Sunnydale housing and employment

goldenboy

Scooby
Joined
Feb 17, 2005
Messages
2,497
Alright, gonna run down a partial character list here. Tell me what I miss or screw up. Seems to me like there's incomplete info here and bits of illogic. Either writers didn't care, didn't want to explore and potentially distract from main characters. Or wanted to explore themes metaphorically, which can come into conflict with logic and reality.

Cordi: a rich student, sometime scoobie. Lived at home. Briefly worked at a clothing shop after her dad got busted for tax fraud.

Oz: student, casual scoobie, bass player and werewolf. Lived, at home? Or maybe out of his van? Never met the parents. That was a bass, right? He seemed to strum it like a guitar at times. Anyways, lived off his parents or meagre income from gigs.

Xander: student, scoobie, later a construction worker. First lived at home, then folks' basement, then set himself up in a nice apartment with Anya.

Anya: vengence demon, student, reluctant scoobie. Later a cashier and enthusiastic capitalist. Fake parents somewhere? What was her original housing situation and source of income before Xander and Giles helped her out?

Willow: brainiac student, highschool and college, scoobie, witch. Lived at home, then dorms, then Buffy's house. We met her mom. Seemed to be some kind of psychiatrist or sociology professor or something. Willow probably had a full scholarship at UC Sunnydale. Mom helped her out with any other financial needs I guess. At some point, she must have dropped out of school, right? After her "drug" problem and other crises?

Tara: student, witch, later a scoobie. Income? Unknown. We met her dreadful family. Was daddy paying all her bills? Willow helping out?

Joyce: Mom, art gallery curator (owner?). Owned her home. Was it comepletly paid off? Was Buffy struggling with mortgage payments or just regular bills? Seems like they could have shown us the gallery and exploited her job for plots more than they actually did. Didn't whant to distract from Buffy and her scoobs though.

Giles: High school librarian, Watcher. Rented apartment. Later unemployed, then Magic Box owner. Eventually decided to leave Sunnydale. This always struck me as illogical. Why would a Watcher ever leave his slayer? Especially one who's sitting atop a Hellmouth. Too much is at stake. However, the writers wanted to explore the idea of a "parent" letting go of their "child".

Faith: Rogue Slayer, assassin, Mayor's flunkey. Income and housing provided by the Mayor, who acted as her "sugardaddy". Later lived at Buffy's house, like everyone else left in Sunnydale.

Angel: Champion, lurker, ensouled vampire. Lived in a cool lair. Income? Unknown.

Spike: scummy vampire, thief. Racketeer? Later a noble ensouled vamp. Housed in a crypt. Income: Thievery?

Buffy Summers: Slayer, student: high school, partial college. Worked briefly as a diner waitress in LA. Then the dreaded, horrifying fast food work. Finally a school counsellor. Lived at home, then crappy apartment, then home, then dorms, then home again.
 
I'm pretty sure that Oz played guitar rather than bass...I vaguely remember a scene where he was talking about his ambition to play a particularly difficult chord. I know that bassists can play chords but they tend to play riffs or runs of single notes in pop /rock music...I think for chord-playing bassists you need to go down the scary, jazz road - where all normal rules don't apply 😛

Nice list goldie...are you challenging for n4h's reference supremo title? 😉 🙂
 
Faith
Faith
Yup it was the guitar
Yeah, maybe it was a guitar. He did use a pick. Just seemed so huge on the little guy. And there is the occasional rock musician who will play a bass like it's a lead, even switching back and fourth.
 
http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/happyhunting/images/dingo7.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/happyhunting/images/dingo9.jpg

These pics show Oz playing a six-string. I think a bass would've looked even bigger on him 🙂

I read an article over the weekend about this very subject, which came to the conclusion that '70s prog-rock was the best era for musicianly bassists (Chris Squire from Yes is the name that springs to mind). The article also mentioned John Entwhistle (The Who) and Paul McCartney (not going to insult anyone by naming his band 🙂) as being the most accomplished musicians in their bands. I'll post a link, if I can find it - if you are interested...off-topic alert! 😉

Here you go - from the Times a couple of days ago -
Bass player article
 
Cool, thanks. Entwistle for sure. And Flea from the Chili Peppers has that funk influence going on, "slapping" the bass (don't like the sound of that, heh). I had a cousin who was in a band. The "guitarist" used a bass. Played it like a guitar or a bass depending on the needs of the song. And of course, The Doors never had a bassist.

I was never real crazy about "Dingos" music. I know it was just a TV show band, but...The singer, OK I guess. Lyrics seemed kinda generic teen angsty, humorless. The music was kind of a post-Cobain grunge sound, watered down. I wish they'd had Cobain's wit and nihilism in their lyrics. Pretty good music by Bronze standards I think.

I think season 6 had me screaming (silently) at the TV more than any other. One reason was Buffy's job situation. Now, please, I really mean no offence to anyone, but fast food? Couldn't it have been anything else, please! Just something about that polyester uniform and the stupid hat. Degrading. Couldn't she have worked at that seedy hotel on the edge of town or another diner downtown? I know the writers were trying to punish and drive home a point and all...just made me sad. I like diner uniforms. Fast food, not so much.

A common convention in American sitcoms is to have someone start working at a fast food place. And they have to dress up like a chicken or wear an absurd hat. I've never seen these exaggerated absurdities in a real American town. Maybe they do exist. I know there are offbeat restaurant chains and there's lots of weird varieties in the South and in California...
 
Regarding Tara: I think she's probably also on a full scholarship. Her father never threatened to pull her money as more leverage to make her come home (and parents will do this! Mine did).

And yes, Oz was a guitarist. Devon says straight out in Inca Mummy Girl "You're lead guitar Oz! It's currency!" Also...I lliked Four Star Mary! I mean, yeah, they were a little predictable, late-nineties pseudo-grunge, but hey, when does the Bronze have GOOD bands? When they aren't local. Apparently the Sunnydale music scene consists entirely of Dingos Ate My Baby. They play the Bronze, apparently every frat party, hey, Lowell house even has a tape of them for later parties! Although, apparently Bif Naked plays Wolf House parties....???

And let's not forget Faith's "Spartan" (read: ugly) hotel room!

And after 1100 years in this world, Anya may have built up a fairly large bank account: if whatever she saved lasted her at least the whole of Season Four, and parts of 3 and 5 she was probably fairly buttered (at least by my college-student standards) She had her own place, which we briefly saw in The Replacement, so she was arguably more flush than Xander, who was stuck in the basement.

And apparently Spike was making a little extra cash on the side as a demon-eggs (and possibly other things) broker, at least in Season 6, probably just to supplement his "scaring people for money" that we saw in Where the Wild Things Are.
 
Actually, wasn't Anya a witness to, maybe a participant in the Revolution of 1917? Probably could have made off with a lot of the Russian royal family's riches if she wanted. Maybe she had a Swiss bank account set up as a vengence demon. Had access to it in Sunnydale...

What was the name of that bartender. Was it Willy? Buffy was always pumping him for info. He kinda just went away after awhile. He was human, right?

Did that Clem guy have a job? Was he a crook like Spike? Maybe he had no earthly needs. Did crypt-sit for Spike occasionally.
 
Willy was human and yeah, a bartender. Maybe he realised if he sticks round in Sunnydale Buffys just gonna beat him up.

We saw Anya rob a bank in S7, she could have done so before.

Im guessing Joyce made a fair bit, as Buffy didn't have any financial trouble until about 6 months after Joyce's death. Giles obviously had a fair bit, I hear he gave Buffy $10,000 in...whatever ep it was. Guessing Watcher's pay is nice.
 
Yeah, Willy was human....I'm not sure why he left, but the actor is on Becker now...not sure how long he's been there...I think the last time we saw Willy was in Goodbye Iowa...Riley went to Willy's Place in Family, but the bartender was someone who wasn't Willy...hmm, good question. What ever happened to Willy the Snitch?
 
I didn't like the fast food storyline with Buffy either. I know the excuse was that she needed money fast and didn't have time to train for a job but she could of worked at the mall or something and made probably about the same pay, with also little training. We saw the mall in season 2 and it was pretty big. Also Buffy could ice skate so she should of applied at that ice skating rink that wasn't too far out. I mean she got to it ok in season 2. It just bugged me because Dawn, Willow and Tara looked like such losers in season 6 because of that. Dawn might of been too young for a real job but she could of helped around the house. Like in As You Were when she woke up Buffy and told her she should take out the trash, and Buffy's running to do it and the trash truck leaves (I think that's about what happened). Why can't Dawn do that? I know one arm got hurt in Wrecked, but is anything wrong with the other one? I can take trash out with one arm. Plus Willow and Tara, yes they were students. They could easily have gotten a part time job to help Buffy out though. I know people who are students, work full time and still have plenty of time for other stuff. It really made me think less of both of them. In fact, if they're both so stupid that they can't keep their grades up with a part time job then they could of taken less classes the next semester and gotten a part time job. I never heard any mention of Buffy making them pay rent to live there. If Buffy can take care of the house, work and go out slaying vampires every night, Willow can manage a few classes and a part time job. Most college campuses have work programs for students. Maybe she wouldn't of had time to mess around with all that black magic if she was doing what she should of been doing.

That's what this thread made me think of. Yeah, what did happen to Willy the Snitch?
 
You're right, ~Dawn~, I always thought that Willow and Tara should be paying rent, man! I mean, they get out of paying the exorbitant room and board at school and get a free place to stay? They should at least be chipping in for groceries or utilities or something. That's another thing...how the HECK did Tara find a dorm room to move into in the MIDDLE of the semster (remember, Tabula Rasa aired right around midterms time (Nov. 17)) It's hard enough to get a single at Housing time! Maybe she found someone who needed a roommate? maybe that's who the girl was, with the "just friends" kissing outside of class?!?

I have too many thoughts...🙂
 
LOL, good point. Now I'm wondering about Tara too. There were so many weird things in season 6 that have to do with housing and stuff, I just don't get it. It's like the writers have been doing fantasy for so long they forget what the real world is like.
 
Oh, I've thought about the Tara-dorm room in the middle of the semester-issue a lot of times. One thought was that the "just friend" was her roommate. Another thought was that Tara was somewhat cynical coming to her relationship with Willow and made a deal with someone, like "you can use my room til I need it again" or something like that. Then sometimes I thought that maybe she didn't live on campus at all, maybe she took in at the same shady motel Faith did. How did she pay for it? The girl was obviously crafty... Or, ehm, scholarship money?
 
Oz did play guitar. and he did live at home. you saw that in Phases.
you forgot xanders many disasterous jobs before he found his calling as a construction worker.
anya had her own apartment before she moved in with Xander. seen in the Replacement.
Willow didnt drop out of school. I think she just took a break.
But other than that, pretty accurate.
 
So if Anya had lots of money and her own apartment, why was she all over Xander with her nagging about him getting a promotion and an apartment in Buffy vs Dracula and The replacement? Why didn't they just move in with Anya?
And was she actually registered(? in the records, ugh don't know what word to use) at Sunnydale High during s3? I mean wouldn't the school want to meet her parents? How does a supposed 18 yearold defend the fact that she doesn't have parents and lives in a luxurious apartment all by herslef?

Fake parents perhaps?
 
i never said it was a luxurious apartment. it looked tiny and cramped. not exactly anyas style! who knows how anyone does anything in sunnydale. just use Joss's fallback. its always either the hellmouth, or magic.
 
wolf said:
just use Joss's fallback. its always either the hellmouth, or magic.
That reminded me of Lucy Lawless in The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror X and I had to chuckle...

Frink: Yes, over here, m-hay, m-haven... in episode BF12, you were battling Barbarians while riding a winged apoluser (?) yet in the very next scene my dear, you're clearly atop a winged arabian! Please do explain it!
Lucy Lawless: Uh, yeah, well whenever you notice something like that.. a wizard did it!
Frink: Yes, alright, yes, in episode AG04..
Lucy Lawless: Wizard!
Frink: Oh for glaven out loud..


Nit-pickers, eh? Gawd bless 'em 😉
 
"A common convention in American sitcoms is to have someone start working at a fast food place. And they have to dress up like a chicken or wear an absurd hat. I've never seen these exaggerated absurdities in a real American town. Maybe they do exist. I know there are offbeat restaurant chains and there's lots of weird varieties in the South and in California..."


http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2005-03-22-life-on-a-stick_x.htm


...I rest my case.
 
Alright, I'd said that season 6 had me screaming (silently) at times, which is true. But I was just watching Buffy's job search episode again. It's one of my faves of all time! You've got:

"¢ Disoriented, time-speed-up Buffy"”always fun to see her disoriented.

"¢ Construction worker Buffy"”she looked really good with a hard hat and tool belt, I think. Wish she could've stayed at the job a bit longer.

"¢ Retail Buffy"”stuck in a mummy hand conundrum. Nice X-Files, Trek nods from the Nerds. I think Buffy would've done well in retail if given a real chance. Could've worked at the same shop Cordelia did. She's got a fairly sophisticated fashion sense, good people skills, a disarming charm.

"¢ Dejected Buffy"”constantly "blech"ing as she downs that whiskey with Spike. I think I most enjoyed Buffy and Spike together when they would just mope and commiserate together. Drinking and commiserating with friends, one of my favorite pastimes.

"¢ Kitten Poker"”what more's to be said?




Hmm...ideal vocations for the Scoobs...

Xander"”I think construction does indeed suit him. Should own his own company. Or alternately, stand-up comedy.

Willow"”Professor, possibly in the computer sciences. I think she'd be happiest in academia. Keep the magicks as a hobby.

Tara"”hmm...did she ever declare a major? You know, I think for at least part of her life, she'd really enjoy being a stay-at-home mom. Let Willow go off to work. She's so responsible, nurturing.

Oz"”Studio musician. Retired to a beach somewhere by 50.

Giles"”Singer, possibly musical theater.

Cordi"”Sitcom star, for sure. Talk show host as an alternate.

Spike"”Poet, possibly a bar owner.

Dawn"”Chef. She did display a flair for interesting breakfast concoctions.

Anya"”CEO of a fortune 500 company. Or a dictator of some obscure banana republic. She's got a sort of "Evita" quality.

Angel"”Artist. Possibly an art director. Skilled sketch artist. Subtle, tasteful fashion sense.

Buffy"”Possibly the hardest. Councellor actually seemed to suit her well. A lot of early life experience to draw on. Therapist? Motivational speaker?
 
Oooh ideal professions for the Scoobies game, fun!

Xander- Owner of construction company, what with only having one eye though

Willow- Yeah academia, or owner of a magic shop called "Tara's"!

Tara- Dunno, imagine her working in a cafe but not sure why

Oz- Nothing, but still getting money. He jsut doesn't seem like the working kind. Maybe he can be Wolf-A-Hire!

Giles- Teacher, although maybe he could retire now

Cordy- Yeah talk show host sounds cool

Spike- Part-Time Poet, but no real job. Too cool for the payroll.

Dawn- Possibly also a teacher, dunno what of though. Samarian maybe?

Anya- Lee's bitca 😉

Angel- Vampire Ballerina

Buffy- I think she deserves a nice simple job, after the stress of being a Slayer. Although she does have Dawn to support and all.
 
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