Yeah, I Got Issues With What's Going Down, Among Other Things

[eilowyn]

Something has been bothering me for a while.

And it's not about certain fanboys who use twitter as their own direct line to tattle to the comics writers about how awful those evil, maniacal Spuffies are being. It's also not about that certain fanboy's website, where the bloggers there don't realize that their exclusive interviews serve the fandom at

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[fenderlove]

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[fenderlove]

Sorry, it should read to replace the [ with a *<* without the asterisks. :D

[slaymesoftly]

So much good stuff here. First - Season V was all about the potential of Spike/Buffy. I love it. It's probably the first viable season for a Spuffy fic - one that doesn't require some suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader. I can't say I thought it was all about Buffy and Angel in later seasons. I thought Buffy really did care for Riley, and she didn't act all that in love with Angel when he showed up there. There was history, but nothing that screamed "I'm only with this guy because I can't have you." And we have her own words in season 7 "Why does everybody think I'm still in love with Spike?" Hello? Still? Anyway, I've got to say, yeah, the comic book people totally don't get it. They don't get the characters, and they don't get why we care about them. Although ff.net wouldn't be my first choice for pointing someone towards good Spike oriented fanfic (how about All About Spike?), I do think pushing those numbers in the publisher's face would be a really good idea. Both DH and IDW could stand to know exactly how many

[eilowyn]

Yeah, ff.net was chosen for arbitrarily for the amount of fanfic there - and because it's the first place I could think of that wasn't so character or shipper-centric. Any other mass archive could have tendencies towards a certain crowd, even if they were for general fics, so ff.net seemed the best option. And, admittedly, ff.net is where I found Holly's "Echoes" as one of the first Spuffy fics I read. I used her link to go to other links, and found all the other archives out there, but it all started with finding Holly on ff.net.

[slaymesoftly]

*nods* Yes, a general archive would definitely be the way to go. "Look how many more people there are who care enough about Spike to write about him than there are who feel that way about Angel."

I've never read much at ff.net because I was looking for Spike fic when I first started scanning the internet for stuff to read. But then, I was already pretty character-specific in my desire to read BtVS centered stuff.

[fenderlove]

Come join me in Make-Up-Your-Own-Pairingville. It's a happy place. Pregnant ex-dancer versus Slayer who can't make up her mind? Hmmm... *pushes Ursula and Spike into a closet and locks them in* XD

Also, can we have a Spangel Survival Kit? Like could it come with a Claddaugh ring and a Death's Head ring? Could Spike and Angel have a little ceremony? :D

[eilowyn]

I think the Spangel Survival Kit would come with a Cup of Perpetual Torment. You could even serve Mountain Dew out of it!! And the Spander Survival Kit would have a Hawaiian t-shirt. And a little bag of graham cookies named "Nummy Treats." Or you could get both, drink the Mountain Dew, eat the Nummy Treats, and get a really big sugar high.

[fenderlove]

Speaking of merchandising, I remember the Buffy Tarot Cards DarkHorse tried to release, but had to snuff out due to (unconfirmed) conflicts with certain actors and/or actresses who did not like how they were being represented on the cards and who did not like being portrayed on an occult item.

Jo Chen does lovely art, but I think whoever decided which characters were going to be on the cards we were shown should have done a little more research into what each card meant.

[eilowyn]

Some fan somewhere did a Buffy tarot deck out of images and screencaps from the show. I found it pretty cool, even if Buffy and Angel were on the "lovers" card, but it still was kinda neat to see what people were posted as. Then again, did tarot cards really feature much in the 'verse other than in Drusilla's rambly foreshadowing? I can't recall a time they were used other than What's My Line.

Do you have a link to the cards that were produced? I'm sure Jo did a lovely (if busty) job, and would have loved to see someone like Tara on the priestess card (based purely on the card's name, so I may be acting as ignorant as the DH people).

[sockmonkeyhere]

You know what, Dark Horse? Gimme a Supernatural Defense Kit WITH A FUCKING SKULL RING, and I will totally pay a shitload of money for your stupid pandering product, because it would mean you actually give a damn about the Spike fans.*dies laughing; cheers* :D

[infinitewhale]

The comic books are merchandise and sadly, Fox, with the help of a clueless UPN, never capitalized on the moneycow that Spuffy was, so there's no real precedent for DH (who are all about $$) to give S/B any play because they're trying to go with what they know used to work. This is much of the case, I think, 'cause Joss doesn't care about ships, he cares about ratings/sales despite all his prattle about giving fans what they need, not what they want. When he used to talked to Spuffies, he was positive about them. Bangels, same thing. IMO, it really comes down to what they think is going to sell books.

Which is dumb because most polls from S7 onward pretty well showed that S/B was the predominant ship in the 'verse at that time, and probably still is. Maybe they think that because Spuffies tended to be older, they wouldn't take interest in comics. I don't know.

and if it turns out there isn't any glowhypnol involved in the space fucking, Buffy's completely regressed to the point of unrecognizability. I don't see regression in comic

[eilowyn]

You know what would sell a shitload and I'd actually beg my parents to buy me buy?

A 'Chosen' Spike and Buffy maquette. Y'know, with the whole flamey hands of destiny, and Spike glowing from something other than glowhypnol, and Buffy's tears at finally admitting she can love someone again, her tears of pride in Spike and tears because she's already feeling his loss . . . it is one of the single most beautiful images in the entire show . . . and I wants it.

I wants that AND MY FUCKING SUPERNATURAL DEFENSE KIT WITH A FUCKING SKULL RING.

Oh, and word to the OOC Buffy - this is Male Fantasy Buffy, complete with Excessive Cleavage (tm)! But my point is that such behavior may not have been as far OOC from season 2 Buffy. Or maybe Male Fantasy Buffy has her own regression issues?

[slaymesoftly]

WORD!