miscellanea in the 7th Gift-verse
Sep. 21st, 2010 09:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
boogieshoesSo, unfortunately, one of the side effects of joblessness this time around appears to be not feeling the urge to write. In fact, the faucet appears to have turned off. This is somewhat compensated - for me, though not my fellow fans - by being in a stitchy mood lately, and finishing various projects on my to-do list. I guess stitching is more soothing for me at this point than writing.
On the other hand, I don't have a lot of DVDs that help me keep my spirits up. I apparently like dark serious stuff. But I do have Buffy - watching Buffy kick ass counts as personally uplifting. Add to that, I have observed (just now) that SunnyDale High has an amazing amount of stuff for a '1-Starbucks town'. Maybe it's the Hellmouth, attracting rich innocents for demons to feed on, and the mayor to tax? We may never know.
This is the second time I've decided to watch Buffy thru from pilot to the season 7 finale, and watching it again reminds me of some notes I need to make available for buffy fans who are following my 7th Gift AU.
The summary of this AU is: Xander gets sent back to 1875ish Four Corners via magical MacGuffin in the form of Willow casting a spell near the end of the battle with the First Evil. The spell Willow used to send Xan back also turns Xan into an 8 year old, although it doesn't heal any wounds Xan has sustained up to the point of the working. so from the battle, Xan has a broken arm, twisted ankle, various scrapes and bruises, and a bite/sting from a random demon in the battle that has a low-level poison associated with it, like a cat or lizard bite which can cause fever and pain, but usually isn't fatal. From slightly before the final battle, Xan participated in a smaller sortie that resulted in the loss of his eye, which wound he keeps as well as all other scars he accrued up to the time he was 20.
The foundational story deals with Xan adjusting to his new circumstances and the fact that he can't get back 'home', and how the 7 deal with this unexpected foundling in Four Corners.
Now, here's some notes that one should keep in mind if you're a rabid Buffy-fan:
1) The timeline in the Buffy-verse goes wildly AU at or shortly after Adam appears and is defeated. Dawn never shows up, Glory never appears, Willow never turned evil, etc, etc.
2) I started writing this *before* I saw any of Season 7. So my vision of the First is quite a bit different from Joss's. My theory of the First at the time was a kind of amorphous monster that would have to be defeated by a similar strategy that defeated Adam. Everyone would have to band together to with Buffy as their avatar of sorts to defeat the First Evil. It's a doomed battle - everyone going in knows that they'll probably die, but it's the only way the First Evil will be defeated. Buffy's battle with the First is one of those pre-ordained things that no one can stop, the only thing they can do is help make it successful. Of course, the magical back-blast destroys Sunnydale and everything in it.
3) Xander's secondary role in the battle with the First was to physically protect Willow from interference, hence, battle scars and random demon bite/sting. (His primary role was similar to his role in the battle with Adam.) Although the demon bite is not fatal, the symptoms include a fever rife with nightmares, and a weakness of body. After the victim recovers from the fever, he or she experiences a continuing problem with febrile seizures (I believe that's the correct term - I mean seizures where all the muscles lock up and tremble, with a period of weakness/sleepiness afterwards), which are accompanied by visions. The visions are most closely related to 'spirit vision' or 'second sight' type gifts. The strength and accuracy of the gifts depend entirely on the person infected.
4) I have given Xander a physically and sexually abusive father in this AU, and an emotionally abusive, drunken mother. Xander's nightmares and memories will often include elements of his abuse.
5) Willow's spell does not touch Xander's memories or experiences - that's one reason he has the scars and physical wounds of all 20 years of his past life experience. The spell has only turned Xander into a *physical* 8 year old. Now, there's an argument can be made that 8 year old brains are different than 20 year old brains, but the point is, Xander will have the vocabulary, reasoning, and strategy skills learned by the time he was 20.
6) I don't actually know if Xander was 20 when he died in canon - I kind of lost track there, since the seasons stopped matching up with 'year in the life of' around the end of season 3. So if there's a timeline issue there, just put it off to this being wildly AU after Adam.
7) Life in Four Corners closely resembles the Magnificent 7 canon. The primary difference is that demons exist in the universe, but they're not something people in the Wild West run across every day. They're rather thin on the ground, in fact, because there isn't a Hellmouth or anything else that would ordinarily draw them. Vampires, of course, prefer well-populated hunting grounds, and tend to stay away from small hamlets like Four Corners. An exception can be made for things specifically of Native American origin, although such monsters or spirits should match the surrounding tribes of the area.
I think that's it. I apologize for not writing more or more quickly, but I blame job-hunting stress. :-p
-bs
On the other hand, I don't have a lot of DVDs that help me keep my spirits up. I apparently like dark serious stuff. But I do have Buffy - watching Buffy kick ass counts as personally uplifting. Add to that, I have observed (just now) that SunnyDale High has an amazing amount of stuff for a '1-Starbucks town'. Maybe it's the Hellmouth, attracting rich innocents for demons to feed on, and the mayor to tax? We may never know.
This is the second time I've decided to watch Buffy thru from pilot to the season 7 finale, and watching it again reminds me of some notes I need to make available for buffy fans who are following my 7th Gift AU.
The summary of this AU is: Xander gets sent back to 1875ish Four Corners via magical MacGuffin in the form of Willow casting a spell near the end of the battle with the First Evil. The spell Willow used to send Xan back also turns Xan into an 8 year old, although it doesn't heal any wounds Xan has sustained up to the point of the working. so from the battle, Xan has a broken arm, twisted ankle, various scrapes and bruises, and a bite/sting from a random demon in the battle that has a low-level poison associated with it, like a cat or lizard bite which can cause fever and pain, but usually isn't fatal. From slightly before the final battle, Xan participated in a smaller sortie that resulted in the loss of his eye, which wound he keeps as well as all other scars he accrued up to the time he was 20.
The foundational story deals with Xan adjusting to his new circumstances and the fact that he can't get back 'home', and how the 7 deal with this unexpected foundling in Four Corners.
Now, here's some notes that one should keep in mind if you're a rabid Buffy-fan:
1) The timeline in the Buffy-verse goes wildly AU at or shortly after Adam appears and is defeated. Dawn never shows up, Glory never appears, Willow never turned evil, etc, etc.
2) I started writing this *before* I saw any of Season 7. So my vision of the First is quite a bit different from Joss's. My theory of the First at the time was a kind of amorphous monster that would have to be defeated by a similar strategy that defeated Adam. Everyone would have to band together to with Buffy as their avatar of sorts to defeat the First Evil. It's a doomed battle - everyone going in knows that they'll probably die, but it's the only way the First Evil will be defeated. Buffy's battle with the First is one of those pre-ordained things that no one can stop, the only thing they can do is help make it successful. Of course, the magical back-blast destroys Sunnydale and everything in it.
3) Xander's secondary role in the battle with the First was to physically protect Willow from interference, hence, battle scars and random demon bite/sting. (His primary role was similar to his role in the battle with Adam.) Although the demon bite is not fatal, the symptoms include a fever rife with nightmares, and a weakness of body. After the victim recovers from the fever, he or she experiences a continuing problem with febrile seizures (I believe that's the correct term - I mean seizures where all the muscles lock up and tremble, with a period of weakness/sleepiness afterwards), which are accompanied by visions. The visions are most closely related to 'spirit vision' or 'second sight' type gifts. The strength and accuracy of the gifts depend entirely on the person infected.
4) I have given Xander a physically and sexually abusive father in this AU, and an emotionally abusive, drunken mother. Xander's nightmares and memories will often include elements of his abuse.
5) Willow's spell does not touch Xander's memories or experiences - that's one reason he has the scars and physical wounds of all 20 years of his past life experience. The spell has only turned Xander into a *physical* 8 year old. Now, there's an argument can be made that 8 year old brains are different than 20 year old brains, but the point is, Xander will have the vocabulary, reasoning, and strategy skills learned by the time he was 20.
6) I don't actually know if Xander was 20 when he died in canon - I kind of lost track there, since the seasons stopped matching up with 'year in the life of' around the end of season 3. So if there's a timeline issue there, just put it off to this being wildly AU after Adam.
7) Life in Four Corners closely resembles the Magnificent 7 canon. The primary difference is that demons exist in the universe, but they're not something people in the Wild West run across every day. They're rather thin on the ground, in fact, because there isn't a Hellmouth or anything else that would ordinarily draw them. Vampires, of course, prefer well-populated hunting grounds, and tend to stay away from small hamlets like Four Corners. An exception can be made for things specifically of Native American origin, although such monsters or spirits should match the surrounding tribes of the area.
I think that's it. I apologize for not writing more or more quickly, but I blame job-hunting stress. :-p
-bs
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no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 04:48 am (UTC)I just put this link on my desktop. Can't miss it there. Of course you remember I did warn how I can be a godawful pest when it comes to WiPs? I might be sniffing around prodding you with a well-aimed WELL, WELLLL?! from time to time. ;)
no subject
Date: 2010-09-22 03:15 pm (UTC)and if you sent me a one-off ficlet, i didn't get anything :(.
but *hugs* - everyone needs 'em.
-bs