Boyd

It's (Human) Character of Color Month over at still_grrr, to which I say, "Yay!" Maybe I'll finally get around to writing something about Forrest, which I've been threatening forever. At the very least, it ought to provide some Kendra fic for the housemate to read - she has a bit of a thing about Kendra.

But.

But one of the prompt characters for this week was Boyd from Dollhouse, and his very name made me (as penny_lane_42 says) all stabby. Rarrrrr!

I still haven't summed up how I feel about the last half of S2 of Dollhouse; I think I need to rewatch Epitaph Two first, for one thing. However, I can talk about Boyd just fine.

( Spoilers for late-S2 Dollhouse )

Boyd

It's (Human) Character of Color Month over at still_grrr, to which I say, "Yay!" Maybe I'll finally get around to writing something about Forrest, which I've been threatening forever. At the very least, it ought to provide some Kendra fic for the housemate to read - she has a bit of a thing about Kendra.

But.

But one of the prompt characters for this week was Boyd from Dollhouse, and his very name made me (as penny_lane_42 says) all stabby. Rarrrrr!

I still haven't summed up how I feel about the last half of S2 of Dollhouse; I think I need to rewatch Epitaph Two first, for one thing. However, I can talk about Boyd just fine.

( Spoilers for late-S2 Dollhouse )

Dollhouse - (Maybe) Final Thoughts

You know what, I take it back. I can sum up my thoughts on Dollhouse now.

IMO, Dollhouse had four really stellar, top-of-the-line episodes (A Spy in the House of Love, Alpha, Vows, and Belonging) and a few more that, if they weren't great, at least had interesting elements (Man on the Street, Epitaph One, Epitaph Two). This isn't to say it didn't have other memorable moments - there's no Victor!Topher in that list, nor any Bennett Halvorsen - but those were moments, not wholes.

In fact, even those first-rate eps are only fragments, the shiniest scraps of a show that could never decide what it wanted to be. Creepy procedural? Critique of society's fantasies? Morality tale on Teh Evol of human trafficking and mind control? Post-apocalyptic romp?

(Not saying I don't enjoy post-apocalyptic romps, mind you, nor that certain elements of Epitaph Two didn't make my Topher-lovin' heart go squee [I told you! From the very beginning, I told you!], but to me it felt a whole lot more like chummy fan service than a serious canon exploration of the DH future.)

I leave you with Abigail Nussbaum, who expresses my thoughts on S2 way better than I could:

Dollhouse's first season showed us the rationalizations through which ostensible villains like Topher and Adele tolerated and even justified their monstrous actions, drawing pencil-thin lines between different shades of rape and slavery in order to be able to place themselves on the right side of those lines, while alleged good guys like Ballard and Boyd, who claimed to abhor the dollhouse, ended up enabling and participating in it. The second season sweeps away this complexity, dividing the cast into heroes and villains (though perhaps the initial failure was in the transition from a story about people who are cogs in the machine to one that has heroes and villains to begin with).

Dollhouse - (Maybe) Final Thoughts

You know what, I take it back. I can sum up my thoughts on Dollhouse now.

IMO, Dollhouse had four really stellar, top-of-the-line episodes (A Spy in the House of Love, Alpha, Vows, and Belonging) and a few more that, if they weren't great, at least had interesting elements (Man on the Street, Epitaph One, Epitaph Two). This isn't to say it didn't have other memorable moments - there's no Victor!Topher in that list, nor any Bennett Halvorsen - but those were moments, not wholes.

In fact, even those first-rate eps are only fragments, the shiniest scraps of a show that could never decide what it wanted to be. Creepy procedural? Critique of society's fantasies? Morality tale on Teh Evol of human trafficking and mind control? Post-apocalyptic romp?

(Not saying I don't enjoy post-apocalyptic romps, mind you, nor that certain elements of Epitaph Two didn't make my Topher-lovin' heart go squee [I told you! From the very beginning, I told you!], but to me it felt a whole lot more like chummy fan service than a serious canon exploration of the DH future.)

I leave you with Abigail Nussbaum, who expresses my thoughts on S2 way better than I could:

Dollhouse's first season showed us the rationalizations through which ostensible villains like Topher and Adele tolerated and even justified their monstrous actions, drawing pencil-thin lines between different shades of rape and slavery in order to be able to place themselves on the right side of those lines, while alleged good guys like Ballard and Boyd, who claimed to abhor the dollhouse, ended up enabling and participating in it. The second season sweeps away this complexity, dividing the cast into heroes and villains (though perhaps the initial failure was in the transition from a story about people who are cogs in the machine to one that has heroes and villains to begin with).

Recs #9

This ended up being the late-season Spike/Buffy/Spuffy recs list. It’s all S6 or later, all involving either Spike or Buffy or both and accompanied variously by Dawn, Tara, Oz, Illyria, Faith, and Nikki Wood.

Organized by season, because I felt like it.

S6

Old Year's Eve, by st_salieri
Dawn makes a discovery about Spike and Buffy and another discovery about herself. This is Dawn-growing-up fic, beautifully written and with the sense of weight and melancholy growing up brings.

untitled Valentine’s Day vignette thingy by theohara
Tara stumbles across Spike in the greeting card aisle, just before Valentine’s Day. Cue quiet companionship and sharing of respective relationship woes. One of those pieces I reread when I want to cry.

S7

Take the Heat, by Estepheia
Sometime before S7, Oz spots Spike in a crowd. What comes next is one of those moments of unexpected grace that never fail to move me. Plus, yanno: Oz!

Nothing Special, by deird1
Brief, quiet Buffy-and-Dawn sisterly fluff snuck in during the S7 chaos. I think I love this partly just because I love their sister relationship so much, and there isn’t near enough fic about it.

Microwave Meals (Quick, Easy, and Sometimes Satisfying, by quinara
And more S7 fluff, this time of the Spuffy variety. If I ever come around to liking S7 Spuffy, it’ll be because of folks on the flist like Quin and fics like this. Quiet, gentle, funny, hopeful.

Wayward, by Devil Piglet
Nikki Wood shows up at the house on Revello; Spike is tasked with taking care of her. Long and mildly plotty and heavily angsty. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this fic around before and was positive it wouldn’t work, but lo! it does, at least for me.

Post-Series

Winds Blowing Chill, by brutti_ma_buoni
Rulesverse Buffy starts thinking about babies, but in the Rulesverse there are no quick fixes for the vampire reproduction problem, which leads to one of the more emotionally complex pieces of Spuffy babyfic I’ve ever read. Also: excellent Buffy voice.

Angels in the Architecture, by only_passenger
This is the closest I’ve ever seen to the long, character-study style genfic of Buffy&Faith post-Chosen that I keep wanting. They have such a fascinating dynamic and so many issues, and this explores a few of them.

The Last Fingers of Leaf, by quinara
Buffy and Illyria. A dragon. Pizza. Combined, they’re an unexpected pleasure as the two find commonalities that I’d never have thought of. Poignant and elegantly written.

Life in the Present Tense, by penny_lane_42
A long, delicious series of vignettes of Buffy, Spike, and Dawn living in Rome. Lirazel describes this as self-indulgent Spuffy fluff, but yanno, sometimes that’s just what a person wants. Rich and gorgeous and hopeful.

Recs #9

This ended up being the late-season Spike/Buffy/Spuffy recs list. It’s all S6 or later, all involving either Spike or Buffy or both and accompanied variously by Dawn, Tara, Oz, Illyria, Faith, and Nikki Wood.

Organized by season, because I felt like it.

S6

Old Year's Eve, by st_salieri
Dawn makes a discovery about Spike and Buffy and another discovery about herself. This is Dawn-growing-up fic, beautifully written and with the sense of weight and melancholy growing up brings.

untitled Valentine’s Day vignette thingy by theohara
Tara stumbles across Spike in the greeting card aisle, just before Valentine’s Day. Cue quiet companionship and sharing of respective relationship woes. One of those pieces I reread when I want to cry.

S7

Take the Heat, by Estepheia
Sometime before S7, Oz spots Spike in a crowd. What comes next is one of those moments of unexpected grace that never fail to move me. Plus, yanno: Oz!

Nothing Special, by deird1
Brief, quiet Buffy-and-Dawn sisterly fluff snuck in during the S7 chaos. I think I love this partly just because I love their sister relationship so much, and there isn’t near enough fic about it.

Microwave Meals (Quick, Easy, and Sometimes Satisfying, by quinara
And more S7 fluff, this time of the Spuffy variety. If I ever come around to liking S7 Spuffy, it’ll be because of folks on the flist like Quin and fics like this. Quiet, gentle, funny, hopeful.

Wayward, by Devil Piglet
Nikki Wood shows up at the house on Revello; Spike is tasked with taking care of her. Long and mildly plotty and heavily angsty. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this fic around before and was positive it wouldn’t work, but lo! it does, at least for me.

Post-Series

Winds Blowing Chill, by brutti_ma_buoni
Rulesverse Buffy starts thinking about babies, but in the Rulesverse there are no quick fixes for the vampire reproduction problem, which leads to one of the more emotionally complex pieces of Spuffy babyfic I’ve ever read. Also: excellent Buffy voice.

Angels in the Architecture, by only_passenger
This is the closest I’ve ever seen to the long, character-study style genfic of Buffy&Faith post-Chosen that I keep wanting. They have such a fascinating dynamic and so many issues, and this explores a few of them.

The Last Fingers of Leaf, by quinara
Buffy and Illyria. A dragon. Pizza. Combined, they’re an unexpected pleasure as the two find commonalities that I’d never have thought of. Poignant and elegantly written.

Life in the Present Tense, by penny_lane_42
A long, delicious series of vignettes of Buffy, Spike, and Dawn living in Rome. Lirazel describes this as self-indulgent Spuffy fluff, but yanno, sometimes that’s just what a person wants. Rich and gorgeous and hopeful.

FIC: At Last

Title: At Last
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, post-S1
Characters: Giles
Word Count/Rating: 640; G
A/N: Written for the Giles round at genfic_minis for alixtii, who wanted British rock and roll, hieroglyphics, and a conference call. This is quite late, due to RL stomping in last week and sitting on me. Like an elephant. I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get my thoughts together again.

( Giles had been looking forward to this since the morning of that first day at Sunnydale High School, when a smirking senior interrupted Giles’ survey of the grimoires to ask for *Penthouse*. )

FIC: At Last

Title: At Last
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, post-S1
Characters: Giles
Word Count/Rating: 640; G
A/N: Written for the Giles round at genfic_minis for alixtii, who wanted British rock and roll, hieroglyphics, and a conference call. This is quite late, due to RL stomping in last week and sitting on me. Like an elephant. I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get my thoughts together again.

( Giles had been looking forward to this since the morning of that first day at Sunnydale High School, when a smirking senior interrupted Giles’ survey of the grimoires to ask for *Penthouse*. )