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thedeadlyhookFigures that the moment I actually find the time, energy, and something to say on LJ the damn journal chooses to all but shut down. I mean, just getting this text to post has been like fighting a siege.
Seriously, is it just me? My computer is a few years old and not running the latest browser, plus I recently let my account lapse from paid to free (due to financial woes with which I will not bore you), but hoo-boy, those advertisements are browser speed killers. I'm running NoScript to block the worst of it, but it's still bad - if I were a newbie looking for a journal right now, and the community I was eager to commune with wasn't already there, I wouldn't like twice at LiveJournal, not when I can get ad-free accounts elsewhere: Blogger, Twitter, Dreamwidth, etc. Video and audio ads! Jeebus! Facebook is certainly as irritating as hell with its ad content, but at least it's never thrown audio at me. Yikes. Fail, LJ. Gigantic fail.
Sigh. Does that whole invite thing still apply for Dreamwidth?
Anyway, on to the main event. Do I even dare comment on the current Buffy Season 8 hijinkery? Can I resist?
First, fair warning: I haven't read the actual issue. But![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
flake_sake's excellent summary gave me a pretty good idea of what's going on, at least enough to make a critique from 30,000 feet, which is about the distance I prefer to view the comics from these days. So... Um. Where to start.
I do feel compelled to continue being tiresome about accredidation in the comics, and point out that, although Joss can plausibly be given credit for the overall story, he isn't actually writing this. Brad Meltzer is. I'm not doing this to nitpick so much as to observe that it's completely in character for Joss to hand off this kind of material - sex, I mean - to someone else. If I think back over Buffy and Angel, I come up with a portrait of a writer who prefers foreplay - he's great at awkward, teenage-y sexual tension - and wreckage of a relationship after it's over, to the sticky, nuts-and-bolts in-and-out (heh) of what goes in between. That part, he typically leaves to others to detail, and I don't think it's an accident that every major relationship I can think of in his catalog is structured in a way to be mostly about the Before and After, with what goes in the middle set on fast-forward, offscreen, fade-to-black, or just not there. (I'm hardly the authority on Firefly or Dollhouse, but I'd be very surprised if they broke this trend.)
Otherwise, I have no opinion to speak of, other than to observe that whenever an author brings a universal force into a story as an explanation, they are basically talking about themselves - to a fictional universe, the author is, after all, the only God. So what we have here is basically a story about how this is happening because that's what "the universe" wants to happen. Even if that doesn't make a lick of sense. So, um, there. *eyeroll* It's not an elegant plot structure, and I've only ever seen it used effectively maybe once or twice, most notably in that Star Trek: The Next Generation episode in which Beverly Crusher creates a shrinking bubble universe consisting of her own fears of people disappearing.
And given that observation, I do begin to suspect that the whole thing is a dream. Maybe Buffy's been asleep since the original storyline. (Srsly, Love's True Kiss?) This would make the intervening issues be All About Buffy's Hopes and Fears - a potentially good storyline - explain a lot of cracktastic craziness, generally remove the problem of Angel being so out of character as to be unrecognizable, and confirm that even Buffy's most wish-fulfill-y fantasies about having it off with Angel include squicky reservations about him possibly being evil and "the universe" conspiring to remove all choice from her menu of options. On the other hand, that would also make it a story about the nutty junk inside Buffy's head (Women, eh?) and a comic book imitation of a TV trope at that. (Although neither of those erases it as a possibility.)
That said, I don't actually expect it to be a dream. It's more likely that the whole idea of "the universe" causing things to happen because of "balance" is so coded into the show's DNA that it's now the default explanation. I hated that tie-in book Queen of the Slayers for making similar suggestions about the mechanics of the Buffy world, but with this, I might just have to throw up my hands and admit that this story apparently has no place for free will. And that's sad.
Otherwise, I've missed so many birthdays as to really not be funny. Very Belated Very Happy Birthdays todanceswitwords, asta77, rahirah, sangueuk, makd, paratti, calove, goldenusagi, crackers4jenn, constance_b, revdorothyl, irfikos, entrenous88, sharelle, quinara, eowyn_315, and Happy Birthday in advance (tomorrow) to evilawyer!!!
Seriously, is it just me? My computer is a few years old and not running the latest browser, plus I recently let my account lapse from paid to free (due to financial woes with which I will not bore you), but hoo-boy, those advertisements are browser speed killers. I'm running NoScript to block the worst of it, but it's still bad - if I were a newbie looking for a journal right now, and the community I was eager to commune with wasn't already there, I wouldn't like twice at LiveJournal, not when I can get ad-free accounts elsewhere: Blogger, Twitter, Dreamwidth, etc. Video and audio ads! Jeebus! Facebook is certainly as irritating as hell with its ad content, but at least it's never thrown audio at me. Yikes. Fail, LJ. Gigantic fail.
Sigh. Does that whole invite thing still apply for Dreamwidth?
Anyway, on to the main event. Do I even dare comment on the current Buffy Season 8 hijinkery? Can I resist?
First, fair warning: I haven't read the actual issue. But
flake_sake's excellent summary gave me a pretty good idea of what's going on, at least enough to make a critique from 30,000 feet, which is about the distance I prefer to view the comics from these days. So... Um. Where to start.I do feel compelled to continue being tiresome about accredidation in the comics, and point out that, although Joss can plausibly be given credit for the overall story, he isn't actually writing this. Brad Meltzer is. I'm not doing this to nitpick so much as to observe that it's completely in character for Joss to hand off this kind of material - sex, I mean - to someone else. If I think back over Buffy and Angel, I come up with a portrait of a writer who prefers foreplay - he's great at awkward, teenage-y sexual tension - and wreckage of a relationship after it's over, to the sticky, nuts-and-bolts in-and-out (heh) of what goes in between. That part, he typically leaves to others to detail, and I don't think it's an accident that every major relationship I can think of in his catalog is structured in a way to be mostly about the Before and After, with what goes in the middle set on fast-forward, offscreen, fade-to-black, or just not there. (I'm hardly the authority on Firefly or Dollhouse, but I'd be very surprised if they broke this trend.)
Otherwise, I have no opinion to speak of, other than to observe that whenever an author brings a universal force into a story as an explanation, they are basically talking about themselves - to a fictional universe, the author is, after all, the only God. So what we have here is basically a story about how this is happening because that's what "the universe" wants to happen. Even if that doesn't make a lick of sense. So, um, there. *eyeroll* It's not an elegant plot structure, and I've only ever seen it used effectively maybe once or twice, most notably in that Star Trek: The Next Generation episode in which Beverly Crusher creates a shrinking bubble universe consisting of her own fears of people disappearing.
And given that observation, I do begin to suspect that the whole thing is a dream. Maybe Buffy's been asleep since the original storyline. (Srsly, Love's True Kiss?) This would make the intervening issues be All About Buffy's Hopes and Fears - a potentially good storyline - explain a lot of cracktastic craziness, generally remove the problem of Angel being so out of character as to be unrecognizable, and confirm that even Buffy's most wish-fulfill-y fantasies about having it off with Angel include squicky reservations about him possibly being evil and "the universe" conspiring to remove all choice from her menu of options. On the other hand, that would also make it a story about the nutty junk inside Buffy's head (Women, eh?) and a comic book imitation of a TV trope at that. (Although neither of those erases it as a possibility.)
That said, I don't actually expect it to be a dream. It's more likely that the whole idea of "the universe" causing things to happen because of "balance" is so coded into the show's DNA that it's now the default explanation. I hated that tie-in book Queen of the Slayers for making similar suggestions about the mechanics of the Buffy world, but with this, I might just have to throw up my hands and admit that this story apparently has no place for free will. And that's sad.
Otherwise, I've missed so many birthdays as to really not be funny. Very Belated Very Happy Birthdays to
danceswitwords, asta77, rahirah, sangueuk, makd, paratti, calove, goldenusagi, crackers4jenn, constance_b, revdorothyl, irfikos, entrenous88, sharelle, quinara, eowyn_315, and Happy Birthday in advance (tomorrow) to evilawyer!!!![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:12 pm (UTC)Thanks for reminding me about DW. I backed up my whole LJ there when I first bought an account, but crossposting feels like a pain and I haven't been keeping up. Yet they have a pretty easy thing for doing it. I'm just... stressed.
I have some DW codes somewhere, I'll try to find one.
PS: Agree with your observations about the comic. My heart is moved to compassion for all the people trying to parse this thing so it makes sense with Buffy canon -- which, let's face it, has ultimately shown itself to be largely a construct of the more intelligent fans anyway. Fandom has imposed an order on the Buffyverse that just didn't exist, and expecting a comic book that Whedon is slumming/farming out to a brand to make thematic sense is futile. It's depressing to watch all this fan investment in a product the author isn't invested in at all.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:14 pm (UTC)I just biffed a DW invite code to your hotmail account. I love it over there -- both the interface (so many tiny awesome tweaks, omg) and the community. It's fun to watch it grow.
I might miss the good ol' days of open-canon Buffy fandom, but not enough to subscribe to the comics. Your post is a great summary of why it's not the paradigm I signed up for anymore. :/ Otoh,
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:16 pm (UTC)4R5M6J3K7TV5SAAAD5DG
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:33 pm (UTC)I do still read fic when I have a spare moment, although it's getting to the point where I find myself more interested in analzying my own reactions to it than the fic itself... which is fun in a way, but not the same kind of fun I originally had from reading fic. And the comics... well, I ignore them for the most part, but they do unfortunately affect the fandom - they've conspired to turn my impression of the Buffy universe into something I do not at all agree with (I have huge issues with predestination and the whole "Chosen One" thing, which are so not be subverted at this point). Which, again, is sad.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:46 pm (UTC)Yeah, that's the part that depresses me the most, actually. Never mind what's happening in the story, it's the impression of disinterest I keep getting, like it really doesn't matter what happens to these characters or what kind of worldview is being put forth, that brings me down. (I'm reminded, faintly, of a panel I saw during the aftermath of Tara's death, where the writers on hand seemed genuinely surprised by the anguished reaction of the lesbian community. Like, wow, Willow/Tara meant something to some people, you know, besides the shock value. Who would've thought? It's just, you know, TV, ain't it?)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:48 pm (UTC)(I was done with Whedon when Angel ended. He came right out and said he wrote the unsatisfying conclusion to express his rage at the show's cancellation, a move so stunningly infantile it took my breath away. The dude fucked over his audience to send a message to the executives, who weren't watching anyway, and what an unprofessional sod he was to do it. Anybody who does that doesn't deserve the title of storyteller.
Now he's collecting creator's fees on the comic to fund whatever dipshit Dr Horrible-type mess he's into at the moment, and people care? People are wasting brain cells on this? Good god.)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:55 pm (UTC)And that's such a good point about 'the universe' deciding things - it basically removes all in-verse causality and makes it 'I want this to happen nao'...
It could be an interesting dream (and at this point, actually, I'd be happy to buy that cop-out and have S9 dealing with the fallout), but I'm not sure Joss has the foresight to let his crack go that far. (Hmm, so, after this, Buffy slays her own internalised misogyny through some sort of metaphoric bad guy - that could be interesting. Maybe. Or not.)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 05:57 pm (UTC)(Must make myself a Datsu icon.)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 06:02 pm (UTC)The it-was-all-meant-to-be thing offends me so much that I'd personally welcome the it-was-all-a-dream resolution than the idea that Buffy seriously made the world worse by trying to empower women, or that she is seriously meant to be mother to a new race via Angel because women are for the having of mystic babies, not for the fighting of the evil! I don't even know where to begin...
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 06:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 06:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 06:52 pm (UTC)But I don't read the comics, only spoilers. Thankfully so.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 07:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 07:04 pm (UTC)I generally ignore the comics until something like this pops up on my flist, and then it's like, what?!? And then comes the sad.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 07:10 pm (UTC)My eyes, they hurt from the rolling.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 07:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 07:22 pm (UTC)And Team Free Will all the way.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 07:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-11 07:24 pm (UTC)Yes, praise be to free will. I can choose not to embrace any of this hooey.