"The Long Way Home" Issue #3
Okay, wow. This issue is just so chock-full of... stuff. It's exciting.
I think someone might have suggested that dream-guy was Ethan Rayne. To which I might have responded, "Pfft. Yeah, right." I now must eat my "pfft." Ethan doesn't not make sense as a dream-guide. It's just a big, like, "Why?" ... and I liked my Dracula theory... Anyhoo... I wonder if there is a how/why to him "hitching a ride" in Buffy's dream-space. Why is he helping her? And how'd he get there? He said he "connected with" Amy and that she "saw" him. Does that mean they're working together? Or he's playing double-agent?
Big LOL at the Angel&Spike image of mind-burning quality. I thought it might be something like that. Hee. With the trains and the volcano, and the lilies and stakes, chains and the nurse uniform, and the li'l dreamy-eyed cupids... Heh.
In Buffy's Frech exam dream, is she supposed to be at Hemery? 'Cause those don't look like Willow and Xander. It's cute how there's a heart on her book and she's holding it over where her actual heart would be (not physically, 'cause it's in the centre of the chest, but you know, when you "put your hand over your heart," you put it on the left side). It's interesting to see what images are in Buffy's subconscious. Joss put himself in there. Hee. I wonder if the French exam thing is of any significance?
Amy's memory looks like she's inside an artery or something. And there's a dead demon that looks like one of the things that showed up at the end of NFA. XXX with Vin Diesel... I saw that movie... and that's all I have to say about that... To me, the "X" recalls the pose that Buffy was "crucified" in in the earlier part of her dream in issue #2, and also St. Andrew's cross (national flag of Scotland). But then again, it might just represent the number 30, who knows? And "I'm more of an ancient Roman than a Dane..." First thing that comes to mind? Shakespearian tragedies. We'll see.
Amy pisses me off with her smack-talkin'. She's seriously asking for some pwnage. Willow is, like, awesome. And yay for giant!Dawn! I'm sure we were all waiting for her to SMLOOOSH Amy. What I don't get is why Amy is then not-smloooshed, but instead frozen in a cube. I mean, what's the point of smloooshing her?
Now, the kiss. We don't see a kiss. It doesn't look like anyone's moved, but Buffy feels something on her lips. Willow looks like she might have moved a bit. But then, why all the close-ups on Xander? Bah! This is so frustrating. Because Ethan was the dream-guy I'm now questioning all my previously held assumptions; and I'm now entertaining the possibility if Willow being the kisser. Also, Xander's flirting with Renee. Or maybe just trying to make her feel better. Or maybe he's in love with Buffy but just thinks he has absolutely no chance, so he might as well flirt with this perfectly nice girl with whom he does have a chance. I'm so conflicted. Because I ship Bander, but I also ship Xander/Renee, who would be so cuuute together.
I already saw these all-too-few panels with Giles. It's pretty kick-ass how he's being all realpolitiky with the demons. I find it highly amusing that there's protocol. And that the demon could totally tear Giles' head off if it felt like it, but Giles is just totally keeping his cool. But anyways, there's some chess master who's trying to use both Slayers and demons as pawns. Eeenteresting.
LOL at Andrew.
Willow's being awfully cagey about what she's been up to. I'm looking forward to finding out what that's all about. I'm guessing Joss is going with the astral plane thing for at least part of Willow's absence. And LOL at dead Kennedy! Oh, Joss, if only. He loves to tease his readers. But it sounds like Kennedy and Willow are at least having some apart-time and hopefully it stays that way.
Ooh, Buffy's angry. Hee.
Okay, Amy is in serious need of a smack-down. Shut up, Amy.
Okay, when I read the solicit for this issue, my immediate thought was "Warren." And Warren made sense with the being gross and wanting the weapons lab too. But he was so very dead. In a non-mystical way. Sure, Willow flayed him with magic, but I don't see how the effect of that would be different from a non-magical flaying. He was dead. And then he was burned to a cinder. And Willow dealt with her guilt already in "The Killer in Me". So I'm kind of having a hard time accepting that he's back. I mean, what did Amy do, find his ashes among all the other dirt and ashes and dust in Craterdale? And resurect the ashes? Obviously it didn't turn out perfectly because he still doesn't have any skin. But, like, seriously. Oh well, whatever. I'm being nit-picky. It's still cool.
Favourites
Favourite scene: Xander and Renee in the infirmary
Favourite image: Willow being all calm as bugs crawl all over her.
Favourite line: "I've looked through so many books I've got parchment fingers. But my mom used to order this special dermatological soap because hoisin sauce makes me rashy --" (I don't even know what hoisin sauce is. But it's funny.)
Runner up: "WHERE ARE MY MYSTICS?"
Overall, this was high excitement. The plot is non-stop twists and turns, though a couple were a bit unbelieveable, I'll let them slide. I'm just as caught up in what hints of romance there are as I am in the A-plot. And the art seems to be getting better with every issue. The conclusion is going to be kick-ass.
A note about canon:
I don't get all the people who are saying that they aren't going to consider the comics canon. I don't see why one should begrudge them that distinction. What do you lose by acknowledging the canonicity of the comics? You don't have to refer to them in fanfic if you don't want to, that's what the convention known as "AU" is for. Not setting post-Chosen fic in Season 8 does not mean you're not treating Season 8 as canon; it just means you're writing AU fic.
All it means if you accept season 8 as canon is if someone asks, "What happens after 'Chosen?'" then you point to the comics. And if you don't want to do that for whatever reason, then fine. You're not following the story anymore; the same as if you stopped watching the show at some point. And it doesn't matter if you point to the comics or not, because Joss is, and his is the only finger that matters. Again, this has no bearing on fanfic. The canon status of the comics has a bearing if you're talking to someone and they say, "Well, I think Spike Shanshued after the battle behind the Hyperion, and he and Buffy got married, and Xander and Dawn ended up running a construction company together." Then you can say, "No, that didn't happen. Sounds like it would make a good fic, though." It has a bearing if you're doing a character analysis, or if you're talking about recurring themes throughout the series, or something else meta, because then you can refer to the comics as a valid source. Accepting season 8 as canon means you assimilate it into your understanding of the Buffyverse. And I don't see why anyone would not want to do that; it seems to me like it would only make your experience with the Buffyverse richer.
ETA: The letters at the back of this issue were a lot more positive than at the back of issue #2. It's something of a releif to see that there's nice, sane fans out there.
Also, I'm looking forward to the next issue, obviously, but especially to what the last image is going to be. Is is going to be something cliff-hangery and to do with the Big Bad of the season? Or will it be something with the Scoobies all together?
I think someone might have suggested that dream-guy was Ethan Rayne. To which I might have responded, "Pfft. Yeah, right." I now must eat my "pfft." Ethan doesn't not make sense as a dream-guide. It's just a big, like, "Why?" ... and I liked my Dracula theory... Anyhoo... I wonder if there is a how/why to him "hitching a ride" in Buffy's dream-space. Why is he helping her? And how'd he get there? He said he "connected with" Amy and that she "saw" him. Does that mean they're working together? Or he's playing double-agent?
Big LOL at the Angel&Spike image of mind-burning quality. I thought it might be something like that. Hee. With the trains and the volcano, and the lilies and stakes, chains and the nurse uniform, and the li'l dreamy-eyed cupids... Heh.
In Buffy's Frech exam dream, is she supposed to be at Hemery? 'Cause those don't look like Willow and Xander. It's cute how there's a heart on her book and she's holding it over where her actual heart would be (not physically, 'cause it's in the centre of the chest, but you know, when you "put your hand over your heart," you put it on the left side). It's interesting to see what images are in Buffy's subconscious. Joss put himself in there. Hee. I wonder if the French exam thing is of any significance?
Amy's memory looks like she's inside an artery or something. And there's a dead demon that looks like one of the things that showed up at the end of NFA. XXX with Vin Diesel... I saw that movie... and that's all I have to say about that... To me, the "X" recalls the pose that Buffy was "crucified" in in the earlier part of her dream in issue #2, and also St. Andrew's cross (national flag of Scotland). But then again, it might just represent the number 30, who knows? And "I'm more of an ancient Roman than a Dane..." First thing that comes to mind? Shakespearian tragedies. We'll see.
Amy pisses me off with her smack-talkin'. She's seriously asking for some pwnage. Willow is, like, awesome. And yay for giant!Dawn! I'm sure we were all waiting for her to SMLOOOSH Amy. What I don't get is why Amy is then not-smloooshed, but instead frozen in a cube. I mean, what's the point of smloooshing her?
Now, the kiss. We don't see a kiss. It doesn't look like anyone's moved, but Buffy feels something on her lips. Willow looks like she might have moved a bit. But then, why all the close-ups on Xander? Bah! This is so frustrating. Because Ethan was the dream-guy I'm now questioning all my previously held assumptions; and I'm now entertaining the possibility if Willow being the kisser. Also, Xander's flirting with Renee. Or maybe just trying to make her feel better. Or maybe he's in love with Buffy but just thinks he has absolutely no chance, so he might as well flirt with this perfectly nice girl with whom he does have a chance. I'm so conflicted. Because I ship Bander, but I also ship Xander/Renee, who would be so cuuute together.
I already saw these all-too-few panels with Giles. It's pretty kick-ass how he's being all realpolitiky with the demons. I find it highly amusing that there's protocol. And that the demon could totally tear Giles' head off if it felt like it, but Giles is just totally keeping his cool. But anyways, there's some chess master who's trying to use both Slayers and demons as pawns. Eeenteresting.
LOL at Andrew.
Willow's being awfully cagey about what she's been up to. I'm looking forward to finding out what that's all about. I'm guessing Joss is going with the astral plane thing for at least part of Willow's absence. And LOL at dead Kennedy! Oh, Joss, if only. He loves to tease his readers. But it sounds like Kennedy and Willow are at least having some apart-time and hopefully it stays that way.
Ooh, Buffy's angry. Hee.
Okay, Amy is in serious need of a smack-down. Shut up, Amy.
Okay, when I read the solicit for this issue, my immediate thought was "Warren." And Warren made sense with the being gross and wanting the weapons lab too. But he was so very dead. In a non-mystical way. Sure, Willow flayed him with magic, but I don't see how the effect of that would be different from a non-magical flaying. He was dead. And then he was burned to a cinder. And Willow dealt with her guilt already in "The Killer in Me". So I'm kind of having a hard time accepting that he's back. I mean, what did Amy do, find his ashes among all the other dirt and ashes and dust in Craterdale? And resurect the ashes? Obviously it didn't turn out perfectly because he still doesn't have any skin. But, like, seriously. Oh well, whatever. I'm being nit-picky. It's still cool.
Favourites
Favourite scene: Xander and Renee in the infirmary
Favourite image: Willow being all calm as bugs crawl all over her.
Favourite line: "I've looked through so many books I've got parchment fingers. But my mom used to order this special dermatological soap because hoisin sauce makes me rashy --" (I don't even know what hoisin sauce is. But it's funny.)
Runner up: "WHERE ARE MY MYSTICS?"
Overall, this was high excitement. The plot is non-stop twists and turns, though a couple were a bit unbelieveable, I'll let them slide. I'm just as caught up in what hints of romance there are as I am in the A-plot. And the art seems to be getting better with every issue. The conclusion is going to be kick-ass.
A note about canon:
I don't get all the people who are saying that they aren't going to consider the comics canon. I don't see why one should begrudge them that distinction. What do you lose by acknowledging the canonicity of the comics? You don't have to refer to them in fanfic if you don't want to, that's what the convention known as "AU" is for. Not setting post-Chosen fic in Season 8 does not mean you're not treating Season 8 as canon; it just means you're writing AU fic.
All it means if you accept season 8 as canon is if someone asks, "What happens after 'Chosen?'" then you point to the comics. And if you don't want to do that for whatever reason, then fine. You're not following the story anymore; the same as if you stopped watching the show at some point. And it doesn't matter if you point to the comics or not, because Joss is, and his is the only finger that matters. Again, this has no bearing on fanfic. The canon status of the comics has a bearing if you're talking to someone and they say, "Well, I think Spike Shanshued after the battle behind the Hyperion, and he and Buffy got married, and Xander and Dawn ended up running a construction company together." Then you can say, "No, that didn't happen. Sounds like it would make a good fic, though." It has a bearing if you're doing a character analysis, or if you're talking about recurring themes throughout the series, or something else meta, because then you can refer to the comics as a valid source. Accepting season 8 as canon means you assimilate it into your understanding of the Buffyverse. And I don't see why anyone would not want to do that; it seems to me like it would only make your experience with the Buffyverse richer.
ETA: The letters at the back of this issue were a lot more positive than at the back of issue #2. It's something of a releif to see that there's nice, sane fans out there.
Also, I'm looking forward to the next issue, obviously, but especially to what the last image is going to be. Is is going to be something cliff-hangery and to do with the Big Bad of the season? Or will it be something with the Scoobies all together?