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shadowkatBeen reading my correspondence list last two nights.
Friday, I wondered if people had gone just a little bonkers over memes. I mean one or two isn't a big deal, but scrolling back four days - it was meme, after meme after meme for at least 50 some posts over the course of three days. Hmmm. Are you bored? One does wonder. I tried one or two of theme, but found I really don't like multiple choice questions - too limiting, what if how I do stuff isn't listed? (Which happened in basically all the memes with multiple choice questions - I'd read the choices and think, uh, none of the above? Actually, come to think of it, have always despised multiple choice - I find the answers annoyingly limiting and I often disagree with them. Plus, the dyslexia thing makes the whole enterprise somewhat wonky. I honestly think I would have done much better in school if they did not have multiple choice tests and everything was essay. I certainly did very well in the courses in both law school and undergrad that were all essay and papers. Write I can do. Guess which stupid letter is the correct one and hope I didn't put a b down when I meant to put a, annoying. Actually, was discussing this with a colleague at work recently and have long held the belief that the problem with our educational system is that they assume everyone learns the same way. That there is "ONE" way to teach people and if you can't learn that way, then you aren't smart. No. Sorry. There are multiple ways of learning. Some people learn very well by lecture method and can memorize anything - photographic memories, other's learn best by touch, hands on learners, while still others need to interact with the information - make it concrete. If school came easily for you, you probably learn the standard way. ie. You aren't necessarily smarter than everyone else, you just happen to be lucky that our educational system caters to the way you learn. Luck man, it's 90% of the equation.) Also the whole icon meme does not work if you only post three icons. I suppose I could do mulitple pairings of Dru/Aeryn Sun/Illyria - those are the only three I post. That and a butterfly one I snagged from atpolittlebit, which wouldn't make any sense. I don't make icons, don't know how/don't have the patience or time, I just steal them from other people.
Not a bad day. Quite productive over all. Cleaned my apartment. Mopped the kitchen floor, so that the tiles are now clean and sparkling, vaccumed, arranged books on the shelves, put my PC back together, and threw out more junk. When I told Wales about this and explained how my cruddy apartment was getting on my nerves. She informed me that of all her friends, I was the only one who seemed to care about keeping my apartment tidy. (Had to bite my tongue a bit, considering Wales, love her as I do, is suffice it to say, a slob. Please note, I am not a neat freak. I have clutter. I stack things. And yes there are dishes sitting in my sink with water in them. Which I will put away shortly. And I do dump clothes on a chair or a trunk. Wales on the other hand, dumps her clothes on the floor, tapes on the floor, leaves cigarettes in glasses, has been known to keep dirty dishes in the sink for two days, and has cats who she does not always clean up afterwards. I have allergies to mold and dust and I cannot breath in her apartment.) Actually, part of the reason people don't clean is they don't spend much time in their apartments - they use them to dump stuff, sleep, and that's it. Me? I need a space for myself. A retreat. And if it's cruddy, I get depressed. I need a place I can control, you know?
Anywho, after cleaning everything, made myself a nice healthy, gluten free, sugar free lunch. You'd have been proud. (Maybe not, not sure who reads this journal and who doesn't on flist? And to be honest, flist probably doesn't know which ones I read, since I rarely comment, mostly because by the time I get around to reading the entry, it's four days old. And well, everyone's already commented and said what I wanted to say. Saying something would be, you know, sort of redundant. There are other reasons, but you already know them, so won't bore with them. Been enjoying the personal entries the most lately, the personal tidbits about what people are doing in their lives, their struggles, their accomplisments, their pain. Finding myself nodding, thinking, yeah me too. Silent agreement, you know? ) The lunch was blue corn super nachos - basically blue corn chips with shredded cheddar ( I shredded it since the prepacked stuff has gluten as a separator, yes the stupid things they put additives in. Did you know they put peanut oil in Healthy Choice Minute Maid OJ? Ugh.), Amy's refried beans (no hot spices or peppers, the traditional brand) heated. A little fresh shredded parmesene. And Amy's mild salsa (very mild) and guacamola that I made myself with chopped onion, chopped tomato, chopped avocado and a little lime. Very tasty and filling. For dessert? A few slices of mango. The cravings for sugar on Thurs and Friday - put down to period coming, it arrived Friday. (Weren't you just dying to hear that? Won't bore you with any more details on that topic.)
Then I ran to meet Wales, was running late since needed to head back indoors to get a belt for my shorts which are hanging on me now. Interesting factor - I show up almost fifteen minutes late, and Wales starts hunting for a phone to call me( possibly because I'm rarely late and she's used to finding me waiting for her), when Wales was running almost 30 minutes late last week, I patiently waited, did not hunt a phone at all. Either I am more patient than Wales or she's used to coming and seeing me waiting for her and worries if I'm late. I'm anal about things that Wales isn't. Which is one of the reasons I like Wales.
We wandered up to Montague to go to the promenade. We'd planned on seeing Asylum today, but as luck would have it, the movie scampered off. Damn. Of course the 40 year old Virgin, Wedding Crashers and The Aristocrats were still there. Wales stated that she's decided people are deeply stupid. And she is going to be an elitist snob and doesn't care what people think. When I queried her about this (not that I disagree, mind you ), she told me about the stupid creationist/evolutionist debate. I rolled my eyes, and thought, what again? We both hail from Kansas City so are familar with some of it. We, however, lucked out and did get taught evolution in school. We also got the biblical history lesson. (For me it was the history of the Hebrews in Fifth Grade - literally studies the Old Testament as a history lesson in the fifth grade, as the history of the Ancient Hebrews. And yes, I went to a public school. ) Personally I can't think of anything more stupid than this whole debate. People - I want to say - has it ever occurred to you that maybe "God's" concept of time and yours is not the same? Tad arrogant to think it is, don't you think? Honestly, I don't see why it has to be an either/or gambit. But hey, I also don't understand why people are so hyper about "canon". I think as I grow older I fall more and more into the perceiving category and less and less in the judging one. I don't like being boxed in. I like possibilities. Which may be some of my frustration with my current occupation, it's heavily procedural oriented and into rules.
Regarding the whole canon deal and fanfic. Just read Peter David's "approved" story about Spike and Halfrek, called Old Times. Not that good actually. And if you are a canon freak, some of the author's liberties will bug you. Actually if you are a canon freak or nit-picky, I do not recommend. Stay Away. Stay Away.
The story didn't track for me and I could care less about canon. Didn't mind the liberties overly much. Was a little disappointed in the writing and art though...seemed off. Can't quite put finger on how. To be honest all the comics on the series and novelizations feel off to me. Or softened? Like the characters and dialogue have somehow lost their edge? I don't care much whether or not they follow the so-called canon of the tv series - because to be honest the tv show didn't follow its own established canon half the time, tv shows generally don't. They go off track. Especially serials. Why? Because the writers forget what they wrote, assuming you have the same frigging writers and don't get new ones. Time constraints. Actor availability.
And other things outside their control. Was reading an interview with Rowlings, who admitted she hadn't re-read her previous novels and worked from notebooks with back-story. The creator does not have the time or inclination to re-read obsessively their own work to the extent that their fans do. They miss stuff. They are human.
Not robotic machines. So whenever I see someone whinging about canon on line, whether it's the tv show's own writers failing to stick to it (yes, I've seen lengthy debates on this and yep, right there with you if you think this is crazy) or a fanfic writer, I roll my eyes and think, oh for heaven's sake, get a grip. Or methinks you may have too much frigging time on your hands. Actually methinks we all have too much frigging time on our hands - we need jobs that physically exhaust us not emotionally deaden and bore us.
The world has become a matrix of deadening desk jobs, where people sit on their buns all day long, staring at a computer screen or on the phone or at paperwork. Bored. Chattering. Doing time. Can't help but think going outside and trying to grow stuff or hunting or churning butter or milking a cow or exploring wild territory might have been a better pursuite. Than sitting here examining as my brother would put it our collective navals.
Speaking of which - there's a documentary out called A Century of Self or I think that's the title, too lazy to look it up at the moment, but would like to see it. The doc basically discusses how marketing has controlled and developed our current cultural awareness. That it in a nutshell created a century of chronic individualism and me-centeredness. The independent "I" as opposed to the interdependent "we". Delves into how people used marketing propaganda as far back as 1940s to create the mob mentality behind Hitler in Germany.
See, I told you Marketing was an evil occupation. You did not believe me. The Vampires of the mind and mood.
Your cravings? Marketing induced. Your fears? Marketing. Your desires? More marketing. The doc also apparently shows how this has in a way made culture more conservative and resistent to change or evolution. Please note, I have not seen the doc, I'm just reitering a review I read of it in a cheesy entertainment magazine.
Anywho, back to the Spike One Shot review, the story I felt was weak. Spike comes across as preachy in it and well, this is Spike. Spike without a soul, no less. Spike preaching to Halfrek how vengeance doesn't pay?
Just didn't quite track for me. Spike with a soul? Maybe. Spike without a soul? Odd. There's a bit of confusion about when the story takes place. My hunch in S6 sometime. Possibly after Spike and Buffy broke up, maybe on Spike's way to get a soul. That would make sense, since the whole soul journey was meant to take place out of time synche with everything else at the end of that season. Unless of course you think Spike can make it to Australia or Africa in the blink of an eye. Can't be S5 Angel, since Halfrek is dead by then. Other possiblity is sometime between Buffy's birthday party (which Halfrek refers to as Dawn's, didn't bug me, since that would make sense, Halfrek might have thought it was Dawn's since that was her focus at the time, Dawn), and As You Were. Except if that were the case - damn Peter David for not using the opportunity to fill in the gap on the demon egg storyline and instead boring me with a by the numbers tale about Spike attempting to save a bad poet from Halfrek. There's a couple of ironic twists here and there, but nothing major.
Regarding the art? The cover and the first five panels are excellent as are the last five or six. Middle group, so-so. Not sure why. Felt too smooth in places, too polished, too neat. But that's subjective mainly.
Do I recommend? Only if you are a Spike fan and are interested in Halfrek (which I am on both counts). Otherwise? Skippable.
Saw Punisher tonight, the Tom Jane version. Much better than I expected. Was pleasantly surprised. Very violent.
Graphic violence and torture. If that stuff squicks you? Avoid. Example - they show a mother and son being run over by a car and an entire family gunned down during a reunion. I had to look away during one sequence.
The story however gripped me and it said some interesting things about vengeance and how we inadvertently create our own worste enemies. The set-up is not the same as the comic. What happens to the character here is much much worse than what happened to him in the comic. In the comic his wife and son witness a mob hit and are gunned down at a picnic for being witnesses, he did nothing to cause it. Here, an FBI sting he's running inadvertently kills a mob boss's son, and the mob boss's wife orders her husband to kill the Punisher's entire family which they do, graphically. What I liked about the movie was there are three quirky characters in a rooming house with the Punisher that befriend him and help him. No romance, which was good. Also how he goes about getting vengeance on the mob boss is actually sort of innovative. The character is shown to be very bright, and very dark, sort of scarey. Much darker than Bale's Batman was and brighter. Plus, the DVD extras are sort of cool. There's one that focuses on the origins of the character or the history of the comic book character. In this bit, we learn that the Punisher originated as a villian in a Spiderman comic. Then, became a flawed hero, or hero/victim. Somewhat crazy. Not superpowered. Using guns. The comics often fell outside the "approved comics code" and were crime stories. Similar to classic detective comics or adult noire fiction. The hero a true vigilante, even more so than Superman or any of the other customed heroes. They show the origins with artwork from the actual comic books and interview the writers, artists and editors who worked on them from the beginning to today. Fascinating even if you aren't into comic books. The other cool featurette is on poster art and how one creates movie poster art. Best two featurettes seen on a DVD in a long time.
I recommend the Punisher with the caveat that it does contain graphic violence. No nudity. No sex scenes. Just graphic violence. Including torture. If this bugs you, you should avoid. If not, worth a rental.
Okay, off to bed. Tired.
Friday, I wondered if people had gone just a little bonkers over memes. I mean one or two isn't a big deal, but scrolling back four days - it was meme, after meme after meme for at least 50 some posts over the course of three days. Hmmm. Are you bored? One does wonder. I tried one or two of theme, but found I really don't like multiple choice questions - too limiting, what if how I do stuff isn't listed? (Which happened in basically all the memes with multiple choice questions - I'd read the choices and think, uh, none of the above? Actually, come to think of it, have always despised multiple choice - I find the answers annoyingly limiting and I often disagree with them. Plus, the dyslexia thing makes the whole enterprise somewhat wonky. I honestly think I would have done much better in school if they did not have multiple choice tests and everything was essay. I certainly did very well in the courses in both law school and undergrad that were all essay and papers. Write I can do. Guess which stupid letter is the correct one and hope I didn't put a b down when I meant to put a, annoying. Actually, was discussing this with a colleague at work recently and have long held the belief that the problem with our educational system is that they assume everyone learns the same way. That there is "ONE" way to teach people and if you can't learn that way, then you aren't smart. No. Sorry. There are multiple ways of learning. Some people learn very well by lecture method and can memorize anything - photographic memories, other's learn best by touch, hands on learners, while still others need to interact with the information - make it concrete. If school came easily for you, you probably learn the standard way. ie. You aren't necessarily smarter than everyone else, you just happen to be lucky that our educational system caters to the way you learn. Luck man, it's 90% of the equation.) Also the whole icon meme does not work if you only post three icons. I suppose I could do mulitple pairings of Dru/Aeryn Sun/Illyria - those are the only three I post. That and a butterfly one I snagged from atpolittlebit, which wouldn't make any sense. I don't make icons, don't know how/don't have the patience or time, I just steal them from other people.
Not a bad day. Quite productive over all. Cleaned my apartment. Mopped the kitchen floor, so that the tiles are now clean and sparkling, vaccumed, arranged books on the shelves, put my PC back together, and threw out more junk. When I told Wales about this and explained how my cruddy apartment was getting on my nerves. She informed me that of all her friends, I was the only one who seemed to care about keeping my apartment tidy. (Had to bite my tongue a bit, considering Wales, love her as I do, is suffice it to say, a slob. Please note, I am not a neat freak. I have clutter. I stack things. And yes there are dishes sitting in my sink with water in them. Which I will put away shortly. And I do dump clothes on a chair or a trunk. Wales on the other hand, dumps her clothes on the floor, tapes on the floor, leaves cigarettes in glasses, has been known to keep dirty dishes in the sink for two days, and has cats who she does not always clean up afterwards. I have allergies to mold and dust and I cannot breath in her apartment.) Actually, part of the reason people don't clean is they don't spend much time in their apartments - they use them to dump stuff, sleep, and that's it. Me? I need a space for myself. A retreat. And if it's cruddy, I get depressed. I need a place I can control, you know?
Anywho, after cleaning everything, made myself a nice healthy, gluten free, sugar free lunch. You'd have been proud. (Maybe not, not sure who reads this journal and who doesn't on flist? And to be honest, flist probably doesn't know which ones I read, since I rarely comment, mostly because by the time I get around to reading the entry, it's four days old. And well, everyone's already commented and said what I wanted to say. Saying something would be, you know, sort of redundant. There are other reasons, but you already know them, so won't bore with them. Been enjoying the personal entries the most lately, the personal tidbits about what people are doing in their lives, their struggles, their accomplisments, their pain. Finding myself nodding, thinking, yeah me too. Silent agreement, you know? ) The lunch was blue corn super nachos - basically blue corn chips with shredded cheddar ( I shredded it since the prepacked stuff has gluten as a separator, yes the stupid things they put additives in. Did you know they put peanut oil in Healthy Choice Minute Maid OJ? Ugh.), Amy's refried beans (no hot spices or peppers, the traditional brand) heated. A little fresh shredded parmesene. And Amy's mild salsa (very mild) and guacamola that I made myself with chopped onion, chopped tomato, chopped avocado and a little lime. Very tasty and filling. For dessert? A few slices of mango. The cravings for sugar on Thurs and Friday - put down to period coming, it arrived Friday. (Weren't you just dying to hear that? Won't bore you with any more details on that topic.)
Then I ran to meet Wales, was running late since needed to head back indoors to get a belt for my shorts which are hanging on me now. Interesting factor - I show up almost fifteen minutes late, and Wales starts hunting for a phone to call me( possibly because I'm rarely late and she's used to finding me waiting for her), when Wales was running almost 30 minutes late last week, I patiently waited, did not hunt a phone at all. Either I am more patient than Wales or she's used to coming and seeing me waiting for her and worries if I'm late. I'm anal about things that Wales isn't. Which is one of the reasons I like Wales.
We wandered up to Montague to go to the promenade. We'd planned on seeing Asylum today, but as luck would have it, the movie scampered off. Damn. Of course the 40 year old Virgin, Wedding Crashers and The Aristocrats were still there. Wales stated that she's decided people are deeply stupid. And she is going to be an elitist snob and doesn't care what people think. When I queried her about this (not that I disagree, mind you ), she told me about the stupid creationist/evolutionist debate. I rolled my eyes, and thought, what again? We both hail from Kansas City so are familar with some of it. We, however, lucked out and did get taught evolution in school. We also got the biblical history lesson. (For me it was the history of the Hebrews in Fifth Grade - literally studies the Old Testament as a history lesson in the fifth grade, as the history of the Ancient Hebrews. And yes, I went to a public school. ) Personally I can't think of anything more stupid than this whole debate. People - I want to say - has it ever occurred to you that maybe "God's" concept of time and yours is not the same? Tad arrogant to think it is, don't you think? Honestly, I don't see why it has to be an either/or gambit. But hey, I also don't understand why people are so hyper about "canon". I think as I grow older I fall more and more into the perceiving category and less and less in the judging one. I don't like being boxed in. I like possibilities. Which may be some of my frustration with my current occupation, it's heavily procedural oriented and into rules.
Regarding the whole canon deal and fanfic. Just read Peter David's "approved" story about Spike and Halfrek, called Old Times. Not that good actually. And if you are a canon freak, some of the author's liberties will bug you. Actually if you are a canon freak or nit-picky, I do not recommend. Stay Away. Stay Away.
The story didn't track for me and I could care less about canon. Didn't mind the liberties overly much. Was a little disappointed in the writing and art though...seemed off. Can't quite put finger on how. To be honest all the comics on the series and novelizations feel off to me. Or softened? Like the characters and dialogue have somehow lost their edge? I don't care much whether or not they follow the so-called canon of the tv series - because to be honest the tv show didn't follow its own established canon half the time, tv shows generally don't. They go off track. Especially serials. Why? Because the writers forget what they wrote, assuming you have the same frigging writers and don't get new ones. Time constraints. Actor availability.
And other things outside their control. Was reading an interview with Rowlings, who admitted she hadn't re-read her previous novels and worked from notebooks with back-story. The creator does not have the time or inclination to re-read obsessively their own work to the extent that their fans do. They miss stuff. They are human.
Not robotic machines. So whenever I see someone whinging about canon on line, whether it's the tv show's own writers failing to stick to it (yes, I've seen lengthy debates on this and yep, right there with you if you think this is crazy) or a fanfic writer, I roll my eyes and think, oh for heaven's sake, get a grip. Or methinks you may have too much frigging time on your hands. Actually methinks we all have too much frigging time on our hands - we need jobs that physically exhaust us not emotionally deaden and bore us.
The world has become a matrix of deadening desk jobs, where people sit on their buns all day long, staring at a computer screen or on the phone or at paperwork. Bored. Chattering. Doing time. Can't help but think going outside and trying to grow stuff or hunting or churning butter or milking a cow or exploring wild territory might have been a better pursuite. Than sitting here examining as my brother would put it our collective navals.
Speaking of which - there's a documentary out called A Century of Self or I think that's the title, too lazy to look it up at the moment, but would like to see it. The doc basically discusses how marketing has controlled and developed our current cultural awareness. That it in a nutshell created a century of chronic individualism and me-centeredness. The independent "I" as opposed to the interdependent "we". Delves into how people used marketing propaganda as far back as 1940s to create the mob mentality behind Hitler in Germany.
See, I told you Marketing was an evil occupation. You did not believe me. The Vampires of the mind and mood.
Your cravings? Marketing induced. Your fears? Marketing. Your desires? More marketing. The doc also apparently shows how this has in a way made culture more conservative and resistent to change or evolution. Please note, I have not seen the doc, I'm just reitering a review I read of it in a cheesy entertainment magazine.
Anywho, back to the Spike One Shot review, the story I felt was weak. Spike comes across as preachy in it and well, this is Spike. Spike without a soul, no less. Spike preaching to Halfrek how vengeance doesn't pay?
Just didn't quite track for me. Spike with a soul? Maybe. Spike without a soul? Odd. There's a bit of confusion about when the story takes place. My hunch in S6 sometime. Possibly after Spike and Buffy broke up, maybe on Spike's way to get a soul. That would make sense, since the whole soul journey was meant to take place out of time synche with everything else at the end of that season. Unless of course you think Spike can make it to Australia or Africa in the blink of an eye. Can't be S5 Angel, since Halfrek is dead by then. Other possiblity is sometime between Buffy's birthday party (which Halfrek refers to as Dawn's, didn't bug me, since that would make sense, Halfrek might have thought it was Dawn's since that was her focus at the time, Dawn), and As You Were. Except if that were the case - damn Peter David for not using the opportunity to fill in the gap on the demon egg storyline and instead boring me with a by the numbers tale about Spike attempting to save a bad poet from Halfrek. There's a couple of ironic twists here and there, but nothing major.
Regarding the art? The cover and the first five panels are excellent as are the last five or six. Middle group, so-so. Not sure why. Felt too smooth in places, too polished, too neat. But that's subjective mainly.
Do I recommend? Only if you are a Spike fan and are interested in Halfrek (which I am on both counts). Otherwise? Skippable.
Saw Punisher tonight, the Tom Jane version. Much better than I expected. Was pleasantly surprised. Very violent.
Graphic violence and torture. If that stuff squicks you? Avoid. Example - they show a mother and son being run over by a car and an entire family gunned down during a reunion. I had to look away during one sequence.
The story however gripped me and it said some interesting things about vengeance and how we inadvertently create our own worste enemies. The set-up is not the same as the comic. What happens to the character here is much much worse than what happened to him in the comic. In the comic his wife and son witness a mob hit and are gunned down at a picnic for being witnesses, he did nothing to cause it. Here, an FBI sting he's running inadvertently kills a mob boss's son, and the mob boss's wife orders her husband to kill the Punisher's entire family which they do, graphically. What I liked about the movie was there are three quirky characters in a rooming house with the Punisher that befriend him and help him. No romance, which was good. Also how he goes about getting vengeance on the mob boss is actually sort of innovative. The character is shown to be very bright, and very dark, sort of scarey. Much darker than Bale's Batman was and brighter. Plus, the DVD extras are sort of cool. There's one that focuses on the origins of the character or the history of the comic book character. In this bit, we learn that the Punisher originated as a villian in a Spiderman comic. Then, became a flawed hero, or hero/victim. Somewhat crazy. Not superpowered. Using guns. The comics often fell outside the "approved comics code" and were crime stories. Similar to classic detective comics or adult noire fiction. The hero a true vigilante, even more so than Superman or any of the other customed heroes. They show the origins with artwork from the actual comic books and interview the writers, artists and editors who worked on them from the beginning to today. Fascinating even if you aren't into comic books. The other cool featurette is on poster art and how one creates movie poster art. Best two featurettes seen on a DVD in a long time.
I recommend the Punisher with the caveat that it does contain graphic violence. No nudity. No sex scenes. Just graphic violence. Including torture. If this bugs you, you should avoid. If not, worth a rental.
Okay, off to bed. Tired.
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no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 10:32 am (UTC)And, I suppose, it could be argued that Spike was aware of the bar before NFA or he wouldn't have known to go there for a poetry reading
Was it the greatest thing I've ever read-no-but we have a number of the graphic novels at work and this is much, much better IMO. The artwork is certainly of a much higher quality.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 05:28 pm (UTC)I own quite a few graphic novels actually and trust me when I say this falls in the middle range, not necessarily mediocre, but certainly no where near the level of Frank Miller, Neil Giamen's artist (who can't remember off-hand), Jae Lee, Alex Cross (I think that's his name, he did Kingdom Come), Alan Moore's artists on Killing Joke. Being a bit of a fan of the graphic novel, I am pickier than most. Also, have a little bit of a fine arts background.
In regards to the Buffy Comics? Definitely better than most of them, but then I really don't like most of the artwork in the Buffy/Angel comics I've seen. Tales of the Vampires? Was a mixed bag. Fray? So-so. Serenity? Better than expected, actually like the art in that one. Tales of the Slayers? Mixed bag.
But this is a subjective thing.
Loved the cover though - bought the one with the artisitc rendering not the photo shot of Marsters.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 06:15 pm (UTC)The timeline doesn't bug me so much as the characterization and dialogue.
Spike, as the actor put it recently, is a tough character to portray or write - because he doesn't always appear to have an objective. For an actor that is the gas pedal to portraying a character, same goes for writing one. The first question you ask yourself when you develop a character is "what is his objective here?" "What motivates him?" "And how does this move the story forward?" Since Spike is written as a trickster character whose objective tends to be how to obtain pleasure and fun without dying, often doesn't even think about it, just does - very hard to write well. He's the type of character you have to intuite more than
anything else. Which is why I love him but can see him being a bitch to write and very few people outside of his creators have managed it.
David for reasons that escape me has chosen to give Spike a conscience in this story - which works fine, if it takes place after he got his soul. (Which I'm okay with, I can ignore that Halfrek died. And this takes place out of time.) But if it takes place in S6 as you state above? Spike's characterization is somewhat jarring. Spike is "too" nice in this story and far too "preachy" in it. The last sequence in the orphanage simply did not work for me.
I'm not saying Spike is "necessarily" evil in S6, more ambiguous. Ambgiuity is not always an easy thing to pull off and I'm not sure that David did. Again, the story felt off for me. Jarring in places. I honestly can't see anyone but a die-hard Spike fan enjoying it.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 10:44 am (UTC)Personally I was under the impression that the story was set in LA during or even after Ats S5, and the author didn't know that Halfreck was dead (he didn't know that Vengeance demons channel their power through a necklace/pendent thing after all). But it isn't worth trying to figure out because it is sort of out-of-the-time-line no matter how you look at it.
And how funny is it that I have nothing much to say about education, be it multiple choice or creationism, but the Spike comic is something I have thought a lot about?
no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 05:56 pm (UTC)On the other hand - the art was much better than the artwork in the Spike and Dru graphic novel, which was simply horrid in places.
Regarding the timeline - according to others online, see petzepellingo's comment above, it's supposed to take place during S6. I had even read that view before reading the comic, but like you - it felt more like S5 Angel, characterwise and timewise, even though Halfrek was still alive.
Spike just felt more like the Spike in Angel than the one in Buffy, and since the writer was only allowed to refer to Angel characters and the Angelverse not the Buffyverse - it makes more sense to be in that timeline, even though everyone online is declaring S6. Found the story to be somewhat jarring and these things usually don't bug me.
Serenity on the other hand - damn good comic, both artwise and storywise. Was disappointed not to find the latest issue. Course Whedon is writing it and I sometimes think the creator of the verse does a better job with the dialogue than other folks. Have you ever noticed that all of Whedon's characters talk with the same quippy short-hand slang and how hard that would be for someone who hasn't spent a lot of time around Whedon or immersed themselves in it to replicate? His dialogue has a distinctive rhythm to it - that I've been noticing when rewatching the Firefly series.
He undercuts dramatic scenes with quips. Snarks a bit. Says something one writer, such as David, might used six sentences for, with one line. "You think" or "Gone". Truncation is his hallmark. And when I read other writers writing the characters at times, I notice the dissonance. Myself included. Which may be one of the drawbacks of reading or writing fanfic.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 06:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 07:09 pm (UTC)I will continue to believe, like Drew Goddard (who is a total Buffy fan boy, says this in his commentary on the BtVS S7 DVD), that Cecile didn't become Halfrik until AFTER the night William was turned.
I also really love the 'Serenity' comics, and I am thrilled that Joss manages to put so much action and character development in so few words, leaving plenty of room on the page for beautiful art work (none of which looks CGI to me). But I'll admit that I also really loved Fray, Tales of the Vampire, and Tales of the Slayer (I've never liked any of the other Buffy or Angel comics however).
I have been looking up the comment about Brett Michaels, who is really Brett Matthews (and gets credit on the front of the Serenity comics); Actually it is the reverse: Brett Matthews helped Joss Whedon write a movie script for 'Serenity' which Universal didn't want and Joss had to write a new one. So Joss took that movie script, the one Brett Matthews helped write, and adapted it to comic book form. So I'm pretty sure the pithy writing which we have also seen in The Astonishing X-men (which I also really love) is Joss'. article by Sci-fi wire: http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?category=0&id=31043
no subject
Date: 2005-08-29 10:10 am (UTC)Sorry for the name confusion in my first comment.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 01:51 pm (UTC)I'm the kind of person who, even though late for work will grap the dustpan to sweep the kitchen or a wet cloth to rub down the surfaces. This is especially when I am anxious about the world - it's astonishing the length of time I can live with an unhoovered carpet when I'm feeling at ease with the world. But when everything is out of joint I start getting the compulsion to clean, clean clean.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 06:00 pm (UTC)And they always left the dishes in the sink, never cleaning. Three of us took turns doing it, because it drove us bonkers. Same with vaccuming.
I don't like messes, I suppose. I feel an urge to step in and clean them up. Which may be why I'm good at my job - constantly cleaning up messes.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 03:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 05:41 pm (UTC)"Explain to them (being the kiddies) that vengeance isn't pointless and empty, even though their parents would probably disagree - provided they had any. Explain to them that people sufferin is commendable just because they or their ancestors made a stupid mistake. Better yet show them your good work, right here, right now! Take lenny out yourself . Zap Him. Transform him. Kill him with a wave of your hand. "
Okay, considering I'm one of the people who thinks of Spike as ambiguous not necessarily "evil" without a soul, even I found this speech out of character. This is the same guy who decimated an orphanage.
So, if people are right - and it takes place in S6, the speech is just odd. No one without a soul would give that sort of speech. If it takes place after he got a soul - then well, you have to consider it out of time and alternate universe story. David doesn't tell you which at the outset. And that's a problem. The speech just didn't work for me and it's just one example - and I'm normally not that picky about these things.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-28 06:45 pm (UTC)