(no subject)

[doyle]

Hmm. Looking through some old BBF discussion and I saw this comment by Gyrus (whose LJ handle I forget, sorry):

(For example, I recently read a fic in which something bad happens and Giles tries to tell Buffy that there was no way she could have anticipated it. She replies, "But I should've done!" That just looks weird to a Yank like me.)

I'm sure I'm guilty of using that myself. Why's it wrong? Should it be 'shoulda' instead of should've?

...any other glaring errors any of you have noticed non-Americans making? Because god knows I could go on for pages in obsessive Brit-picking of both Harry Potter fics and Buffy fics set in England (the language thing I get, but some of the cultural stuff, the 'my character's British so they've never heard of ___' : we do have pizzas and action movies and strange flavours of chips/crisps in Britain and Ireland, I promise you)

Comments

Re: sorta off-topic

[octopedingenue]

The "Buffy" writers were on crack. The test only goes up to 1600, so I assume that Willow scored in the low-to-mid-1500s and that's why she was so distraught in "Lovers Walk". I was a straight-A honors student who studied my ass off and got a 1330 combined, which was good enough for several very nice schools to send inquisitive tendrils my way. The SAT is really not a very good judge of natural intelligence or even overall academic performance, because the SAT is basically a test of how well you can take an SAT. ;P But even so, Buffy would've had to study how to take the SAT, and the test does require some basic general knowledge you learn in high school (especially math classes), so it's very doubtful Buffy could have scored a 1430 without some hardcore prepwork tutoring from Willow in their Scooby off-hours or without the writers being on crack. The "Buffy" writers were also on crack if they thought that a rockin' SAT score would be enough to get Buffy into the college of her choice, as the Scoobies, Joyce, Giles, and even Angel seemed to think--with her shoddy grades, spotty class attendance, history of arrests and discipline problems, total lack of any regular extracurricular activities, and total lack of any adult school authority figure over her willing to vouch for/recommend her (except for maybe Jenny Calendar, who died; Buffy's favorite teacher didn't even remember her). Even Willow would have to have some kind of extracurriculars to have a real "in" to very good schools, so I assume that during her spare time she was president of the Computer Club or cured cancer. UC Sunnydale seems to have been the kind of state school that's required to let in pretty much anybody who applies. (Poor Willow. Did she even graduate before the town and school with it went BOOM?)

See, it's for this kind of stuff that I have to tell myself, "It's okay, Kawy, it's just a fantasy show" MUCH more than the vampires and demons. ;)

Re: sorta off-topic

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

I wondered that myself about her record and extracurricular activities: I knew early on that I wanted to go to my local university, and that I was applying for a course that's not fully subscribed, and my school still made me join the choir and the debate team and stuff so that I'd have something to put on my application.

I tend to fanwank that the Council of Watchers altered her score, though I'm not sure why they would...

Re: sorta off-topic

[airawyn.livejournal.com]

UC Sunnydale seems to have been the kind of state school that's required to let in pretty much anybody who applies.

Except that it's a UC school (University of California), which means it's got high standards. (The "state schools" that let almost anyone in are CSU - California State University. [Although those are getting tougher to get into, because of budget cuts.] There's a two-tiered state university system in California.)

Maybe it has something to do with the location.

UC

[octopedingenue]

Ahhhh, cool! I didn't know that about California schools. Thanks for the clarification.

Apparently incredible standardized-test-taking skills are just part of the Slayer package...that or the Council pulled some strings, thinking that she should be in college where the freshman-sucking vamps lurk or that it would be unbecoming for the Slayer to work at McDonald's the rest of her probably-short life!

Re: sorta off-topic

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

Maybe nobody wants to go to UC Sunnydale because of the town's high death rate?

Of course, that doesn't explain how Sunnydale became so large that it not only had a university but that Buffy and Willow lived on campus instead of staying at home... but then I expect Smallville to grow a college next year, too.

Re: sorta off-topic

[airawyn.livejournal.com]

Some students do live on campus even when their parents are in town, so they can get that "away from home" experience. That's what I figured Buffy and Willow were doing. Both of them came from families that would be able to afford pay for housing, presumably.