Buffy season 10 no 22
Jan. 13th, 2016 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shapinglightI was going to write a review of this when it came out, but RL intervened and now it's nearly time for the next issue. Better late than never, though? ;)
Spoilers behind cut.
I'll deal with the Spike/Buffy stuff first, though it's not the most interesting part of the book.
My worst fears re: the Spike/Mrs Marsters Dylan situation (as a catalyst to break up Spike and Buffy) were not realised - at least, not in this issue. Instead, Gage used the Dylan character to comment further on the state of the Spike/Buffy relationship in a way that suggests to me she may still be such a catalyst, but in a different way than I'd imagined.
Firstly, some of the anvil-y things she says lay on a little thick the problems with the relationship that Gage has spent some issues stressing (some of which he's flat out invented without reference to show canon, like Buffy always wanting what's out of reach and never being satisfied with what she's got, and Spike serially sabotaging his own relationships when he's only really had two he's taken seriously in 120+ years, but whatever), secondly, the scene in the gallery seemed to me to be suggesting that Spike (as a repressed aesthete) actually has more in common withMrs Marsters Dylan than he does with Buffy.
Mainly, though, it's the whole 'demons can't change' thing being stressed over and over, along with Spike's and Buffy's, self-doubt, which their encounters in the previous issue with Harmony and Vicki have only served to emphasise.
Anyway, I'd rather it was that that sabotaged the Spuffy relationship than this whole Spike putting women on a pedestal thing, because a) I thought Victor Gischler's deadly dull Spike mini series in season 9 was supposed to have dealt with that (maybe Gage has repressed it, the way I've tried to?) and b) though Spike does make the object of his affection the centre of his life I don't think he actually does the pedestal thing, and I just don't see what's wrong with him putting the person he loves at the centre of his life. If the sexes were reversed, no one would think anything of it.
(Which reminds me, I saw a resurgence the other day of the old 'Spike never had any character development in BtVS because all the changes he made were to do with Buffy, so I only like him in AtS' argument. Have always hated this because - as stated above - if Spike were a woman and Buffy a man, no one would even mention it).
Anyway, Spike and Buffy don't break up. In fact, most of the time, they seem to be getting along quite well, in a fairly 'this is what real, actual relationships are like' kind of way. It can't possibly last. ;)
On to what is the most interesting part of the book, which is Buffy's quarrel with Willow over Willow's involvement with the military. Also, Willow's developing relationship with Lake Stevens, who, on re-reading, I distrust quite a bit. I think much of her dialogue, while worldly wise and sensible, seems calculated to turn Willow subtly against Buffy. Plus, her being gay, and available, when Willow herself is on the rebound from Aluwyn, just all seems too pat. We'll see. I understand Willow's decision to work with the military. She can help them save a lot of people, plus Lake may be suspect, but she's not wrong in saying that people often tend to grow away from their closest high school friends when they grow up and their paths in life take different directions.
Equally, though, Buffy's not wrong to say they can't trust the military, and her reminder to Willow as to why (the death of the young Afghani Slayer in Tibet) is very moving (and would be even more moving if Buffy didn't have the baggage of season 8 still hanging around her own neck - thanks for nothing, Joss).
But anyway, the middle ground Buffy and Willow find by the end of the book seemed a good place to me (though obviously it won't last), and realistic in the circumstances. Buffy still has problems with Willow's choice, but she accepts it's Willow's choice. She's not going to let it come between them and ruin their friendship (which I suspect will not please Lake), and Willow doesn't want that either. Compromise. Very adult.
The other interesting thing, of course, is the discovery that D'Hoffryn and the Magic Council are also working with the military. To me, this is a big, stonking clue that D'Hoffryn isn't to be trusted, and is highly likely to be behind the appearance of Ghost!Not-the-real-Anya. He wants the Vampyr! book, and he won't stop at anything to get it.
We'll see anyway.
I enjoyed it - far more than I enjoyed the previous issue (except for Vampire Queen Harmony, who was quite delightful).
Spoilers behind cut.
I'll deal with the Spike/Buffy stuff first, though it's not the most interesting part of the book.
My worst fears re: the Spike/
Firstly, some of the anvil-y things she says lay on a little thick the problems with the relationship that Gage has spent some issues stressing (some of which he's flat out invented without reference to show canon, like Buffy always wanting what's out of reach and never being satisfied with what she's got, and Spike serially sabotaging his own relationships when he's only really had two he's taken seriously in 120+ years, but whatever), secondly, the scene in the gallery seemed to me to be suggesting that Spike (as a repressed aesthete) actually has more in common with
Mainly, though, it's the whole 'demons can't change' thing being stressed over and over, along with Spike's and Buffy's, self-doubt, which their encounters in the previous issue with Harmony and Vicki have only served to emphasise.
Anyway, I'd rather it was that that sabotaged the Spuffy relationship than this whole Spike putting women on a pedestal thing, because a) I thought Victor Gischler's deadly dull Spike mini series in season 9 was supposed to have dealt with that (maybe Gage has repressed it, the way I've tried to?) and b) though Spike does make the object of his affection the centre of his life I don't think he actually does the pedestal thing, and I just don't see what's wrong with him putting the person he loves at the centre of his life. If the sexes were reversed, no one would think anything of it.
(Which reminds me, I saw a resurgence the other day of the old 'Spike never had any character development in BtVS because all the changes he made were to do with Buffy, so I only like him in AtS' argument. Have always hated this because - as stated above - if Spike were a woman and Buffy a man, no one would even mention it).
Anyway, Spike and Buffy don't break up. In fact, most of the time, they seem to be getting along quite well, in a fairly 'this is what real, actual relationships are like' kind of way. It can't possibly last. ;)
On to what is the most interesting part of the book, which is Buffy's quarrel with Willow over Willow's involvement with the military. Also, Willow's developing relationship with Lake Stevens, who, on re-reading, I distrust quite a bit. I think much of her dialogue, while worldly wise and sensible, seems calculated to turn Willow subtly against Buffy. Plus, her being gay, and available, when Willow herself is on the rebound from Aluwyn, just all seems too pat. We'll see. I understand Willow's decision to work with the military. She can help them save a lot of people, plus Lake may be suspect, but she's not wrong in saying that people often tend to grow away from their closest high school friends when they grow up and their paths in life take different directions.
Equally, though, Buffy's not wrong to say they can't trust the military, and her reminder to Willow as to why (the death of the young Afghani Slayer in Tibet) is very moving (and would be even more moving if Buffy didn't have the baggage of season 8 still hanging around her own neck - thanks for nothing, Joss).
But anyway, the middle ground Buffy and Willow find by the end of the book seemed a good place to me (though obviously it won't last), and realistic in the circumstances. Buffy still has problems with Willow's choice, but she accepts it's Willow's choice. She's not going to let it come between them and ruin their friendship (which I suspect will not please Lake), and Willow doesn't want that either. Compromise. Very adult.
The other interesting thing, of course, is the discovery that D'Hoffryn and the Magic Council are also working with the military. To me, this is a big, stonking clue that D'Hoffryn isn't to be trusted, and is highly likely to be behind the appearance of Ghost!Not-the-real-Anya. He wants the Vampyr! book, and he won't stop at anything to get it.
We'll see anyway.
I enjoyed it - far more than I enjoyed the previous issue (except for Vampire Queen Harmony, who was quite delightful).
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no subject
Date: 2016-01-13 01:45 pm (UTC)I am beginning to believe that it will be some sort of internal doubt to tear Spike and Buffy apart. Because this is a comic book it can do the on and off relationship thing for years. If they break they up for self doubt it works in their favor because it keeps the Spangel or Spuffy fight going.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-13 03:14 pm (UTC)All in all, to me, this was one of the less interesting issues.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-13 03:51 pm (UTC)Buffy's not wrong to say they can't trust the military,
I thought that at first, but on re-read I generally think it comes off as just her being outraged that they killed slayers rather than them just being untrustworthy. Hence my rant about it on Buffyforums. Because when has Buffy ever had issues with joining forces with an untrustworthy person for the greater good? If she were making a point about them being power-hungry and duplicitous, surely The Initiative would've been mentioned. But maybe Gage forgot S4 happened.
D'hoffryn being after the book is highly suggested in the new covers. But they have Spike on there too, so who knows.
Agree about all the relationship stuff. Gage is pulling things out of his bottom and all his 'just a character's opinion' crap is just that. They've dedicated far too much time to having about every character say the same things for it to just be opinions.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-13 06:03 pm (UTC)Good point - though it could just be that Gage feels it better not to reference incidents from the show too closely because his readership might not know what he's talking about?
D'hoffryn being after the book is highly suggested in the new covers. But they have Spike on there too, so who knows.
Yeah, no idea what that's about - or who the big demon whose face Buffy's shoving into a wall is.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-13 06:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-13 06:05 pm (UTC)They can, and if the ongoing series continues Spuffy are definitely doomed (for now). I suspect season 10 may be the last, though.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-13 07:37 pm (UTC)I did like that Buffy and Willow agreed to disagree, but I also do not trust the military very far. It's just that Buffy's resources are not equal to the scope of the problem, and she also doesn't have the moral high ground since she (apparently) colluded with the same idiot that they did. *shrug* It'll all end in tears, like usual.
I wonder if anybody but us fic writers cottoned on to "aesthete Spike"? It's not super obvious, but I appreciated the nod.
I still think the Soul Eater is going to get Spike's soul and that will be the dramatic device used to pry Spike and Buffy apart — whilst not erasing their yearning for one another. Go for the hurt, as D'Hoffryn likes to say.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-14 10:38 am (UTC)I agree Beck would have been a better choice, though I kind of want to pretend most of the IDW stuff never happened.
It's just that Buffy's resources are not equal to the scope of the problem, and she also doesn't have the moral high ground since she (apparently) colluded with the same idiot that they did. *shrug*
Yeah, that's the thing that continually gets in the way of full-on sympathising with her. As I said, thanks for nothing, Joss.
I wonder if anybody but us fic writers cottoned on to "aesthete Spike"? It's not super obvious, but I appreciated the nod.
Probably not, though I think Gage possibly has.
I'm dubious about the whole Spike losing his soul thing. I just don't think they'll go there. We'll see, I suppose.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-14 11:48 am (UTC)Good point - though it could just be that Gage feels it better not to reference incidents from the show too closely because his readership might not know what he's talking about?
Who knows. With everything else, I don't much trust his writing. My take on it is honestly that it was just another chance for someone to defend Angel, no matter how stupid it makes them look. The entirety of the issue is absurd as far as characterization goes.
Yeah, no idea what that's about
He's wearing a pinkie ring. Maybe he lost his soul and wants to wish it back.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-15 02:58 pm (UTC)It's possible, I guess. Is the ring an indicator of him having lost his soul?
no subject
Date: 2016-01-15 05:57 pm (UTC)No one with a soul would wear a fat, gold pinkie ring. It's the guyliner and leather pants of comics!
Seriously though, it kinda makes sense given the solicitation and covers. Maybe big demon guy did a soul suck and Spikelus will want the book to do his bidding, which they established he would do even though he never did anything like that on the show.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-19 01:15 pm (UTC)