Questions Post #3

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I'm guessing it's a monthly thing. I have a word document titled "Questions and Concerns" on my hard drive, and I just keep adding to it. Sometimes these questions and concerns get addressed, and I delete them. Sometimes they drive me crazy. So I've posted them and people answered them and I got happy. And then the next day I had more questions. So, I'm just going to keep asking until people get tired of me ;o) If you're interested, thanks ahead of time for being my personal Radio Shacks.



Angel
-What is the circumference of the head on David Boreanaz’s shoulders? Did anyone for a moment think that the pink helmet really would’ve fit on Angel’s head? Does Wes just date big-headed women? (hello, Illyria)
-What other music/artists/songs do you think Angel likes (he says he likes ballads. Apparently cheesy ones, but I’m not so up on that genre)?
-I’ve heard Angel was only supposed to be in three episodes. What were they going to do with him? Did the writers know in the first episode that he was a vampire with a soul?
-Did David Boreanaz have a lot of acne when he was young? Or am I the only one who thinks she sees slight facial pock-mark-looking scars?
-What would Angel read? Only Sartre and existentialist philosophy? Who would be his favorite author? Does anyone vote for Dostoevsky?
-Would he read the Bible after he’d been re-ensouled (kinda hard, what with the burning hands, I guess)? What about other religious texts?

Voice
-How do you (yourself, personally) get yourself situated into a character’s “voice”? Read transcripts, make lists of common phrases, just wing it?
-What is voice? Spike has a bunch of idiosyncratic words. Willow has a definite rhythym to her speech. Faith has a voice, but what is it that makes her speech particular? Does Angel have a voice? What is it? How do you decide what he would or wouldn’t say?
-How often would Angel say the word “fuck”? Would he ever say the word “cunt”? How often does he do the “take the Lord’s name in vain” thing?
-If Spike were a real person not in TV land he’d cuss a blue streak. I also think Faith would have a pretty dirty mouth. But what about Gunn? What about Darla, Anya, and Lindsey, et al?
-Do you ever just avoid making a character swear, because although you’re sure Xander would’ve succinctly announced “We’re fucked!” at a crucial moment, it just seems weird to see it written out, since we never heard him say fuck?

Random
-Did you have any stereotypes/preconcieved ideas about what BtVS would be like before you started watching it? (I, for instance, thought Buffy would get turned at least three times. I also thought her character would be like SMG’s on Cruel Intentions. Thus the not watching until 8 years after it came out. I’m very narrow-minded, I know.)
-Why were Connor’s lips so red?
-Should posts that contain the word fuck be under a cut? What about the words cunt cock and Christ?
-What, exactly, is wrong with the phrase “cold dead seed”? Is it that it’s over-used? Or how about uber icky? Because despite the colossal gross factor it seems like a fair phrase to use to jolt a non-con or dark/angsty/violent sex scene into a terrible reality.
-Does Connor remind anyone else of John Connor from Terminator 2?
-Who among you just played a quick game of Kevin Bacon in your head after that last question? (Edward Furlong, David Boreanaz, Wicked Prayer: I know; it was too easy.)
-How common was it for men to wear corsets back in the day? I know some did, but I want to know if it was considered as crossing-dressing-ish as it is nowadays, or whether it was the thing to do. (I’ve seen period movies in which they make it look like the thing to do. Yup, Ralph Fiennes in a corset). Because Angelus? Vain. And we already know Spike likes to rip garments off women and wear them.

Serenity
-Can someone please link me to somewhere where people are talking in depth about this movie? I just saw it and loved it to itty bits and pieces, and I want to go wallow in the goodness. What's sad is I've never seen Firefly.

Comments

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

Voice
-How do you (yourself, personally) get yourself situated into a character’s “voice”? Read transcripts, make lists of common phrases, just wing it?

I hear the dialog over and over (and over again) in my head. I hear the characters saying it. And when it's finally correct, I write it down.

-What is voice? Spike has a bunch of idiosyncratic words. Willow has a definite rhythm to her speech. Faith has a voice, but what is it that makes her speech particular? Does Angel have a voice? What is it? How do you decide what he would or wouldn’t say?

They all have voices and I know it when I hear/read it (kind of like porn). Yahtzee is maybe the only writer I've ever read who seems to be able to write every character's voice no matter who it is. I can say with certainty there are some characters I would never attempt. Oz, for example. And catch phrases do not a voice make. I have read fics where every single chapter, Spike says, "pet". I'd like to track down the author and kill her.

Angel's voice is my favorite voice. Just have him say less. My guiding principles with Angel are: 1) Angel hates everything about himself - the man, that is. And therefore he keeps himself on a very tight leash. He represses his emotions because he doesn't trust himself. 2) Angel is Catholic so he's looking for redemption (very different from atonement, which is very Jewish). 3) Angel is an artist and he sees the world very visually. He's very creative, although creative combined with evil is not a good combo. Angel does not make big emotional speeches as a rule and I dislike fics that have them.

-How often would Angel say the word “fuck”? Would he ever say the word “cunt”? How often does he do the “take the Lord’s name in vain” thing?

As Liam, he cursed all the time with his frat boy pals and he cursed in front of his father to piss him off. But not in front of women. I suspect he wasn't as wild as he made himself out to be. I don't think he liked who he was. As Angelus, of course, in order to shock and twist the knife a bit more. Although I would go for vile as opposed to just cursing. As Angel, he thinks it but doesn't say it. That whole repression thing, plus he doesn't want to alarm his friends. After being speared, he probably would grunt out a fuck or a shit. Cunt? Maybe during hot sex. Lord's name in vain is rare assuming he's in control of himself.

-If Spike were a real person not in TV land he’d cuss a blue streak. I also think Faith would have a pretty dirty mouth. But what about Gunn? What about Darla, Anya, and Lindsey, et al?

Gunn not very often because he's trying to project a certain image. Darla never except for calculated effect. Anya, exactly what Dave said. And Lindsey is a curser. Not at the office, and he's not in Faith's league, but he has no trouble with the well-placed curse.

-Do you ever just avoid making a character swear, because although you’re sure Xander would’ve succinctly announced “We’re fucked!” at a crucial moment, it just seems weird to see it written out, since we never heard him say fuck?

Nope, I'd go for it. But I wouldn't make him a potty mouth because he isn't.

More later. Now it's time to eat lunch.

[tkp.livejournal.com]

And catch phrases do not a voice make.

I know. I got so sick of reading "five by five" in every Faith-centric fic I'd ever read that part of the reason I wrote "The Confessional" was to attempt a Faith voice that didn't use it once (though I did allude to it, iirc). Yes, she says it a lot. Spike says "pet" a lot. But come on. They do have other words in their vocabularies, and you wouldn't know from reading some fic.

Angel's voice is my favorite voice.

Interesting that you should say so. There is, of course, a distinction between WHAT he says and HOW he says it (I only consider the latter to be "voice," to answer one of my own questions). I find what he says more interesting than any of the other characters in Jossverse, but I find how he says it to be among the most prosaic.

2) Angel is Catholic so he's looking for redemption (very different from atonement, which is very Jewish).

Huh. I never thought about it that way. How would you define the difference (between redemption and atonement, I mean)?