The new Council

[deird_lj]

So, I’m curious…

What would the Watchers Council be like in a post-Chosen world?


[Poll #1496442]


Questions? Comments?

Comments

[dipenates.livejournal.com]

I really love brutti_ma_buoni's version.

[deird1]

Me too. Although mine has some differences...

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I was going to mention the whole Powerpoint structure thing... but others have done it for me. *g*

(I think there's a new Watchers and Slayerettes who weren't in on Chosen fic coming in the new year. We'll see how that matches up with how you see it!)

[dipenates.livejournal.com]

And nwhepcat's.

[deird1]

What's that one like?

[dipenates.livejournal.com]

Scooby-esque with very few OCs. Mostly told through the lens of Xander's awesomeness, which is why I particularly love it.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

Ticky! Haven't you been reading brutti_ma_buoni's stuff? With organizational charts? Because I pretty much see it that way, and hinted at it in my Violet Eyes Are Smiling story, too. Before her. So there.

First of all, it's going to be The Council of Slayers, because the Slayers outnumber the Watchers by a factor of 10, at least. However, I believe the Watcher's had resources (property, connections) that weren't destroyed by the attacks of the First, so they aren't exactly starting from zero. I don't see Buffy as particularly interested in admin, but I also don't think she'd completely hand it over to thee patriarchy Giles, so I like the rule by active Board or Committee option.

I'd like for it to start out shaky, get better, and be an actual help to the slayers, before it all inevitably falls into staid, corrupt bureaucracy again.

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

I couldn't answer the first question, though I'd say the closest to my views was "It’d exist, but it’d be radically different from before, and the main similarity would be the name."... except that the name would also be different, so there'd be no similarity there either.

The organisation would be the Sunnydale alumni plus whoever else they recruited. There may be some survivors of the old Council but I can't see them being numerous; and I think Buffy would give them jobs based on their usefulness and willingnes to help as individuals, not on the basis of any connection to the old Council. If anything, that would be a mark in their disfavour.

[deird1]

Buffy would give them jobs based on their usefulness and willingnes to help as individuals, not on the basis of any connection to the old Council.

I'd say, though, that "usefulness" and "connection to the old Council" would have a fair bit of overlap. I mean, if you've got Council connections, there's a fair chance you've got a lot of knowledge of old texts, important vampires, various apocalypses and how to stop them, demon languages, prophecies, and so on.

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

Suire. I jusdt thik Buffy's attitude would be similar to her attitude to Wesley in S3.

If they want to help, they're in. If they assume they'll be in because they're (ex-)Watchers... don't call us, we'll call you.

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

I wrote that reply at work. I'm not sure what happened to my spelling...

[deird1]

I dunno, I think I'd agree with riccadonna - so much work that everyone can help out...

[next_to_normal]

Yeah, what stormwreath said, lol. I had the same problem with answering the first question.

Also, since I don't expect there to be many Watchers left, I'd say the new system would be a sort of hybrid, with some groups of Slayers having a real Watcher (i.e. a non-Slayer) to train them, whereas other groups might just have an experienced Slayer performing Watcherly duties as well as her regular Slayer ones.

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

I am SO CONFUSED as to how it could be anything but "Watchers Council". WTF GUYS, I don't get it.

Anyway - for some reason I really like thinking about post-Chosen organizational details! It's fun. Also I've got a post-Chosen fic going on right now so that works.

I'm not all together sure who the Watchers would be - I could see lots of different scenarios going on there. One of my favorite things about post-Chosen scenarios is how I'm not particularly tied to a single one so I can have them all. :D

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

In my world, they're Slayer Support Officers... :P But then, I've been writing post-Chosen admin!fic waaay too much lately. (With Powerpoint omg).

[deird1]

One of the few things in your Rulesverse that I violently disagree with. :)


(Although I did briefly consider having Andrew call them the "Sidekick Squad"...)

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

In my post-Chosen fic, my Post-Chosen council is headed by Giles who wants to re-establish some sort of framework for it as he cannot live forever. It works in conjunction with the Slayerettes. I suppose there are some few old retired Watchers still around, but they also train new ones. I had Dawn decide to become a Watcher. (Andrew is as well... but he isn't a particularly good one) and Giles had recruited some new ones to train.

[jen-nsync-landl.livejournal.com]

I took the best possible option on the question about who would be in charge, but that was the one I struggled with most. I think I'm imagining a more "democratic" organization, which is why I picked "somebody else" -- maybe a committee, rather than a single "in charge" individual?

On further consideration, I do like the idea of young Watchers-in-Training (WiTs would certainly make a lovely acronym! LOL) being involved in a new Council...

[elisi]

Well we *know* that it exists, that Buffy's in charge, that the Scoobies are involved (Andrew at least), and that it's called 'the Council of Watchers' (CoW) for short.

I'm referring to 'Damage' of course! Canon is canon. :)

[deird1]

Absolutely. :)

Although, technically, one could argue that Andrew was actually another cyborg, turning up yet again to mess with Angel's head, sent by person or persons unknown.
Maybe the entire Council is now run by cyborgs?

[elisi]

Were the Slayers with him also cyborgs? And if so, what did they want with an actual, *crazy* Slayer?

Oh! I KNOW! Andrew was a cyborg (or something similar) and the girls were Slayers working for Twilight! (Still don't know what he wanted Dana for... maybe she can tell the future?

[deird1]

Dana is also a cyborg. The other cyborgs were sent to bring her home.

[elisi]

OF COURSE! She must have had some kind of malfunction. It all makes sense now! :D

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

NEW CANNON.

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

Hahaha by which I meant "canon". Although it could be a weapon if we really wanted it to be, I guess?

[deird1]

You haven't read the Spike-as-a-puppet comics, I take it?

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

Seeing as I have no idea what you're talking about, probably not. *g*

Would that be S8 or something else?

[deird1]

Not season 8 - it's this one.

It's about as silly as Buffyverse comics get, is mainly about Spike and Lorne getting turned into puppets by the Japanese Smile Time people, includes a scene with Spike getting attacked by hundreds of puppet ninjas, and ends with the Smile Timers making a whole bunch of evil puppets to attack Spike with - such as an Angelus!puppet, a Dru!puppet, two Gunn!puppets, three Wes!puppets, and a puppet who's half Fred and half Illyria.

Anyway...

The reason I mentioned it is because they have this weapon called the Smile Time Official Cannon! (TM) - and at one point puppet!Illyria is beating Spike over the head with it and he groans "I hate official cannon"... which was a really fun little joke, given that these comics are not, in fact, "official canon" comics...

[next_to_normal]

OMG I need this comic.

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

Ha! Sounds funny. I'll definitely check it out, thanks.

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

OH CRAP IT'S NOT ACTUALLY ONLINE. *cries*

[riccadonna.livejournal.com]

As for the last, considering the number of Slayers, the Watchers would be everything from blind/crippled (no crazy!), to the old and young: there's work for everyone!

[deird1]

Ohhh... all the crazy Watchers will be disappointed...

:)