And yet another kitchen sink post...books, comics, tv..and kindle

[shadowkat]

1. Amazon Kindle and why the printed book is here to stay....I've come to the conclusion that the Amazon Kindle works better for online content such as fanfic, and reviews, and word files converted to plain text - then for books per se. I may be wrong about this. We shall see. After twenty minutes with amazon.com kindle support - I finally got Black Magic Sanction delivered to my kindle. The mix-up was due to a computer error - apparently there was an error in the date - the one I bought was due to be delivered to my kindle in 2029. (yeah right). Computers are infallible and frustrating creations. The other problem I'm having - is amazon's computers have decided to create two accounts for me - one for my kindle and one for everyone else. They don't recognize each other and refuse to be combined. And I have two different last names. And now two passwords. Ugga Bugga. I told the customer service rep that I could basically get any content on my kindle but Amazon, which sort of foiled the purpose of the thing. He laughed. Now that I have it - I sort of miss the hard-cover, with the pretty cover and
the page numbers. Amazon does not have page numbers - just percentage...to tell you how far you are. Also you can't skip ahead as easily. No flipping to the end to see what happens. Dang it.

The book is the newest Kim Harrison novel about Rachel Morgan - a kickass witch who has teamed up with a kickass female living vampire to run a private investigation firm. She's tough, savvy, and vulnerable. It's a female noir mystery paranormal series with a female heroine.

2. Struck out in regards to Changes by Jim Butcher - which I'd also ordered from Amazon for my kindle but Amazon and Penguine are sniping over prices. (Amazon was selling the thing for $9 while Penguine had priced it at $25. This is a side-effect of the price-guageing war going on between Amazon and Walmart - which Stephen King recently reported on in EW. In which hard cover best-sellers are being sold at $8-9 or more than 75% off market price. Note - publishers make their money off best-sellers. They need that money to buy and sell lesser known works. Can't say I blame Penguine for being pissed. But I really hope they pulled the books from Wallmart - because fair is fair.) Anyhow - I went to Target to hunt it down after work today, but to no avail. It's not there. I gave up. Waste of trip. Will have to buy at Barnes & Noble after church and small group on Sunday.

It's pathetic - I know. But I only look forward to and enjoy two published books each year - Rachel Morgan and Harry Dresden. Unlike most of these types of books - the characters push the plot, are engaging, and the story gets better with each novel, as well as more complex. (I wish I could say the same of Janet Evanovich and Patricia Cornwell - who got repetitive and paint by numbers by the fifth or sixth novel. Some writers get better as they go, others get lazy and sit on their laurels. The ones who get lazy and sit on their laurels, often achieved success too quickly and got big-headed or they just got lazy. I have no patience for lazy professional writers.

3. Off to watch Lost. Although have remarkably low expectations. The last few episodes have been lacklustre at best. But - it does feature Desmond - which means we might get an explanation of the Sideways verse finally. Lost seems to be more interested in chasing its own tale lately then actually providing answers. Considering there's only 6 episodes left, I wish they'd get on with it, and stop revisiting things I already know. Show me what I don't know.

4. Before I do watch Lost...quick question for those still reading or who have recently given up on the Buffy Comics: Do you think the Buffy Comics jumped the shark? And if so, why or if not, why not??? I'm actually more interested in the why not's, to be honest. Because it really looks like the comics jumped the shark in Retreat and kept on going...to me. Sure I can see the themes and big picture stuff as easily as the next person, but I don't care about that stuff.And to be honest? Do you guys care about it? Does anyone outside of the writer? Actually that's an interesting question in of itself - do you care more about the characters and story, or do you care about the message/theme? And what will make you stop reading - a message that you find offensive/enrages you or something regarding the characters that feels OCC or doesn't work or that they aren't the characters you like or you start to despise them? OR are you like me and it is a bit of both - but really, the characters...if the characters don't work, if they no longer work for you or fit how you perceive them...do you stop reading or watching? What signifies "jump the shark" in your opinion? What does that term mean for you? And does it apply to the Buffy comics??

[ETA: this is one of those situations in which the comments are far more interesting than the actual post. And the majority of the comments interestingly enough all agree on one thing - the posters dislike the term 'jump the shark' or don't believe it applies, regardless of whether or not they got fed up with the comics..]

Comments

[local-max.livejournal.com]

On the comics: longish post to say, for me, not jumped. I might change my mind later. As some background, I generally enjoyed the series up until "Retreat"; there were some dissatisfactions in some of the arcs, and some of the one-shots were clunkers, but overall I came away feeling good.

Now, "Retreat." I actually didn't hate any of the issues in the arc. But they didn't quite work, either, with the possible exception of the third, which is itself rushed. The first issue's huge jumps around narratively confused me. The second issue's werewolf backstory generally bored me, though it was nice to reconnect with Oz (even if adding more characters to the story was a bad move overall). The third one was too brief, and didn't need to be narrated by Andrew, but its essential emotional points seemed true to me. The last two issues were big-battle stuff and not done very well, because Espenson et al. didn't set up the stakes very clearly. So yes, I found "Retreat" to be weak.

BUT right now--I still do like the characters. I find it moving that Buffy still struggles with her Otherness even in a world she's changed so that she wouldn't have to be Other and alone. Her attraction to humanity and Xander on the one hand, and power and Angel on the other. The temptation to escape from the difficulty of having to yield the power she has sensibly, trying desperately either to give it up entirely or give herself over to it.

And I feel like I'm slowly coming to understand Willow's story this year, in a way that I don't know how to articulate. I might write about it eventually, if I can get my thoughts in order. Willow does bad things, and half-acknowledges them, because there's a sense that, knowing what she's capable of, she's stopped trying to control her fate: she thinks she's on the path to damnation, and to being killed by Buffy in the future, but is too scared to do anything. She's a force, not a person, and it takes Oz' unconditional trust and hugely down-to-Earth advice (you could get a donor!) to convince her that there is an independent her left, and even that is temporary.

I liked Turbulence and Twilight, Part One. I liked the character comedy and drama of the former, with the ambiguities (do we take Xander's assessment of Buffy's feelings at face value? or Buffy's assessment of the unhealthy age difference between him and Dawn?). I liked the latter's mythology bomb, and the revelation about Buffy sucking powers from other slayers, and the way it ties in with Buffy's fears about her power and her superiority/inferiority complex. And as for Twilight, Part 2, with the Angel reveal--I honestly don't know how I felt about it when I read it. Shocked, I think--but not angry. The fandom reaction afterwards was so overpowering that I barely remember my own feelings. I don't think I was concerned that Buffy was being ruined, or that Angel had been whitewashed.

Which is why I think I'm going to try (even though I just got an lj!) to stay away from fandom for a few days when the next issue comes out--because I feel like it's difficult for me to enjoy the issue (or, if I hate it, hate it properly) with all the reactions online.

Of course, there are aspects that are not leaving me satisfied. Besides Buffy, Willow and Xander, I don't quite know where characters' heads are. I don't really know where Dawn's headspace has been since "Living Doll," and I think playing Xander/Dawn almost entirely from Buffy's perspective was a mistake. The "Predators and Prey" arc did not lead well into "Retreat" at all, and Amy and Warren have been used to so little effect that I can't imagine why it was worth bringing them back as villains at all, especially Warren. (I had assumed that Warren's return was going to lead to a deeper exploration of Willow's dark side, especially as he immediately reminded her of that act--but that didn't lead anywhere, and time is running out.) Some characters, like Andrew, Giles and Faith, I feel like I largely understand but there are significant gaps. And obviously even with the main characters there are huge chunks of information missing, infamously like why Buffy was driven to rob banks. But I hope I've detailed a few reasons why I'm still enjoying them.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

What a well-thought out, and wonderful response. You have brilliantly detailed the things that I like and dislike about the comics and managed to change my mind a bit about them. Kudos. No one else did.

Her attraction to humanity and Xander on the one hand, and power and Angel on the other. The temptation to escape from the difficulty of having to yield the power she has sensibly, trying desperately either to give it up entirely or give herself over to it.

I think you've managed to articulate and hit the theme that the author/Whedon is exploring spot on. This is what I believe Whedon is interested in and what he attempted to write with his Wonder Woman screenplay. And it is admittedly why I am still hanging in there.

I can, however, see the other perspectives. And I remain uncertain that Whedon's theme works for Buffy. If the desire to take the story he'd meant for Wonder Woman and put it in Buffy while understandable, was a good idea. It is however, the reason I think he choose to do the Buffy comics. Remember - he agreed to do Buffy immediately after the Wonder Woman film was scrapped and his screen play along with it.

The fandom reaction afterwards was so overpowering that I barely remember my own feelings.

This is admittedly my difficulty as well. I enjoy the fandom. It's quite creative and incredibly sweet, if not nutty at times but aren't they all?
And I rather adore fanfiction. (have you seen the all penguine Buffy verse?) So there's that.

BUT...fandom admittedly does influence my perceptions. Partly because I can see more than one point of view. And am regrettably invested in some of the characters...more than I like to admit. But if I weren't you would see few posts on Buffy, or you would - but they'd be more like my Lost and BSG and Caprica posts - lacking passion. Plus, I doubt I'd still be reading the comics if it weren't for the fandom. It's sort of the snake eating its own tail in a weird way that I can't quite explain.

Also, fandom admittedly affected how I initially saw S7. I found I loved the Season - much more than the fandom did - once the series was over and I was able to watch it without the commentaries and reviews. Lies My Parents Told Me is an example of an episode that I have interpreted five different ways - so far. With the fandom? I found it hard to watch and frustrating - even racist and misogynistic. Without the fandom - I adored it and thought it was brilliant and layered.
And? I admittedly liked issue 32 more than the fandom did. I thought the Buffy/Twilight bit was hilarious. I still do. Yet at the same time, in character - well to a degree. They had set it up...granted I'm not crazy about the issues in which they did it, but it was there - in Retreat through Turbulence - where we get the illusions to the bad werewolf who gives into his power vs. OZ who gives his up. And the whole Buffy wondering what it would be like to just give in to it. To let the power overtake her. Which is literally what she does in issue 32 - she lets the power overtake her. She gives in to it. The extreme opposite of what she did in Retreat - where she gave it all up.

You are correct, they should have shown the Xander/Dawn/Buffy thing from Dawn and Buffy's pov, not Buffy and Xander's. I may have bought it - if they'd done it a bit differently. As it stands, there's a creep factor in it, that I'm positive was not intended. And would not have been - if we'd seen more of it from Dawn's perspective.

At any rate - I think you may be correct that interacting with others prior to or while reading and watching something does affect how we perceive it. We may love it alone. But hate it with the crowd.

[local-max.livejournal.com]

Thanks! On my journal I wrote a bit about #34, mostly plotty bits. I was a bit worried my response was incoherent; I had a longer thing written about Willow in this season, but I deleted it after I realized that it didn't make any sense at all.

Someone pointed out the Xander/Angel comparison, I can't remember who anymore, so I can't take total credit for it. But yes--it's really neat, and does seem to be where the comics are going. I think you're right about the Wonder Woman script as well, which is a shame if Joss really did try to shoehorn it in. As you've mentioned before, to an extent he tried to shoehorn in aspects of Angel-as-Twilight into Dollhouse (via Boyd and Rossum). In some ways, I feel like Whedon has been overextended for years, and could maybe take some time to cool down, get his thoughts in order. But I've still liked most of his work, I just don't think it's on the same level as his best.

Re Oz and Munroe, giving into the wolf vs. ignoring it entirely: I think that the dichotomy is there, hopefully, for Buffy to subvert it, by neither giving up power nor giving into it fully. So take the path that is not Oz and not Munroe, but in between. That's part of what season seven was about--Willow and Spike can't refrain from using the power they have, but they can't give in fully and go dark because of it. It's why I've always liked "Get it Done."

I owe a lot of my thoughts and understanding to fandom. The subversive elements, the themes and resonances, the nuances, the numerous references of some episodes to others--I wouldn't have seen them without reading posts about it. So there is that. I feel like I'm a bit better at picking things up than I used to be, but intelligent posts still bring me a lot futher along. The negative side is there as well. I read one or two review sites back when I was watching season seven, and they were mostly positive, which matched up with my view of the show. Then a few episodes before the end, I read, I think, an article by Jaime Weinman called "Why Spike Ruined Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which, besides its rather controversial central thesis *g*, also took a hardline stance that the show has been generally terrible. I explored online some more, and found that reaction to the season had been very negative. And it was suddenly harder to enjoy it, because I was suddenly watching the show that the negative reviews had described, as opposed to the show I had been watching and enjoying. Now I feel that it's a good season, but not as strong overall as 2-6. But it's taken time for me to sort that out.

Oh--and I didn't mention this in my first thing, but I dislike the term "jump the shark" also. But then...there are shows where it's hard to use any other term. "Heroes" is one, for me. At the time, I really disliked Veronica Mars' third season, but I suspect now with a little more distance I could probably appreciate it more.

[local-max.livejournal.com]

ETA: on Dawn, in "Turbulence" Buffy calls Xander a pedophile, so the creep factor is acknowledged, it's just uncertain whether that's intentional or just lampshading. Either way, the buildup to X/D was pretty good I thought (in "Anywhere But Here" and "Time of Your Life" especially), there just hasn't been much since they got together.