Wowee...

[fenderlove]

I just had the worst day of substituting ever. I don't know if I can do this much longer.

On a positive note, I think my "10 Things that Don't Make Sense in the Buffyverse" may be my most popular post EVAH. :D I came home to a massive inbox of comments for me to reply to... Oh, I'm totally going to do the "Epic List of EPIC Fails and WTFery in Season Eight" when it wraps up in #40. XD

Comments

[diebirchen.livejournal.com]

Oh Geeze! v Subbing is the pits!!! The kids know you don't know who they are and feel free to vent their inner asshole-osity. It varies widely from grade to grade and school to school, but still . . . condolences.
signed,
English teacher

[fenderlove.livejournal.com]

They were first graders. Honestly, I understand that small children crave structure and routine, but sweet Mary and Joseph, I thought I was going to lose my ever-loving mind. Every word out of my mouth was met with "BUT MISS KATIE DOESN'T DO IT LIKE THAT!" I tried to explain to them that sometimes you have to do things differently and that's okay and that Miss Katie would be back tomorrow and she could show them her way to do things but no. They had to launch into great confusing EPIC rambling detail about how Miss Katie does things (which I sincerely doubt is how she actually conducts her classroom unless she's insane). Also, trying to make first graders understand that a sentence should never be "Them went to the store" is impossible.

Also, I had a mother verbally assault me after school had let out. Her son went to the wrong "zone" on purpose (we have loading zones where parents/daycares pick up children or where the kids go to after-school activities) to hang out with his friends and left his mother waiting for him. The office staff reminded his mother that he had done this twice before, but apparently the mother thought it was all my fault even though I have no way of knowing who is supposed to go where on which days and it's her son's responsibility not to deliberately go to the wrong place.

[infinitewhale.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm totally going to do the "Epic List of EPIC Fails and WTFery in Season Eight" when it wraps up in #40

A more challenging venture would be an attempt find 10 things that *aren't* epic fails and wtfery in the comics. :)

[fenderlove.livejournal.com]

More challenging, yes, but the snark would probably just refer back to what a sad, sad thing all the majority of the comic spent in fail... and that wound defeat the purpose of trying to write the not-fail things. Haha! :D

[infinitewhale.livejournal.com]

Snark is the only positive thing to come out of those things, this is true.

Not much snark after the last one, though. I hope people haven't moved on to being too disinterested to even make fun of them yet.

[fenderlove.livejournal.com]

I will never run out of snark for everything. I've actually tried to become somewhat better natured (still snarky) about it so that I don't lose my mind from being filled with rage. I do honestly hope that people who have found a "second wind" with the comics don't wind up being disappointed or disheartened because I think that they've tried harder to find joy than I've done to find snark... Mostly because my snark is my first nature. XD

[infinitewhale.livejournal.com]

I do honestly hope that people who have found a "second wind" with the comics don't wind up being disappointed

Me, too. I've looked but I just can't see what they do and can't help but think of the pony in the dung heap. All the effort I've seen trying to find ways to tie it back to the series and I'm like, "Joss forgot Warren was the First. And he WROTE Warren as the First. So I'm seriously doubting he's put as much thought into this as you just have."

Then I feel guilty. But I still think it.

[fenderlove.livejournal.com]

Joss forgot Warren was the First.
That was one of the first big OH-NO moments in the comics for me. I had such a sinking feeling at that.

I also feel that no matter what happens in the final 4 issues, even if it's magical gold that manages to give every fan exactly what they ever wanted from the show, the ends will never justify the means, that's like a fundamental of every hero's journey ever. I dare Joss Whedon to give me what I want because it will never ever happen, and I accept that. It would be so different if the story had been interesting so far even if it had a few missteps.

[infinitewhale.livejournal.com]

I had such a sinking feeling at that.

Same here. It's not like that was an insignificant thing you could just forget. Not only did it mean Joss wasn't caring a whole lot, but also there was no one to tell him what isn't right. Characterization was the next thing he decided to piledrive through a flaming table.

[fenderlove.livejournal.com]

I now equate Joss to George Lucas on a smaller scale. When you look at the Star Wars prequels, where Lucas had total control to the point where people look fearful to even speak to him during production, you begin to wonder if all the things that were great with the original Star Wars had anything to do to him and more to do with the dedication of the actors, other writers, production crew, etc. along with George's work. It's kind of like how people look at the original Buffy movie where Joss claimed to have no control because it wasn't that great yet receives credit for everything good about Buffy the show when really had more to do with movie on a day-to-day basis than he did with the show after season three. And then you look at S8 where he's running ruck-shot over every aspect... except that he's really not but he wants everyone to think that he is.

[infinitewhale.livejournal.com]

I've always thought people gave him too much credit. Honestly, I think they still do in the amount of wiggle room they give him.* Buffy was always a culmination of talent to me, not just Joss. Actors, directors, producers and network suits. If he presented the S8 bible to a network, they'd laugh in his face. He's got no Type-A personalities around him at DH, no one to keep him in line. Also, it really makes me wonder just how much cleaning up Jane was doing when she was story editor.

*The contrasting reactions to Willingham and Joss, for instance. Now, talking a little out my bottom here 'cause I didn't read the Angel comics, but the stuff that I heard in spoilers, while certainly out of character and stupid, didn't sound any worse than what Joss has Buffy and Angel doing in S8. Yet one is 'wait and see' and Willingham was burned in effigy. I like Spike and hope he's OK, but it would be interesting to see the reactions of some if he decides to butcher him like the other two.

[fenderlove.livejournal.com]

Any show is a group effort, and I think that it's definitely a disservice to the other writers, directors, actors, etc. to not include them in awarding credit where credit is due.

The S8 comics Willingham wrote were definitely no less OOC and bad than Joss (and they were definitely OOC and bad), but people want to accept Joss's word as law (although they're also willing to overlook Brian Lynch's ATF which Joss gave notes on the main thematic and plot elements for). Also, Willingham and Williams definitely reacted badly to the Dark Horse reveal that they were taking Angel for themselves, but they are comic industry people and DH did a HUGE faux pas that no other company would have done to another in this day and age. I think Willingham was out of his depth doing a franchise comic like Angel. He had a story he wanted to tell, and he was not used to the VERY vocal fan reactions that he was getting. He's an award-winning comic writer who has received much praise and accolades for his work (I'm not really a fan of his, but he had some interesting ideas that carried out well in his own books), and I think the backlash kind of stunned him, which made him grumpity... and then Joss, Allie, & DH made him more grumpity, and I think some of that came out in the story whether he meant for it to or not.

Willingham kind of... walked out of finishing the Angel series after the Twangel reveal. He wrote the scripts but he just kind of washed his hands of the editorial/art process, leaving it to Huehner and Tischman who managed to do "additional scripting" to actually vastly improve the last issue which just goes to show that capable comic writers can do a whole lot with a single issue. Granted, they can't undo the damage already done or vary too much from the plot already laid down, but they made a lot of progress, I think, in the right direction. We'll see if the next issue keeps the trend going until the end.

[shakensilence.livejournal.com]

Sorry you had a bad day... will have to look at your post on the comics when you do that. And will have to look for that other post to see what you have to say on that as well.