Drusilla's Dolls

One of the creepiest things about the Vampire Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer is that she has arrested development due to being tortured into insanity at an early age. One symbol of her delicate mental state is Drusilla's obsession with dolls, which are at once her playthings and "children" as well as pretend victims, just as she was once the plaything and victim of Angelus/Angel who turned her into a vamp.

Miss Edith is Drusilla's favorite doll, but she has many more, often seen wearing blindfolds or gagged. In some ways the dolls form a kind of family between herself and Spike, who tolerates all of Drusilla's eccentricities.



Strangely there is an antique book from 1921 called "Drusilla's Dolls" by a writer with the colorful name of Belle Bacon Bond.



The book, which is set mostly in Boston, seems to be an inspiration to the writers of Buffy, although I have never read that anywhere and couldn't find any evidence. However, the book does exist and is available on Amazon

You can also read the free online version here. It's old-fashioned and charming in a way, but very simplified. I wouldn't compare it to the classic Rumer Godden dollhouse books or even Raggedy Ann, but it is simpler and more like an old reading book from school.

Book Description on Amazon:

This charming true story of a little girl named Drusilla growing up in the 1860s is a loving tribute to Drusilla's mother-a woman wise enough to honor the sacred spaces of childhood and the holy spirit of her child's originality. An only child, Drusilla made playfellows of her doll collection. Her gentle recounting of their adventures has entranced five generations. Now, the republication of this delightful book makes it available for many generations to come. Originally published in 1921.

From the website Everything Drusilla

Belle Bacon Bond was already a grandmother by the time Drusilla and Her Dolls was published. An autobiography, the charming story chronicles the author's formative childhood years. To the best of my knowledge, no one knows why she happened to call her childhood self "Drusilla." Indeed, her own name was Isabella, not Belle at all. Perhaps she was too modest to use her own name; perhaps "Belle and Her Dolls" just didn't have the proper "ring."
In any case, children love this enchanting tale of a little girl growing up in the 1860s. An only child, Drusilla makes playfellows of her doll collection.
. . . Mrs. Bond's gentle recounting of her childhood adventures with Frank Bowker, Flora Washington, and the rest of her doll family has entranced five generations of mothers and children alike. Now, this republication makes it available for many generations to come.

How Joss Whedon Juggles His Time

From How To Be Prolific - an Interview with Joss Whedon by Ari Karpel of Fast Company

. . . surprisingly, Whedon advises getting the fun stuff done first. “Some people will disagree, but for me if I’ve written a meaty, delightful, wonderful bunch of scenes and now I have to do the hard, connective, dog’s body work of writing, when I finish the dog’s body work, I’ll have a screenplay that I already love. I used to write chronologically when I started, from beginning to end. Eventually I went, That’s absurd; my heart is in this one scene, therefore I must follow it. Obviously, if you know you have a bunch of stuff to do, I have to lay out this, all this dull stuff, and I feel very uncreative but the clock is ticking. Then you do that and you choose to do that. But I always believe in just have as much fun as you can so that when you’re in the part that you hate there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, that you’re close to finished.”

I cut in, asking if he’s read David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done. “I did not get that done,” Whedon says, with a straight face. “I told him, actually, because he did a little talk at someone’s house and I did tell him, ‘You should write a second book called Finishing This Book.' But it has been enormously helpful, even in the baby steps version that I embrace. I still use the phrases.” Such as? “ ‘Next actions’ is one of the most important things that you can say in any endeavor."

. . . *SNIP*

“I read The Killer Angels. It’s a very detailed, extraordinarily compelling account of the Battle of Gettysburg from the point of view of various people in it and it’s historical. It’s historically completely accurate, and the moment I put it down I created Firefly, because I was like, ‘I need to tell this story. I need to feel this immediacy. I so connect with that era, the Western and how tactile everything is and how every decision is life or death, and how hard it is and how just rich it is, and how all the characters are just so fascinating.’ But so I should be on the Millennium Falcon. Now, if I only watched sci-fi I would have just had the Millennium Falcon part, which has already been done, but finding that historical texture, it literally, I put the book down and started writing Firefly. And that was my vacation from Buffy, which was two weeks. I got two weeks every year, and in that vacation I read, in 14 days, 10 books. My wife and I saw like nine plays, and that’s all we did. We just filled the tanks.

. . . *SNIP*

EVERYONE NEEDS SOME TOUGH LOVE.
"This comes from Kai, my wife, who produced the film. She [quotes from] Rio Grande: ‘Get it done, Johnny Reb.’ It’s like, don’t make excuses. There aren’t any anymore. If you’re talking about it, you should be doing it ...

~~~ Much More at Link ~~~