Buffy #37: Miss Kitty Fantastico Twilight Strikes Back.

[moscow_watcher]

First of all, I want to apologize to Scott Allie for not trusting him. I admit, I was wrong thinking that he could destroy the dynamic between Buffy and Spike. #37 proves that he can write vintage Spuffy: sexual tension between characters is palpable on every panel. Thank you, Mr. Allie! The issue made me swoon, laugh, go "awww", twist my brains

Comments

[angearia]

Great review, Elena! Nice to read your perspective.

What's even more curious - Twangel arc in season 8 echoes crucial moments in the journeys of the majority of AtS regulars. Angel is corrupted with power and becomes what he hates, like Gunn in season 5; Angel creates a catastrophe by trying to prevent it, like Wesley in season 3; Angel involuntarily becomes a father of an entity that wants to ruin our world and create a new one, as Connor in season 4. So I guess, in a broader sense, it's Joss' take on AtS, uncensored and unlimited.

Yep, I found that interesting, too.

[moscow_watcher]

Thank you, Emmie!

It feels like 2003 again. I'm very nervous for Buffy. I want to read more schmoopy fics where she is happy.

I don't want to push you - but is there any chance of reading the next chapter of TYSK soon?

[angearia]

Hi Elena! I meant to come back and reply earlier but it somehow got away from me. I've been kinda overwhelmed with running the Bechdel Test ficathon and I still need to edit the chapter.

Actually, I've been hesitant to post because the next part of the story has a complex plot that's a hard to convey and I want to make sure it makes sense. You wouldn't maybe be interesting in beta reading, would you?

♥

[moscow_watcher]

Emmie, I'll gladly read the chapter and give you my thoughts on it. I can't be a full-fledged beta, but I will be happy to give you my ideas, if you explain me what you're aiming at and how you see the characters' journey.

♥

[infinitewhale]

From what I've read, the fantasy pages are all Joss and he oversaw the dialogue of the rest. So basically it was more like the TV show in the way it was written. Still, it was better than expected, I agree.

"It wasn't our fault." -- "Nobody says it was, except me right now in your face."

I still kind of wonder if it this part isn't also in Buffy's head. It's hard to tell when the fantasy starts but it can't, IMO, be just that page because Spikes attitude before and after doesn't add up. I think the fantasy might have started on the previous page when her eyes started to wonder off. Though it would be a weird thing to fantasize about.

Hard to say if Spike knows - he could know and he could have told Buffy when she was daydreaming about sex with him.I think he does--or at least his plan isn't to protect the Seed. He's interrupted twice to prevent us from hearing his plan by Buffy's daydream and Willow fainting, so I think it's safe to assume his plan will not be the same as Buffy's. It also sets the triangle up at opposite corners

[moscow_watcher]

Nice review. :)

Thanks!

Also, somewhat random, I wonder if another flashback or something is in the works? Buffy appears to be in her final clothes, but the pants aren't the same as in the Soon panel, though they match the betrayal panel. Also I think Spike's shirt is different.

I thought about it too! I asked Jeanty about it (currently he accepts questions at SlayAlive, so you may also participate you you're interested)

http://slayaliveforums.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=qa&action=display&thread=11787

That might be true for Buffy, I guess, but for the reader? I think it would be a fail considering all the betrayal we've seen him commit in the run.

The phrase about "the closest, the most unexpected", written by Joss in #10, was intended for Buffy's ears. Later the editors exploited it shamelessly to tease fans - but the actual comic doesn't call the betrayer "the closest, the most unexpected" in the later issues.

[infinitewhale]

"the closest, the most unexpected" in the later issues.

True, but it was said once and we can see it has a pretty serious reaction from Buffy, so it must be pretty big. Of course it's a little presumptuous to think that she's crying because of the betrayal and not the consequences of it.

Spike is a wild card in this situation.

I think he's there as a symbol more than anything. He flies in in his fancy ship representing technology and education (and will want to break the seed) vs Angel who represents faith and religion (and will want to remove it). Buffy is stuck between them (protecting) and has to choose one like in her dream. She'll choose Spike in the figurative sense, I'd guess.

Yes, these scenes sound very Jossian.

I'm guessing the Master's talk and the Twilight-Angel stuff at the end is Joss.

[larabeckinsale]

Spike and Angel have switched their traditional places in Buffy's love life; now Buffy's sex with Angel is destructive and wild, while her daydreams about sex with Spike have sweet and intimate vibe.

That's a nice observation, I didn't thought of shippy developments like that.

[moscow_watcher]

I didn't thought of shippy developments like that.

Thank you! I'm not sure that it was intentional - but I have a strong impression that Joss wants us to see Spuffy as love-friendship.

[ubi4soft]

Yay, good to read from you, again.

The Spuffy interaction, first 7 pages, written exclusively by Whedon, give me headaches: this is what Buffy wants/thinks about Spike? She wants him to be hurt by the space-frakking and in the mean time to forget it and go straight to the kissing/bed? Buffy dear, you just denied his self-respect and dignity in the Hellmouth ("No you don't, but thanks for saying it"). I agree with Allie here "this girl ain't right". Or she's having another Daniel Craig dream.

Sorry, I went below zero expectations.

The Master is dubious, looks more like a third party (magick related - protection of the seed) involved here. So we have protectors Buffy/Willow/Master/(Amy/Warren?), possible destroyers Giles/Spike/Faith/Xander/Dawn/general and Angel/Kitty-Twilight for the removal of the Seed. Probably there will be a tug-o-war over the Seed and it gets destroyed in the fight, nobody's fault directly. But when the magicks gone...

Can't wait for the next month!

[ubi4soft]

He was drawn with red eyes near vamp!Spike yellow ones and the font used for his speech is normal, not eeevil. I suspect somebody knows Buffy's dreams and fears, possible Amy and she's a witch.

[fenchurche]

I'm so glad I'm not the only person who didn't recognize him as the Master... if people on LJ hadn't been talking about it, I don't think it ever would have even occurred to me. Certainly not from context (appearance, reaction of other characters, etc.).

[moscow_watcher]

I think move of the characters seem OOC in this series, but Buffy most of all. She is hard to write, though, and without Sarah playing her my reaction is 'who is this whiny little horny girl'?

To me, the biggest OOC moment was bank-robbing. I can't see Buffy doing it without a very - I mean, VERY - strong necessity, like somebody's life and death hanging in the balance. I don't think she is OOC in space-frak scenes. She was under the influence, and I think she still is.

Spike seemed pretty much Spike. I liked his reaction to Buffy talking about the creepy space sex.

Agree.

But Allie's reply in the letter column has me pretty much dropping all of this. I'll probably get the next issue and finish the 'season'. Or not.

I actually think it was ballsy to publish the letter, and his reply is a big improvement as compared with his past remarks about Spuffy. Given how much hostility he has encountered in our fandom, it's amazing that he could bring himself to talk about it.

Looking forward to Lynch's Spike comicOh, yes. Sooo looking

[moscow_watcher]

*shrugs* I really don't know what to say here. Something like "beggars can't be choosers"?