Logic, Please?
Jun. 10th, 2011 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thessalianSo I pulled out Buffy again, as I really couldn't focus on anything more ... erm ... thought-requiring. And yet again, the question hits me.
Season 5, Episode 12: Checkpoint. Towards the end, Buffy makes it clear that she understands in a way that the Council hoped she never would that the Council needs her way more than she needs them. She stands up to them and gets Giles reinstated as her official Watcher. On full salary. Retroactive a couple of years. And at the end of this, there's the question that always comes to me every. Single. Time.
...Why didn't she ask for a salary of her own?
Look, slaying is expensive. There's the weaponry. Wear and tear on clothing and, more often than not, household furnishings (how many times did the Summers house get wrecked by the time that series ended?). And she's expected to pay all that out of her own pocket. Or, y'know, her college fund or whatever. That in and of itself strikes me as decidedly unfair.
Then take into consideration the fact that they expect the slaying to be her primary priority, all the time. Plus they expect her to keep her identity secret at all cost. Yet they expect her to go to school? Have a job? Day job plus nights slaying equals a very tired Slayer, not to mention a rather bruised Slayer, and someone's going to start noticing shit after awhile. Juvenile delinquent only flies so far, and one day (if things hadn't changed drastically at S7, I guess), someone was going to put things together and come up with, not juvenile delinquent, but 'abusive family/partner' or worse. This is not the way to remove suspicion from your Slayer. If you just paid your Slayer, and maybe forged a letter inviting her to attend some elite academy as a boarding pupil and let the studying happen as and when possible given Slayer hours, no more worries about what the people who see her more than in a 'flying rescue' scenario will think about the whole thing.
I'm not entirely sure what this says. It seems like the one taking all the risks gets none of the benefits, and that's supposed to be okay for some reason. I know it's supposed to make for good television, really. I just ... would like to see more logic to it. At least in the form of a bloody paycheque for the freakin' Slayer. But maybe that's just me.
On the subject of things containing undead and werewolves? I tried Worgen again. Finally got to the point where one actually becomes Worgen, and I think from the point of view of starter stories, it's the best of the lot. Certainly the one it's easiest to get invested in, seeing as how you start as human and turn. Kind of neat, actually. Sort of enjoying Rogue. Also ended up in a social guild, though I'm not really sure about it right now. I also tried Dranei Shaman, which is fun. Still a few races and classes to try, but I think I'm getting to grips with what sort of things I like to play. It's a start.
And I've still got this rampaging migraine headache that's had me mostly in bed for the last couple of days. Argh.
Season 5, Episode 12: Checkpoint. Towards the end, Buffy makes it clear that she understands in a way that the Council hoped she never would that the Council needs her way more than she needs them. She stands up to them and gets Giles reinstated as her official Watcher. On full salary. Retroactive a couple of years. And at the end of this, there's the question that always comes to me every. Single. Time.
...Why didn't she ask for a salary of her own?
Look, slaying is expensive. There's the weaponry. Wear and tear on clothing and, more often than not, household furnishings (how many times did the Summers house get wrecked by the time that series ended?). And she's expected to pay all that out of her own pocket. Or, y'know, her college fund or whatever. That in and of itself strikes me as decidedly unfair.
Then take into consideration the fact that they expect the slaying to be her primary priority, all the time. Plus they expect her to keep her identity secret at all cost. Yet they expect her to go to school? Have a job? Day job plus nights slaying equals a very tired Slayer, not to mention a rather bruised Slayer, and someone's going to start noticing shit after awhile. Juvenile delinquent only flies so far, and one day (if things hadn't changed drastically at S7, I guess), someone was going to put things together and come up with, not juvenile delinquent, but 'abusive family/partner' or worse. This is not the way to remove suspicion from your Slayer. If you just paid your Slayer, and maybe forged a letter inviting her to attend some elite academy as a boarding pupil and let the studying happen as and when possible given Slayer hours, no more worries about what the people who see her more than in a 'flying rescue' scenario will think about the whole thing.
I'm not entirely sure what this says. It seems like the one taking all the risks gets none of the benefits, and that's supposed to be okay for some reason. I know it's supposed to make for good television, really. I just ... would like to see more logic to it. At least in the form of a bloody paycheque for the freakin' Slayer. But maybe that's just me.
On the subject of things containing undead and werewolves? I tried Worgen again. Finally got to the point where one actually becomes Worgen, and I think from the point of view of starter stories, it's the best of the lot. Certainly the one it's easiest to get invested in, seeing as how you start as human and turn. Kind of neat, actually. Sort of enjoying Rogue. Also ended up in a social guild, though I'm not really sure about it right now. I also tried Dranei Shaman, which is fun. Still a few races and classes to try, but I think I'm getting to grips with what sort of things I like to play. It's a start.
And I've still got this rampaging migraine headache that's had me mostly in bed for the last couple of days. Argh.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-06-11 11:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 07:46 pm (UTC)She's also still pretty young as well (she only turns 20 in the next episode), which despite her level of maturity in a lot of things, would certainly have had an impact on thinking long-term financial security. (I know I THOUGHT I was damn responsible with my income when I was that age, but in retrospect, I knew nothing.) I also think a part of her might even have seen asking for a salary as resigning herself to living the life of a slayer permanently, which I also don't think she was ready to accept yet.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-10 09:20 pm (UTC)I'm actually a little more surprised that Giles never suggested it. He being the more responsible individual. But ah well.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-11 08:04 pm (UTC)If they pay her, the council would get control over her back. Paying Giles just meant maintaining a line of communication - he was a paid liaison, a common practice. This meant Buffy could make decisions free of council influence, and the council would simply be giving Giles a physical reason to tell them a damn thing.