196 Fic: Packed With Fiber
Nov. 18th, 2010 07:36 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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still_grrrTitle: Packed With Fiber
Author: Rebcake
Rating: PG
Word Count: 960
Prompt: 196 — Breakfast
Characters: Buffy, Giles, Joyce, and Jhiera (from She)
Summary: Buffy extends a welcoming hand to some demons in need. Just not very enthusiastically.
A/N: Continued from part 1, Stay Frosty.
Buffy could have been enjoying her first morning-after Wheaties with her wholesome new boyfriend. A boyfriend who refreshingly seemed to think that overnights should include breakfast. But now she didn’t get to see if Riley actually ate Wheaties in the mornings, because duty, as usual, called. As duty went, this was above, beyond, and way too early.
“Cordy said she was sending girls!” whined Buffy. “Refugee girls. I was expecting dirndls and a rousing chorus of “Edelweiss”. This is a Miss Demon Dimension Swimsuit Pageant!”
Giles patted his brow with his handkerchief. “Be that as it may, Buffy, they are refugees. The situation they face in their home dimension is dire. If they were to be sent back, they would have their free will, their very personalities as it were, physically removed. If there were channels for interdimensional asylum seekers, we would not be involved, but such channels are unknown to me.”
“Where’s the Men in Black when you need them?” she grumbled. “So, they’re harmless?” Buffy regarded Jhiera’s chest, thinking sourly that someone’s eye might get poked out, at the very least.
“Um, mostly harmless, I suppose. Would anyone like some iced tea?” At enthusiastic nods from several of the statuesque young demon women, he headed for the kitchen. Buffy followed.
“Mostly harmless? What aren’t you telling me, Giles?”
“They do not harbor any evil intent toward humans. As part of the maturation process, the females of their species need to be kept cool, that’s all.”
“Or what?”
“If their temperature isn’t properly regulated, it can cause inadvertent combustion of bystanders.” He rummaged around in the freezer for more ice.
“Accidental spontaneous combustion? Is that all? Oh my god. You’re making iced tea! You said that was a sacrilege! And, it’s February.” She whirled around. “Is that why they aren’t wearing clothes?”
Giles was spared having to defend the women’s brief attire by the arrival of Joyce Summers. She sailed through the front door after a cursory knock, and immediately introduced herself to the leader of the newcomers.
“Oh, thank god you arrived safely! I was so worried. When Cordelia told me what you’ve all been through… Well, of course I want to help in any way I can.”
“Mom?”
“Oh, hello Buffy. Isn’t it awful?”
“What are you doing here? At 7:30 in the morning?” Buffy cast a suspicious glance at Giles, who rolled his eyes.
“I would have been here earlier, but I was making sure these poor women would have everything they needed back at the house.” Joyce absently fanned her face.
“Poor women? What? Mom, tell me you aren’t thinking of opening a halfway house for wayward bikini-clad demons at our house.”
“I’m surprised at you, Buffy. These women have been pursued by men determined to turn them into mindless slaves. Offering a helping hand is the least I can do. I thought I raised you to have a bit more compassion.”
“But, our house!”
“With you off at school, it’s too big for just me. Besides, it’s not fair to Mr. Giles to pack his apartment with half a dozen females, is it?” Buffy shot a look at Giles, who shrugged while loading glasses of iced tea onto a tray. “Besides, we already have a deep-freeze, so there’s room for all the frozen food they need to keep cool. It’s just until they find a more permanent solution.”
Jhiera had watched the argument as if it were a tennis match. After accepting a glass of tea from the offered tray, she finally spoke up.
“My girls and I are grateful for your assistance, Joyce Summers. We will not trouble you long.”
“Oh, it’s no trouble at all. I read The Handmaid’s Tale, and I certainly don’t intend to stand by and do nothing in the face of such an injustice.”
“Mom, could I have a word with you, please?” Joyce sighed and grabbed a glass of tea as she followed Buffy into the hallway. She rolled the glass against her temple as she listened.
“Are you sure you’ve thought this through, mom? I mean, do you even know what to expect if the men chasing these demons find them? You’re putting yourself into an awfully dangerous situation. I don’t like it. I am so having words with Cordelia for getting you involved.”
“Buffy, I understand that you’re worried, but this is something I feel very strongly about.”
“Since about 12 hours ago! And they’re demons!”
“It’s the right thing to do. It isn’t as if you haven’t protected demons before. What about your friend Oz?”
Buffy opened her mouth to protest, but shut it again. Defeated by mom logic.
“Okay. I can see you’re going to go through with this. What would you need me to do?”
“Thank you, sweetheart. It’s very gracious of you to protect these downtrodden women.”
“I guess.” Agreement reached, they returned to Giles’ living room. Buffy tried to think of a tactical approach to the problem before them.
“Do you think there should be full-time security? Do I need to move back in?” She thought again about the lack of Wheaties this morning and really, really hoped not. Juggling her new Initiative duties, her new hottie, classes, slaying, her mom, and a bevy of bathing beauties was starting to sound like just enough to be too much.
Giles spoke up from the kitchen, where he had retreated after the tea was distributed.
“I don’t think that will be necessary, Buffy. These women are not without their own defenses. Perhaps you could just make it a nightly stop on your patrol route. That ought to be sufficient.”
“Yes,” said Jhiera. “We are strong, and when our associates arrive tomorrow, we will be stronger.”
“Swell. Welcome to Sunnydale. Try not to get eaten.”
Continued in part 3, Double Scoop of Oden Tal.
Author: Rebcake
Rating: PG
Word Count: 960
Prompt: 196 — Breakfast
Characters: Buffy, Giles, Joyce, and Jhiera (from She)
Summary: Buffy extends a welcoming hand to some demons in need. Just not very enthusiastically.
A/N: Continued from part 1, Stay Frosty.
Buffy could have been enjoying her first morning-after Wheaties with her wholesome new boyfriend. A boyfriend who refreshingly seemed to think that overnights should include breakfast. But now she didn’t get to see if Riley actually ate Wheaties in the mornings, because duty, as usual, called. As duty went, this was above, beyond, and way too early.
“Cordy said she was sending girls!” whined Buffy. “Refugee girls. I was expecting dirndls and a rousing chorus of “Edelweiss”. This is a Miss Demon Dimension Swimsuit Pageant!”
Giles patted his brow with his handkerchief. “Be that as it may, Buffy, they are refugees. The situation they face in their home dimension is dire. If they were to be sent back, they would have their free will, their very personalities as it were, physically removed. If there were channels for interdimensional asylum seekers, we would not be involved, but such channels are unknown to me.”
“Where’s the Men in Black when you need them?” she grumbled. “So, they’re harmless?” Buffy regarded Jhiera’s chest, thinking sourly that someone’s eye might get poked out, at the very least.
“Um, mostly harmless, I suppose. Would anyone like some iced tea?” At enthusiastic nods from several of the statuesque young demon women, he headed for the kitchen. Buffy followed.
“Mostly harmless? What aren’t you telling me, Giles?”
“They do not harbor any evil intent toward humans. As part of the maturation process, the females of their species need to be kept cool, that’s all.”
“Or what?”
“If their temperature isn’t properly regulated, it can cause inadvertent combustion of bystanders.” He rummaged around in the freezer for more ice.
“Accidental spontaneous combustion? Is that all? Oh my god. You’re making iced tea! You said that was a sacrilege! And, it’s February.” She whirled around. “Is that why they aren’t wearing clothes?”
Giles was spared having to defend the women’s brief attire by the arrival of Joyce Summers. She sailed through the front door after a cursory knock, and immediately introduced herself to the leader of the newcomers.
“Oh, thank god you arrived safely! I was so worried. When Cordelia told me what you’ve all been through… Well, of course I want to help in any way I can.”
“Mom?”
“Oh, hello Buffy. Isn’t it awful?”
“What are you doing here? At 7:30 in the morning?” Buffy cast a suspicious glance at Giles, who rolled his eyes.
“I would have been here earlier, but I was making sure these poor women would have everything they needed back at the house.” Joyce absently fanned her face.
“Poor women? What? Mom, tell me you aren’t thinking of opening a halfway house for wayward bikini-clad demons at our house.”
“I’m surprised at you, Buffy. These women have been pursued by men determined to turn them into mindless slaves. Offering a helping hand is the least I can do. I thought I raised you to have a bit more compassion.”
“But, our house!”
“With you off at school, it’s too big for just me. Besides, it’s not fair to Mr. Giles to pack his apartment with half a dozen females, is it?” Buffy shot a look at Giles, who shrugged while loading glasses of iced tea onto a tray. “Besides, we already have a deep-freeze, so there’s room for all the frozen food they need to keep cool. It’s just until they find a more permanent solution.”
Jhiera had watched the argument as if it were a tennis match. After accepting a glass of tea from the offered tray, she finally spoke up.
“My girls and I are grateful for your assistance, Joyce Summers. We will not trouble you long.”
“Oh, it’s no trouble at all. I read The Handmaid’s Tale, and I certainly don’t intend to stand by and do nothing in the face of such an injustice.”
“Mom, could I have a word with you, please?” Joyce sighed and grabbed a glass of tea as she followed Buffy into the hallway. She rolled the glass against her temple as she listened.
“Are you sure you’ve thought this through, mom? I mean, do you even know what to expect if the men chasing these demons find them? You’re putting yourself into an awfully dangerous situation. I don’t like it. I am so having words with Cordelia for getting you involved.”
“Buffy, I understand that you’re worried, but this is something I feel very strongly about.”
“Since about 12 hours ago! And they’re demons!”
“It’s the right thing to do. It isn’t as if you haven’t protected demons before. What about your friend Oz?”
Buffy opened her mouth to protest, but shut it again. Defeated by mom logic.
“Okay. I can see you’re going to go through with this. What would you need me to do?”
“Thank you, sweetheart. It’s very gracious of you to protect these downtrodden women.”
“I guess.” Agreement reached, they returned to Giles’ living room. Buffy tried to think of a tactical approach to the problem before them.
“Do you think there should be full-time security? Do I need to move back in?” She thought again about the lack of Wheaties this morning and really, really hoped not. Juggling her new Initiative duties, her new hottie, classes, slaying, her mom, and a bevy of bathing beauties was starting to sound like just enough to be too much.
Giles spoke up from the kitchen, where he had retreated after the tea was distributed.
“I don’t think that will be necessary, Buffy. These women are not without their own defenses. Perhaps you could just make it a nightly stop on your patrol route. That ought to be sufficient.”
“Yes,” said Jhiera. “We are strong, and when our associates arrive tomorrow, we will be stronger.”
“Swell. Welcome to Sunnydale. Try not to get eaten.”
Continued in part 3, Double Scoop of Oden Tal.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2010-11-19 04:26 am (UTC)Foiled again!
Your Joyce is a hoot - she's so earnest. This was very much fun, and it's lovely to see you writing again. :)
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Date: 2010-11-19 06:18 am (UTC)Summers are definitely fallow writing time for me, but autumn seems to work nicely. At least 5 stories posted, with a couple more on-going. ¡Yay!
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Date: 2010-11-19 04:34 am (UTC)Go Joyce! Apply those Book Club skillz!
This was adorable.
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Date: 2010-11-19 06:26 am (UTC)Heh. I think this whole story was so I could put in that joke. Well, that and a few others about dirndls and swimsuits. The simple pleasures, you know.
Thanks for commenting, sweetie!
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Date: 2010-11-19 09:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-20 02:20 am (UTC)Thanks for commenting, sweetie!
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Date: 2010-11-19 09:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-20 02:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-20 06:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-19 12:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-20 02:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-19 08:39 pm (UTC)*loves*
The dynamic of Buffy, Joyce and Giles is lovely here. Joyce so earnest, and Giles not quite totally distracted by the girls.
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Date: 2010-11-20 02:29 am (UTC)Thanks for commenting!
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Date: 2010-11-20 06:56 am (UTC)I love this personal canon! And totally LOLing.
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Date: 2010-11-20 08:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-21 08:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-21 11:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-03 11:42 am (UTC)Ah yes! :D
Eep, I'd be scared of how the Initiative soldiers will respond if this weren't a comedy series! They barely seem to have a setting less vivisection-y than "bag and tag," and don't seem to have any grasp on the concept of demons whose lives aren't predicated on harming humans by inclination or biological necessity (with the exception of Riley re: Oz).
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Date: 2010-11-20 06:51 am (UTC)“Refugee girls. I was expecting dirndls and a rousing chorus of “Edelweiss”. This is a Miss Demon Dimension Swimsuit Pageant!”
“Accidental spontaneous combustion? Is that all? Oh my god. You’re making iced tea! You said that was a sacrilege! And, it’s February.” She whirled around. “Is that why they aren’t wearing clothes?”
I actually LOLed at the "iced tea sacrilege" line!
She thought again about the lack of Wheaties this morning and really, really hoped not. Juggling her new Initiative duties, her new hottie, classes, slaying, her mom, and a bevy of bathing beauties was starting to sound like just enough to be too much.
Heeee!
I'm so glad there is more of this 'verse! :D
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Date: 2010-11-20 08:00 pm (UTC)I am feeling very gung ho about this AU at the moment. So many possibilities for wackiness to ensue! I'm not sure exactly how it'll all play out, but I'm going to try to get Harry Doyle in there somehow!
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Date: 2010-11-21 08:16 am (UTC)*The problematics of the analogy are somewhat diffused by all the other characters from Oden Tal being played by white actors, as far as I know (though I usually look askance at the whitewashed casting of most actors with significant lines on AtS - they live in L.A.! - and it seems sort of weird that Jhiera is the only Oden Tal character played by an Asian actor, and the only actor with a noticeable "foreign" accent). However, those aspects are still very present given some persistent stereotypes (http://www.manaa.org/asian_stereotypes.html) about women of color in white-dominated media - I'm thinking specifically of women of Asian descent here - often heavily sexualized; uncontrollable/difficult-to-control and destructive in their sexuality when they aren't mute/subservient and sometimes even when they are; ninja-like fightin' moves in fictional media; ruthless in pursuit of their goals in a way that often involves people getting killed. In the case of this episode, a lot of it has to do with the costume that the show had Bai Ling wear; much of the rest has to do with the illustration of the writers' real-life analogy of choice, the passivity of and lack of lines for the other Oden Tal refugees except for the girl who was caught and "unmade," and the fightin' moves - I'm definitely not against Jhiera being able to defend herself and the other Oden Tal refugees, and I understand the girls being transported are probably semiconscious at that point, but the combination of things makes it all kind of sketch. Not least the literalization of the metaphor - for example, that human men** (and Angel) involuntarily respond to the sexual maturation of Oden Tal girls who are "in heat," sometimes to the point of attempting sexual contact against the will of those women. Which is problematic of the episode on a couple of important levels!
**Unless they're gay? At least that was one possible message I was getting from the characterization of Jhiera's unnamed spa contact. Maybe he was unaffected then just because all the other Oden Tal girls were already fully on ice, though, and because Jhiera obviously wasn't attracted to him.
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Date: 2010-11-22 12:31 am (UTC)I have gone on at length elsewhere about the too infrequent casting of non-white actors, and not just in the Buffyverse. (Check out this comm's April Characters of Color challenge.) The issues are complex, and my understanding is that the Mutant Enemy folks were often stymied by the network suits in trying to create an even more diverse set of shows. I'm inclined to be overjoyed when an exception is made to the usual whitewash, but the fact that most good non-regular roles tend to be villains or victims adds another layer of "other" to casting either with a person of color.
I've watched so many Hong Kong movies, that seeing Bai Ling as Jhiera had a whole other connotation for me. I first watched the episode primarily to see her, and everybody else was the "other". I can fanwank the mostly white ethnicity of the Oden Tal folks in such a way that the ruling class is different (perhaps inbred or superbred) and that the accent is as explainable as having someone educated at Oxford speak differently than a Valley Girl. But the truth is that all those things — ethnic preconceptions, accents, history, etc. — have an impact on how the character is seen. It's probably above my paygrade to come up with a solution, so I'll just splash around over here.
Re: the gay thing. I'm certain that's one reason, though there are probably plenty of other things that make a male something other than good mating material. Too young, too silly, too small, too stupid. I'm trying to figure out what would happen if an Oden Tal girl came into contact with The Trio, for instance. I'm guessing it would be: not much.
Long comment ended up long (part 1 of 3[?])
Date: 2010-12-03 01:44 pm (UTC)Neither of these quite encompass the horror of losing one's will and personality, one's ability to have hopes and dreams, but they are horrible enough, and definitely have racial/ethnic connotations. As does the whole "underground railroad of escaping slaves" motif.
Yep!
Indeed! I remember clicking over a few times in April, when the Herald linked some works.
As I understand it, while the show was on UPN for two seasons, UPN put pressure on ME to cast actors of color in the final season (the community profile for
Long comment ended up long (part 3 of 3)
Date: 2010-12-03 01:49 pm (UTC)I first watched the episode primarily to see her, and everybody else was the "other".
:)
I can fanwank the mostly white ethnicity of the Oden Tal folks in such a way that the ruling class is different (perhaps inbred or superbred) and that the accent is as explainable as having someone educated at Oxford speak differently than a Valley Girl. But the truth is that all those things — ethnic preconceptions, accents, history, etc. — have an impact on how the character is seen.
Yeah.
The only other human man Jhiera makes contact with onscreen is the museum security guard, who is - as far as we can tell - unaffected by her presence. She's obviously not attracted to him either, though (we can't see her neck because she deliberately put the sweater hoodie on before going in, but yeah). So, since she's not involuntarily "broadcasting 24/7" like the girls who are still in the stage where they have to be on ice all the time, I assume two of the deciding factors as to whether a male human or vampire is likely to involuntarily respond in the episode are 1) is the girl still in that stage 24/7 and 2) if not, is she attracted to him. I think if an Oden Tal girl still burning up 24/7 came into contact with any of the Trio, they'd be irresistibly attracted, but she would probably be as unresponsive in that state as the girls were to Wesley. (And Wesley is a much better prospect, comparatively speaking... not that that's saying much in this context, since this is the Trio we're talking about!) We don't know if spa guy had an involuntary response when the girls came in originally, or whether - quite possibly - they were moved in already on ice and that question didn't arise, but another reason I took the guy as gay was that Jhiera explicitly trusted enough that the girls would be safe with him to leave them for a while and she only came back when the emergency arose. (After all, A/C malfunctions and the like can happen!)
Long comment ended up long (part 2B of 3??)
Date: 2010-12-03 02:28 pm (UTC)Another thought related to this: "Pangs" is a classic example of what
Long comment ended up long (part 2 of 3[?]), reposted for link
Date: 2010-12-03 02:37 pm (UTC)Yes. And eleusis_walks has discussed (http://eleusis-walks.livejournal.com/48816.html?format=light) how specifically, "[i]n a very real sense, Buffy depicts the way the largely white feminist movement has absorbed and repurposed the narratives of women of color for the use of progressive movements primarily benefiting white women," analyzing the relationships between Buffy & Sineya; Willow & Jenny Calendar; Buffy, Spike, & Slayers of color (Kendra, the Slayer in China who goes unnamed on the show, Nikki Wood); Buffy, Willow, Spike, & Slayers around the globe from "Chosen" onward (and Dana in "Damage," co-written by one of the same writers as LMPTM). From a distinct but overlapping perspective, thuviaptarth talks (http://thuviaptarth.livejournal.com/92385.html?thread=1152481&format=light#cutid1) about the specific way this sublimation of characters of color to a white narrative in the Buffyverse operates in reference to giandujakiss's vid "Origin Stories." (http://giandujakiss.livejournal.com/360051.html?mode=reply&format=light) The second major problem, in my view, of how the Buffyverse represents race is that almost every time it tries to deal with race head-on as a thematically important component of an episode or a plot arc, it fails because not only because of general whitewashing but because of all the times it constructs COC as implicitly "racists" themselves against demons, or as people who fall prey to bigotry/hysteria that ends up victimizing (not integrally murderous) demons. In addition to what has been discussed by eleusis_walks and thuviaptarth, various other things come to mind: A highly racialized "vengeance is paramount" trope re: the "gypsy clan" from which Jenny descends, as represented by the original (nameless) people who cursed Angel and by Uncle Enyos (later killed, of course, by Angel/us). Kendra's attitude and initial actions toward, and persistent wariness of Angel. The entire characterization of Forrest as the "hard liner" of the Initiative soldiers we know. The explicit characterizations of Gunn and Chain as rashly aggressive and almost inviting retaliation from vampire gangs in "War Zone" (whose racial narrative is, for me, mainly saved by Angel's last words to Gunn in the episode - that Gunn might not need Angel, but Angel might need Gunn sometime). The depiction of the racial narrative in "Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been", in which Angel acts as the "colorblind" ambiguously-good white guy (from the transcript: Angel steps closer with a slight smile: "It's just blood - Judy. - It-it's all just blood."), explicitly sympathizes with and tries to help Judy on the basis of being a sort of "tragic mulatto" caught between two worlds himself (Judy: "Nobody believes that! Not even my *mother's family*. I'm not one thing or the other. I'm nothing." Angel: "I know what that's like.") and later ends up literally being lynched by a mob of people at the hotel, set on him by Judy (who's afraid that they'll find out she embezzled from her former employer, who fired her because they discovered she was passing). The entire episode is a racial allegory (the people who lynch Angel are acting through hysteria - supernaturally encouraged by the Thesulac - and in several cases, through fear their own "otherness" will be discovered), yet it rings false to me in large part due to the overall context I have described. Season 3's "That Old Gang of Mine" is the epitome of this intensely problematic trope; Tim Minear basically disowned the episode as just being a lousy episode, but it's operating in the overall context of these examples, and not at all alone.
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Date: 2010-12-03 05:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-21 08:22 am (UTC)And Giles retreating from the room. I wonder why?
Teehee...
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Date: 2010-11-21 11:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-01 09:18 pm (UTC)Second, this makes me want to rewatch She like woah.
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Date: 2010-12-01 09:33 pm (UTC)Thanks for your kind comments!
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Date: 2010-12-05 01:36 pm (UTC)"Buffy opened her mouth to protest, but shut it again. Defeated by mom logic." and "“Swell. Welcome to Sunnydale. Try not to get eaten.” were just... *rofl*
thanks for writing it!
RYL
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Date: 2010-12-05 06:10 pm (UTC)Thanks for pointing out the things that amuse you. I was a little insecure about that ending, so it helps to hear that it worked.