Uploads, rant and the requisite TV watching

[_jems_]

Okay, I've done my part and uploaded all the Veronica Mars episodes. I'm re-uploading episode 1 because that's what most newbies will be looking for, and the SVCD of episode 12. After that I'm done. The point of the community is not really for one person to do all the uploading so if you download an episode and have the capacity to "pay it forward

Comments

[dtissagirl]

And people who say that he ruined the show. Um, no. He ruined the show for you.

Oh, Jems. I love you more than words can say for posting that. :)

[_jems_]

It always amazes me when people say that Spike took away screentime/storylines/whatever from more worthy characters, because no. His time and story were just infinitely more interesting to watch. The writers seemed to have gotten really bored with the other characters, just like most fans, and they never got anything good to do.

Are you watching Numb3rs? Because you are a self-proclaimed math geek, right? Seems like it would be right up your alley. Sort of anyway, I don't know if you like criminal dramas.

Oooh, but House! Shiny. =)

[dtissagirl]

It's not really Spike's fault that he was the character that had the most possibilities of growth. And the most thought-out [well, kinda] story-arcs. I get that people might get frustrated for not seeing their favorite characters in an interesting journey, but hating another character for that? Very silly.

I'm still stuck downloading the huge Cupid torrent, and there's GG to download tonight, but yes, I am VERY interested in watching Numb3rs. Will try and get it next weekend.

And I LOVED the House pilot. Big love. Can't wait to watch the rest of it now. :)

[_jems_]

You want me to upload Numb3rs? Might be easier than trying to find the torrent in a week, and I'm almost done with VM. I could do it tomorrow.

My Cupid torrent is at 51% and going at a snail's pace. Woe!

[thedeadlyhook]

Jeez, get a life - you know, the kind of life you're always proclaiming Spike lovers don't have. I've never seen a group so obsessed with a character.

Sing it!

What gets me is, I think quite a few of those people probably enjoyed the character fine, or even a lot, until he started interfering with their own personal holy cows (ships, other characters, stealing screen time, whatever). I keep wanting to do a screed on this topic, the way the bitterest fans are usually the ones who secretly feel the most betrayed, sort of like the way those terrified by a certain behavior (homosex, whatever) tend to talk about it all the time. It's like that cliche to the limit.

[_jems_]

I remember in season 7 all these people (at TWoP, naturally) were annoyed that he got so much screentime. So someone counted up the minutes and it turned out that at least halfway through the season he had had less screentime than most characters except for Dawn. It went something like Buffy, Xander, Willow, Spike, Dawn...the rest. Can anyone remember what Xander's storyline was for all those episodes? No, because they never bothered to write him one, except for the endless fixing of windows. No wonder it seemed like Spike took up too much screentime - nothing interesting happened unless he was on.

You're so right about the resentment. Almost no one says that they hated him from the start. In fact, almost everyone loved him - until he started breaking out of that box they'd put him in and suddenly they couldn't accept that a character could change. And god forbid he'd actually change for the better and become good! Can't have that, because it might make their favorites look bad. Grrr!

[thedeadlyhook]

it turned out that at least halfway through the season he had had less screentime than most characters except for Dawn.

And boy, doesn't that just confirm it for me, that the episodes really were that tedious in S7, except for the parts where Spike was in it. I guess that's where the resentment was really coming from, that Spike had an actual arc, and nobody else really seemed to.

Can't have that, because it might make their favorites look bad. Grrr!

And that's why I get angry at the writers instead - there's no reason that Spike's changes had to reflect so badly on the Scoobies other than because the writers chose to do it this way. To get resentful of the characters over this becomes more like misplaced anger after a certain point - it's not like they did it! And in a way, I guess that's why I've begun to feel very protective of those characters in retrospect, as if they've been treated poorly by bad parents. And really, if Spike can be redeemed, surely they can be as well? (pets the poor Scoobies)

[girlfromsouth]

i'm DLing the 1x12 SVCD right now. Eee. (So I just burn it as an SVCD, right? I'm assuming so.) I'll throw it back up on YSI once it's done.

[_jems_]

I haven't finished the upload yet, it's 800 MB so it'll take a while. You can either watch it from the harddrive or burn it as a SVCD and watch it on a DVD from a computer DVD drive.

[frelling_tralk]

And people who say that he ruined the show. Um, no. He ruined the show for you.

Perfectly said *claps*

[_jems_]

Thank you! *takes a bow*

[buffyx]

And people who say that he ruined the show. Um, no. He ruined the show for you.

Hee! You? Rule.

Here's the problem: logic and certain crazy-rabid-hating parts of fandom? Unmixy things.

I swear that the Ducks (not all of them, but a vocal bunch) and the other haters got off on trashing the character and his fans. So glad I never was consumed with vile contempt like that, not even for B/A, which I hated but, like, not *that* much. Becasuse, you know, FICTION.

[_jems_]

See, that's exactly my point. Why hate it that much? If I hadn't liked Spike I probably wouldn't have continued watching BtVS, or at least not cared that much that it went downhill. He was the main draw for me and a lot of the other characters became really unlikeable before it ended. Why put yourself through that if you hate it so much?

I disliked B/A, Willow and Xander in season 7 and a bunch of their storylines, but I never hated it so much that I blamed the characters or actors for the dislike. If anything, I think they were given a raw deal because I could have liked them again (well, except for B/A, which I never liked and found trite and boring) if only the writers had stepped up. But I guess they were all tired after seven years. Or something.