It's a post for my peace of mind
In which I talk about the comics ( just a little and not in a positive way as it is expected) and Spike/Buffy (a lot ,in an over-enthusiastic way ,as it is expected)
I am afraid that overall the comics had a negative effect on fandom . It may have helped being more creative in some parts of it, it surely didn’t bring more fun.
I can’t say I’ve read many reviews ( and did less and less ), I avoid them because they often had an impact that was not pleasant on my emotional ties to the show ( so much possibility , so many regrets about what was done).
Personally I believe that Joss has failed over and over with the comics . Fans had imagined a hundred ways he and his team could have written a good plot ,could have portrayed faithfully our cherished characters and could have taken the story, and in the end mostly he severely disappointed them .
Often I’ve noticed people admitting that the comics had tainted their affinity for the Buffyverse..
If I had to refer to one take that left me nodding along, it’s the Thedeadlyhook's reaction. It summarizes where I stand.
That being said , I’ve tried my best to ignore what was going on in the past three years ( although ignoring them completely is a bit difficult) and never considered them as a fair , true, canon continuation of the story told on the tv screen. In that sense , I’m happy to say that it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the series( which I feared once ) and my love for the characters and what they could have been is untouched and fervent, which is a relief now that we got the last issue of s. 8.
I’m aware that in my corner of lj a few people have enjoyed the ride and that it was inspirational.
That is a positive outcome. Of course , that’s good for them.
However I can’t see what they see and spuffy wise ( the very small spuffy pieces we were given ), there’s nothing that resonates within my heart and the way I always felt toward Buffy and Spike.
E.T.A I've read a few reactions to the spuffy scene in issue 40 and I honestly can't share the contentment of other shippers. I don't see anything to rejoice about in the bit of interaction at the windows between Buffy and Spike.:(
On the show,they had their share of bad timing encounters and suffering, conflict and ambiguity .
I have demonstrated my devotion by the amount of crap I was willing to put up with from Joss and co , and post series that means that I don’t ask for more angst or ambiguity.
Post Chosen everything that matters has been said and shown and from there , from the moment the screen faded to black , we’ve been free to leave it alone or ..
What would bring them back together? Is it possible? It’s been discussed so much.
The relationship that happened on the show, I always was in love with it, even if post s.5 I would have liked to see different roads taken. It could have been so much more gorgeous than it was , however I’m rather satisfied with the ending ( and the poignant image of their souls and entwined hands on fire) and most of all it contained IMHO a good deal of ( epic )potential still.
Let me quote calove : Through the binding of their entwined, flame-bright hands, he sees, and understands better than she, what is in her heart. The spark; the first, terrifying, breathtaking glow of the love that is body, mind, soul, being. He knows with the clear, calm certainty of that moment that what she feels isn’t that love, not yet, but it could be; a word, a touch and it would burn for him. He put the spark in her heart and at last the spark could grow to the flame and the flame could consume them both.
Fanfic authors could take them to interesting places , and a lot have done it to our greatest pleasure.
Fans could also build a world from the original one. I did.
I guess it’s one of the things that I ‘m not ready to forgive when it comes to Joss and what he’s doing in the comic form :in the series he took them through tortuous/ tortured? passion to a really high point, nothing else can be compared to it, and it would be fine to leave it to the imagination of viewers /readers than to paint them as ex-lovers having quiet, friendly interaction. Because the dancing around each other , that place where you simply love/like someone but don’t expect things to be any different than they were,living in a state of acceptance ? Wow, that’s definitely something that I don’t want for them.
This to me would be tragic. Emphasize on “to me” because as we all like to repeat , it’s a matter of personal interpretation and expectations.
Spike is in love with Buffy : that is written in stone. Buffy has learned to be truly in love with Spike beyond the place of simply loving him: that is my personal truth.
I never was in the camp : Season 7 is Spike learning to let go of Buffy ,let go of the dream of her ever loving him in return. Many S/B shippers reacted to S7 and its ending by thinking that it wouldn’t lead to a settled place, romance-wise. But everybody has their own theory. :)
Me, I still had hope for them.
And over the years , it has been well established in my mind how I mentally framed their future. Somehow I needed to , like I need to know how it ends in a novel that I enjoyed reading.
Maybe it’s a bit weird , but I do need an ending , the one that leaves me at peace of course.
Post Chosen , even post NFA, the words :” what could have happened” are magical.
When I think of it, there’s something wonderful in the way their story has meant something to me from the beginning.
What first attracted and obsessed me didn’t change much.Oh there were crisis ..but
My fascination never ceased to exist, and it’s comforting. I fell in an almost entirely instinctive, visceral way . Spike's unwavering faith in Buffy have kept me in thrall.
I’m just as blindly, stubbornly in love with the idea/the tale of them as I was many years back.
Thus I imagine.
I imagine she showed that she wanted him fully, and he felt worthy of her without needing to” climb " up." They reconnected with their passionate natures and of course there’s parity between them . They find happiness with each other.
They are driven towards heroism , rising to huge challenges - together , side by side.
They like being heroes and putting everything aside until the job's done.
And after a rich and long life , their share a last effulgence with simultaneous death on the battle field.
They each had their own moment of effulgence after all : for her in the Gift and for him in Chosen.Should come the time of the shared one.
The unattainable dream isn’t unattainable anymore.
I am afraid that overall the comics had a negative effect on fandom . It may have helped being more creative in some parts of it, it surely didn’t bring more fun.
I can’t say I’ve read many reviews ( and did less and less ), I avoid them because they often had an impact that was not pleasant on my emotional ties to the show ( so much possibility , so many regrets about what was done).
Personally I believe that Joss has failed over and over with the comics . Fans had imagined a hundred ways he and his team could have written a good plot ,could have portrayed faithfully our cherished characters and could have taken the story, and in the end mostly he severely disappointed them .
Often I’ve noticed people admitting that the comics had tainted their affinity for the Buffyverse..
If I had to refer to one take that left me nodding along, it’s the Thedeadlyhook's reaction. It summarizes where I stand.
That being said , I’ve tried my best to ignore what was going on in the past three years ( although ignoring them completely is a bit difficult) and never considered them as a fair , true, canon continuation of the story told on the tv screen. In that sense , I’m happy to say that it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the series( which I feared once ) and my love for the characters and what they could have been is untouched and fervent, which is a relief now that we got the last issue of s. 8.
I’m aware that in my corner of lj a few people have enjoyed the ride and that it was inspirational.
That is a positive outcome. Of course , that’s good for them.
However I can’t see what they see and spuffy wise ( the very small spuffy pieces we were given ), there’s nothing that resonates within my heart and the way I always felt toward Buffy and Spike.
E.T.A I've read a few reactions to the spuffy scene in issue 40 and I honestly can't share the contentment of other shippers. I don't see anything to rejoice about in the bit of interaction at the windows between Buffy and Spike.:(
On the show,they had their share of bad timing encounters and suffering, conflict and ambiguity .
I have demonstrated my devotion by the amount of crap I was willing to put up with from Joss and co , and post series that means that I don’t ask for more angst or ambiguity.
Post Chosen everything that matters has been said and shown and from there , from the moment the screen faded to black , we’ve been free to leave it alone or ..
What would bring them back together? Is it possible? It’s been discussed so much.
The relationship that happened on the show, I always was in love with it, even if post s.5 I would have liked to see different roads taken. It could have been so much more gorgeous than it was , however I’m rather satisfied with the ending ( and the poignant image of their souls and entwined hands on fire) and most of all it contained IMHO a good deal of ( epic )potential still.
Let me quote calove : Through the binding of their entwined, flame-bright hands, he sees, and understands better than she, what is in her heart. The spark; the first, terrifying, breathtaking glow of the love that is body, mind, soul, being. He knows with the clear, calm certainty of that moment that what she feels isn’t that love, not yet, but it could be; a word, a touch and it would burn for him. He put the spark in her heart and at last the spark could grow to the flame and the flame could consume them both.
Fanfic authors could take them to interesting places , and a lot have done it to our greatest pleasure.
Fans could also build a world from the original one. I did.
I guess it’s one of the things that I ‘m not ready to forgive when it comes to Joss and what he’s doing in the comic form :in the series he took them through tortuous/ tortured? passion to a really high point, nothing else can be compared to it, and it would be fine to leave it to the imagination of viewers /readers than to paint them as ex-lovers having quiet, friendly interaction. Because the dancing around each other , that place where you simply love/like someone but don’t expect things to be any different than they were,living in a state of acceptance ? Wow, that’s definitely something that I don’t want for them.
This to me would be tragic. Emphasize on “to me” because as we all like to repeat , it’s a matter of personal interpretation and expectations.
Spike is in love with Buffy : that is written in stone. Buffy has learned to be truly in love with Spike beyond the place of simply loving him: that is my personal truth.
I never was in the camp : Season 7 is Spike learning to let go of Buffy ,let go of the dream of her ever loving him in return. Many S/B shippers reacted to S7 and its ending by thinking that it wouldn’t lead to a settled place, romance-wise. But everybody has their own theory. :)
Me, I still had hope for them.
And over the years , it has been well established in my mind how I mentally framed their future. Somehow I needed to , like I need to know how it ends in a novel that I enjoyed reading.
Maybe it’s a bit weird , but I do need an ending , the one that leaves me at peace of course.
Post Chosen , even post NFA, the words :” what could have happened” are magical.
When I think of it, there’s something wonderful in the way their story has meant something to me from the beginning.
What first attracted and obsessed me didn’t change much.Oh there were crisis ..but
My fascination never ceased to exist, and it’s comforting. I fell in an almost entirely instinctive, visceral way . Spike's unwavering faith in Buffy have kept me in thrall.
I’m just as blindly, stubbornly in love with the idea/the tale of them as I was many years back.
Thus I imagine.
I imagine she showed that she wanted him fully, and he felt worthy of her without needing to” climb " up." They reconnected with their passionate natures and of course there’s parity between them . They find happiness with each other.
They are driven towards heroism , rising to huge challenges - together , side by side.
They like being heroes and putting everything aside until the job's done.
And after a rich and long life , their share a last effulgence with simultaneous death on the battle field.
They each had their own moment of effulgence after all : for her in the Gift and for him in Chosen.Should come the time of the shared one.
The unattainable dream isn’t unattainable anymore.