Two BtVS/AtS vid and fic recs

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

Vid rec, hot off the press: Origin Stories - storyboard and editing by giandujakiss, commissioned and conceived by untrue-accounts for Sweet Charity. untrue-accounts has posted lyrics here.

An unsparing look at Buffyverse women and characters of color who struggle against domination, marginalization, and silence imposed by the stories of white men, it burns all the way down. Specific focus on the relationship between Spike and the Slayer line, in particular Nikki and Robin Wood and Dana from AtS S5. As the summary says, It's Nikki Wood's fucking coat. etothey has an outstanding, can't-miss commentary here. If you liked any of the recs in Through Critical Eyes - or even if you didn't - watch this vid. If I could leap out of your screen and grab you by the collar, I would.

Fic rec, older but still awesome: Five in One, by Selena.

I've recced this here because it explores themes similar to those of Origin Stories. Vivid and sharp as a knife, it digs into five different lines from BtVS/AtS canon and gives each of those nameless or minor-character victims - most of them women - a voice, a history, a crushing weight denied them in the show.

ETA: Even at a casual glance, there's already an influx of great commentary on Origin Stories; I look forward to seeing more.

untrue-accounts comments on Robin's unnoticed heroism

minnow1212 comments on Nikki and the injustice perpetrated against her dual communities

skywardprodigal comments on how It's Nikki Wood's fucking coat = how white women betray women of color while fighting for the same things, robbing children of color and the adults those children eventually become. If they manage to live.

untrue-accounts and giandujakiss explain Robin's POV as a collective for the Slayers/Potentials/ignored voices and a critique of Buffy-the-character

counteragent and untrue-accounts talk about Dana, Robin's symbolic identity as a Slayer whose fight is that of his mother's and all Slayers, and how their stories are irrevocably compromised because of the show's issues

skywardprodigal asks How the hell did Buffy equate redeeming problematic power with putting it squarely in the hands of the epitome of young white womanhood and undying, white manhood provided it's subordinate to white womanhood?

goluxexmachina discusses fetishizing stories about girls getting exploited and violated and how seriously racially heirarchized the Jossverse ended up even down to intra-racial conflicts, with blonde Buffy beating down dark-haired (get-it, dark?) Faith, and the skeevy scene of the white triumvirate of Angel, Spike, and Wes taking down brown Dana (she's taken back by the slayers, but this means she's ultimately handed off to the custody of another white trio: Buffy, Giles, and Andrew).

ETA2:

aycheb problematizes making Robin the main POV and ultimately only through him the non-eponymous Vampire Slayers

And then I had some thoughts inspired by aycheb re: Robin's POV and Slayers past, present, and future, so I've copied them here (gently edited for cogency, I hope).

( Depending on the context, an individual may be an oppressor, a member of an oppressed group, or simultaneously oppressor and oppressed )

ETA 3:

selenak (author of Five in One) compares Robin's place in the Buffyverse narrative with that of Daniel Holtz from AtS S3 - be sure to read the comments, too!

ETA 4: The co-creators speak!

untrue-accounts lucidly unpacks three origin stories for the coat, the vid, and the title

giandujakiss gives an illuminating backstory for the vid's interpretative structure

Feel free to comment with links to more commentary!