Did we ever hear that Spike isn't coming back? I thought Scott's "for a little while" made it very clear that Spike would be back before the end of the season, just like Willow went and will return.
I actually just made a post about this same development here. (ETA: And just now, another one! :D) I like the idea of Spike leaving because I think that both characters need some time to establish other things that are going on in their lives- and after Spike confronts Buffy with his feelings in #7, the romance of it all is now the elephant in the room. And while they both might want that at some point, Buffy isn't necessarily ready for an "all-in" romantic relationship while there's so much left to figure out- and it isn't fair for either of them for Spike to hang around just waiting.
I'm glad that they're giving them time apart because that means that the writers aren't just pandering to shippers- they're taking the relationship seriously enough to allow for other plot and relationship (Scoobies in particular, but also Kennedy, Koh, Buffy's roommates...) growth outside of it first. I'd be very disappointed if this whole season were just about Buffy and Spike's relationship!
I enjoyed your post on Tumblr. I still can't figure out how to comment there (there is an option to comment on Tumblr, isn't it?) I'm torn about this. On one hand, I subscribed to season 9 because I was sure that Spike will be there, in all 25 issues. OTOH, I realize that it would mean a painful arc and a lot of frustrations in fandom.
Right now I'm afraid that Joss spreads his verse too thin, that after Willow's and Spike's departure sales will drop dramatically. Hopefully it won't happen.
There is a way to comment on Tumblr! Unfortunately I usually post my comics thoughts on my secondary blogs, and Tunblr hasn't given us reply functionality on those yet. :/
I'm happy with what we've gotten so far of Spike, but I've been missing Dawn and Xander and we'll get so much more of them now. (although didn't they tell us a whole ago that Spike would be too busy on BS9 to get a spinoff?) And we're nearly halfway through and we've gotten quite a bit of Spike and Spuffy, so even if he's absent for a few arcs, I'm satisfied! ;) I don't think that sales will go down much more than the expected slow decline, though I do wonder how popular the two miniseries will be- I probably won't buy either one, tbh.
didn't they tell us a whole ago that Spike would be too busy on BS9 to get a spinoff?
I wonder if Spike mini is a replacement of Drusilla mini.
I don't think that sales will go down much more than the expected slow decline, though I do wonder how popular the two miniseries will be- I probably won't buy either one, tbh.
That's the problem. I don't feel the urge to buy these minis either. One of Spike's advantages is his subversive behavior, and a story about finding chards of the Seed can hardly give him a chance to subvert anything.
Yep. I mean, I'm All About Buffy. I like reading about Buffy, I like reading about her plots and character interactions. There have to be a lot of interesting characters I already like in a spinoff to appeal to me (one of the reasons why I haven't picked up Angel and Faith other than the Harmony issue!), and Spike alone can't carry a series enough for me to invest in them. Without strong characters (like Angel or Buffy) around to give him emotional resonance, I doubt it'll be as enjoyable.
(Though if they'd taken Xander and Dawn along for this miniseries, I'd be eagerly awaiting it. I look forward to some of those interactions later in the season, hopefully!)
I'm a bit cautious about Spike's mini, mostly because I don't know anything about the writer. I'd prefer Jane Espenson to write the mini, but, apparently, she's busy.
I wish that it'd be Jane Espenson, too, but I've seen enough people in fandom alone write a beautiful Spike to be cautiously optimistic about an untested writer trying him.
Allie has a good grasp of characters?! Oh god, I really don't think so. I don't think he even likes Buffy and he seems to see her as an immature brat, and he doesn't get the Buffy/Spike relationship at all. His comment that Buffy has "since he got his soul back, treated Spike alternately as her closet confidante, and as a dog"... he must have been watching some other season 7.
After Joss called Buffy irresponsible for being roofed at a party, I've stopped looking at writer interviews as part of how I read the text because they get me so upset. But what Allie lets through does seem to present Buffy accurately to me, so I'm going with that instead. Idk, he said those things and I thought that the series would reflect them, but it hasn't? So I conclude that his interpretation of what he's approving is different from mine (or he's just crowd-pleasing), but it's still a good grasp.
I don't remember Joss calling Buffy irresponsible? He said the opposite when the interviewer asked him about people being upset at Buffy for being irresponsible (that was when it was believed she got drunk at the party and had a blackout), and he replied that people might think differently when they learn the actual circumstances. Allie said that she chose to get drunk and that the result of her "poor choices and lack of foresight will take us far into the season" (back when we didn't know that she was actually roofied).
But what Allie lets through does seem to present Buffy accurately to me, so I'm going with that instead. I'm not sure what you mean?
I think that first of all that they should wait until they have all the facts and they’ll learn stuff that they didn’t know before. They should find out what happened before they completely judge her. But at the same time, this is also about the time in your life when you do things that are irresponsible, or that you want to hold yourself to account for. (x)
The fact that there was even an implication that Buffy might've done something irresponsible when there was still a strong suspicion that she was date-raped was incredibly upsetting to me. And I know that Joss is playing word games, but those weren't really okay word games imo.
And...yeah, that's my point. I don't include what the writers say in my mindset of how I read the comics anymore, just the facts of it. If Joss wants to tell the world about this great story he wrote about empowering abortion and the comics readers are reading a book in which (while the metaphorical implications remain) the actual abortion was invalidated by a plot device, so be it. I'll enjoy my metaphor and ignore the media blitz.
And I mean what I'm saying in that sentence. Frex, I don't care if he says that Buffy treats Spike like a dog, as long as the works that he is editor of contain in-character explorations of Spuffy being alternately snarky and supportive, I'm going to look at him as someone who understands them. He's seeing it through his lens, perhaps, but the outcome is the same. And that's okay with me. I can show you thirty fans who'd read Dead Things differently and sympathetic to different characters, but they all would still call it in character...
I actually just made a post about this same development here. (ETA: And just now, another one! :D) I like the idea of Spike leaving because I think that both characters need some time to establish other things that are going on in their lives- and after Spike confronts Buffy with his feelings in #7, the romance of it all is now the elephant in the room. And while they both might want that at some point, Buffy isn't necessarily ready for an "all-in" romantic relationship while there's so much left to figure out- and it isn't fair for either of them for Spike to hang around just waiting.
I'm glad that they're giving them time apart because that means that the writers aren't just pandering to shippers- they're taking the relationship seriously enough to allow for other plot and relationship (Scoobies in particular, but also Kennedy, Koh, Buffy's roommates...) growth outside of it first. I'd be very disappointed if this whole season were just about Buffy and Spike's relationship!
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Right now I'm afraid that Joss spreads his verse too thin, that after Willow's and Spike's departure sales will drop dramatically. Hopefully it won't happen.
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I'm happy with what we've gotten so far of Spike, but I've been missing Dawn and Xander and we'll get so much more of them now. (although didn't they tell us a whole ago that Spike would be too busy on BS9 to get a spinoff?) And we're nearly halfway through and we've gotten quite a bit of Spike and Spuffy, so even if he's absent for a few arcs, I'm satisfied! ;) I don't think that sales will go down much more than the expected slow decline, though I do wonder how popular the two miniseries will be- I probably won't buy either one, tbh.
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I wonder if Spike mini is a replacement of Drusilla mini.
I don't think that sales will go down much more than the expected slow decline, though I do wonder how popular the two miniseries will be- I probably won't buy either one, tbh.
That's the problem. I don't feel the urge to buy these minis either. One of Spike's advantages is his subversive behavior, and a story about finding chards of the Seed can hardly give him a chance to subvert anything.
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(Though if they'd taken Xander and Dawn along for this miniseries, I'd be eagerly awaiting it. I look forward to some of those interactions later in the season, hopefully!)
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I'm a bit cautious about Spike's mini, mostly because I don't know anything about the writer. I'd prefer Jane Espenson to write the mini, but, apparently, she's busy.
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I wish that it'd be Jane Espenson, too, but I've seen enough people in fandom alone write a beautiful Spike to be cautiously optimistic about an untested writer trying him.
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http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2562628385364540098&postID=8761455612759837006
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(And no one there mentioned that, as per standard comics policy, 85% of fandom will hate it regardless of characterization and ship! :D)
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But what Allie lets through does seem to present Buffy accurately to me, so I'm going with that instead.
I'm not sure what you mean?
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I think that first of all that they should wait until they have all the facts and they’ll learn stuff that they didn’t know before. They should find out what happened before they completely judge her. But at the same time, this is also about the time in your life when you do things that are irresponsible, or that you want to hold yourself to account for. (x)
The fact that there was even an implication that Buffy might've done something irresponsible when there was still a strong suspicion that she was date-raped was incredibly upsetting to me. And I know that Joss is playing word games, but those weren't really okay word games imo.
And...yeah, that's my point. I don't include what the writers say in my mindset of how I read the comics anymore, just the facts of it. If Joss wants to tell the world about this great story he wrote about empowering abortion and the comics readers are reading a book in which (while the metaphorical implications remain) the actual abortion was invalidated by a plot device, so be it. I'll enjoy my metaphor and ignore the media blitz.
And I mean what I'm saying in that sentence. Frex, I don't care if he says that Buffy treats Spike like a dog, as long as the works that he is editor of contain in-character explorations of Spuffy being alternately snarky and supportive, I'm going to look at him as someone who understands them. He's seeing it through his lens, perhaps, but the outcome is the same. And that's okay with me. I can show you thirty fans who'd read Dead Things differently and sympathetic to different characters, but they all would still call it in character...
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