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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 0:46:25 GMT -5
I believe Marstercating is an activity that involves the repetitive manipulation of the zoom feature on one's television remote in such a way as to cause certain features under study to appear larger and closer than they actually are in real life. Excessive Marstercation leads to obsessive compulsive internet activity, declining eye sight, and an increase in body hair on certain extremeties.
Rusty Goode
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 0:47:08 GMT -5
Rusty ‑ does your definition mean that those of us without zoom features on our remotes cannot marstercate? I guess I should be more thrilled that I won't go blind or have to comb my palms...but I'm not. And I already suffer from compulsive internet activity. Boo Hoo
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 0:49:14 GMT -5
I can understand and appreciate your opinion regarding Xander's attitude towards Spike. There have been many examples where Spike deserved a break and Xander wouldn't give it to him. In fairness, however, Spike has never given Xander any respect whatsoever. The only times he's even paid attention to him is when he wants to manipulate him in some way or insult him. The real question here is can these two set their male egos aside and learn to respect one another. Xander knows perfectly well (deep down)that Spike is an irreplaceable ally to the team when his mind is right, and Spike knows damn well Xander is not only vitally important, he's completely devoted to the Summers family. This is a common bond they can build on. Unfortunately an exploration of a male friendship is not really BTVS territory over the last seven years...therefore I'd expect Spike and Dawn to get a lot more attention from the writers than Spike and Xander. Which isn't too bad....1 out of 2 is better than nothing at all. In truth there really isn't enough time to give all the characters the development they need, in my opinion. Unless, of course, there's a Season 8 with a lot less Buffy.....that opens up some interesting possibilities. I truly believe Dawn desperately wants to forgive Spike, and he craves Dawn's belief in him as much as Buffy's. He cares for them both equally, but in entirely different ways....much like Xander cares for Anya as opposed to Willow (another common bond between the Scooby Boys).
Rob Sorenson
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 0:50:46 GMT -5
When Drusilla sired Darla in some Angel episode or other, I think Angel said something like, Sunset is at X time, sunrise is at Y time, she could rise at any time in between. So there is definitely some wiggle room between when they are sired and when they rise again, I have to say, it would make a lot more sense if it didn't have to be that very night, as people don't have funerals THAT quickly.
I can't believe how many posts there have been today! oh what I miss when I actually do work at work!
Julie A
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 0:53:54 GMT -5
Spring wrote: "Miss Pamela, I know the definition of "masticating", but I thought of a word and I defer to you to offically define it: "Marsterscating".
**GASP** Oh, my gawd, what a great word ‑ what visions hit me when I saw it! Is this how Cordy feels when SHE gets visions ‑ oh wait, those are usually unpleasant, aren't they? No, let me pick my jaw up off the floor, put my eyeballs back in my sockets, and then try to catch my breath! Got me right through the heart, you did ‑ I feel I've been staked, but in a good way. Okay, calming down... yeah, I WANNA chew on this...!
Okay, here's my official definition:(*)
Marsterscating:
1) The repeated act of meditating on or considering at length topics related to anything remotely to do with James Marsters and/or his most famous character "Spike" of the tv show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Slang equivalents: "Not sure what think; I wanna chew on it awhile." "I can't stop thinking about......gonna keep chewing on it."
(2) Acting out erotic fantasies by making chewing motions while watching or thinking of James Marsters, usually in his "Spike" role (sometimes accompanied by excessive, involuntary excretions of saliva).
(3) The highly privileged act of chewing or nibbling on James Marsters.
Miss Pamela, Linguistics Chair, VHISN (*) This may require further Marsterscation and intense research, and I may publish a revised official definition in the near future.
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 14:54:39 GMT -5
Looking at all these "Part 5" posts, already ‑ you don't suppose that the Editors would consider just giving in to the ebulgence and adding another entire board to the "Buffy" category?
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 14:55:10 GMT -5
"All Things Spike/James Marsters", as Alexandra has done ‑ not "ebulgence". ;‑)
Darn missing edit button...
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 14:56:11 GMT -5
I'm in love with the English language and all its permutations, real or imagined. My especial love is plural nouns, i.e. special words for groups of things. Such as: A gaggle of geese A flock of birds A herd of cattle A pack of wolves A pod of whales Two favorites: A serenity of unicorns and A murder of crows. How about an exsanguination of vampires? Or maybe just a bloody lot of 'em.
Diane U
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 14:56:59 GMT -5
I've been reading a great deal of theorizing about HOW vampires sire one another, whether it requires being bled to the point of death, whether (and how much) blood must come from the sire and so forth. I think you're all missing something.
Has it ever occurred to you all that, just as no two human pregnancies or births are exactly the same, neither are any two vampire re‑births. Over the past few years I've become convinced that the process of becoming a vampire is as individual as the vamps themselves.
Likewise, there is the matter of the two subspecies speculated upon by our learned companions. Forgive me, but I beg to differ. There may be several different species of vampire, but only one is resident in Sunnydale (except when Drac drops in for a visit).
The matter of the disparate degrees of intelligence has several probable explanations.
If an individual wasn't too bright to begin with, i.e., Harmony; the resulting vamp isn't going to be an intellectual blinding light either.
Likewise, an intelligent human will become an intelligent vampire. An exception may be if the fledgling's brain is damaged sometime BEFORE the transformation takes place. That is to say, if the human is brain‑damaged (from, for example, a beating or other torture by the siring vampire) then the reborn vampire will suffer the effects of loss of intellect or odd, eccentric behavior, i.e., Drusilla. An undamaged brain will keep its intellect, as Spike, Angel, et.al. demonstrate.
In the matter of vampface vs. humanface; since vampires can switch at will, the most probable reason that a vamp chooses stay in "gameface" is that he/she prefers it.
The matter of how much time is required to transform from human to vampire, is also totally individual. When Drusilla re‑vamped Darla Angel, who knew Darla better than anyone, was still only able to give an approximate window of time when Darla was likely to rise.
It's not inconsistency, people, it's individuality.
Scholastically yours,
Diane U.
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 14:57:50 GMT -5
I see, so perhaps we are dealing with nature vs. nurture. Good point.
The brain trauma hypothesis has potential, but I don't think that Sunnydale, eventhough located in California, has enough people with a low IQ to account for all the not‑so‑bright vampires. So, the brain trauma thing rings more true to me. However, have we ever seen a perpetual‑vamp‑face vampire sire an intelligent one? (this isn't a rhetorical question, just a question for all of you with the DVDs). This lends credence to the hypothesis that only smart vampires can sire smart vampires. But can a rat vampire become a smart vampire if they live long enough? (This would disprove the brain trauma thing....)
Hmmmm, I definitely have a lot to think about.
M.
PS: I also have always liked 'a murder of crows'
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 14:58:25 GMT -5
Anne Rice seems to go with this theory...when Lestat turned his mother, there were vivid descriptions of the memories and emotions he felt. And no sex. That was a little dissapointing but I made up for that by reading the "other" books.
And the dirt...if I remember correctly, Lestat had been gravely injured in an incident involving sunlight, I think there was some kind of emotional damage too, I don't remember, but he buried himself in the dirt in Lousiana for quite a long time to heal and rose from his self imposed grave better and stronger. I was thinking this morning on the way to work (I really do need something to do) as Dianne pointed out, vampires are as individual as humans since that is where they come from.
With so many "stupid" vamps running around in the Buffyverse, that doesn't say much for Joss' opinion of the masses.
Deborah, I want you to know how envious I am of your coming trip to Chicago. Are you also attending any special functions, like a banquet or cocktail party?
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 14:58:57 GMT -5
Marstercating...all this time I thought my fading eyesight was due to squinting at computer screens...hmmmmm...
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 14:59:36 GMT -5
I'm still catching up!
I go on a business trip for ONE NIGHT and ONE DAY. Less than 24 hours, and we're on Part Five already?!
Sigh...I have a lot of reading here to do.
I want to chime in also on Deborah Cohen's excitement about attending the fan event in Chicago (mentioned in part three or four).
I'm going to Moonlight Rising in NY in June, where JM will be appearing (no GoTR, though) and am very much looking forward to it (even though I've never before been to a con or BtVS fan event). I just felt that if this were indeed to be the last season, then spending a weekend in June with other rabid fans is exactly where I would want to be.
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 15:00:12 GMT -5
Even if TFE had turned Spike into its sleeper agent while still in the school basement it still seems there was plenty of time when he was *himself* (in between the time he spent acting as unwitting puppet when the trigger was activated) for him to have had that talk with Dawn. In what episode did he move in with Xander? Between then and "Conversations..." it seems there would have been time.
deborah cohen
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Post by Dalton on Jun 28, 2003 15:01:20 GMT -5
Not enough stupid people to account for all the stupid vampires? Have you looked at the voting records in recent years? The content of most TV? The scholastic achievement records?
The more you read the more you get the idea that Harmony is more like average than sub‑average!
If you examine at the greatest majority of minion vampires on BTVS (a dangerous occupation, as is most field research), you note that they appear to have been very young when they died. Usually late teens to mid‑twenties. In addition, most vampires seem to enjoy more or less the same activities they liked when they were human‑‑with an exceptional propensity for violence added, accounted for by their new predatory status.
The habit of standing around in so many scenes may be explained in that they are simply "hanging out".
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