#37 First Report
Full Spoilers: Bottom line -- not cake; but also not broccoli
Also important: Allie prints a long and thoughtful letter from a Spuffy fan. It's the only one in the letter page. He replies as thoughtfully as he can. I'll let folks make of his response what they will -- but that letter is great. It presents the pro-Spike position very well, so I'm glad it's there for all the world to see.
ETA: It's a good day for us, but can we be a bit temperate -- especially with the icons? Thanks!
First reaction: Can I say just how much I love my vampire?
Plot stuff: (1) Saga Vasuki hauls Willow in for a talk. That's why Willow was passing out. If the seed is removed, which is what Twilight wants, the gate opens wide and the earth is destroyed so the new world can live. An alternative, which she thinks either Spike or Giles will figure out, is that if the seed is destroyed in place, it'll bottle everything up -- breaking the connection between the planes. The result would be that witches would lose their power; vampires and slayers would keep theirs, but no new ones would be called. The world would be cutting itself off from something it needs. (But the new universe wouldn't get in either). So Willow zooms back saying PROTECT the seed. Don't let it out; don't smash it.
(2) They arrive in Sunnydale. War zone. Buffy goes flying in, with Spike hanging onto her butt saying "not alone you don't!" (My favorite panel -- more on this in a bit). The Scoobies want Willow to take them in. Buffy encounters the Master, who was expecting a vampire to come, but not Spike, the other one. He's rather dismissive of Twilight. The Master is anti-the new universe, which is "a soulless shell". He thinks Buffy has brought Spike as protection for the new universe (I think). But Spike says he's not protection, he's distraction. Then Buffy (who had been knocked down by the Master) springs back up and clobbers him big time. Spike stands there and sighs "my hero".
(3) Giles has some plan, with Faith as a part of it. He's probably going to go in and try to destroy the seed.
(4) Angel is already war weary. He defers explaining to people why the world is destroyed. (And BtW, we get a panel of just how destroyed the world is. The only way this can be made right dramatically is for either Buffy or Angel to die. I mean the world is shredded). As he sits there gathering steam to keep helping, the animals come back. They tell him it'll be a big fight alright, and that his work isn't nearly done. It turns out, they were voices from the new world speaking to Angel before the real verse was born. It materializes as the lion from Buffy's NFFY dream, calls Angel father and tells him that he will finish what he started.
Spike/Spuffy: Squee? Given that Buffy's heart belongs to Angel, this is as good as it could possibly get.
(1) In the page after the preview page, we have Buffy telling Spike about how she got swept up in things but wasn't out of control. Spike says he's the last person anywhere who'd want to hear it. He looks sad. She touches him on the shoulder and says that he's the guy she can always tell everything to. Then she flashes to a fantasy of kissing Spike, and zones out while he finishes explaining to her about how to save the world.
(2) Spike calls her on zoning out. She says it's after effects. He says it's no mystery who she was thinking about. She lets him think she's thinking about Angel.
(3) He suggests she go to bed. He means to get rest. Her mind jumps to an image of her making love with Spike in bed. He goes off to let her get some rest and she wonders why her brain's turning into cinemax.
(4) I still love the way Spike repeats the cork metaphor to Xander.
(5) Arrive in Sunnydale. Spike's getting his ship ready to go into the major battle going on in the hellmouth. (Military and demons). Spike calls for Buffy and Willow to go forward. She goes flying in and Spike jumps on her "Not alone, you don't". Did I mention that I love this panel? She's flying in like a bullet. He's got his arms around her waist.
(6) She's thinking to herself that she can feel that the war ends here one way or another. Then she thinks Spike's totally touching her butt. (The image doesn't have him groping. He's still wrapped around her waist hanging on. So this is her having naughty thoughts again all on her own.)
(7) They arrive, and Spike's all "whoa, did I do this." And she tells him he sure did.
(8) I already told you the part where the Master assumes Spike is there to protect the new universe, but he's really there for distraction. And he calls Buffy his hero.
So... Buffy may heart Angel the bestest, but he's off pitching in to help clean up the MAJOR destruction he caused (and already getting tired of the fight), while Spike is rolling with the emotional punch and being useful. And Buffy's thinking of him. I'll have more to say about this in a bit. But I think we're totally in "she can't tell us apart" land. Angel got there first, and got the big swoon. But Spike's the one who fights with her and gets her. This time around Angel gets the earth-shattering sex, while Buffy dreams of more tender love making with Spike (in an image that calls back Surprise). See the switch there? She can't tell them apart. But the whole plot says she should. The Master also mistakes Spike for Angel, and again that's a mistake.
The rest is plotty mcplot. I think the metaphor about fictional verses works well. Angel, Willow and Giles are all set up for the betrayal. So if it's coming out of the blue that leaves Spike, Xander and Dawn. Gives me a headache to think about.
Will post soonish with reactions, though you've already got some here. Did I mention that I love my vampire?