Angelic Slayer
Daydream Believer
BUFFY-BOARDS NEWSLETTER
January 2009
Happy New Year Buffy-Boards!
And Welcome to the very first 2009 edition of the Official Buffy-Boards Newsletter!
For anyone who hasn't managed to catch an issue yet, this is a monthly newsletter designed to help keep you up to date on what's happening around BB. Special event reports, news on board upgrades/changes, interdorm competition information and other ways to get involved around BB can all be found right here. We also feature the members"”you!"”in several different columns including member submissions, Q&A and news among BB-ers. A handy way to get up to date and to show off some of the lovely folks of the boards!
This month, in particular, is very special in that we're welcoming a new staff member to the Newsletter Team. A big round of congratulations to palabravampiress who has co-written this issue and will be doing so from now on. It's great to have you on the team palabra!
Before we start things off, just a reminder that last month's edition of the newsletter is always available to read here. And don't forget to stop by the Newsletter Feedback Thread and share your thoughts on the newsletter!
Welcome New Members!
On behalf of all the members and staff of BB, we'd like to send out a final board welcome to all of our new members for the month of December, 2008. We hope that you're all having a great time so far! If you're not quite sure where to start: a good first step is always to post an introduction in our Check In forums and take a look over the handy FAQ section.
Head still spinning? Wondering what on earth all the talk of AnyaDonkeys and Sorting Tomes is about? The Bad Eggs section is a great forum where a fellow Buffy-Boarder will be more than happy to "adopt" you and help you find your way. All you have to do is start a thread and wait for your adopter to post! Want another way to get to know the boards? You can also ask to be sorted into a Board Dormitory and get to know some members in a more cozy setting!
Our new members for the month of December, 2008 were:
Moderator Updates
The Buffy Boards rang in the new year with five new additions to the staff! The following members have accepted promotion to the Buffy Boards' team of moderators: palabravampiress, Lou, Lindsey McDonald, Tranquility, and NIX! Congratulations all!
Moderators are identified with the title "Junior Partner" and a custom avatar. They perform such duties as planning board events, overseeing assigned board sections and the chat room, editing or moving posts or threads as required and responding to member complaints, queries, or infractions. Members are invited to please feel free to take concerns or questions to these new members of the Buffy Boards staff.
Board News
The Buffies are coming! The Buffies are coming!
It's that time again. Every year, the Buffy Boards celebrates its inception by awarding its members for contributions made over the course of the previous year. This year, the event is to be held in its own multi-threaded forum on February 7, 2009 at 7pm GMT. If you wish to attend, clear your calendars and check this thread for your time zone.
And be sure to stick around after the ceremony for the always-eventful Buffies Afterparty!
Nominations for the BB Awards are submitted by members and then narrowed down to a single winner by a panel of moderators and selected judges from the membership. Then, on the day of the event, winners are announced and acceptance speeches are posted. The winner of the Dorm Award is also announced. Winners are rewarded as determined by staff. Last year, winners received extra inbox space and unique award indicators to place beneath their signatures.
One never knows what else will occur during the Buffies; last year, the Anya Donkey ran rampant while Buffy Summers' weapon of choice "“ shoes "“ kept naughty members in check. What one can expect is a red carpet extravaganza, time for chit chat between awards, and more than a few surprises!
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The Buffy Award Nominees
This year, the nominees for the awards are as follows:
"¢ Storyteller- Best fanfic posted (or completed) in 2008.
o Emmie "“ Heartbent
o Keanoite -Between Here, There and Always
o OM3.0 - Giles Incarnate
o Spirit_Of_Fred -Reality Check
"¢ Sunnydale Art Gallery - Best piece of artwork posted in 2008.
o ~angelic slayer~
o Alexa
o Angel's Vision
o Crazy Flakes
o Evo
o Fusion2
o Lyri
"¢ L'il Pumpkin Belly - Cutest member or post in 2008.
o Aethra
o Bangelxx
o Blacklolita
o Definition Of Insane
o Harm's Way
o Joan The Vampire Slayer
o Lorney Tunes
o SC7 Fan
o Spirit_Of_Fred
o SpoonsAreCool
o Sweetescape
o The Kinslayer
o zombie.apparatus
"¢ Xander/Anya - Funniest LOL BB moment (thread or post) in 2008.
o April Fools 2008
o Bluebird
o Lindsey McDonald
o Lou and her KONKING
o Scobro
o The Most Stupid Thing You've Done While Drunk Thread
o The Buffy Uncyclopedia Thread
o You Know You are Addicted to the Buffy-Boards When..
"¢ Doyle - Most missed member.
o Berkled
o Buffyobesessedfan
o Elmo
o horrorshock666
o Punky Power
o Senior Watcher
o Summers Blood
o Wannabee-slayer
"¢ Class Protector - Most helpful/supportive member.
o Airam
o Definition of Insane
o Joyce Summers
o Lou
o Mozya
o The Kinslayer
"¢ Faith - Coolest member of 2008.
o Airam
o Blondie Bear
o DarklyDreamingDrusilla
o Definition of Insane
o Fake Shemp
o ItMustBeBunnies
o Joyce Summers
o Lindsey McDonald
o Lou
o Mesektet Ra
o Mozya
o Pernilleborup
o Shayla
o SpoonsAreCool
o yellowcrayon
"¢ Giles - Biggest Buffy/Angel expert,clever-clogs, know-it-all.
o Allycat
o Kali
o Lindsey McDonald
o Palabravampiress
o The Chosen
o The Ferg
o The Kinslayer
o White Avenger
"¢ Andrew - Best RPG "actor" or "actress" of 2008.
o Keanoite
o Mesektet Ra
o Palabravampiress
"¢ Goldenboy "“ This award is for the member who displayed BB spirit at its finest in 2008.
o Airam
o Cangel
o DarklyDreamingDrusilla
o Fake Shemp
o Lindsey Mc Donald
o Lou
o Mozya
o Nix
o The Kinslayer
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Interdorm Competition: Buffyverse New Year's Resolutions
The New Year's Resolutions 2 Interdorm Competition is still open and underway! Submissions have been posted in the Slaying Times and all members are invited to vote for your favourites. For this competition, eligible entrants submitted banners depicting new year's resolutions for the following character-based categories: Buffy, Angel, Spike, Willow and Tara (as a couple, not as separate characters), and any Big Bad.
Now that the first round of voting is complete, the most popular banners in each category have been pitted against one another in a final round. Winners will receive points toward the Dorm Award. For current scores, please see The Big Board.
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Happy Birthday Buffy! A BB Fic Marathon
This month the writers of BB got together with mods Lyri and Keanoite to bring us some wonderful writing in the very first BB Fic Marathon! This month, the theme of the fanfiction was "Buffy's Birthday": with all submissions focusing on the Slayer's birthday from the past, present or future! All together there was a great turnout of 16 excellent fanfics from 9 different authors. The submissions can all still be found here and don't forget to stop by the Feedback Thread and leave your thoughts on the fanfics!
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Art Classes: Now in Session!
The writers of BB aren't the only ones who have been busy this month: this month the first round of lessons in BB's own Art Tutorials Classes has been completed with some rather lovely results! The Beginner's Class started their venture with an experiment in Icon Resizing, while the Intermediate folks took on making a wallpaper. Scores have now been posted for both of the first lessons, all participants are reminded to keep an eye out for the next round of lessons coming soon.
Class sign up thread is Closed now that the lessons have started. If you would like to take part please send either Faith or Lyri a pm.
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Guess the Big Bad: Bonus Round!
Things are heating up in the season 8 forums as nerd4hire's "Guess the Big Bad for House Points" Bonus round is starting to generate some guesses! Dorms have been asked to come up with three guesses as to who the mysterious Twilight may be, as well as an explanation as to his background/ possible motives. The chance to make a guess with your dorm disappears as soon as Twilight is revealed, so be sure to stop by your dorm and figure out your group answers ASAP!
All guesses should be submitted by a house representative to this thread.
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In Other News"¦
Also this month a new addition was made to the available board styles, thanks to Lyri for the wonderful "After the Fall" skin.
Just a reminder to all BB-ers that Official Board Merchandise is still up for grabs here. Stop in and get yours today!
And for any interested fans, Joss Whedon's latest project "Dollhouse" starring Eliza Dushku is set to premeire Friday, February 13th at 9/8c on FOX television. And be sure to stop by the board discussion area here.
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And finally, this month in Member News we have tracked down a few tidbits of information from our wanders. Remember that if something newsworthy happens to you or a fellow BB-er, you are more than welcome to send it in to ~angelic slayer~ or palabravampiress; we'd love to hear from you!
atticus has recently returned to BB after a few months away; great to see you back!
~angelic slayer~ has successfully completed High School this month. Congratulations!
Our very own Dancing Man has been given a job at a glass factory this month! Great work!
randiann and The Kinslayer are two of our latest victims of computer troubles, you have our sympathies you two!
And our very own Edmund Blackadder and MozYa have both moved to a new home this month. We hope everything went well and that you're settling in a-okay!
From The Members
Last month the call was put out to BB-ers far and wide to show off some Dorm Pride! Photos, poems, whatever you can come up with as long as it's showing off love for your BB Dorm. We received submissions from two brave dorms: the "Hero Squad" of Vahla Ha'nesh and the always pride-filled Drogynites!
Drogyn
Vahla Ha'nesh
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Drogyn Representative said:
Vahla Ha'nesh
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Great submissions both Drogyn and VH! Very creative and VERY impressive!
Burning Question
Have you ever wondered what Lou's favourite Ice Cream is? Wondering how Lindsey McDonald comes up with all of his banners? One question every month will be answered, so put your thinking caps on and go ahead, dare to ask that burning question! All Burning Questions can be sent via PM to ~angelic slayer~
Question of the Month
As many of you know, each month the Newsletter Staff posts a question for the members of BB to answer as best as they can. Once all of the submissions are collected, the top entries are featured right here and a new question is posted for YOU to answer! Last month, we asked:
"The Slayerettes: Who is your favourite potential and why?"
This month's answer was brought to us by the always helpful Swede, The Kinslayer:
The Kinslayer said:
An answer AND a lesson in Swedish! Thanks for the response TK!
This month, we want to know"¦
"If you were presented with the opportunity to work with Joss Whedon on Dollhouse, in what capacity would you want to work with him and why?"
We can't wait to hear what you have to say! Please PM palabravampiress your submissions by February 20, 2008!
Five Questions With"¦
So here it is BB, as promised! Welcome to the new section of the BB Newsletter: "Five Questions With"¦".
Each month, the Moderators of BB will be sending out the list of five questions for one lucky BB-er to answer. In return, that member is allowed one question to ask the Mods (to which we will feature two of the best responses). The questions that will be asked are"¦
What is your fondest memory of BB?
If you could rule BB for a day what would you do?
What's your earliest memory of BB?
Who do you admire?
What is your favourite thing to put on your toast?
If you could rule BB for a day what would you do?
What's your earliest memory of BB?
Who do you admire?
What is your favourite thing to put on your toast?
This month, the Moderators asked our long-time member Mesektet Ra for some Q&A:
Mesektet Ra said:
Great responses MR! And in return, what exactly did she ask the mods of BB"¦.?
"Knowing now what you know about modding - and all the inherent drama that sometimes come with the job - would you still become a mod?"
Lindsey McDonald said:Of course I would. It's a difficult job, and sometimes people can really make it that much moreso, but it's all worth it when you see peace and harmony across your forum, or that one new member who you've helped to spread their wings and...
Yeah, right.
It's all about the perks. Seriously, who'd pass up the inside track on all the gossip; the extra-special avatars; the I-know-something-you-don't-know; the authority; and the power to actually get people to shut up in the IRC? And then there's the girls who go weak at the knees every time you do something modly. Well, girl, anyway. Plus, Junior Partner? This job was made for me.
And, hey, helping people out is kind of nice. But don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to protect. This is off the record, right?
Keanoite said:
And there you have it folks! Thanks you three for the entertaining Q&A! And watch your inboxes BB, you never know when your turn may be next!
Quote of the Month
After another busy month of leafing through threads, here is what the Newsletter Staff considered to be the two of the most memorable or interesting posts of January, 2009:
Posted by Among Friends in the " Your Top 5 Buffy episodes...(not written by Joss Whedon!) " thread:
I recently read a bunch of articles with people naming their top 5 Buffy episodes and nearly all of them had the words "Joss" or "Whedon" as the writer so I thought it would be interesting if people could make a Top 5 list of their favorite Buffy episodes that wasn't penned by the Mastermind, himself and explain why those precious eps made the list. Lets give some shouts out to Espenson, Petrie, Goddard, Fury, Noxon, etc.
My Top 5:
1. Fool For Love (Douglas Petrie)
A great Spike centric episode and one of the best of the series. I believe it was the first time we ever got insight into William the Bloody and how he came to be. Marsters knocked it out of the park, especially with that scene where "Past Spike" is talking on the subway to Buffy. This episode also marked the beginning of whether or not a Slayer has a deathwish and how death would become a major theme of the season. It was also fun to see how this crossed over with "Darla" from Angel. FFL changed Spike's character forever. All of that can be seen in the final shot of the episode.
Favorite quote: "What can I say, love? I've always been bad..."
2. Conversations with Dead People- (Goddard/Espenson)
I found this episode to be just very unique in how it was structured with the title of the episode being shown and the band playing with none of the characters speaking. It also gave us great insight into Buffy and how being a Slayer affects her life and her outlook on it. Willow gets the tearjerker scenes with "Tara" and Dawn (and the audience) gets creeped out with the Joyce scenes. Jonathan Woodward provided some great comic relief too. I think Joss wrote the Buffy/Holden scenes but he's not credited so...it doesn't count.
Favorite quote: "Anchovies, Anchovies you're so delicious! I love you more than all the other fishes!"
3. Storyteller (Espenson)
Yes, Espenson again. And *Spoiler alert* the next one is written by her too. What can I say? I like how she writes and Storyteller is a wonderfully written episode that balances humor and drama perfectly. Who would have thought an Andrew-Centric episode would be so good but it had me laughing from when the episode began with the hilarious introduction all the way to the end when Andrew turns off the video camera. It provided us with how someone from outside the Scoobys view Buffy and her antics. We also get to see how Andrew justifies his actions so he can live with himself. Espenson is a master at achieving both drama and comedy and Storyteller is a perfect example.
Favorite quote: "Oh right. Um...(moves) This better then? (pause) I thought I told you to piss off with that bloody camera! Yet here you are again with that thing in my face! Sod off... "
4. Earshot (Espenson)
An examination of how the pressures of being a teenager can really build. Of course, the episode starts out with laughs like Xander thinking about sex and Cordy saying EXACTLY what she's thinking. It's great though how Espenson takes something like that and rolls with it to make it about something larger like struggling to be just a teenager like Jonathan was going through. Buffy's heartfelt speech to Jonathan explains everything about those harsh adolescent years. And it has one of the best twists on the show ever...it WAS the lunch lady! (with rat poison, nonetheless). haha.
Favorite quote: "I am my thoughts. If they exist in her, Buffy contains everything that is... and she becomes me. I cease to exist."
5. Something Blue (Forbes)
Forbes, one of the few writers who wasn't apart of the Mutant Enemy writing crew, still wrote a rather funny episode concerning the whole gang and Willow dealing with Oz's departure. There were great laughs and it was just a fun episode. I always have a blast watching it and it demonstrates how BtVS is a show that can do something this wacky and still pull off the drama stuff. Good times.
Favorite quote: "Honey, we need to talk about the invitations. Now do you want to be William the bloody or just Spike? 'Cause either way it's going to look majorly weird."
And posted by UnKle in the "Okay so fess up... Who cried?" thread:
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Thanks for the outstanding posts you two! And, in light of the BB-Awards this month, the January Honorary "˜Lil Pumpkin Belly Post goes to Faiths Angel for his post in The Sorting Tome:
Very cute FA! Thanks again to all of our unknowing contributors, and remember to look out BB, you never know when your post may be chosen!
Member Recognition
It's that time again BB! This is the much-anticipated section of the newsletter where our moderators take the time to recognize members whose contributions to the boards have been outstanding over the past month. They have exuded the spirit that IS Buffy-Boards with every post, and really set a great example for their fellow members. So without further delay, congratulations go out to these BB Members:
The New Member of the Month for last month, December is:
The Member of the Month for last month, December is:
Congratulations to the last recipients of 2008! You both definitely deserve it! :yay:
Birthdays
On behalf of all the Staff and Members here at BB we'd like to send one final round of "Happy Birthday" wishes to all of the following members:
Happy Birthday Everyone! :bday:
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And that brings us to the end once again BB! Thank you to all those who contributed and one final congratulations to palabravampiress for joining the team! So far the boards are off to a great start for 2009 with lots going on, and one final reminder to check into the BB Awards this Saturday, February 7th! (*THAT'S TOMORROW!*) We can't wait to see you there!
As always, if you have any suggestions or ideas for future issues, please feel free to send a PM to palabravampiress or ~angelic slayer~ with your thoughts. You can also stop by our our Buffy-Boards Newsletter Feedback thread and let us know what you think. And for those brave folk that would like to send in a submission, the deadline for all submissions for the lovely February, 2009 Issue is February 20, 2009. With Valentine's Day only a short time away, we can't wait to see YOUR submissions!
Until time BB, Happy Staking!
F
Fake Shemp
all your hard work karma (sw)