#S01E02 November Nights

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Saturday, November 11th

BUFFY: So. Dawn's in trouble. Must be Tuesday.

~~Once More With Feeling~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

New Skills by veronyxk84 (Spike & Dawn, PG-13)

After School Special by a2zmom (Buffy/Angel, E)

Amaranthine by Lalaith_Quetzalli (Buffy/Angel, T)

daughter by bonniesfire (Buffy/Angel, T)

Yours, Always by buffytargaryen (Buffy/Angel, G)

Insatiable by MadeInGold (Buffy/Angel, E)

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do by NicHawkins (Buffy/Angel, T)

The kitchen won´t collapse if men are cooking! by Liana_Medea (Buffy/Angel, G)

Isn't It Lovely? (To Die At The Hand of The One You Love) by TemperanceCain (Buffy/Angel, T)

Wake-Up Call by MamaBewear (Buffy/Angel, T)

Foreign Festivities by thenewbuzwuzz (Buffy/Angel, G)

Self Love by MadeInGold (Angel/Angelus, E)

Every Night by violettathepiratequeen (Buffy/Spike, G)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion, Chapter 400 by madimpossibledreamer (Ensemble, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure crossover, T)

Alone, Chapters 1-2 (complete!) by Lalaith_Quetzalli (Buffy/Angel, T)

Two Unhappiness (Due infelicità), Chapters 1-9 (complete!) by Phoebes (Spike/Willow, T)

Her Old Fashioned Boy, Chapter 14 by Bobbie23 (Giles/Jenny, T)

Blood and Chaos, Chapter 44 by Aetheron, quote_Amy_unquote (Sannah_banana) (Amy, Ensemble, M)

The Ups and Downs of Loving You, Chapter 4 by Jess_Ann_Perreault (Jenny/OC, T)

New York, Chapter 12 by drsquidlove (Giles/Xander, M)

Spiderwebs, Chapter 42 by Willow25 (Buffy/Spike, T)

Moments that Make You: The Hero and The Princess, Chapter 83 by myheadsgonenumb (Cordelia/Doyle, T)

Gotta Have -Faith- continued by That_Vampire_Slayer (Faith, not rated)

Dead End Plots, Chapyer 15 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Once More With Feelings, Chapter 3 by Spikelover4ever (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Vampire Whxre, Chapter 3 by ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

Icarus, Chapter 2 by HappyWhenItRains (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

the Eyes, Chapter 15 by Dusty (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Icarus, Chapter 2 by HappyWhenItRains (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Gif: Anya banner by NotASlayer (worksafe)

Artwork: Illyria by lonelyhedgehoh (worksafe)

Artwork: Buffy by duvet-cover (worksafe)

Artwork: I’m gonna make Buffyverse so gay you won’t even believe it by junotter (Buffy/Faith, Spike/Angel, worksafe)

Manip: demon Cordelia by thepunkmuppet (worksafe)

Artwork process video: Spike reading by alessandra estrella art (worksafe)

Artwork: Buffy by felixsadlerillustration (worksafe)

Artwork: Spike and Buffy & Angel by Tasha Stark (worksafe)

Artwork: Buffy by rottenhoneyrat (worksafe)

Fanvid: Buffy, can we rest now? by sir fucks it up a lot (Buffy/Spike)

Video: Buffy Scythe build! by michaelcthulhu

Video: Who’s rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer? by Creative.Cliche (Buffy cosplay)

Video: buffy the vampire slayer picture day by Jessica Blair (Buffy, Willow, Xander, Cordelia, Giles cosplay)

Fanvid: Klaus and Buffy (Klauffy): My Love Will Never Die by Bobblehead89 (The Vampire Diaries crossover)

Fanvid: BTVS ~ the shape of you by creativeannie (Buffy/Spike)

Fanvid: Set fire to the rain -Buffy and Angel edit by LuNaR_EcLiPsEEE

Fanvid: A Buffyverse Story: Right Where You Left Me by Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Fanvid: Bigger than the whole Sky - Taylor Swift II Tara and Willow BtVS by Sunnydale Sunset

Fanvid: buffy & spike | a little death by Mary Music Videos

Fanvid: Juliana Mikaelson (Buffy) | My Demons by Patriciaa Mikaelson

[Reviews & Recaps]

The Angel the Series novel "Nemisis" by oveliagirlhaditright

Video: ConTinual Fandom: Buffy Season 1 by ConTinual Convention

Podcast: Deep Dive: Buffy the Vampire Slayer [movie] by The Movie Fellas

Video: Spiral-Slayer Sunday by Jane Talks Reel

Video: "The Harvest" | Buffy S01E02 Spoiler Review | The Re-Watcher's Council #2 | by LGRN Entertainment

Video: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Fool for Love Analysis by Becoming Buffy Podcast

Video: The Twisted BTVS Season 1 Re-Cap by Twisted View

Video: ToriJ's Reviews #6: Buffy the Vampire Slayer [video game] by Tori Jacobs

Video: The Buffyverse gets serious: Buffy Season 2: Full spoilers review by Revisiting The Buffyverse

[Recs]

Fic rec: Reading Lessons by RiverDeNile [Wesley/Gunn, PG] recced by lupines-slash-recs

Fic rec: Liminal by aliceinwonderbra recced by Secretly A Summers

[Fandom Discussions]

How do you think the whole Angelus situation reflects onto Buffy and Angel’s relationship? answered by buffysummers

[About the vampire scene in The Body] by Girl4Music

Angel the Series for the ask meme thing by laufire

Spike’s story is the ‘doomed by the narrative’ post except he isn’t doomed by the narrative by muse-write

The continuous thread in season two of BTVS focusing in on Buffy and Spike by winterlovesong1

What was it like being a Buffy fan when "Seeing Red" happened? by Joshua

Little gems - BtVS Season 1 continued by multiple posters

I found the tone shift in Season 3 jarring continued by multiple posters

Is it me, or was Xander done dirty? continued by MapleCourt

Q&A with fanfic writer Hannah (Cosmic Tuesdays) by Hannah and multiple posters

Wesley and Virginia’s father issues by JellyfishDry9464

Missed opportunities for episodes by SafiraAshai

Have they ever given an in-universe explanation in the show or the comics for why wood kills vampires? by AmacoAmico

Opinion: the Buffy/Riley storyline was ridiculous by CockroachGlass4956

Holy water pistols Batman! by booknynaevewasbetter

Buffy’s vulnerability is amazingly well written by Eagles56

“I wasn’t thinking about you when you were here.” by Lojzko

Was Glory an Old One? by GringoSampaio

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[adultswim2021]

The Xtacles #2: “Operation: Murderous Conclusions” | November 10, 2008 - 12:15AM | S01E02

The two completed episodes of The Xtacles aired on the same night, sorta billed as a 30 minute “special”. I wonder if a third episode was in any kind of state of near-completion? Honestly, these two episodes of Xtacles are about as strong as any of the best episodes of Sealab or Frisky Dingo, and I would’ve loved more of these. 

In this one, President Stan has wasted billions of tax payer money to build a gigantic stature of himself. When it’s unveiled, he’s disgusted at the sight of a huge hole ripped into his giant bronze ass. He asks the Xtacles to solve this crime. The crime is rape!!!

The Xtacles reason that no human could make a hole that big, so they suspect a Gorilla as the culprit. After searching their files for a mythic “Rape Ape” they find “Rapier Ape”, a dapper primate who dresses in medieval garb and carries a rapier, the fancy sword from Shakespeare times. I guess. I don’t know man, I tend to lump all history before the invention of television together. Abraham Lincoln, Rasputin, Jesus Christ (FAKE), it’s all Shakespeare times to me. Anyway, he’s probably innocent, but they insist on harassing him, because the Xtacles are jerks!

Bad news if you don’t like hearing the word “rape”, both for this episode and this write-up, I guess. This one has a handful of lines that made me laugh out loud. And that’s where the write-up ends, because I'll just lamely quote all the jokes I liked. There were a lot! Like, three!

I never did watch these when they aired, and I’m not sure why. I think it just felt a little less pressing than other Adult Swim shows, given that it was basically an aborted fetus. That, and I was probably too invested in the ending of Moral Orel to care. I recall people whose opinions I trusted saying that this show was funny, and I went in with a cautiously optimistic attitude. Issues of modern sensitivity-related scrutiny aside (and the lack of true HD copies of the show existing), these hold up. And, given that these aired mere days after famous limousine liberal Barack Obama got elected president, stuff like this represents the final vestiges of Bush-era comedy, and should be cherished.

EPHEMERA CORNER

The Xtacles Skit (2009)

I'm jumping the gun, slightly, unless this debuted online or something. Maybe it did! But this is actually an extra on the Frisky Dingo season two DVD which came out the following January. I'm guessing it was made before the Xtacles episodes? I genuinely don't know, but this actually legitimately bridges the gap between Frisky Dingo and The Xtacles, and explains why Mr. Ford is on the Xcalibur!

[spockvarietyhour]

- That secret agent stuff is all over and done with. - But the secret agencies aren't done with you.

10 Caps from Deutschland 89 S01E02 - November Nights

[adultswim2021]

The Young Person’s Guide to History #2: “Part 2” | November 3, 2008 - 12:00AM | S01E02

I damned the first part of this with faint praise, and I was much less enthusiastic about this installment. “Part 2” is comprised of what would have been episodes three and four of the original cut of The Young Person’s Guide to History. The original episode four aired as “The Duel” on April Fools day, and was covered by me already, but I’ll cover it again, briefly, goddamn it. 

The first segment is about Thomas Jefferson fleeing his debtors, leading to a new era of peace and tranquility. Ben Franklin and Alexander Hamilton are having a fishing trip on Emerson Lake in Palmer (get it?). Suddenly Jefferson emerges from the water, now a fishman. He reveals that he’s moved his home to the bottom of the ocean, even though earlier they said it was a lake. There’s a decent bit where Jefferson demonstrates how he can communicate with the fish, as well as explode them with his mind. 

Incredibly, some debt collectors manage to find him. They are played by Tim & Eric. Their whole bit is that they succumb to some sort of mysterious illness and drop in the middle of their performance, requiring a brief fourth-wall break so to clear their bodies from the green screen set. They are eventually replaced by two different actors. This is the only bit of the episode I remembered from this installment. I also don’t really remember how the full version of this episode was different from the as-seen-on-actual-TV version (mentioned elsewhere/reminding you here: the “full versions” of these episodes were online briefly and I watched them in 2008 and haven’t seen them since).

The segment ends with Ben Franklin arranging it so that the US government would purchase Thomas Jefferson’s collection of erotica and detective novels, solving his financial crisis and starting the Library of Congress, paving the way for them to add Shrek to their film registry in 2020. 

Those hoping for a full recap for the final segment should read my write-up for the full version and then come back and read the rest.

The next segment is titled “The Third Vice President of the United States”, and is basically “The Duel” but with the beginning cleaved off. This dispenses with the characters meeting in a house and being murdered except for Thomas Jefferson bit, and jumps straight to Thomas Jefferson asking Benjamin Franklin to create a Vice President for him. This is a fairly elegant way to get this down to size.

Also: the bit at the end where the unseen guy on the little speaker is edited out, so Thomas Jefferson is simply changing the radio station from patriotic fife music to Cheeseburger’s cover of Alice Cooper’s “Elected”. I assume that it’s Cheeseburger, who don’t get a proper song credit but do get a special thanks. Also missing is a brief post-credits scene where George Washington and his “witch” (who briefly appears in part 1 during the Will Forte segment) knock on the white house door and leave when nobody answers. 

Well, that was Young Person’s Guide. It wasn’t very good, but I sorta like some things about it. Hey, sorta like this blog.

EPHEMERA CORNER

This is literally just one bumper from the night this premiered, but they say something about an Election Study Guide by Brad Neely airing, so I wonder if that means his "America Now" series, which was done in 30 second installments. That would make the most sense! That's great, because I didn't really have a date for those. In fact:

EPHEMERA CORNER: PART 2

[spockvarietyhour]

It’s 1989 but this CIA operative has 2020 youtuber hair.

[spockvarietyhour]

[spockvarietyhour]

It’s shreddin’ time!

[spockvarietyhour]

I can’t tell if it’s a good prick or a bad prick

[adultswim2021]

Tim & Eric Nite Live #2: “Quall-ity Episode” | November 13, 2007 - 10:00PM | S01E02

Another wonderful episode of Tim & Eric Nite Live. This one features guest James Quall. Presumably the James Quall sketch from season two was shot before this, but to diehard Tim & Eric heads, this was his actual debut. I actually think watching this before enhances the episode “Vacation”, which makes it a shame that I forgot to start covering these in the correct order. 

With this episode we get Tim & Eric Nite Live’s true purpose: to promote Awesome Show. Episodes of the show would often plug the upcoming episode and often we’d get to see special preview clips. In this one we get to see the Poop Tube sketch in full. That’s nice. I don’t know, maybe it’s more promotion for Super Deluxe? I guess this is what they call “cross-promotion” if you think about it. All catching the attention of whiz kids with elecricity stuff on their hats, a couple of WEBSITE HEADS you know? Or: could it be that Tim & Eric just wanted to make their own public access show and founds a way to do it? That’s probably really it.

This episode features James Quall for most of the episode. He’s introduced pretty swiftly and gets to perform his night club act for the whole internet to see. Tim & Eric disrupt him significantly to fuss over the camera angle, the backdrop, and James’ own performance. You wonder how much James is in on the joke. Modern interviews with Tim in particular seem to indicate that more often than not they will prime their cast of outsider talent so it doesn’t cause them any psychic pain when Tim & Eric put on their irritable dickhead personas that they do so well. Tim saying “you blew it” to a crew member, and then turning to James and gratuitously adding “and you blew it, too” seems so cutting. It’s also insanely funny. One of the funniest moments in all of TIm & Eric, honestly.

Also on the show: the game Pick Your Pony, where people in the studio have to guess weather or not a quintet of tacky-looking men have a pony tail or not. There’s a Richard Dunn poem which Tim prefaces by saying “let’s see how far we get into that”. I’m pleased to say Richard got it Dunn. There’s also an interview with Tom Cruise, really a look-alike, obviously. I remember promos featuring clips from this segment aired on TV, but I’m not sure I trust my memory. This bit is fairly uncomfortable because Tim really sells the idea that he believes that this phony is actually Tom Cruise. The look-alike gets a little squirmy, almost as though he believes that Tim believes he’s the real Tom Cruise. 

Another killer episode. Even though I felt that season two of Awesome Show was a bit of a step backwards from season one, I was still really impressed with Tim and Eric thanks to this show. Unlike season two of Awesome Show, this was easily a step forward, and I wish there could have been so much more of it.

MAIL BAG

The bump that aired right before the Raz-isode actually said "With Special Guest Rob Mother[scribbled out] Zombie" what do they think this is? Space Ghost Coast To Coast Episode 51 "Piledriver"???

Thank you for this, I forgot about this. THIS.

This blog is a godsend. So many memories coming back and so many things that are new to me. Thank you for getting at it!

Hey! Thank you! That’s a nice message! I like it!

Also, there's one piece of Space Ghost content that you're missing- CN released a few tapes of Jonny Quest in the mid-90's and had SG interview Jonny before the episodes started. Each tape had the same footage, but it's still fun to see.

I did know about that, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever watched it or not. You’re sorta right! If Mask is counted as an episode, why not this? I’m guessing it’s more of a feather in their cap to be able to say that Jim Carey was a guest on Space Ghost than it is to say Jonny Quest was, so the staff was more gung-ho about counting that and not this. But yeah, if I thought about it longer I might have written this up.

I wish we had all the various Space Ghost appearances. I think he was on the Cable Ace Awards once. Also, promos and marathon bumpers and stuff like that often had new material in them.