support network of experienced witches, and means that a lot of her big magic workings depend on coordination and planning rather than impulse, both of which help her manage her addiction.
Tara isn't as powerful as Willow, but because they work magic in physical proximity there's an immediacy and intimacy in their spells. It bonds them together, and makes for especially powerful curses, blessings, and other magic that directly affects individuals.
It took Oz years to become confident in his self-control; ironically, given his reserved demeanor, he was the one who had the hardest time learning to deal with jealousy and adopting to a polyamorous relationship. He's since taken on a mentor role to other werewolves, and travels a lot to do outreach work for werewolves he's introduced to via the Watcher's Council, Willow's coven, and the internet.
Intense emotion can still threaten Oz's control—at least once, a death in the family made him shift during the moon. They have access to an offsite werewolf cage for emergency use, for Oz or for any of the local werewolves he works with. Willow designed the digital locks for the cage and the webcam feed that monitors it.
Ironically, Tara's empathy helped Oz process and work through the emotions that triggered his shifts. Tara and Oz didn't immediately have the sexual intimacy that Willow had with each of them, but their relationship developed clear communication and an intense mutual trust early on.
There's healthy overlap in the occult library and Oz's work with werewolves. Tara researches magical treatments (particularly useful for werewolves that can't accomplish the meditation central to Oz's techniques), including folk remedies not recorded in mainstream texts, and eventually began building her own spells.
Many of the same techniques, research, and communication skills they developed in werewolf-work apply to Willow's magic addiction, and have been key to her longterm treatment.
Oz's traveling reminds Willow of when he used to travel with the band. She's the one most likely to get lonely, and the one that most benefits from the "more partners means more companionship" aspect of their relationship.
(re: OT3 reunion)
TAGGED: #in a world where #1) more communication longer timescale fewer murder attempts in New Moon Rising #2) Tara didn't die (obvs) but Willow still had some sort of magic-addict relapse/breakdown probably #and then they all lived HAPPILY EVER AFTER #(Tara doesn't have Willow's raw talent but knows more about research/community/creating new spells) #(they have the appearance of a closed triad but Willow occasionally has relationships with other people—usually female & usually witches) #(Oz is forever taciturn but Tara really appreciates his humor; Tara and Willow bring a lot of play into their relationship & home) #(Tara keeps some of the witchy baubles they sell at the shop to decorate their house)
When I was watching Buffy season 7, I had multiple intricate dreams about ensemble casts with complex histories all living in a shared space—nothing I could remember on waking, but each of them delightful, id wishful-fulfillment parallels to the S7 Summers's home, crowded and insular and complicated and safe.
S7 is bold, in its way. It ignores a lot of its episodic roots, especially in the monster of the week department, and while S6 is about personal pain and communication breakdown, S7 is about how very small such private struggles are in the face of truly overwhelming odds. It's 7.20 "Touched": intimate, desperate connections made the night before a battle. The soap opera of previous seasons breaks down; what felt so important at the time now seems petty—but it remains valuable to those involved. These personal things are become footnotes, crucial but small, in a larger history.
But it wasn't ever the apocalypse thing that found its way into my dreams, and I never could remember details of social dramas; what I woke up with was that atmosphere of stifling, valuable intimacy, where the fallout of long, tortured relationships shares screentime with breakfasting an army. Juu's Favorite Tropes/Subgenes So Obscure There's No Name for Them #34 is what I call a "desert island paradise," wherein a group of people are forced into unusual intimacy via isolation
(Juu, that sounds interesting! Do you have any examples? Well I'm glad you asked, and you should check out these books.)
and in most examples it's just a few people, like the family units in The Dreamers or We Have Always Lived in the Castle; occasionally, it's a found family as in The Likeness. But intimacy tends to be small. Buffy S7 keeps its core cast manageable, but it grows with intent: Willow's return, Spike's return, Giles's return, Wood's introduction, Andrew's addition, Faith's return, so even if without cluttering the script with the personal lives of dozens of Potentials, what makes that isolated intimacy intimate is the sheer literal mass of it, sleeping bags everywhere, waking Xander to fix a clogged toilet, the busy kitchen, the boarded windows and crowded rooms and people, people everywhere, huddled together and sharing warmth.
These are none of them things I personally desire—I am an introvert to put other introverts to shame: I do not share space well—but that sense of intimacy in dreamland was as delightful as that small intimacy I look for in this most precious of all tropes.
Willow/Tara/Oz fix-it fic
All I ever wanted from Buffy fandom (insofar as I ever engage in any fandom anymore, which I don't) was a fix-it fic for the Willow/Tara/Oz situation. They have between them an excess of love, and it never made sense to me that that becomes divisive, combative—except this is the same world in which telling your star-crossed lover that you hate their new boyfriend is some sort of backward "I just wanted to let you know that I still love you" compliment, where jealousy and competitive monogamy are good things
well did you know, in the 3.5 relevant existing fic there's actually two lovely fix-its:
Inner Daemon by sentientcitizen
which sticks with me mostly because the His Dark Materials crossover works surprisingly well (esp. Anya as mentioned in the notes)
and
Day Settles Into Night by kaberett, recorded by nubianamy
podfic so I almost skipped it and that would have been a mistake; this soothes my soul. The voices are beautifully on point, all three of them; the negotiations have the awkward earnestness that's at the heart of Buffy-speak and the dynamic that develops between the three is utterly convincing. This puts to rest my lingering anxieties. I would love to see the longterm ramifications of this relationship (especially in season six), but to rewrite bi-erasure* and this episode is enough. "New Moon Rising" is all about loving two different people at the same time, but then it makes love competitive and then the narrative erases Oz, from the story and from Willow's experience. This goes back to the root, to love.
* Willow as a lesbian is fantastic (and was groundbreaking) representation—although the frequency with which male homosexuality is used a punchline rather undercuts that—and people are able to define their orientations independent of their relationships, but: I read Willow as bisexual; there is, at least, fantastic energy between her and Oz.
How to write successful poly fix-its
All I want from transformative works is polyamory narratives*, but I'm frequently discontent with polyamory negotiations in fic. But Juu, what about Day Settles Into Night, that Willow/Oz/Tara Buffy podfic you think is perfect? It works because it it gets right what I feel a lot of other fic gets wrong:
"Day Settles Into Night" relies on Buffy-speak and implied dialog; characters do speak (and their voices are so convincing), but a lot of the actual negotiation occurs off-screen or indistinctly. When I went from monogomous-by-default-I-suppose into polyamory negotiations, there were few scenes that would fit a coherent narrative; there was, instead, a lot of discussion, long confused conversations cut into dozens of imperfect fragments, some of them conversations with self, because relationships are complex by nature and learning to polyamory introduces multiple new complications: a new dynamic, and more than twice as many relationships.
That non-narrative dialog was marked by a more coherent narrative arc, moments of emotional confusion and clarity which motivated all the talk. It's those moments that the fic finds, when emotions connect while words struggle to. It's the benefit of its short multiple-vignette form, of the origin media's comfort with broken dialog.
I'm certain that not all polyamory negotiations work that way—but most transformative works are based on media that echos my starting place, people new to polyamory. I grow tired of scenes of immediate group consent, where one person makes the "why don't we just..." suggestion and everyone quickly discovers they're fine with it. (I also grow tired of triads having a single, fixed dynamic that erases the unique relationship between each pair.) It's neat to write, but it doesn't ring true, and so fails to be fulfilling.
* Not actual exaggeration: every fanfic I've felt the need to read in the last [substantial period of time] has been polyamory fix-it fic.
#I rewatched Love Actually and Juliet/Mark/Peter has renewed needs for poly fix-its
On New Moon Rising
so the failure & also saving grace of "New Moon Rising" is literally that the villain of the piece is jealousy.
the episode does key things right:
1) Willow is explicitly bisexual (for a good few episodes in this season!!) (and I support people identifying however they want, regardless of what desires or relationships they have or had, but bi erasure is a thing and it happens in Willow and makes me sad);
2) Willow has distinct, unique feelings for both Tara and Oz, existing simultaneously and not in conflict—and those final notes, despite the intervening ick, are fantastic: the narrative & Oz chose for her whom she stays with, but Willow herself chooses both, Oz with "some part of me will always be waiting for you," Tara with "you have to be with the person you love" / "I am."
it fucks shit up, too, via that old standby of poor communication and the expectation that those feelings must cause conflict (Buffy's "no matter what, somebody's gonna get hurt")—but the real villain is that jealousy and possessiveness turn you into a monster and endanger both you and your relationships. that that's taken for granted and presented as unsolvable is gross—sexual jealousy makes men violent! ah well, boys will be boys. but there's an underlying happy accident, the unconsidered solution of overcoming jealousy. it makes for what's ultimately a ridiculously heavy-handed metaphor, but you know what, I will take it.
this is my OT3 to end all OT3s, and "New Moon Rising" is always something of a stumbling block for me because I simultaneously love and hurt because of it, and put a lot of emotional energy into rewriting it—but for all that, it's surprisingly satisfying, thanks in equal parts to Alyson Hannigan's acting and to what the narrative doesn't resolve—that Willow's feelings don't go away, that she doesn't really pick. she loves them both, and that's complicated and scary, but it itself isn't the danger. that's better than nothing, I suppose.
Re: the BtvS 20th anniversary reunion EW cover
An occult bookstore attracts less street traffic and more practitioners; it's quieter and safer and allows more time for study, which suits Tara particularly well. They do sell some harmless, #aesthetic witchy trinkets, which pays for the lease.
The library itself is half physical and half digital. Some magic is found in book as physical object, some is in the information itself, sometimes a scan is a happy compromise—who uses which books in what format varies depending on a user's needs and the library's best judgement. The library keeps a large digital archive, and even more scans stored offline, preserving every magical book they can find. Willow maintains their website.
Willow works closely with a worldwide coven. It allows them to achieve spells on a global scale—especially useful in a world full of awakened slayers. It also provides her with a support network of experienced witches, and means that a lot of her big magic workings depend on coordination and planning rather than impulse, both of which help her manage her addiction.
Tara isn't as powerful as Willow, but because they work magic in physical proximity there's an immediacy and intimacy in their spells. It bonds them together, and makes for especially powerful curses, blessings, and other magic that directly affects individuals.
It took Oz years to become confident in his self-control; ironically, given his reserved demeanor, he was the one who had the hardest time learning to deal with jealousy and adopting to a polyamorous relationship. He's since taken on a mentor role to other werewolves, and travels a lot to do outreach work for werewolves he's introduced to via the Watcher's Council, Willow's coven, and the internet.
Intense emotion can still threaten Oz's control—at least once, a death in the family made him shift during the moon. They have access to an offsite werewolf cage for emergency use, for Oz or for any of the local werewolves he works with. Willow designed the digital locks for the cage and the webcam feed that monitors it.
Ironically, Tara's empathy helped Oz process and work through the emotions that triggered his shifts. Tara and Oz didn't immediately have the sexual intimacy that Willow had with each of them, but their relationship developed clear communication and an intense mutual trust early on.
There's healthy overlap in the occult library and Oz's work with werewolves. Tara researches magical treatments (particularly useful for werewolves that can't accomplish the meditation central to Oz's techniques), including folk remedies not recorded in mainstream texts, and eventually began building her own spells.
Many of the same techniques, research, and communication skills they developed in werewolf-work apply to Willow's magic addiction, and have been key to her longterm treatment.
Oz's traveling reminds Willow of when he used to travel with the band. She's the one most likely to get lonely, and the one that most benefits from the "more partners means more companionship" aspect of their relationship.
(re: OT3 reunion)
TAGGED: #in a world where #1) more communication longer timescale fewer murder attempts in New Moon Rising #2) Tara didn't die (obvs) but Willow still had some sort of magic-addict relapse/breakdown probably #and then they all lived HAPPILY EVER AFTER #(Tara doesn't have Willow's raw talent but knows more about research/community/creating new spells) #(they have the appearance of a closed triad but Willow occasionally has relationships with other people—usually female & usually witches) #(Oz is forever taciturn but Tara really appreciates his humor; Tara and Willow bring a lot of play into their relationship & home) #(Tara keeps some of the witchy baubles they sell at the shop to decorate their house)
