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s8 retrospective.
So, the final issue. I think this warrants something a bit more than the usual, don’t you? After having thought about it, I decided to do a ‘reaction post’ to all the major arcs/revelation in s8, using gifs. Well, my reactions. Can’t speak for other people. And to start us off, here’s my reaction to the fact that we’ve finally come to the end…
I don’t really want to do any kind of meta, so I shall quote![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shadowkat67, who summed things up rather beautifully: The whole thing reads like fanfic - Alternate Universe fanfic. It does not feel like a true continuation of the story nor does it organically appear to flow from it. What it feels like is a big What-if Scenario that intrigued Whedon for it's thematic questions/implications, which Whedon appears to still be interested in.
I think that’s pretty spot-on. s8 is nothing more than Meltzer’s fanfic that Joss decided to OK. Personally I think this was a monumentally stupid idea that’s a done a lot more harm than good, but hey-ho, that’s life. But waffling is boring – let the gif party commence!
(Notes: I’ve not read #40 yet, so there are no spoilers. Although if you want to talk about it, please do.)
So, the beginning. Helicopters and castles and mysterious symbols and giant Dawn etc etc. It was intriguing but I wasn’t exactly… hugely impressed. Hence Jack being all ‘Darn it!’ and me (Ianto) being all ‘Whatever. I’ll wait and see.”
Then there was the threesome panel… And we liked that Precious. Yes we did.
The Faith arc… Sorry.
Buffy the Bankrobber reveal:
(It was after this that I decided that the story was irredeemable. There was nothing they could have done to fix it, except have the whole thing be a dream/Buffy being possessed.)
And then the Buffy/Satsu lovin’...
(For those not familiar with Torchwood I should probably point out that in this scene Owen is actually watching girl-on-girl action. (Alien pheromones at work.) I thought it rather appropriate.)
Which brings us to my favourite part of s8 hands down: Xander/Dracula. (Doesn’t make sense, obviously, but unlike the rest it’s awesomness squared!)
Followed by Fray & timey-wimey-ness and Buffy killing Willow and quite frankly my head just couldn’t take it any more. (I'm rather fond of that little thing called logic):
Hmmm. I should probably say something about ‘Always Darkest’, shouldn’t I? Cause that was pretty fun. Although… THIS is how you do slash:
(Just ask Gwen.)
Anyway, shortly after that I stopped reading (it was the evil toy kittens that did it) so I’ll just skip ahead to the Twilight reveal and the spacefrakking and sentient universes etc etc. My reactions went in this order:
And then it all went completely silly and stupid and Spike showed up (and was IN CHARACTER OMFG!). So. Just because this is one of the most brilliant gifs ever and I really want to use it, I will (and if I don’t laugh at s8 it’ll make me cry). Also s8 iS NOT CANON and Buffy dated this guy ("He's not my boyfriend. He's my lover.") and had a LOT of fun until they went their separate ways. You hear me?
All of which daft absurdity brings us to the end, which is where I get off since I doubt anyone’s going to pay me to read s9 (and they’d need A LOT MORE MONEY this time).
But - some good came out of it. I wrote a very silly fic:
The Girl in Question II. (Written before the bank robbing reveal.)
And I wrote a proper, genuine, almost-published essay:
BtVS Season 8: Please Mind the Gaps.
ETA: Oh, and then I wrote a fic for Barb's Nertz to you Joss Whedon!ficathon: Don’t You Want To Be Happy?
But you don’t care about all that I know. You’re here for one thing only, and that’s this guy here:
So long, and thanks for all the penguins!
I don’t really want to do any kind of meta, so I shall quote
shadowkat67, who summed things up rather beautifully: The whole thing reads like fanfic - Alternate Universe fanfic. It does not feel like a true continuation of the story nor does it organically appear to flow from it. What it feels like is a big What-if Scenario that intrigued Whedon for it's thematic questions/implications, which Whedon appears to still be interested in.I think that’s pretty spot-on. s8 is nothing more than Meltzer’s fanfic that Joss decided to OK. Personally I think this was a monumentally stupid idea that’s a done a lot more harm than good, but hey-ho, that’s life. But waffling is boring – let the gif party commence!
(Notes: I’ve not read #40 yet, so there are no spoilers. Although if you want to talk about it, please do.)
So, the beginning. Helicopters and castles and mysterious symbols and giant Dawn etc etc. It was intriguing but I wasn’t exactly… hugely impressed. Hence Jack being all ‘Darn it!’ and me (Ianto) being all ‘Whatever. I’ll wait and see.”
Then there was the threesome panel… And we liked that Precious. Yes we did.
The Faith arc… Sorry.
Buffy the Bankrobber reveal:
(It was after this that I decided that the story was irredeemable. There was nothing they could have done to fix it, except have the whole thing be a dream/Buffy being possessed.)
And then the Buffy/Satsu lovin’...
(For those not familiar with Torchwood I should probably point out that in this scene Owen is actually watching girl-on-girl action. (Alien pheromones at work.) I thought it rather appropriate.)
Which brings us to my favourite part of s8 hands down: Xander/Dracula. (Doesn’t make sense, obviously, but unlike the rest it’s awesomness squared!)
Followed by Fray & timey-wimey-ness and Buffy killing Willow and quite frankly my head just couldn’t take it any more. (I'm rather fond of that little thing called logic):
Hmmm. I should probably say something about ‘Always Darkest’, shouldn’t I? Cause that was pretty fun. Although… THIS is how you do slash:
(Just ask Gwen.)
Anyway, shortly after that I stopped reading (it was the evil toy kittens that did it) so I’ll just skip ahead to the Twilight reveal and the spacefrakking and sentient universes etc etc. My reactions went in this order:
And then it all went completely silly and stupid and Spike showed up (and was IN CHARACTER OMFG!). So. Just because this is one of the most brilliant gifs ever and I really want to use it, I will (and if I don’t laugh at s8 it’ll make me cry). Also s8 iS NOT CANON and Buffy dated this guy ("He's not my boyfriend. He's my lover.") and had a LOT of fun until they went their separate ways. You hear me?
All of which daft absurdity brings us to the end, which is where I get off since I doubt anyone’s going to pay me to read s9 (and they’d need A LOT MORE MONEY this time).
But - some good came out of it. I wrote a very silly fic:
The Girl in Question II. (Written before the bank robbing reveal.)
And I wrote a proper, genuine, almost-published essay:
BtVS Season 8: Please Mind the Gaps.
ETA: Oh, and then I wrote a fic for Barb's Nertz to you Joss Whedon!ficathon: Don’t You Want To Be Happy?
But you don’t care about all that I know. You’re here for one thing only, and that’s this guy here:
So long, and thanks for all the penguins!
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Yeah, it reads as bad fanfic, but I guess I'm always going to remain naively optimistic that it could get better. To misquote the immortal words of two gay cowboys, "I wish I knew how to quit Season 8!"
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And it's THE LAST ONE EVER! I'm almost sad...
Yeah, it reads as bad fanfic, but I guess I'm always going to remain naively optimistic that it could get better.
Well even if s9 was full of rainbow sparkles and unicorns I'd still not read it...
To misquote the immortal words of two gay cowboys, "I wish I knew how to quit Season 8!"
Heee! I found it very easy. (And then got lured in by someone waving money and published status under my nose... But it's all over now!)
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Oh and I saw your post! Am very impressed.
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this post is hilar and makes me want some Jack.
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You were VERY VERY WISE!!!! (Generally you should know *more* about the story once it's finished than when it started, y'know? This is not the case with s8...)
this post is hilar and makes me want some Jack.
Oh it's... 160 days until Torchwood S4? ;) Plus, thank you. It was a lot of fun to write.
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But Torchwood makes me a sad panda....
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Oh Lord, that. It took YEARS - and I mean that quite literally - before that went anywhere. ('Bout two years before there was an explanation I think. And then another year before she got back to normal size, although before that she was a centaur and a doll.) And the resolution was so insulting that I won't even talk about it.
(s8 is *filthy* reading. We will speak of it NO MORE!)
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Well you still don't - the comics are like bad!fic on crack. ;)
but \o/ for the gif party.
I couldn't help myself. Glad that you enjoyed!
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Thank you! :D
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This almost makes S8 worth... ehh not reading... reacting to maybe?
heheheh Awesome!!
Also, funny that when I first read it, the Dracula/Xander thing made me go WTF?? what crap it this? but in re-reead, I adore that arc.
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It's The IT Crowd. It's fabulous! :)
This almost makes S8 worth... ehh not reading... reacting to maybe?
Reacting is fun! Look at the pretty gifs!
Also, funny that when I first read it, the Dracula/Xander thing made me go WTF?? what crap it this? but in re-reead, I adore that arc.
I KNOW. And I actually care about Dracula, because he kicks ass. *cheers for Dracula*
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Honestly, it sounds like you enjoyed the parts I enjoyed ("What the slashy heck?" was my go-to line for months) except I also liked the bugs and I suspect I am alone there.
Comic shop opens soon...let's put this puppy to bed! You know, before it piddles all over the carpet. Too late!
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His name is Moss, and he's from a sitcom called 'The IT Crowd'. Here's a little taster. :)
Honestly, it sounds like you enjoyed the parts I enjoyed ("What the slashy heck?" was my go-to line for months) except I also liked the bugs and I suspect I am alone there.
I LIKE THE BUGS! THE BUGS ARE AWESOME! SPIKE SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE MINIONS!
Comic shop opens soon...let's put this puppy to bed! You know, before it piddles all over the carpet. Too late!
...much like s8...
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Also, I thought I was alone in liking the bugs! Love the bugs!
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Back to business as usual. Though, the freedom of knowing I will never read nor speak about Buffy comics ever again makes me feel a little dizzy.
Thanks for making it fun, especially when it really wasn't.
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Oh I know. Which is why I thought I'd better make a special effort...
Back to business as usual. Though, the freedom of knowing I will never read nor speak about Buffy comics ever again makes me feel a little dizzy.
Me too! What *bliss*!
Thanks for making it fun, especially when it really wasn't.
My pleasure. I can't even remember *why* I chose dancing Barrowmans, but I am so pleased I did, he was perfect... <3
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Maybe one day.
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That said, I understand you very well. :(
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(And you're quite right about s8! *nods wisely*)