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*That* line!
So, I’ve read a great number of posts about issue one of the ‘Season 8’ comics. Some like it, some hate it. But no one has done much about looking beneath the surface (and considering how short comics are, that’s not all that surprising). But me being me, I always - sooner or later - bring the meta. Even if it is just about a single line...
Enjoy!
(Cutting for the sake of spoiler phobes, but I think the line in question is rather neatly summed up by my icon! *g*)
Enjoy!
(Cutting for the sake of spoiler phobes, but I think the line in question is rather neatly summed up by my icon! *g*)
“Great muppety Odin, I miss that sex.”
Yes, it made me laugh. I can also see why it makes some people cross, because it seems to mock our beloved Spike, and what he and Buffy had.
And then, yesterday, I suddenly looked at it again and went - hang on! This is Joss. And this is an important line - not to mention seriously weird at the same time. Surely it’s not just there for comic relief? And then - I remembered that Odin is the God of death...
So, I hunted him down on Wikipedia and found out that he’s the god of a lot of other things too:
Odin (Old Norse: Ódinn) is considered the chief god in Norse mythology and Norse paganism.
His name is related to ódr, meaning "mind", "excitation," "fury" or "poetry," and his role, like many of the Norse pantheon, is complex: he is god of wisdom, war, battle, and death. He is also attested as being a god of magic, poetry, prophecy, victory, and the hunt.
Odin is an ambivalent deity. Old Norse (Viking Age) connotations of Odin lie with "poetry, inspiration" as well as with "fury, madness."Odin gives to worthy poets the mead of inspiration, made by the dwarves, from the vessel Ód-rœrir.
Odin is associated with the concept of the Wild Hunt, a noisy, bellowing movement across the sky, leading a host of slain warriors.
Consistent with this, Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda depicts Odin as welcoming the great dead warriors who have died in battle into his hall, Valhalla, which when literally interpreted, signifies the hall of the slain. These fallen, the einherjar, are assembled and entertained by Odin in order that they in return might fight for and support the gods in the final battle of the end of Earth, Ragnarök.
He is also a god of war, appearing throughout Norse myth as the bringer of victory. In the Norse sagas, Odin sometimes acts as the instigator of wars, and is said to have been able to start wars by simply throwing down his javelin Gungnir, and/or sending his valkyries, to influence the battle toward the end that he desires.
Ain’t that some interesting info? Most of which spells S-p-i-k-e to me... And you know what - I don’t think it’s coincidence. Not for one tiny little moment. Joss wants the comics to be considered canon, right? Well surely he’s doing his best to add some depth the the darn things!
Now the muppety bit is fairly simple... we have Count Dracula from The Muppets (obviously), as well as Angel turning into a puppet, both signifying the vampire element (not to mention that there'll soon be a comic with Spike as a puppet!) - and of course it also somewhat softens the great big serious warrior thing that Odin brings to the table. (Also - how incredibly cute would a Muppet Odin be? It really is a very funny line!)
So - there are layers, see? Buffy is thinking about her great fallen vampire warrior poet, and - being Buffy and the AR no longer being an issue at all, kthnx! - she misses the sex. ‘Cause you know - she never had it so good as him. Never.
And that is all the meta I can manage for now.
*bows*
ETA: I don't think Buffy knows much - if anything - about Norse mythology. It's pure meta - Joss using her odd turn of phrase to let us into her mind. It's sex with Spike the Champion (whom she loved) that she misses, not Spike the Convenient (whom she used).
Yes, it made me laugh. I can also see why it makes some people cross, because it seems to mock our beloved Spike, and what he and Buffy had.
And then, yesterday, I suddenly looked at it again and went - hang on! This is Joss. And this is an important line - not to mention seriously weird at the same time. Surely it’s not just there for comic relief? And then - I remembered that Odin is the God of death...
So, I hunted him down on Wikipedia and found out that he’s the god of a lot of other things too:
Odin (Old Norse: Ódinn) is considered the chief god in Norse mythology and Norse paganism.
His name is related to ódr, meaning "mind", "excitation," "fury" or "poetry," and his role, like many of the Norse pantheon, is complex: he is god of wisdom, war, battle, and death. He is also attested as being a god of magic, poetry, prophecy, victory, and the hunt.
Odin is an ambivalent deity. Old Norse (Viking Age) connotations of Odin lie with "poetry, inspiration" as well as with "fury, madness."Odin gives to worthy poets the mead of inspiration, made by the dwarves, from the vessel Ód-rœrir.
Odin is associated with the concept of the Wild Hunt, a noisy, bellowing movement across the sky, leading a host of slain warriors.
Consistent with this, Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda depicts Odin as welcoming the great dead warriors who have died in battle into his hall, Valhalla, which when literally interpreted, signifies the hall of the slain. These fallen, the einherjar, are assembled and entertained by Odin in order that they in return might fight for and support the gods in the final battle of the end of Earth, Ragnarök.
He is also a god of war, appearing throughout Norse myth as the bringer of victory. In the Norse sagas, Odin sometimes acts as the instigator of wars, and is said to have been able to start wars by simply throwing down his javelin Gungnir, and/or sending his valkyries, to influence the battle toward the end that he desires.
Ain’t that some interesting info? Most of which spells S-p-i-k-e to me... And you know what - I don’t think it’s coincidence. Not for one tiny little moment. Joss wants the comics to be considered canon, right? Well surely he’s doing his best to add some depth the the darn things!
Now the muppety bit is fairly simple... we have Count Dracula from The Muppets (obviously), as well as Angel turning into a puppet, both signifying the vampire element (not to mention that there'll soon be a comic with Spike as a puppet!) - and of course it also somewhat softens the great big serious warrior thing that Odin brings to the table. (Also - how incredibly cute would a Muppet Odin be? It really is a very funny line!)
So - there are layers, see? Buffy is thinking about her great fallen vampire warrior poet, and - being Buffy and the AR no longer being an issue at all, kthnx! - she misses the sex. ‘Cause you know - she never had it so good as him. Never.
And that is all the meta I can manage for now.
*bows*
ETA: I don't think Buffy knows much - if anything - about Norse mythology. It's pure meta - Joss using her odd turn of phrase to let us into her mind. It's sex with Spike the Champion (whom she loved) that she misses, not Spike the Convenient (whom she used).
no subject
But I can't help thinking that it tastes like depreciating SpikeBuffy relationship.
no subject
But maybe we can give Joss a chance to redeem himself as the story unfolds. Maybe she already knows he's alive? That would make it a little different, (if still not really better)? Again, with the straw grasping.
At one point this weekend, I thought I should stay away from the comics altogether. We'll see. I think though, that any new storylines will keep the fandom going, and can be manipped by fanfic authors into anything we want, since I doubt he'll do anything truly destructive. Whether or not I'll read more of the new "canon" firsthand remains to be seen.
no subject
no subject
Those who love S/B will make it happen by sheer force of will (and imagination) alone, if we have to, regardless of what they do in the new comic canon. Fists and fangs, all the way, just like Spike.
no subject
I love how you talk about them.
We already followed a torturous and sometimes agonizing trail when we started falling for Spike and Buffy together , now my armor is made of gold and platinum ..maybe a little thinner around the heart yet I should be able to take arrows. :)
no subject