Discussion of 8.10 "Anywhere But Here" - Released 01/02/08 (Dark Horse)

LOL ok I'm really bending my brain now.

I am saying that Willow and Robin aren't watching the snake lady (because they're in a new setting). I am saying that they are not always in the castle.
I totally thought the way you do, but then I mentioned this over at [insert other name of buffy forum that I don't think I'm allowed to] and they suggested what I posted. And when I put it all together it made more sense.. to me anyway, obviously not to you. 😉

It looks like this demon is able to take them into various scenes: > Swiss Bank > Forest > Castle. Did you see it another way? Like Swiss Bank > Castle > Still Castle? Buffy and Willow are always together looking in.. there is this continued foggy kinda thing around them as they do... so it made sense to me that as they went through this they were looking at the Swiss bank, then they were shown and or taken to the forest/demon lady. Maybe they can see both of these at once, or maybe one is gradually revealed as another one fades. Hmm I suppose as I look at it, it might be something that hasn't passed... but it still makes sense to me that it could be the past.. it's just that Willow doesn't talk about it, or explain ...other then her comment about not being naughty here (and by that she means she's never been naughty in the castle - because she was being naughty in the forest - thus possibly confirming that her nakedness with the demon chick has happened). At least that's the theory.. I'm totally lost now.

Maybe it doesn't matter yet, because it will be revealed to us later?
 
alexa said:
Maybe they can see both of these at once,
Click to expand...

There's no maybe about it. They can see both both at once.

Ayoubadthing.jpg


You see this is what I've never understood. I used to notice it with the TV series too. The writers will tell us something, and it will make perfect sense if we choose to believe what they tell us. Instead people invent these strange ways of warping what they see to make things mean something else. Those things don't make sense. The next thing I hear is how crappy the writing is, because the story doesn't make sense.

Did you notice there are four screens of Sephralian, and there are four scenes. Let me show you the difference between good fanwanking, and bad fanwanking. OK first of all we're going to believe what the script tells us. In the script we see the characters looking over at different scenes appearing before them. Willow actually points at one. Buffy says "Look", and points at another. Later Robin is commenting about something she doesn't think Sephralian would show them, and she's looking to the side. Willow and Robin appear to be looking at something as Willow comments on it. We see that and we accept the fact they are seeing the scenes they are commenting on from the vantage point where they appear to be (the castle) rather than invent a vantage point there's no evidence for. We accept what the script tells us. Now we think to ourselves hey there are four screens of Sephralian and four scenes. We saw the four screens separate from Sephralian before the visions. What if each screen can form a kind of holographic image. Now all of a sudden it makes sense why Sephralian would have 4 screens on its tail. That to me is an acceptable fanwank, because it's created out of script fact, and it offers explanation to something we previously had not explanation for.

Hears what an unacceptable fanwank looks like. We say the characters are not seeing these things in the castle, even though we actually see them in the castle looking at them. We say they are actually going to the places where the scenes take place. We then choose to see Willow as popping back into the castle to say to Robin out of the blue "I was never naughty here. I don't even...Robin, has this happened yet?" The comment makes no immediate sense, so we invent an irrational context for it. In other words we fanwank based on absolutely nothing to create a new story the writers have offered us no evidence for.

BTW, you did see the smoke is in the castle, right?

You do understand don't you, that if Robin and Willow are looking at the scene of the Snakelady, as they appear to be doing, while Willow makes her comment then the comment makes sense? In your scenario the comment doesn't. It doesn't matter if you heard your theory at the international institute of Buffology. The comment the way you're interpreting it doesn't make sense.
 
nerd4hire said:
Well now, that is cool. I know a little bit about schizophrenia. Read a bit, knew someone, met the odd schizophrenic in a job I had. I was under the impression a lot of it was controllable with drugs, but I know there's quite a few different kinds of schizophrenia. I think autism is a kind of schizophrenia. Some people seem to think it's just split personality disorder, but it's not.
Click to expand...

Autisim isn't a mental Illness it's brain damage. My brother is autistic, prone to tantrums because He can't express himself well
I know autisim can be in mild to severe forms, I've met people with mild and severe myself, I think autisic people can have schizophrenic tendances in terms of mood swings but that's as close to autisim as it gets.
But that letter was very moving to say the least!
 
Seeing as the 4 screens are starting to get mentioned, i'm surprised that no-one's pointed out that they each seem to have different expressions, the different expressions could tell what kinds of visions he is showing. To me, the faces look like shocked, sad, angry and calm, so i'd say

Buffy robbing the bank = shocked
Buffy getting betrayed = sad or angry
Nekkid Willow and snaked woman = calm
and...interesting, only 3 visions, i'm sure the Willow and Kennedy thing was just Willow telling Buffy about it, not a vision, so what was the 4th one?
 
Clem Rocks said:
Seeing as the 4 screens are starting to get mentioned, i'm surprised that no-one's pointed out that they each seem to have different expressions, the different expressions could tell what kinds of visions he is showing. To me, the faces look like shocked, sad, angry and calm, so i'd say

Buffy robbing the bank = shocked
Buffy getting betrayed = sad or angry
Nekkid Willow and snaked woman = calm
and...interesting, only 3 visions, i'm sure the Willow and Kennedy thing was just Willow telling Buffy about it, not a vision, so what was the 4th one?
Click to expand...

I think most people on here think that the Willow/Kennedy scene was a vision too, but I'm with you on this one in saying that it was just a flashback. It would be boring to have Willow simply tell her story to Buffy. Showing it in pretty pictures is just much more effective.

The way I see it, there's only three visions. During all of them, Buffy and Willow (and Robin) are surrounded by fog, which lifts to show them a vision.

During the first vision Willow and Buffy are looking at the scene while commenting, but at the end Buffy notices the second vision.

How exactly the transition from the second to the third vision happens we don't know. I don't get where the notion that this third vision takes place in the castle comes from. Sure, it looks like an old place. But it could be a crypt, monastery, church, temple, underground lair, or basically anything. Even if it is a castle, there's no way we can know that this is the Slayer's castle.

When Willow says "I was never naughty here" I think what she means is that she doesn't recognise the place and thus is pretty sure that it's not Sephrillian showing a vision about her.

Again, the alleged fourth vision is simply a visual representation of what Willow is telling Buffy.

I think this is a very difficult issue to interpret correctly, but given the content and source of inspiration for it, that is how it is supposed to be.

PS: Was it just me or did Buffy's pose, wounds, outfit, remind anyone of the decoy's death in The Chain?
 
they're not exactly the same (Buffy's pants are green, the decoy's were red) but nice catch, Allycat.
 
A
Allycat
Yeah, I know they weren't exactly the same, but it was one of the first things I noticed. I wonder if it's on purpose?
I was just calling Sephrilian's lair a castle because that's what it looks like. I don't know what it actually is.

Nobody else thinks there's significance to where the characters are looking preceding each flashback/forward, do they? Preceding the Willow/Kennedy thing Willow says she won't betray Buffy, then...

betrayaleyes.jpg


One thing about the snake lady, I kind of expect to hear about her again. This one might be actually provable, past, or future. If I'm wrong, boy is my face going to be red.
 
In the example you posted, I think that's just Willow looking away, because she's embarrassed. And I agree with you that the snake lady will probably return in some way, shape, or form... preferably an equally nude shape, way, and form.
 
The Buffy/Willow one is posted above where they're pointing at a past and upcoming vision. Here's Robin preceding the injured Buffy vision.

RobinReplies.jpg
 
The more I think about it Willow didn't confirm it (naked snake lady action) as being something that happened in her past or future. Maybe we're meant to be a little lost in this issue.. actually I'm sure we are. It's deliberately non linear.

I get the 4 scenes thing, 4 faces. It's all about the characters telling lies also, and The Demon of Christmas Past/Future 😛 was interested in exposing these lies.
I'm not sure if the scene with Buffy beaten is in the slayer's castle, it's just a fair bet because we haven't seen any other castles really yet.

You do understand don't you, that if Robin and Willow are looking at the scene of the Snakelady, as they appear to be doing, while Willow makes her comment then the comment makes sense? In your scenario the comment doesn't. It doesn't matter if you heard your theory at the international institute of Buffology. The comment the way you're interpreting it doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...

Yes I do get this, but it was plausable to me that Robin and Willow aren't looking at the snakelady, they're looking at the new reveal of Buffy beaten, because then Buffy turns her head that way also to see it. If they are looking at the snakelady then totally makes sense that this thing with Willow hasn't come to pass (because of what she says). But because they are in a castle now (I didn't notice they were before.. apart from the dark staircase thing) so it says to me it's probable that they're about to see a new vision and thus looking at it. After the vision with beaten Buffy is over, notice how the castle fades away.

Hmm anyway, don't think I could try to make that theory make sense anymore then it does to me. I find myself somewhere in the middle now, both theories make sense in my head.. conveniently 😉 I think we'll figure out more later, but nothing seems crystal.
 
Cool issue, Really enjoyed it. Those few extra pages made it seem allot longer.

That snake lady reminded me of that place Willow went to when Warren was cutting out her eye, but she isn't in that issue, but Kennedy may have explained that place and how Willow knew those "people", with Willow going on a "Six Month Mystical walkabout?
 
What did Robin mean when she says "The important thing is that you rescue the prince?"

and Robin and Willow know each other? And Im under the impression that they may have kinda of been physical because of that mini section when WIllow says they have to wait til the morning and robin says we have to find a way to warm up. She was leaning on her.
 
Cordelia Chase* said:
What did Robin mean when she says "The important thing is that you rescue the prince?"

and Robin and Willow know each other? And Im under the impression that they may have kinda of been physical because of that mini section when WIllow says they have to wait til the morning and robin says we have to find a way to warm up. She was leaning on her.
Click to expand...

Huh? That wasn't Robin. That was Willow's contribution to the game of "Anywhere But Here": snowed-in in a snug cabin with Tina Fey (she even calls her by name in that panel.)
 
Well at least some people might be more confused then me 😉 I assumed the prince bit was just illustrating that Robin's mind isn't all there because of the big burden she has.
Anyway I just noticed this red egg thing. Someone mentioned it to me before but I thought it was some weird kind of broken light bulb. It's in the castle scene where Buffy is beaten and crying.. wonder what that's about.
 
When I read the issue I didn't think that the future bit might be set in Castle Buffy. If that is the castle, have we seen the red egg thing in an earlier issue, perhaps in an unbroken state?
 
Cordelia Chase* said:
Okay...and the four faces showing the four events. The fourth event has to be the kennedy one right??
Click to expand...

Yeah possibly, but looks like a regular flashback to me.. but it's not certain.
It's ok we're meant to be confused with this issue 😉
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom